Author: Tumanian Talar

TURKEY’S EU NEGOTIATOR SAYS FRANCE THINKS EU TALKS SHOULD GO ON

Anadolu Ajansi (Anatolia Agency)
Sept 21 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL (A.A) -21.09.2009 -Turkey’s European Union (EU) negotiator
said on Sunday that France thought that Turkey’s EU entry talks should
go on.

Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s state minister and chief negotiator for EU
talks, said that the French executives he had met thought that full
membership negotiations with Turkey should go on.

"All French executives I met said they are of the same opinion with us
that the situation should be re-assessed at the end of negotiations,"
Bagis told reporters at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.

Bagis returned to Turkey from France, where he travelled on September
17. Bagis met Pierre Lelouche, French Secretary of State for European
Affairs; and Michel Barnier, a candidate of the Union for a Popular
Movement (UMP) in recent European Parliament (EP) elections.

The minister said that Turkey’s target was EU full membership, and
Turkey was determined to complete negotiations as every country in
the same process.

Bagis said the aim of negotiations was accession to the union, and
Turkey would not accept any other alternative.

The minister said France would continue supporting Turkey for
opening of new chapters, and France had been monitoring the role and
regional position of Turkey in important world crisis and had seen
the increasing importance of Turkey.

Also, Bagis said that reforms in Turkey was the thing bringing Turkey
closer to the EU.

"They also said they were supporting our reforms because these reforms
not only aim at raising standards in Turkey but also making Turkey a
more stable, more self-confident and democratic ally of Europe with
a stronger economy," he said.

Bagis said that the French executives said they would be more careful
to prevent any initiatives aiming to reduce Turkey’s motivation in
the reform process.

"We have once more reaffirmed that France is closely monitoring and
supporting the ongoing democratic move in Turkey," Bagis said.

Bagis also said that French executives were attaching importance to
and were closely monitoring the move Turkey launched with Armenia.

Another key topic for France was global energy policies and the key
role Turkey had in energy projects, Bagis said.

On the decision of the European Court of Justice saying that the
"excessive residence fees taken from Turks living in the Netherlands
were illegal", Bagis said the decision reaffirmed the rights of
Turkish citizens stemming from Turkey-EU association law.

"I think this is an important decision, which shows that what we can
gain by our rightful struggle," Bagis also said.

Bagis also said that an EU Law Department was set up in the Secretariat
General for the EU, and the department would work on EU laws and
would work to protect rights of Turkey and Turkish citizens.

Also, Bagis said Turkey had pledged to open its ports in return for
end of unjust isolation of Turkish Cypriots and start of direct trade
to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Bagis said the European Council made a decision in April 2004 that
the isolation of Turkish Cypriots would end, and Turkey was expecting
EU member states to abide by this decision.

"If the EU implements its own decision, we will fulfil our commitment,"
Bagis said.

Bagis said Turkey’s ports and airports were open to the Greek Cypriot
administration till 1987, and opening ports to the Greek Cypriots
would not mean recognizing the administration.

The minister said the EU should also fulfil its commitments for
Turkey to open its ports, and expressed belief that all EU member
states would make an assessment in a fair way.

UNCERTAINTY OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS AROUSE LOCAL INDUSTRIALISTS’ CONCERNS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.09.2009 14:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Uncertainty of Armenian-Turkish relations arouse
local industrialists’ concerns, according to Vazgen Safaryan, head
of Union of Manufacturers of Armenia.

"Armenia imported Turkish goods to the amount of $269 million. Export
totaled $1.8 million in 2008," he said. "We export leather, ferrous
metal and aluminum items. Cable, knitted fabric and bitumen are
imported," he said.

He remarked that Turkish government’s damping policy offers advantages
to its industrialists.

"We should also encourage local producers, specifically food
producers," Safaryan said.

Today the RA National Competitiveness Council held its 12th enlarged session at the Government’s Guest House, chaired by RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

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Friday, 18 September 2009

Today the RA National Competitiveness Council held its 12th enlarged
session at the Government’s Guest House, chaired by RA Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan.

The agenda comprised the following items: review of economic
development trends worldwide and at home, submission of projects on
the launching and expansion of the all-Armenian network, hearing of
Competitiveness Fund’s performance report, discussion of its by-laws
and rules of procedure. The session was attended by representatives
from the Armenian private sector and donor community.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan briefed the participants on Armenia’s
current economic standing and development prospects, outlined ways
of achieving enhanced national competitiveness. In attendance was
Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore Lee Kwan Yu, a former
prime minister and the author of the economic miracle operated in that
country. He spoke about the lessons drawn out from his government’s
drive to enhance Singapore’s national competitiveness.

Mindful of the importance of today’s meeting, Tigran Sargsyan said
in particular: "This meeting is particular in that it is attended by
former prime ministe r of Singapore, Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yu who
is in Armenia at the invitation of the Armenian President, and we can
avail ourselves of this exclusive opportunity to discuss a wide range
of topical issues. This is also an opportunity to formulate and state
the Fund’s mission. First, the Council of the Fund attempted to make
the concept clearer to the public.

Its ideology basically stems from the principle of public-private
sector cooperation. The National Competitiveness Fund is a new tool
enabling the State to carry out serious programs in cooperation with
the private sector, and demonstrate to the international community
the present and future roles of Armenia and Armenians. This means
we should know what we are in for in terms of modern challenges, and
which way we can uplift Armenia’s national competitiveness based on
the principle of public-private sector cooperation."

In the words of Singapore’s Senior Minster, Armenia should manage to
step over its regional neighbors and reach a new stage of development
in quality terms by making a better use of Diaspora’s potential.

Republic of Armenia Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Republic of
Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yu answered a set of questions of
interest to media.

LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES ARMENIAN LEADER ON INDEPENDENCE DAY

President.lt
Sept 20 2009
Lithuania

President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia GrybauskaitÄ- sent
congratulations to President Serzh Sargsyan of the Republic of Armenia
on Armenia’s national holiday, the Independence Day.

The President writes in the letter that Armenia and Lithuania, as
small countries, have to deal with similar challenges and problems,
and that even being geographically distant, Lithuania and Armenia
can and must seek common action.

"Having re-established independence almost at the same time two
decades ago, our two nations have to join their endeavours today to
create a common future within unified Europe," the President writes
further in the letter of congratulations.

The President of Lithuania wished her Armenian counterpart and all
people of Armenia prosperity and success.

Armenia among CIS leaders in crediting growth rate

2009-09-19 16:15:00

ArmInfo. In Jan-Aug 2009 Armenia showed one of the best results in the
CIS in crediting growth rate with 6% growth in credit portfolio,
Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan said during a
press-conference today.

According to ArmInfo’s Ranking of Commercial Banks of Armenia, July 1
2009 the credit portfolio of the commercial banks of Armenia totalled
656.3bln AMD ($1.8mln) or almost 60% of the total assets of the
country’s banking system. The Central Bank of Armenia reports that as
of July 1 2009 there were 22 commercial banks and 383 branches in
Armenia.

VICE SPEAKER OF GREAT BRITAIN’S HOUSE OF LORDS – IN ARTSAKH

ARMENPRESS
Sep 17, 2009

STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Vice speaker of the Great
Britain’s House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox has paid her regular
69th visit to Nagorno Karabakh. This time the Baroness arrived with
a group of representatives of Anglican Church who came with one week
to see Artsakh and Armenia.

A representative of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church told Armenpress that Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan received
the guests.

TURKISH HISTORIAN: COMING TO AN AGREEMENT IS NO EASY TASK

ArmInfo
2009-09-16 13:31:00

ArmInfo. Coming to an agreement is no easy task, Turkish historian,
sociologist and publicist Taner Akcam told ArmInfo when commenting
on the agreements initialed by the Armenian and Turkish Foreign
Ministries, which envisage signing of two protocols on establishment
of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"I have no doubt about the trustworthiness of the agreement. If two
states engage in certain bilateral agreements, of course, they mean it;
if they don’t want to implement the plan that they have announced,
they will make themselves look ridiculous. So, I don’t think that
"trustworthiness" is the important issue here", he said.

The historian thinks that the main problem is whether or not both
governments possess the courage and political will to overcome
the obstacles to this agreement. "Given the number of domestic and
international stakeholders with conflicting interests in the process,
coming to an agreement is no easy task", Akcam resumed.

Armenia and Turkey have agreed to start internal political
consultations around the "Protocol on Establishment of Diplomatic
Relations Between the Two Countries" and the "Protocol on Development
of Bilateral Relations" signed during the negotiations under the Swiss
mediation. It is scheduled to complete the political consultations
during six weeks, after which the two protocols will be signed and
submitted to the two countries’ parliaments for approval.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS IN FIRST READING PACKAGE OF TAX AMENDMENTS

NOYAN TAPAN
SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly adopted
in the first reading the revised package of tax amendments submitted
by the government – at the first sitting of its autumn session
on September 15. The preliminary version of the package had been
discussed at the previous session, but on June 10 the government
proposed postponing the vote by up to 15 days in order to hold joint
discussions on the package by the parliamentary factions and the
government and to revise it based on the discussions’ results.

To recap, the package had been a subject of a heated debate and sharp
criticism, mostly due to the addition to the Law on Taxes, by which
it was envisaged introducing an institution of the representative of
the tax body in big business.

Deputy Minister of Finance Suren Karayan said prior to the vote that
the powers of the tax body’s representative, as well as the scope of
current tax control through this representative have been reduced to
a minimum and regulated in the revised package.

73 NA deputies voted for the package of bills, 23 voted against it, and
one deputy abstained from voting. Among those who voted against were
the members of ARF and Heritage factions, some independent deputies,
including former speaker of the National Assembly Tigran Torosian.

The parliament also passed in the first reading the bill on making an
addition to the Law on Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activity
discussed previously.

The bill envisages honorary payments for full and corresponding members
of the RA National Academy of Sciences who are engaged in scientific
activity in Armenia, or carry out a mission abroad for a period of up
to three months. Under the current law, the indicated honorary payment
(its amount is established by the government) is a lifetime payment.

MARCH 1 COMMISSION SAYS KOCHARIAN WAS TOO LATE

Tert.am
Sept 16 2009
Armenia

Today the Commission for the Investigation of March 1st Events
presented the conclusion of their investigations, and referred to
Robert Kocharian’s decree to announce a state of emergency during
the events of March 1, 2008.

It’s notable that on one side the Commission justified the the second
president of Armenia’s decree, but on the other side, it accused him,
stating the issuance of the decree was belated.

"The president’s decree ‘to announce a state of emergency’ was not a
solution to the situation, but a compulsory measure. But it was also
a necessary step and the only way out of the situation. To delay that
measure would mean to allow part of our nation, on behalf of a group
of people, to continue illegal actions in our country, in Yerevan,
in particular," the Commission wrote in its report.

Later, at the end of the conclusion, the Commission accused Kocharian:
"At the same time, the Commission finds that if the president issued
the decree ‘announcing a state of emergency’ earlier, when the first
explosions, firings and deaths occurred, probably it would have been
possible to escape the grave consequences."

AN EXHIBITION OF INDIAN GOODS TO BE HELD OCTOBER 7-15 IN ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
SEPTEMBER 15
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: Exhibition-sale of Indian goods
under "Best from India" slogan will be held October 7-15 in Yerevan.

Head of the Department of support to the entrepreneurship of the
Armenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Masis Sargsyan told
Armenpress that numerous Indian companies will present bijouterie,
knitted fabric, leather goods, accessories related to the phytotherapy,
food, clothes, handworks, furniture, shoes, kitchen equipments, etc.

M. Sargsyan said organization of such an exhibition is very important
for India; it enables to get acquainted with the production of goods
of the given country and their quality. The Indian products are known
with their low prices. He noted that if formerly the Indian side used
to organize suchlike exhibitions once in a year, this year it will
have two exhibitions. The coming exhibition is the second one.

"It would be very good if exhibitions of Armenian goods in foreign
states are frequently organized. We carried out such an event in
Aleppo last year which had a great success and there were numerous
positive feedbacks. We intend suchlike event for this year as well,"
M. Sargsyan said.

The RA Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Embassy of India to
Armenia are the organizers of the exhibition of Indian goods.