Author: Navasardian Karapet

PanARMENIAN.Net

If Turkey wants to move closer to West it should practice
self-reflection on its own history
14.02.2009 12:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) sharply criticized
Turkey’s hypocrisy in leveling human rights charges against Israel
even as it continues to deny the Armenian Genocide and strengthen its
ties to the genocidal Sudanese regime, Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) Communications Director Elizabeth S. Chouldjian told
PanARMENIAN.Net.

In a speech on the House floor, the Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman,
called the attention of his colleagues to increasingly strident
Turkish attacks on Israel, including menacing, even threatening,
remarks by Prime Minister Erdogan, as well as a recent Washington Post
report that a Turkey-based non-governmental organization has initiated
a probe to investigate if war crimes and genocide were committed by
Israel during the recent Gaza Conflict.

Commenting on these developments, he noted that, "For a nation that
for 94 years has practiced wide-spread genocide denial of the killing
of one and half million Armenians, hypocrisy runs deep today in
Ankara."

The New Jersey legislator stressed that, "the Turkish people need to
step back and question their skewed understanding of genocide. Look in
the mirror, look at your own history, come to terms with the fact that
1.5 million Armenians died and when contemporary genocides, like
Darfur, take place it must be denounced."

"If Turkey wants to move closer to the West it should practice some
self-reflection on its own history regarding the Armenian Genocide and
help to end the Genocide in Darfur."

He added that Turkey, rather than denouncing the Darfur Genocide, has
actually strengthened its ties to Khartoum: "Last year, Turkish
President Abdullah Gul warmly welcomed Sudanese President Omar
al-Bashir to Ankara. Yet, Al-Bashir continues to preside over a
genocidal regime responsible for the deaths of 300,000 Sudanese people
in the Darfur region of the country."

DEEP CONCERN IN BAKU AFTER CSTO NEWS
Fariz Ismailzade

"Noravank" Foundation

12 February 2009

The summit of the heads of states of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) on February 4 in Moscow brought unexpected, yet
alarming news for Baku. The members of the organization have decided to
create collective rapid reaction forces: the first ever joint military
forces between these republics of the former Soviet Union. Regional
analysts have immediately labeled it as another attempt by the Kremlin
to come closer to the restoration of the Soviet Union. In fact, the
news was followed by Kyrgyzstan’s decision to evict the American Manas
military base from its territory –another sign of Russia’s growing
military domination in the post-Soviet space (see EDM, February 4).

For Azerbaijan, the establishment of collective rapid reaction
forces by the CSTO creates a number of potential security
challenges. Armenia, engaged in a long-standing conflict with
Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, is an active member of CSTO and
officials in Yerevan do not rule out the use of collective rapid
reaction forces against Azerbaijan. Head of Armenia’s Parliamentary
committee for defense, national security and internal affairs Artur
Agabekyan said, "If the military activities in Nagorno-Karabakh resume,
Armenia might use these forces." He also added that "We are happy abo
ut this decision, as it will allow us to combat future challenges. Now
that this decision is made, it is time now to think about concrete
actions about the location of these forces" (Panarmenian.net,
February 8).

Another high ranking military official in Armenia, Head of the
Institute for National Strategic Studies at the Ministry of Defense,
Ayk Kotajyan said that, "the decision at the Moscow summit creates
solid political, military and legal basis for the collective defense
of members of CSTO" (Panorama.am, February 5). And Armenia’s President
Serj Sarkisian, in his meeting with journalists in Moscow, expressed
confidence that the establishment of collective rapid reaction
forces will further strengthen stability in the South Caucasus
(Novosti-Armenia, February 5).

In Baku, this news was met with growing concern amongst the Azerbaijani
leadership about the true intentions of Russia in the region. Despite
the fact that Moscow is one of the three co-chairs of the so called
Minsk group of the OSCE, charged with handling the mediation process,
the recent events may bring a cold breeze in bilateral relations
between Moscow and Baku. Two months ago, Azerbaijani officials
criticized Russia’s $800 million arms donation to Armenia. Then,
the news of Armenia asking the Kremlin for financial assistance to
overcome the negative consequences of the global financial crisis
raised eyebrows in Baku. The initial agreement for Russia to lend
$500 mi llion to Armenia led to questions in Azerbaijan as to how
Armenia will repay these loans and whether it will prove another step
towards the complete purchase of Armenia’s economic assets by Russian
state-owned companies, like in the past ().

The opposition Musavat party in Azerbaijan issued a statement,
calling the CSTO’s decision a "threat against Azerbaijan." And the
Liberal Democratic Party also urged the government of Azerbaijan
to consider pulling out of the CIS. Vafa Guluzadeh, former foreign
policy advisor to Azerbaijani Presidents, commented on the current
situation by relating the pressures from Moscow to Azerbaijan to the
plans to build the Nabucco gas pipeline.

"However, Russia will fail to start another Armenian-Azerbaijani war"
(Day.az, February 3).

Most analysts in Baku believe that the establishment of the CSTO
collective rapid reaction forces will not radically change the military
situation in the region, because Russia was and remains Armenia’s
strongest ally whether such forces exist or not. In the longer term,
Russia will not abandon its support for Armenia’s occupation of
Karabakh and even without the CSTO, the Kremlin already has sufficient
political and military tools at its disposal to intervene in the
event of another outbreak of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

Vugar Seidov, political analyst and reporter for Azertaj, called
the premature cheerfulness in Yerevan as a "pathetic attempt by
Armenia20to seal the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by others’
hands" (). Seidov doubted
that Azerbaijan’s friendly neighbors, such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will send any forces against it, should
Baku’s government decide to use force to restore its territorial
integrity –a right given to it by the UN charter.

GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVING IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2009 15:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze is arriving
in Armenia next week, an informed source told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The agenda of the visit has not been exacted yet.

New Prime Minister Nika Gilauri is also likely to visit Yerevan.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY: "WE DO NOT FULFILL THE MEDIATION ROLE IN THE RESOLUTION OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT"

Today.Az
politics/50628.html
Feb 11 2009
Azerbaijan

Turkey is interested in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict,
yet official Ankara has no plans on the resolution of the problem,
said representative of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Burak Ozugergin,
according to Turkish Anadolu information agency.

He said Azerbaijan and Armenia continue the negotiation process on
the conflict resolution. "Turkey does not hold a mediation role in
the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. We are interested in the
very process and we get information about it from the parties".

Notably, today Turkish Hurriyet released an article "Karabakh plan". By
the information, Turkey fulfills the mediation role in the resolution
of the Karabakh conflict.

DEPOSITS IN AMERIABANK KEEP GROWING

ArmInfo
2009-02-11 16:18:00

ArmInfo. In December 2008 Ameriabank total time deposits grew by
119.3%.

Retail deposits increased by 14.6%. Considerable growth of 150.4% was
registered in corporate time deposits. Whereas total volume of deposits
in the banking industry of Armenia declined the increase of Ameriabank
deposit volumes can be attributed to the full insurance of deposits
initiatiated with the purpose of strengthening customer confidence
in Armenia’s banking system, Ameriabank press-service reported.

The beginning of the year 2009 was also highlighted with intensive
increase in retail time deposits: in January total time deposits grew
by 10.8%, and the growth of retail deposits was 46.4%. Year-to-year
comparison also shows considerable positive shift: the volume of
time deposits as of January 31, 2009 reached the 3.7-fold of that
of on January 31, 2008. The same indicator for retail deposits has
increased 4.3 times as compared to January 31, 2008 results.

It should be observed that as per annual financial reports published
by banks in 4th quarter 2008 retail time deposits decreased by
2.7%. According to CBA statistical publications on "Deposits
in Commercial Banks as per Sectors of Economy" in December time
deposits made by residents decreased by 5.4% while the growth of
those attracted from households was insignificant – only 0.1%, which
was due to foreign currency deposits.

The Analysis of the Armenian Banking System by ArmInfo says the
total time deposits of individuals with commercial banks were
down 2.7% to 171.2 billion drams for the 4th quarter. Total time
deposits (of individuals and legal entities) for the quarter were
insignificantly up 0.4% due to the 7-percent growth of deposits of
legal entities. Ameribank ensured the highest growth of time deposits
in the banking system for the 4th quarter and for the year 2008:
114.8% and 227.8% respectively. The growth totaled 11.4 billion drams
(almost 40% of liabilities). As a result, the bank joined top ten of
leaders by this indicator.

"Ameriabank" CJSC is an investment bank offering a comprehensive set of
corporate and limited range of retail bank services and products. The
Chairman of the Ameriabank Board of Directors is Mr. Ruben Vardanyan,
and the Chairman of the Management Board-General Director is Mr.

Artak Hanesyan. Ameriabank’s strategic partner is Troika Dialog Group –
one of the biggest investment-banking companies in Russia. During 2008
the bank replenished authorized capital trice via issue of shares for
a total of 16.2 billion drams in particular in issue of shares for
February led the bank to the top ten of leaders. Due to the August
issue of shares, Ameriabank made a sharp rise to leading position
and maintained its leadership due to October issue. The share of TDA
Holdings Limited in Ameriabank was up from the present 96.15% to 99.7%.

MILLI MEDJLIS DEPUTIES AGAIN OFFER TO DISCUSS SUPPLY OF RUSSIAN MILITARY HARDWARE OF $800,000,000 TO ARMENIA

Today.Az
s/50598.html
Feb 10 2009
Azerbaijan

Russia has delivered its military hardware of about $2 bln twice in the
past 10 years, thus in fact creating a source of war in the region,
said deputy Vahid Ahmedov at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani
parliament.

He reminded that before the start of the spring session of Milli
Medjlis about 15 deputies appealed to the parliament with a request
to discuss information about supply of Russian military hardware of
a total of $800,000,000 to Armenia.

"The speaker informed the deputies that Azerbaijani Defense Minister
Safar Abiyev is visiting Moscow on this issue and discussions on
this issue will be possible only after his return. The Minister has
returned long ago and this issue still remains open. This informaiton
caused serious resonance among the Azerbaijani public", said Ahmedov.

Supporting his colleague, deputy Fazil Gazanfaroghlu noted that CSTO
member-states agreed to create common armed forces.

"Armenia is also within this organization. This proves
that a new source of threat comes from this organization for
Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan should think over alternative ways and officials
should inform the deputies about their proposals. This may bring
clarity to these issues for public", said Gazanfaroghlu.

"NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARMENIA"

Panorama.am
14:42 10/02/2009

"Completely new situation has been created in the Southern Caucasus
after the August war of Russian and Georgia. It is currently a problem
for the West to find a partner in the region," said Karen Bekaryan,
the head of "European Integration" organization during a meeting with
the journalists.

Those developments created new opportunities for Armenia, says
Bekaryan.

In this regard, he has particularly mentioned the formation of the
united armed forced in the frames of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization, Davos International Economic Conference and Munich
Security Conference.

Regarding the Munich Security Conference, Bekaryan said that the
speech made by the President of Armenia in the conference proved that
the role of Armenia is signified in Europe.

To conclude, Bekaryan announced that is all those changes give new
opportunities for Armenia. What are those opportunities, Bekaryan
did not mention?

CSTO – A NATO FOR THE EAST?

Global Research
February 9, 2009

The members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation – Russia
and six neighbouring states – have agreed to set up a collective
rapid reaction force to combat terrorism, military aggression, and
drug trafficking.

The decision was made during a CSTO summit in Moscow, attended by the
leaders and foreign ministers of the member-states: Russia, Belarus and
five countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia – Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the current chair of the group,
said the decision was momentous.

"I would like to emphasise the importance of this decision to
establish rapid reaction forces. It’s aimed at strengthening the
military capacity of our organisation."

Speaking at a media conference, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
said the new units "will not be less powerful than those of NATO".

He said: "the reason behind the creation of the collective forces of
operative functioning is a considerable conflict potential which is
accumulating in the CSTO zone".

Medvedev added that the force "should become an effective tool which
would maintain security in the region".

Up to now, the organisation has positioned itself as an important
political and military alliance in the post-Soviet space. But other
countries haven’t perceived it as such.

In theory, the CSTO already has a collective force. But it doesn’t
have a common command structure. Nor does it have a permanent home.

However, the decision to create a truly collective force with a
permanent location and a united command would propel the alliance to
a new level.

Earlier, Russian presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko said the new
unit "might be used to rebuff military aggression, conduct special
operations against international terrorism and violent manifestations
of extremism, transnational organised crime and drugs trafficking,
and also for the elimination of effects of natural and technogenic
emergencies."

Under existing arrangements, Prikhodko said, each CSTO member-state
had its own rapid reaction force that could be committed to action
in case of the emergence of common threats.

The global financial crisis was also talked about. Russia and four
neighboring countries – allied in the Eurasian Economic Community
(EurAsEc) – decided to give each other a helping hand to cope with
the credit crunch.

"We’re creating a fund of $10 billion. It will be like an air bag for
those states whose situation becomes critical," commented Belarusian
President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

This show of unity comes as Kyrgyzstan confirmed its decision to end
the lease of the Manas air base by the U.S. military. Since 2001 it
provided backup support for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

But the once-warm welcome has chilled after incidents between locals
and military personnel. There have been reports of fights with the
local population.

In one incident two women were run over in the capital Bishkek by
a vehicle driven by a U.S. serviceman. In another, a Kyrgyz citizen
was shot dead by an American soldier who escaped prosecution due to
immunity enjoyed by the U.S. military at the base.

Now Kyrgyzstan says the Americans have six months to pack up and leave.

"According to the terms of the agreement American soldiers have 180
days to fully withdraw from the base. The count begins from the moment
we exchange formal documents with the U.S.," Kyrgyzstan’s Security
Council chairman Adakhan Madumarov said.

BABACAN: TALKS TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA ADVANCED

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2009 11:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said talks to
normalize relations with Armenia advanced during a meeting with RA
President Serzh Sargsyan in Munich.

"We have a platform where we discuss our bilateral problems," Babacan
told a news conference on the margins of the 45th Munich Security
Conference.

"These Turkey-Armenia talks were the most important and intensive since
World War I," Babacan said, adding he hails positive contribution of
third parties to the process.

President Sargsyan, for his part, stressed to necessity to develop
bilateral relations in the second half of the year.

"Armenia is determined to collaborate with all countries of the region
to make South Caucasus an alternative transportation route," he said,
Anatolia News Agency reports.

ABS CBN News, Philippines
Feb 8 2009

Darchinyan defeats Arce via 11th-round TKO

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/08/2009 6:17 PM

IBF, WBC and WBA super flyweight king Vic Darchinyan pummelled WBA
interim champ Jorge Arce Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to win by an
11th-round technical knockout at the Honda Center in Anaheim,
California.

The Australia-based Armenian opened the fight with heavy punches,
giving the Mexican brawler a beating almost throughout the fight.

The big hearted Arce had his moments in Round 3, firing punches that
bloodied Darchinyan.

Arce was wobbled in Round 7 but refused to surrender. He, however,
wore down in the succeeding rounds.

A nasty cut near Arce’s right eye prompted ringside physician Dr. Paul
Wallace to stop the fight before the start of the final round.

Judges saw it 109-100 in favor of Darchinyan.

`He surprised me. I didn’t expect a fight from him like this,’
Darchinyan said in a report posted on FightNews.com. `He was tough. He
is a good fighter. I hit him with some good shots, but he kept coming
back.’

The Armenian improved his record to 32-1-1 while Arce went down with
51-5-1.

Donaire wants Darchinyan

IBF/IBO flyweight champion Nonito `The Filipino Flash’ Donaire,
meanwhile, said he wants Darchinyan’s WBC, WBA and IBF belts.

Donaire said `most definitely I want to fight him again’.

He said Darchinyan was `the same old Darchinyan and we saw all the
flaws again in this fight. The same flaws he showed me when we
fought.’

The Filipino flyweight champ, who will move up to super flyweight
after an upcoming title defense, said `most definitely I want to make
that happen. I know his (Darchinyan’s) weaknesses. He is a big force
in this weight and I want those three belts.’

Donaire inflicted the Armenian’s only defeat when he won the IBF/IBO
flyweight belts with a spectacular, one-punch knockout.

The Filipino flyweight also commended Arce for `fighting with heart’
despite the wear and tear of a tough career. With a report from Ronnie
Nathanielsz

rts/02/08/09/darchinyan-defeats-arce-11th-round-tk o