Author: Chakrian Hovsep

THE BASE OF OUR STATE AND SOCIETY
Editorial
Yerkir.am
August 25, 2006
On August 23, 1990 Armenia adopted the Independence Declaration. Our
national dreams and goals were adopted in it.
One year later, through a referendum, the people fulfilled its dream
of independence. Our state has passed a road full of hardships and
achievements in the past years.
Those hardships, however, have not devaluated our most important
achievement – the idea of Independence. Today, we all – the
political leadership, political and non-governmental organizations,
intelligentsia and every citizen of this country – hold in their
hands the goal to make the Independence an irreversible value.
But this cannot be done by words uttered at ceremonies. Unless the
idea of Independence is in the basis of every step every person
makes in his/her life, it would be a mere historic document but not
a lifestyle. In no case there should be any concession in this idea
be it political of psychological.

RA NA AND UNDP TO COOPERATE ON ALL ISSUES CONCERNING LEGISLATION
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues of creating cooperation
mechanisms and increase of effeciency were discussed at the August 24
meeting of RA National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosian and Consuelo
Vidal, the UN Resident Coordinator, the UNDP Resident Representative to
Armenia. An agreement was reached to organize soon a joint discussion
with international organizations engaged in assisting working out
of drafts, to coordinate and check the necessity and reasonings of
working out drafts, to decide ways of assistance.
According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan by the RA
NA Public Relations Department, possibilities of making, with
the UN assistance, analyses of the acting legislation to find out
contradictions of different laws and agreements were also discussed. An
agreement was also reached on holding discussions in the direction
of improving work of the NA web site.

WILL ARMENIA MOVE TOWARDS THE WEST?
The Messenger, Georgia
Aug. 21, 2006
The Russian media has been speculating on a possible Armenian drift
away from Moscow. Long the Kremlin’s staunchest ally in the Caucasus,
a rift between the two countries would rewrite the books on post-Soviet
geopolitics in the region. “It seems that Moscow has already received
from Armenia what it wanted, and has lost all interest in it,” the
Russian newspaper Izvestia writes in an article entitled “Strategic
apathy with predictable consequences.”
The article accuses the current Armenian administration of nepotism
and corruption, claiming that Armenia has become a country where
kinships mean all, and people from Yerevan and Karabakh occupy the most
influential positions. President Kocharian, the article speculates,
is trying to break off from Russia in a bid to maintain his power.
As evidence, author points to Kocharian’s conspicuous absence from
the last CIS summit; he was down with a cold, the administration
said. Word is that he had been spotted going for a dip in the chilly
waters of Sevani Lake at the time-doubtfully a curative measure. Nor
did US State Department official Matt Bryza’s Yerevan stopover, a visit
not exactly trumpeted by the Kocharian administration, serve to shore
up Moscow’s trust in its traditional ally. According to the paper,
Bryza worked out a deal with Yerevan authorities on the placement of
two American radio-locating stations.
If Russia does indeed see its influence wane with Kocharian, it may be
out of the game in Yerevan for a while. The Kremlin has not previously
seen fit to cultivate relations with any opposition parties.
“Someone has asserted earlier that there is no need to work with
the opposition in CIS countries; we should only focus on ruling
administration. Whether it is true or not, such an approach led to
the failure of relations with Georgia and later with Ukraine. And now
it is Armenia’s turn. Americans do not refrain from working with the
opposition, and as we can see from Georgia’s example they have won,”
the paper writes.
Talk like this could be making it to print with a mind to influencing
the election campaigning already underway in Armenia. Armenia
has parliamentary elections coming up in 2007, and presidential
elections in 2008. Kocharian is now finishing out his second term
and his constitutionally prohibited from running again, leaving the
opposition favored by some analysts to pull out a victory.
The Armenian president apparently “tried to correct his blunder”
of sitting out the CIS summit by meeting Putin in Sochi. Here,
Kocharian met with near-taunts from the Russian president, who
expressed his pleasure that ‘Azerbaijan days’ are celebrated in
Russia. Putin characterized this statement as a positive contribution
to Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict settlement, but Kocharian did not
exactly see things the same way.
Georgian analysts and politicians are of varied opinions. MP Van
Bayburt thinks there will be no substantial change in Russian-Armenian
relations in the next two or three years. The Yerevan administration,
he says, has long practice in walking a delicate tightrope between
Russia and the West.
Political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze, however, highlights Russia’s
purchase, en masse, of the industrial infrastructure in Armenia. This
rubs the wrong way for many citizens there, who look at the Russian
investment as sheer aggression. In response to that antagonism,
perceived or real, Armenian foreign policy crafters are increasingly
on the look-out for Western hands to shake. Sakvarelidze thinks that
Moscow has difficulty in conducting itself as an equal with countries
that, realistically, depend on Russia, painting the picture of a
suzerain lording over a vassal. The Kremlin likes to see ‘partners’
on their knees, he says, to leave the other party no option but a
vulnerable embrace of Russia and its interests. “With this kind
of politics, eventually everybody will lose-including Russia,”
Sakvarelidze warns.
Strong Armenian diasporas, who exert disproportionate control on
politics in Yerevan, are also pushing the administration into a
Western orientation. The first president of independent Armenia, Levon
Ter-Petrossian, clearly gravitated towards the West. Many think that
his eventual resignation was brought about by the pro-Russian lobby in
the country. Perhaps rumblings in the Russian media are a sign that the
Kremlin is once again dusting off its playbook of preventive measures.

EDUCATION MINISTER RULES OUT UNPROFESSIONAL APPROACH IN ADMISSION COMMISSION’S WORK
By Irina Hovannisian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 22, 2006
With higher school entrance examinations in Armenia over, the education
minister has praised the work of the admission commission, putting
down some complaints and dissatisfaction from applicants to its
‘strict criteria rather than unprofessional approach.’
“Perhaps they were a bit strict in their criteria, but these criteria
were universal for all applicants,” Levon Mkrtchian told reporters
on Tuesday.
Entrance examinations to higher schools ended in Armenia this week,
with many teenage applicants and their parents feeling unhappy with
the way they were handled.
In particular, people complain that at certain examinations officials
helped handpicked entrants with prompts, in other cases they put
psychological pressure and subjectively graded applicants, especially
during oral exams.
Ruzanna Hovannisian is convinced that her daughter, Mariam Ohanian,
was treated unfairly at the oral English language examination.
“She had high marks from the two previous examinations and was
subjected to psychological pressure from the admission commission at
her oral examination. Perhaps her high marks annoyed some people,”
Hovannisian told RFE/RL, adding that she had addressed a letter of
complaint to the minister.
Minister Mkrtchian admits that it is difficult to find a means of
effective struggle against subjectivity in oral examinations. “I feel
that the parent is perhaps right, but we have no solution. The degree
of subjectivity in oral examinations is very high,” he said.
As was expected, the threshold for entering an institute or university
faculty has lowered a little this year as compared to the previous
years, with the exception of competitions for the law departments at
the Yerevan State University, Armenia’s biggest and most prestigious
higher school.
To gather 57.5 points (out of 60) is likely to be enough for an
applicant to become a student at the University’s law department
studying free of charge. To be admitted to the paid section of the
department one is likely to score at least 55 points. The sufficient
points for the free sections of the University’s English language,
economics and history departments are likely to be 58, 57.5, and 55,
respectively. The highest score for the world economics department of
the University of Economics is expected to be 55. And for the Medical
University’s therapy department it is likely to be 36.5.
The minister expressed his concern over the dropping competition
for some departments of the Engineering University. Competition is
particularly low for natural sciences departments, where satisfactory
marks from two examinations are enough for admission. “Sending
their children to train as economists, lawyers or diplomats parents
in fact condemn them to future unemployment, as, for example, our
small country hardly needs more than a hundred diplomats every year,”
Mkrtchian stressed.
The final results of the entrance examinations will become available
on August 24.

CONCEPT OF SCIENTIFIC REFORMS TO BE SUBMITTED AT THE END OF 2006
ArmRadio.am
19.08.2006 15:14
A concept of reforming Armenia’s scientific sector is to be submitted
for a public discussion in November-December 2006, RA Minister of
Education and Science Levon Mkrtichyan told reporters.
According to him, the Armenian Government has approved a list and
schedule of necessary measures. An interagency task group has been
formed as well.
“During one month the group is to elaborate a comprehensive program of
scientific reforms. The program is supposed to settle all disputable
issues by March-April 2007,” he said. The formation of a single system
of managing Armenia’s scientific sector is to get under way in the
second ten-day part of December 2007, ARKA News Agency reported.
The Minister pointed out that in 2007-2008 funding of the program
will be received, particularly under the EU-implemented program.
Mkrtichyan said that the implementation of the program will resolve
the problem of forming a special scientific fund in Armenia.
“It should be noted the schedule of implementation is rather strict,
and the interagency group will supervise its fulfillment.”

Tourism in Armenia
The Messenger, Georgia
Aug. 18, 2006
Armenia’s Tourism Department is predicting the arrival of half
a million tourists yearly by 2010. Recent statistics display an
encouraging trend for the landlocked nation: in 2005, Armenia welcomed
318 000 visitors. That number has risen to an estimated 350 000
for all of 2006. Given that, 500 000 tourists is not out of reach,
but the infrastructure in the country will require improvement to
accommodate and attract prospective visitors.

POSITION OF TURKEY, BUT HEAD OF KARS MUNICIPALITIES IS IMPORTANT FOR US – GENERAL CONSUL
Author: A.Mammadova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug. 17, 2006
Hasan Zeynalov, the General Consul of Azerbaijan in the Turkish
province of Kars, told journalists on 16 August that there are forces
in Turkey who are for opening of Turkish borders with Armenia.
Zeynalov stated such forces are headed by the head of the Kars
municipality. “I had talks with him and agreed that the opening of
border will not hence be on agenda. Unfortunately, the head of the
Kars municipality made a statement to the Armenian media that he was
taking efforts for opening of the [Turkish-Armenian] border and is
fighting with the ‘Turkish nationalists’, as he calls the opponents
of opening of the border with Armenia,” Zeynalov stressed.
The Consul stressed that such statements do not alarm Azerbaijan.
“Turkey’s position is important for us and it is clear. “Armenia
lays claims on both Azerbaijan and Turkey and these two fraternal
countries pursue one and the same policy in respect to Armenia,”
the diplomat added.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
08/16/2006
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1. Armenian Caucus Established in California State Assembly 2. ARF Delegation Visits Southern Lebanon After Cease-Fire 3. Azerbaijan Calls on UN to Reaffirm its 'Territorial Integrity' 4. Eurasian Scouting Jamboree Kicks Off in Armenia 5. Armenian Soccer Team Gets New Foreign Coach 1. Armenian Caucus Established in California State Assembly A bipartisan group of legislators Monday formed the Assembly Armenian-American Legislative Caucus, which is modeled after a similar grouping that has been addressing Armenian-American issues in Congress, the Glendale News Press reported. Co-founded by Assembly majority leader Dario Frommer, a Democrat who represents Burbank and Glendale, and Stockton Republican Greg Aghazarian, the caucus aims to address issues of concern to the more than 700,000-strong California-Armenian community. "Our intent is for it to be a working caucus and a group of folks who reach out and educate others," Frommer told the Glendale News Press. "Here in California we have a large and vibrant Armenian community, not just in my district, but in Fresno and other places, and we want to bring those folks together." Frommer and Aghazarian expressed hope that the California State Senate will follow suit. Such a caucus is long overdue, Burbank Unified School Board member and Democratic candidate for the 43rd Assembly District, Paul Krekorian told the News Press. "I've been a little surprised that legislators who consider themselves friends of the Armenian community did not create one like this years ago," he told the News Press, adding, "But what matters to most to Armenians is the same that matters to all Americans: Excellent public schools, good jobs, health care for seniors and the opportunity to send their kids to college." Frommer, who currently represents the 43rd District, will vacate his seat this year because of term limits 2. ARF Delegation Visits Southern Lebanon After Cease-Fire BEIRUT (Aztag)--A delegation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Lebanon Central Committee visited southern Lebanon Tuesday to assess the damage following the 30-day old Israeli attack on the country. Accompanying the delegation were members of parliament Hagop Pakradouni and Sebouh Hovnanian, who was a former Lebanese minister, as well as members of the local Armenian media. The delegation was greeted by the local leadership who led a tour of the devastated areas. Also touring the region was Lebanese minister Mohamad Fenaysh, who joined the delegation in assessing the devastating conditions. Local leaders expressed their gratitude to the Lebanese-Armenian community--especially the ARF--for its efforts in assisting the refugees displaced from the attacks. The Armenian community also was praised by leaders. Following a press conference with the Armenian, Lebanese and international media representatives, the delegation continued to meet with the displaced who were returning to their homes following the cease-fire. 3. Azerbaijan Calls on UN to Reaffirm its 'Territorial Integrity' YEREVAN (Yerkir)--The Azeri government, on August 4, submitted an appeal to the United Nations urging the international body to reaffirm that country's territorial integrity as it relates to the liberated territories that border the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Armenia's representative in the UN Armen Martirosyan told Radio Free Europe that the document also categorizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and calls on the international community to condemn recent forest fires on the bordering regions of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Asbarez has reported that several weeks that, after conducting a full investigation of allegations that Armenians from Karabakh were setting the forest fires, the OSCE determined that, in fact, the fires were being set by Azeris. Martirosyan announced that Armenia has already submitted its position on the Azeri appeal and is working with UN-member states. He added that during the last session of the UN, an agreement was reached that status of Nagorno-Karabakh would not be addressed with the UN, since OSCE Minsk Group is continuing its conflict resolution process. "If Azerbaijan continues to pursue discussions and the matter is placed for a vote [in the UN] then Armenia has the right to pull itself out of the peace process," stressed Martirosyan. The UN representative added that Azerbaijan's strategy will play a great role in determining the outcome of this appeal. "If Azerbaijan chooses to push forward with this matter, it signals that it has reservations about the conflict resolution process." In 2004, Azerbaijan attempted--but failed--to address this issue in the UN, by alleging that Armenia had adopted a policy to resettle the liberated territories. In a November 2004 interview with RFE/RL, Martirosyan said the territories are serving as a security belt around Nagorno-Karabakh as a response to what he called the "war-mongering rhetoric" of the Azeri leadership. "The issue of those territories cannot be resolved unless there is a resolution on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and security guarantees are provided," Martirosyan said. The then US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Susan Moore said the Minsk process is the best forum for resolving the dispute. She said efforts should be focused on building confidence between the two sides and avoiding divisions in the General Assembly. "Azerbaijan is raising specific concerns linked to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh," Moore said at the time. "We believe these concerns can be fully addressed in the existing format. As a first step an OSCE fact-finding mission could be considered as a means to address this issue." 4. Eurasian Scouting Jamboree Kicks Off in Armenia YEREVAN--Immediately following the closing ceremonies of the 8th Homenetmen pan-Armenian Scouting Jamboree in Biurakan, the Homenetmen Regional Executive of Armenia played host Monday at the opening ceremonies of the Eurasian Scouting Jamboree, in which 120 scouts from nine countries are represented. This is the first such jamboree and it is of great significance that it is being held, for the first time in Armenia. Represented at the jamboree are scouts from Armenia, Georgia, Russian, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Tajikstan, Japan and the United States. Garbis Kabasakalian, Harout Haroutunian and Vahram Danielian of the Homenetmen Central Executive and Manoug Keoshkerian from Syria represented the Homenetmen at the opening ceremonies. At the close of the event, Kabasakalian presented Dr. Alexander Bondar, the CIS Representative and a member of the International Scouting Federation, a memento from the Homenetmen pan-Armenian Jamboree. In his remarks, Bondar emphasized the important role the Homenetmen Central Executive and the Homenetmen play in strengthening Armenia and bolstering the scouting movement there. He added that he always cites Homenetmen as an example during his speeches and presentations. Kabasakalian thanked Bonard and pledged the Homenetmen's continued cooperation with the CIS and International Scouting federations. 5. Armenian Soccer Team Gets New Foreign Coach YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The Football Federation of Armenia named the new foreign coach of the national soccer team on Wednesday less than a month before the start of its qualifying campaign for the 2008 European Championship. Ian Porterfield, a veteran British tactician, pledged to bring a "good spirit" to the team as he was presented to the media after signing an 18-month contract with the FFA. "I am looking forward to working here over the next few months," he said. Ruben Hayrapetian, the federation chairman, said Porterfield was chosen from a pool of about two dozen foreign specialists that showed interest in the job. Hayrapetian said the 60-year-old Scot's experience and track record was decisive in the selection process. He refused to disclose any financial details of the deal. Porterfield managed the Scottish side Aberdeen in the late 1980s and England's reigning champions Chelsea in the early 1990s before continuing his coaching career abroad. He has coached the national teams of Zambia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Trinidad and Tobago. His last job was with one of South Korea's leading football clubs. Porterfield, who replaces Dutchman Henk Wisman, is the fifth foreigner to take the helm of the Armenian team in the last four years. He faces a daunting task of ending its protracted run of poor results in the European qualifying competitions. He admitted having little knowledge of the squad, saying that he last watched its games in 2003. Armenia is presently only 104th in the worldwide rankings of national teams that are issued by the game's governing body, FIFA. It faces Serbia, Belgium, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan in Group A of 2008 European Championship qualifying. The Armenians will open their qualifying campaign against Belgium, one of the group favorites, in Yerevan on September 6. Few believe that they stand a chance of qualification. The competition will see the first-ever games between Armenia and Azerbaijan that are certain to arouse nationalistic passions in the two countries The FFA wants the matches, tentatively scheduled for September 2007, to be played in Baku and Yerevan. The Azeri side, however, is pushing for a neutral venue, saying that it can not guarantee the security of Armenian players. A final decision on the issue rests with UEFA, European football's governing body. It is expected to be announced later this year or early next. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

CROP YIELD DECLINES IN KOTAYK MARZ
Noyan Tapan
Aug 16 2006
HRAZDAN, AUGUST 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The harvest is underway in Kotayk
marz. NT correspondent was informed from Karen Margarian, press
secretary of the Kotayk regional administration that this year autumn
sowing was done on 6,000 ha and spring sowing – on 7,000 ha. He said
that in general, this year was not favorable for the agriculture of
Kotayk marz: the crop yield declined, the areas sown with spring
cultured plants decreased by almost half. By rough estimates, in
2006, it is expected to harvest about 11 thousand tons of grain,
7 thousand tons of potato, 8 thousand tons of friut, 500 tons of
grapes and to cut 25 thousand tons of grass. By comparison, in 2005,
the grain harvest made 24 thousand tons, potatoes – 12 thousand tons,
the fruit harvest – 16 thousand tons, grapes – 1.1 thousand tons and
53.59 thousand tons of grass was cut.
Last year, the total amount of agricultural production in Kotayk marz
made 29.4 bln drams. The milk production amounted to 43,750 tons,
meat production – to 8,900 tons and 178.46 mln eggs was produced.

AZERI TV REPORTS MORE FIRES ON ARMENIAN BORDER
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
15 Aug 06
[Presenter] The Armenians who recently started fires in Qazax
[northwest Azerbaijan] have now started fires in several villages in
Tovuz. The fires were extinguished owing to the efforts of the local
population last night. But the danger has not subsided yet.
[Correspondent reporting by telephone] A fire started in Armenia’s
Shamshaddin [Idzhevan] District at about 2000 [1500 gmt] yesterday
evening. The fire soon spread to the neutral territory. After that,
the fire spread to the pastures of the village of Alibayli in Tovuz
District. According to villagers, the fire continued all night. Seven
anti-tank and four anti-personnel mines planted in the neutral zone
exploded during the fire. Valeh Rzayev, a representative of the
Alibayli village executive authorities, said that about 100 ha of
land had burnt.
Along with the pastures belonging to villagers, municipal land plots
have also burnt. The fire has inflicted great damage on villagers. The
representative of the executive authorities said that the fire had
been extinguished by villagers themselves – they did not call fire
engines as the opposite side could open fire at any moment. The fire
has already been put out.