Author: Jilavian Emma

US EXPRESSES CONDOLENCES OVER IRAN AIR CRASH

Agence France Presse
July 15 2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US government on Wednesday expressed its
sympathy for relatives of the 168 people who were killed when their
Caspian Airlines flight crashed in Iran earlier in the day.

Washington "extends it condolences to the families of those who
lost their lives in today’s crash," read a brief statement by State
Department spokesman Ian Kelly.

"We are working through the US embassy in Yerevan and the Swiss
Protecting Power in Iran to determine whether any American citizens
were on board," the statement said.

The United States does not have diplomatic ties with Iran. Its
interests are represented by Swiss diplomats in Tehran.

Witnesses and Iranian state media said the plane was ablaze before
smashing into the ground and exploding near a village northeast of
Tehran, shortly after taking off from the capital’s international
airport.

6 PEOPLE ONBOARD THE CRASHED AIRCRAFT IN IRAN WERE CITIZENS OF ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-07-15 16:39:00

ArmInfo. 6 people onboard Caspian Airlines aircraft crashed in Iran
on July 15 were citizens of Armenia, 4 of them passengers, and 2 crew
members. 29 more people had Armenian surnames but were not citizens
of Armenia, Deputy Head of Civil Aviation Department of Armenia Arsen
Poghosyan told journalists in Yerevan, Wednesday.

According to him, there were a total of 153 passengers and 15 crew
members onboard Tu-154M. All of them died. The Armenian citizens were
Ashot Nersisyan, Artur Grigoryan, Karine Margaryan, Aram Siloyan,
and engine operators Grigor Barseghyan and Souren Soghomonyan. Arsen
Poghosyan said that Tu-154 was to enter the air space of Armenia at
12:52 pm local time.

However, at 12:48 pm the flight operations officers reported that the
plane was unseen on the radars. The plane was to carry 43 people by
flyback, the Iranian party will assume the departure of 21 of them. He
added that the flight recorder data are not available yet. At the
moment, Head of the Civil Aviation General Department of Armenia Artyom
Movsisyan is negotiating with the Iranian party on possible insurance
of the victims’ families. The air crash is being investigated by the
Iranian party. The complete list of the victims will be published at
the official website of Civil Aviation General Department in an hour.

The Caspian Airlines air company was established in 1993 as an
enterprise meeting Iranian and Russian interests. The first flights
of Caspian Airlines planes took place in September 1993. The base
airport for Caspian Airlines is the Imam Khomeini Tehran International
Airport. The Caspian Airlines planes carry out 50 cargo and passenger
flights throughout the world weekly.

The company is specializing in both both domestic flights in Iran and
regional and international air carriages. Its routes cover Abadan,
Ahvaz, Mahshahr, Mashad, Tabriz, Tehran, Budapest, Dubai, Damascus,
Kiev, Minsk, Yerevan. As of June 3, 2008, the air fleet of the company
consisted of the following a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, 4 Tu-154M.

NKR IS FIXED AS DE FACTO INDEPENDENT STATE IN MADRID PRINCIPLES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.07.2009 20:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NKR is fixed as de facto independent state in Madrid
principles, Noravank Scientific Educational Foundation Director,
Gagik Harutyunyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

"The principles specify NKR as an independent unit, which has
to be given a status of an independent state," Gagik Harutyunyan
emphasized. At the same time, the expert noted, that principles
contain mention of NKR territory, yet nothing is said about lands
which once belonged to Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region and are
now controlled by Azerbaijan.

"Besides, the document doesn’t stipulate for any mechanism for the
return of refugees and allocation of peacemaking forces in conflict
zone," Gagik Harutyunayn emphasized.

According to Armenian expert, for the moment, official Yerevan is
taking the upper hand in diplomatic game, which is proved by the fact
of NKR being fixed as an independent state in Madrid principles.

DAVID DAVTYAN: MADRID PRINCIPLES SUICIDE MANUAL

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.07.2009 10:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The promulgation of Madrid principles on the
threshold of the meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents
suggests that these principles are out of date, an expert said.

"To all appearance, a new document will be signed soon. It was a show
for the public aimed to cover the real state of affairs. It’s worth
mentioning that the announcement followed successful monopolization
of Azeri gas by Moscow, during the stalemate in the Armenian-Turkish
talks and on the threshold of signature of an agreement on Nabucco,"
David Davtyan, analyst of ANALITIKA.at.ua told PanARMENIAN.Net.

According to him, before getting absorbed by the game with Ankara,
Armenia was a power, whose opinion could not be ignored. "With its
shortsighted policy, Yerevan has driven itself into the corner,"
Davtyan said.

"The principles which were made public can’t resolve the problem. These
envisage return of territories around Karabakh in exchange of granting
it an interim status. At that the only advantage Armenians are offers
is the Lachin corridor. Such approach is inadmissible. In general,
this document is a suicide manual. The principles based on the ideas
of humanity and civility are incapable due to intolerance of Turks
and Azeris towards Armenians," he said.

Davtyan said the provision on deployments of international peacekeepers
is absurd while the one envisaging conduction of a new referendum
arouses deep concerns.

ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN COOPERATION CONTINUALLY GAINS IN SCOPE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.07.2009 11:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met Monday
with outgoing Russian Ambassador Nikolay Pavlov.

The PM thanked Ambassador Pavlov for his activities and wished him
every success.

"The Armenian-Russian cooperation continually gains in scope. The
number of enterprises functioning on the basis of Russian capital in
Armenia exceeds 1000 while investments grow in amount," he said.

For his part, the Russian diplomat assured he will continue efforts
for further development of the Armenian-Russian relations and wished
prosperity to the Armenian nation.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN VISITS FRENCH EMBASSY ON BASTILLE DAY

armradio.am
14.07.2009 16:53

President Serzh Sargsyan visited the French Embassy in Armenia on
the occasion of the National Day of France.

Congratulating he employees of the Embassy, the President wished
further development to France and prosperity to its people.

President Sargsyan expressed gratitude to France for extending a
helping hand to our people at the hardest moment of our history by
hosting them and with an opportunity to develop. The President noted
that being French citizens enjoying all rights, they have preserved
the Armenian identity.

Serzh Sargsyan attached importance to the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide by France in 2001.

PROGRAM OF RA MINISTRY OF DIASPORA "MARRIAGE WITH BLESSING OF MY HOMELAND" LAUNCHED WITH MARRIAGE OF CANADIAN ARMENIAN COUPLE

NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY
JULY 13, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 13, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On the initiative of
the RA Ministry of Diaspora the movement "Marriage with the blessing
of my homeland" was launched among the youth of Diaspora, and the
wedding ceremony of the first couple who responded to the program
took place in the capital of Armenia Yerevan.

According to the Press and Information Departement of the RA Ministry
of Diaspora, the goal of the program is to promote creation of new
Armenian families, preservation of traditions and customs of the
Armenian family, their taking roots in homeland, to contribute to the
strengthening of the Homeland-Diaspora relations, preservation of the
Armenian spirit, to secure the preservation and descent of Armenian
spiritual-religious and national values from one generation to another,
to contribute to the awakening of national self-consciousness of
the youth in Diaspora, bearing the influence of different cultures,
to encourage them in returning to Armenian roots and to promote the
pilgrimage of Diasporan Armenians to Armenia.

According to the Armenian tradition, after getting married in church
the newly married couple comes to the groom’s birthplace. Taking
into account the circumatance that the couple is from the Diaspora,
the RA Ministry of Diaspora was presented as a birthplace for them,
as the RA Ministry of Diaspora is announced as home for Diasporan
Armenians. The program was approved by Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglarian
and a decision was made to organize the solemn wedding ceremony at
Yerevan Mayor’s Office.

The official part of Diasporan Armenian couple’s wedding ceremony took
place at Yerevan Mayor’s Office on July 11. Minister Diaspora Hranush
Hakobian and Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglarian congratulated the newly
married couple and their relatives and wished them all the best.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

HIS GRACE BISHOP NAREG CONGRATULATES THE NEWLY APPOINTED DIOCESAN BISHOP OF
ANTWERP ON BEHALF OF THE ARMENIAN CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA

On the occasion of the appointment of Father Yohan Boni as Bishop of Antwerp
in Belgium his Holiness Aram I asked the Ecumenical Officer, Bishop Nareg
Alemezian to convey his blessings and good wishes personally to the new
Bishop of Antwerp.

Prior to his appointment as Diocesan Bishop, Father Boni was in charge of
Relations with Oriental Orthodox Churches at the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity in Vatican (Rome). During this period he worked
closely with the Catholicosate.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

NKR PRESIDENT: THE SPIRIT OF A UNIFIED VICTORY HAS MADE THE UNSHAKABLE WILL AND READINESS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NAGORNO KARABAGH REPUBLIC TO LIVE FREELY AND INDEPENDENTLY IN THEIR OWN LAND BE HEARD MORE AUDIBLE

ArmInfo
2009-07-10 16:10:00

ArmInfo. "I welcome cordially the participants of the conference
on the Artsakh issue and the Armenian-Turkish relations and put
special emphasize on the fact that it takes place in the Nagorno
Karabagh Republic. This representative conference intends wholesome
and comprehensive discussions of the issues on the agenda with
participation of attendees from Armenia, Diaspora and Artsakh, who
made national concerns of the Armenian people their daily life and
the essence of their very existence", NKR President Bako Sahakyan said
at the "Armenian-Turkish Relations and the Artsakh Issue" Conference
in Stepanakert, ArmInfo special correspondent in Stepanakert reports.

"Being very much aware that those present are competent and
professional people, I would like, nevertheless, to touch upon our
recent history. It is know that in this period of the modern history
of the Armenian people, Artsakh found itself in the frontline of the
liberation movement, giving a new impetus to the revival of national
consciousness and unity of all Armenians. Almost two decades have
passed since the world-spread Armenians putting aside ideological
and party discords, personal ambitions and priorities have stood
by the Artsakh people fighting for restoration of their rights and
justice. Unity became our first victory in this struggle.

It unified the will and spirit of the Armenian people at the
epoch-making and hard time, when Armenia having survived destructive
earthquake and the influx of tens of thousands refugees, was imposed
to the blockage and found itself on the verge of humanitarian
catastrophe. We, the people of Artsakh, will never forget all of
those who during the hard days of the Motherland where with us, in
our ancient land, where the fate of Artsakh was to be decided. The war
was not our choice; it was imposed on us in response to our peaceful
and civilized call for restoration of historical truth. Heavy and
unequal battles created our Defense Army, which in a very short period
of time carried out its sacred duty of defending Artsakh people and
statehood with flying colors. Each of you has personal contribution
to great and small, military and economic victories of Artsakh. And
this very spirit of a unified victory has made the unshakable will
and readiness of the people of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic to live
freely and independently in their own land be heard more audible. This
spirit predetermined our past, it determines the present and the
future of our people. On September 2, 1991, the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic was proclaimed. On 10 December of the same year the people
of Artsakh carried out a nation-wide referendum and announced their
decision to live in a free and sovereign country. Our position has
been is clear-cut and unchangeable. The independence of the Nagorno
Karabagh Republic is an accomplished fact and is not is not a subject
to discussions. Any attempt to present the Nagorno Karabagh Republic
ithin the frameworks of Azerbaijani territorial integrity is both
incomprehensible and unacceptable for us. This neglects natural
development of history and life, as well as contradicts the realities
of the past. Since the proclamation of independence we have stood
behind the path of our choice, successfully defending the borders of
Artsakh, building and strengthening our state, efficiently overcoming
difficulties on the way of recreating and developing the country. As
the result the world has been convinced that it deals with the
established state and society, which has all the necessary attributes
of statehood, embarked on the path of democracy. For this very reason
we do not consider the restoration of the full-fledged negotiation
format as an additional pretext to remind about our existence, but
because this format is indeed a deficient one. Artsakh, being the
main party to the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict, is now out of the
negotiations and we should restore this important principle. Without
the consent of the people of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic any
decision will be impossible to implement. We have reiterated many
times that we support equal participation of all parties in the
peaceful settlement of the Karabagh conflict. However, political
leadership of Azerbaijan has another vision and always speaks about
its would-be right to solve the conflict in a military way. We cannot
be indifferent towards the policy the neighboring state follows. The
authorities of Armenia and Artsakh have made many statements on the
impermissibility of the dissemination of hatred and militant rhetoric.

The people of Artsakh have gone through all the hardships of war
and are fully conscious of the price and importance of peace for
our region.

However, it does not mean that we are not ready to repel any
aggression of the enemy. As to the Armenian-Turkish relations then
this complex and multilevel issue touches upon both political and
economic spheres and to a great extend depends on some historical and
psychological factors, which exercise influence on political reality
and developments. In any case it is very much clear that any shift
in the Armenian-Turkish relations must not and cannot be implemented
to the prejudice of the Karabagh conflict settlement. Any attempts
to interconnect these two issues lying in different realms will
definitely lead to an impasse. Another important issue that touches
upon both the settlement of Artsakh issue and the Armenian-Turkish
relations is orderliness and unity of our people. Today we are much
more obliged to have a united front to address issues of pan-national
importance and assess the situation. This must be so not only by
words and viewpoints, but also y our united and joint approach and
towards solving issues we face.

That is true for Armenia, for the Diaspora and for Artsakh. We need
work that will unify the whole potential of the Armenian people thus
creating firm foundation for our struggle. From this very viewpoint
we rate high the undertaking of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
to hold this pan-Armenian conference in Artsakh, where we steadily
strengthen the independence reached at the cost of numerous victims
and much hardship. On this path we have already gained great and small
victories standing behind either successes or the issues still to be
solved. Only unity, deep comprehension of national goals and priorities
it will be possible to overcome difficulties and neutralize the threats
we face. Friends, I am confidant that combining efforts of Armenia,
Artsakh and the Diaspora we will be able to solve all problems, build
and make prosperous our two Armenian states and create worthy future
for the generations to come", B. Sahakyan said.

MANUK TOPUZYAN APPOINTED MEMBER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF ARMENIA

armradio.am
09.07.2009 11:30

According to President Serzh Sargsyan’s decree dated July 8, Manuk
Topuzyan was released from the position of the Adviser to the President
of the Republic of Armenia.

According to another presidential decree, Manuk Topuzyan was appointed
member of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia.