Month: October 2008

ARMENIAN PREMIER SAYS AGREEMENT REACHED WITH WORLD BANK ON FINANCIAL AID

Public Television of Armenia
October 16, 2008 Thursday

[Presenter] Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan today summed up the
results of his working visit to the United States. Sargsyan attached
importance to his meetings with [US] Vice-President Dick Cheney,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Enhanced Coverage LinkingSecretary
of State Condoleezza -Search using: Biographies Plus News News,
Most Recent 60 Days Rice as well as his meetings at the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund.

[Passage omitted: presenter says that Sargsyan discussed Armenian-US
cooperation, Armenian-Turkish relations, the Karabakh conflict and
the Millennium Challenge Account projects]

At the World Bank, Sargsyan put forward Armenia’s efforts to improve
the country’s financial stability.

[Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan] One of the most important agreements
was that while paying great attention to small and medium-sized
businesses, we will also receive financial possibilities from the
World Bank to significantly increase the loan capacities that would
be directed to small and medium-sized businesses. This is of great
importance in terms of stable economic growth, in terms of new jobs,
as well as in terms of raising our country’s financial security.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PREMIER DISCUSSES TURKISH TIES, KARABAKH WITH USA’S RICE

Mediamax
October 16, 2008 Thursday
Armenia

Yerevan, 16 October: U.S. Administration attaches importance to
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan stated in Yerevan today.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today
[16 October] following the results of his visit to Washington, Armenian
Prime Minister stated that during his meeting with U.S. Vice-President
Richard Cheney and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they
discussed the prospects of continuing the "football diplomacy"
between Armenia and Turkey.

Besides, the Prime Minister noted that they also discussed the
prospects of Karabakh conflict settlement. According to Tigran
Sargsyan, Head of U.S. Diplomacy stressed that OSCE Minsk Group
remains the most efficient format for the settlement. U.S Secretary
of State also expressed hope that after the presidential election in
Azerbaijan, it will become possible to mark serious progress in the
negotiation process, Tigran Sargsyan stated

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION SUSPENDS PROTEST RALLIES – TER-PETROSYAN

Interfax
Oct 17 2008
Russia

The Armenian opposition is temporarily suspending mass protest rallies
for 2-3 months, said opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

"We are suspending mass protest rallies for a period of 2-3 months,
but it doesn’t mean we will not act again," Ter-Petrosyan said at a
rally on Friday.

"This decision was taken due to a threat to Armenia’s statehood
and also the situation with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and Armenia’s foreign policy," he said.

"I said that, in the event of a threat to Nagorny Karabakh, I
will call on all my supporters to suspend their fight and unite to
deal with the threat faced by Karabakh. It’s an extremely important
decision. You must realize that I must have had good reasons to make
such a decision," said Ter-Petrosyan.

"The activity of the opposition movement will weaken the position of
President Serzh Sargsyan and will at the same time increase pressure
from the West. Consequently, the opposition may find itself being
a tool in the hands of the West. Several months down the road, you
will see that this decision was right," said Ter-Petrosyan.

Ter-Petrosyan also called on the Armenian parliament to recognize
the independence of Nagorny Karabakh.

EU STATES AND ARMENIA ENTERED NEW ERA OF COOPERATION

RIA Oreanda
Oct 17 2008
Russia

Yerevan. ">OREANDA-NEWS . October 17, 2008. RA Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan received a delegation led by Head of European Commission
Foreign Relations General Directorate Eneko Landaburu. The delegation
comprised Sesary Bardinsky who is responsible for Armenia with the
European agency, Victor Andres Maldonado, Head of South Caucasus and
Central Asia Department and Raul Lutzenberger, Head of EU Delegation
in Armenia.

Eneko Landaburu said that the EU States and South Caucasian countries
inclusive of Armenia have ushered in a new era of cooperation. The
Head of EC Foreign Relations General Directorate offered to build up
a new framework for multilateral collaboration well above maintaining
the ongoing ties of cooperation. Mr. Landaburu said to be confident
that the European Union and the Government of the Republic of Armenia
share in the same values and that a prompt shift to a new level of
relationship should to be made in order to push ahead on the path
of stability, democracy and progress. In turn, the head of the RA
government expressed determination not only to continue implementing
the standing agreements, but also to proceed to new proposals.

According to Eneko Landaburu, the European Union wishes to stand by
Armenia and other South Caucasian States during the modernization
process by establishing a dialog with Western Europe and South
Caucasus. The EU is prepared to assume a more active role in the
region as this is supposed to boost democracy in South Caucasus.

Next, the parties discussed the negative effect experienced by
Armenia’s economy due to the well-known standoff between Georgia
and Russia, as well as the eventual EU assistance in the light of
the arrangements reached with the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund.

In conclusion, the interlocutors touched upon regional security issues.

NOW THAT SOUTH OSSETIA AND ABKHAZIA GAINED SOVEREIGNTY, PROBLEM OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH WILL HAVE TO BE SETTLED TOO

DEFENSE and SECURITY
October 17, 2008 Friday
Russia

Professor Andrei Manoilo (Department of International Relations of the
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy): The situation with the
latent conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is moving toward settlement. On
the other hand, any attempt to force a solution now will immediately
foment hostilities. Should the United States or NATO decide to
intercede, it will probably create an armed conflict too. Moreover,
conflict areas on the Russian borders are quite convenient as
instruments of pressure. No wonder the conflict in South Ossetia was
provoked as soon as Moscow defied Washington on the matter of Iran.

Iran commands vast respect and wields a lot of clout with the region
in question, and particularly with Azerbaijan. What with the respect
Russia commands in Armenia, a coalition of Moscow with Tehran may
facilitate conflict settlement.

Turkey on the other hand had better stay away even though it is another
major player in the region. Unless Ankara found an acceptable form
of reconciliation with Yerevan, its interference would only worsen
things in general.

As for Russia, it should prevent settlement of the Azerbaijani-Armenian
discord by the United States or NATO. Besides, advancement of direct
economic and political contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan is in
Russia’s interests. It will make settlement of the conflict all the
more easier, you know.

US OFFICIAL HAILS ARMENIAN, TURKISH EFFORTS TO BUILD TIES

Mediamax
Oct 17 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 17 October: US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried
stated in Yerevan today that "we have never been as close as today
to constructive developments in Armenian-Turkish relations".

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a briefing in Yerevan today, the
US diplomat welcomed the decision of the Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan, who invited his Turkish counterpart to Yerevan in early
September, and the consent of the latter to visit the capital city
of Armenia.

US Assistant Secretary of State expressed hope for normalization
of Armenian-Turkish relations, which, according to him, will also
contribute to the settlement of Karabakh conflict.

Daniel Fried arrived in Yerevan this morning and held meetings with
the President and the Prime Minister of Armenia, the leaders of
oppositional Armenian National Congress. Tomorrow, he will leave
Yerevan for Tbilisi.

BBC TO HELP IMPROVE PUBLIC BROADCASTING IN ARMENIA – TV

Public Television of Armenia
Oct 17 2008

[Presenter] Three months ago, at the initiative of the OSCE and the
Board of Public TV and Radio, BBC experts visited [Public TV] Channel
One for five days to familiarize themselves with the work and staff
of Armenian Public TV. Today, they prepared a needs assessment report
which would be used as guidelines to help boost the quality of public
broadcasting in Armenia. After assessing the needs, the Britons would
send specialists next year to assist in writing an ethics code and
editorial guidelines and will participate in political talk shows
and the production of "Haylur" [news programme]. The expected changes
will be implemented on Channel One and Ararat Channel.

[Michael Randall, captioned as BBC World Service Head of Programmes,
CIS, in English, with Armenian voice-over] After studying Public TV
thoroughly, we saw that not only there is insufficiency of programmes
and films produced by the company but also there is a management
problem and a need for completely new programmes. This is a matter
of time, and we are ready to help you, we will prepare TV programmes
together.

[Armen Arzumanyan, Armenian Public TV executive director] The launch
of the Ararat Channel will give us a new opportunity to change that
conception. I mean for people to identify those two channels when
referring to Public TV, another four channels, for example, in 10
years, and to consider the accomplishment or non-accomplishment of
this mission of Public TV’s in its entirety.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN LEADER DISCUSSES WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES WITH US OFFICIAL – TV

Public Television of Armenia
Oct 17 2008

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan today met US Assistant Secretary
of State Daniel Fried.

Sargsyan said Armenia is interested in deepening relations with the USA
and considers them to be an important factor in strengthening economic
development, democracy and regional stability. The parties discussed
Armenian-US cooperation, prospects of development as well as regional
security, Armenian-Turkish relations, and the Karabakh settlement. They
described the talks in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group as the
most effective format. They also agreed that the settlement should
be based on the fundamental principles of international law.

They also discussed the possibilities to improve Armenian-Turkish
relations, the post-election developments in Armenia, the need for
an objective investigation into the 1 March events, and people in
custody. The strengthening of democratic institutions was deemed to
be crucial.

US DIPLOMAT PRAISES DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIA-NATO TIES

Mediamax
Oct 17 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 17 October: US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried
stated in Yerevan today that the US side positively assesses the
development of Armenia-NATO relations.

Speaking at a briefing in Yerevan today, the US diplomat noted that
at present there is a NATO exercise in progress in the territory
of Armenia.

"We believe that Armenia’s relations with NATO develop step by step,
and this is normal," Daniel Fried stated. According to him, Armenia
independently defines the depth of its relations with the alliance.

The US diplomat stated that his visit to Yerevan and Tbilisi aims at
confirming the support of the USA to independence and sovereignty of
the region’s countries and their right to independently define their
development paths.

ARMENIA: POLITICAL WILL NEEDED TO BOOST PUBLIC TV, SAYS BBC REPORT

OSCE website
Oct 17 2008
Austria

Text of press release published by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) website

Yerevan, 17 October 2008: Defining clear editorial lines, improving
mechanisms to measure audience needs, ceasing aggressive commercial
policies and strengthening current affairs programming are some of
the recommendations for Armenian public television in a report by
the BBC World Service Trust presented today in Yerevan.

The report, which was commissioned by the OSCE Office in Yerevan
with the aim of supporting further development of Armenia’s public
service broadcaster (PTV), is the result of a five-day needs assessment
conducted by the BBC World Service Trust in July.

"Public television should raise its ambitions in providing programming
of a broadly educational nature that would serve to the interests
of different groups of the community. It should end the practice
of airing programmes made by the government," said Michael Randall,
projects manager for Europe and CIS at the BBC World Service Trust.

"We believe there is vast potential for making PTV a leader in
its field and establish a blueprint for public service broadcasting
which could be replicated in countries across the region. However, we
also acknowledge that PTV’s ability to strengthen its public service
ethos relies heavily on political will and change in attitude at the
government level."

The report recommended a long-term consultancy programme, whereby
consultants will work with producers to support the development
of new programmes and with senior managers to reorganize working
methods. The BBC experts also emphasized the importance of identifying
clear objectives and measurable outcomes, with local civil society
organizations monitoring the impact of the training programme, based
upon agreed performance indicators.