Author: Chilingarian Babken

PRICES OF NON-FOOD GOODS GREW BY 3,7 PER CENT IN MARCH 2009 IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Apr 2, 2009

Yerevan, April 2, Noyan Tapan. 2.2 per cent of total drop in prices of
non-food commodities over January-February this year was followed by
the 1.4 per cent rise in prices on the non-food commodity market. That
was mainly conditioned by the rise in prices of petrol and diesel
oil by 9.1 percent and 5.7 per cent respectively.

According to the data of the National Statistical Service, in March
2009 compared with the previous month prices of kitchen appliances,
clothing, fabric, household textiles, construction materials, cultural
goods, personal accessories, furniture, gardentools, footwear,
major household appliances, household washing, toilet articles,
pharmaceutical products, stationery, office supplies, jewelry increased
by 0.1-19.3 per cent. The price of fuel reduced by 1 per cent over
the mentioned period of time. In March 2009 the exchange rate of the
Armenian Dram grew by 19.7 per cent against USD. In March 2009 compared
with the previous month 1.4 per cent rise in prices was registered on
Armenia’s consumer market. In March 2009 the mean exchange rate of
Armenian Dram against US Dollar made 365,61, which is 18,5 per cent
more than the respective indicator of March last year (308,61 Dram).

FOREIGN MINISTER SENT A MESSAGE TO OSCE CHAIRWOMAN-IN-OFFICE

LRAGIR.AM
09:52:25 – 01/04/2009

Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Georgy Petrossian
sent a message to OSCE Chairwoman-in-Office Dora Bakoyannis, expressing
his concern over the increasing violation of the cease-fire by the
Azerbaijani party, especially during the monitoring or stay of the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen in the region.

As it is known, during the February 26, 2009 monitoring of the NKR
and Azerbaijani armed forces’ contact-line, despite the security
guarantees provided by the local commanders, shooting took place
just in the nearby distance from the monitoring site, as a result
of which the OSCE monitoring was disrupted, reads the message of the
NKR Foreign Minister.

The message notes the necessity of providing with written information
on the results of the incident’s investigation.

The NKR MFA is convinced that providing all the parties to the
conflict with timely and true information on the real actor of similar
violations will positively impact the cease-fire maintaining and
the efficient activity of the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office.

A copy of the message is forwarded to Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

RUSSIA TO PARTAKE IN IMPLEMENTING IRANIAN-ARMENIAN RAILWAY PROJECT

Trend
March 31 2009
Azerbaijan

Russia will participate in implementing the Iranian-Armenian railway
project, the Iranian television reported.

"The Iranian-Armenian railway project is under implementation and
official Moscow expressed its preparedness to take part in implementing
this project," the Armenian-Russian Interparliamentary commission
chairman Aram Safaryan told journalists on March 31.

Safaryan said the Armenian-Russian Interparliamentary commission
discussed to develop cooperation between the two countries at the
16th meeting in Moscow. Russia will invest in construction of nuclear
power station in 2011, he added.

ANCA ‘FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW’ CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHTS OBAMA’S GENOCIDE PLEDGE

March 31, 2009

WASHINGTON-On March 30, the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) launched a nationwide online and print campaign urging
concrete action to end the Darfur genocide and to bring about full
U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Echoing Martin Luther King’s famous remarks at the Lincoln Memorial in
August, 1963, the "Fierce Urgency of Now" campaign urges anti-genocide
activists across the U.S. to visit to learn
more about the worsening humanitarian situation in Darfur and how
this atrocity fits into the cycle of genocide that started with the
Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. The website provide simple ways for
citizens to call on President Obama to show "unstinting resolve" in the
effort to stop the Darfur Genocide, by participating in Save Darfur
"add your voice" effort (). Activists can
also call on the Obama Administration and Congress to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, putting to an end to U.S. complicity in Turkey’s
international campaign of genocide denial.

On Monday, March 30, full page ads were placed in The Politico
and Roll Call newspapers, primarily targeting Administration and
Congressional decision makers in Washington, DC, with a powerful
graphic bringing together child survivors of the Armenian Genocide
and Darfur Genocide into a stark visualization of the ongoing cycle
of genocide. The photos are juxtaposed with President Obama’s January,
2008 campaign pledge to the American people stating:

"Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common
security and common humanity. Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan
many of the same brutal tactics-displacement, starvation, and mass
slaughter-that were used by the Ottoman authorities against defenseless
Armenians back in 1915. I have visited Darfurian refugee camps,
pushed for the deployment of a robust multinational force for Darfur,
and urged divestment from companies doing business in Sudan. America
deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and
responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President."

To read the complete "Obama file" on Armenian Genocide recognition,
visit: ocide.pdf
Companion internet ads will be running on the key political news
websites , , and ,
which will coincide with President Obama’s upcoming two-day trip to
Turkey on April 6th and 7th.

This past weekend, over 100,000 postcards were distributed to
communities and campuses across the U.S. urging activists to visit
and take action. These will be accompanied
by a nationwide mailing program to activate the growing anti-genocide
constituency across the United States.

The ANCA’s campaign coincides with efforts to have the
White House designate April as Genocide Prevention month,
an initiative spearheaded by the Genocide Prevention Project
(). With successive genocides-from
the Armenian Genocide and Holocaust to the genocides in Cambodia,
Bosnia and Rwanda-commemorated in the month of April, GPP has
worked with a nationwide coalition of organizations, including
Save Darfur, the Genocide Intervention Network, Enough Project and
many others, in spotlighting a month-long campaign of activities
commemorating past genocides and urging action to stop the killing
in Darfur. Anti-Genocide activities are listed on a special website,

The official kick-off for Genocide Prevention Month will take place
on Tuesday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m. at the 6th & I Historic Synagogue,
600 I Street NW, in Washington, DC. After a 20-minute preview of the
documentary, "The Last Survivor," former CNN anchor Andrea Koppel
will moderate a discussion among a group of survivors, anti-genocide
advocates, policy experts, and the filmmakers.

Among the Genocide Prevention Month activities is the "End the
Cycle of Genocide" Advocacy Days, organized by the ANCA and Genocide
Intervention Network-bringing activists to Capitol Hill from April
22-24 to urge recognition of the Armenian Genocide and concrete action
on the Darfur Genocide. To participate in ANCA/GI-Net Advocacy Days,
register at

Individuals can help expand the "Fierce Urgency of NOW" campaign by
asking friends, family and coworkers to visit
and take action. The effort can be publicized through a number of
online sharing tools reaching the vast array of social networking
sites including Facebook and LinkedIn, among others.

To promote the campaign on college campuses or local communities,
contact Garo Manjikian at [email protected].

Organizations can join the ANCA campaign as "Fierce Partners" against
genocide and genocide denial by contacting [email protected].

PanARMENIAN.Net

Main areas for confidence building initiatives between Armenia and
Azerbaijan defined
28.03.2009 12:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today, 27th March, the Third Armenian Azerbaijani
Public Peace Forum, that was taking place in Vienna between 24-27
March under the aegis of International Alert, came to an end. During
the 4 days of the Forum the Armenian and Azerbaijani participants
worked to develop concrete ideas and proposals for confidence building
measures that could contribute to the peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

`The Forum defined three main areas in which confidence building
initiatives and measures should be strengthened and actively
implemented. These areas are: internal work within each society, work
to initiate and support direct people-to-people contacts and work to
implement joint initiatives between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in
areas where this is possible today.’, International Alert’s
representative Dessislava Roussanova who has been mediating this
dialogue, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

`It is a step that should be welcomed and appreciated. Many civil
society leaders across the region welcome opportunities for such
direct engagement and I hope that this engagement will continue in one
form or another in future. Experience in successful peace processes in
other places in the world, and International Alert works in 24 other
regions in the world that have been affected by conflict, show that
civil society can play very important role in peacebuilding
processes. In the Nagorno Karabakh case, it is a responsibility of the
leaders to discuss the framework for a political agreement but civil
society and the journalists could be leading the societies and start
building the bridges of trust and confidence that could bring the
societies closer to achieving peaceful settlement’, said Dessislava
Roussanova.

`With the end of the Forum today the work is just
beginning. International Alert, together with Armenian and Azerbaijani
partners is going to work on some concrete initiatives. The aim of
these initiatives is to create a platform for dialogue where civil
society leaders could discuss wide range of issues, from those that
divide the societies to those that unite Armenians and
Azerbaijanis. Then the next, 4th Armenian-Azerbaijani Public Peace
Forum will take place in July 2009′, said Dessislava Roussanova

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2009

Local polls set to give ErdoÄ?an reform boost

Turkey’s ruling party is set to win a clear victory in Sunday’s local
polls despite a worsening economy, freeing popular Prime Minister
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s hand to pursue his reformist drive in the
European Union candidate country.

ErdoÄ?an, a former Ä°stanbul mayor, is hoping to wrest the
mainly Kurdish Southeast from pro-Kurdish parties in what might prove
a historic step toward solving a conflict weighing heavily on the
country’s economic and political development. A strong mandate across
the country for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party),
Turkey’s most stable government in decades, would give ErdoÄ?an
a fresh boost to push ahead with measures aimed at bringing the Muslim
country closer to the EU and protect a once-fast-growing economy now
under severe strain due to the global economic crisis.

But any sharp drop in support in municipal elections could increase
political hazards in a country with a long history of instability and
invigorate an entrenched secularist opposition that accuses
ErdoÄ?an of pursuing a stealthy religious agenda.

In the background, though not yet an election issue, an elaborate coup
plot case is unsettling markets and raising tension between the
government and secularists. More than 140 people, including retired
senior officers, face charges that they planned to engineer an army
coup to unseat ErdoÄ?an.

ErdoÄ?an denies he prompted the investigation for his own
political ends.

Polls this week showed the AK Party winning 40-50 percent of the vote
despite record unemployment, a slowing economy and graft allegations;
a result largely due to ErdoÄ?an’s popularity and the weakness
of opposition parties crushed by the newly formed AK Party in 2002 and
still unable to regain their hold.

Opinion surveys, however, are famously inaccurate in Turkey.

Growing joblessness and an expected economic contraction in 2009 after
years of unprecedented growth could erode some gains Turkey has made
since the AK Party first took office in 2002.

"We believe that a 40-45 percent AK Party victory would be slightly
positive because it would leave the domestic political landscape more
or less unchanged while allowing the AK Party to refocus on pressing
economic issues," a Goldman Sachs analyst wrote in a research note
this week.

The AK Party won 47 percent of the vote in 2007 general elections.

The IMF and Turkey have been in talks for months on a deal markets say
is key to shielding the $750 billion economy from the global
crisis. Investors, hit by risk-aversion, expect the deal’s fate to be
clear after Sunday’s elections.

New constitution

ErdoÄ?an has pledged to reform the 1982 army-drafted
Constitution, a step that would remove some obstacles in the way of EU
membership for this country of 72 million people. The secularist camp,
lukewarm to Europe, resists such plans.

Under his party the NATO member has been busy mediating in conflicts
from the Middle East and the Caucasus to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

ErdoÄ?an, by far Turkey’s most popular politician, has
campaigned tirelessly for his AK Party, holding mass rallies across
the country ahead of the elections, in which Turks will vote for
mayors and municipal and provincial assemblies.

Critics accuse ErdoÄ?an of having lost his reformist spirit
since Turkey won historic EU accession talks in 2005 and say he is
growing autocratic. If ErdoÄ?an wins by more than 50 percent,
analysts say, he might abandon the conciliatory tone he pledged after
his party was nearly closed down by a court in 2008 for Islamist
activities in a case that polarized Turkey.

Respected pollster Konda estimates that the AK Party will win 48
percent of the vote nationwide in provincial assemblies.

ErdoÄ?an has weathered the hostility of a conservative
establishment in courting Kurdish support in the impoverished
Southeast, where some 40,000 have died in separatist conflict since
1984. The AK Party hopes to draw on this support in supplanting
Kurdish parties in regional administrations.

Some analysts say the decades-old Kurdish conflict might be nearing an
end. In a break with the past, Ankara has granted more rights to Kurds
and has opened diplomatic channels with the autonomous Kurdish
government of Iraq on fighting Kurdish separatists, who have been
weakened by military strikes.

ErdoÄ?an’s government has also won international praise by
mediating in Middle East conflicts and reaching out to historic foe
Armenia. Turkey will host US President Barack Obama in April, a visit
seen as a nod to Turkey’s growing regional clout.

28 March 2009, Saturday
IBON VILLELABEITIA, REUTERS ANKARA

ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS’ MEETING TO TAKE PLACE MAY 7

AZG DAILY
28-03-2009

Karabakh conflict

"We anticipate serious changes in the process of Karabakh conflict
settlement", OSCE Minsk Group US Co-chair Matthew Bryza told "Trend
News".

"There is a rather high level of confidence between the parties. We
anticipate serious changes in the process of Karabakh conflict
settlement", Matthew Bryza said in Baku.

"The next meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents will
take place on May 7 in Prague or Brussels if the meeting place is
changed. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs will return to Baku in the
following days", Bryza said, according to "Noyan Tapan" agency.

INDIA’S EXPERIENCE IN SELECTION AND TRAINING OF CIVIL SERVANTS MAY BE USEFUL FOR ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
March 26, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The opportunities of cooperation
between Armenia and India in the civil service sector were discussed
at the March 25 meeting of the Chairman of the RA Civil Service Council
Manvel Badalian and the Indian Ambassador to Armenia Mrs. Rina Pandey.

M. Badalian spoke about the Armenian civil service system, its
functions, and the mechanisms to ensure stability of this system. He
said that the Council has studied India’s civil service which has quite
a lot of similarities with the Armenian system. India’s experience of
many years and the similarities in the systems of the two countries
create opportunities for close cooperation.

In the words of R. Pandey, India has accumulated great experience
in the selection and training of civil servants, and this experience
may be useful for Armenia.

According to a press release of the RA Civil Service Council, an
agreement was reached to establish links between the Council and
India’s civil service management and organization bodies and to
discuss the opportunities of building these relations within the
framework of intergovernmental cooperation as well.

SYRIAN ARMENIANS’ LAST CHANCE TO FILE CLAIMS FOR THEIR PROPERTIES IN TURKEY
By Harut Sassounian

AZG DAILY
27-03-2009

Diaspora; Syrian Armenians

In a column I wrote last year, I alerted Armenians in Syria, Egypt
and Iraq that they had a unique opportunity to receive compensation
for their properties in Turkey.

All four governments, after protracted negotiations stretching over
several decades, are finally close to resolving their conflicting land
claims arising from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Republic
of Turkey had confiscated tens of thousands of properties owned by
citizens of the three Arab countries and vice versa.

During a meeting on May 12, 2008, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan signed an agreement
which is expected to be implemented shortly.

Turkey claims that in 1956 the Syrian government confiscated a large
number of lands belonging to Turkish citizens. In a reciprocal move,
Ankara confiscated in 1966 properties owned by Syrian nationals. After
lengthy negotiations, Turkey and Syria signed a protocol in 1972 and
created a joint commission to investigate these claims, including the
properties Syrian Armenians left behind in the Sanjak of Alexandretta
(Hatay), after its annexation by Turkey in 1938.

The Turkish government transferred the title of the confiscated
Syrian-owned properties to the National Real Estate General
Directorate. The total estimated value of real estate owned by Turks
and Syrians in each other’s countries, including rental income since
1966, is more than $40 billion, according to an article by Ercan
Yavuz in the March 3, 2009 issue of Today’s Zaman. The Real Estate
Directorate has been renting these Syrian properties to Turkish
farmers and businesses. The Central Bank of Turkey is holding the
rental income in a special account under the name of "the rightful
owners." The agreement signed by Syria and Turkey stipulates that
by 2010 the Central Bank will return these accumulated funds to the
original property owners, according to Yavuz.

The Turkish National Real Estate General Directorat’s figures indicate
that Syrians own 15,067 properties in Turkey, corresponding to 135,000
hectares (334,000 acres or 135 million square meters). On the other
hand, Turks reportedly own 2.3 million square meters of property in
Syria. "The monetary value of Syrian property in Turkey is estimated
to be $10 billion, while the estimated value of Turkish property in
Syrian territory is $40 billion," Yavuz reported.

In an interesting sideline, Turkish citizen Mustafa Muzaffer Salih,
whose father was a major landowner in Syria, told Yavuz: "Syrians
own more than 200 stores in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar". Some of these
properties were given to relatives of ministers in the parties that
were in the coalition governments of the first and second National
Front governments." To set things right, Salih advocates that "The
shame of the past should be cleansed."

Turkey, Egypt and Iraq have had a similar quarrel. In 1982, Turkish
officials signed an agreement with Egypt to settle their land
dispute. In 1985, Turkey and Iraq agreed to allow property owners in
their respective countries five years to file a claim. The due date
was subsequently extended twice. Turkey claimed that its citizens own
in Iraq about 160,000 acres of land, 150 buildings, 11 charitable
foundations, more than 2 million Iraqi dinars and 8,000 pounds
sterling. On the other hand, Iraq claims that its citizens own 48
buildings and 11 plots of land in Turkey. The American invasion of
Iraq interrupted the settlement of these claims.

Armenian organizations in Syria, Iraq and Egypt should urge
Armenians citizens of these countries, including those who have
migrated overseas, to submit to them copies of trust deeds or
other documentary evidence of properties they owned in Turkey. The
organizations should then provide the list of these properties to
their respective governments, demanding that Turkey pay an appropriate
compensation to the heirs of the original owners.

As I mentioned in my earlier column, the main advantage of this
approach is that Armenians do not need to hire lawyers and go to court,
as officials of the three Arab countries, on behalf of their citizens,
are negotiating directly with their Turkish counterparts to settle
all such reciprocal claims.

This is a unique opportunity for Armenians in Syria, Iraq and Egypt
to take advantage of without delay. Once the settlement is finalized,
it would be too late for Armenians to make any further claims from
the Turkish government regarding their properties.

Just to set the record straight, receiving compensation for such
personal properties does not invalidate the Armenian people’s
legitimate claims to Western Armenia which remains under Turkish
occupation.

ICRC NOT INVOLVED IN PROCESS OF TRANSFERRING PARUYR SIMONYAN TO THE THIRD COUNTRY

ArmInfo
2009-03-23 20:40:00

ArmInfo. The International Committee of the Red Cross was not involved
in the process of transferring Paruyr Simonyan to the third country,
ICRC Delegation to Yerevan told ArmInfo correspondent.

"Armenian citizen Paruyr Simonyan was sent to the third country at
his own will, which he confirmed during the meetings with the ICRC
before being sent to the third country. The ICRC was not involved in
the process of transferring",- the source said.

To recall, military serviceman P.Simonyan has been in Azeri captivity
since May 2008.