Author: Ekmekjian Janet

TURKISH PRESIDENT TO MEET WITH AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN LEADERS IN PRAGUE

Anadolu Agency
May 6 2009
Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) – 06.05.2009 – Turkish President Abdullah Gul will come
to Prague, Czech Republic, on May 7 to attend the EU-East Partnership
Summit.

The next day, President Gul will attend the summit of "Southern
Corridor" which will gather EU leaders in Prague to discuss Nabucco
pipeline project.

He is also set to hold separate meetings with President Ilham Aliyev
of Azerbaijan and President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia. (UK)

OPPOSITIONISTS’ MARCH HELD AFTER ANC PREELECTION MEETING IN NORK-MARASH PROCEEDS WITH SOME OBSTACLES

NOYAN TAPAN
MAY 6, 2009
YEREVAN

First RA President, Armenian National Congress leader Levon
Ter-Petrosian heading the ANC electoral roll in Yerevan Council of
Elders elections met with Nork-Marash community’s voters in the yard
of Saint Mary Mother of God Church. Armenian National Congress (ANC)
Coordinator Levon Zurabian, Hanrapetutiun (Republic) party Chairman
Aram Sargsian, Armenian National Movement party leader Ararat Zurabian,
ANM Board member Aram Manukian, resident of Nork-Marash, YSU lecturer
Felix Arakelian spoke at the meeting.

L. Ter-Petrosian spoke at the end of the meeting. He reminded those
gathered that on the voting day no power representative can press or
intimidate a voter. According to him, the authorities can only press or
intimidate those to carry out promotion. According to L. Ter-Petrosian,
for achieving success the inert part of the electorate should become
active.

"You should realize, understand that today they hold the power and
tomorrow we will. However, you should treat us the same way. It is
not the authorities that are the masters of the state, neither is
the people, but a person, a citizen," L. Ter-Petrosian stated. In
his words, no good power is formed anywhere through elections, but
elections are the only mechanism giving the people a possibility to get
free of a bad power. "If you elect us now and we become worse tomorrow,
I will be glad if you throw us out," the opposition leader said.

The march following the meeting proceeded with some incidents. As
long as L. Ter-Petrosian led the march no conflict took place between
the demonstrants and police forces. However, after the first President
left dozens of special police forces in red berets joined the policemen
and on the way from Nork-Marash to the city center for several times
surrounded the demonstrants and brawls and fights took place in some
places. After a conflict between ANC Spokesperson Vladimir Karapetian
and policemen a mutual consent was achieved, and the demonstrants
finished the march without policemen’s accompaniment.

North County Times, CA
May 3 2009

FORUM: Gun advocate needs to know history
By DANIEL ZUCKERMAN — Temecula | Sunday, May 3, 2009 12:09 AM PDT ??

Loading¦ Increase Font Decrease Font email this story print this
story An estimated 30,000 people die each year due to guns. I am not
going to debate whether guns should be outlawed, though I do think
assault rifles have no place in our society. They are for military use
and nothing more.

What I will debate is the insertion of a total fabrication into a
newspaper read by numerous communities. The Community Forum that ran
April 24 was nothing more than NRA talking points that have been
circulating on the Internet. Dick Morgan seems to have copied it
verbatim in his ill-informed piece on gun control.

I would like to rebut the link he tries to draw between so-called gun
control and the deaths of citizens in other countries. Mr. Morgan,
through his copying of these talking points, would like to lay the
deaths of countless millions on those citizens not having guns to
protect themselves.

It is always instructive to know your history.

— The Ottoman Empire (not Turkey, which wasn’t in existence until
1923) did commit genocide against Armenians. This had to do more with
religion than anything else. Guns were not an issue, as this happened
during WWI.

— The best guess for deaths under Stalin in the Soviet Union was 23
million, with an estimated 20 million-27 million people killed during
WWII. This was not due to gun control, though I am sure that the
repressive Soviet government did not want its civilians armed. The
deaths occured as a result of mass deportations and famines.

— Mr. Morgan’s talking points claim that in 1935, China established
gun control, and approximately 20 million people died. How China
established gun control when it was fighting the Japanese in an
all-out war is beyond me; 19.2 million people died in the war with
Japan.

— He continues that in 1938, Germany established gun control, which
led to the extermination of 13 million Jews and other
peoples. Mr. Morgan, the Jews did have guns, and used them. Read about
the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The Jews had guns, and unfortunately
still died.

I could go on, but there is little use. Each of the points Mr. Morgan
cites as evidence is an example of a mobilized repressive state
killing its own citizens. Every example happened during a world war or
a civil war: World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, civil wars in
Guatemala and Uganda. And somehow Mr. Morgan would have us believe
that all these deaths are because a law-abiding country outlawed guns,
then proceeded to kill its citizenry.

This kind of infomation that is passed off as knowledge is
disingenuous at best, and outright lies at worst. Knowing that this is
a forum for the community to air its concerns, what concerns me is
that a newspaper such as the Californian would print anything that was
as false as this.

Dan Zuckerman lives in Temecula.

PanARMENIAN.Net

MasterCard Inc net profit totaled $367 million in 2009 first quarter
02.05.2009 13:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ MasterCard Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly
earnings on Friday but said revenue growth this year will fall short
of its targets, sending its shares down 7 percent in afternoon
trading.

The world’s second-largest credit card network said lower expenses and
increased fees helped first-quarter results.

Net income fell 18 percent to $367 million, or $2.80 per share, from
$447 million, or $3.37 per share, a year earlier. But the results beat
Wall Street expectations.

Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of $2.62 per share, according
to Reuters Estimates.

MasterCard shares climbed to a seven-month high on Thursday, a day
after Visa released its earnings. MasterCard is partially insulated
from the credit crisis because it processes transactions rather than
lends funds. But the company has seen a slowdown in the growth of
revenue and transaction volumes as battered consumers used their
credit cards less.

MasterCard’s first-quarter U.S. credit volume fell 17.2 percent,
compared to an 11.4 percent decline last quarter, while U.S. debit
volume grew 5.6 percent, in line with the levels of the previous
quarter.

Credit and charge programs accounted for 67 percent of the gross
dollar volume of MasterCard, while the remaining 33 percent was
related to debit cards.

In addition, mounting pressure from Washington for credit card
companies to slash fees and interest rates could takes its toll on
card networks, as it could slow growth in an industry that developed
rapidly before the financial crisis. MasterCard shares were down 7.8
percent at $169.15 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock
Exchange. The shares are up 25 percent this year, Reuters reported.

DOCTOR OF LAW: ARMENIANS ATTEMPT TO TAKE "HISTORICAL REVENGE" FROM TURKS AND AZERBAIJANIS

Today.Az
litics/51856.html
April 29 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenians attempt to take "historical revenge" from Turks and
Azerbaijanis, said Kamil Salimov, doctor of law and head of
criminalistics chair of the Baku State University.

According to him, we should think about it. He said the thing is that
we do not have serious scientific studies to expose the falsifications
about "Armenian genocide.

"We have adopted the law on Azerbaijani genocide in a response to
similar steps of Armenians. In order to oppose and really present
the Azerbaijani genocide, our scientists must study the issue of
the "Armenian genocide" and this falsification. And who among our
scientists is studying this problem?", asks Salimov.

"Unfortunately, our people do not realize the importance of this. When
we start studying the issue of "Armenian genocide" and referring to
Armenian authors, we are accused of betrayal. How ridiculous! How
can we expose the Armenian "genocide" without studying this issue?".

According to him, the problem also lies in the approach of
international organizations.

"Today, the problem of "genocide", put foward by Armenian nationalists,
is aimed at the development of the conflict situation in the relations
between the peoples. The tragic history of the past should not be used
as a basis of policy of today’s governments. But the interesting fact
is that today this history is taken as a basis by the politicians of
the leading states.

And the fact that today Armenians set the issue of recognition of
1915 "genocide" before Obama, is not merely of historical trend,
it also has definite political goals. These goals are to take
the "historical revenge" from Turks and Azerbaijanis and give a
psychological justification for the occupation of lands in Nagorno
Karabakh. This is their definite goal.

I would like to note once again that Azerbaijani and Turkish
scientists work in this direction too weakly. Can you present me
several basic works on this topic by Azerbaijani scientists to expose
the falsifications of the "Armenian genocide" on the international
level. Personally I have never seen such works. There are just several
articles on this issue. And this is against the fact that Armenians
raise this issue in April of this year", noted Salimov.

SPLENDOR AND MISERY OF POLITICAL RESIGNATIONS
ANUSH SEDRAKYAN

LRAGIR.AM
14:43:46 – 28/04/2009

Nevertheless we go forward. There have not been political resignations
yet in Armenia, but only nomenclature moves, trade of posts, long
waited appointments and dismissals determined by some reasons. And,
perhaps, ideological political resignations have been recorded only
when Levon Ter-Petrosyan was leaving. But, at that time, it seemed
to be some kind of mass disaster.

The Turkish "roadmap" in the Armenian field is not perceived
unequivocally. No one knows anything. The HAK complaints of the
secrecy, the BHK (Bargavach Hayastan) states that it is good to
be true, in other words, if the border is open it will be good,
but it will not be open. And the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is completely
sure that the border will be open at the cost of the powdering the
"Armenian question". In fact, it is impossible to find the truth on
the edge of secrecy, reality and negativity, and even this indefinite
truth scares some of our political forces. Ideological glimpses are
noticeable in this political fear.

1. The Armenian question is the basis of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, its
motivation and its flag. No populist slogan of the Dashnaktsutyun is
sincere, though it is more expedient staying faithful to the historical
memory, because it is almost undisputable.

2. The national and political intolerance are reactionary
ideologies. The European liberalism started from intolerance, as the
developed economy starts from natural one.

3. Any modern nation is submitted a clear formula "ethnics +
modernism", and in case one of the components of this formula lacks,
neither the state nor the society is succeeded.

The resignation of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun protected our ethnic
image. We are proud of being Armenians, of being persecuted and of
being able to analyze the political diplomacy only from the point of
view of historical ethics. Everything is clear with the ethnics.

Where is the modernism, the component which ensures the public norms,
political long-sighting, justice, equality and tolerance? Modernism
supposes that the government which is not governing effectively, or
the political force which disappoints its voters or the judge which
issues a wrong verdict to resign.

There is no word about modernism, but if the resignation on the ethnic
component took place, on one beautiful day, the political one will
happen too.

Let us be optimistic, though the optimism is not a quality of the
Armenians, but it is the obligatory and inseparable part of the
modern society.

ARMENIA IS NO LONGER CONSIDERED RUSSIAN FORE POST IN CAUCASUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.04.2009 15:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In 2008 Russia no longer considered Armenia as
its fore post in Caucasus, Moscow State Institute of International
Relations representative, Great Game periodical Chief Editor Ivan
Safranchuk told a news conference in Yerevan.

According to Russian expert, Moscow will not participate in a deal
on NKR conflict settlement. Safranchuk noted that Russia is carefully
following NKR conflict settlement process and will put its best efforts
to prevent any other country’s intervention in NKR conflict settlement,
which is an issue to be solved solely by Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"Russia has a positive attitude towards Armenia’s complementary
policy. It’s clear that mutual obligations between Armenia and Russia
became less in number, and reconfiguration of balance has been observed
lately, " Safranchuk stressed.

CRISIS STOPPED FLOW OUT OF ARMENIA

Panorama.am
17:57 29/04/2009

Today few people leave the country to work abroad increasing the rate
of migration to Armenia, Irina Davtyan, the head of migration programs
of the Migration Agency of Ministry of Territorial Administration
said during the committee session of "Strengthening the management
over the migration flow in Armenia".

"A great part of Armenians leave for Russian Federation to find
work. Because of the crisis that flow out of country has been partially
stopped," I. Davtyan said.

Note that the project is supported by the European Commission and
"People in Need" Czech organization in Armenia.

RA DEFENSE MINISTRY ASSESSES HIGHLY ARMENIA-NATO COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2009 20:16 GMT+04:00

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Shahsuvaryan met Tuesday with NATO
Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero to discuss bilateral
relations, IPAP and development of long-term projects.

Minister Ohanyan assessed highly NATO’s expert assistance in army
reform process.

For his part, Mr. Bisogniero said that in collaboration with Armenia,
the Alliance prioritizes military interaction and formation of a
peacekeeping brigade.

ARMENIA FM, US SECRETARY OF STATE DISCUSS BILATERAL, REGIONAL ISSUES

armradio.am
28.04.2009 10:49

At the initiative of the American side the Foreign Minister of Armenia,
Edward Nalbandian, had a phone conversation with US Secretary of
State Hilary Clinton.

During the conversation the interlocutors discussed issues relating
to the development of the Armenian-American cooperation.

Reference was made to the process of normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations and the negotiations on the Karabakh
conflict settlement.

State Secretary Clinton welcomed the joint statement of the Foreign
Ministries of Armenia, Turkey and Switzerland, assessing it as a
historic step on the way of establishment of relations between the
two countries.

Hilary Clinton expressed her support for the negotiation process
underway within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, voicing hope
that progress would be achieved in the process.