Author: Badalian Vardan

Birthright Armenia Participants Find Much Warmth In The Homeland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
February 28, 2008
Phone: 610-642-6633
[email protected]

Yerevan, Armenia-Despite frigid temperatures, sidewalks covered in
ice, and multiple layers of outerwear that can make recognition of a
familiar face out in public quite challenging, there is a handful of
diasporan volunteers who are quite hot on the Homeland. The physical
conditions associated with harsh Armenian winters seem a mere blemish
in the larger scheme of what living in Armenia has to offer them.

It is true. January, February and March are traditionally not the
most popular months of the year to be living in Armenia. However, the
current winter group of Birthright Armenia participants hailing from
Aleppo, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Scarborough, Ontario
and Edmonds, WA is getting charged emotionally and spiritually, and
is reaping the unique benefits of the off-peak immersion experience.

Areg Maghakian, Mher Azezian, Nyree Abrahamian, Viktoria Simonyan,
James Keshgegian and Ryan Weber feel pretty fortunate. Most of them
were scheduled to return to their countries of residence months ago,
but each has decided to stay on in Armenia for varying, personal
reasons. There are different aspects of living in Armenia as a
volunteer that resonate loud and clear with them. Some like the
obvious benefits their valuable community service or professional
internship will bring to the resume building process. Others thrive
on their much improved language skills. Yet others find the newfound
friendships and other soul-searching relationships they build while
volunteering in Armenia to be the most noteworthy reason they continue
to stay. And for others still, they cannot bear the idea of not being
with their homestay families who have truly made them feel at "home".
In a way, they have discovered a new home. As one volunteer noted,
"what was once a place that I associated only with my grandfather’s
stories is now very much an integral part of my own life".

Areg Maghakian and Ryan Weber were June 2007 arrivals with the Armenia
Volunteer Corps (AVC). Ryan, a native of Milwaukee, came with the
initial intent of carrying out community service for three months and
returning to the US. He stayed on an extra six months because "I loved
my work, fellow volunteers, coworkers, host family, Birthright/AVC
staff and the city and country I was living in. The only question I
was faced with when I was considering extending was "why return?" As
for Maghakian, if he finds a job that pays for his living expenses,
his plans are to stay long-term and make Armenia his home.

Newtown Square, Pennsylvania is a long way from Yerevan, but Jimmy
Keshgegian was determined to return to Armenia this winter after
spending three weeks there with the ACYOA Armenia Service Program
this past summer. Aside from an interesting job placement in the music
industry working for Sharm, there were many other facets of Armenian
life that were enticing him back. He explains, "Something about my
summer stay was not complete. I wasn’t finished yet. I could tell
there was more to it."

Nyree Abrahamian of Ontario, packed her bags for a six-month
volunteer opportunity at the Armenian Tourist Development Agency,
ending in Feburary. Chances are slim that she will be returning in
February, however. She sought and was offered employment at her
internship site as a marketing specialist, and looks forward to
staying longer-term. Says Nyree, "I’ve decided to stay and work in
Armenia. I may not know exactly what is ahead of me, but I know that
I am on the right track. I’m in the right place at the right time, and
I’ve never felt so connected to something that I care so deeply about."

To get a much richer and truer sense of what life in Armenia
is like, Birthright Armenia, together with one of its sponsored
organizations, the Armenian Volunteer Corps, actively promotes and
sponsors volunteerism during the non-summer months. As one volunteer
recently stated, "If it weren’t for Birthright Armenia and AVC,
visiting Armenia would be comparable to seeing Paris in August – not
the most true picture of what that city and its people are all about ."

Birthright Armenia’s mission is to strengthen ties between the homeland
and diasporan youth by affording them an opportunity to be a part
of Armenia’s daily life and to contribute to Armenia’s development
through work, study and volunteer experiences, while developing a
renewed sense of Armenian identity. For more information, or to make an
online donation, please visit our web site at
<http://www.birthrigh tarmenia.org/> .

# # #

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.