Author: Ekmekjian Janet

AZERBAIJANI PARTY FIRES AT KARABAKH POSITIONS

ArmInfo
2009-12-21 10:56:00

ArmInfo. A number of cease-fire violations took place on the contact
line of the NKR and Azerbaijani Armed Forces over the last week.

As ArmInfo’s special correspondent in Stepanakert reports quoting
the operation summary of the NKR Defense Army, The Azerbaijani party
fired at the Karabakh positions from December 14 to 20 in all the
directions of the contact line from automatic rifles, machineguns
and sniper rifles. The actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces got
an adequate response by subdivisions of the NKR Defense Army.

DEATH OF PARTIES

Lragir.am
21/12/09

The events taking place within the Armenian Social-Democratic Hnchakyan
party once again revealed one of the most serious issues of Armenia –
the non-formation of the Armenian party system. In addition, it is
a total issue regarding both the oppositional and the governmental
spheres. The concept of a party seems to be mutated just from the
beginning and it cane never be corrected and from some point, the
upcoming generation will not be able to abandon it and to form a
modern party system.

The point is that the political figures of the so-called new generation
also participate in the events taking place within the parties which
means that they picked up with "honor" the baton from their elder
partners and are ready to promote their "job". And the general job
which is to be considered the empowering of the country and the
society, regresses at a high speed.

Each new example of events taking place within the parties shows how
unperceptive the system based even on the best persons is and how
unperceptive the mechanisms that depend on them are too. In each
party of Armenia, including the oppositional parties, there are
all the vices which exist in the Armenian governmental system. They
are superfluous to be counted but the most important deserves being
dwelt on. Within the Armenian party system, the internal democratic
institution lacks completely, or in case it exists, it is not real
just like the democracy by the government. And this is the reason why
like for the power of the country, for the party leadership fights are
taking place which start and end with intrigues and in the end, those
who are more powerful from physical and material point of view "win".

And there are no system mechanisms to clam such situations down or
to resist them and if there are, no one cares about them because
parties are just from the beginning based on persons, and after the
same persons, proceeding from culture, write down some mechanisms
being at the same time sure that in practice they are never going
to solve any problem. The result is that almost all the parties of
Armenia without exception do not have internal resources of resistance
and any disagreement in the party becomes something like a mortal
disease which brings about a new struggle for the leadership of the
party because the mechanisms to persuade each other, to explain things
lack at all. Just like the state administrative system.

And under these conditions, without going into details of the events
taken place within different parties which the greater part of the
society remembers, let us think about how internal party system can
form an alternative for the state administrative system in case they
are the separate bearers of the vices of the same system.

ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN PROMISES RESTLESS JANUARY TO AUTHORITIES
Mikhail Balayan

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.12.2009 GMT+04:00

Major events of the past week were the visit of the NKR parliamentary
delegation to Armenia, the arrival of Turkish journalists and the
inner-party conflicts in the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party
of Armenia. As usual several sharp statements were made by ARF
Dashnaktsutyun. A number of political scientists assessed the current
state of Armenian-Turkish relations. There was also the anticipated
reaction from the Republican Party of Armenia in relation to its party
members – the RA National Assembly MPs, who had spoken in support of
Sasun Mikaelyan.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On Monday at a press conference on ratification
of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, Head of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun
parliamentary faction Vahan Hovhannisyan promised a restless January
to the authorities. He informed that before and after the decision of
the Constitutional Court on the conformity of the Protocols to the
RA Constitution, the ARF was planning to launch a series of protest
actions against the Turkish-Armenian Protocols. According to him, the
failure of ratification of the Protocols in Armenia is quite possible,
as majority of Armenians share the view of the ARF on existing
preconditions in the Protocols. Vahan Hovhannisyan also declared ARF
would not return to the coalition government, even if the President
of Armenia introduced amendments in the foreign policy of the country
and refused ratification of the Protocols. Honhannisyan motivated this
decision by the fact that creation of a coalition government does not
make sense until the authorities change the principles of their work.

At a joint press conference with a member of the Republican Party
Gagik Minasyan, another representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, MP
Artsvik Minasyan stated that Armenia should do its best to withdraw
from the current format of normalizing ties with Turkey. He also
criticized the country’s budget for 2010 proposed by the government,
which was voted for by majority of the coalition government. Artsvik
Minasyan believes that the government does not have a healthy program
to stabilize the economy of Armenia, and its members "must hand in
their portfolios to those who can lead the country out of crisis."

The danger of the simultaneous step-up of two processes – the
Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
regulation – was discussed by Chairman of the "European Integration"
NGO Karen Bekaryan, who noted that the Armenian society should be
given time to "digest" these processes at a time. Bekaryan predicts
certain progress in the Turkish Meclisi in January-February 2010, and
believes that the Armenian-Turkish Protocols will already be ratified
in March-April. In addition, the expert points out that in case the
process of ratifying the Protocols is delayed, international community
will deliver a counter-blow to Ankara. He also states that so far no
document requiring concessions from the Armenian side has been signed.

"The mediators on conflict regulation do not even speak of an early
signing of the agreement," Bekaryan said, still predicting acceleration
in the negotiation process.

Other possible date for ratification of the Protocols was given on the
following day by Head of the Analytical Center on Globalization and
Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan, who believes that the Protocols
will be ratified earlier, in December-January. He reiterates that
Armenia should be the first to ratify the protocols, thus shifting the
responsibility for the further normalization of relations on Turkey.

According to Grigoryan, in this way Armenia can avoid future pressure
from the superpowers, which will concentrate all their pressure
on Ankara.

Later dates for ratification of the Protocols were forecasted by
political scientist Armen Agayan. "I believe that ratification may take
place on the eve of April 24 (the Day of Remembrance of the Armenian
Genocide). If it does not happen then, ratification of the Protocols
may be delayed for 2-3 years," stated Aghayan at a press conference,
not excluding the possibility that the Protocols may be ratified as
soon as the framework agreement on Karabakh is signed.

Another event that drew attention of the Armenian society in the
middle of the week was the special congress of the Social Democrat
Hunchakian Party of Armenia. Leader of the Party Lyudmila Sargsyan
called the requirement of convening a special congress with the wording
"a vote of no confidence" a violation of the Party Charter.

She also called the convened congress an attempt to split the party
from within. However, the subsequent events showed that the party did
not split up. The congress decided to exclude Lyudmila Sargsyan from
the party, elected a new board and a new chairman, receiving further
recognition from the All Hunchak Board of Directors. The party also
retained its relationship with the Armenian National Congress (ANC).

On the other hand, Leader of the Marxist Party of Armenia, David
Hakobyan announced Tuesday his party’s decision of seceding from the
Armenian National Congress. According to Hakobyan, the reason for the
party’s quitting the ANC is that "The bloc failed to become a leader of
public opposition and a generator of neo-liberal democratic ideology
for the society. This opposition alliance was unable to provide the
Armenian society with a new national vision, a new doctrine of foreign
and domestic policy."

On Thursday, the Republican Party of Armenia in the person of Head of
the parliamentary faction of RPA Mr. Galust Sahakyan made it clear that
the party was not pleased with the actions of its MPs, who earlier
in the week had undersigned the letter issued to the President of
Armenia, requesting amnesty for Sasun Mikaelyan; moreover, the party
condemned their action. Touching upon the Armenian-Turkish relations,
Galust Sahakyan said: "Turkey cannot be our partner either today or
tomorrow. It is impossible until she recognizes the Armenian Genocide."

Two other events that began early in the week and lasted till the
very end of the week were the visit of the parliamentary delegation
of Nagorno-Karabakh to Yerevan and the visit of Turkish journalists
representing the best-known Turkish media to the Armenian capital.

The parliamentary delegation from the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, led
by Speaker of the NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan was received
by President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who declared at the meeting
that the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could
succeed only in case of direct participation of NKR. Next, the NKR
delegation took part in the 7th inter-parliamentary collaboration
sitting RA NA – NKR NA. Two major issues – "The Demographic situation
in Armenia and NKR" and "International organizations’ perception of the
Karabakh conflict" – were included in the agenda. Opening the meeting,
NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan stressed, priority should be given to
developing cooperation in the economic sphere. For his part, Chairman
of the NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan expressed hope that the
parties would engage in constructive negotiations, and would present
a comprehensive package of proposals as the result of the sitting.

On Thursday a press conference of Turkish journalists was held in
Yerevan in which the journalists responded to many topical issues of
concern for the Armenian public. The main issues were ratification
of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, the Karabakh conflict settlement,
and recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey. Journalist of the
Turkish newspaper "Milliyet" Kadri Gursel noted that Azerbaijan’s
pressure on Turkey was much stronger than peer pressure within the
country. At the same time, Gursel noted that Ankara had never before
been so determined about normalizing ties with Armenia. According
to him, this is due to the desire of Turkey to improve relations
with neighboring countries rather than to the pressure exerted on
Turkey from outside. According to another Turkish journalist, "Sabah"
newspaper foreign policy correspondent Bilge Eser, today the Turkish
society is ready for a dialogue with the Armenian society.

At the end of the week Turin University Professor Luca Guiduzzi
introduced the results of his studies on the Nagorno Karabakh, during
a round table discussion hosted Friday by Armenian Center for National
and International Studies (ACNIS). Based on his personal meetings and
conversations, Luca Guiduzzi concluded that the residents of Nagorno
Karabakh continue to believe they are "still at war and ready to
fight for their freedom."

SWINE FLU SCHOOL CLOSURE TOUCHES OFF PANIC IN ARMENIA

Hurriyet
Dec 18 2009
Turkey

Armenia’s decision to close public schools and kindergartens for two
weeks in response to an outbreak of influenza is fueling panic about
a swine flu pandemic. Officials assert the worries are groundless,
and stress that they are "in control" of the situation.

One Yerevan bus passenger wearing a facemask, a protective device used
with increasing frequency throughout the South Caucasus, scoffs at the
government’s assertion. "One has to be an optimist to believe this,"
the woman said. "How do I know what will happen to us tomorrow? With
this mask, at least I am more likely not to catch an infection from
the air. Every day I hear about new deaths from my acquaintances."

Armenia’s Health Ministry confirmed Dec. 15 that two people have died
of swine flu, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported. State Hygiene and
Anti-Epidemiological Inspectorate head Artavazd Vanian identified
the victims – Armenia’s first to reportedly die from swine flu –
as a young man and a pregnant woman from the town of Hrazdan.

The woman died Dec. 13 and the man a couple days earlier. An autopsy
on a third man who died late last month revealed that he was not
suffering from swine flu. Vanian said the authorities have so far
registered 80 cases of swine flu. He said 26 people are currently
hospitalized. The spread of the potentially deadly virus is believed
to be the main reason why on Dec. 7 the government ordered all schools
and kindergartens across the country to be closed for two weeks as
"a preventive measure against all strains of influenza."

On Dec. 14, the ministry reported that 80 people had been hospitalized
with suspected cases of swine flu. Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian
said Dec. 8, however, that the situation was "not a pandemic," but to
prevent the flu outbreak from spreading, the government would shut all
public schools and kindergartens until Dec. 19. Officials have not
explained how they selected the re-opening date, or what additional
steps they expect to take to protect youngsters from influenza.

The government’s decision appears to have reinforced many Yerevan
residents’ worst fears. One mother of two says she will not send her
children to school no matter what the authorities decide to do. "How
could I send my kids to school when I constantly fear [the infection],
when people keep sneezing in the street and many schoolchildren have
fallen ill?" Mariam Nshanian said. "We’d better stay at home and not
go out, and try to prevent the infection through folk remedies."

Tamiflu, a popular influenza medicine, has already vanished from
Yerevan drugstores. It is now available only at outpatient clinics
and hospitals in case of special needs, but at no charge. Kushkian
announced Dec. 8 that Armenia would receive 300,000 H1N1 flu virus
vaccines in late January 2010 from the World Health Organization.

"This quantity is quite enough for us," Kushkian said.

But many Armenians, skeptical of government promises, are relying
instead on garlic necklaces, shots of vodka and spoonfuls of berry
jam to ward off the disease. Garlic prices have doubled in Yerevan
groceries and markets with the onset of the flu season. But even with
higher prices, only imported garlic from Iran can be found in stock.

"Armenian garlic is more expensive because it is stronger. But we
don’t have any available. It’s all sold out," said Yerevan supermarket
assistant Aida Meliksetian, standing at a table with only a scant
selection of garlic cloves.

HEAD OF AZERBAIJANI DIASPORA ORGAIZATION IN SWEDEN: LOCAL ARMENIANS THREATEN AZERBAIJANI DIASPORA
H. Hamidov

Today
/58337.html
Dec 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with Abdullah Amir Hashimi, head of Azerbaijani
diaspora organization "Karabakh" in Stockholm, Sweden.

Day.Az: How many Azerbaijanis live in Sweden today?

Abdullah Amir Hashimi: It is hard to say exact number of Azerbaijanis
living in Sweden. Some time ago it was proposed to launch a project
in this regard, but it was not realized for certain reasons. It
is difficult to find out exact number of Azerbaijan because all
Azerbaijanis who have migrated from Iran are registered as Iranian
citizens and their national identity is not indicated.

Number of migrants from Iran total 100,000 with 35,000-40,000 being
Azerbaijanis. The number of migrants from Azerbaijan is about 1,000.

They have migrated for the last 7 to 8 years.

Are Azerbaijanis in Sweden active?

Azerbaijanis have 37 organizations in Sweden with 19 of them being
member of Federation of Azerbaijanis in Sweden. We do out best to
develop the Diaspora and unite Azerbaijanis in Sweden.

We jointly organize certain events. For example, we combine our efforts
when we mark a historical date of our state and also to convey the
whole truth about them to the Swedish population.

I am confident that we need to develop a unified strategy.

How many Armenians live in Sweden?

About 7,000-8,000. The Federation of Armenians in Sweden includes 14
diaspora organizations. Armenian church is especially active. Majority
of Armenians live in Stockholm, Västerås, Södertälje and Uppsalade,
and, admittedly, they have some weight in the state and municipal
authorities.

Supported by diaspora organizations of other nationalities in Sweden,
they fight against Azerbaijani and Turkish organizations. The Swedish
parliament has two MPs of Armenian origin. Swedish Social Democratic
Party, which is the strongest in the country, at its lastest meeting
on Oct. 29 this year decided to recognize the so-called Armenian
"genocide". Together with the Turkish Diaspora, we will do everything
possible to prevent the Swedish parliament from taking this decision
while the Armenian Diaspora is doing everything possible to get
it passed.

Do you know cases of clash between Azerbaijani and Armenian Diaspora
organizations in Sweden?

Sweden is home to 8 million people 1 million of which are migrants.

Migrants enjoy the same rights as the indigenous people. They create
cultural organizations, develop close ties with their historic
homeland and have an access to education in their native language. It
is strictly banned to carry out any policy of discrimination in any
area and at any level. It may entail a very serious court decision.

So, there are no open clashes between national organizations in Sweden.

This does not mean that we do not fight the Armenian Diaspora.

Moreover, we are regularly threatened by local Armenians ranging
from simple forms of threats by telephone. Many local Armenians –
representatives of the Dashnaksutun Party – try to put pressure on
us in various ways. During our meetings we share with each other
experiences to confront them.

What was reaction of local Azerbaijanis and Armenians to signing of
the Turkey and Armenia protocols?

To put it mildly, our diaspora organizations were surprised at
signing of the protocols. It was widely debated both by Azerbaijanis
and Turkish people in Sweden. We have discussed it with the Turkish
Diaspora. We believe our peoples share many common roots, history
and problems. Opposition to Armenians is one of them. I think we must
always act together in this matter.

That is why we opposed the signing. We appealed to the Turkish Embassy
in Sweden and sent a letter of protest. Turkish Minister Egemen Bagish
and Turkey’s representative to Council of Europe Volkan Bozkirin
visited Sweden on Nov. 13.We met with them and asked how Turkey,
which has always stated that the border with Armenia will not open
until Armenia liberates Azerbaijan’s occupied lands, can establish
ties with Armenia? Bagish’s answer was diplomatic and not different
from those that usually high-rank officials say.

CBA, KFW TO NEGOTIATE ALLOCATION OF EXTRA 27 MILLION EURO TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2009 15:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ CBA chairman Arthur Javadyan will depart to
Frankfurt on December 21 to meet with KfW vice-presidents and program
coordinators. Allocation of extra 27 million euro to Armenia will be
in focus of talks.

DEPUTIES PRO-KURDISH PARTY DECIDED TO STAY IN PARLIAMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2009 19:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Deputies from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party,
which was banned last week, have decided to stay in parliament,
the head of the party said on Friday.

The banned Democratic Society Party (DTP) chairman Ahmet Turk said
they would join another pro-Kurdish party (BDP). Turk said democratic
powers, intellectuals, authors and academic circles had underlined
importance of being represented at the parliament in that process.

"Ocalan had a meeting with his lawyers on Wednesday, and Ocalan told
his lawyers that it was not right to leave the parliament ground and
continue this struggle, Turk also said, referring to PKK jailed leader
Abdullah Ocalan.

Earlier on Friday, BDP chairman Demir Celik called on the members of
the outlawed DTP to continue their political life in their party.

The the Constitutional Court found the Democratic Society Party (DTP)
guilty of links with PKK militants.

BDP was formed in 2008 after the court case against the DTP was opened
and is regarded as a potential replacement in the case of a ban.

HANS JOCHEN SCHMIDT: PROTOCOLS SHOULD BE RATIFIED NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2009 19:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ I hope that Armenian-Turkish Protocols will be
ratified in due time, Hans Jochen Schmidt, Ambassador of Germany to
Armenia told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"As I stated earlier, the Protocols are a window of opportunity. The
Armenian side has repeatedly said that the Protocols should be ratified
no later than February. I share this position,"

Mr. Schmidt said. He did not rule out that the Protocols ratification
may have an impact on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

According to him, the ratification would also enable Turkey to
strengthen its role in the South Caucasus. "So, we can say that Turkey
is also interested in this process. Ankara will show that it has a
balanced policy towards Armenia and Azerbaijan, " the ambassador said.

"I hope that ratification of the Protocols by Turkey would signal of
their readiness to positively affect the Karabakh conflict settlement,
" Hans Jochen Schmidt said.

EUROPEAN ARMENIANS CONVENTION HELD IN COLOGNE

NEWS.am
12:08 / 12/17/2009

Dec. 12, 2009 the convention of European Armenians was held in
Cologne, Germany. The authorized representatives from various European
countries and organization members attended the event. Legislative
and organizational issues, introduced structural reforms and relevant
solutions were discussed and approved at the convention.

New Supreme council was elected by 5 permanent and 2 non-permanent
members chaired by Karo Hakobyan. In addition, local and working
committees were nominated.

Besides, the general meeting canvassed crucial issues and current
challenges that Diaspora, namely European Armenians face.

Serious concerns over the interests of Armenian nation in the view
of foreign policy adopted by RA authorities were voiced.

NATIONAL CINEMA CENTER ELABORATED INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON SHOOTING JOINT FILMS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.12.2009 21:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ National Cinema Center’s principal achievement of
2009 was the elaboration of international agreements with foreign
film production companies, according to Gevorg Gevorgyan, Director
of the National Cinema Center of Armenia. "Those agreements will
enable us to make joint investments, raising the quality of films,
as well as bring together actors from various countries," he told
Wednesday a news conference.

At that, he noted that Armenia, Russia and France concluded agreement
on shooting Maria Sahakyan’s "Alaverdi" film. France has agreed to
invest ~@ 650 thousand, Russia – ~@ 195 thousand and Armenia – ~@
65 thousand.

"We receive application packages, and send them to artistic council
for approval," Gevorgyan said, answering journalists’ question on
funding criteria. In that regard, he said that the 2009 State Budget
envisages AMD 405615.3 allocations to the National Cinema Center.

According to him, the Center funds worthy projects, not elaborated by
Armenian producers. These include children’s broadcasts (such as Hay
Aspet), "Gzhuk" satiric newsreel etc. Many of the films shot under the
funding of National Cinema Center will be screened during national and
international festivals, Gevorgyan said. Among them is "Don’t Look into
the Mirror" (director: Suren Babayan). It is also planned to send the
films to Argentina, Romania, Slovakia, United Arab Emirates and Russia.

The best film was Harutyun Khachatryan’s "Border" which received 10
awards. Hovhannes Galstyan’s "Bonded Parallels" came next.