Author: Vanyan Gary

ROBERT KOCHARIAN CONSIDERS ABSURD LEVON TER-PETROSIAN’S ACCUSATIONS ADDRESSED TO HIM

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Second RA President Robert
Kocharian, commenting upon statements RA founding President
Levon Ter-Petrosian made lately at the meeting of the Armenian
National Congress most active members regarding him, said: "Levon
Ter-Petrosian’s insolence and self-admiration make a hard impression.

I suppose that those present exerted much efforts not to fall asleep
during his speech."

According to Panorama.am, R. Kocharian also said: "The accusations
addressed to me are so absurd that it is no use dwelling upon their
content due to the lack of the latter."

IRAN TO HAVE ENOUGH URANIUM FOR A NUCLEAR WARHEAD BY 2011

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.11.2009 12:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iranian technicians have moved highly sophisticated
technical equipment into a previously secret uranium enrichment site
in preparation for starting it up in 2011, the International Atomic
Energy Agency said in a new report Monday.

The report offered no estimate of the new plant’s capabilities but
a senior international official familiar with the watchdog agency’s
work in Iran said that it appeared designed to produce about a ton
of enriched uranium a year.

The official, as well as analysts, said that would be enough for
a nuclear warhead but too little to fuel the nearly finished plant
at the southern port of Bushehr and other civilian reactors Iran is
planning to bring online in the coming years.

"It won’t (even) be able to produce a reactor’s worth of fuel every
90 years, but it will be able to produce one bomb a year," said Ivan
Oelrich, vice president of the Strategic Security Program of the
Federation of American Scientist. "It does look strange."

The IAEA also noted that Iran’s enrichment at the Natanz site –
revealed by dissidents in 2002 and under agency monitoring – was
stagnating, with output remaining at mid-2009 levels.

The report did not offer a reason. But the official suggested that
nuclear experts previously working at Natanz could now be preoccupied
with putting the finishing touches on the newly discovered site,
called Fordo, near the holy city of Qom.

As early as three years ago, Iranian officials had announced that
immediate plans for the Natanz site were to install about 8,000
enriching centrifuges, and Monday’s report suggested that Tehran had
reached that goal.

The seven-page report – the latest IAEA summary of what it knows about
Iran – said that as of Nov. 2, about 8,600 centrifuges had been set
up but only about 4,000 were enriching – or 600 less than in September.

Still, the official said output had been steady since June with
about 100 kilograms – 220 pounds – of enriched uranium being produced
a month.

The report said that Natanz had churned out close to 4,000 pounds of
low-enriched, or nuclear fuel-grade uranium by Nov. 2 – close to the
amount considered by experts that would be needed for two nuclear
weapons, AP reported.

NINE-STRONG CIS LEGAL NETWORK GETS OFF GROUND
By James Swift

The Lawyer
gal-network-gets-off-ground/1002634.article
Nov 16 2009

A nine-member CIS network that launched at the beginning of November is
planning to bring the alliance model into the 21st century, according
to its chair.

The Leading Counsel Network (LCN) is a non-exclusive alliance of firms
from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova,
Russia, Turkmenistan and Ukraine.

The network’s first meeting was held in Russia at the offices of
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners.

RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group founder Irina Paliashvili was elected
LCN’s first chair in a one-year rotating presidency aimed at promoting
democracy and ensuring that not only firms from the largest economies
hold sway.

Oleg de Lousanoff from German firm Hengeler Mueller and Patrick
Dziewolski from French firm Bredin Prat attended LCN’s first meeting,
sharing their experiences of operating a best-friends network.

"We were curious as to how [other best-friends networks] were so
successful and how we can distinguish ourselves and progress, for
example in IT, which plays such a big role today," said Paliashvili.

"Having a unified approach for IT is very important. If you want to
be a 21st century network it’s important to have the best IT resources
and I think we can do that much better together than we can with each
firm on its own.

"We learnt from the best friends network that it’s [about] providing
the best cross-border service for clients. Some networks just send
referrals and meet once or twice a year, but not much is done on
cross-border terms. We’ll be working together on the substance; sending
teams, doing secondments and making sure lawyers work together,"
she added.

Armenian-Kurdish relations undergo negative transformations
14.11.2009 16:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian relations are undergoing negative
transformations, according to Andrey Areshev, deputy director of
Strategic Culture Foundation.

`Anti-Armenian publications in Kurdish media are met more frequently.
It’s an alarming tendency, which should be prevented,’ he said. `Under
the USSR, Armenia was a center of soviet Kurds. However, the image has
faded since 1991. On the other hand, Turkish government’s policy will
tell on Kurds’ attitude about Armenia and Armenians.’

`There is no doubt that western analytical centers follow developments
in relations between Armenia and neighbor states and try to influence
the situation. We can just recollect how the situation at the
Armenian-Georgian border tensed during the debates on Armenia-Turkey
protocols,’ Areshev said, Analitika.at.ua reported.

news.am, Armenia
Nov 14 2009

Aronian drew with Ivanchuk

11:03 / 11/14/2009

Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian drew with Vassili Ivanchuk in the
eighth round of Memorial Tal championship in Moscow.

Vladimir Kramnik-Peter Leko, Boris Gelfand-Viswanathan Anand,
Alexander Morozevich-Peter Svidler games ended in a draw. Magnus
Carlsen gained a victory over Ruslan Ponomariov.

After the eighth round the standings are as follows: Kramnik (5.5
pomits), Anand, Ivanchuk (5 points each), Carlsen (4.5), Gelfand,
Aronian (4 points each), Ponomariov, Leko, Svidler (3 points each).

Levon Aronian will face Viswanathan Anand in the final round of the
championship.

TBILISI SEEKS ANKARA’S ASSISTANCE IN ESTABLISHING SPECIAL FORCES MISSION

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.11.2009 11:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Anonymous sources of Russian intelligence services
report that Tbilisi has requested Ankara’s assistance for creating
special operation forces, Gruzia online reports with reference to
Izvestia newspaper.

There are plans for establishing ranger battalions which will lay
foundations for special operation forces serving in sub-mountain
and mountain regions. Battalion is expected to have 500 servicemen,
out of the total number 1500 serving in special operation forces.

According to the same anonymous source, Georgia is carrying out work
towards enhancing its anti-air and anti-tank defense.

Georgia’s defense capacity is expected to increase due to US imported
Patriot-3, Stinger, Igla-3 anti-aircraft and anti-missile complexes,
as well as Javelin and Hellfire missile complex, says the source,
highlighting that "Tbilisi seeks Ankara’s assistance in creating
special operation forces."

Anonymous source of Russian intelligence services reported earlier
that United States offered Georgia a large quantity arms and ammunition
costing over USD 100 million. Barryngton Aillines Inc.

corporation sent Georgia proposal the delivery of Anti-air defense
and anti-tank missile complexes and automatic infantry weapons.

PAINTINGS BY MINAS AVETISYAN TO BE EXHIBITED IN ITALY IN 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.11.2009 17:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "It took me a long time to prepare for my visit to
Armenia, and I consider it crucial. I spent my childhood in Venice
and saw St. Lazare Island which symbolizes Armenian culture worldwide.

Then I moved to Naples and lived near St. Gregory the Illuminator
church. That’s probably my fate; I can’t call it otherwise," art
critic, doctor and Professor of Naples Academy Francesco Gallo told
today a news conference in Yerevan.

This is Gallo’s second visit to Armenia, which is aimed at arranging
renowned Armenian artist Minas Avetisyan’s exhibition in Rome,
Florence, Milan and other big Italian towns, as well as organizing
lectures on art history for students and lecturers of Armenian
universities and museum workers.

It is planned to hold large-scale exhibitions displaying 100 painting
in the best and biggest exhibition halls of Italy, so preparation
requires much time and effort. "Exhibitions are scheduled for 2010,
but I find it’s better to organize exhibition properly rather than
quickly," Gallo said.

Artist’s son Narek Avetisyan promised in the name of his family to
assist professor Gallo in organizing exhibitions.

During his last visit, Professor was dissatisfied with conditions of
maintaining Minas Avetisyan’s canvasses in Yerevan Contemporary Art
Museum. This time, however, he noticed certain progress.

On Sunday, Francesco Gallo will leave for Italy where he’ll meet with
RA Ambassador and Italian Minister of Culture.

Paintings by Minas Avetisyan to be exhibited in Italy in 2010
13.11.2009 17:14 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "It took me a long time to prepare for my visit to
Armenia, and I consider it crucial. I spent my childhood in Venice
and saw St. Lazare Island which symbolizes Armenian culture worldwide.

Then I moved to Naples and lived near St. Gregory the Illuminator
church. That’s probably my fate; I can’t call it otherwise," art
critic, doctor and Professor of Naples Academy Francesco Gallo told
today a news conference in Yerevan.

This is Gallo’s second visit to Armenia, which is aimed at arranging
renowned Armenian artist Minas Avetisyan’s exhibition in Rome,
Florence, Milan and other big Italian towns, as well as organizing
lectures on art history for students and lecturers of Armenian
universities and museum workers.

It is planned to hold large-scale exhibitions displaying 100 painting
in the best and biggest exhibition halls of Italy, so preparation
requires much time and effort. "Exhibitions are scheduled for 2010,
but I find it’s better to organize exhibition properly rather than
quickly," Gallo said.

Artist’s son Narek Avetisyan promised in the name of his family to
assist professor Gallo in organizing exhibitions.

During his last visit, Professor was dissatisfied with conditions of
maintaining Minas Avetisyan’s canvasses in Yerevan Contemporary Art
Museum. This time, however, he noticed certain progress.

On Sunday, Francesco Gallo will leave for Italy where he’ll meet with
RA Ambassador and Italian Minister of Culture.

KAREN NALBANDYAN A MEMBER OF REFEREE COMMITTEE

Aysor
Nov 13 2009
Armenia

One of the best referees of Armenia Karen Nalbandyan who is 45
years old and is the referee of FIFA ended his career. The Armenian
Football Federation has appreciated the services that he has served to
football. After the last meeting of "Pyunik" – "Mika" Ruben Hayrapetyan
the chairman of FFA passed him a special memorandum presenting him
also a TV set.

Leaving the position of the referee Karen Nalbandyan is not going to
leave the football as he is involved in the Referee Committee.

ARMENIAN POLITICIAN PREDICTS RETURN OF OCCUPIED AZERI DISTRICTS

news.az
Nov 11 2009
Azerbaijan

The leader of Armenia’s Liberal Party, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, has said
that Armenia is bound to make concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh before
ratification of the protocols on normalizing relations with Turkey.

He made his remarks in an interview with Armenian newspaper Aravot,
published on Tuesday.

"I am sure that before ratification of the protocols Armenia will
make concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh," Hovhannisyan said. "I cannot
say how many districts will be returned but they will return enough
for the Turkish parliament to ratify the protocols and for Azerbaijan
to be satisfied with the Turkish parliament.

"This is absolutely clear and I do not think that Armenia has an
argument that means the problem cannot be resolved. Otherwise, if
Serzh Sargsyan tries to change the rules of the game, a brief war
may well break out in the Caucasus."

Hovhannisyan said that for those driven into a corner, war can
represent an escape. "I hope I’m wrong but what has been happening in
Armenia since the signing of the protocols means that the authorities
are driving their foreign policy agreements into a corner. There
are two options. The current political elite understands that one
way out is their departure from the scene … or if they are going
to be stubborn, then war will appear on the table."

COLORADO GOVERNOR EXPRESSED GRATITUDE TO CCGAA ACTIVISTS FOR FIGHT FOR JUSTICE CAMPAIGN

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.11.2009 18:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Colorado Governor Bill Ritter expressed his
appreciation and thanks for those individuals, activists and
organizations that "fight for justice and truth", reported the Armenian
Assembly of America (AAA).

In the meantime, governor also highly assessed the activities of
Roz Duman, founder and Director of Colorado Coalition for Genocide
Awareness & Action (CCGAA). "I congratulate Roz and the Colorado
Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action for the kind of leadership
and commitment that is essential to ensuring there are no future
genocides. Roz, and organizations like the Armenian Assembly of
America, continue to fight for justice and truth, and I thank them
for their great accomplishments," Bill Ritter said.

"The CCGAA will continue to work with the local Armenian community
to help raise awareness about the incontestable fact of the Armenian
Genocide," stated Duman.

Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny announced in turn that,
"The Assembly has a strong tradition of reaching out and working with
individuals and organizations that share the same goals and values
regarding genocide education and prevention,". "We echo the Governor’s
praise for Roz Duman and the CCGAA’s work in raising greater awareness
about this critically important human rights issue," he added.