Author: Kanayan Tamar

, Turkey
April 11 2010

Erdogan sees Turkish-US ties eased after Armenia row

The Turkish prime minister said on Sunday that he had seen that
Turkish-U.S. relations had eased.
Sunday, 11 April 2010 17:35

The Turkish prime minister said on Sunday that he had seen that
Turkish-U.S. relations had eased.

Turkey’s Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish-U.S. relations had
become less rigid, thanks to talks between executives after the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives
adopted a resolution acknowledging the Armenian allegations on the
incidents of 1915.

"Our relations are milder now after the U.S. Secretary of State called
our Foreign Minister, and we have sent back our ambassador to
Washington D.C.," he told a press conference before flying to the
United States.

Erdogan will participate in the two-day summit to be hosted by U.S.
President Barack Obama. Almost 50 heads of state and government are
expected to attend the summit.

"Such resolutions do not bind us and Turkey’s views are obvious," he said.

Erdogan said Turkey was still backing its views expressed in a letter
sent to former Armenian President Robert Kocharian in 2005.

Turkey thought such issues could not be solved by parliaments, but
they should be handled by historical committees, Erdogan also said.

Turkey had recalled its ambassador to the United States Namik Tan
after the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States House of
Representatives adopted a resolution on March 4 that supported
Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915.

Tan returned to Washington D.C. on April 6.

Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on October 10, 2009 to resume
diplomatic relations and open their border crossing.

After years of no diplomatic contacts, Turkish President Abdullah Gul
travelled to Yerevan to watch a soccer game between Turkish and
Armenian national teams in September 2008.

The Armenian president came to Turkey to watch the return game in 2009.

AA

Un livre consacré à Monte Melkonian
"Parev, intchbess ek, lav ek ?"

HEROS

samedi10 avril 2010, par Krikor Amirzayan/armenews

Héros de la guerre de libération nationale du peuple arménien du Haut
Karabagh, Monte Melkonian, appelé commandant Avo est entré dans la
légende. Le journaliste Asbram Dzaroukian vient de présenter à Erévan
son livre « Parev, intchbess ek, lav ek ? » (« Bonjour, comment
allez-vous, vous allez bien ? » en arménien) consacré à Monte
Melkonian. A. Dzaroukian reprend en titre de son livre une phrase
utilisée fréquemment par Monte Melkonian.

Parmi les personnalités qui assistaient à la présentation de
l’ouvrage, figurait Hranouch Hagopian, Ministre de la diaspora qui dit
« Monte Melkonian était entre la nouvelle Arménie indépendante et la
diaspora, l’un des premiers ponts vivants (…) il est venu en Arménie
et a vu que sa patrie était en danger (…) il est devenu un véritable
héros qui offrit sa vie à l’Artsakh ». Le ministre arménien de la
Défense, Seyran Ohanian qui fut l’un des compagnons de combat de Monte
Melkonian dit également une intervention avec beaucoup d’émotion et de
gratitude envers « cet enfant de la diaspora qui avait su mobiliser
les troupes pour aller vers le combat ».

Le livre d’Asbram Dzaroukian raconte la vie de ce héros du Karabagh,
le légendaire commandant Avo qui a été adopté par tout le peuple
d’Arménie et du Haut Karabagh au prix de sa vie.

APA, Azerbaijan
April 9 2010

Special Envoy Firudin Siniroglu delivers Turkish Prime Minister’s
letter to Azerbaijani President – UPDATED

[ 09 Apr 2010 18:47 ]
Baku ` APA. Chief of the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Turkey and Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Firudin Siniroglu
delivered the Erdogan’s letter to President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev.

No public announcement was made on the meeting, APA reports quoting
CNN Turk. Before the meeting with the President, Siniroglu held
negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar
Mammadyarov. Diplomatic sources said Siniroglu informed the
Azerbaijani officials about the negotiations he conducted in Armenia.
Firudin Siniroglu met with Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan in
Yerevan on Thursday and delivered the Prime Minister’s letter to him.

Firudin Siniroglu delivered greetings of Turkish President Abdullah
Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Prime Minister’s
letter to the Head of State, APA reports quoting AzerTAC news agency.
President Ilham Aliyev spoke about the situation in the negotiations
over the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Firuding Siniroglu
informed about the current state of the Turkish-Armenian relations.
The development and prospects of Turkish-Azerbaijan friendly relations
were discussed at the meeting. The Head of State thanked for the
greetings of President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
and asked to deliver his greetings to them.

Armenian Assembly building support for U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide

armradio.am
09.04.2010 11:20

The Armenian Assembly of America welcomed the support of the Arizona
Ecumenical Council (AEC) regarding H.Res. 252, which affirms the U.S.
record on the Armenian Genocide.

The AEC sent a letter to all Members of the Arizona Congressional
Delegation urging support of the Armenian Genocide resolution
currently pending before the House and Senate.

The letter read in part: "Ninety-five years ago, the Ottoman Turks
undertook a mass campaign to systematically destroy and eradicate all
traces of Armenian civilization throughout Anatolia. Rather than
acknowledging the Genocide and enabling both Turks and Armenians to
move beyond this dark period in its history, Turkey has chosen to
employ high paid lobbyists to stop the U.S. from passing an Armenian
Genocide Resolution."

AEC Executive Director Reverend Jan Olav Flaaten said, "As brothers
and sisters in Christ, we rejoice when members rejoice, and we weep
when members of the Christian family weep. It is a sign of our unity."
Under the leadership of Rev. Flaaten, the Council currently represents
more than 1.5 million individuals from 18 Christian denominations
throughout the state of Arizona.

The letter to Congress reflects the continuing outreach efforts by the
Armenian Assembly. Over the past year, the Assembly’s Western Region
Director Yeghig Keshishian has worked closely with Reverend Flaaten
and Father Zacharia Saribekyan of St. Apkar Armenian Apostolic Church
of Arizona to encourage greater civic action. Together, they have
broadened the local Arizona community’s understanding of the Armenian
Genocide.

"The solidarity of the Arizona Ecumenical Council is a testament to
the important work of the Council in helping to heal the wounds of the
Armenian Genocide," stated Keshishian. "On behalf of the Assembly, we
welcome the Council’s support and the Christian community it
represents, and we look forward to broadening our outreach even more,"
he added.

SERZH SARGSYAN: KEY TO KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION IS IN OUR HANDS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 9, 2010 – 17:53 AMT 12:53 GMT

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that the possibility of
resumption of hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh has always persisted.

"The threat of resumption of hostilities will persist until stability
is established in the region," Mr. Sargsyan told journalists in
Tavush region.

At the same time, he noted that the danger of war becomes more
substantial for the Armenian people in two cases – when Azerbaijan,
having no other way to resolve the problem, resorts to militaristic
statements, and when internal political forces exploit this issue. "I
do not know what makes Baku use the language of threats, as I do not
see its superiority over us," President Sargsyan said, adding that
he does not see the threat of a new war in the near future.

Referring to the current negotiation process over the Karabakh conflict
settlement, the Armenian President estimated it as "’normal."

"I have repeatedly stated that the key to the Karabakh conflict
settlement is in our hands," he said, adding that if the issue on the
NKR people’s right to self-determination is settled, it would be much
easier to address the others.

ARMENIA TO RATIFY TURKEY ACCORDS BEFORE US TRIP?

news.az
April 8 2010
Azerbaijan

The National Assembly will discuss ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
accords in the near future, the speaker told a parliament session
on Tuesday.

A majority of deputies voted on 6 April to include ratification of
the protocols on the agenda of the four-day parliamentary session.

The protocols on establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia
and Turkey and on developing bilateral relations were signed by the
Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian, in Zurich on 10 October 2009.

‘We will definitely discuss the protocols in the near future,’
National Assembly Chairman Hovik Abrahamyan said.

Commentators in Armenia say President Serzh Sargsyan might take a
‘big surprise’ to his expected meeting with the US and Turkish leaders
in the United States.

The surprise could be go to the USA with the protocols ratified,
thereby casting Turkey in a bad light. Sargsyan leaves for the USA
on 11 April, where he will attend the Global Nuclear Security Summit
and meet Barack Obama.

At its sitting on 7 April the National Assembly rejected a bill on
amending the law ‘On international treaties’ proposed by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD).

The changes would have authorized parliament to ratify interstate
agreements with reservations. The Dashnaks said that the changes
would have allowed international treaties to be revoked in case of
procedural infractions.

Other amendments to the bill ‘On international treaties’ were already
signed into law in early March.

MPS, MINISTERS MUST NOT DO BUSINESS, PREMIER STATES

news.am
April 8 2010
Armenia

"We all together must see to it that all the large Armenian enterprises
provide their accounts to the public," RA Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan stated at the RA Government’s sitting on April 8. He pointed
out that a list of 285 enterprises recording an annual turnover of
1bn AMD has been published.

"We are accused of being unable to ensure proper control over large
enterprises, and I agree with the criticism. If a large enterprise
can evade taxes, it is a scourge for the state – it destroys the
foundations of the state and hinders SMB development," the Premier
said.

He stated that the RA Ministry of Finance must publish the results of
its surveys and show the comparative indices of the largest taxpayers
for 2008 and 2009.

"We suspect that the tax burden has mainly fallen on small-to-medium
businesses, not on the large enterprises. And we must expel the
suspicions," T. Sargsyan said. He pointed out that publicity is the
best way of ensuring transparency.

"If we also set up commissions for ethics, which are supposed to
supervise Parliament members and Ministers and prevent them from
doing business, I think our society will have greater confidence in
big businesses. We need it, of course," the Premier said.

TURKISH PREMIER ASKS FOR MEETING WITH ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

news.am
April 7 2010
Armenia

On April 1, at Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan’s request, RA President
Serzh Sagsyan received the Turkish Premier’s Special Envoy Feridun
Sinirlioglu.

The RA presidential press office informed NEWS.am that Feridun
Sinirlioglu conveyed verbal messages of the Turkish President and
the Turkish FM to the Armenian leader. Also, he handed the Turkish
Premier’s written message over to the Armenian President.

President Serzh Sargsyan stated that Armenia expects Turkey to take
practical steps, which would ensure progress in the normalization of
bilateral relations without any preconditions.

Envoy Feridun Sinirlioglu, in turn, conveyed to the Armenian leader
the Turkish side’s assurances that Turkey is ready to ensure progress
in the normalization process.

On behalf of the Turkish Premier, Feridun Sinirlioglu asked the
Armenian leader to hold a bilateral meeting in Washington, USA.

TURKEY DISPLAYED STRONG POLITICAL WILL TO NORMALISE RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA, TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY

Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 7 2010

Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey displayed a strong political
will in the normalisation process with Armenia.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Burak Ozugergin told a press
conference Wednesday that Turkey played a strong political will,
from the very beginning, in the normalisation process in line with
its vision of regional peace and stability, noting that it did not
need third parties to interfere.

Ozugergin’s remarks came after the remarks uttered by Stefan Fule,
EU Commissioner for Enlargement, during a trip to Armenia, urging
Turkey to continue exerting efforts to normalise relations with this
country as a prerequisite for EU membership.

Ozugergin said the strong political will displayed in the rapprochement
with Armenia, was also a sign of Turkey’s belief in the need for
extensive peace and stability in the south Caucasus.

REPAIR OPERATIONS AT YEREVAN RAILWAY STATION

ArmInfo
2010-04-07 11:33:00

ArmInfo. Repair operations have started at Yerevan railway station.

The interior of the station building will be restored and different
communications will be replaced within the frames of these operations,
press service of South Caucasus Railway CJSC told ArmInfo.

In view of increase of the passenger traffic against 2009 by 53%,
it is scheduled to separate the stations halls into international
and inter-city ones, as well as install additional box offices. This
will allow to avoid checkout lines and will create more comfortable
conditions for acquisition of tickets for different kinds of
communication. Guest rooms will be built in the station building
for accommodation of both the railway employees and passengers of
international communication. The repair operations will also cover
the railway platform.

SCR CJSC is the 100 percent subsidiary of Russian Railways CJSC. In
February 2008 SCR obtained a concession of the state CJSC Armenian
Railway. The agreement of concession of the Armenian Railroad CJSC
for 30 years with a 10-year renewable period was signed in Yerevan
in February 2008.