Author: Tambiyan Samvel

YEREVAN HOSTS CEREMONIAL OPENING OF "ARMENIA 2009 WINTER FESTIVAL"

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.12.2009 18:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today, December 17, Yerevan hosted a concert program
dated to ceremonial opening of "Armenia 2009 Winter Festival" to last
till January 6.

‘ I hope the festival will become a good tradition and color the live
of Armenians in cold winter days. I’m sure the initiative will provide
collaboration opportunity with festival organizers- Kanachastan NGO,"
Yerevan Mayor Hagik Beglaryans’ statement said.

As Kanachastan NGO director, Raffi Niziblyan informed, the festival
will feature a number of events, including New Year trees’ exhibit
in Lovers Park, winter march, holiday games and national dishes’
exhibition.

"Armenia 2009 Winter Festival", held for the third time, was
organized with the assistance of RA Economy and Culture Ministries,
Yerevan Mayor’s Office, Bogossian Gardens foundation, and festival
co-organizer, Deem Communications.

BAKU LAUNCHES ANTI-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN

Panorama.am
17:19 17/12/2009

Azadlig commented on the anti-American campaign launched by the
representatives of Azerbaijani ruling "Yeni Azerbaijan" party.

According to the paper, any of Azerbaijan’s measures taken can’t
anyhow affect the policy of the official Washington.

The Azerbaijani authorities are again in panic over the US Congress
financial aid allocated to Armenia being twice as much as that to
Azerbaijan. Moreover, under the world financial-economic crisis the
Congress has allocated $8 mln. to Karabakh as well.

The approaches and comments of the Azerbaijani political figures and
analysts, with some differences and on different levels, have been
directed to Washington.

Some analysts think, that thus, the US want to make Azerbaijan
understand the change of their disposition, that is, they are not con
the Nagorno-Karabakh self-determination process. While some others
think, Washington attempts to get much more dividends from Azerbaijan
through bargaining the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

ERGENEKON: BERLIN-BASED THINK TANK RELEASES OPERATION CAGE PLAN IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
by Lou Ann Matossian

12-16-ergenekon-berlin-based-think-tank-releases-o peration-cage-plan-in-english-translation
Wednesda y December 16, 2009

In Turkey: Dink murder trial, apology petition, and curriculum changes

Minneapolis – Like Watergate and The Gulag Archipelago, the Ergenekon
investigation challenges "a culture of impunity for crimes committed
by the state," says the Berlin-based European Stability Initiative
(ESI) in a news analysis. "Recent weeks have seen the Turkish veil
of secrecy drawn aside in a spectacular manner."

Ergenekon is the name of an alleged ultranationalist conspirators
aiming to overthrow Turkey’s Islamist-leaning government.

Until recently, only Turkish-speakers were able to read the Operation
Cage Action Plan in horrifying detail. Now, however, an English
translation available at esiweb.org confirms that the four-stage
operation was intended to distract the public from the Ergenekon
investigation by terrorizing "non-Muslims" in Turkey.

The stated aim of Operation Cage was "to increase both local and
foreign pressure on the AKP Government, to keep the public pre-occupied
and to change the agenda, particularly in the Ergenekon case, by
questioning the safety of non-Muslims’ life and property."

ESI notes that the largest community among the 125,000 "non-Muslims"
is the Armenian community of some 60,000 people.

In the preparatory stage, members of the "non-Muslim" population
would be identified through subscription lists, organizational
membership rosters, and the names of students, parents, and employees
of "non-Muslim" schools. Also to be determined were the dates and
locations of religious festivals and holidays where the targeted
community would be likely to gather. "Non-Muslim" cemeteries "which
would be suitable for operations" would be located.

In the "fear creation stage," Agos subscriber lists would be posted
on the Internet, particularly at hostile sites, and left out in the
open at the Princes Islands, an Armenian-inhabited area of Istanbul.

Subscribers and residents would be threatened in phone calls, letters,
and graffiti slogans.

Next, "black propaganda" would mobilize public opinion against the
"insensitive attitude" of the AK Party. The subscriber lists would
be planted in press reports, ensuring further publicity. Indignant
newspaper columns would be commissioned about the issue. False-flag Web
sites would be set up, purportedly to defend Agos and minority rights.

In the final "operation stage," bombings would target Agos and the
Princes Islands while the police were being distracted with bomb
scares. Leading defenders of minority rights would be assassinated.

"Non-Muslim" celebrities would be kidnapped. "Sensational operations"
would attack "non-Muslim" cemeteries. "In regions with a dense
non-Muslim population, vehicles, houses and workplaces will be set
on fire at close intervals," the plan states. Similar actions would
target other provinces with a high population of "non-Muslims,"
such as Istanbul and Izmir.

"Responsibility for sabotage, kidnapping and assassination operations
will be claimed by reactionary organizations," according to the plan.

Senior Naval Forces Admiral Feyyaz Ogutcu, who organized secret meeting
places for the generals who were plotting the Ergenekon coup d’etat,
is listed as the "president" of Operation Cage. Also named in the
plan are 40 naval officers organized into Marmara, Aegean, Black Sea,
and Special Operations commands.

The action plan concludes with a list of weapons, munitions, and
materials, such as sniper rifles, handguns, machine guns, bombs, and
related equipment. Colonel Ercan Kirectepe, whose signature appears
on the Cage plan, was arrested in April during an investigation into
a hidden arms cache in Istanbul’s Poyrazkoy district.

ESI reports that an electronic copy of the Cage Operation Action
Plan was seized in the April raid and a signed copy in June during
the arrests of Turkish military officers suspected of involvement in
Ergenekon. The Turkish General Staff at first dismissed the documents
as fakes, but in October, a whistleblower within the General Staff
sent the original signed copy to a Turkish prosecutor, along with
further details on the individuals involved. Taraf published the plan
on Nov. 19.

PRICES OF PRECIOUS METALS DECLINE

NOYAN TAPAN
DECEMBER 15, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The State Treasury of Precious
Metals and Stones agency of the RA Ministry of Finance established the
following purchase and sale prices (in drams) of 1 gram of chemically
pure metal for precious metals in the period of December 14-20:

Gold – purchase price 12,938.77 (-708.89), sale price 14,063.88
(-770.56);

silver – purchase price 201.53 (-12.53), sale price 219.05 (-13.62);

platinum – purchase price 16,224.63 (-577.16), sale price 17,635.47
(-627.34);

palladium – purchase price 4,178.81 (-141.24), sale price 4,542.18
(-153.53).

ARG: THERE WILL BE NO RESTRICTIONS IN GAS SUPPLY IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
14.12.2009 11:52

Russia halted gas supplies to Armenia after a bomb was found close
to a pipeline in southern Russia.

The gas supplies were cut in North Ossetia and Ingushetia at least
until Monday morning. The gas supplies were halted in these republics,
after an explosive device had been found under the trunk gas pipeline
in the vicinity of Sredniye Achaluki, Ingushetia, on Sunday afternoon,
ITAR-TASS reports.

The sappers from the local crack police and security forces started
unarming the dangerous object. However, with darkfall the demining
operation was delayed until Monday morning. The police have cordoned
off the incident site.

Head of the Public Relations Department of the ArmRosGazprom (ARG)
Company Shushan Sardaryan told Radiolur that "the gas supplies in the
republic will continue without restrictions from the underground gas
storage in Abovyan."

RA, NKR ARMED FORCES CAN REBUFF ANY ATTACK

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.12.2009 12:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman Eldar
Sabiroglu’s statement that Armenia lacks human resources to staff
the army is untrue, Armenian Defense Ministry said.

The Ministry also refuted reports that the Armenian side suffered twice
as many losses as the Azerbaijani. "The Azeri Defense Ministry makes
conclusions without publishing the list of those killed and wounded,"
it said.

"It’s also notable that Sabiroglu’s statement was published in Russian
only and the repetition of Ilham Aliyev’s November 17 remarks… The
Defense Ministry of the Republic of Armenia states that the armed
forces of the RA and NKR are highly qualified and can rebuff any
attack," the RA Defense Ministry said.

IRAN CRITICIZES FRANCE’S POSITION ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.12.2009 20:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations,
criticized the viewpoint of his French colleague on Iran’s nuclear
program.

"Iran always intended to develop nuclear energy to satisfy its needs,
with the issue presented in IAEA reports," he said, noting that the
statement of French representative could force Non- proliferation
Treaty member states withdraw from the treaty.

Earlier, Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the
United Nations voiced French governments intention to prepare draft
resolution on strengthening sanctions on Iran.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS DEMAND RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS

Tert.am
11:32 ~U 10.12.09

In honour of today, UN-designated Human Rights Day, a number of
rights-defending organizations in Armenia including the Helsinki
Citizen’s Assembly Vanadzor branch, the Civil Society Institute,
Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, the Helsinki
Committee of Armenia, the Helsinki Association of Armenia,
Collaboration for Democracy Center, the Helsinki Citizen’s Assembly
Committee of Armenia, and the Rights and Freedom Center against legal
lawlessness have circulated the following statement:

"On the occasion of Human Rights Day, we, representatives of
rights-defending NGOs working in Armenia, are expressing our
deep concern with the legal bodies, the judicial system and the
implementation of justice in Armenia.

"Regretfully we note that, in 2009, human rights defenders have
registered numerous cases where torture has taken place, testimonies
have been extorted through use of force, and breaches of fair court
hearings have been observed.

"We wish to note the events and the following processes of March 1-2,
2008, as a negative manifestation.

"The individuals responsible and the circumstances that resulted in the
death of ten citizens through the use of force by governing authorities
on the evening of March 1, 2008, till this day, have not been revealed.

"That is, resolutions 1609, 1620, 1643, and 1677 which relate to
Armenia and adopted by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
perhaps haven’t been wholly carried out.

"Today, more than ten political prisoners continue to be imprisoned.

"We, representatives of rights-defending NGOs working in Armenia,
condemn the display of such violence and we are demanding the governing
authorities of the Republic of Armenia to

present the activities carried out thus far in uncovering the
circumstances surrounding the deaths of ten citizens on March 1
urgently reveal the circumstances surrounding the deaths of those ten
citizens and hold those guilty accountable, putting the furthering of
an unpunishable environment to an end immediately free all political
prisoners, [thus] creating a country without political persecution."

U.S. CO-CHAIR ROBERT BRADTKE VISITS AZERBAIJAN

APA
10 Dec 2009 13:56

Baku. Viktoria Dementieva – APA. U.S. co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group
Robert Bradtke is in Baku, U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer Terry
Davidson told APA.

Bradtke arrived in Baku last night. The diplomat is waiting for the
other mediators to start the meetings.

Diplomatic sources told APA that the Russian and French co-chairs
Yuri Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier will arrive in Baku today. The
meetings will be held on December 11.

The co-chairs plan to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. The variant of the Madrid
principles updated by the co-chairs and the next meeting of Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents will be discussed during the meeting.

SANCTIONS FOR NOT SETTING FORTH SALARY SIZE IN LABOR CONTRACT MUST BE TOUGHENED

ArmInfo
2009-12-10 12:35:00

ArmInfo. Sanctions for not setting forth salary size in labor contract
must be toughened to have real effect on employers, say UNDP Armenia
experts David Hakobyan, Tigran Serobyan and Artur Hambaryan. The
experts studied the practice of protecting human rights to labor
and fair terms of labor (stipulated by the International Covenant on
Protection of Economic Social and Cultural Rights) in the judicial
system of Armenia.

If an employer does not show the size of salary in the labor contract,
he has to pay minimal salary and a fine of 50,000 or 100,000 drams
(Article 169, RA Code of Administrative Offences). The experts
say employers prefer paying a minimal salary and a not big fine to
showing the salary size in the contract, whereas the compensation
must be based on the average salary for the given type of labor. In
particular, the court can rely on the National Statistical Service of
Armenia publishing relevant data. The experts came our for removal of
the provision allowing an employer to change the salary size in the
labor contract, in particular the Article 105 of the Labor Code. The
Article 84 of the Labor Code provides for changing the salary only on
the basis of the prior written consent of an employee. The Article 105
of the Labor Code allows an employer to change the salary without the
prior consent of his employees only if the conditions of compensation
for labor are changed by the Law or a collective contract. They say
that legislation must specify that a salary cannot be changed without
prior consent of an employee.