Author: Kalashian Nyrie

HIMA YOUTH INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTY’S POST NIKOL PASHINIAN

Noyan Tapan
Dec 7, 2009

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. With a December 7 statement the
HIMA (Now) youth initiative expressed its support to a candidate for
deputy’s post nominated at Yerevan electoral district N 10, Haykakan
Zhamanak newspaper’s editor-in-chief Nikol Pashinian being imprisoned
at present.

"This atmosphere of arbitrariness can be liquidated only by such
figures following exact principles as Nikol Pashinian. "Our struggle
cannot be suppressed, our victory is inevitable" – in order to realize
this slogan we should make each citizen’s ownership Nikol’s formula
"1+1+1+1…" We are sure that only with unreserved devotion his and
our victory will be inevitable. Nikol’s struggle is our struggle,
Nikol’s trial is our trial, therefore his victories will also be
our victories. It is time to complete the work we started…," the
statement of the HIMA youth initiative read.

ARMENIAN STATE ENGENEERING UNIVERSITY AND ADC TO SIGN A MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.12.2009 18:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian State Engeneering University and
Armenian Datacom Company ADC will sign a memorandum to conduct
trainings, joint seminars, enhance human capacity and implement
long-term cooperation in various fields. In addition, the memorandum
also provides practical training for university students, awarding
the most outstanding students, etc.

Armenian Engeneering University Rector, Professor Vostanik Marukhanyan
and president of ADC Khajak Karayan expressed hope that the signed
memorandum will help to deepen cooperation between the company and
university.

Cooperation between ADC and Economics, Management of Communications
chair at the Radio Engineering Department of the university has been
established since last year.

12,000 ARMENIAN CITIZENS WORKING ILLEGALLY IN TURKEY, MAJORITY ARE WOMEN

Tert.am
10:32, 07.12.09

There are between 12,000 and 13,000 Armenian citizens working
illegally in Turkey, according to the results of a study by the
Eurasia Partnership Foundation, which will be made available to the
public next month.

According to the study, 94% of the Armenians working in Turkey are
women, with very few Armenian men accompanying their spouses to
Turkey or working here. Armenian women tend to work as childcare and
homecare providers, and cleaning and sales staff. Most of the Armenian
men who accompany their wives here choose not to work at all, while
those who do tend to work in the jewelry business.

Head researcher Alin Ozinian, an Istanbul native of Armenian descent,
worked for two years on the project, which culminated in a 150-page
report to be released in Istanbul next month.

The report makes important claims as to the number of Armenians living
in Turkey. According to official numbers, 6,000 Armenians did not
return home after traveling to Turkey between 2000 and 2008. Ozinian
adds figures from the 1990s to this number and says the number of
Armenians illegally living in Turkey is not 70,000-100,000 as has
previously been asserted, but is actually closer to 12,000-13,000.

An interesting finding of the study is that those migrating from
Armenia prefer to work and live with Turks in Istanbul, as opposed
to Armenians who are natives of the city. Immigrant Armenians say
the "moral values" of Turks and Armenians are very close. Amongst
the survey questions asked as part of the study was, "Is there a
difference between the idea of a Turk you had in your head before
coming here and the ideas you have now?" Most of the answers expressed
a fear of Turks before coming, and after living and working with them,
a more positive impression is formed.

Armenian immigrant children often do not continue their education
after coming to Turkey, and children born in the country have no
official birth certificates. As there is no Armenian consulate or
embassy in Turkey, they are children without identities or nationality.

If desired, protocols can be manipulated; it’s what Turkey and
Azerbaijan are trying to do

Azerbaijan will never be allowed to regulate the Karabakh conflict at
its discretion, nor will Turkey be allowed any interference in the
none-of-its-business affairs.
04.12.2009 GMT+04:00

It has already become a tradition: every year the process of Karabakh
conflict settlement is completed in the same way – at the annual
summit, the OSCE Ministerial Council issues a statement which almost
repeats the previous one with the mandatory confirmation of the
necessity to continue the process of finding a peaceful solution based
on Madrid principles. However, this year the usual course of
negotiations was somehow disturbed by the signing of the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nevertheless, the Protocols can hardly seriously
affect the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, which, as once again
stressed by Foreign Ministers of the co-chair countries, should be
based on the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, which
clearly states all the three principles of conflict regulation: the
principle of Non-Use of Force or Threat of Force, Territorial
Integrity, and the Self-Determination of Peoples. On the other hand,
if desired, the protocols can be manipulated and it’s exactly what
Turkey and Azerbaijan are trying to do, somehow forgetting that the
world powers unequivocally oppose to drawing such parallels.

Each of the sides interprets these principles in its own way. The
principles `all are of primary significance, and, consequently, they
will be equally and unreservedly applied in the interpretation of each
of them, taking into account the others’. But, for some reason, this
has been forgotten about for 15 years and disputes have been stirred
up about which of the principles is more important…

`The participating States will respect each other’s sovereign equality
and individuality, as well as all the rights inherent in and
encompassed by its sovereignty, including in particular the right of
every State to juridical equality, to territorial integrity, to
freedom and political independence. Within the framework of
international law, all the participating States have equal rights and
duties. Their frontiers can be changed, in accordance with
international law, by peaceful means and by agreement.’ Unfortunately,
Azerbaijan is guided by this principle only, having neither historical
nor legal basis to do so. But presently it is useless to prove
anything to Baku, and therefore we will not even try. We’ll confine
ourselves only to giving the other two principles which are equally
important in regulating a conflict, and about which Ilham Aliyev
unfortunately `forgets’.

`The participating States will refrain in their mutual relations, as
well as in their
international relations in general, from the threat or use of force
against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the
United Nations and with the present Declaration. No consideration may
be invoked to serve to warrant resort to the threat or use of force in
contravention of this principle.

Accordingly, the participating States will refrain from any acts
constituting a threat of force or direct or indirect use of force
against another participating State. No such threat or use of force
will be employed as a means of settling disputes, or questions likely
to give rise to disputes, between them. The participating States
regard as inviolable all one another’s frontiers, as well as the
frontiers of all states in Europe and therefore they will refrain now
and in the future from assaulting these frontiers. Accordingly, they
will also refrain from any demand for, or act of, seizure and
usurpation of part or all of the territory of any participating
State.’

Not once we’ve mentioned that the bellicose statements of President
Aliyev and his entourage will eventually lead to the situation when he
will not be taken seriously. Moreover, Azerbaijan as a minimum faces
sanctions as a country that does not meet its obligations to the
Council of Europe. At most, it will be excluded from the CE. And
though it will hardly come to the latter, paraphrasing President Ilham
Aliyev we can say that `The patience of European officials is not
endless’.

And finally `The participating States will respect the equal rights of
peoples and their right to self-determination, acting at all times in
conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations and with the relevant norms of international law,
including those relating to territorial integrity of States. By virtue
of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,
all peoples always have the right, in full freedom, to determine, when
and as they wish, their internal and external political status,
without external interference, and to pursue as they wish their
political, economic, social and cultural development. The
participating States reaffirm the universal significance of respect
for and effective exercise of equal rights and self-determination of
peoples for the development of friendly relations among themselves as
among all States; they also recall the importance of the elimination
of any form of violation of this principle.’

Such a long campaign against illiteracy was necessary to discourage
any encroachment on the right of the NKR people to self-determination,
as well as to warn the Baku officials that the talks about `Armenia
being frightened of the statements of President Aliyev’ are at least
ridiculous. Baku should also keep in mind that the zombiing of one’s
own people always ends miserably both for the leadership and for the
people themselves. We’ve talked of this several times, but sometimes
it is useful to repeat oneself…

It is from this point of view that the statement of the OSCE made in
Athens should be considered: Azerbaijan will not be allowed to
regulate the Karabakh conflict at its discretion, nor will Turkey be
allowed any interference in the none-of-its-business affairs.

Karine Ter-Sahakyan

news.az, Azerbaijan
Dec 5 2009

Armenia should take a necessary step, Turkish PM
Sat 05 December 2009 | 05:50 GMT Text size:

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara’s
position in the Karabakh issue remains unchanged.

"Nagorno-Karabakh is our bleeding wound. It is necessary to heal this
wound", said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the
official visit to the United States. He noted that Ankara’s position
in the Karabakh issue remains unchanged and both the United States and
Russia know this.

As for ratification of protocols to open borders with Armenia in the
Turkish Grand National Assembly, it will depend on Armenia’s
constructiveness in demonstrating its position on the Karabakh
conflict.

"We have a clear solution on this issue. At present, these cases are
on the agenda in the parliament. These two issues are closely bound.
There will be no progress in this issue unless the Karabakh conflict
is resolved. Everyone in the parliament have the same position on
this issue"

In addition to the abovementioned, Erdogan added the Turkish political
powers have the same opinion about this issue:

"I have repeatedly said that the OSCE Minsk Group should be more
determined on this issue. Steps should be taken. UN has stated that
Nagorno Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan. In this case, who should make
the necessary step? The necessary step should be made by Armenia. When
we say that the conflict is settled, this means the moment of reaching
an agreement on 7 regions and thereby resolving the problem’. Erdogan
said it would provide an opportunity not to overload the checkpoint in
Nakhchivan:

"In this case, the chances to get to Turkey will grow. But if all
these problems are not resolved, Turkey would not take a positive step
towards Armenia.

Erdogan said his country is continuing efforts to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. To do this, Turkey is working with the
South Caucasus countries, but at the same time they believe that the
United States, France and Russia, who are members of the OSCE Minsk
Group, have a decisive position on this issue.

ANS PRESS

ASHIB LOWERS CONTACT TRANSFER TARIFF

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
04.12.2009 10:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ardshininvestbank has reduced Contact money transfer
tariff from 3% to 2%, the bank’s press office said.

"It will be a new year surprise for our clients," ASHIB board chairman
Nerses Karamanukyan said.

Contact money transfer system operates in 86 countries around the
world; the total number of service points is 40000.

Ardshininvestbank was established in December 2002. The bank has 55
branches: 13 – in Yerevan, 36 – in all regions of Armenia, 6 – in the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and has a representation in Paris. The bank
serves approximately 95.000 clients and has over 1000 employees.

MINSTER NALBANDYAN MET THE PRIME MINISTER OF GREECE

armradio.am
03.12.2009 13:15

The second day of the ministerial council of the OSCE was also
fulfilled with bilateral meetings.

Edward Nalbandyans first meeting was together with the prime minister
of Greece, the OSCE executive president Jorghas Papandreu.

Minister Nalbandyan passed the greetings of the President of Armenia
Sarzh Sargsyan over to the prime minister of Greece and expressed
his allowance and satisfaction connected with the built cooperation
between these two countries.

Welcoming the foreign minister of Armenia, the Prime minister of the
Greece said, that the Armenian-Greece relations come from very deep
parts of the history and the government of Greece whishes to make
real steps in the direction of deepening the cooperation between this
two countries.

Minister Papandreu and minister Nalbandyan discussed a big frame
of Armenian-Greece cooperation-issues, underlined the high level
of the political dialogue and also mentioned the activation of the
cooperation of these two countries in some spheres.

The interlocutors exchanged also thoughts connected with the OSCE
agenda, the cooperation between Armenia-European Union, as well as
regional issues. In Athens foreign minister of Armenia met also
the general secretary of the OSCE Mark Peter de Brishambo. The
interlocutors discussed questions of different spheres.

Mr. Nalbandyan underlined how important the role of the OSCE in
the guaranty of the security and cooperation issues in Europe is
for Armenia and that Armenia will continue his participation in all
processes of the structure on all levels.

ACCLAIMED OPERA SINGER WILL PERFORM AT CENTER

Dearborn Press and Guide – MI
Dec 1 2009

On Friday, acclaimed Soprano singer Isabel Bayrakdarian will perform
at the Dearborn Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The performance
is hosted by the St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church located at
19300 Ford Rd.

"It’s a benefit recital for the church," Bayrakdarian said. "I
feel very loyal to all the Armenian Churches because of what they
indirectly do to my own spiritual life. I am very happy to be able
to do my share to help the church."

Born in Lebanon and now a citizen of Canada, Bayrakdarian has
traveled many places performing alone and with her pianist husband,
Serouj Kradjian.

"Wherever I am in the world I go to the Armenian Church. It’s all
the same at every church – the service. I can always fit in and have
a sense of community and belonging in a foreign place." Bayrakdarian
said.

Bayrakdarian and Kradjian have a two year old boy, Ari Kradjian,
whom travels with Bayrakdarian.

"I don’t think many kids his age have had to have two passports. He’s
literally been around the world," Bayrakdarian said. "You find home
is where your family is."

Bayrakdarian is the youngest child in a family with six children.

Bayrakdarian’s mother was the choir director at their local church.

"Music literally began filling my ears before I was born. My mom
made us all sing in the choir and if all the older ones are singing,
the littlest one has to sing because there’s no one to babysit,"
Bayrakdarian said. "Armenian Church music has been with me since
the beginning."

Not only is Bayrakdarian a world-traveling Soprano, she also holds an
honors degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

"I have a very analytical mind. In school I was always good in math
and science. It made sense that I would go into a field that would
maximize those assets," Bayrakdarian said.

Bayrakdarian did not plan on becoming a professional singer. She began
taking singing lessons so she could sing better in her church choir.

It was not until her last year of college when she won a Metropolitan
competition in New York that she began to find a career in singing.

"I’ve never looked back," Bayrakdarian said. "But my mind hasn’t
changed. In the beginning it was an incredible source of confidence to
have the knowledge that I am more than the sound I’m producing. To know
that I’m not just a voice, but a mind as well was very comforting. The
artistic expression gives me such inner joy though."

"We’re looking forward to the show because some of it will showcase
the Armenian culture which is spoken to the hearts of people,"
Chairman of the PR Committee for St. Sarkis, Robert Kachadourian said.

"The songs will be familiar to the audience and in the native
language."

"It should be a wonderful program. It has a lot of variety. Definitely
a journey of cultures," Bayrakdarian said.

Bayrakdarian performace will be Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. at the Dearborn Ford
Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets range from $25-$50 and can
be purchased in advance by calling (313) 943-2354.

"It’s an opera for the people," Kachadourian said.

TIGRAN SARGSYAN: WE INTEND TO TIGHTEN CONTROL AND USE STRICTER MEASURES TO PREVENT ABUSE

Noyan Tapan
Dec 1, 2009

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan on December 1 visited Original Distillery Company, a vodka
distillery. The RA Government Information and PR Department reports
that the purpose of the visit was to assess the implementation of the
prime minister’s instructions on efficient activities of importers
and suppliers and on promotion of the domestic production.

After touring the company, T. Sargsyan answered the questions of
reporters. In particular, he said:

"I should note with satisfaction that our meeting with importers in
February has produced positive results. Particularly, this production
which has been organized over the past 4 months is a response of
importers to the government’s appeal. It is of great importance.

First, we are reducing vodka imports and organizing our own production:
80 jobs have been created, and the distillery will expand, with the
number of jobs reaching 200. Secondly, ensuring competitiveness in the
market will help improve the quality of vodka made in Armenia, which
is essential as the matter concerns our citizens’ health. Thirdly,
the company is going to export its products to neighboring countries,
also to Russia and Ukraine, which means that the quality of our vodka
must be high so that we can successfully compete with famous Russian
and Ukrainian brands".

In response to a reporter’s question about the government steps
against cases of copying foreign brands by domestic producers, the
prime minister said: "The RA State Commission for the Protection of
Economic Competition has received such alarm calls. A new strategy
is being developed. It envisages more active work of the commission
on the one hand, and new legislative initiatives on the other hand –
in order to allow the commission to use penalties in case of abuse
and also to take preventive measures so as to discourage people from
selling their low-quality products by deception, that is, by pretending
that they sell famous brands. This is an inadmissible and dangerous
phenomenon, an example of abuse at the expense of the people. We
intend to tighten control and use stricter measures to prevent abuse".

THE NORTH CAUCASUS REMAINS RUSSIA’S PERPETUAL PROBLEM REGION
Mairbek Vatchagaev

Jamestown Foundation
Nov 30 2009

A Russian Interior Ministry forces soldier examines a police vehicle
in in Grozny.

The resounding speech made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in his
annual address to the country’s parliament had no impact whatsoever
on the situation in the North Caucasus (, November 12).

While local officials are left guessing who will become the Kremlin’s
man in charge in the North Caucasus (, November 12), reports
of shootings and special security operations targeting members of
the armed resistance keep arriving from the region.

Nearly all the attacks on siloviki perpetrated by members of
Ingushetia’s Sharia Jamaat occur in the republic’s flatlands, which
refutes the established belief that the insurgents operate in the
mountains or woodlands. The attacks are more common on the Kavkaz
(Caucasus) federal highway, particularly in the stretch of highway
from the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya to the city of Nazran.

According to local sources ( and
), several attacks on policemen were registered
recently in the area of the Ekazhevo settlement, which is in
Ingushetia’s Nazran district. On November 20, two policemen were
wounded inside their vehicle when it was fired on in broad daylight.

One of them, M. B. Shauhalov, subsequently died in the hospital. That
same night, unknown individuals shot up the courthouse of Ekazhevo
with assault rifles and then set it on fire. Meanwhile, armed attacks
on military motorcades and police stations no longer shock anyone
in Ingushetia (, November 14, 15). Since the
forced resignation of Ruslan Aushev, Ingushetia’s first president,
in April 2002, the kidnapping of young people by the siloviki remains
the most pressing problem in the republic.

Meanwhile, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has been losing count of
the militants he personally eliminated. Almost all siloviki operations
against militants in Chechnya are conducted under his personal
supervision. According to Russian news sources, 35 militants were
killed in October (, November 9). This figure
will likely be surpassed in November. For example, the authorities
reported on November 11 that five militants were killed in the area
of Serzhen-Yurt in the Shali district. On November 13, they reported
ten more militants had been killed during special operations in
Chechnya’s Achkhoi-Martan district of Chechnya, and that estimate was
subsequently increased to 20. Meanwhile, Kadyrov announced that Dokka
Umarov, the leader of the armed resistance in the North Caucasus,
might have been among those killed in the operation in Achkhoi-Martan
(, November 13). According to Chechen authorities,
Dokka Umarov was hiding in the very area where the operation took
place. It appears that these operations were meant to be a gift timed
for Medvedev’s annual address.

In Dagestan, one of the largest republics in the North Caucasus,
authorities have followed the lead of their Chechen colleagues and
begun setting the houses of militants’ relatives on fire. Among the
houses burned down was that of Emir Seifullah, the leader of Gubden
jamaat (, November 19). It is worth noting that the
Gubden and Khasavyurt jamaats have become the two most active cells
of Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat. Meanwhile, on November 17, Magomedshamil
Shahbanov, the son of the head of Buinaksk administration, Mesterlu
Shahbanov, was kidnapped. Also, the mullah of the local mosque in
Starye Miatli in Dagestan’s Kizilyurt district, Ibragim Abakarov,
was shot at by unidentified individuals. It is worth noting that
religious leaders are frequent victims of attacks in the North
Caucasus. For example, on November 21, a blast rocked the private
house of the son of the mullah of one of Nazran’s mosques. The
bombing was aimed at pressuring the Sufis -who, according to the
insurgents, are cooperating with the authorities. That allegation
cannot be true because the very nature of Sufism practiced in Chechnya,
Ingushetia, and Dagestan rejects the notion of open cooperation with
any authorities. The Russian authorities at first skillfully used the
Sufis in their North Caucasus politics and then simply knocked the
Sufi element out of the game as Sufism became one of their biggest
problems of the last two hundred years. The belief that Sufis support
the authorities is inherently erroneous.

Reports of insurgent activity are arriving these days even from
the relatively quiet region of Kabardino-Balkaria. Unidentified
persons blew up an electrical substation and the "Azau-Krugozor"
cableway in the Adyl-Su Gorge in Kabardino-Balkaria’s Elbrus
region. Additionally, they fired on the "Azau" stationary road
police post located at the 54th kilometer of the Prohladnyi-Azau
federal highway at the Tyrnyauz city exit (, November
18). Moreover, according to Interfax, an act of terror was prevented
at the Aushigersk hydroelectric power plant located in the Chereksk
district of the republic. A weapons cache containing four kilograms
of plastic explosives, blasting caps and a concentrated charge (SZ-4)
was found in a forest 200 meters away from the plant. The contents
of the cache were sent for examination (, November 18).

There have been no recent news reports regarding the Karachai jamaat,
which suffered a major blow from numerous campaigns by the authorities
and siloviki in 2006-2007, when many of the jamaat’s members were
killed. However, on November 11, there was a report about a shootout
in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. An unidentified insurgent opened fire at
road policemen on duty on Mir Street in the city of Karachaevsk. Three
policemen were wounded in the attack (, November 18).

There has been some turbulence in the Republic of Adygea, where
President Aslan Thakushinov suggested creating a center of political
technologies in order to develop an information policy in the sphere
of terrorism prevention (, November 8). The
authorities there intend to pay more attention to the issues of Islam
and interethnic relations in this North Caucasus region.

The topic of the Pankisi (a gorge in the northeastern corner of Georgia
bordering Chechnya and populated by ethnic Chechens) has not been left
out of the picture in recent days. According to Armenian sources,
Tbilisi is ready to open its borders for transit between Russia and
Armenia in exchange for Russia refraining from pressuring Georgia
politically over the Pankisi Gorge (, November 19).

Generally, the arrival of winter results in a considerable slow
down in insurgent activity in the North Caucasus. However, this is
absolutely not the case this year. We may assume that this has to
do with the new tactics of the armed resistance as well as harsh
counterterrorist operations being conducted by regional authorities.