Armenian National Committtee of America (ANCA) Disbelieves Matthew Bryza Will Stand in The Way of Aliyev’s March To War

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian commented on recent statement by political observer David Petrosian, who was cited as saying, “soonest appointment of a new U.S. ambassador to Armenia, – be it Matthew Bryza or someone else, is important in restraining Azerbaijan’s ambitions.”

Aram Hamparian responded as follows, “Just to be clear, this is the same Mr. Bryza who was the primary U.S. adviser to the Georgian government of Mikheil Saakashvili as he stumbled into war with Russia; the same diplomat with controversial ties to top Azerbaijani leaders (Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov served as a groomsman in his Istanbul wedding to Caspian energy expert/advocate Zeyno Baran), the same nominee backed by senior Azerbaijanis close to the Aliyev regime and by leaders of the Azerbaijani American community, and; the same U.S. official who has, for more than a decade, turned a blind eye to Azerbaijani threats, military aggression, and acts of cultural desecration.  Read more... (276 words)

I Believe You Will: Mammadyarov and Davutoglu Discussed Karabakh Conflict

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov hopes that his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu will take very useful initiatives in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, reports Azerbaijani news agency Trend.

“Turkey is highly respected in the international arena, and therefore I believe that Ahmet Davutoglu will take very useful initiatives in the Karabakh settlement”, Mammadyarov said at a joint press conference following a summit of Turkic-speaking countries.

The summit was held in Bodrum town in western Turkish province of Mugla on Thursday bringing together foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

US Secretary of State Extends Her Gratitude To The Cafesjian Center For The Arts in Armenia

The US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a letter to the Director of Administration and the Acting Executive Director of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts Vahagn Marabyan thanked the Center for hosting her meeting with Armenian civil society leaders.

“The center is a magnificent landmark and a wonderful symbol of Armenian- American cooperation. Our tour of the Cafesjian sculpture garden and the Chihuly gallery was one of the highlights of my visit to Yerevan”, the letter of Secretary Clinton said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the Cafesjian Center for the Arts on July 5th, 2010. In her honor, a glass sculpture by Sidney Hutter was placed on exhibit – similar to the one by the same artist, added to the White House Craft Collection in 1993. The sculpture, known as the “White House Vase”, is now in the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.  Read more... (242 words)

U.S. Says Corruption Hampers Armenia’s Fight Against Terror

Endemic government corruption hinders Armenia’s cooperation with the United States in the fight against international terrorism, the U.S. State Department said late Thursday in an annual report submitted to Congress.

The report scrutinizing counter-terrorism measures taken around the world last year praises the Armenian authorities for granting over-flight and landing rights to U.S. military aircraft, sending troops to Iraq and improving its “capacity to monitor illicit financial flows and confront trafficking in hazardous substances.”

“Widespread corruption, however, continued to hamper full implementation and enforcement of laws that would improve Armenia’s counterterrorism posture and response capability,” reads the report.

The State Department did not specify which Armenian laws were not fully enforced because of corruption. Nor did it say whether any international militant group hostile to Washington has attempted to use Armenian territory for its operations.  Read more... (253 words)

Nabucco Support Agreement To Be Signed in Ankara

An agreement that will support the realization of Nabucco gas pipeline project is expected to be signed in Ankara in August by the ministers of the participant countries – Turkey, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, reports Azerbaijani news agency APA, citing Turkish sources.

The signing ceremony was scheduled for July 30, but then the date was changed due to working schedules of the ministers. The Turkish newspapers said supply problems were expected to be resolved this year and financial issues – in first months of 2011.

Nabucco shareholders are negotiating the gas supply issues with Azerbaijan, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. If the negotiations succeed, the pipeline extension will be enlarged from 3 300 km to 4 000 km, which will cause 10% boost in pipeline costs.  Read more... (227 words)

Armenian Firefighters Leave For Russia

On August 4, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had a phone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The Armenian President once again conveyed condolences over human losses as a result of large-scale fires on Russia’s territory.

Serzh Sargsyan noted that the Armenian people is well aware of the importance of friendly countries’ support in such situations and offered assistance of the RA emergency response services in extinguishing fires and elimination of their consequences.

The two Presidents agreed on involvement of an Armenian emergency response group in the struggle against natural disaster, the RA President’s press service reported.

US Court Should Be Sued For Ruling Armenian’s Lawsuit Filed in 1930 Groundless: Artak Shakaryan

This is not the first time that a lawsuit has been filed against Turkey claiming compensation, Turkologist Artak Shakaryan said at a press conference today, referring to the recent lawsuit filed by American-Armenians against Turkey.

On July 29 Armenian-American lawyers Garbis Davouyan of Los Angeles and Hrayr Turabian of Queens, N.Y filed a federal lawsuit against the Turkish government and two banks seeking compensation for the heirs of Armenians whose property was seized during the Armenian Genocide.

According to Mr Shakaryan in 1930 some 104 Armenians had filed another similar lawsuit in US against Turkey claiming $890,000 USD in compensation, but the court ruled the claim was groundless, and those Armenians have so far not received any compensation.  Read more... (145 words)

Jailed Former High Ranking Armenian Officials Deny Bribery Charges

Two former high-ranking officials from the Armenian Ministry of Environment Protection arrested on bribery charges last December denied any wrongdoing as they faced lengthy prison sentences during their trial in Yerevan on Thursday.

Tigran Grigorian, the former head of the ministry’s State Ecological Inspectorate (SEI), and his deputy Arsen Petrosian were taken into custody after law-enforcement officers found large sums of cash in their offices.

Prosecutors say they received a total of 5 million drams ($13,700) from a mining company in the northern town of Akhtala that was inspected by them late last year. Grigorian and Petrosian were charged with receiving the kickback to drastically reduce 202 million drams in fines slapped on the company for violations of environmental safety rules.  Read more... (386 words)

“BikeBOOM” in Yerevan To Meet Serj Tankian

Serj Tankian wants a top concert in Yerevan which made the number of his meeting cut short, Sofia Blbulyan, PR responsible for the Deem Communications the organizer of Yerevan concert told Panorama.am.
“We’ll release information about the meetings with high ranking officials later,” Blbulyan said adding Tankian has a tour now and he’ll have only one day in Yerevan.

Armenian environmentalists plan a meeting with the rock star.
“Bicycle+” NGO joint with Teghut protection group organized “CycleBOOM”.
Tankian is famous as well for his action dedicated to nature and his love towards nature.

On the night of August 11 “CycleBOOM” will have a bike camp.
It’s worth reminding Serj Tankian will have a concert in Yerevan on August 12.