Author: Kanayan Tamar

WORLD PRESS ON FRENCH-TURKISH RELATIONS

Vestnik Kavkaza
Nov 6 2012
Russia

On October 6th Hurriyet published an article by Barcin Yinanc headlined
‘Turkey rushed to Paris but the French kiss is not coming.’

“I really doubt if there was any other country that rejoiced so much
when Francois Hollande was elected as France’s new president in May.

This came after the French Constitutional Court’s February decision
repealing the law criminalizing denial of the Armenians’ claims of
genocide,” the article begins.

“After the terrible Sarko years, a light at the end of the tunnel
appeared to put relations back on track. Turkey ended sanctions
against France in June following a meeting between Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hollande,” Yinanc says.

“Ankara at that time ignored statements made by Hollande during the
electoral campaign that he would seek ways to rework the denial bill
despite the court’s ruling. There is no evidence that Hollande might
have discreetly told Erdogan that he would not take action about his
campaign promise and gain time by telling the Armenians that they
are looking for a way to bypass the country’s highest legal authority.”

“Ankara might have thought that the court’s ruling had so well buried
the denial bill that it was safe to think Hollande will drag its feet
for a long time and thus decided to lift the sanctions. The rationale
behind the decision was also to encourage Hollande not to revisit
the Armenian issue, along with the belief that the move would also
serve as an incentive for the Socialist president to lift Sarkozy’s
veto over EU accession talks,” the article reads.

“Actually, the satisfaction of seeing Hollande winning the elections
stemmed more from the hope of seeing the French lift their veto
over five chapters on accession talks than the hope of seeing a
more pro-Turkish approach on the Armenian problem. The belief that
Hollande’s staff was more aware of the strategic importance of Turkey,
and less fanatical in their objections to Turkey’s entry into the EU,
naturally led to the expectation that Hollande would take the decision
to lift the veto.”

“But we have to recall that Ankara told Nicolas Sarkozy’s France that
so long as the veto is there, the French should not expect bilateral
ties to thrive as if there is no abnormality on the EU side. The
current situation is not sustainable and the “Hollande Spring” in
bilateral ties might come to an end if the French don’t make up their
mind by winter,” the author concludes.

LE NIVEAU DE LAC SEVAN EST ACTUELLEMENT DE 1900,36 METRES AU-DESSUS DU NIVEAU DE LA MER
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 8 novembre 2012

Le niveau du Lac Sevan est actuellement de 1900,36 mètres au-dessus
du niveau de mer selon Ashot Avalian, chef adjoint au ministère de la
protection de la nature et responsable de la surveillance des côtes
publiques. Il a dit que le niveau du lac est monte de 91 cm pendant
les trois dernières annees.

Il a dit que le gouvernement veut lever son niveau de trois mètres
approximativement a 1903,50 mètres.

Ashot Avalian a aussi dit que le secteur total de la zone côtière
du lac est de 144 000 hectares Environ 22 000 hectares sont des
zones humides.

Le lac Sevan est un des plus grands lacs alpestres en Europe et en
Asie, placee dans le coeur du plateau armenien a une altitude de
1914 mètres.

jeudi 8 novembre 2012, Stephane ©armenews.com

LA PRODUCTION DE L’INDUSTRIE LEGERE DE L’ARMENIE S’ELEVE A 3,7 MILLIARDS DE DRAMS
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 8 novembre 2012

La production de l’industrie legère en Armenie au cours des huit
premiers mois de cette annee a atteint 3,7 milliards de drams selon
Vazgen Safarysan, president d’une organisation non gouvernementale
reunissant les producteurs de matières premières.

Selon lui, la production de l’industrie legère represente 0,53% de
la production industrielle totale, qui pendant la periode consideree
s’elève a environ 700 milliards de drams. Il a dit qu’a l’epoque
sovietique l’industrie legère representait 23% du PIB de l’Armenie.

Selon lui, les commercants armeniens importent chaque annee 500
millions de dollars de produits de l’industrie legère fabriques en
Chine et en Turquie ajoutant “C’est indigne de l’Armenie, qui a une
bonne tradition dans ce domaine.”

“Tout cela montre la necessite d’une modernisation de la sphère, la
necessite d’investir dans de nouveaux equipements, et d’introduire
des incitations fiscales pour les producteurs locaux, afin qu’ils
produisent pour le marche local et pour les ventes hors du pays “,
a-t-il declare.

Il a egalement suggere que le gouvernement mette en place des
incitations fiscales pour les fabricants de l’industrie legère dans
les villages frontaliers du pays.

jeudi 8 novembre 2012, Stephane ©armenews.com

GEORGIA WANTS TO RESTORE THE MOSCOW-TBILISI-YEREVAN RAILWAY LINE ~V PHOTOSESSION

APA
Nov 7 2012
Azerbaijan

Tbilisi. Nizami Mammadzade – APA. Today, State Minister of Georgia
for Reintegration Paata Zakareishvili held a press conference at the
international office of Ria Novosti in Tbilisi on restoration of the
Russian-Georgian railway line.

The minister talked about the restoration of Sukhumi part of the
Moscow-Tbilisi-Yeravan railway line, which was destroyed 20 years ago,
Georgian bureau of APA reports

“Will it threat independence of Georgia and Azerbaijan if Russia will
transport military equipment to Gyumri base of Russia in Armenia?” P.

Zaakarashvili responded to the question: “We have not launched
discussions with Russia yet. This issue is not discussed at any level
anywhere. It can be discussed in future.

To APA’s correspondent question “Who will the status belong to
if Sukhumi railway line is restored?” P. Zakareishvili answered:
“We have not discussed the details. This issue does not concern
the ministry headed by me. The status issue has not been included
in the agenda yet. But we can touch this issue at Russian-Georgian
negotiations as well as these discussions can be skipped.”

The Minister also talked about illegal border crossings of
Georgian-Russian border.

“Unfortunately, the relations became more strained after Russia
recognized Abkhazia. If Russia didn’t recognize Abkhazia we could
solve a number of issues easily. Russia’s recognition of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia does not meet Georgia’s laws because Georgia
doesn’t recognize Abkhazia and international community knows that these
territories belong to Georgia. If somebody will cross Georgian-Russian
border that person will be punished under our laws. I guess, these
punishments can also be lighter. It is not necessary to jail somebody.

It can be paid as a penalty. The population should know that they
can reach the final via paying a penalty but not being in prison. But
jailing is a very serious kind of punishment.”

The State Minister also expressed his attitude toward refugees’
returning to their homelands. “The refugees can return to their
homelands if territorial integrity of Georgia will be restored. Now,
70 percent of refugees want to return Abkhazia. It is not possible
yet. August, 2008 events backwarded Georgia. But we should think
of going forward but not criticize the past. The decision on the
settlement of Abkhazian conflict should be made together, we should
decide how we will live with Abkhazians together. We should work
on this.”

REPRESENTATIVE OF AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION: “THE MILITARY EXPENDITURES’ PERCENTAGE IN THE ARMENIAN STATE BUDGET IS TWO TIMES HIGHER THAN AZERBAIJAN”

APA
Nov 7 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. “The state budget of Armenia has made $2.2 bln this year,
at the same time, the budget deficit in Armenia will be $326.5 mln
(about 14.5% of the budget).

In spite of this, the military expenditures in the budget are 17%.

This figure has been 8.1% in Azerbaijan this year. In accordance with
the plan for 2013, Armenia is going to spend $450 mln or more than
16% of the budget expenditures for military purposes. For comparison,
this figure is 7.7% in Azerbaijan”, head of the political analysis and
information provision department of the Presidential Administration,
Elnur Aslanov told journalists, APA reports.

Comparing the percentage of military expenditures in the budgets
of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the representative of the Presidential
Administration noted that the indicators of Armenia were two times
higher than Azerbaijan: “This is a obvious demonstration of the
high level arming of Armenia. Trying to maintain the status quo
in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the Armenian leadership not
only deepens socio-economic situation in the country, depriving
the younger generation of the future, but also demonstrates that it
is not interested in peace and stability in the region. Therefore,
all statements of the Armenian government on peace and security in
the region collapse as a house of cards against the background of
xenophobic statements of the Armenian president.”

ARMENIA, IRAN TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF MEGHRI HYDRO POWER STATION

Energy Business Review
Nov 7 2012

The Islamic Republic of Iran in partnership with the Republic of
Armenia will break ground on the construction of the large Meghri
hydro electric power station on 7 November 2012.

The hydroelectric dam will be built on the Aras River, situated
proximal to the southern Meghri town on the Iran-Armenia border.

Governments of the two countries signed an agreement that stipulates
a hydro power complex to feature the two 130MW Ghare Chiler and Meghri
power stations on the Iranian side and Armenia side respectively.

Each station is projected to generate 793 million kwh of electricity
annually with construction expected to be completed five years from
the date of commencement, at an entailed cost of $323m.

An Iranian investment company will invest in the project, while Farab
Sepasad Company will undertake the construction.

BARACK OBAMA WILL KEEP BEING INVOLVED IN THE NK PEACE PROCESS, U.S. AMBASSADOR SAYS

Mediamax
Nov 7 2012
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern said today
that on his second term, U.S. President Barack Obama will keep being
involved in the NK peace process jointly with his Russian and French
counterparts.

The Ambassador said that Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton paid considerable attention to Armenia and South Caucasus
over the past 4 years. The diplomat recalled Hillary Clinton’s two
visits to the region.

Speaking on the bilateral economic ties, John Heffern said that he
“will try to do his best to provide more investments from the U.S. and
larger trade volumes”. At the same time, he stressed that it mostly
depends on the improvement of Armenia’s business environment and
ensuring of free economic competition.

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PROPOSES SWITCH-OVER TO PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

tert.am
06.11.12

Naira Zohrabyan, Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP)
parliamentary group, made a statement on the PAP’s approaches to the
forthcoming presidential election in Armenia.

She stressed the necessity for a switch-over to the parliamentary
system and, in this context, to the proportional representation
system. The PAP starts consultations with other political forces.

With respect to forthcoming presidential election in Armenia, the PAP
Political Council is holding discussions. The PAP Political Council
gives priority to the issues on the agenda. One of the most important
issues is what will be offered to Armenia’s society.

Public is obviously demanding that the country be led out of the
current grave situation as soon as possible, says the statement.

An analysis of Armenia’s 20-year-long independence, the present
political situation and development prospects makes the PAP conclude
that switching over to a parliamentary system is one of the ways of
resolving the country’s problems, putting an end to political monopoly
and implementing reforms.

This would enhance political parties’ role and create real conditions
for putting an end to disgraceful phenomena.

The PAP attaches importance to a switch-over to the proportional
representation system. A switch-over to the parliamentary system
implies that the presidential to be elected next year will work for
four years, until the 2017 parliamentary elections. He is expected
to make necessary amendments to Armenia’s Constitution in cooperation
with other political forces and lay the basis for a new system.

The PAP is well aware that other political forces are proposing this
idea as well. The party believes that this approach might become a
solid ideological basis for cooperation between different political
forces.

In this context, the PAP plans to start consultations with political
forces to see the opportunities for uniting round the idea, says
the statement.

ARMENIA CAN ASSIST IN RUSSIA-GEORGIA NORMALIZATION – EXPERT

TERT.AM
06.11.12

Armenia can play a serious role in the normalization of the
Russia-Georgia relations, according to Alik Eroyants, a political
analyst.

At a news conference on Tuesday, the expert said that that the
opening of a railroad between Russia and Georgia will bring great
economic benefits to the two countries. As for Azerbaijan, he said
the country’s role in the process of zero importance.

It comes after Georgia’s Reintegration Minister Paata Zakareishvili
stressed the importance of the railroad project in an interview with
the Russian Komersant.

Eroyants thinks that Georgia’s new cabinet, led by
billionaire-turned-politician Bidzina Ivanishvili, will first seek
to establish economic ties with Russia.

“There has been no serious response by Russia in that direction
so far, so it is not easy to predict the country’s stance in such
circumstances,” he added.

Johnny Melikyan, another expert attending the news conference, said
Georgia is now waiting for Russia’s response. He also called for
keeping the US presidential elections in mind.

“In case Obama is elected, the relations with Russia will be the same,
but they may deteriorate in case Romney wins presidency,” he said.

ANCA CALLS ON AMB. MORNINGSTAR TO REJECT BAKU’S BAN ON ACCESS TO DJULFA CEMETERY

12:01 06.11.2012

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has called on U.S.
Ambassador to Baku, Richard Morningstar, to honor his commitment to
the U.S. Senate to secure access to the site, in Djulfa, Nakhichevan,
of the Azerbaijani government’s 2005 video-taped destruction of a
medieval Armenian cemetery housing thousands of intricately carved
Armenian stone-crosses (khatchkars).

In a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy inBaku, Ambassador
Morningstar stated that, when he was recently in Nakhchivan, he
“discussed at length with local authorities one such site in Julfa,
where, according to evidence from credible sources, an ancient Armenian
cemetery was desecrated or destroyed. I regret that the authorities,
citing security reasons, made it impossible for me to visit the site
and personally see what is there.”

“Ambassador Morningstar cannot take no for an answer,” said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “He can either keep knocking on
the Ilham Aliyev’s door until this baseless ban is lifted, or simply
travel to the site of the Djulfa cemetery on his own. Either way,
it’s clear that, as Americans, we should neither sell arms to an
Azerbaijani military that destroys cemeteries, nor send any aid to a
government in Baku that blocks U.S. ambassadors from visiting sites
of peace-time cultural desecration.”

In response to questions by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) during his confirmation hearing, in June of
2012, Ambassador Morningstar had committed to “make every effort
to visit the cemetery and that any kind of desecration such as that
is unacceptable, outrageous and I will do my best to get there, and
soon.” He also said he would: “amplify our concerns to the Government
of Azerbaijan and stress the need to respect and safeguard Armenian
religious and cultural sites in Azerbaijan.”

In his recent statement regarding Djulfa, Ambassador Morningstar spoke
of Azerbaijan’s “diverse cultural heritage,” while remaining silent
on the virulently and violently anti-Armenia policies of the Aliyev
government, including its escalating pattern of fatal cross-border
attacks, and its recent pardon and promotion of Ramil Safarov, who
axed to death an Armenian in his sleep during a NATO-sponsored peace
training program in Hungary.