Author: Antonian Lara

ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPER WOUNDED IN IRAQ WILL OCCUPY THE WORTHY POST IN HIS NATIVE LAND, HIGHLY-RANKED REPRESENTATIVE OF ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PROMISED

ArmInfo News Agency
2007-05-29 18:04:00

Armenian peacekeeper Lieutenant of the Armenian armed forces Georgiy
Nalbandyan wounded in Iraq will occupy the worthy post in his native
land, where he will be able to use his knowledge and experience,
the chief of the department of international military cooperation and
defence programmes of Armenian Defence Ministry, Major-General Mikael
Melkonyan said at the press-conference dedicated to Peacekeeper’s
International Day.

He also added that Georgiy Nalbandyan was relevantly treated and his
health state is satisfactory. to his native land in 2-3 months >, –
Melkonyan said and added that he within the Armenian delegation will
visit the USA at the end of June and will learn the health state of
the peacekeeper by himself.

To recall, Lieutenant Georgiy Nalbandyan was wounded in Iraq, in
November 2006, over the peace keeping operation.

POLICE ESTABLISHES IDENTITY OF MAN WHO COMMITTED ACT OF VANDALISM IN MOTHER CATHEDRAL OF ETCHMIADZIN

Noyan Tapan
May 25 2007

ETCHMIADZIN, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. The identity of the person, who
committed an act of vandalism in Mother Cathedral of the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin early in the morning of May 24, has been established.

The Head of the information service of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin priest Vahram Melikian told NT correspondent that
in connection with the incident the Mother See applied to the
police. According to some information, the person, who committed this
act of hooliganism, lives in a village near Etchmiadzin. He is now
in a mentally unbalanced state and has attended meetings of Jehovah’s
Witnesses sect. His name is not published due to some considerations.

To recap, early May 24 the above mentioned person got on the Altar
of Mother Cathedral and started throwing about the sacrid things on
the Holy Table, after which he took to flight.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS IN TALKS IN BAKU

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan –
May 25 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend S.Agayeva / The OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs and the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov,
set up talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baku on 25 May.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Russia Ambassador Yuriy Merzlyakov
and French Ambassador Bernard Fassier arrived in Baku on 24 May after
the tour of Yerevan.

At the airport in Baku the co-chairs would not elaborate on the talks
held with the Armenian Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian, and the
Armenian President, Robert Kocharian. Fassier stated that the course
of talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution will depend on
the talks to be held in Baku.

During their visit the co-chairs will also discuss the opportunities
for a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents due in
St. Petersburg on 10 June.

The co-chairs are scheduled to hold a meeting with the Azerbaijan
President Ilham Aliyev on 25 May.

ARMENTEL DECIDES TO CANCEL 65% OF SUBSCRIBERS’ DEBTS FOR INTERNATIONAL PHONE COMMUNICATION AS RESULT OF USING INTERNET

Noyan Tapan
May 24 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. ArmenTel company decided to cancel 65%
of its subscribers’ debts for international calls registered during
the use of dial-up Internet services. General executive director
of ArmenTel Oleg Bliznyuk said at the May 24 press conference that
the devision applies to subscribers who filed an application to the
company regarding this issue from May 1, 2006 to May 23, 2007.

According to him, if the subscriber has already paid the debt, 65%
of the paid sum will be kept on his/her account as prepayment. Those
subscribers who have not yet made payments may pay the remaining 35%
of their debt gradually within three years after signing the respective
agreement with ArmenTel.

O. Bliznyuk said that 57% of nearly 250 subscribers’ debts of the
total amount of 67 mln drams (about 180 thousand dollars) has already
been paid. He noted that in May 2006, the company cancelled the whole
sum of similar debts that subscribers had accumulated in the previous
8 months.

In the words of ArmenTel’s general executive director, international
phone connections are often made against the will of Internet users,
as a result of which large debts are accumualted for international
phone calls. To avoid this, subscribers are recommended to block the
international phone access by using the free coding method.

BELARUS, ARMENIA DISCUSS DEFENCE COOPERATION

Belapan news agency
21 May 07

Minsk, 21 May: Belarusian Defence Minister Col-Gen Leanid Maltsaw met
Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Lt-Gen Yuriy Khachaturov in Minsk
on 21 May. A delegation led by Khachaturov arrived in Minsk to visit
the Milex-2007 arms and military equipment exhibition, which opens
on 22 May.

Belapan learnt at the Defence Ministry that Maltsaw and Khachaturov
exchanged opinions on the state and development prospects for bilateral
military cooperation.

[Passage omitted: Kazakh Defence Minister Daniyal Akhmetov to arrive
in Minsk on 21 May.]

"BY THESE ELECTIONS ARMENIA SET A NEW STANDARD FOR THE FOLLOWING ONES", HEAD OF THE INTERNATIONAL OBSERVATION MISSION BELIEVES

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 22 2007

Yerevan, May 22. /Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian
received the Head of the International Observation Mission, Ambassador
Boris Frlec in Yerevan today.

As Mediamax was told in the press service of the government today,
Boris Frlec stated that the group of long-term observers is working
out the final document, in which the results of observations of the
parliamentary elections of May 12 in Armenia will be presented in
detail, including the noticed shortcomings and proposals for their
elimination.

"By these elections Armenia set a new standard for the following
elections. One step is followed by another and step-by-step the process
becomes irreversible", the Head of the Observation Mission stated.

At that he noted that despite the fact that Armenia fulfilled the basic
commitments to OSCE, including the ones related to holding agitation,
securing free access to media and others, there still remain some
shortcomings, related to the legal field, which were revealed after
the implementation of the reformed Electoral Code in practice. The
shortcomings should be seriously studied and efficient solutions to
them should be found.

According to Boris Frlec, the Republican Party of Armenia, which
gained the majority in the new parliament, can play an important role
in the solution of these problems, and, in case of need, contribute
to the changes in the Electoral legislation.

ARMENIAN CB CHAIRMAN TO PARTICIPATE IN MEETING OF GAF SUPERVISORY COUNCIL

Arka News Agency, Armenia
May 21 2007

YEREVAN, May 21. /ARKA/. Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
Tigran Sargsyan is to participate in a meeting of the Supervisory
Council of the German-Armenian Fund (GAF) to be held in Frankfurt. The
CBA press service reports that the meeting is to discuss GAF’s new
projects.

The CBA Chairman is being accompanied by CBA Vice-Chairman Artur
Javadyan, who is to continue participating in the Council’s meeting
until May 25.

GAF was founded in 1998 under an Armenian German intergovernmental
agreement on financial cooperation in supporting small businesses in
Armenia.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH WAS ONCE AGAIN PRESENTED AT MOSCOW TOURISM EXHIBITION

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 17 2007

Russia, Moscow / corr. Trend R.Agayev / A separate hall of the occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan was once again presented at the
Moscow tourism forum. A separate stand presented Nagorno-Karabakh as
a geographic region in the 7th International Tourism Fair which was
opened on 17 May in Moscow at the exhibition center, Trend Special
Correspondent reports.

The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus appeared in
1988 due to the territorial claims of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Since
1992 to the present time, these territories have been under the
occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia
signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active hostilities
ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA)
are holding peaceful negotiations.

One week before the Moscow forum, the Heads of the Azerbaijani
diaspora organizations (Federal National Cultural Autonomy of
the Russian Azerbaijanis, International Karabakh Foundation and
Co-ordination Council of Azerbaijani Youths) forwarded letters
to the Tourism Committee of Moscow. A letter highlighted their
powerlessness to represent Nagorno-Karabakh both as a Republic and
as an independent region. The letters recalled negative results
in the previous 6th Moscow exhibitions (13 May, 2006) where this
occupied region of Azerbaijan was presented as self-declared "
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic". During the exhibition, the activists
of the Azerbaijani diaspora organizations attempted to prevent the
Armenians from presenting the hall as so-called "NGR" and this led
to controversy. The letter states that the decision on presenting
the hall as of Nagorno-Karabakh may yield negative results and
the Tourism Committee of Moscow will take responsibility for the
negative results. The representative of the Tourism Committee stated
by telephone that this time Nagorno-Karabakh will not be presented
as a republic and the stand will not reflect any status. However,
the Azerbaijani diaspora organization insisted on full liquidation
of the Nagorno-Karabakh hall.

Nagorno-Karabakh was presented in the tourism fair not as a
republic, but as a geographic region. However, the hall featured
Azerbaijani items, household items, dresses, wine are represented
by the Armenians. On 18-19 May, on par with the presentation of the
official stand of Azerbaijan, it is planned to present a separate
stand of Nagorno-Karabakh. The activists of the Azerbaijani diaspora
organizations have highlighted their intention to prevent it.

ZAVEN ANDRIASIAN DEFEATS AZERBAIJANI CHESS-PLAYER IN START OF INTERNATIONAL YOUTH TOURNAMENT

Noyan Tapan
May 17 2007

KIRISHI, MAY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The first tour was held in the World
Youth Stars International Chess Tournament on May 16 in the town of
Kirishi, Leningrad region. Among representatives of Armenia, world
youth champion Zaven Andriasian defeated Azerbaijani Eltoj Sasarli and
Avetik Grigorian drew the game with Indian Negi Parimarya in that tour.

NKR PRESIDENT RECEIVED AMBASSADOR ANDRZEJ KASPRZYK

ArmRadio.am
16.05.2007 12:35

On May 15 NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan received the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej
Kasprzyk.

NKR President’s Acting Spokesman told ArmInfo that among others the
issue of carrying out planned monitoring of the contact line of the
Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan to be held on May 16.