Author: Chilingarian Babken

Sinai Coach Crash Kills Armenian Tourists

Tert.am
15:50 – 30.01.10

A traffic accident took place in Egypt’s South Sinai Peninsula in
which 8 tourists from Armenia, 9 from Russia and 3 from Ukraine were
injured, some of whom have been transported to hospital.

According to earlier reports of accidents on BBC News, `Egypt has a
history of serious road accidents because of poor driving and road
conditions, and because of poorly maintained vehicles.’

Egyptian police are currently unable to state the reason for the accident.

UNPRECEDENTED CELEBRATIONS ON ST. SARGIS FEAST

Aysor.am
29.01.2010, 15:44

St. Sargis feast is tomorrow, but the events have started since today.

"It is the love that helps to overcome all the difficulties. Repeat
frequently the magical sentence "I love you"~T, – these were the
words by which the feast events started in the yard of St. Sargis.

Prayer at first and then singing and dancing, new acquaintances and the
happy mood was provided by the singers of the troop "Golden Voices".

By the conduction of His Holiness Karekin II this day has been called
the day of blessing of the young people. It is being celebrated not
only by the church ceremony but also by the national tradition.

Today’s event is not an exception too.

The celebration itself will take place tomorrow at 15:30 in the park
of the "Beloved".

The "Araratyan" diocese is inviting everyone to partake in the feast
during which the yuoung couples will be blessed. There will be a
concert program and a horseman with gifts. The organizers of the
project do not open all the surprises but they promise that it will
be a unique celebration.

THE SHOW IS OVER…THE PROTOCOLS ARE DEAD!
By Harut Sassounian

Noyan Tapan
The California Courier
Jan 28, 2010

The show is finally over! The international community is no
longer buying the endless Turkish excuses for refusing to ratify
the Protocols. Armenian officials, who naively believed that Turkey
would open its border and establish diplomatic relations with Armenia,
are beginning to question the Turks’ sincerity and contemplating the
possibility of the Protocols’ collapse.

Now the blame game starts! Whose fault is it that the Protocols are
not being ratified? In my view, the Turks are the ones to be blamed
for deceiving the international community all along. It was never the
intention of the Turkish leaders to carry out their publicly stated
plans to normalize relations with Armenia. They were simply engaged
in a ploy to obstruct what they believed to be Pres. Obama’s solemn
pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and to facilitate Turkey’s
admission to the European Union (EU), since open borders are one of
the key prerequisites for EU membership.

Without taking a single positive step, Turkey created the false
impression of reconciling with Armenia, thereby dissuading Pres. Obama
from using the term "Genocide" in his April 24 statement. Turkish
leaders also succeeded in exploiting the Protocols to generate
favorable worldwide publicity for their country.

During long and difficult negotiations, Turkey demanded that in return
for opening the border and establishing diplomatic relations, Armenia
withdraw from Karabagh (Artsakh), set up an international commission
to study the facts of the Genocide, and acknowledge the territorial
integrity of Turkey.

After Russia, the United States, and Europe applied intense pressure
on both sides, Armenia and Turkey made a series of compromises.

Armenia reluctantly agreed to establish an ambiguous "historical
commission," which was not explicitly linked to the Genocide. Armenia
also had to accept a reference in the Protocols to prior international
treaties that confirmed Armenian territorial concessions to Turkey,
but did not specifically mention the capitulatory Treaty of Kars.

Furthermore, the Protocols included a clause that called for
non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states, implying
that Armenia could no longer support Artsakh, because that would be
construed as interference in Azerbaijan’s domestic issues.

Since the Protocols signed on October 10 did not fulfill all of
Turkey’s demands, its leaders started threatening not to ratify the
Protocols or open the border with Armenia until the Artsakh conflict
is resolved in Azerbaijan’s favor. In other words, Turkey was trying
to make up for any deficiencies in the Protocols by holding their
ratification hostage to its precondition on Artsakh.

The ratification of the Protocols became even more complicated when
Azerbaijan began to threaten its "Big Brother" Turkey for considering
the opening of the border with its archenemy — Armenia. The Azeris
wanted the Turkish blockade to continue until Armenia is forced to
acknowledge Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction over Artsakh. The Azeri threat
of raising natural gas prices to Turkey and redirecting some of its
oil to Russia made Turkish leaders even more reticent to consummate
their agreement with Armenia.

To appease Azerbaijan, Turkey demanded that Russia, Europe and the
United States pressure Armenia into making concessions on Artsakh.

This Turkish request, however, fell on deaf ears. The international
community realized that the attempt to simultaneously resolve two
thorny issues — the Artsakh conflict and Armenia-Turkey Protocols —
would lead to solving neither one!

Realizing that hardly anyone outside Turkey and Azerbaijan was
supporting their demands on Artsakh, Turkish leaders set their sights
on another convenient scapegoat: The Constitutional Court of Armenia.

Although the Court decided on January 12 that the obligations
stipulated in the Protocols complied with the constitution, it also
issued several clarifications and limitations that restricted the
Turkish government’s loose interpretation of the Protocols.

Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Davutoglu brazenly
threatened to abandon the Protocols outright, unless the Armenian
Constitutional Court "corrected" its decision — an impossible task
under Armenian laws! The State Dept. quickly sided with Armenia,
rejecting the Turkish claim that the Constitutional Court’s ruling
contradicted the "letter and spirit" of the agreement. Of course,
the State Department’s true intent was to forestall the Armenian
Parliament from adding any reservations on the Protocols at the time
of ratification.

Since the Chairman of the Armenian Parliament had already announced
that he would not take any action until the Turkish Parliament ratified
the Protocols first, the ball is now in Turkey’s court. The Protocols
have been collecting dust in Ankara ever since they were submitted
to the Parliament on October 21, 2009. The Foreign Ministers of
Armenia and Turkey had stated in their joint announcement of last
August that the Protocols should be ratified "within a reasonable
timeframe." Armenian officials recently reminded Turkey of that loose
deadline, adding that Armenia would be forced to take unspecified
counter-actions should Turkey not ratify the Protocols by February
or March, at the latest!

At this juncture, neither Armenia nor Turkey is willing to back down
from its recalcitrant position. Should Turkey’s leaders remove Artsakh
and the Constitutional Court as preconditions, they would risk not
only losing Azerbaijan as an ally, but seriously jeopardize their
party’s majority in next year’s parliamentary election. Similarly,
Armenia’s leaders can neither give up Artsakh nor "correct" the
ruling of the Constitutional Court. No amount of outside pressure
can therefore force the two governments to reverse course. That is
why I believe the Protocols cannot be resuscitated!

Turkey came very close to deceiving Armenia and the rest of the world
with these infamous Protocols. Fortunately, they failed before causing
lasting damage to Armenia’s national interests.

WHY DID KOCHARYAN GO?

Lragir.am
28/01/10

The head of the union of political scientists Hmayak Hovhannisyan by
the request of reporters commented on Robert Kocharyan’s visit to Iran.

Hmayak Hovhannisyan answered that he does not agree with the opinion
that this visit stands for Robert Kocharyan’s wish to return to the
active politics because in this case it is not expedient to go to Iran
and to express rough opinions about the role of the international
force centers in our region. Hovhannisyan says Iran has always had
a big and shadow role in the Armenian home political affairs.

He recalled that in 1997 when Robert Kocharyan was going to enter
in active politics, he left for France and not for Iran. He also
remembered that when Artur Baghdasaryan was the NA speaker, Iran
invited him to participate in the conference of the speakers of
parliaments of the Islamic organization countries, but Baghdasaryan
refused the invitation.

Hmayak Hovhannisyan is sure that Robert Kocharyan as an experienced
political figure, a person who has been the president of Armenia
for ten years, knows that it is not expedient to leave for Iran in
order to come back to active politics. According to Hovhannisyan,
Kocharyan’s visit shows that Armenia, realizing that the opening of
the Armenian and Turkish border may be protracted, or even stopped,
tries to promote the Armenian and Iranian relations as an attempt to
eliminate the repression in connection with the Karabakh issue.

According to him, Robert Kocharyan’s visit was a message addressed
to the West about special relations between Armenia and Iran. Hmayak
Hovhannisyan recalled that Robert Kocharyan has been the responsible
person for the Karabakh defense, as well as the first president of
Karabakh, and if he was not accepted in Iran as an Armenia official,
he was surely accepted as a Karabakh official.

ARMENIAN COALITION PARTIES URGE RA NA SPEAKER TO DEMAND CLARIFICATIONS FROM PACE PRESIDENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.01.2010 21:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia
and Orinats Yerkir issued a statement in reference to PACE President
Movlud Chavushoglu’s interview to APA Azeri news agency. "Some of PACE
President’s comments question his impartiality in Karabakh issue. PACE
President has a wrong perception of the nature and details of the
issue, as well as of negotiation progress concerning the problem in
question," the joint statement says.

According to the statement, Movlud Chavushoglu’s statement is seriously
questioning the authority of his PACE presidency from the viewpoint
of his ability to play a positive role in the settlement of regional
problems. "The interview proves that only OSCE MG is authorised to
conduct Karabakh talks, and any initiative which goes beyond OSCE
MG format will only complicate and harm the peaceful settlement of
Karabakh conflict," the statement says.

Given the abovementioned facts, Armenian coalition parties urge
RA NA speaker to clarify with PACE President the credibility of the
interview in question and demand explanations, also asking Chavushoglu
to specify if his words should be regarded as official PACE position.

If necessary, the issue of suspension of PACE Armenian delegation
activities during Movlud Chavushoglu’s presidency should also be
discussed, the joint statements stresses.

ARMENIA-GEORGIA POWER TRANSMISSION LINE

Lragir.am
26/01/10

On January 26, the 8th session of the Armenian and Georgian
inter-governmental commission took place in Yerevan for which the
Georgian delegation headed by the prime minster of that country Nika
Gilauri arrived in Yerevan on a one-day working visit. The session
lasted for about an hour after which the Armenian and Georgian premiers
held a joint press conference and expressed their satisfaction with
the session.

As the Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said they came to an agreement
on all the issues. The premiers reported about an energy project which
includes the construction of a 400- kilovolt power transmission line
from Armenia to Georgia. Financing of the project and the gasket will
perform the Armenian side.

DIRECTOR GENERAL: ARMENIAN AMERIABANK INTENDS TO ENLARGE ITS ASSETS BY 25% IN 2010

ARKA
Jan 26, 2010

YEREVAN, January 26. /ARKA/. Armenian Ameriabank intends to enlarge its
assets by 25% in 2010, Artak Hanesyan, director general of Ameriabank
CJSC, said Tuesday at a press conference.

He said the bank would enlarge its credit portfolio by 30% this year.

"And growth of capital will depend on profits, and is expected to
increase by 10%," Anesyan said.

The director general Ameriabank’s assets doubled from AMD 50 billion
in 2008 to AMD 103.5 billion in 2009.

He said the bank is the leader in profit growth among other Armenian
banks.

Ameriabank was the second largest lender among Armenian banks in 2009 –
its credit portfolio grew 73% to AMD 54.6 billion.

The bank’s liabilities toward clients tripled reaching AMD 69.1
billion against AMD 23.4 billion in 2008 – this indicator placed the
bank third among others.

Ameriabank’s liabilities totaled AMD 81.8 billion in 2009.

The bank, with its AMD 1.5 billion profit, was the fourth biggest
profit-gainer among Armenian banks in 2009.

Hanesyan said that Ameriabank implemented new programs, such as full
deposit insurance introduced in cooperation with Rosgosstrakh.

Thanks to that, individuals’ deposits grew 7.5 times.

The bank opened a new home office in 2009.

Hanesyan also pointed out introduction of Internet-banking services
among the banks achievements.

He said automation of business processes is under way now and planned
to be completed by May 1, 2010.

"We intend to offer "structural deposit" service in 2010", he said.

"We will complete the business process in one or two months, and the
service will be offered in the first quarter. Besides, Ameriabank
intends to offer "structural note" service and develop pension scheme."

The Ameriabank CJSC (former Armimpexbank) was founded in July 1992
using the facilities of the Armenian branch of the USSR Vnesheconombank
(Foreign Economy Bank). On September 8, 1992, the bank received its
license from the Central Bank of Armenia.

In August 2007, TDA Holdings Limited, affiliated with Troika Dialogue,
Russia’s leading investment company, purchased the bank’s shares.

AMERIABANK INTENDS TO RECEIVE $50 MLN IN 2010

ArmInfo
26.01.2010

ArmInfo. Ameriabank intends to receive $50 mln in 2010 within the
frames of international programmes: $25 mln in the first and second
quarters each. These funds will be directed to refinancing of the funds
the bank has already issued at the cost of the own resources. As
Director General of Ameriabank Artak Anesyan told ArmInfo, the
matter concerns three programmes, in particular, two IFC programmes
on financing of trading operations and renewable energy (small HPPs),
FMO and DEG – on financing of business and small HPPs.

He recalled that the agreements on these programmes were signed in
2009: the first – in July with the International Financial Corporation
(IFC) to $5 mln on the global trade financing programme (GTFP), the
second – in December with IFC to $15 mln for financing of renewable
energy (small HPPs), and the third – at late December with FMO and DEG
to $30 mln for business financing ($20 mln for SME, however, judging
by the required criteria, the matter rather concerns medium and even
large business for the Armenian market) and small HPPs ($10 mln).

According to A. Anesyan, within the frames of these programmes,
Ameriabank has already approved an energy portfolio to the sum of $6
mln for financing, and the portfolio on SME financing to be refinanced
makes up $10 mln.

He added that negotiations with international structures for
involvement in new programmes and attraction of funds are going on.

According to the data of Ameriabank, the bank assured 73,6% growth
of the credit portfolio over 2009, to 54.1 bln drams, the share of
which in total assets exceeded 52%. No bad loans have been fixed in
the bank’s credit portfolio as of late, 2009, and 0,12% fell on the
classified credits. Growth of the bank’s credit portfolio in 2009 by
almost 90% was assured at the cost of corporate clients, the volume
of which in 2009 grew by 80% to 45.9 bln drams (85% of the bank’s
total credit portfolio). Along with it, the volume of crediting of
individual persons in 2009 grew by 35,4%.

EVENT IN MEMORY OF ROBERT BURNS TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN JAN. 30

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.01.2010 15:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An event dedicated to famous Scottish poet Robert
Burns will be held in Yerevan on January 30. On the same day, the
12th Charity Burns Supper will be given by the Committee of Burns
and the British Embassy of Armenia. Traditionally, the attendees
will be served Haggis, a Scottish national dish, prepared by a cook,
who arrived from the UK.

A day earlier, "Youth Center of Burns" will open in Zatik orphanage.

In the new center, which was established with the funds raised during
last year’s Supper, the orphans will be taught English and computer
science.

A part of the funds raised was spent on purchase of medical equipment
for several maternity hospitals in Armenian regions.

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie
Burns, Scotland’s favorite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of
Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a Scottish poet and
a lyricist. Born in Alloway, Scotland, Robert Burns was the first of
William and Agnes Burnes’ seven children. At the age of fifteen, he
fell in love and shortly thereafter he wrote his first poem. As a young
man, Burns pursued both love and poetry with uncommon zeal. In 1785, he
fathered the first of his fourteen children. His biographer, DeLancey
Ferguson, had said, "it was not so much that he was conspicuously
sinful as that he sinned conspicuously." He is widely regarded as the
national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best
known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although
much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect,
accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard
English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is
often at its most blunt. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic
movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration
to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in
Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration
of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during
the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on
Scottish literature. In 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as
being the Greatest Scot, through a vote run by Scottish television
channel STV. As well as making original compositions, Burns also
collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting
them. His poem (and song) Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay
(the last day of the year), and Scots Wha Hae served for a long time
as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Other poems and
songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today include
A Red, Red Rose; A Man’s A Man for A’ That; To a Louse; To a Mouse;
The Battle of Sherramuir; Tam o’ Shanter and Ae Fond Kiss.

MAILBAG: PEDESTRIANS CAN’T AFFORD TO TRUST DRIVERS
Allan Cate

Glendale News Press
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 8:12 PM PST

The high rate of pedestrian fatalities and injuries in Glendale in
the last decade is indeed deplorable ("A crash course on prevention,"
Jan. 16).

In 2001, my then-63-year-old grandmother was struck as she was legally
crossing at a lighted crosswalk by someone carelessly making a right
turn at a green light.

She suffered major injuries but thankfully survived, and is still
with us today.

While living in other states and countries during my military service,
I noticed that pedestrians in those places were more careful before
they crossed roads.

They would allow traffic to pass before they crossed, sometimes waiting
even if they had the right of way. They simply did not trust drivers
the way that we in Glendale seem to.

Though strict enforcement of traffic laws can be effective and
is to some degree necessary, the city should work toward educating
pedestrians on how to cross roads as safely as possible, particularly
when one considers the great results of the Walkin’ Willie safety
campaign in the past.

The city should focus more on pedestrian education rather than citing
people, both pedestrians and drivers, so heavily that they become
frustrated.

KARO GIULAKIAN

Glendale

Keep the term ‘race’ out of the paper

I do not know whether the Glendale Police Department discriminates
against Armenian police. But I do know that Armenians do not form a
race as the first part of the News-Press article ("Armenian officers
sue dept." Jan. 26) indicates.

They form an ethnic group, as the last part of the article makes clear.

The term "race" has no meaning, certainly no genetic meaning.

It has been used mainly to stereotype people by dividing them into
groups and giving them supposedly inherited characteristics.

Various bigots have written about the Irish race, the Jewish race,
the Italian race, the African race and so on, in order to claim that
members of these "races" are born with certain innate traits that
cannot be changed.

More than 100 years ago, Mark Twain wrote a novel, "Puddn’head Wilson,"
to demonstrate that race was simply a cultural concept. It’s really
time the News-Press and the rest of the world stop using the term.

On the other hand, the claim that the percentage of Armenians on
the Glendale police force should match the percentage of Armenians
in Glendale is a very bad idea. It has no legal or constitutional
support and, if taken seriously, could come back and bite Armenians.

For one thing, it would suggest that in cities where the Armenian
population is small, the police should not hire Armenians because they
would take away jobs from the dominant ethnic group. And as everyone
should know, the ethnic mix in California cities keeps changing.

The logical extension of this lawsuit claim is that if the percentage
of Armenians in the Glendale population drops, the Police Department
should terminate Armenians to keep up with the decline in the Armenian
population.

In other words, the notion of an Armenian quota is bad for Armenians
and everyone else.

STANTON J. PRICE

Glendale

Supreme Court takes power from people

Regarding the recent Supreme Court decision on corporations and
campaign finance laws, given that huge multinational corporations
can now spend unlimited amounts of money to influence U.S. elections,
we can forget about the principle of "one person, one vote." Now it’s
"one dollar, one vote." Or rather, make that "one million dollars,
one vote."