Author: Kanayan Tamar

DIPLOMATIE ARMENIENNE
Le président arménien rencontre Ban Ki-moon à New York

Le 23 septembre, le président arménien Serge Sarkissian a rencontré
Ban Ki-moon, le Secrétaire général de l’ONU au siège de l’organisation
à New York ainsi que le président de l’Assemblée générale Nasir
Abdulaziz. Serge Sarkissian a félicité ce dernier pour son élection au
poste de président lors de la 66e session de l’ONU. Le président
arménien s’est félicité de la présence de son pays sein des diverses
organisations dépendant de l’ONU et a assuré que l’Arménie poursuivait
le règlement pacifique du conflit du Haut Karabagh. Serge Sarkissian a
également souligné le rôle important de l’ONU pour établir la paix
dans le monde avant d’évoquer les questions de sécurité au Sud
Caucase.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 25 septembre 2011,
Krikor [email protected]

news.am, Armenia
Sept 24 2011

Cesaria Evora retires from music, cancels concert in Armenia

September 24, 2011 | 14:22

YEREVAN. – The concert world famous Cesaria Evora, nicknamed the
`barefoot diva’, scheduled for September 29 is cancelled, Yerevan
Perspectives project manager Sona Hovhannisyan told Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

She added that singer’s management sent an official letter saying
Evora is seriously ill and her career is over. Armenia was the first
in the list of countries where Evora was scheduled to give concerts in
the near future, she added.

Armenian News-NEWS.am will later inform whether there will be another
concert instead or how the tickets will be returned.

Evora postponed all her upcoming concerts and decided to retire from music.

Cesaria Evora was born in 1941 in Cape Verde. She has been singing
since she was 17 but managed to record her first album at 43.

news.am, Armenia
Sept 24 2011

Armenian grandmaster to participate in London Chess Classic super tournament

September 23, 2011 | 17:12

YEREVAN. – Super tournament of London Chess Classic third festival
will have nine participants. Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronyan will
join to eight participants declared previously.

The super tournament is scheduled for December 3-12 in London. Levon
Aronyan, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Hikaru
Nakamura, Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Hawell
will participate in the tournament.

Aronyan will participate also in the first round of the final of Grand
Slam in San Paolo, Brazil scheduled for September 26-October 1.
Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Francisco
Valekho will also participate.

The second round of the tournament is scheduled for October 5-11 in
Bilbao, Spain.

news.am, Armenia
Sept 24 2011

Russian BASE jumper made first jump from Karabakh Dzhdrduz canyon (photos)

September 23, 2011 | 17:21

SHUSHI. – Russian BASE jumper Pavel Olshansky made the
first-in-history jump from the wall of picturesque Dzhdrduz canyon of
Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh.

Olshansky jumped from a height of 200 meters into the valley of
Karkar, reports artsakhnews.am, referring to the Russian blogger’s
Facebook page and his blog.

BASE jumping is an extreme sport that uses a special parachute to jump
from fixed objects.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 24 2011

Azerbaijan: Armenia should change position on Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution
[24.09.2011 17:40]
Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 24 / Trend , M.Aliyev /

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has today stated that
no step forward was taken to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
after the Kazan meeting.

“Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has recently met with the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs in New-York, but I do not believe that any
progress will be achieved. As the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
understand that Armenia should change its position,” he told
journalists.

Presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev, Dmitry
Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan, met in Kazan on June 24. The meeting,
which was the ninth over the last three years, ended without reaching
an agreement on the basic principles, but the sides mentioned the
progress towards this goal.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 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 the 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.

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 24 2011

Elmar Mammadyarov: `Armenia rejected the renewed Madrid principles and
threatened the process of peace negotiations’

[ 24 Sep 2011 10:51 ]

Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs met with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs

Baku – APA. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar
Mammadyarov met in New York with co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
Robert Bradtke (USA) and Igor Popov (Russia), who mediate the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. They
discussed the process of negotiations for the peaceful settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and emphasized the importance of
continuation of this process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told
APA.

Minister Mammadyarov said that unfortunately Armenia rejected the
renewed Madrid principles and threatened the process of peace
negotiations. `The significant progress can be achieved only if
Armenia accepts the official document submitted by the Minsk Group
co-chairs to Azerbaijan and Armenia in December, 2009′.

Minister and co-chars expressed common notion that current status-quo
doesn’t satisfy both Azerbaijan and international community and it was
reflected in the relevant document adopted in Deauville, France.
Basing on the mutual agreement reached on a number of principles of
the settlement process, Azerbaijan proposes to start the work on the
peace agreement.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov emphasized that Armenia must understand the
necessity of withdrawal of its troops from the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan because it will lead to peace, stability and clearness in
the region.

Agence France Presse
September 23, 2011 Friday 4:41 PM GMT

Armenia protest maintains pressure on government

YEREVAN, Sept 23 2011

Up to 6,000 opposition protesters rallied in the Armenian capital on
Friday as part of their continuing campaign to force the government to
hold immediate elections.

“We must strengthen the pressure on the authorities so they fulfil our
demands to hold presidential and parliamentary polls before the end of
the year and change the electoral law,” former president Levon
Ter-Petrosian, the leader of the Armenian National Congress opposition
bloc, told the rally.

Angry about poverty and alleged institutional corruption, some
protesters carried placards with the slogan “Snap elections” while
others held pictures of Armenian soldiers killed on non-combat duty,
claiming mistreatment of servicemen.

Another speaker at the rally threatened the authorities with political unrest.

“We call on the people to get ready for civil disobedience,” the
opposition bloc’s coordinator Levon Zurabian said.

The bloc is seeking to win fresh concessions from the coalition
government led by President Serzh Sarkisian after gains made this year
amid a series of demonstrations.

Sarkisian’s administration has already fulfilled demands to allow
rallies in a previously forbidden central square and released
activists jailed for involvement in clashes after disputed
presidential elections in 2008 that left 10 people dead.

But the authorities have ruled out any possibility of early polls and
talks between the governing coalition and Ter-Petrosian’s bloc aimed
at easing political tensions have broken down.

Some analysts believe that the opposition bloc is continuing its
protests as an electioneering tactic to inspire more support ahead of
the next parliamentary polls due in 2012.

“The opposition wants to get more votes by creating an even more tense
situation,” Sergei Minasian of the Caucasus Media Institute told AFP.

Armenia has gone through political and military turmoil since
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, with a series of disputed
elections and a war with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the region of
Nagorny Karabakh.

mkh-emc/zak/jmm

Panorama, Armenia
Sept 24 2011

Hurriyet: because of Azerbaijan we cannot mend relations with Armenia

Turkish columnist Rauf Tamer has published his remarks on Ankara’s
regional policy in `Hurriyet’ daily. Tamer says now it’s difficult to
say who is a friend and who is a rival. It’s even impossible to call
rival’s rival a friend because the enemies are changing too often.
Thus, Tamer says, Turkey is like walking through a mined field, which
requires great caution.

The columnist writes Turkey puts forth great efforts and energy to
materialize resolution for its conflict. Besides, Turkey becomes
exhausted and tired when fights for others.

`Because of Azerbaijan we cannot mend relations with Armenia. The
reason is deep into our hearts – Azerbaijani people are our brothers.
Because of Palestine, we tense relations with Israel. Again, because
the Palestinians are our brothers.’

Tamer encourages Turkish statesmen to draw attention on their domestic
issues – terrorism, blood, attacks, clashes with Kurds, etc.

Russia factually recognized legitimacy of elections in NKR – expert

September 24, 2011 – 14:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia has factually recognized the legitimacy of
election in Karabakh, with Russian Foreign Ministry statement
essential in forming government bodies in the republic, according to
the Deputy Director of Caucasus Institute.

As political analyst Sergey Minasyan told PanARMENIAN.Net `the
important thing is that the process got off the ground.’

Dwelling on the Georgian authorities’ controversial statement on
election in Artsakh, the expert suggested that the move was prompted
by Tbilisi attempt to avoid similar situation in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.

`As is known, Russia does not recognize the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
as an independent state. Our view is that the elections cannot
influence the peace process for Nagorno Karabakh,’ Russian Foreign
Ministry’s website quoted the ministry’s spokesman Alexander
Lukashevich as saying.

`Russia in close cooperation with the other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
– the USA and France – is undertaking active mediation efforts in the
matter of resolving the Nagorno Karabakh problem. We will continue to
assist the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides in disentangling the
Karabakh knot as soon as possible by reaching a compromise,’ he said.

`We reaffirm support for the principles of territorial integrity, the
non-use of force, as well as other fundamental principles and norms of
international law’, Lukashevich said.

Voters in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic have voted to elect local
government bodies in the capital, Stepanakert, and more than 200 other
communities. The Karabakh election commission said Karabakh’s 54 658
eligible voters (58,71%) cast their ballots on September 18 for
candidates vying for mayorships and council seats.

Villaraigosa Issues Statement On Independence Anniversary

asbarez
Friday, September 23rd, 2011

Mayor Villaraigosa

LOS ANGELES – Mayor Villaraigosa issued the following statement Friday
on the 20th Anniversary of Armenia’s independence:

`Armenian National Day is a historic and joyful day for Armenian
people here in Los Angeles and around the world. On behalf of the City
of Los Angeles, I congratulate Armenia on 20 years of independence and
of enjoying the fruits of living freely.

As home to the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia, Los
Angeles is honored to be a sister city to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.

Our City’s Armenian population has a proud, rich and enduring
heritage. We are grateful for the lasting contributions this community
has made to the economic and cultural growth of Los Angeles.

I extend my best wishes to everyone celebrating this momentous
anniversary of Armenian independence.’