ARMENIAN PRESIDENT APPOINTS A. MATEVOSIAN PRESIDENT OF CIVIL COURT OF APPEAL
ARMENPRESS
Apr 9, 2009
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS: On April 8 the Armenian President Serzh
Sargsian signed a decree on appointing Anatoli Matevosyan President
of Civil Court of Appeal of RA suspending his authorities of a judge
of Civil and Administrative Chamber of the Court of Cassation of RA,
press service of Armenian President reported.
Armenian National Committee – Orange County
5315 W. McFadden
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Phone: (949) 246-4449
Contact: Aline Der Alexanian
Email: [email protected]
April 8, 2009
ANC-OC Hosts the Third Annual Walk for Remembrance
Orange County, CA – The Armenian National Committee of Orange County
(ANC-OC) will host its third annual Walk for Remembrance on Sunday
April 19, 2009. The event is organized in collaboration with Saint
Mary Armenian Apostolic church and with the participation of over 20
organizations from Orange County.
The event will begin at Saint Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa
Mesa, CA with church services and hokehankisd. The 8 mile walk will
begin at 1:00 pm heading towards Forty Martyr’s Apostolic Church in
Garden Grove, CA. Upon completion of the walk, refreshments will be
provided to the walkers and a short commemorative program will follow
at 5:00 pm.
To register for the walk and for more information please go to
ANC of Orange County advocates for the social, economic, cultural, and
political rights of the area’s Armenian American community and
promotes increased Armenian American civic participation at the
grassroots and public policy levels.
U.S. PRESIDENT URGED TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT
LRAGIR.AM
19:49:24 – 07/04/2009
On April 7, the Armenian foreign ministry issued a press release
on the details of the meeting between the Armenian, Turkish, Swiss
foreign ministers and the U.S. president in Istanbul.
"In the evening of April 6, in Istanbul, the U.S. president met with
the Armenian, Turkish and Swiss foreign ministers Edward Nalbandyan,
Ali Babajan and Micheline Calmy Rey. The meeting took place after
the official dinner in honor of the participants of the "Alliances of
Civilizations" forum organized by the Turkish president Abdullah Gyul.
The president Obama said ready to assist the efforts of the Armenian
and Turkish authorities to normalize the relations, saying to be
satisfied with the registered progress.
The U.S. president encouraged the sides to sign an agreement on the
normalization of the relation of the two countries.
The U.S. president assessed as historical and courageous the steps
taken up by the Armenian and Turkish presidents and, added the
Armenian and Turkish frontier opening may procure the peace and good
future for the two nations," is said in the statement of the Armenian
foreign ministry.
OBAMA ENDS TURKISH VISIT WITH STUDENT TOWN HALL
By Mark S. Smith
AP
7 April 09
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Barack Obama wrapped up his first foreign
trip as president with a request of the world: Look past his nation’s
stereotypes and flaws. "You will find a partner and a friend in the
United States of America," he declared Tuesday.
"The world will be what you make of it," Obama told college students
in Turkey’s largest city. "You can choose to make new bridges instead
of new walls."
Promising a "new chapter in American engagement" with the rest of
the world, Obama said the United States needs to be more patient in
its dealings. And he said the rest of the world needs a better sense
"that change is possible so we don’t have to always be stuck with
the same arguments."
The students formed a tight circle around the new U.S. president,
who slowly paced a sky-blue rug while answering their questions. He
promised to end the town hall-style session before the Muslim call
to prayer.
Obama rejected the "stereotype" that Americans are selfish and
crass. "I’m here to tell you that’s not the country I know and not
the country I love," the president said. "America, like every other
nation, has made mistakes and has its flaws, but for more than two
centuries it has strived" to seek a more perfect union.
He repeated his pledge to rebuild relations between the United States
and the=2 0Muslim world.
"I am personally committed to a new chapter in American engagement,"
Obama said. "We can’t afford to talk past one another and focus only
on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us."
The questions were polite and rarely bracing, though one student
asked whether there was any real difference between his White House
and the Bush administration. Obama cautioned that while he had great
differences with Bush over issues such as Iraq and climate change,
it takes time to change a nation as big as the United States.
"Moving the ship of state is a slow process," he said.
The Turkish stop capped an eight-day European trip that senior adviser
David Axelrod called "enormously productive" — including an economic
crisis summit in London and a NATO conclave in France and Germany.
Axelrod said specific benefits might be a while in coming. "You plant,
you cultivate, you harvest," he told reporters. "Over time, the seeds
that were planted here are going to be very, very valuable."
Picking up on his consultant’s theme later, Obama told the college
students he sees nothing wrong with setting his sights high on goals
such as mending relations with Iran and eliminating the world of
nuclear options — two cornerstone issues of his trip.
"Some people say that maybe I’m being too idealistic," Obama said. "But
if we don’t try, if we don’t reach high, we won’t make any20progress."
Obama’s final day in Turkey also featured a meeting with religious
leaders and stops at top tourist sites in this city on the Bosporus
that spans Europe and Asia. Accompanied by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, he toured the Hagia Sophia museum and the Blue Mosque.
At the Blue Mosque, just across a square and manicured gardens
from Hagia Sophia, the president padded, shoeless like his entire
entourage in accordance with religious custom, across the carpeted
mosque interior. All around were intricate stained-glass windows and
a series of domes, thick columns and walls entirely covered in blue,
red and white tile mosaic.
Again, he appeared to speak little, as he was schooled in what he
was seeing by a guide. He spent about 40 minutes at both places.
At his Istanbul hotel, Obama met with Istanbul’s grand mufti and
its chief rabbi, as well as Turkey’s Armenian patriarch and Syrian
Orthodox archbishop.
In many respects, Obama’s European trip was a continental listening
tour.
He told the G-20 summit in London that global cooperation is the key
to ending a crippling recession. And at the NATO summit in France and
Germany, he said his new strategy for Afghanistan reflects extensive
consultation.
In Ankara, Turkey’s capital, Obama told lawmakers their country can
help ensure Muslims and the West listen to each other.
NEW REGIONAL PARAMETERS: POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER OPENING
Anahit Shirinyan
HETQ politics
2009/04/06 | 19:06
Regional and international were abuzz last week regarding potential
developments in negotiations aimed at normalizing relations between
Armenia and Turkey. Public opinion was not only focused on the possible
opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey, closed for the past
fifteen years, an event that would herald a new era in relations
between the neigh boring states, but also what such an eventuality
would mean for regional politics in general.
Such developments could lead to a shift in the existing regional power
balance. These developments are quite contradictory and proceeding
with such speed that they can lead to unforeseen consequences.
Regardless of whether the border is opened within the predicted
timeframe, sometime in April, or not, the issue is on today’s political
agenda. Thus, let us attempt to make some predictions on the matter.
1. The opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will expand Armenia’s
political role in the region. By imparting a number of theoretical
benefits to Armenia, it will afford greater manoeuvrability to
Armenia in its foreign affairs. The border opening will strike a
blow to the number one trump card held by Azerbaijan in the Karabakh
conflict settlement process – to keep Armenia in a blockade since
it still hasn’t agreed to make concessions regarding the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to reports circulating in the press, Ankara is attempting to
include a point regarding the Karabakh conflict in the Armenian-Turkish
agreement it is planning but Yerevan is stubbornly showing its
resistance on the issue. Due to a correct exercise of politics Yerevan
truly possesses the possibility to neutralize Baku’s only effective
and essential trump card when it comes to the Karabakh conflict.
2. The opening of the border will spur the further deepening of the
strategic partnership between Tbilisi and Baku. Baku isn’t concealing
its negative reaction to the thaw between Armenia and Turkey and
has recently seen fit to even make direct threats to Ankara. Last
week, for example, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, during a
conversation with a third party, threatened to cut off gas supplies
to Turkey if Ankara went ahead and signed a separate agreement with
Armenia and opened the border without coming to some prearranged
understanding regarding he Nagorno-Karabakh issue. It already has
been widely publicized that President Aliyev will not participate in
the "Civilizations Alliance" forum to be held in Istanbul on April
6-7. This refusal to participate is yet another sign intended to show
Baku’s displeasure regarding unfolding developments.
"If the border is opened before the withdrawal of Armenian troops
from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, it would run counter to
Azerbaijan’s national interests," stated Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov.
Georgia is the second country whose interests are opposed to the
opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. After the Georgian-Russian
conflict of August, 2008, analysts have openly started to talk about
the uncertainty surrounding Georgia as a transit country for projects
with a strategic importance directed towards the West.
Now too, western analysts don’t conceal the new possibilities that
the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border might have regarding the
implementing of energy-related projects towards the West.
In addition to the huge economic and political dividends reaped by
Georgia due to the energy supply routes that transverse its territory,
the lion’s share of Armenia’s foreign trade, even that with Turkey,
passes through Georgia. Thus, as stated by Jemal Inaishvili, President
of Georgia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, "The restoration of a
direct route will definitely impact on Georgia’s economy." Despite the
fact that Inaishvili welcomes the wish of the two nations to establish
normal relations, nevertheless, he believes that, "The restoration of
direct links between Armenia and Turkey will lead to specific economic
losses for Georgia". This will include a visible drop in cargo flows
that will in turn negatively impact on the ports of Batumi and Poti.
Naturally, all this will impel Baku and Tbilisi to seek out
alternative routes of cooperation. Last week in Tbilisi the foreign
ministers of the two nations signed a document regarding joint
political programs. It’s not by chance that reports have recently
surfaced in the Azerbaijani press signalling the continuation of
Georgian-Azerbaijani collaboration. As stated by Fridon Todua, deputy
speaker of the Georgian parliament and chairman of The Parliamentary
Group of Friendship with the Republic of Azerbaijan, in an interview
with Day.Az, "despite the resistance of Armenia, it is impossible
to stop implementation of the project (Baku, Tbilisi, Kars railway),
since it has already started."
3. The opening of the border will spur the deepening of cooperation
between Baku and Moscow. Baku, in its relations with its strategic
partner, will try to compensate for the "crisis" through new
arrangements with Moscow. Russia has been trying to woo Baku for a
long time, forcing Azerbaijan to give up on new projects aimed at
Western energy independence. And on March 27, a mutual understanding
agreement was signed between Azprom and Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company
that calls for the long-term supply of gas at market prices.
At the same time a telephone conversation took place between Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev and Azerbaijani President Aliyev on April
3. According to official reports, the two leaders discussed the
G-20 Summit, the global economic crisis and other issues of mutual
concern. Azerbaijani news outlets, however, report that issues related
to the Karabakh conflict was also touched on in the conversation.
4. The opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will also strengthen
Washington’s position in the South Caucasus. In particular,
Washington’s active role of late in the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations has laid the groundwork for this. While
it is a fact that Washington has long abandoned implementing its
political agenda in the post-Soviet arena via Ankara, preferring to do
so directly, new developments can restore this erstwhile significance
of Turkey in the eyes of Washington.
In the words of Matthew Bryza, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State, normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia would
"create a new and positive dynamic" in relations across the region,
"as well as in developing the economic and transport links we have
been pursuing ever since the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
The United Sates is pretty limited when it comes to exerting direct
influence over Armenia. What prevents it from doing so is the
Russian political, military and economic presence in Armenia. In
the event that the border is opened, Washington will be given the
possibility to expand its influence in Armenia to a certain degree
via Ankara. Moreover, by coming forth as the primary mediator in
the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, the United States
automatically gets to hold a more active playing card in the Karabakh
conflict settlement, the next logical step in the progression of
these relations.
To this must be added the fact that Turkish-American cooperation in the
South Caucasus will also assist in the rebuilding of mutual confidence
between the two nations, yielding possibilities of cooperation in
other matters as well, i.e. Iraq and Afghanistan.
5. At the same time, the border opening will assist the development of
Russian-Turkish relations. Turkey, which has traditionally competed
with Russia for dominance in the region, is still buoyed by the
same tradition but has taken into account the Russian factor in the
post-Soviet territories. Thus, future cooperation between Ankara and
Moscow is inevitable, particularly in terms of Armenia. In reality,
the possibilities of Russian-Turkish cooperation are even greater
when the "Armenian link" comes into the picture. Glaring testimony
of this was the agreement reached last year that called for the sale
of Armenian electricity to Turkey. It’s another question as to what
extent the interests of the "link" will be taken into account.
6. The opening of the border will lead to the necessity of greater
scope and specificity of the Armenian-Iranian partnership. There has
been no official reaction from Tehran regarding recent Armenian-Turkish
developments. It is clear nonetheless that Tehran has remained on the
sideline of regional processes ever since the developments subsequent
to last year’s war between Georgia and Russia. As strange as it may
seem, Armenian-Iranian cooperation will assume greater significance
after the border is opened between Armenia and Turkey. Armenia has
traditionally viewed Iran as a counterweight to Turkey and in this
matter it can even play a more effective role than Russia.
While true that the Iran-Armenia railway agreement reached on April
4 can’t be viewed in this context as a long-range step, nevertheless,
regardless of the suspicions as to its economic viability, the project
can assume important political significance in the near future. Thus,
Yerevan will obtain greater flexibility in terms of foreign policy
with the deepening of cooperation with Iran. What remains is to ensure
the actual implementation of Armenian-Iranian joint projects.
The opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey can thus
lead to genuine changes for the region as a whole. A situation
can be created in which everyone is cooperating with everyone else
and where each player is doing so with the aim of protecting its
national interests. Armenia can emerge as the main "hero" in all
these developments and, as a result, it can be confronted with new
challenges as well as possibilities. The greatest benefit from this
new situation will only be culled due to a specifically well-crafted
political policy that is flexible at the same time.
TURKISH INTELLIGENCE FOIL ATTEMPT ON OBAMA’S LIFE
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.04.2009 12:27 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish intelligence foiled attempt on U.S. President
Barack Obama’s life.
Syrian citizen, who confessed he was going to throw a knife at Obama,
was arrested in Istanbul last Friday. No official confirmation has
come yet, Haber-turk reported.
Upon arrival in Turkey, U.S. President will be guarded by 9000
intelligence and police officers.
Going for gold
The world’s mints are coining it as unprecedented numbers of savers
search for safer investments
By Sarah Marsh in Vienna and Jan Harvey in London
The Independent/UK
Sunday, 5 April 2009
LEONARD FOEGER/REUTERS
The Austrian Mint is producing more Philharmonic gold coins in a week
than it normally does in a month
A few years ago his visits to the mint, founded more than 800 years
ago, might have seemed eccentric. No longer. From the Russian Georgy
Pobedonosets to the American Eagle, gold coin production is being
cranked up in mints around the world to satisfy customers believing the
assets may be immune to the global financial crisis.
Russia’s state-controlled Sberbank says it has never seen such strong
demand for investment coins. In Australia, the Perth Mint had to
suspend new orders for gold coins because it could not keep pace with
overseas demand. And, in America, the US Mint says sales of its
one-ounce American Eagle gold bullion coins rocketed by more than 400
per cent to 710,000 ounces in 2008. "The demand for gold and silver,"
said US Mint spokeswoman Carla Coolman, "has been unprecedented."
Austria’s Philharmonic, named after the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
was the world’s best-selling gold coin in the last quarter and sales
soared 544 per cent in the first two months of 2009. "There is no sign
of demand abating," Austrian Mint’s marketing director
Kerry Tattersall
said. Sales this year are expected to exceed 2008’s record levels. "At
present, production is struggling to keep up with demand."
Hans Dieter Rauch, who sells both collectors’ and investors’ coins in
his boutique on Graben, one of Vienna’s most exclusive shopping
streets, said revenues rose 300 per cent last year. "It’s the man in
the street, not particularly rich people but normal citizens like you
and me," said Mr Rauch, 65, monitoring the fluctuating price of gold on
a screen in his back room.
Gold hit a record high of $1,030.80 (£700) an ounce in March 2008 and
last month rose back above $1,000. Jewellery sales by cash-strapped
Americans and Europeans have helped to slow the metal’s rise in recent
weeks.
The Czech Republic’s Komercni Banka this month added gold coins and
bars to its traditional portfolio of products. Even the Central Bank of
Armenia is at it, issuing 10,000 gold coins with a Zodiac signs design.
And, in New Zealand, Michael O’Kane, head bullion trader at the mint,
said it was averaging a month’s transactions in a day.
Wealthy investors are more likely to invest in bars than coins as the
premium for production costs is lower, said Wolfgang
Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales at the precious metals group Heraeus.
"If you buy a kilo bar you have to pay the surcharge for producing the
bar, which is pretty low, only once" he said. "If you buy 30 1oz coins, =0
D
which would be about equal to a 1kilo bar, you have to pay 30 times
that amount."
Coins have the edge for small investors who want flexibility and
appreciate their aesthetic allure. Demand is for more than physical
products: in the past few years, gold has been sought after for
speculative gains, with interest in gold-backed funds in particular
soaring. But since the financial crisis accelerated last autumn,
interest in coins and bars has increased, with investors seeking
security rather than profit.
Other manufacturers are reducing output and jobs, but the Royal
Canadian Mint quadrupled capacity to produce its bullion gold and
silver Maple Leaf coins in late 2008, and the Austrian Mint is
producing in one week what it usually churns out in a month. It has
extended its shifts throughout the night and weekend and recruited more
workers to cope with the surge in demand.
‘ARMENIAN SUITE’ TO PREMIERE … WHERE ELSE BUT ARMENIA
Lexington Minuteman
/x549584987/-Armenian-Suite-to-premiere-where-else -but-Armenia
April 1 2009
Lexington – Lexington composer Hayg Boyadjian’s symphonic composition
"Armenian Suite" will receive its first public performance in Yerevan,
the capital of Armenia, on April 13 at the famous Aram Khatchaturian
Concert Hall.
The concert will also include works by three American composers:
"Fireheart" for chamber ensemble by Matthew Fields; "Huatzu Hill"
for soprano and chamber orchestra by Marilyn Bliss; "Andromeda"
concerto for piano and orchestra by Elizabeth Bell; and also a work
by Armenian composer Edward Sadoyan, "Threes Words About Armenia"
for chamber orchestra.
Featured will be the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
Ruben Asatryan, the soloists will include soprano Gayane Gegamyan
and pianist Haik Melikyan.
Soprano Gegamyan has premiered many works by Yerevan-Armenian
composers, and also works by Boyadjian (among others three German
text songs for soprano and piano written especially for her), and
she has also sung songs by Bliss.
Pianist-composer Melikyan is a musician of renown in Armenia and
Europe for his performances of contemporary music. He has performed
in Yerevan works by Marilyn Bliss, and in June 2008 he premiered
Boyadjian’s first movement of his large fourth piano sonata at a solo
concert at the Komidas Hall in Yerevan.
Bliss will travel to Yerevan for this April concert, she traveled for
the first time to Yerevan a few years ago where she had a solo concert
of her compositions from which she returned very much impressed,
about the music, and about the city.
Boyadjian’s "Armenian Suite" was originally written as a commission
piece for trombone and piano in 2005. A version for two oboes and piano
followed, and later on came the present version for symphony orchestra.
"Armenian Suite" has been recorded by the Polish Radio Symphony
Orchestra under the direction of David Oberg and is due to come out
soon on Opus One CD Recordings, and will be available on Amazon.com,
as are Boyadjian’s other recordings.
EXPERT: PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARE TO GO UP IN ARMENIA
ARKA
Apr 2, 2009
YEREVAN, April 2. /ARKA/. Due to rise in prices for energy resources
the public transport fare is to go up in Armenia soon, said the
Chairman of Association of Consumers of Armenia Armen Poghosyan.
He said that the Association had once prevented fare increase in
the past.
In 2007, some companies raised the public transport fare from 100Drams
to 130Drams due to rise in gas prices. The fare remained unchanged
due to public discontent this raised and owing to the support of the
public organizations involved in protection of consumers’ rights. The
current cost is 100Drams for buses and route taxies and 50Drams for
trolleybuses.
"We are not all-powerful, yet we cannot accept this and we will
continue fighting against these price increases. Our front should
be broad and powerful, and the entire society should join us in this
struggle," Poghosyan said.
On February 27, Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission
approved the gas price increase from the current 84,000Drams per
1,000 cubic meters to 96,000Drams per 1,000 cubic meters as from
April 1. The price for electricity supplied by "Electric Networks of
Armenia" to consumers rose by 5Drams up to 30Drams per kilowatt-hour
in daytime and 20Drams per kilowatt-hour in nighttime.
OSCE: ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN FRONTLINE INCREASINGLY VOLATILE
Eurasianet
Posted April 1, 2009
Monitors for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) are expressing concern about an increase in ceasefire violations
along the Azerbaijan-Armenia frontline.
Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, told an April 1 news conference that area residents
are suffering from the growing violence. He did not elaborate on
reasons why firefights and artillery duels have been on the rise
lately. But he noted that the security situation has slightly worsened
since 2008.
Kasprzyk said that he would work to arrange meetings of Azerbaijani
and Armenian commanders on the ground to help reduce tension. Over
the past few months, there has been a flurry of media reports from
both sides about ceasefire accord violations.