Author: Vasilian Manouk

ALL-ARMENIAN ASSOCIATION OF POWER SPECIALISTS NGO PLANS TO CONSOLIDATE POTENTIAL OF ARMENIAN POWER SPECIALISTS AROUND WORLD

Noyan Tapan
Feb 16, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The main purpose of All-Armenian
Association of Power Specialists NGO registered in 2009 is to
invite those power specialists who work in the Diaspora and want to
return to Armenia, as well as to solve some problems, including the
development of Armenia’s energy sector and the export of its services
by consolidating the potential of power specialists of Armenia and
the Diaspora, the chairman of NGO Slavik Sargsyan said during an
interview with NT correspondent.

According to him, in the Soviet time, Armenia had experts (famous
throughout the USSR) specialized in repairs and assemblage of energy
facilities and the energy sector’s innovation. Power engineering
specialists of Armenia were sent on mission to Iraq, Syria, Egypt,
Vietnam, and Cuba. A lot of power specialists from Armenia now work in
Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, many have changed their speciality. About
300 experts of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant together with their
families have gone to Russia in recent years.

In his opinion, the return of power specialists will contribute to
the fact that they will bring the advanced experience of energy
technologies to Armenia. It is envisaged that an organization
specialized in repairs of energy facilities will form in Armenia and
it will carry out repair and assembling work both in Armenia and
abroad. It is also planned to create a database of Armenian power
specialists and an all-Armenian network, and the Association is likely
to have offices in other countries.

It was mentioned that concentrating the potential of Armenian power
experts will enable to keep the technical equipment of Armenia’s energy
system at a high level. Besides, the Association envisages creating
an educational center with the aim of training young employees to do
repair, assembling and scientific work.

As regards the activities of the Association in other countries, the
successful export of energy sector’s services may ensure an inflow
of hundreds of millions of dollars to Armenia and creation of 1.5-2
thousand high-paid jobs. He said: "If we succeed in penetrating some
part of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian markets of the indicated
services, we can consider our task as mostly accomplished. For example,
Russia has some capacities for repairs of energy facilities, but the
number of its experts is insufficient.

Many of my friends work in Russia’s energy system; they hold high
posts or are well-qualified experts. They can be of great use to the
Association. The correct management of an expert’s work is important
here so that he will be appreciated and can get satisfaction from
his job and pay and use his knowledge and experience to the full".

In order to describe the field of the power specialists’ opportunities,
the chairman of the NGO noted that before the war in Iraq, his friend
who is the head of a big energy company signed an 800 million dollar
agreement on repairs of energy facilities in that country, but later
it became impossible to implement that agreement.

"On the other hand, one should not forget that Armenia has unused
energy resources, and if we succeed in supplying power to border
settlements at differentiated, lower tariffs, these regions will
develop through formation of new production, " S. Sargsyan underlined.

Speaking about assistance they expect from the government he said
that first of all, they are going to apply to the RA Ministry of
Diaspora with the aim of receiving support to organize an all-Armenian
conference of power specialists in Armenia to help establish links
between Armenian and Diasporan experts and ensure their involvement
in the Association’s work in some way or another. In his words, the
ministry plans to hold all-Armenian conferences of architects, lawyers
and bankers this year, and he expressed a hope that a conference of
power engineering experts will be organized as well. "Prior to that,
it is necessary to increase the number of the organization’s members
in order to enhance its influence and help it establish links,"
S. Sargsyan noted. As regards the governmental assistance in other
directions, he expressed an opinion that one way of efficiently using
the amortized deductions of energy enterprises is allocating some
part of these deductions for the creation of training and laboratory
centers at the Association. Their organization also aims to promote
the agricultural development by providing an opportunity to use
machinery serviced at low prices. The matter also concerns the use
of alternative energy resources, in particular solar energy.

The Association also envisages implementing social programs. Being a
participant in the Artsakh freedom war, S. Sargsyan said: "We intend
to establish a fund with revenues of the enterprises to be set up
by the Association and to allocate its money to support families of
perished azatamartiks (freedom fighters) and to keep the azatamartiks
who survived the war in the center of our attention".

Persons and organizations interested in cooperation with the
All-Armenian Association of Power Specialists can contact it at the
following address: #1a, 3/2 Arabkir 37th Street, Yerevan; phone:
3741 25-92-86, 3741 094-055-600; e-mail: [email protected]

CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN SUBJECT HELD IN UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Noyan Tapan
Feb 13, 2009

LOS ANGELES, FEBRUARY 13, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A conference
under the title "Armenian Constantinople/Istanbul: Church, Society,
and Culture" took place on February 11 in University of Minnesota
Business Center. The conference was conducted by Dr. Ronald Marchese,
University of Minnesota lecturer. The conference was initiated by
the Armenian Studies Program, California State University, Fresno.

EURO PARLIAMENT WANTS DEEPER PROBE INTO ERGENEKON

Today’s Zaman
Feb 13 2009
Turkey

European lawmakers have urged Turkey to seriously focus on the
Ergenekon network’s probable role in unresolved murders, including
the assassination of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in
January 2007.

Ergenekon, a neo-nationalist group accused of involvement in plans
to stage a violent uprising against the government, was discovered at
the end of an investigation that came upon the heels of a police raid
in June 2007 that uncovered an arms depot in a house in Ä°stanbul’s
Umraniye district. The prosecutor in the Ergenekon case has said the
group worked to create disorder and chaos through various violent acts
so that the public would be willing to accept a military intervention
to restore order.

The group is suspected of involvement in the murder of three Christian
missionaries in Malatya in 2007; the 2006 murder of a priest in the
northern city of Trabzon; the murder of Dink, editor-in-chief of the
bilingual Agos newspaper in 2007; a 2006 attack on the Council of
State; and a grenade attack on the Cumhuriyet daily in 2006.

Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament
on Wednesday adopted the draft for Parliament’s annual resolution
on Turkey’s progress toward European Union accession, which was
drawn up by Dutch Christian Democrat European Parliamentarian Ria
Oomen-Ruijten. The resolution was adopted by 65 votes to one, with
four abstentions.

The European Parliament "welcomes the beginning of the trial against
those accused of being members of the Ergenekon criminal organization;
encourages the authorities to continue investigations and to fully
uncover the organization’s networks which reach into the state
structures; is concerned about reports regarding the treatment of
defendants in this case; urges the Turkish authorities to provide
them with a fair trial and to adhere strictly to the principles of
the rule of law," the report said.

The committee approved an amendment to add a sentence to this paragraph
saying, "While assessing unresolved cases such as the killing of
Hrant Dink, the thesis suggesting that Ergenekon has a role in these
incidents should be taken more seriously," the Anatolia news agency
reported.

The EU member states should consider starting accession talks with
Turkey in areas where the country meets technical criteria set by the
EU, the committee also said. The recommendation did not feature in
the original draft resolution put forward by Oomen-Ruijten, however,
it emerged as a compromise amendment by center-left deputies. The
final resolution called on member states "to consider making progress
on opening of negotiations on chapters in which Turkey, according
to the European Commission’s assessment, fulfilled the conditions
for opening."

Ankara must commit itself to a lasting settlement of the Kurdish
issue, the committee also said. This will require better economic and
social integration of citizens of Kurdish origin, including offering
them real opportunities to learn Kurdish in the public and private
schooling system and to use it in broadcasting, in daily life and in
access to public services, it said, while welcoming the government’s
launch of a 24-hour Kurdish-language TV channel on the state-owned
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) on Jan. 1.

7 DETAINED AS PART OF INVESTIGATION INTO TSK COVERT MEETING SPOTS

Today’s Zaman
Feb 12 2009
Turkey

Twelve people, including five military officers, were detained on
Tuesday as part of an investigation launched by the Air Forces Command
into the secret meeting places of a clandestine terrorist organization.

These covert meeting places, also known as Karargah houses, were used
by members of the Ergenekon terrorist group for discussing strategic
plans to manipulate the decisions of the Turkish Armed Forces
(TSK). Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal organization charged
with attempting to create chaos and undermine stability in Turkey
to trigger a coup. Eighty-six of its alleged members are in jail and
standing trial. Many other suspects are waiting to be indicted.

The existence of the Karargah houses was revealed as part of the
ongoing Ergenekon investigation. These places are believed to be
meeting spots for army generals plotting a coup as well as locations
for hiding hit men and ammunition.

The Air Forces Command launched an investigation into the Karargah
houses around two years ago. Seven people, five of whom were army
officers on active duty, were taken into custody on Tuesday for
suspected ties to these houses. The detentions came upon an order by
a military prosecutor, a move that seems to strengthen claims that
the military is determined to get rid of illegal formations within
its ranks.

Many retired and active military members, including high-ranking
generals and officers, have been detained and arrested as part of
the Ergenekon investigation.

Workers’ Party (Ä°P) Vice Chairman Mehmet Bedri Gultekin and
businessman Ä°brahim Arslan were also among those detained on
Tuesday. Ä°P Chairman Dogu Perincek and Secretary-General Nusret
Senem are currently in jail for their suspected involvement in
Ergenekon. Their party is known for its extreme nationalism despite
its left-wing roots. Documents seized during police raids on Ä°P
offices revealed close ties between the Ä°P and Ergenekon.

The names of officers detained on Tuesday have not been made
public. Rumors are circulating, however, that the number of detainees
may increase in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, the Ergenekon prosecutors have not been able to obtain
satisfactory answers from Ergenekon suspect Ä°brahim Å~^ahin, a
former deputy director of the National Police Department’s Special
Operations Unit, who was arrested last week on charges of having
established death squads with police force members to assassinate
prominent intellectuals, businessman and non-Muslim community leaders
in various cities across the country. The answers prosecutors have
gotten so far have led to even more questions.

In his testimony Å~^ahin said the squads he was forming inside
the police force, known as S-1 squads, were being created with the
knowledge of Chief of General Staff Gen. Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug. Å~^ahin
further claimed that the S-1 department was to be formed of 150 to 300
police officers and soldiers, under the orders of Brig. Gen. Metin
Gurak, head of the General Staff Communications Department. He also
said the highest-ranking generals in the army had contacted him about
the S-1 teams, but that their phone numbers never appeared on his
telephone’s caller ID screen. Although Å~^ahin gave detailed answers
to many questions, he left many others completely unanswered.

In his 107-page testimony taken by Prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, Å~^ahin
admitted having compiled the S-1 lists found in his home during police
raids last year. He claimed that Gen. Gurak personally ordered him to
set up a new team. "I made a list of people I knew who had fought in
counterterrorism campaigns. I was told that this issue was ordered
by the president and Interior Minister BeÅ~_ir Atalay. I knew they
had official contacts regarding this team," he testified. He also
claimed that he had regular meetings with gen. Gurak. "I always saw
Gurak PaÅ~_a regularly until I was taken here. They told me to prepare
things. I have compiled the lists in accordance with their orders."

Who is the ‘highest up’?

Å~^ahin did not give any response to a question about who he had
referred to as "the highest up" in a phone conversation he had with
Fatma Cengiz on Nov. 2, 2008. Cengiz was arrested as an Ergenekon
suspect in January. In the same conversation Å~^ahin and Cengiz talked
about an organization they called Sefir. In response to Oz’s question
about this organization, Å~^ahin also gave no answer.

In another phone conversation from Nov. 18, 2008, Å~^ahin told Oguzhan
Sagıroglu, another Ergenekon suspect, "We are responsible for inner
cleansing." In response to the prosecutor’s question, Å~^ahin said
he meant inner cleansing in northern Iraq.

Å~^ahin also told the prosecution that if he had not been detained
in the Ergenekon investigation, there would have been a military
ceremony for him at General Staff headquarters on Jan. 12, to mark
his new duty as head of the S-1 teams.

A document listing intellectuals and individuals of Armenian
background or found "dangerous to state security" had been found
both in the homes of both Å~^ahin and Cengiz. The document lists
the names of publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, Professor Halil Berktay,
historian Taner Akcam, politician Hikmet Cetin, former National
Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) Deputy Undersecretary Mehmet Eymur,
journalist and author Murat Belge, journalist Oral CalıÅ~_lar and
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, Syriac Catholic Community leader
Yusuf Sag and former Vatican representative George Marovic. Å~^ahin
also refused to respond to questions about documents indicating that
he was gathering intelligence on individuals of Armenian, Alevi and
Kurdish origin. Other questions about Å~^ahin’s racist and violent
remarks about Kurds, Alevis and Armenians in letters, emails and
phone conversations went unanswered.

He also denied that a map found in his home that led the police to a
stockpile of munitions buried underground in an Ankara neighborhood
belonged to him.
–Boundary_(ID_HJUhedHpcs1mTRtfGlnwrA)–

Salisbury Journal
Feb 9 2009

Armenian links to Stonehenge explored
12:19pm Monday 9th February 2009

By Corey Ross

THE story of Stonehenge and the mystery that surrounds it is familiar to
most Salisbury residents, but one man has come to the city to tell
people about an ancient circle of standing stones which pre-dates even
Wiltshire’s World Heritage site.

Vardan Levoni Tadevosyan is an Armenian/Spanish historian of the occult
who visited Salisbury last week to raise the profile of Carahunge,
dubbed the Armenian Stonehenge.

He said: `It’s a very important monument, not just for Armenia, but for
the whole world.’

Carahunge, meaning `speaking stones’, is located 200km from the Armenian
capital Yerevan, near a town called Sisian. There are over 200 stones on
the seven-hectare site and many of the stones have smooth angled holes
in them, directed at different points in the sky, leading scientists to
believe it is the world’s oldest observatory, dating back 7500 years.

Mr Tadevosyan is very passionate about wanting people to know more about
Carahunge and has his own theories on its links with Stonehenge.

His research of the last four years is based on the work done by
Professor Paris Herouni, a member of the Armenian National Academy of
Science and president of the Radiophysics Research Institute in Yerevan.

Prof Herouni started investigating Carahunge more than 20 years ago and
wrote a book, Armenians and Old Armenia, on his findings. He sent the
book to Prof G.S. Hawkins, who had investigated Stonehenge, and he
agreed with Herouni’s findings.

Mr Tadevosyan says that in neolithic times the Armenians were much more
advanced than most other cultures. A carving found on rocks near Lake
Sevan showed they knew the world was round, they could accurately
measure latitude, and they were already skilled in astronomy,
archaeology and engineering.

He believes the earliest population of Britain, who came from Armenia,
brought the ideas of Carahunge to Europe with them and played some part
in the creation of Stonehenge and other European sites.

He plans to put together a leaflet about Carahunge that can be available
to the public at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum and curator
Adrian Green said he would be happy to display leaflets about the
ancient site.

`I have a passion about it because the world has a not nice attention on
Armenia. I want to publicise Armenian monuments and culture,’ said Mr
Tadevoysyan.

uk/news/salisbury/salisburynews/4112126.Armenian_l inks_to_Stonehenge_explored/

No trilateral meeting of Armenian, Turkish and Azeri FMs is planned in
Munich

2009-02-07 13:08:00

ArmInfo. They in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia have
refuted the report that trilateral meeting of the Armenian, Turkish and
Azeri foreign ministers is planned in Munich.

The head of the Mass Media Department of the Press Service of the MFA
Tigran Balayan has told ArmInfo’s correspondent that no such meeting is
planned.

To remind, foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey Edward Nalbandyan
and Ali Babacan met in Munich on Feb 6.

Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers meet in Munich

2009-02-07 12:40:00

ArmInfo. Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey Edward Nalbandian and
Ali Babacan met in Munich Friday, Tigran Balayan, the Head of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry Press Service Department for Media, told
ArmInfo.

Edward Nalbandian left for Germany Friday together with the Armenian
delegation headed by President Serzh Sargyan to participate in the 45th
Munich Security Conference.

OBAMA SHOULD MAKE A TURKEY TRIP
by Liam Hardy

Just International
ticle.cfm?newsid=20002962
Feb 5 2009
Malaysia

Washington DC – During his election campaign, US President Barack
Obama promised to make a trip to a Muslim country during his first
100 days in office to demonstrate that he is serious about easing
tensions between the United States and the Muslim world. If he decides
to follow through with this promise, Obama should seriously think
about making that visit to Turkey.

The United States and Turkey have had a long partnership, which was
based on mutual interest in containing communism during the Cold War
and in strengthening regional security and democracy in the post-Cold
War era. Recently, however, the relationship between the United
States and Turkey has become strained, threatening the partnership
at various levels.

Philip Gordon and Omer Taspinar, two scholars at the Brookings
Institution, describe in a recent publication that major policy
differences over Iraq, Armenia, Cyprus and Israel have created serious
stumbling blocks to US-Turkish relations.

These differences have fuelled distrust of the United States within
Turkey, which has ranked over the past few years at the very bottom
of opinion polls, such as the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which
measures individual countries’ popular support for the United States
and its policies. They have also contributed to heightened nationalism
and isolationism, as well as scepticism of institutions perceived as
close to the United States, which indirectly have a negative effect
on popular support for Turkey’s European Union reform process and
membership application.

Pressures stemming from the Iraq War have been paramount. In
particular, the public perception in Turkey of US support for an
autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq has created
resentment and fear among Turks because the Kurdish Workers Party
(PKK) has waged a violent separatist movement during the past several
decades. Although relations improved when the Bush administration
agreed to work with Turkey to fight terrorism stemming from the PKK
within Iraq’s borders in late 2007, public opinion still remains
highly resentful toward the United States over the invasion of Iraq.

In addition, domestic pressure within the United States to pass
a resolution in Congress condemning Turkey for the killing of
Armenians during World War I has further alienated Turks, most of whom
admit that killings occurred but argue that the violence was also
reciprocated. They seek an independent international commission to
determine whether the events at the time actually constituted genocide,
a claim that most Turks deny.

Severe tension between the two countries has arisen most recently with
regard to the conflict in Gaza. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan,
who had previously tried to build a reputation as an honest broker in
the Middle East by overseeing discussions between Israel and Syria,
spoke out repeatedly against Israel’s recent military action in
Gaza. He even walked out of a panel discussion at the World Economic
Forum in January when Erdogan felt the moderator did not allow him
to respond to comments by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Turkish-Israeli relations, which have historically been good, are
now being put to the test, creating another wedge between Turkey and
the United States, whose House of Representatives passed a resolution
supporting Israel during the recent conflict.

Some in Turkey question whether the country should remain committed to
its partnerships with the United States and Europe, instead preferring
closer relations with other power players in the region. These
sentiments are often found among those who are upset by US regional
policy and perceive a lack of respect from the West in general.

Despite these recent disagreements, the Obama administration should
remember that Turkey’s democracy, despite its flaws, has proven to be
one of the most successful and enduring in the region. If he addresses
the Muslim world from Turkey’s Grand National Assembly in Ankara early
on, Obama’s administration would send a signal that the United States
is committed to promoting democracy and compromise in the region.

This could do much to reinvigorate the partnership between the United
States and its longest-standing Muslim-majority ally. It would also
send a positive message to fledgling democracies in the region that the
United States, which is often described even today as an "experiment"
in democratic rule, firmly supports free elections and representative
governance as the most legitimate path to the law.

Obama must show that he stands behind Turkey’s quest for a deep and
stable representative democracy, committed to prosperity and liberty
for all citizens. Furthermore, addressing the rest of the Muslim
world from this platform would signify the beginning of positive
change between the United States and the region.

* Liam Hardy is an independent researcher on issues related to Turkey
and the region. This article was written for the Common Ground News
Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at

EASTERN PARTNERSHIP WILL TAKE SIX POST SOVIET STATES EU HOSTAGES

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.02.2009 18:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia is negative about the Eastern Partnership,
a Russian politician said.

"Russia was not offered the initiative, which will take six post soviet
states hostage," Sergei Markov, member of the Russian State Duma,
said during today’s "Membership in international organizations:
a tool of pressure on sovereign states or support to democracy
development?" TV space bridge.

"Europe compels post soviet states to make choice between Russia and
the European Union. They had better reject it," he said.

European Commissioner for External Relations and ENP, Ms. Benita
Ferrero-Waldner was quoted by Russian media as saying that Russia may
be offered the Eastern Partnership along with Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.

TURKEY JOINS FORCES WITH SYRIA FOR TOURISM

Hurriyet
Feb 5 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Turkey and Syria will sign next week an agreement to
cooperate in increasing tourism between the two countries over the
next three years.

The agreement will be finalized by Saadallah Aghaa Al Kala, Syrian
Minister of Tourism and Ertugrul Gunay, his counterpart in Turkey,
at the opening of the Eastern Mediterranean International Travel &
Tourism Exhibition 2009, or Emitt, in Istanbul on Feb. 12. Emitt is
the biggest tourism fair in Turkey and among the largest in eastern
Mediterranean. For the first time, the fair, which runs to Feb. 15,
is featuring a so-called "guest country," which this year is Syria.

The fair will consist of approximately 3,000 exhibitors from some
50 countries and 100 places in Turkey, and is expected to attract
some 100,000 visitors. Ahmet Barut, president of the Turkish Hotels
Federation, or TUROFED, noted the number of exhibitors is up by
20 percent this year, regardless of the ongoing turbulence in the
global markets.

"The growth in participant figures shows that many in the sector also
outside Turkey see tourism as potentially the only sector that still
offers hope," he said.

New countries attending the fair New countries in the fair include
Armenia. Israel, on the other hand, is not taking part in the fair
although seven years ago it planned to attend.

"There was even an agreement that Palestine and Israel would share the
stand at Emitt seven years ago. But Israel then cancelled, quoting
security as a concern," Hacer Aydın, director of Ekin Fuarcılık,
the fair’s organizer, confirmed.

Tulin Ersöz, advisor for the mayor of Istanbul Greater Municipality
noted that one of the aims of the fair is to highlight Istanbul’s
role in world tourism.

"Istanbul, which has a history of nearly 10,000 years and an
immeasurable cultural heritage, is aiming to become a world brand. We
are not at all too far from reaching this target," she said.

In 2008 some 26 million tourists visited Turkey, bringing in total
revenue of $22 billion.
–Boundary_(ID_Gw2wVNKy5oGqrMvka05crg)–