Month: December 2008

NOVELTIES AND SURPRISES EXPECTED IN SPHERE OF ARMENIAN JAZZ IN 2009

Noyan Tapan

Dec 26, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The interesting and various jazz
events and concert programs continuing for a year were concluded
on December 26 by a brief press conference on the results of the
Armenian Jazz-70 jubilee events. Armenian Jazz-70 jubilee steering
committee’s members are convinced that though the jubilee year
finishes, interesting novelties and surprises are expected in the
sphere of Armenian jazz next year as well.

According to Ruben Jaghinian, the General Producer of Armenian Jazz-70,
DVDs of jubilee concerts will be released at the very start of 2009,
the work History of Armenian Jazz by Armen Tutunjian will be published,
where the birth and history of Armenian jazz will be presented in
detail. Besides, two jubilee films dedicated to the 70th anniversary
of jazz will be shot, one of which will present jubilee year’s events
and the other the history of Armenian jazz.

According to R. Jaghinian, next year also Armenian Jazz-70 steering
committee will organize interesting concert programs with many
surprises.

The General Producer is convinced that this jubilee year was
interesting not only for Armenians, but also for foreigners, as
people, who had never heard about the Armenian people, arrived in
Armenia within the framework of the concerts.

Pianist Levon Malkhasian added that though the jubilee year of Armenian
jazz finished, "nevertheless the things to be done in the jazz sphere
are not finished by that. It should continue developing and achieve
new heights with new names and works."

CIVILITAS FOUNDATION REPORT ON CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITY IN ARMENIA

Lragir.am
17:27:11 – 26/12/2008

On December 26 the Civilitas Foundation presented its first annual
report on Armenia in the context of internal and external events in
2008. The president of the foundation and the former foreign minister
of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan said the report is a hookup of analysis,
conclusions, observations and recommendations by about twenty
co-authors who made an overview of Armenia from the inside. This is
the purpose of the report which is going to be annual. The authors
of the report think that besides the reports by foreign organizations
and experts we need an overview from the inside to evaluate our lives
and outline the ways of development. In this sense, the initiative
of Civilitas is unprecedented.

The report entitled Crisis and Opportunity, which covers global
and regional events, the internal political situation and economy
in Armenia, was presented today at the Yerevan Hotel. Politicians,
civil society activists, foreign diplomats and reporters were invited
to the event. Vardan Oskanyan said people will express their opinion
on the report after reading it, as well as through press, and today
Civilitas held a discussion of the issues covered in the report.

Opening the discussion, Vardan Oskanyan said March 1 was followed by
a deep crisis and tension, which tends to aggravate, he thinks. Is
the ruling coalition aware of=2 0this and does it take steps, Vardan
Oskanyan asked Armen Rustamyan, the chair of the National Assembly
committee of foreign affairs? He said there are elements of crisis
which were noticed even before March 1, during the presidential
election. According to Armen Rustamyan, it was obvious before the
election that Armenia needs a new time but the country was not ready
for the new time, for the second generation reform, and the roots go
back to the beginning of independence.

Vardan Oskanyan said we can speak about the past but the discourse
that we cannot go on like this was in the past as well. According to
him, the problem is if now the government is aware that the tension
and problems are culminating, and Armenia may be deprived of voting
right in the PACE, and if the government takes action.

Hovanes Igityan, a member of the Armenian National Congress,
director of the EU chamber of trade in Armenia, said three things
are important for Armenia: inner consolidation, confidence in the
government and the international reputation of Armenia. According to
Igityan, Armenia lacks all the three, and the problem is that Europe
already views us as a country of risk, which has its consequences.

Vardan Oskanyan said unfortunately the parliament does not reflect the
moods of the society, and in the recent presidential election it became
known that 50 percent of the society supports the opposition. Oskanyan
says he thi nks a new election is not a way out since the political
system is not ready but says he does not feel that the government
is aware of the problem of the parliament and takes steps to prevent
the same picture in the next election.

The ex-prime minister Armen Darbinyan says the problem is
that political process takes to the street. Darbinyan says the
internal situation does not allow Armenia to be a powerful regional
state. According to Armen Darbinyan, the situation aggravates the
impact of the economic crisis.

In answer to observations of inadequacy of the parliament to the
situation, Member of Parliament Armen Rustamyan said he does not
want to act as the advocate of the parliament but this parliament is
the result of the deficient electoral system, and the situation will
not change unless all the political forces display political will,
and the society underscores its vote.

In this connection, Vardan Oskanyan said words are not enough. The
ex-foreign minister underlined that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, for
instance, did not become opposition after the election to fill in
the gap of ideological opposition, which would be the right behavior,
and preferred to join the coalition. Armen Rustamyan said in a country
where the opposition has no opportunity to work the only way of acting
is to be in the government.

Vardan Oskanyan noted that in Armenia there is an extreme perception
of the opposition, and peopl e are not aware that the opposition must
foster development through dialectic contact with the government,
and the leader of the opposition must meet and shake hands with the
head of state. On these words Hovanes Igityan said the impression
is that the talk is about Luxembourg. According to Hovanes Igityan,
in Armenia the phrase "transition period" is used to justify mistakes
and drawbacks on the one hand and on the other hand, transition has
become a status.

It is impossible to find points in common in Armenia unless the
government is unable to view issues from the point of view of the
opposition and vice versa, Vardan Oskanyan said. He underscored the
importance of free press to the change of the situation in Armenia,
noting that he thinks the president must meet with the leaders of
the TV companies and tell them to be free.

Armen Darbinyan said the press cannot be free unless the economy
is free.

As to the economy in general, Armen Darbinyan is pessimistic. He
thinks that the Armenian economy may really benefit from the global
crisis thanks to its small size but it takes bold steps rather than
what is being done now. Armen Darbinyan says the steps that are
being taken now will lead Armenia to the state that was in 1993,
the period of cheap imports. Vardan Oskanyan said it is difficult to
say what percentage of economic regress is due to the global crisis,
and what percentage is o ur problems. According to Oskanyan, this
correlation is at least 50 percent.

Our internal problems matter more.

The hall also had an opportunity to participate in the discussion
of the crisis in Armenia. The political scientist and ex-consul
Ruben Hakobyan said he thinks Armenia is in a great, deep crisis,
and the "minor" global crisis adds to it. The sociologist Lyudmila
Harutiunyan thinks Armenia is in a deadlock rather than a crisis,
the society has lost hope, and if now the opposition retreats,
it will be the final defeat of the society. Lyudmila Harutiunyan
calls the government to be prudent, and the political forces which
"try to keep somewhere in between the government and the opposition
thereby serve the government", Lyudmila Harutiunyan says.

The ex-spokesman for the foreign minister and the public affairs
officer of the Armenian National Congress Vladimir Karapetyan said
there is a crisis of truth in Armenia, evidence to which is the
failure to reveal the wrongdoers of the slaughter of March 1 and
the opposition activists and leaders deprived of liberty and kept
hostage. And Vardan Khachatryan from the Heritage Party said in
Armenia none of the problems will be solved unless three components
are present: independent financial assistance, independent courts and
independent press. The chair of the National Assembly Committee of
state and legal affairs, Republican Davit Harutiunyan said the question
i s what should be done to have independent press, independent courts,
lasting political will of the government.

All the participants of the discussion, independent from their
points of view, thanked the Civilitas Foundation for organizing
the discussion, and expect that discussions will continue, not only
in Yerevan but also in the regions, to talks to the society and to
transform the society.

ARMENIAN TREE PROJECT: NEARLY 2,5 M TREES PLANTED

Lragir.am
14:13:23 – 26/12/2008

Fruit trees planted by ATP provided a harvest of 227,439 kg (507,317
lbs) of fresh fruit in 2008; Photo after the apricot harvest at
St. Gevork Monastery in Mughni Armenia Tree Project (ATP) has just
completed the planting of 460,070 trees in 2008, bringing the total
number of trees planted and restored close to 2,500,000 since the
organization was founded in 1994.

This fall, ATP’s Rural and Mountainous Development (RMD) Program
planted 402,720 tree seedlings at new forest sites in the Gegharkunik
and Lori regions, while the Community Tree Planting (CTP) Program
planted 57,350 trees at 188 sites in 10 regions of Armenia.

CTP Program Works in Urban and Rural Communities

"The number of trees planted by the CTP program exceeded our annual
objectives. All of these high-quality indigenous tree seedlings
were planted at sites chosen to maximize the survival rate due to the
availability of irrigation water, fencing and monitoring, soil quality,
as well as the inspiration and willingness of the local population
to care for the trees," stated program manager Anahit Gharibyan.

The CTP program planted 22,085 trees and shrubs from ATP’s Karin and
Khachpar nurseries in the spring, along with 1,300 pine seedlings
from the Mirak Family Reforestation Nursery which were planted in
collaboration with the Nor Nork Greenery Department.

In the fall, the CTP program planted 33,965 trees and shrubs at 97
sites in Yerevan and nine regions of Armenia. In addition, ATP’s
apricot, wild apple, peach, and pear trees at 115 sites provided a
harvest of 227,439 kg (507,317 lbs) of fresh fruit which benefited
the local communities and institutions.

Throughout the year, ATP’s CTP program participated in events and
environmental campaigns launched at Tsitsernakaberd, Kashatagh,
Nubarashen, Noravank, Khor Virap, and elsewhere. ATP supported these
initiatives by providing healthy seedlings along with special training
on planting techniques and tree care.

For example, ATP worked with organizations and students to plant trees
at the Nubarashen Boarding School, and worked with HSBC Bank, Synopsys
CJSC, American University of Armenia, Armenian Monuments Awareness
Project, and a number of other institutions operating in Armenia.

The CTP program also increased the number of beneficiaries of its
planting project in 15 villages where 5,572 families have benefited
from the fruit trees planted by ATP since 2004. The village planting
project was initiated to improve the quality of rural backyard gardens
in order to present them to ATP donors for sponsorship.

RMD Program Plants Over 400,000 Trees

ATP began a completely new reforestation program on a 40 hectare
(100 acre) plot of community owned land in Jrashen, near ATP’s Mirak
Family Nursery and the20newly planned Michael and Virginia Ohanian
Environmental Center in Margahovit. "It was noteworthy that ATP
established a new forest and obtained the land in Jrashen as a result
of collaboration with Armenia’s Hayantar State Forestry Service," noted
RMD program manager Vadim Uzunyan. This fall, ATP began by planting
the first 7,000 oak seedlings at the site in cooperation with Hayantar.

"ATP had the full support of the community and 25 trained tree-planters
hired from the Lori region welcomed the opportunity to work as part
of the ATP initiative. This program has allowed families to improve
their socio-economic situation, while at the same time improving the
local environment and natural resource base," stated Uzunyan.

This year a total of 399 rural families from the Gegharkunik and
Tavush regions grew 309,720 seedlings in their backyards, which were
purchased by ATP for reforestation purposes. The program received the
prestigious Energy Globe Award for Sustainability at the European
Parliament in May. The other 86,000 reforestation seedlings were
planted this fall from ATP’s Mirak Family Nursery.

ATP hired 100 local residents to plant new seedlings on 100 hectares
(250 acres) of land belonging to the communities of Aygut and
Dprabak. "The local residents were inspired and enthusiastic about the
reforestation initiated by ATP to combat the interrelated problems
of deforestation and massive landslid es that threaten the villages
of the Getik River Valley," noted Uzunyan.

"Landslides became more frequent and destroyed the homes of a number
of families this year. These families understand that well-established
and maintained forests have the potential to provide economic, social,
and environmental benefits," the press release of the ATP runs.

A FORCE MAJEURE YEAR AND SIMILAR EXPECTATIONS

Lragir.am
13:55:24 – 26/12/2008

The year 2008 was that of force majeure both in terms of external and
internal policies, stated the director of the Politeconomia Institute,
political and economic expert Andranik Tevanyan on December 26 at the
Pastark press club. According to him, March 1 was a home political
challenge which resulted from the mistake of the government and
had a negative impact on the country. Among external challenges,
Andranik Tevanyan notes the recent activity regarding the talks for
the Karabakh settlement in which Serge Sargsyan said willing for
concessions, and which did not come into being because Ilham Aliyev
wanted more than the seven regions. Thanks to Aliyev’s appetite, the
talks for Karabakh did not take a bad turn, which was brought about
by cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan; in order to thwart the
program of Nabucco, Russia won over Azerbaijan and made Armenia agree
to concessions in the Karabakh issue, and Lavrov stated that all the
issues except that of Lachin have been agreed on.

According to Andranik Tevanyan, the most serious challenge of the year
is the global economic crisis, noting that the government’s statements
about having tackled its first wave are true to the extent that the
government tackled the first wave through silencing the crisis.

However, the expert says that the economy of Armenia underwent regress

without the economic crisis because after the 2007 parliamentary
election a one-party system was shaped which launched a policy of
economic bolshevism.

The first and heavy expression of this policy was, according to
the economic Tevanyan, the elimination of the lump-sum tax, which
increased the tax burden of small and midsize businesses, multiplying
their tax liabilities.

By the way, Andranik Tevanyan thinks that the dissatisfaction of
those people caused the great opposition surge in the presidential
election because the government had eliminated the source of income
of 300-400 thousand people.

Generally, the policy of economic bolshevism, which was determined by
the desire of the government to accrue wealth, adopted a tactics of
economic redistribution through tax repression. According to Andranik
Tevanyan, the government also set to collect a big budget because it
thinks the best way of ruling people is to collect everyone’s money,
especially that the lack of public control over budget outlays enables
making big money in legal ways.

For instance, the 2009 budget twice exceeds that of 2007, whereas the
GDP has not doubled, and there is no proportionality, Andranik Tevanyan
says, noting that the 2009 budget is a budget which generates rather
than tackles crisis. Andranik Tevanyan says it is a heavy burden for
the economy impacted by the global crisis, and it is not ruled out that
the government may face necessity of sequest ering in the middle of the
year, that is to cut down both budget expenses and outlays. Otherwise
the consequence will be heavier, the economist thinks.

Generally, he thinks that in 2009 Armenia will face social tension,
cut in jobs and remittances will be felt acutely. In order to tackle
this, the government must adopt a policy of cheap money, not revaluate
the dram artificially, especially that there is no external inflation
pressure because the global crisis causes prices to drop. According
to the economist, the government must relieve the tax burden, decrease
the tax on profit, charge the VAT from the economy rather than on the
border not to deprive the businesses of working capital which they
need in time of crisis. Andranik Tevanyan says if the government
does not revise its policy and does not take the necessary steps,
the situation will be very complicated. In addition, this situation,
according to the economist, may cause the rate of crime to go up, which
is typical of crisis. The government has not boosted the budget of
the police, and a policeman will have to do more work for the same pay.

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN WROTE A LETTER TO HIS GEORGIAN COUNTERPART

Lragir.am
18:17:10 – 25/12/2008

In his letter the human rights defender of Armenia voiced concern
about the reports of innumerable breaches in the trial of Vahagn
Chakhalyan, Gurgen Shirinyan, members of United Javakheti, and their
families. Armen Harutiunyan evoked the mutual agreements in his letter
to Sozar Subari and asked to monitor the trial to find out whether
the human rights are honored.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DIASPORA RESPONSE WILL BE NEGATIVE

Lragir.am
17:38:09 – 26/12/2008

During the discussion of the situation in Armenia organized by
organized by the Civilitas Foundation on December 26 to seek for
ways out, the ex-foreign minister of Armenia and the founder of
the foundation Vardan Oskanyan said with regard to the danger of
suspending Armenia’s delegation voting right in the PACE that for
him as a citizen of Armenia it is something undesirable, and the
political forces, the ruling coalition must bring up this issue with
the president and take steps to avoid this process. Vardan Oskanyan
said it worries not only Armenia but also the Armenians worldwide,
and he can say that in case Armenia’s voting right is suspended,
the response of the Diaspora will be negative.

30 UNIVERSITIES MAY BE CLOSED

Lragir.am
12:58:49 – 26/12/2008

The head of the President’s audit service Hovanes Hovsepyan told
reporters that in 2008 the service has extended 630 reports to the
office of the prosecutor.

In the second half of 2008 the audit service got 10 thousand
applications.

25 percent of applications are complaints of the City Hall, 17 percent
the judicial system, 16 percent are of social nature. 37.1 percent
of applications have been met, Hovanes Hovsepyan said.

In the second half of 2008 the service audited the ministries
of environment, health, science and education, transport and
communication, the State Cadastre of Real Estate, the City Hall
of Yerevan, the Committee of Public Revenues, the Agency of Public
Purchases.

The Service has audited 30 of 69 privately-run universities. Hovanes
Hovsepyan said many universities accept students from high school to
second or third year, about 800 students are enrolled for distance
learning courses but are either abroad or serving in the army and
get a diploma without showing at the university.

He said the president instructed the ministry of education and science
to audit the privately run universities.

CAUCASUS PLATFORM AGREEMENT MAY BE SIGNED IN 2009

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.12.2008 14:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An agreement on the Caucasus Stability and
Cooperation Platform may be signed in 2009, Turkey’s Ambassador to
Azerbaijan said.

"Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia
held their initial meeting in December. Presently, the working group
is developing a draft agreement," Hulusi Kilic said, Day.az reports.

Following hostilities in South Ossetia, Ankara offered formation of a
Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform, which could unite Turkey,
Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

RA President Serzh Sarsgyan welcomed the initiative as an attempt to
create a favorable atmosphere in the region.

TURKEY, AZERBAIJAN’S MAIN GOAL TOTAL EXTERMINATION OF ARMENIANS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.12.2008 15:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It’s not a secret that the main goal of Turkey and
Azerbaijan is total extermination of Armenian ethno-political entity
in the Caucasus, an Armenian expert said.

"The leadership in both countries never concealed that Baku want
to wage a new war with a purpose to completely destruct Armenian
manpower, gene pool and even to seize some Armenian regions,
specifically Syunik," Vardan Hovsepyan, expert at Mitq analytical
center told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Baku is building up its military capacity, what proves that Azerbaijan
strives for war. With Turkey’s help, Azerbaijan is planning to launch
production of offensive arms – missiles, bombs, tanks, etc. Under
the circumstances, Armenia should strengthen its defense sector and
prepare for new hostilities," Hovsepyan said.

ANDRANIK TEVANYAN: 2008 WAS FORCE MAJéUR IN KARABAKH PROCESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.12.2008 15:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The year of 2008 was force majéur in the Karabakh
process, an Armenian expert said.

"Russia redoubled its intermediary efforts after five-day war but its
interest is first of all conditioned by economic factors," Andranik
Tevanyan, head of political economy research center, told a news
conference today.

Russia decided to frustrate Nabucco gas pipeline construction and
promised Baku its support in the Karabakh issue, according to him.

Tevanyan also reminded about Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s
statement that there are a few unsettled points in the talks’ agenda,
including the status of Lachin Corridor.

"The mediators are anticipating resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict," Lavrov said in October.

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