Author: nina hovnanian

PUTIN TO DISCUSS UPCOMING ACCESSION OF ARMENIA TO CUSTOMS UNION WITH ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Voice of Russia
Dec 2 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Gyumri, the first
leg of his state visit to Armenia. Later he will attend a meeting of
the Third Russian-Armenian Interregional Forum, where the presidents
of Russia and Armenia will make their first appearance at the forum,
whose main theme is the upcoming accession of Armenia to the Customs
Union and the Common Economic Space.

Putin will come from the airport to the Gyumri Drama Theater to
participate in the commissioning of the fifth unit of the Razdan
thermal power plant during a teleconference. This is a unique project
incorporating the newest engineering solutions: it combines steam
turbine and gas turbine technologies for the first time ever. The
unit’s rated output is 467 megawatts.

The Russian president will attend a meeting of the Third
Russian-Armenian Interregional Forum. The presidents of Russia and
Armenia will make their first appearance at the forum, whose main
theme is the upcoming accession of Armenia to the Customs Union and
the Common Economic Space.

All the Armenian regions and more than 70 regions of Russia are
engaged in interregional cooperation between Russia and Armenia. The
forum will have over 600 delegates.

After the forum Putin will lay wreaths to the monument to the victims
of the Spitak earthquake and visit the Russian military base in Gyumri.

The Russian force stationed in Armenia is committed to covering the
southern flank of Russia and to protect Armenia as a member of the
Collective Security Treaty.

The enlargement of the Russian military base was announced in 2005
after the signing of a number of bilateral documents.

Armenia transferred some land plots and real estate items to the
base. The staff of the Russian forces formerly deployed in the South
Caucasus and some of the personnel and armaments previously stationed
in Georgia have been transferred to the base.

The Russian president will tour the base and speak to Russian
servicemen before he goes to Yerevan.

After his arrival in Yerevan, Putin and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsian will lay wreaths to the memorial to the victims of the
Armenian genocide.

The presidents will have a meeting and participate in Russian-Armenian
negotiations. The negotiations will end with the signing of joint
documents and a statement by the two presidents for the press.

Putin arrives in Armenia to discuss trade, economy, culture and
humanitarian aid with Armenian President

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday is arriving in Armenia on
a state visit. Central streets and squares of the country’s capital
Yerevan are decorated with state tricoloured flags of the two countries
that maintain allied relations.

Russia and Armenia are currently tied by close co-operation in the
political, economic, military and humanitarian spheres.

“The volume, depth and level of allied strategic interaction between
Armenia and Russia speak for themselves, but we can and should achieve
more,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said.

According to him, “such an intensive political dialogue is natural
between countries-allies.”

“Armenia and Russia have signed more than 200 treaties and agreements,
the bilateral regulatory framework is being permanently improved,”
the minister said. “In terms of the trade-economic relations Russia
is our number one partner, half of the total foreign investment in
Armenia is made by Russia.”

“More than 1,300 enterprises with Russian capital work in our country,”
Nalbandian said. “Economic relations in such spheres as communications,
transport, energy, including nuclear energy, information technology,
the mining industry, agriculture are successfully developing.”

“The intergovernmental commission for economic co-operation, the
military-technical co-operation commission, inter-parliamentary
commission are working effectively,” the minister said.

“We pay considerable attention to the development of interregional
contacts: all Armenian regions and more than 70 subjects of the
Russian Federation are involved in this work,” Nalbandian stressed.

The humanitarian relations are on the rise.

“We intend to continue to exert efforts aimed at further raising
efficiency of foreign political coordination,” Nalbandian said. “We
seek to continue fruitful cooperation within the framework of
international organisations based on respect for mutual interests.”

Yerevan has great expectations of the country’s participation in
Eurasian integration. “Armenia is linked with the Customs Union
countries by thousands of threads, one-third of our exports go to
Russia,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at a plenary meeting
on the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in
Strasbourg on October 2.

Putin to pay State visit to Armenia

Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a State visit to Armenia
on Monday, the Kremlin press service reported.

“The tour will begin with the city of Gyumri where Putin together
with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will visit Russian Military
Base 102, and attend a 3rd Russo-Armenian interregional forum,”
a press service official pointed out.

Then Russia-Armenia talks at summit level will be held in Yerevan.

The agenda includes key items concerning bilateral cooperation,
including that in trade-and-economic, cultural-and-humanitarian fields.

“The sides are expected to exchange views on the implementation of
accords reached as a result of Sargsyan’s visit to Moscow on September
3, as well as discuss further steps towards Armenia’s accession to the
Customs Union and the Common Economic Space of Belarus, Kazakhstan,
and Russia,” a Kremlin source pointed out.

A number of joint documents are to be signed as a result of the talks.

Russian Security Agencies Are Controlling Gyumri People

On November 29 it was difficult for ordinary citizens of Gyumri to
walk or drive their cars at the city center. They are followed closely
by the Russian security agencies, Federal Security Service and the
Police, who have arrived ahead of Putin’s visit on December 2.

Drivers of Gyumri say they are driving around in cars with plates of
different colors identifying the agency they serve, aravot.am reports.

12:39 01/12/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

Akcam to write a book about Armenian Genocide for Erdogan

by Marianna Lazarian
Friday, November 29, 18:28

Taner Akcam will write a book about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s stand
about the Genocide and deportation of Armenians. The book will be
written for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Taraf daily says that this way Akcam has commented on the statement
about Kurdistan Erdogan made in Diarbakir, where the Prime Minister
stated that he repeated Ataturk’s words and policy against the Kurds.
“In the 1920s Ataturk spoke of resettlement and massacre of Armenians
and did not deny the fact of the tragedy the way the incumbent Prime
Minister does. I have decided to write a book for Erdogan and gather
Ataturk’s statements about the developments of 1915”, says Akcam.

Taner Akcam is a Turkish historian, sociologist and publicist. He was
one of the first Turkish academicians to recognize the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

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Russian delegations holding meetings in Armenia’s regions

16:02 – 01.12.13

Delegations of about 20 Russian regions will participate in the 3rd
Armenian-Russian interregional conference in Yerevan and Gyumri,
December 2-3, with nine of the delegations headed by the governors.

Some of the delegations already held meetings in Armenia’s regions on
November 30 and December 1 and discussed prospects for developing
cooperation.

The delegations of the Arkhangelsk and Nizhni Novgorod regions held
meetings in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, while the Stavropol
delegation had meetings in the Lori region.

On December 1, the delegations of the Volgograd and Rostov regions
discussed cooperation with the Syunik and Ararat regions of Armenia
respectively.

Russian delegation will continue meetings with Armenian partners.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Hurriyet, Turkey
Nov 30 2013

Turkey’s EU Minister Baðýþ hosts minority leaders

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
by Vercihan Ziflioðlu

EU Minister Egemen Baðýþ hosts religious leaders of minorities at a
dinner in Istanbul prasing the relations between the leaders and the
state. Baðýþ also says problmes will be solved ‘together’

Turkish EU Minister Egemen Baðýþ hosted religious leaders and
prominent figures from minority communities at a dinner on Nov. 28.

Speaking at the event, Baðýþ praised Turkey’s development in dealing
with the problems of minorities and said issues would be “solved
together.”

“Ten years ago, holding this meeting would have been impossible, for
so many reasons,” he said.
Baðýþ also took the opportunity to praise the government’s
“democratization package,” which was announced by Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdoðan on Sept. 30.

“Plenty of sad incidents were experienced in this country. Many people
from different parts of society endured great pain. But we will leave
this pain behind. We are not just talking about problems, we are also
trying to find solutions to them,” he added.

During the meeting, civil members of minority communities directly and
confidently brought their issues onto the agenda.

Director General of Foundations Adnan Ertem, Fener Greek Patriarch
Bartholomew, Deputy Armenian Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateþyan, Chief
Rabbi Ishak Haleva, and Istanbul Syriac Orthodox Church Metropolitan
Yusuf Çetin participated in the dinner. U.S. Greek Church Archbishop
Dimitrios also joined the reception, having recently arrived in
Istanbul. It was also noteworthy that representatives of the Latin
Catholic and Protestant Churches were present as well.

Baðýþ said Turkey needed the support of the religious leaders of
minorities in the country. “If we need support, we are requesting help
from Patriarch Bartholomew and Chief Rabbi Haleva. Recently, Patriarch
Bartholomew gave support to us during the 2020 Olympic Games bid,” he
said.

Baðýþ also offered a memory about Chief Rabbi Haleva to those
gathered. “Ten years ago, during a visit to Turkey, U.S. President
Clinton met with the Chief Rabbi and spoke of the strong lobby of the
U.S.’s Jewish community. He added that if the Turkish Jewish community
had a problem, they should tell him. The Chief Rabbi gave an answer,
saying, ‘We have been living in Turkey for 500 years. If we have any
problems we can solve them together, but if you have any problems in
the U.S., please tell us,'” he said.

The EU minister also emphasized the recent law on foundations, which
allows for the return of minority foundations to their communities,
and also mentioned that Trabzon’s Sumela Monastery and Van’s Surp Hac
Armenian Church had been opened to worship.

“Turkey has taken a step. Former President Turgut Özal couldn’t even
speak about his real [Kurdish] identity, but today people can make
their defenses in courts in their mother tongue. Yes, EU standards are
important, but the most important thing is talking about our problems
together. We will carry Turkey to 2023 together,” Baðýþ said.

Meanwhile, the minority foundations representative, Laki Vingas, was
both self-critical and critical of the wider political situation. “We
became familiar with an anti-democratic situation, but now we have to
establish democracy in our foundations and communities. In Turkey,
they are still looking at us as ‘foreigners’ and because of this
situation we are still facing bureaucratic problems. This should end,”
he said.

Vingas also brought the legal entity problems and minority foundations
election regulations of both Greek and Armenians to the agenda.

Foundations head Adnan Ertem also spoke about the recent Foundations
Law, saying that due to the law the minority communities had gained
their rights to their foundations and were even turning them into
valuable investments.

November/30/2013

Interfax, Russia
Nov 29 2013

Yerevan expects EU to help to raise blockade of Armenia – President Sargsian

YEREVAN. Nov 29

Yerevan expects European partners to be consistent in the issue of
opening the state border between Armenia and Turkey, Armenian
President Serzh Sargsian said.

“We expect EU members-states, as our partners, to be completely and
consistently involved in the issue of eliminating the illegal blockade
of Armenia by Turkey,” Sargsian said when speaking at the Vilnius
summit on Friday.

Turkey still has challenges in opening the last closed European border
section and introducing diplomatic ties with Armenia, the Armenian
president’s press office quoted Sargsian to Interfax as saying.

Gradual adoption of the European values will help Turkey “to come to
terms with its past,” Sargsian said.

“Currently thousand of Turks condemn the genocide of Armenians and
stand by us in order to honor the memory of genocide victims. I think
that ahead of the 100th anniversary of genocide ofArmenians the
Turkish authorities should show will and give up the policy of
denial,” Sargsian said.

The Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1933 on the
initiative of Ankara due to the Karabakh conflict, in which Turkey
supports Azerbaijan.

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L’UE ET L’ARMENIE S’ENGAGENT A DEVELOPPER LEURS RELATIONS

VILNIUS

L’Union europeenne et l’Armenie devraient souligner l’importance de ”
l’examen et de la mise a jour de la base existante de leurs relations
“, dans une declaration qui doit etre signee par les participants
d’un sommet du Partenariat oriental a Vilnius, en Lituanie, vendredi .

Dans la version finale de la declaration que s’est procuree RFE / RL
les parties reaffirment egalement leur engagement ” a developper et
a renforcer leur cooperation dans tous les domaines d’interet commun
dans le cadre du Partenariat oriental ” .

Le texte de la declaration reflète apparemment le recent demi-tour
de l’Armenie sur la signature d’un accord d’association avec l’UE,
qui comprenait aussi une zone de libre-echange profonde et complète
avec le bloc des 28 nations .

Après près de quatre annees de negociations avec l’UE, l’Armenie avait
pris la decision inattendue de rejoindre l’Union douanière formee
par la Russie, la Bielorussie et le Kazakhstan, et de participer
davantage a la formation de l’Union economique eurasienne, un projet
d’integration post-sovietique preconisee par Moscou .

La decision avait ete annoncee par le president Serge Sarkissian
après des entretiens avec son homologue russe Vladimir Poutine a
Moscou, ce qui a declenche des speculations sur les pressions russes
sur l’Armenie. Le gouvernement armenien avait nie toute pression de
Moscou ou toute volte-face dans sa politique, insistant sur le fait
que la question de l’adhesion au bloc commercial dirigee par la Russie
avait ete a son ordre du jour ainsi que la politique d’integration
europeenne .

Alors que l’Armenie est apparue desireuse de combiner son adhesion
a l’Union douanière avec le processus de signature de l’ accord
d’association, les fonctionnaires de Bruxelles avaient clairement
indique que cette option etait juridiquement impossible .

La declaration qui doit etre signee a Vilnius vendredi dit en outre que
” les participants au Sommet reaffirment le droit souverain de chaque
partenaire a choisir librement le niveau d’ambition et les objectifs
auxquels il aspire dans ses relations avec l’Union europeenne ” dans
le cadre de la Politique europeenne de voisinage et du partenariat
oriental .

Eduard Sharmazanov , vice-president du Parlement armenien et membre
majeur du Parti republicain au pouvoir du president Serge Sarkissian, a
plus tôt a egalement parle de la possibilite de signer une declaration
commune avec l’UE sur la continuation du dialogue politique et des
reformes lequel s’explique selon lui par les interets de l’Armenie.

vendredi 29 novembre 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

Zhoghovurd: Foreign investment down 62.1% in Armenia

10:05 – 30.11.13

Armenia’s economy is deteriorating gradually, with foreign investments
facing a sharp decline, says the paper.

In January-September 2013, a total of $1155.1 million was invested in
the country, the amount being reportedly 62.1% down compared to the
same period of last year.

It is noteworthy that Armenia’s strategic ally, Russia, has cut its
investments by 20.7%, says the paper, adding that the investments from
France have declined dramatically by up to 81.6%. As for the United
States, it has reduced its investments by 37,2%, according to the
paper. The only country which has increased the volumes of its direct
investments is said to be the Virgin Islands, an offshore zone whose
contributions have been reportedly directed to the development sector.
Its investments have grown by 17.4%, says the paper.

`People more or less aware of the Armenian reality know that companies
owned by high-ranking officials are registered in the off-shore zones,
and they attract money with laundering purposes to later make seeming
investments,’ comments the paper.

ARMENIE
La police arménienne « préparée » à des manifestations anti-Poutine

La police est prête à d’éventuelles manifestations pendant la
prochaine visite du président russe Vladimir Poutine dans le pays a
déclaré le chef de la police Vladimir Gasparian.

Dans une interview avec le service arménien de RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am)
le fonctionnaire de police a révélé qu’il a traité « philosophiquement
» les appels de certains militants en Arménie pour répondre à la
visite du leader russe par des protestations.

Il n’y a encore aucune confirmation officielle de la date de la visite
de Poutine en Arménie mais le bureau du gouverneur dans la province de
Shirak s’attend à ce que le président russe arrive le 2 Décembre.
Poutine aurait l’intention d’arriver dans le centre régional de Shirak
à Gyumri, la ville qui héberge la base militaire russe en Arménie, et
seulement ensuite à Erevan.

Certains militants des droits civils et humains en Arménie ont appelé
à des actions de protestation contre ce qu’ils décrivent comme le «
Poutinisme ». Ils croient que le demi-tour de la politique de
l’Arménie vers l’intégration européenne et la décision d’aller vers
l’Union douanière a été en fait le résultat de la politique de menaces
de Poutine. Les militants anti-Poutine trouvent aussi qu’il est
important que la population arménienne montre son attitude négative
envers le patron du Kremlin.

« Ce n’est pas quelque chose de nouveau pour notre société de vouloir
faire quelque chose qui va fausser les choses » a commenté le chef de
la police Vladimir Gasparian. Dans le même temps, il a souligné que la
police arménienne a été préparée pour de telles actions. « Avez-vous
jamais vu une police non préparés dans les derniers temps ? Bien sûr,
nous sommes prêts », a-t-il ajouté.

Pendant ce temps, le Premier ministre arménien Tigran Sarkissian a
effectué une visite dans la province de Shirak et dans Gyumri et il a
aussi parlé des préparatifs du voyage du leader russe. Il a dit que
les chefs des différentes provinces russes seront également présents
dans la délégation de Poutine arrivant en Arménie.

« Cette année, nous allons organiser un autre forum régional afin que
les dirigeants des provinces russes aient une meilleure chance de
connaître le potentiel de nos provinces et de développer des projets
communs sur cette base, des projets concernant les investissements, la
coopération, l’augmentation du chiffre d’affaires du commerce, la
création de nouvelles entreprises », a déclaré le chef du gouvernement
arménien. « Donc, c’est une occasion unique pour les hommes d’affaires
arméniens de présenter à leurs homologues russes l’attractivité des
investissements en Arménie et d’attirer de nouveaux investissements ».

Tigran Sarkissian a écarté la récente spéculation des médias sur les
plans de Gyumri de se transformer en une ville « fermée » avec des
restrictions de voyage et de séjour en raison de la présence de la
base militaire russe.

« Gyumri a été et restera la ville la plus ouverte du monde. Il n’y a
pas de tels plans » a déclaré le Premier ministre. « Nous sommes très
heureux que le président de la Russie puisse se rendre non seulement à
Erevan, mais aussi à Gyumri »a-t-il ajouté.

samedi 30 novembre 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

NOVELLA JAFAROGLU: “THE MEETING BETWEEN AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN WOMEN WILL BE HELD IN ISTANBUL”

APA, Azerbaijan
Nov 29 2013

[ 29 November 2013 14:19 ]

Baku. Ramiz Mikayiloglu – APA. “I have not correctly expressed my
views to APA Information Agency.

The meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno
Karabakh will not be held in Istanbul,” Novella Jafaroglu, Chairperson
of the Society for Protection of Women Rights named after Dilara
Aliyeva told APA.

Novella Jafaroglu said that on December 1-5, the Society for Protection
of Women Rights named after Dilara Aliyeva and Armenian Women’s
Center will organize a meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian women,
not between Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh.

On November 27, Novella Jafaroglu told APA that the Society for
Protection of Women Rights named after Dilara Aliyeva and Armenian
Women’s Center will organize the meeting of the representatives of
Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh in Istanbul
on December 1-5. As a conclusion of the meeting, a letter to the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs will be prepared and its content will be made
public later. This letter will also be handed to Catherine Ashton,
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at
the meeting in Brussels in January.

Chairperson of the National Council of Human Rights Council Saadat
Bananyarli, chairperson of the Bureau for the Protection of Human
Rights and Rule of Law Saida Gojamanli, chairperson of the Women’s
Association for Rational Development Rena Tahirova and chairperson of
“Yuga” Youth Organization Parvana Mammadova will attend the Istanbul
meeting.