Author: Khondkarian Raffi

SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT SIGNED UNDER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN YEREVAN

ARKA
Feb 16, 2009

YEREVAN, February 16. /ARKA/. A social partnership agreement has
been signed under the Sustainable Development Program (SDP) in
Yerevan. The agreement is signed by the Armenian Minister of Economy
Nerses Yeritsyan and representatives of various public organizations.

The agreement is to ensure participation of the broad masses in
development and effective implementation of the program through
harmonization of interests and joint efforts of various field entities,
civil society institutions and social groups, the Minister said.

Under the agreement, the government assumes a responsibility to set
up a council with its members to be elected from the public sector;
the council will be regularly discussing implementation of the program,
revising and amending opportunities, Yeritsyan said.

Under the sustainable development program, poverty reduction is to
be linked with development issues, raising employment and number of
high-paid jobs, as well as with high productivity.

The program is to be implemented till 2020-2021; a serious progress
is expected to be recorded in Armenia by that time, Yeritsyan said
adding that the problems and the targets are set based on the analyses,
studies and specific assessments in different aspects.

He pointed out that the main focus is put on sustainable development
having wider objectives than the poverty reduction alone. The p
rogram covers all the fields – social sector, economy, improvement
of business environment, management reforms – that are to move the
country toward developed economy.

The program also envisages serious monitoring and a greater
transparency through a special website where everybody can give his
opinion on the program.

As to possible effects of the crisis on the course of the program, he
said that the crisis is temporary, whereas the program is long-term
and that the discussions will shows whether the crisis affects the
main objectives of the program and if there is need for review.

A civil cooperation network is to be set under the agreement. The
agreement also envisages creation of target groups for various fields
such as human rights protection, protection of interests of women,
children and different groups, as well as territorial development and
community development, ecology, economic development and rural issues,
employment and protection of labor rights.

Armenian Government approved the Sustainable Development Program on
October 30, 2008.

The agreement on social partnership was approved at the meeting
of coordination council for poverty reduction strategic program
(Sustainable Development Program currently) on September 10 2008.

GEOPOLITICAL DIARY: A DEATH IN AZERBAIJAN

Stratfor
litical_diary/20090211_geopolitical_diary_shadowy_ motives_azerbaijanis_death
Feb 12 2009

Azerbaijan’s air force commander, Lt. Gen. Rail Rzayev, was killed
outside his home in Baku on Feb. 11. He reportedly was shot once in
the head as he entered his car to leave for work, about 8 a.m. local
time. The circumstances of the killing indicate that it was planned,
and it certainly was carried out smoothly — suggesting that a
professional killer, rather than a random thug, pulled the trigger.

To understand what forces might have led to Rzayev’s demise, some
background information on Azerbaijan is important. The former Soviet
republic on the Caspian Sea is wedged between Russia to the north and
Iran to the south. It is a hotbed for Western energy supermajors:
They have spent a few tens of billions of dollars tapping oil and
natural gas reserves there, shipping energy to global markets through
Georgia and Turkey to the west.

Azerbaijan has tried to stay out of spats among Iran, Turkey, Russia
and the United States over who ultimately will hold sway in the region,
and for the most part has succeeded in maintaining a low profile. But
between U.S.-Iranian talks on Iraq, U.S.-Russian hostility over missile
defense, Russia’s war with Georgia last August, Turkey’s return to
prominence and an ever-hostile Armenia next door, Azerbaijan won’t
remain a sleepy authoritarian backwater for much longer.

At present, very little is known about Rzayev’s assassination, aside
from the fact that it bears all the hallmarks of the professional
contract killings that have become common since the Soviet Union’s
collapse. According to the Azerbaijani military’s general staff,
Rzayev’s car had been under surveillance for several days.

Stratfor has no specific intelligence at this time as to the culprit,
and internal political wrangling tensions cannot be dismissed as a
potential factor in the killing. Nevertheless, the victim’s identity
raises some interesting possibilities.

Azerbaijan itself is not exactly known for a no-nonsense attitude
toward law and order. Organized crime is a potent force, and
there are a series of clannish cartels — one of which controls the
government. In his position as air force chief, it would be surprising
if Rzayev were not affiliated with the cartels in some way. His
death could have been the result of a business deal gone bad or an
apology gone wrong; either way, when dealing with organized crime,
it is not hard to come up on the business end of a revolver.

As air force chief, one thing Rzayev was in charge of was a military
modernization program. Courtesy of newfound oil revenues, Azerbaijan’s
annual military spending now totals more than the entire budget of its
primary rival, Armenia. For any state that is nervous about a more
powerful Azerbaijan — Russia, Armenia and Iran all come to mind —
throwing a spanner into Baku’s military modernization effort could only
be a good thing. And of course, the shadowy world of arms procurement
in the former Soviet Union introduces all kinds of possibilities for
motives in the murder.

Just before its independence, Azerbaijan became locked into a war
with Armenia over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. That war
dragged on for several years, and skirmishes continue to this day. The
conflict is a grounding memory for most Azerbaijanis and Armenians
alike, and Rzayev is a veteran of that war. That fact, combined with
his continued role in the Azerbaijani military, made Rzayev a potential
target for the Armenians, who are basking in a recent surge in Russian
support and feeling more confident about sticking it to their rivals.

Then there are the Russians themselves. Russia has been stepping up its
military presence in Armenia and flooding the place with cash. This is
meant partly to limit opportunities for Turkey and the United States
to gain influence in the country, and partly to keep Azerbaijan —
whose oil income has skyrocketed over the past five years — boxed
in. It’s also meant to flank Georgia, which is trying to break away
from Russia’s orbit. As a military official in Azerbaijan, Rzayev
could have been inconvenient to the Russians for any number of reasons.

Finally, there is the fact that Rzayev brokered U.S.-Russian talks in
2007 that could have seen U.S. forces integrate a Soviet-era radar at
Gabala, Azerbaijan, into the budding U.S. ballistic missile defense
network. (In the end, the talks collapsed because the Russians wanted
Gabala to serve as a substitute for the network, while the Americans
wanted the radar to be a supplement to it.)

A preliminary intelligence sweep hints that Rzayev might have been
beholden to the Russians in some way — arguing for the purchase
of Russian weapons systems, and even pushing the Russian viewpoint
in talks with the Americans over Gabala and with the Armenians
over Nagorno-Karabakh. This could have made him a foe of Russia’s
opponents — including his own potentially angry countrymen — in
any of these issues.

Or, in the Russians’ minds, Rzayev simply might have known too much
about too many things.

CIS ANTI-AIR DEFENSE "BATTLE COOPERATION-2009" JOINT TRAININGS TO BE HELD IN ASHULUK

ARMENPRESS
Feb 10, 2009

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 10, ARMENPRESS: This year within the frameworks
of CIS joint system of anti air defense "Battle cooperation-2009"
joint trainings with battle shooting will be held in Ashuluk
military training ground, the Chief Commander of Russian Air Forces,
Colonel-General Alexander Zelin told journalists.

"During the joint trainings it is being planned to test the
implementation of armies and forces which enter in CIS joint system
of anti-air defense in case the military political situation winds
up in one of the regions of Collective security", – Zelin said.

The CIS joint system of anti-air defense was established on February
10, 1995. Ten CIS states were involved in it -Armenia, Belarus,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan and Ukraine. In 2008 Georgia came out of CIS and CIS joint
system of anti air defense.

MEETING OF RA PRESIDENT AND GERMAN CHANCELLOR TAKES PLACE IN MUNICH

Noyan Tapan

Feb 9, 2009

MUNICH, FEBRUARY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Serzh Sargsyan, who
was in Munich to take part in the 45th International Conference on
Security Policy, met with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

The two countries’ heads highly estimated the current level of
cooperation between Armenia and Germany: commodity circulation between
the two countries reaches over 350m USD, over 100 joint ventures with
German capital operate in Armenia. S. Sargsyan expressed confidence
that Armenia’s involvement in EU GSP+ scheme will promote trade and
economic cooperation between the two countries.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA President’s Press Office,
regional and international issues were also discussed during the
meeting. S. Sargsyan presented the current stage of Nagorno Karabakh
settlement negotiations process, touched upon CSTO Collective Security
Council’s Moscow decision to establish Collective Rapid Reaction Force.

Hürriyet
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Turkish FM calls NATO, EU for an opening policy towards Balkans

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said that NATO and the European
Union (EU) could succeed in creating common values and ideals in
Balkan countries where different religious faiths and cultures
co-exist. Efforts to normalize the country’s relations with Armenia
continue, he also said.

"The Balkans where different religious faiths and cultures co-existed,
need common values and ideals to bring people together. NATO and the
EU could achieve it together," Babacan said at a panel discussion on
"Caucasus and Balkans" held on the sidelines of the 45th Munich
Security Conference in Germany.

Babacan underlined the importance of dialogue to find productive
solutions to problems and said, "The EU should pursue an opening
policy towards the Balkans. We support Serbia’s membership to the
EU. On the other hand, we think that Macedonia should become a member
of NATO as soon as possible."

RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

Babacan said Turkey’s efforts to normalize relations with Armenia
ongoing, Anatolian Agency reported.

"Our efforts have been continuing to normalize the relations between
the two countries after President Serzh Sargsyan invited President
Abdullah Gul to watch the soccer match between Turkish and Armenian
national teams in Yerevan. After the relations between Turkey and
Armenia and Armenia and Azerbaijan are fully normalized, the situation
in the region will change considerably," he was quoted as saying.

Babacan met with his Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian and later
paid a visit of courtesy to Sargsyan, in the sidelines of the
conference. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said on Saturday that
the talks were quite productive.

Sargsyan said that important developments could happen in
Turkey-Armenia relations in the second half of the year, the agency
reported. Armenia aimed at developing its cooperation ties with all
regional countries to make southern Caucasus an alternate route of
transportation, he added.

Babacan last week met Nalbandian on the sidelines of the annual
meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, and said there has
been an ongoing process between Turkey and Armenia, who have no
diplomatic relations. He added that when a tangible outcome is
achieved it would be announced.

The two countries have no diplomatic relations and their border has
been closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the
international community with the backing of the diaspora to admit the
so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey’s call to
investigate the allegations, and over Armenia’s invasion of 20 percent
territory of Azerbaijan.

Babacan will proceed to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku from Germany
on Sunday, and he would meet Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and
President Ilham Aliyev there on Monday.

PanARMENIAN.Net

ArmSwissBank becomes HSBC Bank Armenia market maker
07.02.2009 14:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ From February 6, 2009, ArmSwissBank CJSC will
officially announce the purchase and sale price of coupons of HSBC
Bank Armenia (HSBCB1), which were recently included into the Bbond
list of the NASDAQ OMX Armenia.

The tranche includes 10 thousand bonds with principal value of 100
thousand AMD (some $328), with a 365-day maturity period and 9% of
annual coupon yield.

With the status of market maker, ArmSwissBank CJSC will maintain the
solvency, thus providing the investors with a constant possibility to
buy or sell bonds at a secondary market.

HSBC Bank Armenia joined NASDAQ OMX Group in January 2009.

TURKISH PM’S ACCUSATION OF ISRAEL WILL NOT SCORE POINTS FOR TURKEY, NEITHER AFFECT ANKARA’S INTEGRATION TO EU

Trend
Feb 5 2009
Azerbaijan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s emotional speech against
Israel’s hostilities in Gaza and his following leaving the room in
Davos did not boost Turkey’s standing either in the region, Europe,
or the U.S.. But that will not affect Turkey’s integration in the
European Union, experts say.

"I do not think that this behavior will be seen a good light in
Europe," European expert for Balkan countries policies, Dr. James
Ker-Lindsay wrote Trend News via e-mail.

During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
last week Turkish Prime Minister was indignant that he was given
less time to speak than the Israeli President and accused Israel
of aggression and killing civilians during a three-week military
operation in the Gaza Strip, which officially ended on Jan. 18. Upon
completion of his speech, Erdogan left the room.

This is not the first time that Turkish Prime expressed his sharp views
and left the room. Emotional accusations against Israel could be heard
as early as 2004, when Erdogan condemned Israel for assassination of
the ideological leader of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

While on an official visit to Brussels in January, Erdogan responded
in a rather abrupt manner to a Cyprus MP who had said Turkish troops
are invaders.

Emotionality of the Turkish leader was perceived with frowns in
Europe. It will adversely affect Turkey’s position in the Middle East.

Lindsey believes Erdogan already has a reputation for letting his
temper get the better of him.

"Of course, tensions do emerge between European leaders and sometimes
these get very heated. However, such outbursts are usually kept behind
closed doors," wrote London School of Economics and Political Science
(LSE) leading expert for Balkan countries policies James Ker-Lindsay.

Turkey has always been a key player in the Middle East and in the
peace process in particular, Fabrizio Tassinari, European expert on
Mediterranean region, said.

Precisely because it combines its traditional ties with the Arab-Muslim
world with very close political and economic relations with Israel,
Tassinari, Associate Fellow of Centre for European Policy Studies
(CEPS) Brussels, told TrendNews via e-mail.

After this incident, it is unlikely that Israel will trust Turkey and
support its mediation in settling Middle East conflict, Lindsey said.

Turkey will prove itself to be more powerful in the region if it could
really mediate a final resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh issue,
Michael Emerson, European expert on EU relations with Turkey and
Cyprus, said.

For the moment Erdogan’s action is just words, Emerson, Programme
Director for Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) Brussels,
told TrendNews via e-mail.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988
due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding districts. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group (Russia, France and USA) have held peaceful negotiations
over 15 years. Over the recent period, Turkey has been actively making
an initiative of mediation in the conflict.

I don’t think it will do much harm to Turkey’s EU integration at this
stage – but only because there appears to be no integration to speak
of at the moment, Lindsey said.

Turkish political scientist Deniz Altınbas, however, considers that
the last events will not create problems in the process of Turkey’s
entrance into the European Union. She said that Erdogan’s speech
strengthened his position in the Middle East.

"Moreover, strengthening Turkey as regional player increases its
chances for entrance into the European Union," Altınbas, expert of
Eurasian center for strategic studies, told TrendNews in a telephone
conversation from Ankara.

The talks on entrance of Ankara into the European Union started in
2005. According to the forecasts of experts, it will be able to become
full-right member of the EU for 10-15 years.
–Boundary_(ID_rFBsJO+/ANaqU8ll2X2MDw)–

A TITANIC LOVE STORY
By Mike Moore

Journal Times
/03/local_news/doc4988ed7365966790412812.txt
Feb 4 2009
WI

Couple with family connection to ship wins wedding contest

Nearly a century before Leonardo DiCaprio clung to Kate Winslet,
David Vartanian lived a real "Titanic" love story.

He was a third-class passenger on the ship, the broken halves of
which slipped under the Atlantic Ocean’s surface early on his 22nd
birthday. Back home in Turkish Armenia, his wife, Mary, thought he
was among the more than 1,500 who had died.

Vartanian survived and woke up in a New York hospital. It took him
several years to locate Mary as she ran from Turkish persecution
and several more years to afford a reunion. Around 1923, the couple
finally met midway across a Niagara Falls bridge.

When his great-granddaughter heard about a contest to hold a wedding
at the Milwaukee Public Museum’s "Titanic" exhibit, the irony
was impossible to pass up. Melissa Vartanian, 28, and her fiance,
30-year-old Racine native Vache Mikaelian, won the free May 15 wedding
after sharing her family connection.

"It’s sort of the greatest love story that we know," she said. "It’s
great to pay tribute to that on the day we’re starting on our own
great love story."

The couple received the most votes in an online poll. Case High
School graduates Nesli Karul and Preston Brown also were among the
three finalists selected by the station’s staff.

The winners got plenty of help from St. Hagop Armenian Apostolic Church
in Caledonia, where they met. The announcement was made Tuesday on
"The Morning Blend," a television show on WTMJ that held the contest.

"Had it just been a wedding they were throwing, we probably wouldn’t
have applied," Vartanian said.

The setting sold them. David Vartanian died before Melissa was born,
but she has always been drawn to his tale.

As he told family, he had just married Mary in 1911 when he left
home to avoid being drafted into the unscrupulous Turkish army. When
the Titanic sank, he survived in the freezing water by clinging to
a lifeboat. At first, passengers worried he would climb aboard the
already crowded boat and sink it.

"They started to hit his hands with the oars," Vartanian said. "They
tried to drown him."

The brush she and her fiance will have with the Titanic promises to be
much less stressful, although just as visible. Viewers will be allowed
to select the rings, dresses, cakes and other essentials for their
wedding based on the couple’s top choices. That doesn’t faze them.

"We knew what we were getting into," Mikaelian said.

Unlike David when he boarded the ship in April 1912, they know the
drama is coming.

MIRMAHMUD MIRALIOGHLU: "NO TIES BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA ARE POSSIBLE UNLESS THE KARABAKH PROBLEM IS RESOLVED"

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
URL:
Jan 3 2009

"Turkey borders on Armenia, therefore, unless there is this border,
it connects the countries", said chairman of the Classical Front
Party of Azerbaijan Mirmahmud Miralioghlu.

He said the talks that Turkey has just started to strengthen ties
with Armenia are senseless as these countries have been maintaining
ties with each other.

"In some periods of time these relations were getting closer and in
others they grew weaker. At the same time currently I do not think
that these ties will be stronger than ever and all problems between
Turkey and Armenia will be settled this year. It is clear who is at
power in Turkey and which policy this country holds.

Regardless of the level of relations between Turkey and Armenia, there
can be no ties between the countries unless the Karabakh problem is
resolved", said Miralioghlu.

PM TIGRAN SARGSYAN MEETS THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ORANGE ARMENIA COMPANY

armradio.am
03.02.2009 12:37

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received the Director General of the
France Telecom (Orange Armenia) Company, Bruno Duthoit. The Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia, Serge Smessov,
and Director and shareholder of the Grand Thornton Amio Company,
Arman Pinarbasi were present at the meeting.

Welcoming the entry of France Telecom to Armenia, the Prime Minister
noted that the necessity to have a third cell operator had long
matured in the country.

Mr. Bruno Duthoit expressed gratitude to the Armenian Prime Minister
and Government for holding a tender corresponding to international
standards and ensuring beneficial conditions for launching business
in Armenia.

Presenting the activity of France Telecom – one of the world leaders
in the sphere of telecommunication – Mr. Duthoit noted that Orange
Armenia is still in the stage of formation and intends to start
activity by yearend.

He informed that the Company intends to make an additional $70 million
investment and aims to launch activity not only in Yerevan but also
the regions.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan emphasized the importance of
the entry of France Telecom to the Armenian market from several
viewpoints. According to him, the competition in the telecommunication
market is growing, which means also new investments and new jobs .

According to the Prime Minister, this factor is becoming more
important under the circumstances of the global financial and economic
crisis. Tigran Sargsyan noted Orange Armenia will bring a new business
culture to Armenia.

As a result of all this, the Company’s activity will contribute to
the further development of the Armenian-French friendship.

At the end of the meeting the Prime Minister wished success to the
activity of France Telecom (Orange Armenia) Company in Armenia.