Author: nina hovnanian

HUNGARY, AZERBAIJAN EXPAND TRADE RELATIONS

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 | Posted by Contributor

Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto (left) with Azeri Economic
Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev in Baku

BAKU-Three months after extraditing axe-murderer Ramil Safarov to
Azerbaijan, where he was pardoned and pronounced a national hero,
Hungary opened its first ever trade office in Baku earlier this month
in hopes of advancing economic relations with the very government
that applauds ethnically motivated murder.

Safarov, who was serving a sentence in Budapest for murdering an
Armenian officer Gurgen Hayrapetian in 2004 during a NATO Partnership
for Peace program, was promoted in the Azeri Army. The White House,
Brussels and other international entities condemned the extradition
and the subsequent pardon of the axe-murderer.

“The trading house was established in Azerbaijan as the two countries
are strategic partners,” said Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s foreign
minister during the opening ceremony of the office, reported AzerNews.

He said the first reason of opening the House in Baku is the strategic
cooperation between the two countries and the second is compliance
of the supply for the Hungarian economy with Azerbaijan’s demand.

Szijjarto said one of the major goals of the event was to develop
cooperation between Azerbaijan and medium-sized businesses from
Hungary, which is required to further export their products to
Azerbaijan.

A Hungarian delegation headed by Szijjarto, which consisted of
economic, banking and tourism sectors’ representatives, took part in
an Azerbaijani-Hungarian business forum on the same day.

Azerbaijani Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev told
the business forum that political relations between Azerbaijan and
Hungary are at a high level and there is potential for their further
development, which is confirmed by numerous visits and meetings.

Mustafayev said that the two countries have signed some 30
documents, which creates favorable conditions for the development of
Azerbaijani-Hungarian economic relations, noting that they have the
potential for developing cooperation in investment, construction,
pharmaceuticals and other fields.

“The government support for businessmen looking to cooperate with
Hungarian companies is being guaranteed,” Mustafayev said. “There is
also the necessary legal framework.”

Szijjarto told the press that Hungary considers Azerbaijan as a
guarantor of Europe’s energy security.

He said the Hungarian side was interested in implementing the Nabucco
gas pipeline project and Azerbaijani gas supplies to central Europe
via this route.

The Nabucco project is a priority route for delivering Caspian and in
particular, Azerbaijani gas to south-east and central Europe and one of
the main and important elements in ensuring European energy security.

Szijjarto also noted that Hungary hopes to operate direct flights
to Azerbaijan.

According to Szijjarto, the issue of running a direct flight from Baku
to Budapest is on the agenda and being discussed with the Azerbaijani
Ministry of Economic Development.

“It would be a great advantage and a step [forward] in the development
of economic relations between the two countries,” Szijjarto said.

SYRIAN-ARMENIAN CHILDREN TO PARTAKE IN CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

09:45, 20 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. On the initiative of “the
Armenian-American Orphans and Disabled Children Christmas Fund”
charity organization a row of Christmas celebrations will launch in
Aram Khachaturyan Concert Hall on January 3, 2013. The Head of “the
Armenian Philharmonic Centre” Laert Movsisyan stated that this is the
13th time when the charity organization headed by Hovhannes Balayan
organizes such events for the Armenian orphans and disabled children.

Movsisyan stated: “About ten thousand children from a number of
Armenian orphanages and other institutions will partake in the
upcoming event.” According to him charity event is also notable
because a number of Syrian-Armenian Children will participate in the
event. The director of the centre noted: “About 1500 Syrian-Armenian
children will partake in the Christmas celebrations.”

Among other things he underscored that on the initiative of the
“the Armenian-American Orphans and Disabled Children Christmas Fund”
celebrations of this format will be held also in Nagorno Karabakh,
particularly in Shushi and Kolatak.

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE BALTIC ASSEMBLY: “THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT MUST BE SOLVED URGENTLY”

APA
Dec 19 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku. Mubariz Aslanov – APA. The 5th meeting of GUAM Parliamentary
Assembly is being continued in Baku.

At the meeting, vice president of the Baltic Assembly, Raimonds
VĔjonis said that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be solved
urgently for restoration of peace and stability in the region,
APA reports. “Dealing with the solution of this conflict OSCE Minsk
Group failed to achieve any progress. Minsk Group should increase its
efforts for the soonest peaceful settlement of the conflict. During
the solution of the problem, the opinions of the affected people must
be taken into account,” he said.

R. VĔjonis said that the problems in Georgia and Moldova must be
solved within the territorial integrity of the countries.

President of the Benelux Parliament Jack Biskop said that his
organization attaches a great importance to the cooperation with GUAM
on migration. Deputy Marshal of the Polish Sejm Cezary Grabarczyk
noted that his country intends to cooperate comprehensively with GUAM
in the spheres of transportation, economy and tourism. He underlined
that he also supports GUAM’s integration into Europe.

Heads of the Georgian, Moldovan and Bulgarian delegations highly
estimated GUAM’s contribution to the development of bilateral and
multilateral relations

ARMENIAN UNIVERSITY TO PROMOTE UN VALUES

EastDay.com
Dec 19 2012

YEREVAN, Dec. 18 — The National Agrarian University of Armenia
(NAUA) and the UN signed an agreement Tuesday on promoting UN values
and activities.

Under the framework of the program, NAUA students will have the
opportunity to improve their knowledge on UN values, issues on the
UN world agenda and UN activities in Armenia.

Setting up a UN information stand in the university’s library would
be the first of many steps foreseen by the cooperation plan between
the two sides, according to the UN mission in Armenia.

“Students are active participants of various UN projects and we view
them as our reliable partners in the advancement of such values as
the human rights, democratic governance, peace and security,” said
Maria Dotsenko, a UN representative in the Caucasian country.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: ARMENIA’S POSITION ON SYRIA IS THAT THE BLOODSHED IN THAT COUNTRY MUST BE STOPPED

ARMINFO
Wednesday, December 19, 21:40

Armenia’s position on Syria is that the bloodshed in that country
must be stopped immediately, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said
during a meeting of the Collective Security Council of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization in Moscow on Wednesday.

He said that the tensions in Afghanistan and Syria are destabilizing
the situation in the whole Middle East.

The Armenian President pointed out that the Armenian community of
Syria are the descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and
have made a big contribution to the development of their new homeland.

According to Sargsyan, over 6,000 Syrian Armenians have already come
to Armenia and their number may continue to grow. “We are ready to
help them,” the Armenian President said.

Concerning Armenian-Iranian relations he said that the countries are
actively enlarging their economic ties.

ARMENIAN POLICE GETTING READY FOR MASS RIOTS PRIOR TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS – PHOTO AND VIDEO

December 19, 2012 | 20:00

Armenian police held command and staff training in order to improve
coordination of units in case of riots. Exercises were held on
December 17-19 on the territory of the “Arzni” airport. The training
was attended by police departments and police forces.

As the press service of Police informed Armenian News-NEWS.am, special
operational headquarters was created for the training, headed by the
chief of police forces, Deputy Police Service Chief Major General
Levon Yeranosyan.

On December 19, the main stage of the training was held, which
was preceded by a demonstration of special equipment. During the
exercises the units completed all the tasks. According to the Police,
the training was held at the highest level. The most distinguished
officers received awards.

ARMENIA MODERNIZES S-300 AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM

NEWS.AM
December 21, 2012 | 00:22

The annual report of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia contains
information on Armenia’s plans to modernize its air defense systems.

First of all, this concerns S-300 air defense systems. As a result
of joint research of Russian and Belarusian experts, it was decided
to upgrade these systems while using JSC “Patnesh” (Hrazdan), which
is by one hundred percent financed by the government.

Note that the plant, built in the 1980s, as a regional center for
the repair of military electronic equipment, has the appropriate
industrial sites, buildings and structures for repairs of air defense
systems S-300. Modernization of S-300 air defense systems was planned
to be implemented in Yerevan plant “Avtomatika,” but there were no
corresponding conditions there.

FRENCH SENATOR GOULET RESPONDS TO HETQ ARTICLE: SAYS APA INCORRECTLY TRANSLATED HER WORDS

16:07, December 20, 2012

French Senator Nathalie Goulet has sent Hetq the following statement
regarding a December 17, 2012 news article we published entitled
“Parliament will never pass law criminalizing Armenian Genocide”.

The Hetq article referred to an Azeri Press Agency (APA) report
claiming that Senator Goulet had dismissed any chance that a bill
criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide would pass the
French Senate.

The original APA report reads: “There is no such a bill now. The French
Supreme Court doesn’t consider it right to raise this issue again. In
general, you must forget this issue, because, the French parliament
will never adopt the bill criminalizing the denial of the so-called
“Armenian genocide.”

Senator Goulet she complained to APA about the incorrect translation
and misrepresentation of her words and that the news agency has
edited the text to now read: “There is no such a bill now. The French
Supreme Court doesn’t consider it right to raise this issue again. In
general, you must forget this issue, because, at present, the French
parliament has no bill criminalizing the denial of the so-called
“Armenian genocide.”

Senator Goulet also claims that the “so-called” prefix to describe
the Genocide was added by the APA and that she never decribed the
events of 1915 as such.

Readers will note that the APA has chosen to keep the “so-called”
appelation in its edited text.

Below is the unedited statement sent to Hetq by the French Senate’s
Parliamentary Office on behalf of Senator Goulet:

“WORK OF THE NKR NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICES IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE FOR ENSURING THE NORMAL VITAL ACTIVITY OF ARTSAKH, SAFEGUARDING SOCIAL AND STATE SECURITY, PROTECTING OF NATIONAL INTERESTS”

Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory
letter in connection with the Day of the National Security Service
Servicemen. Central Information Department of the Office of Artsakh
Republic President informs about this. The message especially says:

“Dear servicemen and veterans of the National Security Service,

On behalf of Artsakh authorities and myself I congratulate you on
your professional holiday.

Today is an opportunity to appreciate the work of the NKR National
Security Services which is of utmost importance for ensuring the
normal vital activity of our republic, safeguarding social and state
security, protecting of national interests. It is also an opportunity
to address words of gratitude to all those, whose daily faithful and
consecutive work makes valuable contribution to strengthening of our
free and independent statehood.

I am confident that workers of the system are fully aware of the
whole seriousness of the set tasks and will keep doing their best
for their successful solution.

Artsakh authorities will assist in raising the efficiency of the
structure’s activity and improving your working and social conditions
in every way possible.

Dear friends, Once again I congratulate you on the Day of the National
Security Service Servicemen and wish robust health, happiness and
greatest successes in your difficult and responsible work.

Stepanakert, December 20, 2012”.

20.12.12, 11:56

MONSEIGNEUR HAYGAZOUN NADJARIAN, NOUVEAU PRIMAT DU DIOCESE D’AUSTRALIE ET DE NOUVELLE ZELANDE
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 19 decembre 2012

A la suite du decès de l’archeveque Aghan Baliozian, Monseigneur
Haygazoun Nadjarian, precedemment Legat catholicossal pour l’Europe
centrale et la Suède, a ete nomme a la tete du diocèse d’Australie et
de Nouvelle Zelande (siège episcopal a Sidney). Traditionnellement, le
Primat de ce diocèse occupe aussi la fonction de Legat Catholicossal
pour l’Inde et l’Extreme-Orient. Exegète specialise dans le Nouveau
Testament, Mgr. Nadjarian a ete pendant plusieurs annees Vice-Recteur
de l’Academie de Theologie de saint Etchmiadzine en meme temps qu’il
y enseignait. Anglophone, diplôme en Theologie de plusieurs instituts
britanniques, il a ete en charge de la paroisse Saint Serge de Londres,
puis aux Etats Unis d’Amerique où il a exerce son ministère en tant
que recteur et comme Vicaire episcopal dans le diocèse de la côte Est
(New York). Monseigneur Nadjarian est remplace a Vienne (Autriche)
par le hieromoine Diran Petrosyan jusqu’alors en charge des affaires
du diocèse de Suisse.

mercredi 19 decembre 2012, Stephane ©armenews.com