Author: Kanayan Tamar

NKR PRESIDENT MEETS DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF OF RA ARMED FORCES

armradio.am
12.01.2012 12:26

On January 12 President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
met first deputy head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the
Republic of Armenia, lieutenant-general Enrico Apryamov and deputy
head of the General Staff, major-general Stephan Galstyan.

Issues related to army building were discussed at the meeting, Central
Information Department of the Office of the NKR President reported.

EUROPEAN COURT DECLARES KARABAKH WAR-RELATED SUITS ADMISSIBLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
January 10, 2012 – 19:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human
Rights declared the applications of an Armenian national against
Azerbaijan and several families of ethnic Kurds against Armenia
admissible.

The 1st case concerns an Armenian refugee Minas Sargsyan’s
complaint that he was forced to flee from his home in 1992 during
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Sargsyan died in 2009 in Yerevan. His
widow and three children are pursuing the application on his behalf.

Mr Sargsyan states that he and his family, ethnic Armenians, lived
in a two-floor house with auxiliary premises in the village of
Gulistan of the Shahumyan region, NKAO. When the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict escalated into full-scale war in 1992, Gulistan was bombed
by Azerbaijani forces and the entire population of the village,
including the applicant and his family, fled, fearing for their lives.

In the 2nd case, the families of ethnic Kurds, residing in Lachin
region, state having been forced to leave their homes during Armenian
army attack.

The Court will deliver its final judgment at a later date, BBC
Russian reported.

MARKAROV: ARMENIA, RUSSIA TO EXPAND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP IN 2012

Panorama.am
10/01/2012

The most important event in 2012 is the parliamentary election,
political scientist Alexander Markarov told a Panorama.am reporter,
making remarks on the most important events in Armenia’s internal
and foreign political life expected this year.

The expert supposes that it is hardly probable that Armenia will
record progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process in 2012.

Armenia and Russia will expand their strategic partnership in 2012,
according to him.

Markarov stressed the importance of expanding cooperation within the
framework of CIS free trade zone agreement signed last year.

447 BIRTHS RECORDED IN YEREVAN ON JANUARY 1-9

Panorama.am
10/01/2012

447 births have been recorded in Yerevan on January 1-9, 2012, Head
of the Ministry of Health Administration Suren Krmoyan told reporters
in Yerevan, adding that the Ministry has not received data on births
from the regions yet.

The Armenian regions only provide monthly birth data, Mother and
Child Health Department of the Armenian Ministry of Health told a
Panorama.am reporter.

LE SENAT CONFIRME L’EXAMEN LE 23 JANVIER DU TEXTE SUR LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 11 janvier 2012

PARIS, 10 jan 2012 (AFP) – Le Senat a confirme mardi l’inscription a
son ordre du jour du 23 janvier de la proposition de loi sanctionnant
la negation de tous les genocides, dont celui des Armeniens de 1915,
deja votee par les deputes en decembre.

L’examen du texte a l’origine d’une crise diplomatique majeure entre
Ankara et Paris debutera ce jour-la a 15h00. Le Senat precise que
c’est le ministre des Relations avec le Parlement, Patrick Ollier,
qui a demande par une lettre datee du 9 janvier cette inscription a
l’ordre du jour de la Haute Assemblee.

L’Assemblee nationale a adopte, le 22 decembre, cette proposition
de loi de la deputee UMP Valerie Boyer, qui prevoit de punir d’un an
de prison et 45.000 euros d’amende la negation d’un genocide reconnu
par la loi francaise. Ce vote a entraîne le gel par la Turquie de sa
cooperation politique et militaire avec la France.

Le chef de file des senateurs socialistes, Francois Rebsamen, avait
demande dès le 23 decembre l’inscription du texte “dans les plus
brefs delais”.

Une proposition de loi PS penalisant la contestation du genocide
armenien avait ete votee le 12 octobre 2006 par l’Assemblee nationale,
mais avait ete rejetee le 4 mai 2011 par le Senat, alors a majorite
de droite. Cette fois-ci, l’adoption du texte par le Senat semble
plus certaine car, meme si des divisons existent au sein des groupes,
il y a “un consensus” selon M. Ollier.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS TO MEET ON JANUARY 23 IN SOCHI

APA
Jan 10 2012
Azerbaijan

Baki – APA. Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents are expected to
meet on January 23-24, 2012 on the initiative of Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev.

The meeting will take place in Sochi, Russia, APA reports quoting
Reqnum. The settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be discussed
in the trilateral meeting.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Nagorno Karabakh conflict
was the only conflict in the post-Soviet area that can be settled
peacefully.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES: “IRAN HAS STAUNCHLY SUPPORTED ARMENIA’S CONQUEST OF UNDISPUTED AZERBAIJANI TERRITORY”

APA
Jan 9 2012
Azerbaijan

“Tehran fears that Azerbaijan may seek to exploit the ethnic grievances
of Iranian Azerbaijanis in northwestern Iran and detach the area
from Iran”

Baku. Habil Suleymanzadeh – APA. “Iran has staunchly supported
Armenia’s conquest of undisputed Azerbaijani territory in the
Nagorno-Karabakh crisis to the point that Armenia regularly votes
against sanctions on Iran in the United Nations”, said The Washington
Times in an article by Stephen Blank. “In 2001, Iran shot up an
Azerbaijani oil-exploration platform in the Caspian Sea. Apart from
blocking the legal resolution of that sea’s status, Iran regularly
threatens Azerbaijan with invasion and other unspecified military
action if it supports a U.S. base in its country and because of its
close ties with Israel”.

“More recently, Iranian incitement is clearly behind the
anti-government campaign by religiously inclined Shiites, who are
protesting the government’s “anti-religious” policies”, said Stephen
Blank. “In fact, Iran has been threatening Azerbaijan for more than
a decade”, he added.

“But the most overt displays of Iranian power and threats have been
employed against neighboring Azerbaijan, not least because Tehran
suspects Baku of being pro-American and pro-Israeli, but also because
it fears that Azerbaijan may seek to exploit the ethnic grievances
of Iranian Azerbaijanis in northwestern Iran and detach the area from
Iran with great power support. This is not a groundless fear, as the
Soviet Union sought to do so in 1920-21 and 1945-46. Nevertheless,
this fear of the Azerbaijani minority is more a pretext for Iran’s
current threats against Azerbaijan than a rational basis for Iranian
policy. Iran’s real fear is Azerbaijan’s support for the United
States and Israel and its apprehension that Azerbaijan might become
a platform for a U.S. operation against it”, said Blank.

WAR AGAINST IRAN AHEAD OF ELECTIONS MADNESS FOR US – ARMENIAN EXPERT

News from Armenia – NEWS.am
January 10, 2012 | 13:15

YEREVAN.- A war against Iran ahead of elections may become insanity
for U.S., Armenian political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan told
journalists on Tuesday.

The head of Caucasus Institute considers that West’s pressure on Iran
pursues political goals rather than preparation for war. Washington is
trying to hamper Iran’s nuclear program and disrupt ongoing processes
in Syria advantageous to Iran.

Tough statements regarding Iran’s policy have been voiced since the
Islamic revolution of 1978-79, he added.

“Iran stands pressure confidently. War is not likely to break out at
least in the near future,” he said.

REQUIEM SERVICE FOR REPOSE OF SOULS OF SYRIAN MARTYRS IN QAMISHLI

Syrian Arab News Agency

Jan 9 2012
Syria

HASAKA, (SANA) – The Armenian Catholic congregation of St. Joseph
Church held on Sunday a requiem for the repose of the souls of the
Syrian martyrs who sacrificed their souls to protect Syria’s security
and peace.

The participants prayed to God to preserve Syria, protect its security
and stability, and bless its land and people.

Leader of the Armenian Catholic community in Qamishli, Antranig
Ivasian, said the crisis Syria is passing through has consolidated
the national unity, coexistence and amity among the Syrian people and
encouraged them to continue the process of building and protecting
their homeland.

Ivasian added that “Syria is the cradle of civilization and an
example to be followed regarding unity, tolerance and coexistence,”
calling on the Syrian youth to unify their ranks and adhere to amity,
peace to protect the stability and security of their homeland.

For his part, Pastor Narik Naamo prayed to God to bless Syria, the
land of peace and to preserve the unity and solidarity of its people.

HOW MANY SMALL FARMS? AG CENSUS WILL TELL

Occupational Health and Safety

Jan 9 2012

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will conduct the
next Census of Agriculture in the latter half of 2012. Meanwhile,
it is helping Serbia and Armenia prepare for their own censuses.

There were 2.2 million U.S. farms counted in the 2007 Census of
Agriculture, which was 4 percent more than the 2002 census had
counted. Most of the growth was in small farms where no single
commodity accounted for more than 50 percent of the total value of
production, according to Larry Sivers, National Agriculture Statistics
Service International Programs Office Director, in his Jan. 3 post
on the USDA blog. He wrote about the upcoming 2012 census that NASS
will conduct and its work in December with the Republic of Serbia and
the Republic of Armenia to help them prepare for their own censuses
of agriculture.

U.S. farm numbers generally have declined since World War II, according
to NASS, but the smallest category — farms with sales of less than
$1,000 – increased by 118,000 from 2002 to 2007, while the number
with sales above $500,000 increased by 46,000. The smallest farms,
those with 10 or fewer workers, are exempt from OSHA enforcement.

Serbia will conduct its first census of agriculture in 50 years
starting in October 2012, Sivers wrote, adding that Bob Hale from
NASS’s International Programs Office and Krissy Young from NASS’s
Public Affairs Section attended the Third Annual Extension Conference
in Zlatibor, Serbia and discussed communications for the Serbian 2012
census. The Armenian government hosted Mike Steiner from the NASS
International Programs Office and Chris Messer, chief of NASS’s Program
Administration Branch, for a seminar as they prepare to collect data
from producers through the first agricultural census in that country
in more than 90 years, Sivers wrote.

“International projects like these, supported by reimbursable funding,
go beyond just helping the host country. They are learning experiences
for NASS as well,” he concluded. “As staff work with other statistical
organizations they are exposed to new and different methodologies
that broaden their experience. They can then apply these experiences
to challenges at home to improve service to U.S. agriculture. Very
importantly, projects like these help U.S agriculture by contributing
to more accurate information on world agricultural supply and demand
to make better marketing decisions for U.S. products.”