Author: Madatian Greg

PACE PRESIDENT MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU TO VISIT ARMENIA

APA
May 11 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku. Viktoria Dementieva – APA. President of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Mevlut CavuÅ~_oglu will make a
visit to Armenia on 12-13 May, during which he will meet the President
of the Republic Serzh Sargsyan, the President of the National Assembly
Hovik Abrahamyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan,
members of different political factions represented in the National
Assembly, and the extra-parliamentary opposition, APA reports quoting
the official website of PACE.

CavuÅ~_oglu will also meet Davit Harutyunyan, Chairperson of the
Standing Committee of the Assembly on State and Legal Affairs,
responsible for the monitoring of implementation of the recommendations
proposed by the ad hoc Committee of the Assembly to inquire into the
events of 1-2 March 2008. Talks are also scheduled with the Ombudsman,
and with members of the diplomatic community and civil society.

NKR CELEBRATES VICTORY DAY, LIBERATION OF SHUSHI

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 10, 2010 – 13:49 AMT 08:49 GMT

On May 9, President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan took part
in solemn events organized in Stepanakert and Shushi on occasion
of Victory Day, formation of Artsakh Defense Army and liberation
of Shushi.

Mr. Sahakyan together with second President of the Republic of Armenia
Robert Kocharian and second President of the NKR Arkady Ghukasian
visited Stepanakert Memorial to lay wreaths at the monument to martyrs
who were killed in the Great Patriotic War and Artsakh liberation war.

Thereupon, Artsakh President visited Shushi where he attended a
solemn of key-handing ceremony: a new dwelling house was built for
the families of the NKR Defense Army servicemen.

In the evening, the President made a speech during a celebration
in Stepanakert.

Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan and
representatives of Diaspora were also attending, reported the Central
Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic President.

NO CRIMINAL CASE YET LAUNCHED ON FACT OF INCIDENT IN YEREVAN VICTORY PARK

ArmInfo
2010-05-10 16:53:00

ArmInfo. No criminal case has been launched on the fact of an incident
in Yerevan Victory Park.

The chains of the merry-go-round called "Typhoon" broke on May 9 in the
Victory Park of Yerevan, where there were many people on that Sunday
holiday. Four people suffered as a result. Sirarpi Navoyan (born in
1996) and Susanna Galstyan (born in 1997) suffered lighter injuries
(injuries of head and extremities), Marine (born in 1975) and Menua
(born in 1997) Vardanyans were hospitalized to Mikaelyan Medical Center
(backbone injury and brain concussion). According to the doctors,
the Vardanyans’ health state is grave and moderately grave. Currently,
the Police is clarifying the circumstances of the incident.

A GOVERNMENT DELEGATION TO TRAVEL TO ARTSAKH ON MAY 8

Aysor
May 7 2010
Armenia

On May 8 a delegation with Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hovik
Abrahamian on the head will travel to Nagorno Karabakh to participate
in the events, timed to the 18th anniversary of the Liberation of
Shushi and to the 65th anniversary of the end of the World War II. The
both events are marked on May 9.

The delegation includes Vice Speakers Armen Gevorkian and Samvel
Nikoyan, Chief of the Permanent Commission for State and Legal Issues
David Harutyunian, Minister of Finance Tigran Davtian, Minister of
Urban Development Vardan Vardanian, Governor of Syunik Region of
Armenia Surik Khachatrian, and other officials.

On May 8 the delegates will guest on the Festival of Peace and on
an event in dedication to the Victory and will lay wreaths at the
Memorials in Shushi and Stepanakert on May 9. A service will be
offered at the St Kazanchetsots Church.

TURKEY WILL KEEP PROMISES GIVEN TO AZERBAIJAN – EXPERT
Lala B.

news.az
May 7 2010
Azerbaijan

David Barchard News.Az interviews David Barchard, an expert on
Turkish history, the Communications and Design Department at Bilkent
University.

What can you say about the decision of President Sargsyan to suspend
the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey?

I am disappointed with this statement made in anticipation of April
24. It reflects the conditions established in the world and related
to Armenia. But I hope this step will get the due assessment of the
representatives of the world community that are interested in peace
in the region.

How will this decision affect the Karabakh settlement? For example,
the Armenian analysts say that Sargsyan’s decision will push Turkey
to greater compromises in the relations with Armenia and separation
from the Azerbaijani-Turkish agreements.

The process has frozen and I hope there will be the required
stimulation of the process by the world community in order to attain
progress in this direction. People in Turkey are very principal in
their attitude to the Azerbaijani factor in this issue. Meanwhile,
the public opinion in Turkey is very sensitive to this problem and
I would not say that the position of the position of the Turkish
government coincides with it.

Are you sure that Turkey will keep loyal to Azerbaijani interests in
its ties with Armenia?

Yes, I think that Turkey will always keep promises given to Azerbaijan
in line with the interests of its people.

Obama did not use the word "genocide" in his message to the Armenian
community on April 24. Does it mean changes in the attitude of official
Washington to Turkey and regional problems?

No, this is just the repetition of events that have occurred earlier.

I would like to repeat that former US president Bush Jr. also avoided
this word, using ‘violence, termination’ and others. I think they
will continue replacing the word ‘genocide’ with some other concept.

However, Armenia continues putting pressure. This will continue
unless the world does not create a more informed opinion regarding
this issue and I am not quite sure that this will occur soon.

I do not expect great changes in the situation. It is obvious
that the deterioration of the US-Turkish relations may cause many
implications, in particular, this may affect the Injirlik base,
which is a cornerstone of the US presence in Middle East.

On the one hand, Armenians say they are ready to normalization and on
the other hand they are trying to impose ‘genocide’ on the word. What
do you think is the reason of such a discrepant position of Yerevan?

Here we can speak of the pressure put on Armenia. Probably, Sargsyan
is not happy about his actions against Turkey. In particular, there
was a strong pressure on the part of different forces in period on
April 24. It is not surprising that the diaspora which has large
material potential puts such a pressure on Armenia.

Do you think the world will ever recognize independence of Nagorno
Karabakh like it once recognized independence of Kosovo like Russia
has already recognized independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia?

I do not think this will happen as the situation in Nagorno Karabakh
does not meet the relevant criteria.

On the whole, the recent history in Mediterranean and Black Sea
region proves the serious mistakes in the US foreign policy. The same
mistake is the creation of conditions for the greater rapprochement
of Azerbaijan with Russia. I hope Americans will change their current
approaches to solution of the regional problems.

ARMENIA STILL IN CRISIS, MP STATES

news.am
May 7 2010
Armenia

The economic results of the 1st quarter of 2010 showed favorable
tendencies, and 5.5% economic growth was registered as compared with
the corresponding period last year, Vardan Bostanjyan, a Prosperous
Armenia parliamentary faction member, told journalists on May 7.

"It does not mean we have overcome the economic crisis, but the growth
is a good prerequisite," he said.

According to him, the favorable tendencies are not at all the result
of receipts registered late last year, as the Opposition claims.

"The tendencies are not typical of the first months of the year,
which shows that they are stable," Bostanjyan said.

KARABAKH ISSUE HAS TURNED INTO A LEVERAGE RATHER THAN A CONFLICT: STEPAN SAFARYAN

Tert.am
15:33 06.05.10

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a veil for Turkey to hide its own
worries mainly pertaining to the Armenian and Kurdish issues, Head
of Heritage Party’s parliamentary faction Stepan Safaryan said at a
press conference today.

In his words today the NK conflict has turned into leverage rather
than a conflict.

"It is obvious that the NK conflict is rather difficult to resolve if
not impossible under current realities, and therefore all are trying
to use it for the achievement of their own political objectives. I
am still convinced that the NK conflict, of course, is significant
for Turkey in terms of not losing Azerbaijan, but it is significant
also for veiling its own problems and worries," said Stepan Safaryan.

Further saying not only there is no perspective for the Armenia-Turkey
normalization Safaryan mentioned that deterioration is also possible.

AZERBAIJAN RESPONDS TO OHANYAN’S STATEMENT

news.az
May 6 2010
Azerbaijan

Eldar Sabiroglu Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry has commented on Seyran
Ohanyan’s statement.

‘This is not their first loud statement about their army’, spokesman
for the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry Eldar Sabiroglu said commenting
on the odd statement by Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan who
said ‘the Armenian armed forces must reach the level of the strongest
armies of the world’.

‘They are already used to such statements and they take these steps to
conceal the bad state of their army. Currently, the Armenia army is
overwhelmed by corruption and desertion, there is a great resentment
among commanders and soldiers. The things have reached the level when
these issues were discussed at the highest level. It is not necessary
to pay attention to their statements, as the Armenian army is in a
disastrous state’, Sabiroglu said.

HAYASTAN FUND REPRESENTATIVES TO VISIT KARABAKH

Yerkir
05.05.2010 13:00
Yerevan

A sitting of the trustees of the Hayastan all-Armenian fund will
be held nn May 14. On that occasion the members of the council of
trustees, representatives of the local bodies, benefactors of the
fund have arrived to Yerevan, informs the press office of the Hayastan
all-Armenian fund.

Till the sitting there will be a 5 day working visit to the Nagorno
Karabakh. The delegation will visit the following programs.

The cardiological hospital of Goris city, the secondary school of
Gishi village, the secondary school of Chartar village, N 11 school
of Stepanakert, the school after Abovyan in the city of Shushi and
the school after mratsan, the Library of the city, cultural center.

During the visit to Karabakh will take place the official opening
ceremony of the secondary schools of Spitakashen village and the
program of drinkable water supply of Sos village.

The delegation will also visit Ghazanchetsots Church of Shushi and
will partake in the ceremonies dedicated to the events dedicated to
the liberation of Shushi.

"WE ARE WRETCHED FOR HATING EACH OTHER"

A1Plus.am
05/05/10

A new movement called "Movement of Peoples and Patriotic Forces"
launched in Armenia today. Joining this movement are people whose
political affiliation or posts will remain unknown and they are all
concerned about the domestic and foreign problems causing a threat
to the country.

"This movement is different from all previous movements. It is composed
of individual citizens and can be called a compulsory movement,"
announced member of the newly the country today is overcoming the
atmosphere of fear. "People are afraid and horrified when they hear
the word "election" because elections end with murders in Armenia."

After overcoming the atmosphere of fear, Tovmasyan says the government
should answer why it sold objects of strategic significance.

The first meeting of the "Movement of Peoples and Patriotic Forces"
was headed by NA Deputy, member of the Social-Democratic (Hnchakyan)
Party Vardan Khachatryan.

He is mostly concerned with the fact that the Armenian authorities
are trying to solve two fatal issues at once-the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations where
there is a conflict of interests. Vardan Khachatryan is certain that
the government doesn’t have the adequate resources to solve those
issues at once.

Commander of "Arabo" detachment Manvel Yeghiazaryan has also joined the
movement. He had difficulty saying which issues are of most importance
today. "We are losing in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and
the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations. I don’t know where
to start from. They are panicking us with the start of a new war. We
are wretched for hating each other. Perhaps only Hovhannes Tumanyan
could have written "Kaj Nazar". This is not a coincidence.

Attending the event today was Ashot Manucharyan who introduced himself
as a guest. The theme was dedicated to the impact of money.

"We have created a machine that will lead us to perdition and the
victims will be our children."

According to him, the country must be governed by either the people
or carnality.

"Carnality is not bad and everyone has it inside. But it can either
be a little or a ton."

As to who has how much, according to Manucharyan, that can be
understood by what people understand by a good life. People who
understand the good life as only eating and spending and money is
something sacred for them have more carnality."

The newly created "Movement of Peoples and Patriotic Forces" will
inform the public about its upcoming steps and has scheduled an event
near the Nagorno-Karabakh representation in Yerevan on May 8.