Author: Chakrian Hovsep

Out of political competition

07-05-2008 12:58:10 – KarabakhOpen

On May 6 the government decided to entitle the City Hall of Stepanakert
to the function of granting the right for property for the illegal
constructions on public land in the capital. Hence, now the City Hall
will legalize illegal buildings instead of the State Cadastre Committee.

The issue did not receive any criticism from the ministers. Moreover,
the prime minister instructed the minister of economic development
Benik Babayan to work out another order and entitle the City Hall to
some other functions. According to the prime minister, the City Hall
has no levers of influence on businesses within the municipality.

The issue of division of powers between the local and central
governments has been urgent in Karabakh for many years. Moreover, it
was used for political pressure on opposition heads of communities.
Example is the story of the ex-mayor of Stepanakert Edward Aghabekyan.
He was elected from the opposition party in a democratic election, and
it cost him dear, he simply was not allowed to work. More exactly, the
citizens of Stepanakert suffered where no roof, no building, no street
was repaired for 4 years. In addition, nobody hid that the government
did not subsidize the City Hall `out of political competition’.

Now the mayor is not a `competitor’ any more. Besides, Edward
Aghabekyan participates in the meetings of government as adviser to
prime minister.

CORRECT USE OF ARMENIA’S POTENTIAL MAT GREATLY PROMOTE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT

YEREVAN, MAY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Problems of improvement of the investment
environment in Armenia and the full use of the Diaspora’s potential
were discussed at the April 5 meeting of the Armenian president Serge
Sargsian, the Diasporan Armenian businessman and benefactor Vatche
Manukian and the member of HSBC Bank’s board of CEOs David Budd.

According to a press release submitted to NT by the RA president’s
press service, the interlocutors said that Armenia has considerable
potential and its correct use may greatly promote the economic
development, including the growth of tourism. They also adressed the
prospects of expanding HSBC Bank’s activities in Armenia.

AZG Armenian Daily #086, 07/05/2008

Armenia-Diaspora

RA PRESIDENT RECEIVED HSBC BANK BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Serge Sargsian received Diaspora businessman
and philanthropist Vache Manukian and member of HSBC
Bank Board of Directors David Badd on May 5.

Issues of expansion of investment environment in
Armenia and complete usage of Diaspora potential were
discussed during the meeting.

The sides mentioned that Armenia has a big potential
which right usage may greatly promote the development
of the economy including growth in tourism volumes.

The issue of expansion of HSBC bank activity was
discussed also during the meeting.

Translated by L.H.

RA MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS REAFFIRMS ARMENIA’S READINESS FOR
REGULATING NAGORNO KARABAKH ISSUE THROUGH NEGOTIATIONS

PARIS, MAY 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The first official meeting between Eduard
Nalbandian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia,
and Bernard Kouchner, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of
France, was held in Paris on May 5. Bilateral, regional, as well as
issues of international mutual interest were discussed during the
meeting.

Eduard Nalbandian introduced the viewpoints of the leadership of
Armenia on the provision of regional security, the regulation of the
existing conflicts and the development of cooperation. In this respect
special attention was paid to issues connected with the current process
and prospects of the negotiations on the regulation of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. Eduard Nalbandian stated about the readiness of
Armenia for continuing the negotiations on the basis of the suggestions
of the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, highly appreciating the
efforts of the mediators in the direction of the conflict regulation.

Bernard Kouchner made assertions that his country will continue its
efforts in the OSCE Minsk Group in the direction of finding ways for
the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh problem.

After the second half of the current year under the light of the
presidency of France in EU the Ministers touched upon issues on more
deepening the cooperation with Armenia within the frameworks of the EU
Neighbourhood Policy.

The meeting was followed by a press conference of the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs of Armenia and France.

Reaffirming the readiness of Armenia for regulating the Nagorno
Karabakh issue through peaceful negotiations, Eduard Nalbandian stated:
"Today there is a precise demand for creating constructive surroundings
for negotiations and establishing mutual confidence between the
parties. Today there is a precise demand for reaffirming that there is
no alternative for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue through
peaceful negotiations. Tomorrow I will meet with my colleague in
Strasburg and I hope that we will continue the constructive dialogue
for finding ways for the solution of the issue with the help of
mediators."

In connection with the regulation of the relations with Turkey, the RA
Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that the current generation of the
two peoples has received a heavy inheritance from the past and that the
political leaders should make compromising steps with all
responsibility in order to turn that black page. "Armenia in its part
is ready, we suggest reestablishing relations without any preconditions
and this will be in the interest of the whole region, in the interest
of our peoples," Eduard Nalbandian said.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Press and
Information Department of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eduard
Nalbandian left for Strasburg on the same evening to take part in the
118th session of the CE Ministers’ Committee.

The meetings of the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs with Elmar
Mamedyarov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, as well as
the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE MInsk Group are scheduled for May 6 and
will finish late in the evening.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 6 2008

Bernard Fassier: `Armenian new foreign minister needs to familiarize
himself with a number of issues regarding the talks process’

[ 06 May 2008 20:29 ]

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubeyli-APA. `It’s too early to talk about any
concrete achievements at the meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister. Elmar Mammadyarov has been participating in the talks
process for four years.

But Armenian new foreign minister has recently joined the process and
he needs to familiarize himself with a number of issues regarding the
talks process’, APA Europe Bureau reports that OSCE Minsk Group French
Co-Chair Bernard Fassier said these words after Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairs. He noted that after the meeting with Armenian minister, the
negotiations would be conducted with the participation of the
co-chairs and Foreign Ministers of the two countries. `One can talk
about any results after that meeting’, he said. The discussions are
conducted on organization of a meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents and the date of co-chairs’ visit to the region.

Aztag, Lebanon
April 24 2008

Katia Peltekian Lectures at Haigazian University on Day of Armenian Genocide

Beirut: On April 23, 2008, the Armenian Heritage Club at Haigazian
University organized a special event to commemorate the 93rd
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The University Auditorium was packed with hundreds of guests, faculty
members and students most of whom wore a special T-shirt on which was
written `We Demand Retribution’

After the opening words by a member of the student club, the audience
stood one minute in silence to pay their respect to the 1.5 million
Armenians who were massacred in Ottoman Turkey. The President of
Haigazian University, Rev. Paul Haydostian delivered his sermon on the
occasion highlighting the meaning of April 24 to not only Armenians
but also to the international community.

The guest speaker of the event was Miss Katia Peltekian, who
demonstrated that many Armenians themselves have the misconception
that the Genocide started on April 24, 1915. She explained why this
was not true, and why it was wrong to say that this year was the 93rd
anniversary of the Genocide. The main point of her demonstration was
to counter the Turkish logic which claimed thousands of Armenians, as
well as Turks, were killed because of the Great War.

Through power point, she demonstrated headlines from American, British
and Canadian newspapers that depicted sporadic massacres of the
Armenian population, sometimes in thousands, in various districts in
Ottoman Turkey; sometimes whole villages were wiped out of their
Christian population. The oldest newspaper clip she showed was from
1876 which implied there were massacres even 40 years before 1915.

Headline after headline, year after year, papers like the Washington
Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Chicago Daily Tribune,
Montreal Gazette, Toronto Star, The Times of London, The Guardian,
among others, printed stories of massacres that took place in the
Armenian districts. Long before the Great War, foreign correspondents,
missionaries, diplomats and travelers ` not Armenians – reported the
on going massacres of hundreds of thousands of Armenians. Headlines
from the 1890s and 1900-1914 and even those after the Great War ended
only prove that Armenians were killed not only during wartime but also
during peace, that it was not only the Young Turks but also the Sultan
and even the Nationalist leader Mustapha Kemal, the founder of modern
day Turkey, who had committed massacres.

The lecture also included quotes from foreign diplomats, who had
witnessed the massacres, and confessions by Turkish authorities.

Rev. Haydostian led the audience out to the University grounds where
they lit candles and placed them around a replica of Dzidzernagapert
that was placed at the entrance of the main campus.

US Attorney – Glendale Man Convicted In Cigarette Smuggling Conspiracy

Posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008

LOS ANGELES – LAWFUEL – The United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, George E.B. Holding announced yesterday
that a federal jury in Los Angeles, California, found AVEDIS
DJEREDJIAN, 39, of Glendale, California, guilty on 15 counts for
conspiring to traffic in contraband cigarettes, in violation of Title
18, United States Code, Section 371; conspiring to violate Title 18,
United States, Code, Section 1956 (a)(1)(A)(I) by conducting financial
transactions with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified
unlawful activity, in violation of Title 18, United States
Code,Section 1956(h); and structuring financial transactions and
aiding and abetting, in violation of Title 31, United States Code,
Sections 5324(a)(3) and 5324 (d).

The jury, however, could not come to a unanimous decision regarding
charges against the two other defendants, CARMEN BADRIAN, 36, and
ROOBIK OHANIANSAKI, 50, also of Glendale, California.

This matter was originally indicted by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in
the Eastern District of North Carolina on October 25, 2006, as much of
the criminal activity took place within this federal
district. However, the defendants moved to transfer the

matter to California. On May 16, 2007, after lengthy hearings and over
the objection of the United States, the Court in the Eastern District
of North Carolina transferred the matter to the Central District of
California.

The case focused on the efforts of the defendants to purchase
cigarettes at a lower cost in North Carolina, transport them to
California to sell, and avoid payment of higher cigarette taxes in
California. According to the evidence presented at the trial of this
matter, from January, 2002, to June, 2005, DJEREDJIAN and his wife,
CARMEN, and OHANIANSAKI purchased more than 530,000 cartons of
cigarettes from North Carolina, which is considered to be one ofthe
states with a low cigarette tax rate, and other sources, and shipped
and sold the contraband in California, a state considered to have a
high cigarette tax. However, according to the evidence, the
defendants had purchased only enough legitimate California tax stamps
from the California Board of Equalization for 2,040 cartons. These tax
stamps are required by California to be placed on each individual pack
to show that the state tax had been paid before any pack could be sold
in the state. As a result, during the time period alleged in the
indictment (2002 to 2005), purchases in the State of North Carolina
were used to defraud the State of California of more than $9.5 million
in cigarette taxes revenue.

Mr. Holding commented on the important nature of this case: `An
important part of our system of Government is a recognition of the
sovereignty of states when it comes to setting tax rates and managing
the sale and distribution of goods within a state’s boundaries. Here,
North Carolina was used by these defendants to break the laws of
California. I am pleased that we could work hand in hand with the
United States Attorney for the Central District of California and with
investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service and the California Board of
Equalization to put a stop to this criminal activity.’

The maximum penalty for conspiring to traffic in contraband cigarettes
is 5 years’ imprisonment, 3 years supervised release and a fine of
$250,000. Conspiring to violate Title 18, United States, Code,
Section 1956 (a)(1)(A)(I) by conducting financial transactions with
the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity
is punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment, 5 years supervised
release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property
involved in the transaction, whichever is greater. The maximum penalty
for structuring financial transactions and aiding and abetting is 10
years ‘ imprisonment, 3 years supervised release and a $500,000
fine. Sentencing in this matter is set for August 4, 2008.

As noted in Mr. Holding’s comments, the investigation of the case in
the Eastern District of North Carolina was conducted by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Internal Revenue
Service. In theCentral District of California, the investigative
agencies included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives and the California Board of Equalization. Assistant United
States Attorneys Clay Wheeler and Joshua Royster of the Eastern
District of North Carolina handled this matter for the United States.

ARMENIA, BULGARIA PLANNING TO HOLD ECONOMIC INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION’S SESSION

ARKA
April 30, 2008

YEREVAN, April 30. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and
Bulgarian Ambassador to Armenia Todor Staykov, who met on Tuesday,
expressed hope that it will be possible to hold Armenian-Bulgarian
intergovernmental commission’s session on economic cooperation
and a bilateral economic forum as part of the session this fall,
governmental press office reports.

Premier and the ambassador pointed out that unlike political ties,
economic relations between the two countries are underdeveloped and
stressed the necessity to spur them.

Sargsyan said that the agreement on establishing Armenian-Bulgarian
intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific and technical
cooperation took force in February and added that Armenian members
of the commission will be named the next week.

National Statistical Service of Armenia says Armenian-Bulgarian trade
turnover grew 3.1 times in 2007 and reached $133.1 million.

Goods worth $45.6 million were exported from Armenia to Bulgaria
in 2007.

This result is 35.5 times greater than that of the previous year.

Bulgarian imports to Armenia grew 2.1 times from $87.5 million in
2006.

TURKISH MP HOPES THE RECENT STATEMENTS OF ARMENIAN AND TURKISH LEADERS WILL PRODUCE TANGIBLE RESULTS

armradio.am
29.04.2008 17:10

"Turkey and Armenia should launch a meaningful process that will allow
to reach the desired rapprochement, and it is necessary to demonstrate
a creative and daring approach towards this end," representative of the
ruling "Justice and Development" Party, Spokesman of Foreign Affairs
Committee of the Turkish Parliament Suat Kiniklioglu declared in an
interview with Mediamax, commenting on the perspectives of improvement
of Armenian-Turkish relations in light of the reciprocal messages of
the Prime Ministers of the two countries and the statements of the
Foreign Ministers.

"I want to hope that these statements are more than just wishes that
produce no result. I know that Minister Babacan is sincere in his wish
to start a new phase of relations with Armenia. The normalization of
relations derives from the interests of the two countries. We must
not leave the existing problems to the next generations of Armenians
and Turks," the Turksh parliamentarian said.

Asked about the main obstacles on the way of normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations, Suat Kiniklioglu said: "The main obstacle
is that the maintenance of the status quo was acceptable to all
parties. I think that the status quo is no more acceptable to any of
the parties. The wounds of the past should not prevent us from moving
forward and establishing new relations between our countries."

The Turkish MP noted that "one of the conditions of establishment
of diplomatic relations is the clear statement on recognition of
each other’s borders. The second issue refers to the occupation of
territories belonging to Azerbaijan."

Suat Kiniklioglu said also that the improvement of the Armenian-Turkish
relations is not a bilateral issueonly. It touches the interests of
countries like Russia, Azerbaijan and the US.

28 CONVICTS AND 1 POLICEMAN

A1+
[08:56 pm] 29 April, 2008

Today 28 "convicts" queued up at the RA Prosecutor’s Office. It was
only a fragment of today’s protest action organized by the Youth
Movement "Now". Each of the 28 young people had a letter on their
clothing, which read "Release the political prisoners".

"Even if it is ridiculous for the Attorney General we want to remind
him once again that, in fact, the detainees are political prisoners
and they should be immediately released. We are also going to remind
various diplomatic agencies in Armenia about the existence of political
prisoners in our country", Daniel Ioanissian, "Now" press secretary,
informed "A1+". Besides the 28 "convicts" there was also 1 "policeman"
among the protestors.

After expressing their demand at the Prosecutor’s Office, "Now" members
started for Myasnikian Statue, where they perpetuated the memory of
March 1 victims with a moment of silence. They also expressed their
complaint at the French and Italian Embassies in Armenia, and at the
Governmental Buildings. Members of "Now" Youth Movement also passed
by the Presidential Residence and the National Assembly, after which
they went to Northern Avenue for "political walks". The police only
forbade the young people to enter "Azatutyan" (Liberty) Square.