Armenian News‏

FIVE ARMENIAN SOLDIERS KILLED NEAR KARABAKH -MEDIA
By Afet Mehtiyeva
Reuters
Sept 10 2009

* Nagorno-Karabakh authorities deny report * Tensions rising with
Armenia-Turkey thaw

BAKU, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Azeri media said five Armenian soldiers
were killed on Thursday in a clash with Azerbaijan's forces near the
disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, but the rebel territory dismissed
the report.

The Azerbaijan Defence Ministry declined to comment.

Tensions in the region are rising as Armenia and close Azeri
ally Turkey make progress towards opening their joint border and
establishing diplomatic relations, angering oil-producing Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's ANS Press said the fight took place in the Agdam district,
next to Nagorno-Karabakh, which threw off Azeri rule in the early
1990s with Armenian backing.

A spokesman for the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Ministry said the report
was "Azeri propaganda".

Agdam is one of seven Azeri districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
and is held by Armenian forces.

Clashes are common between forces manning the frontline. The last
fatal exchange was in January, when Azerbaijan, which supplies oil
and gas to the West, said it had killed three Armenian soldiers.

Turkey, which is on the verge of an historic deal to restore ties
with Armenia, said it was seeking details of the report. "If the
report would be confirmed, it would become a source of concern,"
Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said.

Christian ethnic Armenians, backed by Armenia, fought a war in the
1990s to end mainly Muslim Azerbaijan's control over mountainous
Nagorno-Karabakh. An estimated 30,000 people were killed and a peace
accord has never been reached.

Mediators from the United States, France and Russia say they are
close to a breakthrough in negotiations between Armenian President
Serzh Sarksyan and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

Turkey closed its frontier with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan, which now fears losing leverage over Armenia in the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh if the border is reopened.

Turkey and Armenia said last month they had agreed to establish
diplomatic ties and open the border. Their presidents are due to sign
the accords in mid-October, before submitting them to the Turkish
and Armenian parliaments for approval.

Under the deal, the border should reopen within two months of
ratification, possibly by New Year. (Additional reporting by Hasmik
Mkrtchyan in Yerevan, Matt Robinson in Tbilisi and Zerin Elci in
Ankara; writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Mark Trevelyan).

ARMENIA 2-1 BELGIUM: RED DEVILS IN CRISIS AS HOSTS

ENJOY HISTORIC WIN
Goal.com
Sept 9 2009
A disastrous result for the visitors in Yerevan...

Armenia 2-1 Belgium Lineups/Stats European World Cup Qualification
Fixtures, Results

Belgium crashed out of contention for World Cup qualification after
Armenia enjoyed their first competitive win since June 2007.

Hovhannes Goharyan and Sargis Hovsepyan hit the decisive strikes on
either side of the break to make it four points for the campaign and
knock the Red Devils formally out of the competition.

The first period saw few chances for the hosts and none at all for
the Belgians. To the Armenians' credit they took one of theirs,
Goharyan netting after his first shot was rebounded back at his feet.

Timmy Simons prevented the Belgians from adding a second shortly
afterwards as the hosts turned up the pressure.

For the second goal, just after the restart, captain Hovsepyan
waltzed through the static Belgian defence before slipping the ball
past Gillet.

The visitors were in panic mode, but they struggled to turn their
urgency into opportunities.

Indeed, their consolation goal came in the very last minute as Daniel
Van Buyten netted at the death.

This, though, will not save the players and departing coach Franky
Vercauteren from the wrath of the fans after suffering a defeat to
a side half their FIFA placing, 125 to Belgium's 62.

AZERI WRESTLERS IN ARMENIA FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Hasmik Smbatian
Armenialiberty.org
Sept 9 2009

Armenia -- Judo contest, undated 09.09.2009

Five young athletes from Azerbaijan arrived in Yerevan late on Tuesday
to compete in a European judo championship for juniors and mark their
country's first-ever participation in a sporting event held in Armenia
since the Soviet collapse.

The tournament, which starts on Friday, will bring together judo teams
from about 40 countries, including Turkey. Azerbaijan's participation
in it was made possible by a special agreement signed by the Armenian
and Azerbaijani ministers of sport in Yerevan last week.

The agreement commits the host country to ensuring the Azerbaijani
team's security, creating adequate conditions for it, and playing
Azerbaijan's national anthem if one of its wrestlers becomes a
European champion.

Tight security measures were visible on Wednesday at a Yerevan
hotel where the 15-strong Azerbaijani delegation, which also includes
coaches, doctors, judo officials and journalists, will stay during the
competition. "We can't go anywhere without them," Gunduz Abbaszade,
a sports reporter for Azerbaijan's ANS television, told RFE/RL,
pointing to scores of security officers deployed in the hotel lobby.

"We are not scared because they are with us," he said. "Everything
is fine ... The main thing is that they don't hinder us."

"This day will probably do gown in history," grinned Azer Garayev,
an ANS cameraman.

In Abbaszade's words, the Azerbaijani athletes are determined to
win with gold medals in Yerevan. Aleksan Avetisian, chairman of the
Armenian Judo Federation, admitted that they have good chances of
doing well in the tournament.

"I must say that Azerbaijan has a fairly strong team," Avetisian
told RFE/RL. "They won a gold medal in last years' Olympic Games,
something which many countries can only dream about."

The unresolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has been an extremely
serious hindrance to Armenian and Azerbaijani athletes' participation
in sporting events held in each other's country. Citing the conflict,
the Azerbaijani government usually opposes the presence of various
Armenian delegations on its soil.

In 2007, the authorities in Baku refused to guarantee the security
of Armenia's national soccer team, which was due to play Azerbaijan
as part of a qualifying campaign for the 2008 European football
championship. The Armenian side rejected Azerbaijani demands that
the games between the two teams be played in a neutral venue, leading
European football's governing body, UEFA, to cancel the fixtures.

Later that year, the Azerbaijani government reluctantly agreed to
allow Armenian wrestlers to compete in a world championship in Baku,
under apparent pressure from the International Olympic Committee and
FILA, the sport's world governing body.

IWPR Report

SOUTH CAUCASUS FRONTIER SQUABBLE
New Georgian border splits Armenian villagers from their land.
By Naira Melkumian, Yeranuhi Soghoian and Nana Mamagulishvili

in Bavra

Some Armenian villagers may have to slaughter cows they cannot afford to

feed, now that Georgian border guards have unilaterally decided their

traditional grazing lands are Georgian territory.

Georgian officials declined to comment on the situation, but some

Armenian politicians said the August 25 move by their counterparts in

Tbilisi was unjustified and illegal.

"I could not collect hay. I have 11 cattle, and what will I feed them with

this winter," asked Nvard Shahbekian, a resident of the village of Bavra,

which lies on the border between the two South Caucasus countries.

She has calculated that she will need 20 tonnes of hay to feed her

livestock, and could now have to buy the feed at 80 US dollars a tonne.

"What can I do? I don't have this money. Even if I am going to be shot,

I must collect my own hay," she said.

The villagers said the Georgian border guards had suddenly set up a

checkpoint between them and their fields, and threatened to fine them

2,000 laris (1,200 dollars) if they passed it, although Georgian officials

were not available to confirm this.

Shahbekian's cattle, and those of her neighbours, are hostages to

legal uncertainty surrounding the precise limits of the two countries.

Armenian and Georgian set up a joint commission more than a decade

ago to oversee the demarcation of their border but, as the Bavra

villagers' struggle makes clear, problems remain since 30 per cent of the

border is yet to be agreed on.

Experts say both sides are guilty of unilaterally defining the border to

serve their own purposes.

"There have been cases, when according to the Georgian authorities,

the Armenian side has itself unilaterally moved the border, therefore

until the delimitation is finished and there is an agreement between

the government at the level of foreign ministers, who head the

commission, the territorial resolution will not be final," Sergei Minasian,

an analyst at the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan, said.

The Armenians say the location of the border is laid out in a deal signed

between the two then-Soviet republics in 1921, and amendments to it

agreed over the next two decades.

"According to these amendments, the lands of Bavra in particular are

worked by Armenian farmers living in the village. Apart from this, they

have certificates of the privatisation of this land," said Shirak Torosian,

a member of the Armenian parliament from the ruling Republican Party.

He is also chairman of the Javakhq organisation, which campaigns for

ethnic Armenians who live in southern Georgia.

However, Georgian politicians source their claims from a 1947 map,

which awarded the land to them.

"Now the Georgian border guards see the actions of the Armenian

villagers as a violation of the border, and bring in the 1947 map, which

supposedly agreed that this territory is part of Georgia, but this is doubtful,

since in that difficult time, when the Second World War was ongoing, it is

unlikely that the border could be surveyed," Torosian said.

The Armenian foreign ministry confirmed that the border delimitation

were ongoing, and had even been on the agenda when Georgia's

foreign minister visited Yerevan on September 5. Georgian officials

were tight-lipped, however, and both the foreign ministry and the border

guards in Tbilisi refused to comment on the situation in Bavra.

"Between two young states, in which the process of institution building is

ongoing and the demarcation of the border is not finished, such incidents

can occur, but the situation is under control and will be regulated," said

David Darchiashvili, a member of the Georgian parliament and chairman

of its Committee on European Integration.

"The demarcation of the border is not completed, like with Azerbaijan,

but the situation is being stirred up by a few irresponsible websites. I am

sure that soon all will be made clear at a diplomatic level. This can all be

regulated if good will is shown."

Armenia has good reason not to make a scandal out of the incident,

since 70 per cent of the country's exports go via Georgian territory, which

is almost its only outlet to the outside world since its borders with

Azerbaijan and Turkey remain closed.

However, a number of recent bilateral problems have marred their close

ties. On June 19, for example, Torosian was barred from entering Georgia

without explanation. Torosian connects the refusal to allow him across the

border to his agitation on behalf of Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti,

where almost all the population are ethnic Armenians, and whose rights

have become a political issue in Armenia.

President Serzh Sarkisian raised the issue of Georgia's Armenian

population in an address to diplomats on September 1, saying his

government needed to support their compatriots abroad.

"I think, that steps towards recognising Armenian as a regional language

of Georgia, the registration of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the

preservation of Armenian monuments in Georgia would only help the

strengtherning of Armenian-Georgian relations, and a deepened

atmosphere of mutual trust. We must be delicate in all these questions,

but at the same time, consistent and principled," he said.

While the politicians discussed, however, the villagers of Bavra like

Valerik Margarian, were contemplating a winter without livestock.

"I have four cows and three sheep, and if I cannot gather hay to feed

my stock this winter, then I will have to slaughter them, and then what

will I live on?" Margarian said.

Naira Melkumian and Yeranuhi Soghoian are freelance journalists in

Yerevan and Gyumri respectively. Nana Mamagulishvili is news editor

of the Fortuna radio station in Tbilisi.

BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE: ONLY 20% OF COMPUTER

SHOPS IN ARMENIA OFFER LICENSED SOFTWARE
Arminfo
2009-09-10 15:54:00

ArmInfo. Business Software Alliance Office in Armenia has surveyed the
local computer market and revealed that only 20% of computer shops in
Armenia offer licensed software, BSA Legal Adviser Narine Mkrtchyan
said at press conference on Thursday. The survey involved 20 shops
(selected in a random way) offering computers. The surveyors visited
each shop by 5 times under pretense of customers. Only 4 of the 20
shops offered licensed software and refused to install unlicensed
one. A number of shops failed to offer licensed programs. N. Mkrtchyan
said that customers were just offered not to install licensed
software. "We are not going to cast doubt on the authority of companies
and privates. We are trying to raise public awareness of the necessity
of acquiring licensed software as well as to support the shops offering
legal products," she said.

She mentioned that International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA)
estimated piracy in Armenia at 92% basing on the ratio of the sold
computers and licensed programs in the country. The survey results
will be submitted to the state authorities, including to the Agency
for Protection of Intellectual Property in Armenia at the Economy
Ministry. "Our further cooperation with the state department will
further be based on the precedents of copyright violations, including
use of Armenian fonts without consent of the authors as well as illegal
copying of intellectual property of show business representatives,"
N. Mkrtchyan said.

The Business Software Alliance is the voice of the world's commercial
software industry and its hardware partners before governments and
in the international marketplace. BSA programs foster technology
innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote
copyright protection, cyber security, trade, and e-commerce. Business
Software Alliance (BSA) is a nonprofit trade association created
to advance the goals of the software industry and its hardware
partners. It is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting
a safe and legal digital world. Headquartered in Washington, DC,
BSA is active in more than 80 countries.

Subject: Fwd: Khachaturian

Beautiful movie about Aram Khachaturyan, his life, his music,his country,

his successes and failures. Narrated by Eric Bogosian, music played by

the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Must watch!

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/aram_khachaturian/

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