Author: Kalashian Nyrie

KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION IMPORTANT FOR OSCE, U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.11.2009 15:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nagorno Karabakh issue acquired a new coloring in the
context of Armenian-Turkish reconciliation, said Richard Giragosian,
the director of the Armenian Center for National and International
Studies (ACNIS).

"With appointment of Robert Bradtke as Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group, the U.S. returned to the policy it pursued in 2004. Resolution
of the Karabakh conflict is important for the OSCE U.S. now," he said
during "Armenian-Turkish Diplomacy and Nagorno Karabakh: Deal or No
Deal?" seminar on November 5.

"There is a new calendar drawn for resolution of the conflict. It
covers the period from the presidential meeting in Moldova till the
OSCE ministerial meeting in Athens. Nevertheless, I do not expect
progress in Karabakh talks till January 2010," he said.

At that, Mr. Giragosian emphasized that sides should act more
transparently and raise public awareness about the ongoing peace
process to avoid dissemination of disinformation.

EU ADVISORY GROUP AND SME DNC OF ARMENIA ASSIST ARMENIAN MANUFACTURERS ENGAGED IN EXPORT IN ENTERING EUROPEAN MARKETS

Noyan Tapan
Nov 5, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The EU Advisory Group to Armenia
jointly with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development National
Center of Armenia (SME DNC) held a Workshop on Export Helpdesk for
representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises. During the
workshop, the representative of the RA State Revenue Committee answered
questions related to taxes and customs duties on exported goods.

According to information provided by SME DNC, Export Helpdesk is
a free Internet database to help countries enhance their economic
growth and welfare through trade by facilitating access of exporters
to European markets.

The purpose of the workshop was to improve the skills of small and
medium entrepreneurs to use Export Helpdesk for detailed information
on specific products for export purposes, as well as the import
requirements. SME representatives were the main target group of
the workshop.

NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: NATO WILL NOT PLAY A ROLE OF ITS OWN IN THE MEDIATION

ArmInfo
2009-11-04 14:06:00

ArmInfo. NATO is indeed very concerned with the conflicts in the
South Caucasus, says NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in
an interview with Day.az.

"It is vital that these conflicts be resolved peacefully and within a
reasonable timeframe. Regarding Nagorno-Karabakh, I very much welcome
and support the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to assist Armenia and
Azerbaijan to find a settlement to this conflict. Recently, these
efforts have gathered momentum and I hope that we will see further
progress. NATO will not play a role of its own in the mediation,
but we will use our political dialogue with both parties to promote
a peaceful solution to the conflict," he says.

Asked about possible role of NATO in peacemaking in Karabakh, he says:
"It would be hypothetical to address the question of a possible NATO
role in peacekeeping in Nagorno-Karabakh, and I do not believe it would
be useful to engage in any speculation on this topic at this time. As
for Kosovo, I would caution against generalizations and attempts to
apply the unique circumstances of Kosovo to other conflicts or regions
of the world. NATO’s task to provide a safe and secure environment
in Kosovo, which is mandated by the United Nations Security Council,
is distinct from the question of Kosovo’s status.

This is well illustrated by the fact that, in addition to nations that
recognise Kosovo’s independence, nations that do not recognise Kosovo’s
independence contribute forces to KFOR as well," Fogh Rasmussen says.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YEREVAN: ARTISTS DONATE WORKS TO CAPITAL CITY

Tert
Nov 4 2009
Armenia

An exhibit of works by Armenian artists has opened in Yerevan’s History
Museum, which can be found in the city hall building. The exhibit,
called "Happy Birthday, Yerevan," includes 64 works by contemporary
artists, who have donated their works to the beloved city.

Exhibited artists include such names as Artists’ Union of Armenia
President Karen Aghamyan, and contemporary artists Ara Haytayan,
Arman Grigoryan, Teni Vardanyan, and Artur Sargysan, among others.

"This is an interesting event, which must set an example for others,
since Yerevan is everyone’s home," noted Yerevan city mayor Gagik
Beglaryan during the opening ceremony.

In Beglaryan’s words, there are 88 items on display in Yerevan’s
History Museum (not to be confused with the National History Museum
found in Republic Square), a part of which are art works by well-known
Armenian artists.

Karen Aghamyan added that this is already the second such initiatve.

The first time a similar exhibit took place was in Lachin. The
president of the Artists’ Union of Armenia also expressed hope that,
in the future, the exhibited works will be displayed as well in a
separate gallery room.

AZERI MEN’S HANDBALL TEAM DESTROY ARMENIA 33-16

State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
November 2, 2009 Monday

Azerbaijan men’s handball team have crushed Armenia 33-16 in the
Challenge Trophy tournament in Chisinau, Moldova.

The win put the Azeri team third in their group followed by Armenia.

TURKISH PM: "WE CONSIDER PROBLEMS OF OUR AZERBAIJANI BROTHERS AS OUR OWN"

Today
/57099.html
Nov 2 2009
Azerbaijan

"We do not have any discrepancies with Azerbaijan. Taking advantage
of every opportunity, I reiterate that we consider problems of our
Azerbaijani brothers as our own ones," said Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a TV address to the nation.

Turkish Premier noted Turkey wants the Nagorno-Karabakh problem be
resolved through a dialogue.

He said since the beginning the process of rapprochement between
Turkey and Armenia "we have regarded Azerbaijan`s interests as our
own interests".

Erdogan expressed regret that there are people who want to turn both
countries against each other.

He stressed the need for historians to study the problems between
Turks and Armenians.

ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS NOT SUBMITTED TO RA CC YET

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.11.2009 11:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has not introduced
the Armenia-Turkey protocols to the Constitutional Court yet, spokesman
for RA CC Hovhannes Papikyan told PanARMENIAN.Net.

He did not rule out that the protocols will be submitted during
November 3 CC session.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 1 2009

Armenian media talks to Turkey in Turkish

It is not unusual to see English and Russian versions of Armenian news
sites. But something unusual has started to occur recently, as some
news sites in Armenia have added a Turkish language section to their
pages.

On the front page of Tert.am, the words, `Å?imdi Türkçe’ or `Now in
Turkish’ appear brightly colored in fuchsia. Just a click away, it is
possible to see the headline story on the Turkish page, which was
launched only a couple of weeks ago: `Prosperous Armenia Party Will
Vote against Protocol Ratification Only in Case of Preconditions.’ Two
advertisements also appear on Tert.am’s Turkish front page.

Sonya Apresova, an editor from Tert.am, said they have 12 percent
growth each day in page views of the Turkish section of the site and
that their visitors are not only from Turkey, but also from Armenia,
the United States and Europe, especially in Germany, where about 2.5
million people of Turkish decent live.

When it comes to their visitors from Turkey, Apresova said that they
are mostly from Ä°stanbul, but overall visitors from 16 cities have
checked out their Turkish portal, including Ankara, Adana, Bursa,
İzmir, Manisa, Antalya, Diyarbakır, Erzurum and Samsun. `Our readers
— mostly Armenians living in Turkey — used to send us letters,
asking if it was possible to translate some news into Turkish. And now
that the Turkish version exists, we’re getting a lot of feedback. It’s
always interesting for people living in Turkey to get opinions from
Armenia,’ said Apresova.

Another news site with Turkish pages in addition to its Armenian,
English and Russian-language pages is News.am. `News.am is a
relatively new online news resource. It started this year. Tert.am
started last year. Both News.am and Tert.am are competing for the same
market,’ said Artur Papyan from the Yerevan Press Club.

The pioneer in Turkish-language Web sites in Armenia is Azg.am, which
is the Web arm of the Azg Daily newspaper.

Hagob Avedikian, editor-in-chief of Azg, said they have been
publishing a Turkish site along with their Armenian, English and
Russian portals since the establishment of their Web page six years
ago.

He said when they started, they received various responses from their
readers, from `sound comments’ to `curses.’

`It was an adventure for us then. Now, Turkish-Armenian relations have
become a major topic, so we should enlarge the Turkish section,’ he
said, adding that they have only about 10 news stories and articles
translated from Armenian to Turkish because they cannot afford to do
more. Avedikian also said they have been encouraged to expand their
Turkish site since they’ve received an advertisement from a Turkish
fragrance company which is seeking partners in Armenia.

Developments regarding Turkey-Armenia relations have helped to
increase Azg.com’s Turkish readership, he said. Their daily number of
hits on the Turkish site was about 180 before the Oct. 14 soccer match
between Turkey and Armenia in the northwestern Turkish town of Bursa.
But a day after the game, they received about 350 hits.

`This is a good development, that people want to know what Armenians
think,’ he added.

After months of furious diplomacy, the two countries took a
significant step on Oct. 10 as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan signed
protocols in Zurich to improve relations. Both countries should have
the protocols ratified in their parliaments within a `reasonable time
frame.’

Turkey severed diplomatic ties with Armenia and closed its border in
1993 in protest over the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan’s
Nagorno-Karabakh region. There has been optimism following both
countries’ gestures in September of last year, when Turkish President
Abdullah Gül accepted Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s invitation
to watch a game between the national soccer teams of both countries.
Sarksyan was in Bursa on Oct. 14 to watch the second-leg match between
Turkey and Armenia. Journalists from both Turkey and Armenia have been
kept busy by the tense nature of relations between the two countries,
and they increasingly feel the need to know what goes on in each
other’s countries as opposition in both sides fights the protocols.

`When there is a development in Turkey related to relations with
Armenia, I would like to know how it was reflected in Armenia,’ said
Demet Bilge Ergün, the news editor from Radikal daily. `I found out
that Tert.am had started publishing news in Turkish, and now I go to
that site every morning after reading the Turkish newspapers.’

Erdinç Ergenç, an editor with Sabah, said as a journalist, he feels
obligated to know what the other side `says and does’ and that a good
way to do it is to go to the Turkish-language sites in Armenia.

`It would be important for journalists at least to know what the other
side is doing in this process,’ he said. However, he added, it is `sad
to see’ that the Turkish side is not involved in a similar effort to
publish news from Turkey in Armenian.

There are, however, growing efforts in that regard. The
Turkish-Armenian community’s weekly Agos has started to post Armenian
news in Turkish as a part of the project `Neighbors about each other,’
made available for public use by the Civilitas Foundation, based in
Armenia, with support from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) through the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF).

Artak Shakaryan, Armenia-Turkey project manager for the EPF, said
every day over the last few weeks an article from the Turkish media
has been translated into Armenian and posted online at

01 November 2009, Sunday
YONCA POYRAZ DOÄ?AN Ä°STANBUL

WE SAW IT COMING: OPPOSITION ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Tert
Oct 30 2009
Armenia

Arman Musinyan, press secretary of the leader of the Armenian National
Congress (ANC), Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosian stated
during a press conference today that all their forecasts connected
with the Armenian-Turkish and Nagorno-Karabakh issues came true.

Musinyan stated that just as they had predicted, Armenia has either
lost influence over these issues or has trivial influence.

"It’s unfortunate, but it must be noted, these tendencies will get even
deeper. Presently processes on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict will become more animated and just as we cautioned last year,
these processes don’t promise anything good to Armenia," Musinyan said.

Continuing, Musinyan said that Armenia’s leadership offered denial
of the Armenian Genocide on a plate to the Turkish people in exchange
for opening the border, but the borders haven’t opened.

The press spokesperson noticed a direct connection with the Protocols
and settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "The day the Protocols
are ratified and the border opens, I will most likely surmise, and
I will be convinced, that, in the Karabakh issue, there has been a
denouement," the press spokesperson said.

EDWARD HOVHANNESYAN: ARMENIAN SOCIETY IS LEARNING TO OBSERVE ROAD RULES

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.10.2009 18:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 411 000 cases of road rule violation were registered
in 2008. According to 2009 first half year results, the number of
fines increased. Over 1400 were fined for pedestrian violations, which
is a positive aspect, as it spells an improved quality of Armenian
police work and efficient implementation of preventive methods to
exclude traffic accidents, Head of "Achilles" Social Organization
for Protection of Drivers’ rights Edward Hovhannesyan said.

Edward Hovhannesyan also added that the Organization, jointly
with RA Education and Science Ministry is ready to conduct road and
traffic rules lessons at RA schools. Many suggestions and projects of
"Achilles" Social Organization are supported by Armenian Government.