Author: Nahapetian Lilit

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
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December 9, 2009
___________________________________________

FOR THE FIRST TIME, NCC HONORS AN ARMENIAN WITH ITS "AWARD OF EXCELLENCE"

Deacon James Kalustian was one of the four "Award of Excellence" winners at
this year’s National Council of Churches general assembly.

A member of the Armenian Church’s Supreme Spiritual Council and the Eastern
Diocese’s Diocesan Council, as well as serving as a deacon at Holy Trinity
Armenian Church of Cambridge, Mass., Mr. Kalustian was presented with the
award during a dinner ceremony in Minneapolis, Minn., where the NCC held its
annual gathering November 11-13.

According to the National Council of Churches, the "Award of Excellence"
recognizes individuals who have advanced the ecumenical movement, met human
needs, advocated for peace and justice, or provided a strong "prophetic
voice" in the Christian community. Mr. Kalustian has the distinction of
being the first Armenian to be so awarded.

Kalustian is active in the spiritual, cultural, and philanthropic life of
the Armenian Church, which he has represented at regional, national, and
international ecumenical meetings. Alongside his service on the highest
governing bodies of the worldwide Armenian Church and its Eastern Diocese,
he is the president of Boston’s Armenian Heritage Foundation.

Other 2009 "Award of Excellence" recipients were Joan Leof, who coordinates
an anti-racism project of the United Church of Christ; and Rev. Katherine
Austin Mahle, a longtime leader of Minnesota’s ecumenical community. The
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches also received the award as an
organization that has battled poverty in its home state for five decades.

"Once a year we give these awards to people who have contributed to their
church and to the ecumenical movement," explained Archbishop Vicken
Aykazian, the Legate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America, and the current president of the NCC, who will complete his
two-year term at the end of this year. "I think it’s a great honor to have
an Armenian chosen as an award winner, and I believe that Jim Kalustian, who
is very much involved in the Armenian Church and dedicated to his faith, was
completely deserving of this award."

"I was obviously flattered to be honored by the NCC," said Kalustian about
receiving notice that he had been selected to win the award. "However, the
significance of the recognition is more important to me as a member of the
Armenian Apostolic Church than as an individual."

For the Very Rev. Fr. Aren Jebejian, pastor of the St. Gregory the
Illuminator Church in Chicago, Ill., the highlight of the NCC assembly was
seeing Mr. Kalustian receive the award. "Jim is the first Armenian in the
history of the NCC to receive an award and be recognized," he said. Fr.
Jebejian has been a delegate to the NCC for the past 10 years.

Mr. Kalustian urges fellow Armenian Christians to engage in the ecumenical
movement. "We as Armenian-American Christians need to make our voices heard
and thereby can have an impact through the ecumenical movement on important
social and political issues. Not just those that are important to the
Armenian Church-such as the integrity of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem,
recognition of the Genocide, and the plight of the Armenian Church in
Georgia. But also, issues of broader social and religious consequence, such
as human rights in Somalia and Rwanda, and the plight of Christians in
general in the Holy Land."

###

File photo attached: James Kalustian.

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND UAE SIGN MEMORANDUM OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

Noyan Tapan
Dec 7, 2009

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Dr. Anwar Gargash signed a mutual
understanding memorandum of cooperation on the fight against human
trafficking. The memorandum was signed in Yerevan on December 5. It
envisages in particular cooperation between the two appropriate
bodies of the two countries – the UAE National Committee to Combat
Human Trafficking and the RA Commission on Human Trafficking Issues.

During the press conference following the document’s signing,
the Armenian foreign minister described the negotiations between
him and his counterpart regarding bilateral relations, regional and
international issues as "quite substantial". According to him, both
sides underlined the fact that the bilateral contacts have become
more active: this is the third visit by a delegation composed of
high-ranking officials of UAE to Armenia this year. E. Nalbandian
announced that a delegation of representatives of large companies will
arrive in Armenia from UAE soon in order to discuss the opportunities
of making investments and implementing various joint projects in
Armenia.

In the words of Dr. A. Gargash who heads the UAE body to fight human
trafficking, like more than 100 countries, UAE has a problem of human
trafficking and attaches great importance to the fight against it. UAE
has adopted a national strategic concept on the fight aganist human
trafficking, as well as a "stringent law to combat trafficking". He
pointed out the importance of cooperation with other states in this
issue. Dr. A. Gargash called the relations between Armenia and UAE
excellent, but at the same time he stressed the necessity to develop
bilater political and economic links, including investment making. He
said that during the negotiations with his Armenian counterpart, he
expressed UAE’s support for the Armenian-Turkish normalization and the
peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict within international law.

ACTIVITY OF SOME OF THE AZERBAIJANI RESEARCH CENTRES
Diana Galstyan, Araks Pashaian

"Noravank" Foundation
07 December 2009

Azerbaijani research centers or the so-called "think tanks" work in
the format of foundations, NGOs, as well as academic entities. The
centers mainly work in two directions: social-economic and social and
political. They attach special importance to the studies directed to
the development of Azerbaijan as well as researches devoted to the
study of the regional developments. A lot of attention is paid to the
problems connected with the RA and NKR. The "think tanks" from time
to time arrange conferences, workshops (very often in collaboration
with the well-known foreign organizations) on different themes.

>From typological point of view "think tanks" in Azerbaijan can be
divided into two main groups:

"Think tanks" established and sponsored by the state "Think tanks"
financed by the international structures and foundations.

Azerbaijani analytical centers cooperate with many foreign
organizations (UN, Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE, World Bank,
International Institute for Strategic Studies, World Trade
Organization, UNESCO, Eurasia Foundation, Carnegie Foundation (New
York), Marshal Foundation (Germany), George Soros Foundation, UNPD,
USAID, Oxfam and etc.).

The main purpose of the centers financed by the western structures
and foundation is to boost:

The establishment of the civil society in Azerbaijan Democratic
processes The implementation of the liberal social and political
reforms The protection of human rights and gender equality.

The entities sponsored by the state can be classified into two groups:
academic and non-academic. The vivid example of the latter is the
centre for strategic studies under the president of the Republic of
Azerbaijan which receives rather big subsidies from the state.

It is characteristic that in Azerbaijan there are net structures
working in the Caucasian region which also have offices in Armenia and
Georgia, such as the Caucasus Research Resource Center CRRC. Let us
mention that the logic, financing and target goals of the analytical
centers financed by the West both in Armenia and Azerbaijan generally
coincide. In Azerbaijan almost the same grant programmes work as in
Armenia and other post-Soviet countries.

Below we present information about several Azerbaijani leading
analytical centers.

Centre for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan Though the centre has only two years history (established
in November 2007 by the decree of Ilham Aliyev) it has already
been distinguished by its eager activity. The constituent document
of the organization reads that the establishment of the centre
is conditioned by the necessity in the analyses directed to the
improvement of the governing system of Azerbaijan, social and political
analyses. According to the aforementioned document the number of the
employees of the centre is 30. It is headed by Elhan Nuriev1, who had
worked in European and the US research and analytical centers. Nuriev
wields the methodology of dynamic studies and implementation of the
results of those studies.

The centre works in several main directions. Among them are, e.g.,
the study of the local, regional and international processes. As a
result of those studies the political programmes concerning domestic
and foreign policy are drawn up. The part of the functions of the
centre is the coordination of the activity of the authorities and
other research institutions.

The important part of the activity of the centre is providing
"truthful" information about the NKR. In this context the special
attention is paid to the establishment of the centre of the Armenian
studies. According to the statement of Nuriyev made in one of
the interviews there are specialists who speak Armenian, know the
Armenian history, psychology, mentality. The centre is monitoring
the Armenian books, mass media, the statements and addresses of the
public figures in Armenia and the Diaspora. The publications of the
monographs concerning different aspects of the "Armenian Question"
as well as the elaboration of "Conception of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement" are prepared.

For the short time of its existence the centre managed to arrange
several conferences in Moscow, Baku, London, Berlin and etc.

The motto of the centre is: "Our purpose is the national security
protection of Azerbaijan".

Center for Economic & Social Development (CESD) It was established on
January 1, 2005. The chairman of the centre is Vugar Bayramov2. The
centre was created to study economic, social, energy, communication,
financial spheres in modern Azerbaijan; it promotes the implementation
of practical projects in the social and economic spheres. CESD
elaborated programmes and proposals on the poverty eradication,
social and economic reforms, the efficient use of the energy resources
and etc.

The centre which is supposed to be one of the leading "think tanks"
in the country is cooperating with German Marshal Foundation, Eurasia
Foundation, World Bank, World Trade Organization, International
Development Economics Association and other international
organizations. CESD is included in NIRA3 (National Institute for
Reserach Advancement) list and together with another centre – Centre
for Economic Studies (since 2006 Institute for Scientific Studies
and Economic Reforms) – is included in PAROS4 (The Policy Association
for an Open Society).

In the first half of 2009 CESD arranged 12 workshops in different
regions of Azerbaijan and 2 international conferences ("Choice between
Asia and Europe: the Possibilities of the Central Asia", conference in
Hong Kong in cooperation with the WTO); it published reports and books.

The difference of the "Centre for Economic and Social Development"
from other Azerbaijani analytical centers is the following:

It publishes strategic reports in order to influence the policy of the
government It has the largest and the most verified network on local
(almost all the Azerbaijani analytical centers and universities are
included) and international levels.

The centre lays a claim to become a school for the young specialists
who can play an important role in the development of the political
system.

It also works actively with the volunteers. Today 8 volunteers are
included in the day-to-day works of the centre and that number tends
to rise.

Institute of Peace and Democracy – IPD The initiator of the
establishing of this "think tank" was Leila Yunusova5. The IPD was
founded in 1995 as the humanitarian project of the Union of Women
of Azerbaijan "For the Peace and Democracy in South Caucasus". That
union has been working since 1994 as an Azerbaijani branch of the
"Dialogue of the Women of Transcaucasia".

The institute deals with rather wide spectrum of issues. It deals with
the search of the ways of development of Azerbaijan and the mechanisms
of maintenance of peace in the region, protection of human rights
and the issues of the improvement of the market economy as well as
carries out educational activity.

IPD has the following departments:

Human rights protection State and the society Conflict resolution
studies and migration Women issues Youth issues Institute arranged
conferences ("Women for the life without war", "Youth and the peaceful
settlement of the conflicts", "Islam in modern Azerbaijan", "European
Council and the issues of ethnic minorities"), workshops ("Women
political figures and social and political life", "Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and its influence on the ethnic minorities living in
Azerbaijan").

The brief information about the aforementioned and other "think tanks"
is presented below in the Table 1 .

Academic institutions of Azerbaijan These institutions mainly deal
with the research in the fields of political studies, history,
oriental studies, sociology, philosophy, ethnography, archeology,
law, religion and economy.

It should be mentioned that the capacities of the academic institutions
are inferior to the ones of the non-academic institutions. The
available public funds are not enough to pay high salaries, arrange
conferences and academic missions, running web-sites, publishing books
and carrying out other issues concerning the academic management. From
this point of view the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences is
an institution which needs serious reforms6. It is remarkable that
the development of the academic science in Azerbaijan is boosted by
the western structures. As a rule Azerbaijani academic institutions
cooperate with NATO, CORDIS (Community Research and Development
Information Service), IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency),
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), UNESCO (United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), INTAS
(International Association for the promotion of cooperation with
scientists from the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union),
ANSF (Azerbaijan National Science Foundation), ISTC (International
Science and Technology Center), CRDF (Civilian Research & Development
Foundation)7.

Table 2 presents brief information about the Azerbaijani academic
institutions.

1Elhan Nuriyev – political scientist, Doctor of political sciences.

Professor. Graduated from the Faculty of the English and French
languages of the Azerbaijan Pedagogic Institute (today, Azerbaijan
University of Languages). Then he studied at the Diplomatic Academy
of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and Goethe Institute in
Germany. He worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan,
the George Washington (US) University, Peace and Conflicts Institute
(Germany). In 2001-2004 he was co-chairman of the expert group
working under "Partnership for Peace" consortium which dealt with
the settlement of conflicts in the South Caucasus.

2Vugar Bayramov – Ph.D. in Economics. He graduated from the Azerbaijan
State Economic University, continued his education in the US. He worked
at Economic Research Centre, Azerbaijan State Economic University,
"Azadliq" newspaper.

3NIRA is a Japanese independent policy research think tank. It was
founded in Tokyo in 1974. Its objective is to conduct independent
research to contribute to the resolution of contemporary complex
issues. They include rather wide scope of issues such as politics,
economics, international affairs, society, new technologies, and
administration.

4The founding meeting of PASOS took place on June 18, 2004 in Moldova.

This institution promotes and protects such open society values
as democracy, protection of human rights. It supports the entities
that individually and jointly foster public participation in public
policy issues

5Leila Yunusova – Doctor of Historical Sciences, the founder of the
first human rights protection non-governmental organization in the
Soviet Azerbaijan (1988), the leader of the "Independent Democratic
Party" (1991-1996).

6It is remarkable that the scientific sphere is announced a priority
line in the development of the country. In April 2008 by the decree of
president I. Aliyev state committee on the reforms in the sphere of
science which firstly implies the alternation of the generation. And
in 2007 by another decree of president the state programme for the
Azerbaijani youth to be educated abroad in 2007-2015.

7Only in 2007 the US Civil Studies and Development Foundation allocated
$2.5 million to the Azerbaijan National Science Foundation for the
development of the science in the country and in that framework
about 57 grant programmes, in which 214 scientists were involved,
were carried out.

ARMENIA LIKELY TO WEAKEN ITS RESISTANCE: EXPERT

Trend News
08.12.2009 17:52

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement on that
the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations will depend on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations will weaken the Armenia’s resistance,
Turkish National Intelligence Committee former analyst Mahir Kaynak
told Trend News over the telephone.

Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, as well as several
other officials are in official visit to the U.S. During his visit,
Erdogan met with U.S. President Barack Obama. Resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the future of the Ankara-Yerevan
protocols were one of the main topics discussed at the meeting Dec.7.

The PM said that the normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations
will depend on the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations. The resolution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and liberation of seven Azerbaijani
regions will contribute to the rapprochement of Armenian-Turkish
relations, Erdogan said.

According to Kaynak, firmness and efforts of Turkey, as well as of
nations such as the United States and Russia, in settling of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict points to a change in the policies of each
state towards Armenia.

He said such development will sooner or later lead to the withdrawal
of the Armenian forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Talking about that the U.S recognition of the "Armenian genocide"
as a result of pressure on the president by the Armenian lobby are
unfounded, the expert added.

"The U.S. does not want to lose such an important ally in the
Middle East, like Turkey for the sake of still unproven far-fetched"
genocide," Kaynak said.

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.

"ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN RURAL AREAS" PROGRAM LAUNCHED IN ARMENIA

ARKA
Dec 7, 2009

YEREVAN, December 7. /ARKA/. The Children of Armenia Fund and HSBC
Bank Armenia have embarked on joint program "Environmental protection
and development of female entrepreneurship in rural areas".

Karo Armen, chairman and founder of the fund, speaking Friday at
the ceremony of signing the cooperation agreement, said that this
program would set a good example of cooperation between benevolent
and financial organizations.

"We also finds it important that the first client of our joint program
is Star, network of supermarkets."

The key aim of the program is to protect our environment cluttered
up with plastic wastes from pollution and to promote female
entrepreneurship in rural areas.

The program has already launched in Armavir province.

Under this program, women here will produce ecologic bags for shopping.

Stressing the importance of environment protection for Armenia,
the head of the fund said enthusiastic women will be involved in
the process.

Besides, the program implies creation of new jobs.

"I hope our cooperation with HSBC Bank Armenia and Star supermarket
network will create favorable environment for further development of
the republic’s rural areas," Armen said.

This program also implies enhancement of public awareness, trainings
and promotion of small business in rural areas.

Tim Slater, general executive director of HSBC Bank, who spoke at
the signing ceremony as well, said that the bank’s mission is not
only to provide services to its clients, but also to create a stable
environment for development of sound communities.

The program costs $36,000, of which $25,000 will be invested by
HSBC Bank Armenia, and the remaining $11 donated by the Children of
Armenia Fund.

The program will last until June 2010.

Vahan Kerobyan, executive director of Star supermarket network, said
the network will purchase first 1000 ecologic bags and use them in
packing purchases instead of plastic packages.

The Star expects no extra profit from that.

The Children of Armenia Fund, a benevolent organization trying to
reduce poverty in Armenia by implementing recovery and development
programs in the country’s rural areas.

HSBC Bank Armenia CJSC, a subsidiary of HSBC Bank plc, was registered
on September 25, 1995.

HSBC Bank plc holds 70% of HSBC bank Armenia CJSC’s shares, and the
remaining 30% belong to Armenian investors overseas.

OBAMA APPEALS FOR HELP AMID TENSIONS WITH TURKEY
By Desmond Butler

Associated Press
Dec 07, 2009 5:23 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is looking for help in
Afghanistan from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan even
as tensions simmer between the two NATO allies on Iran and the
Middle East.

A White House meeting Monday between the two leaders comes at a time
of rising Turkish influence in the Middle East and Central Europe.

Before leaving for Washington, Erdogan said Turkey has already
contributed the "necessary number" of troops in Afghanistan, and that
Turkish military and police will train their Afghan counterparts and
press ahead with health, education and infrastructure projects there.

Turkey took over the rotating command of the NATO peacekeeping
operation in Kabul last month and doubled its number of troops to
around 1,750. However, it has resisted repeated U.S. requests to send
its troops on combat operations.

Turkey’s participation in the Afghan mission carries enormous symbolic
importance because it is the only Muslim country working with U.S.

troops to beat back resurgent Taliban and deny al-Qaida a sanctuary.

More broadly, however, the United States would like Turkey to use its
sway as a regional power and Muslim majority ally to help solve some
of its trickiest foreign policy problems. But the two sides disagree
on many of the important issues.

Turkey has sought to become a mediator for the United States with Iran
and Arab countries, but it is unclear whether the Obama administration
is eager for Ankara to play that role. The two sides disagree on
sanctions against Iran and the administration is uneasy about recent
Turkish criticism of and disputes with Israel.

Greater friction is looming as the Obama administration intensifies
pressure on Iran to end its nuclear ambitions. A U.S. push for
sanctions at the U.N. Security Council, where Turkey currently sits
as a nonpermanent member, will force Ankara to choose between a NATO
ally and an important neighbor.

The two allies also will need to navigate the perennial issue of an
annual U.S. statement on the World War I-era massacre of up to 1.5.

million Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Breaking a campaign pledge,
Obama has refrained from referring to the killings as genocide,
a term widely viewed by genocide scholars as an accurate description.

The Obama administration has said it is wary that the sensitive issue
could upset talks that could lead to reconciliation and a reopening
of the border between Armenia and Turkey. It remains unclear how the
administration will handle the issue in the future, especially if
talks between Turkey and Armenia falter.

Tensions have eased over cooperation in Northern Iraq. Turkish
complaints about a lack of U.S. help in rooting out Kurdish militants
launching attacks on Turkey from Iraq loomed over Erdogan’s White
House visit with former President George W. Bush in 2007.

Since then Turkey has boosted trade in the region and improved ties
with members of the Kurdish minorities living on both sides of its
border with Iraq.

PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED NEWLY APPOINTED GEORGIAN AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY TO ARMENIA GREGORY TABATADZE

gov.am
Dec 4 2009
Armenia

Congratulating the Ambassador on the start-up of his diplomatic mission
in our country, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that he will
bring about further progress in the Armenian-Georgian relationship
during his tenure of office. Tigran Sargsyan highlighted the need
for expanding economic cooperation by stressing that bilateral trade
turnover is still far from being satisfactory.

The Prime Minister said that the reopening of Kazbek-Upper Lars
international automobile checkpoint would have a positive impact on
economic developments in the region and will strengthen Georgia’s
role as a transit country.

With reference to the status of Armenian churches in Georgia, Tigran
Sargsyan emphasized the importance of making efforts to restore the
Saint Gevorg of Mughni Church in Tbilisi.

The interlocutors further discussed the activities of the
Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation,
which is scheduled to hold its eighth sitting in Yerevan early
next year.

During the meeting, reference was made of the planned Georgian Culture
Days in Armenia. The Armenian Prime Minister said to be hopeful that
the next year’s Armenian Culture Days in Georgia will be held with
as much enthusiasm.

AZERBAIJAN`S MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY MET WITH HIS ITALIAN COUNTERPART

news.az
Dec 4 2009
Azerbaijan

Eldar Mahmudov Azerbaijan, Italy discuss security cooperation.

Azerbaijan`s Minister of National Security, Lieutenant-General Eldar
Mahmudov has met here Director General of Italian Foreign Intelligence
and Security Agency, Vice Admiral Bruno Branciforte.

They discussed a wide range of issues, including fight against
transnational organized crime and terrorism.

The sides also exchanged views on prospects of cooperation between
the two countries` security authorities.

Mahmudov gave detailed information to his Italian counterpart about
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

LECTURES ON ARMENIAN CHRISTIAN IDENTITY DELIVERED IN CYPRUS

news.am
Dec 3 2009
Armenia

The Christianization of Armenia in 301AD has been a turning point in
its national history," Gibrahayer e-magazine reads.

"A new culture was started which was further rooted and implemented
with the invention of the Armenian alphabet and the translation of
the Bible into Armenian. Since then, the Bible has been the essence
of the Christian faith for the Armenian nation and the preservation
of its national identity and culture," the source reports.

"Dr. Ari Topouzkhanian’s visit to Cyprus from October 28 to November
2, 2009, was very significant in this respect. A prominent scientist
and Bible scholar-translator, Dr. Topouzkhanian stimulated the
Armenian audience with his two very inspiring lectures: The essence
of the Armenian Bible — Historical reflections and the present day
challenges, Faith and Science — The Christian Armenian youths search
for identity," the magazine informs.

EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS TO BE COMMEMORATED IN UKRAINE

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.12.2009 16:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On December 7, 11:00 a.m. all Armenian churches
and chapels of Ukraine will hold requiem services to commemorate the
victims of 1988 Spitak earthquake.

The liturgy in the Armenian chapel of Kiev will be conducted by
clergyman Hovhannes Shakhnazaryan, Analitika.at.ua reports.

Every year on December 7 people in Armenia and Diaspora commemorate
the victims of great disaster.

According to official data, 1988 Spitak earthquake left 25 people dead,
140 thousand crippled and 1.5 million homeless.