Author: Badalian Vardan

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Dec 28 2007

Armenia’s president opens overpass, tunnel in Yerevan

YEREVAN, December 28. /ARKA/. The opening ceremony of an overpass on
the Barekamutyun (Friendship) Square and tunnel on the crossroads of
Orbeli-Baghramyan took place today in Yerevan. `I am sure that every
year we should realize programs that will make better our capital
city,’ RA President Robert Kocharian said during the event.

According to the RA President, large-scale construction will continue
in Yerevan. `Yerevan is richer than we think,’ President Kocharian
said.

He believes social programs implemented in Yerevan will help reduce
poverty in the city.

According to Yerevan’s Mayor Yervand Zahkaryan, the newly opened
transport centers will improve the city traffic. `The new traffic
centers
Barghramyan-Kasyan-Kievyan-Baghramyan-Orbeli were designed in the
1980s, but we were able to implement the project only now,’ he said.
`Our architects have done a tremendous job and have given the
Armenian capital an architectural complex built with great
responsibility.’

Zakharyan pointed out that the newly built 226km long and nine meters
wide overpass on the Barekamutyun Square has seven openings. He
believes the overpass will help improve traffic on the crossroads of
Baghramyan-Proshyan, Kievyan Street and Komitas Avenue.

AMD 1.8bln ($5.9mln) was allocated from the RA state budget for the
traffic centre construction. AMD19.4bln ($63.9mln) was spent for
beautification of Yerevan. Z. Sh. -0–

LEGITIMATE PRESIDENT UNION DEMANDS DISMISSAL OF CANDIDATE OF
AUTHORITIES FROM POST OF PRIME MINISTER

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. For the purpose of providing equal
conditions for all the candidates running for presidency the Legitimate
President Union considers as necessary the dismissal of Serge Sargsian
from the post of the Prime Minister or the stopping of his activities
on that post. The Union calls to all the organizations interested in
the legality of the elections for taking measures to solve that problem.

As Ruben Torosian mentioned at the December 27 meeting, the Prime
Minister, striving for gaining an advantage over his rivals, abuses his
position by applying "a state terrorism." According to him, TV
companies are constantly conducting propaganda in his favour under the
pretence of covering the activities of the Prime Minister. That mode of
action, in the estimation of Ruben Torosian, is a terrorism, as by
creating an illusion of an inevitable victory of the candidate of the
authorities, it incites people to vote for him.

In the words of Ruben Torosian, all those state bodies, which are to
follow the legality of the elections, are the first to make violations.
In his words, the state terrorism is being conducted through all the
four branches of the authorities: the parliament adopts laws serving to
the campaign of the candidate of the ruling party, the executive body
makes use of all the administrative levers, the judicial bodies settle
a score with the rivals of the candidate of the authorities and the
forces supporting them, and the electronic mass media, which are under
the influence of the Prime Minister, the Public Television first of
all, subjects electors to a psychological attack.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Azerbaijan, Turkey going to `fight against’ Armenian Genocide recognition
26.12.2007 14:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan and Turkey will `intensify efforts’ to
prevent the process of the Armenian Genocide recognition, newly
appointed Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic. `Work is
being carried out. I think it will be intensified,’ he said.

When touching on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Turkish diplomat
said, `The Karabakh problem is our pain. I am a Turk and it’s our
common grief,’ he said, Trend reports.

Today, Azerbaijan
Dec 27 2007

Asim Mollazade: "Possible election of pragmatic Levon Ter-Petrosyan
who has an image of a democrat, would be positive for Armenia and
undesirable for Azerbaijan"

27 December 2007 [11:15] – Today.Az

"If Levon Ter-Petrosyan is elected, this will improve a completely
negative image of Armenia, which is famous as Russia’s outpost", Asim
Mollazade, chairman of the Party of Democratic Reforms of Milli
Medjlis of Azerbaijan said regarding possible election of the first
president of Armenia.

He added that Serj Sarkisyan’s election would be positive for
Azerbaijan, as his whole career is bound to war and Garabagh conflict
and his actions are more predictable and less dangerous than
Ter-Petrosyan’s.

"Moreover, position of "the party of war" in Armenia, including one
of its most prominent representatives Serj Sarkisyan, led to the
current isolation of Armenia, making its participation in all
regional projects impossible thus affecting the economic indicators
of this country. However, Azerbaijan wishes that Armenia put an end
to its aggressive policy and start developing in the same direction
with the South Caucasus countries"

He considers that the number of Armenians, who are for peace in the
region, is going up.

"Armenians are tired of the aggressive policy of the leadership of
their country. Moreover, I have been informed that the Armenian
community of Nagorno Garabagh is also grudging over the current state
in Armenia, which suffers from mass outflow of the population due to
the policy carried out by its leadership and which was left beyond
all positive processes in our region. Their resentment is clear as
Armenians see that Azerbaijan and Georgia are rapidly developing
unlike their country which depends on the aggressive policy of its
leadership", he concluded.

/Day.Az/

URL:

Transparency International forecasts ecological catastrophe in Armenia

2007-12-27 17:59:00

ArmInfo. The ecological situation in Armenia worsened in 2007 after the
ore- mining industry has been declared one of economic development
priorities, Executive Director of Transparency International Armenia
Sona Ayvazyan briefed, Thursday.

In 2007, a bill was cancelled, which provided for as much expenses for
ecology as in the previous years. We had to prove that Getar is a river
and not torrential wash and trees are part of forest and not wood
industry zone, S. Ayvazyan said. She stressed that Getar has a natural
rise in the village of Balahovit. In case of further unfavorable
ecological trends, `very little will remain of Armenia in some
thirty-years’.

RAFFI HOVHANNISIAN’S RATING 22 PERCENT

AZG Armenian Daily
25/12/2007

"Jarangutyun" (Heritage) party office informs that according to
"Gallup" statistics Raffi Hovhannisian’s rating is 22 percent in spite
of the fact that he is not nominated as a candidate of presidency.

The statement mainly says that 12 percent of the questioned first of
all mentioned Raffi Hovhannissian as a preferable candidate. His rating
even increased as compared of the index of November. To this 12 percent
they add also 10 percent of the people that are ready to vote for Raffi
Hovhannissian in case of their candidates’ impossible participation.

"Jarangutyun" party mentions that on the whole Raffi Hovhannisian’s
and his party’s rating has increased recently.

RUSSIA WILL WORK FOR SOONEST RESOLUTION OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.12.2007 17:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia will do everything in its power for soonest
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, said Andrey Denisov,
First Deputy to Russia’s Foreign Minister.

"Russia does everything possible to reconcile Armenia and
Azerbaijan. Resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict depends on the
sides. There will no easy or forcible solutions but we all know that
existence of unsettled conflicts in the CIS hampers cooperation. No
important events are held in the Armenia and Azerbaijani capitals in
order to avoid problems," the Russian official said, ITAR-TASS reports.

DASHNAKTSUTIUN DOES NOT AGREE TO CHANGE OF ARMENIA’S FOREIGN POLICY TO TURKEY

Noyan Tapan
Dec 20 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Dashnaktsutiun does not agree to
the change made in Armenia’s foreign policy to Turkey lately. Armen
Rustamian, the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations, a representative of the ARFD Armenian Supreme Body, said
in his interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent.

It should be mentioned that formerly the Armenian side considered
Turkey’s recognizing the Armenian Genocide as a precondition for
Turkey’s membership to EU, while at present official Yerevan considers
its relations with Ankara from point of view of preference of Turkey’s
membership to EU.

"We think that if Turkey joins EU in this condition, it will mean that
not Turkey was europeanized, but Europe became Turkish. We do not wish
a Europe, which will become Turkish, we wish a europeanized Turkey,"
A. Rustamian said.

In his words, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide has been turned
into an independent international process, which cannot be suspended
by any side.

"This is an issue, which is in an exclusively legal field, the last
instance of solution of which is the international court: if Turkey
does not recognize the Genocide, it does not mean that the process
should be stopped," A. Rustamian said. As for receiving a compensation
from Turkey, according to A. Rustamian, the very international court
should decide the issue of compensation.

He regretted to say that the Turkish party with different motivations
refused to take part in the parliamentary hearings on Armenian-Turkish
relations, during which the view of the Armenian public was presented
in an unbiassed way. According to A. Rustamian, today one should
speak not about relations not existing between the two countries, but
about Turkey’s position in this issue. He affirmed that the formed
situation should be considered a non-announced conflict and Turkey
should be recognized as a negotiations party of the conflict.

A. Rustamian also said that the two countries’ executive powers are
marking time and the best way to come out of the formed situation is
parliamentary diplomacy, which is more free, can give a new spirit
to the issue and find new solutions.

ARMENIAN CENTRAL BANK FORECASTS 11% GDP GROWTH IN 2008

Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
December 18, 2007 Tuesday 10:44 AM MSK

Armenia’s Central Bank is forecasting GDP growth of 11% in 2008,
while the state budget for next year assumes growth of 10%.

The Central Bank’s monetary policy plan for next year projects that
economic growth will be driven primarily by industry and agriculture.

Industrial production is expected to grow 6-8% with an end to the
decline in the jewelry and diamond cutting industry.

The Central Bank is also forecasting growth in the chemicals industry,
electricity sector, food industry and production of construction
materials.

Growth in the construction sector is expected to accelerate slightly
to 16%.

The service sector is expected to grow 13-14%, while agricultural
production is projected to increase 2-3%.

ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS

YERKIR
19.12.2007 17:50

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The parliamentary hearings on the Armenian-Turkish
relations are aimed at discussing the current crisis in the relations
and the parliament’s possibilities to normalize the relations,
National Assembly’s Foreign Relations Committee chairman Armen
Rustamian has said.

Foreign ambassadors, Armenian politicians as well as EU special
representative Peter Semneby were participating in the hearings. "This
issue was long due. The significance of the Armenian-Turkish relations
can’t be overestimated, and there has been no issue that has had
such significance in the history of our nation, for its past and the
present and the future. It has to do with our most vital issues. It is
clear that our parliament had to engage in such process and clarify its
goals. I am expecting comprehensive, deep and interested discussions,"
Rustamian said.

National Assembly speaker Tigran Torosian presented the Republican
Party of Armenia views, said that he regretted that Turks are not
present to participate in the discussions. He voiced his concern that
their stance would not contribute to dialogue. He said Armenia is for
Turkey’s admission in the EU because having a predictable neighbor
is important for Armenia.

Armenia Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian deplored Turkey’s position
to put forward preconditions for establishing relations.

ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisian said that the Armenian-Turkish
relations have entered a dead end. "There has never been cooperation
between a dictatorship and a democracy. We are not saying Armenia is a
classic democracy but Turkey is a classical example of a totalitarian
and dictatorship regime," he said. He added that as long as Taleat
Pasha, Enver and Jamal are seen as national heroes in Turkey,
"nothing will work."

Hovhannisian said that reforms in Turkey are going in a distorted
way and that country’s admission in the EU will be the EU’s defeat
because it will mean that not Turkey is adopting European values but
Europe is to adopt completely alien values.