Author: Mamian George

FIRST HEARING OF ADMINISTRATIVE COURT OF ARMENIA ON LAWSUIT AGAINST TEGHOUT PROJECT TO BE HELD ON MARCH 23

ArmInfo
2010-03-11 11:35:00

ArmInfo. The first hearing of Administrative Court of Armenia on
lawsuit against Teghout project will be held on March 23, the lawyer
Hayk Alumyan told ArmInfo.

The lawsuit is based on appealing a number of governmental body
decreed regarding to the approval of ACP Company (a part of Vallex
Group) on the development of Teghout copper and molybdenum mine.

It should be noted that the Administrative Court rejected this lawsuit
twice, but public activists appealed these refusals. The Court of
Cassation partially met the cassation appeal, but only "EcoDar"
NGO was recognized as a plaintiff, while it refused to recognize
"Transparency International" NGO as a plaintiff.

THE SWEDISH PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

The Parliament recognizes the Armenian genocide
Politics | 2010-03-11

The massacre of Armenians and other ethnic groups in 1915 was a
genocide. This the Swedish Parliament decided with least possible margin
on Thursday evening.
By a vote of 131 to 130 the opposition’s reservations became victorious
over the committee’s proposal. For this to be possible required four
centre-right members to vote against their own parties. This was done by
two members of the Liberal Peoples party, one from the Christian
Democrats and one maverick MP who formerly belonged to the Moderates.

The government’s line was to not classify the massacre of, among others,
Assyrians and Armenians as genocide as it should not be up to
politicians to write history.

David Jonasson
[email protected]

http:/ /

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN SHOULD REACH COMPROMISE ON KARABAKH-SARKOZY

Itar-Tass
March 11 2010
Russia

PARIS, March 11 (Itar-Tass) – Yerevan and Baku should reach compromise
for the resumption of the "peace dynamics" of the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem, believes French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He expressed this view at talks with Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan
held in the Elysee Palace on Wednesday.

"Each party should exert every effort, reach compromise for the
resumption of the peace dynamics of the settlement of the conflict (in
Nagorno-Karabakh)," Sarkozy stressed. He noted that the "initiative
launched 1.5 years ago in this sphere has weakened." France, along
with Russia and the United States, is co-chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group created in 1992 for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

At the talks the French and Armenian presidents also discussed various
aspects of the bilateral trade-economic cooperation between Paris and
Yerevan, as well as issues of EU-Armenia cooperation. Sargsyan staff
members said that "Sarkozy has confirmed his country’s intention
to develop relations with Armenia in all spheres and stressed that
France has been and remains Armenia’s friend constantly standing by."

It has been the second meeting of Sarkozy with Sargsyan after the
current president of Armenia took office in April 2008. Sargsyan paid
his first working visit to Paris in November 2008.

The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from
February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh
in south-western Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of
Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of
Azerbaijan. As the war progressed, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former
Soviet Republics, entangled themselves in a protracted, undeclared
war in the mountainous heights of Karabakh as Azerbaijan attempted
to curb the secessionist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh. The enclave’s
parliament had voted in favour of uniting itself with Armenia and a
referendum was held, and the vast majority of the Karabakh population
voted in favour of independence. The demand to unify with Armenia,
which proliferated in the late 1980s, began in a relatively peaceful
manner; however, in the following months, as the Soviet Union’s
disintegration neared, it gradually grew into an increasingly violent
conflict between ethnic Armenians and ethnic Azerbaijanis, resulting
in claims of ethnic cleansing by all sides.

Full-scale fighting erupted in the late winter of 1992. International
mediation by several groups including Europe’s OSCE failed to bring
an end resolution that both sides could work with. In the spring of
1993, Armenian forces captured regions outside the enclave itself,
threatening the involvement of other countries in the region. By the
end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in full control of most
of the enclave and also held and currently control approximately 9%
of Azerbaijan’s territory outside the enclave. As many as 230,000
Armenians from Azerbaijan and 800,000 Azeris from Armenia and Karabakh
have been displaced as a result of the conflict. A Russian-brokered
ceasefire was signed in May 1994 and peace talks, mediated by the
OSCE Minsk Group, have been held ever since by Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now Organisation for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated
resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Helsinki Additional Meeting of the CSCE Council on 24 March 1992
requested the CiO to convene as soon as possible a conference on
Nagorno-Karabakh under the auspices of the CSCE to provide an ongoing
forum for negotiations towards a peaceful settlement of the crisis
on the basis of the principles, commitments and provisions of the CSCE.

The Conference is to take place in Minsk. Although it has not to
this date been possible to hold the conference, the so-called Minsk
Group spearheads the OSCE’s effort to find a political solution to
this conflict.

On 6 December 1994 the Budapest Summit decided to establish a
co-chairmanship for the process. Furthermore the Heads of State or
Government expressed their political will to deploy multinational
peacekeeping forces as an essential part of the overall settlement
of the conflict.

Implementing the Budapest decision, the Chairman-in-Office issued on
23 March 1995 the mandate for the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Process.

On the basis of the above-mentioned documents the main objectives
of the Minsk Process could be summarized as follows: Providing
an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of
assuring the negotiation process supported by the Minsk Group;
Obtaining conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation
of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk
Conference; Promoting the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational
peacekeeping forces.

The Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group visit the region to conduct talks
with the Parties to the Conflict. They also hold meetings with the
Chairman-in-Office and the members of the Minsk Group to brief them
on the process.

LE GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS: UN CAS DE MEMOIRE SELECTIVE
Par Dmitri Babitch, RIA Novosti

RIA Novosti
11705.html
9 Mars 2010
Russie

La résolution adoptée non pas même par la totalité du congrès
américain, mais seulement par le comité des affaires internationales
de sa chambre basse, et portant sur le génocide des Arméniens
perpétrÃ&#xA9 ; dans l’empire ottoman pendant la Première Guerre mondiale,
a soulevé une véritable tempête diplomatique internationale.

L’activité fébrile des diplomates et les hésitations criantes
de l’administration américaine mettent en évidence un fait
incontestable: celui de l’influence accrue de la Turquie dans le monde.

Rappelons que la résolution du comité revêt un caractère non
contraignant, que personne ne sait très bien si elle va être soumise
a une réunion plénière de la chambre des représentants, mais la
Turquie a déja rappelé son ambassadeur pour consultations a Ankara
et, comme le fait savoir le New York Times, la Secrétaire d’Ã~Itat
Hillary Clinton a demandé aux membres du congrès de ne pas aborder
actuellement ce sujet délicat.

Après l’extermination de 1,5 million d’Arméniens en 1915 a la suite
des actions du gouvernement des Â" Jeunes Turcs Â", la Turquie et
l’Arménie avaient rompu toutes relations diplomatiques. La fin de ce
refroidissement ne s’est dessinée que l’année dernière lorsqu’a
l’automne 2009, les deux parties se sont entendues pour rétablir
des contacts bilatéraux. Cela a été considéré comme un succès
des dirigeants turcs, plus précisément du président et du premier
ministre. Le Â" dégel Â" serait-il maintenant reporté?

C’est peu probable. En revanche, les hommes politiques turcs tenteront
manifestement de profiter de la situation pour rehausser leur propre
prestige. En effet, quel pays pourrait se targuer de faire hésiter
le chef de la diplomatie de la plus forte puissance du monde?

Il est fort possible que le scandale actuel ne fasse qu’accroître le
prestige de l’actuel premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Il
avait récemment jeté un défi aux militaires, pour la première
fois dans l’histoire du pays, en révélant les plans d’un coup
d’Ã~Itat militaire prévu initialement en 2003. Avant cela, Erdogan
avait assumé le rôle de défenseur des Palestiniens, ses frères
musulmans, en critiquant sévèrement IsraÃ"l pour son opération
dans la bande de Gaza.

Pendant la campagne irakienne des Ã~Itats-Unis, la Turquie n’avait
pas laissé passer les troupes américaines par son territoire,
obligeant ainsi Washington a emprunter l’itinéraire méridional pour
son intervention en Irak.

Et voila que la position des Ã~Itats-Unis sur le génocide des
Arméniens, ambiguÃ" depuis plusieurs années et qui avait aidé
Washington, a un moment donné, a entraîner la Turquie dans l’OTAN et
a lui conférer une position forte, commence a se retourner contre les
intérêts américains. C’est une histoire pleine d’enseignements. En
effet, il ne s’agit pas seulement des événements de 1915, il y a
aussi d’autres exemples. Les médias occidentaux oublient toujours
le massacre des Arméniens en 1989-1990 a Bakou, en ne mentionnant
que l’introduction des troupes soviétiques dans cette ville. Cette
mémoire sélective des médias américains et ouest-européens
s’explique facilement: il est très facile d’accuser de tous les maux
la Â" main de Moscou Â" et d’oublier les événements précédents,
bien que les troupes envoyées alors sur ordre de Moscou aient
sauvé des milliers d’Arméniens et d’autres Â" russophones Â"
de Bakou. D’ailleurs, dans plusieurs médias russes, le sujet des
pogroms de Bakou est impopulaire, presque interdit. On prétend qu’on
pourrait perdre la des contrats de publicité et se quereller avec
des personnes influentes.

Â"Je ne sais pas ce qu’il faut faire pour que les médias du monde
entier se souviennent de ces événements, a déclaré le politologue
Andronik Migranian, membre de la Chambre civile de Russie. Faut-il que
la République d’Arménie lance elle-même des campagnes d’informations
pour que l’affaire bouge du point mort?!Â"

En fait, tant les événements de 1915 que ceux des années 1980 en
Arménie et en Azerbaïdjan concernent le monde entier, et non pas
seulement les Arméniens. Les pogroms anti-arméniens de Bakou avaient
été précédés de l’expulsion violente des Azerbaïdjanais du
Haut-Karabakh, puis la tragédie de Khodjaly avait bouleversé le monde
entier. Garder a l’esprit, ne pas oublier les massacres, s’interdire
toute mémoire sélective. Sinon, les scandales diplomatiques du type
de la brouille américano-turque actuelle se reproduiront sans arrêt.

Ce texte n’engage que la responsabilité de l’auteur

INDICES OF NATURAL INCREASE AND MECHANICAL RESETTLEMENT OF NKR POPULATION IN FEBRUARY 2010

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department
March 10, 2010

According to the information on recorded acts, in February 2010, 191
children were born in the Republic against 202 born in February 2009,
and 112 persons died against 132 persons died in December 2008.

In the accounting month 55 marriages and 9 divorces were recorded
against 30 marriages and 9 divorces recorded in February 2009.

In February 2010, the number of persons arrived in the Republic formed
141 persons against 85 persons arrived during the same period in the
previous year.

The number of persons left the Republic in February 2010 formed 23
against 28 persons left in February 2009.

ARMENIAN RESOLUTION LIKELY TO FAIL, SAYS HEAD OF US-TURKISH GROUP

Hurriyet
March 8 2010
Turkey

The Armenian "genocide" resolution that was narrowly endorsed by a
U.S. House of Representatives panel last week is very unlikely to
reach a House floor vote, according to the head of a top U.S.-Turkish
business group.

"The resolution has passed the panel vote with the narrowest possible
margin, and has no political credibility [in Congress]," Jim Holmes,
president of the American-Turkish Council, or ATC, said on Sunday in
an interview with the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

House leaders "will clearly see that they can’t be successful" in a
full House floor vote for the resolution’s endorsement, he said.

The House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee passed the
resolution on a one-vote difference last Thursday despite last-minute
objections from President Barack Obama’s administration.

The 23-22 vote sends the measure to the full House, forcing Democratic
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to decide whether to hold a floor vote on
the measure.

The non-binding resolution calls on Obama to ensure that U.S. policy
formally refers to World War I-era killings of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire as "genocide" and to use that term when he delivers his annual
message on the issue in April – something he avoided doing last year.

ATC conference

Holmes, a former U.S. ambassador to Latvia, is visiting Turkey
this week for talks with senior officials ahead of the ATC’s annual
conference on U.S.-Turkish relations in Washington between April 11
and 14. The ATC’s members include top U.S. and Turkish companies
doing business in each other’s countries, and the group seeks to
boost bilateral political and business ties.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been invited to attend an
international nuclear security summit to be hosted by Obama in
Washington on April 12-13, and unless he decides to boycott the
gathering because of the "genocide" resolution controversy, he will
also be expected to take part in some ATC conference activities.

Each year, several top U.S. and Turkish officials attend and speak
at the ATC meetings. This year will be the council’s 29th conference.

"As the resolution is not expected to go any further in the House,
the next benchmark will be how President Obama handles the situation
in his April 24 statement," Holmes said.

April 24 is commemorated every year in the United States as a
remembrance day for deaths of Armenians in 1915. U.S. presidents make
written statements mourning the deaths but they have always avoided
using the word "genocide."

Ankara has warned that any formal "genocide" recognition, by either the
U.S. administration or Congress, would cause a serious deterioration
in U.S.-Turkish ties and effectively kill a reconciliation process
between Turkey and Armenia.

Obama, however, is not expected to utter the word during his April
24 address this year, according to analysts.

‘Lacking strategic vision’

Holmes criticized the "genocide" resolution, saying, "As [Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet] Davutoglu hit the nail on the head, this vote
was without strategic vision. Those who were in favor did so purely
from a local political perspective."

He also urged Turks not to blow the matter out of proportion. "Turkey
needs to understand that this is non-binding, and, at the moment,
that it is only at the committee level. While in the United States
it’s only on a local political level, in Turkey it captured the
political attention of the whole nation."

After the committee passed the resolution last week, Ankara recalled
its ambassador to Washington, Namık Tan, for consultations.

Similar "genocide" resolutions passed the same committee in 2000,
2005 and 2007, but not one reached a House floor vote due to extensive
pressure from former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Vocal opposition to the resolution from the Obama administration
emerged just a few hours before this year’s committee vote.

AYF ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SUMMER 2010 YOUTH CORPS PROGRAM

Asbarez
ations-for-summer-2010-youth-corps-program/
Mar 8th, 2010

GLENDALE-The Armenian Youth Federation Western Region (AYF-WR) has
begun accepting applications for the 2010 session of its Youth Corps
summer program in Gyumri, Armenia. The program is open to all youth
over the age of 18 who are motivated and enthusiastic about helping
the Homeland. The deadline to apply is April 12, 2010.

The application is available at:

"Imagine your summer filled with breath-taking landscape, food
that entices your senses, monumental structures, endless laughter,
meeting locals that will offer everything in their household to you,
and taking on the responsibility of being a mentor to a group of
children thousands of miles away," said 2009 Youth Corps participant
Sanan Haroun. "Reality transcends imagination when you find yourself
at Youth Corps’ Camp Gyumri."

The program gives young Armenians in the Diaspora a unique opportunity
to connect with Armenians in the Homeland while volunteering at a
summer day-camp operated by the AYF for underprivileged youth in
Gyumri. Last summer, Youth Corps volunteers served as counselors at
Camp Gyumri, overseeing a group of nearly 150 campers. This summer,
Camp Gyumri will continue the program’s 15 year tradition of empowering
young Diasporans to take on a more direct role in the nation-building
process in Armenia.

More information about the AYF Youth Corps program is available by
calling (818)507-1933 or e-mailing [email protected] The current
issue of Haytoug Magazine spotlighted Youth Corps’ 2009 program,
the story is available online at Haytoug.org.

Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), with chapters
throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the
world, has grown to become the largest and most influential Armenian
American youth organization. Inspired by the past and motivated by the
needs of the future, the AYF actively strives to advance the social,
political, educational and cultural awareness of all Armenian youth.

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
March 5 2010

Turkish fury as US lawmakers pass Armenia ‘genocide’ bill

EMMANUEL PARISSE
March 5, 2010 – 9:19PM

Turkey has furiously recalled its ambassador after US lawmakers voted
to brand as "genocide" the killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces
during World War I.

Despite strong opposition from Turkey and the White House, the House
Foreign Affairs Committee passed the symbolic resolution on Thursday,
albeit by the slimmest 23-22 margin, and set the stage for a full vote
in the House of Representatives.

The Turkish government, which had sent its own lawmakers to Washington
to lobby US congressmen and warned of serious repercussions over the
vote, responded by recalling ambassador Namik Tan to Ankara for
consultations.

"We condemn this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a
crime it has not committed," it said in a statement.

President Abdullah Gul also expressed his anger, saying the resolution
had "no value in the eyes of the Turkish people" and warning it would
deal a blow to fledgling efforts to end decades of hostility between
Turkey and Armenia.

"Turkey will not be responsible for the negative ramifications that
this vote may have in every field," he stressed.

The non-binding resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure
that US foreign policy reflects an understanding of the "genocide" and
to label the mass killings as such in his annual statement on the
issue.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed during World
War I by their Ottoman rulers as the empire was falling apart, a claim
supported by several other countries.

Turkey argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks
died in what was a civil strife when Armenians rose up for
independence and sided with invading Russian troops.

The United States has traditionally condemned the 1915-1918 killings,
but refrained from calling them a "genocide," anxious not to strain
relations with Turkey, a NATO member and a key Muslim majority ally in
the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged the committee not to
press ahead with the vote for fear it might harm reconciliation moves
between Armenia and Turkey and said she hoped the bid would progress
no further.

"We do not believe the full Congress will or should act on that
resolution," Clinton told reporters in Costa Rica.

Following US-backed bridge-building talks, Turkey and Armenia signed a
deal in October to establish diplomatic relations and open their
border.

But the process has already hit the rocks, with Ankara accusing
Yerevan of trying to tweak the terms of the deal and Yerevan charging
that Ankara is not committed to ratifying the accord.

Clinton, who had called committee chairman Howard Berman on Wednesday
to try to persuade him to shelve the vote, defended an apparent U-turn
on the matter by the president.

Obama pledged during his campaign that he would recognize the events
as genocide, but disappointed Armenian-American supporters when he
refrained from using the term in his message last year to commemorate
the killings.

"The circumstances have changed in very significant ways," Clinton
said, explaining that it became clear after the administration took
office that the reconciliation process was a "very worthy one that we
intended to support.

"I do not think it is for any other country to determine how two
countries resolve matters between them to the extent that actions that
the United States might take could disrupt this process."

In his opening remarks Thursday, Berman, the Democratic chairman of
the Foreign Affairs Committee, said "nothing justifies Turkey’s
turning a blind eye to the reality of the Armenian genocide.

"At some point, every nation must come to terms with its own history.
And that is all we ask of Turkey," he said, urging his fellow
lawmakers to support the legislation.

Ankara also recalled its envoy from Washington in 2007 when a
congressional committee passed a similar text.

But then-president George W. Bush stopped the resolution from going to
the full House, wary over reports that Ankara would block US access to
a key air base essential for Iraq and Afghanistan operations.

news.am, Armenia
March 5 2010

Ankara had U.S. Ambassador to Turkey on carpet

16:32 / 03/05/2010After the Armenian Genocide Resolution adoption by
the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs U.S. Ambassador to Turkey
James Jeffrey was called to country’s Foreign Office.

Jeffrey met with Deputy Undersecretary of Turkish Foreign Ministry
Selim Yenel.

According to Turkish TRT, Turkey expressed its indignation over the
Armenian Genocide Resolution adoption, warning that will affect
negatively Turkey-U.S. relations and Turkey-Armenia reconciliation
process.

After the meeting Jeffrey made a brief statement in Turkish and voiced
Secretary Hillary Clinton’s message, that reads: `Adoption of such
decision is incorrect and we disagree with it. We reckon that Congress
should not pass this resolution. We have repeatedly stated this.’

S.T.

IRELAND BEATEN BY 10-MAN ARMENIA

The Press Association
ss/article/ALeqM5h8427lkXbxj_8kR99DaliWKqZ9tA
Marc h 3 2010

Don Givens’ Ireland Under-21s side are marooned at the foot of their
European Championships qualifying group after suffering a 2-1 home
defeat at the hands of 10-man Armenia.

First-half goals from Levon Hayrapetyan and Gevorg Ghazaryan at
Tallaght Stadium were enough for the visitors to complete a double
over Ireland despite substitute Ian Daly’s 80th-minute strike.

Ireland are now three points adrift at the bottom of Group 2 and
without a win in their seven games to date.

They are not in qualifier action again until August, when they play
their final home game against Estonia, who lost 2-0 in Georgia earlier
in the day.