Author: Khoyetsian Rose

TOURISM COOPERATION AGREEMENT TO BE SIGNED BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS OF ARMENIA AND MEXICO

ARMENPRESS
JULY 24

Armenian government decided at its today’s session to approve the
suggestion on signing an agreement between Armenia and Mexico on
cooperation in tourism sphere.

Deputy Economy Minister Vahe Danielian said that the agreement is aimed
at ensuring closer cooperation between the two countries in the tourism
sphere for the stable development of tourism in the two countries.

By signing the agreement it will be possible to create such conditions
which will promote the increase of the number of mutual visits of
the tourists. Within the frameworks of the agreement it will be
possible to exchange studies made on inner and outside tourism,
advertising-informative materials, statistics, etc.

The cooperation will also create a basis for making joint
investments. The deputy minister said that with the involvement of
representatives of the two countries separate commissions will be
set up for promoting the cooperation.

"AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MOSCOW MEETING – NEW STAGE OF NEGOTIATIONS," OSCE MINSK GROUP’ FRENCH CO-CHAIR

TREND News Agency
July 22 2008
Azerbaijan

Work to settle Nagorno-Karabakh conflict suggested by Azerbaijani
and Armenian Presidents in St. Petersburg in June will be the ground
for negotiations between two countries’ foreign ministers in Moscow
at the beginning of August.

"Upcoming negotiations between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers in Moscow are the beginning of new work which was suggested
by two countries’ Presidents at the St. Petersburg meeting," French
Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier said to Trend News.

On 9 June, St. Petersburg hosted a meeting between Presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia within the 9th international economic
forum. That was the first meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Armenian newly elected President Serzh Sargsyan.

"Negotiations on peace settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will
be based on Madrid proposals," said Fassier.

In November, 2007, OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairs presented basic
principles of peace settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to Armenian
and Azerbaijani Presidents in Madrid for consideration. Co-chairs
believe the ‘ Madrid proposals’ are just and balanced.

Fassier said meeting between two countries’ foreign ministers will
be continuation of the negotiations between Azerbaijani and Armenian
Presidents.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.

NATIONAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ARMENIA OPPOSES TO COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES AGAINST RA EX- PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARYAN

ArmInfo
2008-07-21 15:04:00

The National-Democratic party of Armenia opposes to collection of
signatures for commitment of RA ex-President Robert Kocharyan for
Hague Tribunal.

‘The edge, after which the country’s national interests are endangered
and the positions of two states, Armenia and Nagorno Karbakh, weaken
on the international arena, should not be exceeded in the internal
political struggle. Just this edge was exceeded by supporters of RA
first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who organized collection of
signatures for commitment of RA ex-President Robert Kocharyan for
Hague tribuna’, the statement received by ArmInfo from NDP party’s
office says.

‘Azerbaijani authorities continuously claim that they prepare a
"working material" about the alleged ethnic cleansings, genocide and
military crimes with respect to Azerbaijan’s population, carried out by
the Armenian authorities, for delivery to Hague tribunal. Azerbaijan
uses collection of signatures initiated by L. Ter-Petrosyan’s
supporters for its purposes having quickened its actions in this
direction. Further, a threat will occur that Hague tribunal will
investigate not the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and ethnic cleansings of
the Armenians carried out by Turkey and Azerbaijan in the territory
of Azerbaijan and Karabakh at late 20th century but Armenia’s case
against Robert Kocharyan. While the going is good, it is necessary
to stop collection of signatures. Otherwise, this action will turn
out be an assistance to Azerbaijan which will speed-up the process of
bringing false charges against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh in Hague
court’, the statement of the National-Democratic party of Armenia says.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY OF ARMENIA’S NATURAL TREASURES

Arlington Advocate
July 18 2008
MA

This past spring, the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA)
and Armenia Tree Project (ATP) hosted an open call for submissions
for their upcoming joint, juried exhibit, "A Photographic Journey
of Armenia’s Natural Treasures." The response was overwhelming —
ALMA and ATP received more than 600 submissions from professional
and amateur photographers throughout the world.

Honorary juror Judy Ann Goldman, owner of the Judy Ann Goldman Fine
Art gallery on Boston’s Newbury Street, recently helped the ALMA and
ATP jurors narrow down the entries to 93 photographs.The selected
entries illustrate a number of themes, ranging from Armenia’s natural
landscape and biodiversity to environmental challenges.

The following photographers have been chosen to participate in
the upcoming exhibit: Vahan Abrahamyan (Armenia), Chris Agazaryan
(California), Rich Bartell (China), Hapet Berberian (Massachusetts),
Levon Berberian (New York), Eli Burak (Vermont), Aram Comjean
(Massachusetts), Ireneusz Cyranek (Denmark), Joseph Dagdigian
(Massachusetts), Julie Dermansky (New Jersey), Ani Garibyan
(California), Avetis Ghazanchyan (Armenia), Karen Harutyunyan
(Armenia), Sarah Hayes (Massachusetts), Jirair Hovsepian
(Massachusetts), Kathryn Howard (New York), Armen Iskandaryan
(Armenia), Matthew Karanian (California), Hrair Khatcherian (Canada),
Robert Kurkjian (California), Philip Khetchian (Massachusetts), Ara
Kahrmanian (Australia), Alexander Malkhasyan (Armenia), Jeff Masarjian
(Massachusetts), Ara Meshkanbarian (California), Sossy Nercessian
(Massachusetts), Rita Papagian (New Jersey), Astghine Pasoyan
(Armenia), Vahe Peroomian (California), Elsa Ronningstam-Khetchian
(Massachusetts), Hakob Sanasaryan (Armenia), Kara Setian-Marston
(Maryland), Anush Seyranyan (Armenia), Paul Vartan Sookiasian
(Pennsylvania) and Mikhayil Voskanov (Armenia).

Their works will be on display and for sale in ALMA’s Contemporary
Art Gallery from September 11 through October 9, 2008.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
July 17, 2008
Contact: Razmik Tchakmakian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Email: [email protected]

SCHIFF SHARES INSIGHTS ON ARMENIA VISIT WITH ARMENIAN AMERICAN
INTERNS

WASHINGTON, DC — Long-time advocate of Armenian American issues,
Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-29), reflected on his recent trip to Armenia
with Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and Armenian
Assembly interns as part of their summer training program in the
nation’s capital. Representative Schiff emphasized his continued
dedication to issues of community concern, including formally
recognizing the Armenian Genocide, ending the Turkish blockade of
Armenia, as well as finding a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict.

The 29th district of California has one of the largest Armenian-
American constituencies in the United States. Although an elected
official’s role is primarily to represent his/her constituents,
Rep. Schiff made it clear that his introduction of and continued
support for H.R.106, the Armenian Genocide Bill, is much more than
just an issue of constituent representation.

"If the only reason to support the Armenian Genocide bill was
having Armenian constituents, then there would only be about a
dozen cosponsors," asserted Rep. Schiff. "How do you explain the
other 212 cosponsors of the bill?"

Glendale resident and ANCA Summer Associate, Arbi Vartan, was among
those present at the meeting with Rep. Schiff. Vartan thanked Rep.
Schiff for his steadfast support of Armenian issues and applauded
his unyielding dedication to fundamental human rights values.
"Congressman Schiff is a champion of the Armenian-American
community, and I am delighted to have him represent me in
Congress," affirmed Vartan. "His most recent trip to Armenia is
just one more example of his pro-active approach to politics."

During his trip to Armenia, Schiff met with President of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian to strengthen
the friendship between the United States and Armenia and discuss
issues of mutual interest.

Congressman Schiff’s relationship with the Armenian community
traces back to his experiences interning with Raffi Hovanessian,
who would later serve as Armenia’s Foreign Minister, in former
Representative Nicholas James Mavroules’ (D-MA) office. Since his
election to office in 2000, Rep. Schiff has taken a leading role in
successive Armenian Genocide resolutions, including the passage of
an amendment to the foreign aid bill in 2004 that would block the
use of U.S. funds for Turkey’s genocide denial campaign in the
United States. On multiple occasions, he has confronted State
Department officials on their flawed policy of complicity with
Turkey’s genocide denial. He is lead author of the Armenian
Genocide resolution (H.Res.106), which garnered over 200 cosponsors
and was adopted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a vote of
27 to 21, despite unprecedented opposition from the White House.

Arbi Vartan is in Washington, DC, participating in the ANCA Leo
Sarkisian Internship Program, an eight-week intensive program
designed to give student leaders and activists the tools necessary
to effectively advance Armenian American concerns on campus and in
their communities. It is an integral part of the ANCA Capital
Gateway program, a year-round internship / job placement service
which provides Armenian Americans greater opportunities to explore
careers on Capitol Hill, in the U.S. Foreign Service and key
Washington, DC foreign policy think tanks. To learn more about the
ANCA Capital Gateway Program, visit:
w.php

#####

Photo Caption: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) with ANCA Leo Sarkisian
intern Arbi Vartan.

KEY HOUSE PANEL REVERSES ADMINISTRATION’S CUT TO ARMENIA AND MAINTAINS MILITARY PARITY

armradio.am
17.07.2008 12:12

The House Foreign Operations Subcommittee approved $52 million in
assistance to Armenia and $8 million for Nagorno Karabakh, as well as
$3 million in Foreign Military Financing for Armenia and Azerbaijan,
reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

The Bush Administration initially proposed to cut funding to Armenia
by nearly 60 percent from $58.5 million in FY 2008, to a proposed
level of $24 million in FY 2009. In addition, the Administration
had requested that $5 million of the funds to Armenia allocated in
FY 2007, be directed out of Armenia, which triggered a response by
Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI). In a letter
sent to House Foreign Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Nita
Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Member Frank Wolf (R-VA), they urged that
funding be re-programmed to support democracy efforts in Armenia: "As
friends of Armenia, and more importantly, as advocates of democracy,
we urge you to support the transfer of funds to help nurture Armenia’s
democracy as opposed to stifling it. Armenia would benefit greatly
from more democracy and good governance programming."

The Assembly commends the efforts of Congressman Knollenberg (R-MI)
for sending a strong message regarding Azerbaijan’s continued war
rhetoric during today’s consideration of the House Foreign Operations
Appropriations Bill. The Knollenberg amendment sought to zero out
military funding for Azerbaijan. The amendment was not approved by
a vote of 7 in favor and 8 against.

In its testimony before the Subcommittee earlier this year, the
Assembly also raised strong concerns stating that "given the recent
rapid militarization of Azerbaijan combined with unabated war and hate
rhetoric against Armenia, we strongly recommend the Subcommittee to
withhold any military funding to Azerbaijan."

"We appreciate the hard work of the Subcommittee members and especially
appreciate Congressman Knollenberg’s leadership on this important
initiative," said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "We are
confident that Members will be looking at additional steps to address
Azerbaijan’s war mongering."

BAKU WALTZ POSTPONED FOR THE TIME BEING
Dmitri Yermolayev

WPS Agency
July 14, 2008 Monday
Russia

Medvedev’s visit to Azerbaijan: Baku continues to sit on the fence;
Baku is continuing with its fence-sitting tactics while waiting for a
more favorable international situation. But this kind of diplomacy has
almost reached its limits. In its determination to distance Azerbaijan
from Russia, the West could leave Azerbaijan all alone to face the
question of recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence.

President Dmitri Medvedev Enhanced Coverage LinkingDmitri Medvedev
-Search using: Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days ‘s
first visit to Azerbaijan has drawn mixed reviews from analysts in
both Russia and Azerbaijan – for a number of reasons.

Baku had some political expectations for this visit – primarily with
regard to resolving the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But
Moscow didn’t offer a breakthrough in that area, since it is continuing
a policy of keeping an "equal distance" from both sides of the conflict
– or rather, keeping "equally close" to both Armenia and Azerbaijan,
while giving those countries the opportunity to resolve the conflict
on their own. The second factor is determined by the fact that Baku,
using diplomatic maneuvering within the former Soviet Union and in
the West, has distanced itself from Moscow to some extent and found
itself involved in the West’s geopolitical projects aimed at creating
Caspian Sea hydrocarbon transport routes bypassing Russia. However,
Azeri diplomacy can’t even boast of much success in this area, since
it has run up against the Armenian lobby. This lobby is strong in
the West – too strong for Azerbaijan, even with the support of Turkey
(which is also losing the competition with the Armenian lobby).

Under the circumstances, it was important for Russia to use President
Medvedev Enhanced Coverage LinkingPresident Medvedev -Search using:
Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days ‘s visit as an
opportunity to establish political and diplomatic foundations for
long-term cooperation with Azerbaijan – the kind of foundations that
may be developed into a strategic cooperation program if certain
geopolitical conditions are met.

The visit achieved this purpose. During Medvedev’s time in Baku,
Russia and Azerbaijan signed an indefinite Friendship and Strategic
Partnership Declaration. According to this document, Russia and
Azerbaijan will continue efforts to develop equal, mutually beneficial,
and constructive bilateral relations of a strategic nature. Both sides
confirmed their commitment to current arrangements under international
law with regard to the Caspian Sea.

However, Western analysts maintain that the chief indicator of
Azerbaijan’s true intentions is its willingness to cooperate with
Russia in the fuel and energy sector. So this area was the main source
of suspense during the visit.

Baku justifies its participation in the West’s oil and gas projects
by pointing out that although it has plenty of energy resources, it
lacks direct access to the global marketplace. But Gazprom has just
trumped this argument. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller accompanied Medvedev
on the visit to Baku, and announced that Gazprom is prepared to buy
as much gas as possible from Azerbaijan, using market-based price
formation principles. And while Azerbaijan is still waiting for the
Nabucco project’s pipeline to be completed, it can start selling gas
to Gazprom sooner – as of 2009.

In response, Baku said it would be prepared to consider the
Russian project – but only on equal terms with other export route
options. According to our Baku sources, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev
was walking close to the edge on this one: while promising Russia
"to consider new projects which are of mutual interest and would
facilitate maximally effective use of hydrocarbon resources," he veered
away from specifics at the last moment and essentially reduced the
"practical content" of Medvedev’s visit. This happened because Baku
was under powerful pressure on this issue from the United States and
the European Union.

What happens next? To all appearances, Baku is continuing with its
fence-sitting tactics while waiting for a more favorable international
situation. But this kind of diplomacy has almost reached its
limits. In its determination to distance Azerbaijan from Russia,
the West could leave Azerbaijan all alone to face the question of
recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence – a more immediate issue
now that Kosovo has set a precedent. In that event, Baku’s oil and gas
would hardly suffice to maintain stability in Azerbaijan. Developments
could be similar to the 1918-20 scenario. Time will tell whether
Ilham Aliyev has the wisdom to avoid such an outcome.

NATION-WIDE MOVEMENT HEADED BY L. TER-PETROSYAN COLLECTS SIGNATURES TO TESTIFY AGAINST EX-PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARYAN AT HAGUE TRIBUNAL

ArmInfo
2008-07-14 14:50:00

Nation-wide Movement headed by L. Ter-Petrosyan has initiated signature
collection to testify against ex-president Robert Kocharyan at Hague
Tribunal.

A member of the Nation-wide Movement David Shahnazaryan said at Friday
Club Monday that ‘Robert Kocharyan said in his recent interview to
Mediamax that it was he who ordered to fire at demonstrators on 1 March
and it was he who order to start political arrests in the country. Over
the ten years of his presidency and after it Robert Kocharyan was and
remains a factor destabilizing the country. He is guilty in crimes
against the people and humanity and his place is in a cell of Hague
prison. For this purpose, we have started collecting signatures’.

Shahnazaryan underlined that they have no task to collect a definite
number of signatures. However, he is sure that their action will
be supported both in Armenia and outside it. D. Shanazaryan was the
first to sign the relevant statement by the Movement.

President Sargsyan visits the French Embassy

armradio.am
14.07.2008 12:56

On the occasion of the National Holiday of France RA President Serzh
Sargsyan today visited the Embassy of France in Armenia.

The President congratulated the staff of the Embassy. Underlining the
high level of Armenian-French relations, Serzh Sargsyan expressed
confidence that those will continue successfully developing and
expanding.

THE PRESIDENT VISITS HOLLY SEE ST. ECHMIADSIN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 12, 2008
Armenia

After holding the position of the President, for the first time
yesterday, President Serge Sargsyan visited St. Echmiadsin where he was
received by His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin B.

The visit was aimed at familiarizing himself with the construction
works in St. Echmiadsin. St. Vardan Church and the hall for baptism,
and Hovhaness Mkrtich chapel are under reconstruction.

Serge Sargsyan also visited the newly built monk where the
representatives of the religious class are going to live. The two
floored building has got around 100 flats that match with the
international standards. The old one is not used any more because of
unfavorable living conditions. The construction of the new monk is
over. The President put a candle in the Cathedral.

Director of the Holly See information system Vahram Priest Melikyan
said the construction of the Church of Archangels is on and will be
over in 2009. Later the seminarians will participate in all the rituals
in the Church of Archangels.

The reconstruction works are realized in the Cathedral and will be over
by September 28, of this year. During the same period the construction
of St. Vardan Church and the hall for baptism will also be over. Vahram
Priest Melikyan said it is previewed to perform the ritual of September
28 in that place.