Author: Antonian Lara

SITUATION AT NAGORNO-KARABAKH BORDER STABILIZES – ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 5, 2008
Russia

The situation at the contact line between the Nagorno-Karabakh and
Azeri armed forces has stabilized, said Armenian President Robert
Kocharian.

"There was an attack on a stronghold, and it was captured. A response
came immediately, and the status quo was restored," Kocharian said
at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday.

The conflicting sides reached a ceasefire agreement, Kocharian said.

He praised the role of OSCE chairman-in-office’s representative for
Nagorno-Karabakh Andrzej Kasprzyk in settling the incident.

"We are capable of settling this incident," Kocharian said.

The Armenian president suggested that Azerbaijan might have thought
that Armenia lost its focus on Nagorno-Karabakh or that "some major
units were withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh to maintain order in
Yerevan."

"I don’t think that it would have been politically correct to take
advantage of such a situation," he said.

EXCHANGES OF FIRE PERSIST IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH – ARMENIAN MINISTRY

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 5, 2008
Russia

Tensions along the contact line of the Nagorno-Karabakh and Azeri
armed forces have yet to ease, acting spokesman for the Armenian
Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"The situation has been calm at the part of the contact line that saw
clashes yesterday. However, exchanges of fire are being registered
along other areas," Babayan said, adding that the UN, the OSCE,
and other international organizations had been informed of this.

US AWARE OF ARMENIAN PROVOCATION ON FRONT LINE

AzerTag
March 5 2008
Azerbaijan

Yashar Aliyev, Azerbaijani Ambassador to US met Tuesday with Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
Kurt Volker. Ambassador informed Kurt Volker about the fact that
Armenian armed forces shattered the ceasefire, subjecting to gunfire
the positions of Azerbaijani armed forces.

According to him, by violating the ceasefire, Armenia wanted to divert
the international community’s attention from domestic political
crisis. The US National Security Council was also advised of the
"cease-fire breach" by Armenia.

Azerbaijani community in US expressed its concern over the frontline
situation. The Azerbaijan-American Council of California condemned,
in its statement, the provocation of the Armenian authorities against
Azerbaijan. The statement says this is the attempt to divert the
international community’s attention from Armenia’s international and
economic isolation, civil rights violation, suppression of free media
and crackdown on opposition activists.

American Azerbaijanis hope that Armenia will end provocations,
and support the resolution of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh based on the international law.

Approximately 15 thousand members of the Armenian Diaspora in
Los-Angeles held rallies to protest against human rights violation
and election fraud in Armenia.

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Amy Einhorn preempted world English rights to M.T. Mustian’s The
Gendarme for her imprint at Putnam with a six-figure offer to Scott
Mendel. Armenian-American Mustian’s debut is described as an epic
novel about a 92-year-old Turkish-American man suffering from dementia
who suddenly starts having vivid dreams about his role in the Armenian
genocide of 1915, the young woman hefell in love with and spared-and
how he sets out in secret to beg her forgiveness.

Norton Wins New Rosenberg

by Matthew Thornton — Publishers Weekly, 2/25/2008
Norton Wins New Rosenberg

Bob Weil at Norton beat out six other houses in an auction for Tina
Rosenberg’s The Social Cure: Cracking the World’s Toughest Problems
Through the Power of the Group; Gail Ross sold North American
rights. The book will look at intractable social problems, both global
and domestic, that appear to haveno solutions, providing inspirational
cases in which peer pressure has been used to change behavior in
instances where previously nothing had worked. This is Rosenberg’s
third book, and the first since 1995’s The Haunted Land, which won the
Pulitzer and the National Book Award. Pub date is spring 2010.

Beilock Auctions First Book
Leslie Meredith at the Free Press was the winner, world rights, at a
two-day auction for University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock’s
first book, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Success
and Failure at Work and Play; Dan O’Connell at the Strothman Agency
made the six-figure sale.
Beilock, whose research has made her a sought-after media commentator
and speaker, will reveal new evidence that turns on its head what we
know about body-brain intelligence and performance, specifically what
makes us flub and freeze in tests, in the boardroom and on the playing
field. The book will also provide practical solutions to prevent
choking. Pub date is 2010.

Dutton Preempts
Just before an auction in which at least eight publishers were slated
to participate, Amy Hertz preempted world rights to New York Times
health columnist and Well blogger Tara Parker-Pope’s The Science of
Marriage via Lynn Johnston. The book will distill the avalanche of
research about what makes relationships work-and not work-into
practical, evidence-based advice. Tentative pub date is late
2009/early 2010.
Ben Sevier preempted North American rights to two new novels by
Jonathan Tropper via Simon Lipskar. The first of the two, to be
published in 2009, deals with fatherhood. Tropper is the author of
four previous novels, most recently How to Talk to a Widower,
published last year by Delacorte. Plume will publish both new books in
paperback following the Dutton hardcover.

Debut Preempts
Amy Einhorn preempted world English rights to M.T. Mustian’s The
Gendarme for her imprint at Putnam with a six-figure offer to Scott
Mendel.
Armenian-American Mustian’s debut is described as an epic novel about
a 92-year-old Turkish-American man suffering from dementia who
suddenly starts having vivid dreams about his role in the Armenian
genocide of 1915, the young woman hefell in love with and spared-and
how he sets out in secret to beg her forgiveness.
Sarah Knight at Holt preempted an untitled memoir by two-time
California Poet Laureate Rhoda Janzen via Michael Bourret at Dystel &
Goderich. Janzen tackles love, faith, family and corsets in this
recounting of the months she spent recuperating after a bad breakup
(her husband left her for a guy named Bob) in her parents’ quirky,
close-knit Mennonite community. Holt has North American rights; pub
date is summer 2009.

Two-Book Deal for Lieb
Coexecutive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Josh Lieb has
soldI Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class
President; Jessica Rothenberg at Razorbill won North American rights
to two books in an auction conducted by Richard Abate. Lieb’s first
novel is about a 12-year-old genius who puts his plans for world
domination on hold in order to run forclass president and please his
father.

© 2008, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All
Rights Reserved.

RUSSIAN POLITICIAN SAYS EMERGENCY RULE JUSTIFIED IN YEREVAN

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 2, 2008 Sunday
Russia

The decree issued by Armenian President Robert Kocharian introducing
emergency rule following mass protests by the opposition is absolutely
lawful, said Alexei Ostrovsky, the chairman of the State Duma’s
Committee on CIS and Ethnic Russians.

"The outgoing, but still incumbent, Armenian president, as the
guarantor of the Constitution, has every right to impose a state of
emergency, given the critical situation the capital was in because
of mass opposition protests," Ostrovsky told Interfax.

This situation is first and foremost the responsibility of opposition
leaders, he said. "Regrettably, very often certain politicians from
the opposition, who are not thinking about the consequences of such
mass and violent protests, want to use people in order to achieve
their own political goals, despite there being every possibility to
challenge the election results in a civilized manner; by going to a
court," Ostrovsky said.

PARLIAMENT CONFIRMS STATE OF EMERGENCY, HEALTH AUTHORITIES CONFIRM DEATH OF 8 PEOPLE KILLED IN CLASHES

ARMENPRESS
March 2, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS: The Armenia parliament convened an
extraordinary session in the early hours of today’s morning to confirm
the state of emergency declared by president Robert Kocharian yesterday
evening following clashes between police and supporters of opposition
presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian.

In a related news the police condemned in a statement mass unlawful
actions and looting by some of uncontrolled protesters.

It said for hours small and big groups of robbers split from the 7,000-
strong crowd of protesters to set fires to over 20 personal and police
vehicles, even ambulances, they smashed buses and trolley-buses.

They also looted the Moscow House and nearby shops and offices, broke
windows of the municipality and ViVaCell mobile phone provider’s head
office. The statement said drunk robbers attacked then police officers
and interior troops. It said 33 interior troops were hospitalized,
11 with missile wounds, 13 with different traumas, and 8 others were
affected by poisons.

According to the health ministry, eight people were killed in the
clash. It said prosecutors are investigating circumstances of their
death.

The police statement said only after president Kocharian imposed the
state of emergency the rioters dispersed under the pressure of police,
National Security Service officers and army troops.

The statement said the law-enforcement authorities are working to
identify the organizers, to track them down and call to responsibility.

The police called on citizens to display maximum restraint and
vigilance, to respect the requirement of the state of emergency,
assist law-enforcement bodies to eliminate the consequences of massive
unlawful actions.

Law-enforcement authorities also said they have already detained 15
persons suspected of masterminding the March 1 unrest in downtown
Yerevan. A special investigative service of the Office of the
Prosecutor-General are continuing to take measures to clarify all
circumstances of the riot and trace down all people responsible for
attacking law-enforcement officers.

Today, Azerbaijan
March 1 2008

Levon Ter-Petrosyan: "Armenian authorities were obliged to disperse
election protests in Yerevan"

01 March 2008 [13:44] – Today.Az

Armenian authorities were obliged to disperse election protests in
Yerevan, as they had no other way out.

The due announcement was made by Armenian ex-president Levon
Ter-Petrosyan.

"The authorities have in fact deceived the international community,
assuring that there will be no violence", Levon Ter-Petrosyan, one of
the opposition leaders, told an urgent press conference on Saturday.

He found it difficult to tell anything about the reaction of the
international community. "International observers have already
departed and few foreign reporters are left", Ter-Petrosyan noted
and said that due notifications were sent to all diplomatic
representations and international organizations, accredited in
Armenia, immediately after the protest startup.

Ter-Petrosyan noted commenting on the further actions that opposition
plans to appeal to the Yerevan city administration to get a
permission for conduction of meetings and rallies. "If the city
administration does not give a permission, we will hold the meeting
anyway, as in line with the Constitution, such actions can be
prohibited only in case of emergencies, which have not been declared,
however", the ex-president noted.

It should be noted that riot police have dispersed the rally of Levon
Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters, who hold peaceful protests at the square
of Freedom withi 10 days, demanding new presidential elections.

Ter-Petrosyan was brought to his residence guarded by officials of
the personal guard of the Armenian President. Though, he is not under
the home arrest, he is prohibited to leave the house.

/Novosti-Armenia/

URL:

AZERI CHARGE D`AFFAIRES TO CANADA SPEAKS AT ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Feb 29 2008

Charge d`Affaires of Azerbaijan to Canada Farid Shafiyev made a report
entitled "Azerbaijan’s perspectives in the regional security issues"
at the Royal Military College of Canada, the embassy said.

He covered the current state of peace talks over the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh as well as Azerbaijan`s integration
into Euro Atlantic structures and regional security issues.

The College`s executive director Colonel (Ret`d) Chris Corrigan shared
his views about Azerbaijan and the region.

Shafiyev also demonstrated a slideshow featuring photos about
Azerbaijan`s successes after restoring its independence.

DM Michael Harutyunyan met with Armenian members of the Georgian Parliament

armradio.am
01.03.2008 14:27

The delegation headed by RA Defense Minister Michael Harutyunyan
visited St. Gevorg church of Tbilisi and met with the religious
leader of the Georgian Diocese Vazgen Bishop Mirzakhanyan. Later
the delegation visited the Armenian embassy of Georgia to meet with
Armenian members of the Georgian Parlaiment Van Baibour, Hamlet
Movsisyan and Melik Rayisyan, as well as the President of the Union
of Georgian Armenians Gena Mardoyan.

During the meeting the parties attached importance to the role of the
Armenian community in the development of Armenian-Georgian relations.

On March 1st the delegation headed by RA Defense Minister Michael
Harutyunyan returned to Yerevan.

THE NKR PRESIDENT BAKO SAHAKIAN MET WITH OSCE ACTING CHAIRMAN

Azat Artsakh Daily
28-02-2008
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh

On February 26th in Erevan a meeting of the NKR President Bako Sahakian
with OSCE acting chairman Ilka Karneva took place.

During the talks a wide scope of questions refering to the process
of regulation of Karabakh conflict was discussed.

The interlocuters emphasized, that regulation of the main problem
by peaceful way has no alternative. In that sense the sides noted,
that warlike announcements had a negative influance upon the peaceful
process.

The President, representing the position of official Stepanakert,
noted, that it was necessary to re-establish the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as a ful and equal side of the negotiating
process.

Minister of Foreign Affairs G.Petrosian, the chairman of OSCE
parliamentary congress Goran Lenmarker, personal representative of
OSCE acting chairman Anjey Kasprzhik participated in the meeting.

After the talks a joint press-conference of the NKR President Bako
Sahakian and OSCE acting chairman Ilka Karneva took place.