Author: Kalantarian Kevo

AMD 154.8 BILLION SENT BY 325 LARGE TAXPAYERS TO STATE BUDGET IN JAN-NOV 2009

ARKA
Jan 20, 2010

YEREVAN, January 20. /ARKA/. Armenian State Revenue Committee says in
its official Internet site that 325 large taxpayers of Armenia have
transferred AMD 154.8 billion to the state budget over the period
between January and November 2009.

This amount is smaller than that sent by large taxpayers to the state
budget at the same period of the previous year by AMD 37.3 billon.

Ten organizations – K-Telecom, Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine,
Aemenian-Russian ArnRosgasprom, Armenian Railway, Orange Armenia, Pure
Iron Plant, South Caucasus Railways, Armenian Molybdenum Production,
Armenian-Canadian Grand Tobacco and Agarak Copper and Molybdenum
Combine – have transferred AMD 38 billion less over eleven months of
2009 than they sent to the state budget at the same period a year
earlier.

The committee says that tax agencies carried out 704 inspections in
Jan-Nov 2009.

As a result, additional AMD 5.2 billion have been transferred to the
state budget as taxes. ($1 = AMD 377.22).

ARMENIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING SETBACK FOR US DIPLOMACY

news.az
Jan 20 2010
Azerbaijan

Ilgar Mammadov US strategy in the South Caucasus needs to be changed,
Baku-based politician Ilgar Mammadov writes in an article for News.Az.

The newly emerged details of the Armenian Constitutional Court ruling
on the Turkish-Armenian protocols mark a major setback for American
diplomacy in the South Caucasus.

The ruling "contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which
impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols", reads a statement
by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The statement says that the ruling
undermines the very reason for negotiating the Protocols as well as
their fundamental objective.

Unlike comments by various Turkish officials about the link between
resolution of the Karabakh conflict and ratification of the protocols,
the ruling of the Armenian Constitutional Court is a formally binding
text, and not a personal or party political opinion. It must be
changed if Turkish-Armenian dialogue is to move forward.

US diplomacy made significant efforts in recent years to outplay Russia
in the South Caucasus by normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations. In
implementing that now failed strategy, US diplomacy made resolution
of the Karabakh conflict secondary to Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.

This was in vain, as the new Armenian move has shown. From now on,
even if the Armenian parliament ratifies the protocols, this will be
a mere propaganda move as Turkey engaged in the talks and signed the
protocols with the understanding that Yerevan will firmly recognise
the Turkish-Armenian border and drop allegations of genocide against
Turkey.

The American approach would be very credible and intelligent, were
it not for a fundamental omission: Armenia is governed from Moscow,
it is not an independent state.

Correcting the error does not mean doing the opposite, i.e. giving
priority to resolution of the Karabakh conflict and postponing
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. The US should approach the region from
another angle – that of rewarding countries for practical cooperation
with America.

For almost two decades Azerbaijan has been a more committed partner
and ally of the United States than Armenia in the South Caucasus and
more important in practical terms. Azerbaijan sees no rewards for that
choice as far as resolution of the Karabakh conflict is concerned. As
a result, the country is drifting back to closer ties with Moscow,
not necessarily in the expectation that the Kremlin will play into the
hands of Baku this time, but because of the greater sense of security
the Russians can provide, especially in the post-August 2008 realities
of the South Caucasus.

US reluctance to put pressure on Armenia over the Karabakh issue is
a total mystery, given America’s well-known practicality. A possible
explanation is that the loyalty of American citizens of Armenian
descent is dearer to policymakers in Washington than Azerbaijan’s
lasting loyalty. However, I can hardly imagine success of a foreign
policy influenced by the quasi-religious prejudices of a group of
citizens about "small, Christian Armenia surrounded by the wild,
Muslim Turks of Azerbaijan and Turkey."

If we all claim to be defending goodies against baddies, then the
120,000 Armenians who lived in the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomy
of Azerbaijan are no better than the 300,000 Azeris expelled from
Zangezur, which was not an autonomy in Armenia, as part of the
on-going Karabakh conflict. If they are entitled to more respect
than the Azerbaijanis of Zangezur, that can only be recognition of
military action as a legitimate and effective tool in the conflict.

US assistance in restoring and expanding the authority of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomy within Azerbaijan is the solution that
will lead to sustained peace and growing US influence in the South
Caucasus. It will protect US diplomacy from new setbacks like the
one created by the Armenian Constitutional Court a few days ago.

ARMENIAN, RUSSIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS TO MEET IN SOCHI JAN. 25

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.01.2010 14:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A trilateral meeting between Armenian, Russian and
Azerbaijani leaders will take place in Sochi on January 25.

The OSCÐ~U Minsk Group Co-Chairs have arrived in the region to arrange
the meeting between Presidents Serzh Sargsyan, Dmitry Medvedev and
Ilham Aliyev, an informed source told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated
resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

On 6 December 1994, the Budapest Summit decided to establish a
co-chairmanship for the process.

Implementing the Budapest decision, the Chairman-in-Office issued on
23 March 1995, the mandate for the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Process.

The main objectives of the Minsk Process are as follows: Providing
an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of
assuring the negotiation process supported by the Minsk Group;
Obtaining conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation
of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk
Conference; Promoting the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational
peacekeeping forces.

The Minsk Process can be considered to be successfully concluded if
the objectives referred to above are fully met.

The Minsk Group is headed by a Co-Chairmanship consisting of France,
Russia and the United States. Furthermore, the Minsk Group also
includes the following participating States: Belarus, Germany, Italy,
Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Turkey as well as Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Current Co-chairmen of the Minsk Group are: Ambassador
Bernard Fassier of France, Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of the Russian
Federation and Ambassador Robert Bradtke of the United States.

The Nagorno Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 as result of the
ethnic cleansing launched by Azerbaijan in the final years of the
Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 to 1994. Since
the ceasefire in 1994, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions
of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control
of Nagorno Karabakh defense army.

The Madrid principles contain the proposals put forward by the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs on the basic principles of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement. The document was presented to the Armenian and
Azerbaijani representatives at the OSCE summit in the Spanish capital
in November 2007.

DINK DREAMT OF ERGENEKON TRIAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.01.2010 13:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ If Hrant Dink, murdered in 2007 in front of his
newspaper office, were alive today, he would have been happy with
the Ergenekon trials, Agos Editor Sarkis Seropyan said Monday.

"If Hrant were alive and saw the Ergenekon case, he would have been
extremely happy," Seropyan said. "He would have supported the Ergenekon
case much more than what we are able to do at Agos. He would not have
been satisfied just by presenting the news related to Ergenekon."

"It was his dream that those people’s masks would drop," Seropyan
said, referring to alleged members of Ergenekon investigated by the
Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office, Today’s Zaman reported.

The Ergenekon case in Turkey has been investigating a neo-nationalist
gang believed to be the extension of a clandestine network of groups
with members in the armed forces and accused of being behind a number
of unsolved murders of journalists, academics, public-opinion leaders
and writers.

Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was a
Turkish-Armenian journalist and columnist and editor-in-chief
of Agos bilingual newspaper. Dink was best known for advocating
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in
Turkey. Charged under the notorious article 301 of the Turkish
Criminal Code, Dink stood a trial for insulting Turkishness. After
numerous death threats, Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in
January 2007, by Ogun Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist.

An investigation in the wake of the Dink assassination revealed that
a group of ultranationalists was behind the murder. Strong evidence
suggested that some members of the group had ties with the police
department in northern Trabzon, the hometown of the plotters. Some
gendarmes later confirmed that they had been tipped off about the
plot to kill Dink before the murder was committed. Although three
years have passed since Dink was killed, the investigation into his
brutal murder has yielded no conclusion.

SARGIS HOVSEPIAN PURSUES A FOOTBALL CARRIER

Aysor
Jan 19 2010
Armenia

A spokesperson to Armenia’s Pyunik Football Club, Vahan Danielian,
denied the misinformation, released by some media outlets including
foreign editions that Club’s and national team’s player Sargis
Hovsepian is going to finish his carrier in sport.

Vahan Danielian told Aysor’s correspondent that 37-year old Sargis
Hovsepian hadn’t participated in the training exercises because of
the injury. Besides, he has returned to the field since yesterday,
told Vahan Danielian.

Sargis Hovsepian was involved in 109 matches as national team’s player
becoming a record-holder in this. In 1998-2003s he played for St.

Petersburg’s Zenit Club, and Torpedo-Metallurg Club. He was trice
titled as the best Armenia’s footballer. Sargis Hovsepian won Russian
Cup in 1999, and took bronze in 2001, when played for Zenit club.

RA PRESIDENT MEETS WITH OSCE MINSK GROUP AMERICAN CO-CHAIR

Noyan Tapan
Jan 18, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Serzh Sargsyan met
with OSCE Minsk Group American Co-chair Robert Bradtke on January 16.

According to RA President’s Press Office, the interlocutors exchanged
thoughts over the current negotiations stage of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict peaceful settlement.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Jan 15 2010

Azerbaijani official calls upon Moscow Patriarchate to be careful in
statements on Karabakh issue

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 15 / Trend News K.Zarbaliyeva /

State Committee for Working with Religious Associations Chairman
Hidayat Orujov called upon Moscow Patriarchate to be careful in
statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The fact that the Patriarchate’s representative included the church
in the Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, speaks about negligence," Orujov
told journalists today.

Regarding Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill’s Armenia visit
scheduled for March, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church
Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate monk Philippe (Ryabykh), said
that today Armenia has three temples of the Moscow Patriarchate: "One
of them is located in Yerevan and the other in Russia’s military base
in Gyumri, and the third – in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan, the
Azerbaijani official said.

In connection with this issue, Orujov met with the head of the
Baku-Caspian diocese and is awaiting a formal response from senior
clergy of Russia.

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.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. General Assembly’s
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

news.am, Armenia
Jan 15 2010

I call on Russia to be initiative in Karabakh issue: Erdogan

13:54 / 01/15/2010After his return from Moscow, Turkish Premier
Erdogan restated his stance on Armenia-Turkey reconciliation and
Karabakh conflict settlement.

According to Turkish Bugun website, Erdogan said, `It is obvious that
Armenia-Turkey reconciliation and Karabakh conflict settlement are
interrelated processes off-stage.

Armenia-Turkey border closed as a result of Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict. In order to tackle this issue peace should be ensured. The
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be resolved.
&`Occupation’ of Karabakh should end, thereafter Armenia-Turkey issue
will be easily solved. Turkey undertook certain steps, opened air
service, carried out reforms. Presently, numerous Armenians reside in
Turkey without citizenship.

I once again call on Russia to be more initiative in Karabakh issue. I
had open conversation with Mr. Medvedev and Mr. Putin. Russia impacts
Armenia most of any other OSCE Minsk Group states. Once it becomes
less initiative in Karabakh peace process, the settlement will become
more complex,’ Turkish Premier stated.

Today’s Zaman , Turkey
Jan 16 2010

Initiative encourages Armenian-speaking anchorwoman

Melisa Boz is a 25-year-old Turkish-Armenian. What brings her into the
media spotlight is the fact that she is doing something no one else
has done — until now. Boz presents news in Armenian on SU TV, known
by many as an `Alevi channel.’

The young woman, who received threats before the television program
began airing, said she gets her courage from the government and the
democratic initiative process. `At the time of earlier governments, I
would not have dared do something like this. But I trust the
government now,’ she said.

In her program, Boz presents news not only on Turkey but also news
that concerns Armenia and Turkish-Armenians. `If I can contribute to
peace between the two countries, I will be very happy,’ she says. Boz,
who was the interpreter for the Armenian national soccer team at last
year’s Turkey-Armenia soccer game in Bursa, said the Armenian players
liked Turkey very much.

Police officers responsible for providing security to the team were
very kind, Boz said. `The police officers became friends with the
players and the delegation and even played backgammon together with
them. The police officers acted like a part of the initiative and
represented our country very well. I was very proud of my country that
day.’ After she was chosen from a pool of applicants to become an
anchorwoman, her family started to receive threats, she said. `My
family was concerned because their daughter was in the public eye, but
I was not afraid at all. If it is brave to go on television, then yes,
I am brave. But I would not want to commit an injustice to any of the
many older people that have struggled on this road. The Agos daily has
been publishing in Armenian for years and we lost an important person,
Hrant Dink, on this road. I get my courage from them. I think I
finally trust my government,’ Boz said.

Boz, whose family is from Sivas, went to Yerevan to attend university
after graduating from high school. While there, she majored in English
language and literature. The young woman also said she was excluded
and made to feel like a foreigner during her five years in Yerevan,
noting that she was different in the way she dressed, styled her hair
and talked. She explained that she always defended Turkey in Yerevan
and added: `Some Armenians didn’t think Turkey was a developed country
and considered it backward. They always asked me questions about
Turkey. At first they would get mad at me because I always defended
Turkey, but as they got to know me, their views about Turkey changed.’

While Boz has not experienced any major form of discrimination in
Turkey over her ethnicity, she has encountered some upsetting
attitudes. `For example,’ she says, `if a Turk says, `I am sick and
tired of this city’ when getting off a crowded bus after being stuck
in traffic for several hours, no one gets mad or says anything to that
person. But when I say it, they tell me, `If you don’t like it, go
somewhere else.’ This offends me because this is my country, too.
Where else am I to go?’

Noting that her parents never told her even a single negative story
about problems between Turkey and Armenia, Boz explained that her
father always says that `a child should not be brought up with enmity
and hatred. This is not healthy.’ Proud of her Armenian identity, Boz
said she takes her mother’s advice on being proud of who she is. Boz’s
mother tells her to `never hide the fact that you’re Armenian. A
person who likes others will have developed an affinity toward
Armenians.’

Recalling that her mother could not dare listen to Armenian music 20
years ago, Boz said she believes they can live more freely today. The
democratic initiative plays a major role in the expansion of freedoms,
she said, adding that both SU TV and she have the courage to present
news in Armenian as a result of the initiative. The young woman, who
presents news every day between 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m, prepares the
program herself.

16 January 2010, Saturday
DILEK HAYIRLI Ä°STANBUL
web/news-198707-101-initiative-encourages-armenian -speaking-anchorwoman.html

GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING WORLD CUP 2010 TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON FEBRUARY 13-14

ArmInfo
2010-01-14 18:45:00

ArmInfo. The Greco-Roman wrestling world cup 2010 to be held in Yerevan
on February 13-14, Eduard Kalantaryan, the tournament coordinator of
work with mass media, told ArmInfo. Sportsmen from Russia, Georgia,
Turkey, Hungary, Iran and Cuba will take part in the tournament. An
invitation has been sent to the national team of Azerbaijan as
well. The issue of Azerbaijan’s participation will be specified
later. The competition will be preceded by 2 press-conferences to be
given by the leadership of Armenian Wrestling Federation and coaches
of the Armenian national team.