Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

DESCENDANTS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE FILE CLASS ACTION AGAINST INSURER
Amanda Bronstad

Law.com
37
Sept 17 2008
CA

Descendants of the Armenian genocide filed another class action against
an insurance company, claiming they are entitled to benefits that
should have been paid to the beneficiaries of their ancestors. The
class action was filed on Monday against Aviva PLC, a British firm,
which insured individuals during the Armenian genocide. Baghtchedjian
v. Aviva, No. CV08-cv-06030 (C.D. Calif.)

The suit is the latest to involve insurance firms targeted for
policies sold during the Armenian genocide. Others include New York
Life Insurance Co., which in 2004 agreed to pay $20 million to settle
similar claims, and AXA S.A., which agreed to a $17 million settlement
in 2005.

The Armenian genocide is believed to have killed more than 1.5 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1923.

Aviva is the successor firm to Norwich Union Life Insurance Society
and Commercial Union Insurance Co., which sold insurance to Armenians
who lived in the Turkish Ottoman Empire before the genocide.

The lead plaintiffs, Raffi Baghtchedjian and Nisan Papazyan, both
residents of Los Angeles County, are suing on behalf of all Armenians
who owned life insurance policies at Norwich Union and life and fire
insurance policies at Commercial Union from 1880 and 1930 and whose
beneficiaries were not paid — a potential class of about 10,000
individuals.

Vartkes Yeghiayan of Glendale, Calif.-based Yeghiayan & Associates
represents the plaintiffs. He was involved in similar cases against
New York Life and Deutsche Bank.

Calls to an Aviva spokesman were not returned.

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT EXPECTS RUSSIA TO TAKE PART IN RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend News Agency
Sept 16 2008
Azerbaijan

Russia, Moscow, 16 September/ TrendNews, corr R. Agayev / Azerbaijan
expects Russia to continue its active role in the resolution of
[Armenian -Azerbaijani] Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated in a joint news conference with the
Russian President on 16 September.

"Despite difficulties, we think there exist all conditions to solve
the conflict in line interests of all parties and international law,"
Aliyev said.

"The mechanisms of efficient cooperation should be found. If
such solution is found soon, it will open good opportunities for
cooperation," he added.

"We appreciate the level of cooperation with Russia and seek to enhance
it and we will do our best to achieve this goal," Ilham Aliyev said.

"Russia will further take every effort to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. We support continuation of direct talks between Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents. Russia’s position remains unchanged: we will
further put efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution of this
problem," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated.

TEHRAN PREPARED TO MEDIATE BETWEEN YEREVAN AND BAKU TO SETTLE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

Trend News Agency
Sept 16 2008
Azerbaijan

"There are a lot of contacts in Caucasus, whilst the latest
developments gave rise to many regional problems," Manuchohr Mottaki,
the Iranian Foreign Minister stated at a joint news conference with
Edvard Nalbandyan, the Armenian Foreign Minister, in Tehran.

According to Mottaki, Iran is a neighbor of the Caucasus region
and offered to hold consultations amongst countries of the region
to establish cooperation. Nalbandyan’s Tehran visit is a perfect
opportunity to complete one of stages of negotiations on the Iranian
proposal, the Iranian Minister said.

"Armenia and Iran have common interests and hold similar positions on
regional problems, Mottaki said. Iran is prepared to mediate between
Yerevan and Baku to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

The Armenian Minister, in his turn, said that Armenia and Iran held
the same position on the latest developments in Georgia. Iran has
interesting ideas and proposals, he stressed. Yerevan, in its turn,
will continue dialogues with Tehran to ensure security and stability
in the region, the Iranian PRESS TV agency reported.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER LAMENTS SLOW EU NEGOTIATION PROCESS

Anatolia news agency
Sept 16 2008
Turkey

BRUSSELS (A.A) -15.09.2008 -Turkish Foreign Minister & Chief Negotiator
for the European Union (EU) talks Ali Babacan said on Monday that
Turkish officials felt the EU took Turkey’s negotiation process slowly.

Holding a press conference in the Belgian capital of Brussels, Babacan
said he had the impression that opening two chapters to negotiation
during every new term of EU’s rotating presidency almost became
a tradition.

Babacan said Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the
issue with French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a recent meeting
and France was currently seeking ways to open three new chapters to
negotiation during its rotating presidency of the union.

Commenting on the latest developments regarding Turkey’s "National
Programme" which would become the country’s "reference document"
in its EU membership process, Babacan said he hoped the programme
would be given its final shape before the parliament recess was over.

Regarding the relations between Turkey and Armenia, Babacan said the
Armenian government acted as if it understood Turkey’s sensitivity
on the Karabakh issue much better in the recent period.

He said assessing the problems between the two countries in a
tripartite platform that would also be attended by Azerbaijan would
facilitate the solution of the conflict.

Commenting on the situation in Cyprus as well, Babacan said,"
I believe that an open-ended process would be risky. I think it
will be beneficial to move rapidly before the current atmosphere
is destroyed. A missed opportunity may not be acquired again for
long years".

ARMENIA SEES 56.6% GROWTH IN PRIVATE MONEY TRANSFERS IN JULY 2008

ARKA
Sep 16, 2008

YEREVAN, September 16. /ARKA/. Private non-commercial money transfers
to Armenia increased by 56.6% in July, the Central Bank of Armenia
(CBA) reports.

The year-on-year growth of net inflow of non-commercial transfers
was 45.9%, with net outflow decreasing by 3.1%.

CBA formerly said it would review the forecast of non-commercial
transfers in the coming quarters if the inflow rates remained high.

According to CBA, first-half private transfers to Armenia totaled $6mln
686,540 with outflow amounting to $1mln 127,680. In January net inflow
totaled $5mln 558,860 against $3mln 786,720 in January-July 2007.

New training center opened at Armenian NPP

YEREVAN, September 13. /ARKA/. A new training center has been opened at
the Armenian nuclear-power plant (NPP). The center is provided with
necessary equipment for retraining of the NPP personnel.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, RA Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources Armen Movsisyan pointed out the important role the center
will play in the safe operation of the center.

US Charge d’Affaires Joseph Pennington shared Minister Movsisyan’s
opinion. By establishing this up-to-date center, the USA has
contributed to enhancing the operating efficiency of the Armenian NPP,
he said.

Pennington also pointed out that the funding of the construction is
part of the US investment in the NPP’s safety.
The center is intended for the NPP personnel and students of Armenia’s
higher schools. The instructors have been retrained in the USA.

A similar center has been operating at the Armenian NPP for 15 years,
but it has outdated equipment.

The Armenian NPP was put into operation in 1976.
In September 2003, the INTER RAO EES CJSC owned by the Rosatom
state-run corporation became financial managers of the Armenian NPP. By
experts’ estimates, the operating life of the Armenian NPP expires in
2016. `0–

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: TURKEY’S CHARM OFFENSIVE INSPIRES HOPE

Daily Star
Sept 12 2008
Lebanon

The pace of the thaw taking place between Turkey and Armenia is
nothing short of breathtaking. Much attention has been focused on
Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s having attended a football match in
Yerevan at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian,
but the two sides are already moving beyond symbolism. A deal has been
struck under which Armenian power stations will supply electricity to
Turkey, and state-run Turkish Radio Television has signed a cooperation
pact with Armenia 1 TV. In turn, the rapidly warming bilateral ties
are already fueling plans for a new grouping of countries in the
Caucasus, one whose remit would include multilateral arbitration of
international disputes. Gul has even professed full confidence that the
issue which caused Turkey to close its border with Armenia in 1993,
the latter’s war on Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh enclave,
can be resolved with relative ease.

Great challenges remain, of course, not least of which is how the
current crisis over separatism in Georgia will play out. But having an
effective regional forum would go a long way toward avoiding debacles
like that which took place last month, when the Georgian Army attacked
a breakaway district and the Russian Army stepped in with overwhelming
force. And by serving to enhance stability in the frequently volatile
region, the grouping would increase chances for the establishment
of pipelines and other forms of energy cooperation that would earn
billions of dollars and save billions more. There is also the fact
that Turkey’s position in the van of this entire process augurs well
for its willingness to solve its own separatist problem with the Kurds.

>From the Arab perspective, it is depressing to compare all this with
the lethargy that typifies intra-Arab cooperation. Despite having
faith, language and history in common – not to mention what should be
the irresistibly unifying issue of Palestine’s continuing occupation –
Arab governments are famously incapable of joint action. They talk
about things like free trade, regional electricity grids, monetary
union and the like, but almost never do any of these grandiose schemes
come fully into being, if at all. They talk, too, about Arab unity,
but they connive against one another with neither mercy nor shame and
they regard one another’s citizens as hostile aliens, denying them
travel courtesies and privileges extended automatically to visitors
from the other side of the globe.

Things have not always been this way, it having taken far too long
for Turkey to define a new role for itself after the collapse of
the Ottoman Empire, but the country’s leaders now seem determined to
become more assertive on the world stage. The possible benefits of
this more activist diplomacy are far-reaching. A more stable Caucasus
would tend to ease Russian concerns about foreign meddling in its
backyard, for example, perhaps allowing domestic liberalization
that helps that country escape its own funk since the demise of
the Soviet Union. In addition, as has already been demonstrated by
its mediation of indirect Israeli-Syrian talks, Turkey has enormous
potential to help stabilize the Middle East. Best of all, if it proves
successful, Ankara’s charm offensive will set a compelling example
for other countries (and perhaps even for some of its own generals)
of just how effective soft power can be in undoing the complications
wrought by the harder variety.

GUL OPTIMISTIC ON AZERI-ARMENIAN PEACE PROSPECTS

Today’s Zaman
Sept 12 2008
Turkey

Azerbaijan and Armenia are both willing to seek a solution to their
long-running dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, President Abdullah Gul has
said, praising the leaders of both countries for their pro-settlement
stance.

Gul, speaking on Wednesday night upon his return from a visit to
Azerbaijan, said Armenia, which keeps a chunk of Azerbaijani territory
under occupation due to a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, could
withdraw from Azerbaijani territory if a settlement is reached. "The
Armenians have the will to withdraw from Azerbaijani territory if a
lasting agreement is reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia," he told
reporters. Turkey closed its border and severed diplomatic ties with
Armenia in 1993 in protest of occupation of the Azerbaijani territory.

But Gul took a landmark step on Saturday to break the ice and visited
Armenia to watch a World Cup qualifying game between national teams
of the two countries. The visit has been largely welcomed at home
but it also raised concerns that ties with Azerbaijan could be damaged.

Gul, who met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ä°lham Aliyev, on
Wednesday evening during his one-day visit, said he saw no sign of
Azerbaijani resentment over his Armenia trip. "I have seen there the
same honest, clear, sincere desire for a solution and respect for
the adversary that I witnessed earlier in Armenia," Gul said.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday that he might meet
with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts in New York this
month on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting to discuss
the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Progress on this track could normalize
relations between Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan and would boost
Turkey’s influence in the region. Turkey has proposed a Caucasus
Stability and Cooperation Platform to resolve regional conflicts after
a brief Georgian-Russian war last month. The platform is planned to
bring together Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia around
the same table.

Gul said Aliyev appreciated Turkey’s efforts for solution of the
regional conflicts, including the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. "We
agreed that there must be attempts to solve an issue that has remained
unresolved for the past 17 years. We may not have a similar opportunity
in the future. Everybody knows that," he said.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Gul after their talks, Aliyev
also said he was optimistic. "There are some factors and news that
give hope. We look to the future with increasing hopes," Aliyev said.

He said the failure to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem was a
source of danger for Azerbaijan and the entire region and insisted
that the dispute must be resolved at once. Elaborating on how a
solution could be reached, he said the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan must be restored and Armenian forces must withdraw from
Azerbaijani territory.

–Boundary_(ID_8+Ar5HPaYMmgkv2sBnmBLg) —

OPENING DOORS AND HEARTS
by Dogu Ergil

Today’s Zaman
Sept 10 2008
Turkey

Despite unfair and unsavoury criticisms from the opposition, President
Abdullah Gul went through with the expected visit to Armenia.

No doubt, there are ultra-nationalistic elements on both sides who
hoped this visit would never happen and that people would continue to
live with the burden of the "historical baggage" that has disrupted
nearly 600 years of mutual life together on Anatolian soil. The
occasion was afforded by the invitation of the president of Armenia,
Mr Serzh Sargsyan, to watch a European Cup qualifying game between
the Turkish and Armenian national football teams. This historic visit
made President Gul the first Turkish president ever to set foot in
Armenia. That is why it has an important symbolic meaning as well as
the practical end of starting a long-delayed rapprochement between
the two neighbours estranged since World War I.

The visit was a necessary one for three important reasons: First,
Turkey had recently tabled a proposal that could help find solutions to
tensions in the troubled Caucasus through dialogue and cooperation. The
proposal entailed a diplomatic medium called the Caucasus Stability
and Cooperation Platform involving the Russian Federation, Georgia,
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Surely it would not be wise to
refrain from developing diplomatic relations with a country in the
same organization one has proposed. In the absence of mitigating
organizations in the Caucasus, souring relations could end up in bloody
conflicts, as between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia and Chechnya and,
most recently, between Russia and Georgia.

Russia’s military action in Georgia has persuaded both Armenia and
Turkey that it is time to put their differences aside – of course,
with some help from friends (meaning the US and the EU). The armed
conflict made it obvious that oil and gas pipelines passing through
Georgia, financed largely by the West, joining the rich Caspian region
to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast is not safe anymore.

So far bypassing Armenia not only pushed this country closer to Russia
and Iran but put it in a vulnerable position in terms of energy
supplies. All of a sudden Armenia became an attractive alternative
route. NATO seems to be encouraging its most eastern member, Turkey,
to seek alternative routes. This position inevitably gives Turkey a
more important role than it presently plays in the Caucasus. But then
this requires Ankara to mend severed relations with Armenia. Armenia
also seems to be more willing to reciprocate at a time when Russia
has begun to flex its muscles to rebuild its firm grip on its "near
abroad," as in Soviet times. And Armenia never wants to go back to
those days. There is a new generation that believes the future should
be quite different than the past. This requires better relations
with Turkey.

Second, the visit intends to initiate an improvement in relations
without being captives of history and a development of ties that will
yield mutual benefits to both peoples. Armenia is a landlocked country
and wants an outlet to move goods and people freely and easily. The
Turkish eastern provinces are in dire need of economic development and
invigoration of their commercial and industrial potential. Opening up
border gates that have been closed since 1993 and paving the way for
a robust economic exchange can enliven both Armenia and relatively
underdeveloped eastern Turkey.

WHAT DOES ARMENIA EXPECT FROM THE OSCE GREEK CHAIRMANSHIP?

armradio.am
11.09.2008 15:47

President Serzh Sargsyan today received the Special Commissioner of
the Foreign Minister of Greece and the future OSCE Chairman Nicolaos
Kalantsianos and the delegation accompanying him.

Mr. Kalantsianos noted that next year Greece will assume presidency if
the OSCE, and the visit is aimed at discussing Armenia’s expectations
from the Greek chairmanship, as well as exchanging views on the latest
developments in the region.

President Sargsyan said Armenia attaches great importance to the
cooperation with the OSCE, considering it an important component of
our security. Close and productive cooperation has been established
with the organization’s Yerevan Office.

Noting that the Karabakh conflict is being solved within the framework
of the OSCE, President Sargsyan underlined that the no war, no peace
situation has been maintained for 14 years largely due to the OSCE
Minsk Group, thanks to the cooperation of the co-chair countries. The
Armenian side considers that the OSCE Minsk Group still has much to do
and has opportunities to solve the conflict, and the conversations and
attempts of transferring the issue to other structures are targeted at
changing the existing format, which is pregnant with serious dangers.

The President prioritized the implementation of the Conventional
Forces in Europe Treaty and its proper control.

Pr esident Sargsyan spoke about the collaboration with different OSCE
structures, attaching importance to their transparent activity.

Turning to the Armenian-Greek cooperation, Nicolaos Kalantsianos
noted that excellent relations have been established between the
two countries.