YEREVAN-KIEV-YEREVAN FLIGHTS TO LAUNCH OCTOBER 1
ARMENPRESS
15:35, 8 September, 2011
Yerevan-Kiev-Yerevan flights will launch from October 1, press
secretary of “Armavia” Nana Avetisova told Armenpress. She said the
flights will be implemented twice a week on Thursdays and Wednesdays,
at 10.05 am local time.
ARMENIAN ECONOMY MINISTER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FORUM OF THE PROGRAM “EAST PARTNERSHIP” OF PARTICIPANT-COUNTRIES IN POLAND
ARKA
Sep 8, 2011
YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Armenian Economy Minister will leave for
Poland on September 7 with three-day working visit for participation
in ministerial forum of the economy ministers of the program “East
Partnership”.
In the forum which will take place in the city Krynica, ministers of
EC participant-countries will be present.
Armenian Economy Minister Tigran Davtyan will participate in the
meeting of the bureau of the group of European national party
which will take place in the city Wroclaw where the challenges and
opportunities of European neighborhood policy will be discussed.
KARINE KAZINIAN APPOINTED AS ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO UK
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 8, 2011 – 14:44 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – On September 8, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
signed a decree to release Karine Kazinian from the post of Deputy
Foreign Minister to be appointed as an Armenian ambassador to United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Prior to her appointment as a Deputy Foreign Minister in February 2009,
Ms. Kazinian served as Armenian ambassador to Germany.
MARIINSKY THEATRE’S SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA TO GIVE CONCERT IN YEREVAN
Tert.am
14:54 08.09.11
St Petersburg’s Mariinskky Theatre is organizing a symphonic concert
in Yerevan on August 19.
According to the Russian TV channel Kultura, Narek Yakhnazaryan,
a young Armenian violoncellist and a winner of the XIV Internaional
Tchaikovsky Competition, is also expected to play with the symphonic
orchestra.
Before the concert in Armenia, the musicians will travel to Krasnodar
region for concerts dedicated to the 74th anniversary of the Russian
province (September 13-16). The orchestra’s director, Valery Gergiev is
planning to include in the program musical compositions by Musorgsky,
Plotnichenko and other renowned composers.
THE FUTURE OF TURKISH-ISRAELI RELATIONS
By Kerim Balci
Today’s Zaman
Sept 7 2011
Turkey
Turkish-Israeli relations cannot be isolated from the general framework
of Turkish foreign policy and Turkey’s self-perception (used here as
the English translation of Husserl’s concept of “Selbstverstandnis”)
as the mediator par excellence of the Middle East.
Within this framework, Israel is not only an “other” but also a
“third side.” That means as long as Turkey has diplomatic relations
with any other actor in the Middle East, it will have to have some
kind of relationship with Israel also. The cessation of relations
with Israel altogether would not only affect Turkey and Israel but
would also bring about a multidimensional change in Turkey’s foreign
policy paradigm. Turkey is either a soft power adhering to its “zero
problems with neighbors” policy, and thereby remains in communication
with Tel Aviv, or it becomes a hard power with a greater naval presence
in the eastern Mediterranean basin, ends its relations with Israel
and retains its problems with its neighbors.
This is not a critique of Turkey’s recent strategy of sanctions against
the state of Israel. This is a wakeup call about the changing dynamics
of Turkish foreign policy. This should worry the Turks and the Israelis
as well as the Syrians, Greek Cypriots, Iranians, Armenians and other
neighbors of Turkey. With its rejectionist policies, Israel managed
to push Turkey to the limits of its patience and cause it to abandon
its well-considered and orchestrated new foreign policy.
I assume Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is most disturbed by
Israel’s imposition on Turkey of a self-perception as a hard power. I
am sure he is lamenting the loss of the hopes of tranquility and
peace in Turkey’s relations with its neighbors. From now on, every new
decision made in Ankara on foreign policy will carry a whiff of this
new reality: Ankara’s increasingly harsh criticism of the Syrian regime
is not unrelated to what has happened between Turkey and Israel. We
won’t find the Turkish Foreign Ministry willing to run to the rescue of
Iran in an international crisis, and we won’t find Turkish diplomats
willing to engage in productive conversation with their Armenian
counterparts within the framework of this new self-perception. We
will find the Turkish Air Forces more willing to bomb the Kandil
Mountains in cases of terrorist attacks perpetrated within Turkey,
and we will certainly find Turkey more threatening towards Greek
Cypriot ambitions of establishing oil drilling facilities within
the international waters around Cyprus. But Turkey is not the one to
blame here. The Israeli government caused Ankara to become this way.
This is not to say that the transition from soft power to hard power
is a one-way metamorphosis. Turkey can, and hopefully will, turn back
to its early Davutoglu-era foreign policy principles. This would, of
course, be contingent upon Israel’s decision to accede to Turkey’s
demands related to the Gaza aid flotilla incident. Put in frank
and straight terms: By not apologizing and not paying compensation
to the families of the victims, and by manipulating the reports of
international bodies via its lobbying machine Israel is not losing
only one ally, it is causing the entire Middle East to lose a good
mechanism for mediation.
That early Davutoglu-era Turkish foreign policy paradigm is necessary
for the newly emerging participatory democracies of the Arab Middle
East. If 10 years from now we still find Egypt, Syria, Tunisia,
Libya and Yemen stuck in a quagmire of self-renewing dictatorships,
this will, to a certain extent, be due to Israel’s unwillingness to
keep Turkey on track as an emerging soft power.
NEW BUSINESS CENTER IN NKR
ARMENPRESS
19:49, 7 September, 2011
President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan partook September 7 in
a solemn ceremony of opening the “Avis” business center in Stepanakert.
An official from the central information department of the Office of
Artsakh Republic President told Armenpress that Bako Sahakyan said
he emphasizes the importance of establishing such an institution in
Artsakh Republic and hopes that the center would have an essential
role in developing entrepreneurship, promoting new business culture
and introducing advanced international experience in Artsakh.
The president mentioned that the state is interested in developing
business center network and would assist this process in every
possible way.
Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunyan, Oleg Yesayan, ambassador extraordinary
and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Russian
Federation, other officials, businessmen and representatives of
different companies partook in the event.
ARMEN DZHIGARKHANYAN INVITED TO 7TH MUSLIM FILM FESTIVAL
Tert.am
21:34 07.09.11
Famous Armenian theater and cinema actor Armen Dzhigarkhanyan has
been invited to the 7th Muslim Film Festival to take place today in
Kazan, Tatarstan.
Among other guests invited are Ornella Muti, an all time guest at
the Cannes Festival, as well as actors Dmitry Dyuzhev, Kiril Safonov
and others.
The festival will screen films from various countries, representing
universal moral values and national cultural traditions and deliver
a message of pacifism, humanity and tolerance.
A total of 41 films and 19 animations from 29 countries have been
elected for screening.
Another 25 films that are not included in the competition will also
be screened.
LUSINE DAVTYAN APPOINTED DEPUTY HEAD OF THE FOOD SAFETY STATE SERVICE
ARMENPRESS
12:36, 7 September, 2011
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan appointed Lusine Davtyan
deputy head of the Food Safety State Service of the RA Ministry of
Agriculture, government’s press office reported.
RA DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER HIGHLY PRAISES MULTILATERAL COOPERATION WITH OSCE YEREVAN OFFICE
Noyan Tapan
07.09.2011 | 18:20
Politics
(Noyan Tapan – 07.09.2011) On September 7, RA Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgyan received the
head of OSCE Yerevan office Sergey Kapinos on the occasion of the
completion of his mission.
Wishing him success in his future activity the Deputy Prime Minister
highly praised multilateral cooperation with OSCE Yerevan office.
In his turn S. Kapino considered joint work efficient expressing
willingness to support the local self-government reforms.
BAKU MAY NOT HOST EUROVISION?
Tert.am
14:53 07.09.11
With Eurovision 2012 drawing near, Baku is facing numerous problems
in connection with the arrangement of the concert, the chairman of
Armenia’s Public Television and Radio company has said.
Alexan Harutyunyan told reporters on Wednesday that the possibility
of selecting new venues for the concert is now being discussed.
“Hopefully, everything will be all right, and our neighbors will be
able to organize the contest properly, but alternative options for
[other] venues are being considered,” he said.
Harutyunyan added that Armenia has already applied to the European
Broadcasting Union, asking for security guarantees.
“We need the guarantees by December to enable our 30-member delegation
to attend the contest,” he said.