Author: Madatian Greg

Le Monde, France
3 septembre 2009 jeudi

Turquie et Arménie vont normaliser leurs relations

par: Guillaume Perrier

Ankara et Erevan devraient échanger des ambassadeurs et rouvrir la
frontière commune

Après des mois de négociations silencieuses sous le patronage de la
Suisse, la Turquie et l’Arménie ont annoncé, lundi 31 août, leur
intention d’établir des relations diplomatiques dès l’automne, ouvrant
la voie à une normalisation rapide de leurs rapports. Ankara et Erevan
doivent faire ratifier la décision par leur Parlement respectif, après
six semaines de " consultations politiques internes ". Selon le
calendrier prévu, des missions diplomatiques seront envoyées de part
et d’autre le 1er novembre. La frontière commune, fermée depuis 1993,
pourrait rouvrir " autour du Nouvel An ", a dit le ministre des
affaires étrangères, Ahmet Davutoglu, mardi. Ce plan prévoit ensuite
la mise en place d’une commission mixte d’historiens chargée de se
pencher sur la question du génocide de 1915.

" Diplomatie du ballon rond "

Un an après le match de football Arménie-Turquie, à Erevan, et la
visite, pour l’occasion, du président turc Abdullah Gül dans la
capitale arménienne, la " diplomatie du ballon rond " produit ses
premiers résultats concrets. Cette accélération subite intervient
d’ailleurs à l’approche du match retour entre les deux équipes, qui
aura lieu à Bursa, dans l’ouest de la Turquie, dans six semaines… et
deux jours. Le président arménien, Serge Sarksian, devrait assister à
la rencontre. Il suspendait jusqu’à présent sa venue à " des progrès
significatifs de la part de la Turquie " concernant l’ouverture de la
frontière.

En déclarant leur volonté de rapprochement, " la Turquie et l’Arménie
ont fait un pas courageux ", estime Hugh Pope, correspondant de
l’International Crisis Group. Ahmet Davutoglu a justifié son
engagement en expliquant : " Notre but est de garantir à la Turquie un
environnement sûr qui soit une source de stabilité et non de crise. "

Les six semaines de consultations nationales à venir promettent des
débats acharnés en Turquie. Déjà, en avril, le gouvernement avait
reculé au moment de dévoiler sa feuille de route devant la
mobilisation du camp nationaliste. " Ce protocole est comme un tapis
rouge déroulé pour Sarksian ", a critiqué, mardi, Deniz Bölükbasi,
député du parti d’action nationaliste (MHP).

L’opposition reproche au gouvernement de céder sur la question du
Haut-Karabakh, une province d’Azerbaïdjan à majorité arménienne,
contrôlée par Erevan et objet d’un conflit gelé depuis 1994. "
L’Arménie confirme-t-elle officiellement qu’elle se retire du
Haut-Karabakh ? ", demande ironiquement Onur Oymen, député du parti
kémaliste CHP. En mai, le premier ministre Erdogan avait fait la
promesse, devant le Parlement azerbaïdjanais que la frontière
turco-arménienne ne serait pas rouverte sans départ des troupes du
Karabakh. " Les intérêts de nos amis d’Azerbaïdjan seront pris en
compte ", a assuré M. Davutoglu.

NO WATER IN KENTRON

er
05:45 pm | September 03, 2009 | society

"Yerevan Water" company would like to inform consumers that there
will be water supply from 7-10 a.m. and 7 p.m.to 10 p.m.on September
4 in the Kentron district due to restoration of the "Garni" water
pump station.

On September 4 from 9 a.m. until 9 a.m. on September 5, there will
be no water supply on 30-76 Tigran Mets Street, 40-215 Khorenatsi
Street, Nar-Dos, Kristapor, Zavaryan Streets amd the surrounding
areas, Erebuni, Sasuntsi Davit, Lisinyan, Glinka, Michuri Streets
and the surrounding areas, as well as the streets of Sari-Tagh and
the Nor-Butania district.

The Nubarashen district will see the decline of water pressure and
there may be no water in the higher areas and buildings.

"Yerevan Water" CJSC

ARG’S CUSTOMERS INCREASE BY 58,164

/ARKA/
September 4, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 4, /ARKA/. At the beginning of September
Armenia’s national natural gas operator ArmRosGazprom (ARG, a joint
Russian-Armenian venture) had 585,164 customers, the company’s press
office told ARKA.

In the first 8 months of the year their number increased by 11,209,
including 1,803 new customers in July.

In compliance with a government decision in August alone the company
installed 21,812 alarm systems in customers’ apartments. The systems
detect leaks long before the gas reaches unsafe levels and actively
prevent danger by shutting off the gas supply to the appliance. At
the beginning of September ARG installed 178,906 alarm systems instead
of projected 167,000.

ArmRosGazprom (ARG) was founded in 1997 as a joint Russian-Armenian
natural gas operator. It is the sole gas company in Armenia dealing
with shipment of Russian gas through Georgia to Armenia’s domestic gas
market. The Russian state gas monopolist Gazprom owns 80 % of stock,
the Armenian government 20%

THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION: NO CONSCRIPTIONS FROM SCHOOLS

Aysor
Sept 3 2009
Armenia

"No one will be conscripted if he is a schoolboy" – the Head of the
general education department of the Ministry of Science and Education
of Armenia Narine Hovhannisyan said.

This issue caused concern among parents of pupils after the school
had switched to the 12-year education system.

According to N. Hovhannisyan senior pupils over 18 will be able to
enter the universities thanks to unified state examinations.

"The education system is based on 12-year training in many countries
nowadays. Why our schoolchildren should lose this opportunity. Each
person needs education through whole life" – she said.

N Hovhannisyan noted that senior pupils skipped school before, but
now High Schools awarded high attendance.

"The High School has its advantages. Students have got the opportunity
in-depth education on the preferred subjects" – N.Hovhannisyan
explained.

She also informed that the senior high school teachers have been
retrained and are ready to working. Retraining was funded by the
World Bank and the state budget of Armenia.

ARFD DISPLEASED WITH THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN ARMENIAN-TURKISH RAPPROCHEMENT PROCESS

ArmInfo
2009-09-02 01:04:00

ArmInfo. ARF Dashnaktsutyun is displeased with the latest developments
in the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement process, says the press service
of the party.

The package of documents aimed at developing Armenian-Turkish relations
means that Armenia and the Armenian people have entered a new stage
fraught with numerous risks. ARFD has warned of them from the very
beginning. The party believes that Armenia and Turkey, as neighbors,
should take steps to normalize their relations but good neighbor
relations between Armenia and Turkey can be established only when
Turkey recognizes the Armenian Genocide and restores the rights of
the Armenian people.

ARFD says that the establishment of diplomatic relations without
preconditions and the opening of the border are just the first
steps to this end. Armenia’s proposal to establish relations without
preconditions is a huge concession as it is. ARFD does not accept
normalization at the expense of existence of sovereign and viable state
and the national rights of the future generations. Turkey has placed
this process at the service of its own interests and is speaking with
Armenia in language of open and hidden preconditions.

"It is obvious that the published documents contain the well-known
conditions of the Turkish party, particularly, the fact of the Armenian
Genocide is doubted, and the Armenian people’s rights having no period
of limitations are being brought to naught", the statement stresses.

Furthermore, ARFD thinks that after publishing the specified documents
Turkey continues repeating its third precondition at the official
level, i.e. Ankara will take no steps contradicting the interests of
Azerbaijan, "that is it continues conditioning the Armenian-Turkish
process by the Karabakh problem".

ARF Dashnaksutyun continues insisting that the foreign policy of
Armenia deviated from the national state line and the forecasted
processes may lead to irreversible consequences. "We call on
the Armenian society, political forces of Armenia to correctly
assess the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,
possible negative consequences and rule out any possible irreversible
consequences by maximal solidarity",- the statement says.

JUDICIAL PROCEEDING AGAINST "ORANGE ARMENIA"

Panorama.am
17:46 02/09/2009

"Orange Armenia" did not manage to start its activities as third mobile
operator in Armenia, when another matter took it to start a judicial
proceeding. It’s obvious that the image of the company is put under
threat when even "Orange Armenia" has not started its service.

It turned out that "Orange Armenia" signed a paper on 14 April, 2009
with "Immobiliare" company on renting real estate. The company helped
"Orange Armenia" to find a territory in Northern Avenue, Yerevan,
and got acquainted with the representative of the owner of that
renting territory.

After that meeting the representative of "Orange Armenia" and the owner
of the renting territory decided to sign another paper excluding the
mediator party as a "third" side. Currently "Immobiliare" submitted
a claim against the lawfulness of the contract signed between the
two sides.

BLAGOEVGRAD DISTRICT PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE CHARGES ARMENIAN RUDIK KAZARYAN WITH INCITING RAZLOG BLAST

Focus News
Sept 2 2009
Bulgaria

Blagoevgrad. Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor’s Office has charged
36-year-old Armenian citizen Rudik Kazaryan with inciting the blast in
the southwestern Bulgarian town of Razlog, which killed 29-year-old
Snezhana Mandradzhieva and her 5-year-old son Aleks Mandradzhiev,
Blagoevgrad District Prosecutor’s Office Spokeswoman Vesela Stoilova
announced at a press conference, cited by FOCUS – Pirin Radio.

Up to now the perpetrator of the attack has not been identified and
nobody has been charged with the offence itself. The police have
detained four people so far. Kazaryan is arrested for 72 hours. The
court will rule whether his custody will be extended. The other three
persons will be released, because the Prosecutor’s Office has not
charged them up to now.

Rudik Kazaryan has a status of person who permanently stays in
Bulgaria. He does not have a criminal record. The reasons for the
incitement have not been identified yet. 10 people have been questioned
up to now.

Armenia’s state debt within acceptable limits: finance minister says

YEREVAN, August 29, /ARKA/. Armenia’s state debt is in the limelight of
the government, finance minister Tigran Davtian said today, adding that
the debt is within `permissible limits.’ The minister cited the Law on
Debt under which the permissible correlation of state debt to GDP is
50%. `But I would like to assure that we shall never reach that level
and we have no such intentions,’ he said.

Speaking at a news conference at Novosti international press center,
the minister said Armenia’s aggregate state debt amounted to 754
billion Drams as of March 31, 2009, rising from 563 billion Drams
year-on-year. According to official numbers of Armenia’s National
Statistical Service (NSS), the debt rose by 33.8% in the surveyed
period of time.

The minister argued that even attraction of fresh loans this year would
not affect the status of the state debt. The government has already
secured over $1.1 billion in emergency loans from the IMF ($305) , the
World Bank ($60 million) , the Asian Development Bank ($80 million),
Russia ($500 million) and other foreign sources to cope with the
fallout from the global economic crisis.

The minister said the government has developed a detailed plan of
servicing the country’s foreign debt until 2025 and in this sense `all
processes are under tight control and monitoring of the government
conducted together with international experts.’

`Preservation of macroeconomic stability is a key component¦ Even amid
the crisis we have managed to maintain macroeconomic stability and
predictability,’ he said. Earlier Davtian said that Armenia’s aggregate
state debt in the next 10-11 years may rise to 37-38% of the GDP. M.M.
-0-

SHAHIN ABBASOV: AZERBAIJAN WILL GET COMPELLED TO GO ON WITH ITS BALANCED MILITARY AND FOREIGN POLICY

Milaz.info
d=3986
Aug 27 2009

Milaz regularly interviews local experts on several pressing issues,
particularly matters concerning Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation. Interview
with Shahin Abbasov, an independent expert based in Azerbaijan,
is below:

– How do you estimate the current level of cooperation between
Azerbaijan NATO?

– The cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO would have been much
higher. Azerbaijan falls back in reforms to bring the national army
into line with the NATO standards.

– Do you think Azerbaijan fulfils military and political reforms
specified in cooperation plans agreed with NATO?

– Yes, it does. However, this process is proceeding slowly.

– Today, Azerbaijani officials state that the country is pursuing a
well-balanced policy. Can we say this policy is really balanced?

– As compared to Georgia and Armenia, the Government of Azerbaijan
pursues a more balanced policy.

– How do you see Azerbaijan’s recent inclination to military-technical
cooperation with Russia? Do you think this is in line with the
country’s military-political and economic priorities?

– No, it isn’t. But, through this technique, Azerbaijan tries to make
Russia’s position on Nagorno Karabakh conflict more balanced.

– Azerbaijan’s Military Doctrine and Defence Outline have not been
adopted yet. What do you think delays these?

– It is hard to say.

– NATO’s new secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen crossed out the
probability of Georgia and Ukraine’s soon membership. He is going to
mainly focus on relations with Russia and situation in Afghanistan. How
do you foresee Azerbaijan in this policy?

– Azerbaijan will get compelled to go on with its balanced military
and foreign policy.

– How do you think the prospect of Gabala Radar will be? Do you have
outlook for the period after 2012 when the current lease expires. Who
will use this radar?

– I think Russia will continue to use it.

b>How difficult do you think it is for journalists to get information
about the military in Azerbaijan?

– Still, it is difficult.

ARENI WINE-MAKING INDUSTRY 6 THOUSAND YEARS OLD

Aysor, Armenia
Aug 26 2009

"If this is a wine-press, so we have really had a wine-making
industry",-informed Aysor.am Boris Gasparyan, the co-leader of the
archaeological team from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography
of the National Academy of RA.

In the cave of Areni Birds, in Vayots Dzor Marz, during the excavations
50 liters clay jars, pitchers, samples of crockery, vines were found,
which entitled the scholars to suppose that there was an industrial
area of wine production there.

According to the results of the examinations made in Oxford laboratory,
the vine found in the cave dated to the end of the 5 century and
beginning of the 4 century.

"The results of the examination made in Oxford laboratory are out of
doubt", said Boris Gasparyan.

The Armenian small caves of volcanic origin, which are spread
along the feet of Aragats, in the gorges of Qasakh and Hrazdan,
are well-examined.

And the caves, which originate in case of the limestone structure of
the massifs, now are being examined. The caves in Areni are suchlike
and are of a great archaeological value.

Since 2007 joint excavations are being held by the archaeologists of
Ireland, California, Great Britain and Armenia.

"The substances found in the caves mostly refer to Eneolith period, the
end of the 5th century and the mid of the 4th century (4.100-4.200),
i.e. 3 500 years, so we have the Middle Ages substances. Last year
we found pieces of manuscripts in Armenian and Persian. Also we have
some buildings and hearths of the Middle Ages", – told Boris Gaspatyan.

In the niches of the caves the organic substances are well preserved,
here the microclimate is not changing much in winter and summer. The
caves in Areni are not exceptions.

The archaeologist reminded about the Armenian tale of Anahit and
Vachagan where the whole craftsmanship was held in the cave, and this
was not groundless and had a historical basis.

In the economy, the monument of Areni had an important role, and
the caves served as places for living, cult worshiping and household
activities.

In the caves in Areni the skulls of young girls were found, which
pointed to the fructification ritual funerals.

Also the bones of goat and sheep were found. As montioned Boris
Gasparyan the goats were mostly bred for milk and wool, and sheep
were bred for meat and wool.

The archeologists dug to 4 meters and there the stratum of cultural
activities of the Copper Stone Age ended, and the sediments of
Pleistocene period started.

"This little surface does not let us dig deeper and we could not
widen the hall not to damage the nearby clay constructions",-mentioned
Boris Gaspartan.

These archeological samples now are in different laboratories of
the world. The archeologists are looking forward to the results,
and the excavations of the caves in Areni are still going on.