Author: Antonian Lara

RUSSIA TO WITHDRAW FROM MILITARY BASE IN GEORGIA

Xinhua, China
March 30 2007

MOSCOW, March 30 (Xinhua) — Russia will start withdraw of military
facilities from its base in Akhakalaki, Georgia, in April12 and
conclude in late May, indicating a new step towards the full pullout
of Russian military bases from the former soviet country.

The military equipment will be transported back to Russia or to Gyumri,
Russian base in Armenia during the pullout, the Itar-Tass news agency
reported on Wednesday. The heavy machinery and armaments have been
sent to Armenia and Russia last year.

Russian servicemen will leave Akhalkalaki and the base will
be transferred to Georgia by July 1, Itar-Tass said, citing a
representative of the base command.

The withdraw from Batumi, Russia’s last military base in Georgia,
started two years ago and will resume within a month and conclude
in 2008.

Russia inherited four military bases in Georgia from the Soviet Union
and has withdrawn two of them. Nearly 3,000 Russian servicemen are
still deployed at Georgia’s Akhalkalaki and Batumi Russian bases.

The two countries signed an agreement in March, 2006, to set out
the deadline and details of the pullout of those bases. Both sides
agreed to complete the phased withdrawal of the Russian bases and
other military installations in Georgia by the end of 2008.

U.S. SENATE VOTES FOR WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS FROM IRAQ TILL MARCH 31, 2008

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.03.2007 16:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the Senate, Democrats affirm a measure setting
a timetable of next spring for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from
Iraq. The deadline is attached to a $122 billion spending bill funding
the war in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of the fiscal year.

By a vote of 50-48, the Senate voted to keep in the funding bill a
provision requiring that troops be out of Iraq by March 31, 2008,
with the withdrawal beginning within 4 months of the bill’s enactment.

Last week, the House approved a similar measure, which sets a timeline
of Aug. 31, 2008, for a withdrawal.

The White House is threatening to veto either bill, and it’s looking
likely that President Bush will get a chance to carry out that threat.

The key vote is over whether to strip from the Senate bill language
that sets a U.S. troop withdrawal goal of March 31, 2008, and calls for
that withdrawal to begin within four months of the bill’s enactment.

Republican critics trying to remove the deadlines from the bill
accused Democrats of micromanaging the war.

But Republicans have also decided not to filibuster the bill.

Senate Republican leaders have decided to let the process move
forward because it is likely that a negotiated compromise between the
Senate and House will result in a bill that includes a timetable for
withdrawal, and it is just as likely that the bill will ultimately
be vetoed by President Bush.

Final passage of the complete spending measure is expected later this
week, reports the NPR.

ANDRANIK MARGARYAN: BEING A PRIME MINISTER IS LIKE BEING A GLADIATOR
Alisa Gevorgyan

"Radiolur"
28.03.2007 15:08

The collection of Andranik Margaryan’s speeches and interviews
was issued in 2005 under the title "There is no Alternative
to Independence." Here Andranik Margaryan showed to the public
"without tie.

Some episodes of the book are presented below.

– In case of great will it may be possible to return something from
the past, or somehow change the reality, but what is predetermined
is undisputable.

Everyone has his share of fortune. Do you believe in destiny?

– I have prejudices in this regard: what should happen will happen,
but everything will occur in its time. Maybe omens also exist, but I
think these are restricted. I think I still have a certain store of
life, since many times I have managed to come out of most difficult
situations. God has not created people faultless. Therefore, like
everyone, I have week features, but now I’m not going to enlist all
of these since I Don’t want to give an opportunity to my political
opponents to use my weaknesses.

– What would you like to have most of all?

– Peace of mind, because there are so many problems, finding solutions
to which is very difficult, since it does not depend only on you and
your friends.

There are problems the solution of which does not depend on Armenia,
either.

That is why we must have strong statehood, we must be united to
resist all the trials, as it was the case in early 1990s. To be short,
there are many difficulties, and there will always be.

– What did the Prime Minister’s position give you and what did it take?

– It gave me great experience, patience and the capacity to listen
to others. What it took was my health, but I still have some in store.

– Do you take vacations?

– I have not taken a vacation in the past 10 years.

– Hadn’t you recovered on 1999?

– I underwent a serious operation on October 15, 1999. But today
I have no health complaints. I hope I will still live long without
applying to a doctor.

– Is there anything you are proud of?

– It’s our independence. During the years of struggle for freedom and
independence none of us could expect that we would see our independent
statehood.

But we were assured we had to continue the struggle at least for the
generations to come. Today we are alive and we see this independent
statehood and participate in its creation. There can be no greater
pride than this.

– What do you feel sorry for?

– I do not feel sorry for the past. I simply think that time could
have been used more efficiently.

– What will you wish?

– I wish everyone to be far from misfortunes, to be far from Prime
Minister’ s position, from Government and this kind of things. Being
a Prime Minister is like being a gladiator: you either fail or be
killed. When assuming the position, I knew that people would remember
what I have not done, since there are so many problems, that one cannot
resolve these all together. The glance of the people is directed at
the Prime Minister.

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 26 2007

Over 100 migrants seized in central Moscow – FMS
13:11 | 26/ 03/ 2007

MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti) – More than a hundred illegal migrant
workers have been detained in a police raid in central Moscow, the
Federal Migration Service said Monday.

"More than a hundred illegal foreigners were detained by police in a
flat in Moscow," the service said. "Most of them are from Armenia and
Kyrgyzstan, and are in breach of rules governing the stay of foreign
citizens in Russia".

This raid was part of a recent campaign to tackle illegal migration
in Russia, which is suffering from an illegal "migration boom" mainly
by those from former-Soviet republics arriving in Moscow and other
major cities in search of work.

According to the Federal Migration Service, over 20 million people
come to Russia every year and half are in the country illegally.

In January, Russia toughened its migration policy, reducing to 40% of
the total workforce the number of migrants allowed to work in
markets.

>From April 1, 2007, migrants will be banned from working in markets
entirely, a move designed to bring order to the sector and curb a
wave of ethnically motivated crimes in the country.

Some one and a half million civil cases were filed for violations of
migration laws in 2005, and approximately 57,000 illegal immigrants
were deported.

Controversy over cross grows amid church’s reopening

Arminfo
2007-03-23 20:40:00

In advance of the opening of the newly restored Armenian Akhtamar
Church on Lake Van, a new controversy has emerged in Ankara over
whether or not the church’s steeple should have a metal cross placed
on it, reports Zaman daily (Turkey).

Akhtamar Church has undergone restoration that was undertaken at the
behest of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Minister of Culture
and Tourism Atilla Koc. The church will be reopened to the public at a
special ceremony on March 29.

Meanwhile, Patriarch Mesrob II, the spiritual leader of the Armenian
Orthodox community in Turkey, has sent a written request to the
Culture and Tourism Ministry asking that a cross, prepared by the
Armenian Patriarchate itself, be placed on the steeple of the Akhtamar
Church. The sentiments in the letter from Partriarch Mesrob are echoed
in a similar letter sent by a group of Armenian intellectuals and
artists to the ministry.

With no answer yet forthcoming regarding what is to be done about the
cross, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has reportedly sent letters
to the Foreign Ministry to obtain further views on the matter. Whether
or not the cross will be placed atop Akhtamar Church in advance of the
March 29 opening appears to depend on the views on this matter
expressed by authorities at the Foreign Ministry.

While the Ministry of Culture and Tourism intends for the
1,100-year-old church on Lake Van’s Akhtamar Island to be opened to
the public as a "museum," the Armenian community is pressing for the
church to be available for religious services. On the subject of the
placement of the metal cross atop the church, Patriarch Mesrob
references past photographs of the historical church as the reason why
the ministry should allow the cross to be placed there.

"A cross can be clearly seen on the steeple of the church in all old
photographs of it." The official name of the church also arises in the
content of Mesrob’s letter, with the patriarch referring to the church
as " Lake Van’s Agtamar Island Surp Hac Armenian Church."

Within this framework, the Armenian patriarch also suggests that
annual September Sacred Cross Festival be called the Agtamar Festival,
noting that this would have the additional advantage of drawing local
and foreign tourists to the area, with choral groups from Istanbul and
folkloric dancers from Van adding to the content of the festival.

The patriarch’s letter also focuses on the possible religious services
that might take place at Akhtamar Church during the Sacred Cross
Festival, explaining, "There could be a religious service in the
church’s old nave, followed by choral groups and folklore groups."

Patriarch Mesrob’s letter ends by noting that he is "praying to dear
Allah for the continued success" of the ministry’s restoration
efforts. In a separate letter on the subject, a group of Armenian
intellectuals and artists request that Akhtamar Church, which they
refer to as "Ahdamar Church," be turned over permanently to the
Armenian community in Turkey. They also note that a cross similar to
the one found on the church must be placed there again, and that even
if the church is not to be opened for religious services, the cross
must still be placed there as a part of restoration efforts.

Armenian ice dancers gained the permit to partake in the final

Armradio.am
23.03.2007 11:29

Gaining 44.86 points for the `original dance,’ Armenian ice dancers
Anastasia Grebyonkina and Vazgen Azroyan occupied the 21st position at
the World Figure Skating Championship held in Tokyo (Japan).

Albena Denkova ` Maxim Stavitski ice dancing pair of Bulgaria became
the winner with 32.10 points.

Thus, Armenian figure skaters solved their primary task: they attained
the permit to participate in the final.

NUMBER OF INITIAL CASES OF DISEASE WITH TUBERCULOSIS DECREASES 19% IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Mar 22 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, NOYAN TAPAN. March 24 is the international
day of struggle against tuberculosis. This year slogan of it is
"Tuberculosis Anywhere Means Everywhere." About 2 mln people die and
about 9 mln people are infected with tuberculosis in the world every
year. As Tatev Kostanian, the deputy head of the "National Program on
Struggle against Tuberculosis" informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent,
5673 patients (6455 in 2006) with tuberculosis are registered in
Armenia. 91 from them are below 14 years old children. In her words,
the number of newly found out patients decreased 19% in 2006, as if
compared with the previous year. This number made 1613. T. Kostanian
also stated that the number of cases of death from that desease also
decreased. So, 167 cases of death were registered in 2005, 153 cases
were registered in 2006.

KARABAKH CONFLICT A FAR CRY FROM SETTLEMENT – OSKANIAN

ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 21 2007

YEREVAN, March 21 (Itar-Tass) – The Armenian Foreign Minister,
Vartan Oskanian, stated here on Wednesday that the sides involved
in the Karabakh conflict were "still a far cry from any agreement,
which was borne out by the outcome of the recent Geneva meeting of
the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan".

"This was quite a complicated and difficult meeting, and no progress
was achieved. However, there was no regress, too. Differences on
many problems have still not been smoothed out," Oskanian told a news
conference in the Armenian capital.

The ministers will continue their talks to pave the way to a new
meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which is to
be held after the parliamentary elections in Armenia, scheduled for
May 12, the foreign minister stated. He is sure that "the sooner the
Karabakh conflict is settled, the better for everybody".

According to Oskanian, he was not attaching any particular importance
to the official statements of the Azerbaijan side. "The principal
milestones for us are the negotiations and the document discussed
at the talks, as well as the Azerbaijan statements, made at the
negotiations, which differ very much from the public pronouncements
of the Azeri side," he stressed.

At the bedrock of the document now discussed and of the draft
principles of Karabakh settlement "is a formula of which the Armenian
side could previously only dream", the minister noted.

"All the documents, which the co-chairmen had tabled up to 1998, began
with a preamble, stressing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,"
Oskanian recalled.

After 1998 (when President Robert Kocharian came to power – Itar-Tass),
the essence of the document was altered to stipulate the right of
the Nagorny Karabakh people to self-determination, which is to be
decided by a national referendum, the minister acknowledged.

"The legal foundations of Nagorny Karabakh’s independence are solid,"
the Armenian foreign minister underscored. "Karabakh has never been
a component part of the independent Azerbaijan," he added.

ARMENIAN FM: BAN OF JERMUK IN THE US WAS NOT A POLITICAL ACTION

Arminfo
2007-03-21 22:43:00

Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan does not think that the ban of Jermuk
mineral water in the US and some other countries had any political
implications.

During a press-conference today Oskanyan said that there is no
connection between the ban and the recent report of the US State
Department that mentioned Karabakh as a territory occupied by Armenia.

To remind, recently the US and a number of other countries banned the
sale of Jermuk because of high content of arsenic and ammonium. A
number of political experts, mostly in Russia, believe that the US
is just pressuring Armenia.

ASPHALT LAYING WORK TO BE DONE IN 132 YEREVAN STREETS THIS YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Mar 19 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Asphalt laying work and repairs of
manholes and breast-walls have already started in Yerevan. Deputy
Mayor of Yerevan Vano Vardanian said at the March 19 press conference
that it is envisaged to lay 400 thousand square meters of 132 city
streets with asphalt by late 2007, for which 2.3 bln drams (about
6.3 mln USD) was allocated. Breast-walls in 6 Yerevan streets will
be repaired with 227 mln drams.

Speaking about sanitary cleaning work, V. Vardanian noted that a city
subbotnik and tree planting will be held in April. It was mentioned
that this work has already begun in some communities. According to the
deputy mayor, the number of rubbish bins in Yerevan will be increased
by about a thousand.

In his words, serious work will be done concerning housing resources
and condominiums. Now the experience of various countries in this
sector is being studied. V. Vardanian said that today activities
of 515 condominiums of the city are not efficient. He noted that
new governance methods will allow to make the work of condominiums
more active.