Author: Jidarian Alex

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN LEADERS TO ‘TALK PEACE’ IN MAY

Agence France Presse
April 27 2009

YEREVAN (AFP) — The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold
fresh talks on the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region at a European
summit next month, international mediators said on Monday.

The meeting between Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijani
counterpart Ilham Aliyev will take play on May 7 in Prague, said the
co-chairs of the Minsk Group of international mediators.

"The two presidents have confirmed they will participate in a meeting
in Prague," said Bernard Fassier, the group’s French co-chairman,
told journalists.

"We hope that this process will create a favourable climate for
settling the Karabakh conflict," he said.

Prague is to host the launch of an Eastern Partnership project aimed at
boosting the European Union’s ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The American co-chair of the group, Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State Matthew Bryza, said he hoped recent moves to normalise
relations between Armenia and Turkey would help speed up the Karabakh
peace process.

"We believe that the normalisation of relations between Turkey and
Armenia will be a positive development for the entire region…. It
will also promote the process of settling the Karabakh question,"
he said.

"There is a new mood and new opportunities today for a faster decision
on the Karabakh question," he said.

Armenia and Turkey last week announced a "roadmap" for talks that
could lead to normalising ties and the opening of their border.

Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic links with Armenia over
its efforts to have Ottoman-era killings of Armenians recognised
as genocide.

Azerbaijan has urged Turkey not to move forward in talks with Armenia
unless Yerevan agrees to withdraw its troops from Karabakh.

Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of
Nagorny Karabakh in the early 1990s in a war that killed nearly 30,000
people and forced two million to flee their homes.

A ceasefire was signed between the two former Soviet republics in
1994 but the dispute remains unresolved.

France, Russia and the United States are co-chairs of the Minsk Group,
which is seeking to resolve the conflict.

MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS TAKES PLACE IN MOSCOW

ArmenPress
April 23 2009
Armenia

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS: Meeting of the Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev took place today.

After the meeting Medvedev stated that there is certain hopeful
progress in the Karabakh conflict regulation issue. "I think we have
taken up a right way," the Russian president pointed out. "My contacts
confirm that the parties are ready to move in a constructive way for
the regulation of this difficult issue," he added.

President Sargsyan noted that Armenia is thankful to Russia for its
contribution to the Karabakh conflict regulation issue.

Referring to the Armenian-Russian cooperation, Armenian president
stated that the construction of the new nuclear unit in Armenia with
the participation of the Russian companies will increase the number
of Russian investments in Armenia making it about 5 billion USD in
3-4 years.

TURKEY AND ARMENIA DRAW UP "ROAD MAP" TO MEND TIES

Tehran Times
April 24 2009
Iram

ANKARA/YEREVAN (Reuters) — Turkey and Armenia have agreed on a
road map to normalize ties after nearly a century of hostility, a
move quickly welcomed by the European Union and the United States,
but which could upset oil-rich Azerbaijan.

The deal, weeks after President Barack Obama urged Turkey to resolve
the issue, came on the eve of the commemoration of mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915. The two states since last year
have held high-level talks to restore ties.

"The two parties have achieved tangible progress and mutual
understanding in this process and they have agreed on a comprehensive
framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations," the
foreign ministries of Turkey and Armenia said.

The statement gave few clues on how Turkey and Armenia planned to
tackle the sensitive dispute over the 1915 killings.

Turkish and Armenian government sources said the two sides had not
signed any document, but had agreed in principle to move ahead in
establishing normal relations, which would include reopening a border
shut in 1993.

But a senior Western diplomat said the roadmap commits the neighbors
to establishing diplomatic relations, opening their border gradually
and establishing commissions to tackle historical disputes over
"weeks or months".

"All the documents have been agreed in principle but it’s from the
signing that the clock starts ticking," the diplomat told Reuters. "It
is a finite period that is not very long. We are talking about weeks
or months."

Turkey accepts many Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it amounted
to genocide.

The years of stand-off have isolated impoverished Armenia and
obstructed Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union (EU).

"We welcome the progress in the normalization of relations between
Turkey and Armenia," a joint statement by EU Enlargement Commissioner
Olli Rehn and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner
said.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan,
which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In public, Turkish officials reiterate they would normalize ties only
in parallel with a process to settle Nagorno-Karabakh.

Analysts have speculated an agreement, which has yet to receive final
approval, could contain "goodwill language" on Azerbaijan and the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute to placate Baku.

The deal was announced before Friday’s commemoration of Armenian
deaths, when U.S. presidents routinely issue a statement.

Reopening the border would boost Turkey’s profile as a peace broker
and give landlocked Armenia access to Turkish and European markets
but may hurt Europe’s energy security plans.

Azerbaijan, Europe’s key hope as a supplier of gas for the planned
multi-billion-dollar Nabucco pipeline that would run through Turkey
and cut Europe’s dependence on Russia, warned against any deal that
does not include a withdrawal of troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Opening the border could lead to tensions in the region and would be
contradictory to the interests of Azerbaijan," Azeri Foreign Ministry
spokesman Elkhan Polukhov said.

Polukhov said it was "too early" to discuss what steps Azerbaijan
might take in retaliation, but some analysts have warned it may affect
future sales of Azeri gas.

Washington urged Ankara and Yerevan to normalize ties "within a
reasonable timeframe".

"To us, that is a huge step. They’re basically saying that we’ve got
to move on from the past," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

IS ISLAM ABLE TO APOLOGIZE?
Julia Duin

Washington Times
is-islam-able-to-apologize/
April 23 2009

Friday is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, commemorating the mass
killings of up to 1.5 million Christian Armenians overseen by the
Muslim leaders of the Ottoman Empire starting in 1915.

With the centenary anniversary coming up in six years, this issue is
not going to fade away. President Obama handled the issue gingerly
and avoided calling the killing "genocide" during his recent visit
to Turkey, but some 1 million Armenian Americans – who helped to get
him elected last year – are happy to keep reminding Mr. Obama of his
campaign promise to call attention to the massacre.

"People are advising Turkey to recognize it and apologize on behalf
of their ancestors and be done with it," says Wadi Haddad, retired
professor of Islamic studies and Christian-Muslim relations at
Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. "The Armenians are not going to
ask for reparations."

What would contrition for the genocide look like from a secular
state based on a religious tradition – Islam – that does not practice
corporate repentance?

Muslim scholars tell me the holy month of Ramadan takes care of the
sins of the individual, but not those of a nation. There’s no concept
of national sin, which may be why the Shi’ite Iranians have never
apologized for their sacking of the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

The concept of national repentance started with Jewish prophets
in the Hebrew Scriptures. Christians then ran with the idea, with
modern examples including President Lincoln’s 1863 call to a day of
national repentance and fasting. His idea lives on in the National
Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of each May.

Plus, Christians ranging from the late Pope John Paul II to bands of
evangelical Protestant missionaries have apologized for the excesses
of the Crusades. But what Islamic entity has apologized for the 300
years of conquest that provoked the Crusades?

"The idea of being sorry for what’s happened in the past is a Western
way of expressing things," Mr. Haddad says. "Nations elsewhere in
the world do not do this."

However, he added that his wife, Georgetown University professor Yvonne
Haddad, lost two Armenian Orthodox ancestors during the genocide.

"Individual Muslims can express regret or repentance, but I don’t
know what the appropriate institution would be to express Islamic
regret," Georgetown University Islamic history professor John Voll
told me. Christianity has corporate bodies representing its various
divisions, he added, but "in Islam, there is no corporate structure
that represents the umma [world Muslim community]."

Corporate repentance requires an acceptance of corporate guilt,
an idea that dates back to original sin.

"Islamic theological tradition does not involve a concept of original
sin," he said. "Muslims think Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were
expelled from the garden, but God did not curse them."

If the majority religion of Turkey does not have a concept of common
guilt, can Turks apologize for their past?

"If there is an expression of regret, it’d be from the Turkish
parliament," he said. "But one of the important dimensions of Kamalist
Turkey is that it represents an institutional break with the Ottoman
Empire. A lot of Turks would say the parliament cannot speak for the
actions of the old empire."

ISTANBUL BRANCH OF HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS ARRESTED APR 24 1915

ArmInfo
2009-04-23 19:57:00

Today the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association commemorated
the Armenian intellectuals arrested Apr 24 1915

The press release of the branch published on the web-site of Hytert
says that among them were outstanding representative of the Ottoman
society, art, literature, science and culture. Most of those people
were killed during deportation. The press release mentions Daniel
Varoujhan, Siamanto, Ruben Sevak, Grigor Zohrap. Representatives
of the organization Reza Dalkilic says that the arrest of Armenian
intellectuals gave start to the mass annihilation of Armenians in
Ottoman Empire and their death was a great loss not only for the
Armenian community but "for all of us."

U.S. EMBASSY DONATES AMERICAN STUDIES TEXTBOOKS

A1+
04:07 pm | April 22, 2009 | society

The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that on April 22, 2009,
U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch and representatives of Yerevan
State Linguistic University named after Brusov, Russian-Armenian
Slavonic University, and Yerevan State University participated in a
book donation ceremony at the U.S. Embassy’s Information Resource
Center. The U.S. Embassy, through its American Corner program,
is donating almost $50,000 (18 million dram) in American Studies
textbooks for area studies programs at the three schools.

The U.S. Embassy provides American Studies seminars, trainings, and
exchange opportunities to university faculty throughout Armenia. This
is the first large scale donation of American Studies textbooks,
which cover themes in American government, history, culture, and
literature. The books present a diverse view of America and will
strengthen American Studies curricula in Armenia. Multiple copies of
five different titles are being donated to each university so that
students are able to work with the texts during class as well as
outside the classroom.

In her remarks, Ambassador Yovanovitch noted that, "Learning about
other cultures is the key to ensuring mutual understanding between
nations," and expressed a hope that the English-language books will
be a valuable contribution to the efforts of university faculty
and administrators, who are actively incorporating American Studies
content into their classes.

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

APRIL 17-23, 2009

HIGHLIGHTS:

"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: PUBLIC AND POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ELECTIONS TO THE
YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY

HEARINGS ON THE SUIT OF LEVON KHOCHARIAN VERSUS "HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK" DAILY
STARTED

GAGIK SHAMSHIAN SENTENCED TO A FINE FOR DISRESPECT TO COURT

"ARMENAKOB" TV COMPANY CHANGES OWNER AND NAME

"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: PUBLIC AND POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ELECTIONS TO THE
YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY

Since April 18, the "Press Club" shows, aired on "Yerkir Media" TV company,
deal with the elections of Yerevan Council of Elderly on May 31, 2009. The
programs participants will be the representatives of six parties and one
party bloc who have submitted their lists to the RA Central Electoral
Commission for running in the elections. The "Press Club" cycle is produced
under Yerevan Press Club project, supported by the Open Society Institute.

On April 18, the guests of the program host, YPC President Boris Navasardian
were representatives of six parties: Arman Vardanian ("Prosperous Armenia"),
Tigran Karapetian (the first in the electoral list of the Popular Party),
Yenok Azarian (Republican Party of Armenia), Artsvik Minasian (the first in
the list of ARF "Dashnaktsutiun"), Movses Shakhverdian (the first in the
list of Labor Socialist Party of Armenia) and Grigor Vahanian ("Orinats
Yerkir"). Only the representative of the party bloc "Armenian National
Congress" did not take part in the show. The discussion centered on the
public and political significance of the elections of Yerevan Council of
Elderly.

The next "Press Club" show will be aired on "Yerkir Media" on Saturday,
April 25 at 17.25.

HEARINGS ON THE SUIT OF LEVON KHOCHARIAN VERSUS "HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK" DAILY
STARTED

On April 23, court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
communities of Yerevan started the hearings on the suit of Levon Khocharian,
younger son of RA Second President Robert Khocharian, against "Haykakan
Zhamanak" daily. It is on the protection of honor, dignity and business
reputation of the plaintiff. The reason of the lawsuit was the editorial
"The adventures of Robert’s Son in Dubai", published in "Haykakan Zhamanak"
on February 6, 2009. The piece informed about Levon Khocharian’s detention
by police of Dubai, UAE, in the end of 2008. The plaintiff demands to oblige
the daily to publish a refutation and to compensate for moral losses in the
amount of 16 million and 120 thousand AMD (about $ 43.500).

On April 23, court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
communities of Yerevan started the hearings on the suit of Levon Khocharian,
younger son of RA Second President Robert Khocharian, against "Haykakan
Zhamanak" daily. It is on the protection of honor and dignity of the
plaintiff. The reason of the lawsuit was the editorial "The adventures of
Robert’s Son in Dubai", published in "Haykakan Zhamanak" on February 6,
2009. The piece informed about Levon Khocharian’s detention by police of
Dubai, UAE, in the end of 2008. The plaintiff demands to oblige the daily to
publish a refutation and to compensate for moral losses in the amount of 16
million and 120 thousand AMD (about $ 43.500).

At the session of April 23 the judge noted that "Haykakan Zhamanak" daily
cannot appear as defendant of the present case, as it is not a legal entity.
The plaintiff submitted a petition to change the defendant, which was
secured. Thus, the founder of "Haykakan Zhamanak", "Dareskizb" LLC, was
declared defendant.

The next court session is appointed on May 12.

GAGIK SHAMSHIAN SENTENCED TO A FINE FOR DISRESPECT TO COURT

On April 17, court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
communities of Yerevan released a verdict on the case of free-lance
journalist Gagik Shamshian, accused on Part 3 of Article 343 of RA Criminal
Code ("Disrespect to Court"). As it has been reported, on August 5, 2008
during a session of the court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and
Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan Gagik Shamshian was dismissed from the
courtroom upon the order of Judge Gagik Avetisian. At first the journalist
was locked in the basement of the court and was later taken to the Kentron
Police Department, where he stayed for over two hours. The criminal
proceedings were instituted in September, and the charge was brought against
journalist in December 2008. The hearings on the case started on March 24,
2009 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, March 20-26, 2009).

The court returned Gagik Shamshian guilty and imposed a fine in the amount
of 350,000 AMD (about $ 950). As Gagik Shamshian informed YPC, he intends to
appeal the verdict with the upper court jurisdiction.

"ARMENAKOB" TV COMPANY CHANGES OWNER AND NAME

>From April 25, "ARMENAKOB" TV starts to broadcast with a new name – ATV. The
owner of the TV company has changed, too: it is "A-TV" LLC. The General
Director of ATV is Vahe Ghazarian. Earlier, he worked at "Epikentron"
newscast of "Kentron" TV channel.

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

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this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
_____________________________________ _______
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

TURKEY RECALLS ITS AMBASSADOR TO CANADA OVER ARMENIAN DISPUTE

armradio.am
22.04.2009 15:39

Turkey recalls ambassador in Canada over Armenian dispute

Turkey recalled its ambassador in Canada’s capital Ottawa after a
commemoration night organized to mark the Armenian genocide, Hurriyet
Daily News reported.

The decision to recall Ambassador Rafet Akgunay for "consultations"
came as a reaction to the commemoration of the Armenian genocide.

According to reports, Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney
attended the commemoration ceremony and made a speech despite warnings
made by the Turkish government. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
also sent a message to mark the occasion.

AMERIABANK RECEIVES CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE WITH ISO 9001:2008 INTERNATIONAL STANDARD

/ARKA/
YEREVAN
April 22, 2009

Armenia’s Ameriabank was granted on April 7 a certificate 01 100
051317 of compliance with the ISO 9001:2008 international standard
quality management requirements, the bank’s press service reports.

TUV RHEINLAND GROUP, a Germany-based major international company,
awarded the bank the certificate.

Ameriabank was the first in the financial market of Armenia to receive
certificate of compliance with ISO 9001:2008 standard in a new edition.

For almost one year the Bank worked on the development and set up
of Quality management system in compliance with requirements of ISO
9001:2008 Quality management international standard. CSP Middle East
S.A.R.L. was hired as a consultant.

The relevant audit assessment was conducted in early March this
year. The certificate was issued based on positive audit conclusion
on compliance with the standard.

While introducing a system complying with ISO 9001:2008 Quality
management standard, Ameriabank has developed more than 65 business
processes covering not only service provision processes but also
adjacent processes, subject to regular supervision, evaluation
and improvement. The bank’s guiding principle in the process of
establishment relations with the clients is clear identification of
the clients needs and provision of relevant services.

Considering net promotion score as the most essential indicator of
the bank performance evaluation, the bank was one of the first on the
financial market of Armenia to introduce net promoter score system
(NPS), which is currently successfully running.

To achieve more efficient quality management system application in
the bank, active measures are being taken to install one of the most
modern CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. The system
will ensure a new approach to the client relationship management,
automation of all the business processes related to service provision,
which assumes clients relations quality upgrade and unique approach
in this area within Armenia.

Ameriabank CJSC is an investment bank offering corporate and limited
number of individual, banking services, by providing with a complete
package of banking solutions. The Chairman of the Board of Directors
of Ameriabank is Ruben Vardanian, and the Chairman of the Management
Board-General Director is Artak Hanesyan. Troika Dialog Group, one
of the largest Russian investment banking companies, is the strategic
partner of Ameriabank.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM-INSTITUTE COLLECTION PERIODICALLY ENRICHED WITH UNIQUE MUSEUM ITEMS

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 22, 2009
YEREVAN

Due to numerous donations, exchanges, and purchases the collection of
Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) was enriched in 2008-2009
with hundreds of unique museum items. The most part of them are
important primary sources for the studying and representing the
Armenian Genocide.

As a result of the collecting work of AGMI, in 2008-2009 more than
100 new original documental photos related to the Armenian Genocide
and the deportations of Armenians were revealed. Part of these photos
were included in the collection of the documental photos of the museum.

By the efforts of the museum about 250 original glass plates of unique
photos recently were found and digitalized, which represent the scenes
of distribution of humanitarian aid to Armenians deportees in Syria,
particularly photos representing the humanitarian assistance by the
League of Nations. As an exception the newly found original photos
will be included in the permanent exhibition on April 24-25.

According to the AGMI report, three new exceptional large collections
were donated to AGMI in 2008, which include hundreds of unique pieces
about the life of Armenians, and also documents and unique publications
concerning the Armenian Genocide and its consequences.

Among them the handwriting memoirs and letters of Norwegian missionary
Bodil Bern are of great importance. They represent the mass killings
of Armenians of Mush by Turkish army and her orphan care activities
in Syria.

With the support of the president of RA Serzh Sargsyan the library
of AGMI was enriched with about 100 valuable and unique books, which
are very important and rare sources for the fundamental study of
the Armenian Genocide. Some part of these books was included in the
permanent exhibition of the museum.

Further works on enrichment of the website of AGMI are in process. In
December, 2008 the website at was awarded
with Grand Prix by the Prime Minister of RA in the Third annual
Pan-Armenian website competition. The AGMI website became a winner
also in nomination of Electronic Science.

Due to active electronic policy close ties were established with
foreign scientific centers, researchers, and many educational
institutions abroad, which allowed AGMI to cooperate with pupils of
schools and colleges of different countries.

With the cooperation of Armenian national archives it was possible
to identify 70 unique and unknown photos concerning the massacre of
Armenians in Cilicia in April, 1909. In result of this, the collection
of documental photos concerning the massacres of Armenians in Adana
province doubled.

The collection of AGMI was also enriched with unique documents and
publications concerning the atrocities committed against Armenians
and other Christians of the Ottoman Empire circa 1919-1922.