Author: Dabaghian Diana

MOST INTERESTING PERIOD TO BEGIN AFTER PROTOCOLS ARE SIGNED, SAYS ANALYST

Tert.am
29.09.09

If there is no force majeure, the Armenian-Turkish Protocols will be
signed on October 14, said Caucasus Media Institute Director Alexander
Iskandaryan today.

According to Iskandaryan, the Protocols will be signed at the
foreign ministerial level. "Something or another may not work out
in the details, but the fact that the protocols will be signed is
obvious. Otherwise, there is no need to publish the Protocols,"
Iskandaryan stated.

According to the political analyst, the documents are "connected with"
the planned visit of the Armenian president to Turkey. "Accordingly,
the Protocols will be signed either on the threshold of that visit
or during it," Iskandaryan stated.

After the Protocols are signed, said Iskandaryan, they will be up
for discussion in the National Assembly. "That period will be even
more interesting," concluded Iskandaryan.

ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS RESULT OF PRESSURE, FORMER FM STATES

News.am
02:18 / 10/01/2009

"It is natural that the West, as well as the international community,
should be happy to see Armenian-Turkish relations normalized. This
meets their interests – both for regional reasons and in that they will
thus throw the burden of the Armenia Genocide off their shoulders,"
stated the former Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian.

"However, we must be guided by our interests. Armenia has until now
been resisting the pressure and, I think, must do so in future, as
the document on the table run counter to our interests. This is the
result of pressure or miscalculations," Oskanian said.

According to him, "to make a momentous decision, which will
prove crucial for our people, our authorities need the support of
overwhelming majority of our citizens." "By the highest standards,
it will predetermine Armenia’s future role ands place in the region
and have impact on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. Under the
circumstances, with no support on the part of the majority of people,
I cannot imagine the signing of such a document. The majority of the
Armenian people are obviously against the protocols," Oskanian said.

ATTORNEYS VARTKES YEGHIAYAN AND RITA MAHDESSIAN HONOURED IN GREECE

Gibrahayer
28/09/09

Attorneys Vartkes Yeghiayan and Rita Mahdessian were recently honoured
in Athens, Greece, for their efforts in repatriating the legal
rights of the Eastern Greeks. In 2008, Attorney Yeghiayan facilitated
the setting up of a voluntary settlement program with New York Life
Insurance Company for heirs of Greeks who had purchased life insurance
policies in the Ottoman Empire prior to 1915. The total value of the
voluntary program was $15 million.

In a magnificent setting at Dora Stratou Amphitheatre at the
Acropolis, the Federation of Refugee Associations of Greece, the
Pan-Pontian Federation of Greece, the Ecumenical Federation of
Constantinopolitans and the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Thracian
Associations, jointly honoured the lawyers with a rich cultural
program including performances by nine Greek traditional folkloric
dance ensembles. The event, which took place on September 14, 2009,
was attended by some two thousand people, including former Greek Prime
Minister Yiannis Grivas, who presented the awards, representatives
from the Mayor’s Office, the press and the political parties.

The ceremony was preceded by a one day International Conference on
September 12, 2009, at the Auditorium of Athens Parnassos Literary
Society, on the occasion of the 54th Anniversary of Septemvriana
(Istanbul prior to 1955 – The Restitution of M inorities as
a prerequisite for Respect of Human Rights in Turkey). The topics
covered the Mechanisms of confiscation of properties and persecution
during the Second World War.

Many notables spoke. Among them, Assistant Professor Iakovos Aktsglov,
Assistant Professor Ioannis Ktistaskis, Representatives of Swedish
and European Parliaments, four scholars from Turkey, and Attorney
Vartkes Yeghiayan.

NEWS.am

U.S. wishes to create Armenia within Turkey
18:26 / 09/26/2009

Deputy Chairman of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Mehmet Sandir
severely criticized democratic initiative of Turkish Government,
including Kurdish issue resolution.

Sandir considers that authorities’ initiative is that of Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK). According to him, being unable to settle the
conflict by force, PKK intends to solve via this policy. Deputy
Chairman underlined that U.S. wishes to create Armenia and Kurdistan
in Turkey, carrying out this policy.

Demand for Internet boosted in Armenia
25.09.2009 21:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
"Explosive" demand for Internet has been recorded in Armenia, ArmenTel
CEO Igor Klimko told a news conference today.

According to him, the Armenia’s population use Internet 4.5 times more
this year compared to the previous year.
According to Igor Klimko, the traffic through the newly launched 3G
technology with the USB modems increases twice a week on average to
date.

Will ARF change its demand?
08:25 pm | September 24, 2009 | society

rvey

The ARF has been holding a hunger strike at Republic Square for the
past nine days against the Turkish-Armenian protocols. "A1+" asked its
readers to rate the ARF’s protest: 11.7% were for and 20.5% were
against.

15.1% said that it was too late, 1.7% said that they would join the
protest, 3.1% had no answer. The majority of the people who were
surveyed (47.9%) said that the ARF must demand the resignation of
Serzh Sargsyan and not the Foreign Minister. A total of 762 people
participated in the survey.

This week we ask you to answer the following question:

Will the RA National Assembly ratify the two protocols? We look
forward to receiving your answers.

Today.Az

Azerbaijan plays an important role in European energy security: Swiss
FM

25 September 2009 [11:27] – Today.Az

Azerbaijan plays an important role in European energy security,
Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said in a meeting
with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in New York.

In turn, Mammadyarov informed his counterpart about the process of
resolution of the Armenian -Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
and stressed peace and security in the region is impossible without
settlement of this dispute, the ministry announced.

The sides discussed bilateral cooperation and their prospects.

The foreign ministers of the two countries met as part of their
participation in the UN General Assembly.

MINISTER NALBANDIAN TO VISIT NEW YORK

armradio.am
24.09.2009 11:59

The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, will visit New
York September 25-29 to participate in the 64th session of the UN
General Assembly.

Within the framework of the visit Minister Nalbandian is expected to
make a speech at the UN General Assembly session and have e meeting
with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The Armenian Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet his counterparts
from a number of countries.

Edward Nalbandian will meet the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as well.

IS ISKANDARIAN TRAITOR?

alexander-iskandaryan
September 23, 2009

Ararat Centre for Strategic Research NGO brought an action against the
Caucasus Institute Foundation for the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Alexander Iskandarian, a political analyst and head of the Caucasus
Institute Foundation, edited the book "Caucasus Neighborhood: Turkey
and the South Caucasus." The book was published after a conference
organized by the Caucasus Institute in Istanbul and included a reprint
of an article denying the Armenian Genocide.

"The article, entitled "Turkish-Armenian relations: an eternal
deadlock?" by Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation colleague
Aybars Gyorgulu, became the basis for the legal suit. In his report
presented during the conference in Istanbul, the Turkish figure
denies the Armenian Genocide. Furthermore, in his article, Gyorgulu
uses the word "genocide" in quotation marks," says Armen Aivazian,
Director of Ararat Centre for Strategic Research NGO.

"The act of Genocide denial has also begun in Armenia, this is not
an exceptional case," said Aivazian and added, "This is a case of
simple classic denial."

According to Aivazian, initial hearings will take place in the first
half of October.

ARF-D DIDN’T LIFT A FINGER FOR A YEAR, SAYS ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

Tert
Sept 23 2009
Armenia

Levon Ter-Petrossian’s Press Spokesperson Arman Musinyan, during a
press conference today, referred to yesterday’s statement made by
Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) member
Vahan Hovhanissian that ex-president Ter-Petrossian understands the
risks of these processes and thinks that Serzh Sargsyan will fail.

"Armenian National Congress (HAK) has been speaking about the risks
of these processes since last year, yet that same ARF-D, being aware
of the process for a whole year, did nothing, and only when those
documents came to light [referring to Armenian-Turkish Protocols],
ARF-D had nothing left to do but save face. ARF-D didn’t lift a finger
for the entire year, whereas HAK, for a whole year, was speaking
about the risks associated with Nagorno-Karabakh and its inhabitants,
and with the issue of Armenian-Turkish relations," stated Musinyan,
in particular.

As to ARF-D’s demand that Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian
should resign, Musinyan attributed it to childishness. According to
him, when the country’s foreign policy is run by the president, it’s
childish to demand the foreign minister’s resignation: it becomes
ARF-D’s "being against, we are for" approach.