Author: Tavakalian Edgar

FORUM FOR FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN KYIV

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10:19 am | October 21, 2009

Politics

2009 Forum for the Future of Democracy will take place from 21 to 23
October 2009 in Kyiv on "Electoral systems: strenghtening democracy
in the 21st century"

How to increase the legitimacy of elections, reinforce public
confidence and participation? How can electoral systems respond to
new societal changes such as globalisation and the growing use of new
technologies? What are the responsibilities of political parties in
electoral processes? How can the media contribute to ensuring fair
elections? What is the role of civil society for transparent and
inclusive elections?

The President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, and the Council of
Europe’s newly elected Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, will
open the Forum to discuss these questions in six workshops bringing
together personalities from politics (including from the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly), civil society, media and academia
throughout Europe.

Samuel Žbogar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and Chair
of the Committee of Ministers, Göran Lindblad, Vice-President
of the Parliamentary Assembly and Ian Micallef, President a.i. of
the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will contribute to
discussions. Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary
Assembly will participate in the closing session.

The Code of Good Practice in electoral matters and the Code of
Good Practice in the Field of Political Parties of the Venice
Commission – which is the Council of Europe’s advisory body on
constitutional matters – will shape the debate. The President of
the Venice Commission, Jan Helgesen, will take part in a high-level
panel debate on "the Future of Elections" moderated by Andrey Kulikov
(ICTV Ukraine).

On the occasion of the Forum, Jean-Marie Heydt, President of the
Council of Europe Conference of INGOs will also present the recently
adopted Code of Good Practice on Civil Participation which underpins
the general principles, guidelines, tools and mechanisms for active
participation of non-governmental organisations in the decision-making
process.

DAVUTOGLU BRIEFS PARLIAMENT ON ARMENIA PROTOCOLS

Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 21 2009
Turkey

The Turkish government on Wednesday submitted the recently signed
protocols on establishing diplomatic ties with Armenia to Parliament
for ratification.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu briefed Parliament on
Wednesday afternoon on the protocols signed on Oct. 10 with Armenia,
which among other things foresee opening the borders between the two
countries and mutually recognizing the existing borders. Davutoglu was
trying to convince skeptical lawmakers of the benefits of the recent
agreements, as the pacts are coming up for Parliament ratification,
according to The Associated Press.

In the protocols, Turkey and Armenia reconfirmed their commitment
to respect and ensure respect for the principles of "equality,
sovereignty, non-intervention in internal affairs of other states,
territorial integrity and the inviolability of frontiers," in their
bilateral and international relations, the Anatolia news agency
reported.

The protocol on developing bilateral relations aims to facilitate the
development of relations between Turkey and Armenia in all fields,
including opening the Turkish-Armenian border two months after the
protocol goes into effect.

While the United Nations, the United States, the EU, Britain and
Russia welcomed this development, the protocols sparked heated debate
in Turkey and attracted criticism from the opposition.

Azerbaijan, uneasy about the recent rapprochement between Turkey and
Armenia, voiced concern and sought reassurance from the government
of Turkey, its old ally, that it would not reopen its border with
Armenia before reaching a settlement on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Davutoglu reassured them by saying, "We share our Azerbaijani brothers’
distress and feel it like our own."

"The southern Caucasus doesn’t have a solid ground for political
dialogue," he said. The government, however, believes normalizing
relations with Armenia will bring peace and prosperity to the region.

"Because of the current status quo in the Caucasus, some part of
Azerbaijani territories have been under occupation for the last 17
years. Armenia, on the other hand, is getting poorer and poorer and
its population has already begun leaving the country. And Turkey
cannot act efficiently because of the current status quo. Therefore,
we must change it. We have three important targets to this end: First
of all, we need to establish good neighborly relations with Armenia.

Secondly, we want to set up a channel of healthy communication between
Turkish and Armenian peoples. And thirdly, we aim at accelerating the
process to resolve the Upper Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and
Armenia," Davutoglu said according to Anatolia news agency.

Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyıp Erdogan and other officials
promised not to open the border before a settlement was reached,
Azerbaijan announced it would raise the price of natural gas to Turkey
and look for alternatives routes, bypassing Turkey, to carry gas to
Europe in reprisal for the recent Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.

Davutoglu’s speech Wednesday was frequently interrupted by opposition
lawmakers who accused the government of making concessions by signing
the documents in Switzerland earlier this month, according to reports
by The Associated Press. The government, however, holds a majority
in the 550-seat Parliament and the accords are likely to be ratified.

Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal said during
the party’s meeting Tuesday that the government was harming relations
with its allies while trying to please foreign countries and that
Turkey did not have the luxury of ignoring Azerbaijan.

"Our political will is to resolve our problems with Armenia through
dialogue. Then, great opportunities of cooperation will emerge in all
fields for Turkish and Armenian peoples. Now, we hope that Azerbaijan
and Armenia will resolve the Upper-Karabakh dispute. If it happens,
our people will quickly adopt the normalization of Turkey-Armenia
relations," Erdogan said. A date for voting on the issue has not yet
been set.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties or economic relations
since Turkey closed its border with Armenia after Armenia invaded
Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region in 1992.

ANKARA, BAKU SEEK TO REPAIR DAMAGED TIES OVER ARMENIA DEALS

Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 21 2009
Turkey

Spectators at the recent Turkey-Armenia football match in Bursa unfurl
an Azerbaijani flag. DHA photo

Turkey and Azerbaijan, two natural allies, are attempting to repair
damaged ties at the same time as Turkey tries to normalize relations
with Armenia before withdrawing from occupied Azerbaijani lands.

Bickering over the use of flags has led to Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu deciding to take a trip to Baku on Thursday to reduce
the tension.

Diplomatic sources said Wednesday that the removal of the Turkish flag
from in front of a diplomatic mission was in breach of international
agreements and Turkey decided to officially protest it. Turkey’s
ambassador to Baku brought forward the official protest.

Having said that, sources are confident that the two countries will
overcome this period of strain and will continue their cooperation
for providing regional stability.

Turkish and Azerbaijani presidents had a phone conversation Wednesday,
the Anatolia news agency reported. "The misunderstandings and
misperceptions brought about by some emotional reactions while we
were passing through hard times have been cleared," the Anatolia
agency reported.

It said Gul first informed his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev
about his earlier phone conversation with leaders from the United
States and Russia about the efforts to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue. "Gul and Aliyev confirmed that impressions that ties between
Turkey and Azerbaijan were weakened was not good for both countries,"
the agency reported.

Reports in the press said Azerbaijan overreacted to Turkey’s
reconciliation process with Armenia and the protocols to establish
diplomatic ties and open the border. Azerbaijani officials removed
Turkish flags at the martyrdom monument as well as in front of a
Turkish diplomatic mission. The flags at the monument were replace
Tuesday, reports said. Azerbaijani press argued it was reciprocity for
the Turkish ban on Azerbaijani flags during the Turkey-Armenia World
Cup qualifying football match last week but the decision to ban the
flags came from the International Federation of Association Football,
or FIFA, and not the Turkish officials.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu decided to attend to an unimportant
Black Sea Economic Cooperation, or KEÄ°, meeting in Baku on Thursday.

He is expected to meet with his counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and to
be received by President Aliyev.

Azerbaijan also tried to play its energy card and hinted that it
would seek optional routes to carry its gas and oil to Europe to
bypass Turkey.

RUSSIAN RAILWAYS CJSC TO BE PRESENTED AT EXPO-RUSSIA ARMENIA 2009

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.10.2009 20:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Railways CJSC, head company of SCRW,
operating in Armenia over 2 years, will be presented at EXPO-RUSSIA
Armenia 2009, exhibition director Svetlana Zabelina reported to
PanARMENIAN.Net.

Recently, Armenian Railways CJSC was transferred to South Caucasian
Railways’ concessionary management under a concessionary agreement
dated February 13, 2008. The agreement was signed for the term of 30
years, with possible extension of 10 years.

Transportation issues will be addressed at round table discussions,
organized within exhibition frameworks.

During the meeting with their colleagues, Russian experts will
demonstrate achievements of regional transportation infrastructure
modernization, collaboration development with Armenia-adjacent states,
inter republican passenger and fright communications.

The discussions will also focus on Armenia-Russia interaction in
preparation of qualified personnel for RA transportation structures.

On August 4, 2009, Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University rector
Armen Darbinyan and South Caucasus Railways General Manager Shevket
Shaydullin signed a memorandum on corporate management school
establishment.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS TO MEET IN MOSCOW, OCTOBER 22

APA
Oct 20 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Elbrus Seyfullayev – APA. Azerbaijani parliamentarians will
meet with Armenian parliamentarians in Moscow on October 22, member
of the Azerbaijani delegation, deputy chairman of the parliament’s
committee for legal policy and statehood Rovshan Rzayev told APA.

Rzayev said the meeting will take place in the Russian parliament.

Five Azerbaijani, five Armenian parliamentarians, as well as five
Russian parliamentarians will attend the meeting.

Rzayev said the Nagorno Karabakh problem will be discussed at the
meeting.

"We will try to reach an understanding during the discussions,"
he said.

The parliamentarian said the delegation also includes chairperson of
the parliament’s human rights committee Rabiyyat Aslanova, chairman of
the parliament’s committee for legal policy and statehood Ali Huseynov,
parliamentarians Sabir Hajiyev and Gular Ahmadova.

First vice-speaker of the parliament Ziyafat Asgarov told journalists
that they regard such meetings as normal.

"This is the continuation of the previous meetings. No document will
be signed there," he said.

APA was the first to report that Azerbaijani parliamentarians will
meet with Armenian parliamentarians in Moscow. Chairperson of the
parliament’s human rights committee Rabiyyat Aslanova had told APA
about it.

Aslanova said Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu,
special representative of Russian President for international cultural
co-operation Mikhail Shvydkoi will also attend the meeting.

ARMENIAN-TURKISH TIES HAVE POSITIVE IMPACT ON AZERBAIJAN

Panorama.am
17:25 19/10/2009

The processes of normalizing Armenian-Turkish ties seem to have
positive impact on Azerbaijan’s social-political status. It turns out
that Azerbaijan’s authorities found out that they do have some laws
which should be implemented after Armenia and Turkey signed their
recent protocols.

"Removing foreign countries’ flags, including the Turkish flag, have
nothing to do with the repairing activities," Ali Hasanov, of the
Azerbaijan’s President’s Administration told today, adding that they
have correspondent law on using foreign countries’ flags in Azerbaijan.

"It turned out the flags of foreign countries are flying in places
where they should not to. Hence we decided to remove all of them and
leave those which are fixed according to the law," he said.

There is not doubt that the boycott against the Azerbaijan’s flags
is closely connected with the normalizing of Armenian-Turkish ties.

CARL FROCH: I EXPECTED ABRAHAM TO BEAT TAYLOR

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 17:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch expected
Arthur Abraham to beat Jermain Taylor on Saturday night in Germany,
but even he was shocked at the way it went down. Abraham knocked
Taylor out cold in the twelfth and final round of their fight. The
KO came down with only seconds left before the final bell. Taylor was
already coming off a April knockout loss, to Carl Froch, and that also
went down in the twelfth round with only seconds to go in the fight.

"Jermain Taylor got knocked out again in the last round against Arthur
Abraham so Taylor must be jinxed because it was exactly the same time
in the same round that I knocked him out. I expected Abraham to beat
him and obviously I expected to beat Dirrell so it’s all gone as I
thought it would so far," Froch told The Telegraph.

Taylor suffered a bad concussion from the knockout. He was taken
to local hospital in Germany and won’t return to the United States
for several days. The doctors want to keep under observation for a
few days. After two bad knockouts in back to back fashion, fans are
asking Taylor to forget about the rest of the Super Six tournament
and walk away. If Taylor continues with the Super Six, he will face
Andre Ward in the first quarter of 2010. Ward challenges WBA champion
Mikkel Kessler on November 21, boxingscene.com reported.

ORANGE ARMENIA HAS NO FINANCIAL LIABILITIES TO ARMENIAN REALTOR IMMOBILIARE

ArmInfo
2009-10-19 16:48:00

ArmInfo. Orange Armenia has no financial liabilities to the Armenian
realtor Immobiliare, Orange Armenia told ArmInfo regarding the judicial
proceedings initiated by the Armenian Real Estate Agency Immobiliare.

Immobiliare is engaged in search of territories for Orange Armenia and
receives the payment for the first month of leasing as compensation.

Orange Armenia representatives say one of the contracts on leasing was
made without participation of Immobiliare. The area in the Northern
Avenue is in question. Leasing of the area is much more expensive than
leasing of other territories Immobiliare has offered to Orange. The
claim against the owner of the territory is at the initial stage of
consideration at the court. Immobiliare representatives hope Orange
Armenia being a subsidiary of France Telecom will follow high standards
of business making. Orange press-service reported that Orange-Armenia
CJSC and Immobiliare CJSC have never signed any contract on provision
of services. Immobiliare offered territories to Orange Armenia without
financial liabilities by Orange. These liabilities assumed the owners
of the territories.

Thus, Orange Armenia has no financial or legal, verbal or written
liabilities to Immobiliare. The realtor has involved Orange Armenia
into groundless judicial proceedings. Orange Armenia must not be a
respondent. Nevertheless, before completion of the proceedings, any
public condemnation may be considered pressure on the country. Orange
Armenia operates fairly and transparently in all its business relations
and is not concerned about anything waiting for the decision by the
court, the report says.

Orange Armenia won the tender for provision of mobile communication
services in Armenia in October 2008. It will probably start providing
services till the end of 2009. At present there are two mobile
operators in Armenia: ArmenTel (Beeline) and K-Telecom (VivaCell-MTS).

FAO, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MARK WORLD FOOD DAY IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
16.10.2009 17:32

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the
Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia marked today the World Food Day
by awarding medals to five representatives of the Armenian food and
agricultural sector for their great contribution in this field.

On behalf of FAO Representative in Armenia Ms. Fernanda Guerieri,
United Nations Acting Resident Coordinator in Armenia Ms. Bushra
Halepota presented silver and bronze medals to Mr. Mikhail Grigoryan,
Senior Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Ruben Karakhanyan,
Director of the Gyumri Selection Station SCJSC, Armen Gasparyan,
Director of Proshyan Winery, Armenak Aslanyan, Director of "Gold-Grape
Armas" Ltd and Gagik Sardaryan, Director of Centre for Agribusiness
and Rural Development (CARD).

"Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis" is the key message of this
year’s World Food Day that raises the imperative of mobilizing global
efforts to help countries most affected by the economic and financial
crisis and sustaining investments in the food and agriculture sector.

"It is vital, particularly in times of crisis, that support to
agriculture not be reduced. Only a healthy agricultural sector,
combined with a growing non-farm economy and effective safety nets
and social protection programmes will be sufficient to face the
global recession as well as eradicate food insecurity and poverty,"
FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf stressed in his statement on the
World Food Day, adding that achieving food security must be a global
priority.

ARF RALLIES AGAINST ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS
Siranush Muradyan

"Radiolur"
16.10.2009 18:12

"The Armenian Turkish protocols should not be ratified. The struggle
continues." The Armenian Revolutionary Federation is holding a rally
under this slogan today.

ARF Dashnaktsutyun and another 12 parties will rally today in front
of the Moscow Cinema against the Armenian-Turkish protocols. During
today’s meeting they will declare that the protocols counter the
Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, Secretary of the Party’s
parliamentary faction Artyusha Shahbazyan said.

Head of the parliamentary faction Stepan Safaryan is confident that
the Armenian people will face serious problems in case the protocols
are ratified.