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DISCUSSION IN SHUSHI ON HUMAN FREEDOMS IN POST-TOTALITARIAN SOCIETIES

KarabakhOpen
22-01-2008 15:47:26

In the framework of the project Democracy financed by International
Alert the Shushi-based Harmony NGO held a discussion on the human
freedoms in post-totalitarian societies and elections in the town
of Shushi.

The discussion started from the speech of the president of Stepanakert
Press Club, editor of the Demo, Member of Parliament Gegham
Baghdasaryan, who presented his view on different human freedoms and
dwelled on the freedom of speech, which he said is necessary to any
society, independent from the public, military and political situation.

"Freedom of speech cannot pose a threat to the security of the
country," Gegham Baghdasaryan said, pointing to the necessity of
constructive criticism to the government and the public.

According to the member of parliament, silencing negative phenomena
and the fear to have your disadvantages known leads to degradation
of the government and the society.

Gegham Baghdasaryan also touched upon the problem of freedom of
speech at wartime, as well as in the context of settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

With regard to freedom of speech in elections, the president of
Stepanakert Press Club underlined the necessity of awareness among
citizens to make the right choice. He also spoke against restrictions
of freedom of speech.

The participants of the discussion, mostly students, voiced their
opinions on the issues raised during the discussion.

According to the head of Harmony Juliet Arustamyan, the aim of the
project is to discover creative potential in young people, encourage
them to take part in civil activities, get in touch with democratic
values, transformation of the perception of the conflict, and so
on. At the end of the project the most active participants will get
training and meet with the representatives of the Azerbaijani young
people who are implementing an analogical project.

The project will last for three months. There will be more discussions
on awareness as a mechanism of establishment of democratic principles,
awareness of rights as opportunity of democratization, democratization
and possibility of conflict transformation.

The project also involves an essay writing contest about the town,
and the winners will get prizes.

Harmony NGO was set up in December 2004 in Shushi by Juliet
Arustamyan. The NGO includes over 30 women. The goal of the NGO is
the involvement of women in social activities and their leisure.

The organization also contributes to peace building and settlement
of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Harmony implements projects
of confidence buildings and tolerance.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS CHAIRPERSON TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN

Azeri Press Agency
Jan 22 2008
Azerbaijan

Jan Kubi~Z, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Chairperson
of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers made speech on the
second day of the PACE winter session, APA’s Europe bureau reports.

Jan Kubi~Z said that one of the main priorities is the cooperation
with the European Union. Noting that the Council of Europe achieved
great improvements in the field of human rights, Jan Kubi~Z said
broad discussions will be held in the Committee of Ministers in April
this year.

The chairperson said Committee of Ministers closely follows the
situation in the South Caucasus, as well as ongoing processes in
Armenia and Azerbaijan and underlined that special attention is paid
to the freedom of media in these countries.

"We call on the authorities of these states to make all the necessary
arrangements to ensure that Council of Europe standards and principles
are observed and welcome reforms carried out by the Armenian and
Azerbaijani authorities concerning the independence and functioning of
the judicial system. Elections will be held in these countries this
year and I recall that last year the Committee of Ministers adopted
an action plan to provide the Armenian authorities with pre-election
assistance. A similar action plan for Azerbaijan is under examination
by the Ministers’ Deputies. The Committee of Ministers will closely
monitor the conclusions of the Parliamentary Assembly mission observing
the presidential elections in these countries. I intend to visit
Armenia and Azerbaijan in the first quarter of 2008. /APA/

ARMENIA INCREASES RUSSIAN GAS IMPORTS BY ALMOST 20% IN 2007

Russia & CIS Energy Newswire
January 21, 2008 Monday 4:34 PM MSK

Armenia imported 2.05 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas in
2007, which was 19.7% larger than in 2006, Armrosgazprom said.

The selling of natural gas in Armenia grew by 17.9% to 1.86 billion
cubic meters.

The demand for gas grew by 32.5% to 532 million cubic meters for the
general population, 17.5% to 406 million cubic meters for industrial
enterprises, 29.6% to 44 million cubic meters for the public sector,
and 29.7% to 382 million cubic meters for other consumers.

The demand for gas in the energy sector dropped by 0.8% to 507 million
cubic meters.

Armenia has been buying Russian gas at $110 per 1,000 cubic meters
since 2006. It annually imports about 1.8-2 billion cubic meters of
Russian gas. There are also gas deliveries from Iran, but Iranian
gas is not pumped into the republican general network.

The Armenian-Russian joint venture, Armrosgazprom, is the sole supplier
of natural gas to Armenia. Its shareholders are Gazprom (RTS: GAZP)
with a 57.59% stake, the Armenian government with a 34.7% stake,
and Itera (RTS: ITER) with a 7.71% stake.

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY ELECTED TO THE BOARD OF UN NGO COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

armradio.am
22.01.2008 10:41

The Armenian Assembly of America was unanimously elected to the Board
of the UN Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on Human Settlements
(NGOCHS).

The election took place earlier this month at the meeting of the
Committee in New York.

The NGOCHS is one of the committees of a major UN support coalition
called Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the UN
(CONGO). It monitors UN efforts and commitments in sustainable human
development, and recommends strategies for effective civil society
participation in that process.

As a new Board member, the Armenian Assembly will work to ensure the
Committee’s close liaison with the UN Department of Public Information
(DPI), in particular throughout the planning and organization of the
61st Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference. The Conference will
take place on September 3-5, 2008 in Paris, and shall be dedicated
to Human Rights.

NGOCHS is chaired by Harold Takooshian of the American Psychological
Association. Other members of the Committee’s Board include
International Architects, Designers, and Planners for Social
Responsibility; Commonwealth Human Ecology Council; Instituto
Qualivida; Global Housing Foundation; World Society of Ekistics;
and Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues.

In accepting the Assembly’s election to the Committee’s Board,
Armen Kharazian, Assembly Research and Analysis Director and UN
Representative, thanked the Committee leadership and Board members
for the vote, and reiterated the Assembly’s interest in contributing
to the Committee’s success by sharing its experience and expertise
in effective civil society involvement in international development
and capacity building, working with multiple stakeholders.

The Armenian Assembly has held a Special Consultative Status with the
United Nations since 1999, and is a member of the Conference of NGOs
in Consultative Relationship with the UN since 2004. In addition
to its current membership in the Committee on Human Settlements,
the Assembly is also a member of the Committee on Human Rights.

JIRAIR SEFILYAN’S SUIT WAS NOT HEARD

Lragir
Jan 21 2008
Armenia

The Committee for Jirair Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan reported
January 21 the district court declined to hear Jirair Sefilyan’s
claim against President Robert Kocharyan.

"In December Jirair Sefilyan had sued Robert Kocharyan for indifference
breaking the Constitution twice regarding his citizenship. However,
the notorious judge of the district court Gayane Karakhanyan refused
to hear the suit and returned to application to the attorney of the
plaintiff Vahe Grigoryan. The explanation is absurd: no evidence
attached to claim. It is not clear on what storage device Kocharyan’s
indifference, in other words, doing nothing, not responding to
Sefilyan’s application, could be attached to the claim. They have
appealed to the Court of Appeal against Karakhanyan’s decision," runs
the message of the Committee for Jirair Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan.

WILL ARMENIA PARTICIPATE IN EUROVISION-2008 SONG CONTEST WITH AN AZERBAIJANI SONG?

Today
7.html
Jan 21 2008
Azerbaijan

Armenian ARMTV has selected singer Sirusho to represent Armenia in
the Eurovision-2008 song contest.

As is reported, the song has not yet been chosen.

However, according to Day.Az, Sirushi’s composition has already been
placed at website youtube.com.

See

The composition of the Armenian singer is a mix of famous folk songs
of Azerbaijan, including "Garagile", "Dilberim", composed by Uzeir
Hajibeyova (opera "Leyli and Medjnun").

The song also uses the motives of the famous folk song of Azerbaijan
"Sary gelin".

Thus, Armenians again try to privatize Azerbaijani melodies, using
several compositions at the same time.

TURKISH GENERAL STAFF ANNOUNCES OPERATION ACHIEVEMENTS IN N. IRAQ

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.01.2008 12:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish warplanes destroyed some 60 Kurdish
guerrilla targets in northern Iraq during an operation this week,
Turkey’s General Staff said on Friday.

The January 15 strikes on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions
in the mountainous region near Turkey’s border followed a series of
cross-border attacks by aircraft in December aimed at crushing the
Turkish rebel group.

There have so far been no reports of casualties or damage caused by
the latest raid on targets in the regions of Zap-Sivi, Avasin-Basyan
and Hakurk.

"During the operation … some 60 targets, confirmed as being used
solely by the terror organization, came under fire from our warplanes,"
the General Staff said in a statement.

It said targets hit included command posts, shelters and training
and logistics sites used by the guerrillas.

The General Staff said it was trying to assess the number of PKK
casualties and would continue its operations.

Ankara says 3,000 PKK rebels are based in the northern Iraq mountains,
from where they launch raids on Turkey. Some 100,000 Turkish troops
are massed along the border with Iraq but Ankara is not expected to
launch a major cross-border land incursion.

In a separate statement on Friday, the General Staff said 21 PKK rebels
had surrendered to Turkish forces in the past month, Reuters reports

Turkey, the United States and the European Union class the PKK as
a terrorist group. Ankara blames the group for the deaths of nearly
40,000 people since the PKK began its armed struggle for a Kurdish
homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
January 16, 2008 Wednesday 1:30 PM MSK

Russian Railroads wins tender to manage Armenian Railway

MOSCOW Jan 16

Russian Railroads (RZD) (RTS: RZHD) has won the concession to manage
Armenian Railway, the national rail operator, RZD reported.

RZD was named the winner of the tender on Wednesday in Yerevan, the
company said.

"The transfer of Armenian Railway to the concession management of RZD
was one of the company’s strategic goals. It will enable us to
increase the scale of the transportation business and strengthen its
competitive position on the international transportation market," RZD
President Vladimir Yakunin said.

The concession is for 30 years with the right to extend for 20 years.
The management function will be assigned to South Caucasus Railroad,
an RZD subsidiary in Armenia set up for the purpose.

Under the terms of the concession, RZD will pay the Armenian budget
an initial fee of $5 million, and annually pay 2% of Armenian Railway
revenue, excluding revenue from passenger services. RZD will acquire
all of Armenian Railway’s rolling stock.

RZD plans to invest about $400 million in Armenia’s railway
infrastructure over 30 years, according to the preliminary investment
plan. It also plans to invest roughly $170 to upgrade rolling stock.
RZD will serve as the guarantor for the investment.

RZD and South Caucasus Railroad are expected to sign an agreement
with the Armenian government in February 2008. They will then draft a
detailed investment program and form the management system. The
concessionaire expects to begin operations from the second half of
2008.

The Armenian Transportation and Communications Ministry announced the
tender on concession management of Armenian Railway on October 15,
2007. India’s railways also qualified to participate in the tender,
but withdrew during the process of drawing up the tender
documentation.

Mediamax, Armenia
Jan 16 2008

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTY SURE OF ELECTION WIN IN FIRST ROUND

Yerevan, 16 January: "There are people in all state structures, who
cooperate with us secretly," Aram Manukyan, the member of the
governing board of the Armenian Pan-National Movement said today in
Yerevan.

While speaking at a news conference in Yerevan, Manukyan did not tell
concrete names, noting that the number of people supporting the
candidacy of former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan "continues
to grow in a stable manner."

"According to our research, if Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s electorate
continues to grow at the current rates, we will already win in the
first round of the election [on 19 February 2008]," the member of
governing board of the Armenian Pan-National Movement said.

Manukyan said that he does not rule out attempts of falsifying the
election results by the authorities, adding that "the Armenian
Pan-National Movement will not let this happen". "Any attempt to rig
the vote will turn out against those who will try to resort to it,"
he said.

[translated]

Natural growth was reported

19-01-2008 16:14:14 – KarabakhOpen

In 2007 2145 children were born in Karabakh, which is up by 43 from
2006. In addition, 40.3 percent were born in Stepanakert.
The rate of death went down by 8 from 2006 and totaled 1227.
Natural growth totaled 918 and went up by 51 or 5.9 percent compared
with 2006.
In 2007 519 marriages were registered against 827 in 2006. The rate of
divorce is the same 123.