Author: Albert Nalbandian

EurasiaNet, NY
July 29 2005
WESTERN DONORS LAUD ECONOMIC GROWTH IN ARMENIA
Emil Danielyan 7/29/05
Armenia’s continuing robust economic growth is winning accolades from
Western donors. A consensus is building among economic experts that
the tiny South Caucasus state is finally emerging from its
post-Soviet doldrums.
Officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donor
organizations now believe that decade-long growth in Armenia has
produced a sizable reduction in poverty. “Armenia is on a promising
path toward sustained high growth and the alleviation of poverty,”
Agustin Carstens, the IMF’s deputy managing director, said at the end
of a mid-July visit to Yerevan. In May, the IMF expressed its approva
of Armenia’s economic directionl by offering a three-year,
$34-million loan agreement.
According to official statistics, Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product
rose by 10.2 percent in the first half of this year. The GDP growth
has averaged 11 percent during the previous four years. Carstens
strongly endorsed the Armenian government’s economic strategy. “The
IMF stands ready to continue to assist Armenia with policy and
technical advice, as well as financial support in implementing its
reform agenda,” he said, adding that the Armenian economy is
expanding so fast that it now runs the risk of “overheating.”
Brian Kearney, who runs a US government-funded project to reform
Armenia’s social security system, said economic growth has had a
visible impact on living standards, adding that it has also lifted
the public mood. “There is a new buoyancy and a new confidence that
wasn’t here five years ago. It might seem a small thing but, for me,
just the change in people’s demeanor and approach to life is
remarkable.”
“Five years ago it was very much hanging on,” Kearney added. “Now I
see people striding forward.”
Household income surveys regularly conducted by the Armenian
government show that the proportion of Armenians living below the
official poverty line shrunk from 55 percent in 1999 to just below 43
percent in 2003. The poverty rate would stand at 32 percent if it
were calculated using World Bank methodology that uses consumption
expenditures, as opposed to income. Each income survey is based on
data collected from about 5,000 households. Officials say the results
of similar research conducted last year and to be released this fall
will show a further drop in poverty.
“There are very few countries that have achieved such important
progress in such a short period of time,” the IMF’s Carstens said.
However, some economic analysts view official figures with
skepticism. For instance, many analysts believe the official poverty
line of about 13,000 drams ($30) per month is set too low given the
rising cost of living. The National Statistical Service of Armenia
(NSSA) estimated in a 2003 report that the average Armenian family
spent two thirds of its income on food — a telling indicator of
persisting hardship. “The consumption of high-priced food products
such as meat products, milk products, fruits and eggs is very low,”
the report said. The government agency also asserted that many
Armenians still cannot afford adequate healthcare as “only one in
three persons with health problems applied to a doctor for medical
care.”
There is also a mounting income gap dividing the rich and poor, as
well as Yerevan residents from those living elsewhere. Many rural
areas have hardly seen any development since the economic collapse of
1992-1993, when Armenia’s GDP shrunk by half due to the outbreak of
wars in Nagorno-Karabakh and elsewhere in the South Caucasus. The
social polarization reflects a highly uneven distribution of benefits
of economic growth, some experts contend. The gap is widened further
by widespread tax evasion among the wealthiest citizens. The Armenian
government’s tax revenues are on track to rise by about 30 percent
this year, but they will still make up a very modest 16 percent of
the GDP.
More importantly, the rate of job creation has lagged behind the
economic expansion, failing to alleviate the country’s number one
social problem — unemployment. The official unemployment rate,
measured by the Armenian Ministry of Labor, stands at just over 10
percent. But the real figure is probably much higher, many economists
estimate. The NSSA, for example, puts the unemployment rate at a
staggering 30 percent, citing a 2003 labor force survey.
Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence of increased prosperity is strong.
This includes skyrocketing real estate prices, a growing number of
cars, shops and other small businesses as well as a construction boom
in central Yerevan. Economists still cannot explain what exactly has
driven economic growth over the past decade. First-half growth in
2005 appears to be connected with a 43 percent surge in the
construction sector. Another important factor is cash remittances
from hundreds of thousands of Armenians working abroad. The Armenian
Central Bank says remittances jumped by 50 percent to $750 million in
2004.
In addition, merchants have adapted to the continuing economic
blockades by Azerbaijan and Turkey and the resulting high
transportation costs. According to official statistics, the tiny
landlocked country has doubled its GDP and tripled exports since the
late 1990s. “In five years time people will reflect well when they
look back at what has been done over the past five years,” Kearney
said.
Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian prosecutor-general upbeat on cooperation with Georgia
Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
26 Jul 05
In an interview [with Hayots Ashkarh], Armenian Prosecutor-General
Agvan Ovsepyan commented on the results of his recent official visit
to Tbilisi
and details of his meeting with Georgian counterpart.
[Agvan Ovsepyan] During my Georgian counterpart’s[ Zurab Adeishvili]
visit to Armenia in spring, we came to an agreement to sign a
memorandum on cooperation between the prosecutor-general’s offices of
our countries
in the judicial sphere. During our visit to Tbilisi on 21 July the
memorandum was signed. [Passage omitted: the details of the memorandum
are presented]
[Correspondent] In what specific areas can the law-enforcement
agencies of the two countries support each other?
[Ovsepyan] At present, the common areas we share with our Georgian
counterparts as far as crime is concerned are as follows: cattle theft
across Armenia-Georgia border, illegal timber production and
smuggling. We also register economic crimes, such as evasion of tax
and customs duties. The problems of forged Armenian excise duty stamps
are also very important. These
forged excise duty stamps are printed in third countries, in Turkey,
to be precise, and are exported to Armenia through Georgia. I have
prepared a report based on such facts and sent it to the relevant
international bodies asking them to help us close down this source of
forged excise duty stamps.
By the way, during my meeting with Georgian Prosecutor-General
Zurab Adeishvili we made an arrangement that the Prosecutor-General’s
Offices of Georgia and Armenia will support the prosecutor-general’s
office of Akhalkalak financially and operationally. We also arranged
our next meeting to take place in Akhalkalak.
[Correspondent] Did you discuss the case of Vladimir Arutyunov
[arrested for an attempt on the US president’s life] during your
meeting with the Georgian prosecutor-general?
[Ovsepyan] Within the framework of the visit our delegation did not
pay special attention to this case as it does not involve an Armenian
citizen or affects our state interests. But during the meeting,
Adeishvili and I had indeed mention this matter. [Passage omitted:
Arutyunov was born and brought up in Tbilisi, and it is not clear yet
if his father was Armenian or not.]
The most important is that Arutyunov has nothing to do with Armenia.
Moreover, during our meeting with representatives of the Georgian
law-enforcement agencies they declared that this person behaves
inadequately. During our joint press conference with Adeishvili one of
the correspondents asked if the grenade was produced in Armenia,
Adeishvili replied that a mistranslation by Azerbaijan’s ambassador to
Georgia caused the spread of false information. “Armeyskaya granata”
[army grenade] was translated as “Armyanskaya granata” – that is,
“Armenian grenade”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE MG: SPIRIT OF TALKS AND RELATIONS BETWEEN KARABAKH CONFLICT PARTIES IMPORTANT
Pan ARMENIAN Network, Armenia
July 16 2005
15.07.2005 04:36
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ OSCE Minsk Group Russian Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov
said “the parties are still too far from coming to an agreement over
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.” In Merzlyakov’s words,
the preparation of the agreement needs months of intense work of both
experts and representatives of parties to conflict. MG French Co-Chair
Bernard Fassier remarked certain progress over settlement principles is
available. At that he added there are many complex aspects the parties
have not come to accord over yet. “We consider the spirit of the talks
and relations between the parties that positively develop are important
and it helps us much,” the French Ambassador said. US mediator Steven
Mann noted “the preparation of the principles is an indispensable phase
for the following preparation of the solution of all technical issues,
working out details and modalities at the level of experts.” In his
words, the new atmosphere and the spirit of openness at the talks
promote determination of future basic principles of the treaty.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
July 13 2005
UZBEKISTAN SUPPORTS PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-GARABAKH CONFLICT
RESPECTING TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN
[July 13, 2005, 20:52:10]
Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan Ismatilla Ergashev visited a
permanent mission of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in Baku on
July 13.
Head of the mission Rashad Gulamov greeted the ambassador and spoke
about the history of friendly relations between Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan. According to him, nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev’s and
President Ilham Aliyev’s visits to Uzbekistan gave an impetus to
development of bilateral relations. Uzbekistan’s attention to the
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is the result of these visits.
Ambassador I. Ergashev expressed gratitude for the hospitality and
noted that Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan are fraternal countries in view
of single language, religion and culture. Tashkent keeps problems of
Azerbaijan, in particular, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the focus of
attention. Ambassador noted that Uzbekistan supports peaceful
resolution of the conflict respecting the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. The main objective of the visit is to provide the library
of the Society of the Blind with Koran copies written in Braille
script. It will allow the blind reading the holy book.
Then, ambassador and Rashad Gulamov exchanged views on a variety of
issues.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN-JAPANESE BUSINESS FORUM TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN IN OCTOBER
Pan Armenian News
30.06.2005 04:08
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An Armenian-Japanese business forum will be held
in Yerevan in October. Representatives of largest Japanese companies
will participate in it. As stated by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister
Armen Bayburtyan, the arrangement on holding the forum was made at a
Moscow round table with participation of Japanese companies that have
offices in the Russian capital June 24. As noted by A. Bayburtyan,
comprehensive information on the economic situation and investment
opportunities in Armenia was provided to the Japanese businessmen. In
the course of the round table promising fields of cooperation
like tourism, chemical production, energy and electronics were
determined. The commodity turnover between Armenia and Japan made
over $12 million in 2004. In Bayburtyan’s words, this does not use
the potential of bilateral commercial and economic cooperation to the
full. He also remarked that in Yerevan he had met with the Japanese
Foreign Ministry delegation headed by Deputy Director General of
the Department of Europe. In the course of the meeting the parties
discussed a wide spectrum of bilateral relations, as well as prospects
of regional developments with the participation of the Japanese party,
Mediamax reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
FRANCO FRATTINI: TURKEY-EU NEGOTIATIONS TO BE IRREGULAR
24.06.2005 03:21
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Vice President of the European Commission Franco Frattini
told Corriere della Sera Italian newspaper that the EU-Turkey negotiations
scheduled for autumn will bear irregular character. In his words, is Ankara
is rejected to the EU after long-term talks it might lead to extremely
negative consequences. Noting that the negotiations will start in October
Mr. Frattini said, `It will be a very sensitive transition and I am
convinced that the negotiation process will be rather complicated’, Yerkir
Online reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian generals cannot enter Georgia despite pullout deal – TV
Zvezda TV, Moscow
7 Jun 05
The Russian-Georgian accords that have been reached on the procedure
and timescale for the withdrawal of military bases have not made the
situation of the Russian service personnel in the republic easier,
Vladimir Kuparadze, deputy commander of the Group of Russian Troops in
the Transcaucasus, said today.
Among those who still cannot get into Georgia are Maj-Gen Aleksandr
Bespalov, the commander of the Group of Russian Troops in the
Transcaucasus, who is forced to stay in Armenia. He still has not been
issued a Georgian visa. The new deputy commander for armaments has
likewise been denied entry.
The Russian military fear that as a result the Georgian government may
thwart the process of timely withdrawal of the bases.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘No need for ministers’ meeting’ – Armenian FM
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 6 2005
Baku, May 5, AssA-Irada
Armenian foreign minister may meet with the mediating OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs in Warsaw several days prior to the meeting of the
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents, PanArmenian news agency quoted
Vardan Oskanian as saying.
“The agreement on the meeting of Presidents Robert Kocharian and Ilham
Aliyev is of preliminary nature at this point. The precise date of
my meeting with the co-chairs has not been specified yet either”,
the Armenian minister told journalists in Yerevan.
Commenting on the meeting with his Azeri counterpart in Frankfurt he
avoided earlier, Oskanian said ‘its timing was inconvenient and the
MG co-chairs were informed of this’.
“There was no need to meet in one place and at the same time. A month
ago the Azeri and Armenian ministers exhausted their authority, which
ruled out the need for meetings in a separate format. The ministers
have done all they could.”
Oskanian added that a meeting of the two countries’ Presidents is
necessary at this stage.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter in Jerusalem under cloud of land scandal
AP Worldstream
May 01, 2005
KRISTEN STEVENS

Hundreds of pilgrims joined a handful of local Christians in
celebrating Orthodox Easter in Christianity’s holiest site, where
tradition holds that Jesus rose after being crucified and buried _ but
current and ancient disputes intruded.
Worshippers celebrated peacefully despite plans by Palestinians to
protest the participation of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Irineos I,
a central figure in a land dispute in the Jerusalem’s Old City.
Pilgrims from Russia, Serbia, Greece and other nations kneeled to rub
oils, crosses, religious pictures and other articles across a
rectangular orange stone representing the place where the body of
Jesus was prepared for burial, just inside the entrance of the ancient
Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the traditional site of
Calvary.
Though the Easter holiday is supposed to be one of joy, new and old
disputes clouded the celebrations. Many Orthodox Christian
Palestinians stayed away because of the land dispute involving the
Greek Patriarch, Irineos I, accused of approving the lease of church
land to Jews _ an affront to Palestinians.
On Saturday, a dozen Greek and Armenian clergymen briefly scuffled
over who would be first to emerge from the tomb of Christ with the
ceremonial flames, said to come from Jesus, reflecting a dispute
dating back centuries.
Custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is shared by a number of
denominations that jealously guard their responsibilities under a
fragile network of agreements hammered out over centuries.
Standing beside her son, Maria Ediotis, 60, who lives in Australia,
said she was filled with emotion “in this place where God’s intentions
can be felt.”
But she said she felt uncomfortable Saturday watching the clergymen
argue.
“I saw some things here yesterday I didn’t like… I don’t know why
people have to fight. Jesus blessed everybody.”
Atena Chaiu, 67, from Queens, New York, said she was hesitant about
coming to Israel because she feared terror attacks. Even so, she
joined her sister and a group of 35 Romanian pilgrims because “this is
a special trip. It’s a beautiful place to be celebrating Christ.”
Police carved a wide path with barricades to make way for Greek
Orthodox Patriarch, Irineos I, to conduct service in the church.
Palestinian demonstrators were absent after objecting to the
patriarch’s alleged role in the land scandal as recently as Friday
night, when four Palestinian men were arrested for shouting at Irineos
and for allegedly assaulting police officers. A dozen police dressed
in riot gear were all smiles as Sunday’s events drew to a calm close.
Irineos leased church property in Jerusalem to Jewish groups to prove
to Israeli authorities that he does not sympathize with the
Palestinians, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Sunday, citing the
patriarch’s former financial manager, Nikos Papadimas.
The newspaper did not directly quote Papadimas and did not say where
they contacted him, saying only that he is hiding in the United
States.
The Jerusalem patriarchate, which owns large amounts of property, is
one of the main Christian denominations in the Holy Land, with about
100,000 faithful, most of them Arabs.
Orthodox churches use a different calendar than the Roman Catholic and
Protestant churches, which celebrated Easter on March 27.
In Turkey, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I spoke out against
terrorism and killing in the name of religion as Orthodox faithful
gathered early Sunday at the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church in
Istanbul to celebrate Easter.
Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians
and a longtime advocate of harmony among different religions, led
several thousand worshippers at a crowded midnight liturgy. Many were
pilgrims from neighboring Greece.
At Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a massive church near the
Kremlin that was destroyed by Stalin and rebuilt with a golden dome,
thousands of believers gathered for midnight mass, including President
Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and an influential
Kremlin aide Dmitry Medvedev.
Earlier in the evening, organizers put on a first-ever laser show that
painted the church’s white exterior with images of icons and famous
church frescoes.

ISTANBUL OFFICE OF ASSOCIATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION PROTESTS
AGAINST TURKEY’S OFFICIAL POLICY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
YEREVAN, APRIL 25. ARMINFO. The ethnic cleansing carried out 90 years
ago in Ottoman Turkey resulted in the annihilation of the Christian
nations living in the territory of Anatolia with most of them being
Armenians. A whole country, a whole social layer with churches,
schools, arts, crafts, theaters, cemeteries was erased from geographic
maps, the web-site of Hay Tert reports the Istanbul Office of the
Association for Human Rights Protection as saying.
In early XX each 5th resident of Istanbul was non-Muslim while today
the figure 2/1,000. Even though as many as 90 years have passed since
the Armenian Genocide Turkey still keeps silence on the matter and
pressures and threatens whoever tries to express his relevant
opinion. Turkey’s propaganda is openly anti-Armenian and encourages
hatred, hostility and vengeance against Armenians. And so Turkish
citizens of Armenian origin live under constant strain and fear.
The Istanbul Office of the Association protests against Turkey’s state
policy on Apr 24, supports free public discussion and expression
concerning the historical past and expects supports in the matter from
all individuals and organizations supporting democracy and human
rights respect.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress