Author: Chalian Meline

3/
Junior Eurovision Song Contest Official Website
Dec. 2007

Armenia
Participants: AREVIK
Song: Erazanq (A Dream)

About the participants

The AREVIK children and youth pop-folk ensemble will perform a song
written by the 15-year old Mariana Javakhyan. Anahit and Christine,
both 10 years old, will help the author of the song to perform it
live on stage. Sargis Mzikyan wrote the lyrics. All other
participants are backing vocalists who will try to amuse the audience
and viewers with a lively dance.

AREVIK is 29-year old ensemble of the Public Radio of Armenia. During
these years, a number of songs was recorded. The group had concerts
in many countries such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Iraq, and
the USA and also in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Odessa and Crimea.

At least seven generations were represented in the group since its
foundation. The kids of AREVIK will make you smile on a rainy day,
and therefore they are often called "the singing Armenian sun."

About the song
The song Erazanq (A Dream) is about the moon, the sun and the fairy,
that hopefully makes all your dreams come true.

(in Armenian)
Mets erknqum paylogh astgher
Dzez khndrum em indz hima tareq verev,
Vor erknqic nayem nerqev,
Im paylov siro luyser ayntegh varem.
Im lav sirun, poqrik lusin,
Qez khndrum em yes du indz dir qo usin,
Togh erkusov paylenk u shoghank, vor
Bolorin tva, te ka erku lusin.

Erazanqneri bari peri, qez khndrum enq
Mer eraze var du katarir,
U manuknerin anhog, bari
Anhamar erger, urakh orer du pargevir.
Erazanqneri bari peri, qez khndrum enq
Mer eraze var du katarir,
U manuknerin, u manuknerin du anhog orer pargevir.

Togh vor tanenq mez het aysor
Voghj astghere, vor tvum en heru, bayc mot.
Ajd zhamanak arden menq el dzez pes
Kpaylenq u kshoghanq arevi pes.

Hey-hey, sirun lusin, bark arev anmar,
Mez hamar garunner bereq luse,
Nor erger u ser.

(in English)
Stars, shining above in a big sky
Please take me up with you
For I need to look at the Earth
And burn the lights of love with my glow.
My dear beautiful and small Moon,
I ask you to carry me on your shoulder.
Let us shine and glow
Like there are two moons in the sky.

Dear Fairy of our dreams
We ask you to make our bright dreams come true and
Please favor with innumerable songs and joyful days
All light-hearted and kind children,
And favor all kids with joyful days

Let us take with us today
All the stars that seem so far, but they are close.
We will shine and glow then
Like everyone, like the Sun.

Hey-hey, beautiful Moon and Bright Shining Sun,
Please bring us sunny springs,
New songs and love.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON LINE
66/293/

Azerbaijani MP offers holding debates on Nagorno Karabakh in parliament

2007-12-08 13:10:00

ArmInfo. Parliamentarian Gudrat Hasanguliyev offered in today’s sitting
of the parliament to hold discussions on Nagorno Karabakh, APA reports.
As APA reports, he mentioned that such a discussion was held in the
parliament during Heydar Aliyev’s presidency. Mr. Hasanguliyev noted
that the document on Nagorno Karabakh presented to the sides in Madrid
does not meet Azerbaijan’s interests. The parliamentarian offered to
invite Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov to parliament and
hold discussions. "People should know what issues the 10-item document
covers," he
said. Gudrat Hasanguliyev also said that Armenia will not compromise,
unless Azerbaijan refuses commitment on peaceful solution to the
conflict.

Panorama.am

16:37 05/12/2007

WILL THE STRONG POLITICAL TEAM TAKE UP THE MANAGEMENT
OF THE CITY?

NA blocks expressed their opinion on the bill on local
self government and territorial management in Yerevan.
Stiopa Safaryan, secretary of Zharangutiun block
submitted several suggestions and informed that they
will take part in the discussions running around the
bill. They suggest that the number of elders go down
of 65 and that the mayor is not elected through
indirect elections.
Hrair Karapetyan, leader of Dashnaksutiun block,
underscored the adoption of the bill which transforms
Yerevan from a status of marz into a community. ”We
would prefer the mayor be election by the residents
but even in case of indirect elections, mechanical
election must be excluded,” Karapetyan said voicing
his joy that the shameful elections of the local
self-government heads will disappear.
Naira Zorabyan from Prosperous Armenia said they have
no suggestions and will certainly vote for the bill.

The Republican block also supports the bill. Samvel
Nikoyan, block secretary, spoke against the concerns
that the elections of the mayor through indirect
elections are not democratic. He also said the
strongest political team will take up the management
of the city.

Source: Panorama.am

EurasiaNet, NY
Dec 7 2007

NAGORNO-KARABAKH: MEDIATORS STRIVE TO KEEP PEACE-TALK PARTICIPANTS
"ON THE SAME PAGE"

Jean-Christophe Peuch 12/07/07

Mediators seeking to break the deadlock surrounding the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks believe they have developed "just and
constructive solutions" to existing negotiating dilemmas. However,
the initial responses from Armenia and Azerbaijan indicate that a
peace deal is not imminent.

In Madrid prior to an OSCE ministerial council meeting on November
29, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan were presented
with a set of basic principles for a Karabakh peace settlement. "The
parties to the conflict were strongly urged to bring to a close the
current stage of negotiations by endorsing the proposed basic
principles, and to quickly commence work on a comprehensive peace
agreement," the OSCE said in a statement.

The US State Department issued a similar statement.

The Minsk Group, which comprises representatives from France, Russia
and the United States, has not elaborated on the latest proposals.
Neither have Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and his
Azerbaijani counterpart, Eldar Mammadyarov.

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper on December 1 quoted Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that the basic principles "includes
all positive understandings reached between Baku and Yerevan over the
past few years." Following talks with his Armenian counterpart in
Moscow, the Russian foreign minister on December 4 told reporters
that he and Oskanian both viewed the presentation of the basic
principles as a "very important" step in the peace process.

"Work on this document will continue at the very beginning of next
year. We hope the efforts of the [Minsk Group] co-chairs will be
crowned with success," Lavrov added.

Not everyone shares Lavrov’s apparent optimism. Talking to EurasiaNet
on condition of anonymity, a diplomat familiar with the peace talks
said that rather than any progress in the negotiation process, the
chief motivation for the Madrid presentation was the time factor.

Presidential elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan are scheduled in
February 2008 and in the following fall, respectively. Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev is likely to seek re-election, but his
Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, is constitutionally barred
from seeking a third term. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

"Changes in the regional political leaderships are expected next
year. Changes among the Minsk Group co-chairs are also expected. So
the idea is to try to capture the moment so that we remain on the
same page and don’t lose those basic principles if the regional
leaders, or the co-chairs change," the diplomat said.

What this diplomat said was corroborated by earlier comments made by
the French and Russian co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which has been
mediating in the conflict since 1992. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive].

Addressing the OSCE’s Permanent Council — the organization’s regular
decision-making body — in early November, France’s Bernard Fassier
and Russia’s Yuri Merzlyakov said that despite the absence of
breakthrough in the negotiation process, they intended to finalize
their proposals and transmit them shortly to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The two diplomats also said that although they believed no agreement
on the basic principles could be reached soon, they would
nevertheless continue their efforts to have both regional leaders
endorse them during the run-up to the Armenian presidential ballot.

The basic principles, which were first made public last year,
envisage the progressive liberation of the seven Azerbaijani
administrative districts bordering on Nagorno-Karabakh that Armenian
forces have been occupying since 1992-93. They also provide for the
demilitarization of the conflict zone, the deployment of an
international peacekeeping force, the repatriation of Armenian
settlers, and the return of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons.
The future status of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh
would be determined later. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

But, as Mammadyarov once said, "the devil is in the details" and a
number of outstanding differences remain.

Among them are the practicalities of any future referendum on
Nagorno-Karabakh’s final status. The Minsk Group co-chairs have
suggested that, pending a vote, the region be given an interim status
that would be recognized by both sides.

Other sticking points include the scope and modalities of the
Armenian withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s occupied Kalbacar and Lachin
districts, which are sandwiched between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
Yerevan views those two districts as being of vital importance to
Karabakh’s future security, and has conditioned their liberation on
stringent requirements.

What new proposals, if any, the set of basic principles that France,
Russia and the United States presented the Armenian and Azerbaijani
foreign ministers in Madrid is unclear. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry
spokesman Xazar Ibrahim on December 7 said the package contained
"nothing particularly new."

"There are a few nuances, but generally speaking those basic
principles are those that have been negotiated within the framework
of the Prague process," he told reporters in Baku.

In their respective speeches to the OSCE ministerial council, neither
Oskanian, nor Mammadyarov made any reference to the document they had
just received.

While noting the existence of a generally positive trend, the
Armenian foreign minister denounced what he said were Azerbaijan’s
persistent threats to resort to a military solution to the conflict.
Mammadyarov, in turn, accused Armenia of "deceiving" the
international community and pursuing a policy of "fait accompli" by
sending settlers and large ammunition stockpiles to the occupied
territories.

The Madrid announcement generated relatively little interest in
Azerbaijan and Armenia — something international mediators may view
as a frustrating circumstance. According to OSCE officials, the
co-chairs had hoped that the presentation of basic principles would
stoke public debate in both countries, thereby accelerating the
negotiation process. Such hopes, however, have not been fulfilled.

Editor’s Note: Jean-Christophe Peuch is a Vienna-based freelance
correspondent, who specializes in Caucasus- and Central Asia-related
developments.

DISCUSSION OF BILL ON LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION IN CITY OF YEREVAN CONTINUES AT RA NA

Noyan Tapan
Dec 04 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The discussion of the bill
On Local Self-government and Territorial Administration in the
City of Yerevan and package of amendments and addenda to 21 valid
laws proceeding from it continued at the RA National Assembly on
December 4. The adoption of the bill proceeds from the requirement
of the constitutional amendments adopted two years ago. Taking into
consideration the issue’s importance, a special order of discussion
has been established, according to which proposals on the package
can be submitted until March 15, 2008.

According to the bill authored by the government, Yerevan’s council of
elders and Mayor are local self-government bodies in Yerevan. According
to the constitutional amendments, Armenia’s capital city has not a
status of a region any longer. Yerevan will have its own symbols:
a coat of arms, a flag, a hymn, as well as its own budget.

Yerevan will include 12 administrative districts as communities. They
will correspond to the borders of the current communities. Yerevan
council of elders will consist of 65 members and will be elected by
the proportional system, by parties’ lists.

In difference to the direct election of council of elders by voters,
the Mayor will be elected by an indirect election. If as a result of
the election of council of elders any party receives more than 50%
of the seats of Yerevan councillors, the person being at the top of
the list of that party’s candidates will be considered as elected
Yerevan Mayor. If no party receives more than 50% councillors’ seats,
the election of the Mayor will be reserved for the factions of the
council of elders. The candidate, who will receive the majority of
the total number of councillors’ votes, will be elected.

A person having turned 30, having RA citizenship and being a member of
Yerevan council of elders, who does not have citizenship of another
country, can be elected Yerevan Mayor. He will be elected for the
whole term of the authorities of council of elders having elected him,
for four years.

TRADE GROWS BY 7.9%, SERVICES BY 17.1% IN ARMENIA IN JANUARY-OCTOBER 2007 ON SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Dec 04 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-October 2007, trade
turnover amounted to 1 trillion 43 billion 211 million drams (about
2 bln 994.3 mln USD) in current prices in Armenia, growing by 7.9%
in comparable prices on the same period of last year.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, retail trade made
668 bln 761.2 mln drams in current prices in January-October 2007,
growing by 9.3% in comparable prices on the same period of 2006.

Services amounted to 442 bln 481.5 mln drams in current prices in
Jnauary-October 2007, increasing by 17.1% in comparable prices on
the same period of 2006.

OF TELETHON AND WATER SUPPLY IN STEPANAKERT

KarabakhOpen
04-12-2007 12:07:53

President Bako Sahakyan described his meetings in Russia, France and
the United States to prepare the annual telethon as fruitful. Bako
Sahakyan stated this in a news conference yesterday with the speaker
of parliament and the members of government.

According to the president, the meetings were at a high level,
and "our compatriots said they are ready to continue to assist in
reconstruction and development of Karabakh." Arrangements were made.

With regard to the phonethon in France the president said he got a
high assessment. According to the president, in this year’s telethon
300 thousand Euros more was raised than last year. "This year 11
thousand people took part in it. The organizers of the phonethon
in France say if the same method were used in other countries,
the number of participants would rise up to 50 thousand," President
Sahakyan said. He added that this experience could be used for more
effective activities of Armenia Foundation.

The president said during the meetings there were proposals from both
the Karabakh delegation and our compatriots abroad. These proposals,
according to the president, will be discussed on these days with
the government.

Among results Bako Sahakyan pointed to the visit of our compatriots
from Moscow to Stepanakert who will discuss the issue of water supply
in Stepanakert. The president believes that the discussion will lead
to definite solutions "and in the nearest future water supply in the
capital will be improved."

Today the fate of the dairy factory of Stepanakert will be
discussed. There is agreement that the new owners of the factory
operate it at full.

OSCE FOREIGN MINISTERS’ SUMMIT IN MADRID
By A. Haroutiunian, translated by A.M.

AZG Armenian Daily
27/11/2007

Minsk Group to Make A Statement

The 15th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of OSCE member-states is to
take place in Madrid, November 29-30. According to the preliminary
approved agenda, after the speech of the OSCE Chairman in Office,
the Secretary General will make his report, which will be followed
by the reports of the representatives of the rest of the member-states.

After the approval of preliminarily elaborated documents, an OSCE
declaration will be adopted.

Besides of the summit’s main events, a number of bilateral,
multilateral and other meetings are scheduled. It is planned that
Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian shall meet with the
Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minks Group and maybe also with Elmar Mamedyarov,
Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan.

The Minks Group representatives are to make a report on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is to make a prospect of the peace
negotiation process after the elections both in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

LEVON TER-PETROSIAN IS A DEAD POLITICIAN AND CANNOT BE A CANDIDATE, SAYS PARUYR HAIRIKIAN
By Nairi Muradian

AZG Armenian Daily
28/11/2007

During a meeting at the "Mirror" political club, Yerevan, head of
"National Self-Determination Union" party Paruyr Hayrikian made
comments on the on the roles and function of present Armenian statesmen
and political figures, as well as the parliamentary and forthcoming
presidential elections.

"There is no doubt that the parliamentary elections have been
‘swallowed’. The world society has admitted that the elections had
been held properly. In case such kind of elections are to be held
again and if during the parliamentary elections the Republican Party
and the ‘Prosperous Armenia’ party gained 70% of votes, this time
they shall need only 51%. The question of the venerable Candidate
is solved beforehand. We obey the Constitution, and the Constitution
reminds us of not only the problem of presidential elections, but of
elections in general.

And the issue of the elections is already solved in prospect for 5
years at least. The authority belongs to ‘Prosperous Armenia’ and
the Republican Party," said the party leader.

Referring to the candidacy of Levon Ter-Petrosian Hairikian said,
"Ter-Petrosian is just another candidate, a dead one for a sensible
elector, actually. A dead political figure cannot be a candidate. A
politician, who has been ‘dead’ for 10 years, suggests his candidacy
for the presidential chair. Electing the dead we become a dead people."

PKK LOOKS INTO RELOCATING TO KARABAKH
Ercan Yavuz

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 30 2007

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), faced with increasing pressure to
end its activities in northern Iraq, may be seeking to re-establish its
camps in the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan,
intelligence reports indicate.

After the PKK lost its support from Syria, which was confronted with
military and diplomatic pressure from Turkey in the late ’90s, the
terrorist group found a safe haven in the mountains of northern Iraq,
a region now facing a serious threat of military incursion by Turkey.

Following Turkey’s intense diplomatic efforts to find support for
its fight against terrorism, northern Iraqi leaders and the US have
recently hinted that they will be backing Turkey’s right to protect
itself from the PKK, whose members cross the border and stage
brutal attacks within Turkey. The leader of the regional Kurdish
administration in northern Iraq, Massoud Barzani, who had previously
taken little action against the PKK presence in the region, recently
vowed to make the presence of the PKK in northern Iraq "impossible"
so long as the group did not lay down its arms.

Confronted with an increasingly hostile environment, the PKK has
already begun evacuating its camps in northern Iraq, according to
recent intelligence reports from the region. PKK administrators
are now having talks with Armenia to relocate their camps to the
Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, intelligence
reports suggest. PKK leaders have also been talking to 12 Kurdish
villages in Armenia, located near the border with Turkey.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave located in Azerbaijan that has been
under Armenian control since 1993. Since Iraq has stopped allowing
the PKK to get food and supplies in the region and has also stopped
admitting the militants into northern Iraqi hospitals, the PKK has
been trapped inside the mountainous region of northern Iraq.

Faced with this situation, the PKK administrators have decided to
move 10 of their camps from the Kandil Mountains and are in search of
a new country that will welcome them. Currently an estimated 450 PKK
leaders are believed to be hiding in northern Iraq. The intelligence
reports on the PKK’s relocation considerations came from an ex-PKK
member using the code name "Þahin" (hawk), who surrendered to Turkish
security forces after he fled the PKK’s "Carcela" camp in northern
Iraq. He said the group had evacuated most of its camps in northern
Iraq to avoid a potential military strike by Turkey.

Failed to convince Iran

The PKK initially considered moving its camps to Iran, where the camps
of its sister organization, the Party for a Free life in Kurdistan
(PJAK) are located. However, recent Iranian operations against PJAK and
improving relations between Turkey and Iran — including intelligence
sharing — forced the PKK to reconsider.

Meanwhile the government of Azerbaijan has requested detailed
information about PKK militants in its territory, since the terrorist
group has recently increased its activities on in Azeri territory.

Concerned about the fact that most PKK terrorists have Turkish
passports, which confer special access privileges in Azerbaijan,
the Azeri government has offered cooperation with Turkish security
forces. It is also preparing to pass a new law that will prevent even
sympathizers of the PKK, which it considers a terrorist organization,
from forming any associations in the country. A senior official from
the Azeri Justice Ministry was in Ankara on Nov. 28 to talk about
the details of the bill.

Plans for Þuþa, Lacin and Fuzuli

Armenia is making a special effort to settle the PKK in
Nagorno-Karabakh, alleged Mehmet Azeriturk, the secretary-general
of the Federation of Turkish-Azeri Associations, speaking to Today’s
Zaman. "Armenia is making an effort to bring PKK militants into the
cities of Þuþa, Lacin and Fuzuli, to be able to keep these cities it
has occupied." If these three cities fell under the PKK’s control,
a buffer zone would be formed between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azeriturk warned.

Although Armenian officials deny any contacts with the terrorist PKK
organization, they say it is possible that local administrators in
Nagorno-Karabakh may have had such talks.

Hasan Sultanoðlu Zeynalov, Azerbaijan’s consul-general in Kars, eastern
Turkey, was the first to warn of the talks between Nagorno-Karabakh
administrators and the PKK. He said, "There is a single country
left in the region where the PKK could go, and that is Armenia. Our
research has led us to confirm that some PKK administrators went to
Armenia to have talks there — about which we immediately informed
the Azeri government and the Turkish government."

He said although Kurdish villages in Armenia near the border were
an option, the PKK would prefer Nagorno-Karabakh, a relatively more
remote and safe region.

–Boundary_(ID_coNBKCAc2kko7ZasbrhVOQ)–