Author: Karakhanian Suren

SPRING EQUINOX ON MARCH 20, NOT MARCH 21

Tert.am
13:34 ~U 18.03.10

The March equinox will occur on March 20 (not March 21) in 2010,
marking the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and fall
(autumn) in the southern hemisphere from an astronomical viewpoint.

Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory Director Hayk Harutyunyan, at a
press conference today, said that it’s been already 20-30 years that
spring equinox is marked on March 20. He said the public was still
misinformed and assumed the date fell on March 21.

The March equinox will occur at 17:32 (or 5:32 pm) at Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC) on this date.

‘ALL AZERBAIJANIS’ TO TAKE PART IN KARABAKH REFERENDUM

news.az
March 18 2010
Azerbaijan

Elmar Mammadyarov Azerbaijan’s foreign minister has made clear that
a referendum on the status of Karabakh would have to be held in
Azerbaijan as a whole.

The referendum on the status of the disputed territory is one of the
stages of a peace settlement, as set out in the Madrid principles
for resolving the conflict.

The principles were put forward by the foreign ministers of the
countries co-chairing the Minsk Group of mediators at the OSCE summit
in Madrid in 2007. An updated version of the principles put forward in
late 2009 has been the subject of discussions between the mediators,
Armenia and Azerbaijan ever since.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov outlined Baku’s position
on the settlement process at a joint press conference with the visiting
Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Baconschi, today.

‘Under the Constitution of Azerbaijan, if the territory of the country
is at issue, a referendum is held throughout the country and voting
involves all citizens,’ Mammadyarov said.

The minister said Azerbaijan had accepted some points in the updated
version of the Madrid principles, but some points needed further work.

‘If Armenia accepts the Madrid principles and the sides start to work
on a major peace agreement, then both the Azerbaijani and Armenian
communities of Nagorno-Karabakh can join the peace talks. At the
present stage, only Azerbaijan and Armenia are participating in the
negotiations,’ Mammadyarov said.

Mammadyarov said that before the status of Nagorno-Karabakh could be
decided, the Azerbaijani community had to return home. ‘Azerbaijanis
must co-exist with Armenians and only after that can status be
determined via negotiations. This is a long process. It cannot
be determined within a day. If the Armenian side agrees and the
Azerbaijani community returns to Nagorno-Karabakh, we will find answers
to these questions within the framework of a special committee.’

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: ANKARA HAMPERS ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2010 20:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During his speech in Berlin, Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian accused Turkey with hampering bilateral
relations, Deutsche Welle reported.

After a meeting with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Edward
Nalbandian delivered a speech for German foreign policy council,
presenting official Yerevan’s position on Karabakh conflict and
Armenia-Turkey rapprochement.

Following Edward Nalbandian’s speech, representatives of Turkish
and Azeri Embassies in Germany felt it in their duty to present
"refutations" and "amendments". Turkish diplomat was zealous in
producing dates, citations, paragraphs, references to legal resolutions
and reports of various negotiations and conferences.

According to Deutsche Welle, "Armenian minister won the round. With
his composure and imperturbability, Armenian minister emphasized the
peacefulness and tolerance of Armenian Government, still managing to
adhere to his position."

DAVUTOGLU SPEAKS OUT AGAINST DEPORTING ARMENIANS LIVING IN TURKEY WITHOUT STATUS

Tert.am
15:01 â~@¢ 16.03.10

To deport citizens of Armenia living illegally in Turkey means to
give a "winning card" to those countries who come out against Turkey,
said Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu during a
closed-door meeting of the foreign affairs committee of Turkey’s Grand
National Assembly, responding to opposition People’s Republican Party
MP Canan Arıtman’s earlier statements which suggested deporting all
Armenian citizens.

"Such a step would become a winning card in the hands of those
countries who are against us. In addition, all of the world’s
countries’ papers will publish articles about deported Armenians. A
nationalist image would form, [and] Turkey will be in a more difficult
situation," said Davutoglu.

As for the signed protocols, he noted that Ankara does not intend to
withdraw them from parliament, reports News.az.

"Everything is good in its time. We should not make decisions that
may further harm our interests. But we will protect our national
interests more energetically and let everyone know about it. We will
use these protocols as a tool," said Davutoglu, according to Turkish
news source Sabah.

The foreign minister also spoke out against closing t he US military
base in Incirlik, saying that such a step in today’s changed political
landscape and state of affairs will have no effect whatsoever.

ARMENIA REPORTS NEW CASE OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER 16 MAR 2010

PigProgress.net
March 16 2010

Armenia has reported an outbreak of African Swine Fever, according
to reports of the International Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The farm is located in the region of North Yerevan. Information was
submitted at March 13 by Dr Grisha Baghiyan, CVO, State Food Safety
and Veterinary Inspectorate, Armenian ministry of agriculture.

The first date of confirmation of the event was on March 4, 2010. The
last notification of the disease in Armenia was on February 2008.

ASF outbreaks

Armenia had a significant, sustained outbreak of African Swine Fever
from August 2007 to May 2008 covering nine administrative divisions.

It began with 16 cases in May 2007, then 13 cases in June, 12 in July,
then peaked with 20 in August 2007 and continued with 10, 8, 10, 2,
4, 1 in subsequent months.

Additionally, Russia has reported two separate cases of African Swine
Fever within the last month. Russia had declared their 2007 outbreak
to be over in June of 2009. There was widespread dissemination in
Georgia, Armenia and Russia starting 2007 resulting in unprecedented
losses of animals from this disease, which hadn’t been seen in the
region for decades.

reports-new-case-of-african-swine-fever-4029.html

AZERBAIJANI FM COMMENTS ON DECISION BY SWEDISH PARLIAMENT

news.az
March 15 2010
Azerbaijan

Elmar Mammadyarov Elmar Mammadyarov has commented on the decision by
the Swedish parliament to recognize the so-called "Armenian genocide".

‘As is known, the Azerbaijani FM has already declared its position
on this issue. The situation has earlier emerged when the Committee
on external ties of the US Congress had already passed a similar
resolution against which we have expressed our discontent’.

The due statement came from Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov at a
joint news conference at the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry by results
of a bilateral meeting with Slovakian FM Miroslav Laijac asking the
question about the Turkish journalist regarding the decision of the
Swedish parliament regarding the so-called "Armenian genocide".

‘We have already said that if the parliamentarians of any country
consider it necessary to assess the events that occurred 100 years ago,
they should also give a fair assessment to the situation establish in
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, continuing occupation of Azerbaijani
lands, ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijan’s displaced persons and
Khojaly genocide. If this assessment is given, it will be possible
to speak of the just attitude of parliamentarians to these issues’,
Mammadyarov said.

INTEL WORLD AHEAD PROGRAM PRESENTED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2010 15:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Intel World Ahead comprehensive program, aimed
to ensure wide access to up-to-date technology, communications and
education, was presented in Yerevan on March 15.

Principal Education Architect for the program, Mr. Robert Fogel said
the program has three main directions: education, health and business
development.

"The purpose of my arrival is to examine the specificity of Armenia and
understand what will be useful here. At the next stage, a memorandum
with the government of Armenia will be signed," Mr. Fogel told
PanARMENIAN.Net.

The memorandum is expected to cover education, health and electronic
governance systems. Mr. Fogel is scheduled to meet with Armenia’s
ministers of economy and education, to visit schools and universities
in Yerevan.

According to Armen Baldryan, Director General of Unicomp, Intel’s
prime partner in Armenia joint pilot projects have already been
discussed to be carried out within coming six months in the country.

"The government of Armenia and Intel are optimistic. Of course, we
need to address the issue of resources, but a lot can be achieved
through our joint efforts," Mr. Baldryan said.

"Cooperation in IT research is also projected," said Bagrat
Yengibaryan, director of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation.

Intel has been long working with government agencies, industry,
individuals and organizations in various fields. Intel has businesses
in more than 1,300 cities in 112 countries worldwide. Over the next
five years, the corporation plans to invest over a billion dollars in
the frames of World Ahead program aimed to provide wireless broadband
Internet access to a billion end-users, to train 10 million teachers in
modern technology, who will pass their skills to one billion students.

SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAY AND GNC ALFA SIGN AN AGREEMENT ON COOPERATION

ArmInfo
2010-03-12 19:01:00

ArmInfo. The South Caucasus Railway (SCR) CJSC and GNC Alfa CJSC have
signed an agreement on cooperation.

The parties have agreed to build a fiber-optical cable along a number
of sections of the Armenian railway, particularly, from Yerevan to
Yeraskh on the border with Azerbaijan, as well as from Sevan to Sotk.

Chief Engineer of the company Sergey Haroutyunyan said that
installation of the communication infrastructure in the specified
directions was not envisaged by the investment program of SCR, however,
as a result of the agreement with GNC, it was taken a decision to
carry out the work in the given sections.

GNC Alfa will lay the cable at its own expense, however, we can provide
them with specialists: the cable will be laid along our supporting
network",- said the chief engineer of SCR. As regards the Sevan-Sotk
(Zod) direction, Haroutyunyan said that transportations from Sotk to
Ararat (of gold ore to the gold recovery plant) make up 40% of the
total volume of domestic transportations of SCR. "It was this section
that lacked high-quality communication, and now we are going to remove
this shortcoming with joint efforts",- said Haroutyunyan. When signing
the agreement, Directors General of SCR Shevket Shaydullin and GNC Alfa
Hayk Faramazyan pointed out the probability of joint service of the
SCR information system (with possible further outsourcing transmission
of these functions to GNC Alfa company) in the joint venture format.

SCR CJSC is the 100% subsidiary of the Russian Railways OJSC. The
company is the concessional manager of the Armenian railway system
in accordance with the agreement signed with the Armenian Government
on 13 Feb 2008. The concession term is 30 years with a right of
prolongation for 10 more years.

GNC-Alfa is a licensed network services operator in Armenia. Our
network is based on Fiber-Optic Cable (FOC) infrastructure and
designed to satisfy growing needs of fixed and mobile operators,
Internet Service Providers and large enterprises in transport network
services and high speed Internet. The Southern Segment of our network
between Yerevan and Armenia-Iran border has been put into operation
in September 2009. The Network is interconnected with the FOC in Iran
having access to the worldwide telecommunications networks.

Construction of the Northern Segment between Yerevan and
Armenia-Georgia border is in progress and is expected to be completed
in Q1 2010. In the North, the Network will be interconnected at least
with two FOC systems in Georgia providing high- capacity transit
services via Armenia. Within Armenia, the Network will be extended
to the main towns of the country.

AZERBAIJANI DEFENCE MINISTRY: "IF FASSIER REALLY SAID SUCH WORDS THEN NO JUSTICE CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THIS DIPLOMAT"

APA
March 12 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. "Demonstrating different positions in Baku and Yerevan
encourages the aggressor to pursue its aggressive policy", said
Spokesman for Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Lieutenant-Colonel Eldar
Sabiroglu while answering the question on statements made by French
Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier at the seminar of NATO
Parliamentary Assembly "Rose Roth" in Armenia’s capital.

"We do not wish war, because it means new destructions and new
tragedies", said Sabiroglu and added that it was also stated by
the President of Azerbaijan over and over again. "However, Armenia
still continues its aggressive policy. What steps should Azerbaijan
take in this situation? Of course, Azerbaijan has nothing to do, but
strengthen its army and equip it with the cutting-edge weapons. And
this process is successfully continuing. That’s why, the factors
making the war statements come to agenda should attentively be taken
into consideration. Here emerges a very simple question. What was the
Minsk Group as an international organization established for? What
results has its 15-year activity produced? All these should be
clarified. Before commenting on Azerbaijani Defence Minster Safar
Abiyev’s recent statement, Fassier had to take stance on what positive
results his organization brought to the conflict and think about
whether the Minsk Group has power to solve this problem by peaceful
means or not. I am not utterly surprised at French Co-chair’s words on
Armenian and Karabakh warriors, because his position has always been
so and defended Armenia unilaterally. Strange to say, what does Mr.

Fassier mean when he said "I personally know about the bravery of
the Armenian and Karabakh warriors?" If he really said such words
then no justice can be expected from this diplomat".

Note that Novosti Armenia reported that while making a speech at
the seminar of NATO Parliamentary Assembly "Rose Roth" in Yerevan,
French co-chairman of OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier stated that
the victory of Azerbaijan in the event of renewed war is impossible,
because he personally knows about the bravery of the Armenian and
Karabakh warriors. Fassier believes that the war will not bring
benefits to Azerbaijan, as cause substantial harm to its financial
interests, oil trade. Co-Chair explained that international investors
investing in the economy of Azerbaijan will not want to have their
funds at risk and abandon investment.

BERNARD FASSIER: KARABAKH AND KOSOVO ISSUES HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
12.03.2010 13:35

NATO’s 73rd Rose Roth Seminar continues in Yerevan. Today the
discussions focused on the Nagorno Karabakh issue. Speeches were
delivered by OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Bernard Fassier and analyst of
the International Crisis Group Tabib Huseinov. They spoke about the
participation of the Karabakh side in the negotiations, the possibility
of resumption of war, and the timeframe of settlement of the conflict.

Bernard Fassier stressed that the Karabakh and Kosovo conflicts have
nothing in common. Therefore, the reoccurrence of the same scenario
is impossible.

"These situations are incomparable. For example, the Kosovo issue
is a conflict inside one country, while the Karabakh conflict takes
place inside one country and is simultaneously a conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan."

Tabib Huseinov said he hopes the solution to the issue is very close.

"Armenia and Azerbaijan have accepted the main principles," he said.

One thing that prevents the resolution of the issue is the syndrome
of the loser and the winner. Many people in Armenia consider that as
the winning party they have more to lose under the Madrid Principles.

Azerbaijan is getting more and more impatient. I think Armenia uses
the status quo to find a solution. Any change in the status quo that
does not require Azerbaijan to recognize the independence of Nagorno
Karabakh is acceptable to the Azerbaijani party," Tabib Huseinov said.