Author: Chavushian

Continued progress is key to ensuring public confidence in democratic
election, says PACE delegation

Strasbourg, 31.01.2008 – A pre-electoral mission of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe has just completed a visit to Yerevan
to assess the political climate and preparations for the forthcoming
Presidential election in Armenia. Its main task was to assess progress
in the implementation of the electoral framework, as continued progress
in the manner in which the election is conducted will be essential to
ensure public confidence in the electoral process in this country.

The delegation noted that the parliamentary elections in 2007 had shown
progress over previous elections and expressed its hope that this
progress would continue during the forthcoming Presidential election on
19 February 2008. It was therefore heartened by the clearly expressed
political will of the authorities to address previous shortcomings and
to hold fully democratic elections in line with Armenia’s commitments to
the Council of Europe. In this respect, the delegation welcomes the
improvements in the legal framework for these elections, which address a
number of recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly. However, it
would also like to stress that the democratic conduct of the elections
will squarely depend on the electoral framework being fully implemented,
both according to the letter and spirit of the law.

Genuinely democratic elections, and the legitimacy of their outcome in
the eyes of the people, depend on a high level of public confidence in
the electoral process. In that respect, the delegation is concerned with
the apparent lack of trust in the electoral process, including in the
impartiality of the legal complaints and appeals process, expressed by a
number of interlocutors. It therefore strongly recommends that the
authorities take all necessary measures to ensure public confidence in
the electoral process, especially with regard to the secrecy of the vote
and the transparency of the counting and tabulation processes.

While the setup of the voting booths has been changed to impede
vote-buying and multiple voting, there is some concern that this may
lead to voters inadvertently showing how they voted, especially if large
numbers of people are present in the polling stations. The delegation
saw a sample voting booth and was convinced that they are designed
according to international standards. However, it calls upon the Central
Election Commission (CEC) to take all precautions to ensure the secrecy
of the vote on election day. Moreover, while the CEC has made laudable
efforts to increase the transparency of the tabulation process, these
measures did not work fully satisfactorily during the previous
parliamentary elections. The delegation hopes that the technical
problems encountered at that time have been overcome and recommends that
the CEC sets a minimum timeframe during which the results protocols have
to be publicly posted at polling stations.

The Election Code ensures a balanced composition of all election
commissions, but it was noted that this balance was not reflected in the
composition of the leadership troikas of the Territorial Election
Commissions. The delegation hopes that this imbalance will not be
repeated at the level of the Precinct Election Commissions.

Democratic elections demand a level playing field between all candidates
during, but not limited to, the legal campaign period. The delegation
therefore regrets the clearly unbalanced media coverage on most
broadcast media, including public television, before the official
campaign period, as was reported by several monitoring organisations,
including by the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE/ODIHR, whose
findings – published in its first interim report – the delegation fully
supports.

The delegation heard several complaints that the current Prime Minister,
who is a Presidential candidate, would have unfair campaign advantages
as a result of his decision to maintain his position as Prime Minister
during the campaign period. While recognising the legality of the
current Prime Minister continuing his functions despite being a
candidate, it adds to the responsibility of the government to avoid any
perception that administrative resources are abused in favour of, or
against, any particular candidate. The delegation welcomes the fact
that, until now, the election campaign has taken place in an open and
unimpeded climate, but notes reports by some candidates of their
difficulties in obtaining campaign offices in some regions.

The delegation is confident that the authorities will address the
concerns of the delegation and will continue its efforts to organise a
fully democratic Presidential election that will have the full
confidence of the Armenian people.

The delegation would like to thank the authorities for their
co-operation and assistance during this visit. The Parliamentary
Assembly will return to Armenia to observe the Presidential election
with a 30-member delegation.

* * *

(*) The pre-election delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly visited
Yerevan from 29 to 31 January 2008. The cross-party delegation was
composed of John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), Head of Delegation,
Lord Russell-Johnston (United Kingdom, ALDE) and Bjørn Jacobsen
(Norway, UEL). During its visit, the delegation met with the President
of Armenia, the Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia, the
Armenian delegation to PACE, the Chairman of the Central Election
Commission, all but one of the Presidential candidates, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, the Head of
the Police, the international community in Armenia, as well as
representatives of the mass media and civil society.

Contact: Bas Klein, mobile: +33 662 265 489.

PRESS RELEASE
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 069a08
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax :+33 3 90 21 41 34
[email protected]
internet:

The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 318 members from the national
parliaments of the 47 member states.
President: Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) ; Secretary General of the
Assembly: Mateo Sorinas.
Political Groups: SOC (Socialist Group); EPP/CD (Group of the European
People’s Party); ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe);

EDG (European Democratic Group); UEL (Group of the Unified European
Left).

GALUST SAHAKYAN SURE PM SERGE SARGSYAN WILL GAIN 60-65% OF THE VOTES

armradio.am
31.01.2008 16:01

RA Prime Minister, Leader of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
Serge Sargsyan will gain 60-65% of the electors’ votes during the
presidential elections of February 19, Vice-President of the Republican
Party Galust Sahakyan stated in Yerevan today.

Galust Sahakian noted that the results of the surveys conducted by the
Party evidence that Serge Sargsyan’s rating today makes 56%. He also
reminded that in accordance with the Gallup poll, Serge Sargsyan’s
rating increased for 8%.

Galust Sahakyan expressed confidence that "Serge Sargsyan is the
only candidate, capable to take the responsibility for the life of
the country and become a strong President."

SERZH SARGSYAN SAID IN ARMAVIR THAT HE NEEDS PEOPLE’S VOTES AND SUPPORT

arminfo
2008-01-29 20:55:00

ArmInfo. "I need people’s support and ask you give your votes to
me during the presidential election," Armenian Prime Minister,
Leader of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), and currently a
presidential candidate, Serzh Sargsyan said to the residents of the
town of Armavir, Tuesday.

Sargsyan noted that he needs people’s trust first and foremost
to build a strong, successful and prosperous country. "The present
government of Armenia considerably differs from the previous ones", he
noted. Sargsyan added that many people are afraid of a strong state,
saying that if the RPA candidate wins at the presidential election,
Armenia will have a unipolar power vertical, but it is not so. "Only
a strong president is able to solve the country’s foreign and domestic
problems, and a weak one depending on other parties and organizations
cannot represent his country in negotiations and solve the country’s
problems. I know that many of you connect hope with our success",
he said. According to him, Armenia has a long path to pass to ensure
the welfare of people.

ARTHUR AGHABEKYAN: "CITIZENSHIP IN ARMED FORCES"

Panorama.am
18:31 28/01/2008

"It would be ideal if today our men got congratulations for the army
day, as they used to get in Soviet Union time in February 23," said
Arthur Aghabekyan, the president of National Assembly protection,
National security interim congress.

According to Aghabekyan, volunteers were devoted to creating and
improving our army. But he also said that we do not have a professional
army though many professionals came back from Russia to work here.

"Today’s army and soldiers should not only fight for Armenian
independence and protection, but they should confront the possible
aggression allowing the authorities to negotiate and come to a
conclusion which our nation wants," he said.

Aghabekyan said that our soldiers should be treated as if the war is
not over yet, and they should be ready always.

According to him army needs several reformations in its tactics and
strategy also.

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 28 2008

Candidate for Armenian President: "The "released" lands must not be
given up"

28 January 2008 [18:57] – Today.Az

The lands near Agdam, Jabrail and Fizuli are still unsettled, while
Azerbaijan continues the process of the settlement of the occupied
lands.

The due statement was made by candidate for Armenian President Arman
Melikyan.

He noted that the talks on the settlement of the Garabagh conflict
must continue, but the return of the lands must not be considered as
a compromise and all candidates must adhere to the said position.

Yet, he noted, however, that the solution of the Garabagh conflict is
not fixed in a clear form in the election programs, which will
further give good chance for interpretation and later for actions.

"We have another unsettled problem-the unsettled lands and the delay
in the resolution of this issue can lead to undesirable results",
Arman Melikyan said.

He noted that this was the result of weakness of the leadership of
the so-called "Nagorno-Garabagh Republic" and Armenia, which were not
able to declare "the released" lands as the "property" of its people
which are not subject to transfer. According to him, the lands near
Agdam, Jabrail and Fizuli, are still unsettled, while Azerbaijan
continues the settlement of the occupied lands.

The definition of the modern borders of Garabagh must be held
considering the released lands, the candidate for Armenian President
said.

/ArmInfo/

URL:

The New York Times
January 25, 2008 Friday
Late Edition – Final

Putting a Dent in a Law Against Insulting Turkishness

By SABRINA TAVERNISE; Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting from Izmir
and Istanbul.

IZMIR, Turkey

When Atilla Yayla, a maverick political science professor, offered a
mild criticism of Turkey’s first years as a country, his remarks
unleashed a torrent of abuse.

”Traitor!” a newspaper headline shouted. His college dismissed him.
State prosecutors in this western city, where he spoke, opened a
criminal case against him. His crime? Violating an obscure law
against insulting the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s
founder.

”I need thoughts to counter my ideas,” Mr. Yayla said. ”Instead
they attacked me.”

Turkey’s government has taken on the issue of free speech and is
expected as early as Friday to announce a weakening of a law against
insulting Turkishness, an amendment that is considered a key measure
of the democratic maturity of this Muslim country as it tries to gain
acceptance to the European Union.

But while that law, called Article 301, is known to many in the West
— Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist, was
prosecuted under 301 — it is just one of many laws that limit
freedom of expression for intellectuals in Turkey. The law under
which Mr. Yayla was prosecuted, for example, dates from 1951 and is
not even part of the penal code.

While the change in Article 301 is likely to stop the wanton
application of that law, the single most common statute used against
critics of Turkey’s official line, the government was unable to
remove it from the books completely, as liberals here had wanted.

The reason goes to the heart of the state of Turkey today: Despite
its booming economy, gay pride parades and ambitious European
aspirations, a large part of Turkish society is deeply conservative.
When it comes to free speech, many Turks support the limitations.

As nationalism has been rising in Turkey in response to the broad
changes sweeping society, so have the number of court cases against
writers, publishers and academics. The European Union, in a report in
November, said the number of such people prosecuted almost doubled in
2006 over the year before, and rose further in 2007.

In all, about 39 articles limit free expression in Turkey, though
only 13 are commonly used, said Zafer Gokdemir, a rights lawyer who
has represented defendants in these cases since 1995.

The laws are deeply damaging, liberals argue, because they block
society’s thinkers from asking the difficult questions needed to
overcome a painful past.

Turkey was born fighting for its life against European powers that
were carving it up at the end of World War I. It was left defensive,
with low self-esteem and weak institutions, and a deep-seated
insecurity lingers.

But unlike Russians who were cynical about the Soviet state, most
Turks strongly believe in their system. Nationalist taboos on
questioning official history are held in place as much by society as
by Turkey’s controlling state.

The legal complaints, for that reason, emerge from the most insecure
part of society: a nationalist, sometimes violent fringe, whose
political backers are the staunchly secular old guard. With vast
power, but limited public accountability, that old guard is not
unlike senior Soviet apparatchiks. The heart of this class works in
the military, an elite institution in Turkey, and in the judiciary.

In Turkey’s court system, any private citizen can file a complaint,
requiring prosecutors to investigate, and a vast majority of the
freedom of expression cases begin that way. An ultranationalist
lawyer who started the case against Mr. Pamuk, Kemal Kerincsiz, said
in an interview that he had gotten about 50 cases opened since 2005.

Mr. Yayla’s speech, in 2006 at a youth conference in Izmir, drew
eight complaints, including one from the Izmir Bar Association,
according to his lawyer, Nalan Erkem. Mr. Yayla’s argument — that
the early years of the republic were less democratic than the period
after Turkey became a multiparty system, and that Ataturk’s monopoly
on public images would be perplexing to Europeans — ”had no basis
in science,” said Huseyin Durdu, a Turkish patriot lawyer and a
complainant.

Asked what would happen if the law were rescinded, Mr. Durdu looked
stricken.

”People would be insulting each other,” he said, in an immaculate
office in downtown Izmir, a small bust of Ataturk on the wall behind
him. ”It would be conflict and chaos.”

Mr. Yayla, for his part, said he was simply trying to provoke a
thoughtful discussion on the monopoly of political symbols.

”Of course we need to have Ataturk statues, but there are other
people in Turkish history, and they deserve statues, too,” he said
by telephone.

In a surprising twist, Turkey’s class of religious Muslims — deeply
despised by the secular old guard primarily because it is considered
a serious threat to the old guard’s power — has pushed to weaken the
laws. President Abdullah Gul has said that Article 301 has been as
damaging to Turkey’s reputation as ”Midnight Express,” a 1978 film
about an American drug smuggler brutalized in a Turkish prison.

The old guard, which professes to stand for Western values but in
fact is deeply suspicious of the freedoms they would bring, deftly
places obstacles in the path of the religious class by invoking the
specter of extremism.

Mr. Yayla, who cites John Stuart Mill and John Locke, is harder for
the old guard to trip up.

Indeed, Mr. Yayla’s speech was so scholarly that the only thing his
critics found to charge him with formally was referring to Ataturk as
”this man.” (For reference, in the Turkish Constitution, he is
described as the ”immortal leader and unrivaled hero.”)

The prosecutions result in suspended sentences, fines, closings of
publishing houses, but rarely jail time. Even so, they have chilled
free speech. Public trials go for months and draw leering
ultranationalists. Last year one turned lethal when a nationalist
teenage gunman killed Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist.

Mr. Yayla is now in self-imposed exile in Britain, even though his
job in Turkey was reinstated. Before leaving, he moved around with a
bodyguard.

The convictions that sometimes do carry jail time are often against
Kurds. An arsenal of laws relating to the charge of terrorism is
aimed at Kurdish writers, publishers and artists.

”When you use the word Kurd or Kurdistan, you are conducting
terrorist propaganda, no matter what you are saying,” said Ahmet
Onal, a Kurdish publisher of 270 books, for which he has stood trial
27 times and served prison terms twice.

The issue of Kurds is delicate because Turkey has been warring with a
militant fringe of its Kurdish population since the 1980s, and the
lines between expression and revolt are blurry. For years the old
guard refused to acknowledge its Kurds as a distinct population.

Many Turks say European countries should be more understanding of
Turkey, a far younger state than many, with bigger problems. European
democracy is a ”thornless garden,” said Umit Kocasakal, a lawyer.

Besides, he says, Europeans have similar laws restricting speech.
Articles 90A and 90B in Germany prohibit disparaging the state, its
symbols and constitutional institutions, and Article 290 of the
Italian penal code prohibits vilifying the republic and its military.

But application in Europe is extremely rare. In Italy the only
punishment is a fine.

The laws in Turkey may be frustratingly tenacious but besides the
amendment, the government is fighting back in its own way. It
detained more than 30 ultranationalists with shady ties to the old
guard on Tuesday in an operation that thrilled liberals. Among those
detained was Mr. Kerincsiz, who had opened the cases against Mr.
Pamuk and Mr. Dink.

Mr. Yayla spends his days reading in Britain. He says it feels good
to pore over pages about the possibility of free societies in Muslim
countries. Despite Turkish liberals’ fight with the rigid, dying old
guard, it is the new religious class that seems certain to determine
the future of democracy in Turkey, and Mr. Yayla says he wants to be
prepared.

”I am an individualist,” he said. ”I believe in the value of human
beings. I don’t like insulting people. I can usually make my point
without it.”

PRELIMINARY NUMBER OF VOTERS MAKES 2,312,945 IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. As of January 24, the preliminary
number of voters on the electoral rolls of the February 19 presidential
elections made 2,312,945, the head of the RA Police Passport and Visa
Department Colonel Alvina Zakarian announced at the January 25 meeting.
According to her, since January 10 when the preliminary electoral rolls
were posted up, 4,001 Armenian citizens aged above 18 received their
passports, while the data on 1,981 citizens who died was removed from
the rolls. To recap, the final number of voters made 2,285,830 at the
parliamentary elections held in Armenia in May 2007.

A. Zakarian said that the police hot line, which was created on January
19 in order to reveal inaccuracies in electoral rolls, received 28
calls. There was no alarm call from any party, no applications were
filed to the hot line.

A. Zakarian again denied the possibility of printing forged passports:
each newly printed passport is fixed in 10 places, reports are
submitted on each passport sheet, even unuseful sheets are registered.

A reporter said that in case of being elected, the presidential
candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian aims to raise the issue of registering
Robert Kocharian as a candidate for presidency of the Republic of
Armenia in violation of the Constitution and then the reporter asked A.
Zakarian if she is not concerned at the fact that she will be held
accountable as the head of the department that had given a certificate
for registration. A. Zakarian said: "I am a representative of law and I
am subject to law. If it is revealed that I made a mistake and shall be
held accountable, I am ready". She added that L. Ter-Petrosian speaks
as if he is already president of Armenia.

A. Zakarian announced that the law on dual citizenship has already
taken effect in Armenia and those citizens, who previously were granted
citizenship of a foreign country without giving up their Armenian
citizenship, now submit declarations on their dual citizenship and are
included as dual citizens of the RA in the state register of the
population. A. Zakarian failed to state the number of those who
received dual citizenship, saying that there are probably a thousand
persons with dual citizenship. In her words, the amendments to the RA
Electoral Code envisage that dual citizens shall be included in
electoral rolls and may vote at elections if they reside in Armenia.

AMP COMPANY INCREASED PRODUCTION OF FERROMOLYBDENUM IN 2007 BY 29,1%

arminfo
2008-01-25 15:14:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian Molybdenum Production (AMP) Company produced
2815 tons of ferromolybdenum in 2007, that is more by 29,1% than in
2006, the AMP Company told ArmInfo.

According to the source data, the production of ferromolybdenum in
money terms made up 34488,9 mln drams, that is more by 27,3% than in
2006. Total of 4058 tons of molybdenum concentrate were processed in
2007, 3720 tons of which were purchased from the Armenian producers
and 338 tons – from the foreign suppliers in order to process
to ferromolybdenum. Construction of the workshop on production of
perrhenate ammonium was completed last year and about 160 kg of this
product have been produced . Production of the aluminum powder has been
also organized, and the finished product is used for the own production
so far. The Company transferred 694,1 mln drams to Armenia’s budget
in 2007, including 518,1 mln drams in the way offset on account of
VAT. The deductions on social insurance made up 107,0 mln drams.

To recall, the Armenian Molybdenum Production Company was created in
2003 on the outskirts of Yerevan. The enterprise started to function
stably since 2004. The production capacities of AMP make up 5,000
tons of ferromolybdenum per year.

ARMENIA AND UK WILLING DO DEEPEN COOPERATION

armradio.am
25.01.2008 15:26

RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland to Armenia Anthony Cantor, who is completing his diplomatic
mission in our country.

Expressing gratitude for the contribution to the development of
Armenian-British relations and deepening of bilateral cooperation
during his tenure in office, the prime Minister highly appreciated the
support of the Government of the United Kingdom for the economic and
democratic reforms in Armenia and expressed willingness to further
develop the cooperation in all directions. In response, Mr. Cantor
said it is overlaps with the wish of the British side.

At the end of the meeting Serge Sargsyan wished success to the diplomat
in his future activity.

GAZPROMBANK PLANS TO INCREASE CAPITAL OF AREXIMBANK BY TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THROUGH ISSUE OF SECURITIES

Noyan Tapan
Jan 25, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Russian Gazprombank, the owner of
80% of shares of Areximbank (Armenia), plans to increase Areximbank’s
capital by tens of millions of dollars with the aim of ensuring the
Armenian bank’s participation in large financial projects, the first
deputy chairwoman of Gazprombank Olga Kazanskaya stated at the January
25 press conference. The capital of Areximbank currently makes 3 bln
574 mln drams or about 1 mln 164 thousand dollars.

In her words, it is likely that Gazprombank will make a decision
on acquiring the remaining 20% of Areximbank’s shares in the second
half of 2008. Besides, as the director general of Areximbank Armen
Khandkarian announced, it is envisaged to rename the bank "Gazprombank
Armenia".

He said that the capacities of the Armenian banking system are small
for servicing the country’s economy and big corporate customers, and
Gazprombank intends to increase these capacities by its activities. The
director general of Areximbank informed those present that a new
strategy of the bank has been developed.

According to O. Kazanskaya, by the amount of its capiatl Gazprombank
is the third largest among Eastern and Western European banks.