Author: Badalian Vardan

RA MFA: AZERBAIJAN IN PANIC BECAUSE OF POSSIBILITY OF KOSOVO PRECEDENT

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb 29 2008

YEREVAN, 29.02.08. DE FACTO. Azerbaijan is obviously in panic fearing
that the Kosovo issue can become a precedent. They are attempting
to express their position concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement, which is one-sided and favorable for them, via others",
the head of RA MFA Information and Public Relations Department Tigran
Balayan stated answering an ArmInfo correspondent’s question.

Tigran Balayan noted Armenia had reaffirmed its position concerning
each conflict’s specific nature and also confirmed that every movement
targeted at self-determination should be given possibility to develop
and achieve its natural and logical settlement, RA MFA Press Office
reports.

"The more Azerbaijan insists that Kosovo cannot be a precedent the
more public opinion shapes that there are really obvious parallels
between Kosovo and other conflicts", T. Balayan noted.

PRESIDENT OF TURKMENISTAN CONGRATULATES PM SERGE SARGSYAN

armradio.am
28.02.2008 11:56

The President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov congratulated
RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan on his victory on the presidential
elections.

The message says:

"Dear Mr. Sargsyan, Accept my congratulations on the occasion of your
victory in the presidential elections of the Republic of Armenia.

With all my heart I wish you sound health and success in this high
state position for the sake of development and prosperity of friendly
Armenia."

TER-PETROSIAN APPEALS FOR WESTERN SUPPORT
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Feb 28 2008

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched past the OSCE
office in Yerevan on Thursday after their leader, former President
Levon Ter-Petrosian, appealed to Western powers to back his demands
for a re-run of Armenia’s disputed presidential election.

In a speech before a big crowd that filled the city’s Liberty Square
for the ninth consecutive day, Ter-Petrosian criticized Western
observers for calling the vote largely democratic and portrayed his
ongoing street protests as a pro-democracy movement based on liberal
democratic values.

"The West, the election missions must not display a formalistic
approach to what is happening in Armenia," he told the crowd. "The
fate of democracy in Armenia is in the hands of the West. Namely,
the United States and the European Union countries and structures like
the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the observers representing them."

"So the West, the European countries, the United States of America
and their international organizations must make the following choice.

Either they are with the people of Armenia — and that means standing
for democracy, the rule of law and a market-based economy — or with
Armenia’s kleptocratic, rotten regime," said Ter-Petrosian.

Ter-Petrosian thanked Western governments for urging the Armenian
authorities not to use force against his supporters holding non-stop
rallies in Yerevan but said "more needs to be done" to promote
the country’s democratization. That, he said, means demanding the
scrapping of the official results of the February 19 election which
gave victory to Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.

The appeal came the day after Ter-Petrosian met with Peter Semneby,
the EU’s special representative to the South Caucasus who arrived
in Yerevan to discuss growing post-election tensions in Armenia
with government and opposition leaders. Ter-Petrosian’s office said
the ex-president assured Semneby that "the movement led by him will
continue to act within the framework of the constitution and laws." He
at the same time reaffirmed his plans to "fight against the existing
kleptocratic system to the end."

Semneby also met with Sarkisian on Thursday. A government statement
quoted the EU envoy as congratulating the Armenian premier on his
election win and praising the government’s conduct of the vote. The
statement said Semneby also conveyed to Sarkisian a message from the
EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, which called on the two
rival camps not to take "steps leading to violence."

"We will be extremely patient as long as they don’t try to abuse
that patience, and that would lead to bad consequences," Sarkisian
was reported to reply.

In his speech, Ter-Petrosian commended Russia for displaying a more
"serious" attitude towards the post-election unrest. Ter-Petrosian,
who reportedly met outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s likely
successor on the eve of the vote, said Moscow is closely monitoring
the situation in Armenia and "will make the right decision."

PROTESTS SOAR IN ARMENIA AS ELECTION OUTCOME IS CONTESTED
by Natalia Leshchenko

Global Insight
February 27, 2008

Eight days after the presidential election in Armenia, the emotions are
swelling rather subsiding, a cause for concern for the president-elect,
Serzh Sargsyan. His election opponent, Armenia’s first president Lev
Ter-Petrossian, who gathered 21.5% of the 19 February presidential
vote against Sargsyan’s 53%, has not only been able to organise mass
protests contesting the election result, but has also managed to build
up the opposition momentum and see the number of his supporters soar
on Tuesday (26 February) and Wednesday (27 February). They occupy the
Liberty Square in the capital Yerevan, maintaining night vigils. Tens
of thousands of people are universally reported to be protesting in the
square. The authorities attempted to retaliate in kind by delivering
people from the regions to an alternative rally, only to lose a large
share of participants to Ter-Petrossian. Sargsyan has also extended an
olive branch to Ter-Petrossian and other election candidates inviting
them to a new government, but Ter-Petrossian snapped that this was
too little, too late. In an attempted "carrot and stick" policy,
the authorities are simultaneously warning that their patience
is running out and that they may use force to restore "order"
in the capital. Police have already arrested some Ter-Petrossian
supporters, accusing them of plotting seizure of the national TV and
radio stations.

Significance:International observers from the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) watchdog have evaluated the
presidential poll as "mostly" democratic, and are calling for restraint
on both sides. At the heart of the matter is the competition between
the charismatic and populist Ter-Petrossian, who is able to ignite and
harness the masses, and bureaucratic Serzh Sargsyan who can control
the business and administrative elites but has problems relating
to the people directly. Foreign interests play a secondary role in
the contest as Russia, Armenia’s principal investor, has refrained
from playing an active role in the conflict, while the West is also
staying away from pronounced involvement in order not to undermine
Ter-Petrossian by association with their allies but domestically
perceived enemies of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. As the tide of
popular pressure seems to be growing towards Ter-Petrossian, Armenian
authorities face the dilemma of crushing dissent and maintaining power,
or appearing democratic and seeing their power seriously challenged
if not seized from them.

Paradoxically, less public support for Ter-Petrossian could produce the
most desired outcome from the point of view of Armenia’s democracy, as
it would induce the government and the opposition into power-sharing
agreements. A winner-takes-it-all outcome can hardly bring any
sustainable stability to this small but strategically important
country.

SARKISIAN SAYS COALITION TALKS IN PROGRESS
By Ruzanna Khachatrian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Feb 27 2008

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian said on Wednesday that his offer to
form a new, more broad-based coalition government has met with a
positive response from some of the Armenian opposition leaders who
challenged him in last week’s presidential election.

In a speech at a Tuesday rally in Yerevan, Sarkisian said he is
ready to defuse rising political tensions in Armenia by cutting a
power-sharing deal with those "constructive" opposition forces that
will recognize his victory in the disputed vote.

"There has already been reaction, readiness to cooperate from the
opposition," he told lawmakers the next day. "We began working on
that today."

In a separate conversation with journalists, Sarkisian declined
to specify which opposition leaders have expressed readiness to
cooperate with him. "It’s not one candidate," he said. "There a few
of them. They’ll talk about that."

In his speech, Sarkisian did not say whether the offer applies to
former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, his main election challenger who
has refused to concede defeat and is demanding a repeat presidential
election. The president-elect accused Ter-Petrosian and his "aggressive
grouping" of ignoring "the majority’s opinion" and seeking to seize
power by illegal means.

Both Ter-Petrosian and his top allies were quick to rule out any deals
with Armenia’s current leadership. "Either Serzhik or the people
will leave this country," the former president told supporters on
Wednesday. "There can be no other way out."

Sarkisian will find it easier to negotiate a power-sharing agreement
with Artur Baghdasarian, another major opposition candidate who
finished third in the presidential race. Baghdasarian said on Tuesday
that the election was marred by serious violations but stopped short
of rejecting Sarkisian’s victory as illegitimate. He promised to
deliver his final election verdict by Thursday.

Baghdasarian’s Orinats Yerkir Party was already part of Armenia’s
governing coalition from 2003-2006.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), another major
party that contested the vote, is already represented in Sarkisian’s
cabinet by three ministers. Dashnaktsutyun leaders said this week
that they are ready in principle to stay in government.

ARMENIAN CB BOARD PERMITS VTB BANK JOIN IN "LEADER" INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT SYSTEM

ARKA
Feb 26, 2008

YEREVAN, February 26. /ARKA/. The RA Central Bank (CB) decided at
its Tuesday meeting, with CB President Tigran Sargssian in chair,
to permit the "VTB Bank" (Armenia) to join in the LEADER payment
system. The "VTB Bank" (formerly "Armsavingsbank") was founded in 1923.

It was in the structure of the USSR State Savings bank before
1993. Later it became the specialized Savings Bank of Armenia.

The Russian VTB Bank is the owner of the "VTB Bank" (Armenia) now.

As of December 31, 2007, the assets of the bank totalled AMD 70.1bln
with capital totalling AMD 20.7bln and the profit for 2007 estimated
at AMD 757.9mln.

The LEADER international payment system allows physical bodies with
no bank accounts to make money transfers. Transfers are made in
Russian roubles, US dollars and euros. LEADER operates in 600 cities
of 15 countries.

In addition to the traditional SWIFT system of quick money transfers,
Armenian commercial banks and non-bank organizations offer quick money
transfer services via Western Union, Money Gram, Anelik, Unistream,
"Quick Mail", Interexpress, Contact, Lider, Migom, Privat Money
Transfer, STB Express, Faster, Travelex, Stefi and other international
systems.

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
February 25, 2008

AZERBAIJAN BACKS TURKEY’S FIGHT AGAINST PKK

Baku, 25 February: Azerbaijan supports Turkey’s antiterrorist
operations against the Kurdistan Workers’Party (PKK) in northern
Iraq, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Xazar Ibrahim
told a briefing today.

The PKK has been recognized as a terrorist organization by various
states and there is an international fight againstit. Ibrahim also
said there were reports about deployment of Kurdish terrorists in
Nagornyy Karabakh. Ibrahim said that "Azerbaijan will defend its
national security".

Expressing his attitude towards illegal settlement in Azerbaijani
territories, Ibrahim said that settling in theoccupied lands and
purchasing property there is the same as frittering money away. Until
the conflict is settled, Bakuwill assess these deals as a crime,
Ibrahim added.

Interfax, Russia
Russia & CIS
February 21, 2008

Recount underway at more than 100 polling stations in Armenia –
opposition party

YEREVAN Feb 21

A recount is underway at more than 100 polling stations following
recent presidential elections in Armenia, an opposition party has
said.

The seals at ballot boxes at a number of polling stations have
already been broken at a demand by the opposition party Orinats
Yerkir (the Country of Law), whose candidate Artur Bagdasarian, a
former parliamentary chairman, ran in the elections among other
candidates, the party’s press service told Interfax.

The ballots at these polling stations are being recounted jointly by
party activists and members of local elections commissions.

European observers suggested on Wednesday that a recount in Armenia
was possible.

Anne-Marie Lizin, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly vice president and
special coordinator of the OSCE short-term observers in Armenia, said
on Wednesday that some of her colleagues had witnessed irregularities
at certain polling stations, but, as they were only observers, a
recount could only be initiated by those who were responsible for the
voting process.

Bagdasarian and another opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian, who
were said to have garnered 11.66% and 21.5% of the vote respectively,
earlier dismissed the official results, which gave the victory to
Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan with 52.86% of the vote.

Bagdasarian demanded a recount, while Ter-Petrosian insisted that new
elections be held.

However, most international observers found the elections to have
passed mostly in line with international standards.

Interfax, Russia
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
February 22, 2008 Friday 1:02 PM MSK

Armenia, Global Gold sign amicable agreement – source

YEREVAN Feb 22

Armenia’s government has signed an amicable agreement with Global
Gold Mining LLC, a subsidiary of Global Gold Corporation (GGC) which
operates in Armenia, a well informed source in Armenia’s Cabinet of
Ministers told Interfax.

The source said the agreement was signed before the presidential
elections on February 19 and that the Armenian government would make
an official announcement shortly.

The source said the government approved the agreement back on
September 13, 2007 and instructed Gagik Dzhangirian, the deputy
prosecutor general, to sign it on the government’s behalf.

Global Gold Mining in March 2007 asked the International Center for
Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington to begin arbitration
proceedings against the Armenian government. GGC accused
Environmental Protection Minister Vardan Aivazian of hindering the
company’s operations by refusing to extend the term of licenses to
the Ankavan copper-molybdenum and Mardzhdan polymetallic ore
deposits.

EurasiaNet, NY
Feb. 25, 2008

Arrests of Ter-Petrosian Supporters Continue
By Marianna Grigoryan: 02/25/08

Post-election political tensions are simmering in Armenia with the
arrest of several political figures and government officials who have
declared their support for former President Levon Ter-Petrosian. The
government has presented the arrests as part of an attempt to crack
down on an armed uprising.

Final election results released by the Central Electoral Commission
on February 24 gave the presidency to Prime Minister Serzh Sarksian
with 52.8 percent of the vote. Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian
trailed in a distant second place with 21.5 percent.

The announcement, however, has so far done little to deter thousands
of opposition supporters from joining the round-the-clock protests
led by Ter-Petrosian in downtown Yerevan. Police have called on the
campaign to disband, but, so far, no force has been used to take down
tents set up in front of the Opera House or to block daily marches
past the prime minister?s office.

A pro-Sarkisian public rally is planned to take place on Tuesday in
Republic Square at the same time as Ter-Petrosian?s protest a few
hundred meters away. Public television has broadcast reports from the
regions showing voters who ?want to defend their [pro-Sarkisian]
votes.? The prospect has raised worries about possible clashes
between supporters of the two sides.

Those worries have been fed by a string of arrests following Deputy
Prosecutor General Gagik Jhangirian?s February 22 announcement that
he had joined the protest movement. [For details, see the Armenia:
Vote 2008 news archive].

Hours after shaking hands with Ter-Petrosian and addressing
demonstrators, Jhangirian, his brother, Vardan, and two other
individuals, according to police, were arrested under suspicion of
being illegally armed and intending to ?destabiliz[e] the situation
in the capital city.? On February 23, Jhangirian was removed from his
post for publicizing his political preferences, a move banned by law,
officials say.

Under a similar scenario, Hanrapetutiun (Republic) Party political
council member, and former Minister of State Revenues Smbat Aivazian
was arrested on February 24. New Times Party leader Aram Karapetian,
who voiced his support for Ter-Petrosian days before the election,
was also arrested under suspicion of making false accusations against
Prime Minister Sarkisian and President Robert Kocharian, a criminal
offense under Armenian law.

On February 24, bodyguards working for Ter-Petrosian supporter
Khachatur Sukiasian, a prominent businessman and parliamentarian,
were arrested after politce allegedly found guns, a bullet-proof
jacket, knife and wireless device, among other equipment, in three
cars belonging to Sukiasian.

The arrests continued on February 25, with the Special Investigative
Service?s detention of Petros Makeian, head of the Democratic
Homeland Party, a miniscule opposition party that also backs
Ter-Petrosian. The Prosecutor-General?s Office states that Makeian is
?suspected of obstructing the work of the [election] commission at
polling station 34/06,? in Gyumri, where Makeian worked as a proxy
for Ter-Petrosian.

The detentions roughly coincided with a February 23 meeting between
President Robert Kocharian and senior army and police officials. ?I
will never allow anyone ever to jeopardize [our] domestic political
stability. I am determined to take all measures to keep law and order
in the country,? Kocharian stated in comments broadcast by television
stations.

?These are measures by which they?re trying to put pressure on
people,? Hanrapetutiun Party political council member Suren
Sureniants commented to EurasiaNet. The party has since indicated
that Sureniants has been detained by police, according to the
pro-opposition A1 Plus website, although no further details have been
released. Police were not available for comment.

An attempt was reportedly also made to disarm Ter-Petrosian?s
bodyguards at the protest rally in front of the Opera on Monday
night, and to summon rally organizer and journalist Nikol Pashinian
to the police, Ter-Petrosian spokesperson Arman Musinian said. Police
could not be reached to verify these claims.

But while the opposition has cast the arrests as the start of a
political witch hunt, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
maintains that the measures are intended to maintain law and order.

?There can be no discussion about political revenge or an atmosphere
of fear here,? commented Republican Party spokesperson Eduard
Sharmazanov. ?All this relates to the legal field. These are legal
issues that will be solved within the framework of the law. And as a
rule-of-law country we will encourage any such action. There were
elections that passed very well and any encroachment on our people is
condemnable.?

Meanwhile, some diplomats have taken a counter-tact to the
government?s position. On February 23, Deputy Foreign Minister Armen
Baiburdian, Armenia?s ambassador to Italy, Spain and Portugal Ruben
Shugarian, the ambassador to Kazakhstan Levon Khachatrian, and the
ambassador to Ukraine and Moldova Razmik Khumarian announced their
support for Ter-Petrosian.

In a statement, the group called on ?representatives of all
structures in charge of preserving peace and public order in the
country, to resist the temptation of solving problems with the use of
force.?

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, pointing out that law does
not allow diplomats to hold political allegiances, said that he
signed the orders to relieve the envoys and deputy foreign minister
>From their posts without penalty. He added that the five were either
relatives of former senior officials under Ter-Petrosian or had held
positions under the ex-president.

Independent political analyst Yervand Bozoian, however, notes that
the recent defections to the Ter-Petrosian movement suggest that
divisions exist within the government about the election results.

?It is difficult to predict what consequences this will have.
However, the cracks may become broader because of such switchovers
and lead to big problems,? Bozoian said

Ter-Petrosian has also claimed to have the support of two deputy
defense ministers, though the two have yet to second his claim in
public.

The ruling Republican Party, though, rejects Bozoian?s prognosis.
Such pledges of allegiance ?can be controlled,? noted party
spokesperson Sharmazanov.

But, he asserted, ?[t]he river Arax [in Armenia, Iran, Turkey and
Azerbaijan] will sooner change its bed than cracks will appear inside
the government.?

Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the
ArmeniaNow.com weekly in Yerevan.