Author: Vardanian Garo

Armenian Assembly of America Board of Trustees Members participate in
debate on Armenian-Tukish Protocols
12.12.2009 14:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) Board of
Trustees Member, Peter Kezirian and Assembly Western Region Director
Yeghig Keshishian participated in a panel discussion hosted by the
Armenian Law Student Association (ALSA) of Southwestern Law School in
conjunction with the Law School’s Diversity Affairs Office regarding
the recently signed protocols to establish normal relations without
preconditions between the Republics of Armenia and Turkey.

The panel also included Steve Dadaian and Vicken Sonentz Papazian
representing the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Following the opening remarks by Stella Pogosyan, President of the
Armenian Law Student Association at Southwestern, the Assembly and
ANCA each discussed the protocols. Keshishian opened his discussion
looking at the geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus, noting
that the Republic of Armenia, since its independence in 1991, has
sought formal diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions.

Turkey meanwhile has insisted on preconditions such as concessions on
Nagorno Karabakh and demands that Armenia renounce international
affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. Turkey’s 15-year plus blockade
of Armenia also reflects part of Turkey’s strategy to attempt to
isolate and marginalize Armenia.

Referring to the actual text of the protocols, Keshishian noted that
they do not threaten the veracity of the Armenian Genocide, nor do
they require Armenia to abdicate its treaty rights on territorial
issues or require concessions on Nagorno Karabakh as many have
speculated.

Steve Dadaian, speaking on behalf of the ANCA, attempted to use legal
arguments to argue that the Protocols undercut particular interests of
the Armenian Republic and accused the current government of not having
the position or moral authority to deal with these concerns.

Papazian and Dadaian argued that the Protocols are poorly drafted and
will help Turkey’s accession to the European Union, which require open
borders.

Mediators to present updated Madrid principles to Yerevan and Baku

News.Az
Thu 10 December 2009 | 13:31 GMT

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will soon
present to Armenia and Azerbaijan an updated version of the Madrid
document on a Karabakh settlement.

`Considering the discussions held in the past two years (since the
Madrid document was drawn up) by the presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia, the co-chairs have prepared an updated version of the Madrid
document which will be presented to the parties in the near future’,
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko told a briefing
in Moscow on Thursday.

He recalled that the Madrid document contains the proposals put
forward by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Russia, France and the USA)
on the basic principles of a settlement. The document was presented to
the Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives at the OSCE summit in
Madrid in November 2007.

According to Nesterenko, `If the positive dynamic in the negotiation
process achieved this year is maintained next year too, it will be
possible to hope for the quick and complete coordination of the basic
principles of the settlement and their development on the basis of a
peace agreement.’

Commenting on the statement about the Azerbaijani leadership’s alleged
discontent with the work of the Minsk Group, Nesterenko said, `The
Russian side did not receive any sign of discontent from the
Azerbaijani leadership about the actions of the OSCE Minsk Group and
the mediation efforts of its co-chairs.’ `Meanwhile, we have received
repeated thanks for these efforts,’ the spokesman said.

The basic principles set out in the Madrid document and reiterated by
the French, American and Russian presidents at the G8 summit in
L’Aquila in July are:

the return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to
Azerbaijani control
an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh providing guarantees for
security and self-governance
a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh
future determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh
through a legally binding expression of will
the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return
to their former places of residence
international security guarantees that would include a peacekeeping operation.

Lala B.

PURCHASE AND SALE TRANSACTIONS OF 835 THOUSAND DOLLARS CONDUCTED AT NASDAQ OMX ARMENIA OJSC ON DECEMBER 9

Noyan Tapan
Dec 9, 2009

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. Purchase and sale transactions of
835 thousand dollars at the weighted average exchange rate of 383.75
drams per dollar were conducted at Nasdaq OMX Armenia OJSC on December
9. According to the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia,
the closing price was 383.75 drams.

H. BABUKHANYAN:AZERBAIJAN SHOULD RECOGNIZE THE STATUS OF THE NKR

Aysor.am
09/12/09

Until the NKR will not get "transition" status and will not take part
in the negotiations there will not be any progress in the conflict
settlement process, said Hayk Babukhanyan stressing that agreeing
with the "transition" status should be the only concession of Armenia
and Artsakh.

"We can come to that concession only in case if the Nagorno Karabakh
becomes a negotiation side", – the politician mentioned adding the
Armenian side should clearly explain his disposition to Baku.

"We are moving by the direction where we know that the political
attention of Armenia is on the Nagorno Karabakh", – he mentioned and
added that Azerbaijan should realize the necessity of recognizing
the position of the NKR in the present round of negotiations.

PURCHASE AND SALE TRANSACTIONS OF 1.05 MILLION DOLLARS CONDUCTED AT NASDAQ OMX ARMENIA OJSC ON DECEMBER 8

Noyan Tapan
Dec 8, 2009

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Purchase and sale transactions of
1 million 50 thousand dollars at the weighted average exchange rate
of 384.21 drams per dollar were conducted at Nasdaq OMX Armenia OJSC
on December 8. According to the press service of the Central Bank of
Armenia, the closing price was 384 drams.

QUALIFICATION CERTIFICATES GRANTED TO 13 ACCOUNTANTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.12.2009 13:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 13 out of 15 accountants received qualification
certificates, having passed exams held Armenian Ministry of Finance.

15 qualification examinations were held over the year 2009, with 102
accounting qualification certificates granted as a result.

222 accounting qualification certificates were granted in Armenia as
of December 7, 2009.

Classical Music Agenda

We got all that holiday concert business out of the way last week,
which allows us to focus on music of the non-mistletoe variety. What
is the perfect antidote to syrupy holiday music or yet another
performance of Handel’s Messiah? Some bracing, dissonant contemporary
music should be just the thing.

genda_46.php

Violist Kim Kashkashian (photo by Julien Jordes / ECM Records)>> At
her last area recital, this past April, violist Kim Kashkashian
featured a piece by Romanian composer Tigran Mansurian. She returns to
Washington on Tuesday (December 8, 7:30 p.m.) with an entire Armenian
Musical Evening, partnering with Mansurian himself on the piano and
percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky, sponsored by the Smithsonian Resident
Associates program at the National Museum of Natural History. General
admission tickets are $25, but full-time students may qualify to pay
$15.

>> From Armenia on to Romania, with a concert sponsored by the
Romanian Cultural Institute on Wednesday night (December 9, 7:30 p.m.)
at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Violinist Remus Azoitei and
pianist Eduard Stan will present Enescu-Brahms: European Encounters, a
program pairing works by Romanian composer George Enescu with those of
Johannes Brahms.

>> On the same evening (December 9, 7:30 p.m.) the free concert by the
Shanghai String Quartet at the Freer Gallery of Art will feature the
Washington premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s third string quartet, as
well as music by Beethoven and Debussy.

>> On Thursday (December 10, 8 p.m.) the University of Maryland Wind
Ensemble and string players from the UM Symphony Orchestra will
perform an alluring program of music by Schuller, more Enescu, and
Edgard Varèse’s Amériques at the Clarice Smith Center.

>> Members of fhe Diaz Trio will join forces with pianist Rodrigo
Ojeda to present a free concert that includes the violin sonata of
George Rochberg, also on Thursday night (December 10, 8 p.m.) at the
Library of Congress. Show up early for a pre-concert presentation at
6:15 p.m., which will include a performance of the suite for viola and
piano by Ernst Bloch, who died fifty years ago this year.

>> Mezzo-soprano was impressive as Penelope this summer in Wolf Trap
Opera’s production of Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. This
Thursday (December 10, 7:30 p.m.) she will give a recital with pianist
Kathleen Kelly at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, sponsored by
Vocal Arts Society. The program includes a rare performance of Libby
Larsen’s Love After 1950, premiered in 2000.

OLDER MUSIC:
>> Young Concert Artists presents a concert by violinist Ray Chen and
pianist Noreen Polera on Tuesday (December 8, 7:30 p.m.) in the
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

>> With the cost of admission to the Phillips Collection on Sunday
(December 13, 4 p.m.) is a concert by the Raphael Trio, featuring all
of the works by Haydn for piano trio.

>> Trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth and pianist Steffen Horn will perform
a free recital on Sunday (December 13, 6:30 p.m.) at the National
Gallery of Art.

Photo reporter Anush Babajanyan opened her first exhibition in Urbat press club
05.12.2009 15:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Photo reporter Anush Babakajanyan Saturday opened
her personal exhibition in Urbat (Friday) press club.

In her 70 photos, the author depicted the lives of people living in
temporary huts 21 years after Spitak earthquake.

`Having spent several years in Gyumri, I saw the complicated life of
people living in those huts. And I decided to make the problem visible
to others, as the majority of Armenia’s population does not even
imagine what is going on in their neighborhood,’ the artist told a
PanARMENIAN.NET reporter.

The exhibition organized by `Third Nature’ NGO, with the assistance of
Open Society Institute, will last till December 13.

`We found Anush ourselves. She already has a series of photos included
in today’s exposition. And since housing issue in disaster zone still
remains unresolved we decided to show the problem to those living
beyond the zone.’

Anush Babajanyan was born in Yerevan in 1983. She has graduated from
the American University in Bulgaria, Faculty of Journalism.

news.am, Armenia
Dec 5 2009

Levon Zurabyan: Athens statement `just awful’

17:37 / 12/04/2009The statement issued by the Foreign Ministers of the
OSCE Minsk Group, Armenia and Azerbaijan on December 1 is `just
awful,’ Levon Zurabyan, Levon Zurabyan, the Coordinator of the Central
Office, Armenian National Congress (ANC), told a press conference on
December 4.

`Armenia has for the first time officially admitted that the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem can be settled on the basis of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity,’ he said. Zurabyan pointed out that, as an OSCE
member-state, Armenia exercised its right of veto if developments took
an unfavorable turn, but the December 1 statement brought all the
previous work ton nought.

`Now they are trying to deceive us and make us believe that the
nations’ right to self-determination is incorporated in the document.
This is an absurd argument. Simultaneous application of the principles
of self-determination and territorial integrity means that nations are
supposed to exercise their right to self-determination on the
principle of territorial integrity,’ Zurabyan said.

ARMENIAN CHURCH TO BE RESTORED NEXT SPRING

news.am
Dec 4 2009
Armenia

10:21 / 12/04/2009Reconstruction of Armenian St. Gevorg of Mughni
church in Tbilisi will start in spring 2010 and Georgian government
will fully defray expenses on restoration, the head of historical
and cultural museum reserve and the protection of the historical
environment service Serzhik Arakelyan told the journalists.

According to him, RA Culture Ministry experts visited Tbilisi in the
end of November. In the course of the visit, sides also agreed to
Armenian experts’ participation in the restoration works.

Moreover, it is precedent for further cooperation of the sides in
protection of Armenian historical monuments in Georgian territory.

The domed St. Gevorg of Mughni Church in Tbilisi (built 1356)
collapsed Nov. 18 in the Old Tbilisi part of the city. The incident
evoked response from Armenia and Armenian community of Georgia.

However, Georgian Ambassador to Armenia Grigor Tabatadze has recently
assured that the church will be restored within a year.