Month: October 2006

ARMENIAN CASSATION COURT, BELARUSIAN SUPREME COURT CHAIRMEN TO SIGN A COOPERATION MEMORANDUM IN YEREVAN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 23 2006

YEREVAN, October 23. /ARKA/. Hovhannes Manukyan, the chairman of
Armenian Cassation Court and Valentin Sukalo, the head of Belarusian
Supreme Court, are to sign a cooperation memorandum Tuesday in Yerevan,
the Cassation Court’s press office reports.

The memorandum will be signed after the negotiations, in which the
chairmen of Cassation Court’s two chambers – on civil and criminal
cases – will take part.

Besides, Manukyan and Sukalo will be present at the negotiations
between Armenian Economic Court Chairman Eduard Muradyan and Belarusian
Supreme Economic Court Chairman Bictor Kamenkov.

Another cooperation memorandum will be signed between the two
countries’ economic courts.

U.S. INTERESTED IN TENSION IN SOUTH CAUCASUS, RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 15:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. is artificially tensing the situation in
the South Caucasus, said President of the International League of
Human Dignity and Security Protection, Russian State Duma member,
General Valentin Varennikov. "The U.S. Administration is directly
interested in creation of tension in the South Caucasus," he said. In
the General’s words, the U.S. wishes escalation of ‘frozen’ conflicts
in an aspiration to perform ‘peacekeeping’ mission in any part of
the world. "We have many times witnessed peacekeeping optimism,
for example in Kosovo," he remarked. According to the deputy, the
U.S. decided to cut Russia from the outer world as it once happened
after the decline of the Soviet Union. "The Russian President cannot
openly say this but I do," Varennikov underscored.

When touching upon tension in the Russian-Georgian relations Valentin
Varennikov stated that Russia will not allow settlement of ‘frozen’
conflicts on the Georgian territory by force. "Mikhail Saakashvili’s
statements are targeted at artificial tension in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia for launching war against these unrecognized republics,"
he said. In his words, the matter does not concern the opposition
of the Russian and Georgian peoples who lived in peace and consent
for centuries. The issue is conditioned by wishes and ambitions of
the Georgian President and his western patrons. "We should by all
means prevent escalation of the conflict between Georgia and two
unrecognized republics," Varennikov resumed, reports newsarmenia.ru.

EUROPE WILL NOT SWALLOW ISLAMIC STATE WITH 80-MILLION POPULATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 17:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Politically Turkey’s reaction to the adoption of
the French bill penalizing the Armenian Genocide denial is adequate,
Political scientist, rector of the Caucasus Media Institute Alexander
Iskandaryan said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

In his opinion, French parliamentarians were guided by public opinion,
which is not pro-Armenian but anti-Turkish. "The point is that France
is against Turkey’s accession to the EU, against enlargement, against
the European Constitution and it’s not alone in the opinion. Europe
will not be able to swallow an Islamic state with 80-million
population. Turkey has weak trumps in this game. Experiencing big
problems with Article 301 of the Penal Code it speaks of freedom of
speech. I think that a chain reaction may take place and some other
European states may pass a similar law. But I would like to repeat,
the point is not Armenians but Turks," the Armenian political scientist
underscored.

POLITICAL SCIENTIST: THERE WILL BE NO WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND GEORGIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 17:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A ‘spy war’ is over by the Russian-Georgian
problems remained, said political scientist, rector of the
Caucasus Media Institute Alexander Iskandaryan in an interview with
PanARMENIAN.Net. In his words, permanent crisis between the two states
tends to increase. "Russia has no methods of influence of the Georgian
side any more.

What other economic sanctions can be applied? Russia can block the gas
delivery. But gas in Georgia is mostly consumed by Russian companies
engaged in electricity processing. Russia can close some secondary
ports in the Black Sea. And nothing else will remain. Anyway, there
will be no war," the CMI Director said.

He also underscored that Georgian wine and mineral water is already
being supplied to the Russian market with other labels via third
states. "The same is happening with transfers. Suppose that a Georgian
gastarbeiter will lose some 0.5% transferring money from Russia but he
will transfer this money by any means even via Australia. Sanctions
like the Russian ones do not work in the modern world. There is no
Moscow-Tbilisi train but there are Moscow-Baku and Baku-Tbilisi
routes. Thus, Russia seems to have beaten itself," the Armenian
political scientist said.

EXPECTING FINAL DECISION OF KARABAKH IN COMING TWO YEARS SENSELESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 17:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Formally the Minsk process was not stopped. The
OSCE MG is a format created for contribution to the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement. But since 2001 it has been frozen, political
scientist, rector of the Caucasus Media Institute Alexander
Iskandaryan said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. In his
words, recently attempts to activate the work of the OSCE Minsk
Group can be observed. "The latest visit of the Co-chairs is a
proof. However I do not think that quick resolution of the conflict
is possible. Unfortunately the positions of the sides are rather far
away from each other.

Thus, it’s senseless to expect a final resolution during the coming
year or two," he said

At that the political scientist said that energy essential for
activation of the Minsk process is being accumulated and this can lead
to deepening of useful contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan. "Thus,
a dialogue between the sides was resumed. However it does not mean
a quick resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Anyway, talks
are better than their complete absence," Iskandaryan underscored.

FILM TITLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE SCREENED IN BRUSSELS DECEMBER 13

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 17:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A film titled The Armenian Genocide shot by French
film director Loren Jurdin will be screened in Brussels December 13 by
initiative of the Institute of audio-visual memory of the Jews and the
Institute of Sefarada, the RA MFA press office told PanARMENIAN.Net. A
debate with participation of public and political figures will be
held after the screening.

HENRY CUNY: LEAVING ARMENIA I DON’T BID FAREWELL TO IT

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 18:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian National Assembly Speaker met
with French Ambassador to Armenia Henry Cuny, who is completing
his diplomatic mission, reported the RA NA press office. The French
Ambassador said his departure doesn’t mean that he says goodbye to
the country. When covering his 5-year mission in Armenia the French
diplomat remarked that these years were interesting and full of
important work. As for the upcoming parliamentary election in 2007,
Amb. Cuny said, it will be an examination for Armenia on the way
towards democracy and it’s very important to pass this examination.

For his part Tigran Torosian remarked that Henry Cuny leaves good but
complex heritage for his successor, since the new Ambassador should
maintain the achievements and continue the activities. The parties
also referred to the French bill penalizing the Armenian Genocide
denial. Quoting French President Jacques Chirac, who once said "They
have missed the best opportunity to keep silent" on quite another
matter, Tigran Torosian characterized the conduct of the organizations,
which condemned the decision by the French parliament. In his words,
the reaction of Turkey and Azerbaijan lacks any logic and rationality.

The RA NA Speaker remarked that the bill doesn’t purpose the objective
to take somebody to prison but calls not to raise moral problems to
a political wrangle. "Those who try to give a lesson of democracy to
France looks somehow ridiculous," he said.

Henry Cuny was appointed French Ambassador to Slovakia.

TURKEY RETURNS TO THE EAST

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2006 GMT+04:00

The European path of development turned out to be a difficult one
and almost unnecessary for the Moslem Turkey.

After the French cold shower Turkey is likely to get one more of that
and this time it will be directed from where the country expects
it less of all. The case in point concerns the coming intermediate
elections in the USA Senate. The Republicans, the internal and external
policies of whose do not stand up to any criticism, are quite likely to
lose in the Democrats’ favor and at that time the issue of the Armenian
Genocide recognition by the USA will again appear on the agenda.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Indeed, for the sake of justice it is worth
mentioning that this question is always raised before the elections
and right after the elections it is safely forgotten until the next
ones come. However, this time the American lawmakers inspired by
the French example can pass if not an analogous bill, then, at least
will call "the events of 1915" to be Genocide. The support group of
Armenia in the USA Congress is rather influential and it can persist
in recognizing the Armenian Genocide, which in its turn will imperil
the longstanding strategic relations between the United States of
America and Turkey. As Turkish daily news has it, the administration of
President George Bush, as well as the administration of the preceding
president, both have been consistently evading the usage of the word
"genocide" in authoritative statements, in this way trying to avoid
the estrangement of Turkey. "But Turkey has always had weak positions
in the Congress.

The Democrats’ victory in the Senate can create a great deal of
problems for Turkey in its attempts to hinder the process of the
Armenian Genocide recognition. In case of the Democrats’ victory
the legislators will speed up the recognition of the Genocide before
the new Congress will start its work in January, 2007",-writes the
publication.

For the sake of justice we should mention that the relations
between the two countries have become worse after the intrusion of
the American forces into Iraq and after a new splash of interest to
the Kurdish problem. Of course the Americans clamor against Kurdish
militants but actually they rather back up the idea of the Kurdish
autonomy in Northern Iraq. The recent decision of Iraq concerning
the federal structure of the country in which the Kurds already get a
legally fixed status can become one more headache for Turkey. And it
means that the areas of Iraq that are rich in oil, including Kyrkuk,
will become the center of regional confrontation. Turkey, obsessing
with no natural energy supplies, is trying with all its might to
take Kurdistan under control to somehow make up for the deficiency
in energy. The USA is trying to have its part in the situation of the
unpredictable game of prices on the oil. And, surely America has more
chances to win over the Kurds to its side than Turkey does. By the
highest standards Turkey has nearly no more arguments for appealing
to the world community-neither the abrogation of article 301, nor the
realization of the obligations in front of EU concerning Cyprus give
any chances to Erdoghan’s government for joining EU. The recognition
of the Armenian Genocide and the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border are both matters of such a far future as the membership of
Turkey into EU is.

However, if we judge not by the Turkish politicians’ statements but
by their affairs, then it turns out that they do not need Europe so
much. Certainly, it would not be bad to suppress Christian countries
with Islamic presence. But nothing came out. And it means that it
is necessary to return to the East, that is exactly what Redgep
Erdoghan is doing since the idea of Cemal Attaturk, that used to
be the founder of the Turkish State, lasted only for 70 years and
the Turks returned. The occurrence is quite a strange one when it
is considered that the history usually furthers and very seldom it
happens to move back.

"PanARMENIAN.Net" analytical department

TEHRAN OFFERS MEDIATION IN RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN STANDOFF

Armenpress
Oct 23 2006

TEHRAN, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS: Iran’s foreign minister Manouchehr
Mottaki said October 22 his government was ready to help Russia and
Georgia to defuse tensions, IRNA news agency reported.

"If the two sides consider Iran’s mediation necessary, Tehran will
agree to step in and solve the issue to strengthen regional ties,"
Manouchehr Mottaki said after talks with visiting Georgian counterpart
Gela Bezhuashvili in Tehran.

In a related development a survey conducted by a Georgian newspaper,
Kviris Palitra, found that the majority of Georgians pin their hopes
on the US expecting it to press Russia to end its sanctions against
Tbilisi. The question asked by the newspaper ran, "Which country to
do you expect to show active efforts to help diffuse the standoff
with Russia."

The majority of respondents, some 72 percent, said they pinned
their hopes on the USA and 17 percent believed Ukraine could play a
role. Ukraine was followed by the Baltic states, Germany, Azerbaijan,
Turkey, Great Britain and China.

The last in the list of nations able to help Georgia and Russia end
their confrontation was Armenia.

RA PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN MEETS WITH PRIME MINISTER OF BELORUS

AZG Armenian Daily
24/10/2006

Today, Ra President Robert Kocharian met with Prime Minister of
Byelorussia Sergey Sidorsky. The Press Service of RA president informed
that Mr. Sidorsky is currently paying an official visit to Armenia.

In the course of the meeting, Mr. Kocharian expressed satisfaction with
the current level of multilateral relations between our countries. He
emphasized that this visit will greatly contribute to the development
of these relations. In his turn, Mr. Sidorsky shared his impressions of
the capital of Armenia and added that large-scale capital construction
testifies to dynamic growth of the Armenian economy.

The sides said that though the commodity turnover between Byelorussia
and Armenia is not large, but it constantly experiences growth. They
pointed out the spheres of high technology, jewelry production and
agriculture among the spheres for prospective cooperation. The
sides also touched upon political and economic lives in Armenia
and Byelorussia.