Author: Tambiyan Samvel

ARMENIA-TURKEY AGREEMENTS MAY HARM FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN,TURKEY ESPECIALLY BUILT BY DEMIREL AND HEYDAR ALIYEV: DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER

Today.Az
Sept 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu completed meetings with
leaders of political parties as part of six-week internal political
discussions concerning the protocols initialed with Armenia, Turkish
news agencies reported.

Ahmet Davutoglu last met with former speaker of Turkish parliament
Husamettin Cindoruk.

Cindoruk told journalists after the meeting that actually
Turkey-Armenia relations were trilateral, not bilateral as Azerbaijan’s
participation was necessary in the process.

"Azerbaijan is our brother, friend, ally. We share similar roots. We
should have delicate approach to relations with Azerbaijan. But at
present this delicacy is not demonstrated fully. It is impossible
to forget the torments of Azerbaijani people. There are 1 million
refugees. I have witnessed how they live and graves of the war
victims. We cannot forget Azerbaijan’s war victims," he said.

Cindoruk said Azerbaijan should not be blamed for the conflict with
Armenia.

"It was Armenia who attacked. We do not want the enmity to last for
centuries. But agreements with Armenia may harm friendship between
Azerbaijan and Turkey especially built by Demirel and Heydar Aliyev,"
he said.

Husamettin Cindoruk said Turkish government should not hurry with
establishing relations with Armenia and should take all the opinions
into account.

"Because the reopening of the borders will favor Armenia," he said.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT BUILDS BACKING FOR TURKEY TIES

Agence France Presse
Sept 17 2009

YEREVAN — Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian held five hours of
talks with the country’s political leaders on Thursday as he sought
to build support for the delicate aim of establishing diplomatic ties
with Turkey.

Speaking at the opening of the closed-door talks, Sarkisian said the
meeting with members of 52 political parties was aimed at hearing
all perspectives on the controversial issue.

"I have heard various opinions in detail, I have heard positive,
encouraging statements, and I have heard criticisms and concerns as
well," Sarkisian said.

"Obviously I also see risks and have concerns. But in order to assess
the risks properly… we must bring all of our observations together,"
he said.

"I see the end of this process only as providing the minimum
environment to begin a dialogue with Turkey," he said.

Armenia and Turkey announced last month they had agreed a framework
to establish diplomatic ties and reopen their border after decades of
hostility, in what was internationally hailed as a major breakthrough.

The two countries said they would hold internal political consultations
for six weeks before submitting to their parliaments two protocols
on establishing diplomatic ties and developing bilateral relations.

The deal has come under fire from opposition groups in both countries,
which accuse their governments of making concessions.

Turkey has long refused to establish diplomatic links with Armenia
over Yerevan’s efforts to have World War I-era massacres of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks recognised as genocide — a label Ankara strongly
rejects.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor
of modern Turkey, was falling apart.

Turkey also closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
ally Azerbaijan over Yerevan’s backing of ethnic Armenian separatists
in the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.

ARMENIA, IMF REACH DEAL ON $60 MILLION LOAN

Yerkir
17.09.2009 16:57
Yerevan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – The International Monetary Fund announced September
16 a staff-level agreement with Armenia on its loan, which would give
the country access to $60 million once the IMF board approves.

The IMF now expects Armenia’s economy to contract by 15% as the impact
from the global crisis has deepened.

Tax revenues have dropped sharply, with the budget deficit expected
to rise to as much as 7.5% of gross domestic product, the IMF said
in a statement.

PAST AND PRESENT ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS’ SINCERITY DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT

Tert.am
Sept 16 2009
Armenia

Relations without preconditions not only are driven by the Armenian and
Turkish peoples’s interests, but also contribute to peace and stability
in the region, stated independent MP Viktor Dallakyan in parliament
yesterday. He added that, along with their vulnerable aspects, the
Armenian-Turkish protocols are a considerable step in that direction.

"At one time [ex-president of Armenian] Ter-Petrosyan had a genuine
wish to establish Armenian-Turkish relations, but he was unable to
do so, or the possibility wasn’t made available for him," stated
Dallakyan.

Turning his attention to ex-president Kocharian’s term in office,
Dallakyan noted that the second president didn’t have a genuine wish to
establish Armenian-Turkish relations; rather, Kocharian only created an
"imitation" of those relations.

As for the current president, according to Dallakyan, Serzh Sargsyan
does in fact have a genuine wish to establish Armenian-Turkish
relations. "Sargsyan’s steps are the governing bodies’ test before
the Armenian and international communities," concluded Dallakyan.

STUDY: ABOUT 50% OF IT DEPARTMENTS’ GRADUATES HAVE NO INTENTION TO WORK IN THIS AREA

/ARKA/
September 16, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 16. /ARKA/. About 50% of IT departments’ graduates
have no intention to work in this area, and 50% of the remaining
graduates can’t find jobs here because of unfit qualification, Bagrat
Yengibaryan, director of Enterprise Incubator Foundation, said Saturday
at an informal meeting of leaders of IT sector, presenting the results
of the study conducted by the foundation.

Only 25% of the funds spent for IT sector’s needs come back, and this
is a grave problem, since specialists are in demand in Armenia.

Yengibaryan said that many work here without necessary higher
education.

He thinks a dialogue between the economy and education sector is
needed.

"Various education models are being worked out, and we try to spur
cooperation among various agencies with them."

Under such circumstances, many companies have to invest money in
training.

"Studies show that not only Armenia, but also the United States and
India face a similar problem. Many specialists work in this area
only after retraining. However, our problem is not only additional
expenses, but also secondary schools, which could train specialists",
Yengibaryan said.

He singled out Synopsis-based IT department of State Engineering
University of Armenia as cooperation model.

Yengibaryan also pointed out Sun Micro systems, who created own system
for training specialists and improving knowledge to due criteria. The
Company cooperates with Yerevan State University, State Engineering
University of Armenia and Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University.

Said that IT specialists mainly work in Yerevan, the director of
Enterprise Incubator Foundation stressed the necessity to establish
training centers in provinces.

He said IT center in Gyumri and 3D laboratory are successfully
training specialists.

"These various models are first steps, taken in an effort to spur
cooperation, but universities should set a clear objective – to train
specialists, and the private sector should offer support to them to
solve the problem with joint efforts."

Yengibaryan said the government should be interested in supporting
cooperation.

"Not only information technologies, but also other education segments
face this problem. I wonder why some strategy has not been worked
out, since universities educating students receive no support from
the government in employing them. As a result, everybody do own job,
but all are unhappy about each other", he said.

TURKEY’S FOREIGN MINISTRY CONCERNED OVER KARABAKH CLASH REPORTS

Anadolu Ajansi
Sept 10 2009
Turkey

Amman, 10 September: A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed on
Thursday Turkey’s concern about news regarding an Azerbaijani-Armenian
clash.

Burak Ozugergin, the spokesman of the ministry, said that such
incidents were causing Turkey’s concern.

"We are concerned about occurrence of such incidents in days when we
are trying to ensure peace, stability and welfare in the Caucasus,"
Ozugergin also said.

According to the Azerbaijani media, clash erupted in
Azerbaijani-Armenian front line on the Azerbaijani territories under
Armenian occupation. Five Armenians died, and three others were
wounded after Armenian forces attacked on Azerbaijani military forces.

Also, an Azerbaijani soldier was wounded in the attack, and was
hospitalized.

Azerbaijani Defence Ministry has not made any statement regarding
the incident.

ARMENIAN JUDOKA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED AT EUROPEAN YOUTH CHAMP

Aysor
Sept 11 2009
Armenia

Today, in Yerevan’s Sport and Concert Complex named after Karen
Demirchyan, Judo European Youth Championship’2009 started where the
first Armenian athletes have already been.

In the category up to 60 kg Tigran Varosyan reached advantage over
the Irish judoka Ian Brno, and then, in the next round, won over
Romania’s Katal Bratulesku.

Tigran Varosyan’s next opponent is Russia’s athlete Rifat Sharafeev
who has already won over Britain’s Nicholas English and Portugal’s
Nuno Estes.

FIRST BLOGGERS APPEAR IN INTERNET SITE ON NAGORNO KARABAKH

Azerbaijan Business Center
Sept 11 2009

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The Society of Humanitarian Researches intends
to develop the site, which was presented today, dedicated to Karabakh
().

Director of the society Avaz Hasanov says that presently, there are
a lot of resources, telling about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Analysis of the Internet resources showed that the majority of them
is Armenian. Many Azerbaijani sites function as well, but there are
sites among them, which operate only in English language or out-of-date
information is placed in them.

The aim of our site is to gather the fullest and reliable information
about Karabakh. In future we will expand and improve the site,"
A.Hasanov said.

In the site the first blog of Kerim Kerimli has been already
registered. The site functions in Azerbaijani, Russian and English
languages.

The project was prepared at financial backing of the Council of State
Support to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) of Azerbaijan.

RUSSIA’S POSITION IN CAUCASUS WEAKENS

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.09.2009 14:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish diplomacy should not be underestimated,
a Russian expert said.

"Russia’s positions in the Caucasus are weakening. Moscow should focus
on the region, otherwise it will be too late," Andrey Areshev, deputy
director general of strategic culture foundation, told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Turkey is working seriously. Turkish Foreign Minister will meet with
his Armenian counterpart in New York in September. Then, Presidents
of Turkey and Azerbaijan will discuss Karabakh issue in Nakhijevan,"
he said.

He reminded that Turkey is one of Russia’s major trade partners
while Armenia is its strategic partner. "Nevertheless, the process
of normalization between Yerevan and Ankara is going on under the
aegis of the U.S. and EU," he said.

VALERY GORTSUNIAN HONORED AS KNIGHT OF CULTURE AND EDUCATION

PanARMENIAN.NET
08.09.2009 21:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Investor, representative of the Armenian community
of France and founder of Parisian Coffee company in Yerevan, Valery
Gortsunian was honored as France’s Knight of Culture and Education.

"I am happy to bestow the order upon a woman who spares no effort to
present French culture across the globe," said Frederic Mitterrand,
French Minister of Culture.