Author: Dabaghian Diana

Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 15 2008

Euro experts mull over polishing Turkey’s image

ANKARA – European officials have urged Turkey to step up its efforts
to promote its image in the European Union during a conference on
"Influence Strategies of Turkey in EU member states," an endeavor they
say is an integral part of the accession process.

"The global strategy should be to move away from emotional issues and
try to communicate rational issues," Jacques Lafitte, founder of
Avisa Partners, an EU Public Affairs Consultancy firm, told the
Hürriyet Daily News, on the sidelines of the conference held
at BaÅ?kent University.

"Try to tell Europeans that Turkey is a successful country on the
economic side, which it is. People do not know about it," he said, and
advised restraint from wasting energy arguing against marginal
opinions within Europe.

Thomas Grunert, head of the Interparliamentary Delegations Unit at the
European Parliament, said European parliamentarians are not satisfied
with changes to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, an image
spoiler for Turkey, speaking to the Daily News. "The European
parliament would like to go beyond and see the article dropped or
further modified to guarantee even more freedom of expression,"
Grunert said.

He said there was a sort of disappointment in Europe over the pace of
Turkey’s accession process. "2008 was the year of European
integration: It is almost over, and many people were expecting more
progress, although we understand there were some negative internal
developments," Grunert said.

Turkey ignores the undecided
Vural Ã-ger, a German member of the European Parliament, asserted
that Turkey must differentiate its communication strategies toward
different target groups. "You have to speak differently to a senior
conservative German male member of Parliament, than to a young female
MP from Bulgaria," Ã-ger said as he differentiated between
countries who are favorable, reluctant, or indifferent to Turkey’s
accession to the EU.

"Turkey must concentrate on the latter," Ã-ger said, adding that
excessive campaigning in countries like France or Austria, where
public opinion is heavily against Turkey’s accession, would be a waste
of energy.

"Undecided countries are ignored by Turkey. When Turkey is on the
agenda of the European Parliament, it is members from Austria, France,
Germany or Netherlands, reluctant member states, who take the stage
first. We hardly hear Poles or Romanians speak about Turkey," Ã-ger
said.

Sensitive topics of Turkish foreign policy should be handled with a
cool head, Lafitte said. "I know that Cyprus is a very difficult
domestic topic in Turkey, but on that, the best thing to do is to stay
calm.

"It is pretty much the same with the French law on Armenian claims,"
said Lafitte, referring to the law adopted by the French national
assembly, but not discussed in the French Senate, that criminalizes
denying the Armenian claims of genocide. "I think it is the historians
duty to write history. But there was a complete overreaction in
Turkey, which antagonized public opinion in France," Lafitte said.

ZHARANGUTIUN CHALLENGES CORRESPONDENCE OF CREATION OF EXPERTS’ FACT-FINDING GROUP TO CONSTITUTION

Noyan Tapan

Nov 14, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The signing of the Moscow
declaration based on the Madrid principles causes serious
concerns. Stepan Safarian, a member of the RA NA Zharangutiun
(Heritage) faction, stated at the November 14 parliamentary press
briefing. In particular, according to him, it is alarming that there
is no signature of the Karabakh side in that document signed after 14
years’ interval in the negotiations of Nagorno Karabakh settlement. On
the other hand, the declaration has been signed by one country-co-chair
of OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, while official Yerevan constantly declares
the necessity to settle the problem within the Minsk Group format.

Member of the same faction Zaruhi Postanjian said that the consequences
and dangers proceeding from the Moscow declaration and Madrid
principles are not visible to the population of Armenia. Therefore,
the Joining initiative is going to carry out the respective propaganda
in all regions of Armenia. The deputy said that if the authorities
forbid to hold the events in the halls, the organization is ready to
hold the meetings in the open air.

Touching upon the experts’ fact-finding group on study of the March
1 events, Z. Postanjian said that the RA President’s decree on its
ceation and activity is anti-constitutional, as the President is not
empowered to do it.

Such a group was to have been created as a result of the adoption of
the respective law. S. Safarian said that though a representative of
their party is also involved in the group, nevertheless Zharangutiun
will continue challenging group activity’s correspondence to the
Constitution.

TURKEY OFFERS TO MEDIATE US-IRAN TALKS

Voice of America
Nov 12 2008

Turkey’s prime minister said his country is ready to mediate between
Iran and the incoming U.S. administration of Barack Obama.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara, Turkey, 11 Nov 2008 In
an interview in Wednesday’s New York Times, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
Ankara could be "very useful" in nurturing ties between Tehran and
Washington, strained over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. He said
Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad’s overture of congratulations
to Mr. Obama is "a step that has to be made use of."

Mr. Erdogan told the Times that the president-elect — who has said
he would consider breaking with long-standing U.S. policy and sit
down with Iranian leaders — offers a chance for America to reclaim
"an image that’s been lost."

Turkey has already been roiled by the war in Iraq on its border,
and the specter of conflict in neighboring Iran. Mr. Erdogan told
the Times "wars are never the solution in this age."

As a secular Islamic nation, member of both the U.N. Security Council
and NATO, Turkey, standing at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle
East, has recently tried to raise its regional profile.

Mr. Erdogan told the Times that Turkey’s principle in foreign policy
is not to earn enemies.

In the wake of the Georgian-Russian conflict in August, Ankara sought
to head up a group to resolve conflicts in the Caucasus. The government
has also been mediating talks between arch foes Syria and Israel and
re-establishing ties with Armenia.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Ali Babacan, today said he expects
developments soon in the long-running dispute with Armenia, as well
as the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The minister said he will visit Azerbaijan in the coming days. He
said his Armenian counterpart, Eduard Nalbandian, may also visit
Turkey as part of "diplomatic traffic" in the Caucasus.

Turkey sided with Azerbaijan in its dispute with Armenia over the
largely Armenian-inhabited region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The foreign ministers of the three countries met in September on the
sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

ARMENIA: FOREIGN MINISTER EDWARD NALBANDIAN PAYS AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO SWEDEN

ISRIA
_swed.html
Nov 12 2008
DC

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian had meetings in
Stockholm, where he arrived by the invitation of Carl Bildt, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

The first meeting of Armenian Foreign Minister was with Carl Bildt,
his Swedish counterpart and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe.

The agenda of the negotiations between Foreign Minister of Armenia
and Sweden included wide range of issues concerning Armenian-Swedish
bilateral relations, Armenia-European Union cooperation, regional
and international issues.

Touching upon Armenian-Swedish bilateral relations Minister Nalbandian
mentioned that Armenia is interested in the development of cooperation
with Sweden and solid precondition for that have already been created.

In the course of the meeting Ministers Nalbandian and Bildt had
a detailed discussion on issues concerning the cooperation between
Armenia-European Union and expressed mutual satisfaction by the process
of implementation of European Neighbourhood Policy Action plan. Edward
Nalbandian presented his Swedish counterpart the results of President
Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to Brussels and meetings with EU leadership.

Ministers discussed Polish-Swedish proposal for Eastern Partnership,
and in that regard Edward Nalbandian mentioned that the Armenian side
positively assesses the initiative and expects the elaboration of the
suggestions by the European Commission to hold discussions on that
issue with partner countries and European structures in near future.

In his turn Minister Bildt mentioned that Polish-Swedish proposal
enjoys EU support and in future essential discussions will be
held. He also told that during Swedish Presidency in the EU (second
half of 2009) serious attention will be paid to the relations with
South Caucasus countries. Minister Bildt accepted Armenian Foreign
Minister’s invitation to visit Armenia and announced that he would
visit Yerevan before assumption of EU Presidency.

On Swedish Foreign Minister’s request Edward Nalbandian presented
Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) peace process and expressed hope that the
declaration signed by Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia
in Moscow will create an opportunity to activate negotiations and fix
progress. Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Sweden exchanged ideas on
the possibilities of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

The recent events around South Ossetia were also discussed by the
Ministers.

The meeting between Ministers was followed by press
conference. Afterwards signing ceremony of the Readmission Agreement
between Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of Sweden took place.

In the noon Swedish foreign minister hosted official lunch in
honour of his Armenian counterpart.In the second part of the day
Edward Nalbandian made a speech on Armenian foreign policy at the
Institute for Security and Development Policy. Swedish Government
officials, representatives of diplomatic corps, scientific centres
and universities, political analysts and journalists attended the
speech. Minister’s speech was followed by a lively answer-question on
Armenian foreign policy. In addition to political agenda, Minister
Nalbandian’s had number of meetings with the representatives of
Swedish companies.

In the course of the meeting with Ulf Berg, Chairman of Swedish Trade
Council, Edward Nalbandian presented the Government steps aimed
at the development of Armenian economy, investment opportunities
and its priorities. They discussed the possibilities to organize
Armenian-Swedish business forum, as well as mutual visits of officials
of the Government’s economic block.

They have exchanged ideas on world financial crisis and the ways to
overcome it.

Edward Nalbandian also visited the Headquarters of Ericsson
Corporation, where he met with Bjorn Hemstad, Chairman of Ericsson’s
Eastern Europe region. At the meeting Minister Nalbandian got
acquainted to the company’s activity and perspective projects. Minister
expressed satisfaction for the effective cooperation of Ericsson
with Armenian mobile phone operators. The talks were focused on
the possibilities for enlargement of cooperation between Armenian
companies and Ericsson.

In Stockholm Edward Nalbandian also met with the leadership of Nasdaq
OMX financial group – manager of Armenian Stock exchange, and discussed
the issues concerning the activity of the company in Armenia.

On November 7 in the evening Edward Nalbandian met with the
representatives of Armenian community in Sweden. At the meeting which
passed in warm atmosphere, Minister Nalbandian presented foreign policy
of Armenia, perspectives of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) conflicts
settlement, steps aimed at the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations. Speaking on Armenia-Diaspora relations, Minister Nalbandian
mentioned that Armenian authorities intend to give a new stimulus to
the cooperation with Diaspora and the establishment of the Ministry
of Diaspora is one of the steps toward that goal. During his stay in
Stockholm Edward Nalbandian gave a broad interview to the Swedish TV.

25 MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN MINING INDUSTRY OF ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan

Nov 13, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The start of the work of the
newly-created "Gegamet" Armenian-Russian-British mining enterprise
will be marked by a 25 million dollar investment project to be jointly
implemented by Uniastrum Bank (Russia), Unibank (Armenia) founded
by the indicated Russian bank, as well as Metta Group (Armenia)
and Torront Holdings Limited (UK), was announced by the sides’
representatives at a joint press conference, in which the RA Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan took part.

According to Khachatur Manukian, the founder of Max Group company
– the project participant, a deputy of the RA National Assembly,
the investment project includes the operation of Shorzha and Jil
mines, the construction of an ore mining and processing enterprise,
a fire-brick plant with the annual capacity of 20 million bricks, a
plant of additives for cement making with the annual capacity of 150
thousand tons, a chrome concentrate plant with the annual capacity of
50 thousand tons, and a ferrochromium plant with the annual capacity
of 20 thousand tons.

The co-owner of the indicated banks G. Zakarian considered it possible
that gold and platinum will be obtained from ores of the mines. In
his opinion, the return on the project’s investments will be received
in 3 years which is a high index. It is envisaged creating 500 jobs
as a result of the project’s implementation.

In the words of Pavel Kovgan, the head of the powder metallurgy
laboratory of Gintsvetmet research institute (Russia), Gegamet will
use technologies representing its intellectual property. Nonwaste
technologies will be applied at the ore mining and processing
enterprise to be built on the shore of Lake Sevan, while water for
chrome casting will be used in a closed cycle.

Tigran Sargsyan said that the project is being launched under
conditions of the international financial crisis when prices of mining
production are declining in international markets. According to him,
the project bears evidence of the investors’ trust in Armenia. He
expressed a hope that the investments of Gegamet as well as Unireso
insurance company founded by G.

Zakarian in Armenia will have a demonstrative effect in the sense that
Diasporan Armenians of CIS countries will find reliable and guaranteed
projects for their savings and investments in Armenia. "I think Armenia
now has a chance to demonstrate its advantage and attract investments,"
the prime minister stated.

He said that Gegamet’s project is in line with the requirements
of the Armenian law on Lake Sevan and the ecological norms will be
observed during the project’s implementation. T. Sargsyan expressed a
willingness to hold, together with the investors, all the interested
sides and independent experts, public discussions on Gegamet’s project.

SERZH SARGSYAN: "THE CORE OF THE CONFLICT IS A STATUS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH AND AZERBAIJAN MUST RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT OF ITS PEOPLE FOR SELF-DETERMINATION"

Today.Az
y.az/news/politics/48883.html
Nov 11 2008
Azerbaijan

"Armenia attaches importance to the adoption of a joint declaration
with Azerbaijan in the context of exclusion of the forced settlement
of the Karabakh conflict", said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in
his interview to German newspaper "Frankfurter algemeine tseitung".

"It is important for us that Azerbaijan has signed a document,
ruling out the forced resolution and recognized all principles of
international law on the resolution of this conflict and not only
those, related to the territorial integrity", said Sargsyan.

The President noted that "the core of the conflict is a status of
Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan must recognize the right of its
people for self-determination". After it, he said other problems can
be settled as well.

He said in this connection that the control over the regions, adjacent
to Nagorno Karabakh is not a purpose for the Armenian side, but this
is required for its protection.

"We need talks on the basic document and then a peace treaty. We have
a long way to pass", noted Sargsyan.

Asked if Karabakh can be an autonomy, Sargsyan said: "The matter is
to create an environment of security for the population".

"History showed that this is important in Azerbaijan. We never believed
that Karabakh can remain within Azerbaijan and it is not important
with which status", said Sargsyan.

HOLY PUNCHING BETWEEN CLERGY IN JERUSALEM

MINA
view/4371/48/
Nov 10 2008
Canada

A Greek Orthodox monk is seen with blood on his forehead after a
beating he received from an Armenian clergy at the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s Old City. Dozens of people were involved in
the brawl, which left some monks with bruises, cuts and black eyes.

Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks were involved in a bloody fist
fight in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of
Jesus’s burial and resurrection, in Jerusalem yesterday.

Israeli police were forced to intervene after monks started trading
blows during an annual procession held by Armenian clergymen to
commemorate the 4th-century discovery of the cross on which Jesus is
believed to have been crucified.

It appears that the Greek Orthodox monks took exception to the
Armenians closing the door of the tomb, preventing one of them from
being inside during the procession. Taking this as a sign that the
Armenians were trying to establish rights that they did not have,
the Greek Orthodox holy men jumped to stop the procession.

The ensuing punch-up led to two monks, one from each side, being
arrested. This is the latest in a series of violent incidents involving
members of the six Christian denominations that share control of the
ancient church.

PARUYR HAYRIKYAN: MOSCOW MEETING DID NOT ADD UP ANY NEW EMPHASIZES TO THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS
Alisa Gevorgyan

"Radiolur"
10.11.2008 16:56

"There can be nothing harmful in an action targeted at uniting the
two conflicting sides around the idea that the application of force
is wrong and that it is possible to cooperate under the conditions
of conflict.

Nevertheless, it’s clear to everyone that the main objective of
Russia’s initiative was to demonstrate to the international community
that Russia plays a mores serious role in the region than others,"
leader of the National Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan told
a press conference, commenting on the declaration signed in Moocow
by the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

"Actually, Armenia and Azerbaijan stated, at last, that they are
ready to cooperate under certain conditions. With this step Russia
rather pursued a moral-psychological and moral-political objective
in the region, which it probably achieved, but I see no practical
progress with regard to reducing the tension in the region," Paruyr
Hayrikyan said.

Does the document include dangerous points? Mr. Hayrikyan negatively
assesses the fact that the declaration has not been signed by the
Artsakhi side. "The Moscow meeting did not add up any new emphasizes
to the negotiation process. The negative sides existed before the
signing of the declaration," leader of the National Self-Determination
Union noted.

"Was the involvement of Armenia as a party to the negotiations
beneficial for Artsakh? It was certainly not. Armenia’s mediation
only as a guarantor of security would be more favorable." According
to Hayrikyan, in the new stage of diplomatic relations the Armenian
side should have a distinct strategy and work out purposeful programs
to implement that strategy.

"If today’s authorities of Armenia are moving towards the path of
self-determination of Artsakh, they should declare that they no longer
appear on the international arena with the Artsakh issue. If we speak
about the principle of self-determination, we should provide arena
to Artsakh," Paruyr Hayrikyan declared.

Armenia, Azerbaijan to intensify talks

06/11/2008 | Moscow News ?-44 2008

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed Sunday to intensify talks
to end a 20-year conflict over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The pledge was made during discussions outside Moscow hosted by
Russia’s president that lasted less than three hours, according to a
joint statement.

Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, declared its inde – pendence from Azerbaijan to join Ar – menia
in 1988 and has been a source of conflict ever since. The two countries
fought a six-year war that killed about 30,000 and displaced 1 million
people before a truce was reached in 1994.

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia met one-on-one before they
were joined by Medvedev for the talks, which took place at Medvedev’s
residence, Meiendorf Castle.

Medvedev launched the latest push to end the conflict during a visit to
Armenia in October, just two months after sending tanks into nearby
Georgia after Tbilisi moved to retake the breakaway republic of South
Ossetia.

Presidents Serge Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
agreed to instruct their foreign ministers "to speed up further moves
in the negotiating process," the declaration said.

The foreign ministers will work with Russia, the U.S. and France,
co-chairmen of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Euro – pe, which has tried unsuccessfully to
negotiate a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

In October, Sarkisian said he was ready for talks on the basis of
principles worked out at negotiations in Madrid last year that would
give Nagorny Karabakh the right to self-determination.

The Kremlin would act as guarantor of a new accord, an administration
official was quoted as saying ahead of Sunday’s talks.

The U.S. also has promised re – cently to intensify its efforts to help
solve the conflict. Washington and Moscow have both pointed to
Geor – gia’s war with Russia in August, saying it has underlined the need
to settle other regional conflicts through talks. Russia and U.S. are
struggling over influence in Azerbaijan, a key energy exporter that
ships oil and gas through Western-backed pipelines through Georgia and
Turkey, bypassing Russia.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) called upon the two nations to continue discussions on
resolving the dispute over Nagorny Karabakh.

Lluis Maria de Puig urged the presidents to keeping talking and working
toward a settlement, and said PACE would do whatever it could to move
the process forward.

"I wish to congratulate Presidents Aliyev and Sarksyan, and President
Medvedev, who facilitated the meeting, on their commitment to finding a
peaceful solution to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict," he said in a
statement released by PACE.

"The start of this dialogue, which will be followed by intensified
diplomatic efforts and the promotion of a series of confidence-building
measures, is a window of hope for the entire region," the chairman
said.

"The Parliamentary Assembly stands ready to help the parliaments of
Armenia and Azerbaijan in all their efforts, so that the process just
started proves successful," he added.

Combined reports AP, AFP, RIA Novosti

German Abraham defends IBF title

Story from BBC SPORT:
boxing/7718197.stm

Published: 2008/11/09 01:03:19 GMT

World middleweight champion Arthur Abraham successfully defended his
IBF title with a sixth-round technical knockout over Raul Marquez.

The Armenian-born 28-year-old had been due to face Marquez in October
before flu saw the bout postponed by a month.

Abraham’s victory was the eigth defence of his title and took his
record to 28-0, with 23 knockouts.

"I had my tactics of a slow build-up and then raise the tempo, it was
too much for him," said Abraham.

He was too quick and too strong in the end
Raul Marquez

The German based fighter was the busier boxer from the first bell and
tested Marquez with a flurry of punches in the second and third rounds.

Marquez, 37, was regularly put on the back foot and after receiving
more punishment in the sixth round his corner signalled an end to
proceedings.

"For a while there I thought I was in with a good shot, but he is very
strong and kept coming at me," said Marquez.

"I tried, I tried my best and I knew it would be a hard fight, but he
was too quick and too strong in the end."

Abraham will now look to take his unbeaten record into a unification
fight with world WBA champion Felix Sturm.