Month: March 2007

THERE IS GAS AND THERE ARE NO DIRTY STREETS

KarabakhOpen
31-03-2007 11:16:20

When they have guests, Uncle Vardan asks Siranush to dance. She
dances well, and one thinks she must have gone to dance school for
several years, but she learned everything from TV. Besides, there is
no dance school in their village, Haterk. Perhaps this is the reason
why 10-year-old Siranush does not want to live in the village. "Two
years ago we lived in the town of Martuni, but we had to come to live
in the village," her mother says.

Siranush has two sisters and a four-month-old brother. She says it
is not interesting in the village, she likes the city (she means
Stepanakert). When I asked what exactly she likes about the city,
she said everything. And her 5-year-old daughter mentioned gas which
suddenly came to her mind; there is no gas in their village. The
sisters said together they hate the dirt roads.

The little sister also likes the city. "I have many friends but it
is more interesting there," she says.

OPEN ROSTRUM: NOBODY SAID TO RUN IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

KarabakhOpen
31-03-2007 11:17:51

No political force has announced to name president for the upcoming
election yet. According to the law, nomination must begin in mid-April.

"Here is an interesting configuration – the situation in
the country is calm whereas there is a stir among the foreign
observers and analysts. It can have different explanations: first,
NKR is an established state, and the political sphere is stable
enough. Therefore, the atmosphere is calm in the country. However,
this stability in Karabakh, as well as the importance of the factor of
Karabakh in the pan-Armenian political sphere determined the strong
interest of the world towards the election in Karabakh," says Davit
Babayan, a political scientist from Karabakh.

He thinks this interest will increase the importance of the factor
of Karabakh for the international community. On the other hand,
there is a disadvantage: certain political forces are consistently
"producing" opposition candidates. "It is possible that one opposition
party will not accept the candidate of another opposition force. And
this course of developments will not favor the forces which uphold
democracy. Moreover, if at the last moment the candidate leaves the
race, the society of Karabakh and the part of the opposition which
hoped for the best will get disappointed and lose their political
strength, " says Davit Babayan. As a result, again democracy will
suffer in Karabakh, the political scientist says.

DEMOGRAPHY REQUIRES SERIOUS ATTENTION

KarabakhOpen
31-03-2007 11:31:13

Demography is one of the eight global problems. This problem exists
everywhere. However, in one country the government seeks for ways of
controlling the growth of the population, such as in China, whereas
in other countries having children is encouraged.

As of January 1, 2007, the population of Karabakh was 137.7
thousand. 2102 children were born in 2006, which has increased by
98 or 4.9 percent compared with 2005. The rate of death dropped by
25 or 2 percent compared with the previous year. Figures state that
the population grows, but at what rate does it grow?

Migration also affects demography. For instance, officially 827 people
arrived in Karabakh in 2006, and 1310 left it. In fact, the population
declined by 445, which is not less for a country with a population of
137.7 thousand. " Many people leave to work abroad. It is impossible
to support a family without a job. I also lived in Russia for some
time. It was very difficult," says Never Mnatsakanyan, Stepanakert. "It
is easy to find a job there. Of course, it is sleepless nights,
discomfort, you get homesick, you miss your family, but at home,
which you defended from the enemy, you cannot find a job and you have
to find a "fortune" in other countries. I could not stay there long
but I managed to earn some money and I set up my small business here."

"The war is over, and it seems that the birth rate should
grow. However, it depends not only on peace but also on the social
state of the country," says Liana Karapetyan. "Today it is very
difficult to have a child, to support, educate and provide with an
apartment… All these things used to be free in the Soviet period,
now you have to pay. I have two children, I do not want to have the
third. Not because I do not like children. Simply I cannot afford. I
do not work, we live on my husband’s salary. You know how much the
salary in Karabakh is."

ARF KARABAKH DECIDES WHAT TO DO IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

KarabakhOpen
31-03-2007 11:20:58

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun Karabakh held a regional meeting today to
decide the party’s actions in the upcoming presidential election. It
is known already that the National Assembly will hold a meeting on
one of these days to appoint the day of the election. In accordance
with the law, nomination will start on April 20 and last until May 10.

Nobody has made a statement on participating in the
election. Apparently, everyone is waiting to see what the opposition
will be doing. By the way, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun in Karabakh had
declared to be constructive opposition.

We have learned that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun will name a candidate or
support another candidate. Most probably, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun will
support the candidate of the non-pro-government parties.

Dashnaktsutyun and the Movement 88 Party have 3 seats in the
parliament.

However, this correlation does not reflect the real influence of
the opposition on the political sphere of Karabakh. In reality, it
is much bigger. In the parliamentary election 2005 these parties got
25 percent of votes.

ARMENIA RATES SECOND IN ‘SUPER GROWTH’ COMPANIES INDEX

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2007 13:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. tops the Grant Thornton International
Super Growth Index for the third year running. 44% of US companies hit
‘super growth’ status, an increase of 5% over the previous year. The
Index measures the country with the highest proportion of "super
growth" companies.

This year Armenia (38%) has replaced India in second position.

‘Super growth’ companies are defined as those which have grown
considerably more than average. To identify ‘super growth’ companies,
Experian Business Strategies, the economics consultancy, took four
key indicators to create a weighted index. The four indicators were:
absolute growth in turnover (adjusted for inflation); the percentage
growth in turnover (adjusted for inflation); absolute growth in
employee numbers; the percentage growth in employee numbers. By this
measure, 23% of all privately held businesses surveyed worldwide are
classified as ‘super growth’.

100 MEMBERS OF UK PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2007 14:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A milestone on the road to Armenian Genocide
recognition in the UK was passed on March 30, when Ed Davey became
the 100th MP (Member of Parliament) in the House of Commons, London,
to sign a Motion recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The motion is
called "Early Day Motion 357" and was put by Bob Spink MP in December,
independent French journalist Jean Eckian told PanARMENIAN.Net.

EDM 357 says, in part, " This House believes that the killing of over
a million Armenians in 1915 was an act of genocide, calls upon the
UK Government to recognize it as such and believes that it would be
in Turkey’s long-term interest to do the same."

RUSSIA NOT INDIFFERENT TO POLITICAL PROCESSES IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2007 14:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Russia is not indifferent to political processes
in Armenia, specifically on the threshold of election," said Sergey
Markov, Director of the Institute for Political Studies. "First,
Armenian nation is a fraternal nation and it’s not all the same for
us how this fraternal nation lives.

Second, we are developing a multisided cooperation with
Armenia. Armenia is a member of the CIS, CSTO and EurAsEC. It’s our
strategic partner in the Transcaucasus and we highlight stability in
an allied state. The problem of stability emerged after the untimely
death of the Prime Minister. The post will be most likely assumed
by Serge Sargsyan, the incumbent Defense Minister and one of the
Republican Party leaders. This appointment will presume pro-Russian
line of the Armenian leadership but at the same time will lead to
intensification of the election struggle," Sergey Markov said.

"Russia should influence on the Armenian election without penetrating
into the republic’s sovereignty.

But Russia should not be more modest than U.S. and EU.

I think it’s high time to stop witnessing how our fraternal nations
are being invaded by outer influence centers and anti-Russian policy,"
the Russian expert said.

When asked how Russia should exert influence, Sergey Markov said,
"First of all we should send observers to Armenia to reduce the
republic’s dependence from politically ‘engaged’ OSCE observers,
who arrive with prepared answers to all questions. Besides, Russia
should support some parties and candidates. We know that most of
Armenian citizens stand for priority of relations with Russia and
they have the right to know Russia’s opinion," Kreml.org reports.

WAR WITH IRAN MAY START APRIL 6?

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2007 14:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian intelligence has information that the
U.S. Armed Forces have nearly completed preparations for a possible
military operation against Iran, and will be ready to strike April 6,
a security official said. The attack may be explained by the capture
of 15 British sailors.

The source said the U.S. had already compiled a list of possible
targets on Iranian territory and practiced the operation during recent
exercises in the Persian Gulf.

"Russian intelligence has obtained information that the U.S. Armed
Forces stationed in the Persian Gulf have nearly completed preparations
for a missile strike against Iranian territory," the source said.

American commanders will be ready to carry out the attack in early
April, but it will be up to the country’s political leadership to
decide if and when to attack, the source said.

Official data says America’s military presence in the region has
reached the level of March 2003 when the U.S. invaded Iraq.

The U.S. has not excluded the military option in negotiations on
Iran over its refusal to abandon its nuclear program. The UN Security
Council passed a new resolution on Iran Saturday toughening economic
sanctions against the country and accepting the possibility of a
military solution to the crisis.

The source said the Pentagon could decide to conduct ground operations
as well after assessing the damage done to the Iranian forces by its
possible missile strikes and analyzing the political situation in
the country following the attacks.

A senior Russian security official cited military intelligence earlier
as saying U.S. Armed Forces had recently intensified training for
air and ground operations against Iran.

"The Pentagon has drafted a highly effective plan that will allow
the Americans to bring Iran to its knees at minimal cost," the
official said.

The attack is slated to last for 12 hours, from 4 am until 4 pm local
time. Friday is the sabbath in Iran.

In the course of the attack, code named Operation Bite, about 20
targets are marked for bombing; the list includes uranium enrichment
facilities, research centers, and laboratories.

Russian Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of
Geopolitical Sciences, said last week the Pentagon was planning to
deliver a massive air strike on Iran’s military infrastructure in
the near future.

"I have no doubt there will be an operation, or rather an aggressive
action against Iran," Ivashov said, commenting on media reports about
U.S. planned operation against Iran, codenamed Operation Bite.

A new U.S. carrier battle group has been dispatched to the Gulf. The
USS John C. Stennis, with a crew of 3,200 and around 80 fixed-wing
aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers,
eight support ships and four nuclear submarines are heading for the
Gulf, where a similar group led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has
been deployed since December 2006. The U.S. is also sending Patriot
anti-missile systems to the region.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, was rather optimistic
about the situation and said he ruled out a military resolution of
the Iranian nuclear problem.

"We are constantly working on how to resolve the situation around
the Iranian nuclear program and other conflicts peacefully," Lavrov
said. "This policy is unchanged and we will pursue it in the future."

Russia and the U.S. are two of the six negotiators on Iran’s nuclear
program, which Tehran says is aimed at generating energy, RIA Novosti
reports.

NO U.S. MISSILE SHIELD ELEMENTS DEPLOYMENT IN RUSSIA – MINISTRY-1

RIA Novosti
13:24|31/ 03/ 2007

MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti) – A spokesman for the Russian Foreign
Ministry denied Saturday media reports that Russia proposed the United
States to deploy elements of missile defense shield on its territory.

On Friday some West mass media sources reported that Russia had
proposed the United States to deploy elements of missile defense shield
on its territory if Washington refuses its plans for Central Europe.

"The reports do not correspond with reality and do not reflect Russia’s
stance on the [U.S.] missile shield issue," Mikhail Kamynin said.

Washington has announced its intention to deploy elements of its
missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, citing possible
threats from Iran or North Korea as a reason for the program, and
will soon begin consultations with these countries.

On Wednesday, the Czech government confirmed that it will begin
official talks with the U.S. on the deployment of the system on its
territory. The negotiations which will start as soon as possible will
last through to the end of 2007.

Russia sees the prospective deployment as a threat to its own national
security, and fears the base may trigger a new arms race.

U.S. plans to deploy elements of the missile shield in Central Europe
are expected to cost $1.6 billion over the next five years. The program
will later be expanded to include sea-based missiles and space-based
missile tracking systems.

On Wednesday U.S. and Russian Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir
Putin discussed the issue on the phone, with President Bush saying
that his country was ready to discuss in detail U.S. plans.

Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, also called
Thursday for broader talks on the issue saying that EU states should
be involved.

He said the EU is not a defense alliance or a decision-making platform
for defense issues, but suggested it would be useful to think about
and discuss the subject in an open and transparent manner.

He also said EU sovereignty should be in harmony with its security
interests, and urged all EU countries to state their positions on
the issue in the context of the union.

RUSSIA SHOULD ASSIST ARMENIA IN UNBLOCKING INFRASTRUCTURES

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2007 15:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Russian-Armenian relations should proceed from
cooperation in security and economy to deeper cooperation which would
include creation of a unified economic, humanitarian and political
space, said Sergey Markov, Director of the Institute for Political
Studies. "I think that our citizens, natives of Armenia, should enjoy
full civil rights. We should work for solution of urgent problems
and proceed from demagogy to tighter strategic unions.

Implementation of joint economic project is essential.

Insufficient development of Armenian enterprises conveyed to Russia
is a political mistake. We should use our resources to start them. We
should also assist Armenia in unblocking its infrastructure. Common
cultural space should be maintained via development of the Russian
language in Armenia," he said, Kreml.org reports.