Author: Chalian Meline

CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA RAISES INTEREST RATE AGAIN ON PERSISTENT INFLATION CONCERNS
by Venla Sipila

World Markets Research Center
Global Insight
March 10, 2010

The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) yesterday lifted its refinancing
interest rate to 6.5%, up by 50 basis points. The move was the third
similar increase in as many months this year. According to Reuters,
the CBA took the decision seeing rising signs of the economy picking
up, in order to bring inflation rates down towards the targeted level.

The latest inflation figures put consumer price growth in February
to 9.4% year-on-year (y/y), placing it far above the CBA’s targeted
rate of 4% with 1.5 percentage points on either side (seeArmenia:
3 March 2010: ).

Significance:Given the continued pick-up in inflation, we expected
further interest rate increases. The Armenian economy is indeed
expected to start recovering from its very severe recession. However,
as this revival is starting from a very weak position, no strong
demand pressures on prices are likely to emerge soon. On the other
hand, cost-side pressures on prices are expected to persist in the
coming months. Thus, further interest rate increases may follow. On
the other hand, given the still undeveloped structures of the
Armenian financial sector, the CBA’s refinancing rate does not yet
fully function as a policy tool, but rather gives an indication of
the central bank’s inflation expectations. Encouragingly, the CBA
has previously indicated that it is going to retain its flexible
exchange-rate policy. This will help in managing the still very high
financial risks, related to Armenia’s deep external imbalances, and
also in controlling inflation in the future when foreign currency
inflows are expected to recover again.

BRAZILIAN AFFILIATE OF HAYASTAN ALL-ARMENIAN FUND SPONSORS RECONSTRUCTION OF NORK-MARASH HOSPITAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2010 14:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Brazilian affiliate of the Hayastan All-Armenian
Fund continues to support major renovations at Yerevan’s Nork-Marash
Infectious Diseases Hospital. The latest project benefiting the
facility, the sixth such initiative sponsored by the Brazilian
affiliate, will result in the reconstruction of the hospital’s
Pediatric and Adolescent Infections departments.

Currently underway, the project was announced by Brazilian-affiliate
chairman Ochin Leon Mosditchian in October 2009, during his working
visit to Yerevan with a Brazilian-Armenian delegation.

"This is not the first time when a benefactor finances several
additional projects following the realization of an initial
undertaking," said Ara Vardanyan, executive director of the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund, commenting on the Brazilian-Armenian community’s
consistent support of Nork-Marash Hospital.

"Commitment of this level ensures that issues faced by a given
beneficiary are solved in a comprehensive manner," Vardanyan added.

"The continued support of sponsors such as the Armenian-Brazilian
community is a testament to the effectiveness of the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund as well as the confidence it inspires among donors."

Since 2005, the fund has implemented a string of extensive projects
at Nork-Marash Hospital. "Without a doubt, these major renovations
and upgrades have significantly improved the general quality of
our medical services as well as our patients’ sense of well-being,"
said Dr. Ara Asoyan, chief physician at Nork-Marash Hospital.

"Today our vastly enhanced facility enables us to provide top-notch
care and makes us far better prepared to deal with epidemics."

According to Dr. Asoyan, close to 7,200 patients (including 2,350
outpatients) have received care at the hospital’s renovated departments
during 2009.

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

03 March, 2010

Brazilian affiliate of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund sponsors latest
reconstruction project at Nork-Marash Hospital

Yerevan, March 10, 2010 – The Brazilian affiliate of the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund continues to support major renovations at Yerevan’s
Nork-Marash Infectious Diseases Hospital. The latest project benefiting the
facility, the sixth such initiative sponsored by the Brazilian affiliate,
will result in the reconstruction of the hospital’s Pediatric and Adolescent
Infections departments.

Currently under way, the project was announced by Brazilian-affiliate
chairman Ochin Leon Mosditchian in October 2009, during his working visit to
Yerevan with a Brazilian-Armenian delegation.

"This is not the first time when a benefactor finances several additional
projects following the realization of an initial undertaking," said Ara
Vardanyan, executive director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, commenting
on the Brazilian-Armenian community’s consistent support of Nork-Marash
Hospital.

"Commitment of this level ensures that issues faced by a given beneficiary
are solved in a comprehensive manner," Vardanyan added. "The continued
support of sponsors such as the Armenian-Brazilian community is a testament
to the effectiveness of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund as well as the
confidence it inspires among donors."

Since 2005, the fund has implemented a string of extensive projects at
Nork-Marash Hospital. They include the reconstruction of the Intensive Care
Unit, Intestinal Infections Department, and Infectious Diseases Department,
the installation of a new roof on one of the hospital’s two main wings, the
installation of a heating system, and the construction of a boiler room.

"Without a doubt, these major renovations and upgrades have significantly
improved the general quality of our medical services as well as our
patients’ sense of well-being," said Dr. Ara Asoyan, chief physician at
Nork-Marash Hospital. "Today our vastly enhanced facility enables us to
provide top-notch care and makes us far better prepared to deal with
epidemics."

According to Dr. Asoyan, close to 7,200 patients (including 2,350
outpatients) have received care at the hospital’s renovated departments
during 2009.

# # #

Hayastan All Armenian Fund

TURKEY ‘NOT TO BOW TO PRESSURE’

news.az
March 9 2010
Azerbaijan

Ahmet Davutoglu Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on on Monday
that Turkey would not bow down to pressure over relations with Armenia.

He was speaking after a US House panel adopted a resolution describing
as ‘genocide’ the tragic events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire.

‘We will maintain our peaceful perspective but we will not let
anyone put pressure on Turkey over issues on which we can give no
concessions. We hope our counterparts on this issue have received the
message,’ Davutoglu told reporters at a joint press conference with
his Mauritanian counterpart, Naha Mint Mouknass, in the capital Ankara.

The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday
adopted the resolution with 23 votes for 22 against, raising concerns
that approval in the House might hurt rapprochement between Ankara
and Yerevan, which recently signed protocols to open their border
and resume diplomatic relations.

Turkey recalled its US ambassador, Namik Tan, to Ankara for
consultations shortly after the House panel vote.

Davutoglu said he had met Tan and that their consultations would
continue for some time.

ARMENIAN SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES ARMENIA-NATO COOPERATION

news.am
March 9 2010
Armenia

At its March 9 sitting, the interagency commission in charge of the
2009 Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Program reported that the
program was effectively implemented.

The press office of the Secretary of the RA National Security Council
informed NEWS.am that Commission Chairman, Secretary of the RA National
Security Council Artur Baghdasaryan presided over the meeting.

Summing up the work, Baghdasaryan stressed that 122 special events took
place under the program. He emphasized the cooperation in revising
the defense strategy and in the context of the planned emergency
programs. Baghdasaryan pointed out that the Armenia-2010 joint
emergency management maneuvers will be conducted in Armenia this
year. In this context, he pointed out the necessity for a national
civil defense strategy and a military education doctrine. If all the
planned programs are effectively implemented, the elaboration of a
new NATO program at the end of 2010 will afford an opportunity for
setting new standards and implementing effective reforms.

TURKISH CABINET TO DISCUSS ROADMAP AFTER US GENOCIDE VOTE

Asbarez
iscuss-roadmap-after-us-genocide-vote/
Mar 8th, 2010

ANKARA (Today’s Zaman)-A regular weekly meeting of Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s cabinet will focus on drawing up
a roadmap concerning the current course of affairs in bilateral
relations between Ankara and Washington after a US congressional
committee voted to pass a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Turkey has expressed its outrage over the US House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Affairs’ approval of the non-binding resolution
on Thursday, in a vote broadcast live on Turkish television, and
recalled its envoy to the United States for consultations.

"The decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee will not hurt Turkey,
but it will greatly harm bilateral relations, interests and vision.

Turkey will not be the one who loses," Erdogan said on Saturday,
speaking to a group of Turkish businessmen.

The road map is expected to contain flexibility in regards to
"retaliatory" steps, as Ankara will also have to focus on preventing
US President Barack Obama from recognizing the Armenian Genocide in
an annual White House statement on April 24, the day marking Armenian
the 95th anniversary of the crime against humanity.

The Obama administration, for its part, made a last-minute appeal
against the resolution and has said it will stop the vote from going
further in Congress.

Diplomatic sources have said self-isolating measures such as shutting
down Incirlik Air Base, used by the US military, or cutting defense
imports from the US are unlikely at this stage. But damage to the
partnership with Turkey is likely to hurt US strategic interests in
the Middle East and Afghanistan, where Turkey is a key contributor
to the NATO-led peacekeeping force. Its growing clout in the Middle
East has given Ankara a key role in the region, making it capable of
exerting influence on US policy.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu gave a cautious answer when asked whether retaliatory
steps such as withdrawing troops from Afghanistan or a change of
regulation regarding the US use of Incirlik Air Base in Adana could
be on the agenda.

Such issues will be discussed with Tan upon his arrival, Davutoglu
said, adding that the issue would be discussed later at the Cabinet
meeting as well as with President Abdullah Gul and opposition parties.

US DOESN’T WANT CONGRESS DISCUSSIONS TO IMPACT ITS RELATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN

news.az
March 8 2010
Azerbaijan

"We certainly would not want this discussion within the U.S. Congress
to impact our relations with Azerbaijan".

"We are strategic partners, and there is much we are doing together
that benefits both nations," in response to questions about the U.S.

position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee vote, spokesman for
U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Terry Davidson said.

"We are aware of Azerbaijan’s concern about the debate over this
resolution in the U.S. Congress, and both President Obama and Secretary
Clinton have made clear their desire that the U.S. Congress not be
forum for debates about what happened in 1915. As they have stated,
we believe the people of Turkey and Armenia – their societies, their
historians – are the ones who should review this history and put
it into perspective. To that end, the United States has supported
efforts to bring about rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia,
an opening that would include the creation of an ongoing dialogue
about the tragic events of 1915.

Secretary Clinton said last week that she hopes the full Congress
will not take further action on this resolution, as we believe it to
be unhelpful in the normalization of relations between Turkey and
Armenia. That normalization would help bring long-term stability,
peace and progress to the region," Terry Davidson said.

Azg, Armenia
March 4 2010

BRITISH DISCUSSIONS ABOUT GENOCIDE

By Hovik Afyan

"Azg" daily has informed on February 16 that the majority of the UK
Parliament’s House of Commons had signed motions (called Early Day
Motions) recognizing the 1915 Genocide of Armenians and Assyrians.

On April 30, the House of Commons will again debate the Armenian
Genocide Remembrance Day bill; presented by Andrew Dismore, a
representative of the leading Labor party in England. Not only
government and opposition representatives, but also other MPs of the
House of Commons will participate in the discussions.

To acquire strength of law, the bill should be also approved by the
House of Lords and meet with the Queen’s approval.

Today, Azerbaijan
March 7 2010

Azerbaijani FM discussed Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with French
President’s adviser

07 March 2010 [00:55] – Today.Az

During his visit to Paris Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov met with President Nicolas Sarkozy’s chief foreign policy
adviser Jean-David Levitte, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s official
representative Elkhan Polukhov told Trend News.

Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed during
the meeting. Foreign Minister brought Azerbaijan’s position to French
adviser’s attention.

French diplomat, in his turn, stressed that French President Nicolas
Sarkozy’s promise, given in the last meeting with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev on his personal intervention in the issue and
continuation of efforts to resolve the conflict, remains in force.

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.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

/Trend News/

URL:

Reuters, UK
March 6 2010

Turkish PM says U.S. vote to "greatly harm" ties

Sat Mar 6, 2010 8:34am EST

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A U.S. resolution that branded as genocide the
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One will
seriously damage U.S.-Turkish relations, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
said on Saturday.

NATO member Turkey, an ally crucial to U.S. interests in Iraq, Iran,
Afghanistan and the Middle East, has expressed its outrage at
Thursday’s non-binding vote in the Foreign Affairs committee of the
U.S. House of Representatives and recalled its envoy to the United
States for consultations.

"The decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee will not hurt Turkey,
but it will greatly harm bilateral relations, interests and vision.
Turkey will not be the one who loses," said Erdogan, speaking at a
summit of Turkish businessmen.

The Obama administration made a last-minute appeal against the
resolution and has vowed to stop the vote, which was broadcast live on
Turkish television, from going further in Congress.

Turkey has said the resolution could jeopardize a fragile drive by
Turkey and Armenia to end a century of hostilities and lead to further
instability in the south Caucasus, a region crisscrossed by oil and
gas pipelines to Europe.

Turkey’s ambassador to the United States told journalists upon his
return on Saturday it was unclear when he would head back to
Washington following his talks with the president, prime minister and
foreign minister.

"I will return when the time is right … We will have to wait and
see," Namik Tan said. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted in a
media report as saying that the consultations could last "a long
time."

The resolution urges Obama to use the term "genocide" when he delivers
his annual message on the Armenian massacres in April.

Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it amounted to
genocide — a term employed by many Western historians and some
foreign parliaments.
Some analysts fear the vote may alienate Turkey at a time when there
are concerns that its warmer ties with Syria, Iran and Russia, could
herald a shift away from its traditional Western allies.

Commentators had said the bill could affect Washington’s use of the
Incirlik air base in southeast Turkey. Incirlik is vital in logistical
support for U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Turkey is a transit route for U.S. troops going to and from Iraq, and
the country has 1,700 non-combat troops in Afghanistan.

Ankara has also played a key role in Obama’s strategy to get
Afghanistan and Pakistan to work together in fighting al Qaeda and
Taliban militants in their borders and has hosted high-level talks
between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Thomas Grove; Editing by Noah Barkin)