Author: Antonian Lara

ABOUT 890 CERTIFICATES ON APPROVAL OF MEASURING INSTRUMENTS GRANTED BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF METROLOGY IN 2007

Noyan Tapan
Jan 29, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. 28 national standards in line with
international and European standards were developed and put in use by
the National Institute of Standards of the RA Ministry of Trade and
Economic Development in 2007. According to the ministry’s Information
and PR Unit, last year the National Institute of Metrology granted
about 890 certificates on approval of types of measuring instruments,
2 licences on production of measuring instruments and one licence
was reregistered.

In 2007 the ministry developed the bill on making amendments and
additions to the RA Law on Standardization and presented it to the
RA government for discussion. The purpose of the bill is to bring
the current law into line with the EU’s New Approach Directives. The
bill on making additions and amendments to the RA Law on Conformity
Assssment was also submitted to the RA government. This bill is
aimed at promoting cooperation with the EU under the Agreement on
Partnership and Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and
European Communities and Their Member States.

Last year the following decisions were developed by the ministry
and approved by the RA government: the decision on approval of the
annual program on standardization work and development of technical
regulations in the RA, the decision on approval of technical
regulations of requirements to substances in contact with foodstuffs
and to marking and contents of Armenian information about these
foodstuffs, and the decision on approval of technical regulations of
requirements to juices and juice products.

On January 1, 2007 Armenian joined the European Committee for
Standardization (CEN) and participates in activities of 3 commissions
of the CEN.

In 2007 the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development developed
the concept of standardization, metrology, conformity certification,
accreditation and state control in the RA, which is aimed at removing
technical obstacles to foreign trade, protecting consumer and state
interests in issues related to safety of products and services,
improving the quality of products made and services provided in the RA
and increasing their competitiveness in foreign markets, and ensuring
the unity of measures.

The Rating Agency AmRating/GlobalRating has issued a new report on the
Armenian Banking System Transparency. Attractiveness. Funding Scarcity.

2008-01-28 14:46:00

ArmInfo. The Rating Agency AmRating/GlobalRating has issued a new
report on the Armenian Banking System Transparency. Attractiveness.
Funding Scarcity.

GlobalRating Group press-service reports AmRating states that the
Armenian banking system is in an intensive development phase and has
drawn a lot of attention from foreign investors. Developed legislature,
strict prudential regulation, increasing competition and scarcity of
resources are conducive to the development of good corporate governance
standards, the accumulation of management experience, lowering
corruption and lower non-financial risks. Because of the strict
prudential monitoring and regulation by the Central Bank of Armenia,
commercial banks are in line with recent international trends and
moving towards Basel II standards. Liquidity and capital adequacy
measures are quite high, and the percentage of officially overdue loans
on the books is insignificant.

"The low politicization of the Armenian banking system is a positive
development. Its exposure to political risk is minimal, making banks
comparatively immune to potential shifts in the power structure,
lowering the overall country risk,”- said Executive Director Emmanuel
Lazarian.

Despite the fact that most of the recent investors in the market for
banking services have been members of the Armenian Diaspora (both pre-
and post-Soviet waves) who carry little weight in political circles,
new non-resident institutional investors who may have specific
strategic goals are entering the market.

Interest from foreign investors in the controlling banks’ stakes raises
questions as to whether Armenia’s banking system will remain "national"
in character or will be controlled by foreign strategic investors.

In order to avoid the latter under conditions of scarcity of funding
resources, the regulator’s idea of attracting capital by entering DPOs
and then IPOs is gaining momentum.

Analysts at AmRating/GlobalRating recognise the main development
strategies for the Armenian banking system in general and commercial
banks in particular as: 1. Increased capitalization. 2. Solving the
problem of a scarcity of long-term resources. 3. Preparation for the
gradual transition towards Basel II principles. 4. Expanding the range
of offered services. 5. Regional Expansion

The Global Rating Group – a family of rating agencies. The rating
agencies RusRating (Russia), KzRating (Kazakhstan) and AmRating
(Armenia) were created by Richard Hainsworth and have been brought
together in the Global Rating Group. In the near future the group plans
to add national rating agencies in Azerbaijan (AzeriRating), Ukraine
(Ua-Rating) and other CIS regions.

The primary goal of the Global Rating Group is to establish a network
of national rating agencies across the CIS, promoting national brands
and strengthening the market position of each agency in its own country
and the international community.

NAGORNO KARABAKH: ‘FROZEN CONFLICT’ IS A PRESSING CHALLENGE
By Isabel Gorst and Leyla Boulton

FT
January 24 2008 16:14

Ramana, near Baku, is one of the new settlements being built to house
people who fled the disputed enclave of Nagorno Karabakh during the
war with Armenia in the early 1990s.

Financed by the state oil fund, the $35m settlement has a music school
and shop, gas, power and running water. Each house has a small plot
of land.

"You cannot keep people in camps if you have oil wealth," explains
Araz Azimov, deputy foreign minister and President Ilham Aliyev’s
special envoy on Nagorno Karabakh. He adds, however, that the housing
is temporary until they can return home.

"These buildings are comfortable, but that is not what we need,"
says Rafael Temurlu, a school teacher. "We need to return to the
place they chased us from."

Fourteen years after a ceasefire left Armenia in control of Nagorno
Karabakh, memories of the conflict, which deprived Azerbaijan of
14 per cent of its territory and claimed up to 25,000 lives, still
evoke anger.

In a region traditionally inclined to blood feuds, this so-called
"frozen conflict" is the most pressing foreign policy challenge faced
by Azerbaijan.

Any renewal of the conflict would threaten the strategic pipeline
corridor carrying oil and natural gas across Georgia to the west.

But Mr Azimov agrees with western diplomats who say neither side has
an interest in resuming hostilities.

Ethnic tensions over Nagorno Karabakh, established as an autonomous
region within Azerbaijan with a predominantly Armenian population as
part of the Kremlin’s divide-and-rule policies, erupted into violence
as the Soviet empire began to disintegrate in the late 1980s.

Armenians seized control of the region and occupied a clutch of
surrounding Azerbaijani provinces. In 1994, Azerbaijan opted for
a ceasefire.

International efforts to broker a resolution of the dispute have
proceeded fitfully since 1994.

Azerbaijan’s ministry of foreign affairs says 760,000 internally
displaced people from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding occupied
territories live in Azerbaijan, in addition to some 220,000 refugees
from Armenia proper.

The principles of a settlement contained in an agreement in 2004 call
for self-determination on the future legal status of Nagorno Karabakh,
the withdrawal of troops from adjacent provinces and the deployment
of international peace keepers.

Azerbaijan and Turkey refuse to lift their blockade of Armenia until
the dispute is resolved.

The two have also excluded Armenia from regional co-operation projects,
ranging from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and, in spite of US
protestations, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway scheme.

President Aliyev has described 2008 as a decisive year for solving
the dispute and Matthew Bryza, US deputy assistant secretary of
state responsible for the region, last week resumed shuttle diplomacy
between Baku and Yerevan.

But it is not clear how progress can be made in the run-up to
presidential elections scheduled in both Azerbaijan and Armenia this
year. In both countries any signal of a willingness to compromise in
the dispute would risk votes.

Azerbaijan plans to increase defence spending this year to $1bn from
$600m in 2007, in proportion with an expansion of its overall budget.

However, Mr Azimov says Baku is determined to regain the territory by
peaceful means, albeit from a stronger and richer position than in the
early 1990s, when its fledgling army was crushed by better-equipped
and trained Armenian forces.

He says: "All we are saying to the Armenians is ‘look at the
reality. If you want to be part of a success story, come with us’."

With many saying that only Russia – one of three international
mediators in the dispute together with the US and France – can
influence Armenia, Mr Azimov detects a shift in Moscow’s position.

"Russia started realising they need stability and economic viability
in the South Caucasus," he says. "They realise it is better to run
tankers rather than tanks in the area."

In the meantime, the people of Ramana are likely to remain pawns in
a bigger geopolitical game.

Most of Mr Temurlu’s pupils are too young to remember life in Nagorno
Karabakh.

But he tells them all they will one day leave Ramana and return to
their rightful home. "We will rebuild our land. We can make bread
out of stones," he says.

SOUR TASTE OF SUDANESE VISIT

Turkish Daily News
Jan 24 2008
Turkey

Sudanese President Omar Hasan al-Bashir’s visit to Turkey has shocked
international relations experts who openly condemn Ankara’s top level
contacts with a leader held responsible for humanitarian atrocities
in his own country.

"One would think Turkey’s leaders would be a little more careful
before laying down the red carpet for the likes of President Omar
al Bashir of Sudan," said former United States ambassador to Ankara,
Morton Abromowitz. The international community considers Bashir as an
illegitimate dictator presiding over a pariah state guilty of crimes
against humanity, he said.

"He is a seemingly strange bedfellow for Turkey’s AKP [Justice and
Development Party] trying to prove to many domestic and Western
observers of its balanced, well-calibrated foreign policy, and its
attachment to international norms," Abromowitz said.

Last year, defying Turkish state policy of avoiding contacts with
Bashir, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan visited Sudanese capital
Khartoum and said that "Muslims would commit such murders."

Bashir is considered to have given a free hand to the Janjaweed,
the Arab militia that commits mass killings and systematic violence
against Darfur’s population to quell the rebellion launched in
2003 by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), representing
non-Muslim tribal Africans, and the Justice and Equality Movement
(JEM), a movement of African Muslims to claim equal rights.

A peace deal was signed in 2006 between the government and rebel
factions in the Darfur region, only to incite divisions between
dissident groups and exacerbate violence. In June 2006, three rebel
groups including the JEM and part of the SLM/A joined forces to form
the National Redemption Front (NRF), which opposes the May 2006
peace agreement. At least 200,000 people have lost their life and
2.5 million people have been driven from their homes as aresult of
violence in the region.

Government policy alienates experts

The AKP’s attempts to form contacts with the al -Bashir government had
been blocked by intense resistance from Foreign Ministry officials
who asked President Abdullah Gul, at the time foreign minister,
to ignore the Sudanese leader’s requests to visit Turkey.

But they failed to stop Erdoðan from visiting Darfur in March 2006
to participate in a meeting of the Arab League, where he said that
no assimilation or genocide was committed in Darfur.

International relations expert Soli Ozel dubbed the visit as "foreign
policy fantasies of the government" and lamented the decision to
welcome Bashir in Ankara.

"The government claims to be able to speak about everything with
everyone. This is nonsense and is a shame to Turkey," said Ozel.

Abromowitz pointed to Turkey’s endeavor to persuade the international
community that there was no Armenian "genocide" in 1915 and noted
that Bashir’s visit will reduce the persuasiveness of Turkey’s thesis.

–Boundary_(ID_Rc3pH9910lPYgrRRqNH7Ow)–

ERDOGAN ADVISES OBAMA TO OUTGROW AMATEUR TALK

Turkish Press
Jan 24 2008

ANKARA – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan dubbed Barack Obama, one
of the Democratic frontrunners in the U.S. presidential elections who
promised to recognize the killing of Armenians in 1915 as "genocide,"
an amateur of politics without explicitly mentioning his name.

"Presidential elections campaigns continue in the United States. Some
politicians` discourse demonstrates that they do not have an adequate
knowledge of their country`s policies," said Erdogan in his Justice
and Development Party (AKP) meeting yesterday. He noted that Turkey
nurtured good relations and a strategic partnership with the United
States. "Everybody knows that adoption of such a resolution would
cause irreparable damage to Turkish-American relations," Erdogan
said. Ankara-Washington relations cannot be subdued by lobbies, slander
and petty internal political calculations, Erdogan said. "A day may
come when you will have to choose between 70 million Turkey and two
million Armenia. One has to think carefully before uttering such
words. I suggest that he outgrow the amateur period of his political
career," he said.

CROAT DOCUMENTARY CLAIMING GENOCIDE ON PBS

Serbianna.com
008/01127.shtml
Jan 24 2008
MI

A documentary is set to air on the American public television depicting
WWII Croatians as victims of genocide in hands of communists. During
WWII, Croatia was an ally of Hitler and engaged in extermination of
Serbs and Jews in several Croat-run concentration camps.

Titled Freedom From Despair, the documentary features actor Michael
York, John Savage, Beata Pozniak and politician Dennis Kucinich
narrating alleged Croatian victimhood during WWII.

"Brenda Brkusic’s award winning film uncovers the long history of
suppression and abuse of the Croatian people and their struggle for
independence from communist Yugoslavia,’ states the promotional flyer.

The documentary will air on January 24, 2008 at 9:00 pm PDT by KOCE
TV. The station manager is asking for support by viewers by their
calling a number at the station as a sign of approval.

According to the email we obtained, the director of the film Brenda
Brkusic says that she expects "this screening of Freedom from Despair
on KOCE-TV to be as successful as the Armenian Genocide film that
aired on KOCE-TV last year. Immediately after the Armenian film,
KOCE listed a phone number for viewers to call to support the film.

Hundreds of people from the SoCal Armenian Community called the KOCE
phone number. This is our once in a lifetime chance to show support
for the film that shows the genocide of the Croatian people on TV.

Five million people will be watching. Will you be one of the people
watching and calling in to show your support of our Croatian story
on PBS?"

More information: – Brenda Brkusic Channel Manager KOCE-TV 17011
Beach Blvd, Suite 1550 Huntington Beach, CA 92647 Phone 714-861-4341

2007 STATE AWARDS TO ART AND CULTURE WORKERS

armradio.am
23.01.2008 14:20

Today the ceremony of presenting the State Awards 2007 in the field
of art and culture was held at RA President’s Office today.

The Prizes were awarded upon President Robert Kocharyan’s decree of
December 26, 2007.

2007 State Awards were conferred on:

David Hovhannes in the sphere of literature and publicism;

Ruben Sargsyan in the sphere of music;

Paravon Mirzoyan in the sphere of painting

Jim Torosyan, Roland Martirosyan, Henzel Hakobyan, Gagik Galstyan and
Artsrun Sergoyan in the sphere of architecture and urban development.

FILM CHARGING OF PROMOTING VIOLENCE AND INTOLERANCE TO BE SHOT IN NETHERLANDS

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.01.2008 17:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Dutch politician’s plan to release a film
that charges the Koran of promoting violence and intolerance has
sparked controversy in the Netherlands. Government officials are
distancing themselves from the project and stepping up security at
home and at embassies abroad, while Muslim leaders fear that it could
strain relations between the Dutch and their large Muslim immigrant
population.

Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing Freedom Party, says he will
release a 10-minute-long film on Friday that shows how the Koran is
used by Islamic radicals to promote homophobia, the abuse of women
and violence. The film was slated to debut on Jan. 25 but as of last
Friday Wilders had not found a Dutch broadcaster willing to air it. If
he can not find one by Friday, he says he will post it on the Internet.

As Wilders searched for a broadcaster last week, Dutch Prime Minister
Jan Peter Balkenende urged Wilders to exercise restraint. "The
Netherlands has a tradition of freedom of speech, religion and
beliefs," said Balkenende. "The Netherlands also has a tradition
of respect, tolerance and responsibility. Unnecessarily offending
certain groups does not belong here."

Balkenende said that cities in the Netherlands were on alert for
potential protests in response to the film, and diplomats abroad were
briefed on responding to potential animosity. "We should be ready
for the worst," he resumed, RFE/RL reports.

AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA SOLDIERS DIE DURING VIOLATION OF CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT

Trend News Agency
Jan 22 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 22 January / corr Trend E.Huseynli / As a result
of the Armenian armed forces in the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontline
violating the ceasefire agreement on 21 January, a 19-year old
Azerbaijani soldier has been killed, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry
announced.

Afgan Agamammadov died from a gunshot injury during the violation
of ceasefire agreement in the direction of Chayli village of Terter
District.

Agamammadov was called to military service from Military Commissariat
of Sabirabad District, east of Azerbaijan, in April 2007.

As a result of the retaliation from the Azerbaijan Armed Forces, in
the direction of the Fizuli District of Azerbaijan, a soldier from
the Armenian Armed Forces was also killed, the Ministry said.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN CALLS BARACK OBAMA POLITICAL DILETTANTE

Azeri Press Agency
Jan 22 2008
Azerbaijan

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan claimed Democratic presidential
candidate Barack Obama , APA’s Turkey bureau reports

Erdogan stated that Obama’s promise on recognition of so-called
Armenian genocide cause damage to the relations of US-Turkey in the
meeting of Justice and Development party (AKP).

"The relations between Turkey and US will not be sacrificed to bad
campaigns of lobbies. He has got political dilettante problem for
this candidacy. We advice him to solve this problem," he said.

Obama answered the appeal of Armenian National Committee of America,
saying that if he is elected President he will recognize Armenian
genocide.

"If I was President, I would try to stop blockade of Armenia by Turkey
and Azerbaijan for the purpose of strengthening security of Armenia,"
he said.