Author: Frangulian Shushan

AZERBAIJAN REJECTED OSCE MINSK GROUP’S CLAIMS ABOUT ITS ACTIONS FOR GROUNDING THE RIGHT FOR SELF-DEFENSE FROM ARMENIA

Azerbaijan Business Center
Feb 20 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Official representative of Azerbaijan Republic
Ministry of Foreign Affairs today in Baku supported the country’s
right for self-defense prejudiced by yesterday’s statement of OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chairs concerning Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

At a special briefing in Baku Press-Secretary of Azerbaijan Republic
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khazar Ibrahim said that the two documents
grounding the right for self-defense distributed in December within
the UN General Assembly are necessary as neighboring Armenia has
occupied a part of Azerbaijan’s lands.

"Azerbaijan’s position is grounded on the international law norms
and principles and will be in future," Ibrahim underlined.

Yesterday OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs declared inadmissibility of
the Karabakh conflict military solution and intentions "not to let a
peaceful process come to naught". The threesome of mediators noted that
the above-indicated two documents on Nagorno-Karabakh do not have to
impact on the negotiations within the Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh
peaceful and politic settlement. The both presidents agreed with
these documents in Moscow Declaration signed on November 2, 2008.

"Azerbaijan’s position is based on all the international documents,
including the UN Charter as well as Moscow Declaration that the Minsk
Group Co-Chairs appeal to," Ibrahim said.

The documents distributed by Azerbaijan reflect realization of the
rights for self-defense and include all the chronology of Armenia’s
aggression.

"Armenia tried to solve the conflict in a military way and is doing
this today keeping Azerbaijani lands under military occupation. Such
kind of statements made by Co-Chairs should be addressed exactly to
Armenia. Armenia is to be required to try to solve the conflict in a
peaceful way based on the international law and unconditionally call
off its forces from the Azerbaijani lands," Ibrahim said.

He also reminded of the recent statement of Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan: "I think it is my duty to work for the sake of building
the Great Armenia (Armenian mass media think that the Great Armenia
Armenians dream of stretches from Frat River (Turkey) up to Kura River,
from Caspian Sea to Urmia Lake in Iran).

"Armenians keep repeating such statements. For sure, this is not
allowable. Such statements do not lead to the peaceful conflict
settlement. On the other hand, Co-Chairs have to explain Armenia that
if the conflict should be solved in a peaceful way the country has to
take a suitable position and refrain from such kind of statements,"
Khazar Ibrahim stated.

RUSSIAN INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIA’S ECONOMY INCREASED FOURFOLD LAST YEAR
Gita Elibekyan

"Radiolur"
20.02.2009 17:00

Last year the Russian investments in Armenian economy increased
fourfold, Director General of the Armenian Development Agency Robert
Harutyunyan said during the roundtable discussion featuring the
delegation of the Russia’s Sverdlovsk region and Armenian businessmen.

Robert Harutyunyan informed that Russia alone invested $567 million
out of the total of $853 million in Armenian economy.

"The investments were mostly targeted at the spheres of energy, gas,
water supply and transport. Last year Armenia’s commodity turnover
reached 1.6 billion drams, registering a 24% raise as compared to 2007.

Robert Harutyunyan informed the Russian delegation that the Armenian
government has taken steps to soften the possible influence of the
global financial-economic crisis on the country’s economy.

As for the cooperation with Sverdlovsk region, it first of all,
develops in the field of agriculture. However, the sides agreed
that it’s necessary to solve the problem of transportation to ensure
further deepening of ties.

Participants of the roundtable decided to continue the discussions
within the framework of the "Bridge 2009" international economic
forum in Tsakhkadzor on 23 February.

ELECTIONS OF MEMBERS OF YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ALDERMEN TO BE HELD ON MAY 31

Noyan Tapan
Feb 19, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the decision taken
at the February 19 sitting of the Armenian government, elections
of members of the council of aldermen of the city of Yerevan will
be held on May 31, 2009, NT was informed by the press service of
the government.

YEREVAN TO VOTE ITS MAYOR

Panorama.am
14:54 19/02/2009

The elections of elders, as well as the Mayor of Yerevan are scheduled
on 31 May, defined the Government in its regular session.

Vache Terteryan, the Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration
said that it is expected to receive 183 million AMD to organize
the elections.

The council of elders of Yerevan is elected for four years via direct
elections, and the Mayor is elected via indirect elections by the
elders.

NEW BOOK DIGS DEEP INTO HISTORY OF WEST BENGAL’S ARMENIANS
by Nyree Abrahamian

AZG Armenian Daily
19/02/2009

Diaspora

Celebrating the 300th anniversary of the Indian-Armenian community

Since the 300th anniversary celebration of Holy Nazareth Armenian
Church in Kolkata just a few weeks ago, Armenians all over the world
have been reading, learning, and talking about the fascinating history
of Armenians in India.

Armenians arrived in the region now known as West Bengal in the early
1600s, some 60 years before the British became established traders
there. Despite their small numbers, Armenians thrived in colonial
India well into the 19th century, undertaking construction projects
and running trading companies, shipping lines, coal mines, and hotels.

Their rich and relatively unknown history is now coming to light
as a result of the recent festivities. In addition to the 300th
anniversary celebration, Armenian churches in India have undergone
major renovations, and Catholicos Karekin II reconsecrated the church
in Chennai (formerly Madras), which had fallen into disrepair and
was all but abandoned. Hundreds of pilgrims from around the world
came to be a part of the historic event.

Whereas the recent revitalization of Armenian churches in India has
sparked renewed interest in the country’s Armenian community, Deacon
Tigran Baghumian has been poring over the history of Indian-Armenians
for years.

In 2005, Baghumian was appointed by Karekin II as the administrator
of the Armenian Philanthropic Academy of Kolkata and the deacon in
charge of all Armenian churches in India. The deacon spent three years
in India trying to revive the school and the community. In addition
to performing his administrative duties, Baghumian managed to pursue
a project that was near and dear to his heart, a true labor of love:
he researched and wrote a book about Armenian religious and community
leaders who served and were buried in India. His study, published in
Armenian, is titled Armenian Clergymen Buried in West Bengal.

Baghumian spent a great deal of his time in India in the graveyards of
Armenian churches, painstakingly cleaning gravestones and photographing
them, going through church registries, and researching the lives he
uncovered, one by one.

It may strike one as odd that someone would dedicate so much time
(and an entire book) to the study of long-forgotten gravestones and
documents, but Baghumian’s work is truly commendable when we consider
the instrumental role that the Armenian church and its clergy have
played in the creation and burgeoning of India’s Armenian community.

"It was with great pity that I noticed that neither Indian-Armenians
nor the students of the Philanthropic Academy – who walk over these
gravestones every time they go to church – know who are buried in the
Armenian cemeteries," says the young deacon. "Many of them don’t even
know the history of the Indian-Armenian community. So, as a young
member of the Brotherhood of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
I considered it my sacred duty to photograph, catalog, and decode
the records inscribed on the gravestones of our clergymen, while
also trying to find additional information about them and their
service. . . . The aim of my study is to save the names of those
brave pastors from falling into oblivion."

Baghumian did not limit his research to clergymen. He also uncovered
graves of other members of the Indian-Armenian community, resurrecting
their stories, shedding light on the way of life of Indian-Armenians
through the centuries and their role in Indian society. For example,
one of the graves he highlights in the book belongs to an Armenian
woman named Rezabeebeh. Dating back to 1630, it’s the oldest Christian
grave in West Bengal. "We have to understand that the Armenian
historical graves are not only a part of our national history, but
also an inseparable part of Indian history," the deacon says.

Baghumian’s dedication to his work and his passion for rediscovering,
acknowledging, and respecting the Armenian past is apparent in his
writing. He says he is sad to see that of the few Indian-Armenians
who remain in India, most don’t speak Armenian and are disconnected
from their heritage. It is against this backdrop that Baghumian has
carried out his work. As a result, he has succeeded, in his own way,
to bring many of the Indian-Armenian community’s stories back to life.

"When, in the last century, the famous Indian-Armenian historian
Mesrovb Jacob Seth was writing about the Armenians of India, many
people were laughing at him," he says. "However, today it is impossible
to imagine Indian-Armenian history without his vital work." Baghumian
hopes that his research, too, will be valued in the future as a key
unlocking some of the treasures of the Armenian past.

CONTENT OF OIL PRODUCTS IN BORDER RIVERS WITH ARMENIA AND GEORGIA TOPPED ACCESSIBLE NORM 1.4 FOLD

Azerbaijan Business Center
Feb 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The National Environmental Monitoring Department
(Azerbaijan Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources) has conducted
monitoring for the first 10-day period of February 2009 to define
level of pollution in the Kura and Arax trans-border rivers.

The Ministry’s press service informs that the monitoring revealed
exceeding multi-fold the norm of phenols and copper compounds in the
Kura and Arax rivers adjoining to points under trans-border pollutions.

The main water contaminants in Shikhli-2 point of Kura River are
phenols and copper compounds, content of which exceeded maximum
allowable coefficient 2 and 3 fold, in Agstafachay River two-fold,
and Agstafachay water storage 3-fold (phenols) and two-fold (copper
compounds).

Such biogenic matters as ammonium containing in these waters exceeded
the norms as well.

"The cause of that is discharge of water without treatment from
industrial and stock-breeding enterprises on the territory of Armenia
and Georgia.

The monitoring also uncovered that content of phenols and copper
compounds in the Arax River on the border with Armenia exceeded the
norm multifold.

"In Goradiz point content of main pollutants – phenols and copper
compounds was exceeded 2 fold, in Bahramtepe 3-fold, Shahsevan 4-fold,"
it was informed.

Content of oil products in the three points overtopped admissible
norms 1.2-1.4 fold.

Oxygene regime in all points was in sanitary norm and ranged 6.63-9.78
mg/l.

Inga & Anush to represent Armenia at Eurovision 2009

armradio.am
15.02.2009 01:40

Sisters Inga & Anush will represent Armenia at the Eurovision Song
Contest 2009 with the song Jan Jan, performed in English and Armenian.
Inga & Anush defeated their twenty competitors in the Armenian national
final and will defend the Armenian colors in the first semifinal of the
Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

Twenty-one songs were presented in the national final, and the winner
was picked by a combination of SMS voting and an expert jury.

Armenia has taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest three times since
2006 and so far, all Armenian entries have been in the Final of the
Contest. The best placing to date was reached by Sirusho in 2008 – she
came fourth with her song Qélé Qélé.

MIKHAIL POGHOSIAN SAYS SUPERJET-100 FIRST SERIAL PLANES TO BE PROVIDED TO "AEROFLOT" OR "ARMAVIA"

ARMENPRESS
Feb 13, 2009

BANGALOR (INDIA), FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS: Head of the "MiG"
corporation of "Sukhoi" holding Mikhail Poghosian told journalists that
"Sukhoi" intends to provide first serial Superjet-100 planes to Russian
"Aeroflot" airlines or to Armenian "Armavia".

"Now we try to ensure the supply of first planes to "Aeroflot" and
"Armavia". Let’s see who will get the first", – he said.

Poghosian considered getting the international permit a primary issue
of creators of the Superjet.

Sukhoi Superjet-100 is the first project of "Civil planes of
Sukhoi". The first Sukhoi Superjet-100 was presented to the public
on September 26, 2007 in Amur Komsomolski factory.

At present two Sukhoi Superjet-100 planes take part in the program
of flight tests in Russia. As of today the portfolio of stable orders
of Sukhoi Superjet-100 reaches 98 planes.

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT MEETS RUSSIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL

Trend
Feb 13 2009
Azerbaijan

President Serzh Sargsyan today received the Prosecutor General of
the Russian Federation, Yuri Chayka, President’s Press Office reported.

During the meeting Serzh Sargsyan and Yuri Chayka rated high the
current level of cooperation between the law-enforcement bodies of
the two countries and emphasized the importance of the memorandum the
Armenian and Russian Prosecutor Generals signed today, Public Radio
of Armenia reported.

The Armenian President and the Russian Prosecutor General agreed that
the implementation of the primary provisions of the memorandum will
contribute to the improvement of the activity of the Prosecutor’s
Offices, raise of the efficiency of the work in the direction of
solving different crimes, defense of the peoples’ and citizens’
rights and freedoms, prevention of corruption, fighting terrorism, etc.

Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:34:20 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Russia, Turkey Hail Flourishing Neighbourhood Ties

RUSSIA, TURKEY HAIL FLOURISHING NEIGHBOURHOOD TIES

Agence France Presse
Feb 13 2009
France

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday
he welcomed diplomatic moves by historical rival Turkey in the two
countries’ Caucasus and Black Sea neighbourhood.

As Medvedev evoked a role for NATO member Turkey in ex-Soviet nations
that abut both Russia and Turkey, a Russian official said Moscow and
Ankara were close to making lucrative new energy deals.

"Our countries naturally want to strengthen security in the Caucasus
region and to ensure proper security in the Black Sea. In this,
we’re fully in solidarity," Medvedev said during a visit by Turkish
President Abdullah Gul.

Medvedev struck a defiant note on "outside powers" in the region,
clearly referring to US support for Tbilisi in a war last summer
between Georgia and Russia.

"The August crisis showed the importance of coordination by all
countries of the region… and showed we can deal with such problems
ourselves, without the involvement of outside powers," Medvedev said.

Russia remains fiercely protective of its role in the Caucasus nations
that broke from Moscow in 1991 — Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan —
and Medvedev in August described Moscow as the "guarantor" of the
region’s security.

Moscow’s sense of entitlement has historically put Turkey and Russia
at loggerheads.

But as Gul visited on Friday both countries emphasised cooperation,
not least in Russian help with energy supplies to Turkey.

Medvedev said he welcomed an initiative put forward by Turkey during
last year’s Georgia war known as the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform.

The latter is part of a push by Turkey that includes improving
relations with Armenia poisoned by differences over Ottoman-era
massacres of Armenians.

Gul told Medvedev on Friday: "Russia and Turkey are neighbouring
countries, which are developing their relations on the basis of
mutual confidence."

Later at a meeting with former president Vladimir Putin, now the
country’s prime minister, Putin applauded the emergence of Russia as
Turkey’s number one trade partner.

Gul responded: "The author of those relations is you. You have done
a great service in this."

On the sidelines of the talks in Moscow the two countries were working
on new energy deals expected to increase Russia’s role in Turkey,
including a plan for Moscow to build a nuclear power station in Turkey.

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said the two sides were nearing
agreement on Russia winning the nuclear contract.

A consortium led by Russia’s Atomstroixport partnership was the sole
bidder in a tender launched in September to build a 4,800 megawatt
nuclear power plant at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast.

"We expect our proposal will be forwarded by the tendering commission
to the Turkish government in the near future," Shmatko told reporters.

"According to different estimates, such a project could be worth
18-20 billion dollars (14-15.5 billion euros)," he added.

Shmatko also said Russia and Turkey were discussing a long-term
contract worth 60 billion dollars over a period of 15 years to supply
Russian electricity to Turkey.

"The volume of supplies of electricity from Russia to Turkey could
reach 60 billion dollars over 15 years," he said.

In practice Russian-Turkish energy cooperation has fallen short of
Moscow’s expectations.

The Blue Stream gas pipeline that supplies Russian gas to Turkey is
now operating at well below the capacity envisaged by its planners,
as Turkey eyes other energy sources such as Iraq and Central Asia.

Russia is Turkey’s biggest trading partner and bilateral trade was
worth 37.8 billion dollars last year.