Author: Nahapetian Lilit

ARMENIAN-INDIAN IT CENTER TO OPEN IN AUTUMN IN YEREVAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.02.2010 17:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian-Indian Information Technology Center
will open in autumn, 2010 in Yerevan. As Vache Kirakosyan , head of
High Tech and IT department at theArmenian Ministry of Economy told
PanARMENIAN.Net, an educational center will be located on the territory
of Yerevan State University. The Government has also allocated
funds to repair the facilities. The operation of the new center will
be financed by the Government of India. The program costs USD 1.5
million. The Center will focus on retraining and certification of IT
specialists. "Both Indian professionals and educators from Armenia,
trained in India will teach in the new center." This will be a modern
educational center, both in terms of equipment, and training programs,
" Vache Kirakosyan said.

SARGSYAN WANTS TO MAKE GUL UNDERSTAND THAT NEXT STEP IS TURKEY’S: HOVHANNISYAN

Tert.am
14:55 ~U 10.02.10

"Many countries’ presidents fly over other countries’ airspace,
but they don’t issue statements [at that time]. I think that Serzh
Sargsyan, with his statement, has attempted to make his colleague [Gul]
understand that in the order of events today, it’s Turkey’s turn,"
said Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) parliamentary
faction leader Vahan Hovhannisyan, while speaking to journalists today.

According to Hovhannisyan, with his statement, Sargsyan warns that
there is a possibility in the process failing, and Turkey must
understand that it might become the reason for this failure. The
ARF-D faction leader also noted that such statements can be considered
accepted practice, but not mandatory ones.

Optimism bounces back amongst businesses around the world 10.02.2010
12:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Optimism amongst privately held businesses (PHBs)
around the world has bounced back to give the Grant Thornton global
optimism/pessimism index for 2010 an optimism balance of +24%,
compared to its lowest ever score of -16% this time last year,
reported the press office of Grant Thornton Amyot.

The International Business Report (IBR) survey of over 7,400 PHBs
across 36 economies, now in its 18th year, also highlights a group of
ten economies where businesses are more optimistic about the outlook
for their economies than International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts
might suggest.

Businesses in Chile, India, Australia, Vietnam and Brazil are the most
optimistic in the world, all scoring over +70%. The biggest swing in
sentiment was in Hong Kong which moved from deep pessimism last year
(-49%) back to an optimistic +64% this year (a 113% rise). At the
other end of the scale, many eurozone countries remain pessimistic
about the future; Italy, Denmark, Finland and France all scored +9% or
lower with Greece (-23%) and Ireland (-42%) even more gloomy. Spain
(-56%) and Japan (-72%) kept their places as the most pessimistic
economies in the world, although even here the figures were slightly
up on last year.

Armenian businessmen are less optimistic in their forecast for 2010,
showing +32% against the last year’s +46%, and are positioned very
close to the global average indicator.

When compared to the IMF’s GDP figures for 2009, economies that
avoided recession (for example, Australia, mainland China, India and
Vietnam) or suffered a relatively minor recession (such as Brazil,
Hong Kong, Canada and New Zealand) all feature, not surprisingly, at
the top of the league table.

Grant Thornton Amyot LLC, the Armenian Member of Grant Thornton
International, is a multi-professional group of Public Accountants and
Auditors, Financial Advisers, Business, Industry, Tax and Legal
Consultants.

Grant Thornton Amyot (then Amyot Exco Armenia) was founded in 1991,
and has since been providing audit missions, in-depth professional
consulting services, expert advice to governmental organizations,
top-level enterprises, national and commercial banks in CIS countries:
Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Grant Thornton Amyot has extensive experience of audit and consulting
services for different sized enterprises, commercial and investment
banks in CIS countries, projects financed by The World Bank Group, UN
System, EBRD, EU/EC, USAID, Eurasia Foundation, GTZ, KfW and other
International Finance/Lending Institutions and Organizations.

The experts provide assurances to management, corporate directors,
investors and lenders. This includes assurance on the reliability and
security of financial and non-financial information, business
processes and controls, regulatory compliance and information.

TURKISH OPPOSITIONIST ACCUSES AUTHORITIES

news.am
Feb 9 2010
Armenia

Deniz Baykal, the leader of the Turkish Republican People’s Party
(RPP), delivered a speech before the RPP parliamentary faction
members. Baykal also addressed the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation
process.

Haber -7 quotes Baykal as saying: "There is one more problem in the
initiative to normalize relations with Armenia. We do not go into
details of the developments. Armenia is our neighbor. We were among
the first to recognize Armenia’s independence. Consider history.

Armenia occupied Azerbaijani lands. Turkey was against that and closed
the border. Armenia has had much trouble because of that, and 60,000
Turks have come to Turkey to win bread. Turkey turned a blind eye to
this all because Turkey has good will. Turkey closed the borders not
because it was hostile toward Armenia, but because it did not accept
what had been done against Azerbaijan.

"We do not see that Armenia wants to improve the bilateral relations.

We told the Turkish authorities not to do any step. And what are w
facing now?" Baykal said. He also drew the attendees’ attention to the
RA Constitutional Court’s verdict, which indicates that the further
process of recognition of the Armenian Genocide cannot be prevented.

Baykal pointed out that April 24 is coming near, and the agenda will
become heavier, and this is the result of the Government-declared
"zero problems" policy. "The authorities have been unable to get
anything, but they have lost much. They have lost Azerbaijanis’
friendship. We have also seen that the natural gas price has risen.

All this, as well as the high price for natural gas – and, of course,
the people will pay," Baykal said.

DIASPORA WILL INCREASE ITS ROLE IN ARMENIAN ARMY’S FORMATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2010 12:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Collaboration agreement between Armenian and French
Defense Ministries will be signed during RA delegation’s 5-day official
visit to France.

Monday, February 8 Armenian delegation, led by Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan met with representatives of Armenian Community in France. The
Minister presented 18 year’s history of Armenian army, dwelling on
reforms implemented and perspectives of Diaspora role’s increase in
RA army’s formation, RA Defense Ministry press service reported.

POSSIBILITY OF RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES NO HIGHER THAN 5 YEARS AGO

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2010 14:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia has to be ready for regional hostilities,
the possibility of which can never be ruled out, former NKR Foreign
Minister Arman Melikyan said.

"The possibility of resumption of hostilities in the region is no
higher than 5 years ago," he told a news conference in Yerevan, also
adding that Azerbaijan won’t launch a war, unless offered guarantees
by one of superpowers.

"To strengthen its positions in Azerbaijan, Moscow could benefit from
the situation by agreeing a compromise with Baku," Melikyan noted,
commenting on Russia’s stance in Karabakh conflict settlement.

"Armenians’ leaving Karabakh would be the worst scenario in final
solution to the conflict," Melikyan believes.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, NKR and
Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions of Azerbaijan
around it (the security zone) remain under the control of NKR defense
army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the
OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

POLITICAL CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN RA AND SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRIES HELD

Noyan Tapan
Feb 9, 2010

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. On February 9, Foreign Minister
of Syria Walid al Muallem received the delegation led by RA Deputy
Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian that arrived in Syria to hold
political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia
and Syria and to take part in the official opening ceremong of the
Office of RA Honorary Consul in Deir Zor.

During the meeting the sides discussed a wide range of issues
related to Armenian-Syrian bilateral political, trade and economic,
scientific-educational and cultural cooperation. The Syrian Foreign
Minister emphasized that permanent high-level visits give a new spirit
and quality to the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two
friendly countries.

The RA Deputy Foreign Minister, in his turn, stressed that Armenia
attaches much importance to development of many-sided relations with
Syria in various spheres, and the evidence of it is the opening of
the Office of RA Honorary Consul in Deir Zor, which will be a new
stimulus for deepening cooperation in various spheres between Armenia
and Syria, in particular, its easters regions.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
a regular stage of political consultations between the Foreign
Ministries of RA and Syria took place the same day at the Syrian
Foreign Ministry.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN’S RUSSIAN ROULETTE: SELF-DECEPTION AS AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST FEAR

Today
Feb 8 2010
Azerbaijan

No need to envy Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. He is
really having a difficult time. The president is applying pressure,
the opposition is threatening to teach him a lesson, and radicals
make constant threats to him. Moreover, every second Nalbandian is
thinking about himself, and his future, because the future of a man
in present-day Armenia is something like Russian roulette – you never
know what will happen when you pull the trigger.

But the worst thing is that he has to lie upon the order of his
president and even to the president himself constantly. He has to tell
a lie also to co-chairs, supporters, opponents, ordinary citizens of
the country and many others. The notion of "truth" is in shortage in
Armenia. Not every heart, in particular, so to speak, the heart of
the Armenian bureaucrat will endure it.

Nalbandian deceives people from early morning until late at night. He
deceives his deputies, employees and media. Finally, the turn has
reached the parliamentarians. The Armenian foreign minister visited
the local parliament as part of the government hour, where he told
the national elected representatives that ostensibly the countries
co-chairing the Minsk Group understand the need for involving
representatives of "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" in the negotiations
on settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"We have reiterated on many occasions that it is impossible to solve
the Nagorno-Karabakh without "NKR" participation. I can say that our
approach regarding the participation of "NKR" is understood by the
three co-chairs," the minister added.

Azerbaijan has stated many times that Armenian community of
Nagorno-Karabakh will participate in the negotiations sooner or
later. Azerbaijan has repeatedly said that representatives of the
Armenian community may join the negotiations at a certain time.

Azerbaijan has also made it clear that it can happen once the occupied
Azerbaijani lands will be returned to Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction. And
the talks will also involve representatives of the Azerbaijani
community of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs exactly mean the same thing when they
say Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh should also participate in the
negotiations. Fortunately, they have repeatedly voiced their opinion
on this subject which fully coincides with that of Azerbaijan.

It is incorrect to think that persons who listen Nalbandian’s voice sit
in the Armenian parliament. Perhaps there are such people among the
deputies, but I am confident that they are still a minority. The MPs
know real truth better than Nalbandian, and maybe even better, because
some of them are closer to Serzh Sargsyan than the minister himself.

In this case, for whom this lie was designed? For those who are the
most naive? Hardly. For the press? If so, he could bring together
representatives of mass media, and not make such reports in parliament.

So, it turns out that the lie in the parliament was aimed at …

himself. He was scared. He is afraid for his future, which is very
vague in the light of recent rumors about the expected change of half
of the cabinet of the Government. He is scared for his own country
which is heading nowhere. Fears make Nalbandian deceive himself. He
deceives himself to get comfort.

Nalbandian has overlied to the extent that he no longer knows where
is the truth and falsehood.

This is an integral feature of self-deception. And, apparently,
most Armenian officials have already passed through it…

AZERBAIJAN PROTESTS PRESCIENT WORLDWIDE FOR DISPLAYING NAGORNO-KARABAKH AS ARMENIAN TERRITORY

Trend News Agency
Feb 8 2010
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani embassy in the United States sent a protest to the
president of the telephone company Prescient Worldwide Richard Minervin
in connection with displaying Nagorno-Karabakh as a territory of
Armenia on the official website of the company, said the press service
of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan. The letter required to correct
the grave error and avoid similar mistakes in the future.

The response letter by the director of the company said that the
information on the site was changed and similar mistakes will not
repeat in the future.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

KURDISH MAYOR IN TURKEY APOLOGIZES TO ARMENIANS

Tert.am
14:49 â~@¢ 08.02.10

Osman Baydemir, mayor of Diyarbakır in eastern Turkey who is of
Kurdish origin, has apologized to those peoples who densely populated
eastern Turkey at one time, including Armenians, reports Turkish
daily Sabah.

"At one time, Assyrians, Armenians, Kurds and other peoples lived in
Mesopotamia [area between Tigris and Euphrates rivers], who, with
their religious identity, were a symbol of happiness, tolerance,
and peace. However, certain individuals came and ruled over us for
many years. People were forced to leave.

"I say this with great pain; the number of Armenian families in
Diyarbakır is not more than three — when 120 years ago they made
up 40% of the population. No apology can make that tragedy any easier.

Yes, you have endured great pains; you’ve been forced to emigrate.

However, you can be sure that you haven’t lost; rather, we have lost.

You also took the happiness and peace with you," said Baydemir.