Author: Chmshkian Vicken

UN OFFICE IN ARMENIA SUPPORTS INITIATIVE OF UN ASSOCIATION TO ASSIST VICTIMS OF HAITI EARTHQUAKE

armradio.am
29.01.2010 13:18

The Armenian UN Association initiated and jointly with six other
civil society organizations held a charity exhibition-selling which
was launched today in the UN House.

Governmental officials, representatives from the civil society,
international community and media gathered to support the people
of Haiti, purchasing artworks, presented by the "Pyunic" Union for
Disabled, Children of Armenia Foundation, "Davit" Children’s Art
Center, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Armenian General Benevolent
Union Youth Centers, "Prkutyun" Children and Young People’s NGO,
"Miasin" Youth Movement and individuals. "Garni" Vocal Quintet also
joined this initiative with a concert program.

The whole contribution through the World Federation of UN Associations
will be sent to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund for relief
in Haiti.

Ms. Maria Dotsenko, UN DPI Representative said, "We are pleased to
support this important initiative of Armenian civil society led by
our good partner, the UN Association. People all over the planet are
uniting their efforts to assist and rebuild Haiti, supporting its
brave and resilient people."

In his speech Mr. Aram Voskanyan, Armenian UN Association’s
vice-president mentioned, "Each of us can have a valuable input and
the most important achievement today is that the state, international
and non-governmental organizations united their efforts to help the
Haitian nation."

Speeches were delivered also by the other speakers of the event: Ms.

Arpine Danielyan, Armenian UN Association’s Executive Director and
Father Komitas, Director "Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and AGBU
Youth Centers".

The UN Association is built up under the universal values of the
United Nations and as the representative of a country which knows
what the earthquake is, organizes the series of charity events to
assist the victims of Haiti earthquake.

WELL, AT LEAST THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS WAS TELEVISED ON C-SPAN
Jacob Sullum

Reason Online (blog)
January 28, 2010

Yesterday I noted that President Obama, in an interview with ABC news
anchor Diane Sawyer, had acknowledged his failure to deliver on his
oft-repeated promise to televise health care negotiations on C-SPAN.
"It’s my responsibility," he said, "and I’ll be speaking to this
at the State of the Union, to own up to the fact that the process
didn’t run the way I ideally would like it to and that we have to
move forward in a way that recaptures that sense of opening things up
more." So how did he address the transparency issue in last night’s
speech? There was this, referring to the health care debate:

This is a complex issue, and the longer it was debated, the more
skeptical people became. I take my share of the blame for not
explaining it more clearly to the American people. And I know that with
all the lobbying and horse trading, the process left most Americans
wondering, "What’s in it for me?"

Obama did not acknowledge that the public’s suspicion may have been
magnified by his failure to do what he promised to do: make the
process fully transparent, so that everyone knew what was going on
before Congress voted on the final legislation. Instead, as usual,
there was a sense that our elected representatives were deciding our
fates behind closed doors, the better to facilitate all that "lobbying
and horse trading." The C-SPAN coverage that did not happen (that was
in fact blocked by the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate,
with nary a protest from the president) was symbolic of this failure.
Last night Obama was even less forthright in accepting responsibility
for the lack of transparency than he was in the interview with Sawyer,
saying only that he should have explained things more clearly, as
if the problem could have been solved with a really good Powerpoint
presentation.

Later in the speech he bemoaned "a deficit of trust~Wdeep and corrosive
doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years."
He blamed this deficit mainly on "the outsized influence of lobbyists"
and condemned the Supreme Court for making them more powerful by
overturning restrictions on political speech by corporations. He
urged Congress to "pass a bill that helps to correct some of these
problems"~Wa pointless exercise if by that he meant reinstating the
sort of speech restrictions that the Court said cannot be reconciled
with the First Amendment. In addition to lobbyists, Obama blamed
CEOs who earn higher salaries than he thinks they should, reckless
bankers, TV pundits who "reduce serious debates to silly arguments,"
and politicians who "tear each other down instead of lifting this
country up."

Hmmm. Is anyone missing from this list? How about a president
who during his first year in office broke a series of conspicuous
promises, including not just the one about televising health care
negotiations but also the one about changing the way business is done
in Washington by reducing the influence of lobbyists, the one about
"fiscal responsibility," the one about not raising taxes on households
earning less than $250,000 a year, the one about taking a more modest
view of executive power and the "state secrets" privilege, the one
about closing Guantanamo by this month, the one about ending raids
on medical marijuana providers, the one about allowing five days of
public review before signing bills, the one about cutting earmarks to
1994 levels, and even the one about recognizing the Armenian genocide.
PolitiFact.com counts 15 broken promises so far, and its standards
are conservative. In addition to the clearly broken promises, there
are the positions (not quite promises) from which Obama has retreated,
such as his opposition to an individual health insurance mandate and
the Defense of Marriage Act.

I hope that Obama will not think I am simply trying to tear him down
(instead of lifting this country up), or that I am reducing serious
debates to silly arguments, when I suggest that a president who
breaks so many big and small promises, who generally does not own
up to doing so, who persistently misportrays the arguments of his
opponents, and who misrepresents his own policies may bear at least
a little of the blame for the "deficit of trust."

IRAN TO OPEN 8 OVERSEAS COMMERCIAL CENTERS

Tehran Times
January 28, 2010

Tehran Times Economic Desk

TEHRAN — Iran plans to open 8 commercial centers in Tajikistan,
Qatar, China, Senegal, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Africa, and Armenia,
the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran’s Director Babak Afqahi said
here on Wednesday.

Talking on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s
commercial center in Oman, he added, "The commercial center in Oman
is the first overseas center which has been launched by the private
sector," the Mehr News Agency reported.

Previously a state-owned commercial center has been established in
the United Arab Emirates.

The commercial centers aim at boosting Iran’s presence in regional
trade markets.

Iran opened its first foreign-based commercial center in Shanghai,
China in November, 2009.

TIGRAN SARGSYAN: IRAN -ARMENIA RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION -ONE OF ARMENIA’S PRIORITIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.01.2010 21:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met a
delegation led by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

The parties covered a number of issues in energy sphere, specifically,
construction of hydropower plants on the river of Araks, Iran-Armenia
railway and oil pipeline.

Armenian Premier characterized Iran -Armenia railway construction as
one of Armenia’s priorities of serious social, economic and political
importance.

Tigran Sargsyan and Manouchehr Mottaki emphasized the importance of
custom procedures’ facilitation to promote product turnover between
the countries.

The parties stressed the crucial role of collaboration strengthening
between commercial structures, state and private organisations, as
well as promotion of joint investments, conferences, business forums
and other events.

A LITTLE LONG, BUT IT IS OK
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
26/01/10

The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents met in Sochi, negotiated in
presence of the Russian president, then had a dinner, skied and after,
met with the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs and left. The Russian Prime
Minister Lavrov stated that in the course of the meeting in Sochi,
the sides worked out the preamble of the principles of Madrid and the
Russian co-chair of the Minsk group extended hope that the co-chairs
will present their judgments on the principles of Madrid.

What happened in Sochi seems to have happened in the process of the
Karabakh settlement several times already. In different cities of
the world, there seem to have already been such meetings within the
frameworks of the conflict settlement. From this point, the impression
is that Sochi is just a regular event and there are many other cities,
villages which waiting to have the honor to host the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents and the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs.

All this creates grounds for many people to affirm that the negotiation
process is just an imitation the aim of which is to secure the
existence of negotiations which are an alternative to the war.

There are many others who think that the Sochi meeting enhanced
repressions on Armenia and the day of a disadvantageous agreement
for Armenians approaches. Both can be affirmed. The truth, as usual,
is somewhere in the middle.

To say that the negotiation is fully an imitation of course would be
exaggeration. The negotiation is negotiation in the course of which the
mediators and the parties express their stances, try to defend them,
and attempt to get the result they want or to diminish possibly the
limit of concessions. It would be exaggeration to say that the sides
are forced concessions, that the patience of the co-chairing countries
is over and they need to settle the NKR issue as soon as possible so
they force the parties to sign an agreement the principles of which
are very bad for Armenia.

Anyone who affirms that Armenia is being obliged to sign an agreement
has not clarified yet the reason why right Armenia is forced
it. For example, which is the reason why they force Armenians leave
the released areas. They say they do that to deploy there peace
forces since it is a border with Iran which has nuclear plans and
the international society is going to hit it. But this argument,
mildly speaking, is a bit childish. It is childish first from the
point that the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs have different opinions
of the NKR issue. Besides, peace forces are not those ones to carry
out effective activities against Iran. Third, the precedents with
Iran and Afghanistan showed that land actions against Iran will be
a serious mistake. And judging by a different attitude of the Obama
administration towards the Iranian issue, the U.S. has realized this
circumstance. Besides, Azerbaijan will never agree to take back lands
from Armenia and to give them to the West for the latter to use it
against Iran for repressions and aggression. Azerbaijan, in this case,
would become an enemy of Iran, which, mildly speaking, is not that
pleasant even for a superpower, let alone a country like Azerbaijan.

The international society is also said to wish to settle the Karabakh
issue for the sake of security and peace in the region. This is a
not less childish affirmation than the one about Iran. The point is
that if the security and the stability of the region worry any of the
superpowers, only after the latter will have solved the issue of its
dominancy in the region. The same goes for the Armenian and Turkish
relations. The problem is the fight for the Caucasus which has been
lasting for already two decades and seems to be still lasting much
because interests are various, involved countries-many.

This of course means that the contradiction between interests can
secure the preservation of a status quo in the Karabakh issue, even in
case two of its bearers, Armenia and Karabakh, refuse it. The point
is that refusing the status quo is little for changing it because an
agreement on a new status quo is to be reached first. And the current
one, as we know, has been achieved at the cost of a bloody war. In
Caucasus any change of a status quo has happened and is happening
through wars the bright example of which is the 2008 war. This is a
contradiction to the affirmation that preserving the status quo will
bring about a war. The opposite is more likely, in the Caucasus the
status quo is changed through wars.

But the preservation of the status quo on account of the contradiction
of interests and clash seems to be favorable for Armenia, and there
is no reason for panic and defeatism. There is really no reason
for panic and defeatism, but there is no reason to be so sure of
the benefits of the situation for Armenia either. The situation can
become favorable for Armenia only if, in addition to its stake in
the status quo, it will have something to offer the world. Over 20
years of independence and 16 years of truce in Karabakh, Armenia was
unable to create something to offer the world, and the image of the
"island of democracy", which it acquired in early 1990, began to fade
already by the middle of the decade. And now Armenia takes part in
international processes, having in stock only the status quo and the
willingness to renounce its share in it.

Maybe if there was no hope for resisting and not yielding with the
help of contradiction of interests, Armenia could devise a more
effective foreign policy and create a valuable resource for engaging
in international processes. And such a resource could be a policy
aimed at making Armenia the most modern country in the region, with
the most modern socio-political, economic qualities. But instead of
creating such a state in order to absolve the burden of the status
quo Armenia in every way uses the status quo not to assume the burden
of reforming the country.

US State Department hailed Armenian Constitutional Court decision

Source: Panorama.am

12:29 23/01/2010

US State Department hailed Armenia’s Constitutional Court decision
claiming that Armenian-Turkish protocols correspond to RA
Constitution, US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon told
`Radio Liberty’ in his interview. `We view the court decision as a
positive step forward in the ratification process of the normalization
protocols between Turkey and Armenia,’ Mr. Gordon said adding, `The
court decision permits the protocols, as they were negotiated and
signed, to move forward towards parliamentary ratification, and does
not appear to limit or qualify them in any way.’ It’s worth reminding
that Turkish authorities express alarms and concerns related to RA
Constitutional Court’s decision. Erdogan even claimed that Armenia
should change CC decision.

news.am, Armenia
Jan 23 2010

Turkey joins EU regardless they want it or not: Bagis

15:40 / 01/23/2010Turkish State Minister and Chief Negotiator for EU
talks Egemen Bagis assumes that Turkey already joined EU, Ebmhaber
website reports.

`Every time I visit Turkey, they ask me: `When will Turkey become EU
member?’ and I reply: `Regardless they want it or not we have already
joined EU. A lot has changed in Turkey and presently it is one of 16
countries in the world with largest economy,’ Bagis outlined.

`Turkey was always a bridge between the Western Christian and Eastern
Muslim Worlds. Currently, numerous changes are initiated in Turkey.
The country tries to solve Greek, Armenian, Kurdish and Aleutian
issues. Nothing can prevent Turkey from its EU membership. Ignore
those saying that the talks on Turkey’s membership slowed down,’ Bagis
noted.

L.A.

CBA RAISES REFINANCING RATE

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.01.2010 14:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The refinancing rate was set at 5.5% during the
January 21 board meeting of the Central Bank of Armenia.

With 2% inflation growth registered in December 2009, the annual
inflation rate made 6.5%, exceeding the upper limit by 1.0%.

The CBA supposes that high inflation rate will be preserved, resulting
in stiff monetary management, the bank’s press service reported.

DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER VAGIF SADIKHOV: "AZERBAIJAN MAKES ALL EFFORTS TO SOLVE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

APA
Jan 21 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku. Ibad Bagirov – APA. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Vagif
Sadikhov spoke about the most painful problem of Azerbaijan – Nagorno
karabakh conflict in his interview to Saudi Arabian Ukaz newspaper.

According to APA, the deputy minister said 20 percent of Azerbaijani
lands were under the Armenian occupation and Azerbaijan was making
all efforts to solve this problem.

Vagif Sadikhov said Saudi Arabia was playing significant role in
establishing peace and stability not only in the region, but in
entire world. He said Azerbaijan was attaching great importance to
the strengthening of economic, political and cultural relations with
Saudi Arabia. The deputy minister emphasized that Saudi Arabia was
one of the first countries, which support Azerbaijan in the solution
of Nagorno Karabakh problem. He highly appreciated humanitarian
assistance of Saudi Arabia to the Azerbaijani refugees.

The deputy minister attended the meeting of experts researching the
observing status issue in OIC Chapter on January 18-20. Vagif Sadikhov
will also attend the conference "The role of OIC in defending peace
and security and solution to the conflicts in the territories of OIC
member countries" on January 23-24.

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 14-21, 2010

HIGHLIGHTS:

"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE RESUMED ON THE AIR OF "YERKIR MEDIA"
EU-ARMENIA: THE PRESENT AND PERSPECTIVES
CHIEF EDITOR OF "HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK" SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT
INCIDENTS WITH JOURNALISTS AT THE PRECINCT 10/19
REPORT OF COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON VIOLATIONS OF RIGHTS
OF JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA RELEASED

"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE RESUMED ON THE AIR OF "YERKIR MEDIA"

Since January 19, 2010 the "Press Club" show was resumed on the air of
"Yerkir Media" TV company. The cycle is produced under Yerevan Press Club
project, supported by the Open Society Institute. On Tuesdays, the "Press
Club" participants – representatives of state structures, political parties,
NGOs and media – will be discussing the establishment of democratic
institutions in Armenia.

On January 19, the guests of the program host, YPC President Boris
Navasardian were Artsvik Minasian, Deputy of RA National Assembly from
"Dashnaktsutiun" faction, Hovhannes Hovhannisian, Chairman of Liberal Party
of Armenia, and politologist Yervand Bozoyan. The discussion centered on the
role of the opposition in the implementation of democratic reforms in
Armenia.

The next "Press Club" show will be aired on "Yerkir Media" on January 26, at
21.15.

EU-ARMENIA: THE PRESENT AND PERSPECTIVES

On December 27-29, 2009 the seminar "EU-Armenia: The Present and
Perspectives" was held in Aghveran. The event was organized by Yerevan Press
Club with the assistance of Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The seminar was
attended by representatives of media, NGOs and journalistic associations.

The presentation of Viktor Yengibarian, President of the "European Movement
in Armenia" NGO, dealt with the Eastern Partnership initiative as a new step
in the EU-Armenia cooperation. In his speech, Gevorg Ter-Gabrielian, Country
Director of Eurasia Partnership Foundation, addressed the role of civil
society in the Euro integration process. Stepan Grigorian, Head of
Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation, presented the
Euro integration in the frames of the political developments in the country.
The participation of Armenia in the thematic platforms of Eastern
Partnership was discussed by YPC President Boris Navasardian. Manana
Aslamazian, Executive Director of Internews Europe, spoke about the role of
European institutions in enhancing the freedom of speech. Anna Israelian,
observer of "Aravot" daily, told about the European Neighbourhood Journalism
Network project, administered by Thomson Foundation in cooperation with the
European Journalism Centre, the International Federation of Journalists and
a number of other professional organizations.

CHIEF EDITOR OF "HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK" SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT

On January 19, 2010 court of general jurisdiction of Shengavit community of
Yerevan released the judgment on the case of Nikol Pashinian, Chief Editor
of "Haykakan Zhamanak" daily, charged with Part 1 of Article 225 ("Mass
riots") and Part 1 of Article 316 ("Violence against a representative of
power") of RA Criminal Code. As it has been reported, Nikol Pashinian was
announced wanted within the criminal proceedings, instituted on the events
of March 1, 2008 in Yerevan. On July 1, 2009 he voluntarily surrendered to
RA Procuracy. The court hearings on this case started on October 20, 2009
(see YPC Weekly Newsletter, October 16-22, 2009).

According to the judgment, the charges of Nikol Pashinian for violence
against a representative of power (Article 316 of RA Criminal Code) were
dismissed, but he was found guilty in mass riots (Article 225) and was
sentenced to seven years of imprisonment.

Lusine Sahakian, the lawyer of Nikol Pashinian, announced about the
intention of appealing the judgment to the higher court jurisdiction.

INCIDENTS WITH JOURNALISTS AT THE PRECINCT 10/19

On January 10, 2010, on the day of elections to the vacancy formed in the RA
National Assembly, at the electoral district 10 of Yerevan cases of impeding
journalistic activities were registered. At the precinct 10/19 an incident
occurred between the representatives of one of the candidates for deputy and
free lance journalist Gagik Shamshian, and Anush Martirosian, correspondent
of Armenian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. According to Gagik
Shamshian, some young men coarsely prohibited the journalists from shooting
and interviewing. As Gagik Shamshian noted, after a verbal skirmish they
were forced out from the polling station. At the same time Gagik Shamshian
was given blows and the microphone of Anush Martirosian was broken. Later,
on that day the same people forced Hayk Gevorgian, observer of "Haykakan
Zhamanak" daily, and Gohar Vezirian, correspondent of "Chorrord
Ishkhanutiun" newspaper, out of the polling station.

According to the RA Procuracy’s official report of January 13, materials on
the violations are transferred to RA Special Investigative Service for
instituting criminal proceedings and holding an investigation. The materials
were prepared on the basis of media communications on violations at the
precinct 10/19 on January 10.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON VIOLATIONS OF RIGHTS
OF JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA RELEASED

On January 19, 2010 at "Urbat" club of Yerevan the presentation of the
annual report of Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression on violations of
rights of journalists and media in Armenia, in 2009 was held. As the report
states, 11 cases of assaults against journalists, 14 cases of exerting
pressure on media and their representatives, and 13 cases of violation of
right to receive and impart information took place in 2009. "Overall, in
2009 fewer violations of rights of journalists and media were registered
than in 2008. Nevertheless, the situation in whole and the trends cannot but
raise concern. As the statistics indicate (…), even during a relatively
smooth year quite a high level of violations of rights of journalists and
media was observed in the country", the report notes. At the same time, by
the intensity of attacks against the freedom of speech last year was divided
in two stages: in the first half the same negative trends as in 2008 were
detected, the second stage was the period of a relative lull.

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Press Club is required.

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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN

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