TBILISI: Labour Migrants From Armenia Heading For Russia

LABOUR MIGRANTS FROM ARMENIA HEADING FOR RUSSIA

The Messenger
Jan 21 2009
Georgia

An NGO in Armenia has carried out research among labour migrants
returning to Armenia due to the world economic crisis. The results
show that labour migrants who left Armenia between 2002 and 2007
mostly settled in Russia. Most of these people returned to Armenia
for a short period of time at least once during these five years.

The research also showed that the reintegration of labour migrants
is very problematic. The major reason for this is that around 30%
of those who returned home did not get a job.

Interference Of Armenian Central Bank With Situation In Exchange Mar

INTERFERENCE OF ARMENIAN CENTRAL BANK WITH SITUATION IN EXCHANGE MARKET IS OF TEMPORARY NATURE

ArmInfo
2009-01-20 21:01:00

ArmInfo. Interference of the Central Bank of Armenia with the situation
in the exchange market is of temporary nature, Chairman of the Central
Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan told journalists on January 20. He said
this policy (intervention policy – ed.) aims at preserving stability
in the money market. He recalled that Armenia adheres to the policy
of a floating rate.

It means that it is formed by the market, and participation of
the Central Bank aims at avoiding the undesirable jumps. As for the
external reserves of Armenia, A. Javadyan emphasized that their level
does not give rise to concern. In particular, their volume today much
exceeds a three-month import volume.

The latest data of the Armenian CB say the gross international reserves
of Armenia as of November 1, 2008, made up $1489.2 million. To note,
the average exchange rate of AMD to USD in the retail exchange market
of Armenia makes up 306 AMD/$1 USD, and that to Euro – 408 AMD/1 EUR.

Celebrate Australia Day In The Yass Valley

CELEBRATE AUSTRALIA DAY IN THE YASS VALLEY

Yass Tribune
Jan 21 2009
Australia

Monday will once again see the ever popular Australia Day celebrations
take place in Coronation Park. Commencing with the traditional Rotary
breakfast, plus tea, coffee and orange juice supplied by the CWA
ladies, the celebration will commence just after 6.30am.

Local musicians are all set to entertain the crowd with their
selection of Aussie songs until the official proceedings get underway
at about 8am.

Following the official welcome and presentation of the official
party, Mayor Nic Carmody with Deputy Mayor Judith Williams will
confer Australian Citizenship awards and announce the Yass winners
of Citizen of the Year along with awards for Lifetime Community
Service, Young Citizen of the Year and Senior Citizen of the Year. The
official ceremony will then conclude with an address by Australia Day
Ambassador, Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian AM (pictured above), sponsored
by Woolworths.

Mr Kerkyasharian was born in Cyprus of Armenian background, before
immigrating to Australia in 1967 where he has undertaken extensive
community work both in the Armenian and broader multicultural
communities.

As Head of SBS Radio from 1980, Stepan was a major catalyst in the
establishment and professional development of the service. In 1989 he
was appointed as Chairman of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South
Wales (later the Community Relations Commission for Multicultural NSW).

Stepan received the Gold Cross in the Order of Merit of Poland in
May 1990, was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1992 and
in September 2000 the International Olympic Committee conferred upon
him the Olympic Order.

Renowned as an interesting and witty communicator, Stepan joins a
long list of illustrious speakers Yass has been proud to host at
their annual Australia Day celebrations.

So bring your friends, family and neighbours to Coronation Park on
Monday and celebrate Australia Day in the Yass Valley.

BAKU: Russian FM: I Will discuss Arms to Armenia with Mamedyarov

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Jan 16 2009

Russian Foreign Ministry: "I will have a talk with Elmar Mamedyarov
about the issue of supply of Russian armament to Armenia"

16 January 2009 [16:33] – Today.Az

We checked the information and revealed that there is no document
according to which Russia supplied Armenia with arms of a total of
$800,000,000, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press
conference today, according to Russian Vesti-24 TV channel.

He said no Russian armament was supplied to Armenia.

"I have already talked on this issue with the ambassador of Azerbaijan
to Russia and today I am planning to discuss this issue over the phone
with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov", said Lavrov.

/Day.Az/

URL:

http://www.today.az/news/politics/50161.html

Babacan: Turkey has never been closer to normalizing ties with ROA

PanARMENIAN.Net

Babacan: Turkey has never been closer to normalizing ties with Armenia
17.01.2009 16:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Foreign Minister has warned Barack Obama’s
incoming administration that any U.S. recognition of the Armenian
Genocide could derail reconciliation efforts between the two
neighbors, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

"It would not be very rational for a third country to take a position
on this issue… A wrong step by the United States will harm the
process," Ali Babacan said late Friday.

"Turkey has never been closer to normalizing ties with Armenia, its
eastern neighbor, and a breakthrough could be secured in 2009."

Babacan said the dispute was among the issues that Ankara and Yereven
had been discussing since reconciliation efforts gathered steam in
September when Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to
Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic relations since 1993, when
Turkey closed the border with Armenia to support Azerbaijan in the
Nagorno Karabakh issue.

No Azerbaijani captives in Karabakh – State Commission

Interfax, Russia
Dec 15 2009

No Azerbaijani captives in Karabakh – State Commission

STEPANAKERT Jan 15

The Karabakh State Commission has refuted reports claiming the alleged
captivity of Azerbaijani citizens in Kazakhstan.

Such reports "are another act of misinformation aimed to discredit
authorities of the Karabakh Republic and to mislead the international
public," a commission source told Interfax on Thursday.

There is not a single captive or a hostage in Karabakh, he stressed.

"In strict compliance with the Geneva Convention, Karabakh authorities
transferred all the prisoners to Azerbaijan with the mediation of the
International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) after the end of the armed
confrontation. Nowadays Karabakh agencies timely inform Stepanakert
offices of the ICRC and the OSCE of any Azerbaijani servicemen of
civilians entering the Karabakh territory. Such people are transferred
to Azerbaijani authorities without preconditions," the source said.

ICRC and OSCE representatives have unlimited access to any detention
centers, which rules out the possible concealment of Azerbaijani
captives in Karabakh, he said.

The Azerbaijani State Commission on POW, Hostages and Missing Persons
posted a report for last year several days ago. The commission claimed
that 39 Azerbaijani citizens were allegedly held in custody in
Karabakh.

Cyprus House President Sends Back Northern Cyprus Leader’s New Year

CYPRUS HOUSE PRESIDENT SENDS BACK NORTHERN CYPRUS LEADER’S NEW YEAR PRESENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.01.2009 13:49 GMT+04:0

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A political feud has broken out over the decision
by Cyprus House President and DIKO party leader Marios Garoyian to
send back a basket of presents sent to him by Northern Cyprus leader
Mehmet Ali Talat for the New Year.

The action was criticized by the Turkish Cypriot press which called
it an insult.

DIKO said that the reason he did so was because it wrote "President
Mehmet Ali Talat" and "TRNC" on the card. That accepting a present
does not mean recognition, Gibrahayer reports.

In 1974, following years of intercommunal violence between ethnic
Greeks and Turks and an attempted coup d’etat by Greek Cypriot
nationalists aimed at annexing the island to Greece and engineered by
the military junta then in power in Athens, Turkey invaded and occupied
one third of the island. This led to the displacement of thousands of
Cypriots and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot political
entity in the north, recognized by Turkey only. This event and its
resulting political situation are matters of ongoing dispute.

Civilan Armed With Automatic Machine Identified

CIVILIAN ARMED WITH AUTOMATIC MACHINE IDENTIFIED

A1+
[07:46 pm] 14 January, 2009

The Special Investigate Service (SIS) looking into the events of
March 1 has identified the civilian arming himself with an automatic
machine in the presence of servicemen seen in the opposition’s film.

"On March 1 the driver of a military unit N of the Defence Ministry
Andreasyan was involved in the shift of police forces with his
car. Andreasyan doesn’t have a government-issue weapon. The automatic
machine belonged to a senior police officer who later took it back,Â"
SIS Head Vahagn Harutyunyan informed A1+ today.

The disputed automatic machine wasn’t used on March 1, and no shot
was fired from it.

Let’s remind that in the video material Andreasyan carries an
automatic machine under a leather jacket. Under army regulations
weapons are received and returned with a signed statement. Besides,
hardly anyone would have thought of leaving his weapon with a driver
on such a tense day in order to "do his business."

Asked how the driver appeared on the scene at that hour of the day
when a state of emergency wasn’t imposed in the capital and whether
the driver didn’t aim to incite provocation, Vahagn Harutyunyan said:
"The Special Investigate Service possesses no information of alleged
provocateur. If someone knows anything about them they are welcome to
contact us instead of making unfounded statements. Yes, Andreasyan
was in front of the government building on that day with some other
drivers who transported policemen."

Vahagn Harutyunyan also noted that the police forces were called to
keep public order and police the government building on March 1. The
Ministry of Defence helped them realise transportation by providing
them with cars and drivers. The drivers carried out the instructions
of the Police. Vahagn Harutyunyan also stated that Andreasyan wasn’t
seen on the scene of mass disorder. The SIS Head says all forces at the
government building represented different departments of the RA Police.

It is due to mention that during the tragic events of March 1-2 one
could see servicemen dressed in uniforms of the Defence Ministry and
students of military school after Varzgen Sargsyan in the capital
streets.

In reply to our question whether the SIS has identified the masked
people firing point-blank in the direction of Mashtots Avenue, Vahagn
Harutyunyan said: "Those are not masks. The people you mentioned are
wearing helmets which are parts of uniforms of interior troops. That’s
to say you have seen policemen who shot blank cartridges."

Remind that at least ten died because of those blank cartridges on
March 1.

Asked whether only law enforcement agencies were involved in the
March 1 events, Vahagn Harutyunyan said: "Yes, sure." When reminded
about Ter-Petrosyan’s statement that the bodyguards of оligarchs
were also recruited on that day, Harutyunayn said: "I don’t possess
such information." Then he added that still in December 2008 they had
requested the fact-finding group to forward them any information they
had on March 1 but "so far they have sent no news."

–Boundary_(ID_lxLQn6wN6aI05b2AyLFGag )–

NKR Defense Ministry Categorically Refutes Reports By Azerbaijani Me

NKR DEFENSE MINISTRY CATEGORICALLY REFUTES REPORTS BY AZERBAIJANI MEDIA ALLEGEDLY ABOUT ‘FIRING AT AZERBAIJANI JOURNALISTS’

ARmInfo
2009-01-15 13:56:00

ArmInfoNKR Defense Ministry Press Secretary Lt. Colonel Senor Asratyan
told ArmInfo no ceasefire regime violation was registered in the area
of Aghdam at daytime on January 14. ‘It is another misinformation
by Azerbaijani media. Karabakh observes ceasefire regime, whereas
Azerbaijan has been constantly violating it especially at nighttime’,
S. Asratyan said.

Azerbaijani APA reported that the journalists of ‘Lider’ and ‘ATV’ TV
channels making a report at the construction site of a church in the
territory of Aghdam region were allegedly fired at. The journalists
say that ‘they managed to escape with great difficulties’.

However, no church has been currently built at the territory of Aghdam.

Maybe Azerbaijani ‘experts’ take the archaeological digs in Tigranakert
for ‘construction of a church’. Anyway, they could hardly shoot even
the digs since the site is too far from the contact-line.

A Meeting At The Place Of The NKR President

A MEETING AT THE PLACE OF THE NKR PRESIDENT

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department
January 12, 2009

On January 12, the NKR President called a conference with participation
of the NKR Prime Minister and a number of Government members.

At the conference a wide range of issues concerning the development
of the Republic’s economy and its separate branches in 2009 were
discussed,- the Central Information Department of the NKR President’s
Staff informs.