Month: October 2005

KARABAKH CONFLICT DISCUSSED IN SINGAPORE

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| 12:29:50 | 14-10-2005 | Official |

The RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan who is Asia on official visit
met the Foreign Minister of Singapore Mr. George Yeo.

During the meeting Minister Oskanyan represented the state of Armenia
in the present geo-political environment, and the perspectives of
development of our region. The sides also discussed the possibilities
of development of the two-party relation.

During the meeting they also spoke about conflicts present in different
parts of the world and the ways of their settlement. In these margins
Minister Oskanyan represented the present state of negotiations of
the Karabakh conflict and its perspectives.

THE ADVOCATE WILL NOT REMAIN DEFENCELESS

Panorama
18:32 13/10/05

“Vahe Grigoryan will not remain defencelss. We shall discuss his
question in the plenary meeting of Armenian Bar. Afterwards we’ll find
out what do further”, said today the president of AB Ruben Sahakyan.

Let us mentioned that the advocate of four families Safaryans,
Danielyans, Grigoryans and Vahanyans living in Buzand street,
was arrested.

Vahe Grigoryan is charged with extortion. /Panorama.am/

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“ROYAL-ARMENIA” IS IN THE “WAR”

Panorama
18:08 13/10/05

As jurist of the “Royal-Armenia” company Gevorg Minasyan informed,
Ashot Sargsyan will be a new advocate of president of the company
Gagik Hakobyan and the vice-president Aram Ghazaryan.

Let us remind you, that both president and vice-president of the
company were recently called to the National Security and were
arrested. Nobody knows what was the reason for the arrest. But Gevorg
Minasyan implied that the State Tax Service, by all means, has sent
some materials to the NS.

The thing is that “Royal-Armenia” and State Tax Service have been
‘battling’ with each other for already two years. The tax service was
periodically checking the documents of the company, and the company,
in its turn accused the tax service in corruption. As a result
“Royal-Armenia” brought a civil sue against the STS.

If the National Security wins the ‘battle’ so what about the coffee
war?

‘INNER TENSION IN JAVAKHK IS THE RESULT OF UNCERTAINTY’
By Tatoul Hakobian

AZG Armenian Daily #185
14/10/2005

Diaspora

Davit Rstakian: If it goes on like this people might even demand
independence

On October 12, a group of unknowns distributed leaflets in Javakhk
signed the Liberation Brigade of Akhaltskha – an organization that
nobody heard of before. The Russian-language leaflets that featured
Turkish symbols – star and crescent – ordered the Armenians of Javakhk
to leave the region immediately for Armenia, Russia, America or any
other country. Otherwise Armenians will be massacred as it happened
in 1915.

In their statement on this occasion the Council of NGOs of
Samtskhe-Javakhk voiced an opinion that no matter who the author
of this action is “he plays with fire”. “This is another attempt to
derail the population of the region.

Aggravation of the situation will be beneficial neither for the
Georgians, nor for the Armenians.”

Davit Rstakian, head of Virq organization of Akhalkalak, thinks that
the leaflet action was organized by Georgia’s special services. He
reminded that Georgian state secretary Georgi Khaindrava sets off for
Azerbaijan, Russia, Uzbekistan and other countries where Meskhet Turks
exiled from Samtskhe live since 1944. President Mikheil Saakashvili
ordered him to negotiate the Turks return to Georgi on the spot.

“Georgia is not ready to accept them. The Georgians will try to
bring the issue to a deadlock blaming Armenians as though they oppose
the Turks’ return. Those leaflets aim at raising anti-Turkish moods
among the Armenians,” Rstakian said. The overall impression from the
conversation with Davit Rstakian is that the situation is outwardly
calm “but there is inner tension that comes from uncertainty.”

Rstakian said that the Georgian authorities make attempts to
“break” the Armenians of Javakhk but they fail. On October 5,
the police put down the rally of hundreds of Armenians who were
protesting the sanctions of tax officers who closed ten Armenian
stores in Akhalkalak. Armenian policemen used bludgeons and warning
shots to calm protesters down. “The people did not lost heart, and
they understood that it’s difficult to crush the spirit of Javakhk
Armenians,” Rstakian said.

The Georgian President justified the police’s violence reminding that
Javakhk rested in post-independence permissiveness and “now we are
bringing in control which means that clashes are possible at some
point.” Others link the violence in Akhalkalak with the demand of
several organizations of Javakhk to grant the region autonomy.

“It is the policy of Georgian authorities that makes us push for
autonomy. I always say that the status is only a means to settle the
problems of Javakhk Armenians. If it goes on like this people might
even demand independence.

The major problems of Javakhk Armenians are not of socio-economic
character as the authorities claim. We have deficiency of rights,”
Rstakian said.

ARMENIANS SHOULD SQUEEZE CONCESSIONS OUT OF TURKEY DURING EU NEGOTIATIONS
By Harut Sassounian; Publisher, The California Courier

AZG Armenian Daily #185
14/10/2005

Turkey-EU

Turkey finally embarked on a journey that it had been anxiously
awaiting for more than 40 years. The long and arduous negotiations
for Turkey’s membership in the European Union officially started last
week and are expected to last 10 or more years.

Armenians are of two minds over the benefits of Turkey joining
the EU. Some of them are of the opinion that Armenia is better
off if its old nemesis is kept under check by EU’s strict code of
conduct. Armenians in this camp believe that a “civilized Turkey”
is more apt to recognize the Armenian Genocide, lift its blockade of
Armenia, and conduct peaceful relations with its neighbors.

Other Armenians believe that Turkey is simply going through the
motions of transforming itself, without having any honest intentions
of doing so.

Besides, these Armenians believe that there are no guarantees that
“an enlightened Turkey” would be more inclined to recognize the
Genocide. Turkey could well become an EU member, and like Britain,
still refuse to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Even worse,
should Turkey not change its denialist policy after joining the EU,
Armenians would be deprived of whatever clout they may have had
in creating obstacles for its EU membership. Furthermore, Turkey
would have by then the largest population among the EU countries,
and thus be entitled to have the largest number of votes in various
EU councils. Turkey could thus block pro-Armenian initiatives and
help pass pro-Turkish and pro-Azeri resolutions in the EU.

Therefore, the time to get any possible concessions out of Turkey is
now, before it joins the EU.

Whether or not Turkey eventually becomes an EU member in 10 or 15
years from now is very difficult to determine in advance. To begin
with, no one really knows with any degree of certainty the domestic
and foreign developments that would shape Turkey’s decisions and as
well as the attitudes of Europeans about Turkey years from now. Here
are some of the factors that could influence the outcome of Turkey’s
EU membership negotiations:

1) The social, economic and political conditions within Turkey that
would impact its government’s desire to make the extensive changes
required by the EU negotiations framework;

2) The stability of neighboring Iraq and the repercussions on
Turkey arising from Iraqi and Turkish Kurds pursuing their national
aspirations;

3) The social, economic and political conditions within various EU
member states, particularly the attitude of their citizens towards the
influx of more foreign workers at a time when they may be suffering
from high unemployment and social unrest;

4) The state of negotiations on the settlement of the Cyprus problem;

5) The clout of the US government in terms of its ability and
willingness to influence the EU on Turkey’s membership;

6) Whether or not more terrorist acts are committed by radical Islamist
groups, particularly in Western Europe;

7) The results of the referendums that are to be held in several
European countries on whether to allow Turkey to join the EU; and

8) The status of Armenian-Turkish relations that are partly linked
to the outcome of the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict.

While Turkey will most probably have to lift its blockade of Armenia,
since “the EU-Turkey negotiation framework” document requires that it
unequivocally commit to “good neighborly relations,” the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide by Turkey is not certain at all. Aside from the
repeated non-binding resolutions adopted by the European Parliament
demanding Turkey’ s recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the EU
itself has not made such acknowledgment a part of its requirements
for membership.

It would be naïve, if Armenians believe that they could block
Turkey’s EU membership because of its non-recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. If several years from now, Turkey successfully
fulfills all EU requirements and settles the conflict in Cyprus, its
EU membership would be just about guaranteed. Armenians should not
expect European countries to rise to their defense, at the expense
of their own self-interests. The Europeans would care about Armenian
issues only when they happen to coincide with or serve their own
national interests.

To be able to squeeze the maximum concessions out of Turkey, Armenia
and the Diaspora would need to make common cause with the majority of
Europeans who are strongly opposed to Turkey’s EU membership. Turkish
officials must realize that unless they sit down at the negotiating
table with Armenians and try to accommodate some of their grievances,
Armenians would work tirelessly for the next 10 or more years to
ensure that Turkey’s membership is delayed indefinitely. It is not in
Armenians’ interest to block Turkey’s EU membership, but to drag it
out as long as possible. The longer the negotiations take, the more
concessions can be squeezed out of Turkey. This is the logic behind
the positions of Cyprus and Greece. Despite the fact that they could
have vetoed the start of Turkey’s EU talks, Cyprus and Greece allowed
the talks to go forward with the aim of extracting concessions from
Turkey during the negotiating process. Had they used their veto last
week, they would have deprived themselves of the opportunity to get
any concessions from Turkey.

The interest of Armenians requires that, on the EU issue, Turkey remain
a bridesmaid, as long as it refuses to pay the dowry to become a bride!

–Boundary_(ID_AtGDPK30A5oGa3ASpByHbA)–

KOCHARIAN: REFORMS DRIVING FORCE OF COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT

Pan Armenian
13.10.2005 23:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met
with members of the Board of Directors of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), reported the Press Service of
the Armenian leader. R.

Kocharian noted with satisfaction that the EBRD-Armenia relations
are converting to a more actual level. He specially noted EBRD active
work with the private sector. Reforms are implemented in Armenia with
confidence that they are the driving force of country’s development,
Kocharian stated. In his words, reforms resulted in a rather impressing
economic growth and the joint programs with the Bank have a certain
role in it. The parties also discussed possible directions of future
cooperation. R. Kocharian said he would like the EBRD to participate
in development of Armenia’s economy more actively.

RUSSIA HAS NOT MET ALL CONDITIONS DETERMINED AT RECEIVING ARMENIAN ENTERPRISES

Pan Armenian
13.10.2005 23:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “I consider that up to now Russia has not fulfilled
all conditions, based on which the Armenian enterprises were conveyed
to it within the framework of the Property for Debt Agreement,” said
Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission for
Economic Cooperation, Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin. The
Minister stated it when answering the question on fulfillment of
obligations to run the enterprises Armenia had conveyed to Russia
within the framework of the Property for Debt Agreement. In his words,
Russia has not determined yet whether to produce military or civil
destination output at these enterprises. “Thus, we agreed to create
a working group over launching these enterprises,” Levitin said.

He informed that “yesterday and today the working group held its first
meetings and they have also reached a specific plan of measures over
production types.” He hoped for the group to report to the co-chairs on
the type of the production in the course of the next meeting. “Russia
understands its responsibility for these enterprises, we were to
organize their functioning and it is one of the points Russia has not
fulfilled yet,” I. Levitin said. The protocol of the working group
first session titled “For securing efficient work of enterprises
Armenia conveyed to Russia” is available, he also reported. “The
first document is signed today,” he reported. Answering the question
whether the enterprises will produce military items, Levitin said
“when assuming ownership of these enterprises we did not plan to launch
works on producing military destination goods there.” At the same time
he noted that the enterprises are property of the Russian Federation,
“thus a question like that will not prevent production of these goods.”
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT AND USAID SIGNED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

Pan Armenian
13.10.2005 23:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian Speaker Artur Baghdassaryan and US
Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director for
Armenia Robin Phillips signed a Memorandum of Understanding between
the NA of Armenia and the USAID, reported the Press Service of the
Armenian Parliament. In the Baghdassaryan’s words, the signing of
the document is an important event, as it will promote enhancement
of the Armenian Parliament’s role, activation of its relations with
people. The Armenian Parliament has already become more open, the NA
of Armenia is visited by representatives of various social groups, the
parties said. Besides, it was noted that the program costs $2 million,
which will be spent to re-train specialists of the NA of Armenia,
technical re-equipment, international exchange. A. Baghdassaryan
thanked US authorities for assistance to Armenia. The parliament plays
a key role in democratic government by passing laws and controlling
their fulfillment, Robin Phillips stated. According to him the
Memorandum is the keystone of cooperation USAID-Armenian NA.

ARMENIA SUPPORTS KAZAKHSTAN INTENTION TO PRESIDE OSCE IN 2009

Pan Armenian
13.10.2005 22:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia expresses “solid support of Kazakhstan’s
intention to preside the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
European in 2009,” stated the Armenian party upon completion of the
talks between Deputy FM of Kazakhstan Nurlan Onjanov and Armenian
MFA leaders in Yerevan. The first session of the Intergovernmental
Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation between Kazakhstan and
Armenia was held in Yerevan October 12.

The Commission determined strengthening the contractual basis,
increasing Kazakh investments in the economy of Armenia, support of
joint venturing, promotion of transport community and interaction
in agriculture as priority directions. An inter-departmental
Agreement on Cooperation in Archiving was signed in the course of
the meeting. According to the Kazakh MFA, the Armenian Government has
expressed readiness to provide copies of Kypchak manuscripts of 14-16
centuries being kept at Matenadaran treasury of ancient manuscripts,
reported Kazakhstan Today.

ARMENIA AND RUSSIA DID THEIR BEST FOR KAVKAZ-POTI TRAIN-FERRY FUNCTIONING

Pan Armenian
14.10.2005 00:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Armenia is a participant of the North-South
corridor and we devoted much time to develop the transport corridor,
specifically its Iranian party, which is not used enough in my
opinion,” stated Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Inter-Governmental
Commission for Economic Cooperation, Russian Minister of Transport
Igor Levitin during a briefing in Yerevan today. The Commission meeting
discussed various transport directions that may pass through Armenia,
but avoid doing it “due to political considerations,” he reported. “Not
using these directions is not right in my opinion. We discussed it
as well,” he reported.

As of resumption of communication via the Abkhaz part of the Georgian
railway, Levitin noted an act on examination of the Abkhaz segment
with participation of Russia, Georgia and Abkhazia will be signed
in October. The sitting of the Russian-Georgian Inter-Governmental
Commission will be held in Tbilisi next week, he reported. “A goal of
our visit to Tbilisi is to provide for Georgian party confirming its
agreement to restore traffic through the Abkhaz part,” he stated. In
Levitin’s words, some 2 years may be necessary for restoration of
the part of the railway and Russia, Georgia and Armenia still have
“strength and means to restore it.”

Touching upon the question of Kavkaz-Poti train ferry passage and
answering a question on prospects of its development, Mr. Levitin
stated, “the Ministries of Transport of Russia and Armenia should
form conditions for attraction of rolling stock and additional load
for transit transportation.”

“Up to now that states have done everything for the functioning of
the passage. It should be done by the business, thus not everything
depends on Armenia and Russia,” he explained. Georgia is a participants
of this transport direction, he also remarked. “We have questions on
the tariffs to be discussed in Georgia,” however, the states have done
their best for the functioning of the passage and it’s the business’
turn, Levitin concluded.