Author: Nahapetian Samvel

ARMENIA-EU COOPERATION DISCUSSED WITH EUROPEAN OFFICIALS IN LUXEMBOURG: NALBANDIAN

Tert
Oct 27 2009
Armenia

After the Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council’s 10th annual
session, which took place on October 26 in Luxembourg, Republic
of Armenia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Edward Nalbandian met with
Secretary General of the Council of the European Union Javier Solana.

As announced by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry press office, Minister
Nalbandian and Secretary-General Solana discussed a number of issues
related to Armenia-EU cooperation and exchanged ideas on developments
in the region.

Afterwards, the foreign ministers from Armenia, Sweden, Georgia and
Azerbaijan, along with EU Commissioner for External Relations and
European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, gave a joint
press conference.

EU Foreign Ministers Council Chair and Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl
Bildt highly praised the progress in EU-Armenia relations, saying
that EU welcomes the signing of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols and
that he hopes the sides will ratify the Protocols soon and put them
into force while respecting the agreements reached.

Addressing the press, Ferrero-Waldner attached importance to the EU
initiative of providing macroeconomic assistance to Armenia in the sum
of 100 million EUR as a step promoting the development of Armenia’s
economy. She also stated that the activities of the EU parliamentary
group in Armenia were a complete success.

On the morning of the same day, Nalbandian had met his Georgian
counterpart: Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze. During the
meeting, the sides referred to the Armenian-Georgian bilateral agenda.

EUROPEAN LAWMAKER EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP

Anadolu Agency
Oct 26 2009
Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) – 26.10.2009 – A European lawmaker voiced strong support
for Turkish membership in the European Union, urging concerted effort
for Turkey’s accession to the Union. "I believe in a dream of an EU
with Turkey in it. A Europe with Turkey as a part of it would make
greater contributions to peace," said Helen Flautre, co-chairwoman
of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission.

Flautre said Turkish government’s latest move to widen democratic
rights and freedoms was important for the democratization of country,
expressing support for also Turkey’s "zero problem policy" with
its neighbors.

"The protocols that Turkey signed with Armenia were even impossible
to dream of just a couple of years back," Flautre told a meeting of
the commission in Ankara, the Turkish capital.

Flautre said European Commission’s progress report on Turkey was
"cold and lacked optimism."

"Turkey has successfully made a number of reforms over the last few
years and the Turkish society is vibrant with its political and social
transformation," she said.

R. YIRIKYAN. "WE FORGET TO THINK ABOUT OUR FATHERLAND"

Aysor
Oct 26 2009
Armenia

The 2nd international "Arevordi" ("SunChild") nature protection
festival launched yesterday, by the masquerade-marching. The
marching started from the Matenadaran. Around 500 young people were
participating with animal masks and animal dresses. They moved to
the square after Charles Aznavour.

The "Arevordi" nature protecting festival is organized and realized
by the fund of the wild nature protection and monuments preservation
of Armenia together with "VivaCell" company.

The children were giving flower seeds to the passengers and involving
them into the festival. The marching was accompanied by the music
and circus groups of children.

In the square of Charles Aznavour where the marching stopped were
placed the sculptures of endemic animals made of used bottles and other
used components. Here there were not only the huge, strange statues
but also the choir of the youth who was attracting the attention of
everyone by its music.

In front of the "Moscow" cinema there was put a red carpet for the
honored guests of the festival. On the solemn opening ceremony of
the festival which took place in the "Moscow" cinema Ashot Adamyan
the famous Armenian actor said words of greeting and reminded about
the nature protection problem in the world.

Greeting speeches were read by Ruben Khachatryan the director of the
fund of wild nature protection and preservation of the monuments of
Armenia, and the director of "Arevordi", Serzh Smesov the French
ambassador to Armenia and Ralf Yirikyan the chief manager of
"VivaCell-MTS" company.

"We forget to think about our fatherland and it’s time to come out
from the deadlock mentality, to care about our fatherland and bring
up our children and to teach them the importance of protecting the
nature and the surrounding environment", – highlighted Ralf Yirikyan
and announced the opening of the festival.

CONCEPT FOR AN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CENTER WITH AN HOTEL IN THE CITY OF YEREVAN

Professione Architetto
Oct 26 2009

Complesso multifunzionale e un Hotel a Yerevan – international
competition

The competition is announced by Avangard Motor LCC in conjunction
with Yerevan city Hall and the Union of Architects of the Republic
of Armenia, along with the participation of the Ministry of Urban
Development of the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Diaspora of
the Republic of Armenia, and the International Association of Unions
of Architects (IAUA)

The goal of the competition is to realiza a new and original urban
development project that is both architecturally and functionally
integrated into the surrounding cityscape.

The competition is open, international, and conducted in one phase.

The following are invited to take part: Architects worldwide,
individually or in teams led by an architect, that have the right to
practice the profession in their countries. Organizations that have
a license for practicing architecture

Awards for winning projects shall be as follows:

First place prize – $70,000 USD, as well as, upon the mutual consent,
further cooperation on the development of the project

Second place prize – $30,000 USD

Third place prize – $15,000 USD

Agence France Presse
Oct 22 2009

Turkey reassures anxious Azerbaijan on Armenia deal

by Emil Guliyev
BAKU, Oct 22 2009

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday reassured
Turkey’s anxious ally Azerbaijan that Ankara would not ignore Baku’s
interests in its reconciliation efforts with Armenia.

Davutoglu met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov amid
growing concern in Baku that Turkey is diminishing its support in
Azerbaijan’s conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh
region.

"We consider Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity as important as
Turkey’s. We value it and will never cause damage to it," Davutoglu
told journalists after the meeting, held on the sidelines of a
gathering of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation regional grouping.

"We will do everything for the liberation of Azerbaijan’s territories.
Turkey’s authorities will not change their policy on this issue.
Nothing will damage our unity," he said.

The two ministers later visited a cemetery in Baku where Turkish
soldiers who fought for Azerbaijan in the early 20th century are
buried.

Baku removed Turkish flags from the cemetery after complaining that
the Azerbaijani flag was not allowed at a football match in the
Turkish city of Bursa earlier this month that was attended by the
Armenian and Turkish leaders. Turkish officials later expressed regret
over the flag incident.

Mammadyarov told reporters at the cemetery that he had discussed the
flag dispute with his Turkish counterpart.

"As far as the crisis over the flag is concerned, minister Davutoglu
has told us that Turkey is investigating the incident and that those
who are guilty will be punished," he said. "We agreed to resolve any
problems jointly."

The Turkish government on Wednesday submitted to parliament two
landmark protocols with Armenia aimed at ending decades of hostility
over World War I-era massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey and Armenia on October 10 signed the pacts on establishing
diplomatic ties and opening their common border after months of Swiss
mediation and need their respective parliaments’ approval before the
deals can take effect.

Although internationally hailed as a major step, the deals have deeply
angered Azerbaijan, which fears a drop in Turkish support over Nagorny
Karabakh.

Backed by Yerevan, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of
Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan during a war
in the early 1990s that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan — with which it has strong ethnic, trade and energy
links — against Yerevan’s support for the enclave’s separatists.

In remarks deeply worrying for Ankara, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev said last week that Turkish terms for buying Azerbaijani gas
were unacceptable and that Baku is considering other routes for
shipping its gas to Europe.

Ex-Soviet Azerbaijan is the starting point for a key corridor of
energy pipelines carrying oil and gas from the Caspian Sea through
Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

ARF DASHNAKTIUTYUN PARTY IS PREPARING TO MAKE POWER CHANGE IN THE COUNTRY

ArmInfo
2009-10-23 16:57:00

ArmInfo. ARF Dashnaktiutyun party will to make the power change in
the country if the parliament ratifies the Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

As representative of Supreme Body of ARFD, the head of the permanent
parliamentary commission on foreign issues Armen Rustamyan said at
today’s press-conference, the fight of the ARFD may possibly turn
into the fight for power changing.

Dashnaktiutyun party has come forward with a new Platform, where
the Dashnaks demand what they used to demand being in the political
coalition, i.e., resolving if social as well as national and democratic
problems. Moreover, the Platform says that ARFD is preparing to
the all-republican elections. The party requires establishment of
100% proportional system of the parliamentary elections, as well
as decrease of the number of deputies. The Platform says about
importance of forming anti-corruption agency, which should be headed
by the representative of the opposition. The National Assembly should
appoint chairman of Central Electoral Commission.

Rustamyan said that the Platform will give an opportunity to listen
to the opinion and critics of the society as well as to cooperate
with other political forces.

Asked if ARFD will demand the president’s resignation, Rustamyan
replied: ‘The president himself should tender his resignation, and
with our Platform we are preparing to implement the power change,
which means not only resignation of the president of the republic,
but also the speaker of the parliament and other officials.’ He also
said: ‘The authorities said there is no compulsion in the process
of normalization of relations with Turkey, but at the ceremony of
the Protocols signing in Zurich, those who forced, were standing
behind those who were signing the Protocols’. The Dashnaks promise
to implement power changing immediately after ratification of the
Protocols in the Armenian parliament.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN CONDUCTED A REGULAR TWO-DAY VISIT TO THE REPUBLIC OF NK

President.am
Oct 21 2009
Armenia

On October 21, President Serzh Sargsyan conducted a regular two-day
visit to the defense line of our country and the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh.

Accompanied by the President of NKR Bako Sahakian, RA Minister of
Defense Seyran Ohanian and representatives of the highest military
ranks, President Serzh Sargsyan visited the defense positions,
observed first hand the combat readiness of the troops and army
building activities.

President Sargsyan also participated at the inaugural ceremony of a
new apartment building for the officers of Artsakh defense army and
conversed with the members of their families. Later, he made a tour
of a renovated, state of the art artillery technical maintenance and
servicing point.

Later same day in Stepanakert, President Serzh Sargsyan invited a
traditional meeting with the participation of the military ranks.

PARLIAMENT TO HAVE LAST WORD ON RATIFICATION OF ANKARA-YEREVAN PROTOCOLS: FM

Trend News Agency
Oct 20 2009
Azerbaijan

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davudoglu said at a news conference
that the country’s parliament will have the last word on ratification
of the Ankara-Yerevan protocols, CNN Turk reported.

"The country’s Parliament will decide whether to ratify the
Ankara-Yerevan protocols," Davudoglu said.

Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocol in Zurich on Oct. 10.

Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 due to Armenia’s
claims of an alleged genocide, and the country’s occupation of 20
percent of Azerbaijani lands.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

SUNCHILD INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON OCTOBER 25-29

ArmInfo
2009-10-22 16:21:00

ArmInfo. Sunchild International Environmental Festival will be held
in Yerevan on October 25-29.

The press-service of VivaCell-MTS told ArmInfo that the aim of
the festival is to focus public attention on wildlife and nature
preservation issues, raise their awareness around those issues
targeting all groups of the society-children and youth, common people
and businessmen. The festival program is comprised of a wide range of
film program and also various environmental activities and campaigns.

85 films from 35 countries are listed in the film program out of
which 16 films make the main competition program and 35 films the
informational program.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Issues of Armenia in cooperation
with GTZ organizes a seminar-training on "Professional Guidance" for
150 children from 13-15 age group from Yerevan and other 4 regions
of Armenia which are: Lori, Tavoush, Ararat and Vayots Dzor. This
seminar aims to emphasize the importance of ecological education with
the account of huge scientific-technological developments.

This year for the first time an Audience Award will be bestowed. The
"Audience Award" given by OSCE symbolises public participation in
reference to Aarhus Convention and emphasizes the important link
between ecological issues and democracy.Public discussions will be
organised with OSCE around the following important ecological issues`
regional water management , recycling of hazardous waste and climate
change. Representatives of public and state organizations, regional
specialist & experts will share their views with the audience
and answer their questions. "Our First Element: Caucasian Water"
competition-expo funded by Prince Claus fund, the commemoration evening
to Martin Adamyan’s memory and eco-expo are also on the agenda of our
festival. Moreover Rock bands will join the festival raising socially
young people’s attention for environmental issues.

SunChild Festival targets all layers of the society and addresses also
business stakeholders. If we fail to convince businessmen to take up
serious measures in preservation of scarce natural resources of our
country then the future generations will get nothing. Thus, FPWC by
the initiative of VivaCell-MTS in cooperation with UN Global Compact
and GTZ will organize Corporative Social Responsibility (CSR) seminar.

Three highly esteemed specialists from abroad are invited to introduce
the concept of CSR with vivid practical examples.

The ultimate goal is the establishment of a forum for seminars, open
discussions, conferences and trainings. The festival aims to serve as
a stage for regional dialogues. Over 60 guests from all over the world-
filmdirectors, artists, representatives of international organizations
and famous environmentalists will take part in the festival.

The main partner and co-organizer of 2nd Sunchild International
Environmental Festival is VivaCell-MTS.

AFTER RATIFICATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS "SOUTH CAUCASIAN RAILWAY" COMPANY IS GOING TO ORGANIZE A DISCUSSION WITH TURKISH PARTNERS ABOUT THE EXPLOITATION OF KARS-GYUMRI RAILWAY

ARMENPRESS
Oct 21, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS: After ratification of Armenian-Turkish
protocols "South Caucasian Railway" company is going to organize a
discussion with Turkish partners about the exploitation of Kars-Gyumri
railway.

Director of the company Shevket Shaydulin said today at a press
conference that partnership must be established with the Turkish side
for creation of railway communication.

According to him, the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will
open new directions for the company to Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport
crossroad. Besides, it will give an opportunity for Armenia to become
a transit country for other states and railway companies.

"Establishment of new directions is very important and is a first
precondition for the development of a railway," he said.