Author: Topchian Jane

TODAY’S ZAMAN: ARMENIA HAS RESCHEDULED BSEC FOREIGN MINISTERIAL MEETING FOR BABACAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2009 22:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to Turkish daily Today’s Zaman "Armenia
has rescheduled a foreign ministerial meeting of Black Sea countries,
apparently as a goodwill gesture to ensure Turkish Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan will be among the participants, diplomatic sources have said."

As it is mentioned in the article "Armenian authorities moved the
date of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)
meeting from the previously announced April 29 to April 16. The shift
is significant because April 29 is only a few days after April 24,
which Armenians claim marks the beginning of a genocide campaign
against Armenians in the early 20th century."

Besides, April 24 is also the day when US presidents release a
traditional message to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

Armenian-American groups expect President Barack Obama to break with
presidential tradition and use the word "genocide" in his message this
year, given the strong promises he made to Armenian-American voters
during his election campaign that he would endorse the genocide claims.

"Turkish officials have refrained from discussing whether Babacan will
attend the BSEC meeting. Although Ankara has a high opinion of BSEC
and wants to revitalize it as an influential regional consultation
mechanism, Babacan’s participation in the group’s next meeting in
Yerevan will still depend on Armenia’s commitment to the ongoing
rapprochement process and on the course of closed-door talks with
Armenia, officials say. The same officials also make it clear that
Turkey has made no request for the foreign ministerial gathering to
be rescheduled.

Before the foreign ministerial gathering, BSEC countries are due
to hold ministerial-level working meetings also in Yerevan. The
energy ministers of BSEC countries will meet on March 13, while the
transportation and agriculture ministers will gather on March 27 and
April 10, respectively. This means other Turkey Cabinet ministers
may visit Yerevan before Babacan", Today’s Zaman reports.

NEWS IN ARMENIAN ON ‘ATV INTERNATIONAL’ NEW TV CHANNEL IN AZERBAIJAN TO BE CONNECTED ONLY WITH PROPAGANDA OF AZERBAIJAN

ArmInfo
2009-03-06 10:20:00

ArmInfo. The news in Armenian on "ATV International" new TV channel
in Azerbaijan will be connected only with propaganda of Azerbaijan,
vice President of "Azad Azerbaijan" TV channel (ATV) Natig Ibragimov
said, the Azerbaijani mass media report.

‘The news by "ATV International" will be broadcasted in six languages
– Azerbaijani, English, Russian, Farsi, Turkish and Armenian in
every one or two hours’, N. Ibragimov said. A decision was made at
the National Radio and Television Council of Azerbaijan (NRTC) on
issue of a six-year license to ‘ATV International’. The new channel,
belonging to the broadcasting company ‘Azad Azerbaijan’, will be
broadcasted directly through satellite round-the-clock.

EUROPEAN EXPERT: ONLY PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT IS POSSIBLE

ArmInfo
2009-03-05 16:11:00

ArmInfo. ‘I am a strong believer that only a peaceful solution to
the Karabakh conflict is possible. If the conflict had to start
again between Armenia and Azerbaijan it will be very different from
the one in 1992-4. It will be much more bloody and with terrible
implications for the whole region. I think the Presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan understand this and are genuinely trying to do their
best to avoid this, – Executive Director of the LINKS, Dennis Sammut,
said to ArmInfo correspondent.

‘It is however easy to understand that the status quo is not acceptable
for Azerbaijan, and indeed it is not acceptable for the international
community either. For example, the issue of return of refugees and
internally displaced people is not something on which there is any
dispute within the international community. The status quo is not
sustainable. The challenge is to change it in a way that will create
peace in the region, give security for all the people living in it,
and increase prosperity for all. This is what the Karabakh conflict
resolution process is about, – he added.

ANCA WELCOMES ICC DECISION TO ISSUE ARREST WARRANT FOR SUDANESE PRESIDENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2009 13:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
welcomed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue
an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes
against humanity and war crimes, while at the same time warning about
Turkey’s likely efforts to obstruct efforts to bring him to justice,
ANCA Communications Director Elizabeth Chouljian told PanARMENIAN.Net

"The ICC decision to issue a warrant for Sudan’s Omar Hassan al-Bashir
sends a clear message to genocide perpetrators and deniers that crimes
against humanity will be prosecuted and punished," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "We look forward to swift action to bring
him to justice and call upon the international community to forcefully
stand up against those countries, such as Turkey, that appear set to
obstruct this landmark legal effort to end the cycle of genocide."

Last week, the ANCA circulated three policy memos to Capitol Hill
offices, outlining for legislators how the Turkey-Sudan "axis of
genocide" relationship is materially undermining international efforts
to isolate Khartoum and end its genocide against the people Darfur.

The ICC issued its arrest warrant today, citing five charges of crimes
against humanity and two of war crimes including murder, extermination,
torture and rape. ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo noted,
"The reality now is that Omar al-Bashir is attacking his own citizens
who he is supposed to protect as leader of the country. The solution
for Sudan has to start with arresting Omar al-Bashir."

SWITCH IN ARMENIA’S CURRENCY POLICY NECESSARY

ARKA
March 4, 2009

YEREVAN, March 4. /ARKA/. A sharp return to the floating rate in
Armenia was necessary for preventing any expectation of the devaluation
of the Armenian national currency, stated Vice-Chairman of the Central
Bank of Armenia (CBA) Vache Gabrielyan.

Yesterday morning the CBA Board took into account the gradually
worsening trade conditions amid the present global economic and
financial crisis, as well as lower capital flow rates, and decided to
restrict its interventions in the currency market thereby reverting
to its floating exchange rate policy. CBA experts believe that the
USD average exchange rate will be 360-380 AMD/$1 this year.

"A smoother process would not be effective, but much more expensive,"
Gabrielyan told reporters at the Novosti press center.

>From the macroeconomic point of view, neither the RA Government nor
the CBA have ever announced a transition to a fixed rate.

"However, we stated that the exchange rate was temporarily fixed
because of financial stability problems," Gabrielyan said.

He also stated that the policy of gradual changes, specifically,
a gradual return to a floating rate, being implemented in Russia
has a number of shortcomings. The most serious of them is that huge
expenses do not bring about any changes in inflationary expectations.

"The experience of the countries practicing smoother transitions,
particularly=2 0Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan, proves that deflationary and inflationary expectations
fail to be dispelled. On the other hand, the countries that resort to
relatively sharper returns, these expectations are promptly dispelled,"
Gabrileyan said.

He reported that it was last autumn that essential pressure on the
exchange rates was first felt in Armenia. One of the causes was
the military operations in Georgia, which prevented the supply of
sufficient quantity of goods to Armenia.

"If we had got sharp exchange fluctuations after that, we would have
serious problems with financial stability," he said.

Gabrielyan also said that, considering the results of the February
monitoring, the CBA is sure of the sufficient stability and liquidity
of the banking system, and nothing threatens it.

"It is the reason why the return to the floating rate is possible at
the moment," Gabrielyan said.

EDITORIAL: FREEDOM AND GENOCIDE

McGill Tribune
torage/paper234/news/2009/03/04/Opinion/Editorial. Freedom.And.Genocide-3658242.shtml
March 4 2009
Canada

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of
one’s time defending scoundrels." H.L. Mencken didn’t have McGill in
mind when he wrote that, but his words still ring true here. Campus
free-speech advocates are often forced to defend charlatans and
provocateurs-not because we agree with them, but because they’re the
first ones affected by a clampdown.

That’s certainly the case with Turkish professor Turkkaya Ataov,
who spoke at McGill on February 20. Ataov, who is known for denying
the Armenian genocide, was invited to campus by the Turkish Students’
Society. The event was a tense affair, with the large audience sharply
divided into Turkish and Armenian camps.

There’s no denying that Ataov’s lecture was an unpleasant event,
but we’re troubled by the efforts some students made to keep him from
speaking at McGill. The Armenian Students’ Association, along with a
dozen other groups, pressured the university administration to keep
Ataov from speaking.

The administration stood its ground, and we applaud them for
it. Barring Ataov from lecturing would be a blow to academic freedom
at McGill. Many great scholars-from Diderot to Derrida, or Thomas
Paine to Karl Marx-were initially denounced as scoundrels. University
campuses should be forums where outrageous ideas can be developed,
debated, and (quite often) discarded.

Of course, Ataov isn’t on par with those scholars. But his implausible
theories aren’t a threat to McGill students, who should be able to
see through them easily enough. And, more importantly, the best way
to combat this sort of drivel is to confront it. To deny the Armenian
Genocide requires a hefty dose of ignorance and ideology-both of
which are easily exposed in an open forum.

Those who doubt the effectiveness of this strategy should look back to
2007, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was invited to speak
at Columbia University. At the time, many people tried to prevent
him from even taking the podium. Yet Ahmadinejad’s remarks-which
included him denying the existence of Iranian homosexuals-did far
more to discredit him than his critics ever could.

We sympathize with students of Armenian heritage, who don’t want one
of history’s great tragedies swept under the rug. But the Armenian
Genocide happened, and nothing Ataov, or anyone else, says can change
that. That’s an easy debate to win, so there’s no need to stifle
it-especially at the expense of free speech on campus.

AMBASSADOR OF USA TO AZERBAIJAN: "MUCH DEPENDS ON CONFLICT PARTIES"

Panorama.am
19:04 04/03/2009

The United States is interested in the soonest regulation of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and is ready to support Armenia and Azerbaijan in
this regard, announced the Ambassador of the US to Azerbaijan Enn
Darcy during a round table meeting organized by the Caspian-European
integration business club. Note that the focus of the round table
meeting was the economic cooperation of Caspian, Black Sea and Baltic
regions with the USA.

"USA is ready to do everything for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
resolution. But, everything depends on the conflict parties," said
the Ambassador.

"We recognize the territorial integration of Azerbaijan but we are not
well introduced to the policy of the White House," said the Ambassador
of the US to Azerbaijan.

CHAIRMAN OF ARMENIAN CB SAYS ARMENIA HAS ENOUGH POTENTIAL TO CONFRONT ALL THE CHALLENGES OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

ARMENPRESS
March 3, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS: The gross foreign reserves currently
are 1 billion 200 million USD. Armenia has enough potential and
opportunity to confront all the challenges of the financial crisis.

Chairman of the Armenian Central Bank Arthur Javadyan said today at a
press conference that Armenia’s chief bank has conducted negotiations
with a number of international organizations as a result of which it
is expected that Armenia’s international reserves will increase.

As to outside transfers coming to Armenia, A. Javadyan said that in
the end of 2008 not the transfers decreased but their growth which
was predicted by the Central Bank. At this moment there is no decrease
of transfers. He said that according to the operative information in
January 2009 the number of transfers was almost the same as it was
in January 2008.

The chairman of the Central Bank said that Armenia’s banking system
is stable and a number of indexes prove it. Particularly, since the
beginning of the world crisis the general capital of the Armenian
banks increased by 40 billion AMD and besides, the banks, without
any state interference managed to involve from the international
financial establishments long-term credit means of 250 million USD.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA MEETS CSTO SECRETARY GENERAL

Trend
March 3 2009
Azerbaijan

President of Armenia, Chairman of the Council of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Serzh Sargsyan received the
Secretary General of the CSTO Nikolay Bordyuzha, President’s Press
Office reported.

The President of Armenia and Nikolay Bordyuzha discussed issues
related to the package of legal documents pertaining to the decision
of the CSTO extraordinary session on the establishment of the Rapid
Response Force.

Nikolay Bordyuzha briefed President Sargsyan on the works conducted
by the experts of the CSTO member states, the Secretariat and the
Joint Staff in that direction, reported Public Radio.

GAGIK BEGLARIAN TO HEAD RPA ELECTORAL ROLL IN YEREVAN COUNCILLOR MEMBERS’ ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan

M arch 2, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Kentron community prefect Gagik
Beglarian will head RPA’s electoral roll in Yerevan councillor members
elections to be held on May 31. Avan community prefect Taron Margarian
is the second on the list. As NT correspondent was informed by RPA
Spokesperson, NA deputy Eduard Sharmazanov, this decision was made at
the RPA Executive Body’s February 28 sitting at the proposal of the
party leader, President Serzh Sargsyan. The decision was endorsed at
the RPA Board sitting convened straight after it.

According to E. Sharmazanov, the party has serious pretensions that the
Beglarian-Margarian pair will receive the vote of Yerevan residents
in the elections, as a result of which G. Beglarian will assume the
post of Mayor and T. Margarian First Deputy Mayor.

The Spokesperson also said that on February 28 party’s leading bodies
discussed only the issue of RPA’ running for the elections individually
and the issue of the first two candidates on the electoral roll. The
complete electoral roll will be endorsed in the coming 7-10 days.