Armenian News
[there will a break in news emails until the second week of November]
AZERBAIJAN WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE DEFENSE SPENDING
- PRESIDENT ALIYEV
Interfax
Oct 21 2010
Russia
Azerbaijan will continue to increase defense spending - President
Aliyev The unresolved Karabakh conflict forces Azerbaijan to increase
its defense spending, said country's President Ilham Aliyev.
"We are a nation at war, and the Azeri government is doing everything
it can to speed up and strengthen military build-up," Aliyev said
at a Cabinet meeting which focused on the country's socio-economic
performance in the first nine months of 2010.
"Today, Azerbaijan's Armed Forces are the strongest and most
professional army in the southern Caucasus, and we will certainly
continue our work in this direction," the president said.
Azerbaijan's defense spending in 2011 will be 2.5 billion manats
($3.125 billion), whereas Armenia's national budget is just over $2
billion, Aliyev said. "We have achieved our goal: Azerbaijan's defense
spending has exceeded the whole Armenian national budget," Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan will continue to increase its defense spending, the
president also said.
Interfax
Oct 21 2010
Russia
Azerbaijan will continue to increase defense spending - President
Aliyev The unresolved Karabakh conflict forces Azerbaijan to increase
its defense spending, said country's President Ilham Aliyev.
"We are a nation at war, and the Azeri government is doing everything
it can to speed up and strengthen military build-up," Aliyev said
at a Cabinet meeting which focused on the country's socio-economic
performance in the first nine months of 2010.
"Today, Azerbaijan's Armed Forces are the strongest and most
professional army in the southern Caucasus, and we will certainly
continue our work in this direction," the president said.
Azerbaijan's defense spending in 2011 will be 2.5 billion manats
($3.125 billion), whereas Armenia's national budget is just over $2
billion, Aliyev said. "We have achieved our goal: Azerbaijan's defense
spending has exceeded the whole Armenian national budget," Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan will continue to increase its defense spending, the
president also said.
US PRESSURES TURKEY WITH ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE CARD"
Sandy Smith
HULIQ.com
Oct 22 2010
SC
With relations between the United States and Turkey deteriorating over
several issues, including ties with Iran, Israel, and NATO, Washington
has pulled out a blackjack to get Turkey's attention. Washington is
warning Ankara that if it does not show some improvement on these
issues, it could see the U.S. government formally approving Armenian
genocide claims.
Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review reports that U.S. officials
warned Turkish government representatives that the administration
would be unable to block passage of a Congressional resolution
recognizing Armenian claims of genocide if Turkey does not move to
address American concerns over its growing ties to Iran, its souring
relations with Israel, and its reluctance to participate in NATO
plans for a European missile defense system.
The issue of the killing of more than 1.5 million Armenians in
executions and a forced migration during World War I remains a touchy
subject for the Turks, who to this day reject Armenia's argument that
the actions the Ottoman Empire took against its Armenian population
constituted genocide.
U.S. concerned over growing Turkish ties with Iran Since the Justice
and Development Party took control of the government, Turkey has
displayed more of a tilt towards the Middle East and away from the
West in its international relations. Tensions began to rise when Ankara
refused to allow American troops to cross Turkish territory in order to
invade Iraq in 2003 and have continued to escalate since. Other Turkish
moves that have raised American blood pressure include supporting a
Palestinian flotilla aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade of Gaza
and its blocking of additional United Nations sanctions against Iran
earlier this year.
The U.S. says the NATO missile defense system, parts of which would
be located in NATO member Turkey, is necessary to protect against a
possible future nuclear strike by Iran. Turkey has refused to allow
any part of the system to be based there on the grounds that doing so
would worsen its relations with Iran. The Turkish moves taken together
have led many in Congress to become increasingly skeptical of Turkey's
intentions towards the West. It is this growing skepticism that has led
the Obama administration to warn Turkey that Congress may approve an
Armenian genocide resolution. Previous bills to acknowledge Armenian
genocide claims have been passed by Congressional committees but died
on the floor.
Sandy Smith
HULIQ.com
Oct 22 2010
SC
With relations between the United States and Turkey deteriorating over
several issues, including ties with Iran, Israel, and NATO, Washington
has pulled out a blackjack to get Turkey's attention. Washington is
warning Ankara that if it does not show some improvement on these
issues, it could see the U.S. government formally approving Armenian
genocide claims.
Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review reports that U.S. officials
warned Turkish government representatives that the administration
would be unable to block passage of a Congressional resolution
recognizing Armenian claims of genocide if Turkey does not move to
address American concerns over its growing ties to Iran, its souring
relations with Israel, and its reluctance to participate in NATO
plans for a European missile defense system.
The issue of the killing of more than 1.5 million Armenians in
executions and a forced migration during World War I remains a touchy
subject for the Turks, who to this day reject Armenia's argument that
the actions the Ottoman Empire took against its Armenian population
constituted genocide.
U.S. concerned over growing Turkish ties with Iran Since the Justice
and Development Party took control of the government, Turkey has
displayed more of a tilt towards the Middle East and away from the
West in its international relations. Tensions began to rise when Ankara
refused to allow American troops to cross Turkish territory in order to
invade Iraq in 2003 and have continued to escalate since. Other Turkish
moves that have raised American blood pressure include supporting a
Palestinian flotilla aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade of Gaza
and its blocking of additional United Nations sanctions against Iran
earlier this year.
The U.S. says the NATO missile defense system, parts of which would
be located in NATO member Turkey, is necessary to protect against a
possible future nuclear strike by Iran. Turkey has refused to allow
any part of the system to be based there on the grounds that doing so
would worsen its relations with Iran. The Turkish moves taken together
have led many in Congress to become increasingly skeptical of Turkey's
intentions towards the West. It is this growing skepticism that has led
the Obama administration to warn Turkey that Congress may approve an
Armenian genocide resolution. Previous bills to acknowledge Armenian
genocide claims have been passed by Congressional committees but died
on the floor.
RFE/RL Report
Agriculture Again Slows Armenian Growth
21.10.2010
Ruben Meloyan
Armenia's economic recovery further slowed down last month due to a
persistent decline in agricultural production and in the construction
sector, the latest official statistics show.
According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), the Armenian
economy grew by 2.8 percent in January-September in contrast to a
3.1-percent growth posted for the first eight months of 2010.
The growth was again dragged down by construction and particularly the
agricultural sector. Like in the statistics for January-August,
agriculture continued to show an 18-percent year-on-year decline in
September.
Bagrat Asatrian, a former Central Bank governor critical of the
Armenian authorities, said at a press conference on Thursday that the
situation in agriculture will still continue to affect Armenia's Gross
Domestic Product growth in the time to come.
`Our village and our agriculture depend more on God than on any
program. That's the reality,' he said. `Circumstances bode ill for the
village and we will be reaping these fruits until the end of the
year.'
Last month, speaking about agriculture in an interview with RFE/RL,
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian also suggested `looking to
God' for answers.
`You should go to church and pray to God. Is there a person in the
world who can say what is going to happen to agriculture? Now it is
very difficult to make forecasts as to what will the climate
conditions be during the sowing campaigns this autumn or next
spring. But it is obvious that we are carrying out most serious
reforms in our agriculture,' said Sargsian.
Late last month the International Monetary Fund revised downwards its
growth projection for Armenia to 4 percent.
The Fund's resident representative in Yerevan Guillermo Tolosa said on
September 29 they had revised their projections `because the extent of
the shock to the agricultural sector had not been anticipated in our
previous missions.'
21.10.2010
Ruben Meloyan
Armenia's economic recovery further slowed down last month due to a
persistent decline in agricultural production and in the construction
sector, the latest official statistics show.
According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), the Armenian
economy grew by 2.8 percent in January-September in contrast to a
3.1-percent growth posted for the first eight months of 2010.
The growth was again dragged down by construction and particularly the
agricultural sector. Like in the statistics for January-August,
agriculture continued to show an 18-percent year-on-year decline in
September.
Bagrat Asatrian, a former Central Bank governor critical of the
Armenian authorities, said at a press conference on Thursday that the
situation in agriculture will still continue to affect Armenia's Gross
Domestic Product growth in the time to come.
`Our village and our agriculture depend more on God than on any
program. That's the reality,' he said. `Circumstances bode ill for the
village and we will be reaping these fruits until the end of the
year.'
Last month, speaking about agriculture in an interview with RFE/RL,
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian also suggested `looking to
God' for answers.
`You should go to church and pray to God. Is there a person in the
world who can say what is going to happen to agriculture? Now it is
very difficult to make forecasts as to what will the climate
conditions be during the sowing campaigns this autumn or next
spring. But it is obvious that we are carrying out most serious
reforms in our agriculture,' said Sargsian.
Late last month the International Monetary Fund revised downwards its
growth projection for Armenia to 4 percent.
The Fund's resident representative in Yerevan Guillermo Tolosa said on
September 29 they had revised their projections `because the extent of
the shock to the agricultural sector had not been anticipated in our
previous missions.'
ARMENIA RANKED 101 IN PRESS FREEDOM INDEX LIST
news.am
Oct 20 2010
Armenia
Armenia is ranked 101 (out of 178 states) in the 2010 Press Freedom
Index list issued by Reporters Without Borders organization. In 2009
Armenia occupied 111 line.
Georgia is ranked 99, whereas Azerbaijan only 152. Azerbaijan's
"neighbors" in the list are such countries as Pakistan, Belarus and
Kazakhstan. Turkey's press freedom index also registered fall, the
country is ranked only 138 this year.
Northern European countries, namely Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands,
Norway and Sweden are the leaders. On the whole, the experts note
fall in press freedom of the European states. Sudan, Syria, Burma,
Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea took last eight lines.
Reporters Without Borders prepared a questionnaire with 43 criteria
that assess the state of press freedom in each country. It includes
every kind of violation directly affecting journalists (such as
murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and news
media (censorship, confiscation of newspaper issues, searches and
harassment). And it includes the degree of impunity enjoyed by those
responsible for these press freedom violations. It also measures the
level of self-censorship.
"More than ever before, we see that economic development, institutional
reform and respect for fundamental rights do not necessarily go hand in
hand. The defense of media freedom continues to be a battle, a battle
of vigilance in the democracies of old Europe and a battle against
oppression and injustice in the totalitarian regimes still scattered
across the globe," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general
Jean-Francois Julliard in a preview to the list.
news.am
Oct 20 2010
Armenia
Armenia is ranked 101 (out of 178 states) in the 2010 Press Freedom
Index list issued by Reporters Without Borders organization. In 2009
Armenia occupied 111 line.
Georgia is ranked 99, whereas Azerbaijan only 152. Azerbaijan's
"neighbors" in the list are such countries as Pakistan, Belarus and
Kazakhstan. Turkey's press freedom index also registered fall, the
country is ranked only 138 this year.
Northern European countries, namely Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands,
Norway and Sweden are the leaders. On the whole, the experts note
fall in press freedom of the European states. Sudan, Syria, Burma,
Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea took last eight lines.
Reporters Without Borders prepared a questionnaire with 43 criteria
that assess the state of press freedom in each country. It includes
every kind of violation directly affecting journalists (such as
murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and news
media (censorship, confiscation of newspaper issues, searches and
harassment). And it includes the degree of impunity enjoyed by those
responsible for these press freedom violations. It also measures the
level of self-censorship.
"More than ever before, we see that economic development, institutional
reform and respect for fundamental rights do not necessarily go hand in
hand. The defense of media freedom continues to be a battle, a battle
of vigilance in the democracies of old Europe and a battle against
oppression and injustice in the totalitarian regimes still scattered
across the globe," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general
Jean-Francois Julliard in a preview to the list.
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