Author: Basmajian Ani

NO POLITICAL FORCE IN SWEDEN DOUBTS THE FACT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2010 17:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ No political force in Sweden doubts the fact of
Armenian Genocide, President of Christian Social Democrats in Sweden,
Peter Weiderud said.

As he told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter at news conference in Yerevan,
"Swedish parliamentarians, who spoke against Armenian Genocide
resolution passage, cited inappropriate timing as the reason, also
characterizing parliament as unfit structure for decision-making
on historic issues." According to Peter Weiderud, Riksdag passed
the resolution based on significant number of facts and researches
proving 1915 events as the Genocide.

"We were perfectly aware that the resolution might harm Armenia-Turkey
relations. Still, the resolution was aimed at protection of human
rights. Sides should establish peace by owning the truth, and we
sincerely hope Armenia and Turkey will reconcile after the resolution,"
Peter Weiderud said, adding that ruling Social Democratic party MPs
will see to it that Stockholm’s foreign policy should not run counter
to Armenian Genocide resolution.

Dwelling on Turkey’s bid for EU membership; he stated that Sweden
occupies principal position on the issue. "We support Turkey’s bid,
yet believe that the country has to undertake steps toward protection
of national minorities’ rights and development of democracy in the
country."

Commenting on the statement of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan on deporting Armenian migrants, Peter Weiderud noted that
the statement was a mistake, and withdrawing it was a right decision.

On March 11, 2010, the Swedish Parliament recognized the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Empire in 1915 by 131 votes in favour and 130
against.

EBRD TO PRESENT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODE IN APRIL 2010 IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2010 16:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) has developed Corporate Governance Code on the basis of the
RA legislation, which will be presented to the public late in April
this year, Valeriu Razlog , head of EBRD Yerevan office told a news
conference on March 24 in Yerevan.

"We have not developed a new legislation, but added certain provisions
aimed at improving corporate governance in the Armenian companies
in line with international standards," he said in Yerevan after the
second session of the forum dedicated to the fight against corruption.

According to Valeriu Razlog, the corporate governance code will be
first applied to state agencies, commercial banks and companies listed
on the stock exchange. Experience of those entities will help to make
appropriate adjustments and amendments. "Since we are at the first
stage, regulators will make appropriate changes to the RA legislation.

Then, a revised code will be applied to other companies," he said. The
code will be reviewed every two years, and introduction of corporate
governance standards will be voluntary.

The code is translated into Armenian and by the end of April it
will be posted on the official websites of the Ministry of Economy,
Central Bank of Armenia and the EBRD.

"Strengthening good corporate governance system" conference has
been organized by USAID anti-corruption program jointly with the
Ministry of Economy and CAPS/USAID in Yerevan. The conference is
attended by over 200 representatives of local and foreign companies,
international banks and commercial agencies, as well as government
and civil society representatives.

SPAIN’S GOVERNMENT SEEKING TO BLOCK GENOCIDE BILL

Asbarez
2%80%99s-government-seeking-to-block-genocide-bill -in-parliament/
Mar 23rd, 2010

MADRID-Spain’s government is working to torpedo efforts by its
legislature to pass a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Spanish ABC newspaper.

ABC reported Tuesday that Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos contacted the leader of the Congress of Deputies, Jose Bono,
requesting he work to stonewall the resolution.

According to the daily, the government argued that Genocide recognition
would provoke a negative response from Ankara, which it considers to
a key NATO ally.

The Catalonian Parliament has already passed a bill recognizing the
Armenian Genocide and the Spanish government is worried that Madrid
may be next

Turkey has been on edge as of late, worried that the approval on March
4 of a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide in the US House
Committee on Foreign Affairs could lead many European countries to
follow suit. Sweden’s parliament passed a similar measure on March 11.

Turkey lashed at both countries, recalling its ambassadors from
Washington and Stockholm and threatening to cut economic and diplomatic
ties.

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD HOSTS A DINNER TO HONOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

SANA – Syrian Arab News Agency
.htm
March 23 2010

President Bashar al-Assad and Mrs. al-Assad hosted on Monday evening
a dinner to honor Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his wife.

The dinner was attended by the Syrian and Armenian delegations,
senior officials and several social, economic and cultural personnel.

President al-Assad, addressing the attendants, stressed the importance
of historical relations, human, social and cultural links that bring
the Syrian and Armenian peoples together.

"These links make potentials of cooperation and rapprochement between
the two countries without limits.These potentials must be invested
through opening new horizons to reach highest level of economic,
trade and cultural cooperation," President al-Assad said.

He added that this cooperation would serve the interests of the peoples
of the two countries and their role in the region and the world.

"Syria and Armenia live in an important geopolitical region that
big international interests meet and intertwined. This requires that
the two countries cooperate and coordinate and agree on details and
strategies," the president explained.

"Dialogue and understanding among the countries of this region;
recognition and respect of all countries interests is the best way
to solve their problems and boost their position in the international
arena," he said.

President al-Assad pointed out that the Middle East and the Caucasus,
despite the chronic lack of stability have gone a long way in building
normal relations among their countries and peoples.

"Those steps have begun to reap their fruit on the ground through
reducing the impact of external powers and their interventions in
the development of events," he said.

He added that the initiatives in solving problems and plans for these
two regions future have become in the hands of their sons.

"The only obstacle in the way of stability is the Israeli occupation,
which continues the policy of killing, sieging, settlement building,
demolition of Palestinian houses, Judaizing Jerusalem and rejecting
all peace initiatives", President al-Assad added. "Achieving peace
will not be too far when there is a partner from the Israeli side that
believes in just and comprehensive peace based on resolutions of the
international legitimacy and the return of rights to their owners,"
the president stressed.

President Sargsyan, meanwhile, expressed great satisfaction to visit
Syria, the wonderful and hospitable country, stressing that mutual
visits between the two countries had created mutual and full trust .

He said relations between the Syrian and Armenian peoples are unique
and much more than a friendship between two peoples living in the
same area, noting that Syrian-Armenian friendship has a history that
had extended for thousands of years.

"Armenian people owes the Syrian people ,who had always stood by the
Armenian people’s side, a debt of gratitude as Armenians received
hospitality and compassionate treatment by the great Syrian people,"
President Sargsyan said .

Armenians, according to president Sargsyan could integrate in
the social life of this country keeping their identities. He said
brotherly relations which have been tested over the centuries and time
are the best guarantee for cooperation between the two countries and
a testimony on the high-level relations between Armenia and Syria in
all fields.

OBAMA HASN’T FORGOTTEN, BUT…

lary
05:51 pm | March 23, 2010

Why isn’t US President Barack Obama recognizing the Armenian Genocide
Resolution 252 when he had promised recognition during his electoral
campaign?

This was one of the questions addressed to US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton who was invited to Vladimir Posner’s television show
on Russia’s First Channel.

"I don’t think anybody has forgotten that, but a very important thing
happened and that was the normalization of relations between Armenia
and Turkey," said Clinton.

Clinton recalled that she was present during the signing of the
Protocols on normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

"There was an agreement in the Protocols on creating a historical
commission that would look into all issues of the past and I believe
that is the right path for both countries to focus on each other,"
said Clinton and added: "I have said several times that we can’t change
the history that we have inherited. We can try to have a better future
together." According to Clinton, the historical commission is in the
process of creation.

ARMENTEL WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE ROAMING SERVICES IN KARABAKH

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
23.03.2010 18:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ArmenTel CJSC, part of VimpelCom Group, has no
intention to deprive Nagorno Karabakh residents from roaming services,
head of ArmenTel PR department, Anush Begloyan told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Day.az Azeri newspaper once again accused VimpelCom Group with
"disrespect for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity", as the company
provides roaming services on Nagorno Karabakh territory. Meanwhile,
Karabakh Telecom mobile services provider operating in NKR, is
collaborating with 120 operators worldwide. "We see no reason
in depriving our clients from roaming services, placing them in
disadvantageous situation compared to the clients of other operators,"
Anush Begloyan stated.

FOREIGN MINISTRY: AZERBAIJAN WELCOMES SERZH SARGSYAN’S PROPOSAL TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT NOT TO USE FORCE

Noyan Tapan
March 22, 2010

BUKU, MART 22, NOYAN TAPAN. "Azerbaijan welcomes Serzh Sargsyan’s
proposal to sign an agreement not to use force," spokesman for Foreign
Ministry Elkhan Polukhov told APA while commenting on Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan’s appeal to sign an agreement not to use
force.

"But it will be possible only after the cause of that threat is
eliminated, Armenia withdraws its Armed Forces from the occupied
Azerbaijani territories. Azerbaijan agrees to sign such an agreement
after Armenia takes this step," he said.

Agence France Presse
March 20, 2010 Saturday 11:35 AM GMT

Turkish PM steps back from Armenian workers expulsion threat

ISTANBUL, March 20 2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he had no
immediate plans to expel illegal Armenian workers after his threat to
do so sparked a barrage of criticism at home and abroad.

Erdogan however urged Western countries to stop branding the massacres
of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as "genocide," slamming such
moves as attempts to "tarnish" Turkey’s honour and "meddle" in its
ties with Armenia.

The Turkish media and rights groups accused Erdogan of treating
illegal Armenians as a pawn in Ankara’s protests after his threat
earlier this week to deport thousands of impoverished Armenians
working illegally in Turkey.

But Erdogan said his remarks were aimed "at drawing the world’s
attention to our tolerant approach towards those people" and did not
mean that "we will take such a step immediately."

"What I am saying is that those who pass these baseless (genocide)
resolutions… should see the humanitarian perspective from which we
look at the problem… They should not meddle in our ties with our
neighbours," Erdogan told a gathering of Turkish artists.

"We are not speaking about citizens or immigrants or refugees. Still,
we have shown good will. We have displayed tolerance towards some
needy people… and we will continue to do so," he said.

But "we cannot stay silent when some people take actions to tarnish
the honour of Turkey and the Turkish people, while we are displaying
all kind of good will and tolerance," he added.

Erdogan blamed the "genocide" resolutions on the influential Armenian
diaspora in the West and "those who use them."

Earlier this month, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a
non-binding resolution branding the World War I massacres a genocide,
and Sweden’s parliament followed suit last week, infuriating Ankara.

In an interview with the BBC Turkish service Tuesday, Erdogan
threatened to expel illegal Armenian workers if foreign parliaments
continued to pass such resolutions, prompting a condemnation from
Yerevan and harsh domestic criticism that his remarks damaged already
troubled peace efforts with Armenia.

Erdogan put the number of illegal Armenians in Turkey at 100,000.

Researchers however say that the Turkish authorities tend to inflate
the figures to put pressure on Armenia, estimating the number between
10,000 to 20,000.

Following Swiss-brokered talks to end decades of enmity, Turkey and
Armenia signed a deal in October to establish diplomatic ties and open
their border. But the process has already hit snags, with both sides
accusing the other of lacking commitment to the deal.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed in systematic
massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

Turkey counters that between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at
least as many Turks perished in civil strife when Armenians rose up
against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.

Several other countries, notably France, have also recognised the
killings as genocide.

SITA website, Bratislava, Slovakian
March 19 2010

Slovak, Armenian ministers discuss regional issues, sign bilateral accords

Bratislava/Yerevan, 19 March: Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav
Lajcak and his Armenian counterpart Edvard Nalbandjan agreed on the
need to intensify relations between both countries during their talks
in Yerevan on Thursday [18 March]. They signed an intergovernmental
agreement on air services and a memorandum of Ministries of Foreign
Affairs on cooperation in the area of European integration, spokesman
for the Slovak department Peter Stano informed SITA news agency.

In addition to discussions about energy questions and greater
development of economic contacts, the ministers also spoke about
relations between Armenia and Turkey in the light of their
reconciliation process. They also touched the subject of the
unrecognized state in Azerbaijan — Nagorno-Karabakh, whose president
however is the Armenian head of state, as well as cooperation between
Armenia and the European Union. In this connection, Minister Lajcak
offered to his Armenian partner cooperation with Slovakia in the
program of Eastern Partnership of the EU.

During his visit to Armenia, Minister Lajcak also met with President
Serj Sargsyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. He opened a
Slovak-Armenian trade forum in the capital.

Aysor, Armenia
March 19 2010

Madrid Document is not a legal instrument, says Galust Sahakian

`Madrid Document is not a legal instrument since it is a collection of
written texts, put together to reach agreements in talks,’ said at
today’s press conference leader of the Republican Party of Armenia
Galust Sahakian.

He said that Armenian side has been presenting its clear position over
the issue over two years. `The Karabakh conflict should be solved by
one package, and the further process of talks, related to basic
principles, will be an item for discussions only after
Nagorno-Karabakh receives a status,’ said Galust Sahakian.

`Our position is that Nagorno-Karabakh has never been a part of
independent Azerbaijan.

`Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be a part of Azerbaijan, and its status can’t
be run down,’ said politician adding that right of self-determination
is a key goal of all peoples, and the territorial integrity is just a
principle.

`Mechanisms that lead us in our work currently are strong enough;
however, we should be able to make them clear to international
community. It is a complicated situation, but it can be solved, and we
are steadfast in this situation,’ he added.