Author: Dabaghian Diana

CATHOLICOS ARAM I RECEIVES AMBASSADOR OF GERMANY

ANTEILIAS, JULY 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Aram I, the
Catholicos of the Great Cilician House, received Marius Haas, the
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Lebanon, on July 2.

According to the information provided by Antelias, issues concerning
the latest political developments troubling Lebanon, in particular, and
the Middle East, in general, were discussed during the meeting that
lasted more than an hour. On this occasion, His Holiness expressed his
points of view concerning the peaceful settlement of the issues and
with regard to the issue of how to find a way out of the current
situation for Lebanon, in particular.

The visit may hardly be helpful in the political context

05-07-2007 14:35:09 – KarabakhOpen

Recently a group of Azerbaijani activists led by the Armenian and
Azerbaijani ambassadors to Russia Armen Smbatyan and Polad Byul-Byul
oghli have visited Karabakh on an initiative of international
organizations. Does the visit mean change of the political stance of
Azerbaijan? What consequences can this change have for Karabakh?
KarabakhOpen.com asked Vahram Atanesyan, chair of the Committee of
External Relations and Information, to comment on this visit.

`This is a commendable move. The intelligentsia of the two peoples may
have an important role in building confidence without which resolution
is not realistic. We live side by side and neighbors cannot remain
hostile forever.

In the political context, this move will hardly be helpful but I think
if the initiative has continuation, it may underlie a dialogue. If the
intelligentsia of both countries are willing to set up a dialogue, it
will encourage politicians to look for more acceptable proposals,’
Vahram Atanesyan said.

BAKU’S POLICY HAMPERS EFFORTS OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO RESOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.07.2007 15:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri authorities annually increase expenses on
acquiring arms and mercenaries. They have not stopped anti-Armenian
propaganda in official media for a single minute," NKR President
Arkadi Ghukassian stated in his lecture at the Russian-Armenian
(Slavonic) University. He said, Baku’s such policy hampers efforts
of the international community in the face of the OSCE Minsk Group
on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

"Unfortunately, during past years the government of Ilham Aliev has
not made a single step to form a positive image of Azerbaijan in the
eyes of NKR people, which might result in establishing atmosphere
of confidence. Currently because of official Baku’s opposition OSCE
cannot bring the negotiation process to conformity with documents of
OSCE Budapest summit, where NKR was fixed as a conflicting party,"
the President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic said.

Ara Nazaryan appointed RA Defense Minister

armradio.am
29.06.2007 10:28

With RA President Robert Kocharyan’s decree of June 28, Ara Nazaryan
was dismissed from the position of the member of the Civil Service
Council and was appointed Deputy Defense Minister of the Republic of
Armenia, President’s Press Office informs.

AZERBAIJANI AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA VISITS HIS PATERNAL HOME IN KARABAKH TOWN OF SHUSHI

arminfo
2007-06-29 16:15:00

"It is for the first time in 17 years that Azerbaijani delegation
overcomes a certain psychological barrier and crosses a real border
existing between the parties to the Karabakh conflict," Head of the
Delegation of Azerbaijani Intellectuals, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to
Russia Polad Bul Bul oglu said in NKR town of Shushi. The Ambassador
arrived in NKR together with the Armenian Intellectuals headed by
Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatyan, ArmInfo’s special
correspondent to Stepanakert reports.

Ambassador Bul Bul oglu said that representatives of both parties
demined the relevant area on the boundary for safety of the
delegations. "This situation is becoming unbearable," the Ambassador
said. He also added that intellectual people in Europe have united
and become world citizens. As a result, no borders have been left in
Europe. He expressed hope that the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples
are "wise enough to break the situation and settle the conflict by
peace methods, through negotiations and compromises to live together,"
the Ambassador said.

For his part, NKR President Arkady Ghoukassyan said: "We have no
guarantees that these meetings will become traditional as there is
no relevant atmosphere and there are too many disagreements." He
stressed the importance of such visits for peaceful settlement of the
conflict. "Our Azerbaijani colleagues who are now in Karabakh share
the given opinion. We will not be able to create an atmosphere of
mutual trust and will be far from the settlement if we fail listening
to each other," the president said.

To recap, on June 28, the Azerbaijani delegation crossed the
preliminary demined section of the contact line of NKR and Azerbaijani
Armed Forces, near Martakert-Terter (Mir Bashir) road. Official
representatives of Karabakh received the Azerbaijani delegation in
the field of NKR Defense Army and accompanied them to Stepanakert. A
delegation of Armenian intellectuals headed by Armenian Ambassador to
Russia Armen Smbatyan also visited the capital of NKR. Both ambassadors
initiated the visit.

LARGE-SCALE CAMPAIGN OF VACCINATION AGAINST MEASLES, RUBELLA TO BE STARTED IN ARMENIA IN OCTOBER

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 28 2007

YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. A large-scale campaign of vaccination
against measles and rubella is to be started in Armenia in October,
Chief of State Hygienic and Epidemiologic Inspection of Armenia
Artavazd Vanian said at the government briefing Thursday.

The campaign will be held in line with the National program of struggle
against measles, rubella and mumps, Vanian said.

Children at the age of 1-5 are to be vaccinated. Vanian also attached
importance to involvement of the population in the campaign and said
that the program is to cover 95% of the population.

In parallel with local elimination of these diseases, injection
of double-dose vaccination will be practiced to also prevent the
congenital syndrome of rubella and mumps, the epidemiologist said.

The Armenian Government approved the National program for elimination
of local cases of measles and rubella, anti-mumps measures and
prevention of congenital syndromes of rubella for 2007-2010. The
National Program envisages mass vaccination.

OSKANIAN DIDN’T HOLD INFORMAL TALKS WITH MAMMADYAROV IN ISTANBUL

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.06.2007 14:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian did
not hold any talks with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov
in Istanbul, RA MFA acting spokesman Vladimir Karapetian told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "All BSEC FMs were sitting at the same
table during the dinner but Vartan Oskanian was sitting at a distance
from the Azeri Foreign Minister and there was no talk between them,"
Karapetian underscored.

Meanwhile ANS-Press reported that Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian held informal talks with Elmar Mammadyarov during the
dinner. The Azeri new agency quoted Minister Oskanian allegedly saying,
"Yes, I discussed some issues with Mr Mammadyarov.

However, due to the absence of the OSCE MG Co-chairs the talks were
informal. That is why I can’t tell what we were speaking about."

GOVERNMENT SUBMITS ITS AGENDA FOR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDERATION

ArmRadio.am
26.06.2007 13:36

The first session of the National Assembly suspended on June 7
restarted on June 26. Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan presented the
Government agenda, laying a special emphasis on five priorities:
national security and stable development, efficiency of state
governance, education and science, identical development of regions,
social security of RA citizens.

Serge Sargsyan noted that the agenda is rather ambitious and will
demand utmost efforts on the part of all state bodies. "We are
considerably refreshing our approaches: every new project will be
presented to the public, will be discussed by all interested parties
and what is the most important, will be executed on the principle
of cooperation between the state and private sectors," the Prime
Minister noted.

According to the Prime Minister, analysts evaluate the Government’s
activity mainly based on quantitative indices, but "for me the most
important factor is the confidence of people in the future of our
country."

In compliance with the by-law of the National Assembly, the issue of
approval of the Government agenda will be brought to a vote within
five days after it is presented. The Government agenda is approved
by the simple majority of the votes of the total number of MPs,
i.e. at least 66.

To note, the sitting was attended by Orinats Yerkir and Heritage
opposition factions, who were missing on June 7.

REPATRIATION OF TURKS MESKHETIANS DOESN’T CONCERN JAVAKHETI ARMENIANS

Yerkir
25.06.2007 16:50

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – "It’s wrong to bind the Armenian population of
Javakhk with the repatriation of Turks Meskhetians," Kiro Manoyan,
director of the ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office,
told a news conference in Yerevan.

"Turks Meskhetians should return to their pre-deportation residence.

Their homes are occupied by Georgians now. So, the issue is not
urgent for Javakheti Armenians. The region of Samtskhe Javakhetia
is large. Moreover, repatriates are supposed to settle throughout
Georgia. If Georgia meets commitments to the CoE, Armenians of Javakhk
will have fewer problems," he said.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT’S PROPOSAL ON USE OF GABALA RADAR
STATION IS A BIT STRANGE

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The Russian president Vladimir Putin’s
proposal on joint use of Azerbaijan’s Gabala radar station by Russians
and Americans is "a bit strange". The speaker of the RA National
Assembly Tigran Torosian expressed this opinion at the June 22 press
conference.

However, in his words, a short time after this statement "we can state
that there are not many people today who believe that this cooperation
will finally become reality", and it will remain as an interesting
political step.

Speaking about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, the NA speaker
expressed confidence that Azerbaijan has no desire to solve this
problem. According to T. Torosian, the Azerbaijani side’s statements to
solve the problem in a military way and return the territories under
control of Armenian troops are pseudo-patriotic. In his opinion, the
fact that the Karabakh subject is more frequently addressed in
Azerbaijan is conditioned by the upcoming elections in this country. He
noted that if the Azerbaijani authorities really intend to solve the
Nagorno Karabakh prolem, they should have reduced the hatred for the
Armenian people and anti-Armenian propaganda and prepared their own
people for the problem’s solution. "But they know very well that
Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan," Tigran Torosian said.