Author: Emil Lazarian

Azerbaijan abolishes Internet fee
Assa-Irada
29 Dec 04
BAKU
Internet subscribers will no longer have to pay 3,500 manats [70
cents] for using telephone lines, Minister of Communications and
Information Technology Ali Abbasov told reporters today.
Abbasov said that the ministry has already adopted a decision on this
matter. Under the decision, Internet providers will pay less money
for having their lines installed. This means that prices will no
longer depend on the speed of the Internet.
Abbasov said some providers are accusing the ministry of
monopolism. In this connection, the two state providers (Bakinternet
and Aztelekomnet) will be merged, he said.
The minister also said the reduced prices will apply to all providers,
which will enable them to compete freely.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
December 27, 2004, Monday
02:05:08 Central European Time
Cyprus still facing uncertain future
By Masis der Parthogh
Nicosia
When Cyprus joined the European Union on May 1, celebrations on the
island were muted, unlike the mood in the nine other new enlargement
states. The year had kicked off uneasily after United Nations
Secretary General Kofi Annan had tried to secure a solution that
would have reunited the island after a 30 years of division. The U.N.
chief finalised a document initially conceived in November 2002 and
put it to separate referenda to the main Greek Cypriot and Turkish
Cypriot communities. The former rejected the plan outright as it
failed to guarantee the pullout of Turkey’s 35,000-strong garrison
stationed in the north since Ankara invaded and occupied the
territory in 1974. No other assurances were given about the reduction
of the 65,000 settlers from Anatolia either. On the other hand, the
majority of Turkish Cypriots embraced the “Annan Plan” in the April
24 poll, saying it brought them closer to autonomy within a federal
state of two equal partners. In theory, at least, Europe had expected
a reunited Cyprus to join the Union, with several phases of the U.N.
plan already implemented by summer, when a significant number of
Greek Cypriot refugees would have returned to the lands they lost
three decades earlier. However, the “No” vote of the Greek Cypriot
referendum left a bitter feeling among both communities, with the
Turkish Cypriots expressing greater mistrust and pushing them closer
to the patronage of Ankara. Incentives were supposed to come into
force throughout the year to encourage trade and movement along the
180-kilometre “Green Line” of division. Barbed wire still separates
the 700,000 Orthodox Greek Cypriots from the 200,000 Moslem Turkish
Cypriots, with only five checkpoints where people can make the
crossing to the other side. Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos was
widely expected to cast a veto at the December 17 summit in Brussels
and block Turkey from joining the E.U. unless it offered full
recognition to all ten new member states through an extension of the
Customs Union agreement. The Dutch Presidency intervened and reached
a compromise, partly satisfying the British and U.S. demands for
Turkey’s unconditional membership, while the Greek Cypriots may
exercise their veto prior to the October 3 start of accession talks
with Ankara. “I warned my (E.U.) counterparts that if Turkey does not
meet its commitments, we reserve the right to block the start of
accession negotiations, estimated to begin on October 3,”
Papadopoulos said in media interviews. But he ruled out any
re-engagement on the same U.N. plan he led Greek Cypriots to reject
in April. “As it stands, that plan is never going to be put before
the people again.” This is where Turkey’s abilities to reach a
compromise will come in, as it has to persuade the U.N. chief and
public opinion of its clear intentions to help resolve the Cyprus
dispute, while respecting human rights in its own country as regards
religious freedom, Kurdish rights and recognition of the Armenian
genocide in 1915. Failure to do so will put on hold all its hopes of
ever joining the European club within the next 15 years or so, during
which time the “Cyprus problem” would remain unresolved and the
Turkish Cypriots would still be over-dependent on handouts from
Ankara. dpa mdp ch

Karabakh’s parliament passes 2005 budget
Artsakh State TV, Stepanakert
27 Dec 04
Presenter over video of National Assembly discussions On 27 December
the NKR Nagornyy Karabakh Republic National Assembly held its last
plenary session in 2004. The main issue on the agenda was the 2005 NKR
state budget. The discussions started with the speech of the NKR
finance minister, Spartak Tevosyan. He presented the final version of
the document. After the speech of the NKR finance minister, the heads
of the Democratic Union Zham and Dashnaktsutyun factions of parliament
also presented their views about the budget. The NKR National
Assembly’s standing commission on finance and budgetary issues gave a
positive opinion about the budget. In the end the parliament adopted
the 2005 state budget.
At the end of the plenary session the chairman of the NKR National
Assembly, Oleg Yesayan, summed up the activities of parliament in
2004. In particular he said the following:
Yesayan The ninth session period of the National Assembly has been one
of the most effective rounds in the history of the NKR
parliament. During the ninth session period alone the NKR National
Assembly has adopted 45 laws. For comparison, overall the NKR National
Assembly has adopted 476 laws and the current, third parliament has
adopted 286 laws. Now each of our standing commissions has adopted
more laws than the first National Assembly overall. I do not want to
compare the current parliament with the first one, because the
conditions of the latter’s work were completely different. I just want
to show how important and busy our legislative branch is now.

ARKA News Agency
Dec 27 2004
Louise-Simon Manoukyan, renowned American benefactor of Armenian
origin visits Nagorno Karabakh
NKR National Assembly passes draft law on state budget for 2005
17 graduates of spiritual seminaries imposed in St. Echmiadzin
World Vision-Armenia organizes New Year’s event for especially needy
children
Armenian delegation headed by RA Defence Minister leaves for Moscow
today
Celibate Priest Zohrab Kostanyan appointed Director of Youth Center
of Armenian Apostolic Church
Robert Kocharian signs decree on founding of annual youth prize of
Armenian President
GDP growth in Armenia in result of 11 months of 2004 made 10%
*********************************************************************
LOUISE-SIMON MANOUKYAN, RENOWNED AMERICAN BENEFACTOR OF ARMENIAN
ORIGIN VISITS NAGORNO KARABAKH
STEPANAKERT, December 27. /ARKA/. Louise-Simon Manoukyan, renowned
American benefactor of Armenian origin visits Nagorno Karabakh.
According to the ARKA own correspondent in Stepanakert, the
yesterday, the benefactor visited a number of institutions and
residential houses of Stepanakert, accompanied by Arkady Ghukasyan,
the NKR President, Anushavan Danielyan, the NKR Prime-Minister and
other authorities of the republic. Louise-Simon Manoukyan on the spot
asked about the process of construction of school N7, which is being
built on her initiative, visited the chess school of Stepanakert,
11-storey residential house for families of perished servicemen,
boarding school, and other public institutions of the capital.
Speaking about the objectives of the visit of the known benefactor to
Nagorno Karabakh, the NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan said that
Louis-Simon Manoukyan is the key benefactor of Nagorno Karabakh, who
actively participates in many programs – construction of roads,
schools, houses. `Therefore, she wishes to see the results of the
work started on her initiative’, said Ghukasyan.
During the last TV marathon held in Los Angeles, Louis-Simon
Manoukyan provided $2 mln to Nagorno Karabakh. L.V.-0–
*********************************************************************
NKR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES DRAFT LAW ON STATE BUDGET FOR 2005
STEPANAKERT, December 27. /ARKA/. The NKR National Assembly passed
the draft law on state budget for 2005 by a majority vote. According
to the Press Service Department of NKR NA, Spartak Tevosyan, the NKR
Minister of Finance and Economy, who presented the final variant of
the draft, said that the final draft included 7 new suggestions of
the Parliament and the Government.
Speaking about the document discussed, Oleg Yesayan, the NKR NA
Speaker noted that the draft is rather realistic and essentially
differs from the budgets of previous years by its contents.
Note, volume of NKR state budget will amount to AMD 21,036 bln in
2005. The state budget revenue will make AMD 6,460 bln, the
expenditure item – AMD 21,325 bln against AMD 15,249 bln in 2004. The
budget deficit will make AMD 14,865 bln. In 2005, Armenia will grant
NKR with the annual intergovernmental credit to the sum of more than
AMD 13,636 bln. ($1 – AMD 484,37). L.V.–0 –
*********************************************************************
17 GRADUATES OF SPIRITUAL SEMINARIES IMPOSED IN ST. ECHMIADZIN
YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. 17 graduates of spiritual seminaries
imposed in deacons in St. Echmiadzin. The imposing ceremony was held
today by the Head of Nor-Nakhichevan and Russian Eparchy of Armenian
Apostolic Church Yerzas Nersisian during the liturgy dedicated to the
holyday of St. Apostle Steven, which is also a holiday of deacons.
After the liturgy, Catholicos of All Armenian Garegin II turned to
the newly imposed deacons. He expressed joy to joining of 17 deacons
and called to them to be `strong in faith and spirit’. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
WORLD VISION-ARMENIA ORGANIZES NEW YEAR’S EVENT FOR ESPECIALLY NEEDY
CHILDREN
YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. On January 13, 2005, Malatya-Sebastia
Children’s Centre World Vision-Armenia organizes a New Year’s event
for especially needy children in the framework of children protection
program. As the Malatya-Sebastia Children’s Centre told ARKA, Arthur
Baghdasaryan, the RA NA Speaker is invited to the event, as well as
deputies, representatives of Ministries, NGOs, and heads of
Malatya-Sebastia communities, parents and children. The press release
states that the traditional event under the slogan `Let’s lend a
hand, friends’ will be forestalled by the exhibition of works of
children requiring special care. `Vahan’, `Paros’, `Tatev’ and `Jakh’
NGOs involved in problems of disabled will also participate in the
event.
World Vision – Armenia humanitarian organization was established in
Armenia in 1988 right after Spitak earthquake of 1988. Since 1996,
World Vision-Armenia has provided credits to the total sum of $5,4
mln to entrepreneurs. The credits helped to create 9800 workplaces,
thus assisting more than 12 500 children. L.V.–0–
*********************************************************************
ARMENIAN DELEGATION HEADED BY RA DEFENCE MINISTER LEAVES FOR MOSCOW
TODAY
YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. Armenian delegation leaves for Moscow
today headed by Serge Sargsian, the RA Defence Minister and
Co-chairman of Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on
Economic Cooperation. According to Seyran Shakhsuvaryan, the
Press-Secretary of RA Defense Ministry, during his visit, Serge
Sargsian and the Russian Co-chairman Igor Levitin, the RF Minister of
Transport will participate in the 6th session of Armenian-Russian
Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation to be held on
December 28. The agenda will include issues relating to fulfillment
of the protocol of the 5th session of the Commission held on February
5, 2003 and the protocol of the Co-chairmen of the Intergovernmental
Commission signed on October 14, 2004. In addition, the participants
of the session will discuss the situation and possibilities of
development of the agreement-legal base between the two countries, as
well as issues of cooperation in communication, trade-economic
sphere, transport, financial and humanitarian and fuel-energy areas.
Armenian delegation will return to Yerevan on December 29. L.V. – 0–
*********************************************************************
CELIBATE PRIEST ZOHRAB KOSTANYAN APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF YOUTH CENTER
OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH
YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. By high decree of Catholicos of All
Armenians His Holiness Garegin II, Celibate Priest Zohrab Kostanyan
was appointed Director of Youth Center of Armenian Apostolic Church
and Spiritual Pastor of the University Students, as Holy Echmiadzin
Press Chancellery told ARKA. At that Zohrab was released from the
position of Deputy Director of Shighakat TV company. T.M. -0 –
*********************************************************************
ROBERT KOCHARIAN SIGNS DECREE ON FOUNDING OF ANNUAL YOUTH PRIZE OF
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT
YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. Robert Kocharian signed a decree on
founding of youth prize of Armenian President. As Armenian President
Press Service told ARKA, the youth prize of the Head of the State is
related to the agreement concluded with Robert Poghosyan & Sons
Foundation representatives Jean and Albert Poghosyan and Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund. Annually three prizes will be awarded to pictorial
arts and cinema (including painting, sculpture, graphics, tapestry,
ceramics, photo art, design etc.) and one prize to music and
literature figures.
As it is mentioned in the press release, the Armenian President
approved the staff of the three awarding commissions. The commissions
are staffed by such Armenian famous artists and writers as Robert
Elibekyan, Martin Vardazaryan, Arax Davtyan, Aghasi Ayvazyan etc.) as
well as each commission will have one representative of Poghosyan &
Sons Foundation. T.M. -0–
*********************************************************************
GDP GROWTH IN ARMENIA IN RESULT OF 11 MONTHS OF 2004 MADE 10%
YEREVAN, December 27. /ARKA/. GDP growth in Armenia in result of 11
months of 2004 made 10%, RA President’s press office told ARKA that
it was stated by RA President Robert Kocharian during traditional
annual meeting with businessmen. He expressed satisfaction with
registered economic indicators and noted that budget in 2004 will be
fulfilled with excess. `It is first time we have opportunity to
increase state budget by 12 billion AMD in the middle of the year and
direct additional assets on capital construction. Growth of given
sphere made 16%’, Kocharian said. HE also said that annual growth of
export, excluding diamond processing makes 25%. `These numbers show
that some structure changes are made in the economy of the republic,
potential is growing. It is very serious change, serious achievement
and we hope that it will be continued in 2005 as well’, Kocharian
said. L.D. –0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

International Herald Tribune, France
Dec 27 2004
Beyond Ukraine, a grim picture
Rachel Denber
Post-Soviet democracy

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan On Sunday, Ukraine’s voters returned to the
polls to elect their president. Ukrainian society’s peaceful
rejection of last month’s manipulated vote and its demand for honest
elections and government accountability made the election a dramatic
break with the Soviet past.
The opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, appeared to have a clear
lead, but the very fact that the vote took place was a victory for
civil society. Across much of the former Soviet Union, however, the
picture for democracy and institutions that protect basic freedoms is
grim.
On Sunday, people in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet state 3,000
kilometers, or 1,875 miles, east of Kiev, elected a new Parliament.
Few people were watching what happened because there wasn’t much to
see. A victory for the pro-government party was a foregone conclusion
because there were no opposition candidates. The government has
stifled institutions that underpin a free and fair electoral process
– opposition political parties, media freedoms, an open atmosphere
for nongovernmental organizations and freedom of assembly.
This time last year, after reformists in Georgia staged the “Rose
Revolution” that ousted President Eduard Shevardnadze, many wondered
what lessons governments in the region would draw. No leader relishes
political instability. But the question was, what would the region’s
leaders do to avoid it? Would they promote honest elections, greater
accountability, better governance and peaceful transitions of power?
Or would they ignore the issues that cause public discontent, such as
entrenched, widespread corruption, and undermine the political
opposition and democratic institutions in order to retain power at
all costs?
Overwhelmingly, governments in former Soviet states have chosen the
latter path, continuing policies that had started well before the
Georgian revolt. Uzbekistan may be one of the more acute examples of
this trend but it has plenty of company.
Azerbaijan’s fraudulent presidential elections last year led to
political violence, for which the government has imprisoned many
opposition leaders. Public demonstrations in Azerbaijan by people
seeking to express dissident views are nearly impossible.
In Armenia in spring the government tried to use a variety of
arbitrary measures to prevent massive rallies protesting falsified
elections the previous year. The police used excessive force on
demonstrators, raided the headquarters of opposition parties,
arrested a handful of opposition political leaders and rounded up
hundreds of their supporters.
Two months ago the government of Kazakhstan created an unfair playing
field for the parliamentary vote, resulting in only one opposition
party member gaining a seat in the lower house of legislature. A
couple of weeks ago not a single opposition candidate was elected in
Belarus’s parliamentary vote, after the electoral authorities used a
combination of nonregistration of candidates and polling day fraud to
keep the opposition out.
In Kyrgyzstan, the government has already taken steps to increase its
control over the news media and other civil society institutions
before parliamentary elections in February.
Throughout the region, governments control television and try to
intimidate independent print media through punitive defamation suits
and sheer bullying. In many countries, human rights and other civil
society organizations are the targets of politically motivated tax
inspections. Human rights defenders are unlawfully jailed by the
authorities and subject to violent assaults by unknown attackers.
Russia’s crackdown on civil society has been under way for the past
four years. President Vladimir Putin’s government gradually seized
control over what had been a diverse, if not exactly free, broadcast
media and began using it to promote pro-government political
candidates and vilify the opposition.
Putin himself led a broadside attack on democratic organizations,
accusing them in his “state of the nation” speech of serving foreign
masters rather than the interests of ordinary Russians. Now new
legislation will make the funding of nongovernmental organizations
subject to government review.
In contrast to their response to compromised elections in other parts
of the region, Western countries leaped to the defense of Ukrainians
demanding electoral integrity in Ukraine. For the most part, they
were not cowed by accusations, from Russia and other countries, that
they were meddling. But what would Western leaders have done had it
not been possible for Ukrainians to take to the streets? Would their
defense have been as firm?
Elections in this part of the world are stolen all the time, but
governments get away with it by stifling democratic institutions.
Western leaders need to be every bit as supportive of the other
struggling civil societies in the region, before there is nothing
left to support.
(Rachel Denber is the acting executive director of Human Rights
Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division.)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Dec 27 2004
The stars do shine at night
Armenian singers and entertainers come out to pay respects to 2004.
By Jacqui Brown, News-Press
GLENDALE – Under the light fall of snow on a chilly night stars
strutted across the red carpet at the Alex Theatre.
Although the snow was not real, the glamour was, and hundreds of
fans, young and old, gathered to watch as some of the most popular
Armenian singers headed inside to enjoy a glass of champagne before
hitting the stage to perform their favorite songs.
The first performer, Nersik Ispiryan, got the crowd going as he
cruised up to the red carpet in a white stretch Cadillac Escalade.
After that, there was a steady string of stretched-out and decked-out
Hummers and other limousines dropping off more than 40 performers for
the event.
“We haven’t seen Armenian singers in four years, so we’re very
excited to be here,” said Hrepsime Gasparyan and Artem Khechumyan.
Marina Sarkisyan, of Glendale, gathered with friends who were
anticipating hearing some of their favorite singers.
“We came to celebrate the New Year together,” Sarkisyan said.
Glendale native Sako was ready to perform the song “Whatever you say,
I’m going to say yes” from his newly released album “Flawless.”
Performer Araks Varteresyan said she felt right at home as she
watched the snow fall down on her.
“They say it’s snowing right now in Armenia, so this is nice,”
Varteresyan said. “It feels wonderful to be here.”
The show was taped for a special program to be shown on New Year’s
Eve, according to Meridian Productions spokesman Arthur Agajanyan.
“So many of these artists have become quite famous, and we thought it
would be nice to bring them together and conclude the year with their
best songs,” Agajanyan said. “We left it up to each artist to perform
whichever song they wanted from their repertoire.”
The show will be broadcast New Year’s Eve, starting at 6 p.m., on
channel 55 on Horizon 24-Hour Armenian TV.

San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Dec 26 2004
Armenian hopes title shot at Sycuan becomes work of art

By Jerry Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 26, 2004
Not many fighters challenge for an IBF title in their 16th
professional appearance. But not many have an amateur background as
extensive as Art Simonyan’s.

Before coming to this country from his native Armenia, Simonyan
(14-0-1, 7 KOs) had as many as 250 amateur bouts, by the count of
Harry Kazandjian, the manager/trainer of the fighter who opposes
Israel Vasquez of Mexico for Vasquez’s IBF junior featherweight
championship Tuesday evening at the Sycuan Resort and Casino.
It was Kazandjian, also an Armenian, who brought Simonyan to the
United States. Kazandjian said he had received a call from an
acquaintance in Armenia before the 2000 Olympics alerting him to
Simonyan’s potential. When Armenia did not have the funds to send the
boxer to the games, Kazandjian summoned him.

“He has all the credentials you can imagine,” contended Kazandjian,
who once handled light welterweight contender Hector Lopez. “He can
punch and he can box and he has one thing Lopez didn’t have – he has
discipline. He doesn’t smoke or drink, and he is always in the gym.”
As if boxing for an IBF title isn’t incentive enough, Simonyan has
one in Armenia, according to Kazandjian: a 4-year-old daughter he has
never seen. If Simonyan gets past Vasquez, Kazandjian said his reward
is going to be a trip to Armenia to see his daughter.
Simonyan’s promoter, Art Pelullo of Philadelphia, is predicting that
Simonyan is going to wrest the title from Vasquez (36-3, 26 KOs), who
claimed it when he stopped Jose Luis Valbuena in the 12th round of a
March match at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Vasquez thus
became the 100th Mexican to win a world championship.
“But Simonyan can fight,” argued Pelullo. “I’m telling you he is
going to win the fight. He’s a tough kid, and he takes a good whack.”
Vasquez is boxing for the first time since he came under the
promotional aegis of Sycuan Ringside Promotions. The Tuesday bout is
being offered in the Sycuan Showcase Theater, with doors opening at
5:30 p.m. and the first bout at 6 p.m. The program is not being
televised.
Two bouts involving women are included on the undercard. Tickets are
$100, $200, and $250.
Sycuan boxing
Who: Israel Vasquez (36-3, 26 KOs) of Los Angeles defends his IBF
junior featherweight title against No. 1 contender Art Simonyan
(14-0-1, 7 KOs) of Glendale
When: Tuesday (the seven-bout card begins at 6 p.m.)
Where: Sycuan Resort and Casino, Showcase Theater, El Cajon
TV: Not televised
Tickets: $100, $200, $250. Available at Sycuan or by phone, (619)
445-6002.
Noteworthy: This is Vasquez’s first defense since stopping Jose Luis
Valbuena to win the vacant 122-pound title in March; Vasquez is from
Mexico but fights out of L.A.

Iraq peacekeeping to secure Armenia’s role in war on terror – premier
Hayastani Hanrapetutyun, Yerevan
25 Dec 04
Text of Gayane Gasparyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Hayastani
Hanrapetutyun on 25 December “‘It is impossible to fight global
terrorism with the help of a word,’ Andranik Markaryan says”
The state budget of 2005 was adopted with a vote of 104 in favour and
seven against at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly
yesterday. Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan agreed to answer
journalists’ questions.
[Ayastani Anrapetutyun correspondent] Which of the National Assembly
proposals on the draft budget was accepted?
[Andranik Markaryan] The main proposals were related to the repairing
or construction of houses of culture, municipal centres, repairing of
drinking and irrigation water canals and repairing of roads. We
accepted some of the proposals.
[Passage omitted: Other details]
[Correspondent] The agreement on sending a military contingent to Iraq
was ratified. Was that a result of explanatory work with MPs or only a
political decision?
[Markaryan] I think both. Political work was carried out to show why
the Armenian authorities are doing that. This was also an image
problem for our country, as well as our role in the world family. It
is impossible to fight terrorism only with the help of words. If we
compare Armenia with other countries of the region, Armenia’s
participation is more symbolic and has political purposes. Our
participation is just a humanitarian mission, we shall not take part
in the hostilities. I think that the MPs were far from populism and
adopted this decision on behalf of our state to fulfill our
international obligations and preserve Armenia’s relations with other
countries, which will yield its positive results.
[Correspondent] How will the fact that our two neighbouring countries
have sent their troops to Iraq to take part in the hostilities and
Armenia has sent only a peacekeeping force be assessed?
[Markaryan] Every country decides itself how it will participate in
this or that process. Armenia thinks it is necessary to take part in
it this way, taking into account that we have a diaspora and certain
duties before our compatriots. For this reason, we should take part in
such processes to minimize the danger.
[Correspondent] Do you think that this will protect Iraq’s Armenian
community from attacks?
[Markaryan] I cannot say it will. This could be described as the
weakening of attacks. Irrespective of whether we participate or not in
processes, Armenians have been attacked in countries where there is a
war on. They blew up an Armenian church in Iraq when we did not even
speak about our participation, many Armenians died before we joined
the memorandum.
[Correspondent] Will this decision justify itself in terms of our
country’s political interests?
[Markaryan] We shall send a military contingent for one year. If we
notice a certain threat to our country over this period, we shall have
an opportunity to return to our decision once again.
[Passage omitted: Other details]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian premier hails 2004 as not “bad” in year-end interview
Iravunk, Yerevan
24 Dec 04
Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan has said the year 2004 was not a
“bad” year for Armenia. In an interview with the Armenian newspaper
Iravunk, the prime minister spoke about Armenia’s economic and
political achievements over the past year and fielded questions on a
wide range of subjects. Markaryan urged the opposition to have a
“united” stance on the domestic and foreign policy issues. He
dismissed attempts to present the opposition boycott of parliament as
a “political crisis” and said that it was not “a tragedy”. The
following is an excerpt from Jasmen Vilyan’s report by the Armenian
newspaper Iravunk on 24 December headlined “‘President-prime minister
working relations are not conditioned by personal problems”;
subheadings have been inserted editorially;
An interview with Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan summing
up the political and economic results of the year 2004.
Iravnuk correspondent Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, Mr
prime minister.
Markaryan Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and to
all the readers of your newspaper.
Passage omitted: background info
Correspondent Can you tell us about the achievements and flaws in
Armenia’s domestic and foreign policies in the past year?
Markaryan Now that the year 2004 is coming to an end, we can say that
it was not a bad year for our people and state. We have peace and
stability in the country as well as good economic indices, we have
fulfilled the state budget and so on. We are proud of certain
achievements on the basis of which we will continue to develop the
country in the next few years.
Karabakh
Undoubtedly, the main problem for us is finding a solution to the
Karabakh issue which will be to Armenia’s benefit. I think that in
2005 more active steps will be taken to solve this problem. We should
have a united stance on the domestic and foreign policy issues. We
should step up our efforts in international organizations. We should
use our diaspora to lobby more forcefully for a peaceful and fair
settlement of the problem.
Among the achievements of 2004, I would like to mention the launch of
the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline construction, which is of a great
economic and state security importance; the involvement of Armenia in
the “Extended Europe: New Neighbours” programme of the European Union;
the involvement of our country in the “Millennium challenges”
programme of the American government.
Opposition
Correspondent What can you tell us about the opposition boycott of
parliament and the fact that from time to time it makes blackmailing
statements about leaving the coalition and the fact that the coalition
parties are not friendly with each other?
Markaryan There are three different parties in the coalition. They
took responsibility for fulfilling the government programmes
jointly. They vowed to act in line with the memorandum they had
signed. This does not mean, however, that each of them cannot have its
own agenda, position and suggestions when it comes to solving any kind
of problems. They have also the right to discuss issues with their
partners and to defend their position. Such discussions within the
coalition are absolutely natural, I would even say necessary. But the
point is that such discussions and disputes are often being put into
the public domain which is a rather populist approach. Having
different views is a domestic problem for the coalition, but the
parties are trying not to turn them into disagreements. The partners
should present society with a single position adopted as a result of
discussions. Anyway, until today we managed to have a united approach
as a result of compromises to the most important issues. I do not
think that the opposition political forces do not have such
problems. Moreover, they have made contradictory statements on
ideological and geo-political and strategic issues. To be honest, I
would like the parties with the communist and liberal ideology to have
similar views on all the problems.
Passage omitted: Markaryan said there is no need for commenting on
blackmail statements.
As to the boycott or to be more correct a partial boycott of the
parliament’s work, I have said many times that the opposition
participation in the work of the parliament would make it more
fruitful and would give it more value. Naturally I cannot approve of
the opposition’s stance, but I do not see its absence from the
parliament as a tragedy, although some people are trying to present it
as political crisis. Life shows that the parliamentary majority
together with the government have worked very effectively in the
sessions.
Passage omitted: praises government majority in the National Assembly
for adopting “very important” laws
No revolution in Armenia in 2005
Correspondent Some predict that the year 2005 will be a year of
revolution. Do you agree with this?
Markaryan Are there such predictions for the coming year?
Correspondent Yes, there are.
Markaryan I do not know who makes such predictions and how serious
they are. But I see no objective reasons for them in Armenia, and I
would advise people not to speculate, not to forget our geographical
location, our problems, to show more respect to the state, which has
pledged to ensure a stable and gradual development and not a
revolution.
Passage omitted: dismisses reports about dissolution of parliament as
rumours, denies rumours of problems in relations with the president
and talks about people’s savings
Vows to cooperate with forces of same ideology
Correspondent On the whole, do you think it is possible to go into the
next parliamentary elections as a coalition?
Markaryan We will do that if on the eve of the elections we decide
that it makes more sense to cooperate with the coalition or make a
bloc with a political force which shares our ideology. But if we think
that it is more expedient to do it alone, then this is what we shall
do.
Correspondent What can you say about the majority-proportional
problem?
Markaryan I have already said that the RPA wants parties to have more
say in the public and political life, but the reality is rather
different. We reached an agreement on the 30-70 per cent ratio, and I
think that the coalition will not have serious problems with choosing
the final option.
Economy
Correspondent Let us also talk about the economic sphere. What do you
think of the year in terms of the economic achievements? Where did you
fail?
Markaryan We have solved almost all the problems we had in different
spheres which were mentioned at the beginning of the year. It can be
said there are no problems with the implementation of the budget. We
have every reason to expect a much higher economic growth than the one
planned. Once the ministries release their reports in the future,
society will be able to see for itself what we have achieved.
Correspondent Are you expecting any personnel changes at the beginning
of next year?
Markaryan If and when it happens, you would be informed. I think it is
pointless to make statements on this topic at this stage.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24. ARMINFO. Thursday, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Razov
and Russian Presidential Assistant for Education and Science Jakhan
Poliyeva discussed structural reforms of CIS.
The press-service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reports that the
decision on the reforms was made in September, 2004 during CIS Summit
in Astana. Then the CIS signatories were instructed to submit their
proposals on the issue to Chairman of the CIS Council of FMs. The
initiative was advanced by Kazakhstan.
The present visit of Razov to Armenia is following up the Dec 7-8
Moscow consultations of the CIS foreign ministries who adopted a
protocol saying that economic cooperation continues to be a priority
for the CIS but an increasing attention is being given to the fight
against international challenges and humanitarian interaction.
Razov told Oskanyan about the generalized approach of some CIS
countries to the structural reforms which concern mostly the CIS
administration and are aimed to enhance its efficiency. Poliyeva
told Oskanyan about the initiatives to raise cooperation efficiency
in culture, education and science that might be contributive to
the scientific-technical progress and cultural development of the
CIS countries.
Oskanyan reconfirmed Armenia’s commitment to take part in drafting the
CIS structural reforms and adopting specific decisions. He noted that
the current processes in the CIS should be considered in this context.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress