Author: Tamamian Anna

SEFILYAN’S CASE IN EUROPEAN COURT

Lragir.am
29/01/10

Recently, the European Court of Human Rights appealed to the Armenian
authorities for explanations about the case of the ex-commander of
the Shushi battalion, Zhirayr Sefilyan.

The prosecution of Sefilyan began in 2006. He was arrested on December
10, 2006, and in August 2007, the court sentenced him to 1, 5 years
in prison on charges of illegal possession of weapons. Sefilyan’s
lawyers argued that the charges were unfounded, and the arrest of
Sefilyan was illegal.

Lawyers appealed to the European Court for the alleged circumstances of
deprivation of liberty of Sefilyan. The questions of the European Court
regard the legality of holding Sefilyan under arrest for 8 months.

RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES DRAFT LAW "ON EMERGENCY LEGAL REGIME"

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.01.2010 20:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On January 29 the meeting of the NA Standing
Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs, chaired
by MP Hrayr Karapetyan discussed the RA draft law "On legal regime
of emergency." RA First Deputy Minister of Justice Ararat Malkhasyan
said that, the feasibility of the bill is based on the requirements
of the Constitution. Under the bill the legal regime of emergency is a
temporary measure declared only in the case when there is a threat to
the constitutional order in Armenia. The bill determines the conditions
of recognizing a state of emergency. The committee endorsed the bill
for its inclusion in the agenda of the spring session of NA.

YEREVAN MISTRUSTS PACE PRESIDENT?

News.am
08:54 / 01/28/2010

The ink had hardly dried on the decision appointing Mevlut Cavusoglu
as PACE President when he made biased statements, abusing his high
post for his specific purposes, Spokesman of the RA Foreign Office
Tigran Balayan told NEWS.am, commenting on Cavusoglu’s statement on
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and Armenian-Turkish relations.

"Disappointing is the fact that a high-ranking representative of
Turkey’s ruling party, inadvertently, or vice versa, deliberately
hurts Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, which is unbecoming to the
leader of such an authoritative body, as its major mission is to
settle disagreements between the member-states," Balayan said.

"As regards the vain attempts to link the Armenian-Turkish relations
to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the international community
voiced its opinion long ago. Mr. Cavusoglu’s statements give rise to
a number of questions and doubts concerning his further activities
as PACE President," Balayan concluded.

CRISIS OVER DESIGNATING ARMENIAN PATRIARCH IN ISTANBUL

Tert.am
15:37 ~U 27.01.10

Certain obstacles have come forth as the Armenian Patriarchate in
Istanbul tries to designate a "co-patriarch" in light of current
Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan’s poor health.

According to Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News, it is the self-willed
steps of the council – specially summoned with the aim of electing
a successor – that has caused the disarray.

The point is that the spiritual council of the Patriarchate has applied
to Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler for permission to designate a
"co-patriarch." Later, the special council appealed to Turkish
authorities asking for permission to designate not a "co-patriarch,"
but a "patriarch."

This has caused serious discussions in the Constantinople community
as the special council has no such privilege. Besides, a patriarchate
can designate a new patriarch only in the event of the the current
patriarch’s death or resignation.

Three contenders have put forth their candidacies for Patriarch of
Constantinople: Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, Leader of Gugarats Diocese
Bishop Sebouh Chouldjian, and the spiritual leader of Armenians in
Germany, Bishop Garegin Bekchyan.

Archbishop Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan of Constantinople is the
84th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople under the authority of the
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

An announcement on the patriarchate’s website in December stated
that they had submitted an application to the relevant authorities
toward the selection of a co-patriarch. The statement noted that
until the emergence of health problems, Patriarch Mesrob II had
served in his position for 11 years and that on December 24, 2008,
the patriarchate decided that he would be the community’s spiritual
leader until his death.

The application was accepted by Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler
and has been forwarded as required to the Ministry of the Interior,
the patriarchate added.

ARMINFO WEBSITES HACKED AGAIN

ArmInfo
2010-01-26 23:20:00

ArmInfo. ArmInfo News Agency websites (,
) have been hacked again. This has caused serious failure
of the system. Over the last six months, the websites of the agency
are in the focus of attention of hackers, especially the main resource
of the agency – arminfo-info. "We do not know who is determined to
create obstacles to the readers’ rights to impartial and independent
information on Armenia, but the growing visiting statistics and
quotation of ArmInfo’s news in many countries, including in Russia,
the USA and especially in Azerbaijan, has become a big headache for
"foes"," says Emmanuil Mktrchyan, ArmInfo Director General. The Agency
is very grateful to its partner-specialists from WebCenter Company
for support and recovery of the websites.

ARMENIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR HUMANITARIAN DEVELOPMENT- ONE OF MOST COMPETENT ANALYTICAL CENTER IN POST-SOVIET AREA

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.01.2010 15:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Institute for Public Policy, the International
Center for Political Studies, Razumkov Center (Ukraine) and the
Armenian International Center for Humanitarian Development have been
recognized as the most competent analytical centers on post-Soviet
area.

Russian research institutes and "brain centers" were included in
the rating list of the world’s best analytical centers published by
UN headquarters.

The Washington-based Brookings Institution was recognized as the
world’s most authoritative analytical center. It is specialized in
social studies, policy and economy. The institute is headed by Strobe
Talbott, expert for Russia and post-Soviet countries.

Another important analytical center in the rating list was Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace and Council on Foreign Relations.

The Soros Foundation-run Open Society Institute ranked as the 18th
organization.

Apart from American organizations, the top 10 list also includes
the Chatham House British Institution, Transparency International
(Germany), the International Crisis Group (Belgium), the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (Sweden), Amnesty International
(Britain), the , International Institute for Strategic Studies and Adam
Smith Institute, the Institute of International Relations (France),
the Centre for European Policy Studies and the German Institute for
International and Security Affairs, RIA Novosti reported.

ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS AGREE TO CONTINUE TALKS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
25.01.2010 15:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The 2.5-hour meeting between Presidents Serzh
Sargsyan of Armenia, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Dmitry Medvedev
of Russia is over in Sochi.

Russian Foreign Minister informed that the talks were efficient. "The
main achievement is that the sides agreed to continue talks and
reconsider all issues unacceptable for resolution of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict," he said.

Sergey Kapinos: SME to promote Armenia’s economic development in 2010
22.01.2010 13:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia should intensively develop small and medium
businesses, according to Sergey Kapinos, Head of OSCE Office in
Yerevan.

`We have proposed the Armenian government to make SME development the
mainstream of its economic policy,’ he told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. `SME can promote the country’s economic development in 2010
and the OSCE Office in Yerevan is willing to contribute to the
process.’

The Armenian government approved Thursday the program of state support
of SME for 2010.

On December 23, 2009, Yerevan hosted the official presentation of
Simplified Guidebook for Armenian Businessmen, which was compiled by
the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Executive Director of Small and Medium
Entrepreneurship Development National Center (SME DNC) and the
Bookkeeping Centre and RA Ministry of Economy.

SERGEY LAVROV: RUSSIA ACTIVELY SUPPORTS THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

armradio.am
22.01.2010 14:46

Russia actively supports the dialogue of Presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

"Regarding the forthcoming meeting of the presidents, we hope that it
will continue the dialogue that took place between Sargsyan and Aliyev
in 2009," he said. "The dialogue was very intense – it has not led to
some dramatic breakthroughs, but has exactly strengthened relations
between the two leaders and allowed them to delve deeper into the
issues to be addressed. We will actively support the continuation of
this dialogue, "Lavrov said at the briefing in Moscow.

January 25, Sochi will host the meeting of the presidents of Armenia,
Russia and Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

RUSSIA IS AGAINST ANY FAR-FETCHED CAUSES IN ARMENIA-TURKEY TIES

Aysor
Jan 22 2010
Armenia

Russian government is looking forward to continuation of 2009’s
consultations and talks between Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
according to statements by Russian officials.

"We hope presidents will continue last year’s dialogue through their
meeting this year. That dialogue was very intensive. Though it didn’t
move to any effective breakthrough, it strengthened relations between
the two leaders providing opportunities for deeper focusing on the
issue," told journalists Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov before
the announcement on the upcoming trilateral meeting between Armenian,
Azerbaijani, and Russian presidents on January 25 in Russia’s Sochi.

"We are back of reconciliation between countries, and we are against
any far-fetched causes. We are back of reconciliation between Turkey
and Armenia," Lavrov said.