Author: Kanayan Tamar

STUDENTS OF THE STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY BRIEFED ON THE DETAILS OF PENSION REFORMS

armradio.am
06.03.2012 21:26

Vardan Aramyan, Armenian Deputy Minister of Finance, delivered a
lecture at the Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur
Abovyan. This marked the start of the series of lectures for
university students of Armenia initiated by the Pension and Labour
Market Reforms (PALM) Project administered by the US Agency for
International Development jointly with the Pension System Awareness
Center Foundation and NASDAQ OMX Armenia.

According to the Deputy Minister, pension issues are of key importance
for policy makers throughout the world and many countries, which still
struggle under the financial burden of current Pay-As-You-Go systems
based on intergenerational solidarity, consider possible solutions
and explore opportunities to shift to multi-pillar pension systems.

Moreover, the proposed reform will bring about the new culture and
thinking among the society by creating incentives to perform better
in the labour market and it is pretty much understandable: everyone
should think of own future and make savings while working and the
state, in its turn, will provide the required environment for this. On
the other hand, the primary responsibility of the state is to address
poverty reduction and other social issues among the society.

Mr. Aramyan explained that the persons born in and after 1974 are
due to cumulate their pensions as of 2014.

The next two lectures will take place at the Armenian State University
of Economics on March 12 and 13.

In general, it is planned to organize lectures for some 1 000
students. Under the same program, an essay contest ‘My vision of
economic development within the context of pension reforms in Armenia’
has been announced for the undergraduate and postgraduate students.

This too is designed to raise the interest and enhance the knowledge
on pensions among university students. Best essays will be awarded;
the winner will get iPad 2.

OSCE MINSK GROUP PRESENTS PLAN FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SIDES TO PREPARE COMPREHENSIVE PEACE SETTLEMENT

Trend
March 6 2012
Azerbaijan

The Co-Chairs presented a plan for the sides to put into action the
joint statement made by Presidents Medvedev, Aliyev, and Sargsyan on
January 23 in Sochi. Building on the two Presidents’ joint commitment
to accelerate reaching agreement on the Basic Principles, the Co-Chairs
proposed steps to assist the sides in furthering work on the framework
for a comprehensive peace settlement.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Robert Bradtke
of the United States, Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, and
Jacques Faure of France) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) traveled to Yerevan,
Nagorno-Karabakh, and Baku on March 2-6. The Co-Chairs met with
Presidents Sargsyan and Aliyev, and with the de facto authorities in
Nagorno-Karabakh, the organization said.

The Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders Ilham Aliyev, Dmitry
Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan held the tenth trilateral meeting in
Sochi in January. They made a joint statement following the meeting.

“The presidents said that the agreement was reached to coordinate
fundamental principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a result
of intensive negotiations,” the document said. “Taking into account
the importance of passing to the development of a peace agreement,
the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents expressed their willingness
to accelerate the achievement of the agreement on basic principles
taking into account the conducted work.”

The Co-Chairs also discussed with the sides how to implement
commitments in the Sochi statement to continue work on a mechanism to
investigate incidents along the frontlines. The Co-Chairs reported
that they have requested, through the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office,
that the OSCE High-Level Planning Group further develop the mechanism
as an important measure to enhance stability and improve trust. In
addition, the Co-Chairs discussed humanitarian and people-to-people
contacts, which should be used to promote mutual understanding among
peoples of the region, and not be politicized or manipulated to the
detriment of the peace process.

The Co-Chairs plan to travel to Vienna on March 22 to brief the OSCE
Permanent Council on the latest steps being taken toward reaching a
peaceful settlement.â~@¬

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

AZERI PRESIDENT VOWS TO PROVIDE ALL CONDITIONS FOR ETHNIC ARMENIANS TO LIVE IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Interfax
March 5 2012
Russia

Azerbaijan will provide all the necessary conditions for Armenians
to live in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said.

“Azerbaijan, as a multiethnic state, will surely provide conditions for
and will help Armenians living there, and they will enjoy all rights
as citizens of the Azerbaijani state in the future,” Aliyev said in
an interview with Turkish television channel TRT, whose transcript
was published in the official Azeri press on Saturday.

The ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh “will continue living
there as before,” Aliyev said. “We have no objections to this,”
he said.

If Armenia considers the modern-day realities and Azerbaijan’s growing
political clout and economic might, takes the right steps, and leaves
the occupied territories, it will also help the ethnic Armenians
living in Nagorno-Karabakh, Aliyev said. “But if it does not realize
this and continues its predatory policy, then the consequences for
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh could be very bitter,” he said.

The Azeri armed forces can easily restore Azerbaijan’s sovereignty
in Nagorno-Karabakh, but Azerbaijan does not want blood to be shed
and war resumed again, Aliyev said.

TURKEY CONTINUES SANCTIONS ON FRANCE DESPITE COURT RULING ON “ARMENIAN GENOCIDE” BILL

Xinhua General News Service
March 5, 2012 Monday 6:40 PM EST
China

Turkey decided on Monday to continue its sanctions on France, despite
a ruling by the French Constitutional Council saying that a new law on
“Armenian genocide ” was unconstitutional, local newspaper Today’s
Zaman reported.

The French Senate adopted last month the law which might impose a
60,530-U.S.-dollar fine and one year imprisonment on those found
guilty of denying that the World War I-era deaths of over 1 million
Armenians under the Ottoman rule amounted to “genocide.”

Following Ankara’s pressure of political and military sanctions and
lobbying by Turkish politicians and businessmen in Paris, the French
Constitutional Council ruled that the law was unconstitutional, citing
relevant articles of the “1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen,” the fundamental document of the French Revolution.

Shortly after the ruling was announced, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said that the Turkish Cabinet would meet to consider
whether to restart economic, political and military contacts with
France that were frozen after the French Parliament passed the law,
according to the report.

Turkey has denounced the bill as an attack on freedom of expression
and argued that France’s center-right government had supported the
law to secure the votes of some 500,000 Armenians living in France.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, however, asked his government last
Tuesday to draft a new version of the genocide-denial law after it
was struck down as unconstitutional.

During Monday’s cabinet meeting, Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu said
that the previously announced sanctions and measures taken against
France must continue, the newspaper reported.

Tensions tainted relations between Paris and Ankara, which rejects
the term “genocide,” insisting that the killed Armenians were victims
of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the Ottoman Empire
collapsed before modern Turkey was created.

NATO SECRETARY GENERAL MEETS PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA, DISCUSSES PREPARATIONS FOR CHICAGO SUMMIT

Defence Professionals

March 6 2012

14:49 GMT, March 6, 2012 The NATO Secretary General Mr. Anders Fogh
Rasmussen welcomed the President of Armenia Mr. Serzh Sargsyan on 6
March 2012 at the NATO Headquarters and discussed with him issues
related to Armenia’s partnership with the Alliance. The Secretary
General also thanked President Sargsyan for Armenia’s contribution
to the Alliance’s ISAF operation in Afghanistan.

“NATO and Armenia share many political priorities and security
interests”, the Secretary General said. “And we have built up our
cooperation and dialogue over many years. Our relationship contributes
to regional security and Euro-Atlantic security. And we want to take
it forward in that way”.

During the visit to NATO Headquarters President Sargsyan also addressed
the North Atlantic Council and discussed with Allies preparations
for the Chicago Summit.

“Let me stress that the South Caucasus region is important for our
Alliance, and Armenia is an important partner for NATO”, the Secretary
General said. “At Chicago, we will review the progress of transition
in Afghanistan and take decisions on our commitment beyond 2014,
once the Afghan forces have full security responsibility throughout
the country. As an ISAF contributor, Armenia will participate closely
in the decision-shaping process.”

FRENCH-TURK FRICTION CLOUDS SYRIA MEETING

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 6 2012
Russia

As Turkey prepares to host the second gathering of the “Friends
of Syria” group to discuss the Syrian crisis in Istanbul in March,
Ankara is still deciding whether to inviteFrench Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe. Political ties between the two countries have been
strained over a “genocide” bill, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“We haven’t sent any invitation to any country yet. We will still
consider inviting Juppe,” a Turkish diplomat told the Hurriyet Daily
News yesterday. Turkey had not ruled out the participation of France,
since it would not be a bilateral meeting, but rather a multi-party
gathering, the diplomat said, implying a higher likelihood he would
be invited.

Turkey will host the second “Friends of Syria” conference in late
March, following the group’s first meeting in Tunis on Feb. 24.

If Turkey decides to invite France to the gathering, the invitation
would be for Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, not French President
Nicholas Sarkozy, as the conference would be at the ministerial level,
the diplomat said.

Juppe is known to be against the law the French parliament passed
in December 2011 which made denying the Ottoman empire committed
genocide against its Armenian population in the World War I era a
criminal offense.

ARMENIAN SINGERS BOYCOTT BAKU EUROVISION

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 6 2012
Russia

Over 20 Armenian singers filed a note to the European Broadcasting
Union and the Public TV Company of Armenia on February 23, stating
that they do not want to participate in the 2012 Eurovision Song
Contest held in Baku, Turan reports.

The statement was made after murder of Albert Adibekyan, an Armenian
serviceman shot by a sniper at the Chinari Village of the Tavush
Region. No officials confirmation of the sniper shot was published.

Initial reports could not clarify how the soldier was killed in an
area with no contact line on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.

Later reports said that Abibekyan was killed by his brother-in-arms
Ignat Yengibaryan.

The statement is believed to be an initiative of Armenian authorities
to give a political image to economic reasons for refusal to attend
the song contest in Baku.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION HEAD: DCFTA TALKS TURNING POINT IN TIES WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 6, 2012 – 22:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and President
of the European Commission, Jose Barroso, officially launched the
negotiations for Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA)
between Armenia and the EU.

Mr. Barroso issued a statement following the meeting with President
of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

It reads as follows,

“We fully support the President’s reform and modernization agenda,
and we remain committed to deepen our engagement with Armenia in the
framework of the Eastern Partnership.

Indeed, we are now ready to launch talks on a Deep and Comprehensive
Free Trade Area, which is part and parcel of the Association
Agreement that we are already negotiating with Armenia. This is to
a large extent, the result of Armenia’s efforts to comply with our
‘key recommendations’.

The opening of the DCFTA negotiations marks a turning point in our
trading and economic relationship, providing new opportunities for
our citizens and businesses. This is also a sign that our ties are
getting stronger.

Armenia should now continue to advance in its trade and trade-related
reforms and work towards reaching a stable, transparent and predictable
economic environment. This is essential, we believe, to attract
foreign investment and also to stimulate growth and job creation.

The relationship between the European Union and Armenia is not only
about the economy or trade or mobility, we have discussed these
issues. But it is also about the universal values that we share.

Democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law are at the core of
the Association Agreement that we are negotiating with Armenia and they
are the solid foundations of our present and also our future relations.

The next parliamentary and presidential elections will be an important
benchmark in Armenia reform’s path. I am reassured by the President’s
commitment that these elections will be conducted in accordance with
democratic international standards,” according to official EU website.

OSCE MG TARGETS PEOPLE AFTER FAILING WITH POLITICIANS?
Marina Ananikyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 6, 2012 – 21:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Completing subsequent tour over Nagorno Karabakh
conflict zone, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs came up with another
statement today. Though nothing new was remarkable in this context,
the statements voiced in Baku suggest that greater attention is
attached to social-humanitarian rather than political aspect of the
negotiation process.

During meetings with Presidents of Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijan, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Ambassadors Robert Bradtke
of the United States, Igor Popov of the Russian Federation,
and Jacques Faure of France) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk
(Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) discussed
humanitarian issues, particularly related to establishment of contacts
between the two nations, which “may foster development of mutual
understanding.”

Robert Bradtke noted that mediators have “started establishing
humanitarian ties between the nations. This is only the beginning.

Cooperation in this stage inspires hope.”

Noting that OSCE MG co-chairs visited the border between Artsakh and
Azerbaijan last December, Bradtke said, “people residing on both sides
encounter similar problems, such as water supply and energy problems.

We aim to build cooperation between people facing the same problems.”

However, the question is that problems of crucial importance such
as water supply, energy issues and many others are outcomes of the
conflict itself. The co-chairs seriously believe, that those problems
may become a starting point of reconciliation between peoples of
Artsakh and Azerbaijan, the latter having massacred Armenians in Baku,
Sumgait, Kirovabad and Karabakh itself. Is it possible to make Artsakh
people forget about the horror of war and leave ancestral lands? Is
it possible to force Azeris to abandon attempts to conquer lands that
were once presented to them?

Nagorno Karabakh talks seem to have entered a deadlock, especially
given the fact that Baku occasionally tries to prevent achievement
of any progress, not wanting to abandon aggressive statements that
help Azeri authorities to draw attention away from domestic problems,
instead sowing hatred against Armenians.

Impression is created that OSCE Minsk Group failing to reconcile
Armenian, Azerbaijani and Karabakh leaders, has resolved to target the
nation, that may force its authorities to settle the conflict… What
if it doesn’t?

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP ADVISES AZERBAIJAN TO STOP WAR TALKS

news.am
March 06, 2012 | 20:38

Azerbaijan should agree on withdrawing snipers from the contact line
and establish mechanisms to investigate incidents, Director of the
International Crisis Group Sabine Freizer said in the interview with
Turan Agency.

Besides, all the conflicting sides, including Nagorno-Karabakh,
should agree on granting the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs more power. In
the meantime, Azerbaijan should stop displaying warlike attitude on
the frontline.

“There will be no easy war,” Freizer said adding launching military
actions will darken the South Caucasus in the eyes of the West from
the point of becoming an alternative transit zone.