Author: Boshkezenian Garik

TIME TO SHIFT FROM COMPLIMENTARY TO BALANCE POLICY
By Ruzan Pogosian

AZG Armenian Daily
06/04/2007

The policy of the Armenian authorities, which is accepted as a
policy of complimentarism, is reaching the point where it cannot
be applied any longer. New processes in the world policy bring
forth new geopolitical circumstances as split of South Caucasus
and American-Iranian difficulties, which are forcing to revise
the complimentary policy of Armenia. Ruben Safrastian, head of
the Oriental Studies Institute of the Armenian National Science
Academy, during a discussion at the "Pastark" politics club said that
the new policy of Armenia must be based upon balance rather than
complimetarism. He is sure that such shift in foreign policy will
strengthen the positions of Armenia in the relations with both its
allies and rivals. Mr. Safrastian considers that proceeding with the
policy of complimentary will sooner or later result in sheer isolation
of Armenia and difficulties with its partners.

Safrastian noted that Azerbaijan will benefit from the possible war
against Iran and that Armenia must be ready for rapid actions. The
policy of the United States diminished the influence of Iran, which
provided balance of forces in South Caucasus, and strengthened the
positions of Turkey. Nevertheless he assured that the actions of the
USA will never be aimed against Armenia directly. He also said that
it is inconsistent to draw parallels between Iraq and Iran, as Europe
and Russia are not inclined to perceiving Iran as a nest of Islamism
as it was the case of Iraq. Safrastian assured that military actions
against Iran in any case wont’ be started earlier than May 2007.

To the opinion of Ruben Safrastian the run for world recognition of
the Armenian Genocide must be continued by all means. Giving it up
would mean offending the national dignity of the Armenian people,
threatening the influence of the Armenian lobbies worldwide and the
integrity of Armenia and Diaspora. He stated that the recognition of
the Genocide is not only a national interest of Armenia, but is also
associated with the modern global processes.

AS OF APRIL 4, OBSERVERS OF 13 LOCAL AND 4 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS REGISTERED AT RA CEC

Noyan Tapan
Apr 05 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Central Electoral Commission
(CEC) refused on April 4 the accreditation applications of the
"Scarp Resort Center" and "Syuniats Ashkarh" educational-cultural
and social NGOs for implementing observations at the parliamentary
elections. The reason is absence of issues of democracy and human
rights protection in the latters’ regulations. As a result of an
additional study of the regulations of the "Gyumri Students’ Council"
NGO, the CEC decided to accredit the latter’s observers.

So, observers of 13 local and 4 international organizations have
already been accredited to implement observation mission at the
parliamentary elections.

The deadline for accreditation of observers is May 2.

‘NO ELECTION CAN BE PERFECT’

A1+
[08:56 pm] 05 April, 2007

CIC 9 countries are engaged in the NA forthcoming elections. Leader
of CIC observers’ mission Vladimir Rushaelo met Garegin Azaryan,
chairman of RA CEC as well as other CEC members.

Vladimir Rushaelo has told the reporters that they dwelt over a number
of issues concerning the upcoming elections. Today the observer mission
has opened a headquarters in Yerevan and plan to open 4 more in RA
regions.’ We intend to visit all 41 election sites, and on the very
election day – over 60% of electoral stations. Our long-term staff
will work in the initial stage. It is not implemented only in Armenia,
but in all over the world. The latter allows observing the election
procedures and the preparatory works. We need to have 29 observers;
the list of the names is already agreed,’ mentions Vladimir Rushaelo
and adds that the number of the observers may exceed 150 on May 12.

‘At present we work with RA Executive bodies to decide how many people
we will need taking into account site administrative situation, the
number of the candidates running for the elections and other issues
peculiar to the Republic of Armenia.’ CIC acting secretary states.

Presently, the Mission group is studying RA Legislation, particularly
RA Electoral Code which greatly differs from general international
norms. The group has reached to the conclusion that Armenia should
be guided by legal norms due to International Election Convention.

What concerns free and transparent elections, Rushaelo noted that
"No election is pure and sterile. Some technical shortcomings are
inevitable." The observer mission group will make the final results
public based on the questionnaire formed by the group.

Mr. Rushaelo assures, "We are not going to give preference to any
candidate; our main goal is to make RA NA elections take place
according to RA Electoral Code."

ARMENIAN BRANDY IS BETTER THAN FRENCH: RUSSIA’S FM

Arminfo
2007-04-04 15:33:00

Â"Excuse me, Mister Caroff but the Armenian brandy is better than the
French oneÂ", Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov told President
and Director General of the Yerevan Brandy Company, having tasted a
little of "ArArAt" brandy.

During his visit to YBC, Sergey Lavrov had highly appreciated the
Company’s traditions. The Russian FM appended his signature on the
Barrel of Peace, that should be opened the day of signing a peaceful
agreement on Nagorno Karabakh.

During the excursion, Director General of YBC Herve Caroff told
the Russian guest that the Company produces 6 mln bottles of brandy
annually, 90% of which are for export. According to him, the lion’s
share of the brandy export falls on Russia, that is 2,5 mln bottles.

To note, the YBC is a constituent part of Pernod Ricard French group
of companies, the second producer of alcohol drinks on a global scale.

–Boundary_(ID_eEkoWgRqDKuylpcIxOZoVA)–

BRITISH ARMENIAN GROUP IS THE LARGEST LOBBY ORGANIZATION IN BRITISH PARLIAMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.04.2007 15:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 114 British parliamentarians are for recognizing
the Armenian Genocide by the United Kingdom, Co-Founder and honorary
Secretary of the British Armenian Group Odette Bazil stated to a news
conference in Yerevan on Tuesday. She said, in order to include the
resolution in the agenda one third of signatures of the 665-member
parliament are necessary.

"For this purpose the British Armenian Group cooperates with other
organizations, which protects rights of victims of other genocides,"
she said adding that it is difficult to deal with pro-Armenian lobby
in the United Kingdom, since very influential Turkish and Azeri lobby
organizations work there.

O. Bazil also said that from the moment of establishing the group the
organization has rather enlarged and reached certain success. "When
the group was established only 6 parliamentarians were included in it,
and now their number has reached 106. This is the largest lobby group
in the British Parliament," she noticed.

O. Bazil informed the British Armenian Group also cooperates with
extraparliamentary organizations of the Armenian community in Great
Britain, particularly with "Armenian Solidarity" and "Nor Serund"
(New Generation), "Novosti Armenia" reports.

KARABAKH SETTLEMENT TO BE A CENTRAL TOPIC OF OSKANIAN-LAVROV MEETING

ArmRadio.am
03.04.2007 12:08

In response to the question of RIA Novosti about the expectations
from Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Armenia, RA Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian said: "We attach great importance to this visit primarily
because such visits on the high level are necessary for maintaining
the pace of development of bilateral relations. The visit is also
important for us from the perspective of the opportunity of getting
familiar with Russia’s stances on the processes ongoing in our region,
in the immediate neighborhood and on the global levels. I’m sure a
useful exchange of opinions will launch on the situation in Iran,
the Kosovo issue, Russian-Georgian relations, the reforms in most
important international organizations and other urgent issues.

Minister Lavrov’s visit overlaps with the 15th anniversary of
establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Russia, and
it will enable us to evaluate the way passed and plan the future deeds.

Certainly, the bilateral relations are deep and the agenda is broad,
Armenian-Russian relations are developing in all directions. We shall
discuss all these issues, laying an emphasis on issues of cooperation
in the spheres of security, transport and energy. The settlement of
the Karabakh issue will be a central topic of discussion.

RF FOREIGN MINISTER TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA ON OFFICIAL VISIT ON APRIL 3

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
will arrive in Yerevan on official visit on April 3. As Noyan Tapan
was informed from RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, during the visit RF Foreign Minister will meet with RA
President Robert Kocharian, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and
Acting Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.

On April 3, S. Lavrov will meet with V. Oskanian. The meeting will be
follo wed by Ministers’ joint press conference. The same day Russian
Foreign Ministry’s delegation will visit Tsitsernakaberd where a
ceremony of laying a wreath to the memorial of victims of Armenian
Genocide will take place.

The next day S. Lavrov will visit Yerevan State University where he is
to make a speech.

ARMENIA KEEPS UP ROBUST GROWTH
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 30 2007

Armenia’s decade-long economic growth appears to be continuing
unabated, with Gross Domestic Product increasing by 9.4 percent during
the first two months of the year, according the latest government data.

The data released by the National Statistical Service (NSS) show that
the Armenian economy expanded on the back of a continuing boom in
the construction and services sectors that now make up a considerable
share of GDP.

By contrast, the country’s stagnant manufacturing sector shrunk by 1
percent during the same period as a result of a prolonged downturn in
the Armenian diamond-cutting industry. Industrial output excluding
refined diamonds, one of the main Armenian exports, rose by 5.6
percent year on year.

Armenian growth traditionally accelerates in spring, suggesting that
it may well remain in double digits this year. The NSS reported a
13.4 percent growth rate in 2006.

The Armenian government maintains that the double-digit growth,
which began in 2001, has reduced poverty and raised living standards,
despite the uneven distribution of its benefits. According to its
statistics, the average monthly wage reached 68,300 drams ($188)
in January-February, up by 25 percent from the same period in 2006.

In another sign of increased household incomes and expenditures,
net imports jumped by 66 percent to $417 million in January-February,
raising Armenia’s big budget deficit to a new record high. Armenian
exports grew by almost 19 percent to $135.2 million. They were largely
flat in 2006, pushing up the deficit to almost $1.2 billion.

The volume of Armenia’s trade with Russia and other former Soviet
republics nearly doubled to $205.6 million during the period in
question, making them the country’s number one trading partner. By
comparison, Armenia’s commercial exchange with the European Union
totaled almost $200 million.

ARMENIAN TYCOON CLAIMS ZERO PARTY SPENDING
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 30 2007

A political party led by Armenia’s reputedly wealthiest businessman
close to President Robert Kocharian claims to have made no expenditures
last year, despite opening hundreds of offices and handing out
politically motivated aid, it emerged on Friday.

Under Armenian law, all officially registered parties must issue annual
financial reports detailing their real incomes and expenditures. Few
of them are believed to comply with the requirement.

The Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) of Gagik Tsarukian posted zero
expenditures in its report submitted to the Armenian Ministry of
Justice recently. Founded just over a year ago, the BHK aggressively
expanded in the course of 2006 and now claims to have as many as
370,000 members, making it by far the largest party in the country.

The party also opened some 500 big and small offices across Armenia
that are now buzzing with activity in the run-up to the May 12
parliamentary elections which Tsarukian intends to win.

According to the chief BHK spokesman, Baghdasar Mherian, the party
has spent nothing on that because all of those offices are owned by
its members and "people close to the party." Speaking to RFE/RL,
Mherian also claimed that none of the thousands of people working
for the party, including himself, gets paid by Tsarukian. "All of
them are volunteers," he said.

The tycoon spent last year millions of dollars on providing
agricultural relief, free medical aid and other supposedly public
services to scores of impoverished Armenians. The heavily advertised
assistance, portrayed as "benevolence" by the BHK but condemned as vote
buying by critics, was technically distributed by an obscure charity
bearing Tsarukian’s name. However, promotional reports aired by several
Armenian TV stations last fall clearly attributed it to the party.

OPENING OF AKHTAMAR CHURCH – AN ATTEMPT TO PREVENT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.03.2007 13:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The renovation of the Holy Cross Church in Akhtamar
island undoubtedly is a positive phenomenon, since the matter concerns
one of the most famous Armenian medieval historical-cultural monuments,
which was in poor condition after 1915, RA MFA Acting Press Officer
Vladimir Karapetyan says in his statement. Particularly the statement
notes, "At the same it is worth mentioning that speaking about the
opening of the church, the Turkish authorities and media do not
mention her historical-cultural value.

Turkey’s announcements about the opening of this renovated church
do not include the word ‘Armenian’ anywhere, no mention is made of
its Armenian and Apostolic belonging. This fact is being used for
propaganda purposes, in order to prevent recognition of the Armenian
Genocide by the international community. The Turkish authorities
are trying to avoid of the responsibility not only to history and
memory, but to its own Armenian minority. Examining the issue from
historical viewpoint, one cannot mention that the Holy Cross Church
is one of a dozen other priceless examples of Armenian medieval
architecture on Turkish territory, which have been abandoned at best,
or more often, intentionally vandalized, simply because of their
Armenian identity. Armenia highly appreciates Turkey’s initiative
on renovation of the church hoping that it will not become a single
example. Renovation of the Holy Cross Church is important both for
us and the Turkish society. The denial of such a broad layer of
civilization, historical presence, culture of an entire nation today
is impossible for a nation and a country, which tries to become a
part of civilized system of values. Instead, constantly the political
implication is being underlined of this issue, it is being presented
as a "demonstration of good will" towards Armenia and the Armenian
nation."