Author: Harutyunian Christine

THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY, BETHLEHEM

Cross Rhythms
e/The_Church_Of_The_Nativity_Bethlehem/37927/p1/
D ec 24 2009
UK

Paul Calvert looks at it’s history and current use

The Nativity ChurchBethlehem is the town the Prophets talked about;
it’s the place where Jesus the Messiah was born. Many believe Jesus’
birth place was on the site of the Church of the Nativity. With
Christmas approaching Paul Calvert decided to find out more of the
history of this famous church, so caught up with Jerius Contolini,
a local tour guide.

Jerius: Bethlehem is a very important town; I’m happy to be living
in Bethlehem as one of the Christian families. It’s very important
to us because it’s the most important place in the Holy Land because
it’s the place where Jesus was born. To me its a special place, it
carries a very special meaning and most of the people from all over
the world every day they come here and we are happy here and most of
the people are friendly here.

Paul: Is there a special feeling Christmas time when tourists come
from around the world? What’s it like at Christmas time here?

Jerius: When people come here at Christmas we feel like we share
together the birth of Jesus. It’s a very nice occasion. You can see
people from all over the world and they come to the Church of the
Nativity. They come looking for forgiveness, they ask for peace for
all over the world because in the whole world we miss peace.

Nativity MangerThis for me as a Christian is the exact place where
Jesus was born. The church was built in 326 ad by Helena the mother of
Constantine. She built it because she found the place where Jesus was
born and because of that she decided to build a church over the holy
place. After that there was a Samaritan revolt in 529ad, unfortunately
the church was burned with fire and after that it was rebuilt again
between 531 and 539 ad by Justinian; Justinian was the grandson of
Helena. The church is around 1500 years old; it’s the most important
place because it’s where the Lord Jesus Christ was born and at the same
time the oldest church in the Holy Land. Now in the year 614 ad there
was a Persian invasion. The Persians at that time destroyed all the
churches in the Holy Land; they burned monastery and the only church
that was not destroyed was Nativity Church, for that reason we tell
people that this is the oldest church in the Holy Land. The reason
why this church was not destroyed is because there was a piece of
mosaic at the front of the church; on the mosaic was a picture of
the three wise men – the Kings that came from the East. So one of
them was from Persia, one from India and one from Arabia. There were
Persian people and when they saw the Persian guy and they saw he was
in the traditional clothes of the Persians, then this was something
holy for them and they said don’t touch it just leave it. So that
piece of Mosaic saved the church from destruction.

Today the church has three churches in one. The main part belongs
to the Greek Orthodox, another belongs to the Armenian and then we
have the Roman Catholic Church and this is the only church where we
celebrate Christmas three times because of a different calendar. The
24th of December we have Christmas for the Catholics, the 7th of
January for the Greek Orthodox and 18th of January for the Armenian.

We have many things inside the church; you can see the original floors,
its mosaic made by Queen Helena in 326 ad and then you find the pillars
inside the church. The pillars are red limestone from Bethlehem, six
metres and one piece of stone. Then you will find lots of mosaics
on the wall. These mosaics were made by the Crusaders in the 12th
Century when they came to the Holy Land.

Now the most important thing inside the church is the birth place
which is the Holy Cave, the Grotto. That is where you will see a star;
the star marks the exact place where Jesus was born. The star has
14 points on it. These represent the 14 generations of Jesus Christ
from Abraham to David, then from David to the Babylonian captivity
and after that from the Babylonian captivity to Jesus Christ.

Stone PillarsAnother thing about the 14 points, we believe that
they represent the 14 stations of the cross; Jesus carrying the
cross in the Old City of Jerusalem, we call it the Via Delarosa,
it has writing written on it which translated says "here Jesus was
born to the Virgin Mary". Opposite the star we can see the manger;
the Holy Manger is where the Virgin Mary laid the baby Jesus. After
she gave birth she wrapped him in swadling clothes and laid him in the
manger. Opposite the manger we see the Holy Alter; this belonged to
the three wise men where the three Kings put their presents, the Gold,
Frankincense and Myrrh.

Paul: In one area of the church there are a lot of human bones,
where are they from?

Jerius: These bones and skulls belong to the holy innocent children
and families. We consider them Christian Martyrs who were killed by
Herod the Great about 2000 years ago. When Jesus was born here, we
remember the story; the holy family came from Nazareth to Bethlehem
for the census registration. They knocked on many doors and they found
no help open for them because there was no room. After that they found
the holy cave, this place used to be a stable for animals. When they
came to Bethlehem they found no place, the Virgin Mary was pregnant
and when the hour came she went down into the cave and she gave birth
to Jesus. After that Helena came and decided to build a Church over
the holy cave. Now at that time Herod the Great wanted to kill the
baby Jesus, but he didn’t know which one was Jesus, so he gave an
order to kill all baby boys two years and under and also the mothers
and pregnant women. About 1400 baby boys with mothers and pregnant
women were killed by Herod and his soldiers. Those bodies were buried
in the whole surrounding area. When Helena the Mother of Constantine
decided to build the Church over the site where Jesus was born, at
that moment she ordered to bring all these bones and collect them,
to bring them beside the birth place. For that reason you will find
them in the church and we call the place the Holy Innocent Cave.

Paul: I understand that Jerome came here and translated the Bible here,
is that true?

14 Pointed StarJerius: Jerome lived in Italy. He started his work in
Italy to translate the Bible. After that he was sent to Bethlehem
in the year 384 ad. He came to continue his work; his work was to
translate the Bible. He chose a cave and lived inside the monastery
under ground. He lived here for 30 years and translated the Old
Testament from Hebrew into Latin and the New Testament from Greek
into Latin. This is a very special place for the Catholics and also
for all Christians. Why? Because we believe from that spot the Bible
was spread to the whole world. People started to read and learn more
about the life of Jesus and understand more about Christianity and
that has helped many people to believe in Jesus and become Christians
because they translated the Bible into a different language.

You can also see the cave of St Joseph. We call it St Joseph’s Chapel.

It is also a very important place. It goes back to the first Century.

It’s very important to us as Christians because according to the
Bible and according to Christian tradition we believe that that
spot is where St Joseph used to sleep. At the same time we believe
this is the place where the angel appeared to St Joseph and told him
he should take the baby and the Virgin Mary and go to Egypt because
Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus. So from that spot the holy family
started their flight into Egypt, so it is a very important place.

Over the holy caves was built the Church of St Catherine which belongs
to the Catholics. It was built in the year 1881 and St Catherine’s
Church is very important because we consider that Church the most
famous Church here, because this Church is where people from all over
the world come and celebrate Christmas mass on the 24th of December.

>From that spot they televise the whole mass. It is also the place
where the Pope took mass in the year 2000, President Clinton and
Chairman Arafat had mass in St Catherine’s church too.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held
by Cross Rhythms.

TURKEY MIGHT RECOGNIZE ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA’S INDEPENDENCE

Tert.am
15:27 ~U 23.12.09

A diplomatic scandal is getting ready to erupt between Tbilisi and
Ankara. The reason? Abkhazian president Sergei Bagapsh’s visit to
Turkey, which will take place in the coming days. An issue which
Georgia’s foreign minister intends to raise with Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Turkey to Georgia Ertan Tezgor, reports
the Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta ("Independent Newspaper").

Vice Speaker of Georgia’s Parliament, opposition member Paata Davitaya,
stated that Bagapsh’s visit abroad is forbidden "when the ethnic
cleansing of Georgians continues in Abkhazia."

Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs quite quickly responded to the
possible development of Abkhazia-Turkey relations, verbally expressing
his dissent to Ankara.

COORDINATION COUNCIL OF ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS IN FRANCE CONDEMNS GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

ArmInfo
2009-12-23 16:14:00

ArmInfo. On December 22 the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organizations in France (CCAF) came out with a statement condemning
Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze.

"The Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France strongly
condemns the 25 Nov 2009 impudent lie of Georgian Foreign Minister
Grigol Vashadze before the members of the French Parliamentary
Committee for Foreign Affairs. When replying to the question asked by
French parliamentarian Francois Rocheblanc about Vahagn Chakhalyan’s
case and circumstances of its proceedings, the foreign minister
of Georgia told a lie about the reasons of conviction against the
politician of Javakhq and the degree of justice of the trial.

Answering a question posed by a group within the National Assembly of
France, the minister said: "The citizen of Georgia of Armenian origin,
whom you have mentioned, has been arrested based on very serious
charges: he was delivering information to a third country. I have no
right to mention which country." Chakhalyan was arrested in July 2008,
following a car bomb blast near the home of the chief of police in
Akhalkalak, the provincial center of the mostly Armenian-populated
region of Samtskhe-Javakheti in southern Georgia. The Georgian court
found Chakhalyan guilty of several crimes under the Criminal Code
of Georgia, including "acquisition and possession of firearms and
ammunition", "organizing a group action which grossly disrupted
public order", and "hooliganism committed against a government
representative." These are the three articles according to which
Chkhalyan, leader of the ‘United Javakhk Democratic Alliance’ political
movement was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.

Stating that Chakhalyan has "two or three" attorneys of various
origins and that involvement of foreign attorneys is banned by the
legislation of Georgia, G. Vashandze again tried to mislead the
parliamentarians. The Georgian minister intentionally concealed that
the law banning involvement of foreign attorneys into proceedings was
adopted on June 24 2009 whereas the application for authorization of
the French attorney was made yet in Nov 2008. The Georgian Justice
Minister developed relevant amendments and the parliament hastily
approved them hereby violating the point 3C of Article 6 of the
European Convention on Human Rights as well as Article 42 of the
Georgian Constitution.

The given violation was proved and condemned by Georgian Ombudsman.

The complaint of Chakhalyan’s lawyers which applied to the
Constitutional Court of Georgia, is underway at present. The
Coordination Council of Armenian organizations of France demands from
the authorities of Georgia to discharge Vahagn Chakhalyan immediately
and restore all his rights. It demands from the European Commissioner
for human rights – to set the matter for hearing; from PACE – to
direct a mission to Georgia to study practical application of the
European Convention on human rights protection: from chairman of
the National Assembly of France – to direct the protest note to his
Georgian counterpart in connection with the fact that Minister Grigol
Vashadze does not respect the law making body of France."

ARMECONOMBANK IS DEVOTED TO TRADITIONAL DIVIDEND POLICY

ArmInfo
2009-12-23 20:23:00

Interview of Chairman of Armeconombank Board David Sukiasyan with
ArmInfo news agency

Over the last two years Armeconombank has shown its worth as an
organization with high-level stress-resistance to both political and
economic risks. What is the secret of the bank, if one may say so? Is
it the high loyalty of clients or anything else?

Actually, over the past two years our bank got through numerous stress
tests but managed to resist all the challenges – both political and
economic. Already in 2009, unlike 2008, the bank demonstrates stable
growth in all indices, including the number of clients. I think you
have correctly pointed out the high-level loyalty of the clientele base
to the services of our bank. The result is evident: over the past year
the number of persons that made operations at our bank has grown by
20-25%, and by the end of 2009 the growth will amount to around 30%
thanks to various actions. In particular, at present the clientele
base of Armeconombank is over 75 thsd persons whereas in 2008 there
were around 55 thsd clients.

The bank has never stopped cooperating with international structures
and was even going to attract a new syndicated loan. What stage is
this project at?

Attraction of resources from international structures is a strategic
direction for us. It is important that the international structures
trust Armeconombank and its "healthy" credit portfolio. Certainly,
they assessed the bank for many times, studied the level of "health"
of our credit portfolio and came to a conclusion that the resources
provided to us are spent purposefully and efficiently. Armeconombank
strategy on attraction of resources, first and foremost, from
international investors is conditioned by the fact that the domestic
market resources are highly dependable on the economic conjuncture
and crisis fluctuations. Under these conditions, international
investors are much more conservative and do not hurry to come out
with alternatives. For instance, in 2007 when the reduction in
Armeconombank assets made up about 30%, not a single international
structure displayed its concern about this.

One may say that in general, in 2009 international structures were
passive in the Armenian market, and reduced provision of loans to
banks. Only several credit agreements were signed with IFC and EBRD.

However, we have quite ambitious projects for 2010, and probably
in the second quarter of 2010 the bank will reach arrangements on
receiving big resources. At present we are going to attract a new
syndicated loan, in which 7-8 eminent foreign banks may participate.

We already have direct arrangements with participants in the
syndicate. There were no such direct contacts with creditors in 2007,
there was only an arrangement with the syndicate organizer – EBRD. At
present the bank is negotiating with EBRD and IFC, one of which will
become the organizer of the new syndicate. However, it is already
known that the new syndicated loan will be given to the bank for two
years and directed to crediting of the small and medium-sized business.

Has Armeconombank changed the structure of its credit portfolio under
conditions of reduction in retail crediting in the market?

In general, over the past two years we focused on SME crediting. If
before this the ratio of consumer and business credits was 50/50, today
it is 30/70. We are going to maintain this ratio in 2010 as well. It
should be noted that under the current conditions consumer crediting
contains more risks than SME crediting. We have distinct technology
of SME crediting: the borrower’s activity for the past 6 months is
analyzed, and its activity for the loan redemption period is predicted.

As regards the risks of consumer credits, they have grown, and one
of the reasons is that starting 2001-2002 the decisions on provision
of consumer credits were often made over "half an hour". This was the
mistake of the market. Certainly, all participants had to be active in
the consumer crediting market, but one should increase the portfolio
not by accumulating big risks under conditions of severe competition,
but by using special technologies of crediting. But they failed to.

The consumer crediting market was completely closed. This problem
is characteristic of not only Armenia; as you know, the whole
international banking system suffered from this, having created huge
risks in the market and failed to overcome them.

A similar situation is now observed in the market of crediting by
plastic cards. Though the matter concerns the loans worth only 300-500
thsd AMD, however, this is quite a big amount for clients whose
salary is 100 thsd AMD. We have worked out an accurate mechanism
of risk estimation for loans by cards. At present we have around
75-80 thsd active cards, but it is not ruled out that in 2010 we
will be somewhat passive in this segment of crediting. At the same
time, however, we are going to launch a new project on TeenCards for
non-cash operations of schoolchildren at cultural establishments. This
is rather a future-oriented social project.

Armeconombank is a participant in the WB programme and Russian
stabilization loan for small and medium-sized business. How do you
assess the rates of using these resources?

The crediting terms under these pogrammes are not bad. But the point is
that the demand for loans is not so high. I mean the reliable demand
meeting our standards introduced on the basis of IFC, EBRD and KfW
technologies. However, we provide big loans worth $1-2 mln at our
own expense under the EBRD co-financing programme. As you know, the
limit on this programme was increased, and EBRD is ready to increase
it even more if necessary. The advantage of this financing is the
relatively low interest rate for big loans – 12% p.a., the redemption
period being up to 5 years.

What credit portfolio does Armeconombank have today and what is the
share of the overdue loans ?

First of all, I would like to say that basing on the credit portfolio
indices one can divide the current year into two stages. Reduction in
assets and credit portfolio was fixed at the first stage, however,
in the second half-year we managed to exceed the index as of the
beginning of the year. At present the credit portfolio of the bank
is about 28 bln AMD, which may grow up to 29-30 bln drams by the end
of the year. The number of problematic loans is small, and the share
of overdue loans is about 2%.

Earlier Armeconombank was going to increase its capital due to foreign
investors, however, the level of its capital has not changed so far.

Has the bank changed its mind to be capitalized?

The plans on increasing the capital are still on the agenda.

International and Russian investors make offers to Armeconombank
to enter its capital. But the shareholders of the bank see just a
short-term benefit but not stable long-term steps in these offers. We
do not rule out entering our capital of any foreign commercial bank,
but at present the key investors, which we are negotiating with, are
IFC and EBRD. By my forecasts, by the end of the first half-year 2010
the authorized capital of the bank will be increased, and even if the
capital is not replenished by that time, documents on increasing the
capital will be signed.

Will Armeconombank ensure profit in 2009 and is it going to pay
dividends?

The bank is going to pay dividends from the profits of nearly 200-300
million AMD expected in the current year. Basing on the policy of the
bank, the dividends will be paid and the management of the bank are
doing their best to stay devoted to the traditions of dividend policy.

The bank will pay dividends to its shareholders for 2009. The dividends
will be paid on the basis of 6% per share versus 10% per share in 2008.

Interviewed by Lilit Aslanyan, ArmInfo, 23.12.09

ARMHOTELS ON-LINE BOOKING SYSTEM LAUNCHED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2009 19:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ARMHOTELS on-line booking system was launched 23
December in Yerevan. As ARMHOTELS program manager Ashot Nazaryan told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, this system is not a novelty, and it is
used in all countries with the developed tourism industry. "However,
for Armenia this approach is new: anyone can arrange own tourism
package within a few minutes, " he said.

According to project manager, by registering the required service,
the visitor receives a voucher, pays for it and get the selected
service: hotel, tour, theater or gallery.

According to Ashot Nazaryan, ARMHOTELS on-line system is a meeting
node for a buyer and a seller. "For example, if you want to visit a
theater, you register a ticket, pay for it, get a voucher and submit
it as a ticket", he explained.

RUSSIA NOT INTERESTED IN SOONEST RESOLUTION OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
Kamala Mammadova

news.az
Dec 23 2009
Azerbaijan

Stepan Grigoryan News.Az interviews Stepan Grigoryan, head of the
Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation.

What can you say about the statement by Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan made during the meeting with the US president that
Ankara will normalize the Armenian-Turkish relations only after the
real progress in Karabakh settlement?

This is a well-known position of the Turkish side that has experienced
many changes in the past year. A year ago Turkey demanded withdrawal
of the Armenian armed formations from the five regions around Nagorno
Karabakh, while now it is just looking forward the progress in the
negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. I
think this dynamics in Turkey’s position is dictated with the logics
of the Armenian-Turkish dialogue (establishment of relations without
preliminary provisions), new accents in Turkey’s external policy of
the recent 5-6 years and the realities produced by Russia’s August
war against Georgia in 2008.

Thus, Tel-Aviv and Washington are outraged with Turkey’s rapprochement
with Iran and Syria which in fact makes the recognition of "Armenian
genocide" a technical task. Therefore, the Turkish Premier was told
during the visit to the United States that if the Armenian-Turkish
protocols are not ratified by April 2010, Barack Obama’s administration
will not be able to prevent recognition of the "Armenian genocide"
committed in the Osman Empire in 1915 by the US Congress.

Stepan GrigoryanIndeed, the Turkish foreign policy has experienced
significant changes in the past years. Turkey recognized Russia’s
and Iran’s interests in the South Caucasus, agreed on Russia’s
construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, initiated dialogue
with Syria, signed serious contracts on gas projects with Iran,
recognized Kosovo’s independence and sent its deputy foreign minister
to Abkhazia. Earlier in 2003 the Turkish parliament did not allow
US land offensive against Saddam Husein’s regime from Turkey’s
territory. In fact, Turkey has passed to the new external policy
rejecting the formula "everything that is good for the United States
in Middle East, South Caucasus and Central Asia is good for Turkey".

But, as you understand, when you play you have to pay. After this
process, the attitude of Turkey’s traditional partners to this country
begins to change. Thus, Tel-Aviv and Washington are outraged with
Turkey’s rapprochement with Iran and Syria which in fact makes the
recognition of "Armenian genocide" a technical task. Therefore, the
Turkish Premier was told during the visit to the United States that
if the Armenian-Turkish protocols are not ratified by April 2010,
Barack Obama’s administration will not be able to prevent recognition
of the "Armenian genocide" committed in the Osman Empire in 1915 by
the US Congress. As is seen, this will be "double recognition". On
24 April 2010 the US president will make the due statement and a
little later the "Armenian genocide" will be recognized by the House
of Representatives of the US Congress.

We can continue this list of implications for Turkey. For example, one
can ask how Turkey can change its attitude to national and religious
minorities both inside the country and beyond its bounds (we have
already paid attention to the recognition of Kosovo’s independence by
Turkey and open support to Abkhazs. Turkey has changed its attitude to
Kurdish language, opened radio programs in Armenian inside the country)
and not occupy a more impartial position in the Karabakh issue.

It would have been more effective if Turkey and Armenia ratify
protocols without preliminary provisions and settle all the accumulated
issues through a bilateral dialogue and not "act" via the third
countries and for the interests of the third countries.

I would also like to draw your attention to another aspect of
the Armenian-Turkish dialogue: I think the opening of borders and
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations in the nearest future
will lead to Armenia’s reorientation to the West and create conditions
for the trilateral South Caucasus regional cooperation. The settlement
of regional conflicts when the role of borders will significantly
change and the compromised resolution of these conflicts becomes
possible is seen in terms of the parallel European and Euroatlantic
integration of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Therefore, the
interests of Georgia and Azerbaijan are also implied in the process
of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement.

Do you think the parliaments of both countries will ratify protocols
on normalizing the Turkish-Armenian ties in such a situation?

I think the Turkish and Armenian parliaments will ratify the
protocols. Thus, the progovernmental coalition consisting of three
parties in the National Assembly of Armenia controls about 75% of
deputies mandates which facilitates the ratification of protocols. The
situation in the Turkish parliament is more complicated but I am
confident that the Turkish parliament will ratify both protocols in
the coming 2-3 months. The thing is that Turkey is a country with
big state traditions and its political elite adheres to national
interests in taking important decisions.

Today Turkey is interested in normalizing relations with Armenia for
most including the aforementioned reasons. Moreover, normalization of
Turkey’s relations with Armenia fully complies with its new external
policy. Thus, it cannot take into account the interests of Russia and
Iran in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, assist to Abkhazia and at
the same time keep borders with Armenia closed. Moreover, Turkey knows
that not only the United States and EU but also Russia are interested
in the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. All these factors will
finally lead to ratification of protocols by the Turkish parliament.

By results of the Munich meeting the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
declared some breakthrough in the negotiation process. What do you
think is the script of the further development of the Karabakh issue?

The Karabakh conflict settlement depends on most factors, both internal
and external ones. As far as I understand, the negotiation process has
recently intensified and it should be welcomed. Yet it is difficult
to count on the quick settlement of the conflict at least for the
reason of high distrust existing in the Armenian and Azerbaijani
societies towards each other, absence of culture of compromise of
the elites of the two countries and the high level of intolerant
attitude towards each other. Therefore, I am against the artificial
acceleration of the Karabakh conflict settlement as it may raise
possibility of hostilities.

Are Moscow and Washington really interested in the complete settlement
of the Karabakh conflict?

It seems that Russia and the United States have a consensus in this
issue: both countries are unready and do not consider the quick
settlement of the Karabakh conflict possible. The difference here
lies in motivation of the sides. Thus, Russia is not interested in
the quick settlement of the problem as it understands that it might
lose the last "lever" of influence on Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the
United States do not see objective grounds for the quick settlement
of the conflict at least for the reason of a serious discrepancy in
the positions of Armenia and Azerbaijan on basic issues (withdrawal
of troops from the lands around Nagorno Karabakh, problem of Nagorno
Karabakh’s status, terms and order of refugees’ return and so on).

Will the Karabakh conflict be settled next year?

Despite serious discrepancies in the positions of the sides, I do
not exclude possible signing of a certain framework agreement between
Armenia and Azerbaijan in the coming months. The agreement may be based
on the renewed Madrid principles that contain all elements (principle
of territorial integrity, rights of nations for self-determination
and peace settlement of the conflict) concerning all parties. Yet,
it would be difficult to attain the signing of a comprehensive peace
treaty as the parties still have significant discrepancies on a number
of principal issues and on the order of implementation of agreements.

NORMALIZATION OF TURKEY-ARMENIA RELATIONS IS CONNECTED WITH NAGORNO-KARABAKH: TURKISH FM

Trend
Dec 23 2009
Azerbaijan

Normalization of the Turkey-Armenia relations is connected with
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said at the news conference in Brussels, the Turkish
Dunyabulteni news agency reported.

The Turkish-Armenian relation is linked with resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, he said adding that resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will positively impact the regional
stability.

"Our aim is to achieve peace and stability in the Caucasus,"
Davutoglu said.

SAAKASHVILI CONCERNED OVER AZERBAIJANI STATE SOVEREIGNTY

news.am
Dec 23 2009
Armenia

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be settled with respect for
Azerbaijani state sovereignty, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
stated in Dec.23 interview with Echo of Moscow radio station. "There
is only one solution to the problem — direct negotiations between
the countries and accounting for the international law, including the
right of people to return to their places of residence and respect
for state sovereignty," Saakashvili outlined.

According to him, NKR conflict is a complex issue and the major key
to the problem is Russia. "I believe that for the breakthrough two
states should enter into dialogue, nations should associate, thus
the Armenia-Turkey talks held currently should be coordinated with
Azerbaijan," Saakashvili noted.

He reckons that talks always lead to a progress, a positive trend. "I
am reluctant to call the situation status-quo. The situation in
Georgia proved there is no status-quo. Under this situation, one should
always be on the lookout to avoid complications and deteriorations,"
Georgian President underlined.

ARMENIAN TRANSLATION OF HRANT DINK’S BOOK LAUNCHED IN YEREVAN

Tert.am
15:56 ~U 23.12.09

Turkish journalist of Armenian descent Hrant Dink’s book, roughly
translated to Two Close Peoples, Two Distant Neighbours, had its
Armenian launch at the Institute of Oriental Studies Institute at
the Armenian National Academy of Sciences today. As informed by the
Armenian publisher and translator Mkrtich Sumunjyan, the Turkish
version of the book was published in 2008.

Sumunjyan explained how for a long time, he was unable to locate the
Turkish publication, so that he may translate it. In this endeavour,
he was assisted by Dink’s brother, Yervand.

Sumunjyan mentioned that this new Armenian translation makes it
possible for Armenian readers to become better acquainted with
the journalist. "Unfortunately, I didn’t know Dink [personally],
though when I was a student I read his articles," noted the Armenian
publisher.

The book presents Hrant Dink’s approach to the issue of
Armenian-Turkish relations. Sumunjyan dedicates his translated version
to the memory of the well-known journalist.

RA Minister of Diaspora Affairs Hranush Hacobyan, in turn, described
her memories of meeting Dink. According to her, the "great Armenian
man’s" grandiose thoughts surprised her.

Hacobyan also recalled the candle-lighting ceremony in central
Yerevan dedicated to his memory, as well as the now famous slogan
"1.5 million + 1".

"Dink became the victim of today’s genocide," noted the diasporan
affairs minister, citing a few of Dink’s thoughts on the Armenian
Genocide: "The Genocide is an open wound which can never be healed."

IN THE FRAMES OF THE ARMY-CHURCH LINK A RECURRENT SANCTUARY WAS BUILT IN ONE OF THE MILITARY-UNITS OF THE NATIONAL ARMY

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22.12. 09

On the 22nd of December, 2009 in one of the RA AF military-units the
opening and anointment ceremony of the St. Karapet chapel took place.

The Minister of Defence Seyran Oahanyan, Chief of the RA AF GS,
Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, high ranked militants, the staff
of the military-unit and some guests were present at the ceremony.

The presence of such chapels and sanctuaries in military-units
contributes greatly to the spiritual and military-patriotic education
of the soldiers. And for this purpose recently much work has been done
in the AF. The anointment of the chapel was done by the AF patriarch
Ter Vrtanes bishop Abrahamyan.

RA MoD Department of Information and Public Affairs