SERZH SARGSYAN DOES NOT SCHEDULE TO MEET OSCE MG COCHAIRMEN TILL LATE 2009
Arminfo
2009-12-11 16:08:00
ArmInfo. "The working agenda of Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan
till late 2009 does not include meetings with OSCE MG cochairmen",
spokesman of Armenian president Samvel Farmanyan told ArmInfo.
To note, the mediators arrive in Baku on December 11 just to hold
negotiations with the Azerbaijani officials.
ARMENIAN ASSOCIATION TO ATTEND FAIR IN TURKEY
armradio.am
09.12.2009 17:58
Turkey will be welcoming Armenian travel agencies to the Travel Turkey
Fair, marking the first time that representatives from the country
have participated in a trade fair in Turkey.
The Armenian Association of Travel Agents will, for the first time,
attend and participate in the Turkey Travel Fair, organized by the
Association of Turkish Travel Agents (TURSAB), Ä°zmir Fair Services
Culture and Art Affairs Trade Inc. (Ä°ZFAÅ~^) and the Hannover-Messe
International Ä°stanbul, a fair organizer.
Yeghishe Tanashian, the chairman of the Armenian Association of
Travel Agents, will be leading the six-person delegation. According to
information from Ä°ZFAÅ~^, the association will be setting up a booth
to promote Armenian investment opportunities along with a presentation
on tourism destinations in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, another
first for the Armenian delegation.
The managing director of Ä°ZFAÅ~^, spoke positively about Armenia
participating in the fair, noting that "participation by the Armenians
is an important step in bettering relations between the two nations.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay will also visit the
fair, stopping by the Armenian Association of Travel Agents’ booth.
This will send Armenia a message about us, and we hope, as Ä°ZFAÅ~^,
to also participate in fairs in Armenia," Today’s Zaman reports.
AJC DECRIES ASSAULT ON CHRISTIAN CLERGY IN JERUSALEM
Armenian Weekly
December 9, 2009
NEW YORK-On Dec. 4, in a letter to Israel’s minister for public
security, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) expressed dismay over
the incidents involving religious Jews spitting on Christian clergy
in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch:
I write on behalf of the American Jewish Committee to express our
dismay over reports of disgraceful assaults on Christian clergy and
lay people in Jerusalem. It appears, for instance, that some Jews
have made a practice of spitting at Christian clergy in the streets of
Jerusalem. A recent incident involving Armenian clerical seminarians
is simply the latest in a distressing pattern.
We at AJC have long been committed to the values of pluralism and
mutual respect, and are friends of and advocates for the State of
Israel. Needless to say, these actions by a few demonstrate profound
disrespect toward other religions and stand in contrast to Israel’s
fundamental commitment to protect the rights of all its citizens. We
also fear that they may damage Israel’s international image and
jeopardize its important relationships with faith communities around
the world.
We respectfully encourage you take immediate measures to halt this
deplorable behavior. We hope that vigorous enforcement of the law
will succeed in preventing these shameful acts and disciplining those
responsible for them.
Sincerely yours, David A. Harris Executive Director, AJC
U.S. AMBASSADOR: THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN THE CYPRUS PROBLEM AND NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT
APA
30 Jul 2009 10:42
Washington. Zaur Hasanov – APA. U.S. ambassador to Cyprus Franc
Urbancic answered the questions in Woodrow Wilson Center about the
present stage of the Cyprus conflict.
Asked by APA’s Washington correspondent about the influence of the
Cyprus peace negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh, Urbancic said there
is a link between these conflicts.
"Every single one of these conflicts if it is resolved it is a
confident building measure of its own. Let start with Cyprus. Let
start with Cyprus and Nagorno-Karabakh can be put as a next step.
Another question may be, will be Georgia. Yes, the link is there.
Right now, the trust which exists in the region is very low. Let try
to increase this trust," he said.
Touching on Turkey’s relations with Armenia Frank Urbancic said:
"Cyprus has natural affinity to Armenia. The president of Cyprus
has natural affinity to the leadership of Armenia. Turkey has a
traditional role in the Middle East. Turkey has borders with some of
the most important countries in the entire region. Turkey’s role as
a regional influence is not going to diminish. We think that Turkey
can and we hope will, and we think is playing positive role in the
resolution of Armenian problem. It is critical and very important.
Turks recognize it too. That’s why we see them paying so much attention
to it."
Frank Urbancic was appointed ambassador to Cyprus in September, 2008.
Earlier, Urbancic had been Consul General to Istanbul, hold various
posts in the U.S. diplomatic missions in about ten countries.
ARMENIA TO PARTICIPATE IN REFUGEES ISSUES CONFERENCE IN GENEVA
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.12.2009 17:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian delegation led by RA Vice Premier,
Territorial Administration Minister Armen Gevorgyan, will participate
in December 9-10 conference entitled "Dialogue with United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees", held in Geneva.
According to Territorial Administration Ministry press service,
Head of Migration Agency Gagik Yeghanyan will also participate in
the conference.
Armenia to open embassy in Kuwait in the second half of 2010
05.12.2009 18:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia faces no obstacles in terms of developing
ties with Arab world countries, Armenian FM Edward Nalbandyan says.
The country has only 4 embassies operating in Arab states. In the
first half of 2010, it is planned to add their number by one, by
opening an embassy in Kuwait,’ he told a joint news conference with
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Anvar Gargash. Besides,
Armenian and UAE senior diplomats are scheduled to carry out mutual
visits during the next year, Nalbandyan added.
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Dec 4 2009
Approval of Turkey deal `hinges on Armenian pullout’
04-12-2009 06:47:12
The spokesman of the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs comittee
has said parliamentary approval of the agreement on normalizing
strained relations with Armenia, signed in October, depends on the
withdrawal of Armenian troops from the seven occupied Azerbaijani
districts.
The remarks by Suat Kiniklioglu came during his debate with Igen
Sarkisian, the senior aide to the Armenian president.
Armenia and Turkey have been at odds and the border between the two
countries has been closed since 1993 due to Armenia’s policy of
occupation and genocide claims. On October 10, two protocols — which
ultimately seek to open the Turkish-Armenian border ` were signed.
However, the documents require parliamentary approval, and Ankara has
repeatedly pledged that the border will not open until a fair solution
is found to Azerbaijan’s conflict with Armenia, which has been
occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized
territory since the early 1990s.
Kiniklioglu said the process of Turkey-Armenia rapprochement has a
potential to drastically change the situation in the turbulent South
Caucasus region, emphasizing that `endeavoring to normalize ties on
one side of the region, while maintaining a conflict on the other is
incomprehensible and illogical.’ He said ratification of the
Turkish-Armenian protocols is a very `delicate’ issue and will take a
long time. Kiniklioglu added that speculating on the timeframe for
ratifying the reconciliation papers would be wrong and could hurt the
normalization process.
Sarkisian, for his part, claimed the Upper Garabagh conflict was not
reflected in the Ankara-Yerevan protocols. He further suggested that
the documents be ratified in the Turkish parliament by the end of
January, alleging that, otherwise, the process of normalizing
bilateral relations could fail.
`We will either continue our dialog without mixing the Garabagh issue
or end it. We don’t want to be used for the sake of other policies.’
The debate between Kiniklioglu and Sarkisian, entitled `Turkey and
Armenia: the road ahead’, was organized by Germany’s Marshall
Foundation in Brussels, Turkey’s Ankara news agency reported.*
DECEMBER 10 IS THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
ARMENPRESS
DECEMBER 4, 2009
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS: December 10 is the International Human
Rights Day. On that occasion in Yerevan "Human Rights Protection in
Armenia: Achievements and Challenges" round-table discussion will be
conducted organized by the Armenian Ombudsman’s Office in collaboration
with the EU commission.
An official from the press department of the office told Armenpress
that representatives of the Armenian government, NA, judicial system
and international establishments will take part in the event. Armenian
Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan will present two reports which refer to
the punitive measures of our courts against tortures and national
preventive mechanisms.
Armenian Ombudsman’s office functions from 2004 and is aimed at
increasing the degree of legal protectiveness of a person in the
country.
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES FINAL VERSION OF NEXT YEAR’S BUDGET
ARKA
Dec 3, 2009
YEREVAN, December 3, /ARKA/. The Armenian government has approved
today the final version of next year’s budget and will submit it to
the parliament’s consideration and approval, finance minister Tigran
Davtian said.
He said the revised version incorporates a set of proposals and
suggestions made by lawmakers during parliamentary hearings on
the budget.
According to him, the initial version that was being drafted in summer,
underwent a substantial revision later as the macroeconomic indices
were changing.
The 2010 budget calls for 742 billion Drams in revenues, by 65 billion
Drams up from the initially projected target. Some 570 billion Drams
are projected to be collected in taxes, which will allow to raise
the taxes to GDP ratio to 17.7% instead of earlier planned 16.6%.
The budget calls for 935 billion Drams in expenditures, which rose
by 75 billion Drams from the initially planned 859 billion Drams. The
deficit is projected at 193 billion Drams
Finance minister Tigran Davtian admitted that the budget gap is
relatively high, saying t the government will be working to reduce
it gradually to before-the-crisis level.
He said the budget does not reflect a privileged loan and a grant
pledged by the European Union. He said if they are calculated next
year budget’s spending would even exceed the 2009 figure.
According to the minister, next year’s budget has earmarked 1.7
billion drams to be paid as compensation for depreciated Soviet-era
bank deposits.
He said the government expects the economy to grow by 1.2% in 2010.
($1 – 385.6 Drams).
ARMENIAN EARTHQUAKE RELIVED IN A MOVIE
by Florence Avakian
HULIQ
Dec 3 2009
SC
A man continues to search for his son for the past 18 years. A
woman has made a shrine of her daughter’s shoes, clothes, mirror,
comb and letters.
Another mother has decided to have more children to replace her
dead ones. And finally, a family has named their daughter for her
dead sister.
These are the heartbreaking images in the film, "Giumri" that was shown
on Friday evening, November 13, at the 33rd annual Margaret Mead Film
and Video Festival at the world famous Museum of Natural History in
New York by Czech filmmaker Jana Sevcikova. The film chroniclesthe
devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Armenia on December 7, 1988
which leveled the city of Giumri. Official estimates put the death
toll at 25,000, but unofficial figures claim 100,000.
Today, almost 21 years later, both parents and living children still
believe that the souls of their killed siblings live in them.