CBA PRESIDENT TO ATTEND INTERSTATEBANK BOARD MEETING IN MOSCOW
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
20.11.2009 11:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ RA Central Bank chairman Arthur Javadyan has
departed for Moscow to attend a regular meeting of InterstateBank
Board, the CBA press office reported.
The bank’s activities during the past 9 months will be in focus.
AZERI OFFICIAL SAYS KARABAKH SETTLEMENT MEETS EUROPE’S INTERESTS
news.az
Nov 20 2009
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan urges the European Union to play a more active role in the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict, Elnur Aslanov, chief of political
analysis and information department at Azerbaijan’s presidential
administration, has said.
"We want the EU to play a more active role in the resolution of
the Karabakh conflict", Aslanov told an international conference on
security in the South Caucasus that opened in Baku Friday.
He said the resolution of the Karabakh problem meets Europe’s interests
as transformation of Azeri occupied lands into an uncontrolled "grey
zone is not only a regional but also a common European threat".
"The withdrawal of troops from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan is the
only way out for Armenia from isolation. Azerbaijan will raise pressure
unless Armenia withdraws its troops from the occupied lands", he said.
The unsettled conflicts and application of double standards in their
settlement is a main threat to security in the South Caucasus. Despite
this, he said Azerbaijan continues rapid democratic and economic
development, the country contributes to the energy security of Europe
which was proven by the recent Bulgarian-Azerbaijani cooperation on
gas issue.
"Azerbaijan is among the rear countries that hold independent policy
in complex geopolitical conditions", Aslanov said.
In this connection, he stressed Azerbaijan’s intensive cooperation with
Russia in particular on gas and cooperation with the United States.
Then he said Azerbaijan builds its external policy based on the
development of regional cooperation and partner relations with all
the interested countries.
Speaking of Azerbaijan’s progress, Askanov said the country is
developing steadily and if in 2003 poverty rate made 49%, in 2008 it
fell down to 13%.
Then he touched upon the issue of democratic processes in the region
and said "democracy cannot be exported, it should be studied and its
application should be based on historical and national and cultural
needs of the countries".
OPENING TURKEY-ARMENIA BORDER "TO PROMOTE KARABAKH CONFLICT"
news.az
Nov 20 2009
Azerbaijan
Oksana Antonenko News.Az interviews Oksana Antonenko, senior fellow
and programme director for Russia and Eurasia at the International
Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
What is NATO’s role in the South Caucasus?
I think NATO certainly plays a definite role in this region but as
one of the players. I think NATO has never been the main guarantor
of security in this region. At the same time, NATO fulfills an
important role in encouraging reform in the security sector, helping
regional countries to effectively develop their military policy and
establishing civilian control over the armed structures, supporting
the interaction of different force structures in this region and
establishing real modern armed forces and a society that understands
the military policy of the state. But I cannot imagine that NATO can
guarantee either the resolution of conflicts or react to possible
security threats from the outside, especially a possible threat from
Russia’s side or the threat of escalation of regional conflicts. On
the other hand, certainly, we are now at a crossroads when the whole
system of European and Euro-Atlantic security is changing.
A very dangerous security vacuum formed for the region after last
year’s war in August. Not only has the process of NATO expansion
stopped, other organizations are also not actively involved here. The
OSCE and UN are also transforming after these missions were closed
both in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The EU, certainly, plays a more
important role today, but it has not yet become a player in regional
security that has a really serious long-term strategy in this region.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is also in crisis; the
resolutions on creating a rapid reaction collective force have seen
no progress and, on the whole, Russia did not show itself to be an
effective military player during the August war. What we see now in
terms of military reforms in Russia will certainly last for many
years. Therefore, the situation here is too unstable and that are
not really any players that could settle regional problems effectively.
Therefore, I think some initiatives from the region are needed for
the regional countries to define the regional architecture of their
security. This active approach from the region seems more relevant
to me.
Do you think Georgia’s and Azerbaijan’s NATO membership is realistic?
I think it is completely unrealistic. I do not see any provisions
under which it could be realistic, except if NATO transforms into a
framework security structure of global concern in the coming decade.
But I do not see any prospects of membership of NATO as a serious
military alliance, mostly based on Article 5 (which says that an
attack on any NATO member is considered an attack on all).
Can NATO accept the South Caucasus as an exception to settle the
conflicts inside the organization? For example, the Council of
Europe once accepted Azerbaijan and Armenia with the same provision
of settling the Karabakh problem as soon as possible?
No, NATO will never take this step. For example, it still has an
unsettled conflict between Turkey and Greece which, certainly, differs
from the one between Azerbaijan and Armenia and has a longer history.
Therefore, I think NATO will never import new conflicts under any
conditions, especially conflicts that may lead to Russia’s armed
interference in certain conditions. NATO will not risk its fundamental
security to accept countries that do not comply with the membership
criteria. One of these criteria is the mandatory settlement of borders
and conflict issues in the areas of the countries accepted to the
alliance. I do not think we will be able to settle these conflicts
in the near future.
How do you see the prospects of the Karabakh conflict settlement?
I see it as a long-lasting steady process to be based on a series of
agreements that will gradually settle the process and start building
a more serious dialogue primarily between the conflict parties and the
important players in this region. I understand the just concerns of the
Azerbaijani side due to the normalization of relations between Armenia
and Turkey. But I think Azerbaijan’s concerns are not exaggerated
here, for according to history 15 years of closed borders were not
effective. It means we should try a different option under which
attention will be focused on the settlement of regional conflicts
by way of a general settlement once borders are opened. And I think
Turkey’s role in this process is very important. Turkey can play a
greater role than it has before and the opening of the border with
Armenia will raise Turkey’s role in this process which will have a
positive impact on the transformation of the atmosphere around the
resolution of this conflict.
Don’t you think that Armenia will not need to think of the accelerated
settlement of the conflict after opening the border with Turkey?
Certainly not. The opening of borders with Turkey will not settle the
fundamental problem for Armenia – the problem of security. It means
that there will also be a situation when this conflict may enter a
military phase again. We understand this and Armenia understands that
the situation is not staying idle while the situation in Azerbaijan is
changing, its economy is developing along with the military potential
and there will never be fundamental security in Armenia until the
the conflict is resolved. Without fundamental security, there will
be neither investments nor economic development. Therefore, I think
the border opening does not remove the conflict settlement from the
agenda. On the contrary, I think the border opening will put Armenia in
a situation when it has to contact the world. It will not be isolated
anymore and it will be unable to shout to the world "we are isolated,
we are in a blockade, therefore, we will not do anything, because
we are threatened". It will show itself to be a responsible player
in the region that should be more actively involved in the conflict
settlement. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs mention progress in the
negotiation process. Therefore, I do not think there are any real
examples of negative trends in negotiations.
But Azerbaijan’s president has said that as a result of normalizing
Turkish-Armenian relations, the Armenian side has stiffened its stance
in the negotiations and chosen to drag out the talks. Does this show
that Armenia is more reluctant to make concessions?
I think the policy of protracting negotiations is a policy that
has existed for many years beginning with Key West and Rambouillet
(talks in 2001 and 2006 respectively) and it has always been like
that. Both parties have lingered over negotiations as it is clear
that any conflict settlement proposes a compromise solution. I heard
the co-chairs say no serious changes in the strategy are observed.
Certainly, it is for your president to judge, as he is an indirect
participant in the private talks. But we, as experts who hear what
is said in the public arena, have never heard this.
Don’t you think that the world community represented by the three
co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group is not interested in the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict? When they needed normalization
of the Turkish-Armenian relations, they could put pressure on Turkey
and Armenia for them to sign the well-known protocols while in case
with Karabakh the mediators say the parties are responsible for the
settlement of the conflict?
I do not think so. They are certainly interested. But they are not
interested in the next failure in the second or third Key-West. I
think pressure is still felt. We have recently seen the Meindorff
process and the fact that the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders had
numerous meetings this year, proves that the process is proceeding,
there is a dynamics and the issue is on the agenda. Naturally,
everyone realized after the August war that it is impossible to have
an approach of "postponing this conflict for an indefinite period and
let them deal with this problem independently". Everyone has realized
that at the time when the situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia
entered the stage when it is impossible to imagine how to start
settling these conflicts, we should not allow the Karabakh problem
following this example. This is because there is a wider political
will, more attention and interest to the settlement of the Karabakh
problem. I think the Turkish-Armenian process has raised the issue of
the Karabakh conflict on the agenda of the EU, US and Russia and this
is very important for had it not been for the Turkish-Armenian process,
US attention would have been on Afghanistan or somewhere else. This is
also positive that Turkey is more actively involved in this process
and it tries to do something. I think there will be the results for
it became clear after the August war that the conflict settlement is
not the issue of the coming 20-30 years. It should become an issue of
the coming years. Certainly, it is difficult to imagine the immediate
settlement of the conflict, but at least it will remain on the agenda
and major superpowers will undoubtedly continue efforts.
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DRAWS ATTENTION OF ODIHR OSCE DIRECTOR AT ANTI-ARMENIAN PROPAGANDA BY AZERBAIJAN
ArmInfo
2009-11-19 16:12:00
ArmInfo. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan received today
the head of the ODIHR OSCE Yanesh Lenarcic.
As press-service of Armenian Foreign Ministry reported, over the
meeting the touched on the problems regarding cooperation of Armenia
and ODIHR OSCE. Edward Nalbandyan highly appreciated the role of the
ODIHR in the matter of human rights protection and promotion of the
democratic principles and said that Yerevan considers cooperation
with the ODIHR office important. For his part, Mr Lenarcic said he
was pleased with effective cooperation with the Armenian authorities
and thanked Nalbandyan for visiting the ODIHR office in Warsaw.
They mentioned the ODIHR OSCE supporting in the matter of the
electoral processes reforming as well as organization of the monitoring
missions. They also discussed the process of democratizing in Armenia.
Armenian foreign minister drew attention of ODIHR OSCE director at
the anti-Armenian propaganda by Azerbaijan, saying it is the obvious
violation of the ODIHR standards.
CONGRESSMAN FRANK PALLONE HELPS GIVE N.J. DEMOCRATS A VOICE
The Star-Ledger – NJ.com
Nov 19 2009
WASHINGTON — Frank Pallone lazily stretches back on the leather chair
in his office, his long legs ranging forward toward his guest, an Army
officer in the new crisp dress blues that emulate Civil War uniforms.
It has been a long day for the congressman and weariness exaggerates
his usual laid-back look.
It made Pallone’s next words surprising:
"You know, I don’t even want to talk to you because you make me
so angry."
The guest, Lt. Col. Stephen Christian, the garrison commander at Fort
Monmouth, blushes and, for a moment, says nothing. Then he goes on with
his report as if Pallone had complimented him on his gold epaulets.
There is a long history to this moment. Over the years Pallone and
other New Jersey representatives have tried- unsuccessfully- to block
Fort Monmouth’s closing by the Pentagon.
Still, the incident illustrates the complexity of the congressman
from the state’s sixth congressional district. He is arguably the
most powerful Democrat in New Jersey’s House delegation, a consequence
not just of seniority but also his central role in developing the new
health care reform bill and other legislation and also his leadership
position with the Democratic majority — he’s in charge of the party’s
message, the man who lines up all those floor speeches seen by C-SPAN
viewers, if no one else.
Pallone also is among the hardest working — running the health
subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce panel that, in this
session alone, produced new food safety standards, extended health
care for children, and developed procedures for approval of new
medicines based on biological, rather than chemical, sources.
He is founder and member of scores of disparate Congressional caucuses,
ranging from American Indians to Asian Indians and Armenians; a
frequent fund-raiser for other Democratic representatives, even headed
Gov. Jon Corzine’s unsuccessful reelection efforts in New Jersey.
"He has built up a lot of points with the party," says Jeff Carroll,
his staff chief.
Yet twice Pallone gave up the chance to achieve what he admits has
been his goal almost since he was elected class president at the
Broadway Elementary School in Long Branch — a seat in the U.S. Senate.
The last time was 2002 when party leaders offered him the chance to
replace former Sen. Bob Torricelli who dropped out of the campaign.
"It just wasn’t right," he says. "I didn’t have the money, and I would
have come in just weeks before the election. There wasn’t enough time."
So the candidacy and the election went to the retired Frank Lautenberg
who, last year, with Pallone often at his side campaigning for him,
won re-election.
"I can imagine remaining here in the House, developing health care
legislation, serving the people in my district," he says with an almost
languid calmness that suggests acceptance, maybe even resignation.
Maybe. But, just as his anger poked through at Col. Christian, his
energy and ambition are frequently on display on Capitol Hill. He is
the last to leave the floor after a vote because he is busy approaching
others, persuading them to give floor speeches.
Pallone is the self-described "message man," carrying stacks of paper,
trailed by an aide, talking other Democrats into coming back to the
well of the House to speak in favor of health care reform or the
energy bill, or the stimulus package. He spends a lot of time in a
virtually empty chamber himself, often late into the night, speaking
to the C-SPAN camera, getting into the record, moving the message.
"It’s something we learned from Newt Gingrich and the Republicans
when they took over in 1994," says Pallone. "They knew how to stay
on message."
So 15 years ago he and Dick Durbin from Illinois and Charles Schumer
from New York — both representatives who went on to the Senate —
put together the message committee. Pallone arranges for early morning
meetings for Democratic House members each Thursday, bringing in
outside experts to reinforce the party’s policy.
Early mornings also are time for fund-raising breakfasts for other
members, less secure in their seats than is Pallone. Before 8 a.m. one
morning, he shows up at The Monocle, a Capitol Hill restaurant, where
a dozen people–many working in health care–pay up to $1,000 each
for omelet’s and the chance to hear him discuss health reform. The
money doesn’t go to Pallone but to the campaign of Anne Kirkpatrick,
an Arizona Democrat who has a tough race next year.
"The system is not sustainable," Pallone says, and outlines his views.
Within two hours, Pallone is running a committee "mark-up" of his
bill to improve food safety, the first major overhaul of the Food
and Drug Administration food monitoring activities in decades.
"The bill requires companies to put in place preventive controls," he
tells the session, a meeting that adopts the bill. He gets bipartisan
support.
At the end of the same day, he’s back on the speaking circuit,
showing up for the convention of the New Jersey Food Council —
representing food retailers and their suppliers — where he pushes
again for health care reform and talks about food safety.
The speech goes well — he is publicly and lavishly praised both by
the grocery executives and also by an FDA administrator attending
the session, but his aides hurry him out the door of the Grand Hyatt
Regency ballroom before the conventioneers begin to discuss a bill,
backed by Pallone, to make it easier for workers to form unions. The
aides don’t want a public scene — the congressman is well handled
by his staff.
But he doesn’t mind an argument and, meeting with liquor distributors,
he disappoints them by saying he will back the so-called Employee
Free Choice Act.
"I will help the economy," he says.
Pallone knows how to fight, and he shows that at yet another health
subcommittee hearing over the issue of "biologics" — medicines derived
from living organisms rather than chemical compounds. The issue is how
long the original developers of the expensive drugs can enjoy market
exclusivity before the equivalent of a generic market is allowed.
The issue is tricky because, with chemical compounds, generics are
exact copies of the original formula — but that’s not possible with
biologics. The aftermarket can only produce "similars," medicines
with biologically similar DNA.
Pallone backs a shorter period of exclusivity than that demanded
by big pharmaceutical firms. At the hearing, he notes most of those
arguing for market control "all have a financial interest." In the
end, he will compromise — "splitting the baby," he calls it. Not so
long as the drug companies wanted it, not as short as he did.
"That’s what it’s about here," he says.
The grandchild of Italian immigrants pursued an educational background
suggesting that, even at a young age, he was preparing for a wide
stage. A degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, a graduate
degree in international studies from Tuft’s Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy and a law degree from Rutgers-Camden. He was elected
to the Long Branch school board and city council, the state Senate,
and, in 1988, to the House. He is the most senior Democrat in the
New Jersey delegation.
"Once I was elected back in elementary school, I wanted to expand
the scope of my interests–to be able to do more for more people,"
says Frank Pallone."
ARMENIAN KILLED IN MOSUL
NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
MOSUL
MOSUL, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Non-identified
persons killed Armenian Rami Khachik on November 13 in the city of
Mosul, North Iraq. According to the Hayrenik weekly, the criminals
opened fire at him from a black car proceeding at a high speed when
the 16-year-old boy was entering his house.
According to the local priest, this crime is aimed against Christians
and has a purpose of banishing them from that territory.
According to the newspaper, nearly 40 Christians were killed in the
city last year, thousands of Christians left Mosul.
MELIKSETIANS’ FAMILY IN BREST TRANSFERS 1 MILLION ROUBLES TO ACCOUNT OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
BREST
BREST, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Rafael Meliksetian,
his wife Anahit, children Narine and Samson residing in Brest
transferred 1 million roubles to the account of the Armenian Apostolic
Church religious community.
According to diaspora.by, the family of Meliksetians calls their
compatriots for taking part in the fund-raising for the church
construction. "We need your assistance and support. We are the children
of the same nation. Let’s hold each other’s hands in solidarity and
build our church in the Belarusian fertile land. Each brick coming
from soul is important for us in our little part of Armenia."
TBILISI DISCUSSES BORDER OPENING
By Temuri Kiguradze
The Messenger
Nov 16 2009
Georgia
The Georgian Government discussed the planned opening of the state
border with Russia at a session of the Georgian National Security
Council (NSC) on November 13. The participants of this meeting,
chaired by President Mikheil Saakashvili, spoke about progress in
negotiations over the reopening of the Zemo Larsi border checkpoint.
"We have had talks in Yerevan – Georgian-Armenian talks with
the participation of Russians – on the reopening of this point,"
Saakashvili said at the meeting. "Some fear this possible reopening;
we will brief you about the information available to us and you can
then draw your own conclusions," he said.
Answering the accusations of opposition parties that there were
doubtful benefits for Georgia in opening this checkpoint and the
country’s security might be compromised Secretary of the National
Security Council Eka Tkeshelashvili, stated that the process "will
only be positive for us and our neighbour [Armenia] and in no way
pose a security threat to our country."
Armenia has a special interest in the reopening of the Zemo Larsi point
as it is the only way it can connect with the Russian Federation
by land, as Armenia can’t gain access to Russian goods through
its other neighbour Azerbaijan because of the tensions between two
countries. "We will try to protect the interests both of Georgia and
Armenia," stated Tkeshelashvili. She added that the "leading role" in
negotiations with the Russian side trough Armenian mediators will be
taken by the Georgian Foreign Ministry. "This step [the border opening]
will be beneficial both from the economic and social points of view,"
the NSC Secretary added.
In his opening remarks at the Council session President Saakashvili
welcomed opposition politicians’ participation in the meeting, saying
it was an example of cooperation between the authorities and the
opposition, including those "who were throwing carrots" at him. This
comment was a reference to the opposition rallies conducted at the
Presidential Residence, when some protesters threw vegetables into
it calling him a "coward rabbit." "Now I think we are moving from
carrot politics to serious politics," Saakashvili told the session,
which was also attended by MP Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, whose Freedom
Party was among the group of opposition parties behind the street
protest rallies.
Land connection between Georgia and Russia ceased with the closure of
the Zemo Larsi border crossing point by Russia in July 2006. There
are two other checkpoints, in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
but these are considered by Georgia to be operating illegally and
entry into Abkhazia and South Ossetia through those points is banned
by Georgian law as those Georgian breakaway regions are considered
occupied by Russian troops.
The official reason for the closure of the Zemo Larsi checkpoint
was the need to undertake repair work. On September 4 2009 this was
completed. The United States allocated Georgia USD 2.4 million to add
more traffic lanes on its side of the checkpoint, install modern search
equipment and construct offices and barracks for the Georgian Patrol
Police and Revenue Service, as well as installing radiation equipment
to detect radioactive materials. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
oversaw the reconstruction of the Georgian side of the checkpoint.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES DISCUSSED SOCIAL INTEGRATION ISSUES WITH VIVACELL-MTC REPRESENTATIVES
Turkish Journalist Called Karabakh Armenian Land
16.11.2009 19:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Within the frameworks "International Week of
Education" and International Month of Disabled People, VivaCell-MTC
representatives have today received 50 university students with special
needs. Meeting aims to promote employment opportunities, enabling
students to apply their knowledge in their future work with company.
Considering their personal experience, VivaCell-MTS employees
encouraged guests to never give way to despair, and to continue
knocking on employers’ doors, because they strongly believe everything
becomes possible in case of having desire, faith and self-confidence.
"Yes, people with disabilities need certain support, but not –
compassion. Today, they are proud to work in a leading company like
this and earn money to meet their and their families’ needs. This
helps them become independent, enjoy respect and be self-confident.
They need to be given a chance to live a full life, without being
isolated from the society," VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph
Yirikian said
COURT OF CESSATION OF ARMENIA SUPPORTS TEGHUT
ArmInfo
2009-11-16 11:19:00
ArmInfo. The Court of Cessation of Armenia recalled the judgment of
the Administrative Court on the case of Teghut, a lawyer Hayk Alumyan
told ArmInfo. To recall, the public organizations Ecodar, Vanadzor
Helsinki office and Transparency International anti-corruption Center
filed a claim to the Administrative Court against the government of
Armenia in summer, 2009. The claim was conditioned b the fact that
the country’s legislation, as well as international conventions and
articles of Armenia’s Constitution were violated during approval of the
project of development of Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit. However,
the Administrative Court of Armenia has twice denied the defenders of
Teghut: in the claim on cessation of implementation of the project
of exploitation of Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit, as well as in
appeal of this claim.
According to the lawyer, the decision was made by the Court of
Cessation on October 30, however, the text of the decision was
received only on November 14. ‘Now, the Administrative Court has to
initiate proceedings in the case of Teghut and consider it on merits’,
Alumyan said. Speaking of the specific terms, the lawyer said there
is just a formulation "reasonable terms" in the legislation . ‘So,
it will depend on the state of mind of a specific person’, he said.