Author: Talalian Arpi

RUBEN & VERONIKA VARDANYANS FRIENDS’ FUND, ARMENIA 2020 PROGRAM, ARGA FUND INVEST $20 MILLION FOR TATEV MONASTERY RECONSTRUCTION

ARKA
Apr 10, 2009

YEREVAN, April 10. /ARKA/. The Fund of Ruben and Veronika Vardanyan’s
Fund, Armenia 2020 Program and ARGA Fund have invested around $20mln
for Tatev Monastery’s reconstruction, Ameriabank’s press service
reports.

The investment project aims at promoting tourism in South
Armenia by repairing Tatev Monastery, decentralizing the country’s
scientific-educational infrastructures and establishing a research
center in Syunik region. Among the project activities is to provide
remote villages of Syunik region with connection and boost agriculture
in the region.

Located in Syunik region, Tatev Monastery was built in the 9th century
and was once the residence of the Syunik metropolitan.

One of the most prominent medieval Armenian architectural monuments,
the monastery includes Gregory’s Church (a vaulted monastery), Church
of Poghos and Petros (Peter and Paul), Astvatsatsin (Mother of God)
gateway church and the Gavazan (a pillar erected in the church yard
in 904).

Tatev Monastery was one the largest cultural centers of Armenia
with its epistolary section and library, as well as the most popular
university in Medieval Armenia.

At the first stage of the four-stage project, a leading international
organization that won the tender for the church reconstruction plans
to study the t umbledown monastery. Experts will simultaneously study
the historical monument, as well as the history of nearby villages,
the architecture and ecology of the region. The first phase of this
massive project will last two years.

At the second stage, reconstruction activities will be launched.

The third phase of the project will take around 16 months. During this
period, the world’s largest ropeway will be built over the Vorotan
gorge. It will shorten by 45 minutes the distance between the gorge and
the monastery, allowing travelers admire the ravishing view from above.

At the fourth stage of the project, a hotel complex in the style of the
XVIII-XIX-century Armenian architecture will be built in Syunik. The
hotel building activities will be carried out simultaneously with
the ropeway construction.

Ameria specializes in management, tax and legal consulting, as well
as investment and banking services. It was the first company to use
international experience in the sector and take into account local
peculiarities while carrying out business in more than 30 regions of
Armenia.

mericas-moral-credibility.html

Renegade

April 9, 2009

America’s moral credibility

This past year Candidate Obama promised to Armenian-American voters
that that the Armenian genocide of 1915 under his administration would
finally be recognized. However as the now-President Obama met with
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan many question whether
those promises will be shuffled to the back of the deck, given the
"strategic" importance of Turkey within his plans.

As noted in the Economist, Mr Obama called Turkey a `critical’ ally
and an important part of Europe, sending off a number of alarms within
communities across the world.

Per the article Mr Obama, "suggested that Turkey’s recent efforts to
reopen its border and re-establish diplomatic ties with Armenia should
not be overshadowed by America’s position on the (genocide) issue",
effectively pushing his promise to the back burner.

Whether the President uphold Candidate Obama’s promises remains to be
seen but one that will cast the dye in this administration but that is
probably best summoned up in the same Economist article:

"Many friends of Turkey hope that Mr Obama will stick by his pledge on
the Armenian genocide. They say that would restore America’s moral
credibility and would allow it to draw attention to Turkey’s patchy
human-rights record."

ANKARA HAILS PROGRESS IN TALKS WHILE CONCERNS IN YEREVAN HEIGHTEN
By Allen Yekikan

225_4/7/2009_1
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Turkey’s Uncompromising Position Jeopardizes Talks, Says Nalbandian

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Tuesday hailed what he called
progress in the ongoing talks to normalize his country’s strained
relations with Armenia. His remarks come amid growing concern in
Yerevan that Ankara’s increasingly uncompromising preconditions on
Armenia may be guiding the negotiations in an untenable direction.

Babacan made his comments during a press conference following the
Alliance of Civilizations Summit in Istanbul Tuesday. A day earlier,
he and Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian met with U.S. President
Barack Obama at a dinner reception for the summit. Obama urged them
to complete talks aimed at restoring ties between the two neighbors.

"We are working on a comprehensive solution and our talks are going
well, Babacan said. "We have made significant progress so far and both
parties have declared satisfaction over the process several times."

But Nalbandian did not share his counterpart’s optimism. In a
written statement issued on Sunday, the Armenian Foreign Minister
accused Turkey of jeopardizing the negotiations process by hinging
the opening of the border on a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, an unrelated issue according to Yerevan.

Turkish and Western media say the two countries are close to reaching
an agreement on a gradual establishment of diplomatic relations and
a reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border.

But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday
that this cannot happen before a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. "As long as the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue is not resolved, it is not possible for us to reach a healthy
solution concerning Armenia," he told a news conference in London,
according to Reuters.

Nalbandian, who was due to arrive in Istanbul on Sunday night,
canceled his flight minutes before departure over the statements. He
later flew to Istanbul Monday.

The Armenian Foreign Minister explained that the unresolved Karabakh
conflict has not been on the agenda of negotiations. "I believe that
the statements, which put forth preconditions for the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations, may be regarded as an attempt to impede
the progress reached in the negotiations," he said in reference to
the remarks made by Erdogan.

The remarks followed Azerbaijan’s stark warnings to Turkey not to
normalize ties with Armenia before a Karabakh settlement acceptable
to Baku was reached. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reportedly
canceled his scheduled participation in the Istanbul forum in protest
of the Armenian-Turkish talks. Aliyev on Tuesday threatened to take
retaliatory measures if the Armenian-Turkish border was opened,
hinting once again that Azerbaijan would cut off Turkey’s gas supplies.

Besides worries over Azerbaijan’s posturing or the possibility that
Turkey and Azerbaijan may be cornering Armenia into an untenable
scenario with karabakh, Nalbandian also expressed serious concern
over Ankara’s efforts to use the rapprochement as an excuse to prevent
international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

"It has been said many times, and I want to stress it again, that
the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations can never question
the reality of Armenian Genocide," he said.

Official Ankara sees the warming of relations with Armenia as an
opportunity to be leveraged in its ongoing campaign to prevent US
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. On numerous occasions over the
course of the negotiations process, top Turkish officials, including
the Prime Minister, President, and Foreign Minister, have all warned
the US that any recognition of the Armenian Genocide would torpedo
chances for reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.

"I know there are strong views in this chamber about the terrible
events of 1915," President Obama said Monday in his address to
the Turkish Parliament. "The best way forward for the Turkish and
Armenian people is a process that works through the past in a way
that is honest, open, and constructive."

Obama stopped short of using the word "genocide" in his address. But
on several occasions, both in his press conference with Gul and in
the Turkish Parliament, he stressed that his views had not changed
on the matter.

"My views are on the record and I have not changed views," he said
standing alongside Gul.

"The President’s willingness to raise his commitment to recognizing the
Armenian Genocide, even indirectly, in his remarks before the Turkish
Parliament represents a step in the right direction, but far short of
the clear promise he made as a candidate that he would, as President,
fully and unequivocally recognize this crime against humanity," Aram
Hamparian, the executive Director of the Armenian National Committee,
said on Monday in response to Obama’s remarks in Turkey. "We expect
that the President will, during Genocide Prevention Month this April,
stand by his word, signaling to the world that America’s commitment
to the cause of genocide prevention will never again be held hostage
to pressures from a foreign government."

During his 2008 campaign for the White House, Obama referred to the
killings of Armenians in World War One as genocide. In a January 19,
2008 statement on the importance of relations between the U.S. and
Armenia, Obama said, "as a senator, I strongly support passage of
the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as
President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

US legislators introduced on March 17 a resolution (H.Res.252) calling
on the U.S. president to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. The
resolution, submitted by representatives Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), George
Radanovich (R-Calif.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).

Its introduction was praised shortly after by the Chairman of the
Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Armen Rustamian. In a March 19 letter to the chairman of the US House
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman, Rustamian expressed
his strong support for US affirmation of the Armenian Genocide,
stressing that US recognition would be the greatest contributor to
the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

"I am confident that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the
United States not only would not hamper, but on the contrary will
contribute to the prospects of a thorough dialogue between Turkey and
Armenia," the letter read. "Any durable improvement of Armenia-Turkey
relations must rest upon a foundation of shared respect for truth
and justice."

Erdogan, however, maintains that his nation will never admit to the
"so-called genocide." Speaking to reporters in London Friday he said
that for Turkey, it is impossible to accept a thing that does not
exist," referring to the Armenian Genocide.

A letter from 340 European civil society organizations, sent to the
White House while Obama was in London Friday, stressed, however,
that a US recognition of the genocide would "provide unprecedented
momentum to the process of dialogue between Turkey and Armenia" and
move the entire region toward a "durable peace," based on stability,
justice and democracy.

OBAMA: TURKEY, ARMENIA MUST MOVE BEYOND PAST

WZTV Fox 17
nternational/37b589ef-
April 6 2009
Nashville

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Barack Obama says the United States
strongly supports the full normalization of relations between Turkey
and Armenia. He urged both to work through their troubled past in an
honest, open and constructive way.

That was a reference to what many scholars view as the first genocide
of the 20th century, when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were
killed by Ottoman Turks in the early 1900s.

Obama is telling the Turkish parliament that both Turkey and Armenia
are taking historic and courageous steps to repair relations. But he
also is pressing for an open border. He says it would provide for a
"peaceful and prosperous coexistence" that would serve both countries.

RECONCILIATION WITH ARMENIA CLIMBS TURKEY’S PRIORITY LIST
By Daniel Dombey in Washington and Delphine Strauss in Ankara

FT
April 3 2009 03:00

Turkey is to make a concerted diplomatic push to resolve a
long-standing dispute with Armenia. Ankara hopes its efforts will not
only improve relations with Yerevan but also convince Washington to
step back from a decision that could affect US-Turkish ties.

Only days before President Barack Obama visits Turkey, the state
broadcaster TRT yesterday launched Armenian language radio programmes –
a gesture of good will to its neighbour.

Mr Obama has long promised to classify the 1915-1923 massacres of up
to 1.5m Armenians on present day Turkish soil as genocide. He faces
a test on April 24, the Armenian day of remembrance, when the US
president traditionally issues a statement. Meanwhile, 89 members of
the US House of Representatives have backed a resolution to recognise
the killings as genocide.

Turkey’s successful effort to defeat a similar resolution in 2007
focused on warnings the US risked its continued use of an airbase in
Incirlik – a logistics hub for Iraq.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, is likely to tell
Mr Obama on Monday Armenia and Turkey will lose the best chance of
reconciliation in decades if the US Congress – or Mr Obama – were to
describe the killings as genocide.

Armenia and Turkey are engaged in talks intended to restore diplomatic
ties and to reopen the border, closed by Turkey in 1993 to support
Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. A deal
would also have to address the dispute over whether the Ottoman era
massacres constitute genocide. Turkey denies there was any systematic
planning and says thousands of Turks also died.

"If something happened which destroyed this good dynamic it would not
be in the interest of anybody – not Turkey, Armenia, or the US," said
Ahmet Davutoglu, Mr Erdogan’s top foreign policy adviser, recently.

*Turkish police yesterday detained more than 50 people in a
wide-ranging probe of suspicious share price movements on Istanbul’s
Stock Exchange, Delphine Strauss reports.

A regulatory source told the FT stockbrokers and businessmen were
among those taken for questioning in a series of dawn raids after a
four-month investigation into suspected market manipulation.

DIPLOMATS FORESEE TURKEY, ARMENIA PACT
By Nicholas Birch

The Washington Times
April 3, 2009 Friday

Turkey and Armenia could be on the brink of a historic reconciliation
that will include a joint investigation of the killing of hundreds
of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915, Turkish diplomats
and specialists say.

Hugh Pope, Turkey project director for the International Crisis
Group, said that after two years of secret talks, the historic rivals
are nearing agreement on a sweeping package that includes opening
a border closed since 1993, diplomatic relations and a bilateral
intergovernmental commission on issues ranging from taxes and public
health to the history of what Armenians have called genocide by the
Ottoman Empire, which preceded modern Turkey.

Turkey is also expected to issue a "road map" on a solution for
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that has been under de facto
Armenian control since 1994.

"The parameters of the deal are very much set," Mr. Pope said. "The
only thing holding things back now is nerves."

The Wall Street Journal first reported the potential deal on Thursday,
and said it could be unveiled as soon as April 16, when Turkey’s
foreign minister is expected to fly to the Armenian capital.

Turkish diplomats in Ankara and Washington confirmed the peace progress
but not the date for an announcement, which could follow by only a
few days President Obama’s visit to Turkey.

"These are extremely serious negotiations," said a senior Turkish
diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the
issue. "We are optimistic and we have been working hard and hopefully
we will see positive developments."

"These are highly sensitive negotiations and both sides have gone to
great lengths to keep them secret," added a Turkish foreign ministry
spokesman.

Armenian officials in Yerevan and Washington declined comment.

Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee,
a U.S. group, said, "Any durable reconciliation has got to be built
upon Turkey’s acceptance of its past, and that is acknowledging the
Armenian genocide."

Last month, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian acknowledged
that Turkish-Armenian talks had taken place but said they had not
touched on the 1915 killings.

The deal would be a radical change of direction for Turkey, which
closed its border with Armenia in support of its Azeri ethnic cousins
fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993. Turkish experts said the concept
has gained strength since the AK Party took power in Turkey in 2002 and
that talks accelerated after Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended
a Turkey-Armenia soccer match in Yerevan in September 2008.

"There is very detailed specific set of steps that could be
taken," said Mark Parris, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey who
now heads a program on the country at the Brookings Institution
in Washington. "Opening borders, establishing embassies, trade
development and a historical commission to look into the events of
1915 would put things in a different universe."

Mr. Parris said he was not sure what the impact of Mr. Obama’s visit
might be on the peace process. During the presidential campaign,
Mr. Obama called the Turkish killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians
"genocide" and said he would support a resolution in the U.S. Congress
recognizing it. Also, on April 24, the White House traditionally
issues a statement commemorating the killings.

Turkey denies a genocide occurred.

Thomas de Waal, author of a highly regarded book on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said the emerging deal has a lot to do
with changes in Russia’s south Caucasian policy since it went to war
with Georgia in August 2008.

"The war really drove home Armenia’s reliance on Georgia as a trade
conduit," he said.

"Russia saw that blowing up one Georgian bridge was enough to deprive
[its Armenian ally] of imports for a week. Plus the fact is that Russia
now owns Armenia’s economy. If you own the telecom sector and railways,
opening up the border is in your interest."

* Barbara Slavin and Eli Lake contributed to this story from
Washington.

AZERBAIJAN TO THREAT TURKEY

Panorama.am
15:36 03/04/2009

The authorities of Azerbaijan make indirect threats to the official
Ankara stressing that if after the closed Armenian-Turkish border
is open, and no improvements are make in Nagorno Karabahk conflict,
Azerbaijan will stop providing Turkey gas. Turkish media report
that the Foreign Ministry of Turkey has been informed about the
Azeri threats. According to the media coverings the Azerbaijani
authorities have quite serious missions as they have signed a
cooperation memorandum with "Gazprom" on 27 March. Note that American
Wall Street Journal published the date of opening Armenian-Turkish
border – 16 April.

ARFD DEPUTY: ARMENIAN SOCIETY SHOULD BE INFORMED ABOUT CONDITION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 2, 2009

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Today Armenian society has a number
of questions regarding the Armenian-Turkish relations, and the
authorities should give an answer to them. Ruzan Arakelian, a member
of the RA National Assembly ARFD faction, stated at the April 2
press conference. In her words, currently the RA Foreign Ministry
only refutes or confirms this or that news spread by Turkish and
Azeri media. While, according to the deputy, from the very start the
people should be informed about the condition of the Armenian-Turkish
relations. "This problem should be solved by the whole nation, our
society’s opinion should be taken into account without fail," she said.

R. Arakelian said that according to information published by a Turkish
website, the Turks have prepared a package of proposals dedicated to
the ways of normalizing the relations with Armenia and are going to
present it to U.S. President Barack Obama. According to the deputy,
by doing so they want to make B. Obama understand that by pronouncing
the word "genocide" in his April 24 address, he will hinder the
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations.

Turkologist Hakob Chakrian, an analyst at the Azg daily, in his turn,
said that the Turks make the dialogue launched between Armenia and
Turkey within the framework of "football diplomacy" serve for their
own interests.

However, in his words, B. Obama is not the President of the country
that should be affected by that policy. H. Chakrian said that even
if B. Obama does not pronounce the term "genocide," all the same that
issue will remain on the agenda.

20 ISSUES INCLUDED IN THE AGENDA OF ASHKHABAD SESSION OF CIS COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS

ARMENPRESS
March 31, 2009

MINSK, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS: About 20 issues on cooperation in
political, migration, humanitarian and social spheres as well as on
ensuring security are included in the agenda of April 10 Ashkhabad
session of CIS Council of Foreign Ministers, press service of CIS
executive committee reported.

Particularly the discussion of suggestions on the primary events of
the sphere of 2009-2010 humanitarian cooperation, agreed migration
policy of CIS states, conduction of multi-level consultations between
the Foreign Ministries are included in the draft agenda of the session.

Three issues will be dedicated to the preparations for the ceremony
of the 65th anniversary of the victory in the World War II.

The participants of the session will also approve the draft of agenda
of session of CIS Prime ministers, which is scheduled for May 22 this
year, in Astana.

Religion Clause
March 28, 2009 Saturday 9:00 PM EST

Proposed Armenian Religion Law Passses First Reading

by Howard Friedman

Mar. 28, 2009 (Religion Clause delivered by Newstex) —
Forum 18reported earlier this week on proposed amendments to Armenias
Religion Law and a proposed new Armenian Criminal Code provision
containing fairly broad restrictions on proselytizing. The proposed
laws passed their first reading in Parliament March 19, but further
action will be delayed while the laws are reviewed by the Council of
Europe’s Venice Commissionand the OSCE. The new Religion Law will
require 500 adult citizens as members to register a religious
community. (This is down from 1000 that appeared in the first draft of
the proposal, but is an increase over the 200 that is found in current
law.) The proposed law also recognizes "the exclusive mission of the
Armenian Apostolic Holy Church as the National Church in the spiritual
life of the Armenian people¦" This is similar to language in 2005
amendments to the countrys Constitution. Religions that "exercise or
try to exercise control over members’ personal life, awareness,
health, and ownership" are banned by another provision in the draft
law.