Author: Nanijanian Alex

COURT BAILIFFS SEIZE PROPERTY OF ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PAPER

Interfax
Feb 23 2009
Russia

The Armenian court bailiff service has issued a writ to seize the
property and money assets of the opposition newspaper Aik, Interfax
was told at its press service on Monday.

"The actions of the bailiffs fully stem from the requirements of
executive proceedings launched on the basis of the writ received
from the civil court of Yerevan. One of the requirements is to seize
the property and money of the Aik editorial office in the amount of
2.677 million dram and to suspend the publication of the newspaper,"
the service reported.

Aik is the mouthpiece of the Armenian National Movement which was the
ruling party in Armenia in 1991-1998. In the presidential elections
in 2008 it supported former president Levon Ter-Petrosian.

Earlier the court bailiff service issued a similar writ with regard to
the Bzhni mineral water factory. After numerous inspections the tax
authorities claimed $13 million from it in penalties for violating
environmental protection laws.

The facility used to belong to Armenian parliament member Khachatur
Sukiasian who also supported Ter-Petrosian in the elections.

On February 16 the factory was sold in an auction for $14.5 million
to business tycoon Ruben Airapetian.

GERMANY TO EXTEND 74 MLN. EURO CREDIT TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.02.2009 20:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Two-day Armenian-German governmental consultations
kicked off in Yerevan on Wednesday, reported the press office of the
Armenian Ministry of Finance.

The Armenian-German cooperation has three main dimensions: financial
and private sector, energy and water supply. More modest projects
are implemented in healthcare and ecology sectors.

The current consultations will focus on the operating and planned
programs.

The 2008 cooperation agreement includes implementation of hypothec
market program (6 mln. euro), construction of Vorotan series
of hydroelectric power plants (29 mln. euro), reconstruction of
high-voltage power plant in Gyumri (14.6 mln. euro), construction
of Armenia-Georgia high-voltage power line (20.4 mln. euro),
implementation of second stage of Restoration of Community
Infrastructure program (3 mln. euro), implementation of second stage
of tuberculosis healing program (1 mln. euro).

The funds are allocated by the German government at reduced tariffs
with a 40-year term and 0,75% interest.

The amount of German assistance to Armenia has totaled 235 mln. euro,
195 mln. of which are credits and 40 mln. are grants.

ENVOY VOICES CONCERN ABOUT BEING RECALLED TO ANKARA

Today’s Zaman
Feb 23 2009
Turkey

Ambassador Nabi Å~^ensoy was recalled to Turkey in 2007 amidst tension
over attempts in the US House of Representatives to pass a resolution
recognizing allegations that Armenians were subjected to genocide in
eastern Anatolia during the First World War years.

Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, who had previously been
recalled to Turkey briefly over prospects of the US Congress passing
a resolution to recognize Armenian genocide claims, has said he is
concerned that such an incident could happen again, warning that a
new crisis of this scope would cause significant damage.

"This was a first in our history. It somehow meant a protest against
US policy," Ambassador Nabi Å~^ensoy said in a speech in New York late
on Friday, referring to Ankara’s 2007 decision to recall him amidst
tension over attempts in the US House of Representatives to pass a
resolution recognizing allegations that Armenians were subjected to
genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in eastern Anatolia. He
had stayed in Ankara for nine days for "consultations" before being
sent back to Washington. "Then everyone understood the seriousness
of the matter and a wrong step was avoided. Now we are facing the
same danger."

President Barack Obama made firm promises during his election campaign
to recognize the genocide claims. US presidents traditionally
issue commemorative messages on every April 24, when Armenians
claim the genocide campaign started, but none has ever used the word
"genocide," dismaying Armenian Americans. Many say Obama could break
the tradition and use the word this time. Separately, the Armenian
lobby is also working to pass a resolution in Congress designating the
World War I-era events as genocide. Observers say prospects for its
passage are greater this time, because, contrary to 2007, when the US
administration worked against the resolution, the new administration
also favors such a move. In addition to Obama, Vice President Joe
Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both pledged to support
the Armenians’ cause during their election campaigns.

"The Turkish nation is ready to struggle altogether against such a
move. I hope that the officials in the new US administration will
understand the importance of Turkey, the meaning of this issue to
the Turkish people and the harm it will bring to Turkish-American
relations," Å~^ensoy said in New York.

He also stressed that there were serious chances for progress in
efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia. "I am happy
to tell you that we are close to that," Å~^ensoy said, referring to
prospects for normalization in Turkey’s ties with Armenia. He added
that Turks and Armenians would have a good opportunity to discuss
their problems unless the US Congress passes a "genocide" resolution.

Turkey severed its diplomatic relations and closed its border with
Armenia in protest of Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh in a
territorial dispute with Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan. Normalization of
ties, Ankara says, is contingent upon Armenian withdrawal from Azeri
territory, as well as a reversal in Yerevan’s policy of supporting
diaspora efforts to win international recognition for genocide claims.

The Turkish ambassador also said Turkish leaders have recently invited
Obama to visit Turkey to attend a meeting of the UN-backed Alliance
of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Ä°stanbul, slated for April. Turkish
officials say Obama would send the world a message in support of
East-West dialogue by paying an early visit to Turkey, which sees
itself as a bridge between the East and the West.

Å~^ensoy said Obama was invited to the UNAOC meeting, which will be
held in Turkey in April.

US congressman: ‘Genocide’ resolution not in US interests

Meanwhile, Robert Wexler, the co-chairman of the US-Turkey Caucus
in the US Congress, also warned that US moves to grant recognition
to Armenian genocide claims would not serve the interests of the
United States. He also warned that any US step in the direction
of endorsing the genocide charges would hurt attempts to normalize
relations between Turkey and Armenia.

Wexler, who had talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara during a visit
last week, said at a meeting with a group of journalists before
wrapping up his trip that the US Congress should focus on ways to help
bring about a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. The process of dialogue
picked up momentum when President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan last
September to watch a game between the national soccer teams of the
two countries. Since then diplomats have been holding talks behind
closed doors on normalizing relations.

Wexler also appeared to dismiss arguments that Turkey is moving away
from the West because it is pursuing a policy that calls for closer
dialogue with Middle East actors. He said Turkey decided that it
belongs with the West a long time ago. According to Wexler, the US and
Turkey may have different tactics in the Middle East, particularly
concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and dialogue with the
radical Palestinian group Hamas, but they share the same objectives.

The US congressman also praised the progress made by Turkey’s
democracy, recalling how the state establishment and the people were
alienated from each other when he first visited Turkey in 1991.

THE SERVICE FOR COMPULSORY ENFORCEMENT OF JUDICIAL ACTS KEEPS BUYER’S NAME CONFIDENTIAL

A1+
[04:36 pm] 17 February, 2009

Leader of "Prosperous Armenia" party Gagik Tsarukyan still believes
that nobody should have participated in the bid for the "Bjni"
mineral water factory belonging to the Sukiasyan family, told "A1+"
press speaker for Tsarukyan Khachik Galstyan. Galstyan said that the
party leader has nothing else to say and that he doesn’t even know
who purchased it, but he hadn’t changed his opinion months ago.

"I have been a friend and partner of Khachik Sukiasyan. I will never
participate nor advise anyone to participate in that auction. As for
the documentation, the director and accountant are to blame because
they are being paid to do their job," said Gagik Tsarukyan last
December 23.

A proposal was made to buy the assets and rights to assets thirty
minutes before the auction held yesterday. "A1+" was not able to
find out from Hayrapetyan personally because he refused to answer
the phone calls. But he told one of the presses that he purchased the
factory. Thirty minutes before the auction held yesterday a proposal
to buy the assets and rights to assets was made.

In fact, the Service for Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial Acts
continues to keep the name of the buyer a secret adding that the
buyer still hasn’t made any payment.

"A1+" tried to find out what Deputy of the Republican faction Edward
Sharmazanov had to say about the purchase of "Bjni".

What do you have to say about depriving a businessman of his assets
for his political views in Armenia?

"Everything must be within the framework of the law. If not, they must
appeal to the court. If the state bodies say that it is within the
law and there is no political motive, that is a different story. It
has to be cleared up. I don’t comment based on predictions," told
"A1+" Sharmazanov and added that he believes that nobody should be
repressed due to his political views and must not be sentenced, but
on the other hand, the state bodies say that this has nothing to do
with Sukiasyan’s political activity.

The Sukiasyan family looks at all of this as persecution recalling
that the pressures began when Deputy Khachatur Sukiasyan joined first
RA President Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Khachatur Sukiasyan has currently
gone underground.

RA MINISTER OF ECONOMY RECEIVES HEAD OF YEREVAN OSCE OFFICE

RIA OREANDA
Feb 17 2009
Russia

Yerevan. OREANDA-NEWS . On 17 February 2009 was announced, that Nerses
Yeritsyan received the Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, the head of Yerevan
OSCE office.

Sergey Kapinos has presented to Nerses Yeritsyan the key projects
developed by the office within the country, and particularly focused
on improvement of Doing business in Armenia, providing the assistance
to SMEs – revelation of trading issues and finding the solutions,
regional support (especially in Syunik).

Mr. Ambassador informed that the Yerevan OSCE office is
ready to involve qualified experts and provide the advisory
assistance. According his words, the improvement of business
environment can highly increase the rating of Armenia and facilitate
the formation of market economy in the country.

The Minister of Economy agreed with Sergey Kapinos that the
collaboration with the OSCE office would be very effective. Touching
upon the regional development issues, Mr. Minister has suggested
exercising pilot programs and showing the success story to inspire
the others. Nerses Yeritsyan emphasized, in his turn, number of other
directions, were the assistance f the OSCE office would be helpful,
such as development of security system, project management policies,
transparent monitoring system, etc.

ISRAEL WILL RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IF IT FORGOES "HOLOCAUST MONOPOLY"

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.02.2009 21:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Ergodan’s Davos
walkout gave hope for recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Israel.

It could be possible but for Israel’s conviction of uniqueness of
the Holocaust, an Armenian expert said.

"The uniqueness of the Holocaust is an extremely important and delicate
topic for the Jewish identity. Tensions in the Turkey-Israel relations
are not enough to settle the problem. Israel will recognize Armenian
Genocide if it forgoes Holocaust monopoly," deputy director of the
Armenian Genocide Institute-Museum, orientalist Suren Manukyan told
PanARMENIAN.Net.

Tel Aviv can use the genocide issue as a tool of pressure on Turkey
but recognition is unlikely, according to him.

"However, under the circumstances, the Jewish lobby in the U.S. may
reconsider its position on recognition of the Genocide by the 111th
Congress," Manukyan presumed.

MOSCOW TRYING TO CHANGE ANKARA’S PRIORITIES
by Igor Artemyev

RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
February 17, 2009 Tuesday

Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Moscow on a four-day
visit. Although his agenda sounds optimistic, problems plague the two
countries’ relations. One of them is Turkey’s participation in the
EU-backed Nabucco pipeline project, which Russia strongly opposes;
another is Turkey’s attempts to become a key player in the Caucasus.

Turkey is one of the key links of the Nabucco project, a gas route
bypassing Russia lobbied by the West, which Russia expects to "kill"
Gazprom’s South Stream, a route to connect Russia and southern Europe
under the Black Sea by 2015.

Because of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, Europe might eventually
prefer the longer route via Turkey’s offshore areas to the shorter
one (South Stream, along the coast of Russia, Ukraine, Romania and
Bulgaria). The fact that Gul was invited to Moscow shortly after
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov (Serbia was talked into joining
South Stream earlier) could mean the Kremlin is trying to win Ankara
over.

But Russia is unlikely to succeed, because Turkey expects to obtain
the desired EU membership in exchange for Nabucco accession. And,
even without that, Ankara would benefit more from Nabucco than from
South Stream.

"South Stream will only cut Turkey’s profits, whereas Nabucco will pay
it high transit fees. Gul wouldn’t want to lose the profit, and South
Stream can be seen as a rival to Nabucco," said Mikhail Korchemkin,
director of the East European Gas Analysis consultancy.

Russia and Turkey also have unresolved political issues. Although
Gul, before traveling to Moscow, dubbed Russia somewhat clumsily an
important player in its region, Turkey is obviously playing its own
game in the Caucasus. While Russia is backing Armenia in the Nagorny
Karabakh conflict, Turkey prefers to side with Azerbaijan.

Alexei Malashenko from Moscow’s Carnegie Center suggested that
Gul’s visit is a sign of the two countries’ willingness to settle
the Caucasus issue. "The talks will be interesting. They will
tackle the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent
states, the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, and gas," Malashenko told
Gazeta.ru. However, the analyst said he expects no important results.

me/Remains+of+the+Sword%3A+Armenian+Orphans

Satur day January 10, 2009
Radio Weekly Update

Remains of the Sword: Armenian Orphans
Produced by:Dorian Jones

Ninety years ago, up to 1.5 million Armenians were deported and died
at the hands of the Ottoman rulers of Turkey. But it is believed that
Turkish families saved thousands of orphaned Armenian children
secretly. Some children who had been adopted were then forcibly taken
away from their Turkish families by foreign troops and sent to
orphanages in Europe. Until now, the very existence of the children
has remained largely an untold story, buried along with those who died
between 1915 and 1916. But their family members are slowly uncovering
the stories of those Armenian orphans. The issue still remains
extremely contentious, and the story of Armenian orphans is now
becoming one of most sensitive and emotionally charged issues in
Turkish society. Producer Dorian Jones exposes how descendants of
Armenian orphans are discovering their family histories.

Program Credits

Remains of the Sword: Armenian Orphans was produced by Dorian Jones.

Resources

Links:
Obituary: Hrant Dink
BBC News wrote about the life and death of Hrant Dink, the journalist
interviewed in the documentary
Armenian National Institute
Resources and information about the Armenian genocide
United Human Rights Council
Gives a history of the Armenian people and their interaction with Turkey.
Turkish argues the US on Armenian Genocide Bill
An article about why Turkey does not want the U.S. to recognize the Armenian
genocide.

Books:
Vahan’s Triumph: Autobiography of an Adolescent Survivor of the Armenian
Genocide
by: Vahan Hamamdjian 2004
A story of how an orphaned Armenian boy was able to survive following the
genocide.
Nobody’s Child
by: Marsha Forchuk Forchuk Skrypuch 2003
The story of a group of Armenian orphans and their attempts to reunite with
family members.
The Daydreaming Boy
by: Micheline Aharonian Marcom 2004
An account of the Armenian genocide in the form of a novel.

ARMENIAN ENTREPRENEURS PUNISHED FOR GREED

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.02.2009 16:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Mokonat and Kari Tov companies, leaders of Armenian
rice market, had to pay more that AMD 40.5 million into the state
budget.

According to the State Committee for Economical Competition Protection,
examination of unjustified rise in prices for rice last October showed
that the companies intended to suspend their activities.

The Committee’s suspicions were roused by the fact that the companies
were suspending their activities in spite of high income levels. The
information was submitted to Prosecutor General’s Office and State
Revenue Committee.

As result of a checkup, Mokonat paid more than AMD 20.5 million into
state budget, and Kari Tov paid more than AMD 20 million.

AZERBAIJAN KEEPS ON GAMBLING THE "KHODJALU" TOPIC

Azat Artsakh Daily
16 Feb 09
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

The traditional anti-Armenian campaign connected with the events
of 1992 in Khodjalu settlement begins in Azerbaijan. At that, the
official Azerbaijani propaganda does not disdain to use any methods
and means to display the Armenian side as a party responsible for the
tragedy and to inject another portion of poison of Armenian phobia
into the world public consciousness and the consciousness of its
own people. Moreover, Baku goes on circulating the already unmasked
frauds. Thus, next year the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic drew the public’s attention to a forged photograph
exposed in a number of Azerbaijani websites, including the website of
"Heydar Aliyev Foundation", which is very respectable in Azerbaijan
(). It has been mentioned, that the propaganda
machine of the neighboring republic tries to use the fact that
besides a great number of corpses of civilians in the foreground of
the photograph, outskirts of a settlement are seen in the background,
which, in principle, should add verisimilitude to Baku’s version on
mass killings of Azerbaijanis in Khodjalu. Meanwhile, color version
of the above-mentioned photograph absolutely refutes it, namely the
faces of the deceased, their garments, etc. In fact, this photograph
is directly con nected with the events in Kosovo. Namely as that the
photograph along with a great number of the others was exhibited in
one Serbian, one Albanian, and in one specialized German forum, in
internet-page of reputable edition "New York Times" etc. However, the
mentioned undisguised fraud still remains in a number of Azerbaijani
sites, thus deluding those uninformed. Booklets with similar fraud
are circulating all over the world.

The NKR MFA Information Department reminds that on February 25-26,
1992, the Karabakhi side launched a military operation to release
the only airport of the republic, situated near Khodjalu settlement
and to neutralize the weapon emplacements of the enemy in Khodjalu,
from where since summer of 1991 the populated areas of Nagorno
Karabakh have been regularly exposed to attacks of the Azerbaijani
special police squads (OMON), artillery bombardments from "Alazan",
"Crystal" and rocket facility of volley fire "Grad". The release of
the airport and neutralization of weapon emplacements of enemy in
Khodjalu was of vital importance for the NKR people. The subunits of
the NKR Defense Army granted a corridor to the peaceful population for
safe and timely leaving the battle zone and the Azerbaijani side was
informed of it beforehand. It is well-known that the NKR authorities
informed the Azerbaijani side of preparation for the neutralization of
the Khojalu=2 0weapon emplacements two months prior to the operation
and that was repeatedly confirmed by the officials of Azerbaijan,
in particular, by the then president Ayaz Mutalibov. However, the
leadership of Azerbaijan did not undertake anything to help the
peaceful population to leave the battle zone. Moreover, a column of
peaceful population was shot near the border of Aghdam region, which
was later on confirmed by Mutalibov, who connected the crime with
the opposition’s efforts to remove him from the office by making
him responsible for everything. The territory where subsequently
many corpses were filmed is 3 km far from Aghdam and 11 km from
Khojalu. Up to the fall of Aghdam (summer 1993) this area was under
permanent control of the Azerbaijani units, which excluded the access
of the Karabakhi self -defense units there. Some details of this
military operation are so far shrouded in mystery and namely using
this circumstance official Baku tries to profit from it to gain its
political goals. It is noteworthy, that all the propaganda is being
carried out with pronounced anti-Armenian insinuations and is used
for forcing ethnic intolerance and hatred towards Armenians among
Azerbaijanis. Unfortunately, the topic of "khodjalu" remains to
be one of the cornerstones of the Azerbaijani domestic and foreign
information or rather misinformation policy within the context of
the Karabakh problem in general.