Author: Navasardian Karapet

ARMAVIA AND AIR FRANCE LAUNCH JOINT FLIGHT OPERATIONS TO PARIS

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.09.2009 21:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Starting from September 7, 2009, Armavia and Air
France launch joint flight operations to Paris.

Armavia and Air France offer an opportunity to visit Paris five
times a week taking a direct regular flight operated together with
our partner Air France.

Armavia Air Company LLC is the national air carrier of the Republic
of Armenia. The company was founded in 1996. The founders are Armenian
organizations Aviafin LTD and Mika Armenia Trading LTD.

In 2008, Armavia carried 646447 passengers. Armavia fleet consists
of 8 aircrafts.

PACE PRESIDENT WAITING FOR THE VARIFICATION OF THE DOCUMENTS

Aysor
Sept 3 2009
Armenia

"The agreement between Armenia and Turkey to normalize their relations
is excellent news," said Lluís-Maria de Puig, President of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), reports the
press office of the Parliamentary Assembly.

"This is something that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe has long been hoping for, and working towards.

The two governments have accepted that, whatever the difficulties
of the past, they must look to the future – on behalf of all their
peoples.

The Assembly, a forum where Armenian and Turkish parliamentarians
work together as colleagues, stands ready to help in any way it can
to advance this process.

I look forward to the ratification of these two protocols by both
parliaments, beginning a new – and brighter – chapter in relations
between these two Council of Europe member states."

ON JOURNALISTS’ ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE PUBLICATION OF ARAVOT DAILY

National Assembly of RA
Sept 3 2009
Armenia

The comments of Aravot caused deep doubt in the National Assembly
(22.08.2009 "Free Access to the National Assembly Stops for
Journalists," page 1, and Anna Israyelyan’s "Role of the National
Assembly Continues to Rapidly Rise," page 3) on the new procedure
of the journalists’ accreditation in the National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia.

It’s surprising that an acute and professional journalist like
Mrs. Israyelyan did not present any legal professional view in his
article and published her immediate response, by which violating 1st
and 2nd Rules, which is posted on Aravot website. It’s also surprising
that Mrs. Israyelyan made ungrounded claims in her article on the
legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

We’ll touch upon the abovementioned publications, in fact,
concentrating on the legal and practical key issues.

1. The new order (clause 25) also stipulates an opportunity for the
accredited journalists in case of not being a public event to visit a
deputy to the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia or staff
of the RA National Assembly. By the way, this rule is also in force
for accredited journalists.

2. Unlike Mrs. Israyelyan’s claim, in the previous years the
journalists’ accreditation in the RA National Assembly has not begun
from August 1 (in 2008 – from August 15, in 2007 – from August 20,
in 2006 -from August 15 ).

3. For the accreditation the demands being presented to the mass
media are forced by the 2nd clause of the Article 6 of the Law
of the Republic of Armenia on Mass Media (Law N LA-14-N, entered
into force on 08.02.2004): "In the state bodies in the journalists’
accreditation procedure are defined 1) The demands being presented
to the media (the kind of the means of media, territory of spreading,
number of copies of the press, etc.), in case of which its journalist
is accredited." In other words, the law obliges to define certain
criteria in the accreditation procedure, what has been done.

4. It’s worth noting that it’s not a novelty not to accredit the
journalists of TV and Radio companies, which do not have a press
centre in Yerevan from regional TV companies by the new procedure: it
has been in force till now, according to the accreditation procedure,
which was approved in 2003.

5. In the provisions of the published procedure on the opportunity
of stopping the accreditation there is no novelty. Mechanisms of the
same content are designed, for example, according to the 4th clause of
Article 6 of RA Article on Mass Media, by the decision of On Approving
the Exemplary Procedure of the Journalists’ Accreditation in RA State
Government Bodies (Decision N 333-N, entered into force on 17.04.2004)
and, in particular, by the "c" sub-clause of the 13th clause of the
latter. The mentioned legal documents have been available to all
journalists during the last 5 years.

6. The demand of honouring the working procedure of the state body,
in the present case, the National Assembly, also emanates from the law
of the Republic of Armenia on Mass Media, from the 5th clause of the
Article 6, in particular, "The accredited journalist organizes his/her
work in accordance with the journalists’ accreditation procedure in
the given body and rules of the working procedure." Here also there
is no novelty.

The new procedure on the journalists’ accreditation in the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia has been elaborated as a result
of professional serious and long lasting discussions, accepting as
a basis the legislation of the Republic of Armenia on the issue,
as well as the standards adopted by the parliaments of the European
countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Slovenia, Great Britain, Republic
of Macedonia of the former Yugoslavia and more than 20 other states).

The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia expressed its
willingness to give all necessary clarifications over this new
procedure of the journalists’ accreditation, as well as discuss it
with all concerned organizations and individuals.

FOR GOOD OR ELSE? CHISTIAN HOUSES IN TURKEY MARKED

EuropeNews
923
Sept 2 2009
Denmark

Our Austrian correspondent ESW has translated a report from Die Presse
about ominous new developments in Istanbul that bode ill for Turkey’s
few remaining Christians:

Strangers "marking" Christian buildings in Istanbul

Buildings inhabited by Christians have been marked with insignias
in several districts of Istanbul. The labeling of the buildings are
clearly done in concert with increasing harassment of the Christian
inhabitants.

Some buildings in the traditionally Christian districts of
Feriköy and Kurtulus have recently been labeled with green and red
signs. Apparently they were affixed to point to buildings inhabited
by Armenians and Greeks. The labels appear to be in conjunction with
complaints from Christians about increasing harassment, according
to Sehabat Tuncel, a member of parliament asked in a parliamentary
questioning.

Besir Atalay, minister of interior, is now forced to answer these
allegations. "Who affixed these markings?" is only one of the questions
cited by the press. The ministry must also make clear whether the
police received orders to take action and investigate.

Patriarch on a death list

– – – – – – – – –

Residing in the Phanar in Istanbul, ecumenical patriarch
Bartholomaios I has apparently been added to a death list kept by the
nationalist-laicist secret society "Ergenekon", which is accused of
trying to push Turkey into chaos with its assassination attempts.

The EU Commission has repeatedly requested Turkey’s cooperation
on effective measures to improve the precarious situation of the
non-Muslim population.

Remembering the 1955 pogrom on Christians

The marking on Christian buildings in Istanbul is a reminder of pogrom
against Christian minorities in September 1955. Back then Christian
buildings and shops had been marked by nationalist activists. The
bloody riots with dozens of dead in Istanbul and Izmir were ostensibly
triggered by the Cyprus conflict; however, the true reason was the
search for scapegoats at a time of economic recession for Turkey.

A mob of fanatics burned down seventy-two Orthodox churches and more
than thirty schools in Istanbul, defaced Christian cemeteries, and
destroyed around 3,500 homes and more than 4,000 shops. The police
watched the plundering and raping, not lifting a finger. Nobel prize
winner Orhan Pamuk, who also writes about the Armenian genocide of
1915, describes the blind destruction in his memoirs.

FRANCE WELCOMES AGREEMENT BETWEEN YEREVAN AND ANKARA

Yerkir
01.09.2009 13:56

Yerevan (Yerkir) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office issued
a statement on Monday saying France encourages Turkey and Armenia to
"redouble their efforts so they can quickly sign an accord… which
will be an historic event and contribute to stability in the region,"
France 24 reported.

The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey have agreed to
start domestic 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.

NKR IS 18-YEARS OLD

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 1 2009
Armenia

"The adoption of Independence Declaration 18 years ago was a start
of new age for our small resolute motherland. Establishment of our
statehood and consolidation of its fundamentals came uneasily. Like
many nations, Artsakhi people had to pay for their independence and
freedom by their blood, bearing the heavy load of over 3-year-old war,"
NKR PM Ara Harutyunyan’s festive message to Karabakhi people reads.

"Independence of our Republic is costly that binds all us to
cherish what we call Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) with great
devotion and care. I am confident the day when international community
recognizes its independence will come. Today our ultimate priority is
development of economic and social sectors, reinforcement of democratic
institutions and civil society. Undoubtedly, we will overcome the
current obstacles and live in a strong country," the message concludes.

September 2 is the 18th anniversary of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
independence.

SARKISIAN COOLS TALK OF KARABAKH PEACE
Emil Danielyan

Armenialiberty.org
tml
Sept 1 2009

Armenia — President Serzh Sarkisian addresses top Armenian diplomats
on September 1, 2009.

President Serzh Sarkisian sought on Tuesday to lower expectations of an
impending resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying that it
will take years despite serious progress made in Armenian-Azerbaijani
negotiations.

Meeting with Armenia’s ambassadors around the world, he said:
"It is important that you too explain to everyone — and officials
in the countries where you are accredited in the first instance —
that the conflict’s resolution is not a matter of days, weeks or
months. Everyone must clearly understand that we are currently
negotiating on only several of the basic principles of the settlement.

"Even in case of reaching agreement on them, many other principles
and the accord itself, which should regulate details of the [peace]
implementation, will remain unresolved. That is a process that requires
a great deal of work."

The remarks came just over one month before Sarkisian’s widely
anticipated meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The U.S.,
Russian and French diplomats co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group hope
that it will remove the remaining hurdles to the acceptance by the
conflicting parties of their basic principles of a Karabakh settlement.

Aliyev and Sarkisian reportedly narrowed their differences over the
proposed framework agreement at their previous meetings held earlier
this year. The Armenian leader has since faced growing criticism
from his political opponents at home for his readiness to embrace
the mediators’ peace formula which envisages significant territorial
concessions to Azerbaijan.

Sarkisian argued on Tuesday that while some of the basic principles
are "far from an ideal solution imagined by ourselves" the proposed
settlement upholds the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination
and "multi-layered security guarantees." He dismissed opposition
claims to the contrary as "petty speculation."

RUSSIAN FOREIGN OFFICE PREPARES COMMENTS ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH AGREEMENTS

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 1 2009
Armenia

The RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still withholding comments on
today’s telephone conversation between the Russian and Turkish Foreign
Ministers. The press and information department, RF Foreign Office,
reported that Andrey Nestekrenko, official of the RF Foreign Office,
is to read official comments on the issue for the public.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu had a phone conversation
with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, informing him of the
normalization process in Armenia-Turkey relations. Davuto?lu asked
Lavrov to provide intensification of Russia’s efforts in Karabakh
conflict settlement for stability and peace establishment in Caucasus.

Also, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan had a telephone
conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Late Monday evening, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
(FDFA) and the Armenian and Turkish foreign offices issued a press
release. According to the press release, the Armenian-Turkish
"political consultations will be completed within six weeks."

BIG CHINESE DECLINE

Lragir
?id=economy&pid=15019
15:30:54 – 31/08/2009

As the news agency Bloomberg informs, on August 31 a sharp decline
of the Chinese fund market was reported, which is unprecedented in
the past 14 months. According to the agency, this is determined by
the slowing of the increase of the scale of loaning, which may hinder
the restoration of the economy.

Shanghai Composite had a decline of 6.7 percent as of August 31,
reaching 2667,75 points. This index is low by 23 percent from the
maximum reported on August 4, 2009. Shanghai Composite registered the
worst index among the 89 fund indexes in the centre of the attention
of the agency.

US WARMLY WELCOMES TURKEY-ARMENIA NORMALIZATION

ArmInfo
2009-09-01 14:57:00

Arminfo. US warmly welcomes Turkey-Armenia normalization:
U.S. Department Spokesman Ian Kelly’s official statement released on
August 31, 2009 reads.

According to Kelly the United States warmly welcomes the joint
statement made by Turkey and Armenia, with Swiss participation,
outlining further steps in the normalization of their bilateral
relations. "It has long been and remains the position of the United
States that normalization should take place without preconditions
and within a reasonable timeframe," statement says.

U.S. urges Armenia and Turkey to proceed expeditiously, according
to the agreed framework as described in today’s statement. "We
remain ready to work closely with both governments in support of
normalization, a historic process that will contribute to peace,
security and stability throughout the region," the statement goes on.