Author: Zakarian Garnik

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: WE WILL CONTINUE TO ADDRESS THREATS POSED BY IRAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.02.2009 17:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran’s ongoing efforts to develop its missile
delivery capabilities remain a matter of deep concern, said Acting
Spokesman for the U.S. Department of State.

"Recently, Iran’s development of a space launch vehicle (SLV) capable
of putting a satellite into orbit establishes the technical basis from
which Iran could develop long-range ballistic missile systems. Many
of the technological building blocks involved in SLVs are the same
as those required to develop long-range ballistic missiles," Robert
Wood said.

"Working with the United Nations, we have passed a number of UN
Security Council Resolutions, including Resolution 1737, which require
states to take the necessary measures to prevent the supply of,
inter alia, specified equipment and technology that could contribute
to Iran’s development of nuclear weapons delivery systems. We will
continue with our friends and allies in the region to address the
threats posed by Iran, including those related to its missile and
nuclear programs and its support of terrorism," he added.

Iran has launched its first domestically made satellite into orbit
on Monday.

The launch of the Omid (Hope) Safir-2 rocket had been expected
and was clearly timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the
Iranian revolution.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the satellite was launched
to spread "monotheism, peace and justice" in the world.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN VISITED THE OFFICE OF "STUDY OF ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE" NGO WITH A VIEW TO GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE ORGANIZATION’S ACTIVITIES, PREMISES AND WORK CONDITIONS

S aturday, 31 January 2009

Head of "Study of Armenian Architecture" NGO, specialist in
historical monuments Samvel Karapetyan briefed the Prime Minister
on the decades-long surveying and mapping activities conducted in
Armenia’s different regions and at the localities hosting large
Armenian communities.

Mr. Karapetyan also spoke of the NGO’s running activities and future
plans.

Appreciative of the scientifically valuable efforts made by Samvel
Karapetyan and his "Study of Armenian Architecture" NGO, Tigran
Sargsyan underscored the need for the State to prop up the organization
so as it could henceforth continue implementing its noble task with
as much success.

Hürriyet, Turkey
Jan 31 2009

Turkish PM becomes a hit after Davos

ISTANBUL – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s heated exchange with
Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos on
Thursday was widely covered by Turkish newspapers yesterday.

Daily Hürriyet went with the headline "Davos’ Spirit Dies." In
its sub-headline, the daily went on to say that Prime Minister
ErdoÄ?an, who reacted harshly to Israeli President Peres’s
angry attitude, criticized the moderator for not giving him enough
time and had left the panel. A caption beneath the headline made
reference to moderator David Ignatius from the Washington Post
stating that he was known for his closeness with the Armenian lobby
and has in the past-criticized ErdoÄ?an’s policies on the
Middle East.

Daily Star allocated the whole front page to the story, headlining the
incident as a "Historic Ultimatum." A picture of ErdoÄ?an
dismissing President Peres with a hand gesture took up the majority of
the page and a quote from ErdoÄ?an was used as a sub-headline
"When it comes to killing, you know very well how to kill."

Daily Sabah said ErdoÄ?an had been welcomed by thousands of
people at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport at 2.15 a.m.

Daily Vatan’s headline was " Peres Provoked, ErdoÄ?an left
aggressively," and went on to quote ErdoÄ?an who spoke at a
joint press conference, as saying that the Israeli president did not
tell the truth in his 25-minute speech.

Daily Radikal went with the headline "A KasimpaÅ?a tune in
Davos," a reference to the prime minister’s birthplace, and quoted the
prime minister as saying he would never return to Davos again.

Conservative newspapers Yeni Å?afak and Zaman also headlined the
story. Yeni Å?afak went with " Historic Slap," and quoted
ErdoÄ?an as saying, "Differences in religion are not
important. Anti- Semitism and people and phobias against Muslims are
human crimes, it does not matter what religion they are from." The
daily also highlighted that Israeli President Shimon Perez had called
ErdoÄ?an and apologized for the tension that occurred in Davos
during the session on Gaza. Zaman headlined the incident as
"ErdoÄ?an storms out of the panel and Peres apologizes."

Foreign coverage of the incident
The heated rhetoric of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
toward Israel made headlines across the world.

BBC News reported that Turkey’s prime minister stormed off the stage
at the World Economic Forum in Davos after a heated debate on Gaza
with Israel’s president. It was reported that in reaction to
ErdoÄ?ans remark: "I find it very sad that people applaud what
you said. You killed people. And I think that it is very wrong," Peres
responded: "The tragedy of Gaza is not Israel, it is Hamas, and if
rockets were fired into Istanbul you would have reacted the same."

Israeli English daily The Jerusalem Post covered the story of
ErdoÄ?an criticizing Peres and leaving Davos as one of its top
headlines and described the prime minister’s arrival to Istanbul as
the homecoming of a hero, stating "Some outside the airport gate held
banners that applauded his Palestinian stance in Davos."

Israel’s daily Haaretz highlighted ErdoÄ?an’s statement that his
anger over Gaza expressed in Davos was directed at the Israeli
government, not the Jewish people. "I am very sorry for what happened
and friends could sometimes have an argument between themselves,"
Peres told Erdogan during the telephone conversation, it was reported.

TOTAL REVENUES OF SYSTEM OF RA MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION MAKE 3 BILLION 428 MILLION DRAMS IN 2008

Noyan Tapan

Jan 30, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The total revenues of the
companies operating in the system of the RA ministry of transport and
communication made 3 bln 428 mln drams in 2008 declining by 4.6% on
2007. This decline was conditioned by the fact that Armenian railway
was in the process of liquidation and stopped its work on July 1,
2008. Last year 2,768.9 thousand tons of cargo was transported by
railway (7.2% fall as compared with 2007).

According to the report submitted to the Armenian prime minister on
January 30, road construction and maintenance work of 19 bln 640.8 mln
drams on road sections of the total length of 251 km was done in 2008.

The minister Gurgen Sargsyan said that the sector’s programs were
fully implemented. However, some shortcomings, especially in road
construction, were registered. In his words, because of problems
related to co-financing and approval of contracts of the road
rehabilitation program implemented by the Asian Development Bank, the
reconstruction of rural roads began 2 months later than envisaged. This
work will continue and finish in 2009-2010.

The problem of taxi services in connection with the amendments to
the Law on State Duty was also mentioned as a shortcoming of the
transport sector.

According to the minister, although the state duty for private taxi
drivers was reduced from 200 to 25 thousand drams (about 80.5 USD),
some problems have not been completely solved yet.

The deputy head of the RA State Revenue Committee Armen Alaverdian
proposed that he together with the minister should struggle against
taxis with white number plates. "The number of taxis without yellow
number plates is great in Yerevan, but it does not mean that they
have not been registeted," he noted.

G. Sargsyan announced that about 100 taxi service providers and
35 private taxi drivers have been licensed in the last 2 months,
another 80 are in the licensing process.

NALBANDIAN-BABACAN MEETING TAKES PLACE IN DAVOS

Noyan Tapan

Jan 29, 2009

DAVOS, JANUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers
Edward Nalbandian and Ali Babacan met on January 28 within the
framework of Davos World Economic Forum.

According to Turkish media reports, after the meeting Babacan stated
that within the coming 24 hours his second meeting with the RA Foreign
Minister is envisaged in Davos.

"If concrete results are achieved during the meetings, we will
announce it.

The process continues. Our contacts continue since the football match,"
the Turkish Foreign Minister said.

ZURICH MEETING DIDN’T GET THINGS MOVING, NKR OFFICIAL SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.01.2009 16:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting in Zurich did not get
things moving, an NKR official said.

"I do not think progress will be fixed unless the NKR is recognized and
talks open between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh," Ruben Zargaryan,
advisor to NKR Foreign Minister told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"Proposals made by the Azeri side are inadmissible for the people of
Karabakh," he emphasized.

Mr. Zargaryan also pointed out to non-constructivism of international
mediators and said that NKR position found support at the recent
Moscow conference on conflicts in the South Caucasus.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS TO MEET IN DAVOS ON JANUARY 28

APA
Jan 26 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva -APA. Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents
will meet on January 28 within the framework of Davos Economic Forum,
OSCE Minsk Group US co-chair Matthew Bryza told APA exclusively.

He said meetings in Armenia went well enough to allow meeting of
the Presidents this coming week. "Like his Azerbaijani counterpart,
the Armenian President showed a willingness to negotiate seriously
about the important differences that remain between the sides in the
Basic Principles", said Bryza and added that they are indeed planning
on a meeting in Switzerland on January 28, though, of course, the
Presidents always reserve the right to shift the date if need be.

AROUND 50 PROTESTERS RALLY IN YEREVAN DEMANDING NO CONCESSION TO AZERBAIJAN ON KARABAKH

Interfax
Jan 20 2009
Russia

Some 50 people rallied outside the Armenian Foreign Ministry demanding
to meet with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and not
"to cede a single inch of land to Azerbaijan" in the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement.

"Today the issue is not about resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,"
said Zhirair Sefilian, a coordinator of the Protection of Liberated
Territories movement and one of the organizers of the action.

"I see no element of settlement. The parties do not speak about the
settlement. The issue is about the competition between two superpowers.

The issue is about who should control the region," he said.

The protesters, however, failed to meet with the minister.

The action took place against the backdrop of a visit of the co-
chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh settlement
to Yerevan. Mediators will meet with the Armenian president and the
foreign minister on Tuesday.

Nalbandian said on Monday that Armenia will continue the talks in
light of the latest statements made in Moscow and Helsinki.

ARMENIAN CHIEF BANKER DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF MONEY LAUNDERING

Armenian Second TV Channel
Jan 23 2009

[Presenter] Today the chairman of Armenia’s Central Bank, Artur
Javadyan, denied press reports that a major money laundering case
had allegedly been recorded in Armenia’s banking system lately. At
issue is 95m dollars allegedly brought from Cyprus. Here is the
clarification provided by the chairman of the Central Bank.

[Javadyan] We possess no information in this regard; we do not have
this information. In general, no movement of such a large amount of
money from one account to another has been recorded in the Central
Bank up to present. So, this report does not correspond to reality.

We had – [changes tack] As you know, according to an imperative law,
if there is any crime-related case, we report it to law enforcers. Such
cases occurred in the Republic of Armenia. Criminal cases were opened
on their basis, prosecution was carried out appropriately and the
cases were tried in courts.

Regarding this case, I can unambiguously say that there is no such
information, this is slander and a transaction involving this amount
has never been carried out via Armenia’s banking system, say from
offshore to Armenia and outside of Armenia.

FORMER AZERI CAPTIVE STANDS TRIAL IN AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.01.2009 14:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Baku’s military court has launched a legal procedure
against Azeri army soldier Heybatov Vyusal Shirsultan oghly, accused
of treason in compliance with article 274 of the Azeri Penal Code,
Day.az reports.

Heybatov Vyusal Shirsultan oghly was detained by the NKR Defense Army
servicemen on April 11, 2008, when crossing the Karabakhi border near
Yusifdjanlu village, Aghdam region.

The NKR State Committee on POWs and the Missing informed the offices
of the OSCE and International Committee of the Red Cross, accredited
in Nagorno Karabakh, of the incident.

The NKR authorities granted the ICRC workers of the Stepanakert office
an unimpeded access to the captive.

On May 3, 2008 Heybatov was unilaterally conveyed to the Azeri side.