Author: Chilingarian Babken

YEREVAN TO HOST EXPO 2009 CHILDHOOD WORLD EXHIBITION

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
20.05.2009 19:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ From May 29 to June 1 Yerevan will host EXPO 2009
Childhood World 3rd International Specialized Exhibition.

EXPO 2009 Childhood World is the first step in creation of professional
exhibition for school and pre school age children. The exhibition
aims to attract manufacturers and qualified express as well as provide
the Armenian market with a new assortment of products for children.

The exhibition will be held with the assistance of RA ministry of Labor
and Social Issues, RA NA Committee for Science, Education, Culture
and Youth Issues, RA Ministry of Economy, RA Union of Manufacturers
and Entrepreneurs.

Exhibition will also feature works of children from Gyumri, Gavar
and Yerevan children’s homes.

The exhibition will present an extensive cultural program.

KARABAKH MEDIATOR IN ANKARA TO ‘DISCUSS’ TURKISH-AZERI DIPLOMATIC TRAFFIC

h-mediator-in-ankara-to-discuss-turkish-azeri-dipl omatic-traffic/

ANKARA (Today’s Zaman)-One of the three diplomats heading international
efforts to mediate a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was
in Ankara on Monday for talks on the Karabakh peace process with the
country’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, reported the Turkish
Today’s Zaman newspaper.

Ambassador Bernard Fassier of France met with Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary Ertugrul Apaka, who sought to convey his country’s
ongoing support for the OSCE Minsk Group, the international body
mediating between Armenia and Azerbaijan for a resolution to the
Karabakh conflict.

"There have recently been many visits from Turkey to
Azerbaijan." Fassier said at a press conference in Baku Saturday
before flying to Ankara. "We will discuss them."

Fassier and his Russian and US counterparts co-chairing the Minsk
Group met with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Prague on
May 7 for what they later called constructive and positive talks.

According to Zaman, which cited anonymous sources "close to the talks,"
Monday’s meeting between Apakan and Fassier focused on "exchanging
views" on the current stages of the Karabakh peace talks following
the Prague meeting between President’s Serzh Sarkisian of Armenia
and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

"During the meeting with Fassier, the Turkish side reiterated its
continued support of the OSCE Minsk Group as a permanent member
involved in the peace process since its inception, the unnamed source
was quoted by Zaman as saying.

Fassier’s visit to Ankara comes as Turkey, a non-actor in the
Karabakh conflict, has sought to boost its role in the peace process,
conditioning the normalization of its relations with Armenia on a
resolution to the Karabakh conflict.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan explicitly reaffirmed
that linkage during his visit to Azerbaijan last week. He traveled
to Russia on May 16 where he sought a greater role for his country in
the Karabakh negotiation process in talks with Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin.

Armenia has criticized Erdogan for making the normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on a Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement, saying that such statements could hamper both the
Armenian-Azerbaijani, as well as the Armenian-Turkish negotiations.

President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian
reacted to Erdogan’s statements as they separately met in Yerevan with
Brian Fall, Britain’s special representative for the South Caucasus.

In a written statement Sarkisian said that "any Turkish attempt
to interfere in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem can
only harm that process." While Nalbanidan, in a separate statement
said Erdogan’s stance "precludes further progress in the ongoing
Turkish-Armenian fence-mending negotiations."

Fassier echoed those points when speaking to reporters in Azerbaijan
on Sunday. "The normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations should not
be confused with the Karabakh conflict," the French diplomat said in
Baku. "These are different and parallel processes."

MEETINGS IN FINLAND

A1+
12:58 pm | May 19, 2009

Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan is on an official visit to Finland
and has had meetings in the Finnish parliament and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

On the sidelines of the visit, the Finnish side organized a seminar
entitled "Armenia and Georgia: the road towards democratization"
with the Ombudsmen of Finland and Georgia, as well as other human
rights defense officials of Finland, as reported by the press service
of the RA Ombudsman.

ANCA CRITCIZES OBAMA ON GENOCIDE REVERSAL, CUTS TO ARMENIA

2009/05/19 | 13:49
diaspora

In a May 18 letter to the White House, Ken Hachikian, Chairman of
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), expressed the
American-Armenian community’s disappointment with his administration’s
failure to honor his campaign pledges to recognize the Armenian
Genocide and to foster the growth and development of Armenia.

In the letter, Mr. Hachikian pointed to President Obama’s recent
proposal to cut aid to Armenia by 38% even as he increases overall
foreign aid spending and the level of assistance he seeks to the
regions of Europe, Eurasia, and South/Central Asia.

Regarding the Genocide issue, the letter reads in part:

Your broken pledge represents both a grave offense to Armenian
Americans and a disservice to all Americans who understand that our
nation’s leadership in confronting genocide should never be reduced
to a political issue that can be traded away, retreated from under
pressure, or used to advance a political agenda, of any kind. The
ongoing dialogue between Armenia and Turkey should have no bearing
on your willingness to speak the truth about the Armenian Genocide;
our stand against all instances of genocide should be unconditional.

On the proposed aid cuts to Armenia, the letter reads:

The Armenian American community is also troubled that, despite
your pledge to maintain aid to Armenia and to foster her growth
and development, you have called for a 38% cut in economic aid to
Armenia…Compounding this disappointment was your decision to breach
the Armenia-Azerbaijan military aid parity agreement in favor of Baku,
a move that tilts the regional military balance and sends a dangerous
signal to Azerbaijani leaders who have made no secret of their intent
to use force of arms to settle the Nagorno Karabakh issue.

ARMECONOMBANK LAUNCHES TRANSFERS VIA LEADER SYSTEM

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.05.2009 13:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ From now on Armeconombank OJSC will offer its
customers to make money transfers via well-known LEADER system.

LEADER International money transfer system is a system of fast money
transfers for Individual customers without a necessity from their
side to open an account, operating in CIS countries, Latvia, Spain,
Great Britain Czech Republic, China, Poland, Israel, USA, Switzerland,
Portugal and including more than 6000 service outlets.

Remittance and payment of money funds is made in USD, EUR and
RUR. LEADER system guarantees speed (duration – 5 minutes) and
availability (commission-up to 2%) of transfers.

Money transfers via LEADER system are made from Armeconombank’s
Headquarters, as well as any of its branches within a few minutes.

At present Armeconombank serves MoneyGram, Migom, Blizko, Anelik,
Bistraya Pochta, PrivatMoney popular money transfer systems.

ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN: EUROVISION CONTEST PUTS MUSICAL TWIST ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH DISPUTE
Gayane Abrahamyan and Jessica Powley Hayden

Eurasianet
ticles/eav051809a.shtml
May 18, 2009

For most television viewers, Eurovision 2009, with all its spangled
costumes and schmaltzy tunes, was nothing more than a light-hearted,
fun-filled singing contest. But for those watching in Armenia and
Azerbaijan, the show became another front in the long-running struggle
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia and Azerbaijan both made it into Eurovision’s May 16 finals,
which took place in Moscow’s Olympisky Arena. Amid speculation that
the two countries nearing a peace deal to settle their 21-year dispute
over Karabakh, viewers in both Yerevan and Baku were keeping a close
eye on the opposing side’s musical moves.

Nineteen-year-old Baku resident Aysel Teymurzadeh and her
Iranian-Swedish pop star partner Arash Labaf delivered a third-place
finish for Azerbaijan. The Armenian sister duo Inga and Anush Arshakyan
came in 10th in the 25-spot finals.

First place went to a performer from a comparatively non-controversial
country — 23-year-old Alexander Rybak of Norway.

Outside of the South Caucasus, the focus of the Eurovision competition
may have been on the glitz and glamor.

But for many Baku residents, Azerbaijan’s third-place finish was
laden with geopolitical significance. "We came in third place and it
was just great that we beat our enemy Armenia," commented graduate
student Samir Salakhov.

Seeking to capitalize on the good public relations generated by
Azerbaijani duo’s third-place showing, President Ilham Aliyev
telephoned Aysel and Arash on May 17, telling them that they had
"worthily represented Azerbaijan in Europe," the Trend news agency
reported.

In Yerevan, Eurovision fans were more disappointed that an image
from Karabakh had been removed from the Armenian performers’ final
video than with the sisters’ 10th-place finish. The video had shown
Karabakh’s 1967 "Tatik and Papik" ("Grandmother and Grandfather")
monument, which has become a symbol for the territory and its
separatist, ethnic Armenian government. (Some Armenians argue that
the government is "unrecognized," rather than "separatist.")

"This is extremely unfair! The sculpture belongs to an Armenian artist
[Sarghis Baghdasarian – ed] and has been symbolizing Armenia from
Soviet times," fumed 25-year-old Anush Minasian, one of scores of
young Eurovision fans who gathered to watch the show at Yerevan’s
hipster Bunker Club.

Eurovision’s Russian hosts opted to have the image removed from the
Armenian video after Azerbaijani officials protested. Prior to the
decision, Azerbaijani media outlets lambasted the monument’s inclusion
in the video. One outlet, the news website Day.az, said in a commentary
that "the Armenians and their friends from the Eurovision steering
committee used this monument [for] provocative political purposes."

The Russian decision to remove the controversial video segment
naturally caused consternation in Yerevan. Many of the fans gathered
at Yerevan’s Bunker Club argued that the Armenian contestants should
have pulled out of the Eurovision finals in response.

Armenia, however, found a way to air its protest. As vote tallies
were called in from Eurovision’s 42 participating countries, a
live-broadcast on Yerevan’s Republic Square featured a large screen
with the Nagorno-Karabakh statue. The presenter, Sirusho, Armenia’s
2008 Eurovision contestant, raised a clipboard as she spoke which
also included an image of the monument.

But further geopolitical swats were in the works. Under contest
rules, residents of finalist countries cannot vote for their own
contestants. Instead, votes must be given to other countries.

This year, Turkey’s voters gave 12 points (the highest score possible)
to ally Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan returned the favor. Azerbaijan
gave no votes to Armenia, but Armenia voters did provide one vote for
Azerbaijan. Four votes from Armenia went to Turkey (which reciprocated
with six votes), and the maximum 12 to ally Russia.

But the fact that Armenia received only five votes in return from
Russia and six votes from France, home to a sizable Armenian Diaspora,
stirred further controversy within Yerevan. "This is a politicized
contest and is highly unpredictable," commented Armenian Public
Television host Ashot Mikayelian.

Most Eurovision viewers, however, likely missed the Armenia-Azerbaijan
bickering.

Editor’s Note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a reporter for ArmeniaNow.com in
Yerevan. Jessica Powley Hayden is a freelance reporter in Baku.

ANCA-ER CONGRATULATES FORMER CONGRESSMAN MCNULTY (D-N.Y.)

8/anca-er-congratulates-former-congressman-mcnulty -d-ny/
May 18, 2009

ALBANY-On May 9, more than 120 community members attended a dinner and
dance in honor of former Congressman Michael McNulty, organized by the
Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Albany. The event, dedicated to
Congressman McNulty’s 20 years of service to the community representing
Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Amsterdam, Gloversville, and Johnstown,
offered an opportunity for Armenian Americans to thank McNulty in
person for his dedication to the Armenian cause.

Emceeing the event, Isabel Ohanian, a native of the Albany community,
reflected on McNulty’s genuine commitment to the district, and read
remarks from Troy’s mayor, Harry Tutunjian. Also speaking at the
event were Congressman Paul Tonko, who currently represents the 21st
District, ANC of Albany chair Antranig Karageozian, ANC of New York
chair Raffi Mahserdjian, and ANCA Eastern Region executive director
Karine Birazian, who all congratulated McNulty on his retirement.

Offering remarks, McNulty reflected on his visit to Armenia as an
election observer during its independence referendum and the effect it
had during his time in Congress. He also spoke about his enthusiasm
at the polling places, as Armenians cast their votes. He closed his
remarks by stating "Getzeh Azad Angakh Haiastan" (Long live a free
and independent Armenia).

Following the event, Birazian commended the ANC of Albany for hosting
the event. "This was a great opportunity to honor and thank one of
our great leaders in this nation. We are grateful that Congressman
Tonko is following in the footsteps of such a dedicated individual."

IMF TO FACILITATE IMPLEMENTATION OF RA GOVERNMENTAL ANTI-CRISIS PROGRAMS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.05.2009 10:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met with
Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund in Armenia
Nienke A. Oomes and head of Armenia mission Mark Lewis, reported the
press center of the RA government.

Assessing highly the cooperation between the IMF and Republic of
Armenia, PM Sargsyan said that research helps reveal the causes of
the global economic crisis and find ways to overcome it.

For their part, IMF officials pledged to facilitate implementation
of RA governmental anti-crisis programs.

PROSECUTOR GENERALS OF ARMENIA, CZECH REPUBLIC SIGN A MEMORANDUM OF COOEPRATION
Hasmik Dilanyan

"Radiolur"
18.05.2009 16:16

The Prosecutor Generals of Armenia and the Czech Republic, Aghvan
Hovsepyan and Renata Vesecka signed a Memorandum of Cooperation today.

Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan said the memorandum
would contribute to the solution of a number of issues existing in
the legal systems of Armenia and the Czech Republic.

Taking into consideration the growing rate of internationally organized
crimes, including human trafficking and illegal migration, the parties
undertook to cooperate and render legal assistance to each other to
prevent human trafficking and illegal migration, as well as intensify
the cooperation in the field of protection of the rights and freedoms
of citizens and legal entities.

The signing ceremony was preceded by the joint sitting of the General
Prosecutor’s Offices of the two countries. Turning to the ways of
development of cooperation between the Prosecutor’s offices of the
two countries, the parties attached importance to the coordinated
fight against crime and exchange of experience. An agreement was
reached on signing a separate action plan. The program is expected
to be signed during the Armenian Prosecutor General’s working visit
to Prague at the invitation of his Czech counterpart.

Reference was made to cultural issues, as well. Aghvan Hovsepyan 0D
expressed gratitude to the Czech Republic for awarding the highest
12 points to Armenia at the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest in Moscow.

The delegation headed by the Prosecutor General of the Czech Republic
visited Tsitsernakaberd to pay homage to the memory of the Armenian
Genocide victims.

RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT DOUBTS THAT ALL SIDES OF KARABAKH CONFLICT WILL AGREE TO TURKEY’S MEDIATION

ARKA
May 15, 2009

YEREVAN, May 15. /ARKA/. Vladimir Kazimirov, former head of Russia’s
mediation mission and ex-co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, doubts that
all the sides of Karabakh conflict will agree to Turkey’s mediation.

Speaking Friday at a press conference in Novosti International Press
Center, Kazimirov remembered that Turkey even refrained from attending
neutral countries’ first session on Karabakh.

He said there have been cases when Turkish delegates along with their
Azerbaijani colleagues demonstratively retired from conference halls.

However, the Russian diplomat said he spoke about the ’90s Turkey and
his words not necessarily apply to today’s Turkey, though he voiced
skepticism at possible accord over Ankara’s mediation.

Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Artsakh, mainly populated
by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result,
Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions
adjacent to it.

On May 12, 1994 Bishkek cease-fire agreement, put an end to the
military operations.

Since 1992, negotiations over the pe aceful settlement of the conflict
have been carried out under the OSCE Minsk Group’s mediation. The
group is co-chaired by USA, Russia and France.