Author: Chmshkian Vicken

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION TO SET UP YOUTH COUNCIL

Interfax
Dec 17 2008
Russia

Youth organizations that are members of the opposition Armenian
National Congress have announced plans to establish a youth council.

"This step has been prompted by the need to restore democracy and
constitutional order in Armenia," the congress’ member-parties said
in a statement.

"The council is open to youth, public and political forces, as well
as individuals in Armenia and its diaspora," they said.

The statement was signed by the Armenian Nationwide Movement, the
National Party of Armenia, the Republic Party, the Democratic Path
party, the Liberal Party of Armenia, the Alternative sociopolitical
initiative, the Special Regiment and Now youth initiatives, and the
Young Conservatives public organization.

The Armenian National Congress, which is led by the country’s ex-
president Levon Ter-Petrosian, was set up in August 2008. It includes
18 parties and more than a dozen pro-opposition public and youth
organizations.

ARMENIAN OCCUPANTS REFUTE INFORMATION ABOUT WOUNDING OF AZERBAIJANI ARMY SOLDIERS

Today.Az
cs/49679.html
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

The representative of Armenian occupants, dislocated in Nagorno
Karabakh, Senor Asratyan refuted information about wounding of two
servicemen of Azerbaijani army in the Agdam direction.

He called this as "disinformation" and assured that the Armenian side
"observe the ceasefire regime".

It should be noted that as earlier reported two soldiers of Azerbaijani
army, residents of Balaken region Baydarov Revan Islam oghlu and
Baydarov Elvin Telman oghlu were wounded by in the result of ceasefire
violation by Armenians in the direction of the Tezekend village of
Aghdam. They are placed in military hospital.

AMERIABANK INTENDS TO JOIN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS OF SME CREDITING IN 2009

ArmInfo
2008-12-16 14:08:00

ArmInfo. AMERIABANK plans to join programs of international financial
structures on financing small and medium-size enterprises (SME)
in 2009.

Artak Hanesyan, Chairman of Directorate-General Director, told ArmInfo
the programs of EBRD, IFC and German KfW are in question. ;We are
currently negotiating with some of these organizations and have
already reached the stage of coordination of crediting conditions
as well as studying financial indicators of the bank’, A. Hanesyan
said. By preliminary data, the first agreements will be made in the
first quarter of 2009, he said.

A. Hanesyan said the bank’s credits have sharply increased over the
current year and the upward trends will continue also next year. At
present the credit portfolio of AMERIABANK is nearly 28 billion drams
and will increased to 30 billion drams by the end of the year. He
underlined that the bank’s interest rates are close to average
market rates.

The strategic partner of Ameriabank is TroikaDialog, one of the
biggest Russian investment banks. TDA Holdings LTD representing the
shareholders of the leading investment company in Russia – Troika
Dialog, became the majority shareholder of AMERIABANK CJSC (96.15%)
in Sept 2007. The bank is engaged in investment banking and provides
a full spectrum of traditional banking services. The number of the
bank’s shareholders as of 1 October 2008 totaled 8, in particular,
3 legal entities (99.87% aggregate share) and 5 individuals (0.13%
aggregate share). The bank has been cooperating with Swiss Atlantic
Forfaitierungs AG since January 2008.

GENERAL VELI KUCUK: "PKK IS NOT KURDISH, BUT ARMENIAN PROBLEM"

Azeri Press Agency
Dec 15 2008
Azerbaijan

Istanbul – APA. Addressing the trial on "Ergenekon" in Turkey, retired
General, member of World Azerbaijanis Congress Veli Kucuk said the
criminal case and arrests had been prepared by the order of the US,
APA reports quoting Haberturk.

Veli Kucuk said though investigation on "Ergenekon" had started before
the establishment of Justice and Development Party (AKP), the operation
began after Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with George Bush in the
White House on November 5, 2007. He said the secret witnesses giving
testimony against him were members of such terrorist organizations
as PKK, Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front and Hezbollah
and refuted the accusations. General said he had led the troops in
border regions for a long time and underlined that he had defended
the friendship of Turks and Kurds.

"I said PKK did not represent Kurds, eastern problem of Turkey was
actually Armenian problem. Of course, some did not like it and that’s
why I am here," he said.

Veli Kucuk’s speech consisted of 101 pages. General’s lawyer is his
daughter Zeyneb.

Obama and the Genocide Task Force
Humanitarian Imperialism
By BINOY KAMPMARK

Weekend Edition
December 12 / 14, 2008
html

Along with the optimism that has accompanied the Obama election emerges
a potentially new picture on humanitarian interventions. What will an
Obama administration do with Darfur, or instances where genocide will
occur? Might he resort to what has been termed humanitarian
imperialism?

A report by the Genocide Prevention Task Force convened by the U.S.
Institute of Peace, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American
Academy of Diplomacy has a few ideas of its own. It was released this
week by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Defense
Secretary William Cohen. `Preventing genocide is an achievable goal.’
There are discernable `signs and symptoms, and viable options to
prevent it at every turn if we are committed and prepared.’

The Task force report makes various recommendations. Given that both
co-chairs were key players in the Clinton administration, their
influence is hard to ignore. The creation of a high level agency to
identify the problems of genocide with seismic urgency is suggested.
Increased resources are advocated. There is a recommendation for the
new secretary of state to launch an international initiative enlisting
an entire cadre of networks and nations to prevent mass atrocity and
genocide.
Then there is that option of last resort, military intervention.

The task force’s report pairs well with the interventionist rhetoric
Obama has, at times, articulated. His foreign policy advisers ` Susan
E. Rice and Tony Lake ` are old hands from the dark days of the Rwanda
genocide, where semantic gymnastics trumped humanitarian
considerations. In 1994, a gutsy, far-sighted General Dallaire
commanded less weight than State Department memos questioning whether
genocide was even taking place.

Then come those interminable problems with the mechanics of
intervention. Given the intractable presence of the UN Security
Council, the obstacles with allowing intervention will remain serious
ones. The authors think that the U.S. will front with that customary,
messianic tone of leadership ` take the first measures to avert
catastrophe, and others will follow. But ironically, that message
seems oddly (or perhaps not?) close to that of the Bush administration
` invade a country first and the skeptics will follow. The rhetorical
frameworks may differ, but the practical results may be much the same.
When in doubt, build an offensive coalition.

Readers of this report won’t forget that the authors were themselves
part of an administration that orchestrated an ostensibly humanitarian
intervention outside the UN framework in 1999. Then, it was Kosovo and
the issue of preventing ethnic cleansing. To this day, if there is an
identifiable doctrine from the Clinton years, it is one that targets
genocide and humanitarian catastrophe where it is in the national
interest to prevent it. International jurists have subsequently tried
to justify the doctrine, though it remains infuriatingly vague and
inconsistent.

Given the battering the UN and international law received during the
Bush years, the panaceas of the task force are encumbered by problems.
The UN, it would seem, will continue remaining the bête noire of
American foreign policy, whether one is a Bush unilateralist or Obama
internationalist. The former loathes it for being the progenitor of
fictitious international laws and obligations; the latter dislikes it
for being lethargic and indifferent to protecting existing
international laws.

With the US mired in conflicts it has struggled to control in the last
seven years, driven by a unilateralist rationale that commentators now
find hard to justify, the priorities given to genocide prevention may
yet again be minimized. But this will all depend on what formula the
new administration will embrace. While Obama will need to take this
report seriously, he must be fully aware that the US risks being
tarnished with the charge of imperialism (albeit of a different sort)
yet again.

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, University
of College. Email: [email protected]

BAGRAT ESTUKYAN: TURKEY MAY RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WITHIN NEXT 10 YEARS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 15:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey may recognize the Armenian Genocide within
next 10 years, the editor of the Armenian sector of Agos newspaper
said.

"The world is changing. Turkey is aspired to join the European
family. Besides, economic trends in both Turkey and Armenia demand
reconciliation. Turkey needs a free economic market and it will try
to come to a common ground with neighboring Armenia," Bagrat Estukyan
told a news conference in Yerevan today.

Acknowledging the Genocide, Turkey will, however, urge Armenia to
renounce any territorial claims, according to him.

"It’s not an easy task for Turkey to confess of perpetrating the
Genocide but it’s inevitable, since the Armenian Genocide is a
historical fact. All know what befell Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
but Ankara is still engaged in self-delusion," he said.

CONCRETE FACTORY HAS BEEN PUT INTO SERVICE
Svetlana Khachatryan

Azat Artsakh Daily
09 Dec 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

"Four Direction" company of businessman and benefactor
Seyran Karapetyan places an industrial concrete factory in
Stepanakert.Yesterday the NKR President B.Sahakyan accompanied by
the minister of Urban Planning A.Vardanyan and mayor of Stepanakert
V.Michaelyan visited construction landing. According to S.Karapetyan,
the factory will be ready and will give its first production on
December 16th. 60 cubic metre concrete of high quality will be produced
in an hour. By estimation of the minister A.Vardanyan, production
of concrete of such size is unprecedented in Karabakh. At present,
when sizes of construction realizing in 2009-2011 in Artsakh are
being discussed, exploitation of such factory is too necessary.

As she said, owing to the factory we should have construction
material corresponding to modern requirements, which would be
used for construction of dwelling and public building-construction
materials. A. Vardanyan considered the starting of a new enterprise
a huge and serious step in the sphere of construction. Seyran
Karapetyan’s "Four Direction" company operates successfully in Moscow,
China, Switzerland, Erevan and henceforth it will operate also in
Karabakh.

ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS LEFT FOR KOSOVO

Panorama.am
20:28 08/12/2008

Today the 10th shift of Armenian peacekeepers left for Kosovo and
the Deputy Defence Minister and the head of Armed Forces of Armenia
Yuri Khachaturov and other military officers went to take part in
the farewell ceremony of the military group.

Yuri Khachaturov mentioned in his speech that 70 military officers
leave for Kosovo carrying the mission of defense on their shoulders, to
guarantee peace and security to the local people. He wished the staff
strong will, success and the soonest return back to their home country.

CONTRARY TO DEATH

Azat Artsakh Daily
08 Dec 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

December, 7th, 1988. This day has for ever entered into the history
of the Armenian people as mournful, tragical date. 20 years ago, in
northern areas of Armenia there was the terrible earthquake which has
wiped about the city of Spitak appeared in epicentre of tremors. It
also has not spared Leninakan, Kirovakan, Stepanavan, hundreds of
villages. In total for some seconds 25 thousand persons have become
victims of blind elements of a steel, thousand have been wounded,
over a half-million remained without a roof over the head. That day
the hands of the city clock of Leninakan from elements blow have
stood on a mark 11 hour 41 minutes However it seemed to the Armenian
people, that hours have stopped, but not the hands of the clock. The
life has stopped itself, and in Armenia the ghost of black death was
wandering freely. Perhaps, such monstrous shock the Armenian people
have tested only at the Genocide of 1915. It’s impossible to express
the pain by words. Armenia became epicentre of terrible human tragedy,
truly a universal trouble. But it became also epicentre of mercy,
compassion, partnership. The sympathy wave to the Armenian people
has swept worldwide.

Those days newspaper pages, television screens of the world have been
filled by messages on accident details.The evil news have responded
pain in hearts of20millions people. This pain became the general
for all, and not only Armenians. Blow of elements has left nobody
indifferent. In many countries the public and governmental centres
which were systemizing gathering of financial and other means for
rendering assistance to the victim,there were big turns at blood
transfusion points – people voluntary handed over blood for wounded
men. Artsakh also has stretched a hand of help to Armenia which during
this period was in heavy situation, testing powerful pressure of the
Soviet-azeri state machinery for suppression of national movement. In
Nagorno-Karabakh means collection has been also organised, groups of
rescuers have been urgently sent to the zone of disaster. Practically
all the Soviet Union helped the suffered population of Armenia.

"Practically"- because even in that heavy, disastrous for the Armenian
people time Azerbaijan has not stopped the hostile actions. The
Karabakh movement was in a heat, and the Azerbaijan party tried to use
even the elements for achievement of the political ends, suppression of
will of our people.All possible difficulties were done to the trains
with humanitarian cargoes – artificial detained on ways, not giving
in time to deliver so necessary means to the republic suffered from
the disaster. Many still remember, how cars with the cement, going
through Azerbaijan, were filled in with water, and they arrived to
Armenia already in the form of unnecessary20boulders. Remember, how our
neighbours even frankly celebrated this tragedy and sent congratulatory
messages to the Armenians.It was very cinic blasphemous. But the
cynicism was also in that, that according to the best traditions of
communistic preaching, page of the Soviet newspapers were dazzled
with messages that "the people of Azerbaijan have apprehended a
pain of the Armenian people as its own" that it "is ready to render
assistance in these difficult days for overcoming of destructive
consequences of elements". Similar pharisaic messages, including, at
the highest level – the Communist Party Central Committee, Presidium
of the Supreme body and Ministerial Council AzSSR. Fortunately, the
Armenian people have not depressed, have not lost courage. During that
fatal time the terrible trouble has consolidated them, has forced to
involve all potential for opposition of tragedy and liquidation of
consequences of the accident.

Owing to the unity, strong will, courage and firmness of all the
Armenians, owing to disinterested aid of the people of the USSR and
many countries of the world the trouble has receded. Our people,
as well as at different stages of the hard history, have found in
itself forces to stand, transfer, apparently, to restore the destroyed
and to rise from ashes. "Disaster zone" concept has fallen into the
past’s arms .Time for the Armenian people has not stopped. The life
which has=2 0 appeared more strongly than death has triumphed. But an
inescapable pain of huge, irreplaceable human losses has remained. As
the memory of victims of that terrible tragedy has remained and
lives. On December, 7th all Armenian people will give a tribute
of memory of our compatriots for which the day of 1988 became the
last. Let’s remember victims – for the sake of the live …

KARABAKH MEDIATORS URGE ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN TO DRAFT ACCORD SOON

Day.Az
Dec 4 2008
Azerbaijan

The three countries mediating a peaceful solution to the territorial
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan have urged the two to start
drafting an agreement soon.

It said that French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel
Fried had issued a statement in Helsinki regarding the resolution of
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. In the statement, France, Russia and
the USA, which are the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, called on
Armenia and Azerbaijan to use the "constructive and positive impulse"
that was created at the meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents in Moscow on 2 November, Day.az said.

"The co-chair countries call on the parties [to the conflict] to
conclude work on the basic principles of [conflict] resolution in
the coming months and begin drafting an agreement," Day.az quoted
the statement as saying.

The co-chair countries also called on the sides to put an end to
sniper shooting on the front line to prevent civilians and servicemen
being killed.