Author: Maral Takmazian

RA MFA: TURKISH MASS MEDIA DO NOT DESERVE CREDIT

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 21 2009
Armenia

This once again proves that Turkish mass media do not deserve credit,"
Tigran Balayan, Press Secretary of the RA Foreign Ministry commented
on today’s publication of Turkish Hurriyet daily, NEWS.am informs.

The article mainly says, that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will speak on four
basic points of Armenia-Turkey normalization process, particularly on
Karabakh issue, signing of Armenia-Turkey Protocols, Serzh Sargsyan’s
visit to Turkey and joint sub-commission of historians in the course
of the UN General Assembly Session in New York, Hurriyet daily reported
on September 21, 2009.

BELGIAN COACH VERCAUTEREN OFFERS RESIGNATION AFTER ARMENIA LOSS

The Canadian Press
Sept 9 2009

BRUSSELS — Belgium’s interim coach Frank Vercauteren has offered to
resign following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Armenia which ensured they
could not qualify for next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

Dutch coach Dick Advocaat has already signed a two-year contract to
take charge next year.

Advocaat was fired by Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg last month
and could begin the job immediately.

TRUCK BOMB SIGNALS TROUBLE ON RUSSIA’S SOUTHERN FLANK

Christian Science Monitor
Aug17, 2009

Emergency workers look through debris at a destroyed police station
in Nazran, Ingushetia, Russia, Monday. A suicide bomber exploded a
truck at a police station in Russia’s restive North Caucasus Monday,
killing at least 20 people and wounding 60 others, officials said.

(Musa Sadulayev/AP) Photo

Truck bomb signals trouble on Russia’s southern flank A week of
regional violence climaxed Monday in Ingushetia when a suicide bomber
blew a hole in a heavily fortified police headquarters, killing at
least 20.

By Fred Weir | Correspondent 08.17.09

/2009/08/17/truck-bomb-signals-trouble-on-russias- southern-flank/

A week of extremist attacks on Russia’s seething southern flank
climaxed Monday with a suicide truck bombing in Ingushetia that killed
at least 20 and injured scores outside a police station in the tiny
republic’s main city, Nazran.

The resulting explosion triggered a "raging fire" that destroyed a
weapons room, incinerated nearby cars, and damaged nearby apartment
buildings, according to an Associated Press (AP) report from Nazran. It
was one of the deadliest attacks in the region in years, the AP said.

Violence by Islamist insurgents, once confined mainly to separatist
Chechnya, has gradually spread throughout much of Russia’s
northern Caucasus, leaving Russian authorities increasingly unable
to guarantee order, or even protect pro-Moscow officials, in the
mainly Muslim region. (See map.) For Moscow, the stakes are huge. The
northern Caucasus region is Russia’s gateway to the energy-rich and
strategically vital southern Caucasus, which includes the former
Soviet nations of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.

Worsening violence in the area could seriously disrupt the planned 2014
Winter Olympics in nearby Sochi, into which former President Vladimir
Putin invested about $12 billion along with his own personal prestige.

Concerns Moscow could lose control Long-simmering concerns that Moscow
could lose control in the volatile northern Caucasus, where Chechen
rebels have waged a persistent insurgency since 1991, are spiking
again given the past week of attacks.

Monday’s bombing in Ingushetia, which blew a huge hole in Nazran’s
fortified police headquarters, was reminiscent of attacks carried out
by Chechen rebels at the height of that insurgency against Russian
troops in the early days of Mr. Putin’s 2000-08 term.

Over the weekend, at least two gun battles between police and
separatist insurgents in Chechnya itself left about a dozen people
dead and made the Kremlin’s boast of restoring order in that troubled
republic look increasingly hollow.

In nearby Dagestan, a multiethnic mountain republic on the Caspian Sea,
insurgent snipers killed two policemen in separate attacks on Saturday.

Last week, insurgents killed four police officers at a checkpoint in
Buinaksk, near Dagestan’s border with Chechnya.

And in Ingushetia, where violence has been spiking in recent months,
three gunmen shot an killed a female fortune-teller this past
Thursday. Occultists are a common target of Islamist extremists, who
regard them as blasphemers, occording to Russian press reports. The
previous day, insurgents assassinated Ingushetia’s construction
minister in his own heavily guarded office.

Cracks in Moscow’s strategy to contain Caucasus Russia’s northern
Caucasus includes eight republics, six of which are populated mainly
by Muslims, that were conquered and incorporated into the Russian
Empire in the 19th century.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia fought two savage
wars to regain control of separatist Chechnya.

The Kremlin seemed to find a winning formula in handing power to a
local pro-Moscow strongman, Ramzan Kadyrov, who pacified the republic
by co-opting former rebels into his personal security corps and
allegedly launching a wave of terror to suppress any dissent against
his rule.

Several human rights activists who attempted to report on Mr. Kadyrov’s
methods have been killed in recent months.

But attempts to install similarly effective local bosses in other
republics, notably Ingushetia, have proven less successful.

In June, Ingushetia’s recently appointed president, Yunus-Bek
Yevkurov, received grave injuries in a car-bombing, from which he is
still recovering. Mr. Yevkurov blamed Monday’s attack on militants
retaliating against heightened security measures along the border
with Chechnya, reported the Associated Press.

"It was an attempt to stablize the situation
and sow panic," said the president in a statement.

CANADIAN FAMILY MOURNS LOSS OF TWO MEMBERS IN PLANE CRASH

CTV Television, Inc.

SHOW: CANADA AM 7:32:00 ET
July 16, 2009 Thursday
Canada

ANCHORS: BEVERLY THOMSON

GUESTS: FRED KHACHIK, RELATIVE OF PLANE CRASH VICTIMS

THOMSON: And in developing news this morning, word that two
Canadians were on board the Caspian Airlines plane that crashed
in Iran yesterday. A hundred and sixty-eight people died when the
plane went down en route to Armenia. The two Canadians are 35-year-
old Nana Antashyam and her three-year-old son Edward Khachik. Nana
Antashyam’s husband is in Tehran with his brother Fred Khachik.

He [Fred] joins us now.

Ah, well, first of all, let me express our condolences to you and
your family. But thank you for joining us.

What can you tell us about the visit there that Nana and Edward
were making?

KHACHIK: I’m sorry, I cannot hear you.

THOMSON: Can you tell me about why Nana and Edward were there?

KHACHIK: Hello? Hello?

THOMSON: Yes, hello. Fred, can you hear me?

KHACHIK: Yes.

THOMSON: Can you tell me about why Nana and Edward were there?

KHACHIK: You are from where? CTV, right?

THOMSON: Right.

KHACHIK: They were in here for the wedding, in Europe. And they were
in here for the baptism of Edward.

THOMSON: What can you tell me about Nana Antashyam? Tell me a little
bit about her.

KHACHIK: She was a wonderful young woman, looking for a future
life. She had one child, Edward. She was, I think she was pregnant
with a second one. But we wasn’t sure because it was like at the
beginning of it.

And she was looking for a future life. She was full of life. And
she was a classic pianist. She was a teacher in the school, teaching
piano. And she was a very good lady.

THOMSON: And I’m sorry, Fred, I’m not sure that I understood you. Did
you say that she was also pregnant?

KHACHIK: I think my brother said because she was throwing up, she
could be pregnant again.

THOMSON: Oh dear.

Can you tell me a little bit about Edward?

KHACHIK: Edward was an amazing kid. He was, everybody surrounded him,
communicated with him. Some people, they said he can be the future
prime minister of Canada. Very smart in that age. He could sharply
answer you. And very intelligently answer you. And at a young age he
was speaking fluently English and the Armenian language.

THOMSON: We can’t imagine what your family is going through, Fred. We
are so sorry —

KHACHIK: They are going through like hell. They’re trying to cope
with it. I’m trying to comfort my brother, the whole family. Yeah,
it’s a very bad thing for us.

THOMSON: Okay, well, —

KHACHIK: And she has sisters, Nana, she had two sisters in Armenia. One
sister is a violinist in big, classic music.

THOMSON: Well, I know you’re going to need to hang tight to your
family. Um, —

KHACHIK: Yeah, we’re trying. It’s very hard. Very hard for my
brother. He looks at everything, when he’s left from his son and wife,
he goes crazy now.

THOMSON: Fred, take care —

KHACHIK: I try to comfort him.

THOMSON: Take care of your family.

KHACHIK: Yeah.

RA MINISTER OF DIASPORA RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF COORDINATION COUNCIL OF ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS OF FRANCE ALEXIS GOVCIYAN

Noyan Tapan
July 15, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA Minister
of Diaspora Hranush Hakobian received on July 15 President of
the Coordination Council of the Armenian Organizations of France,
AGBU Europe President Alexis Govciyan. The President discussed with
the guest the process of fullfilment of the agreements reached in
Paris as well as proposed him to carry out preparatory works in the
direction of increasing the number of participants from France in
the forthcoming professional gatherings.

According to the Press and Public Relations Department of the RA
Ministry of Diaspora, during the meeting the Minister proposed the
President of the Coordination Council of the Armenian Organizations
of France to work out and implement a joint program which can assist
making Armenia-Diaspora ties closer and support development of small
and medium-sized business. The Minister’s next proposal refered to
the assistance in the issue of translation of the French section of
the Hayern Aysor electronic newspaper.

Alexis Govciyan expressed readiness to discuss the presented proposals
and to more closely cooperate with the Ministry. The guest represented
the Minister works done by the AGBU Europe structure, particularly,
educational and cultural programs.

WILL ARF DEMAND THE FOREIGN MINISTER’S RESIGNATION?

Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
13.07.2009 14:51

The statements demanding Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s
resignation became very popular in Stepanakert after the statement the
Presidents of the US, Russia and France released within the framework
of the G8 summit last week. Speakers at the pan-Armenian conference in
Stepanakert were insisting on the resignation in their speeches. They
were referring to the example of Turkey, which recently changed its
Foreign Minister.

However, the requirement of Edward Nalbandian’s resignation was not
included in the final conclusion.

The conference featured representatives of different political forces.

Therefore, any of them should take a separate decision. For example,
ARF Dashnaktsutyun lays the blame for the mistakes it notices in the
negotiation process only on the Foreign Minister, although according
to the Constitution, the latter is appointed by the President. Will
Dashnaktsutyun demand Edward Nalbandian to resign within the coming
days?

"The format, where one person is responsible for everything, often
leads to a deadlock. We have always considered that anyone should be
accountable for his sphere. It’s a correct format for the governance
of the country," Levon Lazarian said.

According to him, the ARF Bureau and Supreme Body will convene a
sitting soon, and they will present their stance afterwards.

KYRGYZSTAN: UZBEKS DIG TRENCHES ALONG STRETCHES OF BORDER

Eurasianet

June 10, 2009

The Kyrgyz Border Service confirms that Uzbek guards are digging
trenches along stretches of their mutual border across from the
Kyrgyz districts of Jalalabad and Batken. However, in a statement
to EurasiaNet, the Service denied media reports that 7-meter tall
concrete walls are also being built to separate the two countries.

The trenches, which are reportedly 3 meters wide, are the latest in a
series of measures instituted since attacks in Khanabad and Andijan on
May 26. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Locals say
the trenches are due to be filled with water to create makeshift moats.

"On the border of our village territory we don’t see any digging. But
before that there were iron gratings. Relations between the residents
of the two neighboring regions have recently ended," Kalukberdi
Shermatov, the head of Kyrgyz-Kyshtak, a village in Batken, told the
AKIpress news agency on June 10.

"Before, residents of Uzbekistan used to visit Batken, where their
relatives live, or come in for trade. Also, they used to bring their
fruits and vegetables to Kadamjai [district center] to sell. The
cessation of the relations could bring damage to both sides," he added.

MICHAEL JOSEPH MARTIN ONLY ARMENIAN LEFT IN DHAKA

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.04.2009 14:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Michael Joseph Martin is guarded about his exact
age and reluctant to accept he will be the last in a long line of
Armenians to make a major contribution to the history of Bangladesh.

Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, was once home to thousands of migrants
from the former Soviet republic who grew to dominate the city’s trade
and business life.

But Martin, aged in his 70s, is now the only one left, AFP reports.

"When I die, maybe one of my three daughters will fly in from Canada
to keep our presence here alive," Martin said hopefully, speaking
broken Bengali with a thick accent. "Or perhaps other Armenians will
come from somewhere else."

Martin came to Dhaka in 1942 during World War II, following in the
footsteps of his father who had settled in the region decades earlier.

They joined an Armenian community in Bangladesh dating back to the
16th century, but now Martin worries about who will look after the
large Armenian church in the city’s old quarter.

"This is a blessed place and God won’t leave it unprotected and uncared
for," he said of the Church of Holy Resurrection, which was built in
1781 in the Armanitola, or Armenian district.

Martin – whose full name is Mikel Housep Martirossian – looks after
the church and its graveyard where 400 of his countrymen are buried,
including his wife who died three years ago.

"I’ve seen bad days before, but we always bounced back. I am sure
Armenians will come back here for trade and business. I will then
rest in peace beside my wife."

Panorama.am
20:48 13/03/2009

SERZH SARGSYAN AND MANOUCHEHR MOTTAKI SIGNIFY CONSTRUCTION OF
IRAN-ARMENIA RAILROAD

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received the Foreign Minister
of Iran Islamic Republic Manouchehr Mottaki, who is paying his working
visit to Armenia.

Serzh Sargsyan has highly evaluated the level of bilateral
co-operation and stressed that Iran is a good neighbor and reliable
partner for Armenia.

The Foreign Minister expressed his opinion regarding the Armenian
President’s forthcoming visit to Iran which would serve as a new speed
to start co-operation in other fields.

The parties have signified the construction of Iran-Armenia railroad
which would be useful not only for Armenia and Iran but for the
region, too.

Source: Panorama.am

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS PROTECTION AND RECONSTRUCTION ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.03.2009 21:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Holding the rotating presidency in the BCES, Armenia
will host "Protection and reconstruction of cultural and historical
monuments of BSEC countries" round table discussions on March 4 and 5.

Establishment of "Cultural News of Black Sea Region" periodical will
be officially announced during the event, which will bring together
representatives from the Organization’s member countries.

Besides, "Cultural Mosaic" exhibit will open in the Armenian National
Art Gallery and "Cloudless sky above the Black Sea" children’s works
exhibition will be held in the National Esthetic Center.