Author: Torosian Aram

GOVERNMENT PROPOSES FACILITATING ENTRY OF DIASPORA ARMENIANS TO ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Oct 27, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly on October
26 discussed in the first reading the government’s bill on making
amendments and additions to the RA Law on Legal Status of Foreigners.

In the words of the main speaker, RA Minister of Diaspora Ms. Hranush
Hakobian, the adoption of the bill will make it easier for Diaspora
Armenians to receive an entry visa to the Republic of Armenia, while
the Diaspora Armenian students will be able to solve the problem of
residence permit without interrupting their studies. Particularly,
it is envisaged that "the authorized state governance body of the RA
government may establish a later date for submission of an application
for extending the temporary residence permit for the purpose of
education". Under the current law, a temporary residence status is
granted for a period of up to one year, each time with the opportunity
to extend it for one year, and the application for extension must be
submitted at least 30 days before the expiry of the permit.

Under the current law, a temporary residence status is granted to
any foreign citizen if he (she) proves the existence of circumstances
substantiating his (her) residence in Armenia for a year or over. The
envisaged circumstances of this kind include their studies, the
availability of a work permit, marriage to an Armenian citizen or a
foreign citizen legally residing in the Republic of Armenia, the fact
of being a close relative (parent, brother, sister, spouse, child,
grandfather, grandmother, grandchild) of an Armenian citizen or a
foreign citizen legally residing in the Republic of Armenia, and the
fact of carrying out entrepreneurial activity in Armenia. The bill
proposes stipulating the circumstance of being of Armenian descent
in addition to the above mentioned circumstances. This condition,
among the current grounds, will also be envisaged for obtaining a
permanent residence permit for 5 years.

Besides, it is envisaged that the foreigner, who was subjected
to administrative responsibility for breaking the law and has not
fulfilled the obligation imposed on him (her) by the administrative
act, may receive an entry visa or a residence permit in one year
after being subjected to administrative responsibility.

Responding to the questions of reporters, the minister said that in
many cases dual citizenship does not resolve the above mentioned
problems for the reason that some countries do not allow dual
citizenship. According to her, firstly, in such cases the citizen
cannot use this right, and secondly, Armenia tries to offer all the
forms: temporary and permanent permits, special status for 10 years,
and dual citizenship.

H. Hakobian said that naturally, dual citizenship is the highest
status when the foreigner receives the rights and obligations of an
Armenian citizen, paying only 1-1.5 thousand drams for the drawing up
of the document. She announced that since the law’s adoption, only
1,640 persons have been granted dual citizenship, but the process
has become more active in the past 7 months.

The minister also reminded that in accordance with the law passed on
April 1, 2009, the payments for an entry visa have been considerably
reduced: payments of 3 thousand drams and 15 thousand drams are
charged for 21 and 120 days, respectively.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT: GROWING OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR MIGRATION CAM POTENTIALLY INCREASE THE LEVEL OF HUMAN FREEDOM AND IMPROVE THE LIFE OF MILLION RESIDENTS OF THE PLANET

ArmInfo
2009-10-27 14:10:00

ArmInfo. Growing of opportunities for migration cam potentially
increase the level of human freedom and improve the life of million
residents of the planet, Human Development Report 2009, presented in
Yerevan today "Mobility is a key element of human freedom" says.

Movement typically benefits migrants, their families and source
and destination communities. But the full potential of migration to
enhance human development is constrained by barriers of movement,
according to the 2009 Human Development Report (HDR).

The HDR, which is an independent report commissioned and published
annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
tackles pressing global challenges. The 2009 Report, which is titled
Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development, was presented in
Yerevan today with participation of Ms. Consuelo Vidal, UN Resident
Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative (UN RC/UNDP RR), Mr. Vache
Terteryan, First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration of the
Republic of Armenia and Ms. Irina Davtyan, Deputy Head of Migration
Agency under the Ministry of Territorial Administration.

Vache Terteryan said that the problems of migration are not of the
local nature and have become one of the global problems today. For this
reason, many countries pay great attention to this problem. He thinks
that the presented report may serve a good basis for improvement of
machinery in the sphere of migration as well as in other spheres. He
also said that in Armenia this problem is important in the context of
European integration and added that the government has managed to reach
quite effective results in making reforms in the sphere of migration.

AZERBAIJAN RAISES ISSUE OF ILLEGAL ARMAMENT OF ARMENIANS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH IN UN

Trend
Oct 23 2009
Azerbaijan

This issue of illegal armament of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh was
discussed today during the debate at the 17th meeting of the Committee
of UN General Assembly about the peace, security and disarmament.

Azerbaijan has raised the issue of illegal armament of Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh at the Sixty-fourth UN General Assembly.

"Armenia had built up its military presence, with data showing a
growing number of uncontrolled arms, including 316 tanks, 324 armoured
vehicles and 322 artillery systems in the occupied territories,
exceeding its maximum levels", deputy chairman of the committee,
the first secretary of Azerbaijani permanent office in UN, Ogtay
Ismayilzada, said.

"Armenia’s aggression had led to the occupation of one-fifth of
Azerbaijan’s territory, triggering the internal displacement of 1
million people, and of war crimes and genocide. Armenia had used
the occupied territories to hide great numbers of unaccounted and
uncontrolled treaty-limited equipment from the "CFE" community,
endangering the security of Azerbaijan and the stable development of
the whole region," he said.

Other representatives noticed that peace and security could only
be achieved with strong regional action and strict compliance with
existing arms agreements; otherwise the present arms races would
erect stumbling blocks along the road to stability around the world.

Ismayilzada regretted that unfortunately, unlawful use of force still
plagued certain States, and civilian populations were suffering around
the world, owing to the failure of individual States to fulfill their
most basic responsibilities.

"Armenia had blamed Azerbaijan for increasing its military budget and
for violations of arms limitation norms, but it had failed to mention
Azerbaijan’s defense spending, conformed to overall budget increases,"
he said.

"Azerbaijan spent 3.26 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP)
on the army, compared with Armenia’s 3.86 per cent. Despite being in a
state of war, Azerbaijan was continuing to fulfill commitments under
the CFE Treaty, reducing and destroying more than 150 treaty-limited
armaments and equipment over the last five years, in line with
the Tashkent Agreement. Azerbaijan aimed to liberate all occupied
territories, return internally displaced persons to their homes
and establish a durable peace and stability in the Nagorno-Karabakh
region," he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN PAID OCTOBER 21 A TWO-DAY REGULAR WORKING VISIT TO NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC

ARMENPRESS
Oct 21, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS: Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
paid October 21 a two-day regular working visit to Nagorno Karabakh
Republic.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that accompanied by the
NKR President Bako Sahakyan, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan,
high-ranked officer staff, Serzh Sargsyan visited the defense positions
and got acquainted on place with the battle-worthiness of the Armed
Forces, ongoing apartment-construction works.

The president participated in the warming house ceremony of the
officer staff of Artsakh Defense Army, talked with the members of
families of the servicemen.

With the participation of the senior officer staff President Serzh
Sargsyan conducted a traditional consultation.

TURKEY SLAMS ISRAEL

Yerkir
19.10.2009 13:14
Yerevan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Turkey said Sunday that Israel should learn a
lesson instead of reacting against the Goldstone report, which its
Gaza operations, which was endorsed Friday by the United Nations.

"The acceptance of this report is very important," President Abdullah
Gul said in an interview with TRT, the state broadcaster. "The reaction
Israel has shown against Turkey is incorrect. As a matter of fact,
its incorrectness was proven by the report, which was endorsed by
the U.N. Human Rights Council."

The U.N. Human Rights Council voted to endorse the report, which
calls on Israel and Hamas to carry out credible investigations into
alleged abuses carried out during the war – or face possible referral
to international war crimes prosecutors. The Goldstone report is named
for Richard Goldstone, a jurist who led the panel of investigators
that produced the report.

The report coincided with a growing tension between Turkey and Israel,
as the former canceled a planned military exercise involving Israel.

It was followed by another crisis when a Turkish state broadcaster
showed a television series depicting Israeli soldiers as murderers.

Israel protested the series and officially asked for its removal.

USA NOR NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS AND WITHIN REASONABLE TERMS

ArmInfo
2009-10-20 17:55:00

ArmInfo. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received Tina S. Kaidanow,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs,
Tuesday.

The presidential press-service reported the parties as discussing the
prospects of the Armenian-American relations, the Armenian-Turkish
process as well as regional security.

The president welcomed the first visit by Tina Kaidanow to the country
and congratulated her on appointment. For her turn, T. Kaidanow
greeted Serzh Sargsyan on behalf of the US Secretary of State. The
president highlighted the importance of the bilateral cooperation for
Armenia and thanked the US government for support rendered to Armenia
since its independence as well as the efforts to maintain peace and
stability in the region.

The sides welcomed the progress in the Armenian-Turkish relations and
came out for normalization of the relations without preconditions and
within reasonable terms. For her part, Tina Kaidanow said the United
States have repeatedly expressed their stand on the given issue at
various levels and will further be devoted to it at all the stages
of the process.

President Sargsyan said Armenia supports the given solution to the
existing tasks, for this will maintain stability and durable peace.

The parties also touched upon the prospects of extending bilateral
cooperation and democratization in Armenia. T. Kaidanow highlighted
the tangible progress in democratic development of Armenia and the
latest amnesty, which was a positive signal for democratic development.

DETAINED AND RELEASED

os15586.html
11:29:45 – 19/10/2009

On October 17, the Vanadzor police arrested the heads of the Lori
committee of the New National Conservative Movement Manvel Kostanyan,
Garegin Galstyan and several other activists of the committee. They
were arrested when they were attaching leaflets condemning the Armenian
and Turkish protocols. After a short time, they were released with
the condition not to leave the city. The press service of the New
National Conservative Movement reports.

In this connection, the committee of the New National Conservative
Movement appealed to the RA Prosecutor General informing about this
case to bring up a case or to start a service investigation.

YEREVAN AND BAKU STILL HOLD CONTRADICTORY POSITIONS ON KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 15:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Karabakh conflict is unlikely to be resolved in the
near future, Laurence Broers, Caucasus Project manager at Conciliation
Resources, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "Yerevan and Baku currently
hold contradictory positions on the issue. And that is not restricted
to the political elite only. The same problem is observed in both
countries’ societies. When I visit Azerbaijan and then Nagorno
Karabakh, I do see the conflicting views," said the expert.

In the meantime, he does not find Karabakh conflict to be in frozen
state. "Parties are currently elaborating mechanisms for solving those
problems. But considering the active developments in Armenian-Turkish
dialogue, I don’t think President Serzh Sargsyan will run the risk of
taking simultaneous steps in Armenian Turkish and Karabakh processes,"
Conciliation Resources representative stressed. He also didn’t rule out
the possibility that parties will manage to reach a general framework
agreement on Karabakh.

Interfax, Russia
Oct 16 2009

Nagorno-Karabakh will never be granted independence – Azeri president

BAKU Oct 16

Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence cannot be considered even
theoretically, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said at an expanded
government meeting on Friday.

"The granting of independence to Nagorno-Karabakh even in 100 years is
not among the issues under consideration," Aliyev said.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh can be settled only based on
international law, Aliyev said. "This means that the occupied lands
must be freed and the displaced persons must return to their land.
Nagorno- Karabakh may be granted provisional status, but this does not
mean independent status," he said.

15,000 AZERI FLAGS TO WAVE AT LANDMARK SOCCER MATCH

AssA-Irada
October 8, 2009 Thursday
Azerbaijan

A number of Turkish non-governmental organizations are preparing 15,000
Azerbaijani flags to be distributed among fans for the Turkey-Armenia
soccer match, due in Bursa on October 14, despite earlier reports
saying carrying them had been banned. Turkish media quoted Salcuq
Turkoglu, an NGO representative, as saying that banning Azerbaijani
flags at the stadium would be undemocratic. He noted that the flags
of Azerbaijan and Turkey are inseparable and that the two fraternal
countries are one nation, two states. According to Turkoglu, the
realities of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict should be brought to
the attention of the international community during the match, which
will be intensely watched around the world. From this viewpoint,
supporting the Turkish national team with Azerbaijani flags will
be meaningful. Turkey and Armenia face decades of enmity. Turkey
closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to Armenian occupation
of Azerbaijani territory and Yerevans claims on the World War I-era
genocide. However, there have lately been signs of normalization
in Ankara-Yerevan ties. The two countries leaders attended a 2010
World Cup qualifying soccer match together in Yerevan in September
2008 when Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish president to visit
Armenia. Further, Gul invited his Armenian counterpart to Turkey for
a return game.