Author: Emil Lazarian

ARMENIAN AND BELARUS COURTS SIGN COOPERATION MEMORANDUM
Armenpress
Oct 24 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s Court of Cassation and
Belarus’ Supreme Court have signed today in Yerevan a memorandum on
cooperation and information exchange.
The memorandum was signed by the chairman of Armenian Cassation
Court, Hovhannes Manukian and Valentin Sukalo, chairman of Belarus’
Supreme Court.
Speaking later both chairmen termed the memorandum as an important
document . Manukian said the memorandum was a signal to start working
towards harmonization of both countries’ justice and legal systems
and raising their effectiveness. Also Armenian and Belarus economic
courts have signed a cooperation memorandum.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COMMUNISTS TO CONTEST PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ALONE
Armenpress
Oct 24 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS: A top leader of Armenia’s Communist
Party slammed today several opposition parties for launching the
so-called “anti-criminal movement to fight against the growing role of
criminal elements in the government and Armenia’s politics.’ Ruben
Torosian, the chairman of the Communist Party of Armenia, described
this movement as ‘pre-election empty talk.” Speaking to reporters at
a news conference Torosian argued that before going into offensive on
the criminals a political force should first of all weigh its strength,
capacities and resources to make sure it is able to do so.
‘To fight against criminals is the direct duty of the government, while
the duty of the opposition is to keep a close eye on it and criticize
the government when it moves in the wrong direction,” Torosian said.
He again declined proposals from two other Communist parties to
join into one, saying his party will contest the 2007 parliamentary
elections all alone.
‘If we succeed in winning seats in the parliament that will become the
beginning of the Communist party’s big victory,’ he said explaining
that by saying victory the Communists mean restoration of Soviet rule
in Armenia and ‘fraternal’ relations with Armenia’s neighbors.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN GROWTH ‘SUSTAINABLE WITHOUT KARABAKH PEACE’
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 23 2006
Armenia’s economy can continue to expand at double-digit rates without
a near-term solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the outgoing
head of the World Bank’s office in Yerevan said on Monday.
But Roger Robinson cautioned that continued rapid growth may not be
sustainable unless the Armenian authorities improve the rule of law,
strengthen the judiciary and spend more on healthcare and education.
He also admitted that the dramatic strengthening of the Armenian
dram might reflect negatively on the country’s “very strong economic
performance.”
According to official statistics, Armenian growth is on track to
remain in double digits for a sixth consecutive year, with Gross
Domestic Product increasing by 12.5 percent during first nine months
of this year. The Armenian government acknowledges that the growth,
largely driven by a construction boom, has primarily benefited Yerevan
and surrounding areas.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Robinson said he has seen a “significant
change in the quality of life” in the country since taking over the
World Bank office in the Armenian capital nearly five years ago. “I
think it has affected the majority of the population,” he said,
pointing to government data showing that the proportion of Armenians
living below the official poverty line fell from 56 percent to 34.6
percent between 1999 and 2005.
“Can this be sustained over the next five or ten years? I believe
it can be,” Robinson said, adding that this will require deeper
“institutional reforms” that would improve governance, tax and
customs administration as well as the overall business environment in
Armenia. He also stressed the need for increased government spending
on education and other public services.
Asked whether the growth can be sustainable without a settlement of
the Karabakh conflict, Robinson said, “It is possible.”
Many Western policy-makers and analysts have long asserted that
Armenia’s economic development hinges on the reopening of its borders
with Azerbaijan and Turkey, something which they believe would make
the landlocked country far more attractive to foreign investors and
reduce high transportation costs incurred by Armenian exporters.
French President Jacques Chirac subscribed to this belief during a
state visit to Yerevan last month, telling Armenians that “only a
lasting and just peace will allow your people to turn their hopes
into reality.”
In Robinson’s words, the growth rates registered by Armenia in recent
years have taken Western donors by surprise. “I have to say that I
have been surprised every single year that I’ve been here,” he said.
“If you asked me last year if I would project 12.5 percent GDP growth
this year, I would say no. If you asked me the year before if I would
be projecting double-digit growth in 2005, I wouldn’t.
“Even some of us that know the country and the economy quite well
are all surprised by the rate of growth.”
Still, the World Bank official, who has helped to allocate hundreds
of millions of dollars in low-interest loans to Yerevan, insisted
that Karabakh peace, is a “necessary and good thing to sustain the
growth in the future.” “I think that’s a given,” he said.
Robinson also reiterated the World Bank’s strong endorsement of the
Armenian authorities’ monetary policies that have come under public
scrutiny amid the continuing appreciation of the national currency,
the dram. Government critics allege that the authorities have
“artificially” boosted the dram’s value by over 40 percent since
December 2003 to enrich government-connected importers and siphon
off a large of part of massive cash remittances from Armenians
working abroad.
The Armenian Central Bank strongly denies any exchange rate
manipulation, insisting that the dram’s strengthening is the result
of a surge in the volume of those remittances. The bank’s under-fire
chairman, Tigran Sarkisian, said last week that the construction boom
has also been responsible for the exchange rate fluctuation.
“I believe that the foreign exchange market in Armenia is very free,
very open, and I do think that it reflects the real flows of foreign
currency,” said Robinson. “I don’t think there is much doubt about
that.”
Local manufacturers complain that they increasingly have trouble
competing with imported goods and selling their production abroad.
This might explain why Armenia’s net exports fell by more than 6
percent while imports rose by 16 percent during the first nine months
of 2006.
Robinson admitted that the stronger dram could slow down Armenian
growth, but said its impact on the economy should not be overestimated,
arguing that local firms should cope with the situation by boosting
their productivity. “There are many firms in Armenia … that are not
operating at 100 percent of capacity,” he said. “There is probably
a lot of productivity gains and efficiency gains that could be made
in the Armenian producing sector.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH ASSOCIATIONS IN FRANCE REACTS TO BILL ON SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Turkish Press
Oct 23 2006
PARIS – Turkish associations in France have criticized a French bill
which aims to criminalize denial of so-called Armenian genocide on
the grounds that “it is against freedom of expression” and “it will
harm friendship between Turks and Armenians living in France.”
Releasing a statement, the Union of Associations of Citizens of
Turkish origin (RACORT) said that the mentioned bill would deepen
the bluff between French citizens of Turkish and Armenian origin.
Recalling that Turkish and Armenian intellectuals started to discuss
tragic incidents that had taken place in the past thanks to the
process of democratization in Turkey, it stated that however a part
of French politicians approached the matter “in a demagogical and
self-seeking way”.
On the other hand, COJEP –a Turkish nongovernmental organization
based in Strasbourg– issued a written statement noting that the bill
was an offensive one for Turkish people living in France.
It stressed, “this bill will remove the ground for discussions aiming
to enlighten the facts. Once again we are facing a bill which will
end dialogues and restrict freedoms.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETING
Turkish Press
Oct 23 2006
ANKARA – “We expect the EU to take action against the French bill
aiming to criminalize denial of so-called Armenian genocide,” Turkish
Justice Minister and Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek said on Monday.
Replying to questions after the meeting of Council of Ministers, Cicek
indicated that while the EU demanded that there should be improvement
in freedom of expression in Turkey, there have been efforts in France
which restricted this freedom.
Stating that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul briefed ministers about
the bill in the cabinet meeting, Cicek noted, “we have been holding
talks with our interlocutors in regard to the matter. This situation
(in France) conflicts with basic values of the EU.”
“We keep conducting our initiatives. We hope that steps will be taken
against it (the bill), otherwise it will harm basic values (of the EU)
as well as Turkish-French relations,” he stressed.
Replying to a question that Turkey might take up a bill which says
that France committed genocide in Algeria, Cicek said, “Turkish
people have some expectations from the government, parliament and
authorities. We are working to prevent approval of this bill. Turkey
cannot remain silent regarding the matter.”
Asked what sort of measures Turkey would take, if the bill was
approved, Cicek said, “Turkey has been working regarding every kind
of possibility. Everyone should exert efforts on this matter. The
attitude that France has assumed is wrong.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION
By Paul Sussman for CNN
CNN International
Oct 23 2006
(CNN) — This year, 2006, marks two significant anniversaries in the
history of the former Soviet Union, anniversaries that in a sense
bookend the disintegration of the once-formidable communist superpower.
Fifty years ago today, on Monday, October 23 1956, the people of
Hungary revolted against Soviet rule, demanding political freedom
and an end to the brand of repressive authoritarian communism that
had been imposed on their country by Moscow.
The uprising marked one of the first, and certainly the most
symbolically important attempts by a nation within the Soviet sphere
of influence to break free of that influence and go its own way.
Although it was short-lived and ended in failure and bloodshed —
the suppression of the revolt saw the worst violence in Europe since
World War II — it can nonetheless be viewed as an early faltering
step on a road that, three decades later, was to culminate in the
domino-like tumble of the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact regimes and
subsequent dissolution of the USSR itself (a dissolution that was
officially rubber stamped by the Belavezha Accords of December 8, 1991,
the fifteenth anniversary of which will also be celebrated this year.)
In terms of anniversaries 2006 thus recalls both one of the first great
internal challenges to Soviet hegemony, and the final collapse of that
hegemony. On which basis it would seem like an appropriate time to
ask how those countries that once made up the Soviet world have fared
in the post-Soviet era, and whether, over the past decade and a half,
independence from Moscow has proved to be a blessing or a curse.
Success in the west As well as Russia, the overall controlling nation,
the Soviet Union consisted of 14 other states, generally divided into
four geographical groupings: The Baltic (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania);
Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan); the Transcaucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia); and
Eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine.)
Ostensibly independent, but in fact as tightly controlled by Moscow as
the member-nations of the USSR itself, were the satellite states of the
Warsaw Pact: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, The German Democratic Republic,
Hungary, Poland and Romania (Albania formerly left the pact in 1968.)
Twenty-one nations, therefore, made up the Soviet world prior to its
fragmentation in 1989-91.
Of those it is the states at the western end of the former Soviet
sphere of influence that have, by and large, adapted best to the
new world order, and reaped the greatest benefits from the fall
of communism.
Independence has brought these nations both newfound economic
prosperity and political stability, as well as social freedoms that
were unthinkable during the Soviet era.
The degree of change and improvement clearly varies from state to
state, with countries such as Bulgaria and Romania still lagging
some way behind more successful neighbors (or near neighbors) such
as Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
Even for ostensibly “successful” former communist states such as
Hungary and Poland the transition from totalitarian rule to open
democracy and a free market economy has not been an easy one.
Recent demonstrations against Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc
Gyurcsany, for example — sparked by the latter’s admission that
he lied about the state of the country’s economy in order to win a
second term in office — sparked Hungary’s worst violence since 1956.
The former East Germany, likewise, even 15 years after re-unification,
remains relatively economically impoverished compared to its more
prosperous western twin.
If the road has been, and remains, a rocky one, however, it is
indisputable that those countries in the west have made far more
progress since the end of communism than their eastern former comrades.
“There are vast differences between the western former Soviet Bloc
countries and the eastern ones in terms of economic development,
democratization and the degree to which a civil society exists,”
says Margot Light, Professor Emeritus in International Relations at
the London School of Economics.
“The success stories speak for themselves because they are now members
of the European Union: The three Baltic countries, Poland, Hungary,
the Czech republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.
“As members of the EU they have had to fulfil very strident political
as well as economic criteria, and that is an indicator of the advances
they have made.
“Even Romania and Bulgaria can be considered relatively successful
since they are due to accede to the EU next year.
“All these countries are very much looking to the west now. They see
themselves as European.”
Many commentators, including Light, believe that the break-up of
the Soviet Union, far from heralding the end of east-west divide,
has simply moved that divide further to the east.
“What essentially separates east from west now is the Schengen
Agreement,” she explains.
“By dissolving borders within the EU and allowing free movement of
people, labor, goods and money, Schengen binds the EU countries very
tightly together while excluding those on the Eastern side of the
divide and making it far harder for their populations to travel or
work in Europe.”
Churchill’s “iron curtain” would thus seem to have been replaced by
a “paper curtain”, with money, and trade and diplomatic agreements,
rather than military might, now acting as the great divider.
East of the paper curtain And what of those on the other side of
this curtain?
Here the picture is a far less happy one. Some countries, such as
the Ukraine, have made a degree of progress towards democracy and
economic stability, although it is faltering progress at best.
“Ukraine certainly has European aspirations,” says Margot Light. “Its
economy was doing reasonably until a couple of years ago, and it
had a ‘color’ revolution that removed its old leaders and ushered in
democratic elections.
“It has recently returned to a state of political strife, however,
and is suffering such turmoil that very little progress is being made.”
Elsewhere things seem even bleaker.
Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan and Moldova have all been weakened by
internal and inter-state conflict, with Moldova now effectively split
into two countries along the Nistru River; Armenia and Azerbaijan in
a state of damaging ethnic confrontation over the Nogorno-Karabakh
region; and Georgia hamstrung by two violent secessionist conflicts
(involving the northern regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.)
Resource-rich states such as the ‘Stans’ — Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan — are doing relatively well financially on
account of their vast oil and gas reserves, which are attracting
significant outside investment.
Against this, however, must be set an alarming lack of political
reform.
“You have to separate out progress on the economic front and progress
on the political front,” says Light.
“Economically the ‘Stans’ are doing extremely well right at the moment
because of their oil and gas. Politically, however, they have reverted
to an almost feudal type of rule.
“Turkmenistan is by far the worst, with Uzbekistan not far behind.
These countries are even less democratic now than they were under
Soviet rule. The exception is Kyrgyzstan which is slightly better
than the others although even that still has a very long way to go.”
The situation is similar in Belarus, where relative economic stability
has to be weighed against a distinct lack of political freedom and
transparency (President Alexander Lukashenko openly acknowledges that
his ruling style is “authoritarian.”)
“Belarus still has a controlled, centralized economy,” explains
Light. “Which according to the World Bank doesn’t actually perform
too badly.
“Politically, however, the country is still very repressive.”
Russia — both strong and weak And what of Russia itself, the master
of the former Soviet Empire?
“Russia, of all the non-EU countries of the former Soviet Union,
has done by far the best,” says Light. “Or at least it has
economically-speaking.
“It’s economy has benefited hugely from oil and gas revenues, and it
is gradually re-establishing its sphere of influence in Caucasus and
Central Asia, where it has a lot of ‘soft’ power on account of its
economic influence.”
Just as the western former Soviet States have gravitated towards the
European grouping, there appears to be a similar drawing together of
the southern and eastern states of the former USSR, this time with
Russia as the hub.
According to Dr. Yuri Federov, an associate fellow at the London-based
Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), Russia is
once again dreaming of empire.
“The dominant trend in Russian political thinking at the moment is
the restoration of its former status,” he says.
At the same time, however, there appear to be inherent weaknesses in
Russia’s renewed economic, and by extension political bullishness.
“Russia is both strong and weak economically,” says Federov. “Its
economic strength critically depends on oil and gas earnings. It is
thus far more dependent on world markets than it was in the days
of the former Soviet Union, and could suffer from a drop in the
international energy market.
“Also, Russia has not been able to create or develop solid sources
of economic growth beside oil and gas exports.
“For instance, it still very much depends on the West for “high”
technologies such as information, communication and bio technologies.
It is only strong so long as oil and gas remain strong.”
Federov also points out that politically Russia remains an
authoritarian regime, and one in which many of the democratic gains
of the Yeltsin years are now being rolled back.
“Politically there has been a backward development in the last few
years after the very chaotic and premature democracy of the Yeltsin
days.
“We now have a soft authoritarian regime in which 99 percent of the
mass media is under governmental control, bureaucracy is omnipotent
and the State is all important.”
Brave new world?
Fifty years after the Hungarian revolution, and 15 after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the overall picture thus remains one
of east-west division, a separation that is today defined less by
military confrontation than by economics and political systems.
And while the Soviet straightjacket has been removed, all the
states that once formed the Soviet world have gravitated not towards
individuality, but rather into new political and economic groupings,
whether it be the EU in the west, or one of the various alliances
that have sprung up in the east and south of the former USSR:
The Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Co-Operation
Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
In many ways, it seems, the break-up of the Soviet Union has ushered
in not so much a brave new world as a new and more complex variation
on an old theme.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRICES OF PLOTS IN THE CAPITAL WILL NOT GO UP
Lragir.am
Oct 23 2006
Karen Davityan, deputy mayor of Yerevan in charge of urban development,
told this to news reporters on October 23. Speaking about the problems
of urban development and building in the capital, Karen Davityan
said in 2003-2006 19 billion drams was invested in building in the
capital. Half of this money went to Center Community.
In the framework of the housing project of the City Hall the residents
of two damaged buildings in Ajapniak Community were provided with
apartments. For the construction of elite houses in the capital,
Karen Davityan says everyone can buy apartments in elite buildings
in case “the institution of the mortgage loan is regulated”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TO SEE IS NOT TO VISIT
Lragir.am
Oct 23 2006
Member of Parliament was denied visit to a detained prisoner. The
minister of justice Davit Harutiunyan says this was not a violation
of the law. The reporter of the Lragir tried to find out from the
minister if this incident did not involve breaking of the law.
“The law provides for free access of a member of parliament to the
remand prison. The law also provides that every unconvinced prisoner
can be visited by other persons except when the investigating body
restricts it. In this particular case, Member of Parliament Hmayak
Hovanisyan was allowed to enter the remand prison but he said his
purpose was not the access but a visit to the prisoner. Visits
were restricted, therefore, I think, the law was not broken,” says
Davit Harutiunyan. In this case, it turns out that Tigran Torosyan,
who interfered on the request of the member of parliament, in fact,
should not have interfered, because the law had not been broken.
“No, I think, he should. He did not interfere, he inquired about what
had happened. The problem was access, the way it is set down in the
law,” says Davit Harutiunyan.
However, it should be noted that after the “inquiry” Tigran Torosyan
told the member of parliament that the problem had been settled and
he could go to the remand prison and meet detained Vahagn Chakhalyan.
“He can see, but visiting is one thing, seeing is another thing. I
have free access, but this does not mean that I have access with
my eyes closed. In other words, I can enter every cell, see the
situation. The visit is quite another institution, when we meet and
talk alone without anyone else watching. These are different terms.
Access is a separate article, visit is a separate institution and
article. These are different, and when these are confused, people
say the law is broken. The law was not broken, the law was observed.
Hmayak Hovanisyan did not want to use his right for access provided
for by the law,” says Davit Harutiunyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES UN CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 23 2006
Today the Armenian Parliament ratified the UN Convention Against
Corruption.
Armenian Justice Minister David Haroutyunyan says that the convention
was adopted in New York Oct 31 2003. 140 countries have already joined
the document.
The convention provides for effective measures against corruption,
such as criminal prosecution, freezing of bank accounts, declaration of
incomes and property by officials, transparency of state purchases,
prevention of money laundering, embezzlement, bribery and other
financial misdeeds.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROBERT GUEDIGUIAN’S “ARMENIA” WINS AWARD AT ROME’S FIRST FILM FESTIVAL
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 23 2006
Robert Guediguian’s “Armenia” has got an award at Rome’s First Film
Festival, reports AP.
Guediguian’s wife Ariane Ascaride of France won the best actress
award for playing Anna in “Armenia,” a movie documenting a young
woman’s journey of self-discovery as she searches for her father in
her native country.
Playing the Victim,” a Russian dark comedy that is a modern-day
adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” won the best film award.
The movie, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, who is also an acclaimed
theater director, was judged the best of 16 candidates by the jury at
the Italian capital’s inaugural international festival, which began
on Oct. 13.
“Playing the Victim” won out over films including Davide Ferrario’s
“Primo Levi’s Journey,” a reconstruction of the Jewish author’s
10-month journey home following his release from Auschwitz in 1945,
and “Nightmare Detective,” a Japanese film by director Tsukamoto
Shinya about an investigation into two mysterious suicides.
The festival’s special jury prize was awarded to “This is England,”
Shane Meadows’ movie about a young boy who joins a gang of skinheads
led by a racist, convicted criminal.
Colangeli won the best actor award for his interpretation in Alessandro
Angelini’s “L’aria salata” of a convict seeking to rebuild his
relationship with his estranged son.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress