Author: Kharatian Ani

DISCUSSION ON NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT: WHICH IS THIRD COUNTRY

Panorama.am
20:00 21/10/2008

Today the President of Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev announced
that most hopefully soon the leaders of three countries, engaged in
the regulation of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, will have a meeting.

"I hope that the leaders of three countries will meet to continue the
negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. I guess that the
meeting will take place in Russia," said the President of Russia in
a press conference.

President Medvedev did not specify which the third country is to take
part in the negotiations.

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN TALKS WERE HELD IN YEREVAN

President of Russia Official Web Portal
October 21, 2008

Dmitry Medvedev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had a private
discussion on various aspects of their countries’ cooperation in
the economic, cultural and educational spheres, as well as topical
issues related to the current global economic situation. The talks
then continued in an expanded format.

Following the meeting several documents on cooperation were signed in
the presence of the presidents of Russia and Armenia. In particular,
the foreign ministries of Russia and Armenia signed a consultation
plan. An agreement on trade, economic, scientific and cultural
cooperation between the government of the Sverdlovsk Region and
the government of Armenia was also signed. A similar agreement was
concluded between the Yaroslavl Region and Armenia’s Armavir Region.

Following the Russian-Armenian talks Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan
made press statements and answered questions from journalists.

OFFICIAL ALLAYS RUBLE DEVALUATION FEARS

Cbonds. Info
21.10.2008 – RBC
Russia

The Russian government is not planning to devalue the ruble, Deputy
Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov told reporters in the Armenian
capital of Yerevan today. "No such actions are planned," Shatalov
said, dispelling rumors of the possible ruble devaluation, Echo of
Moscow radio reports.

Rumors of the coming ruble devaluation appeared last week, prompting
people to frantically buy dollars, with queues at exchange points in
Moscow and some other regions reported on the weekend.

The Central Bank of Russia interfered to stop the panic yesterday,
providing less foreign currency to banks for currency swap operations,
and thus strengthening the ruble by 1 percent against major foreign
currencies.

In the short term, the regulator’s moves should soothe traders,
experts say. Analysts polled by Vremya Novostei do not expect any
significant increase in demand for foreign currency shortly, provided
that speculative traders do not find another method against the
Central Bank. In the long term, however, the ruble is set to weaken
if oil prices continue to fall.

Capital flight from Russia, the liquidity crisis in the banking sector,
the collapsing stock market and shrinking international reserves –
all this prompted speculators to launch a new attack on the ruble in
the hopes of capitalizing on its depreciation.

Last week speculators used currency swap operations to raise the
dollar’s exchange rate. Swap operations reached $7 billion on Friday,
according to Yevgeny Nadorshin, an analyst at Trust Bank, and many
traders hoped that the Central Bank would sell the same amount of
foreign currency on Monday. On Friday evening, however, the Central
Bank said it would limit its swap operations. Indeed, on Monday the
Central Bank provided just RUB 50 billion for such transactions. As
a result, the market was short of rubles, sending overnight lending
rates to 45 percent on the interbank market. The ruble jumped RUB
0.2 in the first minutes of trading.

"As a result, swap operations immediately became very risky,"
Nadorshin said, "It turned out that betting for a strong dollar is
very unprofitable now."

"The Central Bank took effective measures to ease the speculative
pressure on the ruble," says Stanislav Yarushevichyus, at ING. "This is
an important message to traders who tried to play against the Central
bank on rumors of the ruble’s devaluation. Most likely, such traders
will close their positions over the next few days," he believes. The
liquidity situation has stabilized slightly following reports that
the Central Bank had issued RUB 387.7 billion in collateral-free
loans. "This has calmed the market, and lending rates on the interbank
market have dropped," Nadorshin said.

Speculators whose bet on the dollar did not pay off will now be playing
less aggressively against the Central Bank. In addition, tax payments
are coming due, which will only add to demand for rubles. Otherwise,
if banks continue betting on the strong dollar, using the Central
Bank’s funds, they might run short of cash for tax payments and
obligations to clients, which easily leads to license revocation.

RUSSIA’S SQUARE OPENED IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
21.10.2008 13:58

Henceforth the area between the City Hall of Yerevan and the Moscow
House will be called Russia’s Square. Today the Presidents of Armenia
and Russia Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev unveiled the plaque of
the square.

Dmitry Medvedev assessed the event as significant, noting that it
demonstrates the fair, honest feelings, the open and deep relations
of the two peoples and states. According to the Russian President, the
opening of the square is a sign of respect for contemporary democratic
Russia and the centuries-old friendship between the two peoples.

The President of Russia assured everything possible will be done
for the reinforcement and development of strategic relations between
the two countries. He attached importance to the coordinated actions
of the two countries within international organizations, which will
reinforce the positions of the states not only in the Caucasus, but
also the world. Russia is interested that the Armenian nation lives
in a strong, flourishing and stable country.

The Russian President assured also that there is political will
on both sides to develop the common business and cooperation for
implementation of joint humanitarian projects.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan assessed the opening of the
square as a wonderful and significant event, which symbolizes the
allied relations and cultural-historical similarities between the two
states. The Presidnet of Armenia stated that it is symbolic that the
square is located on the area of the Yerevan Fortress, on which the
Russian flag first rose on October 1, 1827.

The decision to found the Russian Square in the above-mentioned
area was taken by the Council of the Yerevan City Hall as a sign
of centuries-old friendship and strategic relations between the two
peoples and states.

EUROPE HAS VAGUE IDEA OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2008 14:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The first-ever visit of NKR representatives to
Belgium succeeded, the head of Information Department of the NKR
president’s staff, David Babayan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"Europe has a vague idea of the Karabakh conflict. The main goal
of the visit was to familiarize European structures with NKR and it
was achieved. We presented a report on Nagorno Karabakh and regional
problems at the Lessius Hogeschool, Antwerp and were offered to attend
universities in Germany," he said.

"As a matter of fact, the Caucasus doesn’t interest Europe, but for
integration issues," he added.

Babayan informed that NKR delegation lead by him and NKR Deputy Foreign
Minister Eduard Atanesyan met with EP members and representatives of
Armenian organizations in Brussels.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA ATTENDS CELEBRITIES ON OCCASION OF GYUMRI TOWN DAY

ArmInfo
2008-10-20 11:28:00

ArmInfo. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan attended the celebrities
on occasion of the Day of the town of Gyumri.

Alongside with the president, Vardan Ghukasyan, Gyumri Mayor, a member
of the Republican Party of Armenia Council, Lida Nanyan, Governor
of Shirak region and many parliamentarians attended the opening of
the Monument for Vardan Mamikonyan in front of the new building of
Gyumri Municipality Saturday. The president was also present at the
ceremony of laying the foundation of 400 new flats that will be built
till 2010 in the district Ani in Gyumri.

Deputy Minister of Urban Development Narek Sargsyan told media
the program of disaster area restoration can be divided into three
key parts. The first is the necessity of housing provision to some
7000 people that have become homeless after Spitak earthquake. The
president instructed settling the problem of homeless within the
coming 2-3 years. The second is the constantly implemented programs on
restoration and development of general education schools, sport schools
and health facilities. The third part is aimed at development of the
regional center of Gyumri, particularly, the historical area Kobayr.

For his part, Urban Development Minister Vardan Vardanyan congratulated
the residents of Gyumri and underlined that housing conditions of
60,000 homeless families have been improved since the independence
of Armenia due to the funds of the state budget, Lincy Foundaton and
Hayastan All Armenian Fund. He said that housing problems of 6985
families will be settled till 2013. The minister said a contract was
made with Glendale Hills Company for construction in the districts
Ani and Mush till 2010. The state budget will allocate 40 billion
drams for construction in the town of Gyumri. In total, the state
budget approves 80-82 billion drams for restoration of disaster area,
Vardan Vardanyan said.

ANCA: U.S. OFFICIALS ACTING LIKE SURROGATES FOR THE AZERBAIJANI EMBASSY

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.10.2008 14:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Bush Administration officials continued to press
forward their new, more aggressive position against freedom for Nagorno
Karabakh, citing, as recently as today in Yerevan, that a resolution
of this longstanding conflict must proceed from the principle of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while remaining conspicuously
silent on the core American value of self-determination, reported
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said in a statement
received by PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Over the past several weeks, since the time of Vice President Dick
Cheney’s early September visit to Azerbaijan, the Administration
has rolled back any mention of self-determination, eliminating any
reference to this core international legal and democratic principle
from its diplomatic vocabulary. Speaking in Baku, the Vice President –
echoing Azerbaijan’s negotiating stand – said that a Nagorno Karabakh
settlement "must proceed" from the principle of territorial integrity
and only "take into account other principles."

As recently as earlier today, in Armenia, Assistant Secretary of State
Dan Fried repeated the newly formulated U.S. stand that a Nagorno
Karabakh settlement must start from the principle of "territorial
integrity," although he did concede that there were "other established
norms," an apparent reference to democracy and self-determination,
which he carefully avoided naming.

In a January 19, 2008 statement, Presidential candidate Barack Obama
pleged that, if elected, he would work for "a lasting and durable
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that is agreeable to
all parties, and based upon America’s founding commitment to the
principles of democracy and self determination."

In recent weeks we’ve seen Bush Administration officials, from Dick
Cheney down to Matt Bryza, abandon even the pretense of a balanced,
honest-broker role for the United States in the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.

In public statements, here in Washington and in Baku, they’ve gone
over the top – even by their standards – in siding with Azerbaijan’s
efforts to retake Nagorno Karabakh.

Dick Cheney said in Baku that his Administration prioritizes the
principle of territorial integrity, which he’s conveniently and
consistently misapplied to the Nagorno Karabakh issue, over the basic
American ideal of self-determination.

Matt Bryza has said that, as a precondition for peace, Armenia must
accept that Nagorno Karabakh remains legally part of Azerbaijan.

These comments would have put the Administration on the side of the
British during the American Revolution.

— Pressuring our Founding Fathers not to challenge the British
Empire’s territorial integrity.

— Urging them to hold off on signing the Declaration of Independence
because the colonies rightfully remained legally part of a foreign
power.

In their last months in office, these officials are acting a lot less
like responsible stewards of U.S. policy and more like surrogates
for the Azerbaijani Embassy, it’s K Street lobbyists, and energy
industry allies.

It’s no coincidence that Azerbaijan’s President, hearing this outright
cheerleading from Washington, has pledged an all out political,
economic, and military offensive against Armenia.

America stands for something better than defending Stalin’s borders or
Azerbaijan’s desire to re-subjugate a free people. Something better
than trading in our core values of self-determination, democracy,
and human right

We stand – as Americans – for the proposition that democracy can
serve as the only durable foundation for lasting peace; for the
fundamentally American ideal that all people deserve the right to
live free of foreign tyranny -to live under a government of their
own choosing," the statement says.

DON’T EVEN DARE TO COMPARE

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
16 Oct 2008
Armenia

"Are there political prisoners in our country? What is the difference
between today’s detainees and the activists of Dashnaktsutyun party
who were imprisoned in the 90-ies?"

Alvard Petrosyan’s answer to this question during the press conference
yesterday was rather abrupt. "Don’t even dare to compare Alik
Arzumanyan’s detention with Hrant Margaryan’s. They charged this
person with unimaginable things – a person who was ready to die for
his country. Is Armenian Pan National Movement closed? No! So there
is no comparison. Did they close dozens newspapers? No!

For me it is intolerable (I don’t want to use a ruder word) to compare
these people. We were the ones to bear the fruits of the earthquake,
blockade, war, cold and dark, days. And political terror was added
to all this. No, really, there is no comparison."

KARABAKH DELEGATION IN BRUSSELS TO PARTICIPATE IN DISCUSSIONS

Azat Artsakh Daily
15 Oct 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

Officials from the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh will visit Brussels
this week at the invitation of AGBU Europe, the European branch of
an international organization of the Armenian Diaspora. NKR Deputy
Foreign Minister Eduard Atanesyan and Head of Information Department
of the NKR president’s staff David Babayan will take part in a round
table to discuss the situation in and around Karabakh and EU policy
concerning the territory.

They will also attend other events and meetings in Brussels. The
round table and associated events aim to establish a dialogue in
the EU foreign-policy community over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh
that involves individuals from Nagorno-Karabakh itself. NKR MFA
Press Service

IN 1920’S AND 30’S THOUSANDS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SURVIVORS WERE FORCED OUT FROM THEIR HOMES IN ANATOLIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.10.2008 19:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Those who want to shield today’s Turkey from
responsibility for the Armenian Genocide have sought to blame the
Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire rather than the Republic
of Turkey which was not established until 1923, Harut Sassounian,
Publisher of The California Courier, writes in his editorial titled
"U.S. Document Reveals Turkey Continued Ottoman Empire’s Anti-Armenian
Policies."

"One wonders then why Turkish officials, who have tried every trick
to deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide, have not taken the easy
way out by shifting the blame for the Genocide to the long defunct
Ottoman Empire. A frequently advanced explanation is that Turks, as a
proud people, cannot accept that their ancestors committed the heinous
crime of seeking to eliminate an entire nation. Others have argued
that should the Republic of Turkey blame the Ottomans for the Armenian
Genocide, it could be held legally liable as the successor state to
the Ottoman Empire," says the article obtained by PanARMENIAN.Net.

"In recent years, however, it has become clear, particularly through
the painstaking research conducted by Turkish scholar Taner Akcam,
that a key reason why today’s Turkish officials are not prepared to
face their history honestly and blame their Ottoman ancestors is that
the Republic of Turkey is actually the continuation of the Ottoman
state. Indeed, many of the early leaders of the Turkish Republic
had been high-ranking Ottoman officials personally involved in the
implementation of the Armenian Genocide. Such an unbroken transition
in leadership assured the continuity of the Ottomans’ anti-Armenian
policies.

In retrospect, it has become apparent that these genocidal policies
stretched over a half century, starting with Sultan Abdul Hamid’s
massacre of 300,000 Armenians in 1894-96, followed by the killings
of 30,000 Armenians in Adana by the Young Turk regime in 1909,
culminating in the Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-23,
and the subsequent policies of forced Turkification and deportation
of tens of thousands of Armenians by the Republic of Turkey.

An important document from the U.S. archives, known until now to
a handful of scholars, was recently posted on an Armenian/Turkish
website. It provides incontestable evidence that Armenians continued
to be uprooted from their native lands and deported by the Republic
of Turkey well into the 1930’s for purely racial reasons.

The document in question is a "Strictly Confidential" cable dated
March 2, 1934, sent by U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Skinner from Ankara
to the Secretary of State in Washington, reporting the deportation
of 600 Armenians from "the interior of Anatolia to Istanbul."

The Ambassador wrote: "It is assumed by most of the deportees
that their expulsion from their homes in Anatolia is a part of the
Government’s program of making Anatolia a pure Turkish district. They
relate that the Turkish police, in towns and villages where Armenians
lived, attempted to instigate local Moslem people to drive the
Armenians away. … The Armenians were told that they had to leave
at once for Istanbul. They sold their possessions receiving for them
ruinous prices. I have been told that cattle worth several hundred
liras a head had been sold for as little as five liras a head. My
informant stated that the Armenians were permitted to sell their
property in order that no one of them could say that they were forced
to abandon it. However, the sale under these conditions amounted to
a practical abandonment."

The Ambassador further reported: "The Armenians were obliged to
walk from their villages to the railways and then they were shipped
by train to Istanbul. … The real reason for the deportations is
unknown…. It is likely, though, that their removal is simply one step
in the government’s avowed policy of making Anatolia purely Turkish."

To be sure, in the 1920’s and 30’s thousands of Armenian survivors of
the Genocide were forced out from their homes in Anatolia to other
locations in Turkey or neighboring countries. These racist policies
were followed in the 1940’s by Varlik Vergisi, the imposition of
exorbitant wealth taxes on Armenians, Greeks and Jews, and the 1955
Istanbul pogroms during which many Greeks and some Armenians and Jews
were killed and their properties destroyed.

This barbaric continuum of massacre, genocide and deportation
highlights the existence of a long-term stratagem implemented by
successive Turkish regimes from the 1890’s to recent times in order
to solve the Armenian Question with finality.

Consequently, the Republic of Turkey is legally responsible for its
own crimes as well as those committed by its Ottoman predecessors,"
the article says.