Author: Kafian Jirair

21ST MEETING OF BSEC ORGANIZATION FOREIGN MINISTERS’ COUNCIL HELD IN BAKU

NOYAN TAPAN
OCTOBER 22, 2009
BAKU

BAKU, OCTOBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The 21st meeting of BSEC organization
Foreign Ministers’ Council was held in Baku, which was preceded by
the meeting of committee of BSEC senior officials.

Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadiarov conducted the BSEC Foreign
Ministers’ Council meeting. Delegations of 12 member countries of
BSEC, BSEC adjacent bodies, observer and sectoral cooperation member
countries’ representatives participated in the meeting. RA Deputy
Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian headed Armenia’s delegation.

According to a report by the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, the Council discussed and adopted a number of important
decisions on improvement of BSEC organization activity’s efficiency,
cooperation between BSEC and international organizations, in
particular, the European Union, and primary directions of cooperation
within the framework of BSEC.

A. Kirakosian in his speech touched upon prospects of many-sided
cooperation within the framework of BSEC mentioning the achievements
in cooperation spheres. He attached importance to many-sided economic
cooperation without any precondition as a guarantee of settling the
regional problems. In that context A. Kirakosian mentioned the signing
of protocols on establishment and development of Armenian-Turkish
relations as the best manifestation of such an approach.

Leonidas Chrisantopulos, the Secretary General of BSEC Permanent
International Secretariate, also touched upon the signing of
the Armenian-Turkish protocols in his speech. He mentioned the
importance of those documents for development and deepening of
regional cooperation and in particular, cooperation within the
framework of BSEC.

At the end of the meeting of Ministers’ Council with a solemn ceremony
the chairmanship in BSEC organization was passed from Azerbaijan
to Bulgaria.

VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN REFUSES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COURT HEARINGS

armradio.am
20.10.2009 17:07

Javakheti Armenian political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan, who is
currently being held in Rustavi strict regime detention facility number
6, gave his attorney- Stepan Voskanyan, a statement of refusal to
participate in the trial. Vahagn Chakhalyan stresses in the statement
that "the two previous two court sessions show that the proceedings
continue to be held with the same violations, as those committed
during the trial in the Court of First Instance."

Chakhalyan writes that the judicial proceedings still take place
without his French lawyer, Patrick Arapian, who was illegally denied
registration by the Georgian authorities.

"The judge rejects almost all defense motions on unacceptable
grounds and the Armenian translation of the court hearings is
totally inadequate and incomprehensible. Therefore, I do not have the
opportunity to adequately follow the course of the trial, as well as
to participate in it, that is – enjoy the minimum rights to protection,
provided for by all the domestic and international laws.

Under these circumstances, my participation in the court proceedings
would mean to legitimize, against my will, a shameful farce that
takes place in the courtroom. Therefore, from this time on I refuse
to participate in trial voluntarily," Vahagn Chakhalyan concludes.

A CRY FOR HELP FROM THE BORDER VILLAGE OF HAYKADZOR
Yeranuhi Soghoyan

20 09/10/19 | 18:04

"They talk of normalizing relations with Turkey but haven’t even
solved the water problem here"

The dome and cross atop the Saint Gregory the Enlightener Church in
the village of Haykadzor have been damaged by gunfire.

The credit for this act of "bravery" belongs to a Turkish brigand
who didn’t like the way the cross shone under the moonlight. The
shots rang out from a distance not more than 200 meters from where
the border lies. This all took place back in the 1990’s; right after
independence. In popular parlance they were the "topsy-turvy" years.

Turkey had already managed to close its border with Armenia. The
Turkish brigand also probably thought that he would show the world how
mighty his country was by letting off a few rounds in the direction
of the Armenian church.

Saint Gregory the Enlightener, built during 980-985, is the only holy
site in the border village of Haykadzor.

In fact, it doesn’t lie in the village itself but on the other side
of the barbed wire petition; in no man’s land.

Pilgrims and the village faithful visit the church only on the main
feast days, and that’s after obtaining the permission of the Shirak
Primate and the Gyumri border patrol officials.

The Armenian-Turkish border is only 60 meters away.

Out of the 140 families that once lived here, only 77 now remain due
to a number of problems that were never taken care of in this border
village. Only 69 children attend the local school. Zorik Sargsyan
will probably move his family out of the village in two years. "We’ve
heard that the school will be cut to eight grades. What can I do? They
talk about normalizing relations with Turkey but for years on end
they haven’t been able to do anything about supplying the village
with water so that people aren’t forced to leave."

Ishkhan Sargsyan, Zorik’s father, who traces his lineage to Moush,
isn’t against normalizing relations with Turkey but states that
the Genocide and Karabakh must be of primary importance. "You know,
young woman, that Georgia isn’t such a big deal that we should place
all our hopes there. We need more at one decent neighbor," concludes
Grandpa Ishkhan.

We are the ones protecting your precious border

The young and middle aged folk in Haykadzor appeared pretty vocal in
their opposition to the normalization process and didn’t see anything
good coming out of the opening of the border.

35 year-old Vrezh Abrahamyan was quite concerned that the village
would become a ghost town. "The problems here in the village are so
many that we aren’t concerned if the border opens or what the Turks
have written on the opposite mountain or whether I should hate them
or love them. My village is slowly losing its people and there will
be no one left in a few years. What freekin border are you talking
about? We are the ones protecting your precious border. Maybe they
want to open the border so that we will leave and have the Turks move
in. Is that what they want?"

The young mayor of Haykadzor, Roudik Gevorgyan, said that he has
warned the government that village residents would move out if the
drinking water problem wasn’t fixed. "I have been living in this
village for 30 years and I can tell you straight-up that a border
without people cannot be defended, even though the border patrol
office is close-by. Many in the patrol are from this village anyway.

We have a few groups that patrol the village at night. In these
parts, you sleep with one eye open. But our government can’t find the
resources to help us solve the water and transportation problems we
face here."

Every day, some 20-30 people make the round trip to Gyumri on the
one bus that services the four area villages. They cannot take
advantage of the train, the cheapest form of transportation. The
minibus ticket to Gyumri costs 400 AMD while it only costs 170 by
train. "We want to build a railway platform so that the train can
also stop near the village. I am ready to invest 1.2 million AMD to
build a small enclosed platform so that people don’t disembark right
onto the tracks. All it takes from the government is to map out the
best site and for the railway to give its permission, which it has
been holding up for the past 15 years. And I’m not the only village
mayor that’s been pursuing the matter."

The government has allocated the Haykadzor Municipality the sum of
5 million AMD to begin drilling operation for water. According to
preliminary cost estimates, such a project calls for 19 million. "I
have placed a bid to start work but no company will agree to complete
the project for a mere 5 million. And the worst thing of all is that
in a few years the village will be empty all due to a few million AMD.

No wonder that local residents, living in such conditions, aren’t
all that worked up about the border opening."

The Turks will sweet-talk our women into leaving

In Haykadzor, they picture the situation after the border is opened
to be the same as that in Akhourik, a village further north along the
border. That’s to say, there will be a crossing point and a customs
house. Hovhannes Smbatyan, for one, believes such an outcome will be
a good thing. "I believe that if the border opens and people can come
and go, it will be good for us. Various items will become cheaper
and people her can finally start to live a better life. Otherwise,
we have to go all the way to Poti and get fleeced by the Georgians."

Sasha Yeghoyan has another concern on his mind. "In the long-run, does
it pay for the hungry folk around her to make friends with the Turks?

They have a flattering tongue and one day, sure ‘nuf, they’ll
be sweet-talking our women and girls to go with them to Kars and
Istanbul for a better life," says Grandpa Sasha, "Our side is weak
when it comes to upholding morality. Even now, there are those who
leave and I’m afraid that their numbers will increase later on. No,
I do not agree that the border should be opened. If it must then
there should be restrictions placed on the Turks."

Seven years ago there was talk in the air of turning the village of
Haykadzor into a tourist hub and a number of projects were on the
drawing board. Local residents remember that the Knights of Vartan,
a fraternal organization in the U.S., was keen on the idea. 120 new
homes and a hotel were to have been built so that tourists coming
here to gawk over fragmentary traces of western Armenian culture
would have a place to spend the night. Sadly, this grandiose scheme,
just like many smaller and more necessary ones, has remained on paper.

ANKARA ATTEMPTS TO START PROTOCOL RATIFICATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2009 10:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Official Ankara is very probably tying to start
protocol ratification as soon as possible. In the meantime, it’s
going to make abrupt and unambiguous statements on both Armenia
and international community with a demand of speeding up Karabakh
peace process," Head of National Neo-Conservative Movement Edward
Abrahamyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. He said it was a specific
kind of trap for Armenia and Turkey, with both Moscow and Washington
being stakeholders. Armenian leadership has already made the first
mistake, however, it is required to demonstrate vigilance to avoid
hasty steps posing hazard to the country. "It is necessary to take
some drastic steps towards Karabakh issue to prove to Turkey the
non-constructiveness of its position. With its unexpected steps towards
Karabakh issue, Armenia should make Turkey realize that situation in
Karabakh depends on Yerevan, and hence the issue should be resolved
by Yerevan without any influence or pressure from without.

After signing of Protocols, Armenia should not tolerate Turkish senior
officials’ open pro-Azerbaijani statements concerning Karabakh. If
Turkey continues acting as a ‘mediator’ in Karabakh issue, Armenia
will have to resort to international human rights organizations, with
a demand of Turkey’s providing compensation for economic, political,
social and demographic damage caused to Armenia during the blockade,"
neo-conservative leader stressed.

ARMROSGAZPROM TO RECEIVE CREDIT FROM GAZPROMBANK

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2009 12:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ArmRosGazProm will receive credit from Gazprombank,
company’s General Director Karen Karapetyan told journalists in
Yerevan, without disclosing the amount envisaged. "That’s going to
be a great sum enabling us to implement all our programs," he said.

At that he noted that company currently has a big credit portfolio
comprising loans from KFW, Iranian Export Development Bank and
American organizations. "Our credit portfolio enables us to manage
company’s financial flows in such a way so as to avoid deficits while
implementing the programs envisaged," he added.

MEMORANDUM SIGNED IN YEREVAN FOR PROTECTION OF SMALL- AND MID-SCALE BUSINESSES

ARKA
Oct 17, 2009

YEREVAN, October 17. /ARKA/. Armenian State Commission for Protection
of Economic Competition, the Center for European Law and Integration
of Yerevan State University and Brave juridical company signed a
trilateral memorandum on Friday.

The memorandum implies protection of small and medium enterprises
from monopoly abuse.

"This memorandum implies completely new state approach to small and
medium enterprises’ problems," said Ashot Shahnazaryan, the chairman
of the antitrust commission.

Arthur Ghazinyan, the director of Center for European Law and
Integration of Yerevan State University, said the center provides
consultations to the commission as well as small and medium
enterprises.

"Our commitment is to provide our partners with necessary information
and studies to make competition more effective," he said.

ZARDUSHT ALIZADE: TURKISH-IRAQI AGREEMENTS NO THREAT TO AZERBAIJAN

News.am
14:40 / 10/16/2009

"The Turkish-Iraqi agreement on gas transportation to Europe does not
constitute any threat to our gas projects with Europe. We already have
the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas main and the Nabucco pipeline will be
its continuation. That is, this pipeline cannot do without Azerbaijani
gas," the political analyst Zardusht Alizade told 1news.az agency.

"Yesterday we signed an agreement with Gazprom, and no one in the world
reproached us for doing so, as it is our sovereign right — we sell
our gas to whoever we like. The same applies to the Turkish-Iraqi
agreements. As a matter of fact, a realistic and active policy is
being implemented in the region – each country is acting in its
own interests.

"Let us not deny the fact that the West has recently strengthened its
influence on our region. A new geopolitical situation has developed,
and Azerbaijan has to work to avert any threat to our interests I think
we should intensify our activities in the ‘Western direction’, without
forgetting about Russia. This country is our great neighbor, and we
not only should, but also ought to strengthen bilateral relations. That
is we are going to have very much work in various fields now.

Besides, I think that we should deepen our relations with Turkey. It
has launched a realistic policy, so we should take a realistic view of
the situation as well and implement our policy in our own interests,"
Alizade said.

FOURTH SESSION OF THE ARMENIAN-UKRAINIAN INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION HELD TODAY IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
Oct 16, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS: Fourth session of the
Armenian-Ukrainian inter-governmental commission is being held today
in Yerevan. Armenian Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan is the co-chair
of the Armenian side, and Vladimir Novitski, Ukrainian Industrial
Policy Minister of the Ukrainian side.

The circle of issues discussed in the agenda includes development
of cooperation in trade-economic, cultural, educational, scientific,
agricultural, health spheres, as well as issues on inter-provincial
ties between Armenia and Ukraine.

Yeritsyan noted that this format of cooperation will give an
opportunity to find solutions to all the issues of bilateral
cooperation which have gathered during the recent years.

Highlighting the conduction of such events, he noted that the
establishment of direct ties between the businessmen of the two
countries creates basis for expansion of trade-economic relations
between Armenia and Ukraine. According to the minister, the prior
issues of the Armenian and Ukrainian sides are active partnership on
inter-provincial level.

Yeritsyan said the proposal of the Armenian Development Agency on
creating a permanent pavilion of Armenian products in Ukraine is
worthy of a special attention.

As of January 1, 2009, 65 companies with Ukrainian capital are
registered in Armenia.

Vladimir Novitski noted that the session will promote the consolidation
of further cooperation in economic as well as in educational and
cultural directions.

According to him, the existing potential between the two countries
is bigger than the implemented work and the results.

Within the framework of the session today the sides will sign a number
of protocols.

SPECIALISTS PREPARED BY ARMENIAN ASSOCIATION OF ACCOUNTANTS AND AUDITORS TO BE IN GREATER DEMAND SOON

NOYAN TAPAN
OCTOBER 14, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. On the occasion of International Day
of Standards, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited on October
14 the RA National Institute of Standards, congratulated the staff
on their professional holiday, and familiarized himself with the work
and opportunities of the institute.

As the press service of the RA government reported, then T. Sargsyan
went to the accountancy instruction and publication center of the
Armenian Association of Accountants and Auditors where he handed
qualification certificates to the graduates of the accountancy courses
run by the Association.

Addressing himself to the graduates, the prime minister said that
serious problems still exist in accountancy and audit. According to
him, the activities of some economic entities are not transparent and
people do not trust the financial reports submitted by these entities,
which is a severe blow to the economic system. He stated that the
Association’s development will help increase the trust of society,
reduce unnecessary expenses and eliminate various mediatory links.

In his words, the specialists, including auditors, who were trained by
the Association, will soon be in greater demand in the labor market
because starting from 2010, the audit companies will carry an extra
burden: under the law, the activities of big enterprises shall be
examined by independent audit companies and the results of these
checks and the financial reports be published.

The prime minister said that some audit companies set their seals
to the reports without conducting any checks, in violation of the
accounting rules, and such companies should be removed from the
market. T. Sargsyan requested the management of the Association to pay
special attention to the issue of training highly qualified auditors
so that in 2010 they will assume their duties of conducting audits
at large enterprises.

PARLIAMENT OF TURKEY WILL NOT RATIFY ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS UNTIL KARABAKH PROBLEM IS SETTLED, TURKISH POLITICAL SCIENTIST SAYS

"Armenians Today" publication is issued by "Noyan Tapan
14.10.2009

The Armenia-Turkey protocols signed in Zurich are significant not
only in terms of normalizing bilateral realtions, but also from the
viewpoint of regional and international security. Deputy Chairman of
the RF Federation Council’s Committee of International Affairs Vasily
Lichachev stated this during the October 13 Yerevan-Ankara-Moscow
television bridge. In his words, it is important that the political
will expressed by both sides be maintained during the protocols’
ratification by the two parliaments and their implementation.

Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RA National
Academy of Sciences. Turkologist Ruben Safrastian expressed a high
opinion about the fact that the sides have agreed not to put forward
any preconditions. At the same time he stressed that the further
process will be difficult. "I am convinced of ultimate success of this
process because the favorable outcome proceeds from the interests of
Armenia and Turkey," he said.

Vice President of European Security Academy and member of the
scientific board of the Middle East Technical University Huseyin Bagci
expressed a hope that "the autumn sun from Ankara will penetrate
into the protocols, and the establishment of diplomatic relations
will put an end to the dark period in our relations".

In the words of Head of the Section of Turkey of the Institute of
Oriental Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences Natalia Ulchenko,
there is a widespread opinion that Turkey will benefit from the
process in the political sense, while Armenia in the economic sense,
but it is obvious that Turkey’s underdeveloped eastern region – Eastern
Anatolia will benefit as a result of opening the border with Armenia:
its economic insularity will be overcome at the expense of markets
located east of Turkey, particularly Armenian markets.

According to Director of the Caucasus Media Institute Alexander
Iskandarian, the signing of these documents is only the beginning
of the road: some underwater snags may emerge during the protocols’
ratification by the parliaments. He noted that among Armenians,
there are those in favor of the process and people who view it
with suspicion. "I do not think that there is zero probability of
normalizing the relations," he said, adding that there is still much
to be done within the two countries and outside.

Chairman of the Turkish Center of Strategic Analysis Sinan Ohan said
the problems existing between Armenia and Turkey so far – the Genocide
problem, the issues of Ararat and Eastern Anatolia – remain behind,
whereas the Karabakh problem comes to the foreground. In his words,
although the word "Karabakh" is absent in the protocols, the Turkish
parliament will not ratify them until the Karabakh problem is settled.

In response to that, Head of the CSTO International Social Center of
Information Assistance Ramil Latipov stated: "Let’s leave the Karabakh
problem to be resolved within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group".

Chairman of "European Integration" NGO Karen Bekarian said any attempt
by Turkish officials to link these two processes to each other hits
the Karabakh conflict settlement process. According to him, a country
that itself caused a mass exodus of refugees from Eastern Anatolia
or Western Armenia has no right to speak about the return of refugees
and territories.