Author: admin

Trend, Azerbaijan
Nov 21 2009

Adopting law on alternative military service depends solution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Azerbaijan, Baku, November 20 /Trend News A.Huseynbala / Adoption of
the draft law on alternative service depends on the solution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The bill on alternative service is ready and
the Council of Europe experts positively commented on it, the head of
the Azerbaijani Parliament’s administration Safa Mirzayev briefed the
media.

While joining the Council of Europe in 2001, Azerbaijan has undertaken
a number of commitments. One of them is the adoption of the law on
alternative service. Azerbaijan fulfilled other obligations, except
this. The draft law on alternative service is ready, and the Council
of Europe commented on it.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are
currently holding the peace negotiations.

According to Mirzayev, next year, the bill will be reconsidered with
the working group, after which it will be fully prepared for
discussion. However, the adoption of the bill depends on the results
of ongoing negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. If the
negotiations will not bring to any positive results, the draft will
not be submitted for consideration, said Mirzayev.

According to Mirzayev, Azerbaijani military opposes against the
adoption of the law. They think that the adoption of this law is
premature in a country with war situation, he said.

Harvard to host `Politics and Past in Turkey and Japan’ International
Security Seminar
21.11.2009 15:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On December 3, Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science
and International Affairs will host `Let the Historians Decide?
Politics and the Past in Turkey and Japan’ International Security
Seminar.

Politicians in both Turkey and Japan have argued that the persistent
controversies over aspects of their countries’ pasts should be left to
the professional analysis and evaluation of historians. This seminar
will analyze the politics of the past in each of these states,
demonstrating the continued relevance of traumatic or shameful pasts
in each country’s politics and the ways in which domestic and
international considerations influence the shaping of official
histories.

Today, Azerbaijan
Nov 21 2009

Azerbaijan must submit its own plan on settlement of Karabakh
conflict: political expert

21 November 2009 [11:29] – Today.Az

Day.Az interview with Azerbaijani political expert Vafa Guluzade.

Day.Az: What action Azerbaijan should take to prevent Armenia to
return to details of the conflict resolution that had already been
agreed upon earlier?

Vafa Guluzade: Azerbaijan must submit its own a plan of settlement of
the Karabakh conflict in talks with Armenia. Those plans that the OSCE
Minsk Group have developed do not meet Azerbaijan’s interests.
Azerbaijan should get plan of action which is advantageous to it to be
discussed at the talks.

Q: A few days ago Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that withdrawal
of Armenian troops from occupied Azerbaijani territories has been
negotiated. What are your views on this statement?

A: Indeed, withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied Azerbaijani
territories is imminent once a peace agreement is signed. But Armenia
resists signing of the agreement because it requires Karabakh to be
recognized as an independent or attached to the territory of Armenia.
Such a stance impedes a peace treaty and negotiations on the return of
Azerbaijani refugees to the occupied territories.

Q: Why did the Armenian parliament decline to recognize independence
of the break-away `Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’?

A: I think it was dictated by Russia, because it could affect world
community’s attitude to Armenia. Armenia added separatist
Nagorno-Karabakh to its territory with an internal act in Soviet
times. But it is impossible to achieve international recognition of
the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh without Azerbaijan.

Q: Can the OSCE MG be re-organized?

A: OSCE Minsk Group is "stillborn" organization. So, I think nothing
will help it.

Q: A few days ago Day.Az published photos which showed a cemetery
destroyed by Armenians in the occupied Agdam region. How Azerbaijan
can counteract these acts of vandalism?

A: Azerbaijan is a victim of occupation and the international
community is doing nothing in our favor. There is a joke – when
American gangster kills someone, he says "I’m sorry, friend, this is
not personal, it’s just business." West therefore turns a blind eye to
it because it is only their "business". For this reason, the United
States, France, the United Kingdom and others turn a blind eye to the
fact that Armenia is destroying our homes and burns our lands.

Day.Az

URL:

Aysor, Armenia
Nov 21 2009

The international community must respond to the statements of Aliev

The statemnt of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev is a threat to
the regional stability, `Interfax’ was told by Armen Minasyan the
chairman of Yerevan `Democracy and Peace Center’ and political
scientist.

`If we approach the statement of Aliev seriously then we can think
that first of all there should be the reaction of the international
community. Actually besides Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh the president
of Azerbaijan threatens also the whole world promising to destabilize
the situation in the region. The countries and the organizations
pursuing interests in our region shouldn’t ignore this statement’, –
Minasyan said.

Last Friday Ilham Aliev stated, if the meeting of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents in Munich on November 22 was fruitless the war in
the region would be resumed.

ARMENIA’S HATIS SCORED FIRST VICTORY IN EUROPEAN CUP GROUP QUALIFIER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
20.11.2009 12:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Hatis basketball club defeated Russia’s
Chekevaty 103:99 in the European Cup group qualifier in Yerevan on
November 19.

Hatis will next play vs. Turkey’s Besiktas on November 26.

WORLD BANK REPORTS POVERTY RISE IN ARMENIA

AZG DAILY
2009-11-20 00:28:31 (GMT +04:00)

Poverty in Armenia has increased this year for the first time in over
a decade as a result of the ongoing economic recession, the World
Bank said on Tuesday, according to azatutyun.am.

In a detailed analysis partly based on government statistics, it
estimated that the proportion of Armenians living below the official
poverty line reached 28.4 percent in the second quarter of this year.

The official poverty rate stood at 25.6 percent during the same period
of last year, meaning that the number of poor people has since risen
by at least 90,000 since then.

According to the website, the bank said the level of extreme poverty
has nearly doubled to 6.9 percent, or by over 107,000 in absolute
terms, on the year-on-year basis. "These developments are a setback for
Armenia after a decade of nearly double-digit growth … and reduction
in poverty incidence from 56.1 percent in 1998/99 to 23.5 percent in
[late] 2008," it said.

Armenia’s economy contracted by 18.3 percent in January-September
2009, one of the steepest GDP declines in the world. According to the
World Bank, poverty was mainly pushed up by the resulting job losses
as well as a fall in seasonal migration of labor from the country.

"The data show a significant number of jobs lost, particularly in
construction and manufacturing, and a more discouraged work force,"
read its analysis. "However, there was no appreciable reduction in
wage rates and working hours among those continue to be employed."

"There were large flows of returning migrants from Russia and other
destinations for temporary migration. And migrants who would normally
head to Russia during the spring have likely stayed at home," added the
document mainly authored by Lire Ersado, a senior World Bank economist.

Ersado said the poverty rise would have been more drastic without
anti-crisis measures taken by the Armenian government. "The coping
measures taken by the government and households themselves may have
dampened the consequences of the financial crisis," he told a news
conference in Yerevan. "Without that, the poverty increase could have
been 7.6 percentage points."

The government has borrowed more than $1.3bn in emergency loans from
the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other foreign
sources this year to try to finance those measures. That has allowed
it, among other things, to mostly offset a serious shortfall in tax
revenues resulting from the crisis.

"There is a strong case to be made to increase funding, not cut,
for targeted social safety net programs and for other pro-poor
spending programs," said the analysis. It also encouraged the
government to carry on with "employment intensive investments" in
public infrastructures.

EUROPEAN UNION ELECTS ITS PRESIDENT AND FOREIGN MINISTER

ArmInfo
2009-11-20 14:27:00

ArmInfo. On November 19, during an informal summit, EU country leaders
elected their first president and foreign minister.

European leaders have decided to give the Belgian Prime Minister
Herman Van Rompuy the Union’s top job, appointing him as the first
permanent president. At an extraordinary summit which took place
On November 19, EU leaders have decided to give the Belgian Prime
Minister Herman Van Rompuy the Union’s top job, appointing him as the
first permanent president and current Trade Commissioner Baroness
Catherine Ashton as High Representative for Foreign Affairs. The
candidacy of Van Rompuy was initially supported by EU leaders – France
and Germany. US President Barack Obama has already congratulated Van
Rompuy and Catherine Ashton on their election.

To note, EU president is elected for 2,5 years and has the right to
be re-elected to this post once again. The new post was created by
the Lisbon treaty, now ratified by all 27 members, which will come
into effect on December 1.

In view of this, the Euobserver site published an interesting
information yesterday, according to which Herman Van Rompuy strongly
opposed to Turkey ever joining the European Union. During the debates
in the Belgian parliament in December, 2004, he said that Turkey is
not and will never be part of Europe.

ARMENTEL OPENS 9 NEW SALES AND SERVICE OFFICES IN YEREVAN AND REGIONS

ArmInfo
2009-11-20 15:47:00

ArmInfo. ArmenTel (Beeline) is opening 9 new sales and service offices
in Yerevan and the regions, the company’s press-service told ArmInfo.

Three of nine new offices are located in the Yerevan communities of
Arabkir (Komitas Ave), Kanaker-Zeytun (Sarkavag Str. 129/6) and Erebuni
(Oganesova Str. 2). Another six offices are in the towns of Artik,
Vanador, Dilijan, Kajaran, Sevan and Etchmiadzin. Over the last few
months we have opened dozens of new offices and have considerably
extended the spectrum of our services. I am sure the more Beeline
offices the easier for our clients to use our offers, connect services,
pay bills and just get access to necessary information," says Sergey
Kapitonov, Sales Director of ArmenTel CJSC. The company serves 81
sales and service offices, including 24 in Yerevan.

ArmenTel is the subsidiary of VimpelCom OJSC.

BUDGETARY GUARANTEE EQUIVALENT TO 0.5 MILLION DOLLARS TO BE GIVEN TO NORASHEN 2007 CONSUMERS’ COOPERATIVE

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 20, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. By the decision taken at
the November 19 sitting of the Armenian government, a budgetary
guarantee equivalent to 0.5 million USD will be given to Norashen 2007
consumers’ cooperative with the aim of attracting credit resources from
Prometey Bank in order to complete the construction of an apartment
building. According to RA Minister of Finance Tigran Davtian, a pledge
agreement will be signed with the cooperative, with the area of the
apartment building being contructed by the company to be recognized
as a security. The minister stated that it is yet another budgetary
guarantee to revive the construction sector.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said this is one of those decisions
that are criticized by opponnets who say that the Armenian government
supports developers. "The impression is that the developers are enemies
of our nation," the prime minister said, adding that so far only 3.5
billion drams has been provided as a guarantee. "By allocating this
money, we are guaranteed that the construction of these facilities
will be carried to a conclusion. On the other hand, we have allocated
about 12 billion drams for mortgage lending in order to encourage
the demand. If we promote the development of the mortgage market by
providing 12 billion drams, naturally there should also be apartments
affordable to our citizens," T. Sargsyan said.

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER TO COSPONSOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Yerkir
20.11.2009 14:44
Yerevan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has
informed the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) that he
will once again support legislation calling for U.S. reaffirmation
of the Armenian Genocide.

"We want to offer our appreciation to Majority Leader Reid for
joining with his colleagues in supporting this legislative effort to
put America on the right side of the Armenian Genocide issue," said
Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "We look forward to
working with Senator Reid and our other friends in the leadership of
the Senate and the Foreign Relations Committee as the Armenian Genocide
Resolution moves to a Committee vote and adoption by the full Senate."

Spearheaded by Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and John Ensign (R-NV),
the Armenian Genocide resolution (S.Res.316) also enjoys the early
support of Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

Senator Reid’s cosponsorship comes as Armenian Americans across the
country continue to participate in the ANCA "Countdown to Erdogan"
campaign – a four-week, grassroots campaign urging President Obama
to speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide when he meets on
December 7th with Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan. The first week
of the campaign focused on Senate action, with thousands sending
ANCA WebMails and participating in a national call in day to Senate
offices in support of S.Res.316.