Author: Kalantarian Kevo

THE TELEGRAPH: WHY IS A CRUCIAL CONFERENCE ON INTERNET FREEDOM TAKING PLACE IN A DICTATORSHIP?

Panorama.am
08/11/2012

It’s of deep concern that a conference on internet freedom is being
held in one of the world’s most tawdry dictatorships, writes Mike
Harris, Head of Advocacy at Index on Censorship, according to The
Telegraph.

“For Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev, the hosting of the Internet
Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku is yet another propaganda coup in a year
marked by the Eurovision Song Contest and the launch of Azerbaijan’s
bid for Baku to host the 2020 Olympic Games. The regime is slick –
it spent an estimated $500 million on Eurovision alone, hires the
smoothest spin doctors, and takes British MPs on all expenses paid
trips to see “the real Azerbaijan” (as opposed to the Azerbaijan
where their Parliament contains not a single opposition MP),” writes
the author.

According to the author, Azerbaijan is also a country with a track
record of persecuting internet activists, such as bloggers Emin Milli
and Adnan Hajizada.

“Elnur Majidli, a Strasbourg-based blogger and internet activist,
was threatened with a 12 year jail sentence for “inciting hatred”
after setting up Facebook groups that facilitated rare public protests
in Azerbaijan during 2011. Because of his online activism, police
officers turned up at his family home. His father was held for eight
hours by the police, then swiftly lost his job in the state shipping
firm Caspar, all because his son set up a Facebook group. Majidli
junior cannot return to Azerbaijan,” writes Harris.

The article says that state TV broadcasts programmes that allege
Facebook and Twitter cause criminality among Azerbaijan’s young
people. Just last year, the country’s chief psychiatrist warned that
social media caused mental disorders.

“This is the country that will host the IGF (a United Nations
initiative) and help set the framework for the future of internet
freedom. While a bitter irony for brave people like Majidli, it’s
more worryingly symbolic,” says the author.

As the Arab Spring has shown, writes the author, the internet
is helping to free people across the world from the iron grip of
autocracy. The leaking of cables by Tunisian dissident website Nawaat
exposed the corruption of former President Ben Ali and helped topple
his dictatorship. The internet made it easier than ever before for
activists from across the Middle East to organise during the Arab
Spring, hence the former Egyptian government attempting to hold back
the revolutionary tide by turning it off.

“So it’s of deep concern that the Internet Governance Forum, one
the most important global conferences on internet freedom, is being
held in Azerbaijan – one of the world’s most tawdry dictatorships,”
writes Harris.

BUSINESSARMENIA, IRAN IN TALKS TO BUILD OIL PRODUCTS PIPELINE

RIA Novosti
08/11/2012
YEREVAN

Armenia and Iran are discussing joint projects to build a rail link
and an oil products pipeline, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan
said on Thursday.

“I’ll see together with [Iranian Energy Minister Majid] Namjou that
the implementation of these two major programs currently at the stage
of working discussions begins as soon as possible,” Movsisyan said.

Movsisyan and Namjou are co-chairmen of the Armenian-Iranian
inter-governmental commission on economic cooperation.

“The implementation of these two projects will raise the level of
economic cooperation between the two countries,” Movsisyan said.

Armenia and Iran initially planned to start the construction of the
oil products pipeline in 2011 and finish it in 2014. The pipeline
will deliver gasoline and diesel fuel from Iranian refineries and
other Persian Gulf countries to the Armenian town of Yeraskh via
Iran’s Tabriz

The pipeline will allow Armenia to import petroleum products from
the Persian Gulf region at exchange-traded prices that are much lower
than European market prices and considerably cut transport expenses
compared with transportation by rail.

Armenia will invest $100 million to finance pipeline construction on
its territory.

The North-South (Iran-Armenia) railway will allow Armenia to use an
alternative route for the transportation of energy products and other
commodities and gain access to external markets.

SECOND PLANE TRANSFERRING AID TO SYRIA SUCCESSFULLY LANDED

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Another plane transferring
humanitarian aid to Syria on initiation of “Help your brother” program
successfully landed in Syrian Airport. As reports Armenpress quoting
Kiro Manoian the director of ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs
Office, the examination of the plane in Erzurum was very strict and
lasted several hour.

Relevant Turkish authorities took the samples from the delivered
products. Turkish press was prompt to publish information on the
landing of the airport, but this time almost all the agencies avoided
to publish sensational information, as they did last time when the
first Armenian plane with humanitarian cargo of about 15 tones flying
to Syria landed on October 15, and later it was clarified that the
landing was not forced by the Turkish side but was a preplanned one.

After being examined it continued its flight.

The second plane with a cargo of 2 tones was sent by Syrian airlines
and initiated by “Help your brother” bypassed Turkey. The cargo
arrived to Aleppo over Iran and Iraq.

Vahan Hovhannisyan the coordinator of the initiation informed that
this time the plane transferred about 13 tons of cargo containing
exclusively food. Due to the weather conditions it was possible to
transfer cheese and powdered milk.

The plane with humanitarian cargo successfully landed in Aleppo
airport at 2 AM Armenian time.

LIVERPOOL JOINS CLUBS WISHING TO SIGN MKHITARYAN

NEWS.AM
November 8

Liverpool joined the European clubs wishing to sign Armenia and
Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

åyefootball website claims Liverpool is ready to offer a huge amount
for 23-year-old player “but negotiating a fee for the midfielder
could prove a potential stumbling block for the Reds.”

Mkhitaryan is reportedly a target for Juventus and Bayern Munich.

SERZH SARGSYAN: AZERBAIJAN WAITING FOR AN OCCASION TO START A CONFLICT

10:15 09.11.20121

Armenia’s president is increasingly concerned about what he sees
as neighboring Azerbaijan’s willingness to engage in armed conflict
over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, he said in an interview,
warning that Armenian forces would deliver a disproportionate blow
should conflict erupt between the neighbors.

In comments to The Wall Street Journal, President Serzh Sargsyan said
Armenia’s government would continue to push for a negotiated settlement
to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which has simmered for nearly
two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But he also tapped
the rising tensions in one of the world’s key energy corridors.

“Unfortunately, I believe Azerbaijan is waiting for an occasion to
start a conflict,” President Sargsyan said Thursday. “I am confident
such a mistake would harm the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia
but that most harm would come to the people of Azerbaijan….We
won’t stand aside when the population of Nagorno-Karabakh is going
to be destroyed.”

The Armenian president also said that his government was pushing
forward to tackle rampant corruption and that Armenia’s economy had
posted a 7% expansion in the year through September. That signals
Armenia’s emergence from an economic crisis.

The Wall Street Journal reminds that “the war of words intensified in
August, when Azeri President Ilham Aliyev offered a hero’s welcome
to Ramil Safarov, an Azeri officer convicted of hacking an Armenian
to death with an ax on a NATO course in Hungary in 2004. The affair
prompted a diplomatic storm, and Armenia withdrew its ambassador
to Hungary.”

“What is the reason for establishing such a xenophobic atmosphere and
hatred against Armenians in Azerbaijan?” President Sargsyan said. “It
is easier to create such an atmosphere, to encourage hate speech,
rather than deal with the consequences of that atmosphere and turn
the tide back.”

“Washington and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have watched
developments with mounting alarm. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton warned of the threat of a “much broader conflict” when she
visited Armenia in June. NATO Secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen
has expressed his “deep concern” in September over the dramatic
escalation in rhetoric between the capitals,” the papaer writes.

President Sargsyan’s statements underscored the need for the
international community to engage more actively, analysts said.

President Sargsyan also warned that the prospect of a military strike
against Iran, with which Armenia shares a border, was an issue of
“extreme concern” which could set off a sequence of events that could
also trigger a conflict between Yerevan and Baku.

He said deeper international engagement in the region was vital to
help reduce tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. “If we had been
living in an isolated region where there was no international impact,
war would have already begun,” he said.

IRAKLI KVIRKADZE TO LECTURE DIRECTOR SCRIPT TO ARMENIAN STUDENTS

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS: Russian renowned screenwriter and film
director Irakli Kvirkadze is scheduled to come forth with lectures
in Yerevan in coming weeks. He will arrive in Armenia in the frame
of “Film directing high courses” organized jointly by Yerevan State
Institute of Theater and Cinema and Arm Art Cinema company.

Armen Mazmanyan, rector of Yerevan State Institute of Theater and
Cinema stated in the briefing with Armenpress, Kvirkadze writes
scripts for European cinema.

“For a week he will lecture writing skills and directing scripts to
seven students of the course. It is very important as the scenarist
writes yet the director often elaborates the scenario” Mazmanyan
noted. In his words due to the accumulated skills the students will
learn not only correctly construct their speech but write down their
ideas. Mazmanyan informed simultaneously with “Film directing high
courses” launched since November scheduled master classes are being
held: students may receive professional suggestions.

Throughout the year the students will be enabled a chance to
participate in master classes by Artavazd Peleshyan, Emir Kusturica,
Luc Besson, Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodovar and Kim Ki-duk and other
world known film directors. Roman Balayan, People’s Artist of Ukraine
is the director of the courses.

Popular filmmaker, documentary film director Peleshyan had an open
class in Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinema on November 8.

GPM GOLD A GAGNE 17 MILLIONS $ DE BENEFICE NET L’ANNEE DERNIÈRE
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 9 novembre 2012

GeoProMining Gold (GPM Gold) a gagne l’annee dernière 17 millions de $
de benefice net en Armenie, selon son PDG Vladimir Kozlov. Il a dit
que tous les benefices ont ete investis dans la nouvelle modernisation
des equipements de la societe.

Vladimir Kozlov a dit que cette annee la societe ne s’attend pas ”
a une forte croissance ” parce que sa priorite est de preparer le
lancement de la technologie d’Albion.

La technologie d’Albion, developpee par Xstrata Technology (Australie)
avec l’appui de Core Process Engineering (l’Australie) permet
de significativement augmenter l’extraction du metal des minerais
refractaires. La production peut s’etendre jusqu’a 150 000 onces d’or
par an. GPM projette d’achever le projet en 2013.

Il a dit que l’on doit attendre a une croissance tangible seulement
vers 2014, quand on suppose que la societe produira jusqu’a 130 000
onces d’or. Plus tôt le president de GeoProMining Roman Khudoliy a
dit que la societe produisait 43 000 onces d’or.

GeoProMining a ete fonde en 2001.

vendredi 9 novembre 2012, Stephane ©armenews.com

LE MINISTRE DES FINANCES D’ARMENIE NE VOIT RIEN D’ETRANGE DANS L’ALLOCATION DE FONDS COMPLEMENTAIRES POUR LES VOYAGES D’AFFAIRES DES FONCTIONNAIRES
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 9 novembre 2012

Le ministre des Finances Vache Gabrielyan a declare qu’il n’y a rien
d’etrange dans l’allocation de fonds complementaires aux voyages
d’affaires a l’etranger des fonctionnaires armeniens.

Le gouvernement d’Armenie a pris la decision d’une redistribution
de fonds du budget pour compenser les depenses complementaires des
voyages d’affaires des autorites de l’Etat.

” Il n’y a rien d’etrange en cela. Nous avons fait de meme auparavant
aussi, quand les fonds alloues ont ete depenses et il y avait un
besoin de fonds complementaires ” a dit Gabrielyan.

Pendant la reunion du Cabinet, le vice-ministre des Finances Pavel
Safaryan a dit il y avait besoin d’augmenter le Fonds de Reserve du
gouvernement et des fonds lies aux depenses de voyages d’affaires de
12 et 0,1 milliards de drams respectivement.

ARMENIA-TURKEY BORDER PROJECT TO BE ON DISPLAY NEXT WEEK

Today’s Zaman
Nov 8 2012
Turkey

A photography exhibition titled “Beyond the River” will be hosted by
the Swiss embassies in Turkey and Armenia as part of an initiative
titled the Turkish-Armenian Border Project on Nov. 12.

Photographic masterpieces depicting the border crossing experiences of
people living in two villages on the Turkish and Armenian banks of the
Aras River will be showcased at the Ankara Contemporary Arts Center
located on Kennedy Street in the Kavaklıdere district of Ankara.

Switzerland was the mediator between Turkey and Armenia in the
now-suspended 2009 protocols, which attempted to normalize relations
between the two estranged neighbors and envisaged, among other things,
the opening of a common border.

The Cankaya Municipality along with several other organizations, namely
Anadolu Kultur, the Armenia-based City Research Center (CRC), Open
Society Foundations and the UK-based Global Dialogue are sponsoring
the exhibition.

ARMENIAN AIRCRAFT GROUNDED IN ERZURUM LEAVES FOR SYRIA AFTER INSPECTION

Trend
Nov 8 2012
Azerbaijan

An aircraft of Armenian Airlines, which was forced to land today at
the airport in Turkish Erzurum left for Syria after inspection of
the cargo on its board, TRT Haber TV channel reported.

Cargo inspection showed that the aircraft was carrying humanitarian
aid, and no illegal goods were found.

Today Another Armenian aircraft flying to Syria was grounded by Turkey
in Erzurum.

According to Dogan agency, the aircraft was grounded for cargo
inspection and a special group of security forces was involved.

This is the second time when the Turkish authorities ground Armenian
aircrafts flying to Syria for inspection of cargo on board. In
October, an Armenian civilian aircraft was grounded at the airport
in Erzurum. After inspection the aircraft was allowed to continue
its flight in the direction of Syrian city of Aleppo. According to
both sides, the landing was planned.