Month: August 2008

WE HAVE REACHED THE STAGE OF MAKING DECISIONS

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Aug 2008
Armenia

PRESIDENT SERGE SARGSYAN’S INTERVIEW TO THE TURKISH "RADICAL" DAILY

"May the September 6 football match between the Armenian and Turkish
national representative teams be viewed as the most politicized
sporting event in our region? What political expectations did you
have when you invited Turkish President Abdullah Gyul to Armenia for
watching the match together?"

"My principal goal was the regulation of the relations between the
two countries. In his congratulatory message addressed to me on the
occasion of being elected to the post of President, Mr. Gyul spoke
about the possibility of developing the relationship. Later, Prime
Minister Erdoghan expressed his opinion on the necessity of having
the doors open for a dialogue.

In response to that, I decided to take advantage of such
opportunity. There is a good sporting event in store for us. Our
national football teams are going to meet with each other for the
first time in history. This may serve as a good occasion for the
development of our relations. It doesn’t matter what result will be
recorded, but I hope that the audience will enjoy the match. There’s
going to be a great enthusiasm. This meeting will be an exceptional
event in our relations, and I hope that it will=2 0become much more
exceptional in the presence of the Armenian and Turkish presidents.

We are neighbors and will continue to remain as neighbors. I
believe that having normal relations will be more useful to the two
peoples. And my invitation sent to Mr. Gyul should be viewed in that
particular context."

"There are certain fears in Ankara in connection with the
above-mentioned invitation; for instance, the problem of the borders
and the issue as to what reception Mr. Gyul will find in Yerevan. Do
you have such concerns?"

"There can be no concerns with regard to the organizational issues. If
we have invited a country’s president, we will take all the measure
to receive Mr. Gyul in a manner appropriate to such kinds of visits."

"I have had a meeting with Dashnaktsoutyun party, and they are against
your invitation. They say they will take all the possible measures
to make Mr. Gyul hear their voice in case he arrives in Armenia."

"I don’t think the measures aimed at raising one’s voice will go
beyond the frameworks acceptable to official visits. The attempts of
demonstrating an uncivilized attitude will be first of all directed
against the Republic of Armenia and me, because I am the inviting
party."

"What is your opinion on the current regional projects in the spheres
of energy and communication? These are projects that may lead to
prosperity in case of peace and stability in the region. Will Armenia
choose to join them? Do you think you will be received in Turkey the
same way as the leaders of Georgia and Azerbaijan, and the Turkish
leaders will accept the invitation received from Yerevan without
hesitation?"

"You know, I have learnt two lessons from the regional projects
implemented so far. First, if not all the countries in the region
are involved in the projects or one of the countries is excluded,
there emerge new lines of demarcation. Second, when the political
considerations in such projects prevail over the economic ones, they
never become successful enough. It’s like putting the cart before
the horse."

"Which project do you mean?"

"For instance, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad. A lot of means are
spent for excluding Armenia from the project. The Armenian leaders
visited Turkey in the past. I have also visited that country in
different capacities. Let me add that the mutual visits of neighbors
are a normal phenomenon, and that shouldn’t be perceived as a sign
of courtesy to the opposite party. Our efforts are directed to that."

"While launching the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad,
Abdullah Gyul said in the presence of Presidents Aliev and Sahakashvili
that Armenia may participate in regional programs provided it respects
the principles of internati onal law. Do you think he meant the
borderline approved by the 1921 Kars Treaty?"

"I think if you ask that question to Mr. Gyul, he will give a more
precise answer. The only thing I can say is that Armenia is for the UN
Charter and a number of other international treaties, and it respects
its international commitments."

"Let me formulate my question more clearly. There are certain circles
in Armenia that give the name Western Armenia to a territory which
forms part of Turkey and have territorial claims under the Treaty of
Sevre. Do you admit that it is difficult to establish full diplomatic
relations with a country that has arguments as to your borders? What
is your viewpoint, i.e.

official attitude with regard to the legality and recognition of the
Kars Treaty?"

"I don’t remember any Armenian official expressing any opinion about
territorial claims. But I hear that from the opposite party. I don’t
think it is right to assume the statements made by separate individuals
as a basis. If we follow that approach, we may believe the viewpoint
expressed by some people in Turkey that there is actually no country
called Armenia.

We don’t want any preconditions in our relations with Turkey. I also
hear Turkish officials express concerns on Eastern-Western Armenia,
and it sounds very strange to me. Those are geographical terms used
since the end of the 1 9th century. Forgetting and obliterating the
expression coming from the past in a persistent manner is the same
as denying the existence of Sparta, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman
Empire and a number of historical-geographical terms. If that were
our official policy, our country would be called the Republic of
Eastern Armenia instead of Republic of Armenia.

No Armenian official has ever insisted on anything of the kind. In
case of establishing diplomatic relations, it will be easier to
discuss those issues. For example, Russia used to have problems of
borders with either China or Japan; however, this is not an obstacle
to diplomatic relations."

"After you sent an invitation to Mr. Gyul, there occurred
serious developments in the Caucasus, such as the Georgian-Russian
conflict. What is your opinion on Russia’s policy of supporting South
Ossetia and Abkhazia which are seceding from Georgia?"

"As a matter of fact, there occurred tragic events; there were human
losses. This showed once again what an arms race may lead to in
such matters.

We are for resolving such matters through negotiations. We are for
respecting the right to self-determination expressed by the free
will of the peoples. It is regrettable that the situation is becoming
exacerbated, and we do not approve of that.

We do believe that the implementation of the program initiated jointly
by the RF Presidents D. Medvedev and French President N. Sarkozy will
lead to peace and stability. Peace and stability are very important
to us. Putting aside all the other issues, let me note that more than
70 % of our trade is carried out via the territory of Georgia."

PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE MUST TRY TO BE IMPARTIAL
Gevorg Harutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Aug 2008
Armenia

PACE Monitoring Committee will convene its regular session in Paris,
on September 11, where NA delegation will also participate. We
should remind you that the process of the implementation of PACE
resolution 1609 and 1620 will be one of the issues of discussion. The
correspondent of "Hayots Ashkharh" daily had an interview with the
member of NA temporary committee investigating the reasons of March
1-2 developments, Naira Zohrabyan.

"Mrs. Zohrabyan what has been done to perform the proposals made by
PACE resolution 1609 and 1620?"

"We have never perceived the proposals recorded in the two PACE
resolutions as a normative act and we have never considered each
point of the resolution as dogma, which must immediately be carried
out. Naturally certain work has been and is being implemented, but
we didn’t do certain examination to clarify which point we performed
and which we didn’t.

It my view it is impossible to plan the terms of performing this
or that point. The most important thing is that the principles of
resolution 1609 and 1620 are acceptable for us. In essence they match
with the stances of the coalition "Bargavach Hayastan", "Orinats
Yerkir", and Dashnaktsutyun parties formed with the Republican Party
still on March2025 and the clauses of the agreement on cooperation
signed by them.

We must take into consideration that the projects mentioned in the
coalition agreement and the proposals made in PACE resolution require
certain period of time to be completed. That is why it is not realistic
to expect all the issues to be solved before September 11. Undoubtedly
certain work has already been done and many tough issues are in the
process of settlement.

But even in case of the most perfect conditions it is not possible
to do everything immediately.

I strongly believe our European partners will take this into
consideration on September 11 and will try to be impartial in their
estimations.’

"What expectations do you have from the works of NA temporary
committee, if we take into consideration that PACE officials follow
the process of the court procedures linked with March 1 developments?"

"The precautionary measure of many detainees has been changed. Many of
them got softer punishments. Not only is it too early to draw complete
and total conclusions, but we also lack sufficient facts. The thing
is the volume of the cases at inquest and trial stage is too big. And
it is only after the investigation of those cases that we can get a
general idea, understand and make well-grounded conclusions.

All the members of NA temporary committee are consistent. In my view
the judicial and legal bodies work by the same principle, which is,
not to accuse anyone of political standpoints or activity. To avoid
emotional assessments is one of our priorities. There can be no
speculations. And it is only after the clarification of the whole
picture of March 1-2 events that the temporary committee can have
the right to give its political assessment to what happened.

The most important thing is that there is political will and the
authorities are in the process of gradual settlement of the issues,
because our country and our people need this."

"Can the monitoring committee assess the process of the implementation
of the resolution not substantially but in the context of political
approaches, because they intentionally overlook the fact that
opposition doesn’t perform the proposals addressed to them?"

"I don’t think the announcements heard from the tribune of the
Council of European will contradict their own principles. Though
there are cases of applying double standards. I hope there will be
no situational or political solutions on September 11."

DECISIONS NOT TO BE MADE EASILY

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Aug 2008
Armenia

"We, the leaders of the two countries, have reached the stage of making
decisions. And those decisions will not be made easily. They will not
be unanimously approved by the Armenian and Turkish societies. But
I am sure that the positive decisions will receive support by the
major part of those societies.

By saying that I don’t mean the efforts of the diplomats; what I mean
is the general atmosphere. Mr. Gyul’s congratulatory message, Mr.

Erdoghan’s words, my invitation addressed to Mr. Erdoghan and even
this interview with you form part of that atmosphere.

In this respect, I do believe that we have really reached the stage
of making decisions," President SERGE SARGSYAN said in an interview
to the Turkish "Radical" newspaper.

THE SITUATION BEING SETTLED

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Aug 2008
Armenia

The transportation of the goods from Yerevan to Georgia has been
significantly settled. This is the announcement by which Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan came out during the government session.

"Unfortunately our rivals were trying to gain political dividends even
in this situation, making comparisons with the past, which is really
ridiculous. They were saying that they managed to lead this country
perfectly in the state of emergency, saying that this government
can’t control even petrol price, which is 1000 dram a liter.

On the other hand they give lots of advice, they dictate us how we
should lead the country. Similar situation is really regrettable."

GUARDS GETTING READY

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Aug 2008
Armenia

By the time Turkish officials keep silence about the decision of the
Turkish President to accept or not the invitation made by President
Serge Sargsyan to watch the football match between the national
representative teams of the two countries in Yerevan, Gyul’s personal
guards are getting ready for their yerevan mission.

According to Turkish "Today’s zaman" they have planned to send a
group of 15 to Armenia at the end of the week.

EQUAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Aug 2008
Armenia

"After all our political opposition didn’t meet the special demands of
PACE resolution, didn’t recognize the election returns confirmed by the
decision of the Constitutional Court. They refused to participate in
the works of NA temporary committee, and the proposals of dialogue. The
political program of the opposition is to boycott all the constructive
ways leading to stability.

But we shouldn’t forget that not Armenian government but the Republic
of Armenia is the member of the Council of Europe. That is why both
the ruling power and the opposition are equally responsible for the
implementation of PACE resolution," Naira Zohrabyan said.

WELL ELABORATED TECHNOLOGY

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
29 Aug 2008
Armenia

According to Aharon Adibekyan: "March 1 developments displayed that
the authorities didn’t orient themselves in the right way. Had they
closed the question immediately March 1 would never happen. But
they overlooked it and the "peaceful demonstrators" turned into an
uncontrolled crowd and no one shoulders responsibility for that. That
is why the organizers demarcated themselves from what happened, saying
that they were holding a peaceful demonstration, but the ruling power
made the people furious. It is a well-elaborated technology. There
are certain groups that inflict provocations and they can force the
police to take cruel measures."

50th ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDATION OF "KHOSROV FOREST" PRESERVE TO BE CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Noyan Tapan

Au g 29, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The 50th anniversary of foundation
of "Khosrov Forest" Preserve will be celebrated on September 13. The
director of the preserve Samvel Shaboyan said at the August 28 press
conference that a number of events will be held in this connection:
the preserve’s tourism center in Garni site will open on September 9,
and the opening ceremony of a museum in the administrative building
of the preserve will take place on September 13.

According to him, the Kosrov preserve was founded with the aim
of preserving the animal and plant world and ensuring the natural
reproduction. The preserve currently occupies a 29,196 ha area in
Ararat marz. There are 1,849 vascular plants species in the preserve,
80 of which are included in Armenia’s Red Book, as well as 283 animal
species, including wolf, lynx, and such animals included in the Red
Book as brown bear, bezoar goat, Armenian moufflon and Caucasian
leopard.

Speaking about the recent press publications that there was allegedly
a fire in the preserve, A. Shaboyan said that the fire broke out
2-3 km from the forest, near Karmir Sar. In his words, the fire was
caused by a thunder-storm on August 21. He said that 300-400 people
took part in the work to put our the fire and this work lasted 4
days. "Everything possible was done to prevent fire from reaching
the preserve boundaries, and we succeeded," he stated.

TAJIKISTAN TO LET RUSSIAN MILITARY USE AIRPORT – MEDVEDEV

RIA Novosti
21:36 | 29/ 08/ 2008

DUSHANBE, August 29 (RIA Novosti) – Tajikistan has agreed to allow
the Russian military to use an airport in the western city of Gissar,
Russia’s president said on Friday.

Dmitry Medvedev said after a meeting with his Tajik counterpart,
Emomali Rakhmon, that the two leaders had agreed that the Gissar
airfield, located around 20 km west of the capital Dushanbe, would
be used by the Russian Defense Ministry.

"Russia will also complete the construction of some partially-built
facilities," he said.

The meeting, which followed a two-day summit of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization recently held in the Tajik capital, is also
reported to have resulted in a joint statement on further expansion
of military ties between the two countries.

Russia and Tajikistan are members of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) also comprising Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan, and Belarus.

The post-Soviet security alliance is scheduled to meet on September 5,
where the parties are widely expected to work out a joint position
on the latest conflict.

VTB ARMENIA BANK HELPS NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DETAIN CRIMINALS

ARKA
Aug 29, 2008

YEREVAN, August 29. /ARKA/. The VTB (Armenia) Bank helped Wednesday
Armenia’s National Security Council detain a criminal ring involving
three Romanians and a Latvian who had used counterfeit plastic cards,
the bank’s press service reports.

The criminals, who had cashed over 80mln drams though local ATMs,
were arrested on Nalbandyan 46 Street on August 27.

The VTB (Armenia) Bank helped the Security Council get the track of
the criminals.