Author: Tigranian Ani

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT OFF TO LONDON

Armradio.am
09.02.2010 10:41

President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan left for the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland today on a three-day
working visit. The delegation comprises His Holiness Garegin II,
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian and the Mayor of Yerevan, Gagik Beglaryan.

Within the framework of the working visit President Sargsyan will
have meetings with Queen Elisabeth II, Foreign Minister David Miliband
and Prince Charles.

President Sargsyan will attend the opening of the "Yerevan – my love"
project initiated by Prince Charles and ex-Prime Minister of Armenia
Armen Sargsyan.

On February 10 Serzh Sargsyan is expected to make a speech at the
International Relations Institute of London. President Sargsyan will
touch upon regional security issues, the current stage of normalization
of the Armenian-Turkish relations and the negotiations on the Karabakh
conflict settlement.

At the Tate museum of international modern art President Sargsyan
will be present at the opening ceremony of the exhibition dedicated to
the life and work of renowned American-Armenian artist Arshile Gorky.

The President of the Republic of Armenia will give an interview to
the Al Jazeera TV.

AZERBAIJAN’S CONSUL GENERAL TO LOS ANGELES SENDS LETTER OF PROTEST TO "LOS ANGELES TIMES"

Armradio.am
09.02.2010 18:32

Azerbaijani Consul General to Los Angeles Elin Suleymanov sent letter
of protest to "Los Angeles Times" newspaper as they regarded Nagorno
Karabakh as a territory of Armenia, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s
press secretary Elkhan Polukhov told APA.

He noted in his letter that Nagorno Karabakh is an integral part of
Azerbaijan and such cases are inadmissible.

The Los Angeles Times planning to hold a travel and adventure
exhibition. Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh will be represented together
in the show. The travel agencies of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh will
set "Welcome to Armenia" booth in the exhibition hall at the travel
show on December 13.

THE RA MINISTER OF DEFENCE MET THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN FRANCE

;p=0&id=1180&y=2010&m=02&d=10
09.0 2.10

On the 8th of February, 2010 the delegation headed by the RA Minister
of Defence Seyran Ohanyan arrived in Paris by the invitation of the
Minister of Defence of the Republic of France E. Moghini. In the
frames of the visit the Minister is to meet the Minister of Defence
of France, Chief of the AF GS, Head of the Millitary Office of the
President of France, President of the Security, Defence and Internal
Affairs Permanent Committee of the National Assembly, principal and
experts of the Strategic Research Fund, and representatives of the
Armenian community in France. The RA Minister of Defence will also
visit military educational institutions and AF sub-units of France.

The signing of a cooperation document is planned to take place
in Paris. This document will create legal bases for a bilateral
cooperation between the defence departments of the two countries.

On the 8th of February, in the frames of the visit the, Seyran Ohanyan
met the representatives of over 20 organization of the Armenian
community in France. During the meeting Seyran Ohanyan talked about
the 18 years history of the RA Armed Forces, underlined the role of
the Diaspora in the business of the development of the Armenian Army,
and touched upon the principles of the reforms in the RA AF. The RA
Minister of Defence has also answered some questions bothering the
representatives of the Armenian community in France and talked about
the prospects of increasing the role of the Diaspora in the sphere
of Army Building.

RA MoD Department of Information and Public Affairs

BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS PROPOSAL TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Noyan Tapan
Feb 9, 2010

SOFIA, FEBRUARY 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Bulgarian
parliament did not adopt the proposal to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. Zaman paper (Turkey) reported that the Ataka party submitted
three proposals on Turkey to the parliamentary committee. The party
called on the Bulgarian parliament to demand material compensation
from Ankara for the Bulgarians displaced from Turkey, to call the
1396-1913 events genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire against
the Bulgarian people, and to recognize the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The parliament rejected all the three proposals, saying that
recognition of the Armenian Genocide may have negative consequences
for relations between Turkey and Bulgaria.

WASHINGTON MIGHT KILL ARMENIA-TURKEY RECONCILIATION: TURKISH FM

news.am
Feb 8 2010
Armenia

Turkey is not a country to be spoken on language of pressure with,
Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu said, commenting on tabling of Armenian
Genocide Resolution in U.S. Congress, Hurriyet daily reports.

According to him, it is not sheer coincidence that the issue entered
the agenda here and now. "I do not believe in randomness in politics
and diplomacy," he said. Congress decision contains an element of
pressure, however "all must know that Turkey is not a country to
speak in the language of pressure with."

Davutoglu considers these issues are links in a chain, "Firstly,
RA Constitutional Court passed judgment fully contradicting to the
spirit of the Protocols, secondly RA President Serzh Sargsyan adopted
non-constructive stance on Karabakh conflict in Sochi, and finally –
discussion for so-called ‘genocide’ is scheduled to vote in Congress."

"While signing the Protocols with Armenia, we showed political will
and went for reconciliation. They should not intimidate us by April 24,
if anyone wishes to pressurize us, it is pointless," Foreign Minister
underlined, stressing that Turkey is a sustainable country and makes
decisions based on its national interests.

If U.S. resorts to these measures, Armenia-Turkey reconciliation
process will fail. "It is in the interest of neither Washington, nor
Yerevan or Ankara. Thus, U.S. should be considerate to this issue,
instead of hindering the process with lob.

"Just as Greeks who permanently raise old issues on the threshold of
EU-Turkey summits, Armenians bring up the genocide issue each year
before April 24," Davutoglu concluded.

THE NEVER-ENDING EXODUS OF CHRISTIANS FROM MIDDLE EAST

Belfast Telegraph
January 25, 2010 Monday
Ireland

Was I the only one to react with a total lack of surprise to the news
that Muslim Afghan soldiers are fighting Muslim Taliban fighters
with a coded inscription on their rifle sights from the Bible’s
Book of John? Could Holman Hunt have imagined that his Light of the
World (Jesus, no less, painted in 1854) would be guiding the path
of American as well as Afghan army bullets into the hearts of the
Muslim Taliban? Possibly. So it turns out that another bunch of
religious nutters, the makers of Trijicon rifle sights in the US,
believe the inscription is "part of our faith and our belief in
service to our country".

Not since the Serbs and Lebanese Phalangists set off to massacre and
rape their Muslim enemies over the past three decades with pictures
of the Virgin Mary on their rifle butts has there been anything so
preposterous. Indeed, ’twas I who first spotted two American M1A1
Abrams tanks parked in central Baghdad in 2003 with "Crusader 1"
and "Crusader 2" painted on their barrels. Don’t tell me no one in
the Pentagon (or MoD, which has an order in for another 400 Trijicon
sites) didn’t query that weird "JN8:12" on the equipment.

No wonder then — and here’s a real tragedy — that Christians are in
a state of perpetual exodus from the Middle East. In Egypt, six Coptic
Christians were killed at Christmas, along with a Muslim policeman,
when local Muslims attacked them.

The Copts are maybe 10% of their country’s 80m people but they are
heading in droves for America. One problem they have is seeking
official permission to build churches in Egypt — and if they get
this permission, sure enough, up will pop a mosque right next door.

Courtesy of that great Bible-reader George W Bush, the Christians of
post-invasion Iraq are still fleeing sectarian violence for the West.

They’ve been murdered and burned out of their homes. Why, even the head
of the superior Islamic council of Iraq, Ammar al-Hakim, turned up in
Beirut this week to tell the Maronite Catholic patriarch of Lebanon
that he was doing "all he could" for his Iraqi Christian brothers and
sisters. Algerian Islamists have just burned a Protestant church in
an apartment in Tizi Ouzou.

There’s not much point, of course, in looking for the last known
resting place of one and a half million Christian Armenians, because
they were mass-slaughtered by the Turks in 1915 — although neither
Bush nor his successor will call it a genocide because they are
frightened of Muslim Turkey.

But I was heartened to read a fine article by Jihad Zein in the
Lebanese newspaper An Nahar last week. He believes that governments
in the Muslim world have been repressing societies but — and I hope
I have grasped his complex argument correctly — repressed societies
are now repressing minorities.

The Zein thesis is that Middle East rulers have abandoned the idea
of cultural authority in the interests of safeguarding the security
of their political society.

The Fisk thesis is that minorities don’t count any more.

But don’t bet on it. Was it not the army of Israel which named its 1996
bombardment of Lebanon "Grapes of Wrath", an operation which included
the atrocity at Qana, when 106 Lebanese civilians were torn to bits by
Israeli shells? And did not Grapes of Wrath take its name from chapter
32, verse 25 of the Book of Deuteronomy in which it is said that
"the sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young
man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of grey hairs".

All in all, a good description of the massacre at Qana.

Or of those innocent Afghan villagers torn to bits in Nato’s heroic
air strikes. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that DY32:25 is
inscribed on Nato’s bombs. Work that one out.

LAW ON CASINOS WILL BE AMENDED

Lragir.am
3/02/10

Their views on the amendments to the law on casinos expressed the
chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs Vardan
Ayvazian, Deputy Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan and expert Karine
Hakobyan.

The amendments propose to increase fees for licenses for the operations
of gambling houses and casinos from 400 million drams to 1 billion
drams to establish zoning, under which casinos are located near major
population centers, will pay a higher amount. There is a proposal
to provide benefits to those who intend to open a casino in the
border areas.

Deputy Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan announced about a new policy on
gambling houses since 2013. The zones where casinos will be located
have been determined: they will be located in the tourist areas –
Sevan, Jermuk and Tsakhkadzor, as well as at the airport.

The expert Karine Hakobyan noted that there are serious moral problems
in Sevan, Jermuk and Tsakhkadzor. "Casinos bring state revenue, but who
needs income at such a price? We have no concept of safe development
of the country. For developing countries, tourism and entertainment
could not be recognized as a priority sector", said Karine Hakobyan.

ARMEN RUSTAMYAN: IT’S UP TO PEOPLE TO DECIDE WHO THE REAL OPPOSITION IS
Siranush Muradyan

"Radiolur"
01.02.2010 19:03

Members of the Armenian delegation that have returned from the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe summed up the results
of the PACE session at a press conference today.

Armen Rustamyan from ARF Dashnaktsutyun expressed his dissatisfaction
with the conduct of Zaruhi Postanjyan from the Heritage faction. "It’s
Armenia, not Europe that should decide which force is the real
opposition. It’s not the Council of Europe to decide who the false
opposition is and who the real one is," he said.

Head of the Armenian delegation David Harutyunyan told in detail
about the issues discussed from January 25 to 29.

Naira Zohrabyan said negative reference was made to Armenia during
the discussions on the freedom of press.

Artsrun Aghajanyan said he had talked about women’s rights in the
electoral system.

IRAN BELIEVES NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT CAN BE RESOLVED

Tert.am
13:25 ~U 02.02.10

Tehran believes that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved
with the assistance of the states in the region, reports Azerbaijani
news source Trend News.

"We believe that the conflict can be resolved with the assistance of
states of the region. Iran acts from a position of a fair solution
to the conflict and the restoration of rights of Azerbaijan," Deputy
Foreign Minister of Iran Hassan Gashgavi said to the press in Baku
yesterday.

ARMENIANS AROUND THE WORLD MOBILIZE TO HELP HAITI
By Nanore Barsoumian

Armenian Weekly
February 1, 2010

WATERTOWN, Mass. (A.W.)-It has been three weeks since the devastating
earthquake hit Haiti, but aid is still barely making its way into
the country. The 7.0 magnitude quake which, according to Haitian
officials, killed as many as 200,000 people, has left unimaginably
rough conditions for survivors and refugees. More than 100,000
people are already crowding the tent cities of Port-au-Prince,
and aid handout spots are scenes of fighting. Haitians need food,
water, and about 200,000 additional tents, but aid distribution is
alarmingly slow. If this wasn’t enough, the Daily Telegraph informs
us that up to one million children are now left vulnerable to abuse
and child trafficking.

The Armenian government, on Jan. 21 allocated $100,000 in financial
assistance to Haiti.

Almost immediately after news of the earthquake and ensuing disaster
reached Armenia, a senior official at the Armenian Rescue Service,
Nikolay Grigorian, told RFE/RL that its 52-strong team, along with
search dogs and special equipments, would be heading to Haiti.

Grigorian was quoted as saying, "Our rescuers will fly to Moscow
today and proceed, on a Russian Emergency Situations Ministry plane,
to Haiti where they will take part in search and rescue operations."

However, merely a few days after the announcement, Armenian Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan said, "Unfortunately we could not carry out
[the mission] because Haiti was not prepared to receive [the team]
and there were numerous problems with logistics and aid coordination…

International structures told us that there are problems with
physically shipping things and that financial assistance would be
more expedient," And so, the Armenian government, on Jan. 21 allocated
$100,000 in financial assistance to Haiti.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has been getting some heat due to its
15,000 troop deployment to the country, which as some critics point
out, fills the airstrip with U.S. planes full of troops and military
equipment, while aid is left behind. The BBC quoted Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) as saying, "Everything has been mixed together and
the urgent and vital attention to the people have been delayed while
military logistics-which is useful but not on day three, not on day
four, but may be on day eight-has really jammed the airport and led
to this mismanagement."

Still, in times of such disasters, when the need for compassion and
humanitarian aid is at its highest, people respond. At the sight of
human suffering, even for a brief moment one might become inspired
and determined to train and be part of a search and rescue team, sing
songs of human unity (to raise money, of course), sell overpriced
beverages or cookies to send the profits to those in need, or-maybe
even for the first time in one’s life-plead for help and mercy from a
higher mysterious power. Well, all that is being done. Musicians like
Beyonce, Bon Jovi, Kylie Minogue, and our very dear Charles Aznavour
are lending their voices to raise funds for quake-stricken Haiti.

School children, like 11-year-old Armand Istanboulian and his friends
in Ontario, are selling hot cocoa and handing over their hard-earned
cash to their local Red Cross. And priests, like Western Prelate
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian and others-borrowing a line from The
Doors song-are petitioning the Lord with prayers during Divine Liturgy,
and calling upon the faithful to do their part in the humanitarian
efforts through the many organizations involved in these efforts.

Finally, it is important to note the efforts of the Armenian Relief
Society (ARS) which has established a Haiti Relief Fund. Sossie
Poladian, the chairperson of the ARS Regional Executive, issued the
following statement: "The ARS feels the suffering of the Haitian
people, especially since we experienced similar devastation after
the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. Many of us still remember the pain
and anguish that we felt and how comforting it was to know that the
world came to help the people of Armenia. It is our duty to help
the Haitians who fell victim to a similar disaster." ARS chapters,
from Javakhk to Lebanon, to Canada and the U.S., have been involved
in the fundraising efforts. Ten more days, and the ARS will wrap up
its fundraising, so if you don’t have time after your double-shift
to sell hot cocoa on the side of the road, and if, unlike Aznavour,
you are stuck with a crow-like voice, you still have about 10 more
days to make a donation to the ARS (by visiting ).

On Jan. 25, Massachusetts State Representative Peter Koutoujian called
on Armenian Americans to contribute to these efforts. "As a fellow
Armenian American," wrote Koutoujian, echoing Poladian’s words, "I am
asking for your help for Haitians in their time of need, much like the
kindness and generosity that was shown towards Armenians 21 years ago.

We as a community have an opportunity to express our gratitude and
lend a helping hand." You can find his open letter on his website,

You can also submit an online donation through the American Red Cross
(), Partners in Health (), and the Catholic
Relief Services (). You even have a texting option; by
texting Haiti to the number 90999 on your cell phone, you can donate
$10 instantly. And, one other thing, make some noise! Call or write
your representatives and demand that the aid that we all have been
putting together reaches the destination it was intended to reach-now!

Nanore Barsoumian is a staff writer for the Armenian Weekly.