Referendum To Decide The Status

REFERENDUM TO DECIDE THE STATUS

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 02, 2008
Armenia

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairman
Mathew Braise announced that it is up to Karabakh people to decide
whether or not they will become part of Azerbaijan or they will
gain independence.

"Karabakh people will decide it by means of a referendum." Mathew
Braise said to the journalist in Moscow, touching upon the results
of the meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers.

Strategic Document In Tax Field

STRATEGIC DOCUMENT IN TAX FIELD

Panorama.am
20:45 01/08/2008

A new strategic document is drafted in the frames of tax service
reforms which is consisted of mission, seven objectives, and policies,
and 109 certain activities should be conducted for their complete
implementation, said Aharon Chilingaryan, the first vice director of
the tax service in a press conference.

"One of the principle objectives is the activities with the big tax
payers, and the decrease of corruption in this field," he said.

Coalition Defends Hovik Abrahamyan

COALITION DEFENDS HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 02, 2008
Armenia

"The parties representing political coalition – RPA, "Bargavach
Hayastan", "Orinats Yerkir", ARFD, came out by a statement yesterday,
according to which they will support RPA member Hovik Abrahamyan’s
candidacy during the elections by NA majoritarian electoral system
in constituency 17 in Ararat province.

According to the statement by supporting Hovik Abrahamyan’s candidacy
the forces representing coalition assure that the MP will use his
good experience in his parliamentary activity.

Meanwhile the political forces announce about their determination
and firmness to bring the August 24 elections in constituency 17,
in conformity with the international standards.

Must Leave

MUST LEAVE

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 02, 2008
Armenia

"Levon Ter-Petrosyan is not engaged in politics. He has quit politics
and he must leave." Galust Sahakyan believes.

"It is up to them to decide the time and the day but he must definitely
leave. Until there are detained, he must somehow influence that
process, here our opinions coincide. We are also determined to solve
the issue of those who are detained, but the final decision is up to
the court."

Last Of The Mohicans Stands Down After Years Of Battling

LAST OF THE MOHICANS STANDS DOWN AFTER YEARS OF BATTLING
By FT Reporters

FT
July 30 2008 03:00

Serge Tchuruk, 70, who is standing down as chairman of Alcatel-Lucent
after almost two turbulent years, was seen as one of telecoms’
great survivors.

A former arms engineer born to Armenian parents in Marseilles, Mr
Tchuruk climbed the corporate ladder to become head of the oil group
Total before joining Alcatel in 1996.

He had spent more than 30 years in the oil and chemicals industries,
and appeared to hanker after the energy business’s greater
predictability. He told the FT in 2003: "When I was in the oil industry
it was much easier – you knew what demand was and could easily predict
your output."

As boss of Alcatel, his frustrations with the uncertainties of the
telecoms sector led to fierce clashes with the analyst community. He
once branded credit rating agency analysts pompier pyromanes , or
"pyromaniac firefighters", who precipitate the very crises they
forecast.

Having steered Alcatel out of a profound management crisis, he
endured the internet bubble and then three years of losses. The
company returned to profit in 2004, and survived a severe downturn
in the sector.

Mr Tchuruk engineered a restructuring of the sprawling Alcatel empire
into the core telecoms activities, a defence branch (which became
part of Thales) and the Alstom industrial engineering group.

His tenacity as other t elecoms chiefs came and went earned him the
nickname "Last of the Mohicans".

That resilience – and tireless deal-making – was underlined at the end
of 2006 when Alcatel agreed to merge with Lucent Technologies. Mr
Tchuruk had come close to a "transformational" tie-up with the
company in 2001 when negotiations were aborted at the 11th hour amid
US concerns about French ownership.

His departure from Alcatel-Lucent is likely to reopen speculation over
the future of the group’s 20.8 per cent stake in Thales, worth about
â~B¬1.5bn ($2.3bn), which Mr Tchuruk was reported to have wanted to
keep. Thales shares dipped 2.1 per cent in afternoon trading yesterday.

As Alcatel-Lucent staggered through six quarters of losses and its
market capitalisation halved, rumours grew that it was considering
selling the Thales stake.

Mr Tchuruk’s reign of dealmaking at Alcatel-Lucent is over. "It is now
time that the company acquires a personality of its own, independent
from its two predecessors," he said yesterday.

–Boundary_(ID_oC25vhRvHPw5CPXjenMWdA) —

Mission Of Newly-Created Armenian National Congress Is To Organize S

MISSION OF NEWLY-CREATED ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS IS TO ORGANIZE SELF-GOVERNMENT OF ARMENIAN PEOPLE, LEVON TER-PETROSIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan

Au g 2, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The declaration on creation of the
Armenian National Congress (ANC) was ratified at the August 1 rally of
People’s Movement. The declaration bears signatures of first Armenian
president Levon Ter-Petrosian, leader of People’s Party of Armenia
Stepan Demirchian, head of "Republic" party Aram Sargsian, chairman
of "Freedom" party Hrant Bagratian, vice chairman of "Democratic Way"
party Vardan Grigorian, representative of "Democratic Homeland" party
Karlen Alexanian, representative of "Alternative" social-political
initiative Norayr Norikian, leader of Liberal Party of Armenia
Hovhannes Hovhannisian, chairman of the Social-Ecological Party
of Greens of Armenia Armen Dovlatian, head of the Marxist Party of
Armenia Davit Hakobian, chairwoman of the Social-Democratic Hunchak
Party of Armenia Lyudmila Sargsian, head of "Armenian Homeland" party
Anahit Yeghoyan, representative of "Armenian National Movement" party
Andrey Baghamian, chairman of "Human Rights-96" party Ruben Torosian,
deputy chairman of the Conservative Party of Armenia Zaven Vardanian,
and head of "Christian People’s Rebirth" party Sos Gimishian.

As L. Ter-Petrosian stated in his speech, the ANC currently has
several major demands. The first one, according to him, is release
of the political prisoners, while the other demand is an independent
inquiry into the March 1 events. In general, according to the first
Armenian president, the main mission of the Congress is to organize
self-government of the Armenian people.

http://www.nt.am/news.php?shownews=116237

The Activists Reach The Finish Line

THE ACTIVISTS REACH THE FINISH LINE
Kima Yeghyazaryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 02, 2008
Armenia

The activists of the Ter-Petrosyan-led movement yesterday began their
demonstration with a disgraceful incident.

One of the people standing on the platform of the Matenadaran
had the naivety to make a half-hearted response to the
revolutionaries’ ultimatum-like demands and was fiercely attacked
by the activists. After listening to the short speech of the chief
demonstrator, the middle-aged man standing not far from the microphone
said, "Well, why do you make demands? Just ask!"

This was enough for the furious activists to "lynch" the man (who,
as we managed to find out, was one of the relatives of the victims
of the March 1-2 incidents). In front of the leaders of the movement,
the activists attacked the man, struck him on the head with force and
then pulled him about and tried to remove him from the platform. The
infuriated crowd which was ready to tear the aliens to shreds "met" the
stranger with whistles, shouts and curses and immediately attacked him.

Having received a scalp injury in the upper part of his head, the
latter hardly managed to have a narrow escape from the territory. The
revolutionaries immediately began circulating rumors that the person
who objected to the demonstrators was a ‘cop’.

So, "it serves him ri ght; they should have beaten him more." This is
how the mob responded to the barbaric act. And the incident showed once
again how peaceful LTP’s demonstrators were. We have eye-witnessed
such a hideous scene on the opposite side of the building of the
Mayor’s Office on March 1.

Not concealing their hatred for the cops, the revolutionary activists
settled scores with another alleged cop yesterday.

After all this, the revolutionary leaders still dare to insist that
those who attacked the policemen on March 1 were not the members of
their armed gang.

However, the most noteworthy fact is that the revolutionary orators
did not stop their speeches while torturing the man. Neither Arshak
Banouchyan, the so-called political prisoner considering himself an
intellectual (who, at a distance of a few meters, could hear and see
what was happening) nor Gourguen Yeghyazaryan the other "political
prisoner", took a second’s interval while uttering their speeches
full of threat against the authorities.

As to Hrant Bagratyan, he was following the heroic deeds of the
hot-headed activists with one eye and reading his speech with the
other, representing various figures in such a manner as though he was
pronouncing a tongue twister, in an attempt to prove that the country’s
economic growth was fictitious since the indexes were not indicated by
other countries. To substantiate his allegations, the specialist of
"m ale cows" tried to make a picturesque comparison like this, "Just
imagine a beauty contest in which there’s no jury making a decision,
and each participant declares herself as the most beautiful woman."

And at the end of his speech, Mr. Bagratyan gladdened the activists
by announcing that, "We should send these authorities to their graves."

Let’s note that the leader of "Heritage" did not appear on the
"platform" this time either. There was absolutely no representative
of the party participating in the demonstration which, as promised
before, was going to be crucial.

Leader of "Republic" party Aram Sargsyan assured the participants that
he would always stand by LTP and "comply with all the instructions
that he will give".

As to Stepan Demirtchyan, leader of the People’s Party of Armenia,
he managed to change his shirt twice during the demonstration,
not standing the hot weather and while making his short speech,
repeated the same 5-6 sentences which the people have been hearing
for 5-6 years.

The chief Marxist who had quit the movement through some
misunderstanding and regretted for his step hurried to the
platform. And despite the fact that David Haroutyunyan was not entitled
to make a speech, he managed, after the declaration of the Armenian
National Congress, to grab the microphone for a couple of seconds
and pronounce a welcoming sp eech.

It was extremely boring to listen to Ter-Petrosyan whose speech lasted
50 minutes. Suffering from a lack of a topic for conversation, the
speaker this time decided to touch upon "the activities of the main
state institutions". And he thoroughly estimated and characterized
the activities of the legislative and executive bodies.

At the end, the leader declared the "motto" of the movement, i.e. the
resignation of the country’s president and extraordinary presidential
and parliamentary elections.

By the way, it is worth mentioning that the meeting began with the
anthem of the movement (author of the text: Nikol Pashinyan), a musical
masterpiece composed in the genre of rock. This was followed by the
revolutionary melody "Lead the Struggle Till the End", its remix being
performed by LTP himself. Thus, the revolutionary "festival of music
and dance" is entering a new stage, turning into a specific kind of
rock-remix contest.

This, unfortunately, didn’t help the revolutionaries to record a
turning point on August 1.

Whereas, the aggressive vagabonds who, during the past 28 days,
had wasted away in the Northern Avenue, had great expectations and
participating in yesterday’s demonstration, they hoped it was going
to become a historic moment.

It wasn’t "historic", but history continues since the revolutionary
headquarters again invited the activists to the Northern Avenue for
5 weeks, promising them that the demonstration which is going to
be held on September 5 will be historic or at least mark a turning
point. Let’s wait and see what’s going to happen."

Levon Ter-Petrosian: Henceforth Our Main Slogan Will Be Serzh Sargsy

LEVON TER-PETROSIAN: HENCEFORTH OUR MAIN SLOGAN WILL BE SERZH SARGSYAN’S RESIGNATION

Noyan Tapan

Au g 2, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, NOYAN TAPAN. In the words of the first Armenian
president Levon Ter-Petrosian, since the October 27, 1999 assassination
and especially since the former prime minister Aram Sargsyan was
relieved of his post, the National Assembly (NA) has been turned into a
president’s appendage whose task is to carry out obediently assignments
given to it. As L. Ter-Petrosian said at the August 1 rally, the
current NA has never rejected any bill proposed by the government,
nor has it initiated any debate and made a critical analysis. "Most
of the NA deputies are engaged in entrepreneurial activity, and for
this reason the NA is the support of the robber state," the leader
of People’s Movement said. According to him, under Serzh Sargsyan,
the only job of the parliament has been legalization of political
persecutions, in particular, 4 NA deputies were deprived of their
immunity, and some amendments "convenient" for the authorities were
made in the law on assemblies.

Speaking about the government formed by S. Sargsyan, the first
president said that it does not differ in its essence from the
government of the former head of the country Robert Kocharian as it
has been created not for economic reasons but based on the political
expediency.

The 100-day work during S. Sargsyan’s tenure was, according
to L. Ter-Petrosian, just "a shame": the persecutions went on,
the 24-hour patrol service, which started in downtown Yerevan on
March 1, was kept. He added that today the authorities consider any
participant of opposition ralies as a criminal who can be interrogated
and arrested. In his words, now the people has to do with such a form
of struggle against dissidence that did not exist even under Josef
Stalin. Therefore, as the speaker stated, the national struggle
against the current authorities must continue – with a demand for
S. Sargsyan’s resignation.

The rally was concluded with a march to end in Northern Avenue where
the sit-down strike (it began on July 4) continued. In the words of
representative of People’s Movement Levon Zurabian, the strike will
last until September 5, the day of the next rally of the Armenian
National Congress.

http://www.nt.am/news.php?shownews=116236

Armenia To Become Member Of Eurasian Development Bank

ARMENIA TO BECOME MEMBER OF EURASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Noyan Tapan

Au g 2, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, NOYAN TAPAN. At the July 31 sitting, the Armenian
government made a decision to set up an interdepartmental working
group for implementation of work on Armenia’s becoming a member of
the Eurasian Development Bank. In the words of RA minister of energy
and natural resources Armen Movsisian, within 10 days the working
group will submit a proposal on allocation of 100 thousand USD for
acquiring shares of the Eurasian Development Bank with resources of
the RA government’s reserve fund.

http://www.nt.am/news.php?shownews=116234

Will Remain In Love

WILL REMAIN IN LOVE
Gevorg Harutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 02, 2008
Armenia

"Analyzing the present situation and having the objective to liven the
social-political activeness in September, the center of the movement
considers it very important not to stop holding massive events, sit in
and hunger strikes, as well as realize the idea of Armenian National
Congress," Ter-Petrosyan announced during the demonstration yesterday.

In his 50 minutes’ speech, for 48 minutes Ter-Petrosyan repeated
the ideas heard during his previous speeches and only at the last
2 minutes he touched upon the congress: "You will eyewitness a
significant historic event – the ceremony of the establishment of
Armenian National Congress.

Later he read the declaration agreed with 16 parties and public
organizations, which are going to join Armenian National Congress:
"…taking into account the fact that during the post -election period
the Republic of Armenia is facing serious challenges, well-conscious
that there is a necessity to confront these challenges the political
parties which are the core of the movement declare about the formation
of the Armenian National Congress.

According to the leader of the neo-Bolsheviks the political parties
and the public organizations, which make up part of the congress have
the right to independence and to run for the elections separately. The
congress is open for=2 0the parties and public organizations both in
Armenia and Diaspora. We appeal to all the forces, organizations and
citizens concerned about the fortune of their motherland to become
members of the congress.

"Azatutyun" party, "Aylntrank" social-political organization, "People’s
Path" party, "Democratic Motherland" party, People’s Party of Armenia,
Marxists, Armenian Pan National Movement, "Motherland and Honor",
"Hanrapetutyun" party, People’s Rights – 96, Conservative Party,
and Social Democratic Hnchakyan party signed the memorandum of
Armenian National Congress. In general all in all 16 parties and
public organizations, instead of the promised 25 or 27.

To save the situation, they announced that later, parliamentary
opposition "Heritage" party, Armenian Communists’ Party and "Nor
Jamanakner" would join the congress.

Below some political figures express their standpoints regarding the
prospects of Armenian National Congress.

Vardan Khachatryan

"Heritage"

"The only thing that I can say is that the deceleration is in the
process of discussion. And it is very difficult to predict the
continuation of this process. The contents of the declaration heard
during the meeting have not been agreed with our party. Most probably
in future "Heritage" party will touch upon this issue.

Ruben Tovmasyan

Armeni an Communists’ party

"The party has not discussed similar declaration. Communists’ Party
has a clear stance regarding similar issues and is guided by concrete
position, which will never be agreed with any other party. No one
has the right to make announcements on behalf of the party.

Shavarsh Kocharyan

National Democratic Party

The fact that very few parties sign the declaration on the formation
of the National Congress testifies to the fact "against" ideology
never works.

Let’s expect that the congress will at least declare about their
goal. But I don’t think that this will work. The little number of
the people in the demonstration shows their estimation, which is very
important in such issues.

Arshak Sadoyan

National Democratic Union

"The National Congress doesn’t intend to take power, it has other
political goals. The 16 political parties and the public organizations
that have become members of the congress will very soon understand that
only Armenian Pan National Movement will remain in the congress. What
they really want is to return to the political domain with a new
name. They expect success in 2012.

Armen Ashotyan

Republican Party

"Those pro-oppositional forces that have joined Levon Ter-Petrosyan
are mostly guided by the outer effect. There are no values. Similar
course of action can’t be a success and it is ver y characteristic
to sects. They often announce that the end of the world has come,
and later they have to explain why their predictions didn’t come true.

Still on May 2 they announced about forming Armenian National
Congress. But by now this idea didn’t get an institutional shape. Even
the parties that support Levon Ter-Petrsoyan avoid becoming members of
the congress – a strange political project. Therefore the initiators
of the congress had to change the contents of the deceleration. As
a result it turned into a format, which simply recorded the list of
the forces supporting Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

They failed to realize the idea of establishing a powerful liberal
political force. Their biggest failure will be the refusal of
"Heritage" Party to become members of the congress. It reminds of the
situation when a couple makes a decision to get married, but on the
day of the marriage they announce that they don’t want to get married,
instead they prefer to remain in love."