Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

news.am, Armenia
Feb 27 2010

Switzerland-Armenia association recalls Sumgait pogroms

17:48 / 02/27/2010Switzerland-Armenia association issued a statement
on the occasion of 22nd anniversary of the massacres perpetrated
against Armenians in Sumgait. The association commemorates pogroms of
Armenians by Azeris in Sumgait 22 years ago, as well as massacres in a
number of Azerbaijani settlements within next years causing death,
tortures and mass displacements of Armenian population in Azerbaijan.

The statement also outlines the aggression by Azerbaijan against
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and destruction of Armenian khachkars
(cross-stones) in Jugha as expression of continuing propaganda of
aggression and hatred against Armenia and Armenian people.

Documents and videos are attached to the statement.

A.G.

Agence France Presse
February 26, 2010 Friday 4:32 PM GMT

Georgia-Russia border crossing to reopen Monday: Tbilisi

TBILISI, Feb 26 2010

Georgia and Russia on Monday will reopen a mountain border crossing
closed since 2006, Tbilisi said, in a rare step towards warmer ties
between the two neighbours after their August 2008 war.

Georgia’s foreign ministry said in a statement Friday that the
checkpoint, known as Verkhny Lars in Russia and Kazbegi in Georgia,
will reopen at 6:00 am (0200 GMT) on March 1.

It is the only land border crossing that does not pass through
Georgia’s Russian-backed rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
which were the focus of the bitter conflict in 2008.

The two countries late last year reached a deal under Swiss and
Armenian mediation to reopen the checkpoint.

The crossing will be open to people, vehicles and cargo but visas will
be required for Russian citizens to enter Georgia, the statement said.

Russia closed the checkpoint in a move Georgian officials said was
motivated by tensions over Tbilisi’s efforts to build closer ties with
the West.

Armed conflict between the two ex-Soviet neighbours erupted in August
2008, when Russian forces poured into Georgia to repel a Georgian
military attempt to retake South Ossetia.

Russia later mostly withdrew to within South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
which Moscow recognised as independent states, a move so far followed
by only a handful of countries.

The closing of the crossing dealt a heavy blow to Georgia’s neighbour
Armenia, which relied on the crossing as its only overland route to
Russia, its key economic partner.

Russia also cut air links with Georgia during the war, only four
months after they had resumed following an 18-month embargo. Several
charter flights were allowed to operate between the two countries in
January, but full air links have not yet been restored.

MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIR OF RUSSIA TO BE APPOINTED

Aysor
Feb 26 2010
Armenia

Yuri Merzlyakov, who was one of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, is
reported received a new diplomatic job, according to announcement by
spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry Andrei Nesterenko.

It’s unclear whether the MG co-chair’s post will go to Yury Popov,
who is a former ambassador of the pre-existing joint commission on
settlement to the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict.

"Russia’s position over the settlement to the Karabakh conflict is
determined by President, and is being implemented by the Foreign
Ministry," said spokesperson.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA DID NOT MEET TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN KIEV

ArmInfo
2010-02-26 11:23:00

ArmInfo. The press-service of the Armenian President has refuted
reports on alleged meeting of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Kiev on Thursday.

In response to the question if there was such meeting in Kiev, the
Presidential Administration replied that A. Davutoglu was among the
other officials invited to the reception in honor of the new President
of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich. During the reception, A. Davutoglu
approached S. Sargsyan and they exchanged views. President Sargsyan
said that progress requires political will and that the process must
have a logical end within the shortest term, otherwise, as it was
repeatedly declared, Armenia will recall its signature under the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols. President of Armenia reiterated that
Turkey’s involvement in the Karabakh peace process is impossible
because that country provides military aid to one of the parties to
the conflict, particularly to Azerbaijan, and always makes subjective
statements on the settlement process. The country dreaming of a
region without borders must start with itself and lift the blockade
of the Armenian border, which will allow opening new communication
and transport infrastructures in the region, the president said. "If
Azerbaijan’s pressure holds the Turkish Parliament from ratification
of the Protocols, nothing holds the executive power of Turkey to
open the border between the two countries, which was closed at the
initiative of Ankara, even before ratification of the protocols,"
Serzh Sargsyan said.

Armenia and Turkey signed the "Protocol on the establishment
of diplomatic relations" and the "Protocol on the development of
bilateral relations" in Zurich on October 10. Afterwards, the Turkish
Foreign Ministry submitted the protocols to the Foreign Relations
Committee of the Turkish Parliament. The final resolution was to be
made before December 7, but wasn’t. To come into effect the protocols
must be submitted to the respective Parliaments for the ratification
on each side.

EU TROIKA TO VISIT ARMENIA MAR 3

ArmInfo
2010-02-26 10:46:00

ArmInfo EU Troika will visit Armenia Mar 3.

A source from the EU reports that by visiting Armenia EU officials
want to prove that they support the improvement of relations between
Armenia and Turkey.

The source says that Troika will be led by Angel Moratinos, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Spain (the country that is presently chairing
the EU Council), and will include EU Representative for the South
Caucasus Peter Semneby, who will represent the Secretariat of the EU
Council. It is not known yet who else will be in the group.

GOVERNMENT APPROVES CONCEPT OF FORMATION OF E-SOCIETY IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Feb 25, 2010

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. During the February 25 sitting, the
Armenian government approved the concept of the formation of e-society
in Armenia. According to RA Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsian,
by the concept, a network with a capacity of 100 megabit/sec will
be built under an investment scheme involving state-private sector
cooperation in order to ensure connection among citizens, enterprises
and state servants throughout Armenia.

The minister said that negotiations are being conducted on the World
Bank’s E-Society and Innovation for Competitiveness Project. He
assured those present that the construction of the network will bring
the government revenues of 97 billion drams over 15 years.

It was mentioned that the network will be built in 4 stages: the
preliminary stage in 2010, the operation stage in 2011, and the
development and establishment stages will start in 2012.

TURKISH PRESIDENT, PRIME MINISTER AND CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF MEET IN ANKARA

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.02.2010 22:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At the president’s residence Turkey’s president
Abdullah Gul, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and chief of
General Staff Ilker Bashug held a meeting . During the meeting,
lasted more than 3 hours, top three figures discussed the ongoing
civil-military strife. The meeting has concluded with a vow from the
Presidency that the current civil-military tensions will be resolved
within the framework of the Constitution, Hurriyet wrote.

After the meeting, the presidential administration issued a statement
stating that the Turkish leadership was of the opinion that all
issues should be resolved in accordance with the laws of the country,
said Hurriyet.

Dozens of senior officers, including a former Deputy Chief of General
Staff, retired Army General Ergin Saygun have been arrested on charges
of plotting a coup in Turkey. A former Air Force commander, retired
Army General Fyrtyna Ibrahim, a former Navy commander, Admiral retired
Omek Ozgen, a retired general Engin Alan are among the detainees.

According to the source, 10 colonels, four admirals, 17 generals
(some of them are retired) were arrested. 50 arrests were held in
Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Over the past 50 years there were four military coups in Turkey:
on May 27, 1960, on March 12, 1971, on September 12, 1980 and on
February 28, 1997.

KAREN NAZARYAN SUBMITTED LETTER TO UN SEC GEN ON BAKU AND SUMGAIT EVENTS

news.am

Feb 24 2010
Armenia

On the occasion of the anniversary of tragic events of Sumgait
and Baku, as well as on the pogroms and massacres of the Armenian
population in other Azeri cities, RA Permanent Representative to
UN, Ambassador Karen Nazaryan has submitted a letter to the UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Ambassador’s letter states that the Azerbaijani side keeps spreading
very low in quality and cheap in content propaganda materials with the
sole target to mislead the international community through impressive
falsifications and defamatory facts and figures.

"I regret the fact that Azerbaijan does not cease playing the game of
getting into the image of victim of so-called &’Armenian aggression.’
With this aim Azerbaijan falsifies not only the well-known truth
about the tragic events, but also the witnesses of the Azerbaijani
sources of the time. The cynicism of the way it’s done is frightening
in its simplicity".

Ambassador Karen Nazaryan also refers to the interview of the former
President of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov with Czech journalist Dana
Mazalova in April 1992. Mutalibov stated that the militia of the
Azerbaijani National Front actively obstructed and actually prevented
the evacuation of the local civilian population from the military
operation zone through the mountain passages specifically left open
by Karabakhi Armenians. The hope and intention of the Azerbaijani
opposition was to utilize civilian losses of such a magnitude to
instigate a popular uprising against the Baku regime and seize the
reins of power.

In a witness account brought by The Helsinki Watch report of September
1992 an Azerbaijani woman is quoted as confirming that Armenians had
notified the Azerbaijani civilian population to leave the town with
white flags raised. In fact the Azerbaijani militia shot those who
attempted to flee.

The letter further notes that "The international community has already
witnessed and confirmed the countless atrocities of Azerbaijani
Government towards the defenseless Armenian population. As a response
to a peaceful and constitutional demand of the Nagorno-Karabakh people
to exercise its right to self-determination, the Azeri authorities
organized an armed mob which launched pogroms against Armenians living
in the Azeri city of Sumgait in 1988. These massacres were the first
acts of mass killings on the territory of Soviet Union, as witnessed
by the criminal proceedings launched by the Soviet authorities.

Immediately after declaring its independence Azerbaijan freed the
accused murderers and openly saluted them as national heroes through
mass media.

Armenian Ambassador strongly believes that the better solution
would be the restoration of the fundamental and lawful rights of the
Armenians of the Nagorno-Karabakh by addressing their inalienable
right to self-determination."

AGHVAN HOVSEPYAN DWELLS

16950.html
16:37:49 – 24/02/2010

February 24, the Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan
stated that the issues concerning whether amnesty is applicable
to the editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak daily Nikol Pashinyan
may be discussed only after the verdict of the court. According to
Hovsepyan, only the verdict of the court of first instance is present
in connection with Pashinyan’s case and there are other two courts to
issue their verdicts. He said that amnesty is a necessity of law and
if this question is not solved after the verdict, the prosecutor’s
office will bring it up itself.

The prosecutor general dwelt also on the arrest of the famous
enterpriser Saribek Sukiasyan. He said that the prosecutor’s offices
of Erebuni community and Yerevan are instructed to keep under their
control this investigation. He noted that the aim is to get all the
proofs in a legal way. Hovsepyan said the results of the investigation
will be presented to the public.

BRITAIN’S FIRST VACUUM CLEANER MUSEUM OPENS

Panorama.am
16:34 22/02/2010

Society

Wherever he goes, James Brown, a 30-year-old ex-caretaker, known to
his fellow enthusiasts as ‘Mr Vacuum Cleaner, gets the red carpet
treatment. The hum of a Hoover, the drone of a Dyson are music to his
ears, and earlier this month – frustrated by the nation’s failure to
recognise the importance of vacuum cleaners in society – he opened
the first museum dedicated entirely to them, The Telegraph says.

Visitors have been turning up to the exhibition on a shopping drag
through the former coal mining town of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire,
in numbers he can’t quite explain.

The prize items of his current collection are two gold-plated
American-made Kirby ‘Ultimate G’ vacuum cleaners (not displayed on the
premises for security reasons) that he reckons would fetch £2,500 each.

James sees the real value of his 126-piece collection as its ability
to tell the remarkable story of a gadget that too many of us take
for granted.