Author: Toganian Liana

US INSISTENT ON ERDOGAN’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON

Hurriyet
March 29 2010
Turkey

The U.S. administration expects Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to participate in an international security summit in
Washington set for next month.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu and underlined that Erdogan’s participation is expected
in the International Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington
on April 12 and 13 and that his attendance carries great importance
in every respect, Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said in
a written statement released Monday.

"Davutoglu stated that the evaluation process on this subject was
still continuing and that Prime Minister Erdogan would make his final
decision on this matter in the coming days," Ozugergin added.

The main agenda of the telephone conversation, which took place
upon the request of the U.S. side, according to the spokesman, was
the Armenian "genocide" resolution that passed a U.S. congressional
committee early this month.

Turkish officials said after the telephone conversation that there
was a 50 percent chance that Erdogan would travel to the U.S., adding
that Ankara awaits strong signals from the United States regarding
the Armenian resolution and assurance from Washington about the
Turkish-Armenian protocols following the ruling of the Armenian
top court.

Officials said if Erdogan decides to go to Washington and is
accompanied by his foreign minister, there could be a meeting with
the Armenian diaspora.

Davutoglu explained the reasons for the deep disappointment and strong
reaction by Turkish public opinion to the adoption of the resolution
and underlined that it is critically important that the measure not
go any further, said the spokesman.

Clinton stated that she understood Davutoglu’s concerns, and stressed
that the U.S. administration is opposed both to the House Foreign
Affair Committee’s decision and to further action on the "genocide"
bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the ministry.

Clinton and Davutoglu also reportedly discussed the revival of
Syria-Israel peace talks, developments on Palestine and the results
of the Iraqi elections, as well as other regional issues.

Aronian comes 9th at Amber Chess Tournament

26.03.2010 12:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian came 9th at Amber
Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, defeating Cuba’s Leinier Dominguez
1.5:0.5 in the final round.

Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) won the
tournament with 14.5 points.

Levon Aronian (born on October 6, 1982 in Yerevan) is the winner of
FIDE Grand Prix in 2008 and 2009 and 2009 World Rapid Chess Champion.
He was honored with Movses Khorenatsi order in 2006 and with an Order
of Merit in 2008.

Armenia eyes Russia’s initiative on European Security Treaty as timely

26.03.2010 13:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian took
part in an informal summit of CSTO Foreign Ministers in Moscow on
March 25.

The Ministers focused on realization of decisions adopted by
Collective Security Council, initiatives Kazakhstan offers as the OSCE
co-chairing country and implementation of joint projects. They also
referred to the situation in Afghanistan.

`The Collective Security Treaty Organization is gaining weight at the
international arena, what can be proved by the signature of a
resolution of cooperation with the UN General Assembly,’ Minister
Nalbandian said in his remarks.

He also emphasized that Armenia eyes Russia’s initiative on European
Security Treaty as timely. `The Treaty should fix the equality of all
principles of the international law and exclude domination of one over
another,’ he said.

During the visit, the Armenian Minister also attended the RA Embassy
in Moscow where he held a working meeting on priority tasks of
Armenia’s foreign policy and ways to strengthen strategic relations
with Russia.

EU Community Code on Visas to come into effect on April 5 2010

2010-03-26 14:02:00

ArmInfo. The Community Code on Visas was adopted on 13 July 2009. It
will become applicable from 5 April 2010.

Consul of the French Embassy in Armenia Frederick Grapeng told media
on Friday that all the consular rules for visa provision to the
Schengen countries will be changed. The new Visa Code is compulsory
for all the Schengen countries.

The "Visa Code" covers the procedures and conditions for issuing
short-stay visas and airport transit visas and will repeal the Common
Consular Instructions and a number of other Schengen-related
decisions. Schengen visas are issued only for stay(s) that do not
exceed three months within a six-month period. Visas for visits
exceeding that period remain subject to national procedures and
authorise the holder to stay on the national territory of the host
Member State only. However, such visas entitle their holders to
transit through Schengen territory on their way to the issuing
Schengen State (subject to the usual conditions for entry into the
Schengen area). In addition, such visas are (under certain conditions)
valid as uniform short-stay visas for a period of not more than three
months from their initial date of validity.

Types of visas issued: A: airport transit visa B: transit visa C:
short-stay visa D+C: NATIONAL long-stay visa valid concurrently as a
short-stay visa VTL1: visa with limited territorial validity ADS2:
visas issued for members of tourist groups from the People’s Republic
of China Frederick Grapeng said passports of applicants must be
provided maximum 10 years ago and contain at least 2 blank pages. The
Armenian authorities have been informed of these changes, the Consul
said when commenting of the practice of passport validity extension in
Armenia. In addition, he said that insurance declaration will be
included in the visa application form, which will facilitate the
general procedure of visa provision. Consul said that the new
application forms will be more comprehensive and will contain a
provision on biometrical data (fingerprints).

PROSPECTS OF COOPERATION BETWEEN ARMENIA AND LEBANON IN THE SPHERE OF TOURISM DISCUSSED

95724/lang/en
2010-03-24

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenian ambassador to Lebanon Ashot
Kocharyan met March 23 with the Lebanese Minister of Tourism Fadi
Abud. RA Foreign Ministry press service told Armenpress that the
interlocutors discussed prospects of cooperation between the two
countries in the sphere of tourism.

They expressed assurance that the friendly relations between Armenia
and Lebanon and the existence of direct air communication between
Beirut and Yerevan, create good opportunity for mutual visits,
preparation of tourism packages, organization and conduction of
business forums, cultural days.

Minister F. Abud expressed readiness to invite his Armenian partners
and heads of tourism organizations to discuss possible mechanisms of
cooperation. He highly praised the active involvement of the Armenian
community and its role in the political and social life of Lebanon.

TURKEY AMBASSADOR WILL RETURN TO SWEDEN

armradio.am
25.03.2010 11:24

Turkey has announced that its ambassador will return to Sweden,
despite a vote by parliament in Stockholm to recognize as genocide
the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, the foreign minister
said Wednesday, The Local reports.

Ambassador Zergun Koruturk will "again take up her job this week or
early next week at the latest", Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told
Turkish television channel CNN-Turk.

The Swedish parliament on March 11th recognized the massacres of
Armenians and other ethnic groups during World War I as genocide,
immediately sparking a diplomatic row with Turkey and prompting Ankara
to call back its ambassador.

The Swedish government had opposed the resolution.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt apologized to Ankara,
a move which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called
"very positive."

Davutoglu on Wednesday welcomed Stockholm’s position and called the
vote "absurd".

Davutoglu said he was wary of sending the Turkish ambassador back to
Washington as the two cases were different.

"The Swedes clearly apologized," he said.

ARMENIAN TO JOIN ‘EARTH HOUR’

ArmInfo
2010-03-24 14:45:00

ArmInfo. Armenia will join Earth Hour on Saturday March 27 at 8:30PM.

The WWF press-service reports that the action will last an hour from
8:30PM to 9:30PM on March 27. In the given period of time, the lighting
of all the administrative buildings and central avenues and streets
will be turned off. In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around
the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one
hour. Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to
every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand
up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future. This year
1600 cities in 107 countries will join the action.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million
homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make
their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour
had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million
people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as
the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness,
as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

The organizers in Armenia are WWF-Armenia, Nature Protection Ministry,
Yerevan Municipality, the Congress Hotel, SPYUR Register, Cinema
Moscow and other organizations.

EVENT DEDICATED TO SHOUSHI HELD IN WASHINGTON

news.am
March 24 2010
Armenia

Under the auspices of RA Embassy in the U.S. and Hayastan All Armenian
Fund East Coast affiliate an event dedicated to Shoushi-"Our Shoushi,
recalling the past and longing for the future" was held in Washington.

Representatives of Armenian-American organizations, clergymen, local
Armenians including Lincy Foundation Vice-Secretary and President
of the United Armenian Fund Harut Sassounian attended the event,
RA Foreign Ministry Press Service informed NEWS.am.

RA Ambassador to U.S. Tatoul Margaryan made a point of the activities
of Hayastan All Armenian Fund within last 17 years and emphasized
both its material and moral value.

Short film about living conditions and needs of Shouhsi residents
was shown.

THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT IN THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
23.03.2010 18:54

Our neighbors have found themselves in a tight corner after
President Serzh Sargsyan’s last proposal to sign an agreement on
non-use of force, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Gagik Minasyan told a press
conference today.

The MP reminds that the principle of non-use of force is one of the
main points of the Helsinki Final Act, which Azerbaijan has also
signed. The refusal to sign an agreement on non-use of force clearly
demonstrates Azerbaijan’s real stance in the negotiation process,
Gagik Minasyan says.

As for the Armenian-Turkish relations, the Republican MP says Armenia
is still winning in the situations. A vivid example of this was the
proposal of an opposition Turkish party to finally discuss the issue
of ratification of the protocols. The Turkish opposition says that
in case the issue is not considered, it will be impossible to prevent
the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Gagik Minasyan is confident that the Parliament of Bulgaria will also
adopt a bill on the Armenian Genocide next week. According to the MP,
"the greatest achievement in the Armenian-Turkish process is that
all layers of the Turkish society were informed of their history:
there are no more taboos."

NKR DEFENSE MINISTRY: AZERI ARMED FORCES VIOLATED CEASEFIRE 98 TIMES LAST WEEK

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.03.2010 12:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire 98
times last week, the NKR Defense Ministry said.

Azeri servicemen commenced fire from Black Arrow large-caliber rifles
and other weapons. The fire was stopped as result of retaliatory
measures. Besides, NKR fixed training flights of Azeri aircrafts in
the cross-border airspace.