Author: Khoyetsian Rose

ARMENIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE: THE SUB-UNITS OF ARMED FORCES DID NOT USE FIRE-ARMS ON MARCH 1

Noyan Tapan
Feb 19, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, NOYAN TAPAN. In response to the comments on
the subject "The Participation of the Army on March 1st" which were
made by Levon Zurabian, coordinator of the Armenian National Congress
(ANC), and Vladimir Karapetian, ANC’s PR officer, at Urbat Club on
February 18, the RA ministry of defence presented its explanations
on February 19.

According to the press service of the ministry, the Armenian
president’s decree of March 1, 2008 on declaration of a state of
emergency formed a basis for the use of armed forces. After 10:25
pm when the presidential decree on declaring a state of emergency
was published, by order of the defence minister, the deployment of
sub-units of the armed forces (only sub-units of Yerevan garrison)
began with the aim of taking the objects of special importance under
protection.

"The sub-units of Yerevan garrison were ordered to refrain from
using force.

The sub-units of armed foces not only did not use fire-arms but did
not take any action aimed at restoring public order. Such actions
were taken by sub-units of Armenian police, including police troops,
whose personnel wear the same field uniform as the personnel of the
armed forces of Armenia. For that reason some have formed a wrong
opinion that armed forces took part in the restoration of public
order," the statement of the RA ministry of defence reads.

To recap, at the February 18 press conference the representatives
of the Armenian National Congress stated that the public commission
on inquiry into the March 1 events has irrefutable evidence that
the Armenian authorities illegally used the army to suppress the
people protesting against election rigging. The opposition is going
to request the RA ombudsman that he apply to the RA Constitutional
Court and dispute the constitutionality of the orders to use the army
and armed forces on March 1.

PUBLIC SERVICES PAYMENT BY MEANS OF ARMENIAN CARD SYSTEM SUSPENDED

ARKA
Feb 16, 2009

YEREVAN, February 16. /ARKA/. The practice of public services payments
by means of ATM belonging to the Armenian Card system will be suspended
in Armenia until May.

The Armenian Card (ArCa) processing center informs all the car holders
that the company is implementing a re-equipment program.

The Armenian Card CJSC was founded on March 16, 2000, and currently
unites 20 out of the 22 Armenian banks.

The ArCa member-banks currently issue the following cards: ArCa
Classic, ArCa Gold, ArCa Business, ArCa Affinity, ArCa Co-branded,
ArCa Debit and ArCa Platinum.

The company is also a full member of the MasterCard Europe system
and processes VISA cards (Third Party Processor).

CSTO TO ENABLE RRF IF BAKU LAUNCHES HOSTILITIES AGAINST KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.02.2009 16:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The CSTO rapid reaction force (RRF) is formed to
combat security threats, a Russian expert said.

"If Azerbaijan launches hostilities against Nagorno Karabakh, the
Collective Security Treaty Organization will enable its RRF," Mikhail
Alexandrov, head of Caucasus chair at the Institute of CIS Studies,
told PanARMENIAN.Net.

At that, he reminded that Azerbaijan, as a CIS member state should
behave in compliance with its obligations.

ARMENIA PARTICIPATES IN "BERLIN GREEN WEEK" ANNUAL EXHIBITION

ARMENPRESS
Feb 16, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS: Armenian delegation participated
recently in the "Berlin Green Week" annual international exhibition
together with 80 states of the world.

Head of the foreign ties and marketing department of the Armenian
Agriculture Ministry, member of the delegation Seyran Iritsyan told
Armenpress that Armenia presented alcoholic drinks, natural juices,
honey, dried chocolate covered fruits which attracted the attention
of the visitors. During the event in the Armenian pavilion Armenian
lavash (flat bread) was baked and distributed to the visitors.

Armenian pavilion aroused great interest among the German Minister
of Protection of Agricultural Consumers Ilge Aygner, Minister of
Agriculture, Nature Protection and Food Quality of Netherlands Gerda
Ferburg, and others.

During the days of exhibition European coordinator of UN Food and
Agriculture Organization M. Kadlechikova and representatives of "GTZ"
program visited the Armenian pavilion. The latter expressed readiness
to support Armenia’s agro-processing companies to participate in the
same exhibition in 2010.

According to S. Iritsyan, in the exhibition industrial, tourism and
achievements of other spheres are presented.

Kurdish Aspect, CO
Feb 14 2009

Turkey, Israeli relations trigger and Kurdish oppression comes as a
factor

Kurdsat

Turkey’s foreign ministry has protested to Israel over a senior
Israeli general’s remarks criticizing Turkey, for oppressing Kurdish
people and massacring Armenians.

Israel’s Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi on Feb.10 accused Turkey of massacring
Armenians, oppressing Kurds and occupying Cyprus as a response to the
harsh criticisms Ankara against Tel Aviv during the military offensive
against Hamas group in Gaza.

Hamas is designated by the U.S and Europe as a terrorist organization.

Turkish ministry said it had summoned Israeli Ambassador to Ankara on
Saturday to ask for explanations about the Generalâ??s
comments.

Turkey’s military says the remarks "cannot be accepted under any
condition" and "can harm national interests between the two
countries."

The general’s remarks were an apparent response to Turkey’s prime
minister, who scolded Israeli President Shimon Peres over the Gaza war
at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

9KS.html

Agence France Presse
February 14, 2009 Saturday 3:02 PM GMT

Turkey slams Israel over general’s remarks

ANKARA, Feb 14 2009

Turkey on Saturday denounced as unacceptable critical remarks by an
Israeli general over a lingering spat sparked by Israel’s offensive in
Gaza last month and called for urgent clarification.

The remarks by Major General Avi Mizrahi, commander of the Israeli
defence forces’ army headquarters, contained "unacceptable claims and
nonsenses targeting our prime minister and our country," a foreign
ministry statement said.

The Israeli ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the foreign ministry
Saturday and handed a diplomatic note of protest, the statement said,
adding that "the Israeli authorities were asked for an urgent
clarification."

The Turkish media Friday quoted Mizrahi as saying that Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who vehemently criticised Israel’s
action in the Gaza Strip, "should first look in the mirror" and spoke
about Ottoman massacres of Armenians during World War I and the
Kurdish conflict in Turkey.

The Turkish military also denounced Mizrahi’s remarks, saying they
"distort the realities and are excessive, unfortunate and
unacceptable."

Such comments "can harm national interests in relations between the
two countries," the statement said.

"We expect the Israeli general staff, which we believe places
importance on relations with the Turkish armed forces, to clarify the
issue," it added.

The Gaza conflict has strained relations between Israel and Turkey, a
predominantly Muslim non-Arab nation which has been the Jewish state’s
main regional ally since the two signed a military cooperation accord
in 1996.

On January 29, Erdogan stormed out from a heated debate on the Gaza
war at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland after clashing
with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Before walking off, he said Israel committed "barbarian" acts in Gaza,
told Peres that "you know well how to kill people" and lashed out at
the audience for applauding the Israeli president’s emotional defence
of the war.

Mizrahi’s remarks reportedly came at an international conference in
Israel on Tuesday in comments on Erdogan’s outburst, after which
Israel had sought to defuse tensions, saying that relations would
recover in time.

Israel’s 22-day offensive on Islamist Hamas-controlled Gaza left more
than 1,300 Palestinians dead and injured 5,300 others.

FUTURE TURKEY-ARMENIA RELATIONS WILL DEPEND ON RUSSIA’S FOREIGN POLICY LINE

Trend News Agency
Feb 12 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 12/ Trend News, B. Hasanov, E. Ostapenko/ If
Russia makes changes in the neighborhood policy it pursued so far,
it can contribute to normalizing Ankara-Yerevan talks.

"If Russia chooses policy to compete will regional powers and exercise
control over the Caucasus region with help of military bases, it means
that Russia does not want Turkey-Armenia ties to normalize. However, if
Russia pursues cooperation policy in the region, it means Russia backs
normalizing Ankara-Yerevan ties," Turkish expert Kamer Kasim said.

The Turkish President Abdullah Gul will pay an official visit to
Russia on Feb. 12-15, Turkey’s Cihan news agency reported. Turkey
and Russia are expected to hold discussions on the Caucasus region
during the visit.

Turkey proposed to establish Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform to ensure stability and cooperation in the Caucasus on
the backdrop of the Georgia-Russia conflict in Aug. 2008. Turkey
proposes the platform to cover Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia
and Turkey. Ankara seeks to promote dialogue among regional states
in an effort to solve problems between these countries. Ankara also
seeks to normalize Turkey-Armenia relations. Armenian-Turkish ties
have been severed since 1993 because of Armenia’s false "genocide"
claims and occupation of 20% of Azerbaijani lands. Turkish President
Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008 at the invitation of
his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisyan to watch Armenia-Turkey
football match of the European Cup. Efforts have been made since then
to normalize ties between the two countries.

Turkish expert Kamer Kasim says without Russia’s pressure, Yerevan
will not accept Turkey’s conditions to halt genocide campaign across
the world, to recognize Turkey’s territorial integrity and take
steps to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Russia’s attitude
to normalization of Turkey-Armenia ties will be determined by the
foreign policy line it will choose.

"Following Georgia-Russia conflict, it is more appropriate for Russia’s
foreign policy to cooperate with Turkey. From this viewpoint, the
Caucasus Platform meets Moscow’s interests," research fellow at the
International Strategic Studies Center Kamer Kasim told Trend News
in a telephone conversation from Ankara.

Expert said the energy cooperation with Ankara is important for
Moscow. He said Russia does not want Nabucco gas pipeline project
to be implemented so that to keep monopoly on the European gas
market. Therefore, it seeks persuade Ankara to build a second gas
pipeline bypassing Ukraine.

"Russia can support Turkey in terms of issues regarding the Caucasus
in a bid to persuade Ankara to implement the Blue Stream-2 project,"
Kasim added.

He said if Armenia takes concrete measures in terms of "genocide"
and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it will mean that Moscow puts pressure
on Yerevan to normalize ties with Turkey. "Moscow’s position on this
issue will be clear after Abdullah Gul’s visit to Russia," Kasim noted.

Russian expert Kyril Tanayev says energy issues will be one of
the matters of debate during Gul’s visit to Moscow. Moscow puts
special emphasis on ties with Ankara and will back the Caucasus
platform. Normalization of the Ankara-Yerevan ties meets Moscow’s
interests, he said. "Moscow is doing its utmost to normalize
Ankara-Yerevan ties," director general of the Useful Policy Fund
Tanayev said to Trend News via email from Moscow.

American expert Michael Emerson says Moscow’s attitude to normalization
of the Turkey-Armenia ties is determined is by its interests.

"If negative nationalism and out-of-date foreign policy line is
pursued, Moscow will not have positive attitude to normalization of
the Turkey-Armenia ties. Of course, political line based on good
neighbor ties will support Ankara-Yerevan ties," senior expert at
the Centre for European Policy Studies Emerson said to Trend News
via telephone from Brussels.

He said there are some forces in Moscow who seek to retain means
of influence in the region by continuing Russia’s patronage over
Armenia. "These forces do not want Turkey-Armenia ties to normalize,"
Tanayev said.

Ankara and Yerevan have held meetings on the level of foreign ministers
for several times. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met with the
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan and Armenian President
Serzh Sarkisyan in Munich. Babacan and Sarkisyan made positive
statements after the talks.

TAMARA FRUIT (ARMENIA) GETS $3.4MLN BUDGET GUARANTEE

ARKA
Feb 12, 2009

YEREVAN, February 12. /ARKA/. At its sitting today the RA Government
decided to provide a $3.4mln budget guarantee to the Tamara Fruit
Company.

RA minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan stated that the guarantee
will enable the company to continue its operation and purchase raw
materials from Armenian farmers.

"We held long negotiations with the bank serving Tamara Fruit and
determined the amount," the Minister said.

The Tamara Fruit CJSC was founded in Armenia in 2002. The company
produces frozen fruit and vegetables as well as juices, jams, canned
vegetables.

The Minister pointed out that the budget guarantee will enable the
company to create 120 jobs, purchase about 3,000 tons of raw materials
and ensure 8.6-8.8bln AMD exports, with over 70% to be the share of
Russia and the European Union (EU). Yeritsyan pointed out that an
international auditing firm will make audits of the company from next
year on.

The measures are a logical step to overcome the crisis and are supposed
to greatly contribute to the company’s development, the Minister said.

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan pointed out that this step opens a
new chapter in the Government’s cooperation with the private sector. He
said that this is the first program of government assistance to
successful private enterprises.

The Premier pointed out that this mechanism open s up new opportunities
for the Tamara Fruit Company, which has international certificates
allowing it to export its products.

"This is the first decision of this type made by the Government, as we
are establishing a new tradition in the Government’s cooperation with
the private sector, which is supposed to become one of the anti-crisis
factors," the Premier said.

The RA Government also approved the Tamara Fruit CJSC’s program of
laying out organic gardens – the planting of 450,000 seedlings of
blackberries, black currant, as well as selection work at 3,000sq
meters.

Under the program the first year’s yield is to reach four tons per
hectare, the second and third years 10 tons and 12 tons per hectare
respectively.

INTELLIGENCE HEADS’ NEGLECT CLAIMS TO BE PROBED

Hurriyet
Feb 11 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – The Interior Ministry has initiated an inquiry into two
police intelligence chiefs upon allegations of negligence of duty
surrounding the murder of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink.

The inquiry has come after a report of the Prime Ministry stated
Ramazan Akyurek and Ali Fuat Yılmazer neglected their duty to protect
Dink, even though they had intelligence about the murder prior to
Dink’s death. The report called for a preliminary inquiry to be
initiated into the police chiefs. Akyurek, who was previously the
police chief of Black Sea province of Trabzon, engaged Erhan Tuncel
as a police informer.

Tuncel is among the leading suspects in Dink’s murder and is on
trial for inciting murder. Tuncel, however, in several testimonies
given to the court said he had told police about the murder plan of
Dink. Akyurek later acted as the Central Police Intelligence Chief
and held that office at the date of murder. The Prime Ministry report
stated Akyurek had been informed about the murder plans against
Dink from the time he was Trabzon Police Chief and he carried this
knowledge with him to his position as Intelligence Chief.

The report also stated Ali Fuat Yılmazer, the current Istanbul
Police Intelligence Chief did not place Dink under the "Target
Personalities Program" to protect him, despite intelligence he had
received about the murder plan. Yılmazer at the date of the murder
was the chief of a central intelligence branch. Dink was shot dead in
front of the multilingual weekly Agos’ building in central Å~^iÅ~_li
on Jan. 19, 2007. The gunmen Ogun Samast, aged under 18 at the time
was arrested one day after the murder in bus station in Samsun on
his way to Trabzon, his hometown. Later Erhan Tuncel and Yasin Hayal
were arrested along with another group of suspects. Both Tuncel and
Hayal are alleged to be inciters. Tuncel was later revealed to be an
informer and that he had told police about the murder plans.
–Boundary_(ID_VMqBIlqG6fATH+D3tem+KQ)–

EXCESSIVE AMBITIONS ARE COMPLICATING CRISIS MANAGEMENT EFFORTS

Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Feb 5 2009
Russia

Despite the dwindling reserves and economic recession, the country
is still littering the world with dollars.

The latest reports of Moscow’s extraordinarily generosity towards
its permanent and temporary allies suggest the country is unaware
of the onset of hard times from the economic standpoint and of the
need to reconsider excessive geopolitical ambitions rather than
cultivating them.

The creation of a collective fund of $10 billion within the framework
of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) was announced yesterday. Most
of the money will be contributed by Russia and Kazakhstan during
the first phase. The money will be used to alleviate the effects of
the crisis in five countries belonging to this organization. There
were reports a day earlier that Russia was ready to extend a loan
of tens of billions of roubles to Belarus in exchange for the move
to settlements in Russian roubles. This was in addition to the loan
of $2 billion which had already been approved, with half of the
money already released to Minsk, and in addition to an estimated
$5 billion a year in hidden subsidies. The allocation of an amount
ranging from half a billion dollars to 1 billion to Armenia is also
being negotiated. Raul Castro, the new Cuban leader, left Moscow
a few days ago with a line of credit for $175 million. Meanwhile,
Havana has no plans to pay the debts that have been accumulating
since the Soviet era and now exceed $20 billion.

The apotheosis of this extravagance could be the decision, announced
on Tuesday, to give Kyrgyzstan a loan of $2 billion and $150 million
in nonrefundable aid. For the sake of comparison, the entire budget
of this small mountain country is just over $1.1 billion. In
exchange, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan promised to
close the American military base in Manas, through which the United
States delivers supplies to its contingent fighting the Taleban and
Al-Qa’idah in Afghanistan. This expensive exchange is dubious from
the economic and geopolitical standpoints. If the Americans and their
allies suddenly leave Afghanistan, Moscow might have to restrain the
radical Islamists in that region again.

Even expenditures of that size on allies might be justified in some way
if it were not for the financial crisis, which has drastically reduced
Russia’s own economic potential. Now this money is needed within
the country. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade expects
a decrease of 0.2 per cent in the GNP. The country is in danger of
dropping out of the top 10 economies in terms of dollars. The exchange
rate of the rouble to the dollar was more than 1.5 times the present
figure in July, and gold-backed currency reserves have decreased by
more than one-third. The federal budget for this year will be adjusted
in line with an income projection of only 6.5 trillion roubles instead
of the 10,927 trillion in the current budget. The plans for spending
cuts are still unknown, but the projected expenditures in the current
budget amount to 9.024 trillion roubles. The number of unemployed
might also double and exceed 10 million.

Even the United States, with the largest economy in the world,
is tempering its geopolitical ambitions in the atmosphere of
crisis. Barack Obama has announced the reduction of the contingent
in Iraq and is urging Russia to reduce the nuclear potential of our
country by 80 per cent. Moscow, on the other hand, is eager to take
advantage of the crisis to strengthen our position in the world and to
restore and maintain our status as a great power instead of thinking
of ways to solve its own socioeconomic problems. Furthermore, price
is no object. In this sense, Russia is similar in some respects to
the almost penniless Countess de Beauvilliers in Emile Zola’s novel
"Money," who was willing to limit her daily diet to nothing but bread
as long as she did not have to reduce her lavish banquet menu by a
single dish, all for the sake of maintaining her image as a prosperous
aristocrat. The sooner Russia gives up the great-power ambitions that
are so inconsistent with the present state of its economy, the less the
country, its population, and the physical production sector will have
lost when the crisis is over. It would be regrettable if Russia were
to make the same mistake as the USSR, wasting all of its resources on
global confrontation with the West and trying to maintain its status
as the world’s second superpower at any cost, to the point of the
complete collapse of the economy and the disintegration of the country.