Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Iran raid to be disastrous to Armenia – expert

tert.am
17:07 – 02.06.12

The United States’ plan to launch an armed raid against Iran will have
a disastrous impact on Armenia, political analyst Sergey Shakaryants
finds.

`Congressmen Raun Paul, who seeks a presidential nomination from the
Republican Party, has announced numerously that he is planning to
declare a war on Iran. It is first of all a threat against Armenia,’
he said.

Shakaryants noted that the impact will be tangible given Armenia’s
close ties with Iran (both economic and security-related).

`If a country, which is our friend, poses harm, we are sure to suffer
losses. And such harm, be it though the minimal, will make itself
apparent, with nobody expected to apologize,’ he said.

The expert did not rule out the possibility that Azerbaijan might
resume the war with Armenia in such circumstances.

`Different opinions are being voiced in that connection. But these two
factors are already enough for being disastrous to Armenia,’ he added.

Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire 200 time sin the past week

armradio.am
02.06.2012 14:44

According to the data of the NKR Ministry of Defense, the Azerbaijani
side violated the ceasefire about 200 times at the line of contact
between the armed forces of Karabakh and Azerbaijan from Jay 27 to
June 2.

The rival fired more than 1,200 shots from weapons of different
caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions.

Committed to the maintenance of the ceasefire regime, divisions of the
NKR Defense Army mostly refrained from response actions and
confidently carried out their military duty all along the line of
contact, Press and information Department of the NKR Defense Army
reported.

WHEN MOUSE WILL BE DISMISSED
Haik Aramyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:42:56 – 02/06/2012

The press reported that during the election of speaker of the National
Assembly there was a ballot on which somebody wrote by hand the words
“Muk” (Mouse), the nickname of Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, and opposite
it – “against”.

It is known that only the RPA and PAP parliamentary groups voted only.

The opposition did not vote. In fact, the author of MOUSE and AGAINST
ballot is either Republican or PAP.

Hovik Abrahamyan is understood as a compromise between the RPA and
PAP. First he was nominated speaker and soon dismissed as he was
suspected of an internecine “plot”. Upon his second nomination he
remembered this story and stated that truth will never die.

However, this is Hovik’s truth. And the truth is that Hovik’s presence
in top government means that Armenia still has no government and
state as such. Hovik Abrahamyan is the patched cloth offered to the
society as government.

Armenia has not had a government for a long time already because it
has not ensured legitimacy with its well-known forms and contents.

They have gnawed at these forms like mice, ruthlessly and consistently,
trying to establish their own “truth” instead. But since this won’t
do, all the time they have to sow a patch on the gnawed parts, to
give it a form of government for those inside and outside.

This system cannot think of anything else since it fears any change.

However, it is impossible to mend a piece of worn cloth. It is kept
till worn to tatters or is replaced with the new cloth in time. The
truth for the Armenian society is to throw it away in time, whereas
Hovik’s truth is the system’s desire to continue to usurp all the
spheres of life of Armenia at the expense of the society and the
nation. However, this truth is dying slowly because MOUSE and AGAINST
have appeared in the middle. It means that the system also sees its
inevitable plight.

SAINTE SOPHIE A ISTANBUL (CONSTANTINOPLE) SERA-T-ELLE TRANSFORMEE EN MOSQUEE ?
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 2 juin 2012

Selon la chaîne de television turque TRT, un groupe d’islamistes Turcs
ont demande au Premier ministre Recep Tayip Eredogan que l’eglise
Sainte-Sophie d’Istanbul (ex-Constantinople) devienne une mosquee. A
l’occasion du 559e anniversaire de la prise de Constantinople par
les Turcs, ces islamo-nationalistes ont donne une conference de
presse exigeant des autorites turques que Sainte Sophie devienne
une mosquee, comme l’avait fait jadis le sultan Fetih. Nos confrères
d’Armenie, sont convaincus que pour les Turcs qui ont transforme de
très nombreuses eglises armeniennes en mosquees, cette transformation
de Sainte Sophie en mosquee ne serait pas surprenant…car c’est une
specialite turque bien connue.

ARMENIAN WINE AND BRANDY MARKET PROSPECTS
By David Stepanyan

Vestnik Kavkaza
June 1 2012
Russia

After mining products, alcohol (brandy for the most part) consistently
occupies second place in the structure of Armenian exports. However,
after the 2008 economic crisis, the volume of alcohol exports dropped
considerably, although 2011-2012 saw a tendency towards expansion of
this sector of production and export.

However, due to global market trends, several sectors of Armenian
alcohol production have undergone reductions, for example, the
sector of inexpensive wines ($2.5-8 per bottle). On the other hand,
the emergence of new rivals on the global market as well as price
growth due to the increase in excise duty caused the Armenian wine
producers to raise the quality of their product. This increase in
quality makes the Armenian wine competitive to the high-quality import
wines on the local market.

All the abovementioned factors influence only the Armenian domestic
market, but there’s still the issue of conformity of Armenian alcohol
products to international standards. The Armenian market is rather
narrow, so the realization of the full potential of the Armenian wine
industry depends on Armenian products being promoted on the foreign
markets. However, Armenian wines still can’t compete with their main
rivals on the international market. Of course, Armenian 2.5 Euro wines
could have conquered their segment of the European market, but such
a low-price export is impossible due to the transport blockade. That
is why today only high-price wine production is growing in Armenia:
for example, a new alcohol plant, the Golden Grape Armas, is being
constructed in the Aragatsotnsk district. The company received
a three-year delay in the VAT payments for the imported equipment
from the country’s government. Italian colleagues will help Armenian
specialists to produce high-quality wines. The plant will be launched
this summer, and its products are supposed to be exported to Russia
and the USA.

The situation with brandy production is quite the opposite: the last
20 years saw a gradual drop in its quality. Some of the producers lost
their export markets due to the world financial crisis and some of the
vineyards were destroyed. However, the drop in quality didn’t affect
brandy exports to Russia due to its relatively low price. Today,
however, due to the increase in the wine prices, this price policy
will no longer be possible to maintain. And if the price difference
between Armenian brandy and French cognac drops to less then 100
rubles, Russian consumers will prefer the French product.

Another problem of the Armenian alcohol production is the same wine
base for both wines and brandies. Even though the grapes for wine
and for brandy should be collected at different stages of ripeness,
the producers are often unable to observe this condition and collect
all the grapes at the same time.

Armenia produces a lot of brandy, but the local market consumes only
the tiniest portion of it, so this production is export-oriented. In
order to coordinate the producers’ efforts, as well as to promote
the ‘Armenian brandy’ brand on the global market, the Association
of Armenian Brandy Producers was created. The major brandy producer
in the republic is the Yerevan Brandy Factory, privatized by the
French Pernod Ricard group in 1998, and its CEO, Ara Grigoryan, is
also the chairman of the Association. The Association creates special
laboratories to control the quality of its members’ products and will
award its certificates from 2013.

Brandy production grew by 21.5% in 2011 as compared to 2010, thus
taking the lead over the growth of all other alcohol production
in Armenia. However, Ara Grigoryan explains that it is due to the
restoration of the Russian market after the crisis (and Armenian brandy
was affected by the crisis more than any other Armenian alcohol product
on the Russian market), and not by some major changes in the Armenian
production process. However, experts abstain from making forecasts
for 2012.

Nevertheless, the Armenian government has grandiose plans for this
promising branch of national industry. In 2015 Armenia plans to
increase the volume of brandy exports to $150-180 million, and in
2020 to $250-300 million (in 2010 the figure was $95.2 million). Some
experts are rather skeptical about these plans, as the growth isn’t
backed by a proper raw material base. However, the government is
taking certain steps towards diversification of brandy exports.

Experts say that Chinese and other Asian markets could prove to possess
good potential for that. It is noteworthy that this governmental
program also implies a decrease of export share to Russia (from the
current 90% to 65% in 2020).

HILLARY CLINTON’S VISIT TO GEORGIA – WHAT TO EXPECT
by KENNETH S. YALOWITZ

Democracy & Freedom Watch

June 1 2012

Secretary of State Clinton’s visit to Georgia and the South Caucasus
June 3-6 underscores both the importance of the region to the US
and the pressing political and security issues in the Caucasus,
which could involve the West, writes Kenneth S. Yalowitz, former U.S.
Ambassador to Georgia.

The growing Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
the lack of progress in the Geneva talks and the upcoming Georgian
parliamentary and presidential elections, which are vitally important
to the future of Georgian democracy, will be high on her agenda in
Tbilisi. The recent NATO Summit in Chicago affirmed the open door for
Georgian NATO membership but also the need first for more reforms on
the part of Georgia. I would expect the Secretary to emphasize that
these elections will be a crucial test of Georgia’s commitment to a
free, fair and transparent electoral process with the world watching to
see a transition of presidential power through the democratic process
and the seating in parliament of a vibrant opposition committed to a
democratic future for Georgia. She will thank Georgia again for its
significnt contributions to allied forces in Afghanistan and Iraq
and its support for the Northern Distribution Network, and review
progress being made in the bilateral defense cooperation sphere. With
Vladimir Putin again assuming the Russian presidency, the unresolved
situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia will be discussed along with
the state of Russian-Georgian relations. She will reaffirm US support
for Georgia and refusal to recognize the “independence” of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia but may explore whether the recent Georgian assent
to Russian membership in the WTO can be built upon in re-establishing
a Georgian dialog with Russia. The spread of insurgency and Islamic
militant terrorism in the North Caucasus will likely be covered as
well. I would expect Secretary Clinton to request Georgia not to
exacerbate tensions in the North Caucasus and help prevent terrorist
acts there in the runup to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

She will caution against returning to the scenario in late 1999 when
Russia used the Pankisi Gorge situation to threaten military action
in Georgia. No one wants to see a repeat of the events of August, 2008.

The other threatening situation in the South Caucasus is the
danger of renewed hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Minsk Group process has stalled and an arms
buildup is proceeding on both sides. The situation on the cease fire
line is not stable and the rhetoric on both sides does not contribute
to a peaceful outcome. Renewed hostilities could possibly bring Russia,
Turkey and Iran into the fray creating a very ominous international
crisis. This subject will highlight the Secretary’s discussions in
Armenia and Azerbaijan where she will certainly call for moderation
and de-escalation of the arms buildup and rhetoric. She will likely
also seek Georgia’s views on this subject as well as on maintaing
the unfettered flow of Caspian energy resources.

In sum, the Secretary’s visit is aimed at putting a spotlight on the
important issues in the Caucasus and asserting US interests there as
Putin again takes office.

VISIT TO JAPAN BY HIS EXCELLENCY MR. SERZH SARGSYAN, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

States News Service
May 31, 2012 Thursday
TOKYO, Japan

The following information was released by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Japan:

H.E. Mr. Serzh SARGSYAN, President of the Republic of Armenia, will
visit Japan from Tuesday, June 5 to Thursday, 7.

During his stay in Japan, President Sargsyan will make a State Call on
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. Mr. Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister
of Japan will meet with the President Sargsyan and exchange opinions
on the bilateral relationship, international issues and others.

President Sargsyan is scheduled to visit Natori City in Miyagi
Prefecture, heavily damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake,
in order to observe reconstruction sites.

President Sargsyan’s visit is expected to further strengthen friendly
and cooperative relations between Japan and the Republic of Armenia.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO MAKE 3-DAY VISIT TO JAPAN NEXT WEEK

Japan Economic Newswire
May 31, 2012 Thursday 7:33 AM GMT

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will make a three-day visit to
Japan next week for talks with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the
Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

During the visit from Tuesday, Sargsyan will also meet with Emperor
Akihito and travel to the city of Natori in Miyagi Prefecture, one
of the areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

It will be the first visit to Japan by an Armenian president since
2001, according to the ministry. The two countries are marking the 20th
anniversary this year of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

ED. NALBANDYAN AND US SENATOR DUBRIN DISCUSSED SOUTH CAUCASIAN DEVELOPMENTS

01.06.12

Armenian acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan hosted
Senator Dick Dubrin, press service of Armenian MFA informs.

Edward Nalbandyan welcomed the guest and rated his efforts to give
new stimulus to Armenian-American cooperation. Armenian MFA underlined
that bilateral visits strengthened the ties between countries.

Senator Dubrin thanked for the acceptance and underlined that he kept
into consideration concerning Armenia. He also said that he was happy
for his visit to Yerevan and for getting acquainted with the opinions
by Armenian officials about the regional developments.

Ed. Nalbandyan presented the last developments of Nagorno Karabakh
issue settlement negotiating process.

Mr. Minister also thanked the US Senator for his efforts for Armenian
Genocide recognition.

The sides had a detailed discussion on South Caucasian issues and
their possible solution.

ARMENIAN SOLDIER DIED: THE DETAILS OF THE CASE ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION

01.06.12, 17:17

On June 1, at about 08:20 Armenian soldier Saro Artyom Samvelyan died
as he was wounded by fire. He was holding his military duty at one
of military units of Artsakh Defense Army, on South-Eastern side. As
press service of Artsakh Defense Army informs the reason of the death
is not known yet.

The case is under investigation in order to find out the details.