Author: Jilavian Emma

ARMENIA AND RUSSIA INTEND TO FURTHER DEVELOP BILATERAL RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.01.2010 17:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today, January 14, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

At the meeting, RA President expressed his satisfaction over
development of strategic partnership and strengthening of economical,
cultural and humanitarian spheres between Armenia and Russia.

The President also thanked Russia for efforts taken towards settlement
of Karabakh conflict and Armenia-Turkey ties’ normalizations.

Russian Foreign Minister, in turn, expressed hope for the progress
registered in bilateral relations to be continued into the future.

In the course of the meeting, the parties discussed bilateral
collaboration issues, emphasizing the importance of further
expansion of contractual -legal field, creating new possibilities
for interactions.

The parties also exchanged views on Karabakh conflict settlement and
Armenia-Turkey rapprochement.

As Russian Foreign Minster noted, during yesterday’s joint news
conference with his Turkish counterpart, Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin once again presented Moscow’s official position on the
issue above. The two processes are not linked, each process being
complicated enough in itself, Russian Premier emphasized, Armenian
President’s press service reported.

AZERBAIJANIS BURNT ARMENIANS AND TORTURED TO DEATH

A1Plus.am
13/01/10

Twenty years ago, on January 13, massacres and violence against
Armenians which were later qualified as genocide in different circles
started in Baku.

"It was real genocide accompanied with forced displacement, deliberate,
severe and planned murders," Robert Khachatryan, President of
Compatriots’ Union of Baku told a press conference on January 13.

Replying to A1+, Mr. Khachatryan noted that the government doesn’t
pay proper attention to refugees. "Have you ever heard Armenian
authorities talking about us or raising our issue during the talks
on Karabakh? Unlike our authorities, Azerbaijan is constantly raising
the issue of its refugees. One gets the impression that there are no
refugees in Armenia."

Robert Khachatryan remembers Robert Kocharyan saying "there are no
refugees in Armenia" when answering a journalist in Slovakia. "These
are people who have returned to their historic homeland," said
Kocharyan.

Robert Khachatryan wonders why the Armenian authorities persuade
the refugees to obtain Armenian citizenship since the factor of 1,
5 million refugees can be used in the negotiation process.

Eleanora Avanesova, a survival of the Baku massacres, says they
aren’t included in any social category on the ground that they haven’t
lived in Karabakh. "It seems that only Karbakhi people have a right
to privileges."

Mrs. Avanesova’s 16-year-old brother was brutally killed in Baku on
December 26. If we came to Armenia earlier, my brother would fight
for his country and sacrifice for Armenia," she said.

Refugee Edita Harutyunova announced that the massacres had been
perpetrated by Azerbaijani authorities after Karabakh started a move
for signature to join Armenia.

Before that, local Armenians had never had conflicts with Azerbaijanis,
said the guests at the Armat Club.

"The events were more horrifying than a war and more frightening than
the earthquake of 1988. Azerbaijanis threw Armenians out of buses,
windows, balconies, burnt them and tortured with metal poles, knives
and axes," recalled Robert Khachatryan.

According to official Azerbaijan, 56 people died as a result of the
clashes from January 13 to 20, while Armenians say 270 people fell
victim to Azerbaijani vandalism in Baku.

Over 200 000 Armenians lived in Baku then and none of them could
expect such brutality by Azerbaijanis.

MONSTROUS CRIME HAS GOT NO ESTIMATION

A1Plus.am
13/01/10

January 13, 2010 is the 20th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in
Baku, which had become the direct and logical continuation of the
massacre of Armenians in February 1988 in another Azerbaijani city –
Sumgait reputed to be "international".

The unpunished evil was repeated, still on an expanded scale. The
January 13-19, 1990 massacre in Baku, with the use of the most brutal
and subtle methods of killing people, completed the ethnic cleansing
of the Azerbaijani capital from Armenians – representatives of one of
the state-constituting nations of the country, a nation representing
the pride and fame of Baku. Thousands of Armenians in Baku deceased or
became handicapped, and hundreds of thousands became refugees. Mainly
children, old people, and women became victims of the really fascist
atrocities.

The Armenian issue was resolved via the experienced Turkish tool –
genocide, with the connivance of the central Soviet authorities,
with the silent consent and participation of the Azerbaijani SSR
leadership. And while the Soviet troops "were late" for 3 hours in
Sumgait, they "were late" for a whole week in Baku, entering the city
only when actually no Armenians were left there.

The monstrous crime in Baku hasn’t got any political, legal or moral
estimation so far. The very fact of the Azerbaijani authorities’
concealment of the atrocities against Armenians is outrageous
cynicism. The lack of even a shadow of repentance, moreover, the
increasing threats towards the Armenian people confirm that "bakus",
"sumgaits", and "kirovabads" are still on the agenda of Azerbaijan’s
official policy. And all this is witnessed by the international
community, which probably isn’t going to take lessons from the past –
as just the connivance of the international community made possible
the bloody bacchanalia, which covered the whole territory of the
AzSSR and achieved its peak in January 1990 in Baku.

The Armenian pogroms in Baku are one of the convincing grounds for
the impossibility of Nagorno Karabakh(Artsakh) Republic’s being part
of Azerbaijan.

The atrocities towards Armenians, which were systematically organized
by the Azerbaijani authorities during the whole 20th century, emphasize
once again the rightness of the Artsakh people struggling for freedom
and defense of its primordial rights.

PROTOCOLS’ RATIFICATION IS OUT OF QUESTION: DAVUTOGLU

news.am
Jan 13 2010
Armenia

It is crucial to take into account the regional situation for the
Armenia-Turkey normalization process to have any sense, Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated at a joint press-conference
with British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
David Miliband in London, Yerkir media TV channel reported.

According to him, 20% of the Azerbaijani territories are occupied by
Armenia. The ratification of the Protocols by Turkish Parliament is
out of the question under these conditions. "There is no point in
seeking the establishment of peace in the region, if there is such
an aggression by Armenia," Davutoglu said.

Over the last seven years Ankara has been exerting efforts to normalize
relations with its neighbors, including Armenia, Davutoglu emphasized.

Turkey strives for a free transit from Baku to Karabakh and farther
to Yerevan, Nakhchivan and Kars.

RUSSIAN PREMIER SPECIFIES POSITION ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

news.am
Jan 13 2010
Armenia

"Both the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and the Turkish-Armenian problem
are most complicated in themselves. I do not think it is right to
consider all the problems in a package," RF Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin stated at a news conference held jointly with his Turkish
counterpart Recep Erdogan. He underlined Moscow’s readiness to help
resolve both the problems.

According to Putin, each of the problems is most difficult to resolve
separately. "And if we lump this all together, it will put off the
solution for distant future," Putin said. He considers it tactically
and strategically inadvisable to link the two problems. The Russian
Premier stressed that Russia is the most interested in the improvement
of relations between the countries of the region. "A great number of
invisible threads connect us with both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Millions of Azerbaijanis and Armenians live in Russia and have
relatives and friends here. Russia is developing its economic ties
with the states," Putin said as quoted by RIA Novosti.

The Russian Premier also stated Russia is interested in the resolution
of all the problems of the Soviet times, including the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem. "We know about the bitter legacy Turkey and Armenia received
from the past, and we are interested in the Turkish-Armenian relations
being improved," Putin said. With great hopes Russia welcomed the
normalization initiative, the Russian Premier said. "We hope very
much that any elements of extreme approaches resulting from the past
problems will be removed from the negotiation process," Putin said. The
RF Premier pointed out that the Armenian leaders are on this positive
way as well. He stated that Russia respects the positions taken by
all of its partners, and its role in the settlement process is to
support all the efforts to resolve the complicated problems.

During his visit to Moscow the Turkish Premier held talks with the
Russian leaders.

NMC REFINANCED CREDIT PORTFOLIO IN 2009 MADE UP 2.5 BILLION DRAMS

ArmInfo
14.01.2010

ArmInfo. Refinanced mortgage credit portfolio of the National Mortgage
Company (NMC) in 2009 made up 2.5 bln drams, CEO of NMC Universal
Credit Company Mher Yedigaryan told ArmInfo.

According to him, NMC expects to refinance credits at the rate of
about 400 mln drams till late January. Along with it, he said the
Company carries out refinancing also at the cost of 12 bln drams from
the Russian stabilization credit funds, provided by the government of
Armenia. "This amount is not so large taking into account a seasonal
factor", M. Yedigaryan emphasized. According to him, refinancing
rate by NMC currently makes up 7,5% per annum, and no change of this
indicator is envisaged as yet. The company CEO said that NMC refinances
mortgage credits for acquisition and repair of a real estate, secured
with the credited real estate mortgage, including those being acquired
and issued with prepayment of 30% of the housing cost. Moreover,
NMC refinances mortgage credits, extended by commercial banks and
universal credit companies with prepayment of 10% of the real estate
and against additional security in form of a real estate.

At present, M. Yedigaryan said, NMC has general agreements with
12 commercial banks and 2 credit companies, in particular, with
Armbusinessbank, ARARATBANK, Armeconombank, Artsakhbank, Anelik Bank,
Areximbank-GPB group, Ardshininvestbank, VTB Bank (Armenia), HSBC
Bank Armenia, Inecobank, Cascade Bank, Byblos Bank Armenia, as well
as the First Mortgage Company and Washington Capital. According to M.

Yedigaryan, it is scheduled to sign a regular agreement with one of
the country’s commercial banks some of these days.

To recall, Central Bank is a sole shareholder of the National
Mortgage Company Universal Credit Company with capital of 5 bln drams,
registered and licensed by Armenia’s Central Bank on June 16, 2009.

ARF MEMBER DID NOT SIGN THE PROTOCOL

Lragir.am
14/01/10

At the Central Electoral Commission the ARF representative did not
sign the CEC protocol on the by-election at the Constituency No.10
which declares as winner Ara Simonyan. 7 member of the commission
signed the protocol, an ARF member refused signing. The material on
the elections at the polling stations No.10/15 and 10/19 will be sent
to the RA Prosecutor’s office.

Obituary: Dennis Brutus, Supporter of Reparations to Armenians
By Henry Theriault

Armenian Weekly
January 7, 2010

Dennis Brutus was a world-renowned human rights activist who had a
major role in the struggle against Apartheid in his native South
Africa and later in various struggles for life and justice around the
globe. He passed away on Dec. 26, 2009, in Cape Town.

Dennis Brutus (1924-2009)
He was instrumental in organizing the 1999 protests of the WTO in
Seattle, a major figure in the World Social Forum seeking an
alternative global political and economic order, and a leader of the
emerging global reparations movement for apartheid, slavery, mass
rape, genocide, corporate abuse, and environmental damage.

He was the co-chair of the committee that organized the 2005 Global
Reparations Symposium at Worcester State College, which featured
discussions of reparations for South African Apartheid, US Slavery and
Jim Crow, the Comfort Women System by Japan, Native American genocides
and dispossessions, and the Armenian Genocide.

He became a supporter of the Armenian right to reparation and invited
panelists to submit their symposium papers for a forthcoming issue of
the Armenian Review on reparations.

Erdogan to Head Delegation to Moscow for Talks on Energy, Armenia
Asbarez
Jan 7th, 2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin in Ankara

ANKARA (Hetq)-Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and up to
eight cabinet ministers will travel to Russia on January 12-13 for
talks involving greater Russian participation in an oil pipeline
linking Turkey’s southern and northern coasts and the process of
rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkish and Russian officials are expected to announce an agreement
during the visit allowing Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft and
Russian oil company Rosneft to have a share in the $2.5 billion
Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline, which will run between Turkey’s Black Sea
coast and the Mediterranean.

The talks are expected to be in the format of a joint cabinet meeting,
not unlike similar meetings held in earlier visits by Erdogan to Syria
and Iraq. In past remarks, Erdogan said his government wants to
establish a mechanism with Russia similar to the high-level strategic
councils created between Turkey and Syria and Turkey and Iraq last
year. An agreement to initiate a similar mechanism with Russia was
signed when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited Ankara in
August. Erdogan’s visit to Moscow will be the first step in this
direction. Later, another meeting of the two countries’ cabinets is
planned to take place in Turkey.

Peace in the Caucasus will be one of the top issues on the agenda of
the Moscow visit. The joint cabinet meeting will also discuss the
formation of a Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform, a joint
mechanism proposed by Turkey following the Russian-Georgian War in
August 2008 to manage regional conflicts.

Analysts predict that the negotiations between Turkey and Armenia may
speed up following the Turkish-Russian talks.

New Britain Herald , CT
Jan 6 2010

Wishing Orthodox Christians a Merry Christmas, today

By JENNIFER ABEL
Staff writer

NEW BRITAIN ‘ The Christmas season isn’t over yet, at least not for
everybody ‘ if you’re a member of an Orthodox church, Dec. 25 was just
another cold winter day, and Christmas doesn’t roll around until
today.

The Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection marked the occasion by
celebrating an Epiphany Eve Candlelight Liturgy last night. The
tradition goes back over 1,700 years.

The Rev. Fr. Kapriel Mouradjian, pastor of the Church of the Holy
Resurrection, said, `Around 325 A.D., in Jerusalem, early Christians
had pre-festal liturgies ‘ festal meaning `before a feast’ ‘ and there
was a candlelight liturgy. In Latin the word is `lucernarium.” The
practice spread to Constantinople about 550 A.D. under the Emperor
Justinian.’

Easter and Christmas, in other words in the Orthodox calendar inspire
two celebrations: one the day of, and a candlelight liturgy the night
before.

The only real difference between an Orthodox Christmas celebration and
Western Christian Christmas celebration is the date it’s observed.

`All Christian churches used to have Christmas Jan. 6,’ said
Mouradjian. `But there was a pagan [Roman] festival called Saturnalia,
after Saturn, which was celebrated Dec. 25. The Church of Rome decided
to do something about that, and changed the date [of Christmas] to
Dec. 25 … the Orthodox churches, Coptic churches, and I think Syrian
churches kept the original date.’

Jan. 6 is also an important date in the Puerto Rican tradition; it’s
not Christmas but it is `Three Kings Day,’ the day the three kings (or
`three wise men’) are said to have visited and given gifts to the
infant Jesus.

Karythia Estrella, a supervisor for the Opportunities
Industrialization Center’s after-school program at Pulaski Middle
School, said that in Puerto Rico, children traditionally did not
receive gifts on Christmas morning but waited until Three Kings Day,
when Jesus got his gifts too.

`In Puerto Rico the whole month of December is a celebration, but we
get the gifts on Jan. 6, not Dec. 25,’ she said. `The tradition is,
the night before you get your box ready ‘ about the size of a shoebox
‘ and put grass in it and put it under your bed. That’s your gift to
the kings. When you wake up in the morning, your gift is in the box.’

The Boys and Girls Club of New Britain will not be holding a formal
Three Kings Day celebration, but program director Jason Gibson said,
`We’ll be passing out goody bags to our members ‘ a small toy, and
some candy.’

Next Sunday, the first Sunday after the Orthodox Christmas, the
Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection will celebrate the birth and
baptism of Jesus with an Epiphany Liturgy and a Service of the
Blessing of the Waters, to mark Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.

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