Author: nina hovnanian

ARMENIA’S FREIGHT TRAFFIC IN NINE MONTHS GROW S BY 3.2 PERCENT

YEREVAN, November 9. / ARKA /. The volume of freight traffic in
Armenia (including through pipelines) in January-September 2012
increased by 3.2 percent compared to the same period in 2011, while
the average growth in CIS was 7.2%, according to the website of the
CIS Statistical Committee.

It said the largest growth of almost 16 percent was reported by
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan reported an 8.3% rise, Kyrgyzstan – 7.2%,
Azerbaijan – 6. 5%, Uzbekistan – 5.1%, Tajikistan – 4%. It was
followed by Armenia -3.2%, Russia – 2.7% and Ukraine – 0.1%. Moldova
and Belarus reported 4.2% and 1.7% decline respectively. -0-

ARMENCHIK ROCKS SATURDAY NIGHT DANCE AT 2012 AYF OLYMPICS
by Michelle Hagopian

November 9, 2012

>From AYF Olympics 2012 Special Issue

In case you missed Saturday night at the AYF Senior Olympics, Armenchik
brought in 1,400 people to the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.

Armen Gondrachyan, known by his stage name Armenchik, is a sensation in
Haiastan and has traveled the world performing his music. This year,
the Boston Olympics Steering Committee decided to bring him in for
a new and exciting experience for the weekend’s guests.

The decision paid huge dividends for the AYF and the Boston community,
especially when you consider that to include Armenchik cost a few
extra bucks.

“We knew the financial responsibilities we had going into this Olympics
and with Olympics in Boston and the population of Armenians in the
area, we had the opportunity to bring in a ‘new’ artist that would
draw all those people to our event. Saturday night of Olympics is
not as popular as Sunday, so we wanted to have a new sound to freshen
things up a bit,” said Steering Committee member Tamar Kanarian.

“We knew of Armenchik’s popularity when our community center [ACEC]
brought him for their first annual Kermesse in 2010. We saw the
thousands of folks that came to see him so we thought about bringing
him to the Olympics stage.”

Saturday night’s performance attracted guests that might not have
otherwise attended the weekend. “Our attendance across the board was
massive throughout the weekend. We were successful in introducing
other Armenians to an AYF Olympic weekend that we have been able to
produce for 79 years. Armenchik was great and we’ve heard nothing
but great comments of his performance,” Kanarian said.

The committee discussed bringing Armenchik for seven months, looking at
all possible scenarios, and charting out attendance against expenses
and possible ticket pricing. “You name it, we talked about it,”
said Kanarian.

She noted that sometimes it’s difficult to take risks, especially
when you have financial obligations to the AYF and the reputation of
the weekend.

“Ultimately, we consulted with the Governing Body and CE [Central
Executive]. We knew we had to work hard to publicize the event and
make sure everyone in the Greater Boston Armenian community was aware
of this new addition to the weekend,” she said.

People of all ages could be seen on the dance floor singing along
to Armenchik’s lyrics. The ballroom was packed from the beginning of
the night through the end.

Armenchik’s performance will rest well in the minds of those who
attended, and the AYF can look forward to a successful reward for
the risk the Steering Committee took on its decision.

EU OFFICIALS ‘HACKED’ AT AZERBAIJAN INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM

A spokesman for digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes says he and
one of her policy advisors have had their laptops hacked in Baku,
which they are visiting for a major internet policy conference. A
day before, Kroes had criticized her hosts for spying on activists.

The laptops of two EU officials have apparently been hacked in
Azerbaijan during the Internet Governance Forum. The officials both
work for digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes, who gave a speech at
the forum on Wednesday in which she lambasted the Azeri government for
spying on activists online, and promised to promote tools for helping
journalists avoid surveillance. “Great, now my Mac has been hacked,”
Kroes’s spokesman, Ryan Heath, tweeted on Thursday morning. “Also
@msprotonneutron [policy officer Camino Manjon] ~W I wonder who could
have done that?~T (ZDNet)

BREAD QUALITY LOW, PRICE UP

Country – Thursday, 08 November 2012, 16:21

“We need to have wheat reserves for a period of 6 months – one year.

When the wheat price increases in the global market, in Armenia the
bread price also increases immediately,” said the head of the National
Association of Consumers Melita Hakobyan.

If in European countries one person uses 100-150 grams of bread daily,
we use 300-400 grams or more.

According to Melita Hakobyan, people living in such a difficult
social-economic situation must be protected from such price
fluctuations, especially because the minimum salary increased only
by 2500 AMD.

Only 15% of bread consumed in Armenia comes in packaging with
information on ingredients, weight and other necessary information.

The head of the Association’s marketing and monitoring unit Frunze
Haytyan says that if the international wheat price grows, it normally
goes up in Armenia as well but when the international price drops,
the price does not change in Armenia. According to him, the rights
of consumers are violated because bread is low quality. He says the
origin of 13% of bread consumed in Armenia is unknown.

Melita Hakobyan added that the consumer dictates the market and not
vice versa, like it is the case in Armenia. Melita Hakobyan says a
scorpion gene is injected into wheat to use less water which makes
bread dangerous for our health.

ARMENIAN COMPANIES FORCED TO TRANSFER CARGO TO BATUMI PORT OVER POTI STRIKE

November 8, 2012 – 18:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Strike in Georgian port of Poti has forced Armenian
transportation companies to transfer their cargo to Batumi port.

In conversation with a PanARMENIANNet reporter, director of Megatrans
cargo transportation company Garnik Aleksanyan characterized Batumi
port as “reserve”, in case of problems in Poti port.

“We transferred our cargo to Batumi port on November 7, located about
100 km from Poti port,” he said.

Considering the additional distance, the cargo transportation cost
is expected to have increased by USD 100-200.

The company director further noted that Poti port is likely to open
either Nov 8 evening or Nov 9 morning.

ARF SUGGESTS SHIFTING TO 100% PROPORTIONATE VOTING SYSTEM
Anna Nazaryan

“Radiolur”
18:14 08.11.2012

Ahead of the presidential elections the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation invites the political parties and the civil society
for political consultations and urges them to unite around the ARF
platform.

ARF Dashnaktsutyun issued a statement today, which emphasizes the
importance of transferring to a 100% proportionate voting system,
separating business from politics, shifting to a parliamentary system,
recalling the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

“This is not a ‘situational’ statement. It is connected with the
concerns about the future of the country,” ARF Secretary Aghvan
Hovsepyan said.

“If you follow our call to unite around our platform, we’ll have a
new country – democratic, social and legal,” Representative of ARF
Bureau Armen Ristamyan told reporters.

ALITALIA STARTS REGULAR FLIGHTS TO ARMENIA

armradio.am
16:58 08.11.2012

Alitalia – one of the largest Air Companies in Europe – is launching
regular flights to Armenia, Press Secretary of Zvartnots Airport
Gevorg Abrahamyan informs.

On this occasion the Italian Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to Armenia Bruno Scapini, the leadership of the company
and representatives of Armenia’s Zvartnots Airport will give a press
conference at Zvartnots.

Alitalia, is the flag carrier and national airline of Italy. The
company has its head office in Fiumicino, Italy. Its main hub is
Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, Rome.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF RULING YENI AZERBAIJAN PARTY: U.S. EFFORTS IN THE KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS HAVE INCREASED OVER THE PAST YEAR OF OBAMA’S PRESIDENCY

ARMINFO
Thursday, November 8, 13:50

U.S. efforts in the Karabakh peace process have increased over the
past year of Obama’s presidency, says Executive Secretary of ruling
Yeni Azerbaijan party (YAP) Ali Ahmedov, Trend reports.

Ahmedov is sure that official Washington has made evident attempts to
seize the initiative in the process. He thinks that further serious
efforts in the peace process and real steps of the USA will speed up
the conflict’s resolution.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out on February 28 1988 in the
Azerbaijani Sumgait with massacre of Armenians as a peculiar response
of Azerbaijanis to the peaceful demand of the Nagorno-Karabakh
autonomous Region, part of the Azerbaijani SSR, to unite with the
Armenian SSR. This resulted in other pogroms of Armenians in Baku,
Kirovabad and other regions of Azerbaijan populated with Armenians. In
1991 Azerbaijan unleashed war against peaceful populations of
Nagorno-Karabakh, expulsing ethnic Armenians from the territory of
Azerbaijan. Dozens of thousands of peaceful residents on both parties
were killed in the military actions, and hundreds of thousands were
left homeless and have become refugees. In 1994 in Bishkek in mediation
of the OSCE MG, the NKR, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Protocol on
Ceasefire that is observed more or less so far. Since 1992 the OSCE
Minsk Group represented by co- chairs from Russia, U.S. and France has
been mediating in resolution of the conflict unleashed by Azerbaijan
in 1988. At present the peace process is based on the Madrid Principles
suggested by the OSCE MG in 2007 in Madrid and renovated in 2009.

GYUMRI-KARS RAILWAY COMMUNICATION IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT LIBERATED KARABAKH

News.Az
Thu 08 November 2012 11:11 GMT | 11:11 Local Time

The position of Turkey which has repeatedly been voiced at the highest
level remains changeless.

The statement came from sources in the Turkish Foreign Ministry
commenting on the information of Armenian media about possible launch
of the Gyumri-Kars railroad in the nearest future.

‘Changes in relations between Armenia and Turkey are impossible without
achievements in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. For definite
achievements in the Turkish-Armenian relations it is important for
Armenia to make definite steps in the direction of the resolution
of the Karabakh conflict. For example, the liberation of several
occupied regions could become such a step’, sources in the Turkish
Foreign Ministry said.

According to the representative of the foreign ministry of Turkey,
Ankara wishes changes in status quo throughout the region. He also
recalled that the Turkish side has repeatedly made the statements.

“Progress in negotiations on Karabakh conflict is needed”, the sources
in the Foreign Ministry said adding that different projects, including
the Kars-Gyumri railroad can be considered in this case.

However, according to the Turkish diplomat, the goal was not meeting
the Armenian interests. There is a need to focus at the interests of
the entire region.

This is impossible unless the occupation ends. But as long as it
continues, it is impossible to speak of any achievement in the
Turkish-Armenian relations”, the spokesman for the Turkish Foreign
Ministry said.

Earlier Armenian media spread reports about the possible resumption of
the transport railway communication between Kars (Turkey) and Gyumri
(Armenia) in the nearest future. The publication especially notes that
Russia and United States are especially active in lobbying this issue.

TURKEY HAS CREATED MORE DIVIDING LINES IN THE REGION – VAHRAM TER-MATEVOSYAN

news.am
November 08, 2012 | 14:40

YEREVAN.- Interview with Dr. Vahram Ter-Matevosyan who is a Senior
Research Fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National
Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

There are indications that recently Turkey has slightly modified its
foreign policy. Could you, please, contextualize Turkey’s foreign
policy priorities in the South Caucasus?

Quite understandably, Turkey pursues different interests vis-a-vis each
entity of the South Caucasian region. Hence, we can assert that there
is no unified and integrated foreign policy of Turkey in the South
Caucasus. The three UN member states, the two partially recognized
states and one non-recognized de-facto state, which is recognized
only in the level of the US and Australian state legislatures, have
different rankings in the list of policy priorities of Turkey.

Turkey’s approach to these entities is largely based upon different
identities & interests. It is often said that Turkey incorporates
different identities in shaping its foreign policy – Middle Eastern,
European, Caucasian, Balkan, Mediterranean etc. I argue that this
assertion is partially accurate and moreover, each of those identities
possesses sub-identities and understanding Turkey’s foreign policy
is quite difficult if those sub-identities are not properly considered.

No wonder, Turkey had any definite policy vis-a-vis those
sub-identities in its 2008 abruptly proposed, and dead at its birth,
Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform.

Hence, Turkey’s Caucasian identity has Georgian, Azerbaijani,
Abkhazian, Armenian and other visible and invisible facets. Turkey’s
historical legacy confirmed the existence of different identities
and the current developments continue the inadvertent process of
self-assertion. Even for the Armenian case, the last report by the
European commission indicated for the first time the emergence of
“crypto-Armenians” in the Eastern regions of Turkey.

How would you explain NATO’s position in the Armenian-Turkish
relations?

Turkey represents interests of one of the leadings security alliances
in the world. Being a member of the NATO does not logically lead to
the assumption that Turkey’s policies in the South Caucasus are in
line with the NATO principles which view the South Caucasian region
as a strategically important one. From time to time, people pondering
upon the Turkish-Armenian relations and the security in the South
Caucasus tend to forget that Turkey has closed down not only the
border with Armenia, that Turkey not only enforced a political and
economic blockade upon Armenia, that Turkey not only illegally deprived
landlocked Armenia from sea access, but Turkey has also closed down a
border, which is a border between Armenia and NATO. It is therefore,
to think of cooperative security with closed borders is a difficult
enterprise to imagine.

Turkey’s blockade and a strive to isolate Armenia even further not
only failed to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, but
pushed the parties of the conflict far aside from each other, as its
backtracking from the normalisation process further made Azerbaijan
intransigent and not at all inclined to concessions. For almost two
decades, Turkey’s position has exacerbated the situation in the region
and created more dividing lines.

What about Turkey’s general position concerning the conflicts in the
South Caucasus?

It is another aspect of Turkey’s role in the region. Turkey’s policies
towards Abkhazia and Karabakh (Artsakh) are formed through different
channels and therefore have different manifestations. Different
ethnic and lobbying groups influence Turkey’s foreign policy vis-a-vis
Abkhazia and Karabakh differently. On different occasions, Turkey has
reassured its compliance with the territorial integrity of Georgia
and Azerbaijan. Has this been a consistent policy? Not really.

Turkish governments came to occupy an entirely distinct position
vis-a-vis Abkhazia, which Georgia considers as a break-away region.

That policy is contrary to what Turkey pursues in the case of
Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), which Azerbaijan considers as a break-away
region too. Turkey is increasingly deepening its economic cooperation
with Abkhazia simultaneously maintaining a strong presence in the
Georgian economy, whereas Turkey not only maintains its border with
Armenia closed, but also imposes political and economic blockade on
Armenia and unequivocally supports the unconstructive position of
Azerbaijan on the Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict.