Author: Kanayan Tamar

YEREVAN TO HOST INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART SEMINAR

Panorama, Armenia
Oct 13 2011

International contemporary art seminar titled “Intersection of
Parallels” will be held in Yerevan from October 14 to 16, 2011.

The seminar will host contemporary art workers from Germany and
Georgia – Sofia Tabatadze, Vato Tsereteli, Wibke Behrens, and Berit
Fischer. Art Laboratory, a group of modern Armenian painters – Nazaret
Karoyan, Susanna Gyulamiryan, Ruben Arevshatyan, Azat Sargsyan,
and Anna Barseghyan – will share their experiences.

The seminar will be held as part of the subprogram Competence Center
for Cultural Managers of the Culture and Development program of the
Goethe Institute.

The main partners of the seminar are the Goethe Institute, “Antares”
Media Holding, New Society for Visual Arts (Berlin), AICA-Armenia,
and “Mkhitar Sebastatsi” Educational Complex.

The event will focus on establishment of art residency in the
participant countries.

ARMENIA FILE PROTEST OVER KEEPER’S RED CARD

Reuters
Oct 13 2011

YEREVAN (Reuters) – Armenia have filed an official protest to UEFA
over what they believe were wrong decisions by the referee in their
Euro 2012 qualifying defeat by Ireland in Dublin, the Armenian FA
(FFA) said on Thursday.

Armenia needed to win their final Group B qualifier to finish second
and make the playoffs but they lost 2-1 on Tuesday after their
goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was sent off by Spanish referee Eduardo
Gonzalez after 26 minutes.

Berezovsky was dismissed for handball outside his area but TV replays
clearly showed he chested the ball clear.

FFA chief Ruben Airapetyan told reporters the Armenians want European
soccer’s governing body to cancel Berezovsky’s red card rather than
punish the referee.

TV replays also showed the referee allowed play to continue after it
appeared Ireland striker Simon Cox did handle the ball moments before
Berezovsky was wrongly adjudged to have done so.

He later sent off Ireland’s Kevin Doyle after the striker received
two yellow cards.

Airapetyan dismissed any conspiracy theory after some Armenian fans
suggested UEFA was trying to give Ireland an advantage to balance
out France striker Thierry Henry’s infamous handball that cost them
the chance of reaching the 2010 World Cup finals.

Henry handled the ball in the build-up to France’s winning goal
against Ireland in the playoffs but the offence went unpunished.

“Trust me, I would never think or believe that it would be possible
for UEFA to give such instructions to the referee,” Airapetyan said.

ARMENIAN RULING MP OFFENDED WHEN ASKED WHOM HE SUPPORTS IN ELECTIONS

news.am, Armenia
Oct 13 2011

YEREVAN. – Asking whom the ruling Republican Party MP will support is
equal to suspecting him in treachery, MP Hamlet Harutyunyan said at
a press conference on Thursday responding to the report on possible
support of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan in case he
returns to politics.

According to MP, journalists ask endlessly axiomatic questions.

Armenian Republican Party has 150,000 members, should all they respond
to the issue whom they would vote for? Besides, if a party member votes
for another candidate, it is a simple treachery. Republican Party has
its candidate and will vote for him. Moreover such questions are too
boring and even offensive.

As for the fact that majority Republican Party members had career
development during Kocharyan’s leadership, MP responded that it would
have been mean to rejecting it.

U.S. OPPOSES ISRAEL EFFORT TO LEGALIZE SETTLER HOMES ON PRIVATE PALESTINIAN LAND

PanARMENIAN.Net
October 13, 2011 – 21:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The United States said Wednesday, October 12 that
it opposed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s plan to examine the
legality of settler homes on privately owned Palestinian land.

“We oppose any effort to legalize settlement outposts, which is
unhelpful to our peace efforts and would contradict Israeli commitments
and obligations,” a statement from the U.S. State Department said.

The U.S. said it did not recognize the “legitimacy of continued
Israeli settlement activity.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave a nod in the direction of
right-wing politicians, including many members of his party, when he
agreed on Tuesday to create a committee to examine the legal status
of settler homes on privately owned Palestinian land.

News that he might back away from his strict policy that all such
structures be removed was bitterly attacked by the Left and hailed
as a victory by the Right. The latter has long lobbied hard for the
government to move toward legalizing the outposts.

Right-wing politicians are concerned about a number of pending
demolitions of unauthorized settler homes, including at the Migron
and Givat Assaf outposts.

B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the
Occupied Territories, said such a move would make the government an
“accomplice in land theft.”

Minister of Culture and Sports Limor Livnat, who lobbied for the
committee at Sunday’s Likud ministerial meeting, said, “This is
a brave and important decision.” The move comes during an intense
effort by the Middle East Quartet to bring the Palestinians back to
the negotiating table. The Palestinians has said they will not talk
with Israel until it ceases settlement activity.

The international community has long expected Israel to remove the
100 West Bank outposts, many of which were started by settlers who
believed that they could eventually be legalized.

Under the 2002 road map, the government is expected to remove some
24 outposts constructed after former prime minister Ariel Sharon took
office in March 2001, The Jerusalem Post reported.

KAREN KARAPETYAN: “ARMENIAN-FRENCH RELATIONS ARE AT THE VERY HIGH LEVEL”

Noyan Tapan
13.10.2011

Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetyan met the delegation headed by deputy
president of Ile de France state Philip Kaltenbach. Greeting French
colleagues the mayor noted that today Armenian-French relations are
at the very high level which should contribute to more activation of
economic relations and the closeness of business communications with
business circles.

“I am sure that our mutual visits and meetings will also promote
business relations. I am sure that if our cooperation is beneficial
it will be long-lasting,” Karen Karapetyan noted.

According to the press office of Yerevan municipality Philip
Kaltenbach thanked for the reception and presented to the mayor
the fields and directions where French side is ready to support,
particularly connected with the different programs, educational and
cultural activities referring to the recognition of Yerevan as a World
Book Capital City 2012. Philip Kaltenbach noted that they considered
the involvement of Ile de France in the programs implemented in
Armenia important and expected that Ile de France would have its
significant role in the frames of Armenian-French cooperation, and
he also expressed hope that programs with Yerevan would develop.

ARMENIAN CONSCRIPT ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ KILLS HIMSELF

Tert.am
21:19 ~U 13.10.11

An Armenian conscript has accidentally inflicted a lethal wound on
his abdomen at an army unit in Ijevan town, Tert.am has learned.

Aram Melkonyan, 21, accidentally fired on himself while cleaning
his gun.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry confirmed to news to Tert.am.

It comes after two Armenian conscripts committed suicide in the
recent week.

Earlier in the day youth activists organized a demonstration outside
the government building in Yerevan, demanding the government to take
steps to stop non-combat deaths in the army.

TURKEY IN THE US MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM: PRIMARY ASSESSMENT AND POSSIBLE PROSPECTS
Sergey Sargsyan

13.10.2011

Deputy Head of the Center for Political Studies, “Noravank” Foundation

The US signed a memorandum with Romania and Turkey (on September 13
and 14 correspondingly) on SM-3 (Standard Missile-3) ABM systems
deployment at the Deveselu air base in Romania and deployment of
AN/TPY-2 radar (old name FBR-T – Forward Based Radar -Transportable),
which acquires, identifies and tracks ballistic missiles in the active
phase of their flight, on Turkish territory. The radar will submit
data to the US ships equipped with “Aegis” combat system, which will
effect interception of ballistic missiles. According to the Russian
experts, one of the main aims of that radar, which acquires targets
at the range up to 2000km, will also be the surveillance and control
of the air area of the South Caucasus, a part of the territory of the
Central Asia as well as the south of Russia, and in particular tracking
the experimental launches of the Russian missiles at the test ranges1.

Besides, on September 15 the base agreement on deployment of the US
missile defence in Poland concluded in August 2008 in Washington and
its annex (of 2010) on deployment of SM-3 missiles on its territory
came into operation.

This is the evidence of not only a breakdown in the negotiations on
the AMB defence between the US and Russia, but it also impacts the
military and political situation in the Middle East, Black Sea and
Caspian Region and Eastern Europe.

Moreover, as the deployment of the radar in Turkey and the ABM system
base in Romania are just the first stage of implementation of the
Adapted plan on the Deployment of the ABM defence in Europe, which
was approved by the president Barak Obama in 2009, it is more likely
to stir up the processes on further large-scale and deep revision
of the current system of bilateral and multi-lateral treaties in the
sphere of the control of arms.

This system was formed in 70-90s of the last century under the
uncompromising confrontation between two ideologies and under its
influence all the states were involved in a bipolar model of the
division of the spheres of influence. After the confrontation was over
there was only one super-power, some of those treaties were annexed and
brought into accord with new geopolitical realities. But later, when
new leading global actors came forward, regional powers got stronger,
gradually a multi polar world has been formed; new challenges and
radical change of the balance of power sooner or later had to bring
to the acknowledgment of a large-scale reconsideration of the base
treaties in the sphere of arms.

The main bilateral and international treaties which has been regulating
the relations of the states in the sphere of the control of arms and
are called to support the balance of powers acceptable for all the
participants are:

â~@¢The 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; â~@¢The 1987 The
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) ; â~@¢The 1990 Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE); The 1999 Agreement
on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe;
â~@¢The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1); â~@¢The 1993
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-2); â~@¢The 2002 Strategic
Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT); â~@¢Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
(START-3), which came into operation on February 5, 2011.

A high level of complimentarity and interconnection of those treaties
in fact means that termination of one will bring to a situation when
for preserving the existing balance of powers it will be necessary
at least to change or more probably to terminate and substitute other
treaties either.

Unbalancing current system of treaties in the sphere of control of arms
began after the withdrawal of the US from the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty in December 2001. The fact that Russia took it rather calmly
caused astonishment of the West connected with Moscow’s violent and
strict reaction on concrete steps of Washington taken for the planned
deployment of the so-called “third district” of the ABM system in
Europe, i.e. the deployment of the radar in the Czech Republic and
10 missiles in Poland.

But such a reaction is not an accidental; it is well considered
and caused by a number of objective reasons and is a consequence of
changes which took place in Russia and in the whole world.

Of course, a greater degree of confidence of Moscow in its powers
has been caused by a rapid economic upsurge of the country which
is in its turn conditioned by the growth of prices for the energy
carriers. But, first of all, it has been caused by the accession to
power of a new – more competent and active – leadership which has been
building (including usage of the authoritarian methods) the working
and efficient line of command and increasing the centralization and
manageability of the state.

Formation of new Russian-American relations has been essentially
influenced by such factors as the upsurge of the economic, political
and military potential of China, character of the military operations
of the US and their allies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Under such conditions the plans of the US connected with the deployment
of radar in Czech Rep. and 10 missiles in Poland, which, according to
Washington, have to protect Europe and US from the ballistic missiles
of the Islamic Republic of Iran2, gave occasion to Russia to embark
on a campaign of reconsideration of the treaties and provisions of
the treaties which are, in their opinion, of discriminative character
and are consequences of inequitable approach, and can be unilaterally
breached or ambiguously interpreted and were concluded in the times
of Gorbachev and Yeltsin weakness and lack of will.

First of all it regarded the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces
in Europe which was suspended by Russia in July 2007. Currently,
especially after coming into effect of the START-3, the main
contradictions are concentrated on the approaches of the parties to
the ABM defence issue.

The main idea of the ABM Treaty was that remaining open for the
strike back of the enemy3 the parties realized lack of any prospects
of nuclear potentials build-up because of the unacceptable level of
mutual damage4.

At the same time building of the efficient system of the national
missile defence by one of the parties may attach them a belief in
their impunity and tempt them to deliver the first disarming strike.

That is why for all the seeming exclusively defencive character of
the anti-missile shield, its presence can change the balance of powers
and can cause nuclear war.

Global ABM defence, which is drafted by the US today, can be
characterized as integrated high-tech system with the complex
application of various systems of arms and target destruction
principles. In future the components, which would allow counteracting
the ballistic missiles of the potential enemy on all the phases of
the ballistic missile trajectory, are planned to be included in the
deployed system of the US ABM defence.

Back in 1996 the programme of the US National Missile Defence
(NMD) creation shifted its status from “technology development” to
“deplorability of the arms system”, and after the adoption of the
National Missile Defense Act of 1999 by the US Congress the works on
it has been stirred up.

For today systems of midcourse and terminal phases are the most
tactically efficient ones.

The G. Bush administration considered the option of starting the
deployment of the European district of the US Missile Defense from the
deployment of three-stage solid fuel GBI (Ground Based Interceptor)
in Poland and XBR (X-Band Radar) in Czech Rep. Its goal would have
been the acquiring, tracking targets and counter missiles guiding.

But after Barak Obama’s coming to the White House those plans –
and first of all the terms of their deployment – were reviewed. In
particular, this was conditioned by unwillingness to strain relations
with Moscow, which sounded the possibility of cutting back cooperation
in a number of programmes essential for Washington as counter
measures. Particularly, it regarded organization of supply support
of the coalition forces in Afghanistan through the territory of Russia.

But the most important is that Moscow seriously considered the
possibility of deployment of theatre ballistic missile systems
“Iskander-M” in Kaliningrad Oblast, and in this case the ABM defence
base in Poland would appear in its missile engagement zone. Generally,
reconsideration of Washington’s plans regarding Czech Rep. and Poland
can be considered as a tactical success of Moscow in the talks on
missile defence.

As a result, the US adopted a new plan of deployment of ABM defence
in Europe. It consists of four stages:

1. Before 2012: â~@¢Arranging of combat alert duty of three
Aegis-equipped US Navy ships with SM-3 Block IA missiles which will
be capable to destroy theatre ballistic missiles at an altitude
up to 140km and at the range up to 800km; â~@¢Deployment of mobile
AN/TPY-2 radars.

2. From 2015

â~@¢Re-equipment of “Aegis” system with more efficient SM-3 Block
IB counter-missiles, which will allow intercepting medium-range
missiles; â~@¢Deployment of a ground based analogues of sea based
“Aegis” system; â~@¢Getting 249 SM-3 missiles.

3. By 201:

â~@¢Improvement of target acquisition and target indication systems
â~@¢Further modification of SM-3 missiles – SM-3 Block IIA 4. By 2020:

â~@¢Additional armament of “Aegis” system by SM-3 Block IIB, which
will be capable to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles.

It is necessary to mention that the concerns of Russia are caused
rather by the improvement of the entire system of missile defence by
Washington, which gradually takes the shape of a global one, than
by the establishment of the 3rd district of the US ABM defence. In
order to avoid such a development Russia, taking advantage of the
“window of opportunities”, i.e. till the moment of real deployment
of the warlike equipment, came forward with a number of proposals,
particularly, on a joint running of Gabala radar station and sectoral
forming of joint European ABM(together with NATO).

Russia’s proposal on joint running of “Daryal” Radar system nearby
village of Gabala in Azerbaijan instead of ABM base deployment in
Poland and radar in Czech Rep. pursued several goals:

Firstly, it confirmed its readiness to cooperate with the US; its
real manifestation is just an organizational and technical matter.

Secondly, it put itself in a favourable light in the eyes of the global
community – readiness to make available its military object5 for the
US in order to avoid building of a new military bases in Europe and
a new round of the race of armaments.

Thirdly, it opened a gate for a broad discussion of tactical and
technical characteristics of a future European component of the US
ABM defence.

At the same time, it is necessary to mention that by its military
characteristics Gabala radar station, just like “Voronej” radar system
nearby the town of Armavir in Krasnodar region (North Caucasus), is
a tracking station and not a targeting one and it could be used only
as a supplement for the radar in Czech Rep., but not instead. Gabala
radar is more appropriate as an alternative to AN/TPY-2 radar the
United States plans to deploy in Turkey and integrate into a general
ABM defence system in December 2011 (in test mode).

In case if the US agree, the prospects of joint running of the radar
station would allow Russia to intensify using of the Gabala radar
station which is now being used with some restrictions, because of the
stance of Baku; among the reasons the concerns of its environmental
safety are mentioned. At the same time it would take the issue of
prolonging the terms of its rent (which expires in 2012) off the
table. Though radar in Armavir, which is alternative to the Gabala
radar, was put into exploitation back in 2009, Russia is interested
in continuing military and technical cooperation with Azerbaijan due
to not only military and technical aspects but also out of military
and political reasoning.

In case of refusal of the US (which is in fact confirmed by the
conclusion of the agreement with Turkey), deployment of the radar
station in the proximity of the Iranian borders automatically brings
to the aggravation of the relations between Tehran and Ankara which
will be used by Moscow in its interests.

But it should be mentioned that, besides purely technical issues of
the combinability of the Gabala radar station with the existing US
and NATO radar systems, participation of Russia in the US ABM defence
system is unacceptable for Washington in the organizational plane
either. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia S.

Lavrov: “Our partners from NATO say that they have liabilities on
mutual defence – Article 5 of Washington Treaty – and those liabilities
cannot be delegated to anyone” 6.

As a result, the proposal of Moscow concerning the creation of joint
ABM defence system based on territorial (i.e. sectoral) principle
of allocation of responsibility of separate countries or groups of
countries for detention and destruction of the missiles in a definite
sector of defence, was in fact voted down.

Under such conditions, besides symmetrical response, such as, for
example, merging of antiaircraft defence and ballistic missile defence
in one system of aerospace defence, which will have to increase its
efficiency, Russia also considers a number of asymmetric responses
of military-technical and organizational character, such as:

â~@¢Shift to equipping of all the modifications of “Topol” missiles by
multiple unit warheads; â~@¢Extension of a programme of rearmament of
the navy with modern nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines;
â~@¢Enhancement of maneuverability and survivability of missile
systems of Strategic Missile Forces; â~@¢Elaboration of a new systems
of ballistic and cruise missiles penetration and the improvement of
the ones in the inventory; â~@¢Elaboration of measures on suppression
or destruction of a new US ABM defence bases in Turkey and Europe in
case of necessity.

Another option is the withdrawal from the the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty (according to which Russia liquidated an entire
class of the armaments capable to bear nuclear warheads) with further
deployment of the missiles.

The missile standoff in the late 70s and early 90s developed according
to the similar scenario. In response to the deployment of the missiles
in Europe by the USSR, the US deployed 572 middle range missiles
“Pershing-2”. But if then the USSR and its Warsaw Pact allies potential
in armour, aviation and artillery systems can be compared with NATO,
today the quantitative lag in more than 3 times does not allow Russia
response symmetrically (including economic aspect).

Another argument for withdrawal of Russia from the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty is the fact that many countries, including its
neigbours has either acquired such missiles or eagerly augment and
qualitatively develop their potentials.

In this situation, according to some Russian experts the deployment
of the intermediate-range missiles may become a deterrent for the
non-nuclear or restricted nuclear conflicts in both European and Far
East directions.

1.Changes in geopolitical situation caused a situation when both
the US and Russia, due to different reasons, are now interested in
changing system of the current bilateral and multi-lateral treaties
in the sphere of control of arms.

2.Today the composition, structure, system of management and funding
of the ABM defence in Europe and Middle East allow characterizing them
as rather a European component of the US ballistic missile defence
than NATO ABM defence or EuroABM defence.

3.While building a new system of relations in the military and
political spheres each of the parties will protect exclusively its own
interests. But a new system of treaties must take into consideration
both new balance of powers in the sphere of different types of arms and
coming forward of new global and regional actors. Regional actors, the
military and economic potential and advantageous geographic location of
which may influence some aspects of new military and political balance,
will try to acquire definite political and economic preferences at the
stage of structuring that system. For this purpose they will intensify
their partnership relations with leading global power centers – US,
EU, Russia and China.

4.In the system of relations between Azerbaijan and US Baku will first
of all try to enlist non-critical attitude of Washington concerning the
issues of domestic policy (authoritarian regime, violation of human
rights, total control over the mass media, corruption scandals in
ruling political elite and etc.), support on Nagorno-Karabakh issue,
further intensification of the bilateral military and technical
partnership.

5.In the system of relations between Turkey and the US, Ankara will
attempt to acquire or intensify the support of its stance on the
issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, carrying out
large-scale operations in the north of Iraq, on Kurdish issue as
well as intensification its foreign political and military-political
activity in the Middle East and South Caucasus.

6.On the other hand inclusion of the ship based “Aegis” systems in the
US ABM defence system in Europe in the Black Sea water area, as well
as possible deployment of intermediate range missiles in Black Sea
and Caspian region, will increase the meaning of direct negotiations
between Moscow and Ankara (Russia and Turkey take similar stances
on the issue of presence of navies of non-Black Sea states in that
water area on a continuing basis).

7.Deployment of the counter-missiles in Poland, withdrawal of
Russia from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe , as
well as possible strengthening of the military units in Kaliningrad
Special Military District and particularly deployment of “Iskander-M”
systems there (not to speak of intermediate range missiles in case of
withdrawal from INF treaty) will become an additional catalyst for the
European states to develop more independent European defence policy.

8.Russia’s counter steps as a reaction to the deployment of the
ABM defence bases in Europe will bring to the usage of the economic
leverages by Russia, including the export and amount of energy carriers
supply at least in regard to Poland and Romania (without violation
of the existing international agreements in this sphere).

This will bring to the further growth of importance of the alternative
sources of energy carriers supply, including the Caspian region,
for both Poland and Europe in general. In this context stirring up
of the project of launching of Odessa-Brodi-Polotsk oil pipeline can
be expected (or more broadly some kind of activation of the economic
activity of GUAM) 7.

9.Development of the network of all-over radar surveillance
“Caucasusnet”, as well as the appearance of the elements of ABM defence
system in Turkey and Black Sea area may bring to the strengthening
of Russian troops in Armenia and Abkhazia.

10.Involvement of Turkey in the European segment of the US ABM defence
will: 11.lower the a possibility of implementation of the plans of
development of military and technical cooperation between Turkey
and Russia. This will directly affect the results of the tender
for procurement of the air defence missile systems in which Russia
participates; â~@¢help to smooth over contradictions between Turkey
and Israel in the sphere of military-technical and military-political
cooperation. In spite of the official statement of Ankara concerning
the impermissibility of passing data from radars in Turkey to
Jerusalem, the exchange of data between the radar stations of those
two states will take place as it corresponds to the interests of all
the states taking part in the US ABM defence, one way or another;
â~@¢increase the importance of the role of Turkey in the US and Europe
security provision, and in consequence it increases its military and
political weight, particularly in the Black Sea and Caspian region.

â~@¢At the same time, it will once more prove the failure of the
foreign political course of Ankara directed to having no problems with
the neighbours, especially taking into consideration tough reaction
of Tehran on the deployment of the radar on Turkish territory.

1Radar is planned to be deployed in Kuluncak district of Malatya
province in south-eastern Turkey.

2 Here it should be spoken about the principle capability of Iran to
produce intercontinental ballistic missiles.

3 When in 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was concluded, the
parties came to an agreement that each of them would create one
district covered by the ABM defence. In the US this district was the
intercontinental ballistic missiles base in California and in the
USSR – Moscow region.

4 Conclusion of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty in 1972 (SALT-1)
became possible only after the agreements on limitation of the national
ABM defence systems.

5 From judicial point of view – Information-analytical center “Daryal”
rented from Azerbaijan

6 ”РоÑ~AÑ~AийÑ~AкаÑ~O газеÑ~Bа”, 4 иÑ~NДÑ~O 2011 г.

7 GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – includes
Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

——————————————————————————–
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AMERICAN, TURKISH AND ARMENIAN UNIVERSITIES PARTICIPATE IN JOINT TOURISM PROJECT
By Taniel Koushakjian

10.10.2011

A joint tourism project between the United States, Turkey and
Armenia has been actively working to foster greater cooperation
and integration between the three countries and between Armenia
and Turkey in particular. The project, entitled “A Multilateral
University Consortium to Strengthen Tourism Education, Research,
and Industry Outreach,” is led by the University of Florida (UF)
along with Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) in Turkey, and the Armenian
State University of Economics (ASUE).

ATA Fellows

The consortium or American-Turkish-Armenian (ATA) Fellows, is a
21-member team of expert academics and practitioners with diverse
experiences and backgrounds. The ATA Fellows work to promote
collaboration between American, Turkish and Armenian academic
institutions in the travel and tourism industry and will bring
together private sector actors to research, train, educate, build and
strengthen capacity within the context of sustainable regional tourism
development. According to the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute at the
University of Florida, “The prospect to promote cultural understanding,
mutual respect and peace via travel and tourism is a monumental
opportunity to strengthen dialogue between Turkey and Armenia whose
relations have been strained by a number of historical and political
issues. Travel and tourism, education and research partnerships between
Turkey and Armenia can facilitate the normalization of relations
between the two nations.” The project was initiated in September 2010
through a grant by the U.S. Department of State-Embassy in Ankara.

The stated goals of the ATA Fellows are to: promote more sustainable
tourism development; enhance cultural and environmental awareness;
diminish the negative impacts of tourism; diversify tourism products;
brand the region as a sustainable, safe and quality tourism brand;
improve human capital with a focus on non-elite groups; promote mutual
trade and investment, investment in tourism infrastructure (i.e.

hotels, attractions, etc.); enhance cross-cultural interaction,
exchange and understanding; facilitate the normalization of relations
between the two nations; stimulate economic development in the region;
and ultimately promote regional peace.

“This project is one of those rare opportunities of life
accomplishment, a cause for the greater good of the world community,”
stated Dr. Asli Tasci, ATA Fellows Project Director at the University
of Florida. “With the initiation and leadership of the University of
Florida, two educational institutions from Turkey and Armenia were
stimulated to pull their resources together and put tourism at work
for peace,” Dr. Tasci told FLArmenians.

Track II Diplomacy

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Turkey last month and
met with Turkish officials to discuss a broad range of issues,
including Armenian-Turkish normalizations of relations. According
to an RFE/RL report, “She encouraged Turkey to support and move
the [Turkish-Armenian] protocols, which have been stuck in the
Turkish parliament, but more generally to reach out to Armenia with
confidence-building measures and do whatever possible to strengthen
that relationship, leading ultimately to restored diplomatic ties.”

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey signed two historic
protocols, on the normalization of relations and the establishment of
diplomatic relations, in Zurich, Switzerland on October 10, 2009, in
the presence of the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner, and Swiss Foreign Minister Michele Calmy-Rey. However,
despite the stalling of Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, civil society
institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics,
journalists and human rights activists from Armenia and Turkey
have continued to work to promote cross-cultural understanding and
awareness. As Track I diplomacy seems to be grinding to a halt,
Track II diplomacy is rapidly picking up the pace.

A recent headline in the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News read,
“Confidence-building steps planned toward Armenia.” In the absence
of Turkish political will to ratify the protocols, the author sites
several steps that the Turkish side aims to take in the next few years
to keep the rapprochement process moving forward. Although nothing
official has been announced, some ideas cited by the author include
opening a Turkish Airlines office in Armenia, visits to Armenia and
Georgia by Turkish Education Ministry officials, and the opening of
certain border crossings.

In addition, it was reported that Turkish companies have now begun
organizing package tours to Armenia. According to the Hurriyet
Daily News, “A joint enterprise between two Turkish-based tourism
companies is planning to organize special package tours from Turkey
to Armenia in August, even though the two countries’ borders have
remained closed since 1993.” Dikran Altun, owner of Tower Turizm
told Hurriyet: “Unfortunately, our people do not know each other –
hence their hesitation to travel,” adding that Turkish and Armenian
tourists who are interested in visiting each other’s countries for
the first time always ask if it is safe to travel.

Also, just a few weeks ago, an association of Armenian and Turkish
travel agencies was established in Yerevan, Armenia. According to
News.am, 27 businessmen and NGO representatives from Turkey were
invited to Armenia to participate in the forum. During the forum a
memorandum was signed to promote mutual and international tourism
aimed at developing economic relations between the two countries.

Furthermore, in a separate project through the International Center
for Journalists, several reporters from Armenia and Turkey recently
visited media outlets throughout the United States, including the
Tallahassee Democrat.

Current U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, who is serving
a 1-year recess appointment set to expire at the end of this year,
testified before Congress earlier this month. His testimony states:
“Facilitating regional integration is a high priority for the United
States. Rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia will foster increased
stability and prosperity in the Caucasus region. We commend the
governments of Turkey and Armenia in signing the historic protocols
on normalization of relations on October 10, 2009 in Zurich. During
her visit last month, Secretary of State Clinton again urged Turkey
to ratify the protocols, and we will continue to support programs
that build understanding between Turks and Armenians.”

While the international community would like to see the two protocols
ratified, and thus the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border and the
establishment of diplomatic relations, it is apparent that efforts
on the grassroots level will continue to build the confidence and
good will necessary for both populations to live in peace.

“I am pleased to be a part of the ATA Fellows initiative and to have
the opportunity to work in an environment that promotes a peaceful
exchange and builds a cross-cultural understanding between Turks
and Armenians through tourism,” stated Dr. Artak Manukyan, Armenian
Project Director at ASUE. “We are looking forward to the upcoming field
trips and to hosting our American and Turkish colleagues in Armenia,”
Dr. Manukyan told FLArmenians.

ATA Fellows Project Activities Since its inception, the ATA Fellows
have initiated a number of assignments and activities to fulfill
four main goals: Curriculum Development; Research; Industry Outreach;
and Capacity Building. These goals will be realized through a serious
of meetings in each country, collaborative research assignments and
scientific studies, as well as student exchange field trips and an
international symposium.

The ATA Fellows will conduct three vision meetings, one in
each country. The first meeting was held in November 2010 at the
University of Florida, in Gainesville. This initial meeting sparked
the relationships and creative processes necessary for achieving
the project goals. The second meeting was held in March 2011 in
Istanbul and Izmir, Turkey. During this trip, several meetings and
presentations were conducted covering a wide range of tourism industry
specific issues, as well as cross-cultural activities and visits
to various historical attractions. In addition to the ATA Fellows,
local entrepreneurs, students, practitioners and diverse stakeholders
participated in the activities, which greatly developed a working
fellowship among the project team members. In September 2011 the ATA
Fellows will travel to Yerevan and Gyumri, Armenia for their final
vision meeting.

Next year, in August 2012, the ATA Fellows will hold their first
student field trip to Ani, Turkey. Dokuz Eylul University, in
collaboration with industry stakeholders, will welcome the ATA
Fellows and 10 students from each country for a 10-day field trip
to the ancient city. Ani is a very important Armenian city, once the
capital of the medieval Armenian Bagratuni Kingdom (895 – 1046 AD). The
following month, the UF team, in collaboration with the Alachua County
Visitors and Convention Bureau, will host students from the U.S.,
Turkey and Armenia for a 14-day tourism service learning project
in North and Central Florida. Tourism is the major industry for the
Sunshine State, famously known for its beautiful beaches, Disney World
and Universal Studios in Orlando, as well as historic cities such as
St. Augustine. The cross-cultural exchange of academics, students,
and practitioners in the field of travel and tourism is a promising
opportunity, not just for Turks and Armenians, but for all of the
institutions and stakeholders involved.

Like all major projects of its kind, the research and development
component is vital to achieving project goals and is an ongoing
endeavor. For instance, a focus group study was conducted on students
at DEU and ASUE to gain a greater understanding of the issues
surrounding image, cultural distance and tourism potential between
Turkey and Armenia. As reflected in Mr. Altun’s statement, the results
indicated that the majority of the students’ perception fell into
the categories of lack of any perception to somewhat biased perception.

Naturally, these types of studies and exchanges are a first step at
addressing the perception issue. Once that barrier is broken down,
dialogue has been established and economic benefits are introduced,
the potential for normalization of relations between Turkey and
Armenia becomes that much greater.

To conclude the project a major symposium will be held and is currently
scheduled for the summer of 2013. This workshop-style symposium will
focus on the issues concerned with achieving environmental, social
and economic sustainability of tourism for regional development. ATA
Fellows will present their findings and discuss ways to foster
greater collaboration between tourism scholars, experts, academics,
practitioners, government officials, students, NGOs and other
stakeholders from the United States, Turkey and Armenia.

“The ATA Fellows project is a wonderful initiative and we commend
the participating universities and individuals for working towards an
honest and just peace with the people of Armenia and Turkey through
the travel and tourism industry,” stated FLArmenians Communications
Director Arsine Kaloustian-Rosenthal, an alumnus of UF. “I would
also like to thank Dr. Tasci and the University of Florida for their
leadership and positive approach in making this project a reality,”
concluded Kaloustian-Rosenthal.

HENRICH MKHITARYAM IN UEFA’S DREAM TEAM

Tert.am
17:19 ~U 13.10.11

Armenian football player Henrich Mkhitaryan, who currently represents
Ukraine’s Shakhtar, has appeared in UEFA’s dream team following the
Euro 2012 qualifiers.

UEFA launched the game on its website recently to enable football
fans to create a team that they would like to see in the Euro 2012 Cup.

The dream teams includes sportsmen who played in their national teams
during the qualifiers.

The participants gained scores based on their trainees real moves.

With the group round already in the past, the European experts have
created a team which includes the football players with the maximum
scores.

RESPONSE TO BENON SEVAN’S CALL TO SHUT UP
By Ara K. Manoogian

October 12th, 2011

Benon Sevan, former Head of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program,
has provided well intended recommendations for Armenia’s development,
with a side effect of prolonging and strengthening the tenure of
the incumbent corrupt Armenian government. His good intentions are
laid out in an article, “Excessive Negativism and Constant Attacks
Jeopardize Armenia’s Development,” published in the California Courier
on October 13, 2011:

Regardless of our impatience and desire to witness a truly democratic
state of Armenia, we have no alternative to being patient, because
it takes time to develop democracy, economic and social development,
and civil society, as well as true democratic reforms

Although he does not provide an exact duration of the proposed
patience, one thing is clear, he talks about centuries: “How long
did it take for some of Europe’s democracies to give their women the
right to vote?” He then goes on speaking about the French guillotine,
slavery in the U.S., and so on. Sevan expects Armenia to relive the
past stages of world history to deserve a true democracy. In fact,
Armenia is reliving some historic moments to a certain extent. A
few months ago, I read about an Armenian slave camp run by Marat
Janvelyan, one of the untouchable oligarchs of Armenia. No prosecution
or investigation followed this hairsplitting “negative report” about
the sad reality in 21st century Armenia. (The full story can be read
at )

I wonder if it was thanks to such patience that today Georgia,
Armenia’s post-Soviet neighbor, can boast about the biggest leap
towards democracy in the same “rather dangerous neighborhood”,
Sevan’s moniker for the South Caucasus.

Sevan complains about the abundance of “negative reports” in media. He
urges all concerned citizens to stop criticizing the government for
corruption and cheer for its little successes:

Of all the hundreds of negative reports, is not there at least a
single positive development to report on? […] We should all unite
and spare no effort in supporting and encouraging them to speed up
the development of democratic institutions, as well as strengthening
the economy and raising the living standards.

Cheering may work for a soccer team, but not for a corrupt government
that has no will to commit to democratic reforms. Such approach is
also reminiscent of the mode of civil behavior the totalitarian Soviet
leaders preached for their subjects. In many ways, a totalitarian
regime is democracy minus public criticism of itself. However, Sevan
has his own reasons why all the critical voices should be silenced:

One gets tired of reading what is being said by all these so-called
pundits, rabble-rousers, including self-serving former government
officials pursuing their own personal agenda to bring about a
regime change not through the ballot box but through encouraging a
mob culture.

Benon Sevan is tired. Actually, he is so tired that he forgets all
bread is not baked in one oven. He muddles Levon Ter-Petrosyan with
journalists and human rights activists who voice their concerns
about the problems in the country. I personally believe that all
the three presidents of independent Armenia need to be prosecuted
for their crimes against Armenia’s statehood and citizens. For
a better understanding of the economic crimes of the Armenian
governments past and present, I recommend that one read, “To Donate
or Not to Donate”, a white paper on “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund at

Benon Sevan’s call for wielding a positive, “cheerleader” stance
toward Armenia’s corrupt authorities is not alien to his nature. He
has showcased such leniency toward a despotic regime before. Back in
1996-2003, as UN Oil-for-Food chief, Benon was accused of accepting
bribes from the government of Saddam Hussein, while the latter was
terrorizing and murdering his own people en masse. Sevan avoided
prosecution and conviction by fleeing to Cyprus in 2005.

Patience is another word for indifference. For too long, Armenians in
the Diaspora have remained patient toward unrestrained abuses of the
monopolies, suffocation of small and medium private entrepreneurship,
as well as alarming frequency of forced suicides and murders in
the army, widespread poverty in Armenia’s provincial regions, and
continuous mass emigration. I voice my concerns over injustice in
Armenia and fight for improvement, because I believe that Armenia
can do better, and will, as long as concerned citizens keep pushing.

Ara K. Manoogian is a human rights activist representing the Shahan
Natalie Family Foundation in Artsakh and Armenia; a Fellow
of the Washington-based Policy Forum Armenia (PFA); creator of
 and author of the white paper “To Donate
Or Not To Donation”, an in depth study on the activities of the
“Hayastan” All-Armenia Fund.