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OCCRP Names Aliyev "Person Of The Year " http://hetq.am/eng/news/22001/occrp-names-aliyev-person-of-the-year-.html 20:33, January 1, 2013 Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, has won the first ever Organized Crime and Corruption Person of the Year bestowed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The award is given for the person who figured prominently in 2012 on stories on crime and corruption in its coverage area. Aliyev was chosen because of new revelations this year about how his family had taken large shares in lucrative industries including the telecom, minerals and construction industries often through government related deals. The award is chosen by the 60 reporters and 15 news organizations that make up the OCCRP consortium. Runners-up included Albanian drug lord Naser Kelmendi, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Expert: Turkey will try to ease pressure of world community with forthcoming centennial of Armenian Genocide http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid¯CEE130-5248-11E2-B7EFF6327207157C Sunday, December 30, 09:16 One should expect no breakthrough in the Armenian-Turkish normalizations in 2013 because of Turkey's unwillingness to normalize relations with Armenia, first of all, Ruben Safrastyan, Turkologist, Director of the Oriental Studies Institute, the National Academy of Science of Armenia, told ArmInfo predicting possible processes in the Armenian-Turkish relations in 2013. He said that Ankara's unwillingness to normalize relations with Armenia is connected with the fact that Turkey has seriously and hopelessly stuck in the Syrian conflict. At present, the South Caucasus is not a priority for Ankara. `I don't think that Turkey will go on any significant concessions in connection with the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. Instead, it will imitate active work with some Diaspora structures to reduce pressure of the world community,' Safrastyan said. As for the situation in Syria, Safrastyan said that the political crisis is deepening hour after hour and everything that has been created in the country for decades is now being ruined. `The authorities so far keep control over the country and the army is efficient so far. However, the West and its Middle Eastern satellites such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey will keep exacerbating the crisis. Already today, increasing information attacks on the Syrian authorities and accusing them of using chemical weapons against the citizens, the above external forces pave the way for armed intervention,' Safrastyan said. He is sure that without foreign interference the Syrian rebels are not able to overthrow President Bashar Assad.