Armenian New - Must be read!

Anybody read the three page spread in the Thursday Times,

an paid-for advert supplement on Azerbaijan?

In it, their Minister of Culture & Tourism who states that Azerbaijan

was a Christian country for six centuries before Islam came.

The Azeris are certainly PR active at a time when Armenia

does not have an ambassador in London.

AZERBAIJANI LEADER ONCE AGAIN THREATENS WITH WAR
news.am
Oct 20 2010
Armenia

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev once again voiced war threats. In
his speech delivered at governmental sitting on social and economic
development of Azerbaijan, Aliyev threatened to solve the Karabakh
problem by military means.

Ilham Aliyev stressed that the 2011 military expenditures will total
about $3 bn (2 bn 500m manat), Heberlar program aired on Aztv reported.

Azerbaijan will never accept "occupation" of its territories, Aliyev
said. "Karabakh was Azerbaijani territory from time immemorial. We
will solve the Karabakh issue due to our powerful military capability,"
Azerbaijani state TV quotes Aliyev.

The Azerbaijani leader expressed hope that the report of the OSCE filed
assessment mission on the "occupied" territories will not maintain
balance artificially. Aliyev, who needs votes of the nationalists
on the threshold of the Nov. 7 parliamentary elections, once again
seems to see Armenian "fascists" everywhere.

RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH BY ARMENIA INADVISABLE
news.am
Oct 20 2010
Armenia

The RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs regards as inadvisable the
recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh by the Armenian Parliament as long
as the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process is in progress within the OSCE
Minsk Group and prospects for settlement within the present format
exist, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated on Oct 20.

He stressed Armenia does not rule out other possibilities if
the ways of settling the conflict within the present format run
out. Minister Nalbandian restated the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process is based on the three international principles: peoples'
right to self-determination, territorial integrity and nonuse of
force. Also, the following six components underlie the negotiation
process: determination of Nagorno-Karabakh's final status through
the expression of the Nagorno-Karabakh people's will, which is to be
preceded by the determination of Nagorno-Karabakh's interim status
(which is actually its present status); land communication between
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh; international security guarantees,
including the deployment of international peacemakers; return of
refugees and territories.

Minister Nalbandian pointed out that the three principles and six
components underlie the Madrid principles of 2007. This year an updated
version of the Madrid principles was presented to the sides in Saint
Petersburg. The Armenian side accepted both the documents as a basis
for negotiations. Azerbaijan, however, stated it accepted only one
of the drat proposals with reservations.

THE 'GENOCIDE' THORN IN US-TURKEY RELATIONS
Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 17 2010
Turkey

In his op-ed of Oct. 11 titled "Prospects for Turkish-U.S. ties not the
best," Semih Ä°diz, a fellow columnist for the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review, elaborated on how the Armenian issue has come to
affect U.S.-Turkey relations.

According to Ä°diz, "the general belief in Washington, and particularly
in the U.S. Congress, is that Turkey negotiated the Zurich Protocols
with Armenia in bad faith, not to actually move ahead in terms of
Turkish-Armenian ties, but to prevent President Obama from using the
'G word' in his annual April 24 message earlier this year."

I have serious objections to such arguments and I want to share
them with my American friends. First and foremost, the Turkish
government did not act in bad faith. On the contrary, there was a
sincere good will, actually a kind of naivety that made them think
that the protocols would finally pave the way for a normalization of
relations with Armenia.

It was, however, the Armenian Constitutional Court's January 2010
decision that profoundly shocked Ankara. As you will well remember,
the court declared that the interpretation and application of the
protocols should be in compliance with the Armenian constitution and
paragraph 11 of the Armenian Declaration of Independence, which states:
"The Republic of Armenia stands in support of the task of achieving
international recognition of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and
Western Armenia."

In the view of Ankara, this reasoning contradicted fundamental aspects
of the protocols. Both countries' historians, through a sub-commission
envisaged in the protocols, were supposed to discuss what had really
happened in 1915. But the court's decision made it clear to Ankara that
it had been too optimistic. In fact, it was not only a precondition
but also an ultimatum.

Turkish authorities lost no time in sharing their reservations
and concerns with Washington and clearly stated that under these
circumstances, the protocols could not pass ratification in the Turkish
Parliament. Indeed, subsequent to this decision, voices expressing
skepticism among members of Parliament grew louder than ever. Yet
ignoring these sensitivities, Washington declared it viewed "the
court decision as a positive step forward in the ratification process."

In light of this background, to claim that the Turkish government
negotiated the protocols to prevent President Obama from using the
"G word" is nonsense. Besides, the number of U.S. states that have
passed resolutions supporting the Armenian allegations is over 40. To
be honest, like many people in Turkey I personally am not really
interested in whether the U.S. President uses the G word or not. Turks
are indeed fed up with the way this genocide issue is being frequently
used as an effective means of blackmailing the Turkish government.

Having said that, I suggest to my American friends that they put
pressure on Armenia to change its mindset. I will give an example
in that regard. As a gesture to our Armenian citizens and Armenia,
the Turkish government restored a historic church in Akdamar with a
formal opening held in September. The religious ceremony was attended
by Armenians from Armenia and their diaspora.

Elaborating on Turkish-Armenian relations, in an op-ed titled
"Armenian-Turkish relations depend on people, not protocols," Richard
Giragosian, the director of the Yerevan-based Armenian Center for
National and International Studies, just recently wrote about this
gesture of the Turkish government, "...the long-awaited event turned
out quite differently than expected. In many ways, the ceremony was
a disappointment. It was also a missed opportunity."

Do you know why it was a disappointment or missed opportunity for
Giragosian? Because, in his words, "the ceremony was held in a church
with no cross."

Turkish-Armenian relations indeed depend on people, not protocols...

LEVEL OF EXTREME POVERTY IN ARMENIA REDUCED BY 30% IN
FOUR YEARS TO 23.5%
ARKA
October 15, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 15. /ARKA/. The level of extreme poverty in
Armenia from 2004 to 2008 reduced by 30% making 23.5% of population
whereas in 1999 this indicator was 3.1% of population - 100 thousand
people, said member of Consulting Center of Socio-Economic Studies
"AVAG Solutions Nairuhi Jerbashian in multi-media video-bridge
Yerevan-Moscow-Kiev-Kishinev-Tbilisi on the topic "Poverty. Where is
the threshold?"

"In 2008, percent of vulnerable population in Armenia was 23.5 %, i.e.

about 760 thousand of population of Armenia, of which 3.1% are
extremely poor", said Jerbashian.

The above mentioned figures are provided by the Armenian National
Statistic Service by the methods of World Bank studies of households.

WB will provide official data only at the end of November.

She said that in 2008 three groups of extremely poor population
was defined by daily consumption expenses of less than $1 (0.01% of
population), less than $2 (2.9%) and less than $4 (48% of population).

Economic growth and state social transfers influenced on the reduction
of poverty percent in Armenia. "Flexibility of budget reduction
towards economic growth was rather high", said the expert.

The types of state social transfers include pensions and benefits
for vulnerable families.

10% of average income per population make private transfers of
migrants.

In 2003 Government of Armenia approved strategic program of struggle
against poverty and in 2008 this program was renewed and approved
under the name "Program of stable economic growth" which suggests
socio-economic development of the country till 2021.

The program was developed on pre-crisis basis and included increase of
pensions, benefits and other transfers but due to crisis another two
scenarios of socio-economic development were developed - pessimistic
and optimistic.

According to optimistic scenario the level of poverty will reduce
by 2015 making only 17.55% of population and by pessimistic scenario
this figure will be about 21%.
 
ARMENIAN DIASPORA POTENTIAL 'GREATLY EXAGGERATED'
news.az
Oct 20 2010
Azerbaijan [their take on Armenian matters]

The size of the Armenian diaspora, especially in the former Soviet
republics, has been exaggerated, according to a member of the diaspora
in Russia.

The numerical, intellectual and financial potential of the Armenian
diaspora is strongly exaggerated, the editor of the Aniv newspaper
(Russia), Karen Agekyan, said during discussions organized by the
Sardarparat initiative group.

"Every new ambassador of Armenia exaggerates the number of Armenians
residing in Russia. It's is a matter of prestige," Agekyan said,
describing statements of 1.5 million Armenians living in Moscow as
a great exaggeration.

The intellectual, financial and political potential of Armenians
beyond Armenia, in particular, in the post-Soviet area, has also been
greatly exaggerated, Agekyan said.

"When we speak of Armenian lobby organizations in the United States
or Russia, we should realize that this is primarily the lobbying of
interests of these countries in Armenia and not vice versa," he said.

Armenia should be actively engaged in diaspora issues, while the
efforts of the diaspora and foreign ministries are insufficient.

Agekyan said the representatives of civil society and public
organizations such as Sardarparat should work to orient the
diaspora towards the national interests of Armenia rather than
"self-preservation".

"The diaspora is a resource which should be supported and developed,"
he said.
 
ADVANCED AGE PREVENTS ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM 
FROM EFFECTIVELY EXECUTING RESPONSIBILITIES
PanARMENIAN.Net
October 19, 2010 - 19:48 AMT 14:48 GMT

The advanced age prevents Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop
Torkom Manoogian from effectively executing responsibilities stipulated
by his position, according to the editor-in-chief-of Armenian Jerusalem
newspaper Nahabed Melkonian.

At news conference in Yerevan, Melkonian also dwelled on the loss of
spirituality and native language among Jerusalem's Armenian youth.

Melkonian suggested election of coadjutor as a way out of the
situation. "The issue may be discussed at general spiritual meeting
in Jerusalem due November 8-10," he noted.

DUBLIN HOSTS ARMENIAN LITURGY
PanARMENIAN.Net
October 19, 2010 - 11:56 AMT 06:56 GMT

Thanks to the efforts of archimandrite Vahan Hovannissian, Armenian
Apostolic Church was officially registered in Ireland.

As reported by the press service of the Armenian community of Ireland,
a liturgy was offered and nine children were baptized on October
17 through assistance of Armenian Honorary Consul in Ireland Ohan
Yergaynaharsian as well as Margaret and Aida Safarian.

Clergy and a choir from London performed Armenian sharakans for the
first time in Ireland.

During a meeting that followed, it was decided to form a community
council to deal with organization of religious ceremonies, seminars
and other events aimed to consolidate the community.
hetq.am
500 STOLEN CARS HAVE TURNED UP IN ARMENIA
2010/10/18 | 11:30

A total of 500 cars, stolen from 32 countries, have wound up in
Armenia since 1996.

Only 10 cars have been returned to the countries where they were
stolen from during the 2004-2010 period. These were the figures
reported to Hetq by the RA Police Department's Public Affairs and
Press Office. We should note that no criminal cases have ever been
launched in Armenia after the stolen cars were found.

Purchasers of the stolen cars in Armenia claim they had no idea that
the cars were "hot". Of the 500 cars discovered to have been stolen;
only 32 have been returned to their rightful owners. Transporting
the vehicles overseas is an expensive proposition.

If a stolen car is never returned within the course of a year, then
the new owner in Armenia can send a written petition to the police
here and have the investigation dropped. By default, the car remains
in his possession.