Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

A NUMBER OF FESTIVE EVENTS SCEDULED SEPTEMBER 18-25
ArmRadio.am
30.08.2006 17:58
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Armenia’s independence,
a number of festive events are scheduled September 18-25.
RA President’s Spokesman Viktor Soghomonyan informs that a military
parade will be held in the Republic Square. Third Armenia-Diaspora
forum will be organized, concerts and salutes will be held in the
framework of the celebration.
From: Baghdasarian

STATE INSTITUTIONS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION TO BE FINANCED ACCORDING
TO PUPILS’ NUMBER
YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Government made a decision
at the August 24 sitting on implementing financing of RA state
institutions of secondary education according to pupils’ number. The
RA Minister of Finance and Economy was instructed, after adopting
the RA annual state budget jointly with the RA Minister of Education
and Science, to adopt coefficients of the formula of financing
according to the pupils’ number, arising of the current indexes,
using corresponding coefficients for schools of mountainous, high
mountainous settlements and alone schools of the same settlement
having up to 400 pupils. The order of re-distributions being made
in expenses of state institutions of secondary education was also
adopted by the same decision. The RA Minister of Education and
Science, RA Regional Governors (Yerevan Mayor) were allowed to
make re-distributions in expenses of state instutions of secondary
education being uder their sujection, corresponding to the order
adopted by the mentioned decision. As Noyan Tapan was informed by
the RA Government’s Information and Public Relations Department,
the decision will come into force from January 1, 2007.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN POLITICAL PARTIES URGE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT TO DENY TURKISH PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL FORCES
Yerkir
25.08.2006 13:38
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – At their August 24 meeting in Beirut,
representatives of the three Armenian political parties of Lebanon
– the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Social Democratic Hnchak
Party and Liberal Democratic Party – issued a statement urging the
Lebanese government to reject any participation of Turkish troops in
the international forces to be deployed in Lebanon.
Below is the text of the statement.
We, the leaders of the three Armenian political parties, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, Social Democratic Hnchak Party and Liberal
Democratic Party, deeply appreciate the efforts of the Lebanese
government to set a ceasefire, stop the war bloodshed, establish
peace and stability and restore what has been destroyed in the recent
Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
We also welcome the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that intends
to increase the number of the peacekeepers in South Lebanon. We,
however, voice the Lebanese Armenian community’s rejection of the
idea to include Turkish troops in the peacekeeping forces because:
a. Participation of Turkish troops in the international forces breaches
the principle of impartiality for international forces and therefore
would obstruct the efforts of establishing peace and stability in
Lebanon. No country participating in the international forces should
be an ally of a conflict party.
Turkey, however, has a history of enmity with many countries and
nations, and its history demonstrates the bloody core of its relations
with those nations. In addition, Turkey has a military treaty with
Israel which also includes a cooperation of special services. That
treaty threatens the peace process in the region, and Turkey’s biased
foreign policy makes us mistrust Turkey.
b. Turkey continues its occupation of Cyprus, blockade of Armenia and
refuses to recognize the 1915 Armenian Genocide it had perpetrated
and apologize for that crime.
c. Turkey continues to violate human rights and rights of minorities
making it ineligible for peacekeeping mission.
d. There is no doubt that any country participating in international
forces should be accepted by the Lebanese public: Turkey’s history
of violence in Lebanon does not help that country to deserve such
acceptance considering that the Lebanese people in its collective
memory still endures the consequences of the Turkish crimes and
tyranny.
Taking into account these realities, we reaffirm our opposition and
refusal to inclusion of Turkish troops in the peacekeeping forces to be
deployed in South Lebanon and demand that the Lebanese government turn
down the inclusion of the Turkish troops in those forces in support
of the Lebanese Armenian community that is an important portion of
the Lebanese society.
In this letter addressed to the Lebanese government, we demand that the
Lebanese government include the Armenian position in its agenda, taking
into account that all the communities in Lebanon should be respected.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Social Democratic Hnchak Party
Liberal Democratic Party.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIANS ASK BUSH TO SHUT TURKISH PEACEKEEPERS OUT OF LEBANON
AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
August 17, 2006 Thursday
The Armenian lobby in the United States has called on President
George Bush to block the involvement of Turkish servicemen in the
international peacekeeping mission to be deployed in the southern
part of Lebanon. A letter signed by the chairman of the Armenian
National Committee of America, Ken Khachikian, says the deployment of
Turkish peacekeepers in Lebanon allegedly contradicts US interests
and will impede promoting peace in the region. The UN ceasefire to
end the fighting came into force a few days ago and an estimated
15,000 international peacekeepers are expected to enter the conflict
zone. Despite Armenians efforts, US Assistant Secretary of State for
Near Eastern Affairs David Welch underscored the Turkish armys high
combat readiness. He said the decision to station Turkish peacekeeping
forces in the Middle East was Turkeys own choice. Welch told a news
conference in Washington on Wednesday that the United States and
Turkey have extensive experience on cooperation in such issues and
his country relies on the Turkish peacekeeping force.
From: Baghdasarian

NOVRUZ MAMMADOV: “ANDRZEJ KASPRZYK DOES NOT TAKE A FAIR STANCE ON ARMENIAN ARSONS IN NK”
Today, Azerbaijan
Aug. 16, 2006
“Personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej
Kasprzyk does not take a fair stance regarding the Armenian-committed
arsons in the occupied Azerbaijani lands.”
“You can never see such a stance related to such kind of issues in
any other country,” APA reports quoting Azerbaijani President’s Office
international relations department chief Novruz Mammadov.
The official said the fires in the occupied Azerbaijani territories
should be investigated adding that Andrzej Kasprzyk takes a biased
position with regard to Armenian arsons in Azerbaijani lands.
Vice-president of parliament, chief of parliamentary permanent
commission for security and defense affairs Ziyafet Asgarov said he
could not understand what Kasprzyk meant when saying “a cooperation
of the parties related to the arsons”.
“What cooperation does he mean? Since Kasprzyk wants to give advice,
why he does not prevent Armenians’ barbarian actions,” he underlined.
URL:
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA, IRAN TO BUILD THIRD POWER LINE IN 2006-08
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
August 16, 2006 Wednesday 4:28 PM MSK
Armenia and Iran plan to implement a project in 2006-2008 to build a
third power line between the two countries at a cost of $90 million,
Saak Abramian, general director of ZAO High-voltage Power Line,
told Interfax.
It is expected that construction work will begin in 2006. At the
moment experts are working on a project for a new two-circuit power
line, which will stretch 300 km on Armenian territory and 100 km
on Iranian territory. The capacity of the power cable will be 400
megawatts, with voltage in Armenia of 220 kilovolts, and in Iran –
230 kilovolts. The Armenian side will finance 15% of the project.
Armenia will pay back the Iranian investment with supplies of
electricity.
Armenia and Iran signed a financing agreement in Teheran in May
2006 for $90 million to build the third power line between the two
countries.
Iran and Armenia are currently connected by two power lines with a
capacity of 200 megawatts each.
From: Baghdasarian

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT POLITICAL POLES WILL BECOME MORE
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
Nothing will change in the political sphere after the conference of the
Republican, think 50 percent of readers who voted in the poll of the
Lragir.am. Within two weeks that followed the extraordinary conference
of the Republican Party we asked our readers what the conference
would change in the political life of Armenia. 50 percent think that
nothing will change, 31 percent think that the home political tension
will increase, and 19 percent think that the “political poles will
become more”.
From: Baghdasarian

HEAD OF ORGANIZATION FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS PROTECTION KILLED IN ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.08.2006 13:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Well-known entrepreneur, head of the Organization
for Children’s Rights Protection Alexander Givoyev was killed
on Ashtarak-Gyumri highway in Armenia. Upon receiving an alarm on
shooting the policemen found Givoyev’s body with wounds. It was found
out that the entrepreneur with his family was heading for Gyumri in
his own car. When he stopped at a shop and got off the car an unknown
fired on him out of a red VAZ-2199 car. Givoyev died immediately. Shop
assistant Gyulnara Karapetyan also died from wounds. A criminal case
was initiated and an investigation started, reported Newsarmenia.ru.
From: Baghdasarian

Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Caucasus Reporting Service
Caucasus home

Armenian Government Takes On Gold Company
An American mining group accuses the Armenian government of trying to
expropriate its assets.
By Susanna Petrosian in Yerevan (CRS No. 350, 27-July-06)
Armenia’s environment ministry is trying to revoke the license of an
American gold company in a dispute that puts investors’ rights under the
spotlight.
Connecticut-based Global Gold Corporation, GGC,is contracted along with
the Australian company Iberian Resources to mine gold, silver and zinc
in the Marjan district of southern Armenia until the end of 2007.
Now the ministry is claiming it has lost its right to do so ` though GGC
continues its exploratory work, saying it has the law on its side.
Some say Armenia wants to take back the mine in order to then sell it
off to a Russian group. Russia is by far the biggest investor in Armenia
with investments worth 400 million US dollars.
The government, however, insists GGC has lost its license because it has
failed to meet its obligations.
`The ministry gave the license and it can take it away,’ said Grant
Avetisian, who heads the department for protecting underground resources
at the environment ministry. He declined to say whether the ministry was
planning to go to court to enforce its claim against GGC.
`GGC carried out only five per cent of the work,’ added environment
minister Vardan Aivazian. `They did not fulfil their duties as
investors. As they cannot work legally, they should go and someone else
should replace them.’
But GGC’s regional director Ashot Boghosian told IWPR that the company
had only just begun work in the mines and there was no legal basis for
stopping them continuing.
Boghosian says that by law his company’s right to do exploratory work
can be suspended only by a court, and that the company must be informed
of the allegations levelled against it 90 days before the court hearing.
Gagik Adibekian, head of the department that deals with agreements and
contracts at Armenia’s trade ministry, confirmed that a court order was
needed for a company to lose its license.
`We did not receive any warning, and we don’t know what infringement we
have committed,’ said Boghosian.
`If the ministry tries to deprive us of our licenses and to give them to
another organisation, the best definition of this action will be
expropriation,’ said Boghosian. `I don’t think this is the situation,
and I hope that GGC’s investments will not be expropriated, as that is a
serious responsibility.’
Van Krikorian, president and chief adviser to the company, told IWPR,
`The decision to strip us of our license is illegal.’
GGC has a number of projects throughout Armenia and says it will invest
almost 10 million dollars in the country by the end of this year. It
says it is spending 1.2 million dollars on its exploratory work in the
Marjan mine, which contains an estimated 17.8 tonnes of precious metals.
Around 400 people are employed on the project. Ashot Saakian, head of
administration of the nearby village of Arevis, told IWPR that locals
are pinning their hopes on the mining project and on GGC restoring
outdated infrastructure.
The company has won the support of economist and opposition
parliamentary deputy Tatul Manaserian, who said revoking the company’s
license without proper justification could hurt Armenian-American
relations.
`Statements like this made against GGC will make the investment climate
unpredictable in the future, and this lack of clarity is the most
serious threat for business in terms of instability,’ said Manaserian.
However, the ministry is not backing down. It says not only has GGC has
lost its license, but that it may soon announce the name of the new
company contracted to work in the mines.
A source in government told IWPR on condition of anonymity that a
Russian investor was interested in acquiring the Marjan mine.
Under a `debt-for-assets’ deal, Russian companies now control almost the
entire energy network of Armenia and have expressed an interest in
acquiring the telephone network.
Some experts see this is an economic takeover that undermines Armenia’s
sovereignty, although trade minister Karen Chshmaritian says there is
nothing to be worried about.
`All of these processes, including the energy sector, are under our full
control,’ said the minister.
Critics are not convinced, seeing the travails of GGC as a symptom of a
wider phenomenon.
`Today Armenia’s attitude to investors is defined by its foreign policy,
which is basically focused on Russia,’ said Stepan Grigorian, head of
the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation in
Yerevan.
`Russia thinks it is not enough to keep its influence over Armenia
through the military sector alone, and is now using economics as well.’
Susanna Petrosian is a journalist with the Noyan Tapan news agency in
Yerevan.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA IS CUT OFF INTERNET AGAIN: CABLE BREAKAGES IN GEORGIA BECOME PERMANENT
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 7, 2006
Author: Mammadov
(REGNUM) – For the last 48 hours, the population of Armenia has twice
been cut off the internet, REGNUM correspondent reported from Yerevan
on the telephone. On August 4 and 5, the reason of the breakdowns in
the work of Armenian internet providers became cable failures on the
territory of Georgia.
According to the national ArmenTel Company information holding
exclusive rights on maintaining international telecommunications
in Armenia, the current situation is caused by cable failure in the
Kutaisi region, which resulted in the absence of internet connection
in Armenia for 6 hours. Today, on August 5, cable was also broken
on the Black Sea seabed. No information on when the damage would be
fixed is available so far, reports Trend.
The government of Armenia regards information technologies development
the main priority of the country’s national economy. Meanwhile, the
republic remains in an utterly vulnerable position since the internet
connection is established through the only cable connecting Armenia via
Georgia on the Black Sea seabed to Ukraine. In the south of Armenia
the cable is connected to Iranian communication network. The current
internet connection breakdown is the third large-scale cable failure
that happened lately in Georgia.
From: Baghdasarian