Author: Jalatian Sonya

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA TO PARTICIPATE IN "TELETHON – 2009" IN MOSCOW

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.10.2009 13:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The President of Armenia, who is the Board of
Trustees head of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Serzh Sargsyan went
on a two-day visit to Moscow. NKR President Bako Sahakyan and RA NA
Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan also departed for Moscow.

In the farmefork of "Telethon -2009" in Moscow donations raising
will be organized in Moscow. Serzh Sargsyan will also provide dinner,
press office of President of Armenia reports.

TURKISH MP ACCUSES AUTHORITIES OF DISTORTING HISTORY

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Oct 22 2009
Armenia

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s speech at the General
Council of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on October 21 was
followed by a speech delivered by Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_, member of
the opposition Democratic Society Party (Turkish: Demokratik Toplum
Partisi — DTP). He accused the Turkish authorities of distorting
history and of not writing about the Armenian massacres in history
textbooks, Turkish mass media reported.

Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_, who is head of the DTP faction in the
Turkish Parliament, voiced his support for the Armenian-Turkish
protocols. He pointed out, however, that the "100-year-old problem"
in the Turkish-Armenian relations still remains unsolved and needs
opener discussions.

To prove their sincerity, the Turkish authorities have to write
about the Armenian massacres in their history textbooks. The
textbooks exaggerate the attacks by Armenians, but do not contain
any information on the massacres of Armenians committed by Turks. The
Turkish authorities are not taking any steps to put an end to the hate
for Armenians in the country. A glaring example is the passivity in
investigating the Hrant Dink murder case. The expression "a son of
Armenian" is perceived as an insult in Turkey even now. First of all,
history textbooks must "speak in a language of peace" not of hatred,
DemirtaÅ~_ said. He reminded the attendees that, about a year ago,
Canan Arıtman, member of the Republican People’s Party (RPP),
while criticizing Turkish President Abdulah Gul, said his mother had
Armenian roots.

"In his turn, President Gul was troubled by the talks about his
mother’s Armenian descent. The government must prevent any racist
claims concerning Armenian identity – and not only concerning
Armenians, but all the ethnic groups," DemirtaÅ~_ said. He pointed
out that the authorities prohibited the burial of the well-known
singer Aram Tigran in Diyarbakir only because he was an Armenian.

An interesting situation developed while parliamentarians were
speaking. When a member of the Nationalist Movement Party (Turkish:
Milliyetci Hareket Partisi, MHP) approached the platform, the Justice
and Development Party faction left the hall and vice versa. MHP
Chairman Devlet Bahceli, however, stayed during the whole course of
the sitting.

LABOR FAIR TO BE HELD OCTOBER 23 IN ARMENIAN TOWN ARTASHAT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.10.2009 18:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Labor Fair will be held October 23 in the
town of Artashat (Ararat region). The fair is organized by the State
Employment Service with government funding. The fair will be attended
by 35 companies, who will advertise 70 jobs. 500 visitors are expected
to attend the fair.

Similar fairs were organized in other cities of Armenia: Dilijan,
Gyumri, Vanadzor, Goris, Abovyan, Yerevan.

ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS SHOULD BE SETTLED WITHIN REASONABLE PERIOD – U.S. OFFICIAL

Interfax
Oct 20 2009
Russia

The relations between Yerevan and Ankara should be stabilized without
any preconditions and within a reasonable period of time, according
to officials in Armenia and the United States.

This view was voiced by both parties at a meeting between Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan and the newly appointed U.S. Assistant
Deputy Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, Tina Keydenau,
who made her first visit to Yerevan, the Armenian presidential press
office told Interfax.

At the meeting the parties discussed prospects for the bilateral
relations, the process of stabilizing the Armenian-Turkish relations
and regional security issues.

"The parties emphasized the importance of the progress in the
Armenian-Turkish relations and noted that the process of establishing
relations should occur without any pre-conditions and within a
reasonable period of time," the presidential press office said.

On Tuesday Keydenau also met with Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian to discuss the Karabakh conflict.

OTTAWA CITIZEN
October 20, 2009 Tuesday
CANADA

The Citizen article asserts that demonstrations were staged "by
Armenians opposed to a rapprochement." None of the sides is against
"rapprochement" but what makes the agreement portentous is Turkey’s
preconditions contained therein.

With regard to opening their "shared borders," Armenia never closed
down its side of the border. Turkey, in violation of international law,
closed its side in 1993.

Turkey’s preconditions for "normalizing relations" are: first, to
recognize the current frontiers with Turkey; second, cessation of
efforts for international recognition of the Armenian genocide and
ensuing claims and third, to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis to
the satisfaction of Azerbaijan.

In essence, legalizing the current frontiers means legalizing the
usurpation of the larger portion of Armenian homelands: territories
with unresolved status that are still subject to jurisdiction under
international treaties.

Recognition of the Armenian genocide promotes mutual confidence in
bilateral relations and prevention of similar crimes in the future.

Moreover, it entails territorial and financial restitutions. The
Turkish proposal for the creation of a commission of historians
to establish the veracity of the Armenian genocide is labeled as a
smokescreen by experts. It degrades a historical reality to the level
of dubiousness.

As for the formerly autonomous territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, it
declared its independence in 1991 under self-determination rights
following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Regrettably, Turkey’s
lopsided stance in favor of Azerbaijan is not conducive to a solution.

Finally, the article states that "the accord will likely rekindle
other memories" and reflects on what those memories are.

It is true that there were terrorist operations in the past that
nobody condones. Mainstream organizations had no role in them. It
is common knowledge that they ended almost 25 years ago. The article
surprisingly devotes a good part of half a column to this long-dead
"phenomenon" while compressing the root of the matter, "genocide,"
into a few lines, an approach which is incongruous, to say the least.

We are now in a wait-and-see mode.

RESOLUTION 252 ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE INTRODUCED TO US SENATE

ArmInfo
2009-10-22 12:04:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomed
the introduction today of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the U.S.

Senate by Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and John Ensign (R-NV).

The measure is similar to legislation in the U.S. House, H.Res.252,
introduced earlier this year by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA),
George Radanovich (R-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs
Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). This measure already has
over 130 cosponsors.

In introducing the measure, Sen. Menendez noted, "Only when history’s
darkest hours are acknowledged and understood can we truly learn from
them and build a peaceful future upon those lessons. One and a half
million Armenians experienced Hell on Earth, and to sweep their plight
under the rug is to insult their memories and their descendants. It
is long past time that our nation help set the historical record
straight and provide a foundation of understanding that helps prevent
future atrocities."

Senator Ensign explained, "It is inconceivable that after so many years
the international community has yet to affirm that the deportation,
expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre and starvation of the
Armenian people was genocide. By joining together and affirming that
genocide was committed on the Armenian people, we send a strong message
to the international community that we will not turn a blind eye to
the crimes of the past simply because they are in the past."

"On behalf of all Armenian Americans, we thank Senators Menendez and
Ensign for their tireless leadership in moving America toward a full
and proper commemoration and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide,"
said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "This legislation,
in seeking to end U.S. silence in the face of Turkey’s denial of
this crime, not only honors the past, but also, very powerfully,
helps make Armenia and all the world safer from future genocides."

VIVACELL-MTS: THE COUNTRY OF TOMORROW IS WHAT WE BUILD TODAY

ArmInfo
2009-10-22 12:27:00

ArmInfo. On October 21st General Manager Ralph Yirikian met with the
students of the Yerevan State Economic University Yeghegnadzor branch,
the Company press service reports.

Ralph Yirikian read a lecture to the students, having introduced them
the five-year experience of the Company work in Armenia. He also paid
attention to the fact that the Company discloses the common values
shared by the VivaCell-MTS family, such as the respect to subscribers
and partners, the quality of the provided services, innovativeness and
much more. "The best way to have professionally trained human resources
and to avoid the brain drain from the country is to meet the needs of
the future professionals. The winners are those who are not afraid
of sharing the secrets of success, rather those, who are happy with
the success they reach alone. VivaCell-MTS has been supporting this
approach from the very start. It is also a manifestation of how the
Corporate Responsible Management model works in practice. We wish to
see a country with a knowledge-based developing economy. The mission
of our business is to provide continuous education", Ralph Yirikian
said in his lecture.

To recall, the lecture "VivaCell-MTS – Business with a Mission",
– a novice model of cooperation with universities, – is a perfect
opportunity for the students from various regions of the country,
the future professionals of Armenia to find answers to numerous
questions of interest.

LEVON TER-PETROSIAN MEETS WITH DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS

Noyan Tapan
Oct 21, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, NOYAN TAPAN. First RA President Levon
Ter-Petrosian met with Tina Kaidanow, Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs and Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of U.S. to RA Marie Yovanovitch on October 21.

According to the Armenian National Congress Central Office, the
developments in the Armenian-Turkish relations, as well as issues
regarding the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process were discussed at
the meeting.

The interlocutors specially touched upon the condition of democracy
in Armenia, in particular, release of political prisoners, fighting
corruption.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN PARTICIPATES IN RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY OF THE NEW BUILDING OF CHESS ACADEMY OF ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-10-20 21:02:00

ArmInfo. President of the Chess Federation of Armenia, Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony
of the new building of the Chess Academy of Armenia, Tuesday. Speaker
of Armenian Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan, Head of the Armenian Police
Alik Sargsyan, governors of several regions of Armenia, and other
officials of the country also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Sargsyan followed the game of the Academy’s pupils, afterwards he
personally familiarized himself with the building of the Chess Academy.

As Deputy Chairman of the Chess Academy of Armenia, Grand Master Smbat
Lputyan told journalists, the Chess Academy has been operating in a
small building for seven years. "People have been dreaming to have
such a school for the children of the whole republic since the 70s.

Today our dream has come true",- Lputyan said and added that there are
43 branches in Armenia. Lputyan stressed that the new big building of
the Chess Academy provides an opportunity to organize international
chess competitions. Asked how much money was provided for the new
building, Lputyan replied that the financial means were provided
from the state budget, but he didn’t specify the amount. He added
that about 400 children can study at the Academy.

DASHNAKTSUTYUN WILL EMPLOY ALL LEGAL MEANS TO FAIL RATIFICATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.10.2009 16:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Opening of RA-Turkey border is implemented under
superpowers’ pressure for unhindered implementation of regional
economic projects, ARF Dashnaktsutyun Parliamentary Faction Secretary
Artyusha Shahbazyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

According to him, even upon RA-Turkey border opening, regional
programs can’t be implemented in full until NKR conflict is settled,
which is a visual proof of interconnection between RA-Turkey relations
and NKR issue.

ARFD Faction Secretary noted that NKR conflict settlement process will
intensify after Protocols’ ratification, adding that the opposition
will do its best for Constitutional court to find the documents
anti-constitutional or RA Parliament not to ratify them.