Author: Nargizian David

GRAND SLAM MASTERS: LEVON ARONIAN SHOWS PERFECT GAME

11:52 12/09/2009
Panorama.am

Armenian GM Levon Aronian had a perfect victory over Aleksey Shirov in
the fifth round of `Grand Slam Masters’ tournament held in Bilbao,
Spain. Currently Aronian has 12 points which makes him the absolute
champion of the tournament.

Alexander Grishchuk ended his set with Sergey Karjakin in draw making
it impossible to compete for the first horizontal. Sergey Karjakin has
6 points and occupies the third horizontal.

Levon plays and lets the others to play. Experts say his sets always
have some gaps, but the important thing is that in the end his rivals
slump and not him.

OFFICIAL VISIT OF THE ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER EDWARD NALBANDIAN TO
CHINA KICKS OFF

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: On the invitation of Chinese
Foreign Affairs Minister Yang Jiechi Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister
Edward Nalbandyan arrived September 10 in Beijing on an official
visit.
Media relations department of Armenian Foreign ministry told
Armenpress that the meeting of Armenian and Chinese Foreign Affairs
Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Yang Jiechi took place on September
11.
Expressing gratitude to his Chinese counterpart for warm reception
Edward Nalbandian noted that in Armenia the development and
consolidation of friendly relations with China is highly signified.
Ministers Nalbandian and Jiechi in details discussed issues
connected with intensification of consultations between Armenian and
Chinese Foreign Ministers and boosting of cooperation between the two
states as well as exchanged thoughts on a number of international and
regional issues.
Edward Nalbandian presented the process of regulation of
Armenian-Turkish relations as well as the efforts exerted towards
achieving a breakthrough in the Artsakh issue.
The Chinese Foreign Minister expressed the support of his state in
regulation of Karabakh conflict and normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations.
During the negotiations the Armenian and Chinese Foreign Ministers
in details discussed promotion of the economic cooperation and the
process of implementation of the agreements reached in this
sphere. The next session of Armenian-Chinese inter-Governmental
commission has been decided to be summoned in December this year in
Beijing.
It has been with gratification stressed that in November 2009 Days
of Chinese Culture took place in Armenia and the opportunity of
conduction of Days of Armenian Culture in China has been discussed.
The same day Edward Nalbandian was received by the Chinese vice
president Si Dzinpi.
Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister conveyed the congratulatory
message of the Armenian President Serzh Sarg
of Peoples Republic of China addressed to the Chinese President Hu
Jintao to the Chinese Vice President.
Si Dzinpi and Edward Nalbandian in details discussed a wide range
of issues connected with bilateral political, economic and cultural
relations.
On September 11 an agreement was signed in the Chinese Trade
Ministry on providing technical-economic assistance to Armenia.
On September 10 Edward Nalbandian delivered an extended speech on
the Armenian Foreign Policy in the Chinese Institute of International
Studies in which ambassadors accredited in Beijing, diplomats,
politicians, representatives of business circles and journalists were
present.
The Armenian Ambassador gave an extended interview to the "Sinkhua"
news agency and CCTV central state TV channel.
Today Edward Nalbandian will leave for Shanghais where he will meet
the organizational committee of "Shanghais expo-2010".

YBF EXPANDS EXPORT GEOGRAPHY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
10.09.2009 20:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yerevan Brandy Factory intends to expand export
geography, executive director Ara Grigoryan said.

"54% slump was registered in wines and liquors output, what is
conditioned by dependence on Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian
markets. To overcome the problem, our company will enter new markets,
including some Asian and African countries," he said.

Mr. Grigoryan said that fiscal year 2009-2010 will be a hard year
for the company.

"It will demand supreme effort but we are ready to face challenges,"
he said.

ACCORDING TO ZOYA TADEVOSYAN EXPELLED FROM HERITAGE PARTY, ORIGINATOR OF ‘SHOWDOWN’ INSIDE THE PARTY IS HERITAGE LEADER RAFFI HOVANNISIAN

Arminfo
2009-09-10 13:59:00

ArmInfo. The decision of Heritage Party Board to expel Zoya Tadevosyan,
Vardan Khachatryan and Movses Aristakesyan from the party has no
legal force, the representative of Heritage Party in the Armenian
Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Zoya Tadevosyan, told ArmInfo
correspondent.

"I remain a member of Heritage Party and intend to continue my activity
at the Central Electoral Commission",- she stressed and added that
the election to the Board were rigged, and they have been fighting
against this fraud inside the party for 2 years. "The common members
of Heritage have been demanding for two years that the illegitimate
Board of the party should be annulled and new election should be held,
and the current Board takes decisions which do not express the position
and mood of the party’s general public. However, several persons have
usurped the party and are trying to play the games dictated by some
unknown persons. Yesterday’s decision proves what I have said. This
is called seizure of power inside the party",- Tadevosyan stressed.

According to her, the unlawful processes inside the party started 5
years ago, and they were initatedby Heritage Press-Secretary Hovsep
Khurshudyan.

"Hovsep has painful ambitions, he boasts everywhere that he solves
all the most important problems inside the party",- Tadevosyan
said. Asked whether she considers Heritage Leader Raffi Hovannisian,
who is keeping silence and doesn’t respond to such phenomena, to be the
originator of this chaos, Tadevosyan stressed: "When the head of the
family doesn’t worry about the family, moreover, when he disappears
leaving the family members without attendance, and everyone makes
their own decisions, the family faces such a situation".

To recall, the Heritage Board held a sitting Wednesday evening, Armen
Martirosyan was elected chairman of Heritage Board, and Stepan Safaryan
was elected head of Heritage faction. In addition, Zoya Tadevosyan and
Movses Aristakesyan were expelled from the party. Zoya Tadevosyan is
the Heritage representative in CEC of Armenia, and Movses Aristakesyan
was to occupy Heritage Leader Raffi Hovannisian’s seat in parliament
after Hovhannisian had vacated his seat.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES DIRECTOR OF RUSSIAN FEDERAL SECURITY SERVICE

ARMENPRESS
SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
YEREVAN

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received today director of the
Russian Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov who arrived in
Yerevan to participate in joint consultations of heads of security
services of Armenia and Russia.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that Sargsyan noted with
pleasure about the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership, regular
contacts in different spheres and high level of political dialogue
which may be witnessed by expanding partnership between the two
countries in different spheres. The head of the country underscored
the cooperation and regular contacts between the security bodies and
noted that they promote the development of steps toward confronting
existing threats and challenges with more efficiency. The director of
the Russian Federal Security Service said that he is satisfied with
the cooperation with Armenian special services. The interlocutors
also referred to the issues discussed during consultations and agreed
that there are very up-to-date and touch upon interests of the two
countries.

They also spoke about regional issues.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN ATTENDED THE ARMENIAN-CROATIAN BUSINESS FORUM IN ZAGREB

armradio.am
09.09.2009 10:39

The President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, together
with the President of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Masic attended
the first Armenian-Croatian Business forum in Zagreb and gave a
speech. The decision to organize this forum was reached during the
official visit of the President of Croatia to Armenia. The forum was
attended by nearly one hundred Armenian and Croatian businessmen,
representing different areas of economy. In the framework of the
Presidential visit the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Armenia and
the Chamber of Commerce of Croatia signed the Agreement on Cooperation.

The President of Armenia visited the observatory of Zagreb,
familiarized with the state-of-the-art "Sevan" device for astrological
observations created with the assistance of Yerevan Institute of
Physics and learned about the programs jointly implemented by the
astrophysics of Armenia and Croatia. The President of Armenia visited
also the Museum of Zagreb history, learned about the history of the
capital and studied the original documents. President Sargsyan visited
also the summer residence turned museum of the renowned political
leader Tito on Veliki Bryn island, where he observed exhibits and
documents related to the political biography of J. B. Tito. Accompanied
by President Stjepan Masic, President Sargsyan visited also the tavern
built by Tito decades ago.

Today, in Zagreb the President of Armenia met also with the
President of the National Assembly of Croatia Luka Bebic. The parties
reiterated existing mutual political will to move the Armenian-Croatian
relations forward in bilateral as well as multilateral formats. Serzh
Sargsyan and Luka Bebic stressed the importance of establishing
interparliamentary groups of friendship in the two countries and
cooperation in the interparliamentary international structures. The
President of the Republic of Armenia presented to the Speaker of the
Croatian Parliament the latest developments of his initiative aimed
at the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations and the current
stage of the NK peace process.

In the evening of September 8, the delegation headed by the President
of Armenia returned to Yerevan.

THE CONFIDENT VICTORY OF AZAT HOVHANNISYAN

Aysor
Sept 9 2009
Armenia

The Armenian boxer Azat Hovhannisyan of 57 w/c overcame the usual
obstacle of the world championship organized in Milan. This time too
he took a victory over Alesio di Savino in the 1/8 final, with 14:7
points. Our sportsman took a victory over his rivals in three rounds
with 4:2, 6:5 and 4:0 points.

Today in 1/4 final Azat Hovhannisyan will fight with Oscar Valdes
from Mexico.

DASHNAKS NOT SEEKING SARKISIAN’S RESIGNATION
Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenialiberty.org
Sept 8 2009

Armenia — Hrant Markarian, a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation party, at a news conference on September 8, 2009.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) is not
demanding President Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation yet despite its
strong condemnation of his conciliatory policy toward Turkey, a leader
of the influential nationalist party reiterated on Tuesday.

Dashnaktsutyun, which walked out of Sarkisian’s coalition government
in April, stepped up its criticism of that policy following last
week’s publication of draft agreements on the normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations. Its leadership is particularly furious
with Yerevan’s recognition of Armenia’s existing border with Turkey
and acceptance of a Turkish proposal to conduct a joint study of the
mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Hrant Markarian, the de facto head of the opposition party’s
governing Bureau, went as far as to accuse Sarkisian of "splitting
the nation" and liken him to former President Levon Ter-Petrosian,
Dashnaktsutyun’s longtime foe. "I’m afraid Serzh Sarkisian is doing
what Levon Ter-Petrosian would have liked to do," he said.

Dashnaktsutyun was bitterly opposed to Ter-Petrosian and sought to
unseat him throughout his 1991-1998 presidency. Ter-Petrosian’s softer
line on Turkey and in particular his refusal to bring up the Armenian
genocide issue in his dealings with Ankara was a key reason for that.

Markarian made clear that his party, which is particularly influential
in Armenian communities abroad, has no intention to campaign for
Sarkisian’s resignation and would content itself with the dismissal
of Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian at this stage.

"Surely, by demanding the foreign minister’s resignation we are
showing our attitude to the president," he told a news conference. "But
demanding the president’s resignation is a totally different matter. Of
course, it’s not ruled out, it’s not taboo.

"We may arrive at such a conclusion one day. But we have not arrived
at such a conclusion yet."

In a further sign that Dashnaktsutyun has not burned all bridges with
the Armenian government, Markarian added that he and other party
leaders will request a meeting with Sarkisian after he returns to
Armenia from a visit to Croatia later this week. He warned at the
same time that the Sarkisian administration will "commit a suicide"
if it fails to heed the opposition concerns about the ongoing
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.

ARONIAN’S FIRST VICTORY

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 8 2009
Armenia

Levon Aronian gained his first victory in the final of "Grand Slam"
chess tournament in Bilbao, 2009. The world four top players take
part in the tournament.

Playing black Aronian defeated Sergey Karjakin. Alexander Grischuk
gained the second victory over Alexei Shirov, "Armsport.am" reports.

After the two rounds the standings are as follows: Grischuk-6 points,
Aronian-3, Karjakin and Shirov-1 each.

SERZH SARGSYAN MEETS WITH GROUP OF FAMOUS ARMENIAN BUSINESSMEN FROM RUSSIA

NOYAN TAPAN
SEPTEMBER 7, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues ralated to the most efficient
use of the potential of the Diaspora, particularly of the Armenians
in Russia, and the promotion of the activities of the organizations
there were discussed at the meeting of Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan with a group of famous Russia-based Armenian businessmen.

S. Sargsyan expressed a high opinion about the role of Armenian
businessmen living abroad in enhancing Armenia’s reputation, preserving
Armenian identity and strengthening the Armenia-Diaspora relations. He
welcomed the readiness of the meeting participants to contribute to the
economic development of Armenia through various investment projects.

Noting that almost a year has passed since the last meeting in this
format, the president said this period enables to speak about the
agreements reached and the process of their fulfilment. In his words,
despite the difficulties caused by the global crisis, numerous programs
have been implemented.

According to the RA presidential press service, S. Sargsyan also
informed the businessmen about the recent developments in the country’s
foreign and domestic policies.