Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

PALLONE LAUDS HOUSE FOREIGN OPERATIONS BILL FOR ITS COMMITMENT TO ARMENIA & MILITARY PARITY

Targeted News Service
June 24, 2009 Wednesday 7:26 AM EST

Rep. Frank G. Pallone, D-N.J. (6th CD), issued the following news
release:

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues, released the following statement today commending
the Fiscal Year 2010 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill for its
commitment to Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and military parity between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. The bill was passed through the House Committee
on Appropriations last night.

"I would like to commend Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger
for their hard work and leadership on the State and Foreign Operation
Appropriations bill.

"The people of Armenia continue to face an illegal dual blockade by
Turkey and Azerbaijan and continue to feel the negative effects of the
global recession. I strongly believe that robust U.S. assistance to
Armenia will help minimize the impact of these factors and help the
country strengthen its economy. Our assistance has helped economic
and social institutions in Armenia and will continue to do so when
provided at appropriate levels.

"Unfortunately, the Administration’s budget proposal reduced
funding to Armenia and broke with military parity between Armenia
and Azerbaijan. I am pleased that the subcommittee rejected these
recommendations, increasing aid to Armenia to $48 million. The
subcommittee also restored military parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan to $3 million each in Foreign Military Financing and
$450,000 in International Military Education and Training (IMET).

"I am also grateful that the subcommittee has allocated $10 million
for Nagorno Karabakh in humanitarian assistance. U.S. funding has
been tremendously helpful in alleviating humanitarian crises in
Nagorno-Karabakh. However, I respectfully request that in moving
forward with the appropriations bill, Chairwoman Lowey consider a shift
in aid from humanitarian to developmental programs in Nagorno Karabakh.

"In addition, the subcommittee enhanced Section 907 restrictions on
U.S. aid to Azerbaijan. Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act remains
a fundamental element of U.S. policy toward the South Caucasus and
is essential as Azerbaijan continues its blockade of Armenia and
continues to use threatening language. The bill reiterates the need
for all parties in the conflict to ‘refrain from threats, incitement
to the use of force, or other inflammatory rhetoric’ and directs the
Department of State to consult with the Committee on Appropriations
before exercising this waiver for Fiscal Year 2010."

Contact: Richard McGrath, 202/225-4671

Copyright Targeted News Services

TNS JF78JF-090625-2324265 EditorFurigay

MOSCOW BEARS DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY FOR KARABAKH CONFLICT, A RUSSIAN JOURNALIST THINKS

ArmInfo
2009-06-26 16:40:00

ArmInfo. It is the Soviet Union, Stalin’s national policy and Mikhail
Gorbachev, who lost the control over the situation in late 80s,
to blame for the Karabakh conflict, Maxim Shevchenko, a Russian
journalist, member of the Public Chamber of Russia, told ArmInfo
correspondent.

"At that time Moscow didn’t understand the problem so well and
made controversial statements radically contradicting the common
sense. Someone supported Azerbaijan, someone supported Armenia, as a
result, the Karabakh conflict became the first one in the number of
conflicts, which collapsed the Soviet Union",- he said.

In this connection, Shevchenko thinks that Moscow bears direct
responsibility for the Karabakh conflict as it could be settled without
bloodshed, violence, creation of illegal armed formations, etc. "The
most important thing is that one failed to avoid the grief of hundreds
of thousands of people who became refugees in an instant",- he said.

RELEASE OF THE 18 JAILED PERSONS THE PRIMARY TASK OF THE CONGRESS
Lusine Vasilyan

"Radiolur"
25.06.2009 16:35

Coordinator of the Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabyan stated
today that the release of the majority of persons jailed in relation to
the events in Yerevan on March 1, 2008 was the result of the consistent
struggle of the Armenian National Congress and its cooperation with
the Council of Europe.

According to him, the release of the rest of the 18 arrested persons
is the primary task of the Congress.

The Armenian National Congress connects the decision on amnesty only
with the requirements of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe and considers that the authorities set free as many people
as necessary to avoid sanctions.

Turning to the forth resolution on Armenia adopted by the Parliamentary
Assembly, the representative of the Congress said he sees both positive
and negative formulations in the document.

"The most important is that PACE does not consider the issue to
be closed. It will pursue that other jailed persons are set free,"
Levon Zurabyan said.

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT SAYS NATION MUST PREPARE FOR WAR WITH ARMENIA

MosNews
009/06/25/nagornokarabakhwar/
June 25 2009
Russia

"Azerbaijan is ready to restore its territorial intergrity by military
means any time," said Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliev at a ceremony
commemorating the 91st anniversary of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

"Azerbaijan has military formations capable of carrying out any
mission. If necessary, Azerbaijan can use its military power to restore
its territorial integrity, and it is our sovereign right. International
law allows us to do it," the president said.

"We live in a state of war, thus our primary goal is and should be
the strengthening of our army. With the war still going on and only
its first stage over, we are continuing our efforts to be ready to
free our motherland from the enemy by military means at any time,"
Aliev claimed.

"Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its readiness to reach a
peaceful solution of the conflict [in the Nagorno-Karabakh] through
negotiations," he said. However, because "the talks that have been
going on for 15 years since the ceasefire have so far proved fruitless,
we are relying mostly on our army."

According to Aliev this is the reason why Azerbaijan has been
consistently building up its military potential in recent years.

Azerbaijan’s economy has been successfully developing through the
current crisis, Aliev added. "Unlike some other countries who depend
on foreign aid, we are able to survive without foreign countries’
charitable assistance. Thanks to our strenghthened economic potential,
we have succeeded in creating a strong army," he said.

Aliev is sure that international law takes Azerbaijan’s side in the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue and that major international organizations
decisions and resolutions reflect Azerbaijan’s position.

The Nagorno-Karabakh War was the armed conflict between Azerbaijan
and Armenia, two countries in the South Caucasus; the war began
in 1988. Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the area,
which is mostly mountainous and afforested and covers 8,223 square
kilometers. It is de jure part of Azerbaijan, but de facto governed by
the internationally unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Despite
the ceasefire signed in 1994, fatalities due to armed conflicts
between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers have continued.

As of August 2008, the United States, France, and Russia (the co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group) are mediating efforts to resolve the conflict.

PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA TO VISIT ARMENIA ON JUNE 24-25

ArmInfo
2009-06-23 12:18:00

ArmInfo. President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and his wife Sandra
Roelofs will pay a two-day official visit to Armenia on June 24 on
invitation of Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan.

As the Armenian presidential press service reports, official ceremony
of greeting of the Georgian president will be held in the presidential
residence on the same day, to be followed by face-to-face meeting of
the two presidents. After that, an extended meeting of the official
delegations and a press-conference of the Armenian and Georgian
presidents will be held.

In the evening June 24, an official super will be given in the
name of S. Sargsyan and the First Lady Rita Sargsyan in honour of
M. Saakashvili and S. Roelofs.

M. Saakashvili will also meet Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran
Sarkisyan.

Within the frames of the visit, the Georgian president will visit the
Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims and will meet the teachers
and students of the Yerevan State University. The delegation headed
by the president of Georgia will leave Armenia on June 25.

TURKEY LEADS NAGORNO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
23.06.2009 13:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian-Turkish relations are unlikely to intensify
in the nearest future David Shahnazaryan, board member of the Armenian
National Movement told a news conference today.

"Turkey has received what it dreamt about and after establishment
of historians’ group passed on to settling Nagorno Karabakh issue,"
David Shahnazaryan said.

According to him, Turkey leads the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem to the UN Security Council, that is a "disgraceful failure of
the football diplomacy of the Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan". Until
recently the Nagorno Karabakh settlement issue has never been on the
agenda of the UN Security Council, David Shahnazaryan added.

Image of enemy is very difficult to overcome, when it is in people’s
consciousness
20.06.2009 14:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Image of enemy is very difficult to overcome, when
it is stemmed in people’s consciousness. The image of enemy is shaped
not only but media but also history books, stereotypes, said
Dessislava Russanova, Eurasia project coordinator of International
Alert a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
`This is a serious problem related not only to misunderstanding
between Armenians and Azerbaijani, but also to the development of
inner democratic processes in societies. Therefore particularly today
maximum efforts should be applied to overcome stereotypes in the
societies, hindering normal relationships’, she stressed.
According to Russanova, organizing meetings between Armenian and
Azerbaijani publics, International Alert does not expect quick
results. `We believe a set of measures and a number of initiatives
between societies and inside societies are necessary in order to
improve relationships. What is possible to do today we must do
today. Outcomes will be seen in future’.

2009-2010 SCHOOL YEAR RESUMES AT ARMENIAN HUMANITARIAN COLLEGE IN CALCUTTA

Noyan Tapan
June 19, 2009

CALCUTTA, JUNE 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. After one month
holidays, the doors of the Armenian Humanitarian College in Calcutta
opened again to resume the 2009-2010 school year.

According to a report received from the college, being one of the
oldest educational centers of the Diaspora and operating under the
patronage of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the college continues
its educational activities in distant India and its doors are always
open to Armenian pupils eager to get knowledge.

India-based Armenians, as well as those from Armenia, Iran and Iraq
study at the Armenian Humanitarian College in Calcutta to acquire
knowledge and receive an Armenian upbringing.

This year the college was replenished with a group of young men from
Iraq and woman teachers invited from Armenia.

HOLIDAYS IS OUT THIS YEAR, SINCE THERE IS A CRISIS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.06.2009 19:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ RA prime minister Tigran Sargsyan said at the
governmental sitting today, that he is dissatisfied since high-ranking
officials apply for summer vacations. He stressed, that due to economic
crisis all officials will rest inside the country and cannot enjoy
long-term summer leaves.

According to him, the season of summer holidays will not begin for
the government since it has to work hard in summer. ‘I am very much
astonished by the fact that high-ranking officials apply for one-month
summer leaves as if Armenia had already overcome the financial economic
crisis and there is no unusual situation in Armenia requiring hard
work. Economic indicators are not so good this year for our country,
and 2009 is the most difficult in respect to economy. We must be
alert," Tigran Sargsyan said.

According to Mr. Sargsyan officials can take short-term leaves and
rest only inside Armenia. He stressed, that the summer season will
be a season of hard and intensive work for the government since the
economic indicators in the country are getting worse

ARMENIA REGISTERS PROGRESS IN ITS EFFORTS TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

armradio.am
18.06.2009 16:32

On June 16, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the
U.S. Department of State’s 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP)
Report. The report, which documented the efforts of 175 countries to
combat human trafficking over the period of April 2008 to March 2009,
recognized Armenia as having made progress in its anti-trafficking
efforts.

Based on that progress, Armenia’s ranking rose from the Tier Two Watch
List, where it had remained four consecutive years from 2005 to 2008,
to the Tier Two category of the U.S. Department of State’s four-tier
ranking system.

While the TIP Report stated that the Government of Armenia does
not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking, "it is making significant efforts to do so." The
Department of State positively assessed the Government’s reopening in
December 2008 of an investigation into a well-documented 2006 case of
official trafficking corruption, as well as the Government’s allocation
of financial resources to protect trafficking victims and raise public
awareness about the dangers of trafficking. The Department of State
also recognized the November 2008 implementation of a new national
referral mechanism that provides assistance to trafficking victims,
but urged the Government to follow international best practices
and standards.

The annual TIP report was mandated by the U.S. Congress through
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Its purpose is
to increase global awareness of human trafficking, to highlight
national and international efforts to combat it, and to encourage
foreign governments to take action against all forms of modern-day
slavery. The Embassy commends the constructive steps taken by the
Armenian authorities to address the issue of human trafficking,
and looks forward to continued cooperation in this important area.