Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

Baku Aggressive Policy Hampers Karabakh Settlement
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.07.2006 13:59 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A package of proposals of the OSCE MG co-chairs over
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict could have been acceptable,
Chair of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan stated in Yerevan. In his words, Azerbaijan’s aggressive
policy hampers it.
“The RPA is committed to peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. This includes international recognition of NKR, impossibility
of NK being part of Azerbaijan, securing NKR population, a common
border with Armenia,” Margaryan said. He underscored that NK should
take part in the talks without fail. “The solution of the conflict
should be acceptable to all parties,” the RPA Chair said.
From: Baghdasarian

The tender for the sale of “ArmenTel” shares may extend
ArmRadio.am
19.07.2006 13:35
The results of the tender announced for the sale of 90 percent of
“ArmenTel” shares may be summed up in August instead of July as it
was scheduled, well-informed sources told MEDIAMAX Agency.
According to the source, the second round of the tender is still in
progress. Four candidates are participating in the second round.
From: Baghdasarian

Fed: Families relieved young dancers are safe
Australian Associated Press Pty. Ltd.
AAP Newsfeed
July 18, 2006 Tuesday 8:28 AM AEST
MELBOURNE July 18
The families of Australian children with an Armenian dance troupe on
tour in the Middle East say they are relieved their loved ones are
among 86 Australians rescued from war-torn Lebanon.
The Sevan Dance Group’s 45 young performers and 36 parents and
supervisors were this morning safe in the Jordan, the federal
government said. The government had organised three buses to pick
up the group and some others from their Beirut hotel. The convoy
headed north along the Mediterranean coast road early last night
(AEST) and crossing the Syrian border to the capital, Damascus.
Parliamentary secretary for Foreign Affairs Teresa Gambaro said
today the group had now arrived in the Jordanian capital Amman.
Silva Vartabebian, whose 18-year-old daughter is part of the dance
troupe, said she had yet to speak to her daughter, but was relieved.
“Very relieved, very relieved,” she told the Seven Network. “It’s a
bad experience, I’m sure it was worse for them. Very anxious waiting
at home. No sleeping, just constantly worrying, talking to parents
all the time, asking if they’d heard anything. “Nothing crossed our
minds that something like this would happen, to this extent anyway.”
She said her daughter originally wasn’t going to go, but a job she had
fell through and there was a last-minute cancellation in the troupe.
Ms Vartabebian said Australian foreign affairs officials had gone to
the Armenian Cultural Centre to reassure parents and update them on
what was taking place. She said she was not sure when they would be
coming home. Tatiana Arabian, whose 15-year-old son and 16-year-old
daughter were also on the tour, said it had been a tense wait.
She said she would not relax until she knew her children were to
catch a flight home. “Since Thursday 2pm it’s been terrible and
… now I can finally say that they are safe, but still I can feel I
might even receive a phone call saying it’s not going as positive as
you are think, so fingers crossed that they will be home as soon as
they reach Jordan,” she told Channel Nine. “Last time I talked to
them, they were in Beirut, in the hotel, they were in a safe place.
“That was two days ago. “My son was quite all right but my daughter,
who is 16, and she was a bit scared because she could hear the bombs
and she said:`The building is shaking, and Mum it’s really scary.
“I said: `You have to hang on there until the embassy will try and
get you all out’.” Ms Arabian said she expected her children home
tomorrow morning.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN POLITICAL ANALYST THINKS OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS SHOULD RESIGN
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 17 2006
YEREVAN, July 17. /ARKA/. If OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs say their
imagination is exhausted, they should resign, political analyst Suren
Zolyan said Friday at a press conference in Yerevan.
He thinks if Minsk Group Co-Chairs are not able to fulfill their
mission, presidents of three countries – France, Russia and the United
States – should withdraw them and appoint other persons to these posts.
However, Zolyan doesn’t think the format should be changed, since
there are no other organizations ready to bear such a responsibility,
especially taking into account the fact that the situation is the
troubled region is not stable yet.
Earlier, American Co-Chair Matthew Bryza said the Minsk Group Co-Chairs
exhausted their imagination. He said the Co-Chair have decided to
take a summer brake to let Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents take
a breath. In his words, they are waiting for new proposals from the
conflicting sides.
Bryza said the Co-Chairs had already done whatever possible to settle
the conflict. At the same time, they are ready to keep mediating the
settlement and have no intention to abandon the process.
OSCE Minsk Group was set up in 1992 for mediating Karabakh conflict.
Russia, Franca and United States share the Group chairmanship now.
M.V.-0–
From: Baghdasarian

Russia not to purchase Iran-Armenia gasline
IranMania News, Iran
July 15 2006
Saturday, July 15, 2006 – ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, July 15 (IranMania) – Russia has no plans for the time being
to purchase the under-construction Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, said
Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian.
According to ISNA, the Armenian official further said at a joint
press conference with the Russian transportation minister that such
an agreement has not been reached with the Russian side because the
pipeline is yet to be completed.
The agency further quoted a spokesperson for Armenian energy minister
as saying that the Armenian party has not received any offer from
Russia’s Gazprom regarding the latter’s willingness to purchase the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.
Lusine Harutyunyan said no negotiations have been held with Gazprom
in this respect.
ISNA quoted Gazprom’s deputy chairman, Alexander Ryazanov, as saying,
however, that Russia is keen on purchasing the pipeline, which is
under construction.
He said at the annual meeting of the company’s shareholders in Moscow
that the project will have the capacity to transfer 1.2 billion cubic
meters of gas per annum and that it will become operational in 2007.
The Russian official said the pipeline will provide Armenia with a
more reliable source of natural gas supply.
–Boundary_(ID_AnOkcGjNEjTv3xxQfgVweA)–
From: Baghdasarian

RUSSIANS HAVE NO PLANS YET TO BUY IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE SECTION
Panorama.am
14:42 12/07/06
Armenian minister of defense Serz Sargsyan told a joint conference with
Russian transport minister Igor Levitin that Russians have not plans
yet to buy the Armenian section of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. There
are no such arrangements with the Russian side since there is no
“gas pipeline yet, too,” Sargsyan said.
Levitin elaborated on the closure of Verin Lars checkpoint on
Russian-Georgian border. He promised to report to president Putin
as soon as he is in Russia and promised to settle the re-opening in
short time.
Note: The Russian side has again closed Verin Lars checkpoint
on Russian-Georgian border recently on the excuse of making
renovations. In fact, this is the sole automobile rout for Armenian
export and import.
The situation has caused problems for economic entities of Armenia.
It is interesting to note that Levitin is just now going to report to
president Putin as if they do not know what is going on in Verin Lars
and what significance it has. Judging from the answer it may be said
that the checkpoint will remain shut for some time more. /Panorama.am/
From: Baghdasarian

BÝA, Turkey
July 12 2006
Rehn: “High Court Decison Disappointing”
EU Commissioner Olli Rehn criticizes Court of Cassation decision
against Armenian journalist Hýrant Dink, editor of weekly Agos, based
in Istanbul. High Court confirmed prison sentence for “insulting
Turkishness”.
BIA News Center
12/07/2006
BÝA (Ankara) – European Commission (EU) Commissioner for Enlargement
Olli Rehn in a public statement on Wednesday expresses
“disappointment” for the confirmation by the Turkish Court of
Cassation of the prison sentence given to Mr Hrant Dink.
“This judgement is the first final judgement by the highest
jurisdiction in Turkey about the interpretation of article 301. In
this sense, it establishes a binding case law that will set the trend
for lower jurisdiction to follow when applying article 301 in the
future,” Rehn observed
“It also shows that in the current situation, courts have not
succeeded in establishing a positive case law when interpreting the
provisions of the new Penal Code in line with the relevant EU
standards.” he told.
This is all the more serious since there are still a number of
similar court cases pending.
Rehn urged “Turkish authorities amend article 301 and other vaguely
formulated articles in order to guarantee freedom of expression in
Turkey.”
The Court of Cassation decided to confirm the prison sentence for Mr
Hrant Dink, editor in chief of Istanbul based bilingual,
Turkish-Armenian weekly, on the grounds that he insulted
“Turkishness” on the basis of article 301 of the new Penal Code.
Dink was sentenced to six months at the local court, and the court
later suspended the sentence justifying it with the convict’s
goodwill. The high court prosecutor however demanded Dink’s
acquittal, but the high court turned down the demand which relied on
the evaluation that Dink’s controversial expressions were
“allegorical” rather more than insulting “Turkishness”. (EK/YE)
–Boundary_(ID_Kyycu/YG0Vo1ntg6XYxhgQ)–
From: Baghdasarian

Torosyan: Meetings of Armenian and Azeri Leaders Will Result in Nothing at This Stage
PanARMENIAN.Net
11.07.2006 14:05 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Speaker Tigran Torosyan yesterday met
with head of OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin,
reports the Press Service of NA of Armenia. When commenting on
Azeri parties speculations, which began a month ago, Torosyan said
Azerbaijan spreads disinformation on fires in NK security zone in all
directions, including international structures. Vladimir Pryakhin
promised to convey T. Torosyan ‘s approaches on fires in Karabakh
to OSCE leaders. Within that context the interlocutors discussed
the statement and expectations of the OSCE MG in settlement of the
NK conflict. It was noted that when there is a goal to solve the
conflict quickly, it is necessary to clearly assess the conduct of
the parties, specifically militant statements and hatred propaganda
of Azerbaijan. It is clear that the co-chairs should be reserved and
careful to promote rapprochement of the parties, however when they
do not express any attitude to negative impact on the society, it
stimulates formal approach to conflict settlement. At the instance of
Vladimir PryakhinTorosyan touched upon the opportunity for the Armenian
and Azeri Presidents to meet within G8 summit in St. Petersburg. He
noted that the meetings will result in nothing new, as mechanisms,
which would allow to determine who is refusing from previous
agreements, are not worked out.
From: Baghdasarian

WILL THE WEST PREVENT 1998?
Lragir.am
11 July 06
The opposition in Armenia ingenuously thinks that Robert Kocharyan
will reach signing an agreement on the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict, and it will lead to a resignation like in the case of
Levon Ter-Petrosyan in 1998. But it will not happen, forecast Hmayak
Hovanisyan July 11. According to him, the West will not allow Robert
Kocharyan’s resignation for having signed an agreement. The member
of parliament believes that the West will do everything to go all
the way to fulfill the principles of the agreement.
From: Baghdasarian

AZG Daily #128, 07/11/2006
Festival
“GOLDEN APRICOT” FILM FESTIVAL LAUNCHES IN YEREVAN
“Golden Apricot” third international film festival
launched in Yerevan. In response to the questions of
the journalists, Atom Egoyan, Canadian film director,
chairman of the fiction films’ competition, stated
that the festival doesn’t yield to the international
film festivals by its content and quality of the
films. He added that the films included in the
competition programs of the festival were thoroughly
chosen by the members of the jury.
The organization committee of the festival says that
the reporters will be able to watch the ceremony on a
big screen that will be put in the square in front of
the cinema. So as to recompense the reporters their
loss, the organization committee will organize free
fourchettes for them. During the fourchettes the
reporters will be able to meet world famous
celebrities. In particular, it concerns Iranian
director Mokhsene Makhmalbafe, Italian Marco
Bellocchio, the French Armenian Robert Getikian, and
outstanding Armenian film director Artavazd Peleshian
and Aleksander Adabashian. All of them will deliver
master classes at RA State Picture Gallery from July
9-16. The festival will launch by the retrospective
show of “Namous” Armenian film screened by Hamo
Beknazarian, founder of the Armenian Cinematography,
in 1925.
About 100 films by directors from 58 countries will be
shown within the framework of the festival on July
10-15. The competition program includes films by Perdo
Almodovar, Krzsystof Zanussi, Aleksander German
Junior, Rakhshan Bani- Etemada. The program of
documentary films includes the films by Mickael
Glavoger, Gunar Bergdal, Sergey Loznica and Victor
Kosakovskiy. “The Armenian Panorama” competition
includes 25 films from various countries.
By Tamar Minasian
From: Baghdasarian