Author: Babajanian Karo

DELEGATION OF PALESTINIAN “FATAH” PARTY ARRIVES IN ARMENIA

news.am
June 20 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The delegation of Fatah Palestinian party, headed by
the Coordinator for International Affairs Nabil Shaath arrived in
Armenia, Spokesperson for Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan
told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The delegation members will hold meetings with Armenian officials
in Yerevan.

Earlier Maan agency reported that the visit aims to enlist Armenia’s
support in the independence of the Palestinian state.

‘NO SENSE’ IN ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI SUMMIT IN KAZAN

news.am
June 20 2011
Azerbaijan

News.Az interviews the chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia,
political scientist Heydar Jemal.

How realistic is it that the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents will decide on a draft framework for a settlement to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh at their upcoming
Kazan meeting?

In my opinion, there is no sense in the Kazan meeting of the presidents
of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. It will not achieve any breakthrough
solutions that could lead to settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in the short term.

By and large, this meeting is necessary only to increase the personal
rating of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the run-up to the
presidential elections in Russia. In addition, this is another
opportunity to demonstrate that Russia is still the arbiter able to
play a decisive role in resolving conflicts in the South Caucasus
region.

If there is no breakthrough on a conflict settlement at the Kazan
meeting, how likely is it that Azerbaijan will renew hostilities in
the region?

You are absolutely right. This kind of chance will increase
substantially. By and large, this would leave no alternatives
to a military solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh. And here it is important to understand how fighting
may develop. If Azerbaijan wages war in its territories occupied by
Armenia, this will not give Russia or anyone else grounds to intervene
as Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is recognized by the whole world.

The downside of this scenario is that the other country, in this case
Armenia, will fight against Azerbaijan on the latter’s own territory.

Consequently, it would be better for Azerbaijan not to fight with
Armenia in its territory. But there is a risk that Russia can act
against Azerbaijan. Consequently, Azerbaijan needs to wait for the
moment when Russia will be in a situation when it would not care
about Karabakh and would not be able to support Armenia in its war
with Azerbaijan.

Is it possible that such a moment will come?

Of course, it is possible. The current ongoing crisis in the world
will soon deprive Russia of many opportunities, including opportunities
to provide active support to Armenia.

Iran, as well as Russia, is assisting Armenia. May Iranian-Azerbaijani
relations cool as a result?

A lot depends on whether Azerbaijan will be able to warm relations
with Iran. During the rule of the Popular Front and President Abulfaz
Elchibey, Azerbaijan did everything possible to worsen relations with
Iran. In these circumstances, Iran was forced to establish relations
with Armenia. Now there is a complete reformatting of the situation
in the Middle East. US President Barack Obama has a new game that
offers opportunities for allied relations between Azerbaijan and Iran,
and therefore to isolate Armenia.

There are powerful anti-Armenian and pro-Azerbaijani forces in Iran.

Simply, it is necessary to use them wisely. Similarly, there is great
potential to deepen Azerbaijani-Turkish relations. In general, if
Azerbaijan wisely responds to the changing geo-political situation,
it will have every opportunity to isolate not only Armenia, but also
Russia to some extent.

IRANIAN PRESIDENT TALKS WITH AZERI, ARMENIAN COUNTERPARTS ON PHONE

Fars News Agency
June 20 2011
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in separate phone
conversations with his Azeri and Armenian counterparts Ilham Aliyev
and Serzh Sargsian discussed ways to reinvigorate Tehran’s bilateral
and regional cooperation with its two Northern neighbors.

During the phone talks, the presidents discussed ways to bolster
bilateral and regional cooperation in various fields, particularly
a joint campaign against terrorism.

Ahmadinejad stressed the importance of bolstering collective
cooperation and adopting strategies to eradicate terrorism in both
phone conversations with the Azeri and Armenian presidents.

Iran has been the “main victim” of Western-sponsored terrorism since
the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution in the country.

Iran along with many other Muslim countries have criticized the
western countries’ selective approach towards terrorism, specially
after the September 11 attacks in the US.

The country is due to hold an International Conference on Campaign
against Terrorism in Tehran from June 22 to 23 with officials of more
than 80 countries as well as regional and international organizations
in attendance.

GEORGIAN CHURCH LEADER SAYS ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS ‘CLEVER, BUT NEEDS MORE EXPERIENCE’

Civil Georgia
June 20 2011
Georgia

>From left to right: Armenian Church leader Karekin II; President
Saakashvili and Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II in
Tbilisi, June 10. Photo: Armenian Church website.Head of the Georgian
Orthodox Church, Ilia II, indicated on June 19 that resolving dispute
with the Armenian Church, involving ownership of several churches
and legal status, would take more time.

Commenting on a recent visit to Georgia by the Armenian Catholicos,
Karekin II – the first one by the Armenian Church leader over a
century, Ilia II said in his Sunday sermon in the Holy Trinity
Cathedral in Tbilisi, that Karekin II was clever, but young, who
needed to gain more experience.

“He is young person and he probably still needs to gain more
experience,” Ilia II said.

“He is a clever man, but he wants everything to be done fast, but it
does not work. I told him that I have a huge experience – 33 years
[of being the Patriarch], so calmness is the best [option].”

“We talked about relations. Armenians have a desire to open more
churches in Georgia. We offered them to have such an attitude: what
will be done here for the Armenian [churches], the same should be done
in Armenia [for the Georgian churches]. If the [Armenian] churches
open here, there [in Armenia] too Georgian churches should be opened.

We have agreed that in the future we will have a better cooperation,”
the Georgian Church leader said.

Ilia II said during the visit of the Armenian Catholicos, that the
legal status of the Georgian Church in Armenia should be the same
one that the Armenian Church would have in Georgia.

On June 19, Ilia II also said that the Georgian Church was “open”
for cooperation for everyone, but “the Georgian Church will not allow
putting our country and the nation in disadvantage.”

“We have bilateral dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, with
the Anglican Church and with various other [religious groups]; so
the Georgian Church is open; we are engaged in bilateral dialogue
with pleasure with various nations and we are not saying no to that,
but at the same time we should maintain and take care of our faith,
culture and spirituality,” Ilia II, 78, said.

Karekin II, who will turn 60 this August and who became head of the
Armenian Church in 1999, visited Georgia on June 10-15.

One of the issues discussed during the meeting with Ilia II, as well
as during the talks with President Saakashvili was a disputed issue of
ownership of several churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church’s main
concern remains the return of five churches in Tbilisi and one in
Akhaltsikhe. According to the U.S. State Department’s annual report
on international religious freedom, the status of at least 30 other
churches claimed by the Armenian Apostolic Church remain disputed.

The Georgian Orthodox Church claims ownership over several medieval
churches in the province of Lori in northern Armenia, bordering with
Georgia, including the one in the village of Akhtala.

Another sticking point is the legal status of the Armenian Apostolic
Church in Georgia. In order to receive a legal status, religious
groups other than the Georgian Orthodox Church can be registered as
a noncommercial entity of private law. But these religious groups,
including the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Roman Catholic Church,
complain that such form of registration is depriving them the privilege
to be recognized officially as religions.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT INVITES AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN COUNTERPARTS TO HORSERACE IN KAZAN

Vestnik Kavkaza
June 20 2011

The Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents – Dmitry
Medvedev,Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev – will have a trilateral
meeting inKazan to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Medvedev will invite them to the President’s Cup for horseracing
inKazan on June 24.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group visited Nagorno-Karabakh on
June6-9 to monitor the contact line.

Kazan will host the trilateral meeting, initiated by Medvedev, on
June 25.

A similar meeting was held in Sochi earlier this year. The
presidentspassed a joint declaration. The presidents of Russia,
France and theUSA had a G8 summit in Deauville on May 26. They urged
the presidentsof Azerbaijan and Armenia to express political will
and conclude workon the basic principles for the summit in June.

PACE chairman Movlut Cavusoglu expects the presidents to sign
anagreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, he told a press conference
inStrasbourg.

RUSSIAN NTV “SMOTR”: RUSSIAN BORDER GUARDS IN ARMENIA’S MEGHRI

NTV Mir
June 18 2011
Russia

The Russian border guard force stationed in the Armenian town of
Meghri, on the border with Iran, was profiled by Russian NTV’s “Smotr”
weekly military programme on 18 June. Presented by Sergey Kuznetsov,
the programme is 30 minutes long.

Throughout the report, there was video of border protection facilities
like watch towers, compounds, wire fences and border control posts.

There was also video of alert drills. The town itself was shown,
with video of street scenes.

There are four Russian border guard stations in Armenia: Gyumri,
Armavir, Artashat and Meghri, plus a separate checkpoint at the
capital Yerevan’s international airport, the report noted. Unlike the
border guards in Russia itself, here conscripts – Armenians – serve,
the report remarked. Some spoke.

Armenia’s troubled history was highlighted and Russia’s historical
security role talked up in the report. The current arrangement was
described as a “partnership”. Neighbour Iran’s economic role for
Armenia was also noted.

There were contributions from, as captioned, Konstantin Tkachenko,
deputy chief of the Russian border guard directorate in Armenia and
chief of personnel there; and Arutyun Ambartsumyan, chief of the
directorate’s Meghri border guard detachment.

WHOLE WORLD TO SEE AZERBAIJAN’S STRENGTH AND POWER – MP

news.az
June 20 2011
Azerbaijan

The whole world will see the strength and power of Azerbaijan at the
upcoming 26 June military parade.

According to the website for the ruling party, the statement came
from deputy executive secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party, MP
Mubariz Gurbanli.

“Everyone will once again understand the changes in the correlation
of powers in all directions in favor of Azerbaijan. Cultural,
psychological, social and political superiority of our country will
force foreign circles to put pressure on Armenia”, he said.

According to him, no matter how much Armenia invests in economy, it
will be interior to Azerbaijan. The reason is the dynamic development
of Azerbaijan and the economic strength of our country.

“The military industry of our country has been formed. Azerbaijan
implements a wide program to ensure its military safety.

17,200 square meters of our country have been occupied. Liberation
of the occupied lands is the right of Azerbaijan. In order to ensure
this right, Azerbaijan, except for diplomatic activity, must also
raise its military strength”, Gurbanli said.

MCC-ARMENIA CEO INTENT ON CONCEALING PROJECT FOUL-UPS
Grisha Balasanyan

hetq

14:57, June 20, 2011

The construction contractor on an irrigational canal project financed
by the Millennium Challenge Corporation has screwed up big time.

The company has gone ahead and installed smaller semi-pipes than called
for at the Armavir site, resulting in flooding of roads between the
villages of Hovtametch and Tziatzan. Local residents have been waiting
for the project to be completed for over a year already.

The incorrect pipe fitting are being changed; once again.

MCC-Armenia CEO Ara Hovsepyan, who misses no opportunity to declare
that work is carried out in a very transparent manner, is once again
trying to cover up the construction blunders.

While it is true that Nane Ajemyan, who heads the information desk at
the MCC’s office in Armenia, confessed that the mistake was made by
the company responsible for drawing up the plans for the project, Ara
Hovsepyan refused to mention the company’s name when I spoke to him.

The MCC also avoided revealing the extra cost involved in correcting
the company’s miscalculation, arguing that the amount still wasn’t
clear.

As to why Ara Hovsepyan is keen on concealing the mistakes of
Yerevanshin, the company at fault, is also unclear.

Hetq first covered the problems cropping at the work site last year.

Back then, Yerevanshin had used low-quality rubber pipe fittings
and the defect was spotted by the Americans who ordered that they
be replaced.

Ara Hovsepyan was also reluctant to talk to Hetq about the foul ups
back then.

Hovtametch Village Mayor Armen Sargsyan didn’t know the name of the
company carrying out the planning and advised us to get in touch with
the MCC.

“I can’t tell you the company involved. I don’t even know when the
project is supposed to be completed. It should have been finished
a long time ago. But the pipes are inadequate. The Ministry for
Territorial Administration has ordered that they be replaced,” said
the mayor.

Seyran Sargsyan, who heads the Khoy Water Consumers’ Association,
said that residents have taken it upon themselves to dig irrigation
ditches on top to get the water they need on a temporary basis.

He added that it was a peak season for irrigation and that Yerevanshin
has agreed to start the work by June 20.

Khachik Gevoryan, mayor of neighboring Tziatzan village, says that
266 meters of new pipe have already been replaced on his side of
the project.

I tried to contact Yerevanshin by telephone for their side of the
story but no one picked up. I’ve been calling for the past few days.

Meanwhile, local residents are not at all certain that this will be
the last of the problems plaguing the MCC project.

NABIL SHAAT REQUESTS ARMENIA’S SUPPORT IN PALESTINE INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 20, 2011 – 17:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met
with Nabil Shaat, the Acting Prime Minister of the PNA.

As Mr. Sargsyan noted, Armenia is closely following recent events
in Arab states, hoping for the regional issues to be settled through
democratic reforms.

“Armenia values the efforts aimed at establishment of sustainable
peace and stability in the region,” Nalbandian stressed.

Mr. Shaat briefed the Armenian Prime Minister on the processes
around the voting on Palestine independence at UN General Assembly
in September. He thanked Armenia on showing a well-balanced approach
on Near East conflict in international organisations. Palestine
delegation requested Armenia’s support in Palestine independence
declaration process, Armenian Foreign Ministry press service reported.

LEVON BARSEGHYAN: “THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD FIND A SOLUTION TO RETURN MINAS’S WALL-PAINTINGS TO ITS REAL OWNERS”

Noyan Tapan

20.06.2011

(Noyan Tapan – 20.06.2011) These authorities, especially RA Ministry of
Culture, lead immoral, outrageous policy of taking Minas Avetisyan’s
wall-paintings, pretending that they want to save them. On June 20,
during the press conference the president of the board of Journalists
“Asparez” club Levon Barseghyan announced this.

In his words, Hasmik Poghosyan’s announcement that she didn’t receive
any note from Gyumri municipality about the readiness of restoring
Minas’s wall-paintings there isn’t true. L.Barseghyan presented the
copies of those documents that proved the opposite. Levon Barseghyan
said that they would make efforts for the government to change its
decision and those 4 wall-paintings to be returned to Gyumri. For that
purpose signature collecting has already been held. “The government
should find a solution to return Minas’s wall-paintings to the real
owners,” said Levon Barseghyan.

The president of “Shirak Centre”NGO Vahan Tumasyan thinks that the
authorities keep Minas’s wall-paintings for a good day, for finding
a good client. According to him, before the elections it will give
harm to Armenian Republican Party and RA president. “If they think
about Minas’s wall-paintings so much, then they can restore and leave
them in Gymri. Those wall-paintings were made by people in Gymri,
belong to them and for 23 years people in Gyumri have preserved them,”
underlined Vahan Tumasyan.