Author: Karagyozian Lena

GEORGIA QUITS EX-SOVIET GROUP AS MOSCOW ALLIES REBEL
By Matt Robinson and Oleg Shchedrov

Georgiandaily
August 18, 2009

TBILISI/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Georgia on Tuesday became the first
country to withdraw from the CIS grouping of former Soviet republics
in the latest and most blatant sign of rebellion against Moscow in
its own backyard.

In the wake of its devastating five-day war with Russia last August,
Georgia vowed to quit the Moscow-dominated Commonwealth of Independent
States formed with the fall of the Soviet Union.

Its departure underscores the drift from Moscow by former Soviet
republics, where traditional allegiances to the old Soviet master are
being challenged by the economic and political influence of the West.

"Russia has very few mates, and the mates it does have are becoming
very fickle," said James Nixey, research fellow at London-based
Chatham House.

The CIS was designed to ease the trauma of separation and promote
cooperation on issues such as trade, travel and security between the
former republics.

With the exit of Georgia, the CIS now groups Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Loyalties were already strained when Russia sent forces into Georgia
to quash a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region,
the first time the Kremlin had deployed troops in anger beyond its
borders since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Georgian parliament voted to quit two days after the war ended,
starting a year-long process that ended on Tuesday.

The conflict shocked its fellow former Soviet republics, and the 12
months since have brought a series of bilateral spats signaling a
clear shift in allegiances.

None of the former republics has followed Russia in recognizing
Georgia’s rebel South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states
despite intense pressure from Moscow.

There has also been movement toward the European Union.

Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus have joined Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan in the EU’s Eastern Partnership, designed to expand their
political and economic ties with Europe.

"FINDING THEIR FEET" On the military front, Uzbekistan and Belarus
refused to join a Russian-proposed rapid reaction force. Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Tajikistan signed a pact on it in June.

Kyrgyzstan this year shut down a U.S. base supplying forces in
Afghanistan having secured pledges of $2 billion in aid and credit
from Russia, only to reverse the decision in June.

There have also been tensions over energy.

Long Russia’s closest ally, Belarus has clashed with Moscow over gas
prices, ownership of gas transport networks and dairy exports. Instead,
President Alexander Lukashenko has sought — with success — to end
the country’s ostracism from the West.

Turkmenistan has stepped up efforts to diversify gas supplies to
China and Iran.

Russian relations with Ukraine in particular have hit new lows,
notably over Kiev’s push to join NATO and a series of disputes over
gas transit. In an open letter last week, Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev accused Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko of pursuing
a deliberately anti-Russian course.

"What we are seeing now is a run from Moscow," said Alexei Malashenko,
an analyst with Carnegie Moscow Center. "Russia’s allies are looking
for alliances elsewhere to ease the heavy hand of Moscow," he said.

"The CIS was an attempt to turn a divorce deal into a new marriage
contract. It failed."

Nixey said the trend was "inexorable." "At the end of the day, these
countries are immature independent states and they are finding their
feet," he said.

Georgia’s departure from the CIS will have little practical
impact. Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania said it would remain
party to 75 multilateral agreements formed under the CIS covering
among other things visa-free travel and free trade.

Russian officials were unperturbed.

"Georgia entered the CIS as a Trojan horse, cooperating with (Ukrainian
President Viktor) Yushchenko," said Konstantin Zatulin, a member
of the Russian Duma and director of the Institute of CIS Countries,
quoted by Interfax news agency.

"Both countries prevented the CIS from developing effectively."

AFTER RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN WAR GEORGIA’S CIS MEMBERSHIP MAKES NO SENSE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.08.2009 13:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Georgia’s joining CIS pursued political goals,"
Western Armenians’ Studies Center Director Haykazun Alvrtsyan told
today a news conference in Yerevan.

"CIS came into existence in 1991. Georgia did not then sign an
agreement on becoming commonwealth member; it signed it 3 years
later," expert said. Such step, according to him, was conditioned by
Georgian-Abkhazian war when South Ossetia and Abkhazia had seceded
from Georgia. "Former Georgian President Edward Shevardnadze persuaded
Georgian society that joining CIS was the only way for returning
those territories and raising a question about Georgia’s territorial
integrity."

"Following August 2008 war, Georgia irrevocably lost South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, so the country’s CIS membership made no sense," Alvrtsyan
said, noting in the meantime that Georgia always adhered to pro-Western
position, so quitting commonwealth will pave the country’s way to
NATO membership.

"It’s a long time Georgia has not been a CIS member state. It hasn’t
taken part in sessions held recently and has done everything to
contradict organization’s policy," the speaker stressed, adding
that Georgia’s quitting CIS will greatly harm Russia’s interests in
the region.

"Georgian society does not seem to be against such decision, as no
protest statements were made in that regard," he noted.

On August 12, 2008, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made
a decision on quitting CIS, as a sign of protest against Russia’s
military operation aimed at forcing peace in South Ossetia. President’s
decision was followed by relevant legal procedures which took certain
time. On August 18, Georgia officially and ultimately withdrew
from CIS.

ATALAY MEETS WITH DTP AS PART OF KURDISH INITIATIVE

Sunday’s Zaman
Leisure Radio Guide

Interior Minister Beþir Atalay, who has been meeting with political
parties and civil society organizations as part of a government
initiative to find a comprehensive solution to the Kurdish issue,
paid a visit to the headquarters of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society
Party (DTP) on Thursday.

Accompanied by Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary
group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdað and AK Party Deputy Chairman
Abdulkadir Aksu, Atalay was welcomed by DTP parliamentary group
deputy chairman Selahattin Demirtaþ as he entered the party’s
headquarters. Speaking after a one-hour meeting with DTP leader
Ahmet Turk, Atalay said: "Let us have confidence. We can solve
this as long as we have self-confidence." Atalay said in the press
statement that the meeting had been very productive, providing an
important opportunity for exchanging opinions. He said: "We have
wished from the start for this project to be carried out under the
roof of Parliament. We think the contribution of Parliament and our
political parties to this project of brotherhood and peace is very
important. We explain, in these visits, the work we have been carrying
out. In all the meetings we have had so far, including with three
political parties, we have listened to valuable opinions that lig!

ht the way of our project."

In a statement after the meeting, DTP leader Turk said a political
effort was being made by the government to put an end to 30 years of
bloodshed and pain. Turk said his party was working for normalization
in Turkey, noting that they were very optimistic that a solution was
near and that they did not want to be frustrated.

"Our [aim] is to solve the problems, not dissolve Turkey," he said,
expressing his opinion that military operations and weapons cannot
solve the problem. Turk said they were working for societal consensus
and embracing differences.

Aug. 8 President Abdullah Gul called for "a new era and a new
understanding" in the solution to the Kurdish question, which he called
"Turkey’s most important problem."

One soldier was killed and another wounded in an armed attack by
members of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in Hatay’s
Karlýsu area.

Turkey and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of neighboring Azerbaijan
signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction
of a natural gas pipeline between Nakhchivan and Turkey’s eastern
Anatolian province of Iðdýr. The MoU envisions the transfer of 500
million cubic meters of gas per year.

Halis Toprak, an industry mogul who has been in the news recently
for his controversial marriage to a woman a fraction of his age,
experienced a dramatic blow to his business. The Savings Deposit
Insurance Fund (TMSF) seized control of 20 of the businessman’s
companies as he was visiting his medical industry company, Toprak Ýlac,
in Adapazarý.

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Ankara deputy Salih Kapusuz
renamed a recent move by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan on the
Kurdish issue, saying in a speech that it is a democratic initiative
and not a Kurdish initiative.

Turkey would treat 40 people who were wounded in an attack in the
northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Turkey’s Emergency Management General
Directorate said.

Artem Silchenko from Russia won the Antalya leg of the Red Bull Cliff
Diving Series 2009.

Aug. 9 President Gul met with Malatya native Sami Karaaslan (68), who
had been walking from Malatya to Ankara for days after promising in
2007 to do so if Gul were elected president. Learning about Karaaslan
from Zaman daily reports, President Gul ordered a car to bring him
to Ankara on Saturday. They met on Sunday.

President Gul emphasized the importance of finding a solution to
the country’s longstanding Kurdish question with the cooperation
of opposition leaders, who have adopted a hard-line policy on the
issue. "Opposition is very important. Opposition is part of politics,"
Gul said while returning from a trip to the provinces of Muþ, Bitlis,
Tatvan and Ahlat.

Muhsin Yazýcýoðlu, the founder of the Grand Unity Party (BBP), who
died in a helicopter crash during election campaigning in March, was
commemorated on Kahramanmaraþ’s Keþ Mountain, the site of the crash.

Aug. 10 The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned a series of
bombings that killed at least 41 in Iraq.

Turkey’s two main opposition parties, the Republican People Party
(CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), voiced their refusal
to meet with the ruling party to discuss plans to grant more rights to
the nation’s Kurds, responding to reports that Interior Minister Beþir
Atalay was planning to meet with opposition party representatives to
discuss reconciliation efforts.

A fire engulfed forests near the town of Seferihisar, Ýzmir province,
scorching 600 hectares of forest and 100 hectares of agricultural
land. Hundreds of houses and summer villas were evacuated in several
neighborhoods, municipality officials said.

The government plans to conclude a tender for the construction of
Turkey’s first nuclear energy power plant in September, Energy and
Natural Resources Minister Taner Yýldýz said. "We have to finish an
important part of the tender process in August, and we must conclude
it next month," Yýldýz told reporters in Ankara.

Arzu Erbaþ Cakmakcý, who had received awards and been received by
the Dutch royal family for her charity work, was stabbed to death in
Amsterdam in the parking lot outside a daycare center she owned.

Aug. 11 Prime Minister Erdoðan made a historic appeal and called
on opposition parties to collaborate with his ruling AK Party in
order to find a solution to the country’s long-standing Kurdish
question. Several AK Party deputies, including Deputy Prime Minister
Bulent Arýnc, shed tears while Erdoðan delivered a touching speech
at his party’s parliamentary group meeting.

Both main opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal and MHP leader Devlet
Bahceli continued to express their mostly critical views on the Kurdish
initiative. Baykal mostly reiterated his party’s earlier concerns and
"red lines" — psychological borders the CHP would never agree to
cross — while MHP leader Bahceli stepped up his staunch opposition
to the Kurdish plan, clearly stating that he is not ready to make
any concessions or compromises to back the initiative.

Turkey is ready to engage in unlimited cooperation with regional
countries in order to once again turn the Mesopotamian region,
which was once the cradle of a succession of glorious civilizations,
into a prosperous area, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu said during
an official visit to Baghdad. His bold remarks on Turkey’s vision
regarding regional cooperation came at a joint press conference with
his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari. "We have seen that Turkey is
determined to help Iraq," Zebari was quoted as saying by Anatolia,
as he spoke of the presence of good relations after tension caused
by the PKK issue.

The autopsy report of Mikail Tekin, an ethnic Turkish prisoner in
Belgium’s Jamioulx Prison who died last Saturday, was released,
listing his cause of death as "physical violence." While the prison
administration announced the cause of death as "choking while eating,"
other prisoners protested, claiming that he was subjected to torture
while being transported to an isolation cell.

Geophysical Society of Turkey (GST) Honorary President Ahmet Ercan
said he did not expect an earthquake to occur in the Marmara region
until 2015.

Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON)
Chairman Rýzanur Meral said the Turkish business world supported
the government’s "democratization initiative" for a solution to the
Kurdish issue.

The Israeli military announced that the Turkish, US and Israeli navies
will conduct a joint naval search-and-rescue exercise in the eastern
Mediterranean next week.

Aug. 12 Interior Minister Atalay met with heads of smaller parties
represented in Parliament as well as civil society organizations. After
meeting with the head of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) on Tuesday,
Atalay met Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB)
President Rýfat Hisarcýklýoðlu on Wednesday.

Israel under right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not
resume Turkish-mediated peace talks with Syria, insisting that any
new negotiations be direct, Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon said.

A man and his daughter died when a drunk woman who was also found
to lack a driver’s license drove into a house in Sakarya. Ýbrahim
Aydýn and his daughter Sinem were seriously injured in the accident
and died after being taken to the Yenikent State Hospital.

The results of Turkey’s Student Selection Examination (OSS) were
announced, giving more than 528,000 students the opportunity to pursue
higher education at universities across the country.

A Turkish advocacy group in the United States accused Google of
restricting free speech after the global search engine suspended its
ads following complaints by an Armenian-American group that the ads
were denying the disputed "Armenian genocide."

Some 200 people marched in Amsterdam in the evening in memory of
Cakmakcý, the Turkish businesswoman who was killed on Monday in the
Dutch capital by unknown perpetrators.

Aug. 13 Three Belgian prison guards interrogated by prosecutors
following an autopsy report indicating traces of violence on the
dead body of a Turkish prisoner were released, reports said. Turkish
officials in Ankara and Brussels handed over separate notes of
diplomatic protest to their Belgian counterparts.

The government has allocated some TL 3 billion for the Southeastern
Anatolia Project (GAP) so far this year, State Minister Cevdet Yýlmaz
announced in a written statement.

Germany welcomes the government’s plans to launch a series of reforms
to address the grievances of Turkey’s Kurds and believes Turkey will
become stronger if it addresses these problems, German Ambassador to
Turkey Eckart Cuntz said.

Interior Minister Beþir Atalay, continuing his meetings with political
parties and civil society organizations as part of a government
initiative to find a comprehensive solution to the Kurdish issue, paid
a visit to the headquarters of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party
(DTP). Speaking after the one-hour meeting with DTP leader Ahmet Turk,
Atalay said: "Let us have confidence. We can solve this as long as
we have self-confidence."

Aug. 14 Speaking at his party’s Extended Province Chairmen meeting
on the eighth anniversary of the establishment of the AK Party,
Erdoðan criticized the opponents of the Kurdish initiative, mostly the
opposition CHP and the MHP, accusing them of trying to make political
gains from the issue.

An attempt by Somali pirates to hijack a Turkish merchant vessel in
the Gulf of Aden on Friday was thwarted after a Turkish frigate warned
NATO forces of the situation, Turkish maritime authorities announced.

An Ýzmir court accepted an indictment against 34 individuals suspected
of being members of the Kurdish Communities Union, Turkey Council
(KCK/TM), an organization that allegedly functions as the urban arm
of the terrorist PKK, announcing that the suspects will appear in
court at the first hearing, slated for Nov. 19.

A Turkish man was reported to have been killed in his house in
Amsterdam. The Cihan news agency said 30-year-old Ufuk Kayakuþu was
found stabbed to death in his home. Police are investigating the
murder but no information is available on the perpetrator.

Today’s Zaman

Does a Turkish-Armenian like Armenia?
by
ALÝN OZÝNÝAN*

web/news-184103-109-centerdoes-a-turkish-armenian- like-armeniabr-i-by-i-bralin-oziniancenter.html

T here is no doubt that the identity-building process of
Turkish-Armenians is complicated, multidimensional and volatile; it is
also under the heavy influence of other dynamics.

The impact of the political change Turkey is going through on the
shaping of the internal dynamics of the Armenian community cannot be
ignored.
Bold, anxious, repressed or hypocritical, and most of the time
cautious and balanced, the attitudes of the different segments of
Turkish-Armenians provide important clues for understanding the
process.
During his speech at a workshop on relations between Turkey and
Armenia held by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social
Research (SETA), sociologist Ferhat Kentel gave a few examples of
discrimination against Armenians in Turkey. At the meeting hall, an
Armenian woman (I did not have the opportunity to ask how she defined
herself, but most likely she would prefer Turk of Armenian origin as
her identity) strongly opposed Kentel’s arguments, saying: `You don’t
have the right to speak on behalf of us. We do not have any problem in
this country. You are saying we cannot become civil servants or
military officers, so what? We are happy with our current status.’ I
think this excerpt does not suffice to summarize the above statement,
but it sure makes you think about how to define the process.
I felt the same way while reading the book, `Ermenistan’da bir
Türkiyeli.’ (A Turk in Armenia) by Bercuhi Berberyan. Even though I
abandoned my intention of buying the book when I noticed its back
cover, featuring an attitude of obsession over a homeland and the
pursuit of help from others in the identification of a homeland, as
reflected in the sentence that reads, `A Turkish-Armenian who is not
considered a citizen in a place that she considers a homeland and does
not see the place considered her homeland as her home,’ I finally
decided to read about the person from Turkey who got confused after
her short stay in Armenia. While reading the travel notes from a
10-day trip in this country, it was possible for me to notice the
strong and pathological state of mind of some of the members of the
Armenian community in Turkey.
What am I doing here when I had the opportunity to lead a life in
Europe?
Armenians in Turkey rely on religion and language to preserve their
identity. The uneasiness of the Armenians after the promotion of the
Turkish language and the strong emphasis on the use of Turkish symbols
in 1950s and ’60s and the fear caused by the Armenian Secret Army for
the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) attacks took a whole different form
after the 1990s. The Armenian community came to the conclusion that
they should be supportive of Turkey’s EU bid and its democratization
in order to preserve their fundamental rights; with the spread of this
conviction, Armenians agreed to fight like authentic citizens instead
of acting like outsiders in this country. The nationalistic discourse
that gained momentum almost concurrently was accompanied by violent
actions, and this re-emerged in the chronic habit of calling
minorities foreigners. Surely, the people were enjoying a process in
which they were less scared when they call themselves Armenians. This
process was shaped by div!
erse internal and external dynamics. The murder of Hrant Dink
dramatically affected the process and caused the past fears of
repression and defeat to resurface, but the process is still alive.
Armenia’s independence during this period of fluctuations and its
promising relations with Turkey have a special place in the lives of
Turkish-Armenians even though they are not aware of it. While they
become self-confident when the president of Turkey, where they live as
citizens, pays a visit to Armenia to see a soccer game, the same fact
makes others resistant and opposed to such moves.
The book I referred to above as the author who is unable to find her
homeland and the woman who argued at the meeting that she was pretty
happy living in Turkey are simple examples of this. While the concept
of `homeland,’ a concept that we love and adore so dearly, refers to
the place where a person was born or lives, it has gained a political
dimension since 1860 in parallel to a French word, patrie. In other
words, there is no problem with calling a place where we are born,
live or ethnically belong to as homeland. That said, you may have
problems when it comes to citizens’ rights. The book in which
Berberyan publicizes her memoirs starts with her testing herself. The
suspicion outlined in the sentence, `I could have headed to Europe
with such a great amount of money; why did I choose Armenia?’
emphasizes the core theme that Armenia is not a special place for her
and the author is not attached to this country. Berberyan does not
particularly like anything about Armenia, i!
ncluding the coffee and the olives. She often misses Ýstanbul; she
misses everything about Ýstanbul. She argues that the spoken version
of the Armenian language (eastern Armenian, pretty different from the
western form) is vague and rude. She counts the days left until her
return to Ýstanbul. In the meantime, she criticizes everything about
Armenia. Actually, this style is supposed to provoke an idea of a
proper Turkish citizen in the eyes of the readers; however, I feel
pity and sorrow for her because I simply observe an effort to stress
that she is a Turkish citizen who cannot have any ties with
Armenia. It is just like what the woman said in the meeting where the
sociologist wanted to talk about the problems of an ethnic minority in
Turkey.
Anything unlike them is just wrong
Why do some Armenians hold such ideas? Do not get me wrong; they do
not renounce their Armenian identity. They just choose not to send
their kids to their community schools because they simply think that
they should act pragmatically; the Armenian language will be of no
help or use in their lives, so private school is a better option. Some
of them are not willing to see that the Armenian language is fading
away, but they are concerned about the disappearance of Native
Americans; in other words, this is a sign of general sensitivity and
all about being a world citizen. The Armenian community’s relations
with the diaspora are strained. Some of their unease is related to the
diaspora’s accusation that they have converted to Turks, but actually,
this is an accurate accusation; everything about them says they have
become just like Turks. Not holding positive sentiments about the
country to which they should be attached because of their ethnic
orientation, not speaking its languag!
e and reiterating their loyalty on every occasion to the country where
they are legally citizens actually says they are concerned about
expressing themselves accurately. Undoubtedly, everyone is free to
identify their homeland, the schools where they will study and pursue
their degrees, the languages they will speak and the newspapers they
will read; however, unfortunately, as a result of the assimilation
policy pursued by the Turkish state as well as improper modernization,
the Armenian community has come to the conclusion that everything that
is not like them is wrong and dangerous.
The twisted elitism that Berberyan is suffering from reinforces her
idea of a unique and single model of Armenian-ness. This different
Armenian just cannot stand another Armenian identity; she complains
that their language and customs have been eroded, and she presents
this as an absolute truth instead of the outcome of her subjective
approach.
True, many things in Armenia are different from what is in Turkey’s
Ýstanbul. The eastern Armenian language is different from western
Armenian. The smiles of girls that Berberyan dislikes are different
from the smiles of girls in Ýstanbul, but this is not a problem at
all. Quite the contrary, the idea suggesting that everyone should be
the same is dangerous. Armenians in Armenia bury their dead fellows to
the sound of the duduk — a regional flute-like instrument — instead
of church ceremonies. But I am sure that they are as sorry as
Turkish-Armenians when they lose a relative. This growing intolerance
reminds me of opera lovers who hate hearing folk songs, the professors
who do not admit covered students into their classes, the woman who
refused to accept an Alevi girl as her daughter-in-law, the man who
dislikes Bulgarian migrants because he feels they are not Turkish
enough and the mindset that defines the ability of people from diverse
religions and ethnic origins to li!
ve together peacefully as `tolerance.’ This small society is
excessively affected and influenced by the larger one.

*Alin Ozinian is the press representative of the Turkish-Armenian
Business Council.

16 August 2009, Sunday

SEDRAK ACHEMYAN: HAD ARMENIA AND NKR UNITED IN PROPER TIME, THERE’D BE NO KARABAKH ISSUE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.08.2009 18:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Final decision over Karabakh issue should be made
by Karabakh itself," Sedrak Ahemyan, Chairman of the Central Board of
Social Democratic Hnchak Party (SDHP), told today a seminar devoted to
"Armenian-Turkish relations: present and past. "We have not occupied
foreign lands, even though Azerbaijan does not recognize it," the
expert said, ruling out possibility of any concessions by Armenia.

"Had Armenia and Karabakh united in proper time, Karabakh issue would
have been resolved," SDHP member, noting that Armenia had several
times missed good chances for settling NKR conflict.

EXCAVATIONS IN TIGRANAKERT ARE UNDER WAY

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2009-08-11 16:27
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

It is already five years that excavations in the ancient town of
Tigranakert, NKR, founded in 1st century B.C. in Artsakh by Armenian
King Tigran the Great, are underway.

The excavations are realized by the Artsakh archeological expedition
of the Archeology and Ethnography Institute of Armenia’s National
Academy of Sciences (NAS), headed by Hamlet Petrosian, Doctor of
Historical Sciences.

The expedition also includes specialists from Karabakh.

The excavations are financed by the NKR Government. The Tourism
Department under the NKR Government and "Tigranakert reserve"
state nonprofit organization, established this year, coordinate the
organizational issues.

The upper part of the church (basilica) that, according to the
preliminary data, dated to the 6th century has been excavated this
year.

Among this year findings Hamlet Petrosian singled out the agate
gem. For the present, the scientists find difficulty in defining
precisely what period the gem dates back. However, it is considered
to date from the Hellenistic period. According to Hamlet Petrosian,
gem and early medieval clay stamps witnessed Tigranakert’s significant
administrative-commercial role.

The excavations of acropolis’s northern wall go on. 85 meters of the
wall have already been excavated. It is one of the biggest walls,
ever=2 0 excavated in the South Caucasus.

On the whole, the excavations reveal the image of once powerful,
rich and beautiful town.

There is a plan to establish a museum of Tigranakert. At present,
restoration works are on in the 18th century fortress, where the
museum is to be based.

The NKR intends to turn Tigranakert into a pilgrimage shrine for
Armenians all over the world.

LATER YESTERDAY RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC HENCHAKIAN PARTY CENTRAL BOARD CHAIRMAN SEDRAK ACHEMYAN.

Sa turday, 8 August 2009

The meeting agenda related to economic development and business
environment improvement in Armenia, Homeland-Diaspora economic
interaction and GoA-SDHP cooperation.

During the meeting, questions of nationwide importance were discussed,
including Armenian Genocide recognition and the settlement of the
issue of Artsakh.

HAYK BABUKHANYAN: OPPOSITION WILL NOT RECEIVE POPULAR SUPPORT IN AUTUMN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.08.2009 14:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia which faces serious challenges is in for
serious tensions this autumn, Head of Constitutional Right Union
Hayk Babukhanyan told a news conference in Yerevan. The speaker
enumerated four parallel process in country’s domestic and foreign
policy: Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, NKR conflict settlement,
increased internal tensions and global crisis. These are the factors
which he believes play a decisive role in country’s political and
social development.

Serious changes inside the country were also predicted by "orange
opposition", but very few people support them now as most are paralyzed
by sense of fear, Babukhanyan said.

"Last year we saw many people following the opposition, but now
we don’t see even half of them," he stressed, adding that RA first
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan robbed people of so many things during
his rule that country’s current situation only arouses anxiety.

Kurdistan Satellite TV, Arbil, Iraq
Aug 7 2009

Iraqi electoral commission announces Kurdistan election final results

translated from Sorani Kurdish

Kurdistan Democratic Party-owned Kurdistan Satellite TV broadcast a
live news conference given by Independent High Electoral Commission
(IHEC) officials in Arbil at 1400 gmt on 7 August 2009, announcing the
final results of Kurdistan Region parliamentary and presidential
elections which were held on 25 July.

The IHEC official in charge of elections in Kurdistan Region, Hamdiyah
al-Husayni, said that incumbent Kurdistan Region President Mas’ud
Barzani won the presidential election by 1,266,397 votes; followed by
Kamal Mirawdali who won 460,323 votes; and Halo Ibrahim Ahmad with
63,377 votes.

Regarding parliamentary seats, IHEC member Judge Sardar announced that
the Kurdistani List won 1,076,370 votes and that it will occupy 59
seats out of the 111 seats in the parliament.

Sardar said the results for the other lists were as follows:

– The Change List won 445,024 votes and it will occupy 25 seats in
parliament;

– the Service and Reform List won 24,842 votes, guaranteeing 13 seats;

– the Islamic Movement in Iraqi Kurdistan won 27,147 votes, winning
two seats;

– the Freedom and Equality List won 15,028 votes, taking one seat in
parliament;

– the Democratic Turkoman Movement in Kurdistan won 18,464 votes and
three seats;

– the Turkoman Reform List won 7,077 votes and one seat;

– the Arbil Turkomani List won 3,906 votes and one seat;

– the Chaldean Assyrian Popular Council List won 10,595 votes,
guaranteeing three seats;

– the Al-Rafidayn List won 5,690 votes and two seats;

– the Aram Shahin Dawud won 4,198 votes, winning the one seat
allocated to the Armenians’ quota.

MOSCOW CAN PLAY DECISIVE ROLE TO SOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT

Today.Az
cs/54482.html
Aug 7 2009
Azerbaijan

Turkish expert Bulent Aras believes that high level of the
Russia-Armenia relations enables Moscow to impact positively on the
solution of the [Armenia-Azerbaijan] Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Russia’s recent actions towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict give reason to say that Moscow could play a crucial role
in this respect, Bulent Aras, Associate Professor of International
Relations at the Isik University in Ankara, said.

During his visit to Turkey Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
said active work is underway to resolve [Armenia-Azerbaijan]
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkish Anadolu news agency reported.

"Serious work is being done to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and there is serious progress in this regard. Moscow is eager to see
rapid resolution of the conflict," Putin added.

Aras believes that Russia, along with Turkey, is also interested in
solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Turkey wants to stabilize the relations with countries of the region,
including Armenia. It is impossible to achieve this stabilization
without solving the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is the subject of Russia-Turkey discussion, Aras said

The solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem should not be considered
as Russia’s deviation from its interests.

Russia will never surrender its interests in the Caucasus. However,
unstable situation in the Caucasus is dangerous for Russia, too. Just
for this reason Russia will make effort to achieve stabilization in
the region, Aras added.