Author: Vanyan Gary

DAVUTOGLU TO MEET WITH POLITICAL PARTIES

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 15 2009
Armenia

14:09 / 09/15/2009September 15, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu will hold political consultations on Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation with oppositional Felicity Party, Democratic Left
Party and Republican People’s Party.

September 15, 12:45 p.m. local time Davutoglu met with representatives
of Felicity Party (Saadet), known for its strong Islamist views. It was
founded by the members of Virtue Party members (Refah), that was banned
by Turkey’s Constitutional Court. Turkish incumbent Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President Abdullah Gul as well as a large
number of Justice and Development party were Virtue Party members.

In an hour Davutoglu will meet with Deniz Baykal, the leader of
oppositional Republican People’s Party (CHP). Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
is Party’s founder and a lifelong leader.

Presently Republican People’s Party a leading party in the
Parliament, it has 112 MPs, getting 21% of votes at the parliamentary
elections. The Party opposes both Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and
Kurdish issue settlement. They consider Armenian side should return
"occupied" territories.

Today, at 3: 30 p.m. Foreign Minister will meet with Democratic Left
Party (DSP) leader Masum Turker.

SINGAPORE ARMENIAN HERITAGE COMMITTEE PLANNING A WEEKLONG FESTIVE EVENTS IN 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.09.2009 01:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Singapore Armenian Heritage Committee on 15th of
September announced plans for a series of extraordinary events to be
held in Singapore during the week of October 4, 2010, Reuters reports.

The Committee expects this celebration to be the largest gathering
of Armenians and their friends in Singapore in modern history. The
weeklong celebration will include a diverse range of cultural,
economic development, and festive events highlighting the Armenian
community and its contributions to Singapore.

The Celebration is open to all who have a positive interest in
strengthening relations with Singapore, Armenia, and the global
Armenian Diaspora.

Internationally recognized Armenian entertainers will perform as part
of the Celebration, which will be attended by local and international
dignitaries. In addition, organizers are reaching out to Armenians
and their friends throughout the world as well as to the Government
of the Republic of Armenia to join the celebration.

The Committee is planning an evening Gala at the Armenian-founded
Raffles Hotel highlighting Armenian contributions to Singapore and
other countries along the Silk Road. Special religious and cultural
events will be held at Singapore`s oldest church, the Armenian Church
of St. Gregory the Illuminator Singapore, to commemorate the Church`s
175th Anniversary.

Committee Chairman Paul B. Kazarian, Chairman and CEO of Japonica
Partners, commented, "This celebration is a wonderful opportunity
for Armenians and their friends around the world to learn from the
extraordinary success stories in Singapore."

Former United States Ambassador to Singapore and Committee Co-Chair,
Frank Lavin, stated, "This is a great opportunity to strengthen the
Armenian community and its ties to Singapore."

Significant Armenian contributions to Singapore include: the first
Christian Church, St. Gregory; the renowned Raffles Hotel; the National
Flower, Va and, the leading national newspaper, the Straits Times.

Haig Didizian, a prominent member of the international Armenian
community, noted "Armenians throughout the world should attend the
celebration and experience the rich culture of both Singapore and its
Armenian community, and to witness firsthand the significance of the
Church in Armenian life."

Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large at the Singapore Ministry
of Foreign Affairs observed, "Strengthening the Armenian community
in Singapore is a great benefit to all," and encourages all to visit
and experience firsthand the wonders of Singapore.

YEREVAN MAYOR TO VISIT MOSCOW

armradio.am
14.09.2009 11:50

The delegation headed by Gagik Beglaryan, the Mayor of Yerevan, will
pay an official visit to Moscow 15-17 September at the invitation of
the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov.

The Mayors of Yerevan and Moscow will pay special attention to
issues of exchange of experience in the fields of education, culture,
different spheres of municipal administration, as well as development
of ties in a number of fields.

Within the framework of the visit to Moscow Mayor Beglaryan is expected
to visit the Armenian Church of Moscow and the Kremlin Palace.

Following the talks in Moscow, the Mayors of the two cities will
leave for Aktau, Kazakhstan, to participate in the conference of the
International Assembly of Capitals.

The delegation headed by Gagik Beglaryan will return to Yerevan on
September 14

COMMISSION TO KEEP THE TRUTH

16:05:43 – 11/09/2009
hos15151.html

What does the Armenian National Congress expect from the upcoming
report of the NA temporary commission to study March 1? On September
11, the HAK coordinator Levon Zurabyan answered this question. He said
they do not have any expectation from a commission which has been set
up to keep the truth.

`It is a commission which includes people, political figures who have
always had partial attitude. They have always defended their partial
opinions and proved that they have no wish to reveal the truth. Just
the contrary, all their efforts were aimed at hiding the truth. The
last best proof is the response to the forth report of the
fact-finding group which is ridiculous, says Levon Zurabyan.

Armenia, Russia to sign agreement on humanitarian cooperation
11.09.2009 23:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia and Russia will sign a new agreement on
humanitarian cooperation, head of federal agency on CIS affairs and
humanitarian cooperation Farit Mukhametshin told reporters in Yerevan.

`The agreement will satisfy demands of both Armenian and Russian
sides,’ he said.

Gross grapes yield 205-210,000 tons in Armenia in 2009

YEREVAN, September 11. /ARKA/. Gross grapes yield totaled 205-210,000
tons in Armenia in 2009, an increase of 30-35,000 tons as compared with
lat year, Armenian Minister of Agriculture Gerasim Alaverdyan reported.

This year yield is very good; the meeting held with major purchasers
showed that no problems are expected with grapes purchases also in
remote areas, even in Nagorno-Karabakh, Alaverdyan said.

There are about 15-17 major processing enterprises and they are ready
for purchases in terms of both finance and containers, he said.

Purchases are to total 130-140,000 tons, with purchasing price at
120-130 drams per kilogram.

`Let the farmers not worry: the grapes purchase process will go as
smoothly as that for apricots,’ Alaverdyan said.

The Minister also reported that Yerevan Brandy Company, Yerevan
Brandy-Wine-Vodka `Noy’ factory, Proshyan Cognac Factory are expected
to purchase an average of 30,000 tons each. N.V. `0–

ARF TO OFFER A PACKAGE OF AMENDMENTS TO ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

PanARMENIAN.NET
11.09.2009 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the coming days, ARF Dashnaktsutyun will present a
public the package of amendments to the Protocols on the normalization
of Armenian-Turkish relations, Aghvan Vardanyan , member of the ARF
Bureau told journalists in Yerevan today.

"We have almost completed working on the text and within next 2-3
days we will present it to the public. Our comments and concerns on
specific items of the protocols will find place in the document,"
ARF Bureau member said.

Aghvan Vardanyan stressed the importance of discussions on specific
provisions of these two documents. "Our goal is to prevent the existing
threat. The question is, whether it is possible or not to make some
changes to these documents," he said. Aghvan Vardanyan stressed, that
the ARF faction will never support the adoption of the Protocols in
the parliament, if they remain unchanged.

TBILISI DOES NOT CARE OF ARMENIAN LANGUAGE

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 8 2009
Armenia

Official Tbilisi does not care of recognizing Armenian language
as regional, State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration, Temur
Yakobashvili said at the September 8 meeting with Georgian diplomats
and Government, Georgia Online reports.

"We do not consider recognizing Armenian language as regional,"
Yakobashvili stated.

September 1, RA President Serzh Sargsyan proposed Tbilisi to
recognize Armenian language as regional in Javakhk (Armenian populated
region of Georgia) at the annual meeting with countries’ diplomatic
corps. "I reckon that imparting Armenian language a regional status,
provision of Armenian Apostolic church with status and steps toward
the protection of Armenian monuments will assist the reinforcement of
Armenian-Georgian friendship as well as deepening of mutual confidence
atmosphere," Sargsyan stated.

Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze during his visit to Yerevan
Sept. 4 commented on the RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement
concerning status of Armenian language in Georgia. He said that
Georgia is ready to discuss any ideas with Armenian counterparts,
adding that "regardless what the status of Armenian language in
Georgia will be, Georgian citizens of Armenian origin are protected,
have equal rights that are secured along with those of other nations
residing in Georgia."

WITH OPENING BORDER, TURKEY WILL ACQUIRE TOOLS OF PRESSURE ON ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.09.2009 18:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian-Turkish relations can be normalized only if
Turkey recognizes the Armenian Genocide and the right of the Armenian
nation to the historic lands, an Armenian politician said.

"Opening of the Armenian-Turkish border is pregnant with grave danger
for Armenia, which will become Turkey’s economic appendage," Armen
Aghayan, member of Armenian Choice party said.

"With opening the border, Turkey will acquire tools of pressure on
Armenia," he said.

BHK STATEMENT

11:39:20 – 05/09/2009
rahos||politics&pid=15086

The Prosperous Armenia party issued a statement in connection with the
last development in the Armenian and Turkish relations.

The opinion of the BHK party is that the worldwide recognition of the
Armenian genocide does not have an alternative. BHK is led by
establishment of relations without preconditions noting that two
neighboring nations must have possibilities to communicate with each
other.

In connection with the last developments of the Armenian and Turkish
relations the party thinks the released documents reflect the BHK
stances on establishment of relations without precondition. The party
also believes that the Armenian and Turkish relations may promote the
recognition of the Armenian genocide. The fact that the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue is absent in the protocols is unacceptable for
the party which the Turkish side has repeatedly imposed as a
precondition. The setup of the interstate committee is also a positive
fact which may discuss all the disputable questions between the
Armenian and Turkish people including the question on the Armenian
genocide.