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FRENCH PROFESSOR OPTIMISTIC OVER NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.01.2010 20:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The moment of normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations has come, and the Protocols of the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations provide a good opportunity, regardless of
whether they would be ratified in the parliaments of two countries
or not, Professor Catherine Kessedjian from the University of
Pantheon-Assas, Paris told the third Forum on "Armenian-Turkish
Protocols: reality and myth" held at George Washington University.

The forum was attended by both Armenian and Turkish, Azerbaijani,
Russians, American students, diplomats. Catherine Kessedjian attached
importance to the very fact of the Protocols. According to her, these
documents clearly evidence that Armenia and Turkey pledge to adhere to
international standards of peaceful solutions to the problems. "We,
the Armenians and Turks should reach an agreement. That is why the
protocols are so essential, " the professor said.

In regard to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey,
Catherine Kessedjian noted that there are at least psychological
problems in Turkey to admit this fact. She recalled, the legal term
"crime against humanity" was first used in respect to Armenian people.

French professor expressed hope that in the coming years by the
100-year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, certain processes to
restore justice will start in international bodies.

The "The Armenian-Turkish Protocols: reality and myth" forum was
organized by Policy Forum Armenia, American Society of International
Law and the Faculty of Law at George Washington University. The
first forum was held at George Washington University in November
2009, the second one was held on December 17 at Lincoln Center of
Fordham University (New York). Policy Forum Armenia is an independent,
nonprofit organization that aims to strengthen the discourse around
the state policy of Armenia.

The protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the common border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich
by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of
diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation.

The Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire (1915-23) was the 21st
century’s first genocide characterized by the use of massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead
to the death of the deportees, with the total one-and-a-half million
number of Armenian deaths. The date of the onset of the genocide
is conventionally held to be April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman
authorities arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community
leaders in Constantinople. Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted
Armenians from their homes and forced them to march for hundreds of
miles, depriving them of food and water, to the desert of what is now
Syria. To date, twenty countries have officially recognized the events
of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars and historians
accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also recognized by
influential authoritative media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post, The Associated Press.

TONIGHT ARMENIAN YOUTH WILL HAVE SALTY SCONES

News.am
12:47 / 01/29/2010

January 30, 2010 the feast of St. Sarkis the Captain and his
soldiers-companions, proclaimed the day of youth’s blessing is
celebrated. Captain St. Sarkis is one of the most beloved saints among
the Armenian nation, who together with his 14 soldiers-companions
was martyred for the sake of Christian faith.

The youngsters connect fulfillment of their wishes with St. Sarkis. On
the previous night, January 29, they have salty scones hoping to
dream of their special someone.

On January 30, all churches of St. Sarkis will hold services followed
by blessing of the youth.

ESTABLISHMENT OF EUROPEAN DESIGN INSTITUTE’S BRANCH AND TECHO PARK IN GYUMRI DISCUSSED

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.01.2010 15:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Establishment of European Design Institute’s branch
and Techo Park in Gyumri were discussed during the meeting of Armenian
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan with the Deputy Minister of Economic
Development of Italy Paolo Romani in Yerevan, press office of the
government reported.

Prime Minister highly praised the Armenian-Italian relations,
in particular, cooperation in the construction sphere. In turn,
Paolo Romani said that he is surprised by the capacities of Armenian
specialists and offered to organize training of Armenian specialists
in Italy in the field of digitization of TV and radio.

Italian delegation led by Italian Deputy Minister of Economic
Development Paolo Romani, paid a visit to Armenia. The delegation
involved experts in the area of digital television and radio,
broadband Internet, in particular, from Italian Elsag Datamat of
Finmeccanica company.

The program to establish Technopark in Gyumri was approved by the
Government of Armenia on April 4, 2009. The program is aimed to turn
Gyumri into techno city.

ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC DECLINE IN USD WAS 30-32%: FORMER CB GOVERNOR

ARKA
Jan 28, 2010

YEREVAN, January 28, /ARKA/. A former governor of Armenian Central
Bank, Bagrat Asatrian, argued Wednesday that Armenia’s economic
decline in 2009, in terms of USD, was 30-32%.

According to the provisional figures of Armenia’s National Statistical
service, the country’s GDP fell by 14.4 in 2009 to 3.165.5 trillion
Drams.

Speaking at a news conference, Bagrat Astarian said Armenia’s GDP
in 2088 totaled $12 billion Drams, while in 2009 it slashed to about
$8.1 billion. ($1 – 377.83 Drams).

ANKARA WON’T RATIFY PROTOCOLS, SAYS ALIYEV

Tert.am
13:23 ~U 28.01.10

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev says he’s confident Ankara won’t
sign the Protocols until "occupied" lands are returned to Azerbaijan.

"There is a common understanding in the region that there should
be a first step by Armenia to start the liberation of the occupied
territories," Aliyev said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal,
on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He
said he was "fully satisfied" with Turkey’s understanding of the issue,
despite harshly criticizing Turkey’s handling of it in the past.

"If the two issues are disconnected, then probably Armenia will
freeze negotiations with Azerbaijan (over Nagorno-Karabakh)," said
Aliyev, adding that he believed economic pressure was one of the
main incentives for Armenia to come to the table. Aliyev has issued
previous warnings that such an outcome could lead to renewed war.

Turkey’s leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
have repeatedly said that the border opening and settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are linked.

Aliyev has expressed his anger over the Turkey-Armenia talks by
threatening to reroute Azeri natural gas and oil exports away from
Turkey. "Azerbaijan can export gas in four directions: Turkey, Georgia,
Iran and Russia," Aliyev said Wednesday. "We can expand volumes of
gas in each of these directions."

SERGEI MOVSESIAN COMES 10TH IN GIBRALTAR OPEN CHESS TOURNAMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.01.2010 18:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian grandmaster Sergei Movsesian (Slovakia)
between 26 January and 4 February participates in Gibraltar Open
chess tournament, which runs 8th time.

In the first round Movsesyan met with Marcel Peek (The Netherlands)
and won, but with Victoria Kmilyati (Latvia) played a draw. In the
third game Movsesyan lost to Gabriel Battaglini (France).

After the first round the Armenian grandmaster has 1.5 points and
comes 10th among 109 participants.

Sergei Movsesian , (born November 3, 1978 in Tbilisi) is chess
Grandmaster of Armenian descent who now plays for Slovakia. In 1999
he reached quarterfinals of the FIDE World Chess Championship in Las
Vegas, but lost to Vladimir Akopian, 1.5-2.5. He won international
tournaments in Sarajevo (2002 and 2007),[2] 2007 Czech Coal Carlsbad
tournament in Karlovy Vary, Mikhail Chigorin Memorial in Saint
Petersburg in 2007[3] and B-tournament of the Corus Chess Tournament
in 2008. Movsesian is married to the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Petra
Krupkova.

NEW EXHIBIT AT TUTUN DEPOSU DISPLAYS KURDISH ISSUE

Hurriyet Daily News
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A new exhibition on the Kurdish issue opened at the Tutun Deposu
(Tobacco Depot) in Istanbul’s Tophane. The exhibition titled
‘Confrontations: The Other Side of Fýrat’ displays photographs by human
rights defender, journalist and documentary photographer Mujgan Arpat

Having already stirred up controversies in previous exhibitions, the
Tutun Deposu (Tobacco Depot) in Istanbul’s Tophane is now hosting a
striking new exhibition from journalist and documentary photographer
Mujgan Arpat.

Arpat has been following the Kurdish issue for 20 years, and is now
displaying 100 photos chosen from her archive of more than 10,000
photos.

Arpat’s earlier work "Gavur Mahallesi Kalanlar – Gelenler" (The Gioar
Neighborhood Those Who Remain – Those Who Come), which she opened
in 2008 at the Karþý Sanat Calýþmalarý in Beyoðlu, became a hot
issue, too. She displayed the remaining structures from Armenians
in Diyarbakýr. The most striking photo in the exhibition was a
ruined historic Armenian church in the city. The church was put on
a renovation agenda and work began shortly after the exhibition.

She followed the Yeþilyurt case

Speaking to the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review about her new
exhibition, Arpat explained why she had chosen the title "Fýrat’ýn
Ote Yanýnda: Karþýlaþmalar" (Confrontations: The Other Side of Fýrat)
rather than "Guneydoðu" (Southeast), saying: "I would create a problem
if I used a word highlighting Kurds. This is why I chose this title. I
observed the experiences in the Southeast, namely the emergency region,
for 20 years. It was too hard to work on the other side of Fýrat. This
inspired me to choose this name."

Arpat is not only interested in journalism and taking documentary
photos. She is also an activist concerned about human rights
violations. She has played active roles in projects regarding racism
and violence against women. She worked as the deputy manager for the
International Human Rights Union in Germany in the 1980s.

In Turkey, where she came to work, she first followed the case known
as the Yeþilyurt Feces Case, which left its mark on Turkey’s recent
history. The Yeþilyurt village of the southeastern district of Cizre
was besieged by the gendarmerie in 1989. It was alleged that Cmdr.

Cafer Tayyar Caðlayan and his soldiers made villagers eat feces.

Following the incident, villagers went to court and as they did not
get results from the process, they applied to the European Court of
Human Rights. In 1994, the state was found guilty and sentenced to
pay compensations.

Victims of mine

"I wanted to take a step with this exhibition," said Arpat, and
continued: "The words that describe what happened in the Southeast are
‘civil war.’ Since one side of me is German, I compare the situation
with Germany. For example, Germany has never described the events in
Afghanistan as war. Because it would take responsibility if it did.

"The most striking photos in the exhibition are the photos of people
who became disabled from land mine explosions. There are one million
land mines laid by both the state and the terrorist organization the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the Southeast, the other side
of Fýrat. United Nations reports confirm it. The number is obvious
but it is not known where these mines lay," said Arpat, adding:
"I had feared when I went to talk to land mine victims. Because I
knew that there were land mines in the area I passed."

Income of catalog for Human Rights Foundation

Arpat said whatever Turkey had for human rights and racial
discrimination also existed in Europe with a different shape. "But
there is a difference between Turkey and Europe. There is a strong
public opinion supporting human rights defenders. This support is
almost nonexistent in Turkey because society could not overcome of
the fear embedded after the 1980 coup," she said.

According to Arpat, the biggest handicap for Turkey’s European Union
membership is the hypocrite manner of Europe. "The EU behaves like
it backs Turkey’s membership process but this is not true. Turkey’s
inner problems are used by the EU," she said.

Arpat explained her views about the Kurdish initiative lingering in
Turkey’s agenda for sometime. She said, "I don’t believe that the
initiative will be successful."

Arpat’s exhibition will remain open through Feb. 21. The funds raised
by the catalog of the exhibition will be donated to a human rights
foundation. The catalog is available at Anadolu Kultur in Istanbul’s
Elmadað.

ARMSWISSBANK AND EBRD SIGNED $8 MILLION CREDIT AGREEMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.01.2010 17:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armswissbank and the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) signed Wednesday $ 8 million worth credit
agreements aimed at crediting small and medium business ($ 5 million)
and funding the trade sector ($ 3 million).

As noted by Armswissbank Executive Director Gevorg Machanyan, the SME
crediting agreement will enable the bank to increase credit volumes
in the sphere. The maximum loan amount will make $ 500, with the
interest rate comprising 14%-16%. Companies having no more than 250
employees are eligible for loan programs.

Loans will be allocated to the enterprises whose activities are aimed
at increasing production effectiveness, creating new productions and
broadening the existing ones etc., the banker said.

"Within program frameworks, the bank will offer favorable conditions
to those companies which direct their activities at boosting export
and replacing the form of imported products," he noted.

"The agreement signing period coincides with the bank’s policy of
offering corporate banking services. In that connection, the bank
will propose discussions with EBRD for further cooperation and
implementation of additional programs," Gevorg Machanyan said.

For his part, Head of EBRD Yerevan Office Valeriu Razlog said it was
the first joint project with Armswissbank.

"Our strategy is aimed at strengthening Armenia’s banking and real
economy sectors," he noted.

"Despite the financial crisis, our banks managed to increase their
credit portfolio in 2009. I hope the project will soon become
accessible to entrepreneurs, increasing the clients’ number," said
Vache Gabrielyan, Vice-Chairman of Armenia’s Central Bank.

Armswissbank CJSC was founded on October 7, 2004 by founder Vartan
Sirmakes, who is also the co-owner and executive director of "Franck
Muller Watchland".

In 2007, RA Central Bank issued licenses for brokerage and deposit
activities.

The bank implements its activities in 3 spheres: corporate, investment
and private banking.

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER FUELS ANTI-SEMITISM, SAYS ISRAELI REPORT

Asbarez
Jan 26th, 2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked off the stage
after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres,
during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum in 2009.

JERUSALEM (Hurriyet)-The already tense ties between Turkey and Israel
appear to have hit a new low as a new Israeli Foreign Ministry report
accused Turkey’s prime minister of fueling anti-Semitism with his
criticism of Israel.

A government official said Tuesday the seven-page report accuses
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of inflaming Turkish public
opinion against Israel with his repeated allegations that Israel
committed war crimes during its Gaza offensive last winter, reported
the Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because the report is confidential.

He said the report also acknowledged Deputy Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon seriously offended Turkey’s ambassador when he summoned
the diplomat to protest a Turkish TV show that portrayed Israeli
intelligence agents as cruel. Still, it said that the incident
made clear that Turkey "reached the outer limits of the Israeli
government’s patience."

The report came as Turkey stated Tuesday that it would pursue
its determination against anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and
discrimination with its belief in mutual understanding, tolerance,
freedom, security and democracy.

On the eve of the 65th anniversary of the Auschwitz death camp’s
liberation, the Foreign Ministry noted that it was a duty of both
humanity and every U.N.-member state to condemn the Holocaust and
to encourage efforts to educate new generations. The ministry also
commemorated Turkish diplomats who risked their lives to save people
from the Holocaust in Europe during World War II.

In Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Ayalon, both of
Yisrael Beiteinu, are the leaders of the government’s aggressive
anti-Turkey faction, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Industry
Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, both of Labor, head the conciliatory,
pro-Turkey faction.

The report was written by the Center for Political Research, which
performs the ministry’s in-house intelligence analysis, and has
already been distributed to Israeli embassies and consulates abroad.

It was submitted to the key seven cabinet ministers a few days ago,
Israel’s Haaretz reported.

Regarding Ayalon’s humiliation of Ambassador Oguz Celikkol, the report
said that while this seriously offended the Turks for many years to
come, "at the same time, the manner in which senior Turkish officials,
including Erdogan, ended the crisis may indicate that Turkey recognizes
that it entered the red-line zone and [reached] the outer limits of the
Israeli government’s patience, and that this was liable to lead to it
losing Israel, which would damage Turkey’s international legitimacy."

But most of the report focuses on the Turkish prime minister, who it
considers the main source of the current friction. "In our estimate,
ever since his party took power, Erdogan has conducted an ongoing
process of … fashioning a negative view of Israel in Turkish public
opinion," via endless talk of Palestinian suffering, repeatedly
accusing Israel of war crimes and even "anti-Semitic expressions and
incitement," it said.

Though in international forums Erdogan always stresses that
anti-Semitism is "a crime against humanity," the report continued,
in reality, he "indirectly incites and encourages" anti-Semitism
in Turkey. "For Erdogan and some of those around him," it explained,
"there is no distinction between ‘Israeli’ and ‘Jewish,’ and therefore,
[their] anti-Israel fervor and criticism became anti-Jewish."

One result, according to the report, is articles in the Turkish
press questioning whether Turkish Jews are loyal to their country –
something that could endanger Turkey’s Jewish community.

In some cases, it added, Erdogan simply does not understand the
anti-Semitic nature of his remarks – such as "Jews are good with
money," which "he sees as a compliment."

Erdogan also "grants legitimacy" or "turns a blind eye" to anti-Israeli
television programs "of an inflammatory, anti-Semitic nature," such
as "Valley of the Wolves" – the series that prompted Ayalon’s rebuke
of the ambassador, according to report. The claim that this is just
freedom of the press at work, the report said, is belied not only
by the fact that such programs are approved by the Turkish censor,
but by reports from Turkish journalists who say this freedom has been
sharply curtailed in recent months: They say that "editorial policy
is dictated by government bodies, journalists’ phones and offices that
have been wiretapped, pressure has been applied to owners of mainstream
media outlets, and there is tight supervision of Internet sites."

"For Erdogan, Israel-bashing is a way of bolstering his status with
Islamic and Middle Eastern states, which Turkey would like to lead,
and against the Turkish opposition, as well as with his own party’s
target audience and nationalist elements of the Turkish public,"
the report read.

It also rejected the Turkish position that Erdogan is merely responding
to Turkish public opinion, saying that in reality, Turkey’s government
is leading public opinion, not following it. "Turkey today, under the
leadership of the AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party],
is different from the Turkey with which Israel forged a strategic
relationship in the early 1990s," it concluded.

G. PERKUPERKYAN AND V. SHIRKHANYAN LEAVE FOR NEAR EAST

Aysor
Wednesday, January 27

By the invitation of the central department of the Social Democratic
Hnchakyan pan-Armenian party the speaker of the above mentioned
party Gevorg Perkuperkyan as well as the member of the party Vahan
Shirkhanyan in the upcoming week will leave for the Near East
countries. As the press secretary of the party Narek Galstyan told
in the talk with the Aysor.am they will visit Lebanon and Syria
in particular.

"The representatives of the party leave for Lebanon and Syria by the
invitation of the representatives of the local Armenian community",
– N. Galstyan noted.

According to the information provided by the press secretary G.

Perkuperyan and V. Shirkhanyan will have meetings with the Armenian
community and will partake in several events. They will also meet
the Armenian state officials.