Author: Virabian Jhanna

MINISTER SHARES HIS OPINION ON RUBBLE ZONE

A1+
[08:13 pm] 11 February, 2009

"There are people who wrongly believe that if Russia has given
Armenia a loan of 500 million rubbles it means Armenia will join
the zone of rubble. I can assure you that they are deluded. This
is a myth or a flight of imagination," Minister of Economy Nerses
Yeritsyan said today after a meeting with the students of Yerevan
State University. When reminded of Armenian Premier’s announcement
on "Mir" interstate television on the introduction of a common
currency in the CIS states, Minister Yeritsyan said: "I think if
the Prime Minister has raised the issue there is a need for it. It
has been tested worldwide." Asked whether the global economic crisis
affects the implementation of international programmes in Armenia,
Mr. Yeritsyan said: "The preparation and mobilisation of investment
takes a long period. We must carry out a crisis management policy
which will enable us to make use of our comparative advantages"

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF MOUNTAIN JEWS COMMUNITY IN AZERBAIJAN: "THE REPORTS THAT JEWS UNDERWENT VIOLENCE IN SUMGAYIT ARE FALSE"

APA
Feb 11 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. "The reports that Jews underwent violence
in Sumgayit are false," Deputy Chairman of Mountain Jews Community in
Azerbaijan Semyon Shaleyev told APA. He said that after the Internet
reports they had contacted the Jews living in Sumgaiyt. They were told
that no incident occurred there, Shaleyev said there were not many
Jews in Sumgayit. There was a small Jewish Community in Sumgayit,
all the members of the community know one another and everybody was
contacted. Shaleyev said the report caused anxiety in Israel and he
had contacted all the synagogues in Baku.

"No unpleasant incident occurred in connection with Jews in Sumgayit,
or any other part of Azerbaijan," he said.

Shaleyev said Chairman of Mountain Jews Community Semyon Ikhilov
was in Israel. He said Chairman of State Committee on Work with
Religious Associations Hidayat Orujov phoned Ikhilov and Ikhilov told
the state official that the community had not received information
about violence.

Chairman of DEVAMM Haji Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, who is mentioned in the
false news of Armenians, also made a statement. The statement says
that Armenian media made another provocation against Azerbaijan.

"There is no need to comment on the Armenian provocation. Armenians’
fancies are unlimited. They act in Goebbels’ technique: "The bigger
the lie, the more it will be believed". That’s why we could even not
react to their provocations. But as there are attempts to stir up
discord between Azerbaijanis and Jews, to show "Armenian oppression"
again, and cast shadow on Azerbaijanis’ fair position on the massacre
in Gaza, we decided not to keep silence.

As a member of civil and believing society, I deem it duty to remind
several simple truths. Azerbaijani People have a culture of tolerance,
for many centuries, based on Islamic ideology. The Jewish people, as
other peoples living in our country, are esteemed and dear people for
us. It was so for many centuries and will be so in future. Regarding
the developments in Gaza, it is a crime against humanity and not
related to the Jewish people. The Jews’ protest all over the world
against the crimes in Gaza could be an example for it. Today solidarity
with the Gaza victims is a work of all honest people in the world
and Jewish people are also among them".

Addressing the Azerbaijani media, Ibrahimoglu urged to give news
without comments and to demonstrate united position.

Armenia’s Panarmenian agency spread disinformation, quoting the
azertopnews, about the attacks against Jewish families in Sumgayit
and then other Armenian sources also spread this "information"
quoting Panarmenian.

Panarmenian’s continuous disinformation against Azerbaijan aims to
bring this subject to agenda on the eve of anniversary of the 1988
February events organized by Armenians. Of course, the Armenian special
services tried to introduce Azerbaijan as an intolerant country and to
show Sumgayit as a source of national-religious extremism. Undoubtedly,
the Armenians also aim to damage the high-level relations between
Azerbaijan and Israel and normal cooperation between the Azerbaijani
and Jewish Diasporas.

The Armenians’ attempts show that they try to take maximum advantage
form the disinformation policy like in 1988.

The site azertopnews created by the Armenian special services is shown
as a "Azerbaijani news portal". The site showed APA and several others
of Azerbaijani media organizations alongside with some separatist
Internet portals as its official source. APA officially denies these
claims and says that it faces with the plagiarism, which is impossible
to be prevented on Internet.

HADJINIAN APPOINTED TO ASSESSMENT APPEALS BOARD

Whittier Daily News
February 9, 2009 Monday
California

MONTEBELLO – On Feb. 3, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, at
the nomination of Supervisor Gloria Molina, approved the appointment of

Jack Hadjinian to the Assessment Appeals Board.

Immediately after Hadjinian takes the oath of office, he will become
an alternate member of the Assessment Appeals Board and begin attending
hearings for property assessment appeals.

The board is comprised of individuals with a background in law,
accounting or real estate.

"I’m honored and I look forward to serve as a commissioner and
carry out the responsibilities as a member of the Assessment Appeals
Board. I want to personally thank Supervisor Molina as her nominee
and the entire Board of Supervisors for the appointment."

Hadjinian is a Realtor with Century 21 Realty Masters and currently
serves as the chairman of the Montebello Chamber of Commerce and on
the Board of Trustees for the Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Cathedral
in Montebello.

The National, United Arab Emirates
Feb 8 2009

Darchinyan retains titles with TKO

Last Updated: February 08. 2009 1:43PM UAE / GMT

Vic Darchinyan, left, lands a punch on Jorge Arce. Chris Carlson / AP
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA // The Australia-based Armenian Vic Darchinyan
stopped Mexico’s Jorge Arce to retain his IBF, WBA, and WBC super
flyweight titles on Saturday night.

The fight ended after the eleventh round when the ringside physician
ruled that Arce could not continue because of a severe cut above his
right eye.

Darchinyan dominated throughout, keeping Arce at bay with a stiff
southpaw jab and punishing him with straight left hands and uppercuts
as Arce lunged forward.

Although Arce had some success in the early rounds, Darchinyan’s
powerful blows progressively took their toll, and in the final rounds
of the contest, Arce looked ragged.

A Darchinyan left hand in the eleventh round opened the cut that ended
the contest.

*Reuters

Daily Star – Lebanon
Feb 9 2009

Sfeir draws fire for wading into electoral waters
Patriarch warns victory for opposition camp would mean ‘historic mistakes’

By Hussein Abdallah
Daily Star staff
Monday, February 09, 2009

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir was the target of
criticism by March 8 media and politicians over the weekend following
remarks to Al-Massira magazine in which he warned against "historic
mistakes" if the March 8 Forces win the majority of seats in the
upcoming parliamentary elections.

While Free Patriotic Movement MP Camille Khoury told Hizbullah’s
Al-Manar television on Saturday that he wished Sfeir would issue a
statement denying or clarifying his comments, news reports said that
the FPM’s leader, MP Michel Aoun, would respond by boycotting a
traditional Saint Maroun Mass scheduled for Monday.

However, FPM sources said on Sunday that Aoun’s decision had nothing
to do with the patriarch’s recent comments, adding that a number of
Aounist lawmakers would be attending the service.

Former Prime Minister Omar Karami, another March 8 politician, also
tacitly criticized Sfeir on Saturday, without naming him, urging
clerics not to interfere in politics in order to avoid criticism.

Lebanese Forces (LF) lawmaker Antoine Zahra came to the defense of the
patriarch on Sunday, accusing Karami of adopting double standards.

"Why does Karami accept intervention in politics by all other
clergymen, at all levels, starting with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah?" he asked. "We don’t accept this attack and similar attacks
by irrelevant people on our religious symbols."

Sfeir met on Sunday with the commander of Lebanese Armed Forces,
General Jean Kahwaji, who attended the regular Sunday service at
Bkirki.

In his sermon, the patriarch addressed Kahwaji, asking God to help him
in managing his duties and overcoming difficulties.

LF lawmaker George Adwan also visited Sfeir on Sunday, after which he
told reporters that the patriarch’s worries were always driven by his
concern for national interests. Adwan called on all Lebanese to take
responsible decisions as they head to ballot boxes on June 7.

Asked whether a seat was reserved for him on the March 14 list in the
qada of Chouf, Adwan said that the issue had been settled a "long time
ago."

"The Lebanese Forces have reached an agreement on this issue with the
Progressive Socialist Party [PSP] and Future Movement," he said.

Adwan currently occupies one of three Maronite seats in Chouf, but he
is likely to face competition from allied candidates in the June
polls.

Future on Sunday issued a statement in response to Adwan’s remarks,
stressing that none of the nominations on March 14 lists have been
settled. "All nominations are still subject to discussions and
consultations," the statement said.

Also Sunday, former President Amin Gemayel told local daily An-Nahar
that MP Michel Murr had taken the right decision by extending his hand
to the Phalange Party in the upcoming elections. "We in turn are ready
to extend our hand to any party that shares our national aspirations,"
he said.

Murr, who last week declared his candidacy atop an independent
Christian list, said that his allies in the qada of Metn were the
Phalange Party and the Armenian Tashnak Party.

Sources close to Murr and Gemayel told An-Nahar that the two veteran
politicians would meet soon.

Gemayel also defended Sfeir on Sunday, arguing that the patriarch had
the right to worry about Lebanon’s destiny.

"Patriarch Sfeir does not practice politics in the narrow sense. The
Cedar Revolution of 2005 was launched on the basis of his
understanding of sovereignty," he said. "The fears expressed by the
patriarch are shared by most Lebanese."

Also Sunday, Speaker Nabih Berri said sectarian divisions represented
the real threat to national unity in Lebanon.

"The results of the upcoming elections will not threaten the fate of
the country, but sectarian divisions can shatter national unity," he
told members of his Amal Movement’s women’s wing. "All factions should
realize that this country can only be governed on the basis of
partnership and consensus."

On a separate front, PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt said after meeting
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the Grand Serial on Sunday that he had
decided to suspend his party’s participation in a committee designed
to discuss a defense strategy for Lebanon. The committee is the result
of four rounds of national talks between the country’s rival leaders.

Jumblatt had previously named former military officer Sharif Fayyad as
his party’s representative in the committee.

Minister of State Wael Abu Faour, also a PSP member, justified
Jumblatt’s decision on Sunday, arguing that committee discussions were
only theoretical and would not be able to change the ground situation.

"This decision is not directed against the president or the national
dialogue. It is rather a belief by MP Jumblatt that the work of the
committee will have no effect on the ground," Abu Faour said.

Hizbullah’s arsenal is at the heart of the national talks, which were
agreed to in last May’s Doha Accords that ended an 18-month power
struggle.

PRO-GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION FORCES OF ARMENIA COMMENT ON NEW RESOLUTION OF PACE DIFFERENTLY

Noyan Tapan

Feb 3, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The change in the draft resolution
proposed by the PACE Monitoring Committee and the escape from PACE
sanctions became possible thanks to the political will displayed by
the Armenian authorities, the member of "RPA" faction, spokesman
for Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Edward Sharmazanov stated
at the National Assembly. According to him, in its new resolution,
the PACE indicated the efforts of Armenian authorities to implement
Resolutions 1609 and 1620, attaching importance to the creation
of a fact-finding group on inquiry into the March 1 events and the
formation of a working group to develop amendments to Articles 225
and 300 of the RA Criminal Code. In his words, two delegations: the
Azerbaijani delegation and that of Armenia’s radical opposition were
working against the Armenian delegation in Strasbourg.

The member of "RPA" faction Hamlet Harutyunian expressed his
resentment at the fact that in the PACE, a member of the Azerbaijani
delegation spoke in defence of Armenian opposition. In the words of
H. Harutyunian, Azerbaijan pins its hopes on Armenia’s opposition in
the issue of a not pro-Armenian solution of the Karabakh problem.

The member of "Heritage" faction Zaruhi Postanjian expressed an
opinion that the authorities failed to display political will in the
implementation of the demands of the PACE. She said that no step has
been taken in this direction, and the authorities are undertaking only
"imitation" actions.

ARMENIAN TROOPS MUST LEAVE AZERBAIJANI LANDS TO RESOLVE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV

TREND
Feb 2 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
must be resolved based on UN Security Council resolutions calling
for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani lands, the
Azertaj state news agency quoted President Ilham Aliyev as saying in
an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Aliyev said the conflict remains unsolved despite years of
negotiations. He stressed that the issue must be solved in accordance
with international law.

"Unfortunately, Armenia does not comply with international law and
this is the main reason why the conflict has not been resolved. The
talks have had some progress, but not enough," Aliyev said.

He added that the OSCE Minsk Group stated that Nagorno-Karabakh’s
recognition cannot be a matter of debate after the conflict in
Georgia. The events must not set a precedent, the group added.

"But from the geopolitical point of view, if your neighbors are at
war, it is of course not beneficial for you. Georgia and Russia are
our neighbors and we maintain good relations with them both," he said.

"The Armenian-Azerbaijani talks have nothing to do with the
difficulties that we faced during the war in Georgia," Aliyev
said. "It was clearly not an easy time for us because the bulk of
our energy sources are transported through Georgia. The war was
a major obstacle. We had to look for other routes to transport our
oil. The more access that we have to world markets, the better. But the
situation in Georgia has stabilized. There are no more transportation
problems in the country. In addition, as I mentioned, there are
other routes."

THE STATEMENT OF VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN, LEADER OF THE "UNITED JAVAKHK" DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE" POLITICAL MOVEMENT

AZG Armenian Daily
03/02/2009

Javakhk

Since the day of its establishment the "United Javakhk" Democratic
Alliance" political movement, of which I am the leader, has been
seeking solutions to the problems of the Javakheti and Georgian
Armenians on the whole.

There used to be and there still are a lot of problems to face. The
Georgian authorities undertake successive actions to encourage the
immigration of the Javakheti Armenians and to change the ethnic picture
of the region. Thus, 70% of the students at the State University in
Akhalkalaki are ethnic Georgians. Moreover, a Georgian orphanage is
established and a big prison is being built in Ninotsminda, attempts
to georgianize the Armenian churches are made, new Georgian monasteries
are constructed, etc. In Javakheti there is no alternative to using the
Georgian language, which is imposed at all levels of social life. The
Javakheti Armenians are refused the right to establish an Armenian
language based university.

After the murder of the ethnic Armenian – Gevorg Gevorgyan in Tsalka
region on March 9, 2006, his relatives and friends organized a
protest action, which was forcefully broken up by the police. This
caused a well-grounded discontent of the Javakheti Armenians. The
"United Javakhk" Democratic Alliance" placed itself at the head of
this wave of protests.

After each protest action I, as a leader of the "United Javakhk"
Democratic Alliance", had a meeting with the Georgian authorities. The
latter kept on promising to solve the problems regarding the Javakheti
Armenians, however, the promises remained unfulfilled. The authorities
advised us to refrain from mass protest actions and to pursue our
objectives through participation in elections and other democratic
processes.

The "United Javakhk" Democratic Alliance" followed this
advice. In October 2006 we took part in the elections to the local
self-administration bodies, however blatant falsifications of the
voting results by the authorities deprived the "United Javakhk"
Democratic Alliance" of the opportunity to have any visible
participation in the local self-administration bodies. The protest
action organized by the "United Javakhk" Democratic Alliance" was
put down by police by means of provocation and use of force.

Throughout the year 2007 the Georgian authorities had been undertaking
successive actions to liquidate the "United Javakhk" Democratic
Alliance" and to ensure my political isolation and neutralization. The
culmination of these actions became the events that took place in
July 17-21, 2008.

Today, 6 months after my imprisonment, the Georgian authorities
charge me with organizing protest actions in Akhalkalaki in 2006,
– the actions by means of which the Javakheti Armenians voiced
the problems and issues they were concerned about and requested the
Georgian authorities to solve them; -the protest actions during which
the Javakheti Armenians voiced their discontent about the blatant
falsifications made by the authorities during the elections to the
local self-administration bodies, claiming to declare the election
results invalid.

Thus, in this courtroom I am stating the following: this lawsuit
is a farce, and the reason for continuously delaying the trial
lies in the fact that the Georgian authorities are afraid of me,
as a political activist, who is a mouthpiece for the rights of the
Javakheti Armenians. By charging me you charge the Armenian minority
of your country.

The arrests of Ahaltsikha Armenian activists Grigor Minasyan, and
Sargis Hakobjanyan are also the result of this fear. This is a new
provocation, which aims to impel the Javakheti Armenians to extremist
actions and by this to discredit the peaceful struggle of Javakheti
Armenians for their language, educational and religious rights.

As in the past, once again I request the Georgian authorities to:

Stop all the criminal cases brought against the members of the "United
Javakhk" Democratic Alliance", my relatives and friends, as well as
against me. To stop all political and economic persecutions. Release
all political prisoners who were arrested for their activities aimed
at protection of the rights of the Armenian minority, including –
of people arrested in Akhaltsikhe.

Cease all the programs aimed at the artificial change of the
demographic picture of the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Tsalka regions.

Solve all the linguistic-educational, socio-economic and cultural
problems the Armenian Minority of Georgia is concerned about.

– Register the Armenian Apostolic Church and return it all the churches
that have been confiscated during the soviet era.

– Legally authorize the use of the Armenian language in the work of
the local self-administration bodies and in general office work in
Samtskhe-Javakheti and Tsalka regions.

– Give permission for establishing an Armenian university in
Akhalkalaki.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO ASSIGN $250 MILLION ON RECONSTRUCTION OF DISASTER AREAS

ARKA
Feb 2, 2009

YEREVAN, February 2. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Government plans to assign
$250mln for reconstruction in the 1988 Spitak quake-hit regions,
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said during today’s conference on
construction issues.

Ministers and leaders of authorized agencies, Rector of Yerevan
State University of Architecture and Construction (YSUAC), as well
as specialists and private businessmen participated in the discussions.

"These large-scale investments will help restore the disaster areas,"
the premier said, stressing the need for private investments in
the project.

With construction being the most powerful impetus of the country’s
economic progress in the past years, it promotes development of other
sectors as well, Sargsyan said, pointing out a considerable decline
in Armenia’s construction business due to the global economic crisis.

The premier stressed the importance of the government assistance and
the policy of boosting economy by opening new employment opportunities,
adding construction is in the government’s focus.

"Our strategy in this situation is rather simple. The government
must extend its expenditures to open new employment opportunities,"
the premier said, hoping the expenditures would prove to be effective.

International experience has shown that the most profitable
investments are those in infrastruct ures, Sargsyan said, adding new
infrastructures in road construction, agriculture, irrigation and
the system of drinking water are the government’s top priorities.

"No one except us can make forecasts of the sector. What are your
assessments and forecasts? What joint activities do you think we need
to undertake to soften the impact of the global economic crisis?" the
premier asked the construction specialists and entrepreneurs.

During the meeting, the RA minister of Urban Development and head of
the industrial department of the RA Ministry of Economy put forth
their proposals on boosting construction, followed by remarks and
suggestions of the private sector. The businessmen presented the
current problems in the sector, touching upon expert assessments
and licensing, as well as a considerable reduction in experienced
construction specialists, procurement of equipment, modernization of
the existing industrial park and challenges in credit markets. The
participants stressed the importance of revising the legislation.

During the conference, the prime minister gave relevant instructions,
pointing out the lack of a program for the development of construction
business and insufficient professional abilities in the field. He
emphasized the role of international support to retraining programs.

Sargsyan charged the ministers of economy and urban development to
make out what kind of technical assistance is necessary to promote
construction bus iness in order to enter into negotiations with
interested international organizations.

Together with the construction specialists, the two ministers are to
elaborate a program to boost construction in Armenia.

The prime minister asked the private sector to collaborate with the
government in facing the existing challenges.

Haykakan Zhamanak , Armenia
Jan 28 2009

Hey Serzhik, now we see what you do

Yesterday’s [27 January] session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe [PACE] approved a new resolution on Armenia’s
fulfilment of requirements of PACE Resolutions 1609 and 1620,
according to which Armenia received additional time to fulfil
requirements of the above resolutions yet another time. This time
round until April, i.e. PACE’s spring session. Also, the new
resolution does not contain the term "political prisoner", albeit the
resolution initially drafted by the PACE Monitoring Commission said
that "… it considers inadmissible that people were accused and
arrested for political motives and that there are political prisoners
in Armenia" [ellipses as given].

It may seem to some people that what happened in PACE yesterday is a
surprise, taking into consideration the circumstance that the
resolution approved by the Monitoring Commission on 17 December [2008]
was unprecedentedly strict, and until recently Europeans continued to
make harsh statements. That is the situation was getting tenser in the
last months, which gave representatives of the authorities ground to
speak more about the expected application of sanctions against
Armenia.

However, extremely noteworthy events have preceded the PACE session;
it is possible to retrospectively assess their significance now. At
issue is the 15 January and 20 January visits of the PACE
co-rapporteurs and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs [respectively] to
Yerevan. These are events that are not connected with each other only
at first glance. In fact, two important issues were decided during
these visits – whether the meeting between [Armenian President] Serzh
Sargsyan and [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev will take place
today in Davos [Switzerland] and whether the co-rapporteurs’
suggestion on applying sanctions against Armenia will remain
valid. That is, if it had become clear during the visit of the
co-rapporteurs that Sargsyan would refuse to meet Aliyev in Davos and
to hold talks on the Karabakh issue – in a specific direction expected
by the international community – then the resolution approved by the
Monitoring Commission on 17 December [2008] might have been approved
today in PACE. However, Sargsyan, realizing the seriousness of the
moment, was able to make a "correct" choice, which is why the
resolution, which contained the term "political prisoner", remained in
the past. However, the Karabakh negotiations are lying ahead of us,
that is the ball is now in Sargsyan’s court.

PS. It became clear yesterday that the World Bank decided last week
[18-24 January] to provide Armenia with 525m-dollar assistance for a
period of four years as a result of months-long negotiations. This is
noteworthy since in the beginning of the year the government itself
assessed the probability of getting this support as very low. There
can be no doubt that a Ministry of Finance delegation, which departed
for Moscow the day before [26 January], will also be successful, and
the Russians will all of a sudden agree to give Armenia money.

[translated from Armenian]