Author: Antonian Lara

PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

AZG Armenian Daily
15/03/2008

Overwhelming Majority of UN Member States Do Not Support Azerbaijan’s
Position on Nagorno Karabakh

On Friday March 14, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a
draft resolution introduced by Azerbaijan in which Azerbaijan attempted
to secure international support for its own desired outcome for the
Nagorno Karabakh resolution process.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries – US, France and the Russian
Federation – voted against the resolution as did Armenia and a few
other countries.

Over 150 countries abstained or did not vote. Only 39 countries
supported the resolution, out of organizational affinity with either
GUAM or the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Although the non-binding resolution passed the General Assembly, the
rejection of Azerbaijan’s position by an overwhelming majority is a
barometer of the mood of the international community on this issue.

"I hope Azerbaijan got the message from the international
community. Taking the lead of the co-chairs, a majority of member
states repelled the one-sided approach," said Armenia’s Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian.

Minister Oskanian characterized the resolution as hypocritical. "On
the one hand, in an effort to disinform member states, the resolution
included a paragraph that supports the OSCE Minsk Process. On the
other hand, Azerbaijan blatantly ignored the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
position. The co-chair countries had made clear they would not support
the resolution and in fact voted against the resolution."

"Now we wonder what Azerbaijan’s next move will be," he said. "We
question whether this resolution was intended to derail the negotiating
process or whether they got the clear message and will return to
the negotiating table to work on a negotatied, compromise lasting
solution."

At a press conference earlier in the week, Minister Oskanian had
stated that President-Elect Serge Sargisian would be prepared to
meet with the Azerbaijani President at the earliest possibility,
if the co-chairs find this useful and if Azerbaijan accepts. "This
opportunity exists," Oskanian said.

"The ball is clearly in Azerbaijan’s court."

"Rejecting Azerbaijan’s resolution, the international community
has indicated its support for the negotiating document on the table
today which has successfully managed to reconcile the two seemingly
contradictory principles of the Helsinki Final Act — people’s right
to self-determination and territorial integrity," explained Armenia’s
Foreign Minister.

"This document presents a unique opportunity for Azerbaijanis and
Armenians to move forward. This is precisely what sets the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict apart in our region and in Europe and makes it
sui generis, not only because of its legal and historical context,
but also because of the innovative negotiating approach to finding
a realistic, lasting resolution."

Earlier the same day, had met with the co-chairs of the Minsk Group,
who had discussed the possibility of the resumption of talks, the UN
resolution and the situation on the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line
of contact.

ARMENIA-MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES APPROVES APPLICATION TO MCC

ARMENPRESS
March 12, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS: The governing council of the
Armenia-Millennium Challenges Foundation, chaired by its chairman,
prime minister Serzh Sarkisian, has discussed and approved today a
package of documents that will be submitted to the Washington-based
Millennium Challenges Corporation (MCC) to seek the 7-th disbursement
of MCC funds.

The government press office said the package comprises the application,
the quarterly financial report and other relating documents.

The press office said the government of Armenia expects to receive
$11.4 billion from the MCC and wants to use these funds, earmarked
for the second quarter of this year, on rehabilitation of rural roads,
irrigation systems, as well as to finance the monitoring and assessment
and program management and control components of the program.

The government press office said also by 2007 December 1, Armenia
received a total of $11.261,000 from the MCC. Part of these funds
were utilized to launch the restoration of 24.5 lm long road from the
second-largest town of Gyumri to Armavir, another part was used to
accomplish feasibility studies for restoration of a number of pumping
stations and gravity flow irrigation systems.

Yet some of the money was used to organize training courses on improved
agricultural management for over 5000 framers, including 1085 women.

The sitting today discussed and approved also a number of other
relating issues, the government press office said.

SEMINAR-CONSULTATION DEDICATED TO MEDICAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF SPORTSMEN OF ARMENIAN NATIONAL TEAM PREPARING FOR BEIJING 2008 TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
March 11, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. A seminar-consultation dedicated to
the medical-psychological problems of sportsmen preparing for Beijing
2008 Olympic Games will be held on March 12 in the business center
of the American University of Yerevan (Alek Manoogian, 7). Renowned
doctors and psychologists will make reports at the event. Senior
and chief trainers of RA national, youth, juvenile national teams,
private coaches, teams’ doctors, masseurs, responsible representatives
of sport have been invited to the event.

YOUTUBE BLOCKED IN ARMENIA?

Google Blogoscoped
-10-n27.html
March 10 2008

A source from Armenia who likes to remain anonymous here emailed in
this (linked):

Thought it’d be interesting for you to know that YouTube has been
blocked in Armenia, since our president has declared a state of
emergency in the capital on March 2. Under this state, no media is
allowed to broadcast any information except official announcements.

You can read about the protests and the state of emergency in Armenia
on Google News, just do a keyword search for ‘armenia’ and browse the
latest. We are having a real censorship here for the opposition, and
although I would never think that the government would get its hands
on YouTube, its unreachable through any Armenian ISP! The domain does
resolve, however the destination host is unreachable.

PUTIN CALLED TO USE POLITICAL TOOLS TO RESOLVE ARMENIAN CRISIS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2008 17:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Prime Minister and President-elect Serzh
Sargsyan had a phone talk with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin today,
the RA government’s press office reported.

The RF President once again congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on election
President of Armenia and invited him to Moscow for a detailed
discussion of the Armenian-Russian relations.

He stressed the necessity to use political tools to resolve the crisis
in Armenia and to establish dialogue with the opposition.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
March 10, 2008
Contact: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434

ARMENIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RENDERS DECISION

Armenian Assembly Continues to Emphasize Importance of Democratic
Principles, End to Violence

Washington, DC – While the Constitutional Court has issued its ruling
upholding the election results as announced by the Central Election
Commission, the Armenian Assembly of America continues to be concerned
about the restrictions imposed by President Robert Kocharian’s
Administration, including respect for freedom of speech and freedom of
assembly, as well as ongoing arrests and detentions. We urge that the
basic civil rights protections be upheld.

No one wishes to see a repetition of the events of March 1, 2008, and
we urge that any further violence be avoided at all costs. It is
imperative that the rule of law prevail, and that the media fairly and
accurately cover the developments.

We are also keenly aware that the political divisions that have been
created in Armenia have already begun to impact the Diaspora. We
continue to receive calls from across the country from supporters and
friends alike who have voiced their strong concerns and expectations.

There is no doubt that this is a critical time for the future of
Armenia and its citizens. The need for political dialogue is great, as
many have expressed their strong dissatisfaction and disappointment
with what the OSCE has called "implausibly" high voter turnout at
specific Precinct Election Commissions.

We note that the Prime Minister has discussed the need to heal the
country and called for reconciliation. We also note that Armenia’s
Ombudsman has issued a statement, which called for political
dialogue. We appreciate these statements. We encourage continued
participation of Armenia’s electorate and urge ongoing engagement in
the process to ensure open, honest and sincere dialogue with all
political forces involved with the presidential election to heal the
country for the betterment of all Armenians.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public
understanding and awareness of Armenian issues.  It is a 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt membership organization.

NR#2008-028

NATO-ARMENIA CONSULTATIONS IN BRUSSELS

armradio.am
10.03.2008 12:27

The delegation of RA Ministry of Defense left for Brussels today to
participate in the sitting of the Strategic-Political Committee in
Armenia-NATO format at NATO’s headquarters. The delegation comprises
RA Deputy Defense Minister Ara Nazaryan, Head of the Department on
International Military Cooperation and Defense Programs, Colonel David
Tonoyan and acting Head of the Division on Cooperation with NTO Ara
Mesropyan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Seyran
Shahsuvaryan informed.

During the sitting members of the Armenian delegation and
representatives of NATO member states will discuss the concise
Planning and Review Report worked out during the visit of the NATO
Assessment Mission to Armenia on February 4-8 and the amended purposes
of partnership, the progress in the fulfillment of the aims included in
the second part of the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan.

From: Sebouh Z Tashjian <[email protected]>
Subject: Azeri forces concentrate at NKR-Azeri contact line

AZG Armenian Daily #045, 08/03/2008

Karabakh conflict

AZERI FORCES CONCENTRATE AT NKR-AZERI CONTACT LINE

According to the NKR Defense Ministry’s operational
data, a concentration of the Azeri military units is
observed on the contact line of the NKR and Azeri
armed forces, near Levonarkh settlement, where on
March 4, 2008, Azerbaijan’s armed forces violated the
ceasefire. We once more urge the Azeri leadership to
refuse the attempts to violate the armistice and warn
that the NKR Defense Army will adequately response to
any infringement by the Azeri military units. In this
connection we relieve ourselves of the responsibility
for a possible tension escalation on the contact line
because of the destructive steps of the official Baku,
which, unfortunately, have not been given a proper
political evaluation by the mediators, the NKR MFA
press office reported

Cyprus News Agency, Cyprus
March 6 2008

New Cypriot Speaker pledges to promote island’s unity

Nicosia, 6 March: New House President Marios Karoyian has pledged to
work for unity and promote a collective spirit, two principles he
described as "fundamental preconditions" for the successful
management of the Cyprus question.

Speaking before the House plenary, after his election to the House
Presidency, Karoyian thanked all the parties which backed his
candidacy and expressed understanding for the decision of the
right-wing Democratic Rally party to abstain from the vote.

Karoyian assured that he will work for a just, functional and viable
settlement of the Cyprus question on the basis of UN resolutions and
decisions, the high-level agreements of 1977 and 1979 between the
leaders of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities,
providing for a bizonal, bicommunal federation, the July 2006
agreement providing for substantive negotiations towards a
settlement, the principles of international law and the principles on
which the European Union is founded.

He said that his aim is a settlement which will lift the
repercussions of the Turkish invasion and continuing occupation of
Cyprus’s northern part, re-unite the state, the people and the
institutions and create the conditions for the harmonious and
peaceful coexistence of all the legal inhabitants of the country,
Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins
under conditions of security, progress and cooperation.

Noting that critical battles lie ahead for Cyprus and that new moves
are expected on the Cyprus question, he said that the House of
Representatives in cooperation with the president of the republic and
the government will assume its own share in efforts to promote our
goals and our positions for achieving a just, functional and viable
settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Furthermore, he pledged to work towards unity, noting that he looks
forward to the cooperation and help of all parliamentary parties.

He referred to the EU, noting that Cyprus’s more-active engagement in
EU institutions "has allowed us to aspire to become substantive
players contributing to European developments".

Karoyian said that his attention will also focus on issues related to
the improvement of the functioning of the House at all levels.

He praised the work of his predecessor, new president of the Republic
of Cyprus, Dhimitrios Khristofias, who, as he said, had made
important steps towards the promotion of the role of the legislative
and of modernizing its structures and procedures.

"I will make every effort to continue along this path with a view to
enhance the role of the House of Representatives," he concluded.

Karoyian was elected today to the post of president of the House of
Representatives by majority vote.

Reuters
March 8 2008

Armenia Constitutional Court rejects opposition suit
Sat Mar 8, 2008 12:24pm EST

YEREVAN, March 8 (Reuters) – The Armenian Constitutional Court on
Saturday rejected opposition claims last month’s presidential vote
was rigged and stood by the verdict of the country’s central election
commission.

Outgoing President Robert Kocharyan declared a state of emergency in
Yerevan on March 1 after eight people were killed in clashes between
police and protesters who said the election was fixed to deny the
opposition a victory.

President-elect Serzh Sarksyan, who won 53 percent of the vote,
defended the emergency laws as necessary. His rival, former President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who won 21.5 percent, filed a suit to the
Constitutional Court.

The Court confirmed there were violations during the vote and asked
prosecutors to investigate. The Court said in a statement the
violations did not provide enough evidence to question the election
result. (Reporting by Hasmik Mkrtchan, writing by Gleb Bryanski)