Author: Nadirian Emma

NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS CONVENTIONALLY FROZEN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
20.11.2009 20:25 GMT+04:00

The process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations has
conventionally "frozen", Aleq Enigomshyan, Director of the "Monte
Melkonyan" Foundation told a roundtable on "Current Situation of the
Armenian-Turkish Conflict", initiated by the "Sardarapat" movement in
Yerevan.

"Apparently, signed protocols on normalization of Armenia-Turkey
relations will not take effect until Armenia makes concessions in
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict talks. This was repeatedly stated by senior
Turkish officials, Aleq Enigomshyan said. He added that Armenia
expects serious progress "in the Karabakh front".

Representative of the "Sardarapat" movement Jirair Sefilian announced
today that the real problem is that the Armenian leadership is trying
to show that the majority of citizens support the signed protocols,
while, according to Mr. Serfilian, they do not.

"We must mobilize all forces to ensure that the people expressed their
real position in respect to normalization of Armenia-Turkey
relations," he said.

According to a member of the "Sardarapat" organizing committee Tigran
Khzmalyan , Armenia has a chance to analyze the current situation.

"The ruling elite of Armenia should make this process to served our
national interests," Tigran Khzmalyan said.

A WORLD CHAMPION WHO’S JUST ANOTHER FACE IN THE CROWD
DANIEL LEWIS

The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
November 16, 2009 Monday
First Edition

SPORTS PERFORMER AWARDS

HE GETS mobbed on the streets of Los Angeles and in his native
Armenia. Yet in his adopted homeland of Australia, he can walk down
the streets of Marrickville, where he own’s Jeff Fenech’s famous old
gym, and not get so much as a knowing glance. Welcome to the weird
world of Victor Darchinyan.

Unlike high-profile Australian boxers, Darchinyan’s level of fame
seems to be in inverse proportion to the number of quality opponents
he sends to the canvas.

In his 35 professional bouts he has lost just twice and drawn once,
while 26 of his 32 victories have come from knockouts and aficionados
have no doubt Darchinyan is highly deserving of an accolade such as
The Age’s Sports Performer of the Year award, presented by Colonial
First State.

Jamie Pandaram, who covers boxing for the Sydney Morning Herald,
wrote in February that Darchinyan was "better than Jeff Fenech, more
comprehensive than Kostya Tszyu. When Vic Darchinyan finally hangs
up the gloves, he will be recognised as the greatest pugilist ever
to fight for Australia".

Born in 1976, multilingual, university educated, a former soldier and
just 166 centimetres, Darchinyan is nicknamed "Raging Bull" ââ~B¬"
a southpaw with a knockout punch in both explosive hands. But he is
also entitled to rage about his lack of recognition in Australia. As
one magazine profile noted this year: "Darchinyan gets fewer autograph
requests here than Sydney FC’s second-choice goalkeeper."

A year ago, in the super flyweight division, he unified the IBF, WBA
and WBC belts by mauling glamour boy Cristian Mijares of Mexico in a
bout in California. His most recent fight, in July, saw him suffer
his second defeat, beaten on points by Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko as he
tried to claim the IBF bantamweight title.

SWITZERLAND HOPES FOR SOON RATIFICATION OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

armradio.am
19.11.2009 15:35

There is no formal relation between resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and Turkey-Armenia rapprochement, Committee of Ministers of
the Council of Europe Chairman and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline
Calmy-Rey told Trend News today

Calmy-Rey also said the two countries should ratify the Turkish and
Armenian protocols in the rapprochement process.

"We hope both Turkey and Armenia will ratify the protocols soon," the
minister said, noting that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution
and Turkey-Armenia rapprochement have no formal relation.

According to the official, the processes are connected, yet independent
at the same time.

"The OSCE Minsk Group is engaged in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The
other process deals with the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations
with Swiss mediation," she said.

The minister expressed hope in the prompt ratification of the
protocols.

"We hope the ratification process will be held soon. The processes
are not connected. Of course, progress on one issue will positively
impact the second affair," the minister added.

ST. GEVORG CHURCH COLLAPSED

Lragir.am
November 18, 2009

Press service of the Armenian diocese of Georgia

Today, at midnight, the St. Gevorg Church of Mughni in Tbilisi built
in 1356 collapsed. Besides, the main dome, the church had other three
small domes at its three angles. In 1736, St. Gevorg Church was one of
the seven churches of Tbilisi which was a part of the Haghpat diocese.

In 1789, the church tower was built. In 1795, the church was plundered
by the Iranians. In 1852-93, partial reconstructions were made in
the church.

During the Soviet years, the church served as a museum of folk art,
after a reserve and in 1990, it was definitely closed down being
qualified as non-recoverable.

St. Gevorg of Mughni is one of the five churches for which
St. Echmiadzin addressed a number of letters to return it to its
dioceses to the Georgian government, patriarchy, international
organizations.

This issue was brought up by the press too. But all remained
unanswered. Noteworthy, this is the second collapsed Armenian Church,
the first one collapsed in 1989.

We think the whole responsibility bears the Georgian ministry of
protection of culture and monuments. All this creates the impression
that the Georgian government not paying enough attention to the
preservation of churches, destroys them on purpose.

TURKISH FM: IF WE DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE STATUS QUO ON KARABAKH, IT WILL BECOME PERMANENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.11.2009 12:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that
Turkey would never give up its final perspective Europe. Davutoglu
said during a debate at the parliament on the budget of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, "Turkey cannot be offended in its relations with
Europe, the United States, the Middle East and the Central Asia.

Turkey is a regional actor. Also, our unique geographical position
entails us to develop foreign policies for many regions at the same
time. We cannot say that we do not care about what happens in Europe
or in Iran."

Referring to the Protocols signed with Armenia, Davutoglu said, "Our
target with those Protocols is mutual recognition of the borders by
Turkey and Armenia. The protocols clearly define the borders. There
is nothing in those protocols against Turkey’s interests."

"This status quo has not changed for the past 17 years. We attach
great importance to protection Azerbaijani territories. If we do not
try to change the status quo for another 10 years, it will become
permanent. Our target is to change the situation in the region
through diplomatic ways. In that case, Turkey-Armenia relations can
be normalized", Davutoglu added, Anatolian News agency reported.

ARTISTS UNION ORGANIZES ART EXHIBITS IN HONOUR OF KOCHAR AND SARYAN’S ANNIVERSARIES

Tert
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

The Artists Union of Armenia plans to organize a number of exhibits
in 2010 in honour of the anniversaries of well-known Armenian artists
Kochar and Saryan, said the union’s president, Karen Aghamyan, at a
press conference today.

According to Aghamyan, 2010 is the 100th anniversary of painter Ervand
Kochar, whose work work will be displayed in three exhibit halls.

Aghamyan anticipates funding from Armenia’s Ministry of Culture in
organizing this exhibit. "It’s not only our event, after all, it’s
the country’s event, is it not?" he noted.

The coming year is Armenian painter Martiros Saryan’s anniversary as
well. According to the Armenian Artists Union President, Saryan’s work
will be displayed in an exhibit opening at the National Art Gallery.

Concluding, Aghamyan said that an exhibit is planned for early April
next year on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide.

NATO SHOULD COOPERATE WITH PARTNER STATES TO COMBAT CYBER ATTACKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.11.2009 18:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 13-17, Heritage faction leader Stepan
Safaryan, Republican Party MPs Karen Avagyan and Artak Zakaryan, as
well as NA Secretary Zabela Kazaryan attended NATO General Assembly’s
55th session in Edinburgh.

On November 14, Stepan Safaryan delivered a speech in committee
session which focused on the report on "NATO and Cyber-protection."

"Armenia was this year twice subjected to cyber-attacks. Our society
has already perceived and realized the importance of cyberspace,
as well as the threats of cyber attacks," Safaryan said, adding that
several government Web sites and Armenian news portals recently fell
victim to such attacks. "Hackers posted Azerbaijani state and national
symbols on some official sites," he stressed.

Armenian representative highly assessed reports submitted by NATO
delegation, Sverre Myrli, representative of the sub-committee on the
Future Security and Defence Capabilities, and Rex Hughes, Director of
Cyber-Protection Programs at Royal Institute of International Affairs.

He also noted that NATO partner states are already involved in
initiatives like "Cooperation for Peace" or "Knowledge for Peace"
and it’s now time for Alliance to cooperate with member states in
combating cyber attacks.

"Such initiative will help resist new wars," Heritage faction’s press
service quotes Safaryan as saying.

CONSTRUCTION OF MEGHRI HYDROPOWER PLANT MAY KICK OFF IN EARLY 2010: MINISTER

ARKA
November 18, 2009
Yerevan

YEREVAN, November 18, /ARKA/. In interview with Russian RIA Novosti
news agency Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen
Movsisyan said construction of a hydro power plant near the town of
Meghri, on the River of Arax, separating Armenia from Iran, could be
started in early 2010.

He said the final documents to this end are expected to be signed
later this year during a recurrent meeting of Armenian-Iranian
intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.

In 2007 Armenia and Iran agreed to build two hydropower plants on
the border river of Arax each with 140 megawatt capacity. The cost
of the Armenian plant is estimated at $240 million.

On the Armenian side the plant will be near the town of Meghri and
on the Iranian side near the town of Karachilar. Each will have the
capacity to produce 800 million KWh of power annually.

The minister said construction of the hydropower plant is one of
three major energy projects envisaged by an agreement signed by both
countries during Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to Iran.

According to the minister, construction of the plant will be funded
by the Iranian side, while the Armenian side will repay by supplying
electrical power to Iran. He said construction of the plant, originally
planned for mid 2009, was postponed because of the political situation
in Iran following its presidential election.

The projected capacity of the hydropower plant is 130-140 megawatt
which will allow to produce annually about 850 million kWh electricity.

INEXPERIENCED MINISTER DISMISSED

news.am, Armenia
Nov 18 2009

The reason for the release of Gevorg Petrosyan from the post of RA
Minister of Lbor and Social Security is his inexperience, Khachik
Galstyan, Spokesman for Gagik Tsarukyan, Chairman of the Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP), told NEWS.am.

"It is a very heavy sector, and the tasks Gagik Tsarukyan set to
the person in charge of the sector have not yet been accomplished,"
Galstyan said.

We would remind our readers that the PAP faction member Naira
Zohrabyan, and Gevorg Petrosyan himself, stated the minister resigned
for health reasons.

In his recent interview with NEWS.am Aram Safaryan, Secretary of
the PAP faction, said that the PAP was satisfied with Petrosyan’s
activities. As regards the contradictory statements made by PAP
members, Galstyan said: "We are not speaking about content or
discontent, rather about a high level of management of the sector.

Social security is a delicate field, as we are nominating a person with
wide experience." Galstyan named the candidate for the post – Mkhitar
Mnatsakanyan, Chairman of the Armenian Society of the Red Cross.

VIVACELL-MTS WILL HAVE ITS OWN FIBER-OPTICAL NETWORK IN ARMENIA

AZG DAILY
18-11-2009

Local

VivaCell-MTS and GNC-Alfa CJSC signed an agreement that will allow
VivaCell-MTS building of an own high-speed, fiber-optic backbone
network. Under this contract, VivaCell-MTS will acquire the optical
dark fibers in GNC-Alfa’s Fiber Optic Cable system laid between
Yerevan and Armenian-Iranian border.

The GNC-Alfa’s Fiber Optic Network Cable is interconnected to Iran’s
long-distance fiber-optic network and is providing further access to
the worldwide telecommunications networks. Thanks to the agreement
VivaCell-MTS will have an independent and reliable nationwide network
having international access for voice and high speed data and Internet
services. GNC-Alfa will provide operation and maintenance of the
acquired fibers.

The high-speed, fiber-optic network will provide Armenia with high
digital communications online speeds. Higher education and R&D
institutions may use the system for educational and research purposes.

It has a big potential for increasing international collaboration
and sharing resources, the company’s website reports.