Author: Nalbandian Eduard

A BOARDER OR A SEPARATION LINE?

Aysor
Sept 7 2009
Armenia

The consequences of the opening of Armenian – Turkish boarder
will be reflected not only over the Armenian economy but also the
Armenian statehood, think the initiators of the "Armenian choice"
party Alexander Kanayan and Armen Aghayan.

According to the speakers the records of the Armenian – Turkish
negotiations taken place on August 31 had several elements warring
the Armenian society. Especially the speakers say the document
"indirectly highlights the clauses of the Kars treaty of 1921".

According to the speaker though the RA authorities have indirectly
recognized the present boarders of Turkey by being a member of UNO,
OSCE and other international institutions, all the treaties that do
not come out from the Armenian’s interests should be reviewed.

The political scientist thinks that from the juridical point
of view there is no Armenian – Turkish boarder but there is a
"dividing line" between the Western and Eastern Armenias which has
been formed as a result of a military aggression and on the illegal
documents. Concerning the opening of the boarder A. Aghayan mentioned
that he "is not against of the opening of passport control or customs
places on the separation lines."

The speakers think that the opening of the boarders can be curtail
for the economy of the country.

"The economy of Armenia be overwhelmed by the Turkish
super-protectionalistic economy", – mentioned A. Kananyan, adding
that Ankara can use the factor of the boarder to make depressions
over Armenia.

The political scientists expressed their concern about the hatred
against the Armenians existing within the leading circles of Turkey and
Azerbaijan and their intention of abolishing the Armenian statehood.

"Today opening the boarders in this way will create new problems for
Armenia- economic, cultural, social, criminal, demographic, military
and political, etc.", – said A. Aghayan.

According to A. Aghayan the Armenians should be more stubborn in
their fight for resuming the historical justice.

Another rural school repaired through money of all-Armenian Fund Hayastan
05.09.2009 17:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The inauguration of the school in the village of
Khashtarak of Tavush region was held on September 4. Capital repairs
of the school was carried out through joint financial support of
German, French and Swiss offices of the All-Armenian Fund "Hayastan"
and "Armenian Union of Entrepreneurs’, while new furniture was
provided by the Australian branch of the fund. The total cost of the
program surpassed 180 million AMD.

The opening ceremony was attended by the RA deputy prime minister and
minister of territorial administration Armen Gevorgyan, Governor of
Tavush region of Armenia Armen Ghulyan and representatives of the
All-Armenian Fund "Hayastan".

In the framework of the program 3 school buildings were refurbished,
including assembly and sports halls, as well as the canteen.

This year, through assistance of the fund pipeline was installed in
the Hashtarak village, works of rehabilitation of the irrigation
system of the village are currently underway.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 4 2009

China supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty:
ambassador

Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 4 /Trend News, U.Sadikhova/

China supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, urges the parties to follow the
relevant resolutions from the UN Security Council and is for a
peaceful solution to the conflict with the support of the
international community, said Zhang Yannian, the Chinese Ambassador to
Azerbaijan.

"China supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict […],as Azerbaijan supports China’s
territorial integrity and sovereignty, does not hold any official
meetings with Taiwan and recognizes China’s common and legitimate
government," the ambassador said at the Center for Strategic Studies
in the presence of the Azerbaijani President on Sept. 4.

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.

The relations between China and Azerbaijan are developing rapidly, the
ambassador said. The countries support each other in important issues,
and China provides assistance to Azerbaijan for rapid entry into the
WTO, he added.

"There is growing business cooperation between our countries and over
the past year the trade turnover between the two countries totaled
$800 million," the diplomat said. "Furthermore, there are 15 large
Chinese enterprises in Azerbaijan, with a total investment of 500
million dollars," he said.

According to the ambassador, currently there is no problem for
mutually beneficial cooperation.

MILAN: THE ARMENIAN BOXER LOST TO A RIVAL

Aysor
Sept 4 2009
Armenia

The intense fight has taken place between Sandro Dirnfield (Slovakia)
and Tsolak Ananikyan (Armenia). The first round was the determinative
one and was won by the Slovakian boxer (3:2).

Next rounds the opponents who are at weight category 91 kg, played
in a draw. T.Ananikyan lost with a score of 11:10 and was out. The
fight took place in Milan.

INCIDENT AT MOZDOK-TBILISI GAS PIPELINE NOT TO HAMPER GAS TRANSIT TO ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-09-02 12:01:00

ArmInfo-BLACK SEA PRESS. The incident at the main Mozdok-Tbilisi gas
pipeline late on Monday in north of Ingushetia, will not hamper transit
of the Russian gas to Armenia via the Georgian territory – spokesperson
to the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation told journalists on Tuesday.

The pipeline of 72 cm diameter burst in Upper Achaluki, approximately
at midnight. The gas supply was stopped as its remnants were burning.

The repair works are underway. According to the early information,
the incident occurred for technical reasons.

"The 700mm gas pipeline burst. Gas supply from Russia to Georgia
has been stopped, while natural gas to Armenia is transited through
1200 mm gas pipeline. Thus, there are no problems with transit of
gas to Armenia," Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation spokesperson told
journalists.

REGULAR GATHERING OF HEADS OF ARMENIA’S DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIONS BEING HELD IN YEREVAN

NOYAN TAPAN
SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The annual gathering of heads
of the RA Foreign Ministry Central Staff subdivisions and heads of
RA diplomatic representations abroad started on September 1 at the
Armenian Foreign Ministry. RA President Serzh Sargsyan opened the
gathering with a program speech on Armenia’s foreign policy.

The same day the management of the RA Foreign Ministry and heads of
diplomatic representations gave lectures on the subject Armenia and
the Outer World at Yerevan universities.

Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian visited Yerevan State University
and met with lecturers of the Department of International Relations
and first course students. The Minister presented the main problems
and directions of the RA foreign policy, answered students’ questions.

After the lectures the meeting of heads of diplomatic representations
and of the RA Foreign Ministry Central Staff continued, during which
E. Nalbandian summed up the work done and outlined the plans for
the future.

Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosian also took part in the
gathering. She presented bilateral and multilateral cultural
cooperation programs and cooperation prospects with the Foreign
Ministry in this sphere.

According to the report of the RA Foreign Ministry Press and
Information Department, on September 2 the participants of the
gathering will meet with RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamian, Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsian, Security Council Secretary Artur Baghdasarian,
and Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobian.

TURKEY WILL TAKE AZERBAIJAN’S INTEREST INTO ACCOUNT

med-davudoghlu
12:16 pm, Sep 1, 2009

Politics

Turkey will take Azerbaijan’s interest into account

"The opening of the Turkish-Armenian border is not foreseen in this
stage," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davudoghlu said during an
interview with the NTV television commenting on the progress registered
in the establishment of relations between both countries.

Let us remind that the two protocols to be signed after the 6-week
political consultations (see ) will be presented for the
confirmation of both parliaments and the Turkish-Armenian border will
be opened within 2 months after the protocols are signed.

"Turkey is aimed at having friendly ties with its neighboring
countries, as well as establish peace and stability in the region,"
said Davudoghlu.

However, the Turkish Foreign Minister announced: "Ankara will take
Azerbaijan’s interests into account in each stage of the normalization
of relations with Armenia."

France has already qualified the improvement of Turkish-Armenian
relations as a "historical event".

The U.S. State Department "warmly welcomed" the steps taken by Armenia
and Turkey toward normalization of relations and called on speeding up
the process. In case of need, the U.S. has expressed the willingness
to support the governments of both countries "in the solution to
the conflict."

VIVACELL-MTS LAUNCHES ‘DON’T TALK AND DRIVE’ CAMPAIGN

ArmInfo
2009-09-01 14:38:00

ArmInfo. On August 27 VivaCell-MTS launched its "Don’t Talk and Drive"
campaign aimed at increasing the road safety awareness of mobile
service users in Armenia.

Though it may seem strange a mobile operator calls subscribers to
keep back from using phones while driving, VivaCell-MTS is ready to
concede some revenue for the safety of Armenians. According to recent
statistics the number of road accidents as a result of talking over
the phone or sending/receiving messages while driving is continuously
growing. And as a corporate citizen, VivaCell-MTS feels responsible
for raising the awareness in the Armenian society on this vital issue.

During the campaign drivers will be reminded not to use mobile phones
while driving via billboard advertising both on the roads of Yerevan
and on the main highways entering the city.

ARMENIA AND TURKEY TO START INTERNAL POLITICAL CONSULTATIONS

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Aug 31 2009
Armenia

NEWS.am issues the full text of the press release by the Swiss Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs, Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministries.

"The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey have agreed
to start their internal political consultations on two protocols –
the ‘Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations’ and the
‘Protocol on the development of bilateral relations’ – which have
been initiated in the course of their efforts under Swiss mediation.

The two Protocols provide for a framework for the normalization of
their bilateral relations within a reasonable timeframe. The political
consultations will be completed within six weeks, following which
the two Protocols will be signed and submitted to the respective
Parliaments for the ratification on each side. Both sides will make
their best efforts for the timely progression of the ratification in
line with their constitutional and legal procedures.

The normalization of bilateral relations will contribute to the
regional peace and stability. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic
of Turkey are committed are pursuing their joint efforts with the
assistance of Switzerland."

Transfers via CONTACT system increased by 47% in the second quarter
29.08.2009 15:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During the first quarter of the current year,
transfers to Armenia via CONTACT international system have increased
by 47% in comparison with the first quarter

A leading country among CIS republics was Uzbekistan (63%), followed
by Tajikistan (53%) and Moldova (41%). Kyrgyzstan, whose transfers
comprised 20%, lags behind. Average volume of transfers to CIS
countries comprised 54%, Russlabank’s press service reports.

In the first quarter of 2009, transfer rate to key directions was as
follows: 23% – to Uzbekistan, 18% – to Tajikistan, 17% – to Moldova
and 9% -to Kyrgzstan and Armenia. Average index of such growth
testifies to the stable situation of CONTACT system as one of leading
companies making transfers to CIS states.
In cooperation with participating banks, CONTACT clearance centre
currently undertakes a range of measures to essentially broaden the
network and enhance services. All that contributes to increasing
transfer volumes and system shares on post-Soviet area.