Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

NEW "WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITIES" – ON EVE OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, THIS TIME
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
25/05/2007

Yuri Merzliakov, Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, during a
joint press conference with his French colleague Bernard Fassier,
announcing the coming visit of all the three Co-Chairmen to South
Caucasus, stated that his meeting with President of Armenia Robert
Kocharian had been rather effective. Merzliakov had also met with
the Prime Minister of Armenia and other high-ranking officials.

"At present most important is that President Robert Kocharian,
during the informal summit of the CIS member-states Presidents in
Saint-Petersburg, gave positive response to the proposition about
the necessity to organize another meeting of the Presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan," said Mr. Merzliakov. "As it seems to us,
certain progress has been achieved and we hope that it will find its
development during our negotiations in Baku," he added.

Speaking of the issue of the problems of refugees, Merzliakov said
that during the discussion the refugees should not be sorted by their
ethnicity. He said that an opportunity of returning home should be
granted to each refugee.

During the meetings in Yerevan Merzliakov and Fassier made clear
for themselves that the parliamentary elections on May 12 were
a step forward in the right direction. Nevertheless they did not
make any comment on the statements by Azerbaijani authorities about
the elections in Armenia and the positive estimations by European
organizations.

To a question by "Azg" reporter about President Aliev’s declarations
about war as an alternative way of resolution of the Karabakh conflict,
Bernard Fassier replied that he has neither read nor heard any of
those statements. He assured that neither of the Co-Chairing states
of the Minsk Group is considering war an appropriate way of resolving
this conflict.

Most probably the Kocharian and Aliev will have to meet once more
after the meeting intended to be held in St.-Petersburg. According
to Merzliakov, the Minsk Group has not made any propositions about
the main terms of conflict settlement for almost a year and those are
already known well and have been ascertained. "There are some nuances,"
he said, "the negotiations on presidential level are conducted mostly
about the details, while we expect more global political approach
from the Presidents."

Yuri Merzliakov noted that it seems that the matter of facts is about
signing an agreement by the end of the year. "We are working on the
main principles of the settlement of the conflict. If this process goes
on, it will be possible to elaborate the text of the agreement, which
is to be much and hard worked upon, but which shall not be refused by
the sides, as it had been before," said the Co-Chairman. He expressed
hope that the document will express the interest of both the sides,
as far as possible and will be just and balanced.

Fassier in his turn said that unless the main terms are settled by the
end of 2007, the negotiations shall be started anew after the pause
during presidential elections in Armenia and parliamentary elections
in Azerbaijan. According to Merzlaikov there is 90% chances that this
year the main terms will be finally settled. He said that very little
of the principles have not been made agree yet. Merlziakov noticed
that the disagreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is mostly about
the details of the main terms and principles and that the disagreement
in details can still complicate the process of elaborating the text
of the peace agreement.

Speaking of the participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to
the negotiations, Bernard Fassier reminded, "The representatives of
Nagorno-Karabakh have taken part in the negotiation process in the
past, and it were not the Minsk Group Co-Chairmen who decided to
change the state of things. Nowadays the situation has changed. The
Co-Chairmen consider that at a certain phase of the talks the
participation of the representatives of Karabakh, by the consent
of both the sides, shall be not only desirable, but also extremely
useful and even perhaps become top-priority."
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN POLL BEING CHALLENGED

PRESS TV, Iran
May 23 2007

Armenia’s main opposition party has launched the first in a series
of legal challenges to the results of the country’s parliamentary
elections.

The Country of Law party, which won nine seats in the ex-Soviet
republic’s 131-seat National Assembly, filed suit with Armenia’s
Constitutional Court contesting the results in two constituencies,
party spokeswoman Susanna Abrahamian said.

She said the party planned to file lawsuits contesting the results
throughout the country within a few days.

Pro-government parties won an overwhelming majority in the election,
with Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party taking the
most seats.

Armenia’s opposition claims the election was deeply flawed but the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the vote
was a clear improvement over previous polls.

The opposition in this small country says violations were rife on
election day, including instances of pro-government parties bribing
voters outside polling stations.
From: Baghdasarian

Turkish false historian published another slander on Armenians

ArmInfo News Agency
2007-05-20 18:29:00

An employee of Culture and Tourism Department of Igdir Zia Zakir Ajar
published another slander book against Armenians. As Azerbaijani state
agency AzerTaj reports, the book is titled .

The Turkish false historian presents "the facts about Armenian
evil-doings in Igdir and its suburbs". "Evidences of witnesses of the
crimes" committed by Armenians against Turks are also presented in the
book. But the most impudence is a statement about , he means Yerevan.

The book was published in Turkish and English. This is the 12th book
of Zia Zakir Ajar about Igdir.
From: Baghdasarian

EBRD GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN KARS-TBILISI-BAKU PROJECT

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2007 18:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) plans to participate in the construction of the
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway project, Azerbaijan’s Economic
Development Minister Heydar Babaev stated, noting that if talks
are successful, the corresponding document may be signed in Kazan
May 20-21.

The Minister refused to clarify details of EBRD’s participation, if it
will be in the form of assigning financial means or in other forms. "It
is well-known that we have solved the financial side of the project.

The important thing is that EBRD will participate in the project,"
Babaev underscored, Day.az reports.

The U.S. Congress refused to finance the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku
railway project, which will bypass Armenia. The European Union also
keeps to similar viewpoint.
From: Baghdasarian

MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI, & ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS DEPENDS ON OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMEN

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 18 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Òrend S. Aghayeva / Pre-requisites for the next
meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents will be developed by
the chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, who have plans to visit the region
at the beginning of May-beginning of June.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, reported to
correspondents in Baku on 18 May that the next visit is scheduled
on 25 May. The visit of the acting OSCE Chairman, Spain’s Foreign
Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos is expected to visit the region on
4 June. On 5-6 June the region will be visited by the co-chairmen of
the Minsk Group.

"After the talks with the co-chairmen it will become clear whether
there is a necessity for the meetings between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents. I believe the means for diplomatic settlement
of the conflict have not been exhausted. It is too early to speak of
the results, but negotiations will be continued," the minister said.

As to the position of Baku towards the presidential elections to be
held in the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) on 19 July,
the minister said that any elections held in the NKR are illegal and
ridiculous. They will not contribute to the peace process.

The conflict between the two South-Caucasus countries broke out
in 1988 with Armenia’s territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Some 20%
of Azerbaijani territories (Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 nearby regions)
have been under the occupation of the Armenian Armed Forces since
1992. In May, 1994 a ceasefire was signed with both sides. The peace
talks under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk group presided by Russia,
France, and United States are still fruitless.

–Boundary_(ID_q+b5/WVuLzqmlYsWZQ7zvA) —
From: Baghdasarian

ELMAR MAMMADYAROV: OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN ON MAY 25

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 18 2007

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will arrive in Baku on May 25, Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov was quoted by APA as saying.

The OSCE mediators will first visit Yerevan on May 21.

OSCE Chairman-in -Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Anhel
Morathinos’s visit to the region on June 4 will be followed immediately
by that of mediators on June 5-6.

The meetings during the visits will determine whether Azerbaijani and
Armenian Presidents will meet in St Petersburg, Russia on June 10,
2007.
From: Baghdasarian

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenian opposition rallies against parliamentary election outcomes
18.05.2007 21:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Impeachment bloc, New Times party, Republic party,
Orinats Yerkir party and the People’s Party of Armenia have organized
a rally in Yerevan’s Liberty Square to protest the outcomes of May 12
parliamentary elections.

The opposition forces failed to organize a mass rally again. The
number of people in Liberty Square did not exceed 3 thousand.

Meanwhile, Nikol Pashinyan, the leader and idea-monger of the protest
rallies, said `it’s only a start.’ `We are forging victory step by
step,’ he said adding that `the most important thing now is to press
for annulment of the election results and organize an extra vote,’ IA
Regnum reports.

After the rally the oppositionists are going to walk down towards the
Republic Square where most of the government buildings are located.
From: Baghdasarian

Republican Party of Armenia ` 453 032, `Prosperous Armenia’ Party –
204,443, ARF Dashnaktsutyun – 177,192, `Orinats Yerkir’ Party –
95,296, `Heritage’ Party – 80,890

13-05-2007 16:49:03 – KarabakhOpen

Central Electoral Commission of Armenia finished the count of votes
from 1932 polling stations (1 351 669 votes). According to the results
Republican Party of Armenia, `Prosperous Armenia’ Party and ARF
Dashnaktsutyun keep the lead at the parliamentary elections. CEC
Chairman Garegin Azaryan presented the general picture of the
election, which is the following:

Republican Party of Armenia – 453,032

`Prosperous Armenia’ Party – 204,443

ARF Dashnaktsutyun – 177,192

`Orinats Yerkir’ Party – 95,296

`Heritage’ Party – 80,890

United Labor Party – 59,307

`National Unity’ Party – 49,863

`New Times’ Party – 47,018

People’s Party – 37,034

`Dashink’ Party – 33,093

People’s Party of Armenia – 23,629

`Republic’ Party – 22,609

`Impeachment’ block – 17.808

Communist Party – 8,835

National Democratic Party – 8,591

`Democratic Way’ Party – 8,468

`National Consent’ Party – 4,251

Democratic Party of Armenia – 3,780

`Christian-Democratic Revival’ Party – a little bit more than 3000

Marxist Party of Armenia – 2,896

United Liberal National Party – 2,748

Youth Party – 2,302

`Hnchakyan’ Social-Democratic Party – 1,033.
From: Baghdasarian

Euronews.net, France
May 13 2007

Armenian elections are a "vast democratic improvement"

Armenia’s parliamentary elections have been lorded as a "vast
democratic improvement", as pro-presidential parties took the
majority of the votes.

The monitoring team from The Organisation for Security and
Co-operation in Europe said the elections were a development in
democracy on the previous, 2003, vote.

Republican party leader and present Prime Minister, Serge Sargysan,
is the likely winner in the polls with a projected 40 per cent.

The vote is seen as a dress rehersal for the presidental election
next year.

Armenia is a mountainous, land-locked, country and part of the former
Soviet Union. It has emerged as a potential major transit route for
oil from Central Asia into Europe.

This vote was marred by some violence, including an attempt to kill a
senior member of the Republican party.
From: Baghdasarian

PanARMENIAN.Net

Opposition refused to sign final protocol of RA CEC on
preliminary results of elections
13.05.2007 17:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Central Electoral Commission of
Armenia summed up today the preliminary results of the
parliamentary elections under the proportional
representation system, according to which, 5 parties
overcame the 5-percent barrier. CEC members Felix
Khachatrian, Sona Sarkisian and Zaven Pluzian, who
represent, correspondingly, `Justice’ bloc, `Orinats
Yerkir’ and `National Unification’ parties, refused to
sign the final protocol, Mediamax reported. They all
argued their stance by the statement that `on May 12,
there were mass violations’.

The Republican Party of Armenia – 457.032 votes (32.8
%), the `Prosperous Armenia’ party – 204.443 votes
(14.7 %), the `Dashnaktsutyun’ party – 177.192 votes
(12.7 %), the `Orinats Yerkir’ party – 95.256 votes
(6.8 %) and the `Heritage’ party – 80.890 votes (5.8
%) overpassed the 5-percent barrier.
From: Baghdasarian