Armenian News

NEWS.am

Charles Lonsdale: We want to see a stable, prosperous and secure Armenia
11:45 / 08/20/2009

Charles Lonsdale, British Ambassador to Armenia answers NEWS.am questions.

Below is the full text of the interview.

Q.: Mr. Lonsdale, what is the UK's policy in Armenia? What are your priorities in

our region?

A.: We want to see a stable, prosperous and secure Armenia. And that applies

to the region as a whole. So supporting efforts to resolve regional conflicts is a

top priority. Apart from high-level negotiations between the parties to the conflict

we think it is vital to encourage contacts between people and civil society, not least

between Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Direct contacts, and greater information

about each other will help, in time, to build the confidence and trust needed to

underpin a sustainable political settlement.

We also want to encourage and support Armenia’s engagement with European

structures, particularly the EU and NATO. We think that this will be good for

Armenia’s long-term development, economic, social and political. It will support

the reform process across a wide range of areas, including defence. But it is

obviously important that it is driven by Armenia’s own judgment of its interests.

We also want to support the development of a stable, democratic political system

founded on respect for human rights and the rule of law. In practice that means

everything from promoting greater participation by women in public life, to running

our long-standing programme of scholarships and fellowships for Armenians to

study and visit the UK.

Q.: They say France is Armenia's friend, Georgia's — US, and Azerbaijan's —

the UK. What's your opinion on this, particularly that your country is often led by

oil interests?

A.: Two preliminary remarks. First, there is a persistent but, I think, misguided

assumption in this region, as in some others, that international relations is a

“zero sum game” – that if you have interests in one country, you must be hostile

to others. I don’t believe that is how international relations work and it certainly

doesn’t reflect our work. We have good relations with Armenia and value them

as much as our relations with other countries. Secondly, energy security is a

priority for all countries around the world now, including Armenia. Britain is no

more led by oil interests than anyone else.

It’s certainly true that British companies have significant investments in Azerbaijan.

But even the logic of pure self-interest means that we would therefore want to see

stability in all countries of the region. We certainly want to see a stable, secure

and prosperous Armenia. We therefore work with Armenia in a range of areas

from defence to education, from climate change to the rights of people with

disabilities. We also see the development of democracy and good governance,

and respect for human rights and the rule of law as essential for the healthy

development of any society, including Armenia. And so we raise concerns where

we have them, both bilaterally and with our EU partners. That obviously includes

a range of familiar issues, including the continued detention and prosecution of

people in connection with the events of 1-2 March 2008 and their political activities;

the need for a transparent, independent and effective inquiry into those events;

restrictions on the media and freedom of assembly; and the development of

democratic institutions and free and fair elections.

We also support projects in a range of areas to help address some of these issues

and to encourage the development of an effective and vigorous civil society. That is

perhaps the most important part; to develop a political culture where ordinary people

can effectively protect their rights and hold the government accountable without

looking for outside intervention.

Q.: Your country is not a Minsk Group member. What is your evaluation of the Minsk

Group activity and the Madrid principles? What would be different if the UK was also

a co-chair?

A.: We support the efforts by the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs to reach a negotiated

settlement of the conflict on the basis of international norms and principles, including

the principle of self-determination of peoples. And we would support any mechanism

for resolution of the dispute which the parties can accept and which has a realistic

chance of delivering a lasting political settlement.

We understand that the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have had useful and

constructive meetings in recent months within the framework of the Minsk Group

process. So I remain hopeful that both parties will continue to make progress. We

are concerned by the continuing deaths along the Line of Contact and the international

border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We believe the parties should make renewed

efforts to resolve this conflict and urge them to engage in good faith in working towards

a negotiated settlement.

It is also vital to have an open and constructive public debate about the resolution of the

conflict and we have supported a number of projects to encourage that and to build

confidence through direct contacts. In particular, compromises will be necessary on both

sides to achieve a lasting settlement. Here again there still seems to be the idea that this

is a “zero sum game”, where only one side can “win” and any compromise represents

failure. But resolution of this conflict will bring huge gains for both countries in economic

development, stability and security.

Q.: In Madrid Principles there is a part about voting in NKR years later. Do you think it's

possible that as a result of voting or in any way Karabakh becomes an independent state?

A.: The final status of Nagorno-Karabakh will obviously be for the parties to the negotiations,

and in due course, the inhabitants, to decide; it’s not helpful for us to speculate on what

the choices might be.

Q.: The developments in Armenian-Turkish relations seem to have stopped since Turkey

continues to set preconditions. What should be done in order to reopen the border? Do

you plan to pressure on Turkey to move the issue forward?

A: We welcomed the Armenian President’s initiative last year to invite President Gul to visit,

and the progress that has been made in discussions over normalisation of relations. We

believe that the opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia will lead to positive

economic development of the region and closer ties between communities on both sides

of the border. We do encourage Turkey — and Armenia — to continue to look for ways to

move this process forward.

Armenians Buckle Up Amid Police Crackdown
Armenia -- A female driver in Yerevan, August 20, 2009.
20.08.2009
Karine Simonian

After decades of negligence, motorists in Yerevan began wearing their
safety belts in droves on Thursday to avoid paying hefty fines finally
enforced by traffic police.

The use of seat belts has long been mandatory in Armenia. The Armenian
police began cracking down in earnest on the widespread and
long-standing defiance of the legal requirement in the capital on
Wednesday, one week after the government approved a five-year plan to
make roads safer for car drivers and pedestrians. Prime Minister Tigran
Sarkisian singled out seat belt use as a key element of that plan.

According to the police, more than 200 persons were fined 5,000 drams
($13.5) each on Wednesday for failing to buckle up while driving. That
explains why the vast majority of Yerevan drivers appeared to be driving
with fastened seat belts the next day.

`I didn't expect to see such a drastic change,' Arsen Arshakian,
commander of a road police battalion, told RFE/RL. `I enjoy observing
it.' `The traffic police are ensuring a gradual transition to safer
driving,' he said.

`We buckle up so they don't fine us,' explained one motorist. `I didn't
do that until yesterday. Why should I pay 5,000 drams?'

Some drivers found the experience unusual and inconvenient. `It feels
likes something is handing from your neck,' said one of them. `True, we
are not used wearing seat belts, but little by little people find that
normal,' said another.

Other drivers interviewed by RFE/RL made no secret of their dislike of
the measure. `I will find it normal if this law applies to everyone,'
said one man. `There are people who still don't fasten their belts.'


MASS WEDDING IN KARABAKH RESULTS IN BABY BOOM
Asbarez
Aug 20th, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Medical services in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
are struggling to cope with a surge in child births more than nine
months after a mass wedding that was organized and sponsored by a
Moscow-based Armenian businessman.

The Karabakh-born entrepreneur, Levon Hayrapetian, had 678 local
couples marry in a single open-air ceremony on October 16, 2008
to assist in a government policy that seeks to boost Karabakh's
population. Hayrapetian covered their wedding expenses and paid each
couple $2,500 as a bonus.

The results of the extraordinary event can be observed at the sole
maternity hospital in the Karabakh capital Stepanakert which is
grappling with a higher-than-usual influx of women preparing to give
birth. Doctors there had to cram extra beds into hospital wards and
draw up waiting lists for delivery.

"We may now have as many as 14 to 15 births a day," the hospital
director, Gohar Hakobjanian, told RFE/RL. "Last month we had a total
of 192 births. We are experiencing difficulties."

"Pregnant women are complaining about waiting lines," she said. "We
are coping with that with extreme strains."

The number of children born in Karabakh already rose by 16 percent to
1,306 in the first half of this year. "The tough war years are gone,
life has improved and people want to have more kids," said Hakobjanian.

Material incentives offered by the Karabakh government to newlyweds are
also a key factor behind the baby boom. The government pays 100,000
drams ($270) for a first and second child born in every family in
addition to a one-off payment of 300,000 drams made to a newlywed
couple. Families having a third child get 500,000 drams from the state.

"Judging from the indicators of the first seven months of 2009, the
results of our policy have been satisfactory," said Samvel Dadayan,
head of the family department at the Karabakh Ministry of Social
Security.

Official statistics show the number of marriages in the
Armenian-populated region nearly doubling in the first half of 2009
after reaching the highest level in 20 years in 2008. The authorities
in Stepanakert also reported a 29 percent drop in divorces during
the same period.


Public Television of Armenia
Aug 17 2009
Over 100 Armenian websites attacked by hackers

[Presenter] Fresh massive attacks were launched on Armenian websites
today. By midday today it was reported that hackers had attacked the
websites of the [Armenian] Football Federation and BTA Bank. But now
it has become known that they hacked into the websites of over 100
major organizations in Armenia. The attackers present themselves as
Iraqi hackers who claim that they are the best in the world. According
to another version, they are Azerbaijani hackers.

[Correspondent] Hackers started attacking the websites of some of our
ministries today. The websites of the ministries of agriculture and
environmental protection asked its visitors to visit the websites
later. But the website of the Ministry of Urban Development infected
computers with a virus on opening. Experts are confident that the
hackers are Azerbaijanis.

Aysor.am
22.08.2009, 13:41
115th anniversary of Hovhannes Isakov

Today Seyran Ohanyan, RA Minister of Defense, accompanied with the
high-ranking officers of the Armenian Armed Forces, expressed their
respect and put a wreath to the monument of Admiral Hovhannes Isakov
on the 115th anniversary of the great Armenian soldier.
Flowers were put to the monument of the Admiral, the veterans of the
Great Patriotic War and those who served in sea recalled the hero of
the USSR.
'Today is the 115th anniversary of Admiral Hovhannes Isakov and we can
once more evidence that the Armenian nation all through its history
stood close to the military art. All this is proved by our military
men serving both in Armenia and outside', - said S. Ohanyan,
mentioning that we had 4 Armenian martials at the Great Patriotic War.
'Admiral Isakov was one of them. We should remember all of them, as
they were the military men who gave us their military thinking,
abilities, heroism, especially Admiral Isakov, who was also a
scientist and a writer.
`After having lost his leg in the Great Patriotic War, he went on
serving in the high ranks in the USSR',-mentioned S. Ohanyan, adding
that Armenians should bring up the coming generations in the spirit of
suchlike people .


FruitNews.ru
August 17, 2009 Monday
Armenia: Grape crop expected to total 185,600 tons in 2009

ABSTRACT
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, grape harvest is expected to
stand at 185,600 tons in Armenia in 2009. As of today, processing
enterprises are ready to purchase about 137,000 tons of grape. Over
45% of total purchases fall at the Yerevan Brandy Company (owned by
France-based Pernod Ricard) and Yerevan Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory
'Ararat'. In all, there are 24-25 enterprises specializing in grape
processing in Armenia. The area of vineyards expanded by 3,800
hectares for the last three to four years.

THALES TO HELP ARMAVIA TO PREPARE "SUPERJET-100"

FOR OPERATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.08.2009 12:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The French Thales company will help the Armenian
Armavia and the Russian Aeroflot to prepare "Superjet-100" for
operation, Ekaterina Petrova, representative of the company said.

"Our company will help Aeroflot and Armavia to prepare the
commissioning of the aircraft Sukhoi Superjet-100, representative of
Thales said. We will also help the "Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts" company
to get the Russia's civil certification, and then the certification
of the European Aviation Safety Agency.

As it was reported earlier Aeroflot and Armavia will be first airlines
to receive serial Superjets, which is expected in early 2010, Itar-Tass
reports .

"The Sukhoi Superjet 100 program is one of the major projects of
Thales in Russia. The French group provides a full set of on-board
radio-electronics, including devices to display information in the
cockpit, an integrated modular platform of on-board radio-electronics,
communications, navigation and surveillance.

Armavia, a member of the International Air Transport Association,
have 250 flights a month to over 30 destinations in the CIS countries,
Europe and Middle East. In 2008, the airline carried almost 647,000
passengers. Air fleet consists of the company has aircrafts of A-319
(3), A-320 (2), IL-86, TU-134 types.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~