Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Radio Netherlands
Nov 22 2009

Progress made in Nagorno-Karabakh talks

Published on 22 November 2009 – 9:57pm

Progress has been made in the Nagorno-Karabakh talks between Armenia
and Azerbaijan, which are currently being held in the southern German
city of München.

However, mediators from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) say the talks have not been without difficulties. On
Saturday, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev threatened to take over the
region by force, if the talks failed.

The enclave was once allocated to the mainly Muslim Azerbaijan by
Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin. When the Soviet Union
disintegrated, the mainly Christian Armenian people of the region
fought for independence. Armenia supported them.

Tensions in the region increased recently when Turkey reached
agreement with Armenia on open borders in an effort to improve
relations between the two countries. The Azerbaijanis are furious as
Turkey has said it will only sign the agreement if Armenia makes
concessions with regard to the enclave. Sixteen years ago, Turkey
closed the borders as a sign of solidarity with Azerbaijan.

Some 30,000 people died and more than one million were made homeless
before a ceasefire was declared in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993. A deal
could mean Nagorno-Karabakh giving back a number of districts to
Azerbaijan in return for greater international recognition.

ogress-made-nagorno-karabakh-talks

EuroNews, France
Nov 22 2009

Last chance talks over Karabakh

22/11/09 08:52 CET

The following article has been retrieved from the archive and no
longer contains the original video.

The Moscow mediated truce deal signed last year between Azerbaijan and
Armenia is on the verge of unravelling if talks today do not produce a
result.

A string of meetings to discuss the future of breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh has led to last-chance discussions in Munich, but
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has already warned his country
would be prepared to take the
region back by force.

`If the meeting ends without result, then our hopes in negotiations
will be exhausted and then we are left with no other option. We should
be prepared for that. Work on building up our army over the last few
years has been undertaken for a purpose,`said President Aliyev.

Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by Christian Armenia rose
up and broke from Muslim Azerbaijan during the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991.

Thousands died in the fighting until a ceasefire was declared in 1994.
Since then tensions over the region have coloured political relations.
It is again in the spot-light as Azerbaijan’s supporter, Turkey, has
refused to ratify an accord with Armenia to restore diplomatic
relations until progress is made over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh.

WALL OF ARMENIAN CHURCH COLLAPSED IN TBILISI

Tert
Nov 19 2009
Armenia

A wall of an Armenian church on Abo Tbileli Street in Tbilisi’s
Sololaki district collapsed last night. The collapse damaged other
nearby buildings, but luckily, no one was injured, reports The
Georgian Times.

The Armenian church was closed due to the critical state of the
historic building.

Locals say that the recent rains inflicted more damage on the church
and the wall of the amortized building was ruined as a result.

The district governor viewed the damaged building and promised the
locals to allocate funds for rehabilitation works.

WB SAYS POVERTY RATE IN ARMENIA ALMOST DOUBLES

news.az
Nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Poverty rate in Armenia has risen 2.8% in the second quarter of 2009
over the same period of 2008 from 25.6% to 28.4%, WB’s chief economist
in the sphere of social maintenance Liri Ersado told a presentation of
WB’s preliminary research: "Armenia: poverty and social implications
of the world economic crisis".

According to him, the crisis has temporarily hampered the stable
development of Armenia of the recent nine years and the processes of
preventing poverty. According to the expert, the concerns are not
about the growth in poverty but also about the missed opportunity
of preventing poverty from influencing a fourth part of the Armenian
population.

According to Ersado, the misery level in Armenia has almost doubled
from 3.6% in the second quarter of 2008 to 6.9% in the second quarter
of 2009.

SCPEC FIXED TENDENCIES OF INCREASING PRICES ON CONSUMER MARKET

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.11.2009 13:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As a result of recent research conducted on consumer
market, State Committee for the Protection of Economic Competition
has observed tendencies of increasing prices on products of social
importance, particularly on petroleum, diesel fuel, vegetable oil,
egg and sugar.

"We are certainly concerned by increased prices on consumer market. It
is planned to start administrative proceedings against those markets,"
chairman of Committee David Harutyunyan said.

To find out and prevent unreasonable increase of prices on
above-mentioned products, especially ahead of New Year holidays,
Committee recommended entrepreneurs to submit relevant justifications
between November 20 and December 31, 2009.

TURKEY STRIVES FOR RAPPROCHEMENT WITH ARMENIA: DAVUTOGLU

news.am
Nov 16 2009
Armenia

16:48 / 11/16/2009Turkey strives for normalization of Armenia-Turkey
relations, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu restated in the
course of his official visit to Spain. He delivered a speech at the
conference on international security issues and expressed confidence
that European history was made due to the disclosure of Ottoman Empire
archives, Turkish Zaman daily reports.

Referring to the Iranian uranium enrichment on the territory of
Turkey, Turkish FM outlined the country is against nuclear weapons
in general, however considers the Iran’s nuke program for the sake
of peace maintenance.

Spanish Secretary of State for EU affairs Diego Lopez Garrido also
made a speech at the conference saying Spain supports Turkey’s full
membership to EU.

BOOKS ON BRONZE AGE ARMENIAN MILITARY ART PUBLISHED IN YEREVAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.11.2009 16:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the afternoon of November 17, RA Defense
Ministry’s administrative complex will host Armenian Genocide Museum
Director Hayk Demoyan’s "Bronze Age military art in Armenia" and
"Military art and wars in Armenia" two-volume edition presentation.

The event will be attended by RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, RA
Armed Forces’ senior officials and scientific circles’ representatives,
RA Defense Ministry press service reported.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION PROCESS INTENSIFIED IN ISRAEL

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.11.2009 11:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A large number of political observers suppose that
tensions between Israel and Turkey can lead to recognition of the
Armenian Genocide by Tel Aviv.

"The issue has acquired quite a different coloring lately. I formed
and headed Israel-Armenia parliamentary friendship group in 1999.

Knesset members Yuri Stern and Zeev Elkin have also done much to
advance the process," Alexander Tsinker, director of East European
States & CIS. Institute, member of the Knesset in 1999-2003, told
PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Unfortunately, the RA leadership disregards the Armenian community in
Israel. Meanwhile, positive results can be achieved through formation
of correct public opinion. As an optimist, I am hopeful that I will
see Israel pass a law on recognition of the Armenian Genocide one day,"
he said.

Independent: Armenia emerging from troubled times
15.11.2009 17:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Independent has published an article titled
"Armenia’s latest struggle – the battle for tourists."

"This country is emerging from troubled times. The ceasefire is
holding with Azerbaijan and the border with Turkey is due to reopen.
Now it’s welcoming new visitors," Mark Leftly writes in his article,
which goes on:

"Armenia and its easterly neighbor, Azerbaijan, are technically still
at war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Most importantly, Armenia’s
old enemy to the west, Turkey, supported Azerbaijan and closed its
330km (205 mile) long border with the land-locked country. Finally, in
October, some real progress was made on economic and diplomatic
co-operation between the countries, with the signing of protocols that
will soon open up a common border.

A result of cultural and religious tension, the genocide is generally
said to have started in 1915 in the wake of divided Armenian loyalties
in the First World War. The museum’s fluent English-speaking guide
shows me exhibits related to Armenians who had won Olympic medals for
the Ottomans in 1912, and then a gruesome photograph of their
countrymen being hanged by that empire in Aleppo four years later.
There are proclamations condemning genocide from international
leaders, including a recent letter from California governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger.

Turkey denies Armenia’s version of events, and it is this that divides
Yerevan today. Unless Turkey acknowledges the genocide, many Armenians
do not want to sign any agreement with their old enemy. Interestingly,
the museum’s guide does not take this view. "It is natural for
neighbors to have good relations in a global world," it says."

RA NA DELEGATION ALSO TO TAKE PART IN PROCEEDINGS OF NATO PA ANNUAL SESSION TO BE HELD IN EDINBURGH

Noyan Tapan
Nov 13, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The 55th annual session of NATO
Parliamentary Assembly will be convened between November 13 to 17 in
Edinburgh (Scotland). In addition to 14 countries having the status
of associated member, RA NA’s delegation will also take part in
the session.

According to Noyan Tapan correspondent’s information, RPA faction
members Karen Avagian and Artak Zakarian, Zharangutiun (Heritage)
faction head Styopa Safarian are included in the delegation.

It should be mentioned that Artak Zakarian receiving a deputy mandate
last month replaced ARFD faction representative Artur Aghabekian in the
delegation. A. Aghabekian was also the head of the Armenian delegation.