Armenian News

IWPR Report

"JUDO DIPLOMACY" EASES KARABAKH TENSIONS
Bid to improve Turkish-Armenian ties started with a football match,

so could Judo tournament do same for Armenia and Azerbaijan?
By Gegham Vardanian in Yerevan

The Azerbaijan flag has been flown in Armenia for the first time since the

Karabakh war, at a martial arts tournament tentatively welcomed by analysts

as a start for "judo diplomacy".

The welcome for the Azerbaijan team at the European Under 20 Championship,

September 11-13, was warm, and police took careful steps to prevent any

demonstration against the athletes, who represented a country with which

Armenia has not signed a peace deal.

"We are on guard to prevent a flag being brought into the building which could

be burnt," said one policeman when asked why he was so carefully checking

this correspondent's bag.

It was the first trip to Armenia for Azeri sportsmen since the Karabakh conflict,

in which Nagorny Karabakh declared independence from Baku, and Armenian

forces seized control of much of what is internationally considered western

Azerbaijan.

The Armenian government pledged to ensure the security of the Azerbaijan

delegation's 15 members - five sportsmen, three trainers, two doctors, two

journalists, one referee and two organisers.

"This is sport, and every country is free to take part in sporting events. We

received Azerbaijan's application to take part in the championship with pleasure

and created all the necessary conditions for them to take part and then return to

their homes," Armen Grigorian, minster for sports and youth affairs, told IWPR.

The visit attracted broad interest in Armenia, where observers wondered if it

could mark the start of a thaw in relations between Baku and Yerevan. A bid

to normalise relations between Turkey and Armenia started with a football match

between the national sides last year so could, observers wondered, the judo

tournament prove to be a similar turning point.

"It's well-known that the process of regulating Armenian-Turkish relations is

called 'football diplomacy'. If you take a parallel with the participation of the

Azerbaijan sportsman in the European Championship in Yerevan, then you

can call this 'judo diplomacy'," Stepan Grigorian, a political analyst, said.

"Sport and culture are the best ways of creating dialogue between warring

sides, and the European youth judo championship, held in Yerevan, is the best

confirmation of this."

The Armenian government was taking no chances with the safety of the

Azerbaijan athletes, and special guards tailed them wherever they went. A man

in a black suit stood near each member of the team whenever they were in the

Yerevan stadium where the championship took place.

Gyunduz Abasszade, a journalist from Azerbaijan's ANS television, said he had

experienced a warm welcome.

"We feel free and secure. Of course, there are some limitations from our

'protectors', but this is natural. We are after all in an enemy country. But in

general, everything is good and calm," he said.

All five Azeri sportsmen won medals at the games, with one gold, one silver,

and three bronze, meaning the Azerbaijan flag was raised five times.

When Elmar Gasimov won his gold medal in the 100 kilogramme category,

the Azerbaijan national anthem boomed out over the hall, which held about

1,000 spectators and participants. Hrachuhi Barseghian, a spokesman for

the championship organisers, said at least 70 per cent of those present stood

for the anthem - an important mark of respect.

In response, when Armenian athlete Artyom Baghdasarian won a medal, the

Azeri visitors also stood for the anthem.

"Judo is an ambassador for peace. We are the first Azerbaijan sportsmen to

come to Yerevan. This is sport, and it should not be mixed up with politics," said

Aghayar Akhund-Zada, a trainer from the Azerbaijan team who took part in

contests in Armenia in Soviet years and said he never considered missing out

on the tournament.

"We have sportsmen who are appearing for the youth team for the last time.

If they did not come to Yerevan to take part in the championship, it could well

impact on their future careers."

Sergey Soloveychik, the president of the European Judo Union, said judo was

a sport distinguished by respect between opponents, who always bow to each

other before and after each bout.

"I am proud that our sport is becoming a diplomatic bridge, linking different

peoples. I hope that in future, politicians can follow our example and show

greater respect for each other," he said.

"We are not calling it judo diplomacy, but we are trying to work in that direction.

Not long ago the European Championship was held in Georgia. As is well known,

there are tense political relations between Georgia and Russia. However, despite

this, the Russian delegation accepted their invitation, and the Georgians, for their

part, did everything they could so the Russians felt at home."

Gegham Vardanian is a correspondent from Internews, and a member of IWPR's

Cross Caucasus Journalism Network.

ARMENIAN STUDENT MOVE
www.worldbulletin.net
Sept 16 2009
Turkey

A hundred Armenian students will have education at Turkish
universities for six months. Another step will be taken to normalize
Turkish-Armenian relations. A hundred Armenian students will get
education in Turkey within the scope of a project supported by the
Turkish American Coalition. The students will learn more about Turkish
culture under the project. Also, a bridge of peace will be established
between Turkish and Armenian students.

'ALMAST' OPERA FINALLY COMES TO THE STAGE
Tert.am
Sept 16 2009
Armenia

The premiere of the opera "Almast" will be held at the National
Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre (named after Al. Spendarian) on
September 18 and 19. The premiere, initially scheduled for June 2009,
was delayed in order to present Spendarian's work in a more completed
form for the new theatre season.

The art director of the new "Almast" is "Honored Art Worker of the
Russian Federation," state prize winner Georgy Isahakyan, the conductor
is People's Artist of Armenia Yuri Davtian. Stage and costume design is
by Vyacheslav Okunev from Russia, and the dance director is Armenia's
people's artist Vilen Galstyan.

Al. Spendarian wrote "Almast" opera in the last year of his life,
in 1928. The opera is based on the poem "Tmbkaberti Arum" (Conquering
of the Drum Castle) by famous Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan. The
opera was performed for the first time in 1930 in Moscow. In Yerevan,
it was first performed in 1933. "Almast" was the first performance
at the National Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre.

MICHEL LEGRAND AWARDED ARMENIAN ORDER OF HONOR
ArmInfo
2009-09-15 17:02:00

ArmInfo. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has awarded Michel
Legrand, the French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and
pianist of Armenian descent, with Order of Honor, the presidential
press-service told ArmInfo.

Serzh Sargsyan highlighted M. Legrand's contribution to development
of the world music of the 20th century. For his part, the composer
said that Armenian music is in his blood. M. Legrand admitted that
every time visiting Armenia he goes back to his roots.

RFE/RL Report

IMF Sees Renewed Growth In Armenia
Armenia -- Mark Lewis, head of a visiting IMF mission, holds a news
conference in Yerevan on September 16, 2009.
16.09.2009
Emil Danielyan

The International Monetary Fund remains satisfied with the Armenian
authorities' response to the global economic downturn and expects
Armenia's economy to resume its growth already next year, a senior
IMF official said on Wednesday.

Mark Lewis, head of a visiting IMF mission, also said that the
recession-hit economy would significantly benefit from a possible
reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border. He argued that an open
frontier with Turkey would open a new and lucrative market to
Armenian exporters, reduce the cost of imports to the landlocked
South Caucasus state and foster regional economic integration.

`So in sum, we would see higher growth, higher exports and
investment, and improved standards of living of the Armenian
population,' Lewis told a news conference in Yerevan.

The mission headed by him has spent the past two weeks meeting top
Armenian government and Central Bank officials to discuss their anti-
crisis measures supported by an IMF loan approved in March. The fund
raised the total amount of the `stand-by arrangement' by more than
half to $823 million in June, citing the sharper-than-anticipated
impact of the global recession on the country. About $158 million of
the extra funding was immediately made available to the Armenian
authorities.

Lewis indicated that his talks in Yerevan paved the way for the
disbursement next month of another installment of the loan worth
about $60 million. He praised the authorities for their `very good
performance' in taking steps which the IMF believes are necessary for
coping with the crisis.

`In terms of the broader question of managing the crisis, we also
think that the authorities have done a very good job,' he said. `The
global economic environment is very difficult and almost all
countries have had to confront this crisis.'

The IMF official pointed out that the Armenian government has been
`very effective' in attracting more than $1.5 billion emergency loans
from external sources that have allowed it avoid major spending cuts
despite a serious shortfall in tax revenues. He also commended the
Central Bank for seeking to spur bank credit to Armenian firms while
maintaining the relative stability of the country's financial system.

According to Lewis, the IMF anticipates that these and other anti-
crisis policies will help the Armenian economy expand by 1.2 percent
in 2010. He said the growth will be primarily driven by rising
international prices of non-ferrous metals (Armenia's number one
export item) as well as domestic services and agriculture.

Armenia's Gross Domestic Product plummeted by as much as 18.5 percent
year on year in the first seven months of 2009 mainly because of a
dramatic slump in the construction sector.

`For the remainder of year we see construction activity stabilizing
and some small improvement in other areas,' said Lewis. That is why,
he added, the IMF expects the full-year GDP contraction to ease to
15.6 percent.

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