Author: Karagyozian Lena

ROBERT SIMMONS: DEVELOPMENT OF DIRECT BILATERAL CONTACTS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY TO CONTRIBUTE TO STABILIZATION OF REGION

ArmInfo
2008-10-20 17:21:00

ArmInfo. Development of direct bilateral contacts between Armenia and
Turkey will contribute to stabilization of the region in general,
Special Representative of NATO Secretary General for the Caucasus
and Central Asia Robert Simmons said at the Yerevan State Linguistic
University after V.Brusov, Monday.

He welcomed the initiative of the Armenian president who invited his
Turkish counterpart to Yerevan and stressed that normalization of the
relations between Armenia and Turkey, one of NATO member countries
is very important.

Simmons thinks that opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will
contribute to the soonest settlement of conflicts and improvement
of the relations in the region. This meets the interests of NATO,
Armenia and Turkey, he said and expressed hope that the latter will
continue the tendency to normalization of relations.

TURKEY’S BABACAN EXPECTS OBJECTIVE PROGRESS REPORT FROM EU

Tuesday, 21 October 2008 12:35
Turkey

Babacan said that he might meet his Armenian counterpart in a meeting
of the foreign ministers of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)
countries in Tirana, Albania.

The Turkish foreign minister expressed his expectation for an objective
and fair progress report on Tuesday.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said that he expected that
the European Commission would prepare an objective and fair progress
report on Turkey.

The commission is to make public the report on Turkey’s progress on
the road to European Union (EU) membership in November.

"This year’s report should objectively and fairly show where Turkey
is, what it is doing, and what it has to do," Babacan told the private
NTV channel.

Babacan said Turkey would make reforms according to its own schedule
and priorities.

Also, Babacan said that Turkey would maintain its busy diplomacy
traffic with Armenia, and told the private channel that he might
meet his Armenian counterpart in a meeting of the foreign ministers
of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) countries in Tirana, Albania.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul paid one-day visit to the Armenian
capital of Yerevan to watch a 2010 World Cup qualifier between Turkish
and Armenian national soccer teams on September 6, 2008.

Gul met his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsian during this visit.

PM TIGRAN SARGSYAN MET US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE

armradio.am
18.10.2008 11:28

Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan received US Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried.

"We want the US-Armenian relationship to go on strengthening. New
possibilities have opened up for you: we have a new ambassador
in Armenia and we would like to use these possibilities for the
strengthening of bilateral relations. The region itself will benefit
from a powerful, sovereign and democratic Armenia," Daniel Fried said
and asked about the outcome of RA Prime Minister’s recent visit to
Washington. He also wanted to hear Tigran Sargsyan’s comments on the
financial crisis and its impact on Armenia, as well as on the ongoing
reform in our country.

The Armenian Prime Minister stated that his visit was quite successful
and encouraging. According to him, a new chapter is being written
in the history of bilateral relations, and enthusiasm is supposed to
give a new impetus to reform.

"We do have a friendly country in the person of the United States which
has assisted us a lot for the past several years. I trust that our
relations have a good outlook," Tigran Sargsyan said. He briefed the
guest on the results of those contacts had in the United States, the
prospects for bilateral and regional cooperation and the discussions
held on the financial crisis and its eventual impact on Armenia.

The US Assistant Secretary of State expressed hope that Armenia will
settle its relations with Turkey and the Karabakh conflict. Also,
he said to be hopeful that our country will succeed in completing the
ongoing reforms and addressing those problems faced up in connection
with the March 1-2 events.

At the same time, Mr. Fried emphasized the need for strengthening
democratic institutions and rule-of-law in Armenia.

In conclusion, Daniel Fried stressed once again that Armenia is
important to the United States as evidenced by the RA Prime Minister’s
successful visit to Washington.

GHANA AMBASSADOR HANDS HIS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT SARGSYAN

armradio.am
16.10.2008 14:03

The newly appointed Ambassador of Ghana to Armenia Edward Apau Sentey
(seat in Moscow) presented his credentials to the President of Armenia,
Mr. Serzh Sargsyan.

Congratulating the diplomat on assuming office, the President said
Armenia is interested in the development of relations with African
states and in this context attaches importance to the mutually
beneficial cooperation with Ghana.

Serzh Sargsyan prioritized the issues of familiarization of the two
countries and peoples with each other, saying that in that case edges
of cooperation will certainly be found.

The parties underlined the cooperation within international
organizations, particularly the UN.

AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER, US TOP DIPLOMAT DISCUSS KARABAKH CONFLICT

Interfax News Agency
October 3, 2008 Friday
Russia

Baku, 3 October: Baku and Yerevan should intensify the negotiations
for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, US Deputy Secretary of
State John Negroponte has said.

"It is necessary to intensify the negotiations to accelerate
achievement of an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia," Negroponte
said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
on Friday [3 October] in Baku.

As Interfax-Azerbaijan news agency learnt from the Foreign Ministry of
the republic, for his part, Mammadyarov said that a resolution to the
Karabakh problem was only possible within the limits of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity. "Therefore, it is necessary for Armenia to
pullout troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and the return
of the refugees and IDPs there," the head of the Foreign Ministry said.

Negroponte has been on a visit to Azerbaijan since 2 October.

RUSSIA, U.S. COMPETE FOR RESOLUTION OF AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA CONFLICT OVER NAGORNO-KARABAKH
by Natalia Leshchenko

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
October 6, 2008

Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov has announced
a substantial breakthrough in Armenia-Azerbaijan talks over the
regulation in Nagorno-Karabakh after a meeting with Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan. At the same time, Turkey has mediated a meeting
between the contending sides on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly, and Iran has officially offered its help in resolving the
conflict. The United States is maintaining an active involvement in
the process as well, with Vice-President Dick Cheney visiting Baku,
followed by a number of lower-ranking officials.

Significance:Talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, frozen for over
15 years, have intensified recently as Russia and the United States
have increased their competition for influence in the Caucasus. The
United States is hoping to resolve the conflict by attracting Armenia
to the Nabucco gas pipeline project, of which Azerbaijan is currently a
pinnacle. Russia, on its part, is seeking a solution through bringing
a regional dimension to the conflict, drawing Turkey and Iran in. At
the September UN meeting, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
reportedly proposed to his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts to
create a new regional organisation that would include the three South
Caucasus states as well as Russia and Turkey, the purported Caucasus
Cooperation and Stability Platform. Both Armenian and Azerbaijan keep
finding faults with both resolution plans, wary and suspicious of each
other as always, but the intense international pressure from both
Russia and its allies, and the United States, will make them take
a decision sooner rather than later. The future of energy projects
and regional cooperation is at stake, and some breakthrough is to
be expected, with Russia in our opinion having more sway over the
leadership of the countries concerned.

AUSTRALIA’S OLDEST CITIZEN CELEBRATES HER 112TH BIRTHDAY
Andra Jackson

The Age
October 14, 2008
Australia

Piece of cake: Bea Riley, (centre) celebrates her 112th birthday with
(left to right) her niece Bid Riley, nursing home manager Andreas
Kazacos, son Cliff Riley and his wife Jueno. Photo: Penny Stephens

BUGGIES, wagonettes, and phaetons still constituted the vehicle
section of The Argus, the year Bea Riley was born.

That was more than a century ago, when Collingwood’s Foy and Gibson
store announced the arrival of a shipment of Remington bicycles –
22 pounds and 10 shillings for gentlemen’s bicycles and 23 pounds
and 10 shillings for ladies’ bicycles.

Mrs Riley, who turned 112 yesterday, was presented with a copy
of The Argus from the day she was born, by her son, Cliff, and
daughter-in-law, Jueno.

Her birthday on October 13, 1896, makes her Australia’s oldest-known
citizen, and the world’s 30th-oldest person.

That day the headlines focused on the slaughter of 1000 Armenians by
Kurds on the Euphrates, and speculation that with the retirement of
Britain’s Liberal Party leader, Lord Rosebery, Gladstone would resume
the party leadership.

Told that The Argus back then sold for one penny, Mrs Riley remarked:
"It is different now."

Over more than a century that took her from her birthplace in Poowong
in eastern South Gippsland to nursing in Ararat and to her present
aged accommodation in Rosanna, she nominated the advent of machines
that could fly as the most exciting development of her lifetime.

"I didn’t travel much in aeroplanes," she added.

She has been a survivor in more ways than one.

Having only one kidney left her battling illness early in life,
but Mrs Riley has outlived her sisters and brothers, and a daughter,
as well as her husband of 60 years, a health department administrator.

The grandmother of six and great-grandmother of 14 stayed in her own
home in Ivanhoe until she was 99.

Until five years ago, she still managed to keep up a strict daily
exercise regime, which included touching her toes.

"She was always very resilient and uncompromising in what she did,
" her son, Cliff Riley, 81, said.

A lifelong monarchist, she said of Britain’s royal family: "I loved
them all in turn."

Of the Australian leaders she has lived under, she doted on Sir Robert
Menzies, but said she did not mind Gough Whitlam.

Yesterday it was Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Minister for Ageing,
Justine Elliot, who conveyed their congratulations.

Once a keen golfer, Mrs Riley also kept an eye on St Kilda’s fortunes
until recently, said her son, who played for St Kilda firsts in 1951
and 1952.

Since turning 100, she allows herself the treat of a small glass of
Bailey’s Irish Cream before dinner each night.

Yesterday she sipped at a glass of celebratory champagne and,
surrounded by family and friends, contemplated her birthday cake and
its candles.

"I haven’t much breath," she said, but despite her frailty she rose
to the occasion.

"NA SPEAKER SOLVED THE ISSUE OF HIS LEGITIMACY"

A1+
[07:17 pm] 13 October, 2008

"The Speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly invited the U.S. experts
simply to solve the issue of his legitimacy," Republic Party member
Suren Abrahamian told A1+. Note, Suren Abrahamian is involved in the
public committee looking into the March 1 events.

Suren Abrahamian has met with the U.S. experts. He says the meeting was
merely cognitive and was a "demonstration of good will." Asked about
the engagement of the Armenian National Congress in the fact-finding
mission, Suren Abrahamian said: "It depends on the mission’s format."

"The fact-finding mission should act by law /and not execute NA
decisions or Presidential decrees/, control the pre-trial body
otherwise everything will be but a farce," said Abrahamian.

In general, Suren Abrahamian thinks the fact-finding mission was to
be set up earlier if they really wanted to reveal the reality.

"Our committee has nothing to do with the NA ad hoc Committee on the
March 1 unrest. The Pan-National Movement expressed distrust towards
the ad hoc Committee and its format just from the very beginning,"
added Mr. Abrahamian.

BAKU DENIES ARMENIA WILL HOST NABUCCO

UPI Energy
September 24, 2008 Wednesday 4:11 PM EST

Azerbaijani officials Wednesday said there are no plans to alter the
route of the proposed Nabucco pipeline through Armenian territory.

Turkish media had reported Ankara spoke with officials in Armenia
about the possibility of altering the Nabucco route to Europe.

Construction on the 2,000-mile pipeline from Caspian gas fields to
Europe is slated for 2009. Azeri officials, however, denied the plans
included Armenia, Trend Capital News reported.

"The route of Nabucco has already been determined. It will run through
territory of Azerbaijan and Georgia, onwards to Turkey, Greece up to
Italy," said Ali Hasanov with the Public Policy Department in Baku.

Hasanov said Baku "has repeatedly stated" it will not deal with Armenia
until it releases territory Azerbaijan claims is under occupation.

Europe and the United States back development of the Nabucco pipeline
as a means of easing Europe’s dependency on Russian energy.

PRESIDENT OF IRAN MEETS WITH DEPUTIES OF COUNTRY’S RELIGIOUS MINORITIES

Noyan Tapan

Oc t 8, 2008

TEHRAN, OCTOBER 8, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. On October 2,
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
received deputies of religious minorities in the Islamic parliament,
including Robert Beglarian, a deputy of Armenians of Ispahan and South
Iran. Gevorg Vardan, a deputy of Armenians of Tehran and North Iran,
was absent due to taking part in an event proceeding in Rasht.

According to the report of the Iranahayer site, during the meeting,
the President emphasized that religious minorities are integral parts
of the large family of the Iranian people, and splitting words of
enemies cannot have an impact on interrelations in this large family.

Deputies-representatives of religious minorities, in their turn,
presented the difficulties and problems of their communities.