Author: Karabekian Emil

AZERBAIJANI OMBUDSMAN DISCUSSES RETURNING AZERBAIJANIS

Trend
March 31 2010
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova raised the issue of
returning Azerbaijani captives and hostages captured by Armenia at
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Suleymanova paid a working visit to Geneva March 22-27 upon the
invitation of the UNHCR, the ombudsman’s press officer told Trend
News today.

During the visit, the ombudsman met with ICRC Eastern Europe and
Central Asia Operations head Pascale Wagner.

Suleymanova asked Wagner to assist in returning home Azerbaijani
captives and hostages captured by Armenia, as well as to address the
request to ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger.

During the meeting, the ombudsman provided extensive information
about how one-fifth of the country has been occupied as a result of
Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan in 1988. Armenians massacred
civilians and thousands of Azerbaijanis were taken hostage.

Suleymanova has brought to the attention of the ICRC representative
that Azerbaijani soldiers Hasanov Rafig (captured Oct. 8, 2008 near
the Kamarli village in Gazakh), Anar Hajiyev (captured May 10, 2009
near the Fizuli region), as well as civilian Eldar Tagiyev (captured
Dec. 28, 2009 near the Alibeyli village in Tovuz) have not yet been
released.

Taking into account the severe psychological state of their relatives,
Suleymanova noted the need for these individual to correspond with
their families.

Wagner said ICRC regional offices have visited the prisoners and
hostages, and are monitoring the status and conditions of their
detention. The ICRC representative promised to take into account the
Azerbaijani ombudsman’s request.

PHOTO EXHIBITION ON ‘FREEDOM OF THE PRESS’ IN MAY

2010/03/30 | 18:34

society

To celebrate the World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the Freedom of
Information Center in cooperation with the USAID/Armenia, OSCE Office
in Yerevan and UN Department of Public Information, will organize a
photo exhibition "Freedom of the Press, the Right to Know".

Everybody is invited to present photos for this exhibition

regardless when they have been made. The topic of photos is the
freedom of the press and freedom of information. Send us photos that
in your opinion represent the implementation of the right of freedom
of expression and access to information. From the submitted photos,
the professional jury will choose the best ones to be showcased
in the exhibition on May 3. The selected photos will be also
printed in the special photo catalogue devoted to the Press Freedom
Day. For any further assistance do not hesitate to contact us at
[email protected] or call at 099-400840 or 091-407836.

IMF ALLOCATED 73 MILLION

s17341.html
11:05:34 – 30/03/2010

According to ITAR-TASS, the central office of the International
Monetary Fund informed that Armenia has been allocated a credit of
73 million dollars, according to earlier reached agreements. Under
the same agreement, Armenia has already received 532 million dollars.

IMF Managing Director, Mario Portugal stated that Armenia carries out
serious work to overcome the effects of the crisis and because of this,
"the country, apparently entered into post-crisis phase".

Recall that the IMF loan will be sent to replenish the state reserves,
which are emptied in order to maintain the dram rate. But in 2009,
the IMF took an unprecedented step of allowing the use of about 150
million loan to replenish the budget deficit. It was stated that the
IMF will apparently allow the Armenian authorities to use 150 million
from its loan for budgetary purposes in 2010 too.

Former IMF representative Ninke Olmes in Yerevan said she is not
interested in how the government is going to spend that money because
she thinks the money will be used effectively.

L’ARMENIE AFFIRME QU’UNE AUTRE GUERRE DU KARABAKH EST PEU PROBABLE MAINTENANT
par Stephane

armenews
mardi30 mars 2010
Armenie

Une nouvelle guerre armeno-azerie est peu probable en ce moment
actuel malgre les menaces continuelles de l’Azerbaïdjan de reprendre
le Nagorno-Karabakh par la force a declare jeudi le Ministre armenien
de la Defense Nationale Seyran Ohanian.

" Comme ministre de la Defense Nationale, je dois constamment me
preparer pour la guerre, mais aujourd’hui nos analyses et evaluations
de la situation temoignent de quelque chose d’autre. C’est-a-dire
qu’il n’y a aucune chose prealable pour la reprise de la guerre "
a dit Seyran Ohanian a RFE/RL.

L’Armenie a depuis abonde en rumeurs que les forces armees du Karabakh
et d’Armenie avaient ete mises en alerte en prevision d’une offensive
azerie. La speculation a coïncide avec un appel en cours de reservistes
pour des exercices militaires a travers le pays.

Comme d’autres fonctionnaires militaires, Ohanian a minimise les
exercices comme des evenements "ordinaires" qui etaient toujours
organises par les militaires armeniens. " Je crois que s’il y a une
situation où nous devons entièrement defendre notre pays alors l’armee
ne sera pas seule " a-t-il dit. " L’armee sera avec des ressources
de mobilisation. C’est pourquoi nous payons uen attention serieuse
a l’empressement de la mobilisation sous ma direction. "

Ohanian, qui etait un commandant au Karabakh et qui a perdu un pied
pendant la guerre de 1991 a 1994 avec l’Azerbaïdjan, a aussi minimise
les recents incidents mortels sur la ligne de contact.

" La situation est calme " a-t-il dit. " Il y a toujours eu des
situations tendues sur la ligne du front. Par des situations tendues
je veux dire des escarmouches. Aussi, plusieurs fois par an il y a des
tentatives par des groupes de sabotage d’infiltrer la frontière. Mais
dans l’ensemble, la situation est sous contrôle. "

BRITISH PARLIAMENT NOT PUT TO VOTE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.03.2010 19:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Genocide resolution was not put to
a vote in the House of Lords, John Torosyan, head of the Armenian
community of Cardiff told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

On March 29 the House of Lords held hearings on events between 1915 –
1917 initiated by an independent MP, Baroness Caroline Cox. During the
debate, Lady Cox recalled that the Turkish government still denies
the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire and opposed its recognition
by the international community.

Speaking on behalf of the government, Baroness Kinnock recalled
that the fate of ethnic Armenians and other Christian minorities,
including Assyrians living in the Ottoman Empire, was discussed at
a cabinet meeting on October 21, 1915. However, she considered as
premature the adoption of the resolution.

During the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in
London, Minister of Justice Jack Straw promised the Turkish prime
minister that the Armenian Genocide resolution will not be put to
the vote.

On March 4 the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign
Affairs approved the Res. 252 on the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman
Empire.

On March 11 the Parliament of Sweden adopted a similar resolution.

BAKU WITHHOLDS COMMENT ON YEREVAN’S KARABAKH POSITION

news.az
March 29 2010
Azerbaijan

Elkhan Polukhov The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has not yet been
informed of Armenia’s position on the updated Madrid principles for
a Karabakh settlement.

Azerbaijan will determine its attitude to Armenia’s position only
after it has been briefed by the OSCE Minsk Group mediators, Foreign
Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov said today.

‘We must learn the position of the Armenian side on the updated
Madrid principles and only after this will we declare our vision on
the issue,’ the diplomat said.

The Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yury Merzlyakov, said
in Karabakh that the Armenian side did not agree with some points in
the updated Madrid principles.

The updated Madrid principles are proposed by the mediators as the
basis for negotiations on a Karabakh settlement. Baku accepts the
updated principles in general, but ‘there are elements that do not
suit us’, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said earlier this month.

The Madrid principles include the return of the territories surrounding
Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, an interim status for Karabakh
providing guarantees for security and self-governance, and the future
determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through
a legally binding expression of will.

Azerbaijan has said that any referendum on the status of Karabakh
would have to be held in Azerbaijan as a whole.

TYPICAL EXAMPLE

16:10:46 – 25/03/2010
hos17295.html

The former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, dwelling on the Armenian
economic situation and the influence of the corruption on it, brought
an example:

Alex Grig Company paid 15 billion indirect taxes in 2009, according to
the official data. In order to pay such a tax, you need to have a
money circulation of 70 billion dram which is 200 million dollar. He
adds that in accordance with the same numbers, the company paid 40
million of tax profit which means that the company had a profit of
maximum 400 thousand dollars. Dividing 400 thousand into 200 million
we will get a profit of 0, 02 percent. Such a company cannot exist,
says Hrant Bagratyan adding that instead of insulting our neighbors,
we need to take care of our country.

Bagratyan says if we go on behaving this way, others will again
slaughter us, and we do not need to complain.

By the way, the owner of Alex Grig Company is NA member Samvel Alexanyan.

Why was Vardan Ayvazyan Reprimanded?

15:19 – 26.03.10

At a press conference today, Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) press
secretary Eduard Sharmazanov, in the end, didn’t respond to the
question why HHK member Vardan Ayvazyan was reprimanded.

`But who said that he was reprimanded for expressing his opinion? Were
you there? And why should you know in detail? That is our party’s
internal issue,’ said Sharmazanov.

The HHK spokesperson denied media reports that Ayvazyan was
reprimanded because of proclaiming to protect Gagik Tsarukyan.

According to Sharmazanov, discipline is one of the guarantees of each
party’s success, and to take this approch is considered acceptable at
HHK.

Tert.am

Ecological thinking fostered in Armenia

26.03.2010 14:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8.30pm, a billion
people around the world will switch off their lights for one hour –
WWF’s Earth Hour to show they care about climate change.

`Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, will join the global action during
which the outside lighting will be turned off between 8:30 and 9:30
pm,’ Diana Yeritspokhyan, a spokeswoman for the Yerevan mayor’s
office, told a press conference in Yerevan.

"We hope this action would foster ecological thinking among the
younger generation and remind them about their responsibility in
respect to the global processes of climate change," she said.

The RA Ministry of Environment, Yerevan mayor’s office, SPYUR
information center, Nat Geo Travel, HSBC Bank Armenia and other
organizations joined the initiative.

According to head of WWF Armenia Aram Gabrielyan, the action is to
appeal to the world public in regard to a reasonable use of available
natural resources, otherwise future generations will lack them in
2050-2100.

Trend, Azerbaijan
March 26 2010

OSCE looks to set meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Astana
26.03.2010 14:26

Kazakhstan is ready to hold a meeting between Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Astana 2010 to
help resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, OSCE Chairman-In-Office,
Kazakh Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev was
quoted as saying by KazTAG.

"As part of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
on the basis of the Madrid Principles, we will give every assistance
to the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group and are ready to hold a
meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Astana in
2010," he said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers
March 26.

The OSCE chairman recalled that during his tour to the South Caucasus
Feb. 15-17, he became acquainted with the real situation in the
conflict zone and the current position of the parties.

"We will make every effort to facilitate the consistent promotion of
positive trends in resolving protracted conflicts," Saudabayev said.