Author: Nadirian Emma

Georgian Daily, Georgia
July 26 2009

Georgia Moves To Alienate South Ossetia, Abkhazia Further

July 26, 2009

The working group on territorial integrity and local self-government,
one of nine created within the framework of the 70-member commission
set up to draft amendments to the Georgian Constitution, proposed on
July 22 dropping from the reworked constitution the designation "South
Ossetia" in favor of "Tskhinvali region," Caucasus Press reported.

That region will have unspecified "special status" with "an
unspecified degree of autonomy," according to working group chairman
Kakhi Kurashvili. Abkhazia and Adjara will be designated autonomous
republics within Georgia with the right to adopt their own
constitutions — a right that South Ossetia apparently will not
share. In all, Georgia will comprise 13 territorial units.

The working group’s proposal is comparable with the decision taken in
November 1990, in violation of a pre-election pledge by then-Georgian
parliament chairman Zviad Gamsakhurdia to abolish South Ossetia’s
status as an autonomous oblast within Georgia. It was that reversal by
Gamsakhurdia that triggered fighting between informal Ossetian and
Georgian militias in early 1991 that culminated in Tbilisi’s ultimate
loss of control over South Ossetia in 1992.

The successive peace proposals for Abkhazia and/or South Ossetia
unveiled by President Mikheil Saakashvili in September 2004, January
2005, and July 2005, and by then-Georgian Prime Minister Zurab
Noghaideli in October 2005, all offered only "broad autonomy" to the
two breakaway republics, and for that reason were immediately and
unconditionally rejected. Russia formally recognized both Abkhazia and
South Ossetia as independent states in August 2008; the only other
country to follow suit was Nicaragua.

The very term "autonomy" in the post-Soviet context is anathema
because Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics and Autonomous Oblasts
within the framework of the USSR did not in practice have any leeway
in taking even the most minor decisions. It was this perceived
inequality that gave rise to the mass anti-Georgian protests in
Abkhazia in the spring of 1978, and to the demand in February 1988 by
the oblast soviet of the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast for
the region’s transfer from Azerbaijani jurisdiction to the Armenian
SSR.

In his July 23 address to the Georgian parliament, U.S. Vice President
Joe Biden called on lawmakers "to keep the doors open to the Abkhaz
and South Ossetians, so that they know they have other options besides
the status quo," however difficult such overtures might be. He further
urged parliamentarians to build "a peaceful and prosperous Georgia
that has the prospect of restoring your territorial integrity by
showing those in Abkhazia and South Ossetia a Georgia where they can
be free and their communities can flourish; where they can enjoy
autonomy within a federal system of government, where life can be so
much better for them than it is now."

Commenting on that exhortation the following day, Georgian Minister
for Reintegration Issues Temur Yakobashvili told journalists that any
decision on a federal structure should be delayed until after the
"de-occupation" of Georgian territory, meaning the withdrawal from
Abkhazia and South Ossetia of the Russian troops currently stationed
there and the two republics’ re-subordination to the central Georgian
government.

ONLY 10 OF OVER 70 HOTELS IN ARMENIA QUALIFIED

Noyan Tapan
July 24, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. There are more
than 70 hotels in Armenia. Several sanatoriums, motels, camps and
tourists’ homes are also available. Head of the Tourism and Territorial
Development Department of RA Ministry of Economy Mekhak Apresian stated
at the July 24 press conference that ten hotels and four tourists’
homes are qualified in the country.

The only 5 star hotel in Armenia is the Golden Palace. There
are several 4, 3 and 1 star hotels. All the qualified hotels are
located in the capital city. Two bids for qualification have been
submitted, including a bid from Gyumri. According to M. Apresian,
the qualification is done on a voluntary basis.

As regards the price policy, M. Apresian noted that the state cannot
exert any influence on the price policy of the private sector. The
market has its say here: if the prices are high, people do not use
these services. It is possible to affect the price policy only in
the order and the cases envisaged by the law on the protection of
economic competition. In the opinion of M. Apresian, the introduction
of the system of hotels’ qualification is a serious mechanism for
regulating prices and exerting an indirect influence to ensure a
favorable atmosphere. This system has just been introduced and its
results will be seen in the coming years. M. Apresian said it will
contribute to investment attraction.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN VISITS ZVARTNOTS AIRPORT
Shakeh Avoyan

"Radiolur"
24.07.2009 17:17

President Serzh Sargsyan today visited the Armenia International
Airways CJSC to get acquainted with the construction of a new complex
at the public sector of the airport.

Construction works started in 2008, and the new complex will be put
into commission in 2011, after which Zvartnots International Airport
will be able to serve 3 million passengers a year.

President Sargsyan walked about the departure and arrival halls and
familiarized with the newly implemented technical systems.

GDP IN ARMENIA DECREASED BY 16.3% IN JANUARY-JUNE 2009

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
21.07.2009 13:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ GDP in Armenia decreased by 16.3% in January-June
2009 compared with 2008 results.

According to RA National Statistical Service -provided data, GDP volume
comprised AMD 1119,4 billion. In accordance with state budget, 9,2%
GDP increase is planned in Armenia in 2009.

In January -June 2009 production index in Armenia fell by 11.5% to
comprise AMD 487.8 million. The greatest slump of 53,5% is registered
in construction sphere.

ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES IN ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY DEMAND THAT NKR BE INVOLVED IN TALKS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
20.07.2009 15:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Following the recent meeting between Armenian
and Azeri Presidents, Armenian communities in Argentina and Uruguay
conducted crowded protests near the Embassies of OSCE MG Co-Chairing
states (US, France and Russia). Armenian communities demand that
above-mentioned countries cease exerting pressures on Armenia in NKR
settlement process. They unanimously believe that concessions pose
serious threat to both Armenia and Artsakh.

Armenian communities also demanded that NKR be involved in talks
determining its further fate.

RIA Novosti

July 17, 2009 Friday 5:37 PM GMT+3

Armenia, Azerbaijan should make concessions on territory – OSCE chief

LENGTH: 362 words

DATELINE: BAKU July 17

The OSCE secretary general said on Friday that Armenia and Azerbaijan
should make concessions based on the principles set out by the Minsk
Group to settle the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

The co-chairs of the Minsk Group, the United States, Russia and
France, which are mediating the territorial dispute between Baku and
Yerevan, said during the G8 meeting in L’Aquila earlier this month
they would submit a revised set of proposals on the disputed region of
Nagorny Karabakh to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"The principles declared in L’Aquila by leaders of the states
co-chairing the OSCE’s Minsk Group should be acceptable to both
parties in the conflict, and they should move towards rapprochement on
the basis of these principles," Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said at a
news conference in Baku.

"I believe today’s Moscow meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, is an important step," he
added.

The presidents were to hold bilateral talks in Moscow on Friday before
trilateral discussions including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on
Saturday.

Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet
republics since the late 1980s. The province has its own government
and is de facto independent.

According to the Minsk Group, Azerbaijan and Armenia must come to an
agreement on the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh on the basis
of the Madrid 2007 agreement.

The group also unveiled new principles for settling the dispute,
including defining Nargorny Karabakh’s status in regard to freedom of
movement with Armenia, as well as road and rail links between the
two. The group also said that security in the area be guaranteed and
troops should be withdrawn.

A war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the mountainous enclave in
1988-1994 left an estimated 35,000 people dead. Sporadic violence on
the border has continued ever since.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan met in Prague last month to discuss the conflict, on the
sidelines of the EU’s Eastern Partnership summit, and said some
progress had been reached.

I DO NOT BELIEVE AZERBAIJANI GOVERNMENT PREPARING FOR WAR: U.S. EXPERT

Today.Az
/53895.html
July 17 2009
Azerbaijan

"I do not believe that Azerbaijani government is preparing for war,"
director of Graduated Institute of International Studies of Geneva
Daniel Warner said.

He said he understands Armenia’s concerns over Azerbaijan’s large
military expenditure and Armenia is obliged to maintain equality in
the region. But it is also noticeable that number of Russian troops
in Armenia is impressive.

He rejected the view that some super powers benefit from the Karabakh
conflict. "I do not think any super power is interested in a war
in the region. No one is interested in any country’s possessing
potential strong enough to launch a war. I think all are interested
in prosperity, stability and unity in the South Caucasus," Warner said.

ISRAELI PEOPLE ASHAMED OF STATE POLICY OF ARMENIANS GENOCIDE DENIAL

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.07.2009 11:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Israeli people is ashamed of state policy of
Armenian Genocide denial, according to Zhorzhetta Avagyan, Hay Dat
office in Jerusalem.

"We always remind the government and Knesset about the necessity
to recognize the first Genocide of the 20th century. But Israel has
close links with Turkey, what effects its state policy," she told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Commenting on reaction of the Armenian community to signature of the
road map agreement, she said that Ankara uses the same tools in talks
with Yerevan talks as Jerusalem applies for Palestine

TORONTO MAN GRIEVES LOSS OF WIFE AND SON, 3, IN TEHRAN PLANE CRASH
Diana Mehta

Metro News – Halifax
icle/263034–toronto-man-grieves-loss-of-wife-and- son-3-in-tehran-plane-crash
July 16 2009
Canada

TORONTO – Vahik Khachik’s three-year-old son was off to see his
grandmother in Armenia for the first time and his wife was going to
plan a family party when he waved goodbye to them Wednesday at the
airport in Tehran.

But before he even had time to drive home, news that their plane had
crashed came over the radio. The Toronto man is now left mourning the
family he lost with no word on why the Caspian Airlines jetliner came
down just 16 minutes after take-off.

Nana Antashyam, 35, was flying to Armenia with their son Edward so
he could meet the rest of his extended family.

Khachik is devastated by the loss and has spent the last day in an
emotional haze, said long-time family friend Garbe Andishian.

"He is crying for his wife and kid and we’re trying to comfort him,"
Andishian said from the Khachik residence in Tehran. "The family is
in very bad shape."

Relatives from both sides of the family gathered at the home Thursday,
waiting for news on the crash investigation and any word on bodies
found.

The Khachik family left Canada for Iran in early July to baptize
Edward and attend a wedding, said Leonard Rideout, a family friend
and tenant of the Khachik’s in Toronto.

Antashyam was a classical pianist and piano teacher with the Ontario
Conservatory of music, Rideout said.

"She was a very nice lady, a good wife and a good mother, you couldn’t
ask for better."

Antashyam was planning to arrange her sister’s birthday party while
in Armenia, and was dropped off at the airport by her husband and
brother-in-law, said Rideout. Khachik told him by phone that he heard
the tragic news on the car radio after leaving airport, he added.

Andishian described Antashyam as an enthusiastic woman and
well-educated woman.

"She was full of life, always looking forward to life," said Andishian,
whose voice faltered when he spoke about Edward.

"He was an amazing kid, he was very intelligent," he said. "Some
people said he can reach any position in life when he grows up."

Andishian recalls Edward clambering up to a piano and plonking away
at the keys as he tried to imitate his mother.

"Edward was learning, copying sometimes. He was a brilliant kid,"
he said.

"We miss them… It’s hard."

The cause of the crash was not yet known. Investigators have recovered
two of the three black boxes belonging to the jetliner, which was
bound for Yerevan, Armenia.

The chief investigator, Ahmad Majidi, has said the cockpit voice and
flight data recorders would likely be sent to the aircraft’s Russian
manufacturers for analysis.

Most of the passengers were Iranians, many of them from Iran’s large
ethnic Armenian community, as well as 11 members of Iran’s national
youth judo team.

Five Armenian citizens were among the dead and Armenia on Thursday
announced a one-day national state of mourning to mark the death of its
citizens in the crash, according to the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass.

The Tu-154M jet had taken off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International
Airport and crashed about 16 minutes after takeoff, near the city of
Qazvin, around 120 kilometres northwest of Tehran.

July 17, 2009

U.S. Embassy Yerevan
Evelina Arabyan Press Assistant
1 American Avenue
Yerevan, Armenia 375082
Phone: (374 10) 494 200 ext.4591
Fax: (374 10) 464 735
E-mail: [email protected]

U.S. EMBASSY DONATES COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, RADIOS AND A VEHICLE TO ASSIST
THE RA POLICE TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

On July 17, 2009, the U.S. government donated computer and radio
equipment and a vehicle, worth a total of over $40,000, to the National
Police Unit to Combat Trafficking-in-Persons under the Main Department
Combating Organized Crime. The donation ceremony on behalf of the U.S.
Embassy was attended by Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch and, on behalf
of the Government of Armenia- by Chief of Police Major-General Alik
Sargsyan.

Purchased by the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
Office of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, the equipment includes two
servers, several computers and printers, six radios and a vehicle. The
new equipment and the vehicle are donated to assist the Unit to Combat
Trafficking-in-Persons to effectively and speedily implement operations
and searches; compile, process and preserve sensitive information and
databases on the trafficking cases and traffickers; as well as protect
victims from potential threats during the investigation of cases. It
will also contribute to effective cooperation between the Police Unit
and other stakeholders (state agencies and NGOs) in implementation of
the National Referral Mechanism and National Action Plans to fight
trafficking-in-persons.

In the most recent U.S. Department of State Trafficking-in-Persons
Report, Armenia was ranked in Tier 2, reflecting advances made by the
Armenian Government, NGOs and citizens in combating modern-day slavery.

This project is only part of the U.S. Government’s comprehensive law
enforcement assistance program in the Republic of Armenia. The U.S.
Embassy in Yerevan, through its International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Section, has funded the renovation of the Police Induction
Center in Kanaker and donated administrative and classroom equipment to
the Police Academy of the RA. In cooperation with the Government of
Armenia the Embassy successfully established a nationwide computer
network for the RA Police. U.S. Government assistance in the fight
against human trafficking is directed at training law enforcement
personnel in investigation, prosecution and prevention of the crime,
victim protection, as well as legislative instruments and international
practice in the field. The U.S. Government has been funding the
operations of the NGO "Hope and Help," which provides a hotline,
shelter, and social, psychological and legal assistance to the victims
of trafficking.