Author: Toneyan Mark

MUBARIZ AHMEDOGHLU: "I DO NOT THINK THAT US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA WILL CALL 1915 EVENTS IN OSMAN TURKEY AS AN "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"

Today.Az
politics/50231.html
Jan 21 2009
Azerbaijan

"I do not think that US President Barack Obama will call 1915 events in
Osman Turkey as the "Armenian genocide", considers Mubariz Ahmedoghlu,
head of the Center of Political Innovations and Technologies.

He said the shift of powers in the United States does not mean changes
in the external political course of the United States. "Certainly,
there will be some changes in the external policy of the United States,
but on the whole I think these changes will make about 5-10%, that is,
they will be insignificant.

The recognition of the so-called "Armenian Genocide" by the United
States is a fundamental issue, related to the interests of the United
States in the Middle East and the Caucasus. Therefore, I do not think
that the US president will call the 1915 events in the Osman Turkey as
"Armenian genocide", said Ahmedoghlu.

As for the further US-Azerbaijani relations, Ahmedoghlu announced that
both Hilari Clinton and Richard Lugar, who visited Azerbaijan several
times, Barack Obama visited our country and is well informed about its
importance in the region and is aware of its problems and capacities.

"Therefore, I do not think that they will give preference to Armenia",
concluded Ahmedoghlu.

BENITA FERRERO-WALDNER: "AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA MUST SETTLE THE CONFLICT ONCE AND FOREVER"

Today.Az
olitics/50217.html
Jan 21 2009
Azerbaijan

"The discussion of ways of the Karabakh conflict resolution is on the
agenda of our talks. Azerbaijan and Armenia must settle the conflict
peacefully and once and forever", said EU commissioner on external
ties and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner at a
briefing following the meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamedyarov.

"All our hopes are bound to the upcoming meeting of the Presidents of
the two countries. Anyway, we should find comprimises for settling
this issue. Both sides should find correct variants of compromise",
said she.

At the same time Waldner noted that the conflict resolution will
create conditions for the prosperity of the whole region.

As for the role of the OSCE Minsk Group on the conflict resolution
she noted that EU considers this format of the organization of the
meetings of the presidents to be admissible.

"If a program of conflict resolution is developed in the framework
of this format, we, in turn, will provide any assistance for its
implementation. We will also assist in the restoration works and
return of internally displaced people after the conflict resolution",
said Waldner.

NALBANDYAN DIDN’T EVEN OPEN HIS WINDOW

A1+
[05:12 pm] 20 January, 2009

"Land givers are traitors", "Leave, Nalbandyan"-this is how the
"Miatsum" national initiative kicked off its first protest of 2009
near the RA Foreign Affairs Ministry building.

Today marked the third time that the members of "Miatsum" demand
from Edward Nalbandyan a meeting with them and they assure that they
have strictly important information regarding the Karabakh conflict,
which is first and foremost in the interests of Nalbandyan.

"Miatsum" stood near the building for two hours today screaming
"Artsakh, Armenia, Unite" and singing various national liberation
songs, but their voice remained unheard.

"Everybody, as well as the OSCE co-chairmen who have arrived in Yerevan
today, must realize that the Armenian people make the decision for
all issues, including the Karabakh conflict. No government official
can make a decision on behalf of the Armenian people. The co-chairs,
the representatives of the Council of Europe and other international
organizations must grasp the concept of that," told "A1+" member of
the "Heritage" party Zaruhi Postanjyan.

In addition what Postanjyan said, commander of the Shushi separate
squadron Jirair Sefilya said:

"We are going to keep coming here as long as it takes Nalbandyan to
accept us and we are certain that in the end, he will receive our
delegation because he is obliged to do that."

Sefilyan is sure that the idea of not handing over the lands liberated
at the price of blood is not only the idea of "Miatsum", rather,
the entire nation.

As always, Paranzem Torozyan, mother of one of the first victims of the
Artsakh war Edik Torozyan, was among the participants of the "Miatsum"
protest. "My son died for the unification of Armenia and Artsakh, for
the liberation of our historic lands, but today these traitors are
selling our homeland. They build buildings in central Yerevan. They
should go and build something in Karabakh. They haven’t done anything
to date because they have always thought about handing the lands over."

Unlike the previous protests, today there wasn’t even anybody staring
from the windows of the Foreign Affairs Ministry building. A couple
of police officers came and tried to stop the "Miatsum" march towards
Northern Avenue. For nearly 20 minutes, "Miatsum" activists stood
there, sang and screamed out their slogans.

The police either understood or received a command to open the road. At
Northern Avenue, the slogans turned into "Struggle, Struggle until
the end."

Azerbaijan Business Center, Azerbaijan
Jan 17 2009

Russia and Azerbaijan still investigate alleged transfer of Russian
weapons to Armenia

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Foreign mnister Sergey Lavrov of Russia assured
his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov that Russia transferred
to Armenia neither any weapons nor 102nd Russian militay base located
in Gumri of Armenia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan informs that in the
course of a telephone conversation between the two ministers on 16
January Lavrov told of investigation conducted jointly with the
General Staff of Armed Forces of Russia on the occasion of alleged
transfer of Russian weapons to Armenia.

The parties agreed to continue consultations with the purpose to
clarify further this matter.

GREEN CHRISTMAS IN IRAN
by Maryam Jalali

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Jan 15 2009
UK

Environmentalists urge Iran’s Christian Armenians to go artificial
and save a real Christmas tree.

Every day, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and many senior Iranian
officials of Iran go past Tehran’s oldest flower shop to reach the
presidential Palace. Around Christmas, the window display normally
has fir trees on sale.

This year, however, there were no Christmas trees on view ahead of the
Christian festival, which falls on January 6 because of the eastern
calendar used by Iran’s Armenian minority.

But this was not the result of government restrictions on Christian
practice. Instead, the shop’s owner explained that Armenians had
been persuaded by environmental groups to opt for small living trees
in pots, or artificial trees imported from China, instead of the
traditional cut Christmas tree

That was not the case everywhere, though. Despite the
environmentalists’ best efforts, shops in some Christian neighbourhoods
around the country still had rows of pine trees stacked up on the
pavement outside. These trees are sourced from commercial plantations
which grow them especially for Christmas.

Iran has some 100,000 Christians, mostly of the Armenians’ unique
Apostolic Church. About ten per cent belong to the Armenian Catholic
Church, which is affiliated with Rome.

In the Iranian capital, most Christians live in the eastern areas of
Narmak and Majidiyyeh, as well as in centrally-located neighbourhoods
like Karimkhan and Bahar.

Among the city’s main Armenian shopping areas are the Mirza-ye
Shirazi and Villa (or Nejatollahi) streets. The latter is particularly
well-frequented by tourists looking for traditional handicrafts. At
one end of this old street stands the great Church of St Sarkis,
while a short walk away is a confectioner’s shop specialising in
sweets and cakes for the New Year period.

Outside the shop, a large Christmas tree stand in the middle of
Karimkhan street, which the city authorities decorate with coloured
lights to remind Muslims and non-Muslims alike of the western New Year
(the Iranian year runs from March to March).

For Iranian Muslims, Christmas [surely Christmas, not new
year?] commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, who is revered in
Islam and is mentioned frequently in the Koran, which also devotes a
"sura" or verse to the Virgin Mary. Some years ago, a park near the
Christian neighbourhood in Karimkhan Street was renamed Hazrat Maryam,
after Mary.

Villa Street has many shops selling Christmas cards and decorations
such as crystal balls and silver stars. There are also artificial trees
which come in all sizes and ready decorated if the customer wants it.

A campaign by environmentalists to save the world’s s trees led
many Armenians to start buying artificial trees, which also have the
advantage of being reusable.

Last year, Tehran municipality also offered small living pine trees
to the Christian community, free of charge.

At the far end of Villa Street, close to the Church of St Sarkis,
there are still real trees on sale, leaning against the wall of
Hazrat Maryam Park. They are priced according to their size, colour
and density and the shop’s location.

This year, the Golestan flower shop in north Tehran had trees ranging
from deep green all the way through to silver. Yet one customer went
for a small living tree which could later be planted in the ground. He
said an artificial tree was out of the question as it would not be a
"good omen"

Maryam Jalali is a journalist in Tehran

Mianeh is an IWPR-run initiative to provide an independent open
webspace for ideas, analysis and debate for Iranian journalists
and writers. This article is taken from Mianeh’s bilingual website,

BAKU DOESN’T ACCEPT RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY’S EXPLANATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.01.2009 18:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed "regret"
over the fact of "free of charge delivery of Russian armament to the
amount of $800 million to Armenia."

"The work carried out gives reason to believe the information to be
true," says a statement issued by the Azeri MFA.

The Ministry says that the delivery "is a violation of the UN
Resolutions on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and of the UN Resolution
‘On the Situation in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan.’

"Full responsibility for the consequences of this action rests on
Russia," the statement says.

The Russian Defense Ministry refuted Wednesday Azeri media reports
about delivery of Russian armament to Armenia.

The reports are clearly untrue, said Alexander Drobyshevsky, a
spokesman for the Ministry, told The Echo of Moscow.

Earlier, the Armenian Defense Ministry also denied the reports that
Russia supplied Armenia with military hardware to the amount of
$800 million.

The reports are absolutely false, the RA Defense Minister’s spokesman,
colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Azeri ANS TV quoted Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman Alexander
Petrunin as saying that "Russia delivered military hardware to Armenia
in the framework of a transnational agreement."

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ENLARGES SIZES OF POVERTY AND BIRTH BENEFITS

ARKA
Jan 15, 2009

YEREVAN, January 15. /ARKA/. Armenian Government enlarged sizes of
benefits for low-income families and birth benefit on Thursday.

Labor and Social Affairs Minister Arsen Hambartsumyan said the basic
family benefit was enlarged from AMD 8,000 to AMD 10,000 and a lump-sum
benefit for newborn babies was increased from AMD 35,000 to AMD 50,000.

The benefit for the birth of the third and a next child rose from AMD
400,000 to 430,000 and the monthly benefit for care of a baby in age
under two years reached AMD 18,000 against former AMD 3,000.

The government set AMD 250,000 benefit for families of perished
national heroes and AMD 150,000 and AMD 100,000 for holders of first-
and second-degree Warrior Cross.

The Government also set rules for benefit payment and inclusion of
women in the group of single mothers.

Hambartsumyan pointed out the necessity to specify criteria for
eligibility to receive a single-mom benefit, since there are already
11,000 so-called single mothers in Armenia now.

The minister also said that the Government makes every effort to
prevent the benefit enlargement from affecting pensions. ($1 = AMD
305.48).

VOLUME OF NATURAL GAS IMPORTED TO ARMENIA IN 2008 INCREASED BY 9.74%

ARMENPRESS
Jan 15, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS: Volume of natural gas imported to
Armenian in 2008 increased by 9.74% and reached 2 billion 254 million
cubic meters, instead of 2 billion 54 million of 2007.

Press secretary of "Armrusgasprom" company Shushan Sardaryan told
Armenpress that during the mentioned period volume of gas realization
increased by 11.2% and reached 2 billion 078.95 million cubic meters
instead of 1 billion 869.31 million cubic meters of 2007.

Consumption of the natural gas by the population increased by 10.8%
and reached nearly 589 million cubic meters, instead of 532 million
of 2007. During 2008 the energy sector realized nearly 607 million
cubic meters or by 19.8% more than in 2007.

Volume of gas consumed by the industry have reduced a little and
reached nearly 453 million cubic meters, the volume of consumption of
the gas by budget companies increased by 31.3% and reached 36 million
cubic meters instead of 27 million in 2007.

Volume of consumption by vehicle-gas refuel centers increased by 20.4%
and reached nearly 344 million cubic meters.

HARD ROCK HUMORIST

WA today
/music/hard-rock-humorist/2009/01/15/1231608869754 .html
Jan 16 2009
Australia

System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian says the band is "still
on hiatus".

Wit and activism are natural to Serj Tankian, writes Andrew Murfett.

SERJ Tankian’s steadfast political activism often gets in the way of
his sense of humour.

Tankian, the frontman for dormant hard rockers System of a Down, has
long supported an array of causes, including movements related to his
family’s native Armenia and anti-globalisation groups. He has also
been a strong voice against the Bush Administration and its policies
on Iraq.

When EG checked in with him last March, he was collaborating with
fellow rock activist (and close friend) Tom Morello of Rage Against
the Machine on an event at last year’s South by Southwest festival,
in Texas, centred on the moving anti-war documentary Body of War.

With the solo debut Elect the Dead released late in 2007, last year was
spent mostly on the road. There were European festivals, North American
club dates and a new musical he is composing with playwright Steven
Sader. Next week he arrives in Australia to play the Big Day Out.

Elect the Dead sounds, ostensibly, like a System of a Down record. It
features Tankian’s trademark barking vocals and System’s breakneck
guitar playing and percussion. However, it has sold about a tenth of
his band’s regular, million-plus-selling albums.

"You have to be realistic," he says. "You’re almost starting over,
building it back up. If you’re out with System of a Down, you have
a name that will automatically draw millions of people to it."

While Tankian is doing just fine financially, he says: "If I wanted
to print money, I’d be in other businesses not dying like the arts."

Tankian’s humour comes out when he talks about the band he put together
for his solo work. He decided to name it the FCC – the Flying C–ts
of Chaos.

"I was actually going to call the record that, but I thought it might
be a bit much," he says. The album contains the song Beethoven’s C–t.

"Even with System of a Down stuff, we were doing our own thing. With
the solo stuff, I have been even more in control and connected to
the vision. The only problem was we couldn’t use the word `c–t’
on the artwork if we were to be present in certain stores. I’ve done
all of these things with System before and I knew it was just easier
to put stars there and allude to the word."

The name of the band offers an instant ability to subvert the platform
through which he promotes his work. For instance, when reminded of
his band’s appearance on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, Tankian cracks
up laughing.

"Robin Williams was on that night and Jay announced us as Serj
Tankian and the FCC," he recalls, between chuckles. "Robin Williams
kept pestering Leno to tell the audience what the band’s name stands
for. It’s cool to poke fun, I guess."

Meantime, not one for restraint, he made a staggering 14 videos to
promote Elect the Dead.

Now he is focusing on his imminent Big Day Out shows. Tankian has form
with the festival, having played twice before and appearing with both
Tool and Rage Against the Machine on various BDO stages.

In fact System of a Down’s 2002 Big Day Out tour captured the band
at its peak. Insiders suggest there have been few more excitable Big
Day Out crowd reactions than the extraordinary reception given to
the likes of Chop Suey! and Toxicity.

However, when asked about the status of his band, Tankian is mildly
terse: "System is still on hiatus since 2006, nothing’s changed."

The Auckland orchestra gigs are no coincidence. The lanky vocalist
is now also a resident of New Zealand – a home owner in Auckland –
where he spends two to three months a year. So, what is it about New
Zealand he loves so much?

"The first time I toured there, I got a really amazing feeling about
it. The more I explored the country and what it stood for, the more
excited I was to be a part of it. I love it."

He recently began working with the Auckland Philharmonic and has
written string arrangements for all of the songs in Elect the Dead. He
will perform the album in full with a 67-piece orchestra in Auckland
on March 5. The show will be recorded for a possible live album.

"The sound coming out of those instruments is more powerful then
any electronic device," he says. "It’s so emotive. To hear 67
people play my songs and me singing with them, it’s going to be
phenomenal." Alluding to his famed sense of humour, he says his
next solo record will be a more abstract project centred on jazz and
classical music. Er, really?

"Yeah, after the orchestra gig I might do some more of that."

Serj Tankian plays The Palace on January 25 and the Big Day Out on
January 26.

"Robin Williams was on that night and Jay announced us as Serj
Tankian and the FCC," he recalls, between chuckles. "Robin Williams
kept pestering Leno to tell the audience what the band’s name stands
for. It’s cool to poke fun, I guess."

Meantime, not one for restraint, he made a staggering 14 videos to
promote Elect the Dead.

Now he is focusing on his imminent Big Day Out shows. Tankian has form
with the festival, having played twice before and appearing with both
Tool and Rage Against the Machine on various BDO stages.

In fact System of a Down’s 2002 Big Day Out tour captured the band
at its peak. Insiders suggest there have been few more excitable Big
Day Out crowd reactions than the extraordinary reception given to
the likes of Chop Suey! and Toxicity.

However, when asked about the status of his band, Tankian is mildly
terse: "System is still on hiatus since 2006, nothing’s changed."

The Auckland orchestra gigs are no coincidence. The lanky vocalist
is now also a resident of New Zealand – a home owner in Auckland –
where he spends two to three months a year. So, what is it about New
Zealand he loves so much?

"The first time I toured there, I got a really amazing feeling about
it. The more I explored the country and what it stood for, the more
excited I was to be a part of it. I love it."

He recently began working with the Auckland Philharmonic and has
written string arrangements for all of the songs in Elect the Dead. He
will perform the album in full with a 67-piece orchestra in Auckland
on March 5. The show will be recorded for a possible live album.

"The sound coming out of those instruments is more powerful then
any electronic device," he says. "It’s so emotive. To hear 67
people play my songs and me singing with them, it’s going to be
phenomenal." Alluding to his famed sense of humour, he says his
next solo record will be a more abstract project centred on jazz and
classical music. Er, really?

"Yeah, after the orchestra gig I might do some more of that."

Serj Tankian plays The Palace on January 25 and the Big Day Out on
January 26.

EXCAVATIONS DIG DEEPER INTO ERGENEKON STRUCTURE

Today’s Zaman
o?load=detay&link=164048&bolum=101
Jan 14 2009
Turkey

Excavations into sites that are potentially home to Ergenekon arms
caches continued yesterday.

Excavations into sites that are potentially home to arms caches of
Ergenekon, a clandestine organization attempting to create chaos and
undermine stability in order to trigger a coup d’état, continued
yesterday, indicating that the investigation is going to deepen,
with prosecutors reaching more central branches of the organization.

The police yesterday carried out a series of digs in wasteland around
the capital in a search for weapons linked to the Ergenekon terrorist
organization. The excavations are a continuation of earlier digs based
on new documents obtained during police raids on the houses and offices
of arrestees last week. Police on Monday discovered several explosives
and bullets in Ankara in excavations carried out under the auspices
of the Ergenekon investigation. They unearthed 30 hand grenades,
nine smoke bombs and hundreds of G-3 rifle bullets in the garden of
a deserted house in Sincan, an Ankara suburb. The hidden weapons not
only give clues to the organization’s planned attacks in the future,
but also may shed light on past crimes believed to be committed by
the organization.

Yesterday’s excavations started out early in the morning in Yenikent,
an area not far from the site of the cache found in Monday’s digs. The
excavation was briefly halted, as the area is a historical site,
a status given to it only a week ago, but then was restarted when
Turkey’s Museums and Monuments Directorate gave it the green
light. Only the Anatolia news agency and the Turkish Radio and
Television Corporation (TRT) can record footage at the site.

Meanwhile, an ancient jug was found during yesterday’s
excavation. Archeologists are yet to examine the artifact, officials
said.

Lieutenant colonel investigated

The military started an investigation yesterday into Lt. Col. Mustafa
Dönmez, an Ergenekon suspect whose houses in Sakarya and Ankara
were found in last week’s operations to contain dozens of bullets,
hand grenades and weapons. Dönmez, who disappeared last week, turned
himself into the police yesterday.

"The legal investigation regarding the suspect and the seized materials
is continuing in all dimensions," a statement from the military said
on the inquiry into the army officer.

A new wave of detentions last week in the Ergenekon investigation
revealed that the group was planning to assassinate Alevi and Armenian
community leaders, the prime minister and members of the Supreme
Court of Appeals, acts that would have dragged Turkey into chaos if
they had been carried out.

Thirty-seven individuals were detained last week in simultaneous
police operations staged in six cities as part of the ongoing
investigation. The new detainees include military officers, a
controversial academic with a background of left-wing political
activism, the former deputy head of the Police Special Operations Unit,
seven retired generals and the former head of the Higher Education
Board (YOK). The YOK chairman was released after investigation, but
four military officers, the controversial academic and the former
police deputy chief were arrested. Two senior generals were released
pending trial.

Information on weapons in GölbaÅ~_ı

The prosecutors in the case indicated that the police had evidence that
Ergenekon was plotting to kill prominent Alevi community leaders such
as Ali Balkız and Kazım Genc, as well as Sivas Armenian Community
President Minas Durmaz Guler along with a number of journalists.

Prior to Monday, two separate weapons depots were found during last
week’s operations. On Friday the police discovered a weapons cache
buried in a forest in Ankara’s GölbaÅ~_ı district through a map found
in the home of one of the newest suspects. Searches in five other areas
were also launched based on evidence seized by police during sweeps
of homes and offices of suspects. These searches yielded no results.

In GölbaÅ~_ı, officers discovered 30 hand grenades, three
flame-throwers, many plastic explosives, ammunitions for Uzi
machine guns and other ammunition buried close to a road near the
capital, officials said. Separately, a weapons cache was found in
Lt. Col. Dönmez’s Ä°stanbul house.

Weapons found as part of the probe last Friday buried underground in
Ankara’s GölbaÅ~_ı district seem to match assassination plans found
in the home of Ergenekon suspect and former Special Operations Unit
Deputy Chief Ä°brahim Å~^ahin.

Meanwhile the National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) yesterday
confirmed the newspaper reports that Å~^ahin, in his initial testimony
to judges at the 13th High Criminal Court on Sunday, said he had
informed MÄ°T about intelligence prior to an Oct. 3 outlawed Kurdistan
Worker’s Party (PKK) attack on a military outpost that left 17 soldiers
dead. MÄ°T said the agency has no institutional contact with Å~^ahin,
but said Å~^ahin’s intelligence had been carried to the agency through
"a social interaction."

–Boundary_(ID_emDRQ7W/TT3d87+ hF7MDtg)–