Author: Nalbandian Albert

AZERBAIJAN IS UNABLE TO COPE WITH THE KARABAKH PROBLEM ALONE
Karine Ter-Sahakian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
09.12.2009 GMT+04:00

The most "unpleasant" point in all this story is that the Karabakh
conflict is being sacrificed to the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations.

The Azeri President finally did what was long expected – he shifted
the burden of settling the Karabakh conflict on the OSCE Minsk Group
countries, calling the Prime Minister of Turkey to become their
ally, or rather their sponsor. Generally speaking, nothing else was
expected from the meeting Erdogan-Obama; unfortunately, the USA still
needs Turkey until the final withdrawal of troops in Iraq and the
possible military solution of the Iranian nuclear issue. Here Obama
is clearly not being original and follows the track already beaten
by the Bush family.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The most "unpleasant" point in all this story is
that the Karabakh conflict is being sacrificed to the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations. It is unacceptable for two reasons: first,
real normalization of relations is out of the question as too little
time has passed since 1915 and the Armenians have not yet received
at least a formal apology; and second, neither Obama nor Medvedev
and Sarkozy have realized (or are unwilling to realize) that Turkish
intervention into the resolution of the Karabakh conflict can have an
opposite result – Armenia may simply take the measures she is forced
to under the circumstances: recognition of the NKR independence with
all the subsequent consequences.

However, we must not forget that conceivably Erdogan would not like
to interfere, but there is too strong a temptation to put an age-old
enemy in his place and help the "younger brother". So, what happened
in Washington was to be expected. But the visit of Ilham Aliyev
to France and his talks with Sarkozy and Kouchner should put the
Armenians on their guard, especially when we take into consideration
the information leak that Baku has already agreed with Medvedev. Or,
we should say, almost agreed. Obama, of course, is good, but if all
the three countries speak with one voice, Yerevan will find herself in
trouble. And now it’s time for Armenia to say that she is not empowered
to negotiate on the future of Nagorno-Karabakh, she only acts as a
guarantor of the latter’s security, and withdraws from negotiations.

However, Deputy Speaker of the Turkish Parliament declared that
ratification of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols is possible only in case
Armenia makes concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement,
which was confirmed by Prime Minister Erdogan during his visit to the
United States. That is, Turkey already knows when she will or will
not ratify the Protocols. Presumably, the Constitutional Court of
Armenia, if it holds the national interests, must bring in a verdict
stating that the Protocols do not meet the RA Constitution, namely,
its preamble, in which there are clear statements about Western
Armenia and the Armenian Genocide.

Russia’s position is comprehensible too – in the course of the
Armenian-Russian relations, which have lasted for almost 2 centuries,
it is not the first time that Armenia has become a hostage of
Russian-Turkish relations. And the last statement of Dmitry Medvedev
can serve as proof to this.

"Russia welcomes Armenian-Turkish rapprochement process and will keep
supporting it. We have a positive approach to both counties’ efforts
towards overcoming age-long conflicts, by showing mutual restraint
and trying to find a compromise. So, on the whole we welcome this
process of normalization of relations," the Russian President said
Wednesday at European and Asian Media Forum, organized by RIA Novosti.

"Other states should understand that the rapprochement process is
not directed against anybody," emphasized the Russian President.

"With this message created and directed correctly, other states will
feel no strain while following the process," added Medvedev. The
President evidently meant Azerbaijan, but Ilham Aliyev obviously
thinks differently and, as we noted at the beginning, he is eager to
shift his own burden and responsibility on others in order to remain
in power. It is still difficult to predict how all this will end,
but obviously it will result in nothing good for either Armenia
or Azerbaijan, or for the region as a whole. And by the way, Prime
Minister Erdogan had better address the problems of his own country,
in order to remain in power too.

AMERIABANK STARTED BROAD-SCALE PROJECT OF BUSINESS FUNDING

ARKA
Dec 8, 2009

YEREVAN, December 8. /ARKA/. Ameriabank started broad-scale project of
business funding. The project will provide unprecedented conditions
of crediting to all entrepreneurs, the annual turnover of which will
make from 5 million to 5 billion drams and the number of employees
will not exceed 250.

Credits will be provided in the amount up to $1.5 million and are
available for legal entities and private entrepreneurs. The policy of
the bank strategy assumes individual approach to each client taking
into account specification of the client’s business. The new project
envisages also such an approach to each borrower.

Credits are provided by annual percent rate from 12% up to 7 years,
including grace period up to 2 years during which only credit percents
are paid. Ameriabank highly appreciates long-term cooperation with
its partners and borrowers who carry out their responsibilities due
diligence and suggests unique opportunity of crediting by privileged
conditions. Every 6 months during the first 3 years regardless of the
financial state of the market, percent rate of credit will be reduced.

The aim of the new project on business funding is support to activation
of business activity and development of different sectors of Armenian
economy.

CJSC "Ameriabank" is investment corporate bank which provides
investment, corporate and limited retail banking services in the form
of comprehensive package of banking decisions. Chairman of Board of
Directors of the Bank is Ruben Vardanyan and Chairman of Directorate-
General Director is Artak Hanesyan.

Strategic partner of Ameriabank is one of the largest Russian
investment banking companies – the group "Troyka Dialog".

RALPH YIRIKYAN: VIVACELL-MTS IS A BUSINESS WITH MISSION

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.12.2009 21:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ VivaCell-MTS General Manager addressed Tuesday the
students of Armavir University with a lecture titled "VivaCell-MTS
is a business with mission".

"A company whose goal is enrichment can achieve a short-term success.

To secure efficient activity, the principle of mutual respect and
knowledge absorption should work," he said, VivaCell-MTS press
service reported.

IRAN REJECTS TURKISH ROLE IN NUCLEAR TALKS

Asbarez
Dec 8th, 2009

Iranian technicians, work with foreign colleagues at the Bushehr
Nuclear Power Plant. AP photo

TEHRAN (Hurriyet)-Iran rejected a Turkish role in its nuclear impasse
with Western countries on Tuesday and said there would be no need
for third-party mediation in the nuclear dispute.

The Persian Gulf country also said it had no faith in world powers,
calling on them to earn Tehran’s trust before the Islamic Republic
will agree to a U.N.-brokered nuclear fuel deal.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast implicitly rejected
Turkey’s desire to mediate between it and world powers, a possibility
raised by U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday during talks with
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"The Iranian stance in the nuclear dispute is quite clear and there
is no need for a third party to mediate," Mehmanparast told reporters
at a news conference in Tehran.

The Turkish option, which International Atomic Energy Agency
Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei proposed on Nov. 6, was discussed
by top Turkish and Iranian leaders during Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad’s November visit to Istanbul. ElBaradei offered Turkey
as a third party to send Iran’s enriched uranium – an alternative to
a plan for Russia to do the work.

During his visit to the United States, Erdogan criticized the U.N.

nuclear watchdog’s censure of Iran as a "very rushed" move and insisted
Tehran’s nuclear program should be dealt with diplomatically.

In Tehran, Mehmanparast also shrugged off threats of sanctions from
some Western powers, saying this would only help Tehran gain further
self-sufficiency in its nuclear program. "We never said we will not
do [the nuclear fuel deal]," Mehmanparast told reporters when asked
whether Iran was still considering entering the deal brokered by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA.

World powers had backed the IAEA proposal under which Iran would send
most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for conversion
into nuclear fuel for a research reactor in the capital.

But Tehran also rejected the proposal last month, insisting it wanted
to hand over its low-enriched uranium at the same time it receives
the 20 percent enriched uranium, and that the handover must take
place simultaneously inside Iran.

"The question is the attitude of some Western countries in the past,"
Mehmanparast said, adding that Iran had lost trust in these countries
that did not keep their promises. "We cannot listen to them easily. If
they can provide conditions that can gain our trust, we are ready to
exchange the fuel."

Western powers suspect Tehran is pursuing nuclear technology to make
atomic weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying its ambitions are to
gain peaceful nuclear power. Mehmanparast said solving the controversy
over Tehran’s nuclear drive did not need additional parties.

"A number of countries are interested in playing a role in the problem
created by the big nations for the independent ones. And Turkey wants
to play a role in solving the nuclear issue between the countries
who have the technology and the countries who are seeking it," he said.

"But we don’t think that our views are non-transparent and they
needed to be interpreted by others. All our nuclear work is under
the supervision of the agency and we have informed it of our future
plans," Mehmanparast said.

"It is also aware of the approach of our parliament. We have revealed
our plans very transparently to it," he said in reference to the
Iranian parliament’s call on the government to reduce ties with the
IAEA after it censured Tehran for building a new uranium enrichment
plant.

Mehmanparast also dismissed Western threats to impose a fourth set
of U.N. sanctions on Tehran if it does not come clean on its nuclear
program. "This is the continuation of the same incorrect approach
of the past. Such threats and deadlines do not work. Sanctions are
nothing new for Iran," he said.

"At every stage of sanctions, we have reached a higher level of
self-sufficiency and gained further independence. If there is another
round of sanctions we will be more serious [in pursuing nuclear
technology]," he said.

4 CANDIDATES REGISTERED TO RUN IN BY-ELECTION TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AT ELECTORAL DISTRICT NO 10 IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Dec 7, 2009

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The district electoral commission No
10 (Yerevan) on December 5 registered 4 candidates who had sumbitted
the required documents – out of 7 candidates nominated to run in the
by-election to the RA National Assembly by the majoritarian electoral
system on January 10, 2010. These 4 candidates are Nikol Pashinian,
non-party man, editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak daily; Hmayak
Hovhanissian, chairman of the Union of Political Scientists; David
Hakobian, chairman of the Marxist Party of Armenia; and Ara Simonian,
member of "National Unity" party. NT correspondent received this
information from chairwoman of the district electoral commission No
10 Silva Markosian.

The election campaign in the electoral district No 10 will start on
December 7 and last until January 8, 2010 (inclusive). Propaganda for
Nikol Pashinian, who is charged with organizing the 1-2 March 2008
events and is currently in prison, will be conducted by the persons
empowered to act for him.

To recap, the deputy powers of Khachatur Sukiasian elected from
electoral district No 10 in the 2007 parliamentary election were
terminated ahead of time – due to his resignation.

TURKISH SOLDIERS KILLED IN ATTACK

BBC NEWS
urope/8399926.stm
2009/12/07 16:24:48 GMT

Seven Turkish soldiers have been shot dead after gunmen opened fire
on a military unit in northern Turkey, officials have said.

A further four soldiers were injured in the attack, which took place
in the town of Resadiye in Tokat province.

There was no immediate indication of who was behind the attack.

However, both Kurdish and leftist militants are reported to be active
in the area.

Attacks on military bases in the north of the country are, however,
rare.

Rising tensions

According to one local television report, the soldiers were on patrol
near a military outpost in a mountainous area and during foggy weather
when they came under fire.

It was the worst attack since April when Kurdish militants killed 10
soldiers with a remote-controlled bomb in the country’s southeast.

The ambush came as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was preparing to
meet President Barack Obama in Washington. Government moves to improve
Kurdish rights are likely to be on the agenda.

There have been rising ethnic tensions over recent days ahead of a
court hearing on whether the country’s largest pro-Kurdish political
party, the Democratic Society Party, should be closed down.

On Sunday, one man died in clashes between police and protesters in
the south-east of the country.

In the past, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has carried out
attacks on military targets. Extreme leftist groups active in northern
Turkey are believed to have signed co-operation pacts with the PKK.

Published December 07 2009
Armenian refugee finds artistic home in North Dakota

When Norik Astvatsaturov arrived in the United States two decades ago,
the Armenian refugee brought with him very little from his former
life, other than his wife, daughter and son.

By: John Lamb, INFORUM

Norik Astvatsaturov works in his Wahpeton, N.D., workshop.
Robb Siverson / Special to The Forum

Astvatsaturov in his workshop
Astvatsaturov shows detail on his repoussé work `Anna’s Box’

When Norik Astvatsaturov arrived in the United States two decades ago,
the Armenian refugee brought with him very little from his former
life, other than his wife, daughter and son.

But what he carried in his pockets, including a hammer and a few nail
punches, were enough to carve out a new life for him and make his mark
in a new country.

`To come with just that hammer and a few nail punches and $200 to
start a new life with a family of four in a country where they knew
nobody and didn’t know the language was truly remarkable,’ says Troyd
Geist, state folklorist with the North Dakota Council on the Arts.

`A good repoussé artist can carry all the tools he needs in his
pocket,’ Astvatsaturov told Dawn Morgan, executive director of Fargo’s
Spirit Room Gallery. An exhibit of the artist’s repoussé (a
metalworking technique in which both the front and back sides are
struck to create depth and volume) goes on display at the Spirit Room
this weekend and runs through April 7.

`His work is almost sculptural in its appearance and very ornate and
very detailed,’ says Geist, who brought Astvatsaturov’s art to
Morgan’s attention. With a $10,000 matching grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts, Morgan and Geist hope to share Astvatsaturov’s
art and story with a broader audience.

Prairie Public Television has already produced a short documentary on
the artist, and photographer Robb Siverson and designer Allen Sheets
are working on a book of Astvatsaturov’s work. Morgan has a series of
lectures on Armenian culture and the region’s art scheduled for early
next year.

Until the fall of the Soviet Union, Astvatsaturov lived in the
Soviet-ruled Baku, Azerbaijan. The Caspian Sea port town maintained a
small minority of Christian Armenians, from the neighboring country to
the West.

Under Soviet rule, religion and ethnic identity were suppressed, but
still Astvatsaturov created his traditional iconography and
religious-themed works for family and friends and even Muslim
customers, all under the radar.

`To me that was eye-opening, that someone so committed to his culture,
to his art that he would risk those kind of things to continue (his
craft),’ Geist says.

But with the crumbling of the Soviet regime, so came down the
tyrannical structure that kept the peace. Simmering ethnic and
religious tensions started bubbling over and forced Astvatsaturov to
flee to Armenia, then Moscow before finally settling in Wahpeton,
N.D., in the early 1990s.

In a foreign country, his hands found familiar work as a machinist at
Primewood Inc. in Wahpeton. Soon after his arrival, he turned his
hands back to his trade, crafting a traditional Armenian cross from an
aluminum sheet for his sponsoring church.

`I want to do much more to advance my artistry, especially now that we
live in a country where it is safe to express our culture publicly,’
he said.

While Geist points out that in Baku, Astvatsaturov was exposed to the
Muslim Azeri culture, as well as being influenced by classic Greek and
Roman styles, the artist still finds inspiration in traditional
Christian imagery.

`I know that Mary was refugee. She run with child,’ Astvatsaturov says
in the documentary, his accent still so thick, subtitles are needed to
translate. `When I see that, it probably looks like our history.’

`I want to show people here who we are because lots of people come
here,’ he says later in the documentary. `But we have to show who we
are. We don’t have to lose our roots, who we are.’

If you go

What: Opening reception for Norik Astvatsaturov’s `Cultural Treasures
of Armenia’
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: The Spirit Room Gallery, 111 Broadway in Fargo
Info: The reception and show are free. (701) 237-0230.

Readers can reach Forum reporter John Lamb at (701) 241-5533
Tags: spirit room, north dakota, fargo, wahpeton, arts, life

PRESS RELEASE
UN Department of Public Information
Yerevan Office (Armenia)
Arminé Halajyan (Mrs.), Information Officer
Tel.: (374 10) 560 212
Fax/Tel.: (374 10) 561 406
Mobile: (374 91) 20 37 25

United Nations Population Fund in Armenia Celebrates 15th Anniversary of
International Conference on Population and Development

PRESS RELEASE

YEREVAN, 4 December 2009 – United Nations Population Fund in Armenia together
with its partners celebrated the 15th Anniversary of the International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and took stock of the
progress in implementing the ICPD Programme of Action at a conference
`Population and Development: Achievements and Challenges – ICPD at 15′ which
started in Yerevan today.

During this one-day conference, the government officials, members of
Parliament, decision-makers, researchers and academicians, UN officials,
representatives of Armenian Church and local and international NGOs and
faith-based organizations, Y-Peer and mass media also discussed the existing
challenges in achieving the ICPD goals in Armenia in the areas of
reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, demography, and gender equality.

The International Conference on Population and Development was convened in
1994 in Cairo under the auspices of the UN and was the largest
intergovernmental conference on population and development ever held. Then
the international community, including Armenia, agreed on a Programme of
Action with a 20 year time scope to address the population and development
challenges that the world is facing. It emphasized the integral linkages
between population and development and focused on meeting the needs of
individual women and men, rather than on achieving demographic targets. One
of the primary goals of the Programme of Action is to make family planning
universally available by 2015. It also includes goals in regard to
education, especially for girls, as well as goals to further reduce levels
of infant, child and maternal mortality. It addresses issues relating to
population, the environment; the family; internal and international
migration; HIV prevention; technology, research and development; and
partnership with the non-governmental sector.

`In Armenia significant progress has been made in improving reproductive
and
maternal health, HIV prevention, and gender equality, however Armenia still
faces challenges such as rapid ageing, declining fertility rates, achieving
universal access to reproductive health, reducing maternal mortality and
unwanted pregnancies, HIV prevention among vulnerable young people and most
at risk adolescents, as well as gender equality and combating gender-based
violence,’ said the United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i., Ms. Laylee
Moshiri.

She also thanked the Armenian Government and partners for their valuable
efforts to ensure the ICPD agenda becomes a reality in Armenia. In turn, the
Armenian officials expressed their gratitude for the UNFPA assistance.

More than halfway to the 2015 deadline is passed to achieve Millennium
Development Goals and the ICPD Programme of Action. `15 years later the ICPD
agenda is still relevant, and today we should not only celebrate the
achievements, but also make sure to continue work together to follow up on
the commitments to ICPD,’ said Prof. Razmik Abrahamyan, the UNFPA Sexual
and
Reproductive Health Project Director.

This year’s 15th anniversary of the historic International Conference on
Population and Development that guides UNFPA’s work coincides with the 40th
anniversary of UNFPA.

WASHINGTON ASKED FOR A "SPECIFIC NUMBER" OF TURKISH TROOPS FOR AFGHANISTAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.12.2009 17:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ankara and Washington have been holding discussions
on a US demand that its NATO ally Turkey send more troops to
Afghanistan, the top US diplomat in Turkey disclosed on Wednesday,
while stating that the US has asked for a "specific number" of troops
although he declined to name that number.

US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey spoke with a small group of
journalists at a round-table meeting in Ankara clearly indicated that
US expects Turkey to be "more flexible" on the definition of tasks
to be carried out by their mission in Afghanistan.

"What we’re asking of all of our allies is to provide additional
troops and to take on additional roles, particularly in protecting the
population." he said. US Ambassador confirmed that the issue would
likely be on the agenda of a White House meeting between Obama and
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Dec. 7, Today’s Zaman reported.

RA MFA: KARABAKH ISSUE NOT DISCUSSED AT NALBANDIAN-DAVUTOGLU MEETING

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.12.2009 19:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Karabakh issue was not discussed at Athens meeting
between Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers, Edward Nalbandian and
Ahmet Davutoglu, held within OSCE Foreign Ministers summit frameworks,
RA Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan stated.

"The meeting focused on Armenia-Turkey relations only," Tigran Balayan
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Earlier, Turkish media circulated information on Karabakh issue being
discussed during Nalbandian-Davutoglu meeting in Athens.