Author: Kalantarian Kevo

SMALL HPPS ENDANGER FLORA AND FAUNA OF GEGHARKUNIK REGION

arminfo
Wednesday, October 17, 17:49

Small HPPs endanger biodiversity and eco-systems of Gegharkunik region,
Armenia, Bardukh Gabrielyan, Director of the Center for Hydrogeology
and Fishery, said at discussions “Big Problems of the Small HPPs”
in Yerevan, Wednesday,

The expert said that the small HPPs operating in the region affect
egg-laying for lack of fishway. Gabrielyan recounted that the law
on fauna bans any construction on the rivers having rare and endemic
fish. “The rivers feeding into the lake Sevan are a place of egg laying
of endemic fish, but there are small HPPs on those rivers,” he said.

He said that sometimes riverbeds are changed for hydro power plants.

“Water releases often do not take into account the possible negative
impact on flora, fauna and the eco-system in general. Such surveys have
not been held either on the rivers feeding into Sevan or on others,”
Gabrielyan said.

Inga Zarafyan, Head of EcoLur NGO, said in turn that the Nature
Protection Inspectorate does not control or monitor the small HPPs even
in case of violations alarmed by environmentalists and the public. At
present, there are 140 small HPPs n Armenia, at least several plants
per river, which negatively affect the flora and fauna.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN HOSTED NEWLY APPOINTED GREEK AMBASSADOR

ARMENPRESS
17 October, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Edward Nalbandian hosted newly elected Greek Ambassador to Armenia
Ioannis Taghis on October 17 on the occasion of credential’s handing.

As Armenpress was informed from MFA press, informational and public
relations department, Minister Nalbandian assured that during his
power Armenian-Greek relations would deepen and flourish. Minister
noted that Armenia highly evaluated the friendship of the two nations
and the development of cooperation with Greece based on shared values.

Ambassador Taghis expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and
assured that he would spare no efforts for strengthening relations
with Armenia and bringing it to a new higher level. It was stressed
during the meeting that the visit of President to Greek in 2011 gave a
new impetus to the development of the relations. Minister Nalbandian
reaffirmed the invitation of Greek Ambassador to visit Greece made
on September 28 in New York.

Interlocutors referred to Armenia-EU cooperation. Both sides noted the
progress of Armenia in the framework of Eastern Partnership program.

Minister Nalbandian also added that Association Agreement negotiations
are nearing completion, and that on October 18 agreement on visa
regime facilitation would be initially signed in Brussels. Armenian
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Greek Ambassador to Armenia expressed
their ideas on the regional and international development.

TURKOLOGIST RULES OUT WAR BETWEEN TURKEY AND SYRIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 17, 2012 – 17:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – An Armenian expert commented on the role of
neighboring countries in the current Turkish-Syrian crisis, and its
possible influence on regional developments.

“Turkey has long been preparing for its current role,” Turkologist
Artak Shakaryan told a news conference in Yerevan.

“Saudi Arabia and Qatar are using Turkey’s money to provide ammunition
to Syrian rebels. Mercenaries are infiltrating Syria through Turkey.

So Turkish authorities can’t very well claim to have a neutral position
on the issue,” the expert said.

The expert however, ruled out a possibility of a war between Turkey
and Syria in the months to come.

“Turkey aims at weakening Syria’s position in the region, which in
turn, will increase Iran’s vulnerability. Even in case of a war in
Iran, no foreign forces will appear in the country, with air strikes
to be aimed at the country’s nuclear facilities,” he said.

“As for Azerbaijan, were Baku sure of its military excellence it
wouldn’t be waiting for a war in neighboring countries to attack
Armenia,” the expert concluded.

WHO ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF CAUCASIAN ALBANIAN? A TWO-DAY CONFERENCE IN YEREVAN
Alisa Gevorgyan

“Radiolur”

17:38 17.10.2012

An international scientific conference titled “Albania-Aghvank- Arran:
Ethno-political history and issues of Christian culture” kicked off in
Yerevan today, which aims to clarify who are the ethnic descendants
of the Caucasian Albania, or Aghvank as Armenians call it. Not only
Armenian and Russian, but also representatives of Caucasian nations
once included in the above-mentioned Albanian state will present
reports during the two-day conference.

The Armenian and foreign scholars will try to restore the history of
Caucasian Albania, which was located to the north of Kura River. Today
descendants of Turkish nomads are trying to lay territorial claims
on Armenia on behalf of Caucasian Albanians.

“The real inheritors of the Albanian culture are some peoples of the
North Caucasus, particularly Dagestanis, but never Azerbaijanis,”
said Yuri Suvaryan, Academician of the Armenian National Academy of
Sciences. “Azerbaijanis, who had once settled in Daghestan and the
adjacent territories, today call themselves with the names of their
ancestors – the immigrant Turkic tribes. They represent a nation,
which has yet finally determined its identity, which was given the
name “Azerbaijani” only in the 20th century. The claims of Azerbaijan,
which has declared itself the inheritor of Albanian culture, are at
least cynical, and this does not stand any scientific justification.

Perhaps, there’s no need to refer to the hundreds of churches and
monuments on the liberated territories of Artsakh, which are proofs
of the uninterrupted Armenian spiritual-cultural life in those regions.

The numerous sensational discoveries of the past years simply disperse
all Azerbaijani claims.

One of the recent sensations was the discovery of Artsakh’s Tigranakert
built by Tigran the Great, which is an evidence of the 2,000-year-long
existence of Armenian statehood on the territory of Artsakh.

Russian scholar Vladimir Zakharov said “the claims of Azerbaijanis
of being the descendants of Albanian culture are at least hilarious,
while this is a state policy conducted on the highest level, which
aims to prove that Armenians are comers here, while Azerbaijani are
among the most ancient nations of theCaucasus.

“I find no words other than impudence to describe this policy. The
attempts of Azerbaijanis to declare themselves Albanians have no
scientific ground. Therefore, what Azerbaijan is doing, is a mere
speculation,” Zakharov added.

ARMENIA’S FORMER AND INCUMBENT PRESIDENTS ARE BEARERS OF ADVERSE LEGACY – OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER

news.am
October 17, 2012 | 11:46

YEREVAN. – The threats against Armenia continue and Armenia’s tolerance
justifies the arguments by those that threaten, opposition National
Self-Determination Union (NSU) Chairman Paruyr Hayrikyan stated,
during a press conference on Wednesday, speaking on the shortfalls
in Armenia’s foreign policy and the risks that threaten the country.

In his words, Turkey and Azerbaijan are attempting to make the world
community believe that the “poor” Azerbaijanis need to settle the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by the use of force. “Everything started
out during the tenure of the First President [of Armenia, namely,
Levon Ter-Petrosyan]. He could not imagine the situation, and he
contributed to the fact that our state took wrong steps. Also, the
First President made Armenia enter into a war. The second President
[that is, Robert Kocharyan] likewise has no idea of the created
situation,” Hayrikyan added.

According to him, serving President Serzh Sargsyan is the bearer
of that adverse legacy. “Sargsyan tried to rectify the situation
by way of football diplomacy [with Turkey]. But when he was saying
[normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations] without preconditions, no
one understood what this was about. As a result, Armenia’s initiative
failed,” the NSU leader maintained.

Paruyr Hayrikyan proposes to oppose Turkey, which has declared an
economic war, and, as per Hayrikyan, no alliance is necessary with
a country that sells weapons to the adversary. “This situation is
created due to the efforts by the Russian imperialism, [and] on the
principle of ‘divide and conquer,'” he noted.

In Hayrikyan’s view, Armenia must state that the Karabakh peace
talks are not succeeding, since the real negotiating parties are not
taking part in the talks, that it will not take part in the talks,
and a special committee be established to examine the international
legal opportunities to resolve the matter.

ARMENIAN MINISTER, ARGENTINEAN ENVOY DISCUSS COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 17, 2012 – 16:55 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan met
with ambassador of Argentina to Yerevan Diego Ernesto Alvarez Rivera.

Congratulating the envoy on the appointment, Minister Karapetyan
briefed him on the development trends in Armenian agriculture industry
and the projects under implementation.

“Despite the progress recorded in the past years, we still have much
to do,” he said, adding that Armenia will benefit from Argentina’s
expertise in livestock sector.

The two men further attached importance to agriculture cooperation,
voicing readiness to discuss joint programs, Agriculture Ministry’s
press service reported.

Interfax, Russia
Oct 15 2012

U.S. delegation to discuss Caspian security issues in Baku

BAKU. Oct 15

U.S. representatives will discuss security cooperation issues in Baku,
specifically in relation to Afghanistan, U.S. ambassador to Baku
Richard Morningstar has announced.

Representatives of the U.S. government will visit Baku in the weeks to
come to hold several top-level meetings, he told the local ANS TV
channel. Questions related to Afghanistan, the security of key
infrastructure in the Caspian Sea and several other important issues
will be discussed during the visits, he said.

The purpose of all these visits is to help Azerbaijan strengthen its
sovereignty and independence, Morningstar added.

He also spoke of the role of the United States in settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said he will be working in close
cooperation with cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to find a peaceful
solution to the issue.

Ml jv

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Oct 15 2012

Turkish authorities confiscate items from Syria-bound Armenian plane

Ankara, 15 October: A plane enroute from Armenia to Syria has been
forced to land at an airport in Turkey’s eastern province of Erzurum
to examine its cargo on Monday.

Diplomatic sources said that the plane enroute to Aleppo from Armenia
was grounded while in the Turkish airspace.

Turkish authorities confiscated part of the cargo aboard a plane for
examination.

The plane was defined as a civilian humanitarian aid plane.

Sources stated that the plane would continue its way to Aleppo if its
cargo is not contrary to civilian aviation rules.

In Turkey, a Syrian passenger plane had also been forced to land at
Ankara’s Esenboga Airport on October 10. Turkish F-16s forced down
Airbus A320, which was flying from Moscow to Damascus, over suspicions
that it had weapons on board.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 16 2012

US supports Turkish decision to ban Syrian planes from airspace

16 October 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL

The US has expressed its support of Turkey in its decision to close
its airspace to Syrian flights in the wake of Turkey’s grounding of a
Syrian jet in Ankara on suspicions of carrying military equipment from
Moscow to Syria.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland has said the US
`certainly supports the decision that Turkey has made in light of the
apparent violation of their airspace by this aircraft.’

Turkey has banned all Syrian aircraft from its airspace in recent
days. Last week, Ankara forced down a Syrian airliner en route from
Moscow, accusing it of carrying Russian munitions for Bashar
al-Assad’s military, while earlier in October Syrian shells struck a
border town in Turkey killing five civilians.

On Monday, Turkey grounded an Armenian plane flying to the Syrian city
of Aleppo in order to inspect its cargo. The plane was allowed to
continue on its way after a search, conducted in the eastern city of
Erzurum, confirmed that it was carrying humanitarian aid as stated by
Armenian officials.

However, the inspection of the first plane traveling from Moscow
resulted in the discovery of Russian-made military communication
equipment intended for Syria’s Ministry of Defense.

Russia has stated that the plane was carrying legal cargo comprising
radar parts and not weapons for the Syrian regime, although Turkey
insists the opposite is true.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has once again stated that the
cargo found on board the Syrian plane traveling from Moscow was
military munitions, as photos of the munitions confirm this fact.

`There is no meaning in falsifying the fact that they were radar
parts. Radar parts also function as weapons. Nevertheless, our
institutions are continuing their efforts to further inspect the
cargo. However, we will not go into much detail yet and will announce
the results of the inspections after they are completed. We have
photos in our hands. It is definite that the cargo comprises war
material. The sender and receiver [of the cargo] are obvious,’ ErdoÄ?an
said before departing to Baku to take part in the EcoSummit 2012.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also said last week’s
forced landing of the Syrian plane by Turkish jets will not affect
Turkish-Russian relations, as Turkey’s actions were based on rights
stemming from the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation,
also known as the Chicago Convention.

However, he noted that the owner of the cargo may request for it to be
returned. The plane returned to Moscow on Oct. 12 but the cargo
remains in Ankara.

EU governments also tightened sanctions against Syria, expressing
their concerns over the spillover of the Syrian crisis to Turkey, and
called on Damascus and Ankara to prevent any further escalation of the
conflict.

The EU denied Syrian airlines access to its airports, bolstering a ban
on cargo flights to Europe.

Twenty-eight Syrians were recently added to an EU list of frozen
assets and travel bans, bringing the total number of people facing
such sanctions to 181.

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Oct 15 2012

Turkish minister says grounded Armenian plane carried only humanitarian aid

Baku, 15 October: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has stated
that the Syria-bound Armenian plane which had made “a technical
landing” in eastern Turkey was not carrying anything except
humanitarian aid.

He added that after all the searched are completed, the plane was free
to continue its journey.

Davutoglu who is attending the 20th Meeting of the Council of
Ministers (COM) of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in
Azerbaijan informed journalists that on October 10, Armenia requested
to use Turkish airspace to take humanitarian aid to Aleppo, Syria and
after that Turkey has granted Armenian plane with the permission only
on the condition that it would make “a technical landing” under the
framework of international law.

Davutoglu said that the application was held under the law regulations
and was routine. “Nothing has been identified except humanitarian aid
in the cargo of the plane. After the secondary search, the plane will
continue its journey,” said Davutoglu.

The Antonov 12 aircraft of the Armenian cargo airline Air Armenia made
“a technical landing” in Turkey’s eastern province of Erzurum in what
the Turkish officials had called “a routine procedure.”

Sources added that the grounding of the plane was a routine procedure
and it complied with the 1944 Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation.