Author: Jalatian Sonya

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Feb 7 2009

Armenian expert: "The first examination for the CSTO fast response
forces might become Armenia’s defense when hostilities in the Karabakh
conflict area are resumed"

07 February 2009 [11:35] – Today.Az

"The first examination for the CSTO fast response forces, if they are
created in time, might become Armenia’s defense in case hostilities in
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict area", said expert on South Caucasus
problems Viktor Yakubyan.

He said Armenia "is interested in the real militarization of CSTO as
earlier the organization was more engaged with bureaucratic activity:
Armenia, which is currently presiding over CSTO, is interested in the
soonest creation of fast response forces, of which country’s president
Serzh Sargsyan declared in Moscow", noted the expert.

"The fact that the Armenian President stressed the need for the
soonest creation of joint armed forces of CSTO, proves that he is
concerned with the situation in the Karabakh conflict and really the
situation on the front line is alarming and the fire exchange at the
front has become common", continued Yakubyan.

At the same time, the expert noted that creation of the fast response
forces is a response to NATO’s unwillingness to take the "post-Soviet
defense bloc" seriously".

"The North Atlantic alliance has almost ignored numerous appeals of
the CSTO leadership on cooperation. The decision to establish fast
response forces is the statement of CSTO readiness to open competition
with NATO in the post-Soviet area. In this contest Azerbaijan and
Moldova’s accession would be a real breakthrough for CSTO, though it
is difficult to reckon on it now.

On the other hand, the North Atlantic alliance will try to undermine
the influence of the new military and political union (before the
decision to create the fast response forces CSTO was a political
bloc). Armenia is the most vulnerable point in the CSTO responsibility
area. Once secretary general of the organization Nikolai Bordyuzha
said in open that CSTO will not interfere with the Karabakh conflict
in case it is resumed. But what if Armenia interferes with the
conflict? The CSTO members do not and will not have a consolidated
position in this issue", concluded Viktor Yakubyan.

/Regnum/

URL:

NKR President meets OSCE CEO Personal Representative

armradio.am
07.02.2009 12:40

On 6 February NKR President Bako Sahakyan met the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, Central
Information Department of the Office of the NKR President reported.

Issues related to the recent developments in the region and to the
settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement process were
discussed at the meeting.

VALLEY SUN ALL-STAR ANI BEZIRDZHYAN: CV ALL-STAR HAS A PASSION FOR WORDS
By Ruth Longoria

Crescenta Valley Sun
2009/02/06/sports/cyo-allstarani0206.txt
Feb 6 2009
CA

A passion for crafting words sets this CV All Star apart from her
classmates. Ani Bezirdzhyan, a junior at Clark Magnet High School,
recently won the Los Angeles County Poetry Out Loud National County
Competition and will compete in the statewide competition in March.

Bezirdzhyan’s creative writing and poetry teacher at the high school,
Maral Guarino, said the youth is "an amazing poet and individual."

"From the first moment I heard her recite a poem, I knew she had a
passion for poetry that mesmerized everyone," Guarino said, adding,
"Her words come from an intuitive understanding of the world; this is
quite rare for someone her age. Her words are magical and she weaves
them together as a skilled artist uses shades, tones and perspective."

Guarino has high praise for a student she calls "compassionate and
conscientious."

"[Bezirdzhyan’s] positive attitude and willingness to listen, learn
and grow are admirable. With many things to be proud of, Ani is still
a humble and unassuming young lady," Guarino said. advertisement

Bezirdzhyan is the daughter of Marine Gadzhan and Robert Bezirdzhyan of
Glendale. She has a sister, Hasmik, 21, a student at Brooks Institute
for Photography in Santa Barbara, and a brother, Alex, 8, a third-grade
student at Horace Mann Elementary School in Glendale.

Bezirdzhyan said she developed a love of the written word as a small
child, watching her older sister deeply entranced by a book or writing
in a journal. "Every time I’d open her journal I’d be amazed at the
poetry," she said, adding sheepishly that she really wasn’t supposed
to read her older sister’s journal.

The younger sister began writing her own poems while in the sixth
grade. She also loves a variety of authors, including the works of
Edgar Alan Poe and Wilfred Owens.

"I really don’t have a favorite author," she said, adding, "Every
author has their own amazing poem that awakens you to the wonders of
the world."

In addition to her enchanting way with words and delightful demeanor,
Bezirdzhyan enjoys the art of dance, which she has studied and
performed since the age of 5. She began learning Armenian folk dances
and for the past six years has charmed crowds with her passion for
Latin ballroom dancing.

She also likes learning and is proud of her academic achievements. This
past semester she earned a 4.0 grade point average and has a cumulative
GPA of 3.85.

After high school, Bezirdzhyan will attend a four-year university,
possibly majoring in English. She plans to someday write a book
of poetry.

YEREVAN FOR INTL RECOGNITION OF RIGHT OF KARABAKH PEOPLE TO SELF-DETERMINATION

Interfax
Feb 2 2009
Russia

Armenia should attain the international recognition of the right
to self-determination of the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at a meeting with representative
of the Armenian diaspora in Zurich.

"Armenia’s position on the Karabakh settlement is clear and
unambiguous: we should attain the international recognition of the
right of Nagorno-Karabakh people to self-determination. We do not
set another task for use," the Armenian presidential press service
quoted Sargsyan as saying on Monday.

"Stories that some people try to tell that we can under some pressure
or proceeding from some goals make unilateral concessions in the
Karabakh settlement have nothing to do with the reality. We cannot
sacrifice our national goal for the sake of background tasks," the
Armenian president said.

Speaking about the Armenian-Turkish settlement, Sargsyan said that
Davos saw meetings with the Turkish prime minister and the foreign
minister. "I think that the establishment of civilized and natural
relations between the two countries corresponds to our interests,"
he said.

However, "the establishment of relations with Turkey does not mean to
forget genocide," he said. Yerevan wants to "establish diplomatic
relations without preconditions, to open borders and create an
intergovernmental commission and then discuss any other question in
relations between the two states and people," he said.

OVER 575,800 CONSUMERS SWITCH TO ARMENIA’S GAS NETWORK ON FEB 1

ARKA
Feb 4, 2009

YEREVAN, February 4. /ARKA/. As of February 1, some 575,844 consumers
joined Armenia’s gas network, Armenian gas supplier ArmRosGasProm’s
press service reports.

In January, gas consumers increased by 1,889. As of January 1, 2009,
some 573,955 gas consumers were recorded in Armenia.

In 2008, natural gas output reached 2.254bln cubic meters against 2.054
cubic meters in 2007 – 9.74% year-on-year rise. Armenia saw 11.2%
year-on-year rise in gas consumption (over 2.078bln cubic meters in
2008, compared to around 1.869bln cubic meters in the previous year).

Monopolist in Armenia’s gas supply market, ArmRosGasProm CJSC was
established in 1997. Gazprom OJCS and the RA Ministry of Energy used
to hold 45% of the company’s shares each, with Itera Oil and Gas
Company owning 10% of ArmRosGasProm.

After implementing two of the three planned stages of its investment
program (and buying extra shares of ArmRosGasProm in 2006 and 2008)
Gazprom became 75.55% shareholder of the company, with Itera now
holding 4.44% of ArmRosGasProm’s shares.

Economics upstages diplomatic drama
By Gideon Rachman in Davos

FT
January 31 2009 02:00

The organisers of the World Economic Forum like people to get along.
The forum specialises in getting rivals and enemies to share platforms
in Davos: Palestinians and Israelis, Indians and Pakistanis, Americans
and Iranians.

But this week, the Davos consensus broke down in spectacular fashion.
Recep Tayip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, stormed out of a
session with Shimon Peres, the Israeli president. Angered both by
events in Gaza – and by what he saw as unfair handling of the
discussion he was taking part in – Mr Erdogan vowed never to return to
the forum.

The cosy Davos world has already been profoundly shaken by the global
financial crisis. The Erdogan walk-out also pointed to the threat posed
to the consensual tradition of Davos by developments in international
politics.

For some years, Turkey has been a poster child for the politics of
reconciliation that are promoted by the forum. It is a secular Muslim
state that is also democratic, a member of Nato and has close ties to
Israel. But there has been a growing, latent conflict between Turkish
foreign policy and public opinion in the country. Opinion polls in
Turkey have regularly revealed very high levels of anti-American and
anti-Israeli sentiment. Some of those tensions burst into the open in
the emotional performances of Mr Erdogan and Mr Peres in Davos.

The walk-out also highlighted the extent to which the conflict in Gaza
has further poisoned relations between Israel and moderates in the
Islamic world.

This development creates a tricky foreign policy dilemma for Barack
Obama, the new US president. Mr Obama has made it clear that improving
relations with the Muslim world is one of the highest foreign policy
priorities of his administration. But he has also stressed his
commitment to Israeli security and congressional support for Israel is
still strong.

The Obama administration was barely represented in Davos. The new
president sent an old friend, Valerie Jarrett, to represent him –
rather than the senior foreign policy advisers who had originally been
on the forum’s programme. But the main geopolitical issues raised at
Davos still revolved around the US.

The two leaders who topped the bill at the forum were Wen Jiabao, the
Chinese premier, and Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Russia. Both
struck a similar note. They made appeals for international
co-operation. But they also pointed to America’s central role in the
global financial crisis and stressed the need for a multi-polar world.

On substance, however, the Russian and Chinese reactions to the early
steps taken by the Obama administration were rather different.

The Russians have reason to be pleased. They believe that a deal may be
in the works in which the Americans go slow on the deployment of
anti-missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic, and downplay the
hopes of Georgia and Ukraine to join Nato. In return, Russia would be
asked to provide more help on other important issues – in particular,
the drive to halt Iran’s nuclear programme.

The Chinese delegation at Davos, however, were clearly displeased and
alarmed by the suggestion by Tim Geithner, Mr Obama’s newly-confirmed
Treasury secretary, that China has been "manipulating" its currency. In
public and in private, they were at pains to dismiss this suggestion
and to pin the blame for the global economic crisis on the US.

For all the drama caused by the Erdogan walk-out, the tensions between
the Chinese and the Americans on display in Davos may turn out to be
more significant in the long term.

They suggest that international economics may be the dominant foreign
policy issue of the Obama years.

VISITED THE DETAINED DEPUTIES

A1+
[07:21 pm] 29 January, 2009

As assigned by Speaker of the RA National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan,
NA Chief of Staff Gegham Gharibjanyan and Chief Adviser to the NA
Speaker Victor Mnatsakanyan paid a visit January 29 to see NA Deputies
Myasnik Malkhasyan, Sasun Mikayelyan ["Kentron" penitentiary] and
Hakob Hakobyan [Hospital for detainees" penitentiary].

The deputies submitted an open letter asking the NA Speaker to convene
an NA extraordinary session with the RA Prosecutor General. They
mentioned that their guilt was not unsubstantiated and that they
demand the Prosecutor General to present evidence.

Gegham Gharibjanyan and Victor Mnatsakanyan cleared things up for the
deputies regarding their appeal. It was noted that according to article
70 of the RA Constitution, the Speaker of the RA National Assembly
convenes an extraordinary sitting or session by the initiative taken
by the President of Armenia, at least one-third of the total number
of deputies or the government.

By the 2008 March 3 decision of the NA, the trial takes place based on
the order established by the RA Trial Code after receiving consent for
mediation by the RA Prosecutor General on engaging Myasnik Malkhasyan,
Sasun Mikayelyan and Hakob Hakobyan as guilty and applying arrest as
a means of release.

The case is currently being investigated and must be held based on
principles of rule of law, human rights, respect for liberties and
dignity, release of criminal investigation, version of innocence,
fair examination of the case and other principles.

The NA Chief of Staff informed deputies that with the purpose of
drafting the bill on making amendments and additions to articles 225
and 300 of the RA Criminal Code, a Working Group has been created by
the order of NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, which will be assigned to
take into account the standards set by precedents of the European
Court of Human Rights and the issue of corresponding the principle
of legal conviction of the law when drafting the bill.

PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN MET IN ZURICH

armradio.am
29.01.2009 10:48

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliev met at the Radisson Hotel in Zurich.

This was the third meeting of the two Presidents in the process of
negotiations for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.

The meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan started
with the participation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the
two countries Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov, as well
as the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov, Matthew
Bryza, Bernard Fassier, and the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Later, President Sargsyan and President Aliev continued the talks in
the face-to-face format. After the private meeting of the Presidents
the talks were continued in the extended format.

The Armenian side assessed the outcome of the meeting in Zurich as
positive and constructive. During the meeting, the two sides presented
their positions on the current stage of the peace talks. The Presidents
of the two states directed their Ministers of Foreign Affairs to
continue the negotiations in cooperation with the Co-Chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group.

Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliev expressed satisfaction with the fact
that the Co-Chairs are working toward the synchronization of the
parties’ positions. During the meeting, the parties agreed also on
the upcoming visit of the Co-Chairs to the region.

After the negotiations, the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan left
for Davos where he will participate at the official opening ceremony
of the World Economic Forum.

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

29 January, 2009

The French Department of Hauts-de-Seine grants 500,000 euros to the Hayastan
All Armenian Fund

Patrick Devedjian, President of the French Department of Hauts-de-Seine, and
Bédros Terzian, President of Fonds Arménien de France (the French affiliate
of Hayastan All Armenian Fund), have signed a convention to set up a program
for agricultural development in the Tavush region, Northern Armenia.

Tavush is one of the poorest areas of Armenia, where the productivity of the
agricultural sector can be substantially improved with the introduction of
modern equipment and quality seeds. At present, only 45% of the arable land
is exploited, mainly due to the lack of water and insufficient technical
equipment.

The 500,000 euro (US$675,000) grant by the French Department for the year
2009 will be a major contribution for the financing of a two-year program
for revamping the irrigation network, setting up a milk gathering station as
well as an agricultural base with tractors and combined harvesters. A
particular effort will be made towards technical training and the
improvement of production quality.

The signing of the Convention was preceded by the unanimous vote in favor of
this grant by the Department’s Assembly, a sign of the confidence inspired
by the French affiliate of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund as a partner for
local and regional authorities in carrying out development projects.

The criteria followed by the Department in choosing partners for
international cooperation include the latters’ skills, past experience,
transparency as well as the integral value of the project itself. Armenia is
one of the four countries included in the Hauts-de-Seine poverty eradication
program. Others include Cambodia, Mali and Haiti.

HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN SAID THE NUMBER
Karine Asatryan

A1+
[08:00 pm] 27 January, 2009

The Resolution 1643 on Armenia approved today expresses what John
Prescott and George Colombier agreed on during their visit to Armenia
in mid-January, told "A1+" George Colombier.

He considers that the creation of the Fact-finding group, in which the
opposition is represented, is a positive development. The co-rapporteur
praises the 28 pardons granted by Serzh Sargsyan, as well as the
fact that a Working Group has been established and is headed by David
Harutyunyan to revise articles 225 and 300 of the Criminal Code. That
was the letter that the co-rapporteurs received from NA Chairman
Hovik Abrahamyan on December 22. The letter also states that within
a month the group will present its proposals to the parliament.

Do you know that the opposition considers that 28-the number of
pardons-doesn’t correspond to reality? In response, Mr. Colombier
told "A1+" that he is informed about that charge, but has received
information from the Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia
and in addition, that number was announced by head of the Armenian
delegation to the PACE David Harutyunyan.

According to Colombier, they decided not to suspend the Armenian
delegation’s voting rights because they consider that there will
soon be positive developments in Armenia with regard to the release
of persons deprived of their liberty in relation to the events of
March 1-2.

The second co-rapporteur John Prescott told journalists that the
Resolution passed today corresponds to the reality in Armenia. In
response to the journalist’s question, he expressed regret that
the opposition accuses him of taking bribes. According to him, the
co-rapporteurs are doing their best. He expressed his honest opinion
and said that he doesn’t take bribes.