Month: May 2008

REQUEST TO DOCTORS

Panorama.am
17:04 22/05/2008

"The Chairman of the "New Times" Political Party Aram Karapetyan’s
health was damaged in the isolation ward of investigative
administration of the "Yerevan-Kentron" because of bad conditions.

We ask all cardiologist doctors of the world to read the medical
diagnosis below concerning Chairman of the "New Times" Political Party
Aram Karapetyan and send their suggestions and advices concerning
medical treatment to our e-mail address.

We also ask to answer if it is possible to make treatment of the
patient in isolation ward.

The consilium for the patient Aram Karapetyan was organized in
21.05.08 at the cardiopulmonary department of Erebouni Medical Centre
with participation of H.E.Saiyan (deputy head doctor), L.Ye.Atayan
(head of the cardiopulmonary department), H.G.Hayrapetyan (head
of the department of myocardial infarction), A.A.Mamikonyan (chief
endocrinologist), A.R.Nazaryan (invasive cardiologist of Nork-Marash
Medical Centre), professor R.S.Gabrielyan, associate professor
A.Y.Gasparyan, doctor A.E.Margaryan.

The following conclusions were made:

Chief endocrinologist A.A.Mamikonyan: Mild diabetes mellitus, type 2

Invasive cardiologist of Nork-Marash Medical Centre A.R.Nazaryan:
Acute coronary syndrome, arterial hypertension, II stage

Prof. R.S.Gabrielyan, Cardiology Institute Ischaemic heart disease,
progressive unstable angina, heart failure, impairment of blood
circulation, I functional class, arterial hypertension, I stage

Assoc. Prof. Armen Gasparyan: Ischaemic heart disease, progressive
angina, impairment of blood circulation, I functional class, arterial
hypertension, II stage, course with crises

The diagnosis of cardiopulmonary department of Erebouni Medical
Centre: Ischaemic heart disease, stable angina, functional class
III-IV, impairment of blood circulation, I functional class, arterial
hypertension, II stage, hypertonic crisis (16.05.08).

We shall be much appreciated for all necessary suggestions and advices.

Special thanks beforehand".

Press Department of the "Hew Times" Political Party

FOUR MINISTERIAL COMMITTES TO BE ESTABLISHED AT RA GOVERNMENT

armradio.am
22.05.2008 13:19

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan declared in Yerevan today that it
is necessary to work out a more effective method of the government’s
activity.

Speaking at today’s government sitting, Tigran Sargsyan said four
Ministerial Committees will be established on financial-economic,
social, territorial development and environmental protection and
state-legal issues.

According to teh Prime Minister, from now on all the questions to be
presented at the Government sittings should be previously discussed
in those committees.

The Head of the Armenian Government informed that the suggestion
to form Ministerial Committees comes from Great Britain within the
framework of its assistance in implementing an effective governance
system.

Tigran Sargsyan instructed the Ministers to be ready to hold committee
meetings every Friday.

DIAMOND DELIVERY FROM RUSSIA STARTS IN SUMMER

Panorama.am
20:07 21/05/2008

It is quite possible that in this summer the delivery of diamond raw
materials from Russia will be implemented to Armenia, said Nerses
Yeritsyan the minister of economics in a press conference today. The
Minister explained why the delivery has been stopped: there were some
problems in the customs service.

The minister notified that on February 6 when the Prime Ministers
of Armenia and Russia met the chairman of the Russian Government
authorized the minister of Finance to organize the meeting between
the customs representatives of Armenia and Russia to solve the
problem. Whereas the presidential elections implemented in the both
countries have stopped the cooperation in this regard.

Remind: On August 6 Armenian Government and "ALROSA" company signed
a contract according to which Russian diamonds will be processed
in Armenia.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MEETS WITH AMBASSADORS

armradio.am
22.05.2008 11:17

President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting with the Heads of Mission of
the EU member states accredited in Yerevan, and the representative
of the delegation of the European Commission, President’s Press
Office reported.

President Sargsyan said that these meetings are a proper format for
discussing issues on the Armenia-European Union agenda.

According to the President of Armenia, further deepening of the
relations with the EU will undeniably expedite Armenia’s democratic
as well as economic development.

Viewing the implementation of the Action Plan in the framework of the
European Neighborhood Policy as a priority for Armenia, the President
stressed that the Plan is in full agreement with the program of the
Government of Armenia and the logic of the planned large-scale reforms.

Serzh Sargsyan also mentioned that experience of the European
Commission is very important for Armenia. The President of Armenia
said that he is satisfied with the results of the first year of the
Plan’s implementation as well as with the assessment presented at
the EC’s Progress Report. He noted that the assessment is overall
balanced and fair.

Serzh Sargsyan also said that Armenia is striving to join the EU’s
General System of Preferences (GSP) trade regime, to receive from
the EU the status of the country with market economy, and to sign
a free trade agreement with the European Union. In this regard,
the priority directions in the coming years will be the improvement
of the investment climate in the country, improvement of business
environment, and fundamental changes in the customs administration.

Speaking about political developments, Serzh Sargsyan said that
regardless of the post-election developments, the implementation of
democratic reforms remains a necessity, and that we will continue to
work in that direction.

Mr. Sargsyan said that right after the presidential elections he
offered cooperation to all political forces and received a positive
response from the majority of them, which made possible the creation
of the political coalition. He mentioned with pain the impossibility
of preventing the events of March 1. Regardless of the fact that one
of the candidates was speaking about the events months before they
actually took place, President Sargsyan stressed that the authorities
are responsible for all the processes going on in the country and that
they see the elimination of their consequences in the unequivocal
implementation of the recommendations of the corresponding PACE
resolution. In addition, they entirely correspond to the principles
laid out in the President’s pre-election platform and to the principles
of cooperation of the Political Coalition. "The recommendations of the
working group have been approved by the members of the Coalition, and
we are determined to fully implement them," the President underscored.

President Sargsyan spoke also about the simplifying the procedures
for obtaining the entry visas to the EU member states and the EU
regional center for cultural issues to be established in Yerevan.

The President of Armenia also presented his views on the
Nagorno Karabakh peace process, reiterating that official Yerevan
advocates the peaceful resolution of the conflict on the basis of
comprises. Meanwhile, the opposite side very often comes up with
belligerent statements. However, the President thinks that there is
still hope for a peaceful resolution – as long as the negotiations
are continued on the basis of fundamental principles.

Regarding the Armenian-Turkish relations the President of Armenia
said that our country is ready to establish normal relations with
Turkey without preconditions and to discuss all contentious issues
on the basis of intergovernmental relations and negotiations.

On behalf of the diplomats the Ambassador of France, Serzh Smessov
expressed satisfaction that the tradition of conducting these meetings
continues and noted that they are very useful for them.

The Ambassadors welcomed the determination of the Armenian authorities
to fully implement all recommendations of the PACE resolution.

During the meeting the President of Armenia also provided
clarifications on other issues raised by the diplomats.

HEAD OF NOR KHARBERD REGION FINED

Panorama.am
20:44 21/05/2008

It is already a year the inhabitants of Nor Kharberd village use
the territory near the monument dedicated to Nakhijevan victims as
garbage heap. In these days the deputy Anahit Bakhshyan, the member
of Heritage party applied to the Ministry of Nature Protection,
in particular to the minister Aram Harutyunyan in this regard.

According to the press service of the ministry by the special order
of the minister the authorized bodies visited the place and registered
violations of environmental legislation. According to Arcrun Pepanyan,
the head of the region has been fined by 100.000 drams. Besides the
head of the region was order to take measures to clear the territory.

EP REJECTS AMENDMMENTS TO TURKEY REPORT REGARDING THE ARMENIAN GENCOIDE

armradio.am
22.05.2008 15:02

The European Parliament (EP) adopted on Wednesday a report on Turkey
urging the government to accelerate reforms.

In a plenary session the EP debated and voted the report, prepared by
Dutch parliamentarian Ria Oomen-Ruijten. The report is a non-binding
and recommendatory one.

The parliament rejected amendments to the report regarding the
incidents of 1915 submitted by a group of French MEPs.

However, the amendment on EP`s concerns about news reports regarding
Turkish riot police’s disproportional use of force during May Day
celebrations was accepted.

The amendment also said that the changes made in article 301 of Turkish
Penal Code were not enough and urged Turkish parliament to revise
the article and completely remove other restrictive stipulations.

The report, adopted last month by the European Parliamentary Committee
on Foreign Affairs, expressed concern about the potential consequences
of the recent dissolution case filed against Turkey’s ruling Justice &
Development (AK) Party.

Another amendment to the report said the EP expected Turkish
Constitutional Court to act in accordance with the Venice Commission
guidelines and European standards on the prohibition of political
parties.

It also called on the Turkish government to respect pluralism,
secularism and democracy while carrying out reforms and to reach a
compromise with political parties and urged the political parties to
distance themselves from violence and terrorist organizations.

The report says the parliament takes note of the process underway to
prepare a new, civilian constitution; regards it as a key opportunity
to place the protection of human rights and freedoms at the core of
the constitution and underlines the need for a broad involvement of
civil society in this process.

The report also says the parliament "welcomes the commitment of
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that 2008 is going to be the year
of reforms; urges the Turkish government to make use of its strong
parliamentary majority to resolutely pursue reforms that are crucial
for Turkey’s transformation into a modern democratic and prosperous
society."

It says "(the parliament) encourages the Turkish government to make
further systematic efforts to ensure that the democratically elected
political leadership bears full responsibility for formulation of
domestic, foreign and security policy and that the armed forces
respect this civilian responsibility; points out, in particular,
the need to establish full parliamentary oversight of military and
defense policy and all related expenditure."

The report also urges the Turkish government and the parliament
to abolish immediately article 301 of the Penal Code as a symbolic
and substantive step towards full respect of freedom of expression
in the country and underlines that, once the urgently needed
abolition of article 301 has been carried out, further legislative
and implementation steps will be required in order to ensure that
Turkey fully guarantees freedom of expression and press freedom in
line with ECHR and European democratic standards.

It says the parliament encourages the Turkish authorities to resolutely
pursue investigations into the Ergenekon affair, "to fully uncover
its networks reaching into the state structures and to bring those
involved to justice."

The report also calls upon the Democratic Society Party (DTP), its
members at the parliament and mayors "to engage constructively in
the quest for a political solution to the Kurdish issue within the
democratic Turkish state."

It strongly condemns the violence perpetrated by the terrorist
organization PKK and reiterates European Parliament’s solidarity with
Turkey in its fight against terrorism. The report urges the Iraqi
government and the regional Kurdish administration not to allow Iraqi
territory to be used as a base for terrorist acts against Turkey.

The report stresses the need to arrive at a comprehensive settlement
of the Cyprus question within the UN framework, claiming that "the
withdrawal of Turkish forces would facilitate the negotiation of
a settlement."

Oomen-Ruijten`s report also calls on the European Commission and
the Turkish government to start negotiations on an agreement to ease
granting of visas to Turkish nationals.

ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN SEEKS POLITICAL REFUGE

A1+
[02:14 pm] 22 May, 2008

Zhirayr Sefilian, a prominent Nagorno-Karabakh war veteran and
former commander of Shushi Special Battalion, who is presently under
detention, addressed a letter to the President of Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) Bako Sahakian.

"Last year I addressed to the President of NKR with a request to
be granted a Nagorno-Karabakh Republic citizenship. I was replied
that my letter would be considered only after the adoption of the
"Law on NKR Citizenship", and the consideration of such claims was
temporarily frozen."

With the present letter I re-affirm my desire to have a NKR citizenship
and my readiness to submit another application when the "Law on NKR
Citizenship" has been adopted."

It was also stated in Sefilian’s letter that he was presently under
detention for carrying a weapon granted to him by the leaders of the
NKR Defense Army as a martial award.

"Let me inform you that I have definitely been suffering political
persecution since 2006 and I am still in pursuit. They are currently
working on the plan of expelling me from Armenia. And because of my
love and devotion to my country I kindly request a political refuge
from Nagorno-Karabkh Republic. I truly hope that Artsakh will not
turn me down", Sefilians says in his letter.

ANDRANIK HOVAKIMIAN PASSED AWAY

A1+
[12:57 pm] 22 May, 2008

Andranik Hovakimian, deputy chairman of the "Armenian Pan-National
Movement" Party, died at the front entrance of his house
yesterday. Hovakimian had undergone a heart operation before.

Today the Pan-National Movement Center sent a condolence message
to Hovakimian’s family expressing deep sympathy and compassion on
the event.

NA PASSED THE ANNUAL REPORT ON 2007 STATE BUDGET EXECUTION

armradio.am
22.05.2008 17:45

With 84 pro and 4 con votes, the National Assembly today passed the
annual report on 2007 state budget execution. Members of the "Heritage"
faction voted against the document.

The Parliament also ratified the protocol on "Implementing amendments
to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Armenia
and the Republic of Greece dated September 3, 2003 on including the
infantry regiment of RA Armed Forces in the battalion of the Armed
Forces of the Republic of Greece within the framework of actions of
Kosovo forces."

The document envisages to expand the involvement of the Armenian Armed
Forces in Kosovo. Since February, 2004 the Armenian infantry regiment,
comprised of 34 people, has been carrying out peacekeeping mission
in Kosovo within the battalion of the Armed Forces of Greece. The
protocol envisages detaching another regiment, thus increasing the
number of Armenian peacekeepers in Kosovo to 70.

When presenting the document yesterday, RA Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan noted that the expansion of Armenia’s participation in
peacekeeping missions will not only contribute to the improvement of
Armenia’s international image, but will also help raise the level of
preparedness of the Armed Forces.

OSCE MISSION REGISTERS NO VIOLATION OF TRUCE

armradio.am
22.05.2008 17:50

According to earlier agreement with the government of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic, today the OSCE Mission carried out planned
monitoring of the contact line between the Armed Forces of Nagorno
Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the direction of Karakhanbeili settlement.

Press Service of NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that from
the positions of the NKR Defense Army the monitoring mission was
headed by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The monitoring was conducted in line with teh preset schedule, no
cease-fire violations were registered.