Month: April 2007

BRITISH EMBASSY IN YEREVAN DISMAYED AT CLANDESTINE RECORDING OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN ITS OFFICIAL AND THE LEADER OF AN OPPOSITION PARTY

Arminfo
2007-04-26 13:16:00

"The British Embassy in Yerevan is dismayed that a clandestine
recording has been made, and recently released in part to the press,
of a conversation between an official of this Embassy and the leader
of an opposition party," says the press release of the British
Embassy following the series of articles in the Golos Armenii daily
giving excerpts from a recorded conversation between the leader of
the Orinats Yerkir party Artur Bagdassaryan and the British vice
ambassador Richard Hide.

The Embassy says: "We do not propose to comment in detail on the
gross misrepresentation of a conversation, details of which appear
to have been obtained through dishonest and deplorable means.

Along with the OSCE, European Union, Council of Europe, the diplomatic
community and others, the Embassy is interested in seeing elections
on 12 May that conform to international standards. In this context
the Embassy maintains a wide range of contacts and dialogues with
institutions and individuals across the political spectrum in Armenia,
in order to be informed of all shades of political opinion. This
enables us to form as complete and objective a view as possible of
the political process, and is in line with the normal and accepted
practice of any embassy anywhere in the world.

As a member state of the EU, we wholeheartedly support the commitment
shared by the EU and Armenia in the European Neighbourhood Policy
Action Plan to work together to strengthen democratic institutions,
and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and we
welcome Armenia’s democratic achievements so far. In that context,
our objective will remain to do what we can to support and promote
effectiveness in the performance of democratic institutions and
processes in the country. It is not, never has been and cannot be,
our business to support the political platform of any specific
political party."

E-TICKETS S7 AIRLINES ARE ON SALE

Arminfo
2007-04-26 13:20:00

After a test period, the S7 Airlines Air Company has started operation
of the modern technology of e-ticket sale.

As the Company’s press-service told ArmInfo, this method of the air
ticket purchase, offered by all the leading air companies of the world,
is the most popular in Europe and America and the most convenient for
the passengers today. Thus, 567 e-tickets were registered within the
last 5 days (April 20-24) through the site , that makes up
8,4% of the number of air tickets, having been sold over this period
through Internet. "On April 12, the passengers acquired the first
e-tickets for the S7 Airlines flights. This is an important step for
the development of the Russian civil aviation and achievement of the
world passenger service standards", Director General of "Sibir" Air
Company OJSC Vladislav Filiov said. "The implementation of e-ticket
in S7 Airlines was preceded by more than a year’s preparation of
many services of the Air Company and the work with the airports. Now,
the passengers of S7 can buy the tickets just as millions of people
do in other countries", V. Filiov said.

Today, the e-tickets are available for the passengers of S7 to fly
to the dozens of Russian cities, that is the main difference of S7
Airlines from another Russian carriers. The e-ticket is accepted for
all the own flights of S7 Airlines which are carried from Moscow
(Domodedovo), Novosibirsk (Tolmachiovo), Irkutsk, Vladivostok,
Cheliabinsk and the German cities. Only the internal flights are
presently served in Perm, the e-ticket is available in many other
directions, including the flights to CIS countries.

The S7 Airlines company turns the e-ticket from a novelty into a
customary element of comfort for all the passengers of S7. The key
advantages of the e-ticket are as follows: first, much time is saved
during purchase, second, the e-ticket is stored in the electron
form, thus, it cannot be forgotten, lost or stolen. After the e-
ticket purchase, it is always possible to change the flight details
via a 24-hour support service by phone 8(800)200-000-7, or in the
Sales Office of S7 Airlines. Third, registration for the flight with
e-ticket is always simple and takes minimum time.

The details on the advantages of using the new technology, the list
of directions the registered e-tickets are available in the "Electron
Ticket" section.

S7 Airlines company is the biggest Air Company in the internal air
lines of Russia, and it is in TOP-50 of the world air-carriers in
this segment. The S7 takes the second place among the Russian air
companies by the total number of passengers transported. In 2006,
the Company carried out over 40,000 flights and transported 4,9 mln
passengers and over 28,000 tons of cargo and mail. The air park of
S7 consists of 62 airliners Airbus A310, A319, Boeing 737-500/400,
Il-86 and Ty-154M.

CONFERENCE ON IT COMPETITIVENESS WILL BE HELD IN YEREVAN

Arminfo
2007-04-26 13:29:00

Conference on information technologies competitiveness will be held
in Yerevan on 3 May, one of the organizers of the conference, the
programme Competitive Armenian Private Sector, financed by USAID told
ArmInfo correspondent.

The event will be held to introduce representatives of the sphere
to the latest developments and tendencies; and to introduce two
big initiatives connected with accrediting and investing in the IT
sphere. The materials on competitiveness of IT, scientific-research
work and telecommunications will be also submitted at the conference.

ARMENIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE INITIATED A CASE ON THE FACT OF GETTING BIG SIZE BRIBE AND ILLEGAL ABSOLUTION OF A PERSON BY CRIME INVESTIGATOR OF THE POLICE

Arminfo
2007-04-26 13:16:00

The department on control over illegal conducting of investigation
of the Armenian Prosecutor General’s office initiated a case on the
fact of getting big size bribe and illegal absolution of a person by
crime investigator of the police

As press-secretary of Prosecutor General, Sona Tryzyan, told Arminfo
correspondent last year an Armenian citizen Armen Amamchayn applied
to the police that in 2003 V.Melkonyan took 6.020 dollars from him
by means of swindle. Crime investigator of the Nor-Nork district
of the Yerevan police Aram Chugulyan initiated a case on the fact,
on March 10 2006 according to the article No 178, part 2 of RA Crime
Code. But in the course of investigation Chugulyan himself got 4.500
dollars bribe from V.Melkonyan so that to change the content of some
documents of the case. On 10 October he dismissed the case motivating
that as "for time limitation". Thus, he illegally exempted V.Melkonyan.

On the basis of the materials a case on several articles of the
Criminal Code was initiated on 19 April of the current year and passed
to the Yerevan city prosecutor’s office.

HUMAN RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED ON BOTH SIDES OF BORDER OF KARABAKH

KarabakhOpen
26-04-2007 11:29:04

"I do not consider it as a victory or achievement, because the
statement in the U.S. Department of State report on Azerbaijan did
not change. Besides, the American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
Matthew Bryza stated yesterday that there will be no more changes to
the report of the U.S. Department of State," said Vahram Atanesyan,
chair of the Committee of External Relations, in an interview with
the KarabakhOpen.

The member of parliament commented on the situation after the
U.S. State Department made changes to the Armenia country report on
human rights practices.

The statement "Armenia continues to occupy the Azerbaijani territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories"
was replaced by " Armenian forces occupy large portions of Azerbaijan
territory adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian officials maintain
that they do not "occupy" Nagorno-Karabakh itself." Official Armenia
presented the amendment to the report as a major achievement of the
Armenian diplomacy.

"I appreciate more the stance of the United States which mediates
the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, and states that the future
status of Karabakh should be defined through talks. It is a more
balanced approach than the one which was stated in the report of
the U.S. Department of State. Although I have to note that it is
strange when the report on human rights includes such statements. If
the violation of human rights in the result of the Karabakh conflict
is meant, these rights were violated on both sides of the border –
Azerbaijan launched a policy of violence and deportation against
the Armenian population when the Soviet Union still existed. The
peaceful Armenian population of the territories adjacent to the former
Autonomous Region of Nagorno-Karabakh was also deported. However,
it should not be viewed on the same level because the deportation of
the Azerbaijani population took place during the military actions,
and the evacuation of the population was organized by the Azerbaijani
government for the security of these people. However, even if the
stress of the report were on this, it would be clear, but it is not
clear how the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is linked to human rights,
especially that the report does not maintain that the rights of the
Armenians of Karabakh were also violated," Vahram Atanesyan said.

The member of parliament thinks the report of the Department of State
is highly politicized in this respect, "which is not appropriate for
the Department of State of such an authoritative country." "For me,
I accept the stance of the United States, which does not predetermine
the status of NKR," said Vahram Atanesyan. The member of parliament
said he understands Vardan Oskanyan because it is the pre-election
period, and "it is possible that certain accents in Vardan Oskanyan’s
words had notes of propaganda."

NKR CEC REGISTERED INITIATIVE GROUPS OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
Laura Grigorian

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
25 April 07

During the April 23 meeting of the NKR Central Electoral Commission
Sergey Nasibian, chair, said on April 20 the initiative groups
of the two presidential candidates Bako Sahakian, head of the
National Security Service, and Dr. Vania Avanessian, professor at
Artsakh State, had submitted applications for registration with the
CEC. According to him, Vania Avanessian’s initiative group presented
signatures of 94 citizens, 14 repeat by mistake. One signature was
invalid. Bako Sahakian’s initiative group presented 154 signatures,
all the signatures were valid. Considering the conclusions of the
CEC working group, the NKR CEC registered the initiative groups of
Bako Sahakian and Vania Avanessian.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, EU REP DISCUSS PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN BELGIUM

Arminfo
25 Apr 07

Yerevan, 25 April: During his visit to Belgium, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan met today [25 April] Peter Semneby, the
European Union special representative for the South Caucasus.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press service reported that the
parties discussed regional issues and Armenian-Turkish relations. They
also spoke about the GUAM [Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova]
initiative [to raise the issue of frozen conflicts] in the UN General
Assembly. Oskanyan reaffirmed Armenia’s position on the issue.

The parties also discussed the 12 May parliamentary election in
Armenia.

Semneby said that EU countries and the European Commission consider
it crucial that Armenia conduct a parliamentary election in line with
international standards. Oskanyan gave his assurances that Armenia
has all preconditions to hold a free and fair election.

The parties exchanged views regarding the results of the negotiations
held in Belgrade on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Semneby
said he would travel to Baku today [25 April] to participate in a
conference on the mass media. A meeting with the Azerbaijani foreign
minister is planned during that visit.

Tonight, Oskanyan will make a speech in the Royal Conservatory of
Brussels during an event that will be attended by foreign diplomats and
representatives of Armenian communities and organizations of Europe.

FOUR US JEWISH GROUPS BACK TURKEY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2007 14:00

Four large US Jewish groups have lent support to Turkey’s position
in opposing the passage of two Armenian Genocide Resolutions in the
US Congress.

B’nai B’rith International, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL),
the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Institute for National
Security Affairs (JINSA) have recently conveyed a letter from Turkish
Jews to US Congressional leaders, the Turkish Daily News reports.

In their letter, leading Turkish Jews have urged congressional leaders
to postpone considering the genocide measures.

But the four groups’ move does not mean that US Jews are united in
opposing the genocide measures.

A number of other large US Jewish organizations have distanced
themselves from the controversy, while some of the resolutions’
top sponsors and backers are Jewish.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MORE COMMUNITIES IN SHAHUMYAN AND FEWER COMMUNITIES IN KASHATAGH

KarabakhOpen
26-04-2007 11:28:02

In Shahumyan region one more community added – recently the village
of Knaravan has got the status of a community. It was announced
during the April 25 meeting of the NKR parliament which discussed the
amendments to the law on the administrative and territorial division
of NKR. The village of Knaravan was founded by Karapet Harutiunyan,
an American benefactor, and his family.

By these amendments the number of communities in the region of
Kashatagh was reduced from 71 to 53. Member of Parliament Armen
Sargsyan, ARF Dashnaktsutyun – Movement 88, and Member of Parliament
Arpat Avanesyan, Azat Hayrenik, who studied the state of the region of
Kashatagh, said the population of this region needs special attention,
and a parliament hearing on this issue is already a necessity.

Armen Sargsyan said people leave the region not only because of hard
social conditions. We have already written that arbitrariness in the
region forces people to leave the region.

LIBERATION OF SHUSHI 15 YEARS AFTER LIBERATION

KarabakhOpen
26-04-2007 11:28:11

Young people from Armenia and Artsakh will gather in Shushi from May
7 to 10 and will not only take part in contests of chess, drawing
and carving, but will also participate in the Wedding in Mountains
operation. 15 years after the liberation of Shushi the participants
will follow the footsteps of the offensive of Shushi launched on May 8,
1992. The project was organized by the Pan-Armenian Youth Foundation
of Armenia. The head of the department of youth of the NKR Ministry
of Education and Culture Marianna Hakobyan told the reporter of
the KarabakhOpen 60 young people from Armenia and 100 from Karabakh
will take part in the event, and will meet after the "liberation"
of Shushi with officials and participants of the military action.