Author: Dabaghian Diana

SERGE SARGSYAN’S JOINING REPUBLICAN WOULD BE NORMAL
Lragir.am
30 June 06
Serge Sargsyan is said to be likely to join the Republican Party,
said Galust Sahakyan, the leader of the Republican faction, June
30. According to him, it will not be strange if it happens because “in
2003 Serge Sargsyan was elected to the parliament on our party ticket,
and cooperation continues.” Today they have to make this cooperation
closer, but the choice is to be made by the minister, he says. The
member of parliament announces that they will join their efforts,
and the Republican will get a higher result.
In the meantime, Serge Sargsyan has not made up his mind on becoming
Republican. With this regard, Galust Sahakyan says, “Independent
from cooperation, Serge Sargsyan is a public official and politician,
who had a deciding role in and contribution to the modern history of
Armenia.” Galust Sahakyan does not think that the society will not
appreciate it.
In the meantime, the political parties should not be jealous if Serge
Sargsyan becomes Republican, because “they analyze and the political
sphere is such that the strong are always welcome.”
Galust Sahakyan announces that the Republican Party has never aspired
to capture the entire political sphere. Moreover, “It has always
managed to help realize the programs of other political parties
to sustain internal political stability in 1999 and now.” As for
the decision on having or not having an absolute majority in the
parliament in 2007, they will make this decision proceeding from the
political situation.
The decision of the Republican to ally with other forces, namely
Union for Armenia and Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia)
will be determined by the home political situation, stated Galust
Sahakyan. “Cooperation is not an end in itself; it is determined by
the political reality.” Currently the Republican is attending to the
problems of the party and organizational questions, and it is not
likely to enter cooperation yet.
Galust Sahakyan believes that the political activities of the
Republican Party will be more effective, and like the “salary debts
and teachers’ small salaries”, the current problems will also become
memory.

NKR OFFICIAL DELEGATION VISITS USA
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 28 2006
NEW YORK, JUNE 28, NOYAN-TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On June 22, within
the framework of the working visit of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s
delegation to the United States of America, NKR National Assembly
Chairman Ashot Ghoulian and the Republic’s Foreign Minister Georgy
Petrossian arrived in Boston.
On June 23, the NKR Parliament Speaker and Foreign Minister visited the
House of Representatives of the state of Massachusetts where they met
with Deputy of the Parliament Rachel Kapriyelian and advisor to Speaker
on Healthcare Issues Chris Hager. In the course of the meetings issues
concerning mutual cooperation in the sphere of education, culture,
and healthcare, as well as parliamentary activity were discussed.
Then the NKR delegation met with the members of the Council of editors
of the “Boston Glob” newspaper. During the conversation the current
state of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement peace process
and social-economic situation in Artsakh were touched upon. The NKR
representatives replied to different questions of journalists.
In Boston the official representatives of Nagorno Karabakh also
had meetings with representatives of the leadership of the Armenian
Assembly of America (AAA) Caroline Moughar and Anthony Parsamian. The
issues connected with the relations’ expansion between AAA and the
NKR authorities were discussed.
According to the NKR Foreign Ministry Press Service, in the evening NKR
National Assembly Chairman Ashot Ghoulian and NKR Minister for Foreign
Affairs Georgy Petrossian visited Armenian Cultural and Educational
Centre where they met with the leadership of the Armenian organizations
of the state of Massachusetts. After the meeting a public event took
place. During the meeting an important contribution of the USA Armenian
community to the development of Artsakh was noted. They also spoke
about the necessity of the participation of the Diaspora Armenians
in the confrontation to the challenges facing Nagorno Karabakh. The
official representatives of Artsakh answered the questions of the
participants of the meeting, which mainly related to economic, social
and cultural spheres.
On June 24, a meeting was held at Sam and Aida Bedjakians place
where a number of American philanthropists of Armenian origin were
present. During the meeting the NKR representatives on behalf of
the people of Nagorno Karabakh expressed their gratitude to their
compatriots from the USA for the consistent assistance which was being
rendered to Artsakh. In their turn, the Armenian businessmen of America
confirmed once more their readiness to support the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic.
The working visit of the NKR delegation to the USA is ongoing.

SITTING OF THE PACE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NKR TO BE HELD IN STRASBURG
ArmRadio.am
29.06.2006 10:11
The sitting of the PACE Subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh will be
held today in Strasburg. Head of the Committee Russell Johnston’s
suggestions regarding the visit of the members of the Committee to
the region will be discussed.

AZERBAIJANI DELEGATION TO PACE TRIES TO ACCUSE KARABAKH AUTHORITIES OF INTENTIONAL BURNING TERRITORIES AROUND NAGORNY KARABAKH
Yerevan, June 26. ArmInfo. In the course of PACE Summer Session opened
in Strasbourg, Monday, Azerbaijani delegation to PACE tried to accuse
Karabakh authorities of intentional burning the territories around
Nagorny Karabakh Republic. The Armenian delegation is headed by Tigran
Torosyan, Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly.
The parliamentary press-service of Armenia reports that after the
session of PACE Bureau, the agenda was changed: the discussion on the
powers of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE was replaced from 29 to 26
June. Referendum for independence of Montenegro and its consequences
as well as the Constitutional amendments in Bosnia and Herzegovina
were added to the agenda as urgent topics. As regards the discussion
of Azerbaijani delegation’s powers at PACE, the organization approved
only 2 of 10 changes proposed by Azerbaijani parliamentarians.
In the course of the meeting of political groups, as it was expected,
the Azerbainani delegation tried to speculate on the problem of fires
in the territories nearing NKR presenting them as intentional acts
by Karabakh authorities. The members of the Armenian delegation, in
their turn, presented the real picture and called the statements
by Azerbaijani party provocation and an attempt to “balance”
the desecration of Armenian historical monuments and to create an
impression that there is no legal order in the territories under
control of NKR Defense Army. As political groups make no decisions at
their meetings, the discussion of the issue had no consequences. The
Azerbaijani delegation may raise the issue of fire on the last day
of the Summer Session. At the same time, it continues collecting
signatures in favor of a project on this problem that may become a
topic for report in future. This issue was not included in the agenda
of PACE, the source reports.

KONSTANTIN CHERNISHEV:HAVING WON TENDER FOR PURCHASE OF “ARMENTEL,” THE RUSSIAN COMPANIES MAY SHARE THE BUSINESS WITH OTHER COMPANIES
Yerevan, June 26. ArmInfo.Notwithstanding small number of mobile
network users, “ArmenTel” company’s obvious merit is the local
telephone network, and that’s why, having won the tender for purchase
of the company, the Russian companies will be able to share their
business with others: particularly, MTS with “Comstar” and “Vimpel”
with “Golden Telecom.” Konstantin Chernishev, Co-Director of “Uralsyba”
Analytical Department, said this in the interview to “Vedomosty”
Russian newspaper.
The Russian experts give various evaluations to the deal on purchase
of 90% of “ArmenTel” shares. Thus, Anton Pogrebinsky, ACM-Consulting
expert, stated that the deal may cost $300-350 million, while Yelena
Bazhenova, expert of “Athon,” evaluates the share package lower, i.e.
$290-300 million. She doesn’t think purchase of “Armentel” will be
a considerable contribution to the business of the Russian operators.
Nevertheless, Mohammed Amersi, partner of the Swiss Emergent Telecom
Ventures from UAE, stated that the Caucasian and the Middle Asian
markets of telecommunication have great potential, adding that the
situation reminds of Russia ten years ago. He believes “ArmenTel”
cost more than $350 million, but his company isn’t going to pay more.
It’s worth mention that OTE has chosen the main candidates for the
purchase of 90% of “ArmenTel” shares. Reuters informed that the
short list includes the Russian MTS and “Vimpelcom,”, as well as two
international consortiums. One of the alliances includes two companies
from UAE, particularly, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation
and Istithmar, as well as the Swiss Emergent Telecom Ventures, that
possesses the package of Synterra’s shares, a Russian operator. The
other consortium includes the Indian VTEL Holding and Knightbridge
Associates company.
According to the newspaper, OTE Greek company became the owner of 90%
of “ArmenTel” shares in 1997, paying $142 million, 10% of the company’s
shares belong to RA Government. As of end March, “ArmenTel” had 328
thousand mobile telephone network users and 600 thousand subscribers
of the local telephone network. The company yielded $145.3 million
of profit in 2005.

WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO EMPLOYEES WHO ARE COMPUTER ILLITERATE?
Panorama.am
18:56 26/06/06
The newly appointed staff head of Yerevan municipality Grigor MELKUMYAN
was rather enthusiastic today. He tried to present his innovations
to reporters today.
Starting June 5 a new electronic circulation of documents has been
introduced at the municipality. The applications of citizens reach
public officials via electronic form.
Since June 5, 1400 applications from citizens have been received,
according to G. Melkumyan. He said this is a high indicator and a 23%
rise over the same period last year.
Despite of G. Melkumyan’s great enthusiasm, Laura Gogchyan, a citizen
complained that she applied three times and never received in-time
reply. After all L. Gogchyan’s application was rejected.

EX-SOVIET LEADERS AIM FOR EURASIA CUSTOMS UNION
Agence France Presse — English
June 23, 2006 Friday 8:56 PM GMT
Ex-Soviet leaders meeting in the Belarus capital on Friday discussed
setting up a vast customs union between the frontiers of Europe and
Asia by 2007.
“We have to decide on… the creation of a full customs union,”
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said at the start of the
meetings held in the country’s new grandiose national library.
Lukashenko was hosting two Moscow-led groupings of former Soviet
republics — the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC) and the Collective
Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
“By the end of this year, we will prepare all the legal bases for a
customs union,” Uzbek President Islam Karimov said at a news conference
after the meetings.
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that “the draft laws
are ready,” adding that some 80 percent of tariffs among EEC member
states have already been agreed.
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan are all members
of the EEC, which was set up in 1999. Uzbekistan is in the process
of joining.
Grigory Rapota, the EEC’s secretary-general, said a customs union
would boost overland rail trade between South-East Asia and Europe,
generating economic gains for transit countries.
The EEC, he said, was planning direct container transport between
the Chinese city of Urumqi and the Belarussian city of Brest —
on the border with Poland.
The Eurasia Development Bank — a project funded by Russia and
Kazakhstan with start-up capital of 1.5 billion dollars — would
also help boost economic links when it starts work later this month,
he added.
But talks on the customs union have snagged over the question of
joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) — Kyrgyzstan is already a
member, while Russia and Kazakhstan are both candidates for accession
to the global trade body.
“It’s difficult. Important economic interests for each country are
involved,” Rapota said, highlighting difficulties on agreeing common
customs laws, tariffs and rules on investment.
In a final statement after the EEC meeting, heads of state agreed
to “guarantee the interests of member states acceding to the WTO
(World Trade Organisation), taking into account the creation of a
customs union.”
Also Friday, members of the CSTO met for talks aimed at boosting
the group’s international profile but failed to agree on setting up
measures for mutual defence.
“We’re sorry we didn’t manage to do this today but the talks will
continue,” Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said at the news
conference following the meeting.
A draft final statement had called for “provision of emergency
military-technical assistance to CSTO member states where there
is a security threat or against whom an act of aggression has been
committed.”
The CSTO, set up in 1992 to focus on anti-terrorism and
counternarcotics programmes, is made up of Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan was accepted as a full member at the meeting on Friday.
The group’s secretary general, Nikolai Bordyuzha, called in an
interview with the Belarussian Military newspaper for the CSTO to
organise “military, peacekeeping and collective reaction forces for
emergency situations.”
Bordyuzha also said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
had failed to respond to his offer for cooperation from the grouping
of ex-Soviet states.
“It doesn’t bother us. The CSTO is quite a developed organisation
with significant contacts. Our priority, I note, is the UN, not NATO,”
Bordyuzha said.
As an example of a successful CSTO project, Bordyuzha referred to
an anti-drugs initiative called “Channel,” set up in 2004 and now
including countries such as China, India, Pakistan and the United
States.

HEARINGS DEDICATED TO DUAL CITIZENSHIP PROBLEMS HELD AT PARLIAMENT
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Representatives of
parliamentary and extraparliamentary forces, government, analytical
centers, institutions of higher education, diplomatic corps and
international organizations took part in the parliamentary hearings
on the subject “Problems of Dual Citizenship: International Law and
Experience” organized on June 23 by RA National Assembly Standing
Committee on Foreign Relations. The participants of the hearings
were given the conception of the bill “On Giving a Status of Dual
Citizenship to Foreign Armenians in the Republic of Armenia.” As Armen
Rustamian, Committee Chairman, member of ARFD faction, mentioned,
this is still the working variant of the draft that can be changed
as a result of these hearings.
According to him, after summing up the results of the hearings, the
Committee will come up with a conclusion. At the end of the hearings
Rustamian said that there was a wrong understanding and a subjective
perception about the dual citizenship institution in the society and
as a result of the hearings they succeeded in moving the issue to
the subject professional field.

PRESIDENT SEZER AND PRESIDENT ADAMKUS HOLD JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE
Anatolian Times
June 22 2006
ANKARA – “We should encourage our businessmen to make joint
investments,” said Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Tuesday.
President Sezer and President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania held a
joint news conference following their tete-a-tete meeting.
Speaking at the news conference, President Sezer said, “we discussed
ways to further develop cooperation between Turkey and Lithuania. Our
economic and commercial relations have been improving day by day. We
should encourage our businessmen to make joint investments. Also,
we should exert more efforts to improve our relations in the areas
of culture, education and tourism.”
“Turkey welcomed Lithuania’s accession to the EU and supported its
membership to NATO. I believe that President Adamkus’ visit will
accelerate the bilateral relations between our countries,” President
Sezer added.
Meanwhile, President Adamkus said in his part that he could not think
of an EU without Turkey.
He extended Lithuania’s full support to Turkey’s EU membership process.
Recalling that a number of Lithuanian businessmen were accompanying him
during his visit to Turkey, President Adamkus said that Lithuanian
businessmen would hold a series of talks with their Turkish
counterparts.
Referring to the Upper Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
President Adamkus said that they were in favor of a peaceful solution.

TIGRAN TOROSYAN HINDERED MHER SHAHGELDYAN’S VISIT
Lragir.am
22 June 06
On June 22 Speaker Tigran Torosyan elucidated Mher Shahgeldyan’s
resignation from the post of the head of the Armenian parliamentary
delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Mher Shahgeldyan
told the media that he had had to resign from the post of head of
the Armenian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Tigran
Torosyan says he talked to Mher Shahgeldyan about it and even
proposed him not to stay at the post because little time is left and
it would be better if Mher Shahgeldyan finished the work. But there is
another circumstance in this story, which is outside the scope of any
delegation. Mher Shahgeldyan had told Tigran Torosyan before submitting
his resignation that he had been invited to visit the United States
in the framework of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. On learning this
Tigran Torosyan said they would try their best that his visit took
place. The visit was scheduled on June 19-23. But some days later
Tigran Torosyan learned that a Rose Roth seminar would be held in
Sochi on June 22-24 on the topic “Russia-NATO Security Issues in the
South Caucasus.” During this seminar conflicts and namely the Karabakh
issue would be discussed. Tigran Torosyan decided that Mher Shahgeldyan
should visit Sochi instead of the United States. “It was said that they
invited a representative of the government. I saw the letter. Like, for
instance, last September, when we were discussing the Karabakh issue in
Paris in NATO Parliamentary Assembly, they had invited a representative
of the executive of Armenia to present the view of the government. Of
course, it does not mean that it cannot be a member of parliament. On
the contrary, there should be a member of parliament. Therefore,
I said that since these overlap, we must be where a more burning
issue for Armenia is being discussed,” says Tigran Torosyan. In fact,
he sent Mher Shahgeldyan to where a representative of the government
had been invited. In other words, the participation of the member of
parliament was not obligatory in the Sochi seminar. There is nothing
we can do but guess why Tigran Torosyan preferred the Sochi seminar
to the American visit of Mher Shahgeldyan. But there is no need to
guess after learning the purpose of the American visit. It was for
preparing the report of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on the role
of NATO in the South Caucasus. Evidently, the program of the American
visit and the seminar in Sochi had almost the same goal. Therefore,
it is interesting to know why Tigran Torosyan thinks that the seminar
in Sochi is more important. Yes, it included the Karabakh issue. But
does Tigran Torosyan really think that the seminar in Sochi would
be more important if even Bucharest proved insignificant? There is
a subtlety, however, that Tigran Torosyan could have omitted, but he
did not keep silent not to appear in a more awkward situation in case
this circumstance becomes known later. Or maybe because there was a
higher-level decision to prevent Mher Shahgeldyan’s visit, and it was
necessary to hint at it as a display of power. The meetings that Mher
Shahgeldyan would have in America mattered. He was supposed to meet
with a number of U.S. officials, such as Mr. Fried, whom we know,
Dan Fried, who has visited Yerevan too, as well as representatives
of different analytic centers, says Tigran Torosyan.
In fact, there is no need to make other suggestions. Official Yerevan
considers Sochi more important, and funny though it may seem, safer.
This makes it clear why Mher Shahgeldyan resigned from the post of the
head of the delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and refused
Torosyan’s proposal to stay. Tigran Torosyan says the question of the
head of the Armenian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
will be solved after the summer session of the OSCE. Most probably,
however, the question of the entire delegation will be solved rather
than that of the head of the delegation. Tigran Torosyan mentions that
the correlation of representatives of the government and the opposition
in the delegation including three members has changed. “The question
is which one of the three members should head the delegation. Either
one of the old members must be named or a new delegation must be set
up and a new head named,” says Tigran Torosyans. Bookmakers can offer
betting which option Tigran Torosyan will choose.