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SERGE SARGSIAN CALLS ON OPPOSITION MEMBERS TO COOPERATE – UP TO FORMATION OF COALITION GOVERNMEMT

Noyan Tapan
Feb 26, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. A rally of supporters of the
presidential candidate who won the elections, the RA prime minister
Serge Sargsian took place in Republic Square of Yerevan on February
26. The rally was attended by officials of the executive and
legislative bodies and high-ranking officials from marzes. Serge
Sargsian made a speech at the rally. Below are excerpts from his
speech.

"Dear compatriots,

I welcome all of you and congratulate on the successful holding of
the presidential elections in Armenia. We succeeded in organizing two
elections one after another and getting positive opinions in both cases
for the first time in the history of newly independendent Armenia.

Today we experience both delight of victory and concern about the
future of our country.

We have gathered today to heal another wound – the wound that these
elections have opened on the body of our people. We must overcome
this ordeal, must be able to heal this wound quickly.

Dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

I assure you that you will not regret having given your votes to
Serge Sargsian.

I also express my gratitude to all those who have given their votes
to other candidates. We respect the opinions of our citizens and
we do not divide the society into "our own people" and "strangers",
or as some good-for-nothing democrats do now – into "our own people"
and "dregs of the nation".

I assure you that all criticism voiced by the candidates in the
pre-election period will be examined in detail.

>From this high rostrum, I am appealing to the former candidates and
the political forces supporting them: let’s cooperate. Up to formation
of a coalition government. One of our goals is to use all constructive
major forces in the name of Armenia’s development.

I want to speak today about the fate of democracy in our country,
I want to speak in front of you about the dignity of man, of each
citizen of the Republic of Armenia. The dignity that may only exist in
the country, in which power is formed through elections. The dignity
that we have no right to waste.

I promised victories to you, and we have won. I promise new victories,
and we will win.

We will defeat poverty, we will defeat evil, we will defeat
indifference.

Humaneness will win in our country, compassion will win in our country,
optimism will win in our country.

Unfortunately, we are witnessing a different phenomenon today. We
are witnessing division and split of the society, how an aggressive
grouping wants to achieve its goal at any price. We are witnessing
a process which is unprecedented by its danger.

I urge you not to become embittered because our sisters and brothers
are there, in another square. I am sure that the desire to have a
better Armenia have brought them to the square but, alas, they are
already not allowed to notice that they have become the tool of
several people’s revengful and office-seeking aspirations.

Dear friends,

These elections showed that we have managed to solve many and many
problems on the path of organizing good elections. These elections
showed that we still have a way to pass: first of all, the way of
raising confidence in the electoral process.

Dear compatriots, the most unacceptable thing in all this is the
unworthy conduct of a few of my comrades-in-arms whom the Devil has
mamanged to tempt by promises and ribaldry.

I will defend the right of speech freedom. However, free speech does
not mean the freedom of slander and swearing.

I will defend the right to hold rallies. However, the freedom of
rallies does not mean that the life of the capital city must be
paralyzed.

I defend the right to protest but the right of protest does not mean
that the other constitutional rights of our citizens must be abused.

Yes, the economic growth does not affect so rapidly the people’s
standard of living as we would like to. Yes, poverty reduction takes
time. Yes, we have the problem of ensuring a competitive economy
in the country, finally getting rid of the oligarchic system of the
economy that forms inevitably in the post-Soviet phase. But today we
are much stronger to solve these problems.

Today we are facing the dilemma of unity and fragmentation. We are
facing the dilemma of democracy and power usurpation.

Today we are the defenders of this democracy.

Democracy means that the rights of our citizens will be
protected. First of all, the right to form power through
elections. Today we protect this right.

I will protect fundamental human rights.

Today, a week after the elections, I say that the time of pre-election
slogans is up, the propaganda time is up, the time of accusations
is up. Now we have other problems to solve. We must implement the
expectations of our compatriots, address their problems and we must
continue to work and create.

"Everything has its time," is said in the Holy Writ.

Today is not the time to collect stones. It is time to throw them away.

It is time to work.

Today is the time of new national victories.

The time of human dignity and democracy.

Let’s go ahead. Armenia, go ahead, to new victories! Ahead Armenia!"

ARMENIA COMPLETELY DEFENDS INITIATIVES OF CE MINISTERS’ COUNCIL

Noyan Tapan
Feb 26, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia is interested in the
establishment of an active political dialogue and the development
of economic relations with Slovakia and as a member country of the
Council of Europe, Armenia fully defends the initiatives of the CE
Ministers’ Committee presided over by the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Slovakia. This statement was made by RA Prime Minister Serge
Sargsian during the February 25 meeting with Jan Kubish, the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovakia and the Chairman of
the CE Ministers" Committee.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the
Information and Public Relations Department of the RA Government,
Jan Kubish congratulated the RA Prime Minister on the occasion
of the presidential elections held in Armenia and the victory of
Serge Sargsian conditioned by the results of those elections at the
beginning of the meeting. He mentioned the mark given to the elections
by the international observation missions, which is a basis for him,
where the still existing problems were mentioned together with the
positive things. Jan Kubish appreciated the call of Serge Sargsian
on tolerance and restraint addressed to the political forces, which,
according to him, speaks about the readiness of the RA Prime Minister
for settling the existing problems within the frameworks of the law
and through a political way.

At the request of the guest, Serge Sargsian touched upon the
post-election processes, the prospect of Armenia concerning the
cooperation with the European Union and NATO and upon the current
programs, the regulation processes of the Armenian-Turkish relations
and the NKR conflict , as well as the necessity for strengthening
the Armenian-Slavonic relations.

Referring to the bilateral trade-economic relations, it was mutually
stressed that irrespective of the existing potential, they are not
enough as yet. Serge Sargsian and Jan Kubish attached importance
to the provision of a corresponding legal field, the activization
of relations between the businessmen of Armenia and Slovakia and
the creation of more favourable conditions for investments for the
further development of the economic cooperation.

ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS RATIFY ARMENIAN-GERMAN AGREEMENT ON JOINT CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL MIGRATION

ARKA
Feb 25, 2008

YEREVAN, February 25. /ARKA/. Armenian National Assembly ratified
Armenian-German agreement on joint crackdown on illegal migration.

On Monday, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan,
presenting the agreement, said that the document’s aim is to make
the crackdown on illegal migration more effective.

The deputy minister said that the Armenian delegation, which is now
in Germany, meets with illegal migrants and renders possible help
to them.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT DETERMINED TO ENSURE LAW AND ORDER IN COUNTRY

ARKA
Feb 25, 2008

YEREVAN, February 25. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan stated his
readiness to take measures to ensure law and order in the country. "The
President bears responsibility and is ready to properly perform his
duty," Kocharyan stated at a meeting with the High Command of the RA
Armed Forces.

The participants in the meeting discussed the current situation in
the country, reports the RA presidential press service.

President Kocharyan pointed out that stability is one of the major
achievements of the last few years and is the basis of the state’s
progress. He said that he will not allow anyone to endanger the
domestic political stability.

The RA President said that the authorities are elected in a legal
way. It is not through violence and impudent that one is supposed to
come to power.

President Kocharyan pointed out that he will never allow anyone to
have shadow power or anyone’s "whims" affect the domestic political
stability and political processes.

"No structure can place itself superior to law and carry out illegal
activities," he said.

The representatives of the High Command of the RA Armed Forces pointed
out that army has always been one of the guarantors of stability
and, if necessary, will take steps to maintain the constitutional
order. They said that the army is ready to carry out all the orders
of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

Attending the meeting was RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan.

Since February 20, Armenia’s political opposition has been holding
demonstrations and sit-ins in the center of Yerevan. The organizers
disagree with the official results of the presidential elections
published by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).-0–

CTK National News Wire, Czech Republic
February 25, 2008 Monday 2:24 PM (Central European Time)

Slovak Foreign Minister calls on Armenia to avoid violence

Yerevan Feb 25 (CTK)

Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis today said it was necessary to
avoid violence at all costs in the heated situation after the
presidential election won by Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan, the
French news agency AFP reported.

The opposition has been organising demonstrations for six days
against the election’s outcome. It says the vote taken on February 19
was rigged.

Kubis called on both sides of the conflict to maintain peace.

Kubis, who arrived in Armenia also as a representative of the Council
of Europe, advised the government to proceed in a responsible and
reserved manner.

"I hope very much that the tension will not escalate," Kubis said
after meeting his Armenian counterpart Vardan Oskanyan.

TIME Magazine
Feb. 22, 2008

Birth of a Nation

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 By DEJAN ANASTASIJEVIC

There’s a famous saying that everyone is better off not seeing how
sausages and laws are made. The same applies to countries. In less
than two decades, I’ve seen no less then six new nations born in my
immediate neighborhood, the Balkans, and it was a messy process every
time. So please forgive me if I’m not greeting the latest one –
Kosovo, which declared independence on Sunday, Feb. 17 – with the
respect and admiration it probably deserves.

Just like its slightly older siblings – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia,
Macedonia and Montenegro – Kosovo rose from the ashes of the former
Yugoslavia, whose destruction was caused by the brutal policies of
Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic. But there are key differences.
Unlike the others, Kosovo was not a Yugoslav republic, but an
autonomous province within Serbia. It is mostly populated by ethnic
Albanians, while the other post-Yugoslav states have Slavic
majorities. And Kosovo has been effectively ruled by the United
Nations since 1999, when Milosevic’s troops were forced to pull out
under NATO bombs, although Serbia was allowed to retain a token
sovereignty over the province.

Now that this sovereignty is being voided by Kosovo’s elected
government, Serbia is furious, blaming the Kosovars and their Western
backers, especially the United States, one of the first countries to
recognize Kosovo’s independence. This anger reflects the special
place Kosovo holds in Serbs’ hearts and minds, as the birthplace of
their culture and religion. But it is fueled as well by memories of
the U.S.-led bombing campaign, described at the time as "humanitarian
intervention" but viewed in Belgrade as part of a cynical plan to rip
off a piece of Serbia.

Russia, China and several European countries claim that an
independent Kosovo sets a dangerous precedent, encouraging separatist
movements throughout the world, from Taiwan to Nagorno-Karabakh. To
this, the United States and its European allies reply that Kosovo is
a unique case, and that other regions would not be allowed to use it
as a precedent.

As a Serb, I empathize with my compatriots’ anger and frustration
over losing Kosovo. But as a reporter who witnessed the atrocities
against ethnic Albanians in the ’90s, I can understand that the vast
majority of them would under no circumstances accept living under
Serbian patronage, even though Milosevic is dead and Serbia is now a
democracy. And as for setting a precedent, I don’t think that
Kosovo’s independence would have much effect on the rest of the world
– and frankly, I don’t really care.

But I am deeply concerned about something else: what kind of country
has just been created, and what kind of life its citizens will have.
Kosovo holds three European records: it has the highest unemployment,
the worst infant-mortality rate and the lowest living standards on
the Continent. The latest Human Rights Watch report chronicles
widespread oppression and discrimination of non-Albanian ethnic
minorities – Serbs, Turks and Roma – along with organized crime,
rampant corruption and a dysfunctional justice system.

And if that’s not enough, Kosovo already faces its own separatist
movement: Serbs in northern Kosovo, many of whom were evicted from
their homes in revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians, don’t accept
being dominated by Pristina for exactly the same reasons Pristina
refuses to be dominated by Belgrade. With the backing of the Serbian
government, they are resolved to keep their territory – some 15% of
Kosovo – within Serbia.

So instead of stabilizing the Balkans, the creation of Europe’s
youngest state could be paving the way for future troubles. How
things turn out largely depends on the European Union, which just
decided to dispatch some 2,000 police officers, prosecutors and
judges to Kosovo. Their goal, in essence, is to establish the rule of
law in Kosovo so that the 15,000 NATO peacekeepers currently deployed
there can go home. The E.U. must also keep an angry and frustrated
Serbia on the path toward European membership, because that prospect
is just about its only inducement to good behavior toward its new
neighbor.

I dearly hope that E.U. officials know what they’re doing, and that
they’re up to this challenge. Declaring Kosovo’s independence was
easy, but making it a decent place to live will be a long haul. The
price of failure will be paid in the lost lives and torched homes
that have become a tragic pedal note to recent Balkan history. And
this time, it would not be quite as easy to blame the Serbs.

,9171 ,1715152,00.html

Interfax, Russia
Russia & CIS
February 20, 2008

Armenian elections found to meet OSCE standards (Part 2)

YEREVAN Feb 20

International election monitors from OSHR have found that the
Armenian elections have met with OSCE standards.

A statement by the OSHR mission was voiced in Yerevan on Wednesday by
Vice President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly Anne-Marie Lizin, who heads a
short-term mission of OSCE PA election observers.

The statement says that Armenia’s electoral code is in need of
improvement and that the level of citizens’ trust in election
processes should be enhanced.

The Armenian presidential election, held on February 19, were
observed by the OSCE /ODIHR, a mission of the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS,) the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the CIS
Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

US Fed News
February 20, 2008 Wednesday 7:30 AM EST

EUROPEAN UNION HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR COMMON FOREIGN & SECURITY
POLICY SOLANA CONGRATULATES ARMENIAN PEOPLE ON ORDERLY CONDUCT OF
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

BRUSSELS, Belgium

The European Union’s European Council issued the following press
release:

Javier SOLANA,
Enhanced Coverage LinkingJavier SOLANA, -Search using:
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EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security policy
(CFSP), issued the following statement today congratulating the
people of Armenia on the orderly and competitive conduct of the
presidential election in Armenia:

"I would like to congratulate the people of Armenia on the conduct of
a competitive presidential election on 19 February and the high
turn-out. I am also pleased at the preliminary findings and
conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission which
has assessed the elections to be mostly in line with Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Council of Europe
commitments and standards.

I expect all political forces continue to act in a responsible way
after the elections. Complaints should be thoroughly investigated and
all shortcomings as identified by International Election Observation
Mission should be addressed. Any differences should be resolved
through dialogue.

The EU remains committed to further strengthening cooperation with
Armenia on the basis of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The
election of a new president in Armenia is also an opportunity to take
steps to improve Armenia’s relations with its neighbours. This
includes renewed efforts towards a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. The European Union supports the efforts of the Minsk Group
and stands ready to give further support to this process."

Interfax, Russia
Russia & CIS
February 21, 2008

Azerbaijan preparing diplomatic measures ahead of discussion of
Karabakh in Duma

BAKU Feb 21

Baku is planning measures ahead of the discussion of frozen CIS
conflicts in the State Duma in March, involving separatist leaders
>From Nagorno Karabakh, Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said
on Thursday.

"First of all, political diplomatic measures should be taken [by
Azerbaijan]. This is what our embassy is going to do," Azimov said.

"If necessary, our Milli Mejlis (parliament) will refer to the State
Duma. Probably, there must be contacts at various levels, so
explanations should be given on the matter, referrals should be
made," the Azeri official said.

Golos Armenii, Armenia
Feb. 21, 2008

The first post-election [rally]:they were waiting for critical mass

by Marina Lazarian and Aleksandr Tovmasyan

The election was completed in one round. The leader of the Republican
Party of Armenia, [Prime Minister] SerzhSargsyan, won with a wide
margin. We will leave it till later to analyze the components of this
resounding victory andthe reasons for the defeat of the other
candidates, since according to the traditional post-election
scenario, it is thelosers who speak in the days following the poll.

[Passage omitted: an opinion poll predicted result accurately]

Despite the previously announced starting time of 1500 [1100 gmt],
backers of Levon Ter-Petrosyan called for theirsupporters to come to
the Matenadaran [museum in central Yerevan] for midday. By 1200,
those who the day before had beensavouring in advance Levon’s victory
in the first round were standing around in groups. They stood
listening touplifting music. Every half-hour the leader of the New
Times party [Aram] Karapetyan declared the readiness
ofTer-Petrosyan’s supporters to go all the way. The demonstrators
chanted Struggle, struggle to the end.

[Passage omitted: rally resembled post-election rallies in 2003]

Musheg Sagatelyan is ready to go unarmed…

Yesterday’s rally and procession could be characterized as letting
off steam. The boldest participants riskedtrampling election banners
of Serzh Sargsyan underfoot. The remainder limited themselves to
hissing and whistling inapproval.

Musheg Sagatelyan – a member of the Test of Spirit public
organization [of Karabakh war veterans] who in the yearswhen the
Armenian Pan-National Movement [led by Ter-Petrosyan] was in power
was famed for beating leading oppositionactivists and participants in
the 1996 protest rallies [following a controversial presidential
election, in whichTer-Petrosyan won a second term] in Interior
Ministry remand centres, for which he was nicknamed bonebreaker –
spoke (ina heartfelt manner) at yesterday’s meeting about…
[ellipsis as published] democracy and human rights. Addressing the
Yerkrapah [a pro-Sargsyan organization of Karabakh war veterans], he
recalled those who pledged to fight to thedeath, and declared his
readiness to lay down his life in the struggle against the regime. I
will go unarmed and amready to die, he said with tears in his voice,
without specifying where he would go and how he would be killed.

[Passage omitted: more in this vein]

Between the orators’ speeches, the crowd was chanting Levon! Levon!,
while some particularly loud old women werescreaming Levon for king.
In a word, the protest crowd, half of which was made up of village
residents and youths,actively let off steam, chewed sunflower seeds
and screamed Levon! and Victory!. They greeted the appearance of
theiridol at the microphone with rejoicing.

Levon criticizes the oligarchs

Ter-Petrosyan started by stating that nothing special happened on 19
February – there was a usual election with theuse of brute force
against the people. This is the rule of bandits, the criminal
underworld, the intertwining of theauthorities and criminality…
[ellipsis as published]

[Passage omitted: Ter-Petrosyan named businessmen and political
figures with reputed criminal background]

Ter-Petrosyan forgot to add that more than half those on this list
entered politics exclusively thanks to theArmenian Pan-National
Movement and to him personally.

In a word, the former president blamed his election defeat on the
efforts of oligarchs, not forgetting to insist thatalongside the
criminals and oligarchs, the other eight presidential candidates bore
equal responsibility for thisshameful election. Remember how at his
first rally (after his return to politics [in September 2007]),
Ter-Petrosyanspoke rather favourably of the oligarchs and even urged
people not to call them that and to consider them all butvictims of
the current regime. Yesterday, he said that the oligarchs had removed
their masks and showed their trueface.