Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

Tiarn’ndaraj: newly-weds in Armenia will jump over the fire

On February 14, the Armenian Church celebrates the Feast of the Lord’s
Presentation to the Temple. Tiarn’ndaraj, or Candlemas as it is known
in the West, symbolizes the presentation of the 40 day-old Christ
Child to the Temple in Jerusalem.

In the tradition of the Church, Evening Services (Nakhatonak) are
conducted on the night preceding the Feast Day. At the conclusion of
the service, the priest lights a candle from the Holy Altar, and
distributes the flame to all present. With great care, the faithful
take the lit candles home to their families.

This day newly-married and loving couples jump over the fire and
receive congratulations and blessing from relatives and friends. The
ceremony is followed by traditional songs and dances around the fire

Under the auspices of the Catholicos of All Armenians, Garegin II,
Tearnendarach has been announced the day of blessing the newly-weds.

Tomorrow Armenian Church will celebrate Feast of the Lord’s
Presentation. In accordance with the Law of Moses, the infant Christ
was brought to the Temple by Mary and Joseph and presented to God. A
man named Simeon was there, to whom it had been revealed that he
should not see death before he had seen the Lord. Simeon held the
infant in his arms, blessed God, and said, `Lord, let your servant now
depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your Salvation, which you have
prepared before the face of all people. A Light to lighten the
Gentiles, and the Glory of Your people, Israel.’ (Luke 2:29-32)

The morning of the Feast Day, Divine Liturgy is celebrated in Armenian
Churches throughout the world. The hymn offered during the Liturgy
commemorating Tiarn’ndaraj glorifies Simeon’s articulation of `a Light
to lighten the Gentiles’. The hymn praising Simeon also lauds the
Mystery of the Incarnation.

Many additional customs have been inherited from the past, including
the blessing of the four corners of the world in the Andastan Service,
the blessing of newlywed couples, as well as offering prayers for the
crops and fertility of the fields.

, Turkey
Feb 14 2010

Armenia sends Turkey protocols to parliament

The Turkish government says it will not open the border unless Armenia
ends its occupation of Upper-Karabakh.

Sunday, 14 February 2010 09:29

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on Friday submitted two protocols
on normalising ties with Turkey after decades of hostility to
parliament for ratification.

Sarkisian announced this week that he would soon be sending the
protocols on establishing diplomatic ties and reopening the
Armenia-Turkey border to parliament for approval.

But he insisted that the accords must first be voted on by the Turkish
parliament before Armenia’s parliament will approve them.

Parliament spokesman Goar Pogosian confirmed that the assembly had
received the protocols and said that within two days a commission
would be established to study them.

Turkey and Armenia which have no diplomatic ties or economic relations
since Turkey closed its border with Armenia since this country invaded
the Upper-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in 1992, signed two protocols
in October 2009, for normalisation of relations, after months-long
Swiss-mediated talks.

Under the protocol, Turkey and Armenia reconfirmed their commitment,
in their bilateral and international relations, to respect and ensure
respect for the principles of "equality, sovereignty, non-intervention
in internal affairs of other states, territorial integrity and
inviolability of frontiers".

The protocol on development of bilateral relations aims to facilitate
the development of relations between Turkey and Armenia in all fields
and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border two months after the
protocol goes into effect.

Both Turkey and Armenian governments initiated the internal
ratification process.

Turkish government sent the protocols to the parliament. The protocol
needs to be approved by the parliament in order for it to take effect.
The Turkish government says it will not open the border unless Armenia
ends its occupation of Upper-Karabakh.

Recently the Armenian Constitutional Court approved the protocols,
however the tone of the court’s reasoned verdict drew criticism from
Turkey and Turkish officials who voiced their uneasiness in various
platforms.

Agencies

TIGRAN SARGSYAN: ARMENIAN-KOREAN RELATIONS HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2010 17:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received
the Ambassador of Korea to Armenia Lee Kyu-Hyung , press office of
the Government of Armenia reported.

The head of the Armenian government expressed his satisfaction with
the current level of Armenian-Korean relations, stressing that Armenia
attaches great importance to expansion of bilateral relations. Tigran
Sargsyan attached importance to further development and strengthening
the relations in trade, economic, scientific-technological, education,
culture, agriculture and other spheres.

The RA Prime Minister stressed that it is necessary to establish
a legal framework and direct contacts between entrepreneurs,
joint ventures and encourage Korean investments in Armenia’s major
infrastructure and economic projects, such as participation of Korean
companies in the construction of the Yerevan TPP. Given the rich
experience of Korea in the design and construction of railways, the
Iran-Armenia railway may also become interesting to Korean companies.

The officials emphasized the importance of joint cultural programs.

LA TIMES MOVE ANGERS AZERIS

AssA-Irada
February 9, 2010 Tuesday
Azerbaijan

The Los Angeles Times has shown disrespect for Azerbaijans territorial
integrity. During its travel and adventure exhibition due on December
13, Armenia and Azerbaijans Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh region it occupies
will be presented simultaneously. During the show, travel agencies from
Armenia and the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic will open a
section called Welcome to Armenia. Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijans consul
general in Los Angeles, has sent a letter of protest to the LA Times
editorial office. The letter emphasizes that Upper Garabagh is an
integral part of Azerbaijan and that such instances are unacceptable,
according to Elkhan Polukhov, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign
Ministry. Also, the Azerbaijani community in the United States
has voiced deep concern over the newspapers actions. In a letter,
the diaspora representatives called on LA Times and the exhibition
organizers not to abuse international law. US Azerbaijanis said
propaganda by any participant of the event about others territory,
culture and heritage is inadmissible. Upper Garabagh is an Azerbaijani
region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended separatist
hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about
one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Armenia continues to occupy
Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of
international law. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible
results.

AZERBAIJAN CAN NO LONGER BE TRUSTED: SARGSYAN IN LONDON SPEECH

Tert.am
10:11 11.02.10

Azerbaijan has exhausted the resources of trust in terms of autonomous
status for minorities within its boundaries, RA President Serzh
Sargsyan said in his speech in Chattam House, Britain’s Royal Institute
of International Affairs, yesterday.

Sargsyan said Azerbaijan was not – and is not -capable of providing
guarantees of even internal security to such autonomies, adding the
Karabakh was never a part of independent Azerbaijan.

"There was once another Armenian autonomy in Azerbaijan: Nakhijevan.

What happened to it? Not a single Armenian is left in Nakhijevan. Can
such guarantees be taken for granted? You might say Azerbaijan was
different then, and is different now. During the last 18 years of that
‘difference’ more Armenian and Christian monuments were destroyed
than in the preceding 70 years. The international organizations tasked
with protection of the cultural heritage were unable to do anything:
Azerbaijan did not even permit them to visit and see the obliterated
Armenian monuments," he said.

The Armenian president urged everyone to exercise their utmost caution
when making public statements on Nagorno-Karabakh, to take into account
all the dimensions, possible consequences, and the perceptions of
the sides, and always to rely on the positions of the organizations
that are familiar with the details of the problem and specialize in
its peaceful resolution, meaning, in this case, the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

"I would pose a rhetoric question to all who consider themselves
advocates of territorial integrity. Where were they when the Soviet
Union collapsed and the borders changed? Where were they when
Yugoslavia was falling apart? Why do you think that Azerbaijan could
secede from the USSR, but Mountainous Karabakh could not? Why do you
think that large empires should disintegrate, but small ones should
persevere? What is the basis? Instability? I cannot perceive it. I
do not accept it. Because unfair decisions are the very cause of
instability," said Sargsyan.

In his speech, titled "Values and Security in the South Caucasus,"
the president mentioned that in the meantime, a full-blown arms race
continues in the South Caucasus. It is extremely dangerous. It is
dangerous not only for the people of the South Caucasus, but for
all peoples.

"Azerbaijan has not faced any substantial confrontation for having
exceeded all the possible caps on conventional arms. Even if not used
in a war against Karabakh, the weapons Azerbaijan is stockpiling today
will go off somewhere. The only question is where and when. While
spending large sums on purchases of oil, the advanced states, in my
opinion, cannot remain indifferent to how their monies are being
spent. The fact is that these very proceeds can become a source
of threats, something that has happened elsewhere in the past,"
concluded Sargsyan.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNVEIL 1,500-YEAR-OLD STREET BENEATH OLD CITY
by Dan Slobodkin

Jerusalem Despatch
Feb 10 2010

The Antiquities Authority unveiled Wednesday a section of a stone
street in the Old City that provides important new evidence about
the city’s commercial life 1,500 years ago.

The findings confirmed an ancient mosaic map found in Madaba, Jordan
in 1876, which showed the entrance to Jerusalem from the west was
via a huge gate that led to the main thoroughfare.

Evidence of various ancient buildings appearing on the map has been
uncovered previously or has survived to this day, but the large,
bustling street was unknown because archaeological excavations could
not be conducted in the heavily used area.

Now, due to infrastructure work, the Jerusalem Development Authority
has launched a renewal project there, focusing on the entrance to
Rechov David.

>>From his knowledge of the Madaba Map, excavation director Dr. Ofer
Sion of the Israel Antiquities Authority surmised that the main road
passed by the spot. "After removing a number of archaeological strata,
at a depth of 4.5 m below today’s street level, much to our excitement,
we discovered the large flagstones used to pave the street," he said.

A foundation built of stone was unearthed alongside the street, which
had a sidewalk and a row of columns. "It’s fabulous to see that David
Street, which is teeming with so much life today, actually preserved
the route of the noisy street from 1,500 years ago," Dr. Sion remarked.

During the Middle Ages a large building that faced the street was
constructed on the stone foundation of the Byzantine period. In a
later phase, during the Mamluk period (thirteenth-fourteenth centuries
CE) elongated rooms, apparently used as shops and storerooms, were
built inside the structure. Beneath the building, directly below the
street that runs between David’s Citadel and Rechov David and leads
to the Armenian Quarter, is an enormous cistern, 8O12 meters and five
meters deep.

The Madaba Map is an 8O16-meter mosaic map that described the Land of
Israel through the intimate knowledge the mosaic’s builder had of the
country. The map, constructed in a Byzantine-era church in Jordan,
depicts schematically all of the Land of Israel, with an emphasis on
Christian sites.

Other artifacts discovered in the excavations include numerous pottery
vessels and coins and five small, square, bronze weights shopkeepers
used for weighing precious metals.

IN SEARCH FOR GUARANTEES, TURKISH DIPLOMAT NOW GOES TO US

Tert.am
12:44 â~@¢ 10.02.10

As previously reported, in an attempt to voice its concern on the
Armenian Constitutional Court ruling on the Armenian-Turkish Protocols,
and in anticipation of receiving written guarantees, Ankara had sent
a Foreign Ministry diplomat to Switzerland last week.

This time, CNNTurk reports, Turkish Foreign Ministry advisor Feridun
Sinirlioglu is going to the US on February 13 to express Ankara’s
concerns to the US administration on the court ruling, in addition
to the discussions to be held on a new Genocide bill in US Congress.

Sinirlioglu had been in Berne recently, likwise, in search of
guarantees from a third party (Switzerland being the mediator in
establishing the Armenia-Turkey Protocols) that the Armenian court
ruling will not hinder the process of normalizing relations between
the two neighbouring countries.

ARMECONOMBANK WINS UN TENDER ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

ArmInfo
09.02.2010

Armeconombank has won the UN tender on implementation of the World
Food Programme (UNWFP), Head of Armeconombank Department for Plastic
Card Operations Vardan Yeghiazaryan told ArmInfo.

According to him, within the frames of this programme, aimed at
rendering of food assistance to those in need, Armeconombank will
issue 1800 ArCa plastic cards at the first stage to provide funds
to the socially unsecured people. Moreover, the unemployed and those
temporarily attracted to different works (including the building work)
by UNWFP will receive money reward via these cards. By Yeghiazaryan’s
forecasts, the bank will issue about 30,000 plastic cards during a
year and a half within the frames of this programme, 8-10 thsd of
which will be issued in 2010. "Participation in this project will
enable us to be secured in the UN partner base, that will allow to
deepen the cooperation with UN and establish relations with other
international organizations", Yeghiazaryan emphasized.

As UNWFP Armenia Office told ArmInfo, assistance to almost $80
million was provided within the frames of this programme, having
been implemented in the republic since 1993. Within the frames of the
programme, assistance was provided to all the regions of Armenia, as
well as to the capital from 1993 to 2004, and later – only to Yerevan,
Gegharkunik, Tavush, Lori and Shirak.

Sergey Shakaryants: Many seem to have forgotten that Karabakh war was
unleashed by Azerbaijan
06.02.2010 15:12 GMT+04:00 l

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According `Forgotten Victims of Frozen Conflict’
Euronews reportage of February 1, Armenia failed to fulfill 4 UNO
resolutions on cessation of hostilities and return of territories to
Azerbaijan. Yet, they obviously forgot that the first 3 resolutions
were passed in the first half of 1993, when Azerbaijan acted as an
attacker, seizing almost half of Nagorno Karabakh territory,
politologist Sergey Shakaryants said.

`Naturally, NKR defence army had to protect itself, and was not in a
position to cease military actions,’ Armenian politologist said,
adding that the 4th resolution, too, was adopted after 1993, after
Azerbaijan’s resumption of hostilities.

`Many seem to have forgotten that the war was ceased only upon Russian
Defence Minister Pavel Grachev’s inviting Armenian, Azeri and NKR
Defence Ministers to Moscow, where Safar Abiyev was forbidden to leave
Moscow unless he agrees to sign Protocol on ceasefire,’ Sergey
Shakaryants emphasized.

UNO General Assembly passed 4 resolutions on Nagorno Karabakh, all of
them adopted before 1994 and containing stipulations both on Armenia
and Karabakh conflict. UNO resolutions are advisory of nature and
carry no binding character.

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 defence
army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the
OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 6 2010

European manufacturer to enter Turkish missile tender

The French and Italian consortium Eurosam has decided to bid in
Turkey’s multibillion-dollar long-range missile tender.

Murad Bayar, from the Turkish Undersecretariat for the Defense
Industry (SSM), told the media early this week that Eurosam is to
offer its Aster 30 model for the missile tender.

Turkey agreed to allow Eurosam to bid in the project after France’s
intense lobbying activities convinced Ankara to soften its
restrictions on French defense firms over Paris’ recognition of events
that took place in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire as genocide of
Armenians, a claim that Turkey denies.

Turkey is holding a competitive tender instead of negotiating with a
single company as a sole supplier. Thus it has extended its deadline
for responses to the request for proposals for its long-range air and
missile defense systems (T-LORAMIDS) acquisition project from Jan. 15
to March 1 to enable more companies to bid. The extension of the
deadline for the proposals was made to allow Eurosam and a
Russia-based group to prepare their bids for the $4.5 billion project.

Russia is expected to offer its advanced S 300 missile systems instead
of its S 400s. Turkey had wanted Russia to bid with its S 400s, but
Russia has convinced Turkey to accept an advanced version of the S
300s. In the meantime, reports that Russia has agreed to compete in
the tender, after abandoning its earlier offer to conduct exclusive
state-to-state negotiations with Turkey, have come following several
visits by Bayar to the country.

Turkey earlier extended the deadline for T-LORAMIDS proposals from
Dec. 1 of last year to Jan. 15 before extending it to March 1.

Meanwhile, a source from the Ankara office of the China National
Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) denied reports
that the company declined to bid in the project after seeking
exclusive state-to-state negotiations. At the time of the SSM’s first
deadline extension, CPMIEC was unable to bid, the same source said,
adding that the Chinese company will bid in the project by the revised
deadline. CPMIEC is to offer the HQ-9 (whose reported export
designation is FD-2000).

A US team of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon had already submitted its
proposals in December of last year. The two companies have jointly
offered a combination of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and
PAC-2 low to high-altitude surface-to-air (SAM) missiles through the
US Foreign Military Sales Program.

The Turkish military has put the price of its tender relating to the
acquisition of T-LORAMIDS at $1 billion, covering the purchase of four
batteries. However, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have put the cost of
providing 12 fire units at $4.5 billion.

Turkey may sign a contract with the winner in the T-LORAMIDS project
tender in the spring of next year after making a selection later this
year. After the signature of the contract, delivery of the systems is
required to take place within two-and-a-half years’ time.

06 February 2010, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA