Month: October 2008

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN ADDRESSES THE NATION AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

armradio.am
03.10.2008 13:40

RA President Serzh Sargsyan addressed the nation and the National
Assembly during the special session of the Parliament on October
2. The President stated, in part:

"Dear Deputies, Dear guests, Dear compatriots,

Our republic is entering a new phase of its history, where importance
is attached to the readiness of Armenia and our society to the
contemporary global challenges, the problems facing the country, the
realities of the new world and the capacity to resist those in case of
necessity. In this new period we witness serious changes both on the
geopolitical and regional levels. War just next to us, closed borders,
problems of outer communication, complex regional relations, clash
of interests of the super powers: this is the framework of realities
for Armenia today. Under these conditions we should solve issues of
growth, and not just survival. As a result of these transformations
the situation around us and inside our country is not as it was
before, but it does not mean that everything has turned upside down,
it does not mean that we should implement radical changes in all our
approaches. Just the opposite, today we can state the fact that over
years our country has learnt to stand firm on its feet even under
the conditions of most unprofitable foreign environment."

The President stated that competitiveness is the formula of our
success.

"In a short period of time we should essentially raise the
global competitiveness of Armenia. We should be able to raise the
competitiveness of branches of our economy, our companies, whole our
economy and human resources. We must be competitive. Ascending Armenia:
this should be our utmost objective."

Speaking about Armenia and the world, Serzh Sargsyan stated: "I think
the events around South Ossetia and the developments following those
sobered us up. Today it’s more than obvious that we are required
not only to clearly, pragmatically assess the events, but also take
consistent steps. We need stability in the country, unification of
strength and opportunities, new approaches and solutions.

"When did the Artsakhi war come to an end?" Let’s try to walk about
the cities and villages of Armenia and ask this question. Among
others, people will tell you that the war is not yet over. Yes, the
war will not be over, until the arms race comes to an end, until we
all congratulate the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh
for their willful decision and peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Let’s look around: the foreign threats have not reduced. But have we
completely sobered up after the latest events? I hope so. Sometimes,
I get an impression that the whole society has become a spectator
and a critic.

A few days ago I called on our Ambassadors to be diligent in properly
representing Armenia in international structures. But that’s not
enough.

There are about 10 million Armenians in the world. Therefore, Armenia
should have 10 million ambassadors. In the current information war
it’s our only counterbalance to oil dollars."

Referring to economic issues, President Sargsyan noted: "Time has come
for Armenia to implement large and daring initiatives. Such programs
do not only solve important strategic issues, but also have a broad
influence on the economy and the society: there create thousands of
new jobs, serve as reasons for the creation of different enterprises,
open new markets and encourage the development of science. Construction
of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is the best proof of the fact that
even the most daring objectives can become a reality in our country
due to consistent work and confidence in own power."

Concluding his speech, the President said we still have much to do:
develop our economy, reinforce our statehood, ensure our security. We
need our centuries-old values to reach all this.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA AND RUSSIA WELCOME ANY STEP TARGETED AT ENSURING SECURITY AND STABILITY IN THE CAUCASUS

armradio.am
03.10.2008 15:29

Armenia and Russia welcome any step targeted at ensuring security and
stability in the Caucasus region, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia
and Georgia Edward Nalbandian and Sergey Lavrov stated during a joint
press conference. According to eth Foreign Minister of Armenia,
the formation of an atmosphere of security, stability, trust and
cooperation lays in the basis of creation of the Caucasus Platform,
and no country can oppose that idea. However, issues of its functions,
mechanisms, the format of participants still need to be discussed.

According to Sergey Lavrov, Russia also backs the steps targeted
at maintaining a stable, calm and comfortable situation for the
cooperation in the economic, humanitarian and security spheres.

Turning to his the trilateral meeting between himself and his
Azerbaijani and Turkish counterparts, Edward Nalbandian noted that it
was positive just because it took place, but it was hard to expect
concrete results from the first meeting. During the meeting they
discussed the issue of the Caucasus Platform and expressed willingness
to continue the meetings in this and other formats.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MET THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA

armradio.am
03.10.2008 15:40

President Serzh Sargsyan today received the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

President Sargsyan appreciated the dynamically developing allied
relations and the strategic partnership between Armenia and Russia.

The interlocutors turned to the process of accomplishment of the
agreements reached during the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia
and Russia in Sochi.

The parties spoke about the latest developments in the Caucasus region,
the efforts applied in the direction of ensuring security and stability
in the region and the process of resolution of the Karabakh issue.

A WINDOW OPENED FOR ARMENIA
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Oct 2008
Armenia

Hurry Up Until It Closes

Yesterday ex Foreign Minister, founder of "Sivilitas" fund Vardan
Oskanyan convened a press conference devoted to the establishment
of the organization and he willingly introduced their mission and
future plans.

We Must Be Vigilant In Our Relations With Turkey

The journalists naturally asked about the attitude of the ex Foreign
Minister towards the recent Armenian-Turkish relations.

"For me there is one criterion for the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations, which is – the opening of the border or at
least the operation of the railway. There is no other criterion. If
during the coming months none of them comes true I will say that
Turkey perfectly speculated its chance.

And if the border opens during the coming months or the railway
operates we can say that Gyul’s invitation to Yerevan was the right
decision," Vardan Oskanyan said.

Touching upon the trilateral meeting between the Foreign Ministers
of Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, which took place in New York,
and Turkey’s mediation affectations the ex Foreign Minister said:
"Of course Turkey wants to appear as a mediator. It will definitely
make Turkey’s reputation in the region higher. But as far as I
understood the agenda included regional issues and Turkey’s init
iative towards Caucasus.

Actually in my view at the moment Turkey doesn’t have any role in
those negotiations because the border is still closed and the railway
doesn’t operate and Turkey appears as a party in that conflict.

In such circumstances Turkey doesn’t have anything to do and Armenia’s
diplomacy must do its best to firstly prevent Turkey from similar
involvement and creating an opinion in the whole world that it is
in the role of a mediator, because Turkey doesn’t have the right for
similar role."

As regards the expediency to set up a joint committee of Armenian and
Turkish historians Vardan Oskanyan said: "Any step that can somehow
cast doubt on the fact of the Genocide is unacceptable. In this issue
we must really be very vigilant."

The ex Foreign Minister didn’t exclude that the direct participants
of the "football diplomacy" the President and the Foreign Minister
know more than the public does: "Maybe Turkey gave certain guarantees
regarding the opening of the border. Otherwise for me it is a bit
strange to hear the announcement made by the President saying that we
don’t have any land demands from Turkey and we are ready to discuss
any issue. So the thing that the Turks wanted from us we have already
given to them and the thing that we want from Turkey we haven’t yet
taken from them."

Gyul’s announcement saying that until Armenia returns the "occupied
territories" to Azerbaijan, Armenian-Turkish border won’t open,
indirectly displays that Turkey can’t change its harsh attitude
towards Armenia and will continue to speak with us in the language
of ultimatums.

Vardan Oskanyan also touched upon the tensed internal political
situation that has been established in Armenia after March 1. "Both
the ruling power and the opposition must do their best to mitigate
the created tension and in general to annihilate it. In my view the
authorities must take steps linked with the detained. I’m glad to
hear that the President is going to deliver a speech in the National
Assembly and that there is a possibility of amnesty."

"By solving this entangled string can Armenia essentially raise its
reputation in the region?"

"I must record that we shouldn’t lose this moment because actually
a window has been opened for Armenia to put its reputation on its
real place.

We have lost lots of things after March 1 developments and today we
have a very good chance. Actually we are already late but the window
is still open."

But this doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t give legal assessment to what
has happened. "March 1 is one of the black pages of our history. We
must be able to turn that page. But in order to turn it we must give
right assessment and move forward."0D

GYUMRI – AKHALKALAKI – BATUMI HIGHAY: BENEFITS AND FURTHER PROSPECTS
Vardan Grigoryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Oct 2008
Armenia

During President Serge Sargsyan’s visit to Georgia, an agreement was
reached for the reconstruction and modernization of the mountainous
highway extending from Javahk to Ajaria over the territory of
Akhaltskhe. Let’s note that this highway which has a strategic
importance for Armenia.

As we know, Batumi lies at a distance of just 330 kilometers from the
Armenian border, but the Ajarian section of the highway extending
along the Georgian-Turkish border and reaching Batumi via the
territory of Samtskhe-Javakhetti becomes impassable during the winter
months. Starting its way from Akhaltskhe, a road junction which plays
a crucial role in the region, it passes across the region of Adigen,
then continues its way to the settlements of Khoulo and Shouakhev,
(mountainous Ajaria) and finally reaches Batumi.

However, despite the difficulties related to the locality, this
significantly reduces the distance between Armenia and that Georgian
sea gate which has, up to date, communicated with Armenia via the
Sadakhlo – Tbilisi – Batumi railroad.

As shown by the Russian-Georgia armed conflict, neither the highway
extending to Western Georgia and Ajaria via the territories of
Gori and Khashuri nor the parallel railway are reliable enough
for being considered roads of int erstate importance. The border
of South Ossetia lies at a very short distance from here. Besides,
the groups of international observers are going to be deployed along
the Georgian-Ossetian border, more specifically, in the section of
the highway lying at a short distance from Gori.

It’s clear that in such conditions not only Georgia but also our
country may become faced with a lot of "unpleasant surprises"
in future.

Such surprises may become perilous, especially during the winter
months, because in case of the closure of the highway or railway, it
will no longer be possible to use any well-constructed road opening
its way to the Black Sea.

The thing is that it very often becomes necessary to use either of
the routes leading to Khoulo-Shoulakhev or Khashouri in order to
continue the way to Potti or Batumi from the well-constructed highway
extending to Akhaktskhe. Using the former route will become dangerous
in case of new complications in the political-military situation in
the region. And the latter route, as we already mentioned, becomes
almost impassable in winter.

Hence, the modern and well-constructed road extending from Javahk
to Ajaria may essentially neutralize the impending risks to Armenia
and become the second overland corridor for our country. That’s why,
relevant programs aimed at constructing a railroad in this direction
were elaborated even in the Soviet times, but the Georgian Gove
rnment was against their implementation. A similar program aimed at
modernizing the highway was also meeting with the resistance of the
independent Georgian government for several years.

After Georgia’s gaining independence, the authorities in Javahk
were very weak. As to Aslan Abashidze’s government formed in Ajaria,
it didn’t actually comply with Tbilisi’s demands. That’s why Z.

Gamsakhourdia, the first President of Georgia, would respond to the
proposals of the Armenian side by saying, "Georgia is not a passable
yard," a statement which had already become a kind of winged expression
in that period.

However, the situation began to change after the de facto establishment
of the Georgian rule in Ajaria, and especially, after the recent
Russian-Georgian armed conflict. The issue of having a modern and
permanently operating Gyumri -Akhalkalaki – Batumi highway, a project
proposed by Armenian side in the past, acquired a vital importance
for Georgia.

This is obviously conditioned by the new geopolitical realities in
the region, i.e. the fact that the highway linking Tbilisi with the
Georgian ports of the Black Sea extends along the Georgian-Ossetian
border.

In such conditions it becomes quite clear why Georgia spends 170
million US Dollars on the construction of the highways linking Tbilisi
with Javahk and simultaneously offers the Armenian side to set up
a joint consortium and acq uire relevant means within a period of 2
months for the modernization of the highway linking Ajaria with the
region of Samtskhe-Javakhetti.

Thus, the present-day geopolitical developments urge Georgia to have
an alternative road opening its way to the Black Sea, something that
Armenia, its neighboring country, has badly needed for a long time. But
no matter how much this desire may be dictated by the new situation in
and around Georgia, it is necessary to bear in mind that the operation
of such road will create real opportunities for Armenia to carry out
freight transportations to Batumi in a very short period of time.

Moreover, before reaching Batumi, a port situated at a distance of
330 kilometers from the Armenian border, the road will pass over
Armenian-populated areas, as well as Akhaltskhe which serves as a
kind of borderline between Turkey and Russia. Besides, the existence
of such road may completely rid Armenia of the load of the tangled
road junction of Tbilisi as well as the negative impact of the new
war in the region.

The recent Russian-Georgian conflict which caused a great harm to
Armenia and brought about the loss of the Georgian control over some
territories has also created new transport-communication opportunities
for our country.

The second corridor passing via Georgia and reaching the Black Sea
can become one of the tools for counterbalancing the unilateral
penetration of the Turks int o the region of Samtskhe-Javakhetti and
improving the economic situation in region.

By this, Samtskhe-Javakhetti may become one of the regions in which
the interests of Armenia and Georgia intersect, as well as serve as
a junction linking the two countries with the outside world through
Batumi, a port situated on the coast of the Black Sea. Therefore,
instead of leading to the intersection of the Turkish-Georgian
interests, Ajaria will become an important place for the economic
cooperation of three countries at once.

LIFE IS NOT ONLY OPPOSITION-RULING POWER STRUGGLE
Naira Khachatryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Oct 2008
Armenia

Leader of the United Labor Party Gurgen Arsenyan was the guest of
"Urbat" club yesterday.

Most of the questions were linked with the activity of the NA temporary
committee investigating March 1-2 developments. It turned out that G.

Arsenyan has certain questions the answers to which he hasn’t yet
received.

"My questions were linked with the events following the morning
developments. The police informed us about the instructions they got
after the morning developments. These instructions gave ground to
certain questions.

According to the version received from the police beginning from
10.00 a.m. the chief police officers have realized mobilization
of forces. So, a question arises here, "Why did they take that
decision?" in case when they received information regarding people’s
accumulation only at 11.00 a.m.

This is my personal standpoint, which hasn’t yet been discussed in
the session of the committee.

He said clear inter-party conflicts form the bases of the change
of the NA Speaker: "RPA is still a ruling party and they shoulder
responsibility.

Any party that shoulders certain responsibility has the right to
decide whom to appoint in this or that position. It is their internal
problem and the hullabaloo and the responses don’t coincide with the
forma t of what happened."

As regards the internal political situation, G. Arsenyan believes all
the issues can be solved by a dialogue: "A situation has been created,
where the citizens of Armenia who are divided into pro-oppositional
and pro-governmental don’t listen to one another. The issue of a
dialogue has ripened. We must find the key. Even if it has negative
results. In this question I would like to address the ruling power
because their resources are bigger.

On the other hand some try to introduce the situation created in
the country as black and white. It is very boring because life is
going on and it has different colors. Millions of people live in our
country and we shouldn’t ignore them, saying "either this side or
that side"…"if we come to power everything will be ok"…etc."

The attitude of the speaker towards the visit of the Turkish president
to Armenia is positive: "Any event that gives possibility to mitigate
the tension between Armenian-Turkish relations and to raise the
degree of cooperation is welcomed. I also welcome the initiative of
the country’s President to bring the process of the settlement of
Karabakh conflict to a productive stage. I welcome him on behalf of
the United Labor Party and on my behalf, personally.

The recent Russian-Georgian developments demonstrated the necessity
of establishing communication, economic and20political relations
with Turkey, because our economy could be paralyzed, had the Georgian
conflict lasted 10 more days. Based on Armenia’s vital interests we
must firstly settle our relations with Turkey."

ARMENIA – INTERESTED IN COOPERATION

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Oct 2008
Armenia

"By cooperating with the authorities of Georgia, Armenia is ready
to assist the Georgian-Armenians in strengthening their schools and
media, public organizations and churches. We must do all our best for
the Georgian-Armenians not only to live with the achievements of the
past but also have a stable present and steady prospects for future,"
President Serge Sargsyan mentioned yesterday during the meeting with
more than 200 representatives of the Georgian-Armenian community at
the end of his official visit to Georgia. The meeting was organized
in the hall of "Marriot Courtyard" hotel, Tbilisi.

"The interrelations of our compatriots will bear a more organized
nature, and the Ministry of Diaspora which is going to be established
in the near future will greatly contribute to that. The Republic of
Armenia hereafter plays a great role in the solution of the problems of
the Diaspora. And the Armenia-Diaspora cooperation will be hereafter
based upon the following new principle: with the compatriots – to
the benefit of the compatriots," the President said.

RIGHT ATTITUDE

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Oct 2008
Armenia

As stated by Prime Minister TIGRAN SARSYAN, the executive will respond
to all the media publications that reveal the existing problems in
different spheres and more or less correspond to the reality.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister also said that no response will be made
to those publications of the yellow press which simply pursue a goal
of compromising the members of the Government. "Clearly, if we start
responding to the articles published by such media, we will only raise
their rating. That will not happen. To touch upon the publications of
the yellow press means to establish a bad precedent. And in general,
any statesman and a politician who respects himself should never read
yellow press publications. There is one form of fight against the
yellow press: not to show interest in it," T. Sargsyan is convinced.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WHEN TO USE THE POWERFUL WEAPON

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Oct 2008
Armenia

"The recognition of the independence of Karabakh should always be in
the arsenal of our diplomacy. And we should periodically remind both
Azerbaijan and the international community about this.

Besides, the weapon should be used at the right moment. Regardless
the developments in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, that moment has
not yet arrived for Karabakh," ex-Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
is convinced.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ONE PERSON DETAINED AND TWO – ARRESTED

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Oct 2008
Armenia

Two more individuals have been arrested in connection with the
incident that occurred in "Odnoklasnik" café, resulting in the death
of Andranik Babayan. The arrested individuals are Sahak Azibekyan
(aged 40) and Samvel Alikhanyan, (aged 44).

At the present moment, there is one individual detained and two
others – arrested in connection with the above-mentioned incident
which occurred on September the 20th. The detainee is Armen Sargsyan
who confessed to his guilt at the police station of "Kentron" district.

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