Author: Emil Lazarian

RA FOREIGN MINISTER EMPHASIZES NECESSITY OF STRENGTHENING ARMENIAN-SWISS RELATIONS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 12 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. There is a large-scale
and active dialogue between Armenia and Switzerland. Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian declared this on June 12, receiving the
delegation led by Head of Swiss Foreign Affairs Federal Department
(Minister) Micheline Calmy-Rey.

RA Foreign Minister touched upon the issue of strengthening the
bilateral relations for even more, especially in the economic,
cultural, humanitarian spheres. He expressed satisfaction with
the invitation of participation of the Armenian businessmen to the
Swiss Invest Forum that opened on June 12 in Zurich and expressed
confidence that it will be efficient. The interlocutors also touched
upon deepening of cooperation within the framework of international
organizations, especially emphasizing Switzerland’s new role in UN
as its full member and a newly-elected member of UN Human Rights
Council. Minister Oskanian emphasized Switzerland’s assistance to the
process of development and reforms in RA, in particular, mentioning
the involvement of the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency in some
programs (Tsakhkadzor Development Program) and expressed the hope that
the Swiss side will show an interest in the process of RA initiative
aimed at development of Armenian rural areas. The readiness of the
Swiss side to continue to initiate and implement various programs in
Armenia was mentioned, for which the Swiss government has allocated 4
mln Swiss francs this year. Speaking about activization of bilateral
economic relations, Mrs Micheline Calmy-Rey expressed confidence
that the agreement “On Avoiding Double Taxation” signed today between
Armenia and Switzerland will promote contacts among the two countries’
businessmen. Minister Oskanian briefly presented the current stages of
Nagorno Karabakh settlement, Armenian-Turkish relations, as well as the
fate of the khachkars (cross-stones) of Nor Jugha and the application
of Armenia to the international community in connection with this
issue, in particular, the official applications to the respective
sub-structures of CE, OSCE and UNESCO international organizations. As
Noyan Tapan was informed from RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, after the meeting the signing ceremony of the agreement
“On Avoiding Double Taxation” between RA and Switzerland took place,
which was followed by a joint press conference.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN SENDS CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO TIGRAN TOROSIAN ON OCCASION OF HIS ELECTION AS RA NA SPEAKER

Noyan Tapan
Jun 12 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues relating to strengthening
of interparliamentary relations were discussed at RA NA Speaker
Tigran Torosian’s June 12 meeting with Ambassador of Bulgaria to
Armenia Stefan Dimitrov. Stefan Dimitrov presented RA NA Speaker
the congratulatory message of Bulgarian Parliament Chirman Georgi
Pirinski on the occasion of his taking office as RA NA Speaker, and
his readiness to deepen cooperation between the two parliaments. The
issue of signing an agreement on cooperation between Armenian and
Bulgarian parliaments was also discussed. The agreement will become
a legal basis for development of contacts between the friendship
groups, standing committees, staffs of the two parliaments. As
Noyan Tapan was informed from RA NA Public Relations Department,
Tigran Torosian attached importance to the steps that will follow
the signing of the agreement, the concrete work both in the sphere of
interparliamentary relations and at the international structures. They
mutually considered as important deepening of bilateral contacts,
exchange of the legislative experience, solidarity and cooperation
between the parliaments of the two countries.

RA PRESIDENT HIGHLY ESTIMATES SWITZERLAND’S ASSISTANCE TO REFORMS IMPLEMENTED IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 12 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On June 12, the
delegation led by Micheline Calmy-Rey, Head (Minister) of the Swiss
Foreign Affairs Federal Department, was received by RA President
Robert Kocharian. The delegation is in Armenia on an official
visit. The President expressed satisfaction with the current level of
Armenian-Swiss relations. He highly estimated Switzerland’s assistance
to the process of reforms implemented in Armenia, mentioned the
involvement of the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency in some
programs. Robert Kocharian particularly touched upon the Tsakhkadzor
program attaching importance to it from point of view of development
of winter tourism and long-term development of Tsakhkadzor. The
Swiss Foreign Minister said that her country attentively follows
the developments in the South Caucasian region, especially being
interested in issues of stability, security and migration.

According to her, Armenia has a great capital of sympathy in
Switzerland, which is also thanks to the Swiss Armenians. Mentioning
that the indices in the economic sphere are rather modest, the sides
emphasized the necessity of more coordinated cooperation. In this
respect they attached importance to the agreement “On Avoiding Double
Taxation” signed between the two countries today, as well as to the
Swiss Invest Forum being held in these days in Zurich, to business
contacts. As Noyan Tapan was informed from RA President’s Press
Office, the interlocutors also estimated the cooperation between the
two countries within the framework of international organizations
as efficient.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROBERT KOCHARIAN CONGRATULATES ANDRANIK MARGARIAN ON OCCASION OF HIS 55th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

Noyan Tapan
Jun 12 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 12, RA President Robert
Kocharian sent a congratulatory message to RA Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian on the occasion of his 55th birth anniversary. The message
provided to Noyan Tapan from the President’s Press Office, read:
“Dear Mr Prime Minister, I heartily congratulate you on the occasion
of your 55th birth anniversary. I wish you good health and success in
your state-political activity for the sake of the Armenian people’s
prosperity and the strengthening of the Armenian statehood.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESIDENT OF ARMECONOMBANK ADMINISTRATION FILES HIS RESIGNATION

ArmRadio.am
13.06.2006 13:14

President and Executive Director of Armeconombank Administration
Ashot Osipyan filed his resignation today. “Arminfo” agency learned
from confidential sources that Osiplyan had filed his resignation
still before the meeting of shareholders last Friday, during which
the work of the Administrative body received a high evaluation.

Osipyan was invited to the position of the President of the bank
Administration in 1998. Before that he worked as Agency Head of the
Ministry of Finance and Economy and as Adviser to the President of
the Central Bank. Most probably, Ashot Osipyan will return to work
at state structures.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ADDRESS DISPATCHED TO CO-CHAIRS OF OSCE MG WITH INVITATION TO FRONTIER LINE
Author: J. Shahverdiyev

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006

“We addressed co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group in a view of significant
damage to ecology and culture on occupied Azeri grounds”, – reportedly
said Nizami Bahmanov, head of Azeri community of Nagono-Karabakh.

Bahmanov said Armenians burn houses and forests on frontier line to
ash. “This is a danger not only for occupied grounds but also for
people residing behind the frontline”, – he stated. He stated the
invitation dispatched to co-chairs that asks them to come to the
frontline and see Armenians’ brutalities. “Now we are waiting for
the reply”, – he added.

He said also the similar request was dispatched to OSCE chairman’s
PA Andzhey Kasprszik. “This official never performed with comments
on breaking the cease-fire. Each day such kirmishes take places but
he never asks who breaks the armistice”, – he concluded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SWITZERLAND SUPPORTS EFFORTS CONCENTRATED ON SEEKING DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO NK PROBLEM

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 12 2006

YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. Switzerland supports efforts concentrated
on seeking diplomatic solution to Karabakh problem, Swiss Foreign
Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said Monday in Yerevan in a joint news
conference with her Armenian counterpart Vardan Oskanyan.

In her words, Swiss Government has repeatedly organized meetings
between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Geneva.

In her opinion, Karabakh conflict settlement will lay favorable ground
for restoring Armenia’s relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Micheline Calmy-Rey arrived in Yerevan on June 11 for a three-day
visit. She is set to meet President Robert Kocharyan, Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan and Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.

She will tour Mission Armenia Swiss organization’s offices in Yerevan
and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation as well as to visit
Armenian Genocide Victims Memorial to pay floral tribute to those
killed in Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNATIONAL RATING TO BE GIVEN TO ARMENIAN ARMECONOMBANK IN AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2006

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 12 2006

YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. International rating is expected to be given
to Armenian Armeconombank in August-September 2006, Armeconombank
Executive Director Ashot Osipyan said Friday at a press conference.

In his words, appropriate agreement has already signed with Moody’s
rating agency. He said it is impossible to join international market
without this rating.

Osipyan also said the bank is believed to receive deposit rating. He
said that it is “very difficult and romantic” to get the same rating
as the republic’s, because, as a rule, economy entities get a rating
one step lower than their countries.

Fitch rating agency gave Armenia “BB-” credit rating on June 5.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIANS: THE INSIDE STORY
John Kamau And Cyrus Ombati

The East African Standard, Kenya
June 12 2006

The deported Armenians plotted to transform a section of Kenya’s
security forces into a crack commando unit.

Workers hired by the landlord of the house where the Artur brothers
were living in Runda Estate put up the gate that was brought down
by the police on the wee hours of Friday morning when they raided
the residence.

Documents retrieved from the Runda house the alleged Armenian
Artur brothers – Sargarsyan and Margaryan – stayed show they sought
authority to transform a section of Kenya’s security forces into a
high-commando wing.

And it emerged yesterday that the roots of the Armenians’ stay in
Kenya runs deep and points to the involvement of senior and influential
political figures some of whom have gone underground.

The Sunday Standard has also established that it was a former minister
who brought the Armenians into Kenya. But he did not prove reliable
in fixing promised deals after he was dropped from the Cabinet and
they were taken over by a political activist.

Intelligence officials are said to have written a report advising
against offering them the chance to train security agents fearing
that that this could taint the Government’s name.

Separately, from an interview with one of the people the Armenians
worked closely with, the Sunday Standard learnt that the Arturs’ roots
in Kenya run deep and some of their collaborators had gone underground.

Though he couldn’t say what the Armenians’ mission in Kenya was our
interviewee was fearful that the Armenians were part of a larger
underground group operating in the region whose tracks the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) could now be after.

The Sunday Standard also established that the two also wanted to
use Kenya as a base to enter the Democratic Republic of Congo where
planned to start a similar “programme” on security issues.

They had flown to the country several times to assess the situation.

We have independently established that it is Langata MP Raila Odinga’s
claims that the two were mercenaries that forced Commissioner of
Police Hussein Ali to appoint a team of detectives to investigate
the mercenary linkage.

And the saga continued to unravel when Margaryan called The Standard
from Dubai and asked the question:

“If I was a gun-runner why was I left to leave Kenya a free man?” He
boasted that he was now relocating to Uganda.

“What is all this lie about me having a gun? How come I got with a gun
into the airport, which is supposed to be a security area? How come
I came out with it? If I did all these things then they found those
things in my house as they say, why am I not in jail?” Artur asked.

The police officers dispatched to their house on Thursday night
after the gun drama stumbled on several proposals and copies of
tender documents.

These would appear to confirm the Armenians, with their collaborators,
plotted to supply the Government with military and police gear.

The papers even showed that they had submitted samples of bulletproof
gear they could easily access to the Government.

An officer who was in the raiding party revealed they found a copy
of a tender application to supply the police with bullet proof vests.

The tender could have been a cover for mass importation of security
gear, a suspicion investigators now believe is supported by the fact
that police found light and heavy bullet-proof vests packed in a box
in one of the rooms.

They also recovered eight guns and 100 rounds of ammunition from
the garden.

A senior security official interviewed said they were still trying
to unmask their mission or possible target of a team that Government
officials initially described as “investors”.

Officials say the proposal to train Kenya’s security forces was made
to the Office of the President shortly before the March 2 raid on
the Standard Group premises.

“They were almost granted the permission to offer their expertise
but this changed after their names were linked to the raids,” said
security sources.

Sources privy to insider information say that the two acted as
“political fixers’ – a term used in the underworld Mafia to describe
individuals who can coax, cajole, threaten, eliminate and carry out
espionage work on behalf of clients and for political reasons.

“They are really terrifying guys and they are many. It is when you
add one and one you get to know them,” a close associate told us
last evening.

“They are always referred to as Armenians but they are most likely
Russian. What I know is that each had five different passports,”
the associate said.

The two had managed to penetrate the security system, as they bulldozed
their way around setting up systems with high and mighty and causing
friction within the system as those who defied them were transferred
to other areas.

Sources say Ali has been a worried man after he independently learnt
that the two were linked to the raids on the Standard Group premises.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA NA PRESIDENT TIGRAN TOROSYAN’S CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO ANDRANIK MARGARYAN, PM OF THE RA

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
June 13 2006

RA NA President Tigran Torosyan addressed congratulatory message to
Andranik Margaryan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia on the
occasion of the 55th birthday. It says:

“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I warmly congratulate you on the occasion of your 55th Birthday.

I wish you happiness and health, success in state-political
activities. I am sure, your activity from now on will also be directed
toward economic development of Armenia and increase of people’s
prosperity, strengthening of the Armenian statehood.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress