Author: Virabian Jhanna

News.az, Azerbaijan
Feb 13 2010

Azerbaijani journalist `embellishes’ interview with Armenian expert

15:23 / 02/13/2010Armenia and Azerbaijan are faced with a serious
problem of integration of cooperation between civil societies.
Specifically, representatives of many influential international
organizations are actually prohibited from visiting Nagorno-Karabakh,
Coordinator of government regional projects on the South Caucasus
Gervorg Ter-Gabrielyan told NEWS.am.

`It is no secret that the Armenians working at almost all the foreign
embassies in Armenia, as well as for such international organizations
as USAID, UNDP and others, are not free to visit Nagorno-Karabakh.
Such visits are, as a rule, an exception,’ Ter-Gabrielyan said. In
this context he stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh residents’
participation in international events is a serious problem as well:
organizers normally apply to Baku for permission, and requests are of
course rejected.

`Only few organizations, for example, the Caucasian Institute of Mass
Media, were able to get round the problems,’ the expert said. He
stressed that other unrecognized states are facing this problem as
well. As to cases of Armenia’s preventing Azerbaijani civil society
representative from visiting the country, Ter-Gabrielyan said: `I know
that a young independent political analyst from Azerbaijan recently
tried to visit Armenia. He even bought a ticket to Tbilisi, but at the
last moment he returned it, arguing that the Armenian authorities
refused to allow him to visit the country and did not fix an entry
seal to his passport. He had arranged about visiting Armenia without
the seal, but the Armenian authorities changed their mind at the last
moment. Such a seal in the passport of an Azerbaijani citizen can
cause a negative reaction in his country,’ Ter-Gabrielyan said. He
stressed that these measures are actually a response to Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan prohibits Armenians’ from visiting the country, with only
few exceptions. Not only Armenian citizens, but also Armenians from
abroad and foreign citizens that visited Nagorno-Karabakh, with seals
fixed to their passports, are personae non gratae in Azerbaijan. All
this only impedes the development of a peaceful dialogue.

Commenting on his interview with 1news.am, Ter-Gabrielyan stated that
some of his thoughts of taken out of context. `When I said that
Azerbaijan had adopted the right strategy by isolating
Nagorno-Karabakh I meant that Azerbaijan may have adopted the right
policy, isolating Nagorno-Karabakh, if it is seeking a military
settlement of the conflict. Quite another matter is whether Azerbaijan
proves successful. War means disaster for both sides. But I do not
accuse the journalist that did his best and coordinated the general
context of my interview with me. I’ve got used to it. Both Armenia and
Azerbaijani journalists, as well as their colleagues from the other
CIS member-states, are experts at inaccurately conveying shades of
meaning thereby making interview `scandalous’. I think, however, that
a dialogue between civil societies must not turn into `newspaper
warfare’. Secondly, a dialogue is much more important than silence for
fear of saying something `wrong’,’ Ter-Gabrielyan said.

T.P.

ARMENIA’S HONORARY CONSULATE OPENS IN DEIR AL-ZOUR

Armradio.am
12.02.2010 12:35

On February 11 the delegation headed by Armenian Deputy Foreign
Minister Arman Kirakosyan arrived in Deir al-Zour. The delegation
was hosted by Deir al-Zour Governor Husain Arnus and Head of the
Baath Party regional office in Deir al-Zour. During the conversation
the parties attached importance to the opening of Armenia’s Honorary
Consulate in Deir al-Zour and expressed hope that it would serve as
a bridge between the Republic of Armenia and the Province of Deir
al-Zour. Arman Kirakosyan expressed gratitude to the authorities of
Deir al-Zour for the warm attitude towards the Armenian community.

The same day the ceremony of opening of the Armenian Honorary Consulate
took place in Deir al-Zour. Opening speeches were made by Armenian
Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Krakosyan, Armenia’s Ambassador to
Syria Arshak Poladyan and Deir al-Zour Governor Husain Arnus.

The ceremony was attended by foreign Ambassadors, Consuls accredited
in Syria, journalists, public and political figures, culture workers,
representatives of the Armenian community of Syria. Armenia’s Honorary
Consul Suren Vardanyan made a speech during the reception that followed
the opening ceremony.

PROBLEMS ARE KNOTTY AND PRIMARY
Laura Grigoryan

Azat Artsakh Newspaper NKR
February 09, 2010

On February 3rd a session of NKR Police took place, in which the NKR
President Bako Sahakyan participated and performed with speech.

Leaders of power structures of the republic, other officials
were invited at the session. At the session the chief of police,
general-major of police Robert Shaferyan performed with the statement
about the results of operative-official activity of 2009 of the
structure’s bodies and subdivisions. It was noted, last year a number
of crimes has decreased by 98 in the republic: 575 cases of crimes –
against 673 of 2008. Cases of crimes have decreased in Stepanakert
(descending from 261 to 200), in Askeran (from 80 – to 46), in
Mardakert (from 126 – to 85), and in Martuni (from 73 – to 64). An
increase of cases has been fixed in Hadrut (from 55 – to 58), in Shushi
(from 31 – to 57), in Kashatagh (from 31 – 47) and in Shahumyan (from
16 – to 18). A number of crimes fixed in the way of criminal search
has also increased in 2009: 373 cases – against 454 of 2008. By the
information of the NKR chief of police in the current year a number
of crimes directed to the public security, public order and people’s
health, economic activity and state authority, service and governing
order has increased. By the mentioned crimes an increase has been fixed
by the cases of keeping and making fire-arms, ammunitions (from 15 –
to 17), hooliganism (from 53 – to 56), crimes connected with narcotics
(from 39 – to 54), making, keeping and realizing fake coins and shares
(from 0 – to 5), contraband (from 0 – to 2), using violence against
representatives of the authority (from 6 – to 7). By the assurance
of R. Shaferyan, the facts and numbers testify, that people still
have certain number of illegal arms and ammunitions.

Touching upon the testimonial of socio-demographical crime in the
republic, the chief of police has noted, that in the current year
an increase of number of persons committing crimes in the way of
criminal search has been fixed (from 290 – to 381), 345 of them have
been submitted to criminal liability, and 36 – have been gotten off
with criminal liability. Representing the works done by bodies of
the police in the direction of crimes’ revelation, it has been noted,
that in the current year the index of crimes’ revelation fixed in
all the ways has increased by 1.8 per cent, but the index of crimes’
revelation fixed in the way of criminal search has increased by
4.9 per cent. The NKR chief of police has considered satisfactory
the results of works done in the direction of crimes’ revelation on
criminal cases being suspended in the previous years. Touching upon
the crimes connected with narcotics, R. Shaferyan has noted, that in
2009 54 cases of such crimes have been exposed – against 39 of the
previous year. Owing to the measures taken by the subdivisions of
the NKR police works of finding out the missing and search of persons
avoiding inquest and trail have been definitely improved.

OFFICIAL BAKU COMMENTS ON ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S SPEECH

news.az
Feb 12 2010
Azerbaijan

MFA of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan’s position is open and clear.

Some comments of attaché of the news service for Azerbaijan’s Foreign
Ministry Goshgar Zeynalov about the speech of Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan at the Institute of International Relations Chatem Haus.

"It is surprising that it took just 20 years for the current Armenian
president to prepare for the speech at the event which is only of
the institutional nature. How much time would it take the Armenian
president to learn to feel responsibility for the content of his
speech, the complete distortion of historical facts and today’s
realities connected with the region?

It is good that Serzh Sargsyan explained where he met with the
British lord! I think it was uncomfortable for Sir Robertson to be
near a person who is a responsible for tens of thousands of victims of
the cruel conflict initiated by Armenia against Azerbaijan, for the
tragedy of more than a million of Azerbaijani refugees and internally
displaced persons who were forced to flee their homes in the result of
ethnic cleansing in the occupied Azerbaijani lands, for the atrocities
committed in the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly, for tens and hundreds
of destroyed historical, religious and cultural monuments, for desert
ghosts of the once flourishing Azerbaijani cities and villages of
Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding regions and most others that
are going beyond the limits of generally acceptable terms such as
the "value of life and creation", "humanity", "nonuse of force",
so actively used by the Armenian president in his speech.

In his speech Serzh Sargsyan applies a new political term
"internationally recognized political map differs from the reality"
which seems enough to justify the occupation of the lands of a
sovereign state and the forced transformation of the internationally
recognized borders. Then what place does the main politician of Armenia
attach to the norms and principles of international law? Is the
forced changes in the borders of the neighbor state where Armenian
population is residing compactly a historical and international
recognized mission of the Armenian political leaders? I would like
to remind that Armenia is also neighboring Georgia with Javakheti
Armenians, Turkey with Hemshires, Iran where the Armenian minority
is living historically. As US film director William Castle said "it
is difficult to be a good neighbor in a bad neighborhood", but what
can we do in the case when this neighbor has not been chosen by anyone?

Serzh Sargsyan asks a question why "Azerbaijan was able to walk
out the USSR while Nagorno Karabakh was not? It seems that there
are no legal frames for the Armenian leadership that could define
the procedure of the walkout of the republics from the USSR. The
attempt of the representatives of the Karabakh’s Armenian community
to separate from Azerbaijani SSR unilaterally through the decision
of 12 July 1988 adopted without participation of Azerbaijani deputies
was contradictory both to the Constitution of the Azerbaijani SSR and
article 78 of the SSR Constitution according to which the territory
of the union republic cannot be changed without its agreement. The
regulation was confirmed in a number of decisions of the USSR Supreme
Council and its presidium including of 10 January and 3 March 1990.

Sargsyan says "Azerbaijan has exhausted the credit of trust regarding
the survival of the minorities". Probably, there has been a mistake in
the text of the speech of the president of almost a monoethnic state.

Unlike Armenia, which became monoethnic after driving Azerbaijanis
and Muslim Kurds residing there in early 90s, the issue of ensuring
rights of national and religious minorities has never been urgent
in Azerbaijan.

In addition, about 30,000 citizens of Armenian nationality live in
Azerbaijan, beyond the lands occupied by Armenia and they have equal
rights with other citizens and use all opportunities presented by
the state. Can the Armenian side speak about hundreds and thousands
of Azerbaijanis living in Armenia? Probably, it can but it would
not want, because these will be Azerbaijanis whom the Armenian
servicemen captured and are still holding in captivity. According
to the Azerbaijan State Commission on hostages, missing people and
refugees, 4,133 people are considered missing in the result of Armenian
aggression and their destiny is still unclear. This occurs in the
21st century in a country whose leader refers to the ideas of humanism.

The Armenian president says that "the arm racing continues in the
South Caucasus" and "it is extremely dangerous for all South Caucasus
nations". It seems that when speaking about the South Caucasus he
means all the three countries of the region. The fact that Armenia
is trying to put its own problems on Azerbaijan’s shoulders has been
evident since the countries of the regions gained independence. Is
it now Georgia’s turn for Armenia’s attacks?

Serzh Sargsyan also causes admiration for his genius and sagacity
in the relations with Turkey "the way to cooperation without
preconditions, the way to bilateral relations that is not conditioned
by the problems of the third parties". "Without preconditioning… the
relations by Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide" the
Armenian president is moving further pretending to be making curtsey
while doing a favor to Turkey. Hinting that the normalization of
relations between Turkey and Armenia "may give a positive impetus
to the Karabakh conflict settlement", the Armenian president is
obviously cunning.

The plans of the Armenian leadership to invite the Azerbaijani
president for the "possible" ceremony of opening the Armenian-Turkish
border also causes tender emotions and admiration. It seems that
the Armenian presidential office is working hard at preparation of
a long list of guests for such a remarkable event. It is good that
Serzh Sargsyan has used the word "possible" while speaking about this
ceremony in order not make a fool of himself in the future. We can
wish the Armenian president to remain the same optimist in the future!

Today, by demonstrating adherence to the supremacy of principles
and norms of international law in the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict Azerbaijan continues the negotiation process by demonstrating
constructivism and readiness to search the way out of the established
situation. Azerbaijan’s position is open and clear. The frames of
possible compromises have been defined and they allow observing the
basic principle of the present-day international law-the inviolability
of borders of the sovereign states with the execution of the rights
of people for self-determination within the internationally recognized
state borders.

This will help achieve a mutually profitable peace in the region and
settle the protracted conflict that has caused the tragedy of more
than a million of people. However, Azerbaijan cannot let the conflict
last for the next 15-20 years. It is clear that no one in the world,
except for Armenia, is satisfied with the status quo. The issue must
be settled within the definite time framework beyond which there is
a dangerous line threatening with the unpredictable development of
events for which Armenia will be responsible as a nonconstructive
party of the negotiations.

In conclusion, I would like to quote famous British writer Jerome
Jerome "He is willingly taking the heaviest burden and shifting
it to others’ shoulders" referring this to the speech of Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan at the Chatem House Institute of International
Relations. Is it not time to stop doing so, Mr.Sargsyan?

SMASHED LAMPS AND CUT DOWN TREES AT TSITSERNAKABERD GENOCIDE MEMORIAL

2010 /02/11

"I saw the smashed street lamps. When I looked hard, I realized that
next to each smashed street lamp there are stumps of newly cut down
trees." This alert was raised by Tigran Mangasaryan, the publisher
of National Geographic Traveler in Armenia.

He spends each morning in Tsitsernakaberd with his friends. For the
past few days he paid attention to the smashed lamps along the street
leading to the Genocide Memorial. "I saw dozens of stumps along the
road and a small fire trampled under feet, nothing else, neither
branches, nor chips, nor sawdust, nothing. I got the impression that
somebody cut down the trees, took them away under cloud of night
without leaving any traces. That’s why all the lamps are smashed,"
Tigran Mangasaryan said.

The photos taken by Tigran Mangasaryan distinctly display all the
traces of this crime. This material is simultaneously an alert for
the RoA Ministry of Nature Protection . We think that the Ministry of
Nature Protection represented by the State Environmental Inspectorate
must examine this case and take proper measures.

ARMENIAN SUPERMARKETS STOCK UP ON "DEFENSE" EGGS

Russia Today
Feb 11 2010

A number of grocery stores in Armenia are selling eggs displaying
the stamp of the country’s Defense Ministry, Armenian media reports.

Following some confusion at the Ministry, it was learned that the
company that shipped the eggs to the stores had previously won a tender
to supply eggs to the country’s armed forces. It is still unclear,
however, how the eggs ended up at privately owned stores.

Incidentally, according to the contract with the Ministry, the company
was supposed to provide Grade A eggs, while the actual eggs happen
to be Grade B.

Military police are conducting an investigation. A number of suppliers
and retailers have already been questioned.

SHOCKING STORIES FROM HISTORY IN BLACK AND WHITE … WITH RECIPES
By MARY ELLEN HIGGINS

Pocono Record
Feb 10 2010
PA

February 10, 2010 If the idea of reading history makes your eyes
glaze over, you can find a back-door route to historical knowledge
through the following recommended memoirs and cookbooks, all of which
are enlivened with historical details.

"The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: a Memoir
of Music, Love, and Survival" by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen (2002,
Warner) tells the story of 14-year-old Lisa Jura, who is musically
talented and aspires to be a great pianist. At her final piano lesson
in Vienna, her piano teacher sorrowfully tells her that under a new
ordinance, teaching Jewish children is a crime.

On her way home from that final lesson, Lisa notices that the Nazis
have replaced Jewish names on street signs with Aryan ones. Shortly
after returning home, she awakens with her family in the middle of
the night. Kristallnacht, the coordinated attack on Jewish people
and their property, is raging.

Soon after, Lisa’s parents get her a place aboard the Kindertransport,
a rescue mission that transferred 10,000 mostly Jewish children out
of Vienna to safety in Britain. At one of the stops, someone places
an unaccompanied baby aboard. The other children scramble to find
milk and juice to feed the baby. As they enter Holland, the train
erupts in cheers. Almost all of the children will survive the war,
but most of their parents will not.

"The Knock at the Door: a Journey Through the Darkness of the
Armenian Genocide" (Beaufort Books, 2007) by Margaret Ahnert, whose
daughter Lynn Price lives in Middle Smithfield Township, bears many
similarities to eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust. It’s the story
of an individual caught up in a vortex of ethnic violence.

Ahnert provides an account of the ordeal of her mother, Ester Ajemian,
who was 15 years old in 1915 when the Turkish Army began systemically
killing Armenians in Turkey. The first-person narration makes these
events palpable, and Ester’s descriptions of events spare none of
the brutality of the soldiers or the gore that she witnessed.

In the early chapters of "The Knock at the Door," Ester tells of
her happy youth growing up in the town of Amasia in Turkey. But her
happiness ends soon after her older brother, a soldier in the Turkish
army, visits her family with news that Armenians are being targeted for
acts of violence, and warns that the family should get ready to flee.

Soon afterward, all able-bodied Armenian men are ordered to present
themselves. Fifteen-year-old Ester watches from a window in her house
as groups of men are forced to march away from the town. When the men
don’t return, she realizes they have been slaughtered. Her father is
jailed and she never sees him again.

The women, children and elderly of the town are forced to march
many miles to deportation camps, but most of them die of starvation
or typhus contracted along the way. Ester is eventually forced into
an abusive marriage, but she eventually escapes and makes her way to
America. "The Knock at the Door" records unspeakable acts of brutality;
it’s an important testimony of crimes that should not be forgotten.

In contrast to these weighty memoirs, Viviana Carballo’s memoir,
"Havana Salsa: Stories and Recipes" (2006, Simon & Schuster), is much
more light-hearted.

The memoir of pre-Castro Cuba provides a potent mixture of humor and
pathos, with Cuban recipes interspersed with the narrative.

Carballo portrays Havana of the 1940s and early 1950s as a non-stop
party city. It bursts with cafeterias, cafés, bakeries, peanut
vendors, orange sellers, ices and ostiones — a small kiosk on wheels
that sells ostiones (a type of mollusk that grows in mangroves and
tastes like oysters), which were kept fresh in narrow glasses embedded
in a block of ice.

Carballo’s eccentric family and their various servants and friends
also enliven the narrative. Her father, known as Dr. Carballo (though
he had no medical degree), sold his services as astrologer, healer,
psychic and medium to Havana’s wealthy. The family cook, Dulce, is
a believer in the Santería religion who teaches the young Carballo
the food preferences of each of the deities. In her memoir, Carballo
reconstructs Dulce’s recipes for calabaza and malanga fritters.

When Castro takes control of Cuba, he quickly puts down the frivolity
and high living of the islanders. He also takes away civil liberties,
and reneges on his promise of free elections. Writing with wit and
humor, Carballo recreates a magical Havana, with beautiful women
dancing on catwalks high up in the trees at the restaurants. Now,
Cuban exiles can only remark on how much the island lifestyle has
declined under Castro’s regime.

History also figures in "Zarela’s Veracruz: Cooking and Culture
in Mexico’s Tropical Melting Pot" (2001, Houghton Mifflin) by the
television personality Zarela Martínez and Anne Mendelson.

It’s another unusual cookbook. In addition to explanations of the
Afro-Caribbean and West Indian influences in Veracruzan cuisine,
Martínez and Mendelson discuss the history, poetry and dance
traditions of the region.

Food and history are intertwined. The authors point out why
Afro-Caribbean dishes, such as mariquitas, can be found in Veracruz.

After the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés arrived in 1519, Caribbean
slaves were brought to Veracruz to work in sugarcane plantations
that were developed by Spanish colonists. When the invading Spaniards
displaced many of the indigenous peoples living in Veracruz, the native
influences were lost, leaving Spanish and Afro-Caribbean elements to
take center stage.

ORANGEARMENIA LAUNCHES NEW SERVICE MY ACCOUNT ORANGE

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2010 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Orange subscribers were able to manage mobile and
Internet accounts with the help of a new service "My Account Orange".

According to the project manager Gayane Igityan, the service already
is available to all subscribers of Orange, except corporate ones, who
can use the system with advanced features from the next week. "The
service will enable our subscribers to manage their accounts,
obtain information about calls in real time, in a transparent and
user-friendly way," said the marketing director of Orange-Armenia Aram
Lazarian. According to him, new proposals will become available in
the near future.

"Orange- Armenia follows the policy of France Telecom group, giving
a value to clarity and convenience of services," Bruno Dutoit, CEO
of Orange-Armenia said.

Orange-Armenia Mobile operator, part of France Telecom, entered
the Armenian market of mobile communications and the Internet in
November 2009.

PROGRESS IN KARABAKH TALKS: SERGEY LAVROV

news.am
Feb 8 2010
Armenia

There is a progress registered in talks on Karabakh conflict
settlement, RF Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Feb. 6 at the
Security Conference in Munich.

According to him, Russia attempts to help the sides to reach an
agreement.

"It is certainly a very complex issue, but the breakthrough is
registered. Mutual understanding is reached and the number of issues
to be agreed upon by high ranking officials decreases and we are
trying to help them," Lavrov stated.

CASE BROUGHT UP

A1Plus.am
08/02/10

The department of defense of state interests of the RA General
Prosecution has brought up a case against the abuse of official powers
on the part of the Adviser to the Minister of Culture.

According to the General Prosecution, using the powers of an official,
former adviser, current head of the department of law and control at
the staff of the same Ministry A. Hayrapetyan confiscated 19.010.000
drams and caused serious damage to the state and which has led to
serious consequences.

On January 29, 2010, prosecutor of the department of defense of state
interests at the RA General Prosecution instigated a case under Point
1, Part 3, Article 178, Point 1, Part 3, Articles 38-178 and Part 2 of
Article 308 of the RA Penal Code. The case has been sent to the general
investigative department of the RA Police for preliminary examination.