Author: Jalatian Sonya

THE RA PRIME MINISTER RECEIVED THE EU ADVISORY GROUP

Aysor.am
Friday, October 16

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received the EU Advisory Group to
Armenia, led by Head of EU delegation in Armenia, Ambassador Raul
Lutzenberger, informs the information and public relations department
of the RA Government.

Greeting the guests, the head of government stressed the need for
keeping in close touch with the Advisory Group (AG) enabling thus both
sides to assess progress and outline areas of future cooperation on
a regular basis.

The AG members said to be highly appreciative of the Armenian
government’s commitment to cooperation. They advised that six new
experts are scheduled to join the Group to provide consultancy in
specific areas of activity.

A special mention was made of RA Government’s anti-corruption
efforts, administrative improvements in the tax and customs spheres,
transparency-aimed actions in the system of public governance and
State procurements, as well as the passing of a law on State service.

The parties spoke about the progress in preparative work for the
signing of a free trade regime agreement, enacting simplified export
procedures, introducing the GSP+ system in Armenia. They also looked at
the possibility of strengthening the Council on Economic Competition
and the SME support centers. In this light, they made a point of
improving public debt management practices and building the capacity
of relevant units of the Ministry of Finance.

Customs-related improvements, too, were discussed at the meeting,
including the need for applying simplified clearance procedures and
providing training for customs officers. The parties also spoke about
the government’s public relations strategy.

The members of the Advisory Group outlined possibilities for expanding
the scope of their work by noting that Armenia is a worldwide leader
in this format of cooperation.

In conclusion, the Prime Minister thanked the EU Advisory Group
members for useful and badly needed consultancy.

FORMAL DINNER IN HONOR OF RA PRESIDENT

News.am
11:49 / 10/15/2009

October 14, 2009 Turkish side gave a dinner at Almira Hotel in
Bursa (Turkey) in honor of the Armenian delegation headed by RA
President Serzh Sargsyan. NEWS.am obtained the menu and cultural
program of the restaurant that hosted the ceremony. RA President and
Armenian delegation were treated to kyabab, Mediterranean salads and
pakhlava. The music of Sayat Nova and other Armenian composers like
Bimen Ter-Ghazaryan, Sargis Kelichyan and Tadevos Enkserchyan sounded
in the hall.

ANC: SIGNING OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS IS EVIDENCE OF RULING REGIME’S BANKRUPTCY

NOYAN TAPAN
October 13, 2009
Yerevan

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. According to an October 12
statement by the Armenian National Congress (ANC), the signing of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols is evidence of ruling regime’s political
bankruptcy and regular regrettable proof of poor diplomacy.

The statement read:

"With the Zurich betrayal deal Armenia’s administration had a goal
to achieve opening of the Armenian-Turkish border at the price of
accepting the idea of ill-famous commission studying the historic
facts, by casting a doubt on the historic fact of Armenian Genocide
before the world. This deal being immoral and inadmissible in itself
did not meet Armenia’s expectations. Irrespective of ratification by
the parliaments, Turkey has already received what it wanted. While,
before signing the document, as well as after it Turkey at the highest
level continues conditioning the issue of opening state borders by
the Nagorno Karabakh problem, in particular, by return of territories
forming the security zone.

The Armenian National Congress has been warning about such an
inevitable process for a year saying that after Serzh Sargsyan’s
approving the idea of establishing a commission of historians the
problems of Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno Karabakh
settlement will be included in a common package.

The signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols is the consequence of R.

Kocharian’s and S. Sargsyan’s policy of past ten years, which created a
ctriminal-oligarch, corrupted system in the country, and the issue of
Genocide was placed on the foreign policy agenda and became a subject
of bargaining. Not enjoying people’s support and looking for support
in serving the interests of international community S. Sargsyan’s
administration is going to make as much inadmissible concessions in
the Nagorno Karabakh problem.

Now like a year ago the Armenian National Congress holds the opinion
that the only way to prevent this anti-national process and to avoid
further losses is Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation, which under the
circumstances can be secured only by general resistance and maximum
consolidation of Armenian political forces and various strata of
society around that demand."

THE EXHIBITION OF "FROM WATER TO MARKET" PROGRAM OF "MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES-ARMENIA" FUND OPENED IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
OCTOBER 13, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS: The two-day exhibition of "From
Water to Market" program of "Millennium Challenges-Armenia" fund
opened today in Yerevan. It runs in parallel to "Buy the Armenian"
campaign. RA vice Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, government members,
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch, farmers and other guests
were present at the opening.

M. Yovanovitch welcoming the event said that in case of the successful
process, it may promote the development of the Armenian rural places,
as the extension of the realization volumes of agricultural goods
of Armenian production may promote the development of the rural
communities and the increase of the incomes of the population of
those places.

RA Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan said that the intervention in some
separate point of the chain from land to market will not give the same
result, as the intervention in the general chain. According to him,
U.S. government supports Armenia to pass to more efficient ways of land
cultivation by increasing the quantity of the harvest by several times
in such a way. At present in Armenia from a land of 1 square meters is
achieved several times less harvest than in many developed countries.

According to N. Yeristyan, the Armenian farmers are quite consistent
in the issues of land cultivation; they are inclined to cultivate
like their grandfathers rather than to apply new technologies.

At the opening of the exhibition by witnessing the results achieved in
the appliance of the new technologies they will get more interested
in cultivating in a new way. The minister also underscored that by
presenting those results at the exhibition also the high quality of
the Armenian products will be stressed.

Within the frameworks of the exhibition the products of farmer
entrepreneurs, the agricultural engineering are being presented in
the pavilions, meetings with experts, as well as with representative
ng organized. It is possible to taste a number of agricultural crops,
which are not spread in Armenia.

BULGARIA WELCOMES NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
12.10.2009 12:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry has expressed its
satisfaction with the signing of agreement regarding the normalization
of bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey. "We are convinced
that this act eliminates all impediments for future development of
bilateral relations and contribute to the peace and stability in the
region of South Caucasus and the Black Sea," said Foreign Ministry’s
spokesperson on the occasion of the signing of agreement between
Armenia and Turkey in Zurich, Radio Bulgaria reported.

PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN REACHED NOTHING INN KISHENEV

ArmInfo
2009-10-09 13:39:00

ArmInfo. Yesterday’s meeting between President of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev gave nothing as it
could not give anything, NKR ex-defence minister Samvel Babayan told
journalists today.

‘This meeting as well as all the rest ones may be characterized as
the talks for the love of talks, as the presidents are trying to make
arrangement on Nagornyy Karabakh status, taking into account the fact
that the process on peaceful settlement is developing on the basis
of the principles of the peoples’ right for self-determination and
territorial integrity. But it is impossible to arrange on these two
principles’, – he said.

CLINTON PREPARES FOR EUROPE TOUR

BBC NEWS
urope/8300376.stm
2009/10/10 08:09:49 GMT

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to arrive in Switzerland
at the start of a five-day tour of Europe.

In Zurich, she will witness the signing of a historic pact between
Turkey and Armenia to normalise relations after a century of hostility.

She is to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday in London,
where the Afghan war is expected to be high on the agenda.

On Monday, she will address the Northern Ireland assembly in Belfast.

Visiting Russia for the first time as chief US diplomat, Mrs Clinton
will hold talks on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme with Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on Tuesday.

She is expected to press the Russian leader for a strong commitment
for tough new sanctions on Tehran.

Officials say she will also raise other issues, including arms control,
missile defence, and cooperation to convince North Korea to abandon
nuclear weapons.

Mrs Clinton returns to Washington late on Wednesday, after visiting
Russia’s mainly Muslim city of Kazan.

But her first order of business is to attend the signing ceremony in
Zurich of the Turkish-Armenian normalisation pact.

The US State Department said Mrs Clinton had been closely engaged
with the parties to move the process along and was attending the
ceremony to show Washington’s support for the historic agreement,
says the BBC’s Kim Ghattas.

PRESS RELEASE
Haigazian University
Mira Yardemian Public Relations Director
Mexique Street, Kantari, Beirut
P.O.Box. 11-1748
Riad El Solh 1107 2090

Memorandum of Understanding between Haigazian University and the Yerevan
State University

Beirut, 06/10/2009- On Saturday the 3rd of October, 2009, during an
official visit to Yerevan to participate in the 90th anniversary
celebrations of YSU, Haigazian University President, Rev. Dr. Paul
Haidostian, and Yerevan State University Rector Prof. Aram Simonyan,
signed a memorandum of understanding between the two universities.

Through this memorandum, the two universities pave the way to enhance
the academic and scientific development and advancement of the two
institutions. The MOU includes the possibilities of the exchange of
human resources, students, scholars and professors, and other academic
and research projects.

It is worth noting that Haigazian University had signed a similar
agreement with the Lebanese University in February 2009.

ARAM KARAPETYAN ALSO SIGNED THE ARF STATEMENT

aram-karapetyan
08:07 pm | October 06, 2009 | Politics

Leader of the "New Times" party Aram Karapetyan was one of the
signatories of the ARF’s statement against the Turkish-Armenian
protocols. Taking into account the fact that Mr. Karapetyan has been
a member of the ARF, "A1+" asked Karapetyan if this was one of those
cases when it doesn’t matter if you are a former member of the ARF.

"Unfortunately, Soviet security officers are those who will always
remain the former Soviet security officers. Perhaps Dashnaks were
not considered to be former a hundred years ago, but today I know a
lot of former ARF members," said Karapetyan.

Karapetyan mentioned that he had only signed under the statement and
that that didn’t imply anything.

"That statement was in the interests of the "New Times" party and I
believe that it doesn’t matter who took the initiative."

Karapetyan is also planning to participate in the ARF October 9 rally
and march. He stated that he will continue to work with the Armenian
National Congress as well.

"The opposition must be broadened as much as possible. We can work
with the ARF in terms of Turkish-Armenian relations. We stand by the
Congress’s side in terms of Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation and will
do everything possible to make that happen. Let’s wait a while and
perhaps this will all end."

Do you think that the Congress will also join? In response, Karapetyan
said:

"Yes, I have hope that all political parties will unite as one. A
new wave is rising in Armenia and the opposition is getting larger."

Aram Karapetyan accepts that the society views the ARF not as an
oppositionist party, but a party that is completing the state order
through protests. "The ARF is currently demanding Nalbandyan’s
resignation. Let’s wait a while and perhaps later it will demand
Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation as well."

The leader of the party believes that the two sides will sign
the Turkish-Armenian protocols, but the parliaments won’t ratify
them. "Turkey will say that there will be no ratification until the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, while Armenia will say
that there will be no ratification until Turkey’s ratification. In the
end, Galust Sahakyan will tell everyone to take a look at Armenia’s
diplomacy."

NALBANDYAN TO LEAVE FOR PARIS

andian
08:14 pm | October 06, 2009 | Official

On October 7 RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan will pay a working
visit to Paris to participate in the 35th General Conference of UNESCO.

During the visit the Armenian Foreign Minister will speak at the
conference and meet with his French counterpart Bernard Kushner.

The signing of the French-Armenian contract on lifting the entrance
visas for people with diplomatic passports will also take place
in Paris.

On the same day Edward Nalbandyan will leave for Kishnev where he
will participate in the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers
of the CIS countries to be held on October 8. Nalbandyan will also
take part in the session of presidents of CIS countries along with
the delegation headed by the Armenian president.