Tigran Sargsyan Hopeful Upper Lars Check-Point To Open In Spring 201

TIGRAN SARGSYAN HOPEFUL UPPER LARS CHECK-POINT TO OPEN IN SPRING 2010

NOYAN TAPAN
DECEMBER 25, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan is hopeful that the Upper Lars check-point will open in the
spring of 2010. He said during the December 25 press conference that
in this case the cargo transportation by trucks will resume and more
favorable conditions will form for economic entities.

The prime minister said that in 2009 commodity turnover by rail grew
by 15% as compared to 2008, which was first of all due to the closure
of the Upper Lars road.

Lie And Optimism Of Ilham Heydarovich

LIE AND OPTIMISM OF ILHAM HEYDAROVICH
By David Stepanyan

ArmInfo
2009-12-25 13:28:00

ArmInfo. After such a significant event for Azerbaijan like celebration
of the birthday of the regular ruler of the Aliyevs regime, its worthy
representative in the face of Ilham Aliyev, probably under the effect
of wine, has forgotten a little some obvious circumstances and facts
of the past and present of the Karabakh conflict. The regular display
of his absence of mind was the statement made in an interview with
the Russian TV channel ‘Vesti’.

‘Unfortunately, our hopes for 2009 have not become true in the volume
which we hoped on’, – he said. Then the Azerbaijani governor, as
always, made Armenia responsible for all his delusive hopes and said
that ‘our hopes that we shall manage to settle the Karabakh conflict
in 2009 or at least to agree on the basic principles fell short of
expectations not because of us.’ Then he added that it was fixed in the
joint Maindorf Declaration of the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Russian Federation about the ways of the conflict settlement
that it should be resolved on the basis of principles and norms of
international law. Then according to his logic, Aliyev-junior, though
he has recently become 48, said that the above mentioned principles and
norms of the international law result at 4 resolutions of UN Security
Council, ‘which demand immediate removal of the Armenian occupation
troops from the territory of Azerbaijan.’Then paltering with truth
a little, he said that ‘restoration of territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan is the main goal of his life’.

Aliyev said that despite the unclear unwillingness of the Karabakh
residents to come back under his monarchy, striving to live in the
republic, he continues remaining an optimist and has certain hopes
to snatch control of the NKR in the coming 2010. Ilham Heydarovich
has traditionally connected his optimism with ‘his elder brother
or sister’, as you like, in the person of Turkey. ‘The topic of the
Karabakh settlement has become one of the key ones on the international
agenda. It has become clear to many people, which probably did not
fully understand it, that they will not manage to resolve other
regional conflicts without settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
one’, – the father of the Azerbaijani people said. Finally, Aliyev
traditionally said that ‘Azerbaijan will not let the Karabakh process
to be frozen ones and forever’. Understanding very well the real
motives of the desire of the whole life of the Azerbaijani leader
to restore the mythic territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, let us
nevertheless mention several facts which may dispel his optimism and
indecent appetite. The first and most important fact which causes
no doubt is falsity of the Azerbaijani version about the reasons of
the Karabakh conflict. The conflict started not in 1991 in Nagornyy
Karabakh ‘as a result of aggression’, as Azerbaijan’s propaganda
machine says, but on 28 February 1988 in Azerbaijani Sumgait as a
result massacre of the Armenian civilian population implemented by
Azerbaijani mob. Just the Sumgait tragedy was the beginning of the
bloody conflict at the post-Soviet territory, the conflict which took
the life of thousands people from both sides.

There are thousands of proofs of Azerbaijan’s propaganda. We will
bring just the latest ones. Within a day the Azerbaijani Media managed
to report about the woman killed on the contract-line of the NKR and
Azerbaijani armed forces on December 20 the following: at first the
woman was reported to be killed by the "Armenian" soldier. Then it
turned out that it was the Azerbaijani soldier that shot the woman
dead. Afterwards, that "Armenian" woman by some miracle turned into
Azerbaijani. All this "miracle" news reports were accompanied with
the photo of a Georgian woman killed in August 2008 in South Ossetia.

Azerbaijani media took such a work-style long ago. Just over the
last few months, they at least thrice used false photo materials to
show "aggression of the Armenian party." Azerbaijani anti-Armenian
propaganda tries everything. Earlier in August they posted the photo
of a Georgian soldier killed in August 2008 as a "proof" of the human
loss on the Karabakh party allegedly after attack by the NKR defense
army units on the Azerbaijani position.

The Azeri propaganda, thanks to ability of Aliyev who constantly
complains of uncompromising attitude of Armenians, has been sending
forth a cry about the mythical "Khojalu genocide." As a proof of the
"genocide" Aliyev regime henchmen shot a "truthful" documentary about
the Karabakh conflict using the photos of the killed residents of
Kosovo downloaded from a Canadian website as the picture of alleged
"victims of the Armenian aggression." The Nagorny Karabakh Republic
Foreign Minister easily revealed that shady undertaking. Earlier that
fabrication accompanied with tragic comments was posted on the website
of Heydar Aliyev Fund headed by the reigning wife Mahriban Aliyeva.

There is too much lie and the bright family name of the Aliyevs is
mentioned for too many times in these comments not to link them.

In this context, we have to say that in the passing year 2009 like
in all the previous years since the beginning of the Azerbaijani
aggression, the major instrument of Azerbaijani negotiators
during the meetings with the mediators were lie, falsifications and
misinformation. Since Aliyev has no intention to change his methods of
"telling the truth" about the Karabakh conflict and at the same time
is optimistic about settlement of the conflict in 2010, the Armenian
party must at least take similar steps with regard to Azerbaijan.

Especially, there are too many proofs of the barbarism of the
Azerbaijani gangsters especially released from jails against
Armenians. These are real proofs and not photos of the neighbor
Georgians killed during the war with Ossetia. The key proof of the
false stance of Aliyev is the elementary monarchy, specifically,
the dynastic regime of the Aliyevs in the "democratic" Azerbaijan
"integrating" with the West. What makes that regime still stay up
is the petroleum in the natural resources in Azerbaijan. The world
community is ready to close eyes on the faults of any country able to
"offer something" even if that "offers" are accompanied with lie,
falsification of history and lack of elementary human consciousness.

Turkey Appoints Ambassador To U.S.

TURKEY APPOINTS AMBASSADOR TO U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.12.2009 12:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Namık Tan was named Turkey’s new Ambassador to
Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Namık Tan replaced Nabi
Å~^ensoy, the former Turkish ambassador to Washington.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the assignment, which will
come into effect after being published in the Official Gazette.

Best Armenian Sambo Wrestlers Announced

BEST ARMENIAN SAMBO WRESTLERS ANNOUNCED

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.12.2009 12:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Sambo Federation has announced the
best Armenian sambo wrestlers, coaches and referees.

Best sambo wrestlers are:

1. Vachik Vardanyan (bronze winner of European Championship, silver
winner of World Championship.
2. Ashot Danilelyan ( bronze winner of World Cup and World
championship)
3. Zhanna Vardanyan (bronze winner of European Championship)

Best coaches are:
1. Samvel Avdalyan
2. Ernest Mirzoyan
3. Gurgen Sevoyan

Best referees are:
1. Eduard Aslanyan
2. Vovik Khojayan
3. Gohar Gevorgyan

South Caucasus Railway Not To Revise Pricing Policy Next Year

SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAY NOT TO REVISE PRICING POLICY NEXT YEAR

ARKA
Dec 24, 2009

YEREVAN, December 24, /ARKA/. The South Caucasus Railways (SCR) company
CEO Shevket Shaidulin said today the company does not plan to revise
its pricing policy next year, but said some rate changes will be made
in compliance with railway policies of former Soviet republics with
regard to domestic and international cargo transportation.

He said the main focus next year will be the domestic and international
cargo transportation. He also said the company has announced New Year
discounts to attract more customers. He complained of protracted
10- day New Year holidays, granted by the government, saying the
company’s operation will be complicated until January 11 as many
organizations will not be working until then. This is why, he said,
the South Caucasus Railways company has announced special discounts
that will be effective from December 31 to January 10 next year. He
said the company will offer a 22% discount also for passenger travels.

In 2007 the Armenian government called tenders for a 30-year
concession to modernize and operate Armenian Railways. An Indian
RITES and Russian Railways qualified to bid, but the Indian company
withdrew. The Russian Railways was the only bidder and has set up
South Caucasian Railway as a subsidiary to run the Armenian Railway.

The concession agreement was concluded for 30 years, with a right of
extension for another 20 years after the first 20 years of operation.

Levon Malkhasyan – Embodiment Of Yerevan And Jazz

LEVON MALKHASYAN – EMBODIMENT OF YEREVAN AND JAZZ

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.12.2009 19:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President Serzh Sargsyan has congratulated Armenian
jazzman Levon Malkhasyan on his 65th jubilee.

In his address, President particularly says, "You devoted 45 years of
your life to jazz, enriching Yerevan, a town you love most. And you
became the embodiment of both Yerevan and jazz. As such, I congratulate
you and wish you new achivements. "

Armenian Power Production Down By 7 Percent

ARMENIAN POWER PRODUCTION DOWN BY 7 PERCENT

ARKA
Dec 23, 2009

YEREVAN, December 23, /ARKA/. Armenian power generating facilities
produced this year 5.680 billion KWH electricity, by 7% less than in
2008, energy and mineral resources minister Armen Movsisyan said today.

Speaking at a news conference he said the entire generated electricity
was sold. He explained the decline by the fact that mining, cement
and chemical enterprises, major power consumers, had to halt their
operations at the beginning of the year.

According to the minister, hydropower pants accounted this year for 2
billion KWh electricity. He said power generated by small hydropower
plants rose to 335 million KWH from 259 million KWh last year.

Thermal power plants produced 1.1 billion KWH electricity, down from
1.,8 billion last year.

BAKU: Georgian Azerbaijanis Ask Barack Obama To Veto Congress’ Decis

GEORGIAN AZERBAIJANIS ASK BARACK OBAMA TO VETO CONGRESS’ DECISION

Today
58451.html
Dec 23 2009
Azerbaijan

The Congress of Georgian Azerbaijanis has sent a letter to the US
President Barrack Obama asking him to veto the Congress’ decision to
allocate $8 million to the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists.

The letter says: "We are deeply concerned with the US Congress`
plans to give the financial assistance to the separatist regime. And
we regard this not a humanitarian, but a moral support to separatism
and the aggressors who occupied the Azerbaijani lands."

"If one insists that it is the humanitarian aid then it raises a
question: If the United States of America recognizes Azerbaijan`s
territorial integrity, then the financial assistance allocated to
the Nagorno-Karabakh, an integral part of Azerbaijan, would have to
be part of the funding given to Azerbaijan."

http://www.today.az/news/politics/

ANKARA: ‘Party Closures Not Conducive To Democracy’

‘PARTY CLOSURES NOT CONDUCIVE TO DEMOCRACY’

Today’s Zaman
Dec 22 2009
Turkey

A former US ambassador to Turkey has said that party closures and
bans on political leaders do not encourage democracy from an American
viewpoint.

Answering questions from the Anatolia news agency in Washington,
current Ambassador James Jeffrey’s predecessor, Ambassador Ross
Wilson, said that the closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP)
has both legal and political grounds. He added that he does not have
anything to say regarding the legal grounds but politically it is
not in parallel with the American way of thinking.

Regarding the formation of a new party and DTP deputies’ decision
to join that party, Wilson said the move could contribute to the
continuation of Turkey’s democratic initiative.

Wilson also said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent
visit to the White House was productive. Regarding the "model
partnership" concept coined by US President Barack Obama during his
visit to Turkey this year shortly after taking office, Wilson said
Turkey and the United States share a number of mutual interests and
should work on their relationship to increase their cooperation.

About the "axis shift" regarding Turkey’s foreign policy orientation,
Wilson said that Turkey’s steps to improve its relations with Iran,
Syria and other Middle Eastern countries and its rapprochement
with Armenia are all good and not a sign of a decrease in Turkey’s
inclination toward the European Union and NATO.

In regards to Turkey’s relations with Iran, Wilson said Turkey has
been quite clear in its messages to Iran. He added that Turkey does
not want proliferation of nuclear weapons in its region and wants Iran
to be integrated into the international community. Wilson stressed
that Turkey is in a position to help those states that are concerned
about Iran’s actions in a region where there are already many problems.

Albania Defends The Right Of Peoples To Self-Determination

ALBANIA DEFENDS THE RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION

armradio.am
21.12.2009 18:45

The newly appointed Ambassador of Albania, Vili Minarolli (seat in
Athens), today presented his credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan.

President Sargsyan congratulated the Ambassador on appointment and
attached importance to the importance of intensification of the
political dialogue between the two countries.

The parties agreed that there are no obstacles for the development
of relations between the two countries.

President Sargsyan and Ambassador Minarolli exchanged views on a
number of regional issues. Touching upon the Karabakh issue, President
Sargsyan underlined that it’s an issue of self-determination of the
people of Nagorno Karabakh and has no religious component.

Ambassador Minarolli said "Albania constantly defends the right of
peoples to self-determination."