Author: Chavushian

ARMENIAN SOLDIER SURRENDERED DUE TO "UNBEARABLE ARMY CONDITIONS"

ANS TV
July 16 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenian soldiers are continuing to be taken prisoner by the
Azerbaijani side not having been able to stand unbearable conditions
in the army.

This time round a similar incident happened on the front-line in
the area of Gadabay District in the evening of 15 July. The Defence
Ministry has told ANS that a private of special motorized rifle
regiment No 549 of the Armenian Defence Ministry, Karen Harutyunyan,
a Yerevan resident born in 1990, having been unable to bear torture
against him committed by his fellow servicemen, decided to leave his
place of service. He crossed the border and surrendered to Azerbaijani
servicemen.

COMMON STOCKS OF ARAX OJSC TO BE ADMITTED TO TRADING ON C FREE C MARKET OF NASDAQ OMX ARMENIA

ARKA
July 17, 2009

YEREVAN, July 17. /ARKA/. Common stocks of "ARAX" open joint stock
company will be admitted to trading on the C free C market of NASDAQ
OMX Armenia, the stock exchange reports.

Upon admission, a total of 116,879 stocks of the company with nominal
value AMD "1,000 will become traded at the exchange under ticker
symbol ARAX", the press release says.

"ARAX" ojsc is a production company with the range of products
and services comprising manufacturing and installation of elevator
cabins; metallic entrance doors equipped with coded locks; washers
for railroads; office furniture; and miscellaneous articles of
plastic. The company is the legal successor of "Arax" state-owned
enterprise established in 1987.

The major shareholder of "ARAX" ojsc is "International Business
Center" cjsc Russian-Armenian joint venture, which holds about 66%
of all shares of the company and is currently the major shareholder of
a few other companies in Armenia operating in business areas ranging
from production to real estate trade.

As of December 31, 2008, "ARAX" ojsc’s assets totaled AMD 499.96 mio,
equity capital was about AMD 293 mio; proceeds from sales exceeded
AMD 55.4 mio in 2008 growing more than 47 times compared to the
previous year.

The NASDA Q OMX Group, Inc. is the world’s largest exchange company. It
delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services
across six continents, and with over 3,900 companies, it is number
one in worldwide listings among major markets.

In January 2008, Nordic exchange operator OMX Group acquired 100%
of shares of the Armenian Stock Exchange (Armex) and the Central
Depository of Armenia (CDA).

After the combination of NASDAQ and OMX in February 2008, Armex and
CDA have become fully owned by the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

On January 27, 2009, "Armenian Stock Exchange" ojsc was officially
renamed as "NASDAQ OMX Armenia" ojsc. On June 5, 2009, "NASDAQ OMX
Armenia" ojsc became the owner of 100% of the shares of the "Central
Depository of Armenia" ojsc.

ROUNDTABLE "FUTURE OF KARABAKH – FUTURE OF PEACEMAKING INITIATIVES"

APA
July 14 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. Strategic Research Center under the
President of Azerbaijan organized a roundtable "Future of Karabakh –
future of peacemaking initiatives", APA reports. The roundtable was
organized on the initiative of the Strategic Research Center and
British International Alert organization to discuss the last phase
of the negotiations over the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Chief of the center’s foreign policy research department
Gulshen Pashayeva said very interesting events took place in the region
over the past year, including Georgia-Russia conflict and actions
taken toward the normalization of the Turkey-Armenia relations. She
said these events had an impact on whole region, concretely on
the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict and created encouraging
dynamics in the negotiations. She said the round table aimed to search
methods of use of people’s diplomacy if the negotiations were fruitful.

Director of International Alert Asian and Eurasian Programs Phil
Champaign informed the participants about his organization. "South
Caucasus is very important region for us. We hope for a leap in the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict".

The event attended by the Azerbaijani and Russian political scientists
was continued behind the closed doors.

REPRESENTATIVE OF ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO LEAVE FOR MOSCOW ON JULY 14

Noyan Tapan
July 13, 2009

ISTANBUL, JULY 13, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Grand Sacristan
of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople and Religious Council
Chairman Archbishop Aram Ateshian will leave for Moscow on July 14,
but not on the previous day, the Marmara daily corrects. He will join
here the retinue of Karekin II Catholicos of All Armenians.

His Holiness Patriarch, accompanied by high-ranking clergymen, will
pay an official visit to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia
and will congratulate him on the occasion of his being elected.

Trend, Azerbaijan
July 10 2009

Azerbaijani top official disagrees with the U.S. issuing funds to
Nagorno-Karabakh regime

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 10 /Trend News, A.Huseynbala/

The head of an Azerbaijani presidential administration department
considers the United States issuing $10 million to the separatist
Nagorno-Karabakh regime as wrong.

"It is regrettable that the U.S. Congress has decided to allocate $10
million to the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh regime," said the Head of
the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration International Relations
Department, Novruz Mammadov, in his interview with the ruling New
Azerbaijan Party’s (NAP) website on July 10.

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.

Novruzov said Azerbaijan has repeatedly faced such injustice. "Our
country does not see an adequate response in return for cooperation
with the West. Unfortunately, we have not seen a fair position from
the West in return for our sincere cooperation since we gained
independence. But there is a positive attitude towards Armenia. The
907th amendment is an injust decision," the head of the department
said.

Novruzov commented that it is wrong that the U.S. have allocated $10
million to the separatist regime. "If this is humanitarian aid, then I
want to note that it is necessary to give it to the people who were
left homeless, and the number of which exceeds the number of people
currently living in Nagorno-Karabakh. If the U.S. wants to prove that
they are just, they must take into account the people who have become
internally displaced persons as a result of the aggression," he said.

All Armenian Conference urges Armenians in the whole world to unite
11.07.2009 19:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ All Armenian Conference, organized by ARF
Dashnaktsutyun on July 10-11 in Stepanakert and dedicated to NKR
conflict and Armenian-Turkish relations, completed its work.
Based on 2-day Conference results, conference participants passed a
resolution on issues, vital to Armenian nation. The resolution said,
`We, All Armenian Conference participants, confirm our determination
to protect national interests and rights of Armenia. We demand RA and
NKR authorities to show firmness and political will in protection of
Armenian nation’s interests in NKR conflict settlement and
Armenian-Turkish relations’ issues.’
According to the document, RA, NKR and Diaspora can turn into an
organized force by acting as a unified body. They can prove to
superpowers and neighboring states that Armenians in the whole world
will not allow of their rights’ violation

‘VIVACELL-MTS’ GENERAL MANAGER MAKES A SPEECH AT ANNUAL MEETING OF ARMENIAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

ArmInfo
2009-07-10 16:02:00

ArmInfo. On 8 July ‘VivaCell-MTS’ General Manager Ralph Yirikian
participated and spoke at the session "Astronomy and Society" in
the framework of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Armenian Astronomical
Society (ArAS) organized in connection with the International Year
of Astronomy declared by UNESCO and dedicated to the 10th anniversary
of ArAs.

He pointed at importance of science development as one of the
most stable platforms of the society and at the necessity of its
supporting. He called companies acting in Armenia to contribute in
science development.

Byurakan Observatory is the most important center of Armenian
astrophysics where for decades scholarly research have been conducted
by Armenian astronomers, and among them was also the outstanding
scientist Viktor Hambardzumyan. Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory
(BAO) was founded in 1946 on the initiative of academician Victor
Hambartsumian, who became the first director of the observatory. At
the observatory five observational instruments are installed
the larger ones being 2.6 m Cassegrain telescope and 1m Schmidt
telescope. Scientific researches of the observatory are related mainly
with the instability phenomena taking place in the Universe.

Since 1946 numerous scientific meetings were held in Byurakan including
four symposia and a colloquium of the IAU. Since 1998 the Byurakan
Observatory bears the name of V.A. Hambartsumian.

In the course 2007, VivaCell-MTS provided 23.3 million drams
contribution for upgrading and renovation of Byurakan Observatory
telescopes’ management system.

Armenian Assembly of America
1334 G Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

July 9, 2009
Contact: Michael A Zachariades
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES $30 MILLION FOR ARMENIA

Armenian Assembly Seeks Increase

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 State, Foreign Operations
Appropriations Bill by a vote of 29 to 1, reported the Armenian Assembly
of America (Assembly). The Bill provides $30 million for Armenia, which
is $18 million less than the FY 2009 level.

"U.S. assistance to Armenia helps to offset the impact of Turkey’s
ongoing blockade of Armenia, and the Assembly will continue to work with
both the Senate and House to ensure the best possible outcome for
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh," said Assembly Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny.

The Senate followed the lead of the Obama Administration, which proposed
a sharp reduction in funding to Armenia from last year’s level of $48
million. The Senate bill also mirrored the Administration’s request with
respect to assistance to Azerbaijan, calling for $22 million.

According to Assembly sources, at the time of this release, Foreign
Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Education Training
(IMET) were not delineated for Armenia and Azerbaijan. Although the
numbers are not currently available, the Assembly expects military
parity to be maintained. Sources also indicate that language pertaining
to Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, which was strengthened by the
House Appropriations Committee last month, will remain in place.

The full U.S. House of Representatives is currently deliberating its
version of the State Foreign Operations Bill with passage expected later
tonight. A House-Senate Conference Committee will be formed to work out
the differences in the two bills before it is sent to the President to
be signed into law.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a 501(c) (3)
tax-exempt membership organization.

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NR#2009-058

YEREVAN ARARAT GAINS FIRST POINT AT FOOTBALL HIGHER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP OF ARMENIA

NOYAN TAPAN
JULY 9, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The Pyunik-Ararat postponed match of
the 11th round of the Football Higher League Championship of Armenia
took place at the Republican sports ground of Yerevan, on July 7. The
match ended in a draw, with a score of 0 to 0. Thus, Yerevan Ararat
gained the first point after 13 defeats.

After 14 rounds, Yerevan Pyunik continues heading the tournament table
with 34 points, it is followed by Mika with 32 points, Banants with
27, Ulis with 26, Gandzasar with 17, Shirak with 13, Kilikia with 10
and Ararat with 1 point.

The 15th round matches are scheduled for July 25 and 26.

OSCE MINSK GROUP HAS ALWAYS HAD PRO-AZERI POSITION: CHAIRMAN OF ASSEMBLY OF ARMENIANS OF AZERBAIJAN SAYS

NOYAN TAPAN
JULY 8, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The Assembly of Armenians of Azerbaijan
NGO is discontent with the work of the OSCE Minsk Group, as the
Group Co-chairs from the very start ignored Armenian refugees’
interests. NGO Chairman Grigory Ayvazian stated at the July 8 press
conference adding that the Minsk Group has always had a biassed,
pro-Azeri position. "Opinions that the Armenians and Azeris should
live together in Karabakh have become frequent lately," G. Ayvazian
said and stated that it is impossible. According to him, these two
peoples can no longer live on the same land.

The representative of the Armenians of Azerbaijan added that their
organization will pursue Azerbaijan’s compensating the moral and
material damages of Armenian refugees, as well as will work in the
direction of classing as a genocide the massacres organized by the
Azeris. According to G. Ayvazian, the world should learn that the state
of Azerbaijan was created on Armenian territories, seized Gandzak,
Field Karabakh, Nakhichevan. "After all the world should learn who
is the real occupant," he said.