Author: Kalashian Nyrie

THE U.S. WILL SET TO WORK OVER TURKEY

Aysor
Feb 8 2010
Armenia

Commenting the statement by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
that the U.S. Congress is suppressing Turkey through making up the
Armenian Genocide Resolution on March 4, former Advisor to President,
political scientist Vafa Guluzade said the White House had decided
to blackmail Turkey.

"The White House is deliberately spoiling relations with Turkey and
Azerbaijan. If this doesn’t stop, I mean, if Americans recognize
the Genocide, then Turkey will break off connections with the United
States," said Vafa Guluzade.

If all these happen, then Turkey will strengthen its ties with Iran
and Russia and will spoil relations with the White House, demanding
to withdrawal the US troops from Turkey, according to the analyst.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if the White House conducts such a policy
deliberately or ‘because of stupidity’, says Vafa Guluzade.

"The U.S. is likely to see the last of Iran and then start setting
to work over Turkey.

"The U.S. gave its word to turn Turkey into regional leader via
settlement to the Karabakh conflict in exchange for opening the
border. But as a result Turkey was one-sided suppressed by the
White House.

"U.S.’s chief objectives are to divide Turkey into pieces, make the
Kurdish issue up, and destabilize the situation in the country,"
said Vafa Guluzade.

HRAYR SIMONYAN WINS ARMENIAN RAPID CHESS CHAMPION’S TITLE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
08.02.2010 17:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Grand master Hrayr Simonyan won Armenian rapid chess
champion’s title, having scored 7 of 8 possible points.

Earlier, Simonyan took the second place at FIDE-organized internet
blitz chess tournament, gaining a right to participate in the next
tour of World Blitz Chess Championship, armchess.am reported.

ARMENIA TO INTRODUCE E-GOVERNANCE IN 2012

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.02.2010 15:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The electronic governance will be introduced
in Armenia in January 2012. According to the press office of the
Secretary of National Security Council, an inter-agency working group
will elaborate a concept of introduction of e-governance within a
three-year Armenia-EU program by September 2010.

As secretary of the National Security Council Arthur Baghdasaryan
told today’s meeting of the working group, new governance system
must include not only public authorities and municipalities, but
also create an opportunity for businesses to communicate with state
bodies via e-mail. According to him, a new governance system will
reduce corruption risks and eliminate the red tape.

Elaboration and implementation of the concept will be carried out
accordingly with legislative changes. In particular, draft laws on
information bases and on the protection of personal data will be
developed and submitted to the RA government

US CONTINUES PROMOTING ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.02.2010 21:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US continues promoting normalization of
Armenia-Turkey ties, United States Deputy Secretary of State, James
Steinberg said.

As he stated at the meeting with RA President Serzh Sargsyan, US
highly appreciates Armenia’s efforts towards settlement of regional
issues. "Normalization of Armenia-Turkey ties is very important
to US, and we are ready to continue promoting the rapprochement
process," James Steinberg said, adding that Armenian Constitutional
Court’s ruling on RA-Turkey Protocols is a positive step forward in
reconciliation process.

Armenian President, in turn, highly assessed well-balanced regional
policy of US.

"Over the past years, US became our 5th trade and 3rd export partner,
which is very important to Armenia. We implemented a number of
legislative reforms to strengthen bilateral relations," Serzh
Sargsyan said.

James Steinberg expressed readiness to collaborate with Armenia both
on bilateral and regional issues.

This has been James Steinberg’s second visit to RA in the capacity of
Deputy Secretary of State. Assistant Secretary of State for European
and Eurasian Affairs, Philip Gordon joined James Steinberg in his
visit.

The meeting was also attended by US Ambassador to Armenia Marie L.

Yovanovitch, presidential press service reported.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation.

On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.

BATHROOMS POSSIBLE OBSTACLE IN DEVELOPING TOURISM IN ARMENIA

Tert.am
16:29 ~U 05.02.10

Despite a drop of 4% in tourism around the world, the number of
tourists visiting Armenia has gone up by 3%.

Mekhak Apresyan, Head of Tourism and Regional Economic Development
at the RA Ministry of Economy, speaking with journalists today,
explained the rise by saying it was due to good PR and marketing,
with Armenia beginning to gain recognition as a tourist destination.

Supporting the rise in tourism is the number of international exhibits
and trade fairs on tourism that Armenia participates in, as well as
TV programs, ads, and films on tourism hot-spots in Armenia, which
are broadcast around the world.

Apresyan forecasts a 5% increase in tourism this year, saying that it
is tourists from the Commonwealth of Independent States and European
countries that are primarily interested in the country. However,
over the last few years, there’s been an increase in tourists from
Iran and Scandinavian countries, as well.

Futher, there was an increase of 2% in people from Armenia travelling
elsewhere for holidays. According to Apresyan, Armenians primarily
vacation in seaside countries.

The Armenian government forecasts that until 2020, 2.5-3 billion AMD
is needed to develop tourism in Armenia, 700 million of which will
come from the governement, while the rest from private companies.

Speaking about possible factors that might deter tourists, Apresyan
noted that bathrooms and roads, in particular, are in poor condition.

POSTAL SERVICE QUALITY DUE TO IMPROVE

Thur sday, 4 February 2010

Chaired by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the Cabinet met in a
planned session at the Office of Government.

Two decisions have been passed to amend a standing government decree
and to streamline forensic expertise-related services under the state
order to be filed by the Office of Prosecutor General in 2010. The
addendum stipulates that in 2010 the Office of Prosecutor General
shall obtain services for 5 635 activities in 28 types of expertise
to the total cost of AMD 161836.3 thousand, funded under State budget
expenditures.

Under a decision passed with reference to the 2010 State order
on training and special courses intended for servicemen from the
RA Justice Ministry, the Government has decided that 680 and 703
servants respectively will be provided training and special courses
during the year.

The Government has amended a previous decision by adding the activity
of customs brokerage on the list of activities authorized for the
national operator of postal services. According to Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan, this measure is supposed to enhance the quality and
affordability of services offered the Haypost CJSC.

The Government has approved the text of the national report to be
submitted under paragraph 15 (a) of resolution 5/1 of UN Human Rights
Council to be defended before the UN panel during an interactive
dialog to be held between Armenia’s delegation and member States. In
preparation for this event, the Government endorsed some six national
human rights reports last year.

The Cabinet has also approved Armenia’s third and fourth joint
periodical reports on the performance of the United Nations children’s
rights convention.

The Government has endorsed the proposal on signing the scientific
cooperation agreement with the UAE government.

The document is supposed to provide a framework for the implementation
of co-financed scientific and social-economic projects and programs
of top economic importance to both sides, exchange of researchers
and experts, as well as to facilitate the training of research staff.

Sergey Avetisyan was appointed to be Chief of Staff of RA Ministry of
Culture on the basis of probation. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
congratulated him and wished every success. The Prime Minister
referred to those controversial interpretations given by media outlets
concerning the release of David Muradyan from his duties as RA Deputy
Ministry of Culture. Tigran Sargsyan said the former deputy minister
was relieved of office of his own free will as he wanted to devote
himself to creative work. David Muradyan’s contribution is highly
valued and he is expected to excel in the creative field.

One student was exempted from army service until his graduation from
the university.

Over twenty issues have been discussed and decided upon during the
session.

USA TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SOONER OR LATER

ArmInfo
2010-02-03 08:56:00

US Congress will adopt the Armenian Genocide resolution sooner
or later, since this is a fact which cannot be a point at issue,
Regional Director of the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) Arpi
Vardanyan told ArmInfo.

When asked about the connection of the Armenian-Turkish process with
promotion of the Armenian Genocide resolution in the US Congress, A.

Vardanyan replied that a dialogue between Armenia and Turkey should
not affect the decisions of the American Congress. She thinks it is
quite possible that the American President Barack Obama will recognize
the Armenian Genocide in his annual speech on April 24, based on the
situation developed in the Armenian-Turkish relations. "However,
I would not like to connect these processes, as Obama stood for
recognition of the Genocide even being a congressman and during his
election campaign, also, he did not change his opinion on this issue
having become a president. I think one should not connect one with
another, since these are different issues", A. Vardanyan said and
added that having recognized the Armenian Genocide, the USA will
accept and recognize their own history as well. "Both the USA and
Turkey will have to officially recognize the fact of the Armenian
Genocide sooner or later", A. Vardanyan resumed.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLED CE COUNTRIES TO UPHOLD LINGUISTIC RIGHTS OF NATIONAL MINORITIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.02.2010 19:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
Thomas Hammarberg made a statement on the rights of national minorities
and appealed to the Council of Europe member countries to respect the
rights of ethnic minorities. "We must respect the linguistic rights of
national minorities, otherwise the human rights are violated leading
to inter-communal clashes," Hammerberg’s statement says.

He drew attention to the fact that over the past 20 years this problem
has worsened again. The existing nationalist tendencies are used
by radicals for spreading xenophobia against minorities. "Language
problems in Europe are not a phenomenon, international and European
conventions have provisions and rules concerning these issues,"
the statement of the commissioner said, Yerkir Union reported.

The Council of Europe is the oldest international organisation working
towards European integration, having been founded in 1949. It has
a particular emphasis on legal standards, human rights, democratic
development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. It has
47 member states with some 800 million citizens. Its statutory
institutions are the Committee of Ministers comprising the foreign
ministers of each member state, the Parliamentary Assembly composed
of MPs from the Parliament of each member state, and the Secretary
General heading the secretariat of the Council of Europe. The most
famous conventional bodies of the Council of Europe are the European
Court of Human Rights, which enforces the European Convention on Human
Rights, and the European Pharmacopoeia Commission, which sets the
quality standards for pharmaceutical products in Europe. The Council
of Europe’s work has resulted in standards, charters and conventions
to facilitate cooperation between European countries and further
integration. The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg,
France with English and French as its two official languages. The
Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress
also use German, Italian and Russian for some of their work.

YOUNG SPECIALISTS TO BE INVOLVED IN THE EU CONSULTING GROUP IN ARMENIA

AZG DAILY
03-02-2010

International

Secretary of the National Security Council Arthur Baghdasaryan, head
of the EU delegation to Armenia Raul de Lutzenberger and UNDP resident
representative Dafina Gercheeva signed an agreement, which intends
to involve young specialists in the EU consulting group in Armenia,
Armenpress reports.

Arthur Baghdasaryan noted that according to the 2009-2011 action
program the cooperation between Armenia and EU is developing
quite effectively. In all the directions the reforms are passing
successfully. "I think that this year February 22 we will sum up the
work carried out in 2009, will point out the achievements and further
activity," A. Baghdasaryan said.

Highlighting the signing of the agreement, he noted that it will give
an opportunity to involve progressive young people of the Armenian
universities in the works of the consulting group which is working
toward promoting cooperation between Armenia and EU.

"It is a very good occasion, which will give an opportunity to the
young people get involved in the works of the European establishments
and be able to participate in the process of implementation of
reforms in Armenia. They are quite extended and refer to the spheres
of education, nature protection, social insurance, freedom, security,
etc.," Arthur Baghdasaryan said.

R. de Lutzenberger noted that this is a new tool, which will give
an opportunity to clever Armenian students gather direct experience
of implementation of reforms by working with the EU experts and
consultants.

D. Gercheeva said that it is very delightful that Armenia-EU
cooperation enters new phase which gives an opportunity to develop
national abilities and guarantees that they will be used in Armenia.

An independent commission will be created for the selection of young
specialists. Once in a year an open tender will be declared. The
specialists will be accepted with one-year term and will be paid. A.

Baghdasaryan expressed conviction that the commission will create
unbiased conditions so that best young people be involved in the
program, the source reports.

Foreign businessmen allowed to receive permanent residence permit in Armenia
02.02.2010 13:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A bill on amendments to the RA Law on foreign
citizens was passed by the Armenian parliament Tuesday, following
discussions. The bill envisages status determination for foreign
citizens of Armenian descent, residing in the RA, as well as for
foreign entrepreneurs engaged in business activities in the republic