Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan to be completed in late 2012
19:20 – 16.06.11
The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be completed in
2012, according to the Azerbaijani minister of transport.
Zia Mammadov has said the new railway will be completed by late 2012
and put into operation in 2013.
He added that the construction work at the Turkish port of Marmarsi
will be completed in 2013, facilitating freight transportation via the
railway.
Tert.am
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
June 19 2011
A small church service in Diyarbakır signals bigger reconciliation
Sunday, June 19, 2011
VERCÄ°HAN ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU
DÄ°YARBAKIR – Hürriyet Daily News
Surp Giragos’ restoration was widely supported by Istanbul Armenians,
although the Turkish Culture Ministry, Diyarbakır’s Sur Municipality
and diaspora Armenians also contributed to refurbishing the church.
Hearkening back to Diyarbakır’s cosmopolitan past, diaspora Armenians
and clergy held a small service in a local church Saturday in what
many hope is a harbinger for a more multicultural future in the
southeastern city.
`The sounds of the call to prayer and church bells will mix here on
this land from now on,’ Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir said following
the service at the restored Surp Giragos Church. `There were major
sorrows experienced in the past. We [condemn] the heartlessness of
those days in our hearts and we want a new start.’
`Diyarbakır was a multicultural city in the past but we lost a lot
with the `monist’ policy with the [Turkish] Republic. To be able to
resurrect social peace, lessons should be learned from the past and
history needs to be encountered. Kurds want to live together with and
embrace those populations that [hegemonic actors] set at loggerheads
with each other,’ Diyarbakır Sur Mayor Abdullah DemirbaÅ? told the
Hürriyet Daily News, adding that he was very pleased to be able to
host the guests.
Surp Giragos’ restoration was widely supported by Istanbul Armenians,
although the Turkish Culture Ministry, Diyarbakır’s Sur Municipality
and diaspora Armenians also contributed to refurbishing the church.
Noting that Sur Municipality had recently printed Armenian poet
Hovhannes Tumanyan’s `Gatil mi Meghr’ [A drop of honey] in Armenian,
DemirbaÅ? said: `Tales for children, history for adults; we are giving
back to what belongs to this land by looking after languages.’
Baydemir greeted visitors with carnations in his office immediately
following the service and said he was conscious that they had been
rather late in doing something for Armenians.
Meanwhile, Archbishop and Deputy Patriarch Aram AteÅ?yan said, `It is a
start that Diyarbakır Armenians come and visit the land they have been
born. We hope it [this trend] continues.’
Defined as the largest church in the Middle East by some experts, the
historic Surp Giragos Church will host a more grandiose service in
October. Along with the representatives of Armenian Apostolic Churches
from all around the world, representatives of sister churches and
leading names from the diaspora are expected to form part of the large
congregation.
`Telling the world about Anatolia’
Among the diaspora Armenian group of about 20 professors, historians
and businesspeople that attended Saturday’s service was world-famous
lute maestro, Armenian-American Udi Yervant, who is also known as
Yervant Bostancı.
Born in Diyarbakır and visiting his hometown after a 19-year break,
Bostancı said: `I have yearned for the land I was born in for years. I
am not a diaspora Armenian: Not for one moment has my country left my
soul and my heart. I live in Los Angeles but my songs tell of Anatolia
to the world.
`I was never able to become a [true resident of] Istanbul, and I am
not able to become an American. I have always lived in Diyarbakır and
still live there. I wish people were able to live and die in the land
where they were born,’ he said.
In a special evening event organized by Baydemir for the diaspora
Armenians, Bostancı took the stage and performed several songs in
Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish.
Coming from Toronto, former Istanbul resident Raffi Bedrosyan said
some difficulties occurred while collecting donations from diaspora
Armenians for the church’s restoration.
`They did not want to donate money for the restoration of this church
because they thought it prioritized Turkish and Kurdish interests. The
diaspora is still living the trauma of 1915,’ he said.
Last Armenian in Diyarbakır
The last Armenian to have lived in Diyarbakır, 81-year old Sarkis
Bedrosyan, said it was a special feeling to see Surp Giragos with his
own eyes once more.
Expressing his happiness that the mayor was able to host them, he
said: `The mayor talked about a truth that was forgotten in this city.
The Armenian past was mentioned; that was extremely important.’
The Istanbul Armenian businessman who started the church’s restoration
process, Diyarbakır-born Ergün Ayık said he was happy but added that
he wished there had been more support for the church.
The total cost of the restoration is around $2.5 million; once the
church is open for services its annex buildings will host several
culture and arts projects.
Posted, 06/17/2011
Garry Kasparov has a suggestion
By Fred Hiatt
He is the greatest chess player of his generation, but when asked to
predict Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s next move, Garry Kasparov
demurs.
`When you play chess, you have rules,’ Kasparov told a few of us
during a visit to The Post Thursday. `He can change the rules whenever
he needs.’
Still, Kasparov isn’t reluctant to offer sharply delineated views on
Russia’s future, and for a couple of reasons they command
attention. His intellect is as formidable as you might imagine – he is
probably best known in this country for taking on IBM’s chess-playing
computer more than a decade ago – but it’s not just that. Kasparov is
also far more charismatic than you might imagine, coming across as
balanced, funny and very human. Given that chess champions are rock
stars in Russia, he could have settled into an easy life of celebrity
there. Or he could have joined the opposition to Putin’s kleptocracy,
as he has, but from a safe and comfortable apartment in London or
Manhattan.
Instead, he has maintained a life in Russia, where – given the grisly
fate met by many journalists and human rights advocates – he lives
with bodyguards and anxiety.
He does not live without hope for Russia’s future, however. And to
that end, he came to Washington (meeting with executive and
congressional officials) with three essential messages:
First, the ostensible power struggle between Putin, now prime
minister, and his hand-picked president, Dmitry Medvedev, is a
sham. Putin pulls the strings. Americans, including the Obama
administration, have been taken in by this shadow play, Kasparov says,
which is useful for Putin – Medvedev gives the regime a friendlier
face to the West – but essentially irrelevant.
Second, Putinism is not working, and therefore its continuation is not
inevitable. Despite being an oil exporter at a time of sky-high oil
prices, Russia’s economy is ailing. Capital is fleeing, infrastructure
is decaying, and people are noticing.
`I think the patience of ordinary Russians could be running out,’
Kasparov said. `They can see that the one thing that’s going up is the
number of Russian billionaires on the Forbes list.’
And having quarantined Russia from democracy movements that flared in
Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, Putin now has to worry about
infection from the Arab Spring. `Putin did everything to prevent an
Orange Revolution, but now comes the ghost of Tahrir Square,’ Kasparov
said.
Finally, the United States has at its disposal a practical tool that
could help undermine Putin’s hold on power – specifically, a bill
sponsored by Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin that would ban visas
for and freeze assets of Russian officials implicated in rank abuses
of justice or abrogations of freedom inside Russia.
`To outsiders, this may not seem like much,’ Kasparov said. But it
would undermine what Kasparov sees as the fundamental principle and
purpose of Putin’s regime: that officials who are loyal to Putin can
accumulate assets and park them abroad – and that Putin can protect
them.
`If you are loyal to the boss, to the capo di tutti capi, you are
safe, inside Russia and out – in Dubai, London, Lake Geneva,’ Kasparov
said. `If something happens to even a small group of these people, it
will cause a dent in the monolith of power.’
Putin has bought off and corrupted so many European officials that
Europe will not act first, Kasparov said. But the United States could
– and because Russian oligarchs increasingly are investing in the
United States, U.S. action would make a big difference.
`Don’t tell me you don’t have leverage,’ Kasparov said.
Your move, Congress.
© 1996-2011 The Washington Post
news.am, Armenia
June 18 2011
Armenian aviation can strike enemy’s strategic sites – expert
June 18, 2011 | 17:12
Baku is developing military aviation to attack, while Armenia – to
defend, said deputy head of Armenia’s aviation department Armen
Lazarian.
According to him, the level of the Azerbaijani Air Forces is more a PR
action rather than reality. The expert called not to exaggerate
capability of Azerbaijan’s aviation despite the fact that the balance
of power between Armenia and Azerbaijan is shifted to Baku from the
quantitative point of view.
`However, in the early 90s, the Azerbaijani side has a numerical
advantage, but we managed to get out of the situation in the status of
a winner,’ he said.
He stressed that the main advantage of the Armenian side is skilled
pilots who got an appraisal from the international experts as well.
The level of training of Armenian pilots, as well as relevant
equipment allows carrying out flights under any weather conditions and
at any time of the day.
Lazarian said that, unlike other post-Soviet countries, Armenia has
not received the aviation heritage after
the collapse of the Soviet Union and developed the aviation from
scratch. Nowadays Armenia has not only the Air Forces, but the school
and its own aviation traditions. Over the recent years, the country
has imported new equipment which allows carrying out strikes on any
targets in Azerbaijan.
`Our equipment enables to carry out actions within a radius of 250-350
km, that is, our air forces can conduct operations in enemy’s
territory striking strategic sites, regardless of who and how they are
defended,’ he added.
news.am, Armenia
June 18 2011
Fingerprinting procedure required before departure from Armenia
June 17, 2011 | 20:12
YEREVAN. – People departing from Armenian airports, are now required
to undergo a compulsory procedure of fingerprinting. On June 17
Armenian Government approved the bill “On state registration of
fingerprints,” submitted by Armenian Police. It will be sent to the
Parliament in due course.
The project aims not only at prevention and combat of crime, but also
at verification and identification of identities. Police says the need
of identification might rise not only due to law violations, but also
in cases involving accidents, war, hostilities or rescue operations
when there is need to identify the missing people and the dead, cases
when people cannot provide information about themselves because of age
or health issues.
Oil Products Depot In Armenia on Agenda
18.06.2011 | 18:41 | | Noyan Tapan | Economy
(Noyan Tapan – 18.06.2011) 18 Jun 2011
Managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and
Distribution Company NIORDC) on Friday outlined the outcome of talks
with Armenia on exporting oil products and said a new center for
storing oil products will be set up near Yerevan.
“At present, Armenia’s market has an average demand for 12,000 barrels
of oil products daily. It is predicted this figure will increase to
22,000 barrels per day,” added Jalil Salari, who was speaking to Mehr
News Agency.
Studies have been conducted in recent years by Iran and Russia’s
Gazprom Company on building an oil refinery in Armenia, he said.
“Since oil refineries with capacities of less than 100,000 barrels of
oil are not economically feasible, the construction of this refining
unit has been cancelled,” he noted.
The official said at present Iran and Armenia are holding talks on
building a pipeline to conduit oil products. “In addition to building
this pipeline, studies are also planned on building a new warehouse
for distributing oil products near Yerevan.
Upon construction of this oil warehouse and its connection to the
railroad network, not only will the liquid gas needed by Armenia be
procured but it will also facilitate the export of oil products to
Georgia and other countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus region,”
he noted.
Salari pointed to Iranian private sector’s cooperation with Armenia on
constructing a joint oil pipeline. “Preliminary studies reveal that
laying an eight-inch to 12-inch pipeline for exporting fuel is
economically justified in the long run. Launching a new energy hub
near Yerevan for export and supply of oil products also has economic
advantages for Iran.”
He recalled currently some Iranian oil products are exported to
Armenia by tankers using the overland route.
“Armenia has 26 km of land borders with Iran. For a few years now swap
of electricity and natural gas with this neighboring country has
started. Once the final agreement is reached between the two
countries, it will become possible to export oil products to Armenia,
other regional countries and even the Mediterranean region in the long
run,” noted Salari.
Iran Daily 2011
Tickets for Brazil-hosted SOAD concert sold out
June 18, 2011 – 16:09 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – System of a Down will be will be co-headlining Rock
In Rio concert with Guns n’ Roses, on Sunday October 2, 2011.
According to SOAD official website, the tickets for Brazil-hosted
concert were sold out.
SOAD announced its reunification in November 2010 after five years of
inactivity, saying it will tour Northern America and Europe. Prior to
that Serj Tankian had performed solo concerts, while Daron Malakian
and John Dolmayan created Scars on Broadway band.
Armenia’s economy insufficiently diversified, PM admits
A joint OECD and FAO report forecast that food prices will be high and
volatile for the next decade, driven by rising incomes in emerging
nations and demand for biofuel.
The first difficulty that Armenia encountered in the post crisis
period is the insufficiently diversified economy, according to Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan. `Reacting on crisis, Armenia focused on
three directions: diversification, improvement of infrastructure and
business environment,’ the PM said in an interview with CNN. `Further
we hope to boost business environment and overcome consequences of
crisis by means of consecutive efforts directed at implementation of
reforms,’ he said.
June 18, 2011
PanARMENIAN.Net – Regarding the export share in GDP, which represented
20% of GDP in 2002, and only 12% to date, the Prime Minister
acknowledged that, unfortunately, a trade balance in Armenia still
remains negative. `Export promotion is a primary objective for us, and
our export is heavily reliant on three areas: mining industry,
information and high technologies and tourism,’ he said.
Speaking about investments of the Diaspora, Sargsyan said that they
are highly estimated as high as 60-70% from GDP. `Of course,
investments from the Diaspora came in Armenia not only in the form of
foreign direct investments but also as private remittances, which
allowed to overcome the effects of the economic contraction,’ the
Prime Minister said.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Armenia confirmed its forecasts
regarding 2011 inflation index. `I do not want to sound too optimistic
but we will do our utmost to secure inflation level at 5.5%,’ CBA
chairman Arthur Javadyan said, when presenting the outcomes of 2010
and presenting the Central Bank’s projections for 2011.
According to the forecasts, during the first 6 months of the year
inflation will remain at 9%. `In summer, deflation will be registered.
Certainly, there are some risks related to natural conditions and
sharp increase of global food prices. But we will respond adequately
in the framework of our monetary policy,’ Javadyan said.
A joint OECD and FAO report forecast that food prices will be high and
volatile for the next decade, driven by rising incomes in emerging
nations and demand for biofuel.
Although prices will probably fall from high levels reached earlier
this year, long-term price increases of up to 20 percent for cereals
and 30 percent for meat can be expected, the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development and Food and Agricultural Organization
warned.
“A slow growing supply set against expected high demand underlies the
projection of high and more volatile agricultural commodity prices,”
they said in their Agricultural Outlook 2011-2020.
The report forecasts that higher energy prices and limits on land and
water resources will constrain increases in yields and overall
production, while growing populations and rising incomes in emerging
nations such as China and India will sustain strong demand.
Azeris violate ceasefire on threshold of Kazan meeting
June 18, 2011 – 14:47 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Over 250 instances of ceasefire violations by the
Azerbaijani armed forces were reported for the past week.
According to NKR defense army reports, Azeri side fired over 1,700
shots from various calibre weapons in south-eastern, eastern and
north-eastern directions of the line of contact, with more intense
violations reported June 12 and 14.
Karabakh armed forces resorted to retaliatory measures only in cases
of emergency to provide safety of Karabakh positions at the line of
contact, NKR defense army press service reported.
Drone interception project being developed in Armenia
June 18, 2011 – 13:31 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – The efficiency of Armenian air forces allows to
rebuff any attack in case of hostilities, Deputy Director of Aviation
to the Defense ministry of Armenia Armen Lazarian said.
`The morale of Armenian pilots helped win the war in Karabakh with
poor armament resources,’ Lazarian told a press conference dated to
the Aviation Day in Armenia. `The level of professionalism of the
Armenian pilots was praised by Russian and foreign experts,’ he added.
According to him, Armenia has had its own personnel training
traditions. `Besides, pilots take training sessions abroad,’ he said,
adding that `to date Armenian pilots show top performance and it is
not difficult for them to blow pointed strikes.’
As regards the achievements of the armed forces, Lazarian
considerable progress was registered over the past years.
`Particularly, Armenia launched production of drones, some samples of
which were imported from abroad. Drone interception project is also
being developed,’ he said.
The Aviation Day in Armenia is celebrated annually on the third Sunday of June.