Author: Parkev Tvankchian

SWEDISH FM REJECTS CLAIM FOR RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
09.06.2009 16:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has once
again rejected Liberal People’s Party parliamentarian’s request
on recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Politicians do not face
the task of adopting decisions that may change the course of
historical developments, CNN Turk quotes the Swedish diplomat as
saying. Besides, using the term "genocide", according to Bildt,
may impede the activities of the group dealing with the study of
historical developments.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH TURKEY NOT TO IMPEDE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

/ARKA/
April 27, 2009
YEREVAN

Normalization of the relations with Turkey is not an obstacle on
the way of international recognition of the genocide of Armenians in
Ottoman Empire, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at the meeting
in the country’s National Security Council Saturday.

He pointed out the frequent statements made today saying that the
joint statement of the foreign ministries of Armenia, Turkey and
Switzerland on normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations on the eve
of April 24, Memorial Day of the Armenian genocide, may impede the
process of international acknowledgement of the genocide.

Foreign ministries of Armenia and Turkey, together with the Swiss
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs made a joint statement about
normalization of the relations on the night of April 23. The statement
reads that the parties reached an agreement on a wide-ranged settlement
of bilateral relations. The sides also agreed on establishing a
"road map" for normalization of the relations.

According to the President, on the contrary, the genocide topic became
a subject of a more intense coverage this time than ever.

All leading world mass media outlets were starting their news with
this topic pointing out that there has been a genocide and saying
that the President of Armenia repeatedly stated that set tlement of
relations with Turkey does not imply renunciation of the genocide
or doubting the fact of the genocide, Sargsyan said as quoted by the
presidential press service.

"Establishing relations with Turks does not impede the international
acknowledgement of the genocide. International recognition of the
genocide is the only way to prevent genocides," President said.

The fact that the statement was made on the eve of April 24 proves
that Turkey acknowledges the meaning of the day, he said.

According to Sargsyan, the signing of the statement by the Swiss
Department for Foreign Affairs and the positive response of the
U.S. Department of State followed by the telephone talk with the
U.S. Vice-President Josef Biden, confirmed the readiness of the world
community, the USA and Switzerland in particular, to consistently
assist in the process and to somehow stand surety for the agreements
reached.

"Our approaches to the cause-effect relations around the historical
facts, our national ideas and problems have not changed. But we should
realize that a step needs to be made to cover the path. Nobody says
it is easy or it would be easy but we should be ready to move in a
correct direction and protect our interests," the President said.

Armenian genocide was the first genocide committed in XX
century. Turkey rejects the accusation of massacres and the killing
of one and a half million Armenia ns during World War I.

The fact of the Armenian genocide is recognized by many countries,
particularly by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, most of the
U.S. states, as well as by the parliaments of Greece, Cyprus,
Argentina, Belgium, Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Common
House of Canada, the Seym of Poland and lower house of Italian
parliament.

UN, IFIS DISCUSS WITH ROA GOVERNMENT WAYS TO OFFSET SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE CRISIS

LRAGIR.AM
12:52:40 – 14/04/2009

Yerevan, 14 April 2009 – The Ministry of Labor and Social Issues,
the United Nations (UN), World Bank (WB) and International Monetary
Fund (IMF) offices in Armenia, organized a conference on "Social
Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Armenia." The objective of
the conference was to discuss consequences of the global economic and
financial crisis and find measures to mitigate its impact on vulnerable
groups. The conference brought together around 120 participants.

Representatives from international organizations warned today that the
global economic and financial crisis could have a serious impact on
the Armenian economy and affect the country’s ability to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. UN, WB and IMF officials
told a conference that while the effects on the Armenian economy are
already being felt, the population is now starting to feel the social
impact as well.

The exposure and impact of the crisis varies across countries and
sectors, but it is becoming more apparent that what started as an
economic crisis is now turning into a human development crisis. During
the first two months of 2009 the unemployment rate in Armenia has
increased, while the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has decreased by 3.7
percent compared to the same period in 2008. Moreover, non-commercial
private transfers dropped by about 35 percent in February 2009 compared
with a year earlier.

According to the World Bank report on "Implications of the Global
Economic Crisis for Poverty in Armenia," the current crisis could
push 172,000 more people below the poverty line in 2009-10, increasing
the total number of poor to an estimated 906,000 people, out of which
297,000 people will be extreme poor. A large part of Armenia’s gains
in reducing poverty over the last years would be erased.

"In many developing countries, the consequences of the crisis could be
a possible reversal of the gains in human development and progress
towards the achievement of the MDGs, especially in the areas of
healthcare, including reduction of child mortality, improvement
of maternity health, and education," said Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN
Resident Coordinator.

Acknowledging the government’s commitment to maintain the current
level of funding for the social sector, including salaries, pensions,
family and other benefits, UN Agencies will support the government’s
efforts in devising solutions that will draw together all stakeholders,
including international organizations, private sector and the civil
society. In addition, the UN in Armenia is in the process of tailoring
its current programmes to address the needs of those most affected
by the crisis.

"We need to be fast and flexible and seek cost-effective solutions to
emerging problems, particularly, focusing on bringing international
experience and knowledge to help in developing recovery mechanisms,"
Ms. Vidal emphasized.

"Economic growth in Armenia has led to substantial poverty reduction,
but these achievements are now at risk. The global economic crisis
will have potentially serious implications for poverty and this
calls for significant responses by the Government of Armenia and its
development partners," said Aristomene Varoudakis, World Bank Armenia
Country Manager.

The Government has shown commitment by accelerating the implementation
of World Bank funded projects under the new IDA Fast Track Facility.

Such policy responses may include support to the development of
small and medium sized businesses, design and implementation of labor
intensive programmes, including public works, better monitoring of
the human development impacts of the crisis, development of food
security initiatives, efficient budgetary allocation and spending
in social sectors, continuous support to the government in capacity
building to provide quality social services, adjustment and expansion
of existing basic social safety net instruments to better target the
most vulnerable groups, as well as generation of reliable data on
children and women for tailored policy interventions.

MARK S. SMITH

AP
Tuesday April 7 2009

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) Barack Obama wrapped up his first European
trip as president with a request of the world: Look past his nation’s
stereotypes and flaws. "You will find a partner and a supporter and
a friend in the United States of America," he declared Tuesday.

"The world will be what you make of it," Obama told college students
in Turkey’s largest city. "You can choose to build new bridges instead
of building new walls."

Promising a "new chapter of American engagement" with the rest of
the world, Obama said the United States needs to be more patient in
its dealings. And he said the rest of the world needs a better sense
"that change is possible so we don’t have to always be stuck with
old arguments."

The students formed a tight circle around the U.S. president, who
slowly paced a sky-blue rug while answering their questions. He
promised to end the town hall-style session before the Muslim call
to prayer.

Obama rejected "stereotypes" about the United States, including that
it has become selfish and crass.

"I’m here to tell you that that’s not the country that I know and
it’s not the country that I love," the president said. "America,
like every other nation, has made mistakes and has its flaws. But for
more than two centuries we have strived at great cost and sacrifice
to form a more per fect union."

He repeated his pledge to rebuild relations between the United States
and the Muslim world.

"I am personally committed to a new chapter of American engagement,"
Obama said. "We can’t afford to talk past one another, to focus only
on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us."

Obama’s message was being warmly received by Arabs and Muslims. In an
interview published Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem
called his words "important" and "positive."

The questions for Obama at the town-hall meeting were polite and
rarely bracing, though one student asked whether there was any real
difference between his White House and the Bush administration. Obama
cautioned that while he had great differences with Bush over issues
such as Iraq and climate change, it takes time to change a nation as
big as the United States.

"Moving the ship of state is a slow process," he said.

The Turkish stop capped an eight-day European trip that senior adviser
David Axelrod called "enormously productive" âÂ~@Â" including an
economic crisis summit in London and a NATO conclave in France and
Germany.

Axelrod said specific benefits might be a while in coming. "You plant,
you cultivate, you harvest," he told reporters. "Over time, the seeds
that were planted here are going to be very, very valuable."

Picking up on his consultant’s theme later, Obama told the college
students he sees nothing wrong with setting his sights high on goals
such as mending relations with Iran and eliminating the world of
nuclear options âÂ~@Â" two cornerstone issues of his trip.

"Some people say that maybe I’m being too idealistic," Obama
said. "But if we don’t try, if we don’t reach high, then we won’t
make any progress."

Obama’s final day in Turkey also featured a meeting with religious
leaders and stops at top tourist sites in this city on the Bosporus
that spans Europe and Asia. Accompanied by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, he toured the Hagia Sophia museum and the Blue Mosque.

At the Blue Mosque, just across a square and manicured gardens
from Hagia Sophia, the president padded, shoeless like his entire
entourage in accordance with religious custom, across the carpeted
mosque interior. All around were intricate stained-glass windows and
a series of domes, thick columns and walls entirely covered in blue,
red and white tile mosaic.

Again, he appeared to speak little, as he was schooled in what he
was seeing by a guide. He spent about 40 minutes at both places.

At his Istanbul hotel, Obama met with Istanbul’s grand mufti and
its chief rabbi, as well as Turkey’s Armenian patriarch and Syrian
Orthodox archbishop.

In many respects, Obama’s European trip was a continental listening
tour.

He told the G-20 summit in London that global cooperation is the key
to ending a20crippling recession. And at the NATO summit in France and
Germany, he said his new strategy for Afghanistan reflects extensive
consultation.

In Ankara, Turkey’s capital, Obama told lawmakers their country can
help ensure Muslims and the West listen to each other.

GUL CALLS ON IRAQ TO JOINTLY COMBAT PKK

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2009 11:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In early remarks before his historic visit to Iraq
for official talks in Baghdad, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said
he hopes to boost ties through a transfer of energy resources and
through cooperation in the fight against the PKK. He said Iraqi Kurds
have clearly seen what winning or losing Turkey’s support would mean
and that it is the PKK terror that upsets ties with Ankara, Hurriyet
Daily News reported.

A symbolic trip, pragmatic agenda President Abdullah Gul began a
landmark visit to neighboring Iraq yesterday, at a time of changing
relations between Turkey and northern Iraq amid calls for increased
efforts to eradicate the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK).

"Just as we attach importance to and back Iraq’s territorial integrity,
northern Iraqi officials should support us against the PKK terror
in the Turkish territory," Gul was quoted as saying by Turkish
TV channels. His remarks came in response to questions posed by
journalists accompanying him on the flight to Baghdad.

"We are ready for a strategic cooperation with Turkey," his
counterpart, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said.

Gul, who was greeted at Baghdad International Airport by Iraqi Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari and other officials, became the first Turkish
head of state to visit Iraq in 33 years.

The last Turkish president to do so was Fahri Koruturk in April 1976.

Russia to begin large-scale rearmament of Armed Forces in 2011

14:03 | 17/ 03/ 2009

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) – A comprehensive rearmament of Russia’s
Armed Forces will begin in 2011, President Dmitry Medvedev said on
Tuesday.

"Last year we equipped a number of military units with new weaponry,
and we will start large-scale rearmament of the Armed Forces in 2011,"
Medvedev said at a meeting with Defense Ministry officials.

He said that the current military-political situation in the world
calls for a thorough modernization of the Russian Armed Forces,
primarily its strategic nuclear forces.

"They must be able to accomplish all tasks aimed at ensuring Russia’s
military security," Medvedev said, adding that this process would
involve the enhancement of combat readiness of all military units.

The president reiterated that "despite the current financial
difficulties, Russia has never had better favorable conditions to
create modern and highly efficient armed forces."

Medvedev also said that the Russian Security Council would soon endorse
a national security strategy for the period up to 2020.

"Long-term plans in the defense sphere should be based on a Russian
national security strategy for the period up to 2020, which the
Security Council should endorse in the near future," Medvedev said.

The president announced last year that Russia would make the
modernization of its nuclear deterrent and Armed Forces a priority in
light of the August military conflict with Georgia.

Russia’s military expenditure has been steadily growing recently, and
the country reportedly plans to increase the current defense budget of
$40 billion by 50% in the next three years.

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Tuesday that the share of
modern weaponry in the Russian Armed Forces would reach 30% by 2015,
and would total 70% by 2020.

U.S. MAY SET AIRBASE IN TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.02.2009 20:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Washington may look at setting up an airbase in the
Black Sea city of Trabzon in Turkey as an alternative to the Kyrgyz
base which is due to close later this year, a Turkish newspaper said.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed on Friday a decree to
close the U.S. base used for the past eight years to support NATO
operations in nearby Afghanistan. The United States will have 180
days to withdraw some 1,200 personnel, aircraft and other equipment
from the Manas airbase.

Turkey’s pro-government Yeni Safak, citing an unofficial U.S. source,
reported that Washington could turn to Turkey as an alternative
location for the military base should the U.S. get a negative response
from two other Central Asian states, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

"If the Tajik and Uzbek variants do not work, then the next in line
will be Turkey’s Black Sea coast [in] Trabzon," the newspaper reported.

The decision to close the Kyrgyz base comes as U.S. President
Barack Obama announced he will send an additional 17,000 soldiers to
Afghanistan to fight Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents. The move will
increase the U.S. contingent to more than 50,000 personnel.

Russia, which has an airbase in Kant, a short distance from the
U.S. base at Manas, recently said it was ready to broaden cooperation
with Washington on non-military supplies to Afghanistan via the
"northern corridor," which is likely to cross Russia into Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan before entering northern Afghanistan.

The Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. David Petraeus, who is
currently in Central Asia, may visit Turkey in the near future to
discuss the issue, the newspaper said.

The U.S. Air Force has been deployed at an airbase in Turkey’s southern
city of Incirlik since the signing of a joint agreement in 1954. The
NATO base is currently home to the United States’ 39th Air Base Wing
and some 5,000 U.S. service personnel, RIA Novosti reports.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenian Writers Association in California instituted an annual
literature award
21.02.2009 16:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A meeting of Armenian Writers Association was held
in the beginning of February in Glendale public library. In the
framework of the meeting the public writer and editor Grant Simonyan
donated $1000 to Armenian Writers society in California. Half of the
sum is intended for the publication of verses by poetess Hranush
Aryants.

During the meeting an official declaration was made about the
institution of an annual literature award after Hrant and Manush
Somonyans to be bestowed in Best Poet and Best Prose Writer
nominations.

In 2008, Hrant Simonyan made a $1000 donation to Armenian Writers
Association as an award to the poetess Anahit Yeremyan.

IMPROVEMENT IN ARMENIAN-TURKISH TIES POSSIBLE THROUGH RESOLVING NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend News Agency
Feb 20 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 19 Trend News E.Tariverdiyeva/ The improvement
in the Armenian-Turkish relations is possible only through the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, taking into consideration territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, experts considers.

"Turkish officials have underscored the seriousness of the process
of normalization of relations with Armenia, but Turkey has also been
careful to keep Azerbaijani officials informed of its priorities as
well as to sustain efforts aimed at solving the Karabakh conflict,"
Licinia Simao, expert on South Caucasus, said.

The position of Turkey and Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
remains unchanged, the Ihlas news agency quoted Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying at a press conference on Feb. 18.

"We are continuing the process with Azerbaijan in the same direction,"
Erdogan said.

The former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan are officially
in the situation of war because of the Nagorno-Karabakh region,
populated by Armenians. Self-proclaimed republic is considered by
the world community as part of Azerbaijan. Since the beginning of
the Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict in 1988, nearly 35,000 people have
been killed, 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan, in particular
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, are still under the
occupation of the armed forces of Armenia.

A ceasefire agreement was reached in 1994. Still Baku and Yerevan hold
negotiations through international mediators, which have yielded no
results. The ceasefire agreement is periodically broke on the line
of contact of the armed forces of sides.

Turkey and Armenia attempt to normalize the relations, which were
broken off already in 1993 due to Armenia’s "genocide" campaign and
forceful occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008
after being invited by Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to watch
a football match between the two countries. Efforts have been made
to normalize ties ever since.

The observers consider that the improvement in the Armenian-Turkish
relations is possible only through the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
taking into consideration territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Turkey has demands without which it is impossible to establish
relations with Armenia and settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
basing on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is one them, Turkish
Expert to Caucasus Kamer Kasim said.

"If the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not settled in line with
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Ankara will not establish relations
with Armenia, because borders were closed due to Armenia’s occupying
the Azerbaijani territories," Usak International Strategic Research
Centre Expert Kasim told Trend News in a telephone conversation
from Ankara.

Baku and Ankara have a clear agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem
and Turkey will never establish relations with Armenia unilaterally if
Yerevan does not follow the agreement. "Turkey will never establish
relations with Armenia in prejudice of Azerbaijan, as Azerbaijan is
a key figure to settle the conflict," Kasim said.

"The Turkish government stated that Turkey will not establish
relations with Armenia without the Armenian troop’s withdrawal from
the Azerbaijani occupied lands," Azerbaijani Parliamentary Member
Asim Mollazade told Trend News.

"I have recently been in Ankara where officials of the Turkish
governing party stated at the highest level that Turkey supports
Azerbaijan as usual," Azerbaijan Democratic Reforms Party Chairman
Mollazade said.

Baku should rely on the Turkish government’s promise that Ankara is
seeking to assist in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as usual,
he said. "Serious breakthrough in the conflict settlement will not
occur without the Armenian troop’s withdrawal from the occupied
territories," Mollazade said.

For Armenia the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan carries a great deal
of hardships and Yerevan would be happy to resolve the situation,
Simao said.

"This is more so, as the current status quo in Karabakh is seen
in Yerevan as equivalent to a de facto autonomy from Azerbaijan,"
University of Coimbra Fellow Simao wrote to Trend News in an email.

The international community should take this context into account and
make all efforts and preparations to assist in the implementation of
a settlement agreement, Simao said.

Most of experts think if Turkey establishes diplomatic relations
with Armenia, this will improve a situation with settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict while basing on Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity.

Russian political scientist Kirill Tanaev said the improvement of the
Armenia-Turkey ties might have an influence on the resolving of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict positively, since expansion of confidence
measures in the Caucasus region has an objective contribution to the
resolution of the conflict.

"Turkey seeks to play a more active role, and this means that it would
like to speak unless the arbitrator, then one of the mediators between
Armenia and Azerbaijan," Rational Policy Fund director general Tanaev
said to Trend News.

If turkey has diplomatic relations with Armenia it can only improve
the resolution of the conflict in Nagorno- Karabakh, Director of
Inside Europe, an Armenian think-tank in Brussels Nicolas Tavitian said

"Right now Turkey has no means to help in resolution of this conflict,
but if it talks to Armenia it will have means of persuading Armenia,"
Tavitian said.

Now Turkey has established actual relations with Armenia and has
more abilities to influence the country. Once diplomatic relations
are established and economic relations are established then Armenia
will have interest in Turkey. You look to your partner- you listen
to the people who listen to you.

Azerbaijani political scientist does not agree with this statement.

"Armenia’s position is not based on its relations with the countries,
as many are interested in solving this conflict, and while they have
good relations with Armenia," Molladze said.

R. Agayev (Moscow), R.Hafizoglu and D.Ibrahimova constributed in
the article.

Rumors on Robert Kocharian’s participation in coming BH congress
neither refuted nor confirmed

936

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Representatives of all NA factions
have been invited to participate in Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous
Armenia) party’s 4th congress to be held on February 12. Besides, as BH
faction Secretary Aram Safarian said at the February 6 press briefing,
representatives from RF Yedinaya Rossiya, Ukrainian Partiya Regionov
parties have been also invited. As to former RA President Robert
Kocharian’s participation in the congress, he said that he cannot
answer that question for the present.

It should be mentioned that according to some publications in press, R.
Kocharian is expected to take part in the congress and to be elected BH
Honorary Chairman.

Answering the question about party’s possible participation in Yerevan
Mayor’s elections, faction member Naira Zohrabian said that the issue
has not been discussed in the ruling coalition yet, and only after such
a discussion BH can make a decision on its participation and on
nominating a candidate of its own.