Month: October 2008

SERZH SARGSYAN WILL RECEIVE SERGEY LAVROV

A1+
[01:59 pm] 02 October, 2008

President Serzh Sargsyan will receive Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov, who will be in Armenia on the 2nd and 3rd of October with the
invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan, as stated
in the press release of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two ministers will discuss issues concerning federal relations and
strategic cooperation. On the sidelines of the bilateral political
dialogue, Lavrov and Nalbandyan will particularly touch upon refer
to the fulfillment of agreements made during the meeting of Armenian
and Russian presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitri Medvedev.

The sides will also touch upon the Nagorno-Karabagh peace process
and the latest events that took place in the region. At the end of
the meeting the ministers of both countries will hold a joint press
conference.

NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE REVEALED SECRET RECORDING

Panorama.am
20:07 01/10/2008

The National Security Service of Armenia has revealed cases of secret
recording of citizens’.

According to the Service, 43 year old Rozik Harutyunyan hired in
"Beeline" company of Masis region abused her positions and made secret
telephone recordings.

Based on the material of the Service, criminal case is preceded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH GRAPE IN ARMENIA

Panorama.am
20:07 01/10/2008

Today Argentinean Armenian businessman Eduardo Ernekyan received
guests in his "Fruitful Armenia" organization located in Baghramyan
region. The visit has been organized in the frames of "Agro forum
3" and Fruitful Armenia 4th international conference, said Vahagn
Martirosyan, the head of information and public relations department
of the Ministry of Agriculture to Panorama.am.

According to the source "Fruitful Armenia" has 2300 is hectares
large. The virgin land has been processed by modern equipments and
more than 200hec grape fields are landed. Mr. Martirosyan said that
14 types of French grape is planted there.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRIME MINISTER ASSURES GUILTY TO BE PUNISHED

Panorama.am
20:08 01/10/2008

"Together with the President of Supervisory Committee we examine all
the materials, facts, and reports and reveal all the violations,"
said the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan answering to NA
Deputy Anahit Bakhshyan’s request on the examinations of the Committee.

The Prime Minister said that the facts are not only revealed but they
examine issues of personal responsibility. "If officials are guilty,
they should be responsible towards public. We must be sure in order
people are not announced guilty for other’s mistakes," said the
Prime Minister.

MONITORING COMMITTEE CONCERNED ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOLUTIONS 1609 AND 1620 BY ARMENIA

Panorama.am
2:50 02/10/2008

The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly received the
report from the Human Rights Commissioner regarding his visit to
Yerevan from 13 to 15 July 2008 and was extremely alarmed about its
findings and conclusions that show that only limited progress has been
achieved regarding key demands of the Assembly. The Committee therefore
invited the Human Rights Commissioner to return to Yerevan and report
back to the Committee at its meeting in Paris on 17 December 2008.

The Committee took note that, while the investigations regarding
persons in preventive detention have now closed, the cases against
seven, all charged under articles 300 and 225, have not yet
been brought before the courts as a result of excessive length of
investigation. In addition, the Committee is deeply concerned that the
investigations regarding the responsibility for the 10 deaths on 1 and
2 March have not yet been, or not yet on the point of being, concluded.

The Committee regrets that the Armenian authorities did not consider
the possibility of amnesty, pardons or any other legal means available
to them, to resolve the situation regarding persons deprived of their
liberty in relation to the events on 1 and 2 March 2008. It strongly
urges the authorities to consider such options, which would result
in major progress towards meeting the requirements of the Assembly.

The Committee is of the view that Armenia is on a threshold regarding
the implementation of Resolutions 1609 and 1620. Now is the time
for the Armenian authorities to show the political will to resolve
this problem.

U.S. AMBASSADOR: ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS AND KARABAKH CONFLICT TO BE SETTLED SOON

PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.10.2008 15:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian-Turkish relations and Karabakh conflict
will be settled in the near future for the glory of the Armenian
people and the entire region, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia said.

"The U.S. welcomes all regional initiatives meant for stability and
economic welfare. My duty is to spare no effort for implementation of
our plans," Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said during her first-ever
news conference in Yerevan today.

"Ambassador is any state is a person who enjoys the confidence of the
President and I will work to justify this confidence. As to possible
change of Ambassador after the November presidential election, it’s
premature to speak of it yet," she said.

The new Ambassador arrived in Armenia on September 17. The position has
been vacant since John Evans was recalled over his public recognition
of the Armenian Genocide. The nomination of Marie Yovanovitch was
approved by the Senate in August 2008.

PEACE IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH A CONDITION FOR ARMENIA’S PARTICIPATION IN NABUCCO PIPELINE

AsiaNews.it
10/02/2008 12:39
Italy

AZERBAIJAN – TURKEY – ARMENIA

If Armenia is more "flexible", and reaches an agreement with
Azerbaijan, it could be involved in the pipeline that Europe wants
to lay from the Caspian Sea to Austria. Turkey is highly active,
interested in increasing trade in the southern Caucasus.

Baku (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Hopes are rising for an agreement by 2008
on the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, after the meeting of delegates from
Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia in New York on September 26. Although
there have been no immediate results, there is growing speculation that
Ankara and Baku are offering Armenia the possibility of participating
in the Nabucco oil pipeline, if the conflict can be stopped.

Until now, Armenia has insisted on the independence of the region,
most of the inhabitants of which are Armenian. But in November of
2007, mediators between the two countries proposed ending the conflict
immediately and delaying a decision on the status of the area until
a future referendum.

Elhan Shahinoglu, director of the Atlas political research center,
tells the news agency Eurasianet that Azerbaijan can accept Armenian
participation in Nabucco if the country is "fairly flexible" about
Karabakh. This view is shared by the Turkish analyst Sinan Ogan, who
on September 19 told the radio network Voice of America, immediately
after U.S. vice president Dick Cheney’s visit to Baku, that there
is "serious conjecture about involving Armenia in the project":
although Turkey and Azerbaijan "were against this at the beginning,
the participation of Armenia now seems possible".

Turkish president Abdullah Gul, while repeating that Armenia must
liberate as soon possible the Azerbaijani territory occupied after
the war that ended in 1994, said on September 10 that this "would
encourage very efficient economic cooperation in the region. Pipelines
and transport communications would cover the entire Caucasus region".

The European Union is sponsoring the Nabucco oil pipeline project,
from Baku on the Caspian Sea through Georgia and Turkey, continuing to
Austria, to transport energy from central Asia while bypassing Russia.

The situation has become more complicated following the war in Georgia,
and the cooling of relations between the United States and Russia,
both of which are highly interested in the future status of the
southern Caucasus. Experts maintain that Moscow is not in favor of
a rapid solution of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, which would
favor the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, and
could involve Yerevan in the Nabucco project. But the experience of
Georgia is prompting the sides to seek a rapid solution. This could
emerge immediately after the presidential election in Azerbaijan on
October 15, which all believe that current president Ilham Aliyev
will win.

HRANUSH HAKOBYAN APPOINTED MINISTER OF DIASPORA

armradio.am
02.10.2008 14:24

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on dismissing
Hranush Hakobyan from the position of the President of the Diaspora
Ties Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to another presidential decree, Hranush Hakobyan was
appointed Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia.

Hranush Hakobyan was born on April 12, 1954 in the village of Sarukhan
of Kamo region (now Gavar).

In 1975 she graduated from the Department of Applied Mathematics of
Yerevan State University, in 1989 – the Academy of Public Sciences
affiliated with Moscow USSR Central Committee, in 1994 – the Law
Department. She is a specialist on mathematics, law and politology,
Doctor of Law.

In 1975-1983 she worked as a lecturer-assistant at Yerevan State
University (YSU). In 1978-1983 she was elected as a deputy secretary,
then secretary of YSU LCYU. In 1983-1985 she was the secretary of
the LCYU Central Committee.

In 1985-1990 she led the Armenian Youth Organisation. She was member
of Bureau of the All-Union LCYU Central Committee Bureau /Moscow/.

In 1986-1990 she was a deputy in the Armenian SSR Supreme Council
and was a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Council.

In 1990-1995 she was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council
(electoral district # 203). She worked as a Deputy Chairperson of NA
Standing Committee on Health Care and Social Affairs.

In 1995-1996 she was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly
(electoral district # 121). She was Chairperson of the NA Standing
Committee on Social Affairs, Health Care and Environment. She was a
member of Hanrapetutiun/Republic faction.

In 1995-1997 she was Deputy Chairperson of the Commonwealth Independent
States Inter-Parliamentary Union (CIS IPU), from 1996 – member of
the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

In 1996-1998 she was appointed Minister of Social Security of the
Republic of Armenia.

In 1999-2003 she was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly by
majoritarian electoral system (electoral district # 41). She was a
member of NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations. She was also
the secretary of the People’s Deputy Parliamentary Group.

In 2003-2007 she was a deputy of the National Assembly (electoral
district # 32). She was the Chairperson of NA Standing Committee
on Science, Education, Culture and Youth, member of RPA Faction. In
2003 she was the head of the delegation of the National Assembly to
the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a member of the Coordinating
Committee of Women Parliamentarians in the IPU.

On May 12, 2007 she was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia by proportional electoral system from the
Republican Party of Armenia.

On June 7, 2007 she was elected as Chairperson of the NA Standing
Committee on Science, Edu cation, Culture, Youth and Sport.

On June 27, 2008 she was appointed President of the Diaspora Ties of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She is a member of the boards of Yerevan State University, Yerevan
V. Brusov Lingistic University and Gavar State University.

In 1998 she defended her candidate, and in 2006 her doctoral
theses. She is a professor of Gavar State University.

She teaches at Gavar State University and at the Academy of State
Management of the Republic of Armenia. She is an author of 4 books
and more than 40 scientific articles.

She is the President of the Armenian Women’s International Association,
Co-Chairperson of the Women’s Health Preservation Association. She
is a trustee of the foundations Yerevan, Cambridge-Yerevan, Armenian
Orphanages.

She is a Co-Chairperson of the Trustees’ Board of the Armenian-American
Health Center.

She has been awarded an order of People’s Friendship, numerous
diplomas, acknowledgement letters and medals. She has been named the
woman of the year, Deputy of the year and politician of the year.

Recently she was granted the title of the Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN RECEIVED THE GOVERNOR OF ROSTOV REGION

armradio.am
02.10.2008 14:35

President Serzh Sargsyan today received the Governor of Rostov region
Vladimir Chub, President’s Press Office reported.

The interlocutors attached importance to the further development
of ties on the level of separate administrative units of the two
countries and noted that it creates a good basis for the reinforcement
of interstate relations.

The parties specially underlined the role of the Armenian community,
which is a unique bridge between the parties.

ARMENIANS CULTIVATING NARCOTIC PLANTS IN THE OCCUPIED LANDS OF KHOJAVEND

Today.Az
02 October 2008 [14:42]
Azerbaijan

Armenian separatists occupied the Khojavend region of Azerbaijan on
October 2 of 1992, reports Day.Az with reference to the Ministry of
Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan.

Khojavend covers an area of 145,647 hectares. This region is rich in
lame reserves, making 989,000 tons.

Armenian occupants have cut oaks, terminated natural woods on the
Khojashin river bank in the Khojavend forest at an area of 25.5
hectares.

In the occupied Khojavend, Armenians cultivate narcotic plants, which
are further supplied to different countries. Armenians systematically
commit arsons, affecting the flora and fauna and the woods are exported
to Armenia and other countries.

Reports say that Armenians purposely terminate our national wealth
in the said territory, destroy the natural and historical memorials,
ignoring the demands of international conventions.