Author: Boshkezenian Garik

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

OCTOBER 23-29, 2009

HIGHLIGHTS:

"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS AND ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

PERSPECTIVES OF MEDIA SELF-REGULATION IN ARMENIA

YPC MEDIA MONITORING ON ELECTIONS TO YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY

AMENDMENTS TO THE RA CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE ON SECURITY OF INFORMATION
SOURCES PASSED IN THE FIRST HEARING

THERE ARE UNUSED FREQUENCIES IN YEREVAN, BELIEVES CoE EXPERT

OMBUDSMAN REPORT FOR 2008 PRESENTED TO THE RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS AND ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

On October 27, another "Press Club" show went on the air of "Yerkir Media"
TV company. The cycle is produced under Yerevan Press Club project,
supported by the Open Society Institute. The guests of the program host, YPC
President Boris Navasardian were Artsvik Minasian, deputy of RA National
Assembly, member of "Dashnaktsutiun" faction, and Amalia Kostanian, Head of
Transparency International Anti-Corruption Centre. The discussion centered
on the international commitments of Armenia in the light of Armenian-Turkish
relations.

The next "Press Club" show will be aired on "Yerkir Media" on November 3, at
21.15.

PERSPECTIVES OF MEDIA SELF-REGULATION IN ARMENIA

On October 23-25 in Aghveran a seminar on "The Perspectives of Media
Self-Regulation in Armenia" was held. The seminar was organized by Yerevan
Press Club with the assistance of the Office of OSCE Representative on
Freedom of the Media.

The report of Hayk Demoyan, Director of the Genocide Museum/Institute, was
upon the media coverage of Armenian-Turkish relations. Mesrop Harutiunian,
Expert of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, presented the
legislative initiatives, prescribing liability for defamation and insult.
YPC Expert Iren Aloyan talked about the European practice of media
self-regulation systems. YPC President Boris Navasardian introduced a report
on the activities of Media Ethics Observatory for 2008-2009. As it has been
reported, Media Ethics Observatory (MEO) was formed on March 10, 2007 by the
heads of Armenian media who supported the YPC self-regulation initiative
(see YPC Weekly Newsletter, March 9-15, 2007). The mission of MEO consists
in considering the complaints-appeals regarding the violation of the Code of
Conduct of Media Representatives and rendering judgments on them. As of
today, the Code of Conduct and its addendum, the Declaration on Election and
Referendum Coverage Principles, are signed by 38 Armenian media, and 8
journalistic associations support the initiative. The participants of the
seminar in Aghveran – the media and professional organizations joining the
initiative – also discussed the suggestions on amending the Code of Conduct
and the perspectives of the institutionalization of media self-regulation
initiative in Armenia.

YPC MEDIA MONITORING ON ELECTIONS TO YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY

The results of the Monitoring the Armenian TV Coverage of Elections to
Yerevan Council of Elderly on May 31, 2009 are placed on YPC website
() in the "Studies" section (in Armenian, English and Russian).
The research was administered by Yerevan Press Club on April 16 – May 29,
2009 with the financial support of Open Society Institute.

AMENDMENTS TO THE RA CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE ON SECURITY OF INFORMATION
SOURCES PASSED IN THE FIRST HEARING

On October 28 RA National Assembly passed the Draft Law "On the Amendments
and Supplements to the RA Criminal Procedure Code" in the first hearing.
The author of the draft Hovhannes Margarian, RA NA deputy from "Ordinates
Yerkir" faction, has initiated two amendments on the security of information
sources. Firstly, it is suggested to supplement Paragraph 2 of Article 16 of
the Criminal Procedure Code ("The Publicity of Court Litigation") by the
following sentence: "An executive court session can also be assigned,
whenever a court decision obliges the person, accomplishing information
activities, as well as the journalist to disclose the source of
information". Secondly, it is envisaged to introduce a new provision (Point
6) in Paragraph 2 of Article 86 of the Code ("Witness"). According to this
provision, a person, accomplishing information activities, and a journalist
cannot be exacted as a witness and examined on the information source,
unless, to disclose a grave or specially grave crime, there is court
decision, and the necessity of the criminal protection of public interests
prevails the public concern on the information source confidentiality, and
all the other means to protect the public interests are exhausted.

The justification of the draft mentions that Article 5 of RA Law "On Mass
Communication" prescribes a high level of protection of information sources,
according to international standards. Meanwhile, it is stressed that as the
practice shows the provision of the RA Law "On Mass Communication"
contradicts Article 86 of Criminal Procedure Code. In the latter, persons,
accomplishing information activities, and journalists are not listed among
the ones who cannot be exacted as witnesses and examined to disclose the
source of information. "There have already been cases when the preliminary
investigation bodies were trying to interrogate the media heads in order to
disclose the information source", the justification notes. Besides, while
Paragraph 2 of Article 5 of Law "On Mass Communication" sets forth executive
court sessions whenever a person, accomplishing information activities, or a
journalist are obliged to disclose the information source, Article 16 of
Code does not provide for such a provision and contravenes the Law.

In fact, the amendments are called to harmonize the aforesaid Articles of
the Criminal Procedure Code with the requirements of Article 5 of RA Law "On
Mass Communication".

THERE ARE UNUSED FREQUENCIES IN YEREVAN, BELIEVES CoE EXPERT

At the parliamentary hearings of October 22 on "The Broadcast Digitalization
Process and the Consequences of Its Implementation in Armenia" (see YPC
Weekly Newsletter, October 16-22, 2009) Council of Europe Expert Alec Thomas
presented a report on the utilization of the UHF spectrum in Armenia.
Namely, Alec Thomas announced that there are unused frequencies in Yerevan
and suggested to implement an audit on frequencies. The reasonability of the
audit was also mentioned by the representatives of state bodies, present at
the hearings. Thereby a question occurs: why for an audit was not conducted
while throughout many years a number of international documents, including
several Resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
were making recommendations to hold a broadcast licensing competition, in
which "A1+" TV company could take place. Instead, the officials have been
declaring peremptorily that there are no free frequencies for holding a
licensing competition.

OMBUDSMAN REPORT FOR 2008 PRESENTED TO THE RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

On October 26 RA Human Rights Defender Armen Harutiunian presented the
Annual Report on the Activities of the Defender and the Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms Violations in Armenia in 2008 to the RA National
Assembly. As it has been reported, the ombudsman’s Annual Report was
released on March 10, 2009 (for details see YPC Weekly Newsletter, March
6-12, 2009).

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
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Yerevan Press Club
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0002, Yerevan, Armenia
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Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
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CRITICAL POINT OF ECONOMIC DOWNTURN HAS ALREADY FINISHED IN ARMENIA, FINANCE MINISTER SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Oct 28, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The critical point of the economic
downturn has already finished in Armenia: the lowest level of
recession was recorded in July, and slight tendencies to growth became
noticeable in August. RA Minister of Finance Tigran Davtian said this
during the October 28 meeting with reporters, explaining the economic
stabilization by the anticrisis measures undertaken by the government.

In his words, the fact that the fall in GDP declines by 0.1% each
month bears evidence of economic stabilization and recovery. "Since
August and September, there has been a tendency to economic
stabilization, and it is safe to say that the economy has entered a
phase of recovery," T. Davtian underlined.

He said that more intense activity has been recorded in construction
and industry, tax collection has become stable, while exports have
increased by 26%.

It was mentioned that the 2010 state budget envisages a cautious index
of economic growth. According to the minister’s forecast, GPD growth
may amount to over 1.2% in 2010.

EVENING DEDICATED TO 140TH ANNIVERSARY OF TUMANYAN HELD IN BELGIUM

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.10.2009 15:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Evening dedicated to 140th anniversary of a great
Armenian writer Hovhannes Tumanyan held in Belgian city Antwerp,
organized by the Cultural Union Nuard. Participants presented
Tumanyan’s photos, copies of documents and recently published books.

The chairman of Nuard, chief editor of "Lragir" Gevorg Minasyan
delivered a speech. Lena Beglaryan performed songs written with the
wording of the poet. The event was also attended by great-grandchildren
of Tumanyan Sophia Tumanyan and Ruben Kankaryan.

ARMENIA AND LEBANON ATTACH GREAT IMPORTANCE TO DEVELOPING TRADE AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.10.2009 20:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashot Kocharyan
October 26 met with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The
officials stressed the importance of developing trade and economic
relations, continuing high-level visits and resuming the sessions of
the intergovernmental commission.

The officials mentioned that the legal field and the current
potential in different spheres create favorable conditions for further
cooperation between Armenia and Lebanon. They also touched upon recent
developments in the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations, press office of the RA Foreign Ministry reports.

RUSSIA, INDIA, CHINA SUGGEST COLLECTIVE STRATEGY ON AFGHANISTAN

RIA Novosti
Oct 27, 2009

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) – Russia, India and China have
proposed to develop a collective strategy to stabilize Afghanistan
and expect a positive answer from the United States, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"The three countries are able and are ready to work with other
countries to develop a collective strategy," Lavrov said after a
trilateral ministerial meeting held in Bangalore, India.

Lavrov said that the army, police forces and other authorities in
Afghanistan are not yet prepared to solve problems in the country
themselves.

"We expect [US President Barack] Obama’s administration will use the
opportunity of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries as well as other
regional players in order to stimulate groups in Afghanistan to reach
a general understanding of how to establish their destiny," he said.

The foreign minister said Russia has not only supplied transit for
military cargo into Afghanistan, but has also trained personnel
for the country’s police forces and may also look into the issue of
delivering small arms and light weapons for the police.

CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA REGISTERS ANOTHER BRANCH OF ARMECONOMBANK IN SHIRAK REGION

ArmInfo
2009-10-27 13:49:00

ArmInfo. Central Bank of Armenia registered a new "Shirak" branch of
Armeconombank. As Central Bank’s press service told ArmInfo today,
this decision was made by CB Chairman on October 21. The new branch
is located in the 58 block of the town of Gyumri. This is the second
branch of the bank in Armenia’s Shirak region. ‘The decision on opening
of the second branch of the bank in Shirak is connected with special
activity of the population and business in respect of our services’,
deputy Chairman of the Bank Board Hayk Lazarian told ArmInfo.

To note, as of July 1, Armeconombank OJSC had 34 branches, including
17 – in Yerevan, 16 – in the regions and 1 – in the NKR. The Bank
held the 4th place in the banking system by the branch network size.

TWINING PROJECT GETS UNDERWAY IN ARMENIA

Aysor
Oct 26 2009
Armenia

Today Yerevan hosts the opening ceremony of the Twining Project
dedicated to "Contributing to the Office of Human Rights Defender
in Armenia."

The Twining project is implemented by Armenia’s Office of the Ombudsman
alongside with the Ombudsmen of France and Spain within the European
Neighborhood Policy.

"Representatives from France and Spain will stay in Armenia on an
ongoing basis. The chief objectives are to establish representative
offices, to study human resources and the facilitating public
awareness," said Human Rights Defender, Armen Harutyunyan.

The Twining Project will also contribute to technical and
organizational aspects. This is the very first program which is
implemented in Armenia within the European Neighborhood Policy and
will last 18 months and has a budget of 1 million euro.

LEBANESE AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA: WE RESPECT THE WILL AND DECISION OF THE ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY

ARMENPRESS
Oct 26, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS: "We respect the will and decision
of the Armenian government to normalize relations between Armenia
and Turkey," Lebanese ambassador to Armenia Zhebrail Zheara told
Armenpress. He expressed hope that the normalization process will
move forward and bring to concrete results – opening of the borders
and establishment of peace.

"The most important is peace not between the governments but
between the peoples. It is difficult to realize this fact but not
impossible. For a long time Armenians and Turks lived side by side
and time has come to find the formula of living again side by side,"
the ambassador said.

Zh. Zheara said the Arabic world and particularly Lebanon have
excellent relations with Armenia which are developing on political,
economic and cultural platforms.

Hurriyet Daily News , Turkey
Oct 23 2009

Will the Armenia-Turkey drama have a happy ending?

Friday, October 23, 2009
By Mansur Aslanov

If the extent of public confusion is adopted as a measure of success,
then the Armenia-Turkey conversation clearly qualifies, based on the
contradictory and conflicting statements coming from both the Armenian
and Turkish leaders.

The most recent major episode in this saga was Armenian President
Sarkisian’s visit to Bursa for a soccer game between the two countries
last week. Absurdity abounded: The two presidents sat together on
Swarovski-encrusted thrones, while Turkish nationalists plottedd to
fly into the stadium on a hang glider with an Azerbaijani flag as a
reaction to the flag being banned from the game. The founders of the
first Azerbaijan republic of 1918-1920 protected the flag of Turkey
throughout Soviet rule, while in the game with Armenia, an Azerbaijani
flag was trampled on the ground by the Turkish police after protestors
were caught trying to smuggle it in. The image naturally provoked
outrage in Azerbaijan.

Ankara’s openness to talking with the Armenians is a welcome change,
which reflects new confidence and maturity of Turkish society.
However, this is being coupled with naïveté in Ankara’s regional
policies. Most likely, this reflects a slightly superficial and
abstract vision of foreign policy colored by ideological stereotypes
and, as a result, a failure to see that practice doesn’t always live
up to theoretical constructs.

The consequences are already visible: the frosty response from Baku,
the growing tension in the region and rapidly fading hopes for
expanding the strategic East-West natural-gas corridor. Opening the
border between Armenia and Turkey at this time is not worth these
consequences. Right now, opening the border between Turkey and Armenia
would just move a sealed border further east by some hundred
kilometers at the expense of alienating Azerbaijan, further weakening
Georgia and cutting off strategic access to Central Asia. This is a
good deal for Moscow, which controls much of Armenia’s economy and for
whom the country has long become a burden in search of a new sponsor.
For Ankara, this doesn’t look that appealing. Turkey is, at the
moment, spending credit from the past, when Azerbaijan and Georgia saw
Turkey as a more predictable and less haphazard partner. Ironically,
Turkey’s strategic value was greatly boosted by the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Caspian gas pipelines, whereas today the
policy Turkey is pursuing is at odds with the policy that paved the
way for Ankara’s success and strength.

This goes to the emerging pattern of stereotypes and naïveté in
foreign policy. Being inclusive of Turkey’s own Muslim identity
doesn’t necessarily require one to immediately bash Israel and playing
nice to Moscow shouldn’t mean turning a cold shoulder on another
traditionally friendly neighbor, Georgia. Inviting the Armenian
President to a soccer match and instigating the necessary and overdue
discussion of Anatolia’s convoluted history certainly should not come
with the price tag of insulting and striking a blow to the interests
of fraternal Azerbaijan.

A pattern of contradictions and naïveté is emerging in Turkey’s
foreign policy. Why would Turkey express its emotionally charged
disapproval over the tragic events in Gaza, which do truly deserve
condemnation, while so warmly welcoming Serj Sarkisian, who confessed
publicly to his participation in the Khojaly massacre? By the way,
while Gaza is still populated by Palestinians and led by Hamas, no
Azerbaijanis live in Khojaly or on any Azerbaijani territories
occupied by Armenian forces.

For Mr. Sarkisian, this is partly a quest for legitimizing his own
rule, marred by unprecedented post-election violence last year in
Yerevan, when at least 10 protesters were shot point-blank by security
forces. He finally received the coveted Obama phone call and was
clearly treated better in Turkey than anywhere else in the world,
including Armenia and Russia. Of course, Mr. Sarkisian can be
negotiated with and even attend soccer games. However, the image of
Turkish hospitality was an overstep, which raised the question of
whether Turkey is trying to irritate Azerbaijan as a tactic so that
Baku’s frustrated response can in turn justify the ratification of the
protocols with Armenia, without any progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh
talks. If so, it would be a short-sighted tactic. In one lesson of
history, in 1938, then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
signed an agreement condoning Hitler’s occupation of Czechoslovakia,
hoping for peace; instead, he just paved a way for a greater war. The
real issues of occupation and aggression won’t go away simply because
it is convenient at the moment to ignore them.

For every country, mistakenly projecting domestic perceptions or
ideology onto actual foreign policy decisions is ultimately costly. As
the Russians, Iranians, and others have learned, the Caucasus is not a
playground for testing abstract theories, but an actual and vital
global strategic hub. Turkey can and should play this round very
wisely to succeed. However, the visible overconfidence, misreading the
magnitude of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue for Azerbaijan and the actual
threat it poses to the region, and the lack of a rational cost-benefit
analysis of trading Azerbaijan for Armenia in Turkey’s national
interests, as well as surprising obliviousness to the significance of
Azerbaijan’s national flag to the public sentiment, are just a few of
the clear warning signs pointing to Ankara’s potential lack of the
preparedness for the high-stakes game it is attempting to play.

*Mansur Aslanov is a free-lance writer based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

p?n=will-there-be-a-happy-end-for-the-armenia-turk ey-drama-2009-10-23

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: "WE HAVE BATTLE-WORTHY ARMED FORCES"ARMENIA’S ARMED FORCES ARE READY TO CARRY OUT TASKS, SAID ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN

Aysor
Oct 23 2009
Armenia

"We have battle-worthy armed forces, not armed groups like other
region’s states have," said President Sargsyan in an interview with
Armenian Public Television on Thursday.

"I pay visits here aimed at introduction with progress on
battle-positions. Can’t imagine how one can talk about battle-worthy
of armed forces, their fighting abilities and psychological background
taking a stroll at office. I believe these visits are very important."

Recall that President Sargsyan pays two-day working visit to
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) where he watches military
exercises.