Author: Kalantarian Kevo

UKRAINE CLASH SHOWS AZERIS WHO’S BOSS AS RUSSIA TIES BIND

Bloomberg / Business Week
Nov 21 2014

By Zulfugar Agayev November 21, 2014

Peeling away former Soviet republics from their U.S. and European
allies is getting easier for Russia after its show of force in Ukraine.

Azerbaijan is changing tack after months of steering clear of the
showdown 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) away. First Deputy Premier
Yaqub Eyyubov broke the silence in September, calling Russia his
country’s “closest, most fraternal” ally. As a sign of the warming
ties, Russian warships last month docked at in the capital, Baku,
for the first time in more than a year.

The nation, which provides the only westward route for central Asian
oil bypassing Russia, has grown alarmed that Ukraine was left to
fend for itself as President Vladimir Putin had his way in Europe’s
biggest crisis since the Iron Curtain fell 25 years ago. That was a
“very bad” signal, according to Elnur Soltanov, head of the Caspian
Center for Energy and Environment, a research group focused on foreign
policy in Baku.

Story: Ukraine’s Second City, Kharkiv, Eludes Rebel Hands

“It told everybody who is the real boss in the region, who is the real
hegemon,” he said. “Ukraine is the biggest jewel among the post-Soviet
states and if Russia comes in broad daylight and occupies Ukraine and
the Western world shows this limited reaction — it tells us that if
something goes wrong with Russia, we shouldn’t trust anybody to come
and save us.”

Oil Effect

As Azerbaijan redraws its foreign policy, its $74 billion economy is
being buffeted by falling crude output and an oil-market selloff.

Gross domestic product expanded 2.8 percent in the January-October
period, slowing from 5.7 percent a year earlier. Hydrocarbons, which
account for 45 percent of GDP, make up more than 90 percent of total
Azeri exports, up from 60 percent in the late 1990s, according to
the International Monetary Fund.

The Caspian Sea country is backtracking on its two-decade drive to
forge closer ties with the U.S. and Europe as tensions escalate with
Russian ally Armenia over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The government has also come under greater scrutiny for its commitment
to media freedoms and human rights.

Story: All’s Quiet on the Eastern Front–for Now

Azerbaijan last week shot down what it said was an Armenian helicopter
that violated its airspace, an attack that threatens to escalate the
conflict. More than 20 troops were killed in August as the skirmishes
turned the deadliest in 20 years.

With Russian troops already stationed in neighboring Georgia and
Armenia, leaders in the nation of 9.6 million people are concerned
about leaving the country’s other flanks exposed after seeing the
failed efforts to counter Putin’s actions in Ukraine.

‘Closer Relationship’

President Ilham Aliyev has visited Putin twice in the past three
months and has recently hosted a range of senior officials from Moscow.

Video: Ukraine, Russia Need Negotiated Outcome: Kissinger

Along with Turkey and Israel, Russia is among the biggest suppliers
of weapons to Azerbaijan, selling it military hardware including T-90
battle tanks. Speaking at a meeting with Putin last year, Aliyev said
Azeri arms trade with Russia was worth $4 billion. The government in
Baku plans to increase defense spending by 27 percent next year.

“We definitely see a closer relationship between Baku and Moscow in
the past year,” said Thomas de Waal, senior associate at the Russia
and Eurasia program of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“The Azerbaijani elite is seeking an equal relationship with both
Russia and the West, while retaining its own economic and political
independence.”

Azerbaijan’s shift toward Russia is also straining relations with
the U.S. and Europe.

Video: Russia-Ukraine Deal Averts Gas Supply Disruption

Obama, OSCE

U.S. President Barack Obama in September singled out Azerbaijan as
a country where “laws make it incredibly difficult for NGOs even to
operate.” The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
this month urged the government to end its “ongoing and increasing
number of repressive actions against independent media and advocates
of freedom of expression,” according to a statement.

After winning independence 23 years ago, Azerbaijan has developed
energy and security ties with the U.S. and the European Union. In
partnership with oil companies including BP Plc (BP/), Statoil ASA
(STL) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM:US), the Caspian Sea nation built
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which ships Asian oil to Europe
bypassing Russia.

The country also sent troops to fight alongside U.S. forces in
Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. NATO relies on Azerbaijan for a third
of non-lethal shipments to Afghanistan.

Story: Putin Is Losing Out to China in Central Asia’s Latest ‘Great
Game’

It also joined GUAM, a U.S.-backed alliance with Georgia, Ukraine and
Moldova. All bar Azerbaijan tied their future to the European Union
in June by signing free-trade agreements with the 28-nation bloc.

Azerbaijan rejected such an offer.

Separatist Challenges

Like the three other members of the group, Azerbaijan has struggled
to regain control over a breakaway region. The message is that
confrontation with Russia by Georgia and Moldova worsened separatist
challenges, as it did in Ukraine said Rasim Musabayov, a member of
the international relations committee in Azerbaijan’s parliament.

Azerbaijan is locked in a territorial dispute with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a conflict that erupted after the Soviet breakup
in 1991.

Although major hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire
in 1994, no peace agreement has been signed. Armenia hosts the only
Russian military base in the region and gets Russian weapons at
discounted prices.

“Azerbaijan has drawn lessons from what has happened to Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine,” Musabayov said. “Azerbaijan realizes that it
can’t get Nagorno-Karabakh resolved without Russia’s involvement.”

SIGNING DOCUMENT WITH NAGORNO-KARABAKH SEPARATIST REGIME, BOUC BEL-AIR MAYOR VIOLATES FRANCE’S LAWS – AZERBAIJANI MFA

APA, Azerbaijan
Nov 21 2014

[ 21 November 2014 12:02 ]

French Embassy: “Paris recognizes the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan within the internationally-recognized borders”

Baku. Zumrud Pashayeva, Rufat Ahmadzada – APA. The Embassy of
Azerbaijan in France has made an official protest to the French
government, Spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev
told APA.

He said that the protest was made because of signing a Friendship
Declaration between Major of France’s Bouc Bel-Air city Richard
Mallie and representative of Nagorno-Karabakh separatist regime
Narine Aghabalian.

Hajiyev recalled that France, as a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk
Group, supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan and France have friendly relations and cooperation. France
is one of our key partners in Europe. But unfortunately, the Armenian
Diaspora and their supporters try to cast a shadow on the friendly
relations between the two countries. And this Friendship Declaration
is an example for such steps. By signing such a document, the city’s
authorities have violated the state laws”, Hajiyev said.

Hajiyev also added that documents signed between the separatist regime,
established in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories, and other states,
cities, or any organizations have no legal force.

“France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development
systematically reminds French political figures of France’s position
on Nagorno-Karabakh”, the French Embassy in Azerbaijan told APA.

The embassy assured that the French government has built no relations
with the de facto authority in Nagorno-Karabakh and the self-declared
regime doesn’t have any office which has undergone accreditation at
the French government.

“France recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan within the internationally-recognized borders,” the
embassy noted.

Note that, as part of her visit to France, Narine Aghabalian, a
representative of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, signed
a Friendship Declaration between the French city of Bouc Bel-Air and
the Asgaran city of occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

A SPEECH BY HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES DURING HIS VISIT TO THE ST. YEGHICHE ARMENIAN CHURCH, LONDON

The Prince of Wales, UK
Nov 20 2014

Published on 19th November 2014

Your Eminence, Bishop, and Ladies and Gentlemen. Before I leave this
wonderful Church I particularly wanted to thank Bishop Vahan for this
really exquisite icon, I will treasure it for the rest of my life and
I am hugely grateful. It will be a very special memento to my visit
to you all here today.

I particularly wanted, more than anything else, to express my
warmest thanks for such a marvellous welcome here to St. Yeghichè. I
also wanted on this occasion to pay a special tribute to Vatche
Manoukian for the wonderful generosity which has enabled this church
to flourish the way it does. It is yet another example of his and
Tamar’s incredible and continuous generosity to so many remarkable
causes all over the world.

I am also so deeply grateful to the Ambassador Dr. Armen Sarkissian
who showed me so carefully around Armenia two years ago. It was a
visit I had been looking forward to for many years and finally I
achieved it and his hospitality was indeed hugely appreciated.

I am also very grateful to you, Bishop Vahan as I know that the
Armenian Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland is blessed to have
such a Primate whose wonderful work for the Armenian community is
rooted in his profound faith and apparently boundless energy.

And Ladies and Gentlemen I am so pleased and delighted to be with
you today and to join my prayers to those of the world’s oldest
established church, which I understand originated from the missions
of the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus and was formally recognised
as the national faith in, remarkably, 301 AD. So we are very young
here in the United Kingdom in terms of Christian experience.

So whilst it is a joy for me to be in St Yeghichè this morning it
is of course the most soul destroying tragedy that the Armenian
Church is facing such indescribable persecution in the Middle East,
in countries where Armenian Christians have long lived peacefully
with their neighbours.

It is, literally, heart breaking to learn of the attacks on Christians
and on the churches where they gather, such as the mindless, brutal
destruction of the Armenian Church in Deir el Zour earlier this year.

A treasured memorial to the appalling sufferings of the Armenian
people.

Your Grace, I should like to thank you for standing before us today to
tell us about the continued sufferings of the Armenian Church in Iraq.

I should also like to say that I greatly admire the courage and faith
of your flock who are an example to us all of faith, quite literally,
under such grotesque and barbarous assault.

Today’s Gospel reading reminds us of our Lord’s words of comfort
and encouragement to those who are undergoing persecution. Perhaps
we need also, to remember the instruction issued by the writer to
the Hebrews. “Remember then that are in bonds, as bound with them;
and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.”

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what we must all, as Christians, seek to
do. As I have said before along with so many others I have been deeply
distressed by the appalling, nightmare faced by Christians, and other
minority communities in various parts of the Middle East. Every week
I receive see letters from people who are gravely concerned about
the persecuted church in the Middle East.

Our prayers for those who have to endure this continuing horror,
seem so hopelessly inadequate under such dreadful circumstances,
but please, please just know how truly heartfelt they are.

ALEPPO’S OLDEST HOTEL, WHERE AGATHA CHRISTIE WROTE MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, FALLS INTO RUIN ON SYRIA’S FRONT LINE

MailOnline, UK
November 20, 2014 Thursday 12:18 PM GMT

JOHN HUTCHINSON FOR MAILONLINE

The Baron Hotel has become another casualty of the ongoing troubles
Owner Armen Mazloumin looks back fondly on a star-studded guest list
Hotel was founded by Mazloumin’s grandfather in 1911

It was once the most stylish hotel in Aleppo, hosting the likes of
former French leader Charles de Gaulle and novelist Agatha Christie.

But the feted Baron Hotel has been forced to close its doors as
the Syrian civil war grips the city, with the front line separating
government and rebel forces just metres away from the building.

Haunting photos of owner Armen Mazloumian sitting on the abandoned
terrace and empty rooms in the once-grand hotel have emerged painting
a bleak picture of life on the front line.

Scroll down for video

The hotel was founded in 1911 by Mazloumian’s grandfather, whose
name it bears, and was once the fanciest in Aleppo, Syria’s former
commercial hub.

In 1958, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser delivered a speech
there. It was also at the Baron that Agatha Christie wrote parts of
‘Murder on the Orient Express’.

But since fighting arrived in the city in 2012, paying clients have
dwindled to zero and the once-glamourous building is falling into
disrepair.

‘It’s been nearly four years since the war began and I see nothing
that inspires any optimism in me, quite the contrary,’ says 63-year-old
Mazloumian, unshaven and wearing a blue woollen hat.

Aleppo has been divided between government control in the west,
and rebel control in the east since shortly after fighting began.

The conflict, which started with anti-government protests in March
2011 and has since spiralled into a brutal civil war, has ravaged
large parts of the historic second city.

Mazloumian is the last of four generations of Armenian hoteliers in
Aleppo in his family.

His great-grandfather Krikor opened the family’s first hotel, named
Ararat after the mountain revered by Armenians, in the second half
of the 19th Century.

In the Baron’s lobby, on a yellowing wall, an advert from the 1930s
can still be seen. ‘Hotel Baron, the only first-class hotel in Aleppo,’
it proclaims.

‘Central heating throughout, complete comfort, uniquely situated. The
only one recommended by travel agencies.’

Nowadays, it’s a different story. Everything inside seems outdated
and dusty — the reception hall, the telephones, the polished wooden
bar with empty liquor bottles.

The roof has been perforated by incoming shell fire, with water
leaking inside when it rains.

Rooms that once hosted celebrities and political leaders are empty,
or home to a handful of displaced families who have been allowed to
take refuge in the hotel.

The hotel is not far from the Aleppo Museum, which has been closed
since the war began, and near the rebel-held Bustan al-Qasr district.

‘You think all this will stop? It will take years,’ Mazloumian says
over the sound of gunfire.

It’s a world away from the hotel’s glory days of glitterati.

Many of the hotel’s rooms are forever linked to the famous guests
who once stayed in them — Room 201 was that of Kemal Ataturk, the
founder of modern Turkey, while Room 215 was where King Faisal I of
Iraq and Syria stayed.

Lawrence of Arabia stayed in Room 202 and Christie preferred Room
203 for her visits.

‘I met her in 1959, but I was too young to know why she was important,
I only learned that later,’ said Mazloumian.

‘She came every year with her husband, the archeologist Max Mallowan,
who did excavations at Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak’ in northeastern
Syria.

Every Syrian president except Nureddin al-Atassi has stayed at
the hotel.

Hafez al-Assad, father of Syria’s current President Bashar al-Assad,
visited the Baron shortly after the coup that brought him to power
in 1970.

‘There were so many famous people who came here that if I started
listing them all for you I wouldn’t finish before tomorrow morning,’
he said, ticking off names like billionaire David Rockefeller, former
French leader Charles de Gaulle and aviator Charles Lindburgh.

‘But this is all in the past now. Honestly, the hotel will never go
back to how it was,’ Mazloumian sighed, stroking Sasha, his black
terrier.

‘The best years are behind us now.’

‘PRINCE CHARLES THE HEARD’ WON’T BE SILENCED WHEN HE IS KING

Western Daily Press, UK
Nov 21 2014

By Western Daily Press

The Prince of Wales will break with tradition and make “heartfelt
interventions” in national life when he becomes king, it was reported.

The Guardian newspaper said sources close to the heir claimed
Charles would not follow his mother’s discretion on public affairs,
but instead speak his mind on issues such as the environment.

One source told the newspaper: “Rather than a complete re-invention
to become a monarch in the mould of his mother, the strategy will be
to try and continue with his heartfelt interventions, albeit checking
each for tone and content to ensure it does not damage the monarchy.

“Speeches will have to pass the following test: would it seem odd
because the Queen wouldn’t have said it, or would it seem dangerous?”

The heir to the throne has regularly aired his opinions fully and
freely over a variety of issues – from genetically modified crops
to architecture, and government ministers are said to regularly moan
about the number of letters they receive from the crusading Prince.

The notes, mostly hand-written, are known to recipients as the
“black spider” memos in which Charles enthusiastically details his
beliefs on particular political topics, using lots of underlining
and exclamation marks.

The letters are currently the subject of a legal battle over whether
the contents should be made public.

A Clarence House spokesman said: “Speculation about The Prince of
Wales’s future role as king has been around for decades but it is
not something we have commented on and nor will we do so now. The
Prince of Wales cares deeply about this country and has devoted most
of his working life to helping individuals and organisations to make
a difference for the better – and not for his personal gain.

“He takes an active interest in the issues and challenges facing
the UK and around the world through his own work and that of his
charities. Over the past 40 years in his role as heir to the throne,
the Prince of Wales has visited countless places and met numerous
people from every walk of life.

“He carries out over 600 engagements a year. This gives him a unique
perspective which has often led to him identifying issues before
others, which might otherwise be overlooked.

“He is often described as being ahead of his time and the evidence
for this has been well documented and includes leading the work
on corporate social responsibility, from as early as the 1980s,
demonstrating the benefits of organic farming, as well as finding
ways to help young people who are not in employment, education or
training through his Prince’s Trust.”

Earlier, and in a demonstration of his passion on certain topics,
the Prince spoke of his heartbreak at the “soul destroying tragedy”
facing Christians in the Middle East. Charles described the faith
as “quite literally, grotesquely and barbarously assaulted” while
addressing the congregation of the St Yeghiche Armenian Church in
South Kensington, London.

He said: “We must all as Christians seek to do. For some time now I
have been troubled by the appalling atrocities faced by Christians
suffering in the Middle East … It is the most soul destroying
tragedy.”

Charles added that Armenian Christians had long lived peacefully
with their neighbours. The Prince finished his address by expressing
his sympathies to the congregation for the ongoing attacks, saying:
“They seem so hopelessly inadequate but please, please just know
truly heartfelt they are.”

Last December Charles expressed concern about the challenges facing
Christians in some Middle East nations.

AUDREY PULVAR : ALLEZ VOIR THE CUT

Cinema

Lors de la projection privee du film de Fatih Akin The Cut, le 7
novembre dernier a l’Espace Accatone (Paris 5ème), reservee aux
journalistes, peu de personnes ont constate la presence de la
journaliste de iTele Audrey Pulvar. Ce n’est qu’a l’issue de la
projection que nous avons pu l’apercevoir subrepticement se dirigeant
promptement vers la sortie, visiblement bouleversee.

De fait, hier 20 novembre, Richard Findykian (Ararat TV) après avoir
tweete l’annonce de la projection du film a Marseille le 7 janvier
au cinema Le Cesar, a ete retweete par l’animatrice de > qui recommande d’aller voir The Cut.

Sortie en salles le 15 janvier 2015

vendredi 21 novembre 2014, Jean Eckian (c)armenews.com

REPUBLICAN ALSO BACKS PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION – MP

11:13 * 21.11.14

The possibility of adopting the 100% proportional representation
system cannot be absolutely denied or ruled out, a lawmaker of the
ruling Republican Party said, stressing the need of considering the
problem in its entirety,

Speaking to Tert.am, Hovhannes Sahakyan reiterated their political
force’s earlier statements expressing readiness to support a gradual
shift to the system in light of the increasing number of proportional
seat at the National Assembly. He said the move requires clear-cut
political guarantees as opposed to narrow political interests.

“What we have to do is to draw serious conclusions as a result of
serious debates and try to implement legislative reforms. Hence to
say in a nutshell that we are for or against [the system] is really
difficult,” he noted.

Asked what he finds to be the reasonable ratio between proportional
representation and single-mandate seats, the Republican MP said he
believes that it is first of all necessary to analyze the statistics.

“If we look upon the statistics, we can see that the Republican Party
was the initiator of the [process of] reducing the majority seats. And
the proportion today is 41:90,” he answered.

Commenting further on the issue, an expert in constitutional
law, Vardan Ayvazyan, said he thinks that the 100% single-seat
representation would work best in bi-partisan systems.

“Let us take the United States [where there are] two parties; two
candidates run in the same constituency and the votes are distributed
correspondingly. In case of a multi-party system, it will not reflect
the views and interests of the given constituency’s population,” he
said, considering proportional representation ideal for parliamentary
systems.

Armenian News – Tert.am

TIMOR-LESTE LEARNS ABOUT LANDMARK ARMENIA WATER REFORMS AT ADB WORKSHOP

Targeted News Service
November 18, 2014 Tuesday 2:45 AM EST

YEREVAN, Armenia

The Asian Development Bank issued the following news release:

High-level government officials from Timor-Leste at an Asian
Development Bank (ADB)-European Investment Bank (EIB) joint workshop
have learned firsthand how Armenia has transformed its water supply
sector by implementing reforms and partnering with the private sector.

Aderito Hugo da Costa, Vice President of the National Parliament; Rui
Araujo, Advisor to the Ministry of Finance; and Virgilio Guterres,
Director General EDTL, attended the workshop on Improving Water
Management through Public-Private Partnerships on 12-13 November. ADB
is helping the Government of Timor-Leste to assess the feasibility
of public-private partnership arrangements to support improved water
services delivery in the capital city, Dili.

The Timor-Leste delegation met with key water sector stakeholders
on 11-12 November, including officials from the State Committee on
Water and Economy, Public Services Regulatory Commission, as well as
water supply operators Yerevan Water and Armenia Water and Sewerage
Corporation. The visit was financed through an ADB technical assistance
project, Strengthening Water Sector Management and Service Delivery.

Timor-Leste and Armenia may be thousands of kilometers apart, but both
countries have faced similar challenges in ensuring their populations
have access to safe, reliable, water supply services.

Since 2000, the Government of Armenia has significantly improved
service quality by effectively delegating service provision
responsibility to the private sector. At the same time the government
has maintained overall responsibility for policymaking, regulation,
and ownership of water supply infrastructure. It has established an
independent multi-utility regulatory body to regulate tariff levels
and service standards.

Following independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
the population of Armenia, a country of around 3.2 million people,
only had access to water supply for a few hours a day because of
dilapidated infrastructure, poor service delivery arrangements,
and rising demand for water services.

In Timor-Leste, much of the water supply infrastructure was destroyed
in 1999 during post-referendum violence. In addition, infrastructure
has been deteriorating over time due to inadequate maintenance and
insufficient capital investments. In Dili, only 36% of the population
has a piped water supply. On average customers in Dili receive just
6 hours of water per day.

As Timor-Leste considers how to achieve the Strategic Development
Plan goal of providing clean 24-hour water supply to the country’s
population by 2030, the Armenian reform experience has provided
important examples that may be incorporated into the country’s own
water sector reform strategy. Some of the key lessons learned from
the Armenian experience include the need for political support for
sector reforms at the highest levels, the existence of a committed
government reform champion to drive the reform process, and adequate
investment in infrastructure development.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the
Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable
growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned
by 67 members–48 from the region. In 2013, ADB assistance totaled
$21.0 billion, including cofinancing of $6.6 billion.

OBTAINING SCHENGEN VISA EASIER FOR ARMENIANS AFTER VISA REGIME FACILITATION AGREEMENT – EXPERT

YEREVAN, November 20. /ARKA/. The agreement on facilitation of visa
regime has really made it easier for Armenian citizens to obtain
a Schengen visa, head of Analytical Center for Globalization and
Regional Cooperation political analyst Stepan Grigorian said on the
air on Sputnik-Armenia radio channel.

Grigoryan said they carried out a monitoring in six consular offices
in Armenia as of the end of the first half of 2014 and tried to see
whether or not the opportunities provided by the agreement are used.

“I should say there are changes, but it is a long-lasting process
linked to increase of technical capacities in consular offices”,
Grigoryan said.

The visa regime simplification agreement was approved by the European
parliament on October 9, 2013, and ratified by the parliament of
Armenia on November 11, 2013. The agreement is in force as from
January 1, 2014.

Under the agreement, Armenian citizens face fewer hurdles to travel
to the EU for short stays. The EU-Armenia visa facilitation agreement
aims to facilitate the issue of short-stay visas for an intended stay
of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days.

The new rules make the procedures quicker (the decision will have to
be taken within 10 days, in urgent cases two days or less), cheaper
(the visa fee for processing applications of Armenian citizens shall
amount to 35 EURO) and less bureaucratic (the documents to be presented
regarding the purpose of the journey have been simplified for some
categories of persons, in particular for close relatives, members
of official delegations, students, business people, journalists,
scientists, etc).

There are also simplified criteria for issuing multiple-entry visas.

Armenian citizens who are holders of diplomatic passports are exempted
from the visa requirement for short stays. Armenia exempted all EU
citizens from the visa obligation since 10 January 2013.

According to the agreement, citizens of Armenia have the right to
demand written explanations from consular departments of EU member
states why their visas were denied.

Yet, Grigorian said, the percentage of denials has remained practically
the same from the last year as the agreement has been just coming to
reality. Apart from this, Armenian citizens show lack of attention
in preparing documents, he said.

“I am convinced that if a person fills in the documents in a proper
manner and has a confirmed invitation, the probability of getting
visa is almost 100%”, Grigoryan said.

Armenian citizens’ Schengen visa applications were denied in about
11.5% of cases in 2013. -0–

ARMENIA-CYPRUS RELATIONS HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT – SARGSYAN

YEREVAN, November 20. /ARKA/. Armenia-Cyprus relations based on
solid historic foundation and mutual respect have great potential for
development President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the President of
Cyprus House of Representatives Yiannakis Omirou said in Yerevan.

The sides stressed importance of intensifying political dialogue
between the countries, deepening inter-parliamentary ties and
cooperating in the framework of international organizations, the
press office of the Armenian president reported.

Human values and principles have been always important to Cyprus and
Armenia and helped both nations survive challenges, Omirou said.

Armenia is a friendly, not an alien country to Cyprus, he said.

Sargsyan welcomed the speaker-headed Cypriot delegation and said
the visit is a good chance to discuss the bilateral agenda and plan
further cooperation.

Armenia’s president expressed his gratitude to the people and
the authorities of Cyprus for being one of the first countries to
acknowledge the Armenian genocide and to give a helping hand to
survivors. The sides discussed also regional issues and current
challenges. -0–