Author: Kalantarian Kevo

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN RECEIVED DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM BURNS

Panorama
Oct 20 2011
Armenia

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Deputy Secretary of State
William Burns.

Welcoming Mr. Burns, the President of Armenia noted that high-level
reciprocal visits testify to the ongoing dynamic Armenian-American
dialogue.

According to Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia has been resolute to strengthen
relations with the United States and views these relations as a
guarantee for the implementation in our country of the reforms aimed
at the economic development, strengthening of democracy and maintenance
of regional security.

President Sargsyan said that Armenia attaches also importance to the
US efforts as a Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at the peaceful
resolution of the NK conflict.

Noting that he was conducting one of his first visits overseas to
Armenia, the Deputy Secretary of State noted that it attests to the
priority the US leadership attaches to the region, and particularly to
Armenia and relations with Armenia. William Burns said that he would
do his best to further strengthen the Armenian-American relations.

The parties discussed also issues pertinent to bilateral, regional
and economic cooperation.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S CHIEF OF STAFF MUZZLES FREE PRESS IN AMERICA

October 19, 2011

The Southern California festivities in celebration of the 20th
anniversary of Armenia’s independence brought to Los Angeles Pres.

Serzh Sargsyan and his entourage, including Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian and Vigen Sargsyan then Deputy Chief of Staff of the
President.

During the social hour of a late September reception marking the
inauguration of the new building of the Consulate General of the
Republic of Armenia in Glendale, I was approached by a man in his
thirties and started talking to me. Before he went any further,
I introduced myself and asked him to do the same. He said he was
Vigen Sargsyan.

In an abrupt tone, he said: “It was with great displeasure that I
read your very, very repulsive article about me.”

I remembered well my article about his damaging statements on Armenian
territories in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh) during a 2010 conference
in Washington DC.

I replied: “But what I wrote is the truth about your statements,
Mr. Sargsyan!”

Shamelessly he answered: “Absolutely not! You have wrongly attributed
to me comments that I never made.”

I answered: “But I have the proof.”

At that very moment, a few men in black suits, looking like bodyguards,
approached me, stared at me, and then followed Mr. V.

Sargsyan to the exit door.

Back in March 2010, I wrote an article titled “Deputy Chief of Staff
to the President of Armenia, Vigen Sargsyan Undermines Armenia’s
National Security.”

I reported: “In February, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President
of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan visited the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, to discuss the
prospects and ‘potential benefits of normalization of relations
between Turkey and Armenia,’ according to the CSIS website. During the
question-and-answer session, in response to a question from Mr. Kazari
of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Washington, DC, Mr.

Sargsyan astonishingly said the following regarding the current
Armenian-Azeri border: ‘All those important parts of the borders can be
de-blocked. Our immediate borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan have
nothing to do with the territories around Nagorno Karabagh. … Now
as far as the occupation, our concerns are very much in favor [of] …

what is important [is that] the president of Armenia [Serzh Sargsyan],
who was the Minister of Defense of these territories, has always stated
that he does not think of these territories as historic Armenian
lands. He always stated that these territories have to return to
Azerbaijan when the settlement of Nagorno-Karabagh is found.'”

I also wrote: “Is Mr. V. Sargsyan aware that the territories
surrounding mountainous Artsakh have always been part of Armenia? The
now-liberated territories around Artsakh are part of the entire
Region of Artsakh that extends to the Kura River, just east of the
border between the Republic of Artsakh and the former Soviet Socialist
Republic of Azerbaijan. As Mr. V. Sargsyan should know, the Artsakh
Region along with Nakhitchevan was arbitrarily carved out of the
1918-1920 independent Democratic Republic of Armenia. These regions
were part of Armenia up until its takeover by the Soviet occupation
forces in November 1920.”

My article was based on the audio recording of
Mr. V. Sarsgyan’s anti-Armenia comments posted at
As of Tuesday October 18, the link to
the audio file was still operational. Use the following link:
()
Fast-forward to the last 5 minutes of his remarks. (Audio file icon is
located under the heading: “Audio: The Prospects for Armenia-Turkey
Normalization: The View from Yerevan.” Press on the “Download Audio”
icon to fast forward to the last five minutes of Sarsgyan’s official
presentation.)

In 2010, when I was writing the expose on Mr. V. Sargsyan’s remarks,
it never crossed my mind that the day would come when V. Sargsyan
would not only deny the recorded facts, but also would have the gull
to qualify a factual article as “baseless” and “repulsive”. An honest
leader would reexamine his fatally flawed position and would rectify
it for the common good of his people.

On the contrary, then Deputy Chief of Staff Mr. V. Sargsyan tried
to muzzle me as a member of the free press. Apparently the wide
circulation of my article in several languages, including English,
French, Russian and Armenian, kept Mr. V. Sargsyan preoccupied and
even troubled with the controversy sparked by his damaging remarks
in Washington. Several Azeris and Turks applauded his position,
and of course, Armenians lashed out at him for parroting the enemy’s
political line.

And now, making matters even more interesting, an explosive number
of media reports focused on the recent presidential decree promoting V.

Sargsyan to the rank of Chief of Staff of the President of Armenia.

Several media outlets unmasked V. Sargsyan as a hidden member
of the now-disgraced and defunct (“H.H.Sh.”) “Armenian National
Movement” Party that plundered Armenia under First President Levon
Ter-Petrossyan. No wonder he was a trusted assistant of Babken
Ararktsian – a “H.H.Sh.” leader!

Azatutyun.am disclosed: “Sargsian, who already served as acting chief
of the staff before the appointment, was a foreign policy adviser to
former parliament speaker Babken Ararktsian before studying at and
graduating from the U.S. Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 2000.”

To make matters even worse for V. Sargsyan, an anonymous letter was
published on several websites in Armenia exposing “V. Sargsyan’s
allegiance to foreign entities to the detriment of Armenia.”

Lragir.am News reported: “Vigen Sargsyan is the representative of the
Western stream. In this sense, perhaps it is worthwhile to remember
a letter sent by email to the Armenian media. Some of them published
this letter which presented Vigen Sargsyan as someone who works for
the United States. However, independent from this suspicious anonymous
letter, it is obvious that Vigen Sargsyan is a representative of the
so-called Western stream who now takes up the position of the chief
of staff.”

Has Pres. Sargsyan made matters even worse for his administration by
promoting an individual who muzzles the media?

Definitely.

Will Mr. V. Sargsyan add to Pres. Sargsyan’s political woes?

Absolutely.

PREMIER: ECONOMIC GROWTH IN ARMENIA EXPECTED TO COME CLOSE TO 5% THIS YEAR

/ARKA/
October 19, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 19. /ARKA/. Economic growth in Armenia is expected
to come close to 5% in 2011, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
said Tuesday as met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in St.

Petersburg, the Armenian government’s press office reported on
Wednesday.

The press office says that Armenia’s economy is recovering in the
recent two years after the global crisis, and the country recorded 2%
economic growth in 2010.

Speaking about Armenian-Russian relations, Sargsyan said that they
are developing properly.

“Russian companies feel secure in Armenia,” the press office quoted
him as saying. “Some 1,200 companies with Russian capital operate in
our country, and they are developing at satisfactory paces.”

The Armenian premier said that export capacity of Russian companies
operating in Armenia was growing, and investments of Russian companies
with large capital have reached high profitability.

“I want to stress that our joint projects are successful – there are
no unsuccessful programs,” he said.

Sargsyan thanked Russia’s government and personally Putin for $500
million lent to Armenia in 2009 for lessening adverse consequences
of the crisis.

He said $250 million of this loan has been targeted for construction
in quake-stricken areas.

“These financial resources contributed to economic growth in Armenia,
since this money was spent for construction,” he said.

The premier stressed also social significance of this support saying
“people moved from carriages and site huts to comfortable apartments”.

He added that the remaining $250 million was targeted for extending
loans to companies which faced financial difficulties.

ARMENIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER TO PARTICIPATE IN BSEC MEETING ON OCTOBER 19-20 IN MOSCOW

/ARKA/
October 19, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 19. /ARKA/. Armenian delegation on the head of
Transport and Communications Minister Manuk Vardanyan will participate
on October 19-20 in the meeting of working group on the issues of
transport of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), press-secretary
of the Ministry Susanna Tonoyan informed ARKA News Agency on Wednesday.

After the meeting of the working group, transport ministers of BSEC
member-countries will meet where issues of facilitation of cargo
transportation by car in Black Sea region, as well as pilot project
regarding permissions by BSEC will be discussed.

During the meeting, practical steps for further development of Black
Sea circular highway will also be discussed. It is planned to discuss
issues of harmonization and facilitation of transport legislation.

Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is an intergovernmental
organization joining 12 states. BSEC was established on May 1, 1999
on the basis of the agreement on Black Sea economic cooperation as of
June 25, 1992. Headquarters of the organization is located in Istanbul.

In BSEC are included Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece,
Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine, and
another 13 countries have status of observer yet.

AGREEMENT ON FREE TRADE ZONE PROMOTES THE GROWTH OF TRADE TURNOVER – ARMENIAN PREMIER

/ARKA/
October 19, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 19. /ARKA/. Armenia is largely interested in
signing agreement on CIS free trade zone which will contribute to the
increase of trade turnover in CIS countries, said Armenian Premier
Tigran Sargsyan yesterday evening in the joint press-conference of
the heads of governments of CIS countries.

Agreement on CIS free trade zone was signed on Tuesday in the result of
the meeting of the heads of governments of CIS countries. The document
assumes facilitation of legal bases of economic-trade relations between
countries joined to CIS, change of a number of comprehensive and about
100 bilateral documents regulating today the regime of free trade in
CIS territory.

“We must create modern platforms that will enable our economies to
resolve all issues of mutual interest. The signed agreement will be a
new incentive for integration processes and further economic growth of
our countries”, cited on Wednesday the words of the Armenian Premier
to ARKA News Agency in the press-service of the government.

According to him, signing of this document required political will
of the heads of governments of CIS countries. “I think that today is
a historic day which proves that CIS is moving forward in the right
direction”, he added.

All CIS countries signed the document except Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan
and Turkmenistan which, according to Prime Minister of Russia Putin
will consider possibility of joining them by the end of the year.

In CIS are included Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
and Ukraine.

ANOTHER 4 TO 5-POINT EARTHQUAKE REPORTED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 19, 2011 – 19:59 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A 4 to 5-point earthquake rocked Armenia on October
19, according to Armenian National Survey for Seismic Protection
(NSSP), with the epicenter 7 km south of Masis. Tremors were also
felt in Yerevan, Masis and Artashat.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, the
quake occurred in Armenia at 7:19 pm local time; the epicenter was
12 km southwest of Yerevan and 2 km notheast of Masis.

On October 14, an earthquake was reported, measuring 4-5 on Richter
scale, with the epicenter 10 km west of Garni and 3.5 magnitude.

BAKO SAHAKYAN MEETS RUSSIAN PHILANTHROPIST CONSTANTINE MANOUKYAN

Aysor.am
Wednesday,October 19

On 19 October President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan met
Russian philanthropist of Armenian origin Constantine Manoukyan.

Issues related to some programs to be carried out in the town of
Shoushi were discussed during the meeting.

Thereafter the President accompanied by the philanthropist and a
group of officials visited the town Shoushi and inspected on site
construction activities carried out there.

Having been in a new building intended for the ministry of culture
and youth affairs the President noted that it should correspond
to modern standards at the same time preserving its historical and
cultural architectural style, Central Information department of the
Office of the Artsakh Republic President reports.

SETTLEMENT IMITATION CONTINUES
Igor Muradyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 18:29:17 – 19/10/2011

The mass media informed that the Azerbaijani minister of foreign
affairs has announced that Azerbaijan still wants to work on the peace
agreement. “In order not to waste time, we think we need to start work
on the peace agreement. On the basis of issues agreed earlier so far,
it is possible to start preparation of the great peace agreement.”

It seems that the wedding was cancelled but the groom still has some
hope. At the same time, it is clear that the mediators continue to
imitate a process of settlement but now it is much more difficult to
generate scenarios of settlement because all the possibilities have
been used.

Certainly, the visit of the Deputy Secretary William Burns to Baku
was useful, and apparently Aliyev was made to understand that it is
better to continue imitation than to fight. Azerbaijan has apparently
appeared in a political deadlock, and its government understands
there are no political perspectives of solving the problem according
to the scenario which is closer to Azerbaijan’s interests. First
the Americans were happy about the failure of the Russian attempts
to solve the problem to their benefit, and then they understood that
they are losing the initiative because the French offered the conflict
sides a variant in the “real politik” style.

Even though France displays an aspiration to form the basis for its
geopolitics in the region, it is not responsible for the unfolding of
events to the extent the United States does. In case Turkey’s position
expands in the region, the United States will become suspicious,
which is unacceptable in any case.

However, Turkey’s policy has a secondary importance in the operations
of the United States in the South Caucasus. The United States have
settled it down that Turkey cannot interfere with the South Caucasus
and formats the role of Armenia acting as a partner in the policy
of constraining Turkey and as balance in the South Caucasus. Russia
keeps a distance, and it is time for “obligatory” solution of problems.

Azerbaijan was let know that there is no other way, and the Azerbaijani
government accepted this proposal – there is no other way out. No
great agreement is concerned in reality. Simply another scenario of
imitation is proposed. However, this time the game will not be on
the side of Azerbaijan and an interesting game has been thought out
together with Armenia, which presents a fundamental re-recruitment.

The political government of Armenia is intrigued, and possibly lost,
but the proposal was accepted, and there are some illusions that it is
possible to conduct a multi-vector policy. In fact, multi-vector policy
is a beautiful diplomatic bluff. The Russian battalion may take part
in the next military parade again but it does not settle most issues.

Serzh Sargsyan is the main political intrigue in the South Caucasus.

In fact, he could be Saakashvili’s rival. How long this intrigue will
last depends on the goals of the United States in the South Caucasus.

There can be three scenarios. The United States involves the political
government of Armenia in its goals deep enough and then offers an
absolutely unacceptable variant of solution of the Karabakh problem.

The United States forms a “small arena” for involving in its plans not
only Armenia but also Russia for the solution of its problems in the
regions with the help of the CSTO and the Russian-Armenian military
union. In a certain stage the United States disclaims responsibility
and limits its military and political presence in the region.

In any case, there is time to get some privileges, and this chance
should not be missed. For the first time, such a chance occurred
during the meeting of Bill Clinton with Robert Kocharyan in 1999 (some
time before Clinton left the office of president) but this chance was
missed, and the Americans took this as Robert Kocharyan’s reluctance
to promote relations, and simply there was lack of understanding of
the meaning of this proposal which was done then. The next U.S.
administration had other priorities.

RECONSTRUCTION OF HOTEL DVIN TO BE FINALIZED BY 2014

/ARKA/
October 19, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 19. / ARKA /. The reconstruction of Hotel Dvin in
Yerevan will be finalized by 2014, Arman Sahakyan, head of a government
department in charge of state-owned property, said today.

According to Sahakyan, hotel owners had contractual obligations before
the government of Armenia, but the contract specified only the size
of the proposed investment, and did not provide any penalties for
violation of obligations.

“We recently talked to the owners of the hotel. The contract has
been revised, it stipulates now an amount of fines in the event of a
default – 12% per annum of the expected size of the investment,” he
said, stressing that the total investment is estimated at $10 million.

In 2003 Hotel Dvin was sold to the Caucasian Communication Group.

Among its owners, as media reports claimed, was a famous Russian pop
singer Iosif Kobzon. The buyers promised to make major investments in
the hotel to rebuild it intro a 5 star hotel. However, no investment
has been made. If the pledged investment is not made before 2014 the
ggovernment reserves the right to confiscate it by taking the case
to court.

HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN: ARMENIAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS ARE AT HIGH LEVEL

Noyan Tapan
19.10.2011

On October 17 during his working visit to Bern the RA NA President
Hovik Abrahamyan met the Presidents of the Iranian and Kuwaiti
Parliaments.

The first meeting was with Ali Larijani, President of the IRI
Parliament.

Hovik Abrahamyan has noted that today we can document without
hesitation that the Armenian-Iranian relations are at high level, and
continue to develop in the atmosphere of mutual confidence. According
to his conviction, the cooperation of the legislative bodies of
Armenia and Iran also greatly contributes to the formation of warm
relations between the two countries. In this context the activity of
the friendship groups created in the two parliaments was emphasized.

Ali Larijani has documented with joy that after his official visit to
Armenia both the inter-parliamentary cooperation and the bilateral
cooperation in different directions has intensified, a number of
economic programmes and arrangements made during the visit are
being implemented. According to the conviction of the sides, the
cooperation of the two countries has also a considerable potential
in the economic sphere.

During the meeting the presidents of the two parliaments also discussed
the regional developments, touched upon the problem of the NK conflict
settlement, the Armenian-Turkish relations, stressed the regional
stability, peace and security.

On the same day RA NA Hovik Abrahamyan met Jaseem Muhammad Al-Kharafi,
President of the Kuwaiti Parliament.

The NA President has noted that Armenia emphasizes the advancement of
multilateral relations with the Arab countries, including Kuwait. In
the NA President’s word, the two peoples are connected with each other
with the friendship of centuries old history, which serves as a basis
for the dynamic development of the inner-state relations, and the
vivid example of which is the RA Embassy functioning in Kuwait, which
plays an important role in the enlargement and enforcement of bilateral
relations. Hovik Abrahamyan highlighted the development and activation
of inter-parliamentary cooperation also in international structures.

The President of Kuwaiti Parliament also emphasized the development of
inter-parliamentary ties in strengthening the relations between the two
countries. He invited Hovik Abrahamyan to Kuwait on an official visit.

In the course of the meeting the sides has also touched upon other
issues, emphasized the activation of trade-economic relations, the
implementation of certain programmes, documenting that a big unused
potential is in place.

According to the Public Relations and Media Department of the NA,
on October 18 in Geneva the RA NA President Hovik Abrahamyan in the
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia met Vardan Srmakesh, Swiss Armenian
businessman, benefactor, President of “Franck Mueller” Company.

The President of the Parliament handed over the state award to Ms.

Srmakesh granted by the RA President Serzh Sargsyan. Vardan Srmakesh
has been awarded 1st degree Medal “For the Services rendered to the
Motherland” by the RA President’s decree on the 20th anniversary of
the RA Independence for the weighty contribution to the preservation
of Armenian identity, services rendered to the motherland, as well
as greatly promoting the reinforcement of friendship between the RA
and foreign countries.

Hovik Abrahamyan congratulated Mr. Srmakesh on the occasion of being
granted the high state award and emphasized his patriotic activity
and contribution to the strengthening of the Armenian-Swiss friendly
relations. Vardan Srmakesh thanked him for highly appreciating his
activity and noted that from now on he would do his best to be useful
to Armenia.