Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

Interfax, Russia
Oct 16 2009

Armenia plans to start building its section of oil pipeline from Iran
in 2009

YEREVAN Oct 16

Armenia plans to start building its section of an oil product pipeline
to run from Iran’s Tabriz to Yeraskh in southern Armenia before the
end of 2009, Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen
Movsisian said at a press conference on Friday.

Russia will take part in the project, he said.

At the first stage of the project, oil products from Iran would be
shipped to Yeraskh and then distributed around Armenia, Movsisian
said.

The shipments of oil products from Iran through the pipeline are
expected to considerably reduce fuel prices in Armenia.

It was reported earlier that Iran would finance the project, which was
estimated at $240 million-$250 million.

The pipeline will be used for shipping petrol and diesel fuel from an
oil refinery in Tabriz to Armenia. A fuel storage terminal should be
built in Yeraskh as well.

Armenia’s annual demand for fuel is 450,000-500,000 tonnes.

Gafeschyan Cultural Centre to open with Arshil Gorky’s exhibition
17.10.2009 17:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 8-January 31, 2010, Gafeschyan Art
Centre of Yerevan will host the exhibition of outstanding
American-Armenian painter Arshil Gorky, the most monumental
representative of XX century American art. Exhibition will display 16
graphical and 7 oil paintings from the personal collection of Gerard
L. Gafeschyan.

The event will be organized within the frames of Gafeschyan art centre
opening ceremony due in Yerevan on October 7. The same evening,
there’ll be a firework display on the territory of Cascade complex.
Next day, on November 8, the center will host the opening of `For you
Armenia’ exhibition.

The exhibition will display Gerard L. Gafeschyan’s rich personal
collection. The exposition comprises over 100 works by outstanding
gifted masters Libensky and Brychtova . Having worked together for 50
years, spouses Libensky and Brychtova are among the most renowned
representatives of 20th century creative art.

The same day, `David of Sasun’ hall of Gafeschyan art center will host
the presentation of book titled `Libensky and Brychtova’. Both
exhibition opening and book presentation will be attended by Yaroslava
Brychtova.

Gafeschyan museum fund was established in 2002 in Yerevan, under the
auspices of RA Government and Gafeschyan Museum Foundation of America.

The objective was to create a museum of art complying with
international standards, as well as develop a cultural-tourist centre
in Yerevan.

RA Government allotted to the fund the unfinished complex of Cascade
with its adjacent territories.

American businessmen of Armenian decent, Gerard L. Gafeschyan invested
USD 35 million in complex reconstruction, as gratuitous donation to
Armenian people.

ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS ARE MAIN FACTORS OF WORLD ARMENIAN DIASPORA’S INFLUENCE: EXPERTS

Trend
Oct 7 2009
Azerbaijan

The disagreement between the Armenian authorities and the world
Armenian diasporas in the issue of signing the Armenian-Turkish
protocols occurred due to the fact that the issues relating
to Turkey are the main factors of the world Armenian diasporas’
influence. However, the diasporas unlikely will be able to disrupt
the establishment of the Ankara-Yerevan relations, experts believes.

"At present, the lobby intends not only to help Armenia, but harm
Turkey" Cornell said. "This agreement will define the specific borders
between Turkey and Armenia and the diaspora will not recognize the
existing borders," the director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
at Johns Hopkins University, Svante Cornell, believes.

Earlier Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trend News
in an exclusive interview that Turkey and Armenia will sign a deal
to establish diplomatic ties on Oct. 10.

Opposition parties in Armenia have hinted at the possibility of
proposing amendments to the text, including on the proposal to set
up a commission to address the genocide issue.

During his recent international visit, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan met with representatives of Armenian diasporas in Europe,
Argentina and the U.S, and many of them expressed their opposition
to the signing of a Turkish-Armenian agreement.

The Armenian diaspora holds protests worldwide. Sargsyan faced these
actions in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. The demonstrators met
the Armenian president with slogans such as "Traitor!", "No protocols".

Several opposition parties in Armenia are also against Sargsyan’s
policy. Such meetings are also held against signing of the protocols.

On Oct.6, rally was held in Yerevan to protest signing of protocols
on development of relations with Turkey, Armenia Today said. The
event was organized by the movement Miasum "(" Unity "). Protesters
marched to the memorial dedicated to victims of so-called "genocide"
of Armenians. There they burned copy of protocols in eternal fire,
as well as a photo of President Serzh Sargsyan.

According to the experts, the Armenian diasporas are afraid of losing
influence after the signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

The world Armenian lobby seriously prevents the normalization of the
Turkish-Armenian relations, since the issues relating to Turkey are
the main factors of the world Armenian diasporas’ influence, Turkish
MP Reshad Dogru said.

The world Armenian lobby hampers normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations with all its might, Cornell added.

"There is great difference between Armenia and the world Armenian
lobby. What is advantageous to the country is not always advantageous
to the Diaspora" Cornell told Trend News over phone on Oct.7.

According to Cornell, the diaspora believes that the Armenian
government does not speak on behalf of its people. "The Diaspora does
its best to influence the president and the Diaspora’s actions are
headache for the Armenian government," Cornell added.

The Armenian diaspora acts rather bravely for many years because the
lobby supports not only financial stability of the country, but also
the internal political processes, the expert said.

However, it is too early to predict the results of the disagreement of
the Armenian government and the world Armenian lobby, the experts said.

As a whole, it is still too early to speak about duration of
impact that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and the world Armenian
diaspora’s confrontation will have, Director of the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies (ACNIS), Richard Giragosian, said.

"The real impact will depend on whether the Turkish parliament ratifies
the protocols.That is the biggest test and it is still to come,"
Giragosian wrote to Trend News via e-mail.

According to the Turkish MP, the Armenian lobby is unlikely to achieve
the breakdown of negotiations.

"I do not believe the Armenian lobby will make breakdown of the
Turkish-Armenian relations, because this is a pro-American project,
and the U.S. government approves the settlement of relations, which
means that the Armenian lobby has failed to play a role," Dogru added.

The issue of the influence of the Diaspora groups in shaping foreign
policy of Armenia is ambiguous, European Expert on Caucasus Licinia
Simao believes.

"The situation is extremely delicate for the Armenian President and his
government, but his decision to consult with the Armenian Diasporas
world -wide, in my view, attest to the serious efforts by Armenian
leaders to bring this process to a positive conclusion," member of
University of Coimbra, Simao wrote to trend News in an e-mail.

According to Simao, despite the radical opposition by some groups,
others more moderate exist and have voiced their support to the
reconciliation process. This is an important departure from the
previous image of the Armenian Diaspora as an homogeneous group.

"Therefore, the balance between being optimistic or pessimistic is
hard to achieve. A lot can happen to derail or endlessly postpone
the process," Simao said.

However, concerning the important US and EU support to this process
which have helped both the Armenian and the Turkish governments
withhold criticism at home and abroad, Simao added.

But with the recent "tour" of the Armenian diapsora, President Sargsyan
seems much more confident and ambitious in taking on the opponents
to normalizing relations with Turkey, Giragosian added.

"In this sense, Sargsyan is confronting the diaspora head-on and, so
far, he seems to be succeeding in deflecting the criticism.Interesting,
this is also resulting in a broad division between the diaspora
and the Armenian government, which only seems to please Turkey,"
the director added.

R.Hafizoglu contributed in the article.

GRAND CANDY COMMITS ACTS OF UNFAIR COMPETITION, SAYS UKRAINIAN PRODUCER

Tert.am
15:56 16.10.09

"Armenian local manufacturer Grand Candy commits acts of unfair
competition, " said Ukraine’s Kharkiv Biscuit Factory General Director
Alla Kovalenko.

"We export our products to the US, European countries, Russia; we have
no problem of selling our products," Kovalenko stated, noting that
Grand Candy has patented more than 100 types of products in Armenia,
most of which are not manufactured by the company and those products
which Grand Candy patented are not limited to the assortment at the
Kharkiv plant.

"Sometimes we don’t have the time to register the names of our types
of products in other countries, since it takes a long time. Grand
Candy has patented such names of our products, which are only in
Ukrainian, for example, ‘Slabojanskaya Lastochka,’ ‘Slabojanskaya
Romashka.’ During the czarist Russia times, part of the present
territory of Kharkiv was called Slabojanshina.

"Though Grand Candy manufactures only 166 types of products, it has
patents for more than 1,000. It turned out that confectionary licensed
in the Ukraine and produced by us for years is counterfeit in Armenia
and we aren’t able to sell it. It’s the consumer who suffers from
all this in the first place," said Kovalenko.

The Ukrainian delegation headed by Kharkiv Regional State
Administration head Arsen Avakov is presently in Armenia.

Why Armenians cannot ‘get past’ the genocide

Allowing Turkey to continue its denial of the 1915-1918 genocide is too high
a price for Armenia to pay for normalized relations.

By Karnig Dukmajian

Los Angeles Times
3:22 PM PDT, October 15, 2009

Just as The Times expressed in its Oct. 13 editorial, "Turkey and Armenia:
reconciling history," I believe that it’s in both countries’ interest to
restore diplomatic ties and open their shared border. However, I cannot help
but question the logic of The Times’ appeal to Armenians and Turks to "get
beyond" the issue of the Armenian genocide — especially when the editorial
board shares the concern of Armenians that the establishment of a commission
to study the genocide is "simply a means for Turkey to continue denying
history."

For Armenians, there is no "getting beyond" the issue of the genocide.
Turkey’s denial of the genocide, for which it has gone unpunished, is an
injustice all Armenians must live with every day.

Imagine this: Suppose Israel and Germany share a common border, as Armenia
and Turkey do. Suppose also that Germany has not recognized that the
Holocaust took place; that Germany admits only that some Jews died in "civil
unrest" during World War II, and that Germany claims that Jews also killed
many Germans. Suppose West Germany did not pay 3 billion marks in
reparations to Israel (which it did in the 1950s and ’60s), renovate
deserted Jewish synagogues across Germany or establish memorial parks where
concentration and extermination camps once stood. Suppose then that 16 years
ago, Germany unilaterally decided to shut its common border with Israel in
solidarity with a third country with which Israel went to war, and that its
stated purpose of such action was to cause Israel economic strain. And
finally, suppose that after much international pressure, Germany has decided
it will reopen the border but only if Israel agrees to make several
concessions, including partaking in a commission to study whether the
Holocaust actually took place and making territorial concessions in its
unresolved conflict with the third country.

These circumstances would justifiably outrage the international community.
But today, no one shares in the Armenians’ outrage as they continue their
long march on the road to justice alone.

Turkey and Armenia should establish diplomatic relations, but it should not
come at so high a price for Armenians. Turkey’s calculated campaign of
choking Armenia’s economy — after having nearly annihilated its people less
than a century ago — and subsequently seeking concessions in return for
reopening the border should be unequivocally condemned by all Western
democracies. Instead, the foreign ministers of the European Union, the
United States, France, Switzerland and Russia were on hand in Zurich last
week to applaud the lopsided agreement signed by Armenia and Turkey.

For Turkey, this is another victory in its efforts to erase the genocide
from the world’s memories, a campaign it prosecutes both within its own
borders (a national law makes it illegal to insult the Turkish nation, which
the government uses to prosecute those who speak truthfully about the
genocide) and abroad by working to stop further international recognition of
the genocide. For the West to applaud the agreement reached by Turkey and
Armenia, presumably due to geopolitical gains, is to condone sweeping under
the rug one of the world’s worst unpunished crimes.

It is highly offensive to suggest that Turkey and Armenia "get beyond" the
Armenian genocide. To "get beyond" an issue, one must first face it. It is
impossible for either Turkey or Armenia to "get beyond" the Armenian
genocide because Turkey has not yet faced its crime.

Karnig Dukmajian lives in Tarzana.

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

DAVID SHAHNAZARYAN PROPOSES THE NA TO ADOPT A LAW SIMILAR TO ARTICLE 301 OF THE TURKISH PENAL CODE
Anna Nazaryan

"Radiolur"
16.10.2009 15:25

Representative of the Armenian National Congress presented proposals
today, in case of application of which we would stand on an equal
position with Turkey after the ratification of the protocols.

A month ago David Shahnazaryan declared he would make a proposal, which
the authorities could hardly refuse from. Today he actually suggested
the parliament to adopt a law similar to Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code before the protocols would enter the National Assembly.

"Before the protocols are brought to the parliament floor, the
National Assembly should adopt a law, prohibiting any official,
representatives of the local self-government bodies, legislative and
executive bodies to participate in any discussion that would call into
question the fact of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire,"
David Shahnazaryan said.

According to him, this will somewhat balance the situation in the
sub-committee of historians and will provide no opportunity to discuss
the genocide issue.

Shahnazaryan next proposed to prevent Turkey’s efforts to tie the
Armenian-Turkish relations to the Karabakh issue.

Representative of the Armenian National Congress suggests that the
authorities fix a term of two months for ratification of the protocols
by the Turkish Parliament and state that otherwise they will cancel
the process.

ULLI WEGNER: ARTHUR WILL FIND A WAY TO BEAT TAYLOR

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.10.2009 10:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 67-year-old trainer Ulli Wegner is of the opinion
that his fighter, Arthur Abraham, will win the entire "Super Six"
168-pound tournament.

"Anybody that I train, has to train hard," said Wegner. "If Arthur
wants to win and if he wants to be successful he has to accept the
demands that I ask of him. The only way, in my view, to achieve great
things in such a competitive sport as boxing is to go through a lot
of pain.

Commenting on the impending fight vs. Taylor, he said, "We have had
a great training camp. We went to a small island in the Baltic Sea so
that Arthur could get away from all the frenzy in Berlin. He is ready
to move up in weight. Taylor is a great fighter, a true champion,
but Arthur will find a way to beat him."

"Most everybody, obviously, hopes to avoid pain. So, my role as
Arthur’s trainer is that I have to help him fight through the pain
barrier. When he fought Edison Miranda the first time, his jaw was
broken in two places. It was mostly my decision to let him continue
fighting through that. It didn’t look very pretty. His jaw was broken
in two places, but it was not up high on his face. Had it been up
higher I would have had no choice but to stop the fight," he said,
boxingscene.com reported.

The 29-year-old Abraham, the former IBF middleweight titlist, is
undefeated at 30-0, 24KOs. Many are predicting that he will be the
last man standing when the tournament is over. First up for Abraham
is former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. The fight takes place
Oct. 17 in Berlin, Germany.

"This historic tournament will revolutionize boxing. We are thrilled
to stage the first fight of the Super Six. Abraham and Taylor are two
great champions who will please the crowd with a spectacular fight,"
Abraham’s promoter Wilfried Sauerland said. "Arthur has been in great
shape and he is very happy that he does not have to lose much weight
any more. He is excited to get in the ring knowing th n will support
him. We are looking forward to Saturday."

NAGORNO-KARABAKH LOOMS IN REGIONAL TIES

United Press International, Asia
Top News
Published: Oct. 14, 2009

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) — The ratification of protocols restoring
bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia are beneficial for both,
though regional issues remain, an expert said.

Claims of genocide against the Armenian people under the Ottoman
Empire during World War I damaged bilateral relations.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan,
which was engaged in a military conflict over the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkish and Armenian leaders convened in Zurich, Switzerland, during
the weekend to sign measures that would normalize bilateral relations
if approved by both governments.

Henri Barkey, a Turkish expert and visiting scholar at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, described the protocol as beneficial
for both Turkey and Armenia.

"Turkey will have removed an important source of tension with their
allies in Europe and across the Atlantic," he said. "The Armenians
will benefit economically, especially if they can slowly link into
the oil and gas pipeline networks in the region."

Regional relations are complicated, however, over issues regarding
Nagorno-Karabakh, an area of dispute between Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Yerevan claims ethnic Armenians are deprived of their basic
rights in the territory, while Baku argues those solutions lie in
annexing Nagorno-Karabakh.

"It is too early to tell how the region as a whole will be affected,"
says Barkey. "Much depends on Azerbaijan’s reaction, and future
efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem."

2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ORGANIZATION OF YOUTH’S ARMY ENROLLMENT GAINING IMPORTANCE IN VIEW OF RAPPROCHEMENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.10.2009 16:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today, RA Defense Ministry’s Army Enrollment
Committee sitting was held, attended by RA Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan, General Staff Chief of RA Armed Forces Yuriy Khatchaturov,
representative of RA NA Committee for Defense issues, Chief of RA
Police Alik Sargsyan, Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan and RA Deputy
Health Minister Hayk Darbinyan.

As Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan noted in his statement,
army enrollment is an important event aimed at raising RA
Army’s fighting efficiency. He emphasized the importance of army
enrollment organization in view of RA -Turkey rapprochement, as
Armenian authorities are revising defense doctrine in connection
with normalization of relations with neighboring countries. "We,
as supporters of RA-Turkey ties normalization, have to undertake
steps towards negative factors’ neutralization," RA Defense Minister
stressed.

ARMENIAN FM WAS TENSE
Diana Markosyan Zurich, Switzerland

12/signing
12:03 pm | October 12, 2009

Politics

What happened in Zurich on October 10 caught unawares not only
Armenian and Turkish journalists but also the meeting organizers –
the Swedish side.

While the organisers were preparing for the signing of the Protocols
between Armenia and Turkey, international mass media circulated
information that the Armenian side had refused to sign the Protocols.

After making a few telephone calls Turkish journalists left the
University of Zurich, while Armenian journalists continued waiting
for the comments of the Armenian FM in total hesitation.

At 5:00 p.m. (European time), the ceremony participants, musicians,
administrative employees, left the premises while Armenian journalists
continued waiting. At about 6:30 Spokesman for the RA Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Tigran Balayan informed them to wait as "they were
arriving."

Half an hour later RA Ambassador to Switzerland, world-renowned
chansonnier Charles Aznavour entered the building escorted by other
participants. After Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton appeared on the monitors it
became clear that the signing would commence soon.

But for some unknown reasons the signing was delayed. The Turkish
and Swedish journalists who had left the building were soon back to
participate in the historical event.

At about 8:15 (Yerevan time), after a three-hour delay, the signing
ceremony started in the University of Zurich with the participation
of U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton, RF FM Sergey Lavrov, French
FM Bernard Kouchner, Secretary-General of the Council of the European
Union Javier Solana, President of the CoE Committee of Ministers and
Slovenian FM Samuel Zbogar.

Before the signing, Swedish FM Micheline Calmy-Rey announced that
great efforts had been taken to bring the sides to the signing of
the Protocols. He also underlined Turkey’s former FM Ali Babacan’s
key participation in the process. "If the sides are ready, they are
welcome to sign the documents," announced Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian was tense during the signing while
Turkish FM Davutoglu was obviously glad and hurried up with the
signing. The other officials including Ms. Clinton stared at
Mr. Nalbandian and the movements of his hand.

After the Protocols were signed the two FMs shook hands and embraced
their senior partners. RA Foreign Minister looked tired and sad.

The FMs made no announcements after the signing though they were
scheduled to.

While the FMs were signing the documents a group of local Armenians
staged a protest action in front of the University building demanding
the RA FM to abstain from signing.

After the ceremony, RA MFA Spokesman Tigran Balayan announced, "We
witnessed a historical event today supported by the international
community. We highly appreciate the support of our partners."

With regard to the foreseen announcements, Mr. Balayan said: "The
verbal announcements carried some unacceptable interpretations for
the Armenian side and a decision was made during the talks to cancel
the announcements."

Although the Swedish side had promised journalists to arrange
interviews with the FMs and guests, they were deprived of the
opportunity because of the unexpected turn of events.

Armenian journalists didn’t have an opportunity to see Clinton,
Lavrov,Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian. All their efforts to speak
to them outside the buildings failed because of police.