Author: Kajoyan Gevork

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: RUSSIA IS DOING EVERYTHING DEPENDING ON IT TO HELP RESOLVE THE KARABAKH CONFLICT IN BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE LIVING IN KARABAKH

ArmInfo
2009-11-18 11:46:00

ArmInfo. On its behalf Russia is doing everything depending on it to
help resolve the Karabakh conflict in behalf of the people living
in Karabakh, official representative of Russian Foreign Ministry,
Andrey Nesterenko, said at yesterday’s briefing in Moscow.

‘This is not a new problem. It has many sides, it is sensitive and
full of emotions and the memory of the tragic events. On our behalf,
taking part in the negotiating process we are doing everything possible
to reach the result expected by everybody’, – Nesterenko said.

PRIVATE TRANSFERS TO ARMENIA FOR 2009 Q3 UP 37%

ArmInfo
2009-11-18 15:00:00

ArmInfo. Private transfers to Armenia via commercial banks through
the international payment systems were up 37% (by 28 billion drams)
for 2009 Q3 versus Q2 and were down 24% (by 34 billion drams) as
compared to 2008 Q3 and totaled 102 billion drams; says the report
of the Central Bank of Armenia on the payment systems for 2009 Q3.

Private transfers via commercial banks for 2009 Q3 totaled 112.8
billion drams (445166 transfers), which exceeded the money transfers
from Armenia ten times. Money transfers to Armenia were made via
eighteen international payment systems: UniStream, Anelik, Migom,
Money Gram and others. The average size of a transfer to Armenia
totaled 253,000 drams in the 2009 Q3, which was by 35,000 drams higher
than for the Q2.

Payments to individuals via correspondent accounts of commercial banks
total 91 billion growing 126% versus Q2 (by 51 billion drams) and 78%
(by 40 billion drams) versus Q3 2008. The average size of such payment
grew by 2 million drams totaling 3.6 million drams. Transfers from
Armenia via correspondent accounts by individuals totaled 79 billion
drams falling 0.7% (by 0.6 billion drams) versus 2008 Q3. Transfers
to Armenia through interbank settlement systems (SWIFT, Teleks, fax)
totaled 765 billion drams 2009 Q3 (45646 transfers) with an average
transfer totaling 17 million drams growing 43% per year.

Local payment organizations transferred 1.2 billion drams for Q3
including 1 billion drams due to membership in international payment
systems. Transfers from Armenia via these organizations totaled 0.1
billion drams. The average size of a transfer to Armenia via these
organizations totaled 89,000 drams falling by 19,000 drams versus
the same period of 2008.

ASHOT GRIGORIAN PARTICIPATES IN EUROPEAN ENERGY FORUM HELD IN BUDAPEST

Noyan Tapan
Nov 18, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The European
Energy Forum under the high patronage of Hungarian President Laszlo
Solyom is being held in Budapest. Among the issues under dicussion
are Europe’s energy security, the transit supply of gas and oil
from Central Asia and Azerbaijan to Europe, as well as Nabuko, South
Stream and some other projects. Delegations of European countries,
Russia, Turkey are taking an active part in the forum. The Chairman
of the Forum of Armenian Unions in Europe Ashot Grigorian is also
participating in the event. He informed Noyan Tapan that in case
of the Armenian-Turkish border’s opening, he intends to attend the
discussion of the issue of making Armenia a transit country for
power-bearing substances. A. Grigorian expressed an opinion that
the Budapest forum may produce some results in terms of settling the
Europe-Russia energy dispute.

ILHAM ALIYEV NOT GOING TO STOP MILITARY RHETORIC

ArmInfo
2009-11-18 15:27:00

ArmInfo. "We are in a negotiating process, but we should be ready to
liberate our lands by force at any time," President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev said when speaking at the official opening of a nine-storey
residential building for IDPs in Baku. The economic situation in
Azerbaijan is improving and "this gap will grow further" with the
passage of time, Aliyev said. Nevertheless, the Azerbaijani authorities
pay considerable attention to strengthening military potential.

He described Armenia’s "continuing aggression against Azerbaijan as
an unbearable situation and the greatest injustice and crude violation
of human rights".

"Yet the world community is indifferent to this. Though international
organizations have adopted the relevant resolutions, they are not
executed. In such conditions, these resolutions are senseless.

Unfortunately, the norms of international law are crudely violated
in the world and, as a result, Azerbaijani lands remain occupied for
many years," the president said.

ARMENIAN STUDENTS OPPOSED TO ABOLITION OF MONTHLY STIPENDS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.11.2009 19:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At November 17 conference RA education minister
Armen Ashotyan said that the ministry of education intends to cancel
the monthly student stipend, amounting 5000 AMD since 1990’s.

According to him, this amount will go to introduction of student
loans to become available for a wide range of students.

PanARMENIAN.Net reporter asked students of the major educational
institution of the country – Yerevan State University (YSU) to comment
on this decision.

"Students’ stipend in 5000 AMD does not cover even the most basic
costs a student has, although virtually it is designed exactly for
that purpose. But in any case, the stipend is meant to encouraging
students, no matter the size of the sum. The stipend became a part
of traditional life of a student. Besides, stipend is not a loan for
students, it is monthly donation, and turning it to a credit program
will not be equivalent for students. I am against the abolition
of grants, because they are the first own money of the student,
and if it does not cover anything, better make sure to turn it into
stipends, that will be equal to minimal cost of transport and meal,
" Ani Papoyan, YSU student said.

The Minister of Education and Science of Armenia Armen Ashotyan
promised a program with mechanisms to provide students with loans.

However, the promise is not yet assuring in the future productivity
of the program. A monthly stipend has just become a tradition for
all students, and it serves as a motovation to advance academically.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY IS GOING TO COMMENT ON ITS OFFICIAL’S AMBIGUOUS STATEMENT CONCERNING ARMENIAN-TURKISH DIALOGUE

ArmInfo
2009-11-18 20:02:00

ArmInfo. During a briefing on Nov 17 official representative of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Andrey Nesterenko said
that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts might be on the agenda of the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue.

He said: "As far as I know, during their talks Yerevan and Ankara
discussed questions concerning Nagorno-Karabakh. It seems that this
problem is being considered in this process. Let’s hope that all
this will be resolved in line with the decisions of international
organizations and will meet the expectations of all the region’s
states."

In response to ArmInfo’s request to comment on Nesterenko’s words,
the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said
that today they will publish a statement concerning the words of
their official representative.

Earlier, Russian officials said that the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement
and the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks are two different processes.

NAME CHANGE REFERENDA TO BE HELD IN 2010 AS PART OF INITIATIVE

Today’s Zaman
Nov 18 2009
Turkey

Civil society organizations demanded that the name of Tunceli be
reverted back to Dersim. The city’s name was changed in 1937 in a
bid to remove all traces of the Dersim Rebellion. However, many civil
society organizations and city residents continued to call the city
Dersim despite the official change.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, which began
a parliamentary discussion on the country’s democratization package
despite staunch opposition from the Republican People’s Party (CHP)
and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has decided to pursue the
initiative unilaterally.

The government finds support from the Democratic Society Party’s (DTP)
unreliable. Unable to take bold steps to determine the content of the
package due to resistance from the opposition parties, the government
will disclose the main features of the first stage of the package,
which will go into effect in 2010, in Parliament. One of the plans
in the first stage is to hold referenda on restoring the original
names of settlements whose names were changed during the single-party
period. There are currently 28 applications at the Interior Ministry
requesting referenda to change the names of settlements.

The ministry will evaluate each request and will demand a study into
whether the request reflects the will of the region. For example, a
request to restore an Armenian name to a settlement where there are
no Armenians will not be considered. If the request is compatible
with the demographics of the area, the Interior Ministry will hold
a referendum in that area and the name of the settlement will be
determined according to the results of the referendum.

The Interior Ministry, which circumscribed the scope of the initiative
due to opposition from the CHP and the MHP, has excluded items that
require constitutional amendments. The AK Party remains adamant about
pursuing the initiative despite tension in Parliament on Tuesday when
deputies convened to discuss the initiative.

According to the Interior Ministry’s plan, steps that can be taken
through administrative decisions will be implemented first. Issues
that require changes to bylaws and statutes will be put into effect
toward mid-2010 and items that require constitutional amendments will
be addressed last.

According to a study ordered by the ministry, close to 15,000
settlement names have been changed since the early years of the
republic. The ministry, which will compare studies conducted by
various universities on this topic with the data in state archives,
estimates that close to 100 settlement names could be changed in 2010.

With the government planning to focus on referenda to change
settlement names next year, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
state ministers will try to explain the democratic initiative package
to the public in 2010.

What does the package include?

The first stage of the democratic initiative package was also put
together by the Interior Ministry. According to information AK Party
executives gave Today’s Zaman, the government will be particularly
cautious about keeping all steps related to the initiative within
the framework of the first three articles of the Turkish Constitution.

Turkish will continue to be the official language of Turkey, however,
obstacles related to the use of other languages and dialects will be
removed. An amendment will be made to the Radio and Television Supreme
Council (RTUK) Law to remove the time restrictions on broadcasting
in Kurdish and private television and radio stations will be allowed
to broadcast in Kurdish. While public education in other languages
will not be allowed, obstacles to learning native languages will be
removed. Political parties will be allowed to campaign in different
languages and the Religious Affairs Directorate will release a
Kurdish translation of the Holy Quran soon. Steps will be taken
to ensure that people who fled Turkey after the Sept. 12, 1980,
military coup and were stripped of their Turkish citizenship will
have their citizenship restored. People with Kurdish roots who lost
their citizenship rights will be given the right to become Turkish
citizens upon the Interior Ministry’s offer, provided that they were
never involved in terrorism or armed demonstration.

There will not be a general amnesty for members of terrorist
organizations, but there will be abatements for prisoners as well
as those who are still in the mountains. The first goal is to disarm
those in the mountains. Amendments will be made to Article 216 of the
Turkish Penal Code (TCK) to expand the scope of freedom of expression,
and precautionary measures will be taken to prevent gaps that could
lead to hate crimes.

The Makhmur refugee camp in northern Iraq will be vacated with the
cooperation of the United Nations and the Iraqi government, and some
6,000 refugees will be returned to Turkey. Steps will be taken to
ensure that the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) does not
use the camp.

"I AM PROUD OF MY LAST NAME- KHUBESERIAN…"

Noyan Tapan
17.11.2009

"He is not just a talented image-maker. Charlie is a wonderful artist
who feels the "material" like nobody else." Jean-Paul Belmondo

Charlie Chaplin, Sasha Gitri, Jean Marais, Anthony Quinn, Beth Davis,
Natalie Wood, Robert Ossein, Morris Chevalier, Jean-Paul Belmondo,
Brigitte Bardot, Ava Gardner, Daniel Darie, Jane Fonda, Olivia
de Havilland, Annie Girardo, Monica Vitti, Jacklin Bisset, Alain
Delon…These and many other movie stars have trusted highly-acclaimed
image-maker of French cinema, Charlie Khubeserian, 78. He has been the
image-maker for many films, including Claude Shabrol’s "Doctor Popaul"
(1971), Alan Rene’s "Stavinski", Claude Zidi’s "Recruits go to war"
(1974), Philippe de Broca’s "Incorrigible" (1975), Anri Vernyo’s
"Horror in the city" (1975), David Hamilton’s "Bilitis" (1977), George
Lotner’s "Police or wretch?" (1979), Jack Dera’s "Secondary" (1983)
and "Lonely" (1987), Desmond Davis’s "Camil" (1984), Guy Hamilton’s
"Try this on for size" (1989), "Claude Le Lush’s "Les Miserables"
(1995), Patris Le Cont’s "One chance for both" (1998) and other motion
pictures and television series…

Charles or Garbis Khubeserian was 17 years old when his father advised
him to ask Paris-based Armenian actor and image-maker Asho Shahkhatun
to teach him how to become an image-maker. The prominent master
of image-making let his fellow young Armenian in on the secrets of
image-making and in 1951 Shahkhatun praised Khubeserian as he talked
about his work during the motion picture "The person who says no".

During film production, young actor Olivie Mato changed his persona
and turned into a 68-year old man at the end of the movie.

Khubeserian progressed and reached fame in the film industry. He
has his own methods and his images are used in theater, cinema and
daily life…

In 1997 Khubeserian released his memoir entitled "My life without
image-making" with the preface by his close friend, Jean-Paul
Belmondo. The book became a bestseller and in 2002, Khubeserian
released his next book entitled "Charlie Khubeserian: the Armenian from
De Gaul to Belmondo". Belmondo donated one of his pictures to Charlie
as a joke with the words reading: "To the king of image-making. Your
friend forever, king of impersonation J. P.

Belmondo."

"Armenians Today": In show-business they say: "If you want to know
the secrets of an actor, ask his image-maker." Is that true?

Charlie Khubeserian: Image-makers have a huge impact in America and it
seems that they are the actors’ sponsors, but that’s not the case in
France. When Claudette Colberry was asked the reason for her success,
she said that her image-maker can give the answer to that question.

Beth Davis said the same about me. She wanted to take me to America
with her, but she asked me if I could work without Belmondo. I was
forced to turn her down. I had prepared artificial eyelashes for her
and she took them to America. Then, I found out that she had been
buried with those eyelashes. This is both pleasing and sad. I was very
close with Beth Davis. She had worked with many famous image-makers,
but she trusted me very much. Actors usually don’t like it when
people touch their faces. Beth Davis didn’t tell me what to do. She
just closed her eyes and after opening them, said "Oh my God, what
a beautiful face!" She is the actress who I remember the most in
my life."

"Armenians Today": Which actors have you enjoyed working with the
most and which have you hated working with the most?

C. K.: I have enjoyed working with Belmondo the most. I don’t feel
like I’m working with him. Working means doing your job and getting
paid. But working with Belmondo is like taking a vacation. We laugh
together very often. I hated working with actress Emanuel Riva during
the production of the film "Hirosima, my love".

"Armenians Today": You have worked with political figures as well.

C. K.: We were shooting the film "Sirano de Berzerak" with Daniel
Sorano and we were told that Charles de Gaul’s personal image-maker
had died. Representatives from his office came and said that they had
to choose from five image-makers and that one of us would receive
a notice, if selected…One day, they called me to Chans Elise. I
thought it was another one of Belmondo’s jokes. But when I went
to the office, I found out that I had been selected to be Charles
de Gaul’s personal image-maker. I was given a special card and the
police honored me when they saw that card. I was de Gaul’s personal
image-maker for seven years until his death, although I only worked
with two times. The first time I was with him during film production
in Africa and then I received a call to work with the president. I
returned to France, worked with de Gaul for eight minutes and left
for Africa again. After the second time, de Gaul died. De Gaul loved
Armenians. He talked about Armenians as a pure and brave nation. I
have had touching and important meetings with three great people in
my life, including Charles de Gaul, Beth Davis and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

"Armenians Today": So, Belmondo also played a role in your life?

C. K.: He played a very important role. He is like my brother. I will
bring one example: after my only daughter and her husband died in a
car accident 15 days after their wedding, Beldmono was by my side. He
had just gone on vacation to South Africa, but his mother called
and told him that something bad had happened to Charlie. Belmondo
immediately came back. That was where the strength of our friendship
lied and it was then that he realized that he had to be by my side
to help me not break down and continue to live and work.

"Armenians Today": You came to Armenia in 2004.

C. K.: When I came to Armenia, I didn’t want to stay at the hotel in
my country and lived with one of the families…I will never forget
what I experienced in Armenia. I was born in France and I am also
French, but my love and heart are with the Armenian people. I am
proud of my last name-Khubeserian. Armenians are a pure and brave
nation. My family experienced hardships in Constantinople. During
the massacres, the Jews kept my mother, grandmother and aunt in a
basement. It is a painful story that I will never forget. I grew up
by cutting and keeping every article about Armenians. I am currently
interested in Karabakh, our relations with Azerbaijan…I always kept
a handkerchief with me in Yerevan because I used to cry a lot. It
was as if I was reborn and recognized life. I was born in France,
but my heart is Armenian. Armenians must live well…

MINE SPOTTED NEAR ARMENIAN NPP

news.am
Nov 16 2009
Armenia

14:12 / 11/16/2009Three days ago, a mine was spotted in Arshaluys
village of Armavir marz, about 300 meters off the Armenian nuclear
power plant. The Armavir region rescue service and NPP management
arrived on the scene. RA Defense Ministry and National Security
Council were informed of the incident.

The mine cleaning officers took the mine to a safe place.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Nov 13 2009

Protocols allow Armenia to get tough with Azerbaijan: MP

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 13 / Trend News H.Nasibova /

The signing of the Turkish-Armenian protocols allows Yerevan to take a
tougher stance on Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani MP Ganira Pashayeva said at
the 21st-Century University in Ankara at an event dedicated to
Azerbaijani-Turkish relations.

"The signing of the protocols will allow Armenia to have a tougher
stance on Azerbaijan," the MP said.

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.

Turkey and Armenia in the talks mediated by Switzerland reached an
agreement to launch "domestic political consultations" Aug. 31 to sign
the "Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and
Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations," the Turkish
Foreign Ministry reported.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

According to Pashayeva, Armenia expects an even greater concession
from Azerbaijan after signing these protocols.

Unfortunately, Yerevan holds a strong "trump card," as the country
occupies Azerbaijani lands.

Azerbaijan’s trump card was that so far the Turkish-Armenian border
has been closed, which struck a severe blow to the Armenian economy,
she said.

According to the MP, the Ankara-Yerevan protocols deprived Azerbaijan
of this trump card.

Moscow is interested in opening the Turkey-Armenia border to improve
the economic situation in Armenia, she added.

Pashayeva said Azerbaijan has two choices – to apply military or
diplomatic pressure.

"The probability of war is not great. But in terms of diplomatic
pressure, this is even more difficult after the signing of the
Ankara-Yerevan protocols," she said.

After signing the Ankara-Yerevan protocols, Turkey said it will not
open its borders until Azerbaijani lands have been de-occupied.
However, no documents were issued supporting these claims.

Today Ankara hosted an event dedicated to Turkish-Azerbaijani
relations. Turkish intellectuals and Azerbaijani MPs Ganira Pashayeva
and Rabiyat Aslanova attended the meeting.