Author: Tvankchian Parkev

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: 30 October, 2008

Hayastan All Armenian Fund Sets in Motion Activities to Raise Funds for
Telethon 2008

Yerevan, October 28, 2008 – With the Hayastan Fund fundraising telethon to
take place on November 27, Thanksgiving Day, the Fund’s executive board has
been implementing a number of promotional activities, including some new
ones, which inform the public of the forthcoming telethon and intend to
increase public participation in varied projects of the Fund. These
improvements include the recently concluded agreement with Haypost CJSC,
press conferences, presentations in educational institutions on the Fund’s
past and current activities, dissemination of flyers and other promotional
materials heralding the forthcoming telethon and the Fund’s current course
of activities through electronic and printed media, as well well-visited
business and service sector establishments.

The agreement with the Haypost CJSC promotes a more accessible mechanism of
donation on the territory of Armenia to start with. The idea is to make
people, including the youth, more aware of the Hayastan Fund’s initiatives
so far and inform of the projects and areas it can tackle. The message is
that if given the support of every single Armenian who can access Haypost
offices across Armenia, the Fund can implement many more vital projects for
us and our generations to come.

This activity will strengthen the idea of small and medium-size donations
during the months proceeding and following the annual telethon. Thanks to it
small donations will no longer be considered a sensitive issue. The
mechanism will encourage donations made by ordinary people who wish to bring
their share into the "big basket". It is believed that many more items of
infrastructure – gas and water lines, school and hospitals, roads in
Armenian and Karabakh will be upgraded, thanks to the support and
partnership of Haypost within this initiative.

In the press conference held on October 27 in the Golden Tulip Hotel,
founders of the Gallery of Funds announced about their wish to donate
proceeds from the closing concert of the Second Return Classic Music
Festival to Telethon 2008. Stephen Prutsmen, piano (USA) and Suren
Bagratuni, celloi (USA), accompanied by the Armenia State Chamber Orchestra
conducted by Aram Gharabekyan made a memorable appearance at the
above-mentioned concert.
Hrant Tokhatyan and Armen Hambartsumanyan, producers of the show "Mea Culpa"
also made a public announcement in the October 28 press conference of their
wish to donate proceeds from shows run on November 3, 4 and 5 to Telethon
2008. Gyumri theatre is among the cultural establishment supporting the Fund’s
fundraising activity; proceeds of the series of William Shakespeare shows
will be directed to Telethon 2008 too.

"Armenians are all over the world, and it is important that, though
scattered around the globe, they get together to make the dream of a
developed and sustainable country happen. I believe people will be attracted
to participate in the Fund’s telethon, to later feel proud of the fact that
they had their input in the newly built or reconstructed infrastructure
supporting a school, a hospital, a monastery or a resident house", says the
Hayastan Fund Acting Executive Director Ara Vardanyan.

###

Hayastan All Armenian Fund

FETHIYE CETIN’S BOOK "MY GRANDMOTHER"

AZG Armenian Daily
28/10/2008

Armenian Genocide

Fethie Cetin, Turkish publicist, lawyer and writer, visited Armenia.

During a meeting with the students of Yerevan State University,
her first book "My grandmother" was presented.

The author portrays episodes of Armenians’ evictions, exile and
massacres by the testimony of her grandmother Hranush Katarian.

Hranush Katarian that was known by the name Sher only several
years before her death confessed to her granddaughter that she was
Armenian. She told how Kurds and Turks had kidnapped the Armenian
children and she had been among them.

Cetin told that she was shocked because of her grandmother’s story.

The book embraces also the author’s assessment of the denial of the
Armenian Genocide by Turkey.

Cetin told that after publication of the book many Armenians called her
telling similar stories of their own. According to her, the responses
were not only from Armenians but also from Turks.

She spoke of the letters of Turkish readers where they express great
regret and disappointment.

The author is sure that the book is a call to eliminate the 93-year
unfairness. Besides Turkey and Armenia, the book is published also
in the USA, France and Italy.

Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer by profession, is the defender of the interests
of "Akos" newspaper’s Editor-in-chief Hrant Dink’s family.

ARMENIA, SERBIA DEPUTY FMS MEET IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
30.10.2008 11:21

On October 29 the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Arman Kirakosyan
received the Deputy Foreign Minister if Serbia Zoran Vujic.

During the meeting the interlocutors discussed a broad framework of
issues related to bilateral cooperation, opportunities of collaboration
within international organizations.

Zoran Vujic presented the main directions of Serbia’s foreign policy
and his assessment of the situation in the Balkans.

At the request of the guest, Arman Kirakosyan presented the priorities
of Armenia’s foreign policy and the experience of cooperation with
international structures.

The interlocutors turned to issues connected with resolution of
conflicts.

DEMOCRATIC REFORMS HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE IN ARMENIA, RA SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY STATES

Noyan Tapan
Oct 28, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s coming
visit to Brussels will contribute to strengthening of contacts bewteen
the European Union and Armenia. Artur Baghdasarian, the Secretary
of the RA Security Council, stated at the October 28 international
conference under the title European Neighborhood Program is Two Years
Old: Progress, Challenges, and Future.

According to him, cooperation with European structures is one of the
most important directions of Armenia’s foreign policy. He assured that
democratic reforms have no alternative in Armenia. A. Baghdasarian
said that Armenia will submit for EU’s consideration a Program of
Cooperation with EU for 2009-2010 within the framework of the New
European Neigborhood Policy.

Ambassador Raul de Luzenberg, the head of the European Commission
delegation, expressed satisfaction with the course of fulfillment
of the EU-Armenia Actions Plan signed in November 2006. Meanwhile,
according to him, there is still much to do. R. Luzenberg
also touched upon the post-electoral situation in Armenia and
characterized post-electoral processes as complicated. Ambassador
Sergei Kapinos, the head of OSCE Yerevan Office, also expressed
an analogous opinion. According to him, the complicated situation
formed after the elections made both the Armenian authorities and
international organizations fall to thinking. S. Kapinos assured that
the international organizations are interested in democratic and stable
Armenia, which will contribute to stability and security in the region.

It should be mentioned that the conference has been organized by
the International Center for Human Development with the support
of the British Development Department, OSCE, Council of Europe,
Yerevan representation of the European Commission and Ebert Fund. The
conference will continue on October 29.

FAMILY OF KHACHATUR SUKIASIAN STOPS OPERATION OF "BJNI" MINERAL WATERS PLANT AND INTENDS TO STRUGGLE AGAINST DECISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE COURT

Noyan Tapan
Oct 28, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The management of "Bjni" mineral
waters plant owned by the family of Khachatur Sukiasian, a National
Assembly deputy who is wanted by police in connection with the March
1 events in Yerevan, made a decision to "stop the production due to
the impossibility of further activity".

According to information of the RA Justice Ministry’s Service
on Compulsory Execution of Court Acts, on October 17 the service
received an act of execution from the RA State Revenue Committee with
the demand to confiscate, under a decision of the RA Administrative
Court, 4 billion 67 million 201 thousand 600 drams (over 13 million
dollars) from "Bjni" Mineral Waters Plant CJSC and transfer this sum
to the state budget. On October 21 employees of the service went to
"Bjni" plant, made an inventory and seized the real estate. According
to the same source, this action "proceeded from the law and aimed to
prevent the possible alienation of the property".

NT was informed by Anna Mkrtchian, spokeswoman for SIL Concern owned
by the Sukiasians, that they will "use all legal means to struggle
against the decision and process".

To recap, on October 21, 2007, NA deputy Khachatur Sukiasian announced
his support for the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian. A
month later the State Tax Service started checks at "Bjni" plant,
as a result a report was drawn up, according to which the water
meter for measuring the volumes of mineral water used by the plant
for its production had not been properly installed. According to
press reports, the water meter was sealed by an inspector of the RA
Ministry of Nature Protection, and no violations with respect to the
water meter were revealed during the checks in 2005-2006.

However, after this year’s check, a report on violations has been
drawn up.

TURKEY HIRES FORMER BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TO SHORE UP RIFTS WITH JEWISH AMERICAN GROUPS; FIGHT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

Noyan Tapan
Oct 23, 2008

WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 23, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. According to a
report provided by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
the Turkish Government has hired former Bush Administration official,
Noam Neusner, to harness Jewish American support for a pro-Turkey
agenda in Congress, with defeat of the Armenian Genocide Resolution
as his top priority.

This revelation came as part of a September 30, 2008, mandatory
U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ) Foreign Agent Registration Act
filings by Neusner Communications, LLC, The initial registration
document submitted by the firm cites "policy goals" including
"U.S. Jewish efforts to promote a pro-Turkey agenda in the
U.S. Congress." Neusner Communications LLC is tasked to ensure
"regular emails and phone calls to Jewish leaders highlighting Turkey’s
relationship with Israel" and facilitating the "creation of working
relationships between U.S.-based Jewish and Turkish community groups."

Neusner is well-known to Jewish American leaders, having served
as President Bush’s liaison to the U.S. Jewish community from 2002
through 2005.

Neusner’s DOJ filings indicate that he was hired by the "Embassy
of the Republic of Turkey through DiNovo Strategies and Fleishman
Hilliard." DiNovo Strategies partner Jay Footlik served as Clinton
Administration liaison to Jewish Americans and to European and
Mediterranean groups, including the Armenian American community.

MEMBER OF "RPA" FACTION HAKOB HAKOBIAN ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL ISSUES

Noyan Tapan
Oct 23, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly on October
20 elected the member of NA "Republican Party of Armenia" ("RPA")
faction Hakob Hakobian as the chairman of the newly-created Standing
Committee on Social Issues by a secret vote. According to the chairman
of "RPA" faction, chairman of the NA Ad Hoc Counting Committee Samvel
Nikoyan, 87 out of 131 NA deputues took part in the vote. 83 voted
for the only candidate, 2 deputies voted against. 2 voting-papers
were recognized as invalid.

H. Hakobian was born in the village of Tsovinar in Martuni region
on January 26, 1958. In 1980 he graduated from Yerevan Polytechnic
Institute, receiving a diploma of an engineer-economist. His career
began at Arpa-Sevan construction organization in the 1980s. He served
as the CEO, then as the chairman of that company in 1995-1999. He was
a deputy of the RA National Assembly of 2nd convocation (1999-2003)
and 3rd convocation (2003-2007). In 2007, he was elected a deputy of
the NA of 4th convocation from electoral district No 24 (Gegharkunik
marz). He is married and has 3 children.

FRANK GIRARDOT: END JUSTIFIES MEANS TO MONGOLS GANG

Whittier Daily News
10/22/2008 09:56:06 PM PDT
CA

There are some fascinating peeks at the workings of the Mongols outlaw
motorcycle gang in the federal grand jury indictment released Tuesday.

Their brutality is apparent:

"On August 18, 2006, in Los Angeles County, defendant (William
`Dago Bill’ Shawley) advised an undercover law enforcement officer
that he and defendants (David `L.A. Bull’ Gil) and (Aaron `Sick Boy’
Price) had captured an individual and tortured him for three hours,
by breaking the man’s knuckles with a pair of pliers, breaking his
knee by hitting it with a metal pipe."

Alongside the action, a sub-plot emerges from the pages and pages of
court documents.

It lies in the ongoing feuds among individual Mongols and a turf
battle between bikers and area street gangs who are loyal to La Eme.

While there’s been a push by former Mongols president Ruben "Doc"
Cavazos to recruit street gang members, old-time members have been
resistant.

Meanwhile, newer members have been reluctant to pay taxes on illicit
drug sales to La Eme, because they are already paying the Mongols.

Last year, Cavazos wanted to broker an agreement between the
organizations, but instead found himself targeted, according to
the indictment.

According to the indictment, an informant told an undercover ATF agent
that "Cavazos was attempting to negotiate with La Eme to compensate
them for the narcotics-trafficking being conducted by Mongols members.

"Cavazos had met with

La Eme representatives at City Walk in Studio City to offer them a
one-time tax payment, but that the offer had been rejected and La
Eme had ordered a greenlight on the Mongols."

Although the meeting took place on the other side of town, it’s pretty
clear the San Gabriel Valley is fertile ground for organized crime.

This is prime turf for credit card scams, dope deals, money laundering,
extortion, prostitution, assault and murder.

Stuff that happens here every day. Stuff that often gets reported in
the newspaper, but in a disconnected, bullet-points-on-a-blotter sort
of way that occasionally fleshes out the big picture.

Think about all the groups that operate in our neighborhoods. There’s
La Eme. We have the Wah Ching and assorted other Asian gangs. Crips and
Bloods rule some neighborhoods, while Armenian and Russian gangsters
continue to filter into the SGV from Glendale and Los Angeles.

If anything it’s a Balkanization of sorts. And from time to time,
each gang has its moment in the spotlight because of a large-scale
federal or county prosecution.

Despite turf battles and rivalries, the prosecutions of these
gangs highlight plenty of similarities – mainly the desire to make
money. Lots of it. By any means necessary – including beatings
and murder.

But it also paints a picture of young men who believe they are the
last true individualists in America.

In his 1966 book "Hell’s Angels," Hunter S. Thompson saw violent
motorcycle gangs as part of the bleak and terrible rise of a new form
of gangsterism dispensing equal amounts of violence and dope.

"(They are) not some romantic leftover, but the first wave of a
future that nothing in our history has prepared us to deal with,"
Thompson wrote.

Frank Girardot is metro editor of the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper
Group.

Visit his blog at

AZERBAIJAN FINDS ITSELF IN A GEOPOLITICAL PINCH
By Sabrina Tavernise

IHT
October 23, 2008

BAKU, Azerbaijan: This country has always had tricky geography. To its
north is Russia. To its south is Iran. And ever since the collapse
of the Soviet Union it has looked west, inviting American companies
to develop its oil reserves and embracing NATO.

But since Russia and Georgia fought a short war this summer, its path
has narrowed.

Azerbaijan, a small, oil-rich country on the Caspian Sea, has
balanced the interests of Russia and the United States since it won
its independence from the Soviet Union. It accepts NATO training but
does not openly state an intention to join. American planes can refuel
on its territory, but American soldiers cannot be based there.

"Azerbaijan is doing a dance between the West and Russia," said Isa
Gambar, an Azerbaijani opposition figure. "Until now, there was an
unspoken consensus. Georgia was with the West, Armenia was an outpost
of Russia, and Azerbaijan was in the middle."

But with the war in Georgia, Russia burst back into the region,
humiliating Tbilisi and its sponsor, the United States, which issued
angry statements but was powerless to stop Russia’s advance. It was
a sobering sight for former Soviet states, and one that is likely to
cause countries like Azerbaijan to recalibrate their policies.

Today in Europe Loose lips lead to trouble for British ToriesCrisis has
Berlusconi riding highLeaders in Britain say recession is likely"The
chess board has been tilted, and the pieces are shifting into
different places," said Paul Goble, an American expert on the region,
who teaches at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy in Baku, the capital.

"What looked balanced before does not look balanced now," he added.

A Western official, referring to Azerbaijan, said: "Georgia was very
much a wake-up call. This is what the Russians can do and are prepared
to do.

Georgia events underscored their vulnerability."

Azerbaijan will be under more pressure from Russia when undertaking
energy contracts and pipeline routes that Russia opposes, said one
Azerbaijani official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because
of the sensitivity of the matter. Officials from Russia’s gas monopoly,
Gazprom, on a trip here in spring, offered to buy Azerbaijani gas at
European prices, rather than the former reduced rate. That offer, if
the Azerbaijanis chose to accept it, could sabotage a Western-backed
gas pipeline project called Nabucco.

Rasim Musabayov, a political commentator in Baku, said that under the
new conditions, many Azerbaijanis think that selling gas to Russia
is not such a bad idea.

New projects carry political risks, he said, and if Russia "will pay
us a price we agree on for our gas, why build something new?"

"You can’t have a foreign policy that goes against your geography,"
he added. "We have to get along with the Russians and the Iranians."

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was weak, with a collapsed
economy and a scattered, inconsistent foreign policy.

Azerbaijan used that to its advantage. Now Russia is stronger and
speaks in one voice, and Azerbaijan has to be more careful in its
relations with its big neighbor.

Georgia is now so hostile to Russia that working with it as a partner
in the region is increasingly difficult, said Borut Grgic, chairman
of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and
an expert on Caspian energy infrastructure.

"Azerbaijan will never seek EU-NATO integration at the expense of
functional and working relations with Russia," he said. The Georgian
president, Mikheil Saakashvili, he said, "is making this balance
difficult to sustain."

At no point in the crisis did Azerbaijan take a position that would
have made Moscow bristle. When the fighting began, Azerbaijan appealed
to Russia, asking it to preserve its infrastructure in Georgia –
a port, an oil terminal and a pipeline. Moscow agreed, according to
Azerbaijan’s foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov.

Azerbaijan helped European diplomats enter Georgia while it was
under attack, but when the leaders of Ukraine, the Baltics and
Poland traveled to Tbilisi to express solidarity with the Georgians,
the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, did not make the trip. And
after Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baku in September, Aliyev
flew immediately to Moscow for talks with the Russians.

But the issue closest to this country’s heart is that of
Nagorno-Karabakh, an area in its southwest where Armenian separatists
formed an independent enclave in the 1990s. For years, Azerbaijan has
tried, through international mediation, to reclaim the territory and
allow Azerbaijani refugees who fled to return.

Since the war this summer, the Russians seem to have grabbed the
initiative.

President Dmitri Medvedev, on a trip to Yerevan, Armenia, this week,
said Russia was pushing for a meeting between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents.

"I hope such a meeting will take place in Russia," Medvedev said,
Reuters reported.

Russia has traditionally backed the Armenians, but times are changing.

"One of the positive effects of the Georgian crisis is that the
Kremlin will try to show that they are not crazy guys," an Azerbaijani
official said.

"That they can be good neighbors, too."

The Russian attitude toward Azerbaijan, one Azerbaijani official said,
was that "the U.S. has come to your country and is plundering your
natural resources, but not giving you any support. Why not go with
us instead?"

Cheney, on his visit to Baku, also pledged to redouble efforts,
causing some Azerbaijanis to remark ruefully that it took him eight
years to make the trip.

Ali Hasanov, an official in Azerbaijan’s presidential administration,
said concrete progress would win many points in Baku.

"If a big country takes a position, stands on the side of unbroken
territory, we will follow its interests," he said.

ARMENIA POSTS DEEP CURRENT-ACCOUNT DEFICIT IN H1
By Venla Sipila

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
October 10, 2008

According to latest balance-of-payments data from the Armenian National
Statistical service, the current-account deficit in the first half of
the year measured $542US.7 million, ARKA News reports. This level marks
a widening of 2.2% in year-on-year (y/y) comparison, while presenting
12.6% as a share of the GDP for the period, which follows a ratio of
7.9% in the first half of last year. Specifically, the trade deficit
on a balance-of-payments basis over January-June reached around
$1US.1 billion, more than doubling in annual comparison. Meanwhile,
the service trade deficit stood at $130US.4 million, also somewhat
widening year-on-year (y/y). Conversely, the current transfers balance
posted an increasing surplus of $449US.5 million, while the income
balance surplus registered $208US.3 million, more than doubling y/y.

Significance: The deep goods trade imbalance continues to drive
Armenia’s weak current-account position. The deep deficit on the
current account leaves Armenia very vulnerable to external shocks,
as it is very dependent on private transfers. On the other hand,
FDI inflows have recently financed a large part of the gap, thus
suppressing Armenia’s need to considerably increase its external
borrowing. In addition, its relatively solid reform progress has
secured it unproblematic access to concessionary credits. Thus, debt
servicing is not likely to pose any difficulties for the sovereign in
the medium term. However, in order to achieve continued improvement
in its sovereign creditworthiness in the medium-to-long term, and
given its still weak export earnings capacity, it is important that
Armenia makes further progress with economic restructuring.