AZERBAIJANI FM: THERE IS ADVANCEMENT IN SOME ISSUES
Panorama
June 13 2011
Armenia
After the tripartite meeting among the Foreign Ministers of Armenia,
Russia and Azerbaijan there are still some gaps in the process of
resolving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, “Trend” news agency reports
Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov as saying.
“There is advancement in some issues, but still some gaps exist,”
he said.
Azerbaijani FM refused to name those gaps saying it’s early to speak
about them.
Officials Call On Feds To Probe Murder Suspect’s Release
June 8, 2011
LOS ANGELES (CBS) – City Councilman Paul Krekorian called
Wednesday for a federal investigation into the decision by a Puerto
Rican judge to release a North Hollywood murder suspect who has since
gone missing.
Krekorian introduced a motion calling on the Los Angeles congressional
delegation and Sens. Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, both D-Calif.,
to push for an investigation by the FBI and other relevant federal
agencies.
`I cannot comprehend any justification for this judge to release
a murder suspect who may be responsible for brutally taking an innocent
life over nothing more than a text message,’ Krekorian said.
`This bail decision is so completely contrary to standard
protocol it defies any explanation based on law, evidence or
justice.’
Mike Yepremyan, 19, was shot and killed in a Sears parking lot in
November 2009.
Puerto Rican Judge Gloria Maynard allowed 23-year-old Zareh Manjikian,
the primary suspect in the murder, to post $50,000 bond in late May,
despite specific protests by the LAPD. District Attorney Steve Cooley
had also requested Manjikian’s extradition to Los Angeles,
according to Krekorian.
Federal marshals were searching for Manjikian, who was living in a beach
town apartment in Carolina, near San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Investigators believe Manjikian shot and killed Yepremyan in a series of
events that started with Yepremyan sending a text message.
Yepremyan allegedly sent a text message to his girlfriend insulting her
friend, Kat Vardanian. Prosecutors said Vardanian saw the text message,
was angry and called her brother to beat up Yepremyan.
Witnesses said Yepremyan received phone calls from a stranger who wanted
to meet him outside Sears in the 6400 block of North Laurel Canyon
Boulevard, near Victory Boulevard.
When Yepremyan and several friends arrived at the parking lot there were
two men. The conversation appeared to reach a peaceful conclusion, but
somebody struck Yepremyan. Officials said Manjikian pulled out a gun and
shot Yepremyan in the back of the head.
Manjikian and the other man, who was identified by prosecutors as Vahagn
Jurian, 23, sped off in a black BMW. Jurian’s father said that a
day after the shooting his son had called and described his involvement
in a deadly fight.
Jurian was arrested in his Van Nuys home last week on suspicion of
murder.
Kerkorian’s motion also asks the city go on record requesting
that Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuno and Attorney General Guillermo
Somoza-Comobani direct all necessary resources and attention to
Manjikian’s recapture.
H. Abrahamyan: `NKR people should determine their fate’
04:59 pm | June 10, 2011 | Official
“The process of negotiations makes it clear that the people of
Nagorno Karabakh are the masters of their destiny and there is no
alternative to their right to self-determination, Speaker of the
Armenian National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan said on Friday during a
sitting of the Armenia-NKR interparliamentary committee.
“The Armenian side has always expressed readiness to solve the problem
through peaceful talks, but it does not mean that aggression will be
left unanswered. Armenia. Our country has proved that it is capable of
giving an adequate response to military attacks,” Abrahamyan said
adding that Armenia will never disregard the opinion of the Artsakh
people.
“During its short existence, the Republic of Artsakh has proved that
it is more democratic than some countries of our region and has a
right to be recognized de jure,” he added.
According to the Armenian parliament speaker, the Karabakh issue
continues to remain in the focus of meetings with international
diplomats.
“Armenian lawmakers have assumed another temporary function – they
refer to Karabakh conflict settlement during international meetings. I
am sure that sooner or later the Nagorno-Karabakh will become
independent of international law. I also believe that
inter-parliamentary cooperation will eventually contribute to NKR’s
international recognition,” said Abrahamyan.
M. Bojolyan: “It is time to make radical changes”
06:12 pm | June 10, 2011 | Politics
“I do not think that people who put me in prison have more right
to live Armenia than I do,” Murad Bojolyan, the only political
prisoner remaining in jail after the parliament-declared amnesty, said
on Friday upon his release from Yerevan – Kentron penitentiary.
Bojolyan was welcomed by his friends, relatives, ordinary citizens and
journalists who were waiting for him outside the penitentiary
institution. The Turkologist says he is still undecided about his
future plans.
“I have been deprived of all chances to be involved in politics in
Armenia,” he said.
Further, Bojolyan added that he backs the Armenian National Congress
which struggles for a happy and democratic country.
Speaking about the long-awaited dialogue between the authorities and
the opposition, he said that it is still vague.
“The dialogue resembles a football game. The authorities should
realize that the situation cannot last for a long time. It is time to
make radical changes in the country,” he said.
Bojolyan was convicted of espionage, and was sentenced to ten years’
imprisonment. He was arrested in 2002 and charged with passing
“military, economic and political information” to Turkish
intelligence.
ARMENIE
Le président Sarkissian visite l’ambassade britannique à Erevan
Le Président Serge Sarkissian a visité l’ambassade britannique à
Erevan à l’occasion de la fête nationale du Royaume-Uni de
Grande-Bretagne et d’Irlande du Nord – l’anniversaire officiel de la
reine Elizabeth II.
Le Président Serge Sarkissian a félicité l’ambassadeur britannique
Charles Lonsdale et le personnel de l’ambassade à cette occasion, en
notant que l’Arménie attache une grande importance aux relations avec
la Grande-Bretagne.
Le Président a souligné le rôle du Royaume-Uni dans les affaires
mondiales et ses efforts visant à la promotion de l’intégration
européenne.
dimanche 12 juin 2011,
Sté[email protected]
AZERBAIDJAN
Eynulla Fatullayev remis en liberté par le fait du prince
Reporters sans frontières salue avec un grand soulagement la remise en
liberté du journaliste Eynulla Fatullayev.
« Nous nous associons à la joie des proches et des collègues d’Eynulla
Fatullayev, qui l’ont vu rentrer à la maison hier soir vers 18h. Le
rédacteur en chef de Realny Azerbaijan était devenu le symbole de
l’arbitraire du pouvoir, qui aura usé de tous les stratagèmes pour le
maintenir derrière les barreaux le plus longtemps possible. De ce
point de vue, la grce présidentielle n’est qu’un nouveau fait du
prince, qui ne saurait racheter les quatre ans que le journaliste a
passé en prison pour n’avoir fait que son métier », a déclaré
l’organisation.
« Le directeur de la prison est venu me voir pour me dire de
rassembler mes affaires », a raconté Eynulla Fatullayev au
correspondant de l’organisation, venu célébrer l’événement chez lui. «
J’ai d’abord cru à une nouvelle provocation. Mais on m’a ensuite
demandé de signer ma déclaration de remise en liberté (…) et renvoyé
à la maison. »
Le journaliste a exprimé sa gratitude aux organisations
internationales et non-gouvernementales qui se sont mobilisées en sa
faveur. « La pression internationale a eu un impact très important »,
a-t-il déclaré à Reporters sans frontières au téléphone ce matin.
« Je vais bien sûr reprendre mes activités journalistiques, mais je ne
sais pas encore si je vais le faire en Azerbaïdjan ou à l’étranger. Je
vais d’abord voir si les conditions sont réunies, notamment en termes
de sécurité, pour que je puisse travailler dans mon pays. Si ce n’est
pas le cas, je serai contraint de m’exiler », a-t-il ajouté.
Ce moment est historique au sens où l’Azerbaïdjan, à notre
connaissance, ne compte désormais plus aucun journaliste des médias «
traditionnels » emprisonné. Mais ceci ne doit pas cacher la réalité du
violent pic de répression qui touche les médias depuis plus de deux
mois. Des jeunes activistes et blogueurs sont jugés et emprisonnés, et
les journalistes d’opposition, notamment d’Azadlig, font l’objet d’un
harcèlement permanent.
dimanche 12 juin 2011,
Sté[email protected]
HEAD OF PARLIAMENT: NKR WILL PARTICIPATE IN NEGOTIATIONS ON KARABAKH REGULATION SOMETIME
/ARKA/
JUNE 10, 2011
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) will
sooner or earlier participate in negotiation process on regulation
of Karabakh conflict, considers the Chairman of National Assembly of
NKR Ashot Ghulyan.
“Today the largest enemy of independent participation of NKR in this
process is Azerbaijan. However, I consider that it is conditioned
by the wish of Azerbaijan and as it is fixed in the main documents
of OSCE Minsk Group and Budapest summit, Karabakh will participate
in negotiations sometime”, he said to the journalists in the frames
of eighth meeting of Armenian-Karabakh committee on inter-parliament
cooperation in Yerevan.
After the last meeting of NKR president Bako Sahakyan with co-chairmen
it was stated that NKR sees its participation in all the phases of
negotiation process.
Today, significant activation of negotiation process is observed as
in the past there have also been active phases of the process which
seemed to be close to the solution of the conflict.
Answering the question whether there are contradictions between Armenia
and NKR regarding the document being on the table of negotiations,
Ghulyan said that Karabakh parliament in 2008 had a political
announcement where it said that NKR has some provisions regarding
Madrid principles, “however, as these elements are regularly changed,
it is difficult to speak about the situation today in the context of
their acceptability”.
“However, the position remained unchanged and we insist on our
provisions”, he said.
Speaking about the expectations on the issue of recognizing NKR by
Armenia, Ghulyan said that “we can achieve relevant position through
discussions on inter-parliamentary level and consultations with
various bodies of authorities”.
Karabakh conflict started in 1988 after announcement of coming out of
Nagorno- Karabakh from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991 referendum took
place in Nagorno- Karabakh where 99.89% agreed to become independent
from Azerbaijan. On May 12, 1994 military actions were terminated in
the zone. About 25-30 thousand people died from each side and about
1 million had to leave their houses.
Cease-fire continues till now. From 1992 till present negotiations
are conducted on peaceful regulation of the conflict in the frames of
Minsk Group of OSCE, co-chairmen of which are USA, Russia and France.
THREE POLISH COMPANIES EXPRESS INTEREST IN NAIRIT TENDER
/ARKA/
JUNE 10, 2011
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, June 10. / ARKA /. Three Polish companies have expressed
interest in participating in a tender announced by the government
of Armenia to choose an operator to implement the investment program
of Nairit rubber plant, energy and natural resources minister, Armen
Movsisyan, told a Cabinet session today.
The deadline for companies to make bids expires June 15. Earlier the
minister said the cost of modernizing Nairit synthetic rubber plant
in Yerevan and bringing it into line with international standards
may amount to $400-500 million, The minister said today the entire
process is transparent. Prime minister Tigran Sarkisian underlined
the need to provide the most objective and transparent information.
“Some people are trying to create speculation around this question,
writing incriminating articles and the best way to combat it is to
provide maximum transparent information. I think the availability
of objective information will reassure also the plant staff,” said
Sarkisian, adding that some reports go as far as to claim that the
plant was nationalized by the government in 2006.
Employees of the plant protested today outside the presidential
residence demanding their back wages. An official of the presidential
administration, who spoke to them, promised that all arrears will be
paid within 15 days.
Armenia today is negotiating a $150-$300 million loan from the Eurasian
Economic Community Crisis Fund to finance the resumption program,
but terms of the loan are not disclosed.
Nairit plant was closed in 1989 for ecological reasons, but resumed
partial operation in 1992-93. In 2006 some 90 % of its shares were
sold to a British-registered Rainoville Property Limited at $40
million. The remaining 10% is held by the Armenian government.
THE ARMENIAN-FRENCH BILATERAL TIES ARE BASED ON LONG-LASTING WARM AND FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS
Noyan Tapan
10.06.2011
(Noyan Tapan – 10.06.2011) The secretary of the National Security
Council of Armenia, Arthur Baghdasaryan received a delegation led by
the head of Continental Europe Department of the Ministry of Foreign
and European Affairs of France, Philippe Lefort.
The two sides positively assessed the Armenian-French bilateral
political, economic and cultural ties, noting that they were based
on long-lasting warm and friendly relations between the two nations.
Touching upon the process of reforms in Armenia, Arthur Baghdasaryan
stressed the importance of further expansion of the involvement of
France in this process.
The international and regional security issues were also discussed
during the meeting.
AUTHORITIES TO SET UP RETAIL FAIRS FOR ARMENIAN FARMERS TO SELL THEIR PRODUCES
/ARKA/
JUNE 10, 2011
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, June 10. / ARKA /. Yerevan authorities will set up retail
fairs for Armenian farmers to sell their agricultural produces,
a deputy minister of agriculture, Robert Makaryan, told a news
conference today.
He said retail fairs will be set up on Saturdays and Sundays.
According to him, farmers will sell their produces without middlemen.
“The priority task is to prevent price inflation by resellers,
” he said.
Makaryan said locations for three such retail fairs are being
chosen.