Author: Nahapetian Lilit

MOJTABA DAMIRCHI: NABUCCO CAN’T BE IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT IRAN’S PARTICIPATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.02.2009 18:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nabucco can’t be implemented without Iran’s
participation, Iranian Ambassador to Georgia Mojtaba Damirchi said.

"Iran has the world’s second largest natural gas reserves. So the
European consumer market takes an active interest in our country. When
the matter concerns economic projects, their implementation should
be based on the economic interests of the region and therefore be
acceptable from an economic standpoint. Not political but economic
factors should play the decisive role in Nabucco project," he said.

European countries are expressing willingness to cooperate with Iran
on Nabucco, according to him.

"There are three main parties to the Nabucco project: gas producers,
transit countries and consuming countries. European states, which
are consumers in this case, doubt Nabucco efficiency without Iran’s
participation," Ambassador Damirchi emphasized.

The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will
transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania,
and Hungary. It will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an
der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria. This pipeline is a
diversion from the current methods of importing natural gas solely
from Russia. The project is backed by some of the European Union states
and the United States. It’s estimated to cost some â~B¬7.9 billion.

–Boundary_(ID_YUSc5YVlOCwmb0iz5Ey33w)–

ARMENIA JOINS EADB

ArmInfo
2009-02-02 13:30:00

ArmInfo. Today, the Armenian Parliament discussed the issue of joining
the agreement "On Creation of Eurasian Development Bank" (EADB) signed
between Russia and Kazakhstan in Astana on January 12, 2006. According
to Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan,
EADB is a financial structure created by Russia and Kazakhstan to
assist the parties in development of the market relations, their
stable economic growth and extension of mutual goods turnover. The
total authorized capital of the bank makes up $1,5 bln. The share
interest of Russia in it makes up $1 bln, Kazakhstan – $500 mln. As
expected, the share interest of Armenia in EADB at the first stage
will make up $100,000 to be allocated from assets of the government’s
reserve fund. The country will receive dividends in accordance with
the invested funds. Armenia expects active participation of the bank
in financing of such big projects as construction of a new power unit
in the republic, Meghri, Lori-Berd and Shnokh hydropower plants,
Iran-Armenia railway, as well as the projects in such spheres as
mining, communication and processing of agricultural production. EADB
delegation visited Armenia on June 24, 2008. A working group for study
of the projects’ details was set up upon the results of the visit. The
group from the Armenian party is headed by deputy Minister of Energy
and Natural Resources Iosif Isayan. As expected, the voting on the
agreement will be held on February 3, 2009.

ARF YOUTH UNION OF ARMENIA PROPOSES RAISING MONUMENT TO ARAM MANUKIAN IN REPUBLIC SQUARE OF YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan

Jan 30, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The Central Board of the ARF Youth
Union of Armenia on January 29 applied to Yerevan mayor Yervand
Zakharian with the proposal to raise a monument to Aram Manukian in
Republic Square of Yerevan.

"The 90th anniversary of the death of the founder of the First
Republic of Armenia Aram Manukian and the 130th anniversary of his
birth is marked on January 29 of this year, so the ARF Youth Union of
Armenia proposes to show the worthy attitude to the major founder of
the Republic and to take the appropriate steps," is said in the letter
sent by the representative of the Union’s Central Board Sasun Sargsyan
to the mayor. It is also stated that the Union will spare no effort
and support the implementation of this initiatve in every possible way.

HOLOCAUST, COMMEMORATION AND BALKANS

cafebabel.com
http://arirusila.cafebabel. com/en/post/2009/01/29/Holocaust-commemoration-and -Balkans
Jan 30 2009

The UN General Assembly chose January 27 as the official day for
the commemoration, as it was on this day in 1945 that Soviet troops
liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. Throughout Europe, tributes
will be paid to the 53 million people who died during World War II,
of whom 31 million were civilians.

Commemoration has linked usually also to International Holocaust
Remembrance Day. The background is, that on January 27, 1945, Soviet
troops entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, the last
such camp still functioning. They found 7,000 survivors from among
the more than 1,000,000 people murdered there. The memory of the
Holocaust in western Europe has historically been a kind of spur for
‘anti-racist’ movements, but how to define Holocaust?

Definitions

Most scholars define the Holocaust as a genocide of European Jewry
alone, or what the Nazis called the "Final Solution of the Jewish
Question". Taking into account all the victims of Nazi persecution,
the total number of victims would be between nine and 11 million of
which figure appr. six million were Jews.

Earlier the word holocaust has been used since the 18th century to
refer to the violent deaths of a large number of people, e.g. many
writers used it before World War II to describe the Armenian Genocide
of WWI.

If and when the word holocaust is reserved to describe murdering six
million Jews during WWII the other similar brutalities need another
term and the word Genocide is most used to describe the deliberate
and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic,
racial, religious, or national group. A word pogrom is used mostly
in relation with a form of riot directed against a particular group,
whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by the killing
and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers.

Balkans

Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest extermination center created by
the Nazis. It has become the symbol of the Holocaust and of wilful
radical evil in our time. The death tolls in extermination centers
vary but rough estimations are following (source Wikipedia):

Auschwitz II 1,400,000 Belzeg 600,000 Chelmno 320,000 Jasenovac 600,000
Majdanek 360,000 Maly Trostinets 65,000 Sobibor 250,000 Treblinka
870,000 Few people know that 3rd biggest extermination center was
Jasenovac. Two reasons maybe explain this: 1st it is located in
Croatia and 2nd the main part of victims were Serbs. From total
600,000 murdered ones some 25,000 were Gypsies, some 25,000 Jews and
over half a million Serbs.

Yad VaShem – "Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority" –
is Israel’s official memorial to the Jewish victims of the holocaust
describes Jasenovac as follows (source):

Located in Croatia 62 miles south of Zagreb, Jasenovac was Croatia’s
largest concentration and extermination camp. Jasenovac, was a network
of several sub-camps, established in August 1941 and dissolved in
April 1945. The Nazis gave control of Jasenovac to the puppet Croatian
government, which was run by the fascist Ustasa movement. A large
number of Ustasa members served in the camp, most notably Miroslav
Filipovic-Majstorovic, who was notorious for killing prisoners with
his bare hands.

The Independent State of Croatia was created and supported by Nazi
Germany and Fascist Italy. It thus adopted their racial and political
doctrines. Jasenovac had a role in the Nazi "final solution"; it was
also used, however, in the ethnic cleansing of Romany and Serbian
inhabitants. So during the WWII, Serbs shared the similar fate as
Jews at the hands of Nazis. Jasenovac was not the only place where
Serbia’s neighbour Croatia ran several concentration camps where Jews,
Serbs and Roma have been murdered. Bosnian Muslims and Kosovo Albanians
were allies of Hitler as well.

(More about Jasenevac in my document library )

Memory today

In April 1945 the partisan army approached the camp. In an attempt
to erase traces of the atrocities, the Ustaša blew up all the
installations and killed most of the internees. An escape attempt by
the prisoners failed, and only a few survived.

It seems that after WWII Croats tried to hide all evidence about
brutalities in Jasenovac, all material evidence disappeared as if
there had not been any camp in that place. Later – during Tito’s time
– the state and the authorities tried to implement "Brotherhood and
Unity" motto, with the aim of creating tolerance between the nations
and the crime had to be forgotten as soon as possible.

On Summer 2008 Israel’s ambassador to Croatia, Shmuel Meirom,
harshly criticized the funeral given to a head of a WWII Jasenovac
concentration camp in Zagreb, saying also that it insulted the memory
of those killed in the camp run by Croatia’s Nazi-allied Ustasha
regime. "I’m convinced that the majority of the Croatian people are
shocked by the way the funeral of the Jasenovac commander and murderer,
dressed in an Ustasha uniform, was conducted," ambassador Meirom
said in a written statement to the state news agency Hina. "At the
same time, I strongly condemn the inappropriate words of the priest
who served at the funeral and said that Sakic was a model for all
Croats"Meirom said. (More about this in my article )

So commemoration or International Holocaust Remembrance Day or events
and history related to them has recent times been observed with various
ways. In Serbia Serbs and Jews held the main commemoration ceremony
at the Memorial to the Victims of Genocide in the Second World War
at the Old Fairgrounds (Staro Sajmiste) in Belgrade – a place where
thousands of them were murdered during WWII.

Yearly commemoration is important remainder for fair picture of
history. At least one day per year is good to think what ultra
nationalism can be at its worst level, what kind of interests, power
game, attitudes and hidden motivations are creating possibilities for
murdering civil populations or ethnic groups. And to remember that
these actions have been continuing also after WWII e.g. in Cambodia,
Rwanda and Darfur even today.

–Boundary_(ID_WEv4p9rG8gcZ5jG+/IDZlw)–

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ARMENIAN UNION OF MANUFACTURERS AND BUSINESSMEN: DOLLAR RATE TO RAISE UP TO 400 – 450 DRAMS FOR NORMAL ARMENIAN EXPORT

ArmInfo
2009-01-30 16:07:00

ArmInfo. For normal export of Armenian goods the dollar rate should
raise up to 400-450 drams, Executive Director of Armenian Union of
Manufacturers and Businessmen Gagik Makaryan told journalists today.

‘Our investigation is evidence of it. It is no secret that an expensive
drams opened "green light" to the cheap import. Expensive drams
hinders our exporters to export their goods abroad by competitive
prices. But this does not mean that we need sharp dropping of the
exchange rate. The state often has its own reasons for raising of
falling of the rate. But it is not often possible to say about it
openly’, – Makaryan said.

To recall, at present US dollar rate to Armenian dram is 305AMD/$1.

MOSCOW COULD BENEFIT FROM FAILURE OF OTHERS TO RECOGNIZE BREAKAWAY REPUBLICS, RUSSIAN ANALYST SAYS
Paul Goble

Georgiandaily
x.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9654 &Itemid=65
Jan 30 2009

Vienna, January 29 – When Moscow recognized the independence of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia following its invasion of Georgia, the
Russian government confidently predicted that a significant number
of other countries would do the same. So far, however, only one has
recognized these breakaway republics, but even Nicaragua has not
opened an embassy in either.

Many observers have suggested that this represents a serious diplomatic
and political defeat for Moscow, and in one respect – the failure
of its predictions to come true – that is certainly the case. But
there are at least three ways in which Moscow may be benefitting from
the failure of the international community to extend recognition to
Sukhumi and Tskhinvali.

In an article posted on the Caucasus Times portal yesterday, Sergey
Markedonov, an internationally recognized specialist on the Caucasus,
points to two of these, arguing they reflect Moscow’s efforts to
"extract [political] profit’ from what is now its "exclusive
recognition" of the independence of these two republics.

On the one hand, he writes, the Russian government has consistently
striven to prevent "non-regional players" from having any role in
the Caucasus North or South. Consequently, it cannot be entirely
unhappy that no other state has sent an ambassador to these states,
a step that would "internationalize" not only this dispute but perhaps
others as well.

And on the other, Markedonov says, "the Kremlin understands that
is unilateral action guarantees it great freedom of action on the
ground," allowing Russian business interests and officials to dictate
to the governments of these two republics in ways that would simply
be impossible if "five or six foreign embassies were working" there.

But in addition to these immediate consequences, there is a third,
one Markedonov implies but does not discuss in this article, that may
be even more to Moscow’s liking. The failure of the international
community to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia sends a powerful
message to non-Russian republics inside Russia that they would face
an uphill battle in securing recognition.

Given how great have been the expectations of some in the West and
how great the fears of some in Moscow that the Kremlin’s move with
regard to Abkhazia and South Ossetia might spark new demands by
these republics for independence or at the very least trigger a new
"parade of sovereignties."

That helps Moscow to maintain its control over what remains an
extremely restive region, even though its inability to get other
governments to follow its lead on the two breakaway republics
highlights Russian weakness as compared to the strength the US and
the EU displayed in gaining widespread recognition for Kosovo in the
former Yugoslavia.

Before making these points, Markedonov traces the history of the
question of the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a history
that has been far more complicated in the case of many of the countries
mentioned as being interested in making such a diplomatic move than
most commentary about this subject suggests.

At present, Markedonov says, "only Russia has completed the complete
circle of the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. It has established diplomatic relations. It has sent
ambassadors to Tskhinvali and Sukhumi. And [the Russian government]
has concluded and ratified agreements" with these two republics.

Although Nicaragua is typically counted as having recognized the
two breakaway republics, its situation is in fact less definitive
than many assume, the Moscow analyst says. That country’s president,
Daniel Ortega, did declare on September 5, 2008, that he recognized
the independence of the two de facto.

Under the terms of the Nicaraguan constitution, that is sufficient,
but there has been no parliamentary ratification of this declaration,
and the failure of the legislators to act "sharply reduces the value
of this recognition. Moreover, "official Managua has not established"
diplomatic relations with the two and deals with them via its consulate
in Cyprus.

Earlier this week, Moise Kabaku Muchan, the ambassador of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) to the Russian
Federation, visited Sukhumi and said that he would support Abkhazia’s
request for expanded ties with his country, but neither he nor his
government has moved to recognize them formally.

Moreover, two other countries – Venezuela and Libya – which have said
they are prepared to have some kind of relationship with the two
have not gone beyond those public declarations, and both of them,
Markedonov notes, have been careful not to use language that might
be construed as formal recognition.

Nor have Moscow’s closest allies within the CIS made any move to
recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Armenia, for example, has said
it would do so only if other CIS countries recognized the independence
of Nagorno-Karabakh, a step not one of the 11 is currently prepared
to take.

According to Markedonov, Moscow has not been upset by this reluctance
except in the case of Belarus. On the one hand, because Belarus and
the Russian Federation have signed documents creating a union state,
the Russian government is upset that Moscow has made a diplomatic
move than Mensk has not followed.

And on the other, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and other Belarusian
officials have thrown up one excuse after another for Mensk’s delay in
recognizing the two breakaway republics, excuses that most observers
in the Russian capital see as yet another indication that Belarus is
pandering to the West and does not intend to follow Moscow’s line.

No other country appears close to moving, leaving Russia and its
two client republics in a diplomatic situation that is unlikely to
change de jure even though few in Georgia expect Tbilisi to recover
these breakaway republics and the EU has acknowledged their existence
after a fashion by pushing for their inclusion in talks with Moscow
and the Georgian government.

That leaves Sukhumi, Tskhinvali, Moscow, Tbilisi and the international
community in a new place, one resembling the situation between Turkey
and Northern Cyprus that is recognized only by Ankara. But that
comparison suggests that the current arrangements in the Caucasus
could last a long time, even if all involved say they want a rapid
resolution of the situation.

ARMENIA PRESIDENT, RUSSIA PM APPRECIATE THE LEVEL OF BILATERAL RELATIONS

armradio.am
30.01.2009 11:04

In The evening of January 29 the President of the Republic of Armenia,
Serzh Sargsyan, had a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Russian
Federation, Vladimir Putin.

The Armenian President and the Russian Prime Minister appreciated the
high level of strategic and partnership relations and the political
dialogue between the two countries and noted that the frequent meetings
provide an opportunity to maintain the high dynamics of cooperation.

The parties summed up the positive trends registered in the filed of
economic cooperation in 2009, expressing confidence that the annual
commodity turnover between the two countries, which is nearing $1
billion, creates a good basis for further success. During the meeting
reference was made to a broad framework of issues on the agenda of
bilateral relations.

"WE CALL FOR A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE SIDES"
Karine Asatryan

A1+
[04:40 pm] 28 January, 2009

Georgia has largely implemented PACE Resolution 1633 while Russia
has not. In particular, Russian hasn’t withdrawn its troops from the
zone of conflict, Co-rapporteur of the Committee on the consequences
of the war between Russia and Georgia, Luc Van den Brande (Belgium,
EPP/CD) announced today.

"The Assembly wants to foster a dialogue between the conflicting
sides. It doesn’t want its member states to wage a war," said the
Co-rapporteur. He suggests setting up a special committee to inquire
into the consequences of the war. The committee should involve equal
representatives from Russia and Georgia, as well as from South Ossetia
and Abkhazia.

Co-rapporteur Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), noted that Russians
should understand the theses proposed by them as they stem from
European principles.

When presenting the viewpoint of the PACE Political Committee,
Mátyás Eörsi noted that they want "to open a window to understand
the reasons for the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war." This will
enable the Committee to avert wars in other zones of conflict,
including Nagorno Karabakh.

PACE delegates fully realise that they cannot force Russia to meet the
requirements of Resolution 1633, in part to denounce the recognition of
the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "But does it suggest
that we should mitigate the requirements? Surely, not. We should work
out new methods. This is a serious concern for the Council of Europe,"
said Lithuanian parliamentarian Egidijus Vareikis.

Today the rapporteurs mostly criticised Russia saying the latter is
against Georgia’s integration into NATO.

Polish parliamentarian Bender thinks Russia is eager to regain its
reputation of a superpower. He is anxious that Russia may attack
Poland some day.

The Head of the Russian delegation to the PACE, Konstantin
Kosachev, detailed why Russia cannot meet the PACE requirements. He
says in October 2008 PACE "made a wrong diagnosis qualifying the
misunderstanding between the countries as a Russian-Georgian conflict,
hence the structure prescribed wrong medicine." In reality the conflict
had emerged between Georgia and Osseitia and Russia had intervened
to prevent annihilation of Ossetian people. Kosachev says Russian
troops cannot be withdrawn from the territory for fear that Georgia
may resume military activities.

–Boundary_(ID_qJBGtqqcGAZ5uI7WGqgIGw )–

SUMMIT ON HOLOCAUST: GAZA WAR LEGITIMIZED EQUATING JEWS WITH NAZIS
By Cnaan Liphshiz

Ha’aretz
ages/1059089.html
Jan 27 2009
Israel

The operation in Gaza put an end to the European taboo on equating
Jews to Nazis. That message was one of the conclusions of the
first international panel discussion on anti-Semitism following
the Gaza invasion, which was held in Jerusalem Monday on the eve of
International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Speaking at the panel, which was part of the World Jewish Congress
plenary assembly, Professor Dina Porat said, "the comparison has now
become self-understood." She added this applied not only to Muslims
in Europe, but among "leftist circles."

Porat, an international authority on anti-Semitism and head of
Tel Aviv University’s research body on this phenomenon, added that
Operation Cast Lead has "left no doubt" that Muslims in Europe had,
"prepared in advance a public campaign against Jews and Israel,
which they see as one and the same."

"[Muslims] were waiting for a signal or a pretext to launch this
campaign and the Nazism comparison," she said.

This tactic, she elaborated, proved most effective when Europeans
from the left wing "worked in unison" with Muslims.

"Europeans are burdened by the Holocaust, and accusing the victims of
being like the Nazis helps distribute some of the burden and guilt,"
Porat told the 500 people who came to the event, at the Inbal Hotel.

WJC Treasurer Cobi Benatoff of Italy, who attended the panel, urged
Jewish communities to "complain less and do more."

He hinted criticism of European coreligionists in comparing the level
of involvement in the Middle East by Muslims in Europe to that of the
continent’s Jews. "I don’t remember demonstrations by Jewish Europeans
when the Negev came under Palestinian fire every day," he said.

Also speaking at the event was Lina Filiba of the Jewish Confederation
of Turkey.

"There was much preparation in the reaction of Muslims," she said. "The
first rally came on the day of the first attack in Gaza." She added
the operation exposed anti-Semitism in Turkey’s highest levels of
government, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called
for Israel’s exclusion from the United Nations.

She showed a picture of a group of people holding a dog outside a
shop near Istanbul with a poster hanging over it reading, "Jews and
Armenians are not allowed, but dogs are allowed". Despite Jewish
protests, she said, the poster was not removed until 15 days later,
following intervention from liberal groups.

Anne Sender, head of the Jewish community of Oslo, spoke of an
"explosion of violence" in anti-Jewish protests, which, according
to her, the likes of which had never occurred in the past. She also
mentioned the case of a Norwegian diplomat who, as reported by Haaretz,
last week sent an e-mail saying that Jews, "learned from the Nazis."

Preliminary analyses by Jewish organizations estimate that during the
Gaza operation, the volume of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe multiplied
more than four-fold compared to the correlating time last year.

NKR PRIME MINISTER INTRODUCED NEW DIRECTOR OF RESCUE SERVICE

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department
January 26, 2009

The NKR Prime Minister visited the Rescue Service adjunct to the
NKR Government and introduced the newly appointed director to the
staff. The Prime Minister noted that the performed cadre change
is not motivated by the work of the former Director V.Arustamyan,
changes in the administrative staff of separate state bodies, are
aimed at giving fresh impetus to these structures. A.Haroutyunyan
expressed his thankfulness to V.Arustamyan for the valuable services
rendered by him, underlining that his wide experience and abilities
will be still used in the state system.

Congratulating A.Sargsyan in connection with being appointed Director
of the Rescue Service, the Prime Minister ordered to complete the new
conception of development of the Rescue Service within one-month time
limit and to present it to the Government. A.Haroutyunyan reported that
it is necessary to achieve the point when together with the Rescue
Service and other force structures the civil structures as well will
be ready to defend the population in emergency situations. In this
connection corresponding work was suggested to be carried out in
the circles of different authorities. The Prime Minister expressed
his hope that during the forthcoming 2-3 months the Rescue Service
will become a more efficient and specialized body ready to display
an operative support in any situation.

Then, the Head of the NKR Government answered some questions troubling
the participants of the meeting, gave corresponding clarifications.
Particularly, the case in point was the increase of the rescuers’
salaries and settlement of their housing problem.