Author: Chalian Meline

OTHER 4,450 ARMENIAN CITIZENS TRANSPORTED FROM GEORGIA TO ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
Aug 12, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Consulate General in Batumi
continues carrying out works towards transporting Armenian citizens
from Georgia to Armenia. Armenian Foreign Ministry press service told
Armenpress that from August 11 to 12, 4,450 Armenian citizens were
transported to Armenia.

With the support of the relevant Armenian establishments around
750 foreigners entered Armenia with facilitated procedures, among
them diplomats accredited in Georgia, officials from international
organizations and members of their families.

Today as of 5:00 p.m. no Armenian citizen suffered from the
developments in Georgia.

HULIQ (press release), NC
Aug 9 2008

Obama Wrong On Georgia’s Territorial Integrity

Barack Obama today released a statement about the Georgia Russia
conflict in the region of South Ossetia in which he calls for
restrating and says "Georgia’s territorial integrity must be
respected…" But how do you expect the people of South Ossetia to
live under Georgia in one state when Georgia attempted ethnic
cleansings there? If something is right for Kosov it’s right for all
who love freedom.

However, first let’s see Barack Obama’s statement on South Ossetia
conflict.

"I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an
immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and
Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale
war. Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected. All sides
should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and
the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the
international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to
this crisis."

The reason that authonomus region is called South Ossetia is because
Joseph Stalin has devided this region and into two parts putting the
Northern part under Russian (in Russia there is Northern Ossetian
Republic) and the South Ossetia under Georgia. Stalin made many grave
mistakes at time, such as giving Nakhichevan and Nagorno Karabakh to
Azerbaijan, taking these regions from Armenia, and giving the region
of Javakheti to Georgia again taking it from Armenia. Stalin also made
this policy of mixing nations in Prednistrovie, Besarabia and in
Central Asia.

Now these nations either want to reunited with the rest of their own
people like the two Germanies deserved and reunited, or, like in the
case of Nagorno Karabakh and Abkhazia they want freedom from opression
and ethnic cleansing like Kosovo has.

When Mr. Obama is speaking in Berling he presents himself as the Agent
of Change against the unjust establishment and appeals to the freedom
loving people of the world.

Therefore, I think it’s not a good strategy to make such a statement
about the integrity when these people prefer to fight and put their
lives then Ossetians living under Georgia and Armenias of Nagorno
Kharabakh living ander the oppressive regime of Azerbaijan in one
state.

Kosovo loved freedom and deserved it. The result: today we have peace
in the balkans.

The international community and the major powers should look to the
model of Kosov as key in solving other inter ethnic
conflicts. Immediate recognition of Akhazia, Nagorno Karabakh and
South Ossetia as independent republics would bring peace in the region
within 3 years. It took less for Kosovo and Serbia.

The freedom is right and sweet not only for the select and for the
friends of the West, but for ALL. The West would ge more friends and
supports in the world if it adopted single standards, not double
standards by providing favoritism and the gift of freedom only to its
friends.

The people of South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh and Abkhazia have the
same thing as it’s in China called "Saving Face." The would rather put
their lives and loose their face and honor by living obediently under
the oppressive regimes of Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Barack Obama knows that freedom is right for all.

RA DEPUTY ECONOMY MINISTER: ARMENIA TO BE ABLE TO RECEIVE OVER 600,000 TOURISTS TILL LATE 2008

arminfo
2008-08-08 12:38:00

ArmInfo. Armenia will be able to receive over 600,000 till late, 2008,
RA deputy Economy Minister Ara Petrosyan said during the ceremony of
presentation of USAID/CAPS certificates to the students of Yerevan
HPPs.

‘The number of tourists visiting Armenia grows by 20% every year. It
is quite real to expect that the tendency will be preserved this year
as well’, A. Petrosyan said. To preserve the growth rate, he said,
it is necessary to enhance the professional level of the tourist
sphere employees, the guides, first of all.

To recall, 510,000 tourists visited Armenia in 2007 that exceeded
the indicator of 2006 (388,000) by 33,5%. By the data of the National
Statistical Service of Armenia, 207,5 thsd tourists visited the country
in the first half year, 2008 Ð~H®¤ , that exceeds the indicator of
the first half year, 2007, by 13% (183,000).

–Boundary_(ID_ffEhzb7vxshD3Qu3uUwC0A) —

RA POLICE ADVISES ‘HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK’ NEWSPAPER TO BE MORE OBJECTIVE AND HONEST

arminfo
2008-08-08 12:31:00

ArmInfo. RA Police denies the information spread by "Haykakan Zhamanak"
Yerevan newspaper about mass dismissals from the Police structure on
officers’ own accord.

According to the message of RA Police, such statement is ungrounded. In
fact, a number of officers were dismissed for different reasons or
they left the Police structure on their own accord. In conclusion,
the press service of RA Police advised the afore-indicated newspaper
to be more objective and honest.

SOME AZERI FORCES OFFER TO ANNOUNCE BRYZA PERSONA NON GRATA

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.08.2008 13:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri Muasir Musavat party has decided to hold a
protest action at the U.S. Embassy in Baku on August 8.

"We urge to announce OSCE MG U.S. Ch-chair Matthew Bryza persona non
grata and to prevent his visit to Azerbaijan, for he questioned the
territorial integrity of our country," said Hafiz Hajiyev, leader of
Muasir Musavat.

The party has already sent a warning to the U.S. Embassy in Baku. It
also requested the city administration to authorize the picket,
Day.az reports.

On July 1, Bryza said in Moscow that the people on Nagorno Karabakh
will themselves decide whether to return under Azeri control or to be
independent. "The residents of Karabakh will make decision through a
referendum," Bryza said after the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministers.

AMERICA CHANGES ITS ATTITUDES
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 05, 2008
Armenia

Interview with KIRO MANOYAN, person in charge of the ‘Hay Dat’ and
Political Affairs Office of the ARFD Bureau

"Finally, Maria Jovanovich has been confirmed as the new US Ambassador
to Armenia. What are your comments in this regard?"

"The approval of the new Ambassador’s candidacy by the Senate is
itself an interesting fact, as this is the consequence of an important
event. The thing is that there were senators who, till the last moment,
were ready to impede or freeze the approval of this candidacy as well.

Their posture changed after the State Secretariat addressed two written
statements to the Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate.

Turkey is just beginning to touch upon these declarations, because
they slipped the their attention then.

In one of the statements the United States considers Turkey
responsible for what happened in Ottoman Turkey at the beginning of
last century. Up to this moment, it was mentioned in all the cases
that the massacres and annihilations were committed in the territory
of the Ottoman Empire, but it wasn’t clarified who was responsible
for that. Now, it is mentioned that everything was carried out by
the efforts of the soldiers and officials of the Empire.

In the second statement, the State Secretariat also made it clear
that the initiative of setting up a committee with the involvement of
Armenian and Turkish archivists does not anyhow question the facts
but rather, ensures guarantees for maintaining all the archives in
the most proper form.

These two changes in the attitude of the US administrations,
particularly the State Secretariat, led the Senators to approve Maria
Jovanovich’s candidacy."

"Can this change anything in the United States’ attitude towards the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide?"

"I think the posture of the United States has changed essentially. If,
by saying Armenian-Turkish reconciliation, former candidate Hoagland
believed that both parties should put up with their past and have a
dialogue, Maria Jovanovich definitely claims that it is Turkey that
has to put up with its past.

Clearly, these changes are not accounted for by individual
approaches; they result from the change in the attitude of the State
Secretariat. From this point of view, I believe that the day when
the Armenian Genocide will be recognized by the US President is not
far from this moment."

"What about the prospect of President Gyul’s responding to Serge
Sargsyan’s invitation and the two Presidents’ watching the football
match of their national teams?"

"I deem it necessary to affirm one’s again that the invitation
does not imply any changes in Armenia’s policy in the sphere of the
international re cognition of the Armenian Genocide. Both the statement
of the President and the negotiations held in Switzerland between the
Armenian and Turkish delegations are attempts of recording a success
in the two countries’ relations.

Whereas the invitation, as well as the proposal on setting up an
Armenian-Turkish committee created an impression that the fact of
the Genocide is called into question. This too, was refuted by Serge
Sargsyan’s article published in ‘Wall Street Journal’, as well as by
the statements of senior officials.

It became clear that the President made a proposal on setting up
a joint committee for discussing any issue only after opening the
Armenian-Turkish border and establishing diplomatic ties. As to the
committee of historians, it will not only to discuss the fact of the
Genocide but also restore the details of the crime."

DENMARK’S FLSMIDTH & CO A/S SUPPLIES EQUIPMENT TO COPPER MOLYBDENUM PLANT IN ARMENIA

Nordic Business Report
August 5, 2008 Tuesday

Danish cement and minerals technology supplier FLSmidth & Co A/S
(OMX Copenhagen: FLS) said on Monday (4 August) that it has won
a USD47m equipment order from Teghout cjsc, part of the Armenian
company Vallex Group.

The order covers primary comminution and classification equipment for
the production of copper molybdenum, including a SAG mill, a ball mill,
crushers, hydrocyclones and two complete millMax pumps, FLSmidth said.

The equipment will be delivered for a plant at Armenia’s second-largest
copper molybdenum deposit, some 200 kilometres north of Yerevan. The
equipment will ensure the plant a feed capacity of 900 tonnes per hour.

The new order is FLSmidth’s second major minerals order in Armenia
in 24 months.

FLSmidth & Co, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, provides
engineering services for the global cement and minerals industry. The
group has 9,400 employees and reported revenue of DKK19.97bn in 2007.

One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 1.98 US dollars
(USD). One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 9.45 Danish
kroner (DKK).

ARE CO-CHAIRS LAYING THE CARDS ON THE TABLE?

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.08.2008 GMT+04:00

Bryza’s statement can hardly be assessed as a diplomatic slipup. Most
likely it is an intentional "pour-out" in anticipation of response
from the conflicting parties, namely Baku and Stepanakert.

After the meeting between the Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers
in Moscow, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and Co-Chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza issued a really sensational
statement. "Nagorno-Karabakh residents will decide for themselves
whether the republic will return under the Azeri control or it will be
recognized independent. There will be held a referendum for the people
of Nagorno-Karabakh to express their will," Bryza told the journalists.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The fact that Bryza made this statement neither
in Yerevan nor in Baku, but in Moscow especially, suggests that
the Co-Chairs are already fed up with the endless repetition of one
and the same line of events and they have decided to put the cards
on the table. In spite of his modest position Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State has rather an influential role in the State
Department and, as a rule, he says what neither Condoleezza Rice
nor Daniel Fried can speak of. It is quite probable that before
the Presidential Elections of Azerbaijan the mediators, as well as
all the parties concerned should be stirred from the dead point of
conflict settlement. Roughly speaking, Ilham Aliyev will have to
sign a certain document. In exchange he may be promised absence of
criticism on the elections, which, irrespective of energy supply,
cannot be considered free and democratic. But here a question rises:
"What will Armenia be faced with?"

Naturally the problem of 5 or 7 regions and return of refugees
will come to the fore. However, in reply Armenia can demand back
the regions of Shahumian and Getashen, as well as Artsvashen that
was disgracefully conveyed to Azerbaijan in 1993. Thus, territorial
claims of Nagorno-Karabakh are rather many.

Baku’s reaction to the U.S. diplomat’s statement was not something
unexpected. "The referendum on defining the Nagorno-Karabakh status
in the territory of the Azerbaijani Republic is possible only in 15-20
years’ time. These processes can be implemented only after liberation
of the seven occupied regions and after return of the Azeri refugees
and forcedly displaced people to their permanent residence," declared
Novruz Mammadov, Head of President’s administration international
relations department. Note that Bryza made no mention of refugees, but
the Azeri agitation and propaganda department could not do without it.

However we should not forget that the U.S. policy towards Azerbaijan
has changed, especially since the beginning of the year. The Republican
Party may lose in the elections and democrat Barack Obama may be
elected a new U.S. president, who, preserving the main priorities,
would treat foreign developments more sufficiently. It concerns the
Caucasus too, not to mention Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. In fact,
Matthew Bryza has nothing to lose – it is almost unlikely that under
a new administration he will remain in the Department of State, but
who knows? As for Azerbaijani energy supply, Europe needs it more
than America does. However, Europe decides almost nothing in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation. The issues of Azerbaijani oil
and gas are rather problematic too. For years official conferences
have been held on defining the status of the Caspian, from where Baku
has been drawing oil. The status not defined, Turkmenistan and Iran
have been repeatedly accusing Baku of appropriating the oil stations.

And what if everyone is bored with the warlike statements of Ilham
Aliyev, with blackmail and threats against the world community? After
all, the states of the Southern Caucasus are not so powerful as to
dictate the world what to do and how to do. They are too dependent
on dozens of external factors: Azerbaijan – on oil price, Georgia –
on NATO, Armenia – on her neighbours and isolation risk. Even Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait, which boast much more oil than Baku does, are
unable to impose their will on the world powers. The only exceptions
are Iran and Libya, with some stipulations though. However, the thing
is not even in the dictatorship of world powers but in the reality;
the potential of state stability has never been dependent on oil. The
latter is not a minor factor, but it is among many others, such as
faithfulness to authentic human values and democracy. It is what
Azerbaijan presently lacks and the time for its acquisition is still
a question.

Bryza’s statement can hardly be assessed as a diplomatic slipup. Most
likely it is an intentional "pour-out" in anticipation of response
from the conflicting parties, namely Baku and Stepanakert. In the
current phase observations of Official Yerevan are superfluous.

‘ARMENTEL’ TO REPAY 28 MLN DRAMS FINE

arminfo
2008-07-30 14:48:00

ArmInfo. Public Services Regulatory Commission [PSRC] adopted a
decision at its today’s sitting according to which ArmenTel should
repay 28 mln drams fine.

As press-service of PSRC told ArmInfo correspondent, the latter
disclosed violations from the side of ArmenTel. In particular, the
company did not give information about giving of the telephone numbers
to the VoIPs and several contracts with them were made with delay. As
a result of investigation, ArmenTel will pay 28 mln drams fine.

The leader of the legal service of ArmenTel David Sandukhchyan said
when commenting on the situation that only 90% of VoIP operators
out of 150 that applied were satisfied. The rest 10% were refused
because of various reasons. As for the delay in making contracts,
this violation should be watched as a single one and only 2 mln drams
should be repaid as a fine.

CATHOLICOS ARAM I, VISITS TURKISH-OCCUPIED ARMENIAN SITES IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

Gibrahayer
July 08

His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Thursday
visited the old Armenian Prelacy building and Sourp Asdvadzadzin church
and the Sourp Magar Monastery in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus.

Aram I was accompanied by Arch. Varoujan Hergelian, Cyprus Diocesan
Council chairman Sebouh Tavitian and Cyprus Diocesan Executive Council
Chairman Dr. Antranik Ashdjian.

In the Turkish-occupied part of Nicosia, the Catholicos and his
entourage first visited the old Prelacy building and Sourp Asdvadzadzin
church, after which they toured the Melikian-Ouzounian school, where
a memorial for the victims of the Armenian Genocide is erected. They
also visited the old Armenian center, which has now been converted
to a Turkish cultural center.

The Catholicos also toured the Sourp Magar Monastery in the Kyrenia
mountain range, where a monument marking the 1933 visit by Catholicos
Sahag II still stands.

Aram I spent more than six hours in the Turkish-occupied part of
Nicosia, after which he also assessed the amount of work required
following the reunification of the island.

Interview with Catholicos Aram I on Gibrahayer.com