Author: Mamian George

CRIMINAL CASE FOR SELLING HOLY SEE PROPERTY

LRAGIR.AM
13:59:30 – 30/03/2009

At the investigation division of the Shirak Police an action is brought
against officials, in connection with abuse of power and sell a part
of the territory belonging to the Holy See St. Echmiadzin.

In result of the examination of the application presented to the
office of the Prosecutor General of the Shirak Region by the head of
the Shirak diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, it was found out
that the deputy head of the municipal cadastre for town planning,
construction and real estate of Gyumri, H. Gasparyan, put up to
auction a part of the 116-square metre territory on the Ozanyan 1
street which belongs to the Holy See. The territory was brought by
his son Gevorg Manukyan. The lot was privatized again with abuse of
power. A criminal case is instigated in this connection, the press
office of the Office of the Prosecutor General reports.

PIPELINE, BUT NO REFINERY, FOR ARMENIA
by Amber Corrin

Global Refining & Fuels Report
March 25, 2009

Armenia and Iran will soon begin construction of a 168-mile pipeline
from the Tabriz refinery in Iran to Yeraskh, Armenia, for the transport
of gasoline and diesel fuel. It is expected to cost approximately
$240 million, with completion for 2011, according to published reports.

Completion of the pipeline will help diversify Armenia’s energy
resources and satisfy its national demand for oil products, Armenian
Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan said at a press conference.

"The oil pipeline will first of all satisfy Armenia’s needs, including
strengthening of energy security of the republic, reduction of
transport expenses and establishment of competitive market prices,"
Movsisyan said.

Armenia also will convert pipelined gas into electricity for transfer
back to Iran, according to a UPI report.

Feasibility studies were conducted in 2007 for a joint Russia-Armenia
refinery project that would process 7.5 million metric tons of
Iranian crude.

Plans were cancelled after Russia reportedly decided the project was
not economically viable. Gazprom Enhanced Coverage LinkingGazprom
-Search using: News, Most Recent 60 Days Company Profile Neft,
a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Gazprom Enhanced Coverage
LinkingGazprom -Search using: News, Most Recent 60 Days Company
Profile gas company, was said to have been attached to the project.

Azerbaijani officials in Tabriz reportedly will work to hamper
plans for the pipeline, according to a report from the PanArmenian
Network. Baku, the Azerbaijan capital, refuted reports that Armenia
would host the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline, UPI said.

It is unclear if the Armenia-Iran pipeline would be part of the
planned Nabucco pipeline, which is slated to move natural gas from
Turkey to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

Construction on Nabucco has yet to begin.

Baku’s objection to an Armenia-Iran pipeline likely stems from
territorial disputes over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, as well as
potential issues over competition to oil- and gas-rich Azerbaijan.

ROOFS DAMAGED

A1+
12:54 pm | March 26, 2009

Society

On March 24 at 4 p.m. the roofs of 15 homes in the Tsakhkahovit village
and the roof of the village council building in the Parp village were
damaged due to strong winds in the Lori Marz.

On the same day at around 12 p.m. the roofs of six homes and one
cattle-farm of the Hayrenyats village were damaged due to strong
winds in the Shirak Marz.

Shack with items burnt On March 26 the "Step-Alpha" production unit’s
18 square meter trailer equipped with office equipment was burnt
as a result of a fire that broke out in the Hobardz village of the
Lori Marz.

ARMENIAN POLITICIANS APPLY TO PR-MANAGERS
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
27.03.2009 15:58

Ahead of the elections of May 31 different organizations, websites
and media try to hold surveys to find out the disposition of the
electorate. Websites are more active in this regard. As a rule,
the rating of the Republican Party is not very high in these
Internet polls. Does the Party pay attention to these polls and draw
corresponding conclusions?

"We do not take these surveys seriously, not because the rating of the
Republican Party is not high, but because those polls are conducted by
unknown organizations. Besides, we also live in the society and see
that the figures they present have nothing to do with reality. The
elections of May 31 will give answers to all questions," said Edwad
Sharmazanov, Press Secretary of the Republican Party said.

It’s worth mentioning that many political forces have expressed the
wish to apply to PR-specialists, specialist of the sphere Gerasim
Barseghyan said. According to him, the need for those specialists
has become apparent over the past years.

"Many politicians entrust their election campaigns to specialists,
and the questions here does not refer to image-makers only. All public
appearances of the politician or the party need advice. This is a rule
that works everywhere, including Armenia. Today I find it difficult
to make predictions about the chances=2 0of the candidates. Moreover,
I can’t say what image components every candidate will bear. Perhaps,
it will depend on the process of the campaign," Gerasim Barseghyan say.

SYRIAN ARMENIANS’ LAST CHANCE TO CLAIMS FOR THEIR PROPERTIES IN TURKEY
By Harut Sassounian

The California Courier
March 24, 2009

In a column I wrote last year, I alerted Armenians in Syria, Egypt
and Iraq that they had a unique opportunity to receive compensation
for their properties in Turkey.

All four governments, after protracted negotiations stretching over
several decades, are finally close to resolving their conflicting land
claims arising from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Republic
of Turkey had confiscated tens of thousands of properties owned by
citizens of the three Arab countries and vice versa.

During a meeting on May 12, 2008, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan signed an agreement
which is expected to be implemented shortly.

Turkey claims that in 1956 the Syrian government confiscated a large
number of lands belonging to Turkish citizens. In a reciprocal move,
Ankara confiscated in 1966 properties owned by Syrian nationals. After
lengthy negotiations, Turkey and Syria signed a protocol in 1972 and
created a joint commission to investigate these claims, including the
properties Syrian Armenians left behind in the Sanjak of Alexandretta
(Hatay), after its annexation by Turkey in 1938.

The Turkish government transferred the title of the confiscated
Syrian-owned properties to the National Real Estate General
Directorate. The total estimated value of real estate owned by Turks
and Syrians in each other’s countries, including rental income since
1966, is more than billion, according to an article by Ercan Yavuz in
the March 3, 2009 issue of Today’s Zaman. The Real Estate Directorate
has been renting these Syrian properties to Turkish farmers and
businesses. The Central Bank of Turkey is holding the rental income
in a special account under the name of "the rightful owners."

The agreement signed by Syria and Turkey stipulates that by 2010
the Central Bank will return these accumulated funds to the original
property owners, according to Yavuz.

The Turkish National Real Estate General Directorate’s figures indicate
that Syrians own 15,067 properties in Turkey, corresponding to 135,000
hectares (334,000 acres or 135 million square meters). On the other
hand, Turks reportedly own 2.3 million square meters of property in
Syria. "The monetary value of Syrian property in Turkey is estimated
to be billion, while the estimated value of Turkish property in Syrian
territory is billion," Yavuz reported.

In an interesting sideline, Turkish citizen Mustafa Muzaffer Salih,
whose father was a major landowner in Syria, told Yavuz: "Syrians
own more than 200 stores in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar…. Some of these
properties were given to relatives of ministers in the parties that
were in the coalition governments of the first and second National
Front governments." To set things right, Salih advocates that "The
shame of the past should be cleansed."

Turkey, Egypt and Iraq have had a similar quarrel. In 1982, Turkish
officials signed an agreement with Egypt to settle their land
dispute. In 1985, Turkey and Iraq agreed to allow property owners in
their respective countries five years to file a claim. The due date
was subsequently extended twice. Turkey claimed that its citizens own
in Iraq about 160,000 acres of land, 150 buildings, 11 charitable
foundations, more than 2 million Iraqi dinars and 8,000 pounds
sterling. On the other hand, Iraq claims that its citizens own 48
buildings and 11 plots of land in Turkey. The American invasion of
Iraq interrupted the settlement of these claims.

Armenian organizations in Syria, Iraq and Egypt should urge
Armenians citizens of these countries, including those who have
migrated overseas, to submit to them copies of trust deeds or
other documentary evidence of properties they owned in Turkey. The
organizations should then provide the list of these properties to
their respective governments, demanding that Turkey pay an appropriate
compensation to the heirs of the original owners.

As I mentioned in my earlier column, the main advantage of this
approach is that Armenians do not need to hire lawyers and go to court,
as officials of the three Arab countries, on behalf of their citizens,
are negotiating directly with their Turkish counterparts to settle
all such reciprocal claims.

This is a unique opportunity for Armenians in Syria, Iraq and Egypt
to take advantage of without delay. Once the settlement is finalized,
it would be too late for Armenians to make any further claims from
the Turkish government regarding their properties.

Just to set the record straight, receiving compensation for such
personal properties does not invalidate the Armenian people’s
legitimate claims to Western Armenia which remains under Turkish
occupation.

BAKU WANTS MOSCOW TO BE MORE ACTIVE IN SETTLING KARABAKH CONFLICT – DIPLOMAT

Interfax
March 23 2009
Russia

By arming Armenia Russia is destabilizing the situation in the region,
Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said.

"By arming Armenia Russia is gaining the reputation of an
aggressor-state, and it is destabilizing the region," Khalafov said
on the Azeri ATV television channel commenting on reports that Russia
has transferred $800 million in armaments to Armenia.

"We expect Russia, as a member of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, and a reliable partner in the
Karabakh settlement, to step up efforts in this direction," he said.

"We also expect the Minsk Group and its co-chairmen to make more
intensive steps on the tracks leading to a peaceful settlement of
the conflict," the Azeri diplomat said.

AZERBAIJAN INSPIRED BY BORDUJA’S RECOMMENDATION

Panorama.am
14:19 25/03/2009

The Secretary General of Collective Security Treaty Organization
Nikolay Borduja recommended Azerbaijan to join the CSTO activities,
Azerbaijani media report. Note that currently Russia, Armenia, Belarus,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are the members of
the organization.

Azerbaijani mass media report that the mission of the military alliance
is co-operation in military aspect. According to the media reports
Azerbaijan demands to recognize Armenia an aggressor country if the
organization is long Azerbaijan to join them.

Agence France Presse
March 21, 2009 Saturday 10:48 AM GMT

Turkey to launch Armenian-language radio station: report

ANKARA, March 21 2009

Turkey’s state broadcaster plans to launch an Armenian-language radio
station this year, Turkish newspapers reported Saturday, amid efforts
by Turkey and neighbouring Armenia to end decades of animosity.

Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) is hoping to have the station on
air in "two to three" months, the Sabah and Vatan dailies said,
without giving further details.

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties and their border has been
closed for more than a decade as their relationship remains hostage to
deep differences over the World War I massacres of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of Turkey.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were systematically
killed by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1917 as their empire fell
apart — a claim supported by several other countries but
categorically rejected by Turkey.

The massacres led to the once-vibrant Armenian minority to dwindle to
an estimated 80,000 people.

Nonetheless, the two countries have been involved in a tentative
dialogue process to resolve their problems.

Turkey’s planned radio station comes as US lawmakers were pushing
President Barack Obama to recognize the killings as genocide even
though such a step would anger Turkey.

Obama, who is expected to visit Turkey on April 6-7, repeatedly
pledged during his 2008 White House run that he would recognize the
massacres as genocide.

Turkey has warned that such a move by the United States would only
impede reconciliation efforts between Ankara and Yerevan.

CONSULTATIONS WITH PARTY LEADERS ON THE "GLOBAL FINANCIAL-ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ARMENIA"
Karen Ghazaryan

"Radiolur"
20.03.2009 17:29

President Serzh Sargsyan today invited the leaders of political parties
to consultations on the "Global financial-economic crisis and Armenia."

The President said in his opening speech that holding such consultation
was the imperative of time. "Irrespective of our will, we are entering
a phase of global and regional changes, where everyone’s approaches
should be visible to each other and if possible, grow into a common
opinion and approach," the President said.

"The financial-economic crisis has made the developed countries make
changes, which would be simply unacceptable before. Unfortunately,
no one has found the right recipe so far. It’s clear that in such
a situation the Government of the Republic of Armenia had to find
non-standard solutions. The reality is that if we do not resist this
crisis jointly, we all will suffer. It’s at least unwise to let the
Government face this challenge alone."

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan noted in his speech that "there is
no country in the world that has not been affected by the global
crisis. Every country has its own methods of fighting the crisis." The
Prime Minister presented the three directions of the anti-crisis
program the Government presented to the Nationa l Assembly on 14
November. The first direction is the realization of infrastructure
projects, the second is the assistance to those enterprises which
suffer temporary difficulties. The third direction is the support
for small and medium-sized businesses.

After the Prime Minister’s speech the consultations continued behind
closed doors and lasted for about five hours.

GIRO MANOYAN: RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS IN STATE INTERESTS OF U.S.

Noyan Tapan

M arch 16, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Giro Manoyan, the Responsible Person
of ARFD Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office, considers that it should
not be excluded that a document on opening the border will be signed
between Armenia and Turkey in 2009. As the ARFD figure mentioned at
the March 16 press conference, he came to that conclusion taking as
a basis the rumors spread and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s statements. The signing of the above mentioned document,
according to G. Manoyan, depends on the fact of whether Turkey will
manifest a political will. "The Turks understand that the document
is in their interests," the ARFD figure said.

Touching upon Armenia’s interests, he expressed concern that
presence of such a document may suppress the Armenians in the issue
of protecting their own rights, as well as may force them to renounce
the demand of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

G. Manoyan said that at present ARFD is preparing an analysis having a
goal to find out the influence of opening the Armenian-Turkish border
on Armenia’s economy. According to him, opening the border can become
an "occasion for Turkish economic invasion."

As to U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Turkey scheduled for April
6, G. Manoyan expressed an opinion that it has two explanations. The
first explanation, according to him, is that B. Obama has decided not
to use the word "genocide" on April 24 and goes to calm down the Turks
and the other is that he has decided to pronounce that word and wishes
to gain Turkey’s favor in some way. In G. Manoyan’s affirmation, the
U.S. President will keep his preelection promise and will recognize
the Armenian Genocide. In response to the question of whether he will
not avoid doing it trying not to endanger the state interest of the
United States, G. Manoyan stated that the recognition of the Genocide
is just in the interests of the U.S. "It is the President who decides
the state interest, and he would not like to have partners constantly
speaking in the language of the blackmail like Turkey.

B. Obama will strive for solving that problem once and for all,"
the speaker concluded.