Author: Ekmekjian Janet

AZERBAIJANI ANALYST: FOR AZERBAIJAN IT IS IMPORTANT WHAT TURKEY THINKS ABOUT IT

Today
html
Jan 14 2010
Azerbaijan

"Processes of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh are directly linked," Azerbaijani
political expert Rasim Musabayov said.

He was commenting on Russian FM Sergey Lavrov’s statement that the
two above-mentioned processes are not related.

"Attempts to artificially link these two processes are not right,"
Lavrov said.

"Sergey Lavrov’s statement are not original. Americans and Europeans
say the same. If they do not want to link these two processes, it is
their own business," Musabayov said.

"But Armenians themselves link these processes. They see improved
relations with Turkey as a major dividend that could delay withdrawal
of Armenia’s troops from occupied Azerbaijani territories, or to
obtain the best conditions for settling relations. But no one is
going to turn a blind eye to it," he said.

"For us it is important what Turkey thinks about it. In the end, it
will be Turkey who will open the border. The Turkish side says that
these two processes are linked. Everyone else will have to take it
for granted," he added.

"I think that these processes are directly linked. Because
Armenia began to toughen its negotiating position as soon as the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue was launched," the expert added.

ACCORDING TO , ARMENIANS, JUST AS BULGARIANS, SHOULD DEMAND COMPENSATION FROM TURKEY

NoyanTapan
Jan 14, 2010

CYPRUS, JANUARY 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Bojidar Dimitrov,
Bulgaria’s Minister in charge of the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad,
stirred a hornet’s nest at the start of the new year by threatening
to block Turkey’s accession to the European Union (EU), unless it
paid billions of dollars in compensation for Bulgarians who were
forcefully displaced during the Ottoman era. "Turkey is surely able to
pay this sum, as it’s the 16th largest economic power in the world,"
said Dimitrov. Dimitrov disclosed that the payment of compensation as
required by the 1925 treaty is one of Bulgaria’s three pre-conditions
in order not to veto Turkey’s admission to the EU. Bulgaria’s Deputy
Foreign Minister Marin Raykov sought to downplay Dimitrov’s demands
by stating that his country did not make Turkey’s EU bid conditional
on the resolution of the compensation issue for displaced persons.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Borissov rebuked Dimitrov, threatening to
fire him should he make a similar statement in the future without first
consulting him. Before that Vaselin Ninov, a Bulgarian government
spokesman, had confirmed that Dimitrov’s announcement represented
official state policy and for that reason he was fired.

According to the website the only wrinkle
to Turkey’s bid for EU membership isn’t Bulgury but some European
countries such as France, Germany, Holland, and Austria strongly
oppose Turkey’s EU membership bid. However, Turkey’s record on winning
lawsuits in the ECHR is not very good. Encouraged by these successful
lawsuits, Armenians living in Turkey and throughout Europe should seek
legal redress for their countless losses suffered during the Genocide.

ARMENIAN RECIPES AS REQUESTED

Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
January 13, 2010 Wednesday

This morning we’ve got calls for help in shopping and in cooking.

* "A.C." of Lookout Mountain reported that one can find Marshall’s
biscuits at Pruetts on Signal Mountain, and then asked if you could
tell her where to find Sara Lee’s Pecan Coffee Cake. "Failing that,
I would like a recipe for coffee cake that calls for toasted pecans."

* Liz Kennedy of Tullahoma worked at Erlanger from 1966 to 1971 and
remembers the spice doughnuts. Now, she’s looking for the recipe.

* Finally, an anonymous reader threw away a bottle of balsamic
vinegar because it had a gelatinous mass in it. "Can you still use
the vinegar after removing it?" the reader asked, adding that he or
she would also like a recipe for old-fashioned vinegar pie."

Now to today’s recipes. Terry Keister provided two authentic Armenian
recipes, as requested.

Armenian Rice Pilaf

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 handful thin spaghetti, broken into pieces

1 can long-grain white rice (measure it in the consommé can)

1 can consommé

1 can water

Melt butter in saucepan. Add the pine nuts and broken spaghetti pieces,
and sauté until slightly browned. Add the rice, and stir until coated
completely. Heat consommé and water, and stir. Bring to a simmer,
cover tightly and cook 20 to 25 minutes.

Note: You may use bulgur (coarse ground wheat) instead of rice to
make Armenian Bulgur Pilaf.

Stuffed Armenian Grape Leaves

1 jar grapevine leaves

1/2 cup olive oil

3 medium onions, finely chopped

11/2 cups long-grain rice

Juice of 2 large lemons

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 teaspoons dill

2 teaspoons mint

1/4 cup minced parsley

Salt and pepper, to taste

Water (about 1 cup)

Olive oil (about 1 cup)

Rinse grape leaves thoroughly in cold running water to remove brine.

Drain. Select 4 or 5 heavy leaves and line the bottom of a Dutch oven;
set aside.

To prepare filling, heat 1/2 cup olive oil in medium skillet. Add
onions and cook until translucent. Remove with a slotted spoon.

In a saucepan, parboil rice in 1 cup water until liquid is absorbed.

Combine rice, onion, lemon juice, pine nuts, dill, mint and parsley.

Season with salt and pepper. Cool.

To fill grapevine leaves, place a leaf, rough side up, with stem
facing toward you. Use about a teaspoon of rice mixture at the base of
a leaf. Lift the bottom sides of the leaf up onto the filling. Fold
both the right and left sides of the leaf over the filling and roll
up. Tuck edges in.

Place grape leaves in Dutch oven, side by side, to cover bottom,
then start second layer and continue until done.

Add water and olive oil to cover and then put an inverted plate on
the grape leaves. Bring to boiling and then cover; lower heat and
simmer 1 hour or so. Test to see if the rice is tender.

Allow to cool in the liquid. Remove carefully and store in the
refrigerator 24 hours before serving. Serve cold.

Marilyn Soehl serves these muffins on a cold day.

Marilyn’s Apple-sauce Muffins

1 cup butter (no substitute), softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons allspice

1 teaspoon cloves

2 cups applesauce

2 teaspoons soda

1 cup raisins

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and mix until combined. In a separate
bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, allspice and cloves.

Mix together applesauce and soda, and add alternately with flour
mixture to the first mixture. Add raisins, and bake in greased and
floured muffin tins in a preheated oven at 375 F for 15 minutes,
or until done.

ENERGY COOPERATION AT THE CORE OF ERDOGAN’S MOSCOW TALKS

Today’s Zaman
Jan 13 2010
Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan departed the country on Tuesday for
an official two-day visit to Moscow, seeking deeper energy cooperation
with Russia that will boost European Union-candidate Turkey’s quest
to become a key transit hub for Europe.

In Moscow, Erdogan will be accompanied by a large delegation including
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız and
Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan as his talks with Russian Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin will focus on energy and security. The two
sides are also expected to touch upon trade, investments and regional
and international issues.

Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, ever-growing cooperation
dominated bilateral relations between NATO member Turkey and Russia
instead of traditional and historic competition. Then-President Putin’s
December 2004 visit to Ankara marked a milestone in relations as it
was the first presidential visit in the history of Turkish-Russian
relations besides that of Chairman of the Presidium Nikolai Podgorny
in 1972.

Afterwards, within the framework of the "Joint Declaration on the
Intensification of Friendship and Multidimensional Partnership" signed
by the Russian and Turkish presidents during the December 2004 visit,
the two countries have in recent years deepened their ties by signing a
raft of agreements from gas and oil pipelines to nuclear power plants
and have sought closer security cooperation in the Caucasus.

Russian gas supplies to Turkey and a number of oil and gas pipeline
projects including the South Stream project to pump Russian and Central
Asian gas to Europe along the bed of the Black Sea, the second leg of
the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline, linking the two countries, and
the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline to bring Caspian oil to the Mediterranean
via Turkey are among topics to be discussed during the visit as well
as nuclear energy cooperation, including the construction of power
plants in Turkey.

Russia is Turkey’s single biggest trading partner and provides
two-thirds of its gas. The two countries have bilateral trade ties
totaling some $40 billion.

Russia is keen to have South Stream built ahead of the rival EU-backed
Nabucco gas pipeline, which is aimed at cutting Europe’s reliance on
Russian gas. Russia, which supplies a quarter of Europe’s natural gas,
wants to build gas supply routes quickly to bypass Ukraine and other
ex-Soviet states after disputes with Kiev over transit payments in
recent years disrupted flows.

A senior Turkish Energy Ministry official told Reuters that the two
sides would discuss the next step in building the second leg of Blue
Stream, a natural gas pipeline that runs from Russia to Turkey under
the Black Sea. He said Turkey and Russia may also discuss raising
the capacity of the current Blue Stream pipeline and extending it
to Israel.

While in Moscow, Erdogan is expected to have talks with President
Dmitry Medvedev as well, with the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan expected to be the main focus of the talks. The
Turkish side will urge Russia for maintenance of the "gained impetus"
in efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Minsk Group of the OSCE has striven to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, a territorial dispute between Baku and Yerevan, for 17
years. Russia, along with France and the United States, is one of
the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group.

Ankara, which last year agreed with Yerevan to establish diplomatic
relations and reopen their border, overcoming a century of hostility
stemming from the killing of Anatolian Armenians during World
War I, insists on seeing improvement toward a resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in parallel with its efforts to normalize
relations with Yerevan. Ankara argues that partial normalization in
the Caucasus cannot be sustainable as long as parties don’t exert
efforts for complete normalization.

FREEDOM HOUSE: ARMENIA IS AMONG ‘PARTY FREE’ COUNTRIES

ArmInfo
2010-01-14 14:57:00

ArmInfo. The state of human rights and political freedom in 2009
worsened in Armenia as compared to 2008, with Armenia assigned a
score of six points out of seven (the worst) according to the annual
report by Freedom House, a Washington- based international human rights
watchdog. Armenia, according to the report, is among the ‘partly free’
countries along with Georgia and Turkey; as for Azerbaijan, it is
considered to be ‘non-free’ during the recent few years. Russia and
Iran are also among non-free countries. The experts of Freedom House
assigned a score of five points to the state of political and civil
freedoms in Nagorno Karabakh. The Baltic states and Ukraine, among
the former Soviet countries, are in the category of free countries.

To recall, two key indicators are taken into account when preparing
a rating of countries: the level of political freedoms and that of
civil freedoms. The level of political freedoms in Armenia makes up
6 points and the civil ones – 4 points.

ADVISOR TO RA PM FADEY SARGSYAN DIES AT 86

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.01.2010 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Prominent politician, advisor to Armenian Prime
Minister, Dr. Fadey Sargsyan died at 86 on January 10.

A governmental committee will be in charge of funeral organization.

Fadey Sargsyan was born September 18, 1923 in Yerevan. He graduated
from Leningrad’s Budyonov Military Academy (1946). Dr. of Tech.

Sciences (1975), acad. (1977, corr. member 1971). Foreign member of the
Russian, Georgian and Portuguese Academies of Sciences, Honorary Member
of the International Academy of Engineering Sciences, of the "Ararat"
International Academy of Sciences, of the Armenian Philosophical
Academy, of the International Academy of Sciences, Education, Industry
and Arts, Member of the International Informatizations Academy, of
Academy of Military Sciences, of All-National Academy of Knowledge, of
International Academy "Elite", of International Academy of Medical &
Technical Sciences, of the Armenian Academy of Engineering Sciences,
of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Member of the Presidium of
the International Academy of National Security. Double laureate of
state award of the USSR, laureate of state award of the Ukrainian
SSR. Has been honored with orders of Lenin, October Revolution,
Red Banner of Labour (3 times) and Saint Mesrop Mashtots.

Served as adviser to the Prime Minister of RA since 2006.

Armenian National Congress rallying in Yerevan

2010-01-08 15:24:00

ArmInfo. The rally organized by the opposition Armenian National
Congress (ANC) has got underway in Yerevan.

Nearly 2000 people have gathered near the Monument for Vardan
Mamikonyan. ANC leaders led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first
president of Armenia, are present at the rally. A procession will
follow the rally. The ANC is rallying against the result of the
additional parliamentary elections in the election district No10.
Nikol Pashinyan, the oppositionist, the editor of Haykakan Zhamanak
Daily, who is currently in custody, advanced his candidature at the
elections.

Pashinyan is charged with Articles 316.1 and 225.1 of the Armenian
Criminal Code (organizing mass public disturbances, using force
against a representative of the state and violating the law regarding
the staging of public events). Pashinyan had been wanted for over a
year and emerged from the underground after the president announced
amnesty. The deputy mandate of the above election district proved
vacant after the former parliamentarian Khachatur Sukiasyan was
deprived of his mandate for complicity in the incidents of March 2008
in Yerevan.

APA, Azerbaijan
Jan 7 2010

Azerbaijan and Armenia may join free economic zone on the
Turkish-Iranian border

[ 07 Jan 2010 16:46 ]

Baku – APA-ECONOMICS. Iranian Industries and Mines Minister Ali-Akbar
Mehrabian, heading a delegation, is arriving in Ankara on a two-day
travel to Turkey.

As Turkish media reported, he will meet with Turkey’s Minister of
Industry and Trade Nihat Ergun.

The Iranian minister is w accompanied by heads and senior officials of
the automobile companies, aluminum and steel companies, in particular
the top management of Khodro Auto-making Company.

The initiative to establish a free economic zone on the
Turkish-Iranian border was suggested by Turkish Prime Minister Rajab
Tayyib Erdogan during his visit to Iran in October 2009.

The Turkish media write about the possibility of Azerbaijan and
Armenia joining the project in the future.

Under the agreement, the infrastructure of the economic zone will be
provided by the Turkish side, and electricity will be provided by
Iran. The project envisages constructing new airports, roads and
railways. It is planned to allot an area somewhere between Van and
Igdir to build the zone.

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 7 2010

"Russia in global politics" editor: Statement claiming "Karabakh will
never be a part of Azerbaijan" is nonsense

07 January 2010 [16:13] – Today.Az

Day.Az interview with editor-in-chief of "Russia in global politics"
magazine Fyodr Lukyanov.

In your recent interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station you said that
"Karabakh will never return to Azerbaijan any more. This issue is not
even debated.’ Can you explain why do you think so?

Due to certain circumstances there is certain context in the South
Caucasus and possibly in the entire post-Soviet area. Certain
situation has been formed over the past 20 years ` self-declared
`states’ have appeared in the territory of Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Moldova.

Until 2008, the Soviet administrative borders were taboo, they were
considered inviolable. But later some circles had a different view of
things. In some particular cases, the process moved to a qualitatively
different phase after the partial recognition of Kosovo, Abkhazia,
South Ossetia. It certainly has a definite influence on the
negotiations on the future of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the future
of, for example, Trans-Dniester. That’s what I had in mind. Of course,
the statement "Karabakh will never be a part of Azerbaijan" is
nonsense.

In your interview you also said that Armenia has occupied seven
regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. In your opinion, how soon they
will be returned to Azerbaijan?

Fundamental breakthrough is less likely to happen in near future. But
the seven districts are part of a wide debate about future of
Karabakh. Nobody has yet thought of something more serious than the
formula of "peace in exchange for territory’ in, for example, the
Middle East, which is the most longstanding and deeply studied
conflict region.

However, they have not been able to agree on what security guarantees
decent compensation for the loss of control over part of the territory
may provide.

You also said that Turkey intends to become a regional leader in the
Caucasus and that it appears to succeed. What is the role of Ankara,
the Kremlin and Washington in solving the Karabakh conflict in near
future?

Turkey won more than the rest from the situation that changed in the
region after the war in the Caucasus. Due to its geopolitical,
transit, cultural conditions it becomes very important independent
actor not only in the South Caucasus and the Middle East and Asia
Minor.

The strength of Turkey, among other things, is that Ankara maintains
working and normal relations with all – Israel and Syria, Iran and the
United States, Russia and Georgia. This offers great opportunities to
maneuver. Obstacle is unsettled relations with Armenia, and steps to
unfreeze them are completely understandable. It is important for
Turkey not in the Caucasus, but in a much more general context to
become a kind of "universal broker". So, Turkey is seriously
interested in normalizing ties with Armenia. But Ankara is unlikely to
sacrifice Azerbaijan for this process.

Accordingly, Ankara should be interested in progress in resolving the
Karabakh problem, especially in compromise progress. I think that
Turkey will be active in this direction.

In fact, Moscow and Washington have the same interests. But today
anyone is hardly willing to provide a really strong pressure on
conflicting parties to compel them to agreement. Much will depend on
developments on a global level. Thus, depending on what will happen
with Iran and around it, situation in the South Caucasus can
significantly change.

H. Hamidov

URL:

HULIQ , SC
Jan 6 2010

Armenian Christmas Is Celebrated On January 6

Every year many Armenians in the Western countries have two Christmas
because according to the church calendar of this tiny south-east
European the Armenian Christmas is celebrated on January 6. Since in
2010 the Christmas falls on a Wednesday, many Armenians who live in
the Diaspora will celebrate the 2010 Christmas on January 10, which
falls Sunday.

The Armenian Christmas eve starts on January 5th. The Christmas day
Mass and the celebrations start in the morning of January 6th. Yet,
the Western Orthodox countries, such as Russia and Greece celebrate
the Orthodox Christmas on January 7, which is the same December 25th
according to the Julian Calendar. The difference between the Gregorian
and Julian calendars currently is 13 days.

On Christmas eve and the morning, Armenians greet each other with
Christmas Greetings. However, Marry Christmas in Armenian is
translated as Qristos tsnav eev haitnetsav, Orhneal e haitnutun@
Qristosee. Which means Christ is born and revealed, Blessed is the
revelation of Christ.

Armenian Christmas is actually the original date for celebrating the
birthday of Jesus. The Roman Catholic church has changed it in the 4th
century. The Armenian church did not have the same reasons that made
the Catholic Church to change the date of Christmas.

Untill the 4th century Christians around the world used January 6 to
celebrate the birth of Jesus. "According to Roman Catholic sources,
the date was changed from January 6th to December 25th in order to
override a pagan feast dedicated to the birth of the Sun which was
celebrated on December 25th. At the time Christians used to continue
their observance of these pagan festivities. In order to undermine and
subdue this pagan practice, the church hierarchy designated December
25th as the official date of Christmas and January 6th as the feast of
Epiphany," according to SAIN.org.

Since the Armenians did not have the problem that the Romans and the
Orthodox had, the Armenian Christmas is celebrated on January 6 since
the 1st century to 2010. Merry Christmas to the Armenians, Russian,
Greek and the Orthodox, Catholics once again and all Christians.

The center of the Armenian Apostolic Church is located in the city of
Etchmiadzin named after the main Cathedral of the Armenian Church.
Holy Etchmiadzin is built in 303 and is like a magnet for millions of
Armenians spread around the world. Each year, during Christmas, the
head of the Armenian Church, currently Katholikos Karekin the 2nd
sends his traditional Christmas message to all the Armenian faithful
around the world.

Written by Armen Hareyan
Reference: armenianchurch.net
HULIQ.com