Author: Torgomian Varazdat

RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION BECOMES PREVALENT
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
26 Aug 2008
Armenia

Interview with ARMEN ROUSTAMYAN, Head of the NA Committee on Foreign
Relations

"Mr. Roustamyan, judging by all, the Russian Federation may, in the
near future, officially recognize the independence of South Osetia
and Abkhazia.

What may be the impact of this factor on our efforts towards achieving
the international recognition of the NKR independence?"

"Any new event in the geopolitical developments imparts new shades
to the issue of recognizing the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic.

Taking into consideration all this, we should constantly consider
as a starting point the fact that the recognition of the NKR is
fully substantiated only on for Armenia but also on international
levels. There are all the grounds for recognizing the NKR independence.

Today, a number of nations declare their independence on the basis of
the right to self-determination. In comparison with all these cases,
the existing bases required for the recognition of the NKR independence
are on a much higher level. And the current geopolitical developments
are an additional occasion for voicing this fact from all the high
international tribunals once again.

In case of declaring its independence, the country should actually
comply with the well-known four criteria of the Montevideo Agreement,
which define the fact of the state being accomplished. The Nagorno
Kharabakh Republic definitely complies with all those criteria because
it has its state borders, permanent population and authorities elected
legitimately and democratically and has proven many a time that
it is capable of conducting international relations on an official
level independently."

"Is the parliament of our country ready to discuss the issue of
recognizing the independence of Artsakh in the current geo-political
situation? What should be done for that?"

"The issue of recognizing the NKR independence should be the principal
trump-card of our country’s diplomacy in general. In the meantime,
it is necessary to constantly consider all the circumstances for
using that trump-card, i.e. when and how it is proper to do that.

The precise choice of the moment is, in my opinion, determined by three
factors. First, the recognition of the independence should be initiated
by the NKR itself. And the process should be coordinated between the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Armenia. The step should also be made
in such a way and in such circumstances that will enable the Armenian
sides to strengthen their positions in the context of international
negotiations through recognizing the independence of Karabakh. And
last but not the least, we must be able to attain such results that
we’ll help us prevent the possible aggression by Azerbaijan.

In this contex t, I consider it necessary to introduce precision in
the existing misperception that the recognition of the independence
of Karabakh will be enough for preventing Azerbaijan’s bellicose
ambitions. This is not absolutely right because such step is necessary
but not enough.

And in order to have sufficient guarantees it is first of all
necessary for Armenia and Karabakh to announce simultaneously on
their intention of forming a military-political alliance. This step
will enable Armenia to obtain the status of the guarantor of the
independence and security of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the
context of the settlement of the conflict.

Armenia possesses that right. We must now be able to state the fact
on the international level.

The National Assembly is always ready to discuss the issue of
recognizing the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. However,
it is again necessary to take into consideration the issue of choosing
a proper moment.

After all, the recognition should be achieved by the agreement of
the two presidents and citizens. It should be the product of united,
consolidated work."

"Mr. Roustamyan, what changes did the recent developments introduce
into the ratio of the geopolitical forces?"

"If we view of those changes from a little bit broader perspective,
it will be possible to record two new precedents. The first was
the Kosovo precedent which definitely showed that the right to
self-determination is accepted by the international tribunals as a
primary approach and principle.

Moreover, it is this approach that is recognized as the only right
way towards the settlement of the conflict peacefully, through
negotiations.

The second precedent concerns the security guarantees. The recent
developments showed quite clearly that all the hot-headed politicians
who believe that it is possible to settle the conflict by the use of
force not only demonstrate short-sightedness but also create a new
tension in the geo-political atmosphere which is fragile as it is.

And that is always fraught with the danger that the ongoing war will
not only be restricted to the direct parties to the conflict but
also involve the geo-political forces supporting them. The front-line
confrontation of the parties can, in such cases, create preconditions
for inciting a global war. "

ARMENIA SURPRISE TURKEY IN YEREVAN: TURKEY 1 – ARMENIA 2

uefa.com
21/fixturesresults/round=15084/match=300345/report =rp.html
Aug 20 2008
Switzerland

Last-gasp goals from Karlen Lazarian and Henrik Mkhitaryan denied
Turkey a move to the top of qualifying Group 2.

Aerial presence

With Turkey needing three points to leapfrog the Czech Republic
and take pole position in the race for the UEFA European Under-21
Championship play-offs, the visitors did their best to exploit the
physical presence of Mehmet Batdal, aiming a series of crosses at the
tall striker. Batdal had one effort ruled out for offside, while at
the other end Gevorg Kazaryan and Ogannes Goaryan missed good chances
before Onur Recep Kıvrak made a great save to deny Artur Stepanyan
from close range just before the interval.

Shock winner The keeper foiled Mkhitaryan in a one-on-one situation
after half-time, and it looked like Armenia would pay for their
profligacy as a blunder from full-back Mikheil Simonyan left Turkey
in a great situation, with Abdullah Durak breaking the deadlock on
70 minutes. However, to the delight of a 12,000-strong crowd at the
Hrazdan Stadium in Yerevan, Lazarian finished from a Goaryan free-kick
one minute from time, with Mkhitaryan atoning for his earlier miss
in added time by beating Onur for a shock winner.

–Boundary_(ID_dM7N0fRzuqprz9pgU5jXdg)–

Armenian National Committee – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

August 19, 2008
Contact: Ani Garabedian

ANC-WR Extern Spotlight: Araz Parsgehian

Los Angeles, CA – As an extern with the Armenian National Committee
Western Region’s 2008 Summer Internship and Externship Program (ANC-WR
IEP), Araz Parseghian has been working with ANC’s Professional Network
(ANC-PN) to organize a professional panel for current and former
interns to learn about career options in Public Media and Government
Affairs. Since the start of the program, Parseghian has developed a
variety of skills and gained vast experience in his challenging and
government-oriented work.

"I have enjoyed meeting people who have great concern about Armenian
issues and working with them to help ensure that the Armenian American
community’s voice is heard," said Parseghian. "This Externship has
broadened my networks and allowed me to apply my knowledge within the
Armenian American community."

In the past several weeks, Parseghian has been working closely with
the ANC-PN by revamping their website and planning several events for
them. In addition to assisting with the Interns’ voter registration
drive, Parseghian has taken the lead in expanding outreach for the
Internship-Externship Program.

Parseghian received both his Bachelor of Science in Business
Management and his MBA from Woodbury. He currently works for a bank
and as well as being an entrepreneur.

Prior to his Externship, Parseghian volunteered at the ANC-WR on
several occasions. While volunteering for the organization, Parseghian
learned about the Internship-Externship Program and was eager to take
on the challenge.

The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in
the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States
and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR advances
the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.

EU-RUSSIA ‘BUSINESS AS USUAL’ IMPOSSIBLE, LITHUANIA SAYS
Andrew Rettman

EUobserver.com
Aug 19 2008
Belgium

The TV Tower memorial in Vilnius where Soviet forces killed 13
civilians in a 1991 uprising – Lithuanian memories are raw (Photo:
wikipedia)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The EU should consider diplomatic sanctions
against Russia and speed up Georgia and Ukraine’s EU and NATO
integration to show Moscow that "muscle-flexing" does not work,
Lithuanian foreign minister, Petras Vaitiekunas, said in an interview
with EUobserver.

"We cannot and will not pretend that the EU will continue doing
‘business as usual’ with Moscow. This aggression has damaged the
EU-Russian partnership," the minister said on Tuesday (19 August), as
Russian tanks remained parked 45 kilometres from the Georgian capital,
Tbilisi, despite a Franco-Russian agreement for troops to pull out.

Print Comment article The Russian army launched a massive ground,
air and naval assault on Georgia on 7 August after Georgia fought back
against Russian-backed rebels in its breakaway South Ossetia region.

Germany, France and Italy have refused to strongly condemn Russian
actions so far, with Germany warning against isolating Russia via rash
diplomatic moves. But former communist EU states such as Lithuania
have lined up on Georgia’s side.

Mr Vaitiekunas said there will be a "substantial discussion" of
potential EU sanctions at an EU foreign ministers meeting on 5
September and predicted the EU will find common ground despite its
internal east-west divide.

"The EU should evaluate whether it is possible to continue in an
unaltered way the post-PCA talks [negotiations on a new EU-Russia
treaty], visa dialogue or other cooperation activities," he explained.

"We have seen some disagreements between EU member states on many
occasions, including the Georgia issue. Still, it does not create a
deep rift."

In the short-term, he urged the EU to take part in an "international
monitoring and peacekeeping force" to be deployed in a "clearly
specified time and territories," and to push for the "return of
refugees and displaced populations, alongside humanitarian action."

The UN estimates the recent conflict has created 150,000 new refugees,
amid reports that South Ossetian paramilitaries have burned ethnic
Georgian villages in South Ossetia to stop Georgian people from
coming back.

A previous war in the 1990s saw some 200,000 ethnic Georgians flee
from another Russian-backed separatist province, Abkhazia, with Russia
last week indicating it will help the separatists keep Georgians out
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia for good.

Frozen conflicts

In the longer-term, the Lithuanian foreign minister – who was in
Tbilisi for the duration of the recent five-day war – said the EU
must speed-up Georgia’s integration with the EU and NATO to show
Russia it cannot sabotage pro-western governments in its near-abroad
by military means.

He also urged greater EU engagement in Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan,
to reduce the risk of South Ossetia-type scenarios in other disputed
regions: Russian-backed separatist movements also exist in Ukraine’s
Crimea peninsula, Moldova’s Transdniestria province and Azerbaijan’s
breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"NATO refusing to grant a MAP [Membership Action Plan] for Georgia and
Ukraine at the Bucharest summit made a principle mistake. We can say
that it partly led to the situation that we have in Georgia today,"
Mr Vaitiekunas said, after France and Germany blocked the MAP move
at a NATO meeting in Romania in April.

"By giving a MAP to Georgia and to Ukraine we [would] clearly show
to Russia how unhelpful it is to even try flexing its muscles," he
added. "The [EU] visa facilitation issue for Georgia will have to
be raised further, as well as a preparation of a comprehensive Free
Trade Agreement."

"The EU and NATO should be much more involved in the resolution of
frozen conflicts, especially in Nagorno-Karabakh and Transdniestria,
in order to reach peaceful solutions."

NEW STAGE OF CSTO EXERCISES BEGINS IN ARMENIA

Interfax
Aug 19 2008
Russia

The third stage of command post exercises of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO), Rubezh- 2008, is beginning in Armenia on
Monday, the organization’s secretariat told Interfax-AVN.

"This is the continuation of comprehensive joint exercises. The first
stage was held at the beginning of July in Armenia and the second at
the end of July in Moscow. The exercises will end on August 22 at a
firing range in Armenia," a CSTO spokesman said.

Yerevan will also host a meeting of the CSTO Council of Defense
Ministers on August 21.

Rendering military and military-technical assistance to Armenia in case
of an act of aggression against is being refined during Rubezh 2008.

Earlier CSTO officials said that the scenario of the exercise is
theoretical but takes into account the current military-political
and military-strategic situation in the region.

It is the first time Rubezh exercises are held in the Caucasus,
not in Central Asia.

In line with the Collective Security Treaty aggression against a
member-state shall be regarded by other member-states as aggression
against them all.

TURK PM SAYS PROCESS TO FORM A CAUCASAIN UNION TO START NEXT WEEK

Hurriyet
Friday, August 15, 2008 14:44
Turkey

Turkish and Russian foreign ministers would meet next week to kick-off
the process to form the "Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform"
process next week, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on
Thursday. (UPDATED)

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan would meet his Russian counterpart
Segei Lavrov next week to start the process, Erdogan told a press
conference in Bodrum resort town in Western Turkey after returning
from his recent visits to Russia and Georgia.

Erdogan said he conveyed to the all parties the efforts for a
"Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform" which would include
Russia and Georgia.

He said the platform attached importance to regional peace and
security, and included economic cooperation and energy safety.

The Turkish prime minister said Georgia also welcomed such a platform,
and added the process will continue with the participation of this
country.

Erdogan said Turkey also wanted Azerbaijan to participate in this
platform, adding he believed the participation of Armenia would also
greatly contribute to regional peace.

"Of course the Minsk process is ongoing in the region. The United
States, Russia and France are the primary executives of this
process. But no conclusion has been reached in this process which has
taken nearly 13 years. We want this process to be accelerated… The
solution of the Nagorno-Karabak conflict will also end the problems
between Azerbaijan and Armenia," Erdogan said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the outcome of the occupation of
Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, stands as the principal obstacle to
the political stability, economic development and regional cooperation
in the Southern Caucasus. The conflict is also responsible for the
deplorable situation of the nearly one million refugees and internally
displaced persons in Azerbaijan.

The Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe is a body co-headed by Russia, the United States and France
and appointed to mediate in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

1,600 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CARRIED FROM GEORGIA TO ARMENIA BY MOTOR TRANSPORT IN THE LAST FEW DAYS

arminfo
2008-08-14 19:03:00

ArmInfo. 1,600 people have been carried from Georgia to Armenia by
motor transport in the last few days. The transportation from customs
point of Bavra to Gyumri and Yerevan was financed by the state.

The press service of the Ministry of Transport and Communication of
Armenia reports that on Aug 6-13 the South-Caucasian Railways carried
330 people from Yerevan to Tbilisi and 286 from Tbilisi to Yerevan
and 446 people from Yerevan to Batumi and 1,000 people from Batumi
to Yerevan.

WE’RE GETTING BEATEN BY TOGO

National Post
August 14, 2008
Canada

National Post

Our women’s softball team or men’s baseball team may yet redeem these
Olympics for Canada. And there is still a chance, beginning Thursday,
that our rowers (often our strongest team at the Summer Games) and
men’s divers will capture a few medals. Many of the sports we are best
at — canoeing, kayaking, track and field, trampoline and sailing —
come in the Beijing Games’ second week. But seldom in recent decades
have our teams gone so far into Olympic competition — six days and
counting — without winning a single medal. What’s wrong?

After day five of competition, 50 countries had medalled, but not
Canada. Such sporting powerhouses as Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Togo had each managed at least a bronze,
while we had racked up a big goose egg.

Azerbaijan had three medals. So did Zimbabwe, a nation that’s been
racked with political chaos and mass starvation for years. War-torn
Georgia was 10th overall with two golds and a bronze. Even North Korea,
where citizens have been known to boil twigs for food (although,
presumably state-chosen athletes have been given a better diet)
had seven medals.

South Korea, a nation roughly as prosperous as our own, was third
overall with 13 medals — including six gold and six silver — just
behind China and the United States. And Australia, which culturally,
demographically and economically may be the country most similar to
Canada in the whole world, was sixth with 12 shiny baubles. If the
South Koreans and Australians can do so well, why can’t we?

It’s true we are a cold-weather country. Australia and the Koreas
cannot hold a candle to us at the Olympic Winter Games. But many of the
sports of the Summer Games are held indoors — badminton, basketball,
boxing, diving, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming and others. They
do not require year-round outdoor training and competition for their
athletes to reach world-class standards. And few other cold-climate
nations have been shutout so far in Beijing. Russia had 12 medals
at the end of five days and Finland, Sweden and Norway all had at
least one.

Before the Games began, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) was
projecting our team would place 16th or better. It was assuring
reporters we could do no worse than the 12 medals — three gold, six
silver and three bronze– we earned in Athens in 2004, which itself
was Canada’s worst showing at a Summer Games in nearly 20 years. Now
both of those goals look unrealistically optimistic.

It’s likely true that the new federal and corporate funding
for summer competitors — and programs such as the COC’s Road to
Excellence — came too late for these games. As Mike Chambers, the
COC president, said on Tuesday, "It’s not going to have a big impact
(in China). It will be felt in 2012," in London. And our national
sports organizations’ embrace of the "Own the Podium" program, in
anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, has shunted their
summer counterparts aside to some extent.

Still, a country as young, prosperous, healthy and intelligent as
Canada should be doing better, now. We have heard for years that our
athletes will shine at the next Summer Games or the one after. It’s
time to stop putting off success until tomorrow while making excuses
today.

If a lack of training facilities is the problem, let’s ensure that
athletics funding is better targeted. If we need better coaches, let’s
broaden the search beyond our borders. Is our national attitude the
problem, or our athletes’ attitude? Are we and they too content with
their personal bests rather than world records and Olympic wins? Is
it the fault of our national sports associations and executives?

It cannot just be funding, although the inadequacy and inconsistency
of the money athletes in training receive is undoubtedly part of
the problem.

It’s time we as a nation did some soul searching — not to mention
some expert strategic planning — so that in London in 2012, Chambers
or his successor is not sitting before another group of disgruntled
journalists spinning daydreams about future glories.

LOCAL STORES WITH GLOBAL ORIGINS
By Elizabeth Marcellino

Palisadian-Post
August 13, 2008
CA

The Palisades Village has a friendly, small-town feel. But look behind
the cash register at neighborhood shops and you’ll find a cosmopolitan
mix of business owners.

Immigrants from around the world have established or bought local
shops, restaurants and service businesses and developed their own style
of entrepreneurship. Their origins are diverse, but these retailers
raise common themes in interviews about their emigration. Most left
home to seek a better life and have worked tirelessly to provide
their children with the opportunities that most Palisadians can
take for granted. Marriages that last decades are the rule, not
the exception, even for those who spend the entire working day
together. The importance of and reliance on family is crucial.

One more thing these entrepreneurs share is goodwill toward their
Palisades customers. Most went out of their way to talk about
the personal connection they have with shoppers, to offer thanks,
and to note how supportive their patrons have been during difficult
times. Irena Potashnik seemed to sum up their sentiments when she said,
‘I’m so happy to stay in this village.’

SPECIAL MOMENTS

873 Via de la Paz

>From the time she was five years old, Amelia ‘Mely’ Travostino
[Parmalee] told everyone she would never marry. Despite a lack of
interest in a wedding of her own, she started a business in bridal
design in Milan, Italy. Then, in 1973, Travostino met Tim Parmalee,
an opera tenor from the Palisades studying music in Italy, and married
him just nine months later.

‘To come to the United States for me was another world,’ says Mely,
citing Americans’ frequent moves and life changes as just one of many
cultural differences.

But Mely believes that everything that has happened in her life, no
matter how contrary to her original plans, is destiny, ‘written in
the book,’ as she said. That includes her decision in 1985 to open
Special Moments, a lingerie store with an emphasis on personal service.

Mely still maintains her family home in Lago Maggiore and usually
travels back to Italy at least once a year.

EUROPEAN SHOE REPAIR

15200 Sunset, Suite 109

The oppressive Communist economy drove Boris and Helen Papikian to
leave Armenia in 1988. Even as an orthodontist, Boris earned a salary
from the government and wasn’t free to establish a truly private
practice. With the help of his uncle, who lived in West Hollywood,
they obtained visas for themselves, their 11-year-old son, Ruben,
their eight-year-old daughter, Ripsime, and Boris’ parents.

Boris worked first with his father, a shoemaker, and later bought
European Shoe Repair on Sunset in 1992. Helen works by his side
every day and sees the payoff of their hard work in the freedom and
opportunities available to their children.

The same options are no longer open to their countrymen. ‘Before,
the Soviet Union wouldn’t let people go. Now, the U.S. won’t let
people come,’ Helen says.

The Papikians have always worked long days, but were lucky enough in
their early years to have Boris’ parents to help with the children
and the support of the local Armenian community in Glendale.

Today, even though the children are grown and married, the entire
family still gets together every Sunday. ‘It’s very important to
keep your roots and family,’ says Helen, now a grandmother to her
daughter’s 19-month-old daughter.

TAJ PALACE INDIAN CUISINE

15200 Sunset, Suite 112

A generation younger than many of their Chamber of Commerce peers,
Sukhwinder ‘Sunny’ Singh, 33, and his brother, Gurinder, 31, ‘Nick,’
have owned Taj Palace for more than five years.

Their move to the U.S. from Punjab in 1995 was orchestrated by their
parents. Their father, Joginder, came to America in the late 1970s to
earn a better living. By the time his wife and children joined him,
nearly all of their extended family were already in the U.S.

Sunny and Nick seem completely assimilated into Western culture,
until one learns that the family of seven, including their sister
and her husband, lives together in Sunny’s North Hills’ home with
his wife, Afsana.

The brothers bought the restaurant to capitalize on the fact that their
parents are both great chefs, and ‘worked non-stop,’ Sunny says. ‘I
took off five years from the plan I had for [graduate education],’
Nick says, ‘in order to make the business a success.’

EURO TAILORING AND BOUTIQUE

843 Via de la Paz

Two women from the Ukraine with no prior ties find themselves operating
adjacent businesses on Via de la Paz. Irena Potashnik owns Euro
Tailoring and Boutique, which backs up to Bella Solodkaya’s Spinning
Yarns shop.

Irena earned a living in Kiev as a costume designer. Her emigration
was motivated by family ties in America, the prospect of better
economic opportunities, and her own fears in the aftermath of the
Chernobyl disaster.

She moved with her husband and mother-in-law in 1993 and spent a year
learning English. Then she studied fashion design at Los Angeles
Trade-Technical College, adapting to Western pattern making and
design. She bought the alterations business, originally on Monument,
a decade ago.

Bella’s family tried to leave the Ukraine in 1979, but was denied. Her
job at a defense contractor may have played a part, or simply offered
the government a good excuse for rejection. Ten years later, in a very
different political climate, she and her husband reapplied and were
allowed to leave the country with their six-year-old daughter, Alex.

While Bella acknowledges that ‘the [American] dream is still a dream,’
the economic realities of her old life are hard to imagine. ‘Lines
and lines of people would wait for the chance to buy two pounds of
sugar,’ she says.

Once the family was in the U.S., Jewish organizations helped with
financial support and job placement, and Bella worked in a variety
of clerical and management roles before buying the knitting business
in 2004.

This fall, Alex, 25, will start the final year of a graduate program
in art history and museum administration at Boston University.

NATURALLY!

15200 Sunset, Suite 105

Kayvan ‘Kevin’ Kayvanjah and Fatane ‘Faith’ Dabahani are double
immigrants. In 1985, they moved to Sweden from Iran, following the
Iranian Revolution. The Swedish government granted them citizenship
quickly and many of their relatives remained, but the couple found
the Scandinavian temperatures far too frigid. In 1991, they moved
to California with their 10-year-old daughter Kiana, sponsored by
Faith’s uncle.

Because Iran was quite westernized under the shah’s rule, little was
truly foreign about U.S. culture. ‘I grew up with American movies
and TV,’ says Kevin, who watched ‘Gunsmoke’ and ‘I Spy’ in translation.

The fourth generation in a line of professionals working in corporate
and government jobs, Kevin never expected to be an entrepreneur. But
buying Naturally, a caf’ offering healthy smoothies, sandwiches and
salads, has kept Kevin and Faith busy working side-by-side six days
a week since 1992.

The ‘best thing’ about coming to the U.S.? Kiana will complete a
post-graduate degree in pharmacy science at UC San Diego next year.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITED OLYMPIC DISTRICT AND MET WITH ARMENIAN ATHLETES

ARMENPRESS
Aug 11, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS: Armenian President Serzh Sargsian
visited August 10 Olympic district and met with the Armenian Olympic
team members.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that during the meeting
the president greeted the athletes, talked with them, was interested
in their mood and preparatory activities.