Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

ARMENIAN HISTORIAN: TURKEY MAY OPEN THE BORDER WITH ARMENIA FOR A TIME

ArmInfo
2009-08-13 13:08:00

ArmInfo. ‘Turkey always finds reasons not to open the border
with Armenia, and it is unlikely to be opened in the near future’,
Director of the Institute of History of the Armenian National Academy
of Sciences Ashot Melkonyan told ArmInfo.

He said that unblocking of the border with Turkey is impossible as this
issue is considered as part of the Karabakh problem. Nevertheless, A.

Melkonyan agreed that Ankara will symbolically open the border in case
if President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan accepts the invitation to pay a
reciprocal visit to Turkey in October. ‘Since the West exerts pressure
on Turkey regarding opening of the border, symbolic opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border may become possible from the position of the
international etiquette’, the historian said. He added that this will
be done to create an impression that Turkey stands for normalization
of the Armenian-Turkish relations. ‘Turkey will possibly open the
border but for a time’, A. Melkonyan said.

Talking of the benefit from symbolic opening of the border, and whether
the Armenian president has to accept the invitation and agree to such
terms, A. Melkonyan said: ‘From the political and moral viewpoint,
Armenia is not ready for the border opening, so such a symbolic
gesture by Turkey will be of no benefit for Armenia’.

VIVACELL-MTS AND ARMENIAN UNIVERSITIES SIGN MEMORANDUM
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18:12 07/08/2009
Panorama.am

VivaCell-MTS, a subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (`MTS’ – NYSE:
MBT), announces that today at the Company’s Headquarters a Memorandum
of Understanding was signed between the Company, represented by its
General Manager Ralph Yirikian and six universities of Armenia,
represented by their respective Presidents, Company’s press service
reports. Those high educational institutions are the Information
Technologies Center of Gyumri, Armenian State Linguistic University
after V. Bryusov, Yerevan State University of Economics, State
University of Gavar, State University of Goris and Cavendish
University.

The major directions of mutual cooperation outlined in the Memorandum,
are the following: organization of master’s thesis internship for
graduate students in VivaCell-MTS, organization of specialty lectures
for students delivered by the respective specialists of the Company
acting as course instructors, implementation of joint scientific
research, master’s thesis research and curriculum development projects
jointly with the faculty, involvement of the Company’s specialists as
Master’s thesis supervisors and mentors. In their turn, according to
the Memorandum, the universities provide VivaCell-MTS with their
high-performing students according to the quota and the list of
specialties submitted by the Company. The lucky students will have an
opportunity to get specialty internship in specific areas such as
commercial law, finance and accounting, marketing and sales,
information technologies, customer service, etc.

Back in May-July of this year, when hosted as a guest-speaker by some
of Armenia’s universities, VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian
had a series of meetings with the students, graduates and the faculty
in the regions of Armenia and Yerevan, to share with them on the
Company’s successful strategy of business development, technical
development of network, marketing strategy and Corporate
Responsibility agenda. Excited after their meeting with Ralph Yirikian
and first-hand information about VivaCell-MTS’ achievements and its
operational systems, and enthusiastic about opportunity for their
students to start professional experience in VivaCell-MTS, the
educational institutions came up with the initiative to organize
professional internship of their students in the Company, in the
framework of their career-planning effort.

Signing was followed by a short press conference. `Going beyond the
world of theory books – this is what we want to give the young people
of Armenia. We want our young compatriots to be ready when confronted
with real-world challenge on their career path. On the other hand, in
the long-term, our cooperation with high educational institutions will
help them develop their professors’ and instructors’ skills and
knowledge and develop curricula embedded in and connected to the
realities of professional practice’.

Kurdish Aspect
Aug 8 2009

Turkey’s Strategic Awakening

Kurdishaspect.com – By Dr. Fariedun Hilmi

Whether Prime Minister Erdugan reads the Kurdish internet media or not
is not certain but what is certain is his apparent realisation that
Turkey must go back to its Middle Eastern roots. What is striking is
the similarity between his declared aims vis-Ã-vis the Kurds under
his rule as well his attempts to make up with the Armenians
demonstrating a shy apology without uttering the words and suggestions
I made in an article published by me some five years ago. Furthermore,
Erdugan has been busily seeking to open up his communication,
commercial and political channels onto Turkey’s erstwhile `Ottoman’
colonies.

As I say whether by reading the free Kurdish press published in the
Diaspora or as a deep-thought realisation, Mr Erdugan has now started
a grand awakening despite the traditional Kemalist opposition, to
steering the country in a direction between Europe and its physical
and historic environment and natural home which is a great piece of
news for the entire group of nations in the Middle East not counting
Israel.

A number of years back I wrote about `Turkey’s Strategic Blunder’
pointing to the isolationism that was imposed on the Turkish nation by
the Kemalist dinosaurs still believing that only racial purity can
bring prosperity and glory and that the Turks who originated in
eastern China some 800 years back and mixed with the Kurds, Greeks and
Armenians producing generations of people who could only be called
Turks because of the prevalence of the language during the Ottoman
era, were now Europeans because many of them shared some racial
characteristics with East Europeans and Aryans.

Turkey, they thought, had built a great empire that lasted centuries,
and the Turks were, therefore, superior to the other constituent
nations that were instrumental in achieving, defending and maintaining
that empire. Nevertheless the Kemalists believed that the lesser
nations had to be eliminated or subjugated and pushed to the periphery
in case they would be noticed by their `fellow’ Europeans not
realising that Western racism is not simply to do with race but
cultural and religious as well and the Turks are culturally and
religiously different despite all the paint and dyes used to convey a
European look on them in a `Michael Jackson’ fashion. This rather
naive attitude by the Turks was extenuated and strengthened by the
hypocritical way the western powers pretended to have come to rescue
the subject minorities such as the Kurds and Armenians and even the
Greeks all three of whom were duly sacrificed once they had served
their purpose as negotiating cards to obtain the greatest benefits
from the injured and dying empire.

Those in Turkey with any foresight have realised that geographic
positioning cannot be superficially altered and the constitution of a
nation can only be radically or substantially changed through drastic,
inhuman and aggressive actions which could not be tolerated and thus
the only solution is to coexist with the Kurds, Greeks, Armenians, Laz
and others. Furthermore, Turkey does not need to choose one or the
other but can open up on all, inside and outside of its borders. This
explains Mr Erdugan’s efforts to keep good ties with Russia, Georgia,
the Arab world Iran on the outside while seeking radical change and a
rethink of the way his country had tried to solve the Kurdish problem
inside.

A new Turkey with the PKK playing their rightful role in leading its
Kurdish territory under a single umbrella would be prosperous and
powerful and I believe would create a good strong competition between
the group of Kurds controlling the part under Iraq and those under
Turkey. It is my belief that the Barzani and Talabani Cliques will not
be able to carry on milking the retched nation’s resources as they do
at the moment because I am confident that those in Northern Kurdistan
will serve their part and people selflessly and diligently and that
would show up the south for all its corruption and deceptive
practices.

I advocate approaching the PKK because they have decided strategically
to federate with Turkey and seem to be more tolerant of the Turks than
any other. Furthermore they are a proper party whose members support
it with their money and souls unlike the southern parties that only
join to get paid by them becoming servants and staff of the party
Aghas and `leaders’ and therefore you expect the PKK to behave in a
trusted and consistent manner whike the others will jump from the lap
of one supporting government to the other.

I would like to also point out that despite the billions of dollars
that have been poured into Iraqi Kurdistan we are still miles and
miles behind the Kurds in Turkey as far as progress and civilisation
(development of civic law and institutions), and services. The only
thing that is missing is the national rights of the Kurds even though
many of those have recently been granted and I hope Erdugan will
expand them and treat them as God-given rights and that will create
complete trust and co-operation to go forward and develop the entire
country.

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LORI SANDIKIAN WINS AT YOUNG PAINTERS’ EXHIBIT-COMPETITION HELD IN ISTANBUL

Noyan Tapan
Aug 7, 2009

ISTANBUL, AUGUST 7, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Pupil of Janine
Papazian’s and Ani Cimen’s Mosaic Hobby studio Lori Sandikian took
the first place in the Young Painter’s Exhibit-Competition held
recently by the Anatolu club of Great Island, Istanbul. According
to the Marmara daily, the traditional mixed painting exhibition and
competition of the club will take place on August 16.

KURDISH ISSUE AGGRAVATION CONSEQUENCE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.08.2009 15:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Absence of understanding between Armenian and
Turkish publics is Turkey’s fault, an Armenian expert said.

"Turkey should follow Germany’s example. Turkish leaders should come
to Armenia, bow before the Armenian Genocide memorial and beg pardon
for the atrocities their ancestors committed," Sergey Shakaryants
told a news conference today.

Armenian-Turkish relations will not be normalized unless Turkey
realizes that aggravation of the Kurdish issue is the consequence of
Armenian Genocide, according to him.

"Turkey has no intention to establish relations with Armenia. This
fact can be easily proved by its actions on the threshold of the
Armenian Genocide anniversary which prevented U.S. President Barack
Obama from using the term Genocide in his annual April 24 statement,"
Shakaryants said.

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK TO STUDY PROVISION OF $700 MILLION CREDIT TO ARMENIA IN SEPTEMBER 2009

ArmInfo
2009-08-06 14:04:00

ArmInfo. Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Directors is to study
provision of a $700 million credit to Armenia in September 2009, Prime
Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said at the government on Thursday.

He said that the credit is required for the initial stage of
Yerevan-Batumi highway construction as part of North-South transport
corridor. ADB specialists estimate the investment plan of the project
at 41.5 billion, the premier said. "It will be an up-to-date highway
meeting the best international standards," he said. The Government
of Armenia has approved 18.5 million drams ($50,000) as prepayment
for design work. The prime minister said the prepayment is one of the
conditions set forth by the ADB and will be recompensed in 2009. "By
this decision of the government we announce the start of a large-scale
road construction process," T. Sargsyan said.

Yerevan-Gyumri-Bavra-Akhalkalaki-Akhaltskha -Shuakheri-Batumi
highway links Armenia to Georgia. The Armenian road section
Yerevan-Gyumri-Bavra meets the 3rd category. However the parties
are going to increase the level of the highway at least to the 2nd
category. The new highway will considerably cut the travel time.

Russia, Kyrgyzstan sign military memorandum

CHOLPON-ATA, August 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed on
Saturday a memorandum on Russian military presence in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan already hosts a Russian airbase in Kant and four other
Russian military facilities. The airbase in Kant, some 20 kilometers
(12 miles) outside the capital, Bishkek, was opened in 2003.
Some 250 Russian officers and 150 enlisted personnel from Russia’s 5th
Air Army are deployed at the base, as well as Su-25 Frogfoot strike
aircraft and Mi-8 transport helicopters.
In line with the memorandum, the republic will also host an additional
Russian military contingent the size of up to a battalion and a
training center for both countries’ servicemen.
The memorandum noted "the expediency of working out and signing by
November 1, 2009 of a Russian-Kyrgyz agreement on the status and terms
of stay of a united Russian military base on the territory of the
Kyrgyz republic."
The agreement will be valid for 49 years and could be automatically
extended for 25-year periods.
Medvedev arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Friday for an informal regional
security treaty organization summit. The Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) summit takes place August 1-2 at Kyrgyzstan’s
Issyk-Kul resort.
The post-Soviet CSTO security bloc comprises Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Belarus is
expected to join a CSTO agreement (signed on June 14) on the creation
of a joint rapid reaction force.
Russia earlier offered to deploy a battalion-sized unit as part of the
CSTO rapid reaction force in Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists on Saturday
that the training center, to be hosted by Kyrgyzstan, will be open for
all CSTO members.

WHAT IF THEY DO NOT COME TO AGREEMENT
HAKOB BADALYAN

LRAGIR.AM
11:32:23 – 01/07/2009

The process of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement has again activated,
and again optimistic statements are heard, which precede the regular
Sargsyan-Aliev meeting in Moscow, which is going to be already
the sixth one. Before this, the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers met in Paris, then Medvedev visited Baku, after the OSCE
Minsk group CO-Chairs were said to be coming to the region in the
beginning of July, who, according to the statement of the French
Foreign Ministry, had made new proposals on the settlement to the
sides of the conflict. This nuance is interesting. It is interesting
from the point that if there is mutual understanding in the negotiation
process, as the mediators state, and there is also some progress, what
is the sense of making new suggestions? If they propose new variants
of mutual compromises, this means that there is no hope to come to
agreement on the previous proposals, there is no prospect for it.

In general, is there any prospect in connection with the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, or maybe the regular activation and
the optimistic statements are just a part of the constructive
atmosphere? On the one hand, it is difficult to believe that such
kind of high-level imitation is organized. But, on the other hand,
it is difficult to notice any edges of settlement of the conflict,
because the clash of interests and disagreements of the geopolitical
centers- U.S., Russia, Europe or France, in connection with the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue are quite visible. In addition, these are those
powers, which are openly involved in the process, while there are of
course other powers, which are not evidently involved in it but are
as much interested in the settlement of this conflict as the others.

This variety of interest, in practice, does not let any other
possibility for an agreement, than the one on the continuation of the
process. In other words, there is no imitation as such, but there is
no decision to settle the issue at any cost either. Merely, each of
the sides involved in the conflict, is trying to do what is expedient
for it. If they manage is good, and if they fail- what can we do? This
is called diplomacy, when you try as much as you can to reach what
you want. From this point of view, it is an illusion to think that
the question on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is
posed at any cost. For this, the agreement of all the geopolitical
centers is needed. But this agreement cannot exist, because each of
them has their own ides on the settlement of the conflict, and these
ideas are not based on humanistic and peaceful strives, but they are
dictated by the interests of the centers. Their interests, fortunately,
coincide on one issue: to preserve peace in the region, not to restart
a war. This is a very valuable agreement, which the superpowers have.

But the fact that there will not be any war and there is no decision
to settle the conflict at any cost does not mean that the present
situation is just a theater. It is not a theater, but even if it is,
it is led by the Shakespearian sprit "life is a theater". In other
words, the life is the process, which moves forwards and where the
directly or indirectly involved sides of the conflict live. In other
words, the process of the settlement is the settlement, if we may
say so. Consequently, it is very important, how everyone, including
Armenia and Karabakh, will behave in this process. The point is that
giving positive answers to all the proposals hoping that anyway,
the interests of the superpowers will not let them be fulfilled,
instead Armenia will secure its peaceful and constructive image as
a republic, is too dangerous, which may only settle the question the
strengthening of the governmental but not the state positions. And what
is going to happen if the superpowers do not come to agreement? Since,
even if the Caucasus is very important, it is a part of the world,
consequently, a circle of the interests if the superpowers. In other
words, all the decisions concerning the circle are made by the logic
towards the whole chain.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, July 30, 2009

AGBU Najarian-Gulbenkian School Students Win First & Second in
Pan-Armenian Olympiad of Armenian Language Competition

On July 17, 2009, the Pan-Armenian Olympiad of Armenian language and
literature, as well as the Armenian studies competition, concluded at
the Arno Babajanian Concert Hall in Yerevan, Armenia. School teams from
12 countries took part in the Olympiad that started on July 10 and
included 133 student participants.

The Syrian team, which triumphed during the competition, was awarded the
top prize. Maria Shahinian, Arpi Dekirmenjian and Nushik Tutunjian from
AGBU Lazar Najarian Calouste-Gulbenkian School in Aleppo, Syria, were
among the participants in the competition. Maria Shahinian was among the
three first-prize winners of the Armenian studies competition, while
Nushik Tutunjian was among the three second-prize winners.

The main goal of the Olympiad and the competition was to encourage
diasporan Armenian students to deepen their love and knowledge of
Armenian language, literature, history and culture. During their stay in
Yerevan, the visiting students traveled to a number of historic sights
and enjoyed the cultural riches of Armenia.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian program, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.

Housing proposal for St. Stanislaus Hall postponed

The Nashua Telegraph (Nashua, NH)
July 29, 2009

NASHUA’A hearing scheduled for Tuesday on a proposal by developer
Vatche Manoukian to construct two multi-family buildings at 45 Pine
Hill Road was postponed at the at request of Manoukian’s lawyer,
Gerald Prunier.

The hearing will be held Sept. 22 in the City Hall auditorium at 6:30
p.m.

In a letter to the board, Prunier said he asked for the delay because
of the possible impact of the planned housing project on the proposed
second landing strip at Boire Field, located near the Manoukian
property.

The Federal Aviation Administration `has to consider all new
construction within a distance of the line of flight or severe
penalties could be imposed,” Prunier said.

Prujier said he will be working with Royce Rankin of the Nashua
Airport Authority to get FAA permission for his client’s proposed
project.

— Tom West

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