Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER INVITED TO KUWAIT

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 19, 2011 – 14:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – During his working visit to Bern, Armenian parliament
speaker Hovik Abrahamyan met with his Iranian and Kuwaiti counterparts,
Ali Larijani and Jassem Mohammad Al-Kharafi on October 17.

During the meeting with Mr. Larijani, the intensified Armenia-Iran
interparliamentary as well as economy cooperation was mutually
stressed, with the parties further focusing on Karabakh settlement,
Armenia-Turkey ties, regional security issues.

As Mr. Abrahamyan stressed at the meeting with Mr. Al-Kharafi,
Armenia values the development of ties with Arab world. Kuwaiti
parliament speaker noted the role of interparliamentary ties in the
strengthening of bilateral relations, further inviting Mr. Abrahamyan
for an official visit.

The parties further dwelled on intensification of trade and economy
ties, parliamentary press service reported.

WORLD POPULATION TO HIT THE 7 BILLION MARK IN UPCOMING FEW DAYS
Anna Nazaryan

“Radiolur”
19.10.2011 15:49

The world population will hit the 7 billion mark in a few days and
will exceed 8 billion in 14 years. The growth of population will
affect global economy, and governments of all countries must be able
to take measures to implement a right policy.

Despite the growth of world population, population decline is
observed in our region: ageing, fertility, mortality and migration
trends interweave to form an heterogeneous demographic picture,
Thea Fierens, Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
of the UN Population Fund, told a press conference in Yerevan today.

“The population decline in Armenia is caused not only by the low birth
rate, but also migration,” said Anatoly Vishnevsky, Director of the
Institute of Demography of the Moscow Higher School of Economics.

A three-day regional expert meeting titled “~SBillion: Balance, Rights
and Equity” kicked off in Armenia today and will run to 21 October.

The United Nations Population Fund, has brought together some of
the most reputed international demographers to debate on the role of
Eastern Europe and Central Asia in a world of 7 Billion people and on
what countries in the region can do to address their population-related
concerns.

ARMENIAN NEWSPAPER EDITORS URGE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO SUSPEND APPLICATION OF LIBEL LAW

epress.am
10.19.2011

Amendments to the RA Civil Code (Article 1087.1) which decriminalized
libel have become a tool that prevents freedom of speech and the
practical application of constitutional norms to seek, receive and
impart information, say editors of 8 Armenian newspapers in a statement
issued today.

“Lawsuits are launched with increasing frequency against print media,
their main purpose being to suspend newspapers’ activities at the
cost of huge fines or to impose internal rules of censorship.

“We, the undersigned editors of newspapers published in Armenia,
consider the provisions of RA Civil Code Article 1087.1 and their
judicial application to be unconstitutional, their aim being to
deprive Armenian citizens of information print alternatives.

“Considering that the Human Rights Defender has appealed to the
Constitutional Court with the request to decide whether RA Civil Code
Article 1087.1 corresponds to RA Constitution Article 14, Article 27,
Section 1, 2 and 3, and Article 43, we urge the Constitutional Court
to implement measures to suspend the practical application of the
disputed article in the Civil Code prior to making a final decision.

“Let us also emphasize that we are prepared to present concrete
proposals to the proper bodies through authorized persons for
overcoming the current situation.

“At the same time we declare that irrespective of judicial and other
kinds of persecutions, we will remain committed to our professional
debt to providing information to readers and will continue to fight for
the protection of freedom of speech, as well as the the constitutional
right to seek, receive and impart information,” reads the statement
signed by the following editors:

Aram Abrahamyan, Aravot Arman Babajanyan, Jamanak Anna V. Hakobyan,
Haykakan Jamanak Shogher Matevosyan, Chorrord Inqnishkhanutyun Armine
Ohanyan, Hraparak Satik Seyranyan, 168 Zham Taguhi Tovmasyan, Joghovurd
Bagrat Yesayan, Yerkir

TENS OF THOUSANDS RALLY IN ALEPPO TO SUPPORT ASSAD

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 19, 2011 – 16:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Syrian state television is showing tens of thousands
rallying in a major city in a demonstration of support for the
country’s embattled President Bashar Assad.

The pro-regime gathering in Aleppo comes a week after a similar rally
in the capital, Damascus.

Damascus and Aleppo are the largest cities in Syria and economic
powerhouses. The regime is counting on their support to halt the
momentum of a 7-month-old uprising.

Also Wednesday, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said pro-government gunmen killed two people in the restive city of
Homs, The Associated Press reported.

The UN says more than 3,000 people have been killed in a crackdown
on the uprising and international pressure is building on Assad to
step down.

EXPERT NOTES SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN AZERI RHETORIC

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 19, 2011 – 13:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The director of Caucasus Institute commented on
recent changes in Azeri rhetoric at a news conference in Yerevan.

As Alexander Iskandaryan noted, “Baku’s threats of renewed war changed
into Azerbaijan’s insinuating Armenia and Artsakh as a serious threat,
necessitating construction of a wall to “protect Azeri snipers.”

Dwelling on the actual possibility for Azerbaijan to restart a war,
Iskandayan noted, “I share the views of military and political experts
who never took Baku’s threats seriously. And neither does Azerbaijan.”

“Current situation does not suggest a possibility of a war,” Armenian
expert concluded.

Azerbaijan is planning on construction of a ‘protective wall’ at the
line of contact with NKR. According to Azeri media, a wall, 700 meters
long and 3 meters tall, was already built near the village of Chyragly,
bordering with Martakert Province.

Azerbaijan has been considering construction of a wall “to protect
itself from Armenian snipers” since 2006.

LEVON ANANYAN SAYS IF POLITICAL FIGURES DO NOT FOLLOW INTELLECTUALS SO MUCH THE WORSE

ARMENPRESS
OCTOBER 19, 2011
YEREVAN

The intellectual always had a role and significance in formation of
public ideas but today they do not implement their role, which means
that something has gone wrong, Chairman of the Union of Armenian
Writers Levon Ananyan told a press conference today, adding that the
society is divided and the intellectual fail to guide the people,
form opinion.

“The situation is alarming as the intellectuals are also divided,”
Ananyan said, convincing that the role of intellectuals must be
decisive not only in inner-political issues but in the foreign
political life as well.

“The ideal of our freedom must become the basis of international
recognition through them,” he pointed out.

Referring to the claims that today the political figures do not follow
the views of intellectuals, Ananyan said: “So much the worse.”

As to the necessity of translated literature, the chairman of the
union said that he highly values its necessity as the literature is
not for inner consumption only.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: TURKISH GOVERNMENT UNABLE TO EXPRESS POLITICAL COMMITMENT

Panorama
Oct 19 2011
Armenia

“The issue of Armenian-Turkish mending relations cannot be assessed
from the context of bilateral economic or political relations,”
said President Serzh Sargsyan in an interview with Russian “Expert”
magazine.

President has said it’s not reasonable or rational to have closed
borders with a neighbor state being guided by the principle of iron
curtains.

“The international community also shares the same viewpoint, and
has enthusiastically accepted our initiative. But, regretfully, the
Turkish government has been unable to express a political commitment
and lead the process to its logical end. It’s obvious, that the both
parties would gain if a positive outcome was materialized. But it
would first of all contribute to the establishment of a more developed,
dynamic regional space,” said President of Armenia.

ECHR FORTHCOMING JUDGMENTS INCLUDE TANER AKCAM VS. TURKEY CASE

Panorama
Oct 19 2011
Armenia

“Ermenihaber.am” news site informs the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) is supposed to release on October 25 its judgment on Taner
Akcam, Turkish historian, vs. Ankara case.

ECHR posted in its forthcoming Grand Chamber judgments page that the
applicant, Altug Taner Akcam, is a Turkish and German national who was
born in 1953 and lives in Ankara. A professor of history, he researches
and publishes extensively on the historical events of 1915 concerning
the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire. Relying on Article 10
(freedom of expression), he alleges that he lives in constant fear of
investigation and prosecution1 for his views on the Armenian issue. He
notably submits a report by the European Commission of 2008 according
to which 257 such cases were forwarded by the Turkish courts to the
Ministry of Justice for review.

The news site predicts that the court will satisfy Akcam’s case.

LITHUANIA’S ACME COMPUTER COMPONENTS BUYS ARMENIA’S MAXTRONIC – DAILY

Baltic News Service
October 17, 2011 Monday 6:27 AM EET

VILNIUS, Oct 17, BNS – Lithuania’s computer component wholesaler
Acme Computer Components (ACC) has purchased Armenia’s networking
equipment wholesaler Maxtronic for an undisclosed amount of money,
the business daily Verslo Zinios reported on Monday.

By expanding its product range, ACC expects to turn Maxtronic, which
has until now only represented the Taiwanese networking equipment
provider D-Link in Armenia, into the Caucasian country’s largest
computer equipment wholesaler in two to three years’ time, it wrote.

ACC Director Regimantas Buozius said that the company, which started
its business in the Baltic countries, Georgia, Belarus and the Russian
exclave of Kaliningrad “from scratch”, decided to acquire an operating
wholesaler in Armenia to make things faster.

“Our previous experience in the Caucasus shows that an acquisition is
a faster way of creating sales channels and working with new suppliers
than starting a brand new business,” Buozius said.

“Also, the situation in the Caucasus and neighboring regions is
similar to what we hade in the first half of the past decade, when
companies had both wholesale and retail operations. In Armenia, we
found a company that had only wholesale operations. Besides, Maxtronic
itself was looking for a buyer. So we decided that it would be faster
for us to develop additional products on the existing structure and
base (around 200 customers),” he said.

ACC posted 270 million litas (EUR 78.26 mln) in consolidated revenues
for the three quarters of this year. It is targeting annual revenue
growth of 35 percent, to 430 million litas, this year and of up to
20 percent next year.

-EBRD BOARD DIRECTORS VISIT ARMENIA; CONSULTATIONS TO INFORM NEW COUNTRY STRATEGY

ENP Newswire
October 17, 2011 Monday

Release date- 17102011 – A delegation from the EBRD’s Board of
Directors, which represents the Bank’s shareholders, will visit
Armenia from October 17-21.

The visit is part of a regular series of consultations that enable
EBRD Board Directors to obtain current information on developments
in the countries where the Bank is active.

Representatives of the EBRD Board on this visit include:

Jerome Baconin, France Kurt Bayer,
Austria/Israel/Cyprus/Malta/Kazakhstan/Bosnia and Herzegovina Ole
Blondal, Denmark/Ireland/Lithuania Gianluca Grandi, Italy Ole
Hovland, Norway/Finland/Latvia Herbert Junk, Germany Jan Maas,
Netherlands/Mongolia/FYR Macedonia Pedro Moriyon, Spain/Mexico

During the visit, the EBRD Board Directors will meet Serzh Sargsyan,
President of the Republic of Armenia; Tigran Sargsyan, Prime Minister
of the Republic of Armenia; Tigran Davtyan, Minister of the Economy
of the Republic of Armenia; Arthur Javadyan, Chairman of the Central
Bank of Armenia and other senior government officials.

The EBRD delegation will also hold meetings with members of the
business and diplomatic communities, opposition political parties,
civil society organisations and representatives of international
financial institutions in the country.

The Directors will visit the capital, Yerevan, as well as the cities
of Abovyan and Sevan.

The purpose of the consultation visit is to enable the Directors
to better understand the priorities for the local economy and the
expected role of the EBRD in Armenia in the context of the forthcoming
new country strategy for 2012-15.

The EBRD began operations in Armenia in 1992. To date, it has invested
in more than 100 projects and has provided finance totalling more
than EUR450 million.