Author: Felekian Ara

ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT TELLS VILLAGERS ELECTION COULD CHANGE LIVES
by Naira Mamikonyan

Aravot
Feb 8 2008
Armenia

"Down with fear in you!"

"We have already won," this is what the first president of the Republic
of Armenia was telling to residents of Lori Region.

Yesterday [7 February] the first president of the Republic of Armenia
and presidential candidate, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, visited Lori Region
for the second time within the framework of his election campaign.

His meetings in the towns of Spitak and Stepanavan, villages of
Jrashen, Shirakamut and Kurtan have been planned.

Ter-Petrosyan’s first stop was at Jrashen village. The election
headquarters of Serzh Sargsyan, the candidate from the Republican
Party of Armenia [and prime minister], is precisely in the beginning
[of the village]. At first people met Ter-Petrosyan in a somewhat
fearful manner, but later they saw him off with great inspiration.

Ter-Petrosyan told the rural residents who came to meet him: "I came to
ask you – do you want to change something in your life?" Having heard
"yes" in response, the Armenian presidential candidate continued:
"You have this opportunity on 19 February [date of the presidential
election]. You see what has been done during 10 years.

If you are okay – I have no problem, so let these authorities stay
[in power]."

He introduced to the Jrashen residents the team which will come to
power emphasizing that "we will come also with support of Yerkrapah
[Yerkrapah Union of Volunteers] – they are all with us." "Issues
have already been solved in Yerevan. In Yerevan, the authorities
have already lost their power. They pin hopes on villages. They
think – you are remote, a little bit unaware, a little bit afraid,
and thus they can cheat people exerting pressure, through violence
and election bribes. You are the ones to decide. If you want to be
cheated – be cheated. The most important is – realize the importance
of 19 February. It depends on you. It is your business how you vote,
but if nothing changes in your lives, nothing improves after you
vote, do not accuse anyone. I just ask do not surrender to pressure,
do not be cheated."

FINNISH STATE SECRETARY: THE KARABAKH CONFLICT IS NOT LESS IMPORTANT THAN KOSOVO

armradio.am
12.02.2008 18:06

"All conflicts of Post-Soviet Republics, including that of Nagorno
Karabakh, are not less serious than the Kosovo conflict," said the
Secretary of State of Finland Pertti Torstila said during his visit
to Lithuania, APA reports.

The Secretary of State delivered a speech at the International
Relations and Political Science Department of the Vilnius University
and stated that the OSCE Minsk Group continues its activity to help
the parties to determine the core principles on the settlement of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"The conflicting parties should show political will, courage and
mutual understanding for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. OSCE will support the peaceful solution to the conflict,"
he said. Mr. Torstila noted that, Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka
Kanerva will visit all conflict zones in OSCE region and carry out
talks with conflict parties. Special Envoy of the Chairman-in-Office
Heikki Talvitie will be engaged in a similar activity.

The Clover Herald (South Carolina)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
February 8, 2008 Friday

BRIEF: Armenian music in UVa’s spotlight

by The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va.

Feb. 8–The Shoghaken Ensemble of America, an internationally
acclaimed group of leading Armenian vocalists and instrumentalists,
will present Armenian music and dance Thursday at the University of
Virginia.

There will be a demonstration of traditional Armenian instruments
from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday in Old Cabell Hall Room B018. The
instruments will include the duduk, an end-blown woodwind instrument;
the kamancha, a spike fiddle; and the kanon, a plucked zither.

The performers will talk about the history of the instruments,
demonstrate techniques and play some of the masterworks written for
the instruments.

The demonstration is free.

A folk dance workshop will follow from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Old
Cabell Hall Room 107. The ensemble will teach three or four Armenian
folk dances to live music.

Admission is free.

The ensemble will present a concert of Armenian music 8 p.m. Thursday
in Cabell Hall Auditorium. Tickets are $10, $5 for students.

For details about the ensemble’s different events, call 924-3984.

New code to VivaCell cellular operator

2008-02-08 13:34:00

ArmInfo. Public Services Regulatory Commission adopted a decision today
to give a new code to VivaCell cellular operator (077).

As external adviser of the company Vahan Harutyunyuan told journalists,
more than half of the codes given earlier are already used, the codes
093 and 094 were used by more than 80% and 60% respectively. He also
added that the new code is necessary for further development of the
company and for giving new services of the third generation in GSM
standard. Press-service of the Public Services Regulatory Commission
says that they are going give a new code 055 to the third cellular
operator which will enter the Armenian market in 2008.

To note, at present there are two cellular operators in Armenia: CJSC
"ArmenTel", 100% shares of which belong to OJSC "Vympelcom" and
"K-Telecom" (trade mark VivaCell), 80% of shares of which belong to
MTS. There are about 2mln cellular phone users in Armenia, 65% of which
use VivaCell.

RUSSIA AND ARMENIA TO BOOST TRADE

RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
Feb 6 2008

RBC, 06.02.2008, Moscow 10:47:22.Russian-Armenian trade turnover
needs to reach a minimum of $1bn over the next few years, Prime
Minister Viktor Zubkov said during today’s meeting with his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian in Yerevan. Zubkov noted the positive
dynamics of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries
and expressed hope that Russia and Armenia would be able to make
further progress in this direction. An operating plan to expand trade
is expected to be signed during today’s talks.

In turn, Sarkisian pointed out that the two countries had good
prospects for further cooperation, as Russian-Armenian trade had
grown 65 percent in 2007.

DAVID HARUTUNYAN: "WHICH CANDIDATE’S PRINCIPLES ARE JUSTIFIED"

Panorama.am
20:35 05/02/2008

David Harutyunyan, the head of state legal questions permanent
committee, started his speech with the famous Bismarck’s note during
the announcements time in the National Assembly of RA. He particularly
spoke about the "fantastic and interned" promises of some president
candidates. Those announcements he named as "cheap populism" and
added that it becomes hard for people and for the country.

"Besides giving interned promises, these presidential elections are
differentiated with the crucial point that some candidates pretend
to give solutions to the questions which are out of president’s
regulation sphere. It seems that some candidates are unaware of the
fact that besides the president’s office we have National Assembly,
and other state organizations," he said.

"The inner policy of the RA is fulfilled by the Government which got
great trust from the deputies.

Today only Serzh Sargsyan’s promises about the inner policy of
the country could be justified, but the rest are nonsense," said
the deputy.

FERRERO-WALDNER AND VARTAN OSKANIAN TO OPEN THE NEW PREMISES OF THE EC DELEGATION IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
05.02.2008 11:04

European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood
Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian, will open the new premises of the EC Delegation to Armenia
on February 5, 2008. Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner will also
introduce the new Head of Delegation that will lead the full-fledged
EC Delegation to Armenia. The Commissioner together with Dimitrij
Rupel, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and EU Special
Representative for the Southern Caucasus, Ambassador Peter Semneby,
will participate in the Ministerial EU Troika visit to Azerbaijan,
Georgia, and Armenia on 4-6 February 2008.

Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner and Minister Oskanian will make opening
speeches during the ceremony. This will be followed by a reception.

RUSSIAN PM ARRIVING IN YEREVAN TODAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.02.2008 18:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Prime Minister Victor Zubkov is arriving in
Yerevan on a formal visit tonight, the RA government’s press office
reported. The delegation includes Minister of Transport Igor Levitin,
Minister of Information Technoligies and Communications Leonid Reyman,
Minister of Industry and Energy Andrey Dementyev, Head of the Federal
Customs Service Andrey Belyaninov, Deputy Minister of Trade and
Economic Development Kiril Androsov, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory
Karasin and other officials.

On February 6, Mr Zubkov will meet with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian, NA Speaker Tigran Torosian, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan
and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.

The Russian PM will also attend Tsitsernakaberd to lay a wreath to
the Memorial to Armenian Genocide victims.

DASHNAK CANDIDATE LAMENTS ‘ARTIFICIAL’ VOTER CHOICE
By Hovannes Shoghikian and Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Feb 4 2008

The candidate of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
complained on Monday that many Armenians view the upcoming presidential
election as a two-horse race between their current and former leaders
and could ignore other candidates opposed to both rival camps.

"The people are faced with an artificial choice," Vahan Hovannisian
said during a campaign trip to the southern Armavir region.

"Unhappy with their downtrodden status, the people, especially their
unconscious part, are going to elect the worst, instead of the bad,"
he told voters in Parakar, a village just outside Yerevan. "But who
says that we must make a choice between the bad and the worst? Why
aren’t we making a choice between the good and the bad?"

By "the worst" the deputy speaker of Armenia’s parliament appeared to
mean former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who had controversially
banned Dashnaktsutyun and jailed some of its leaders, including
Hovannisian, during his rule. Many local commentators regard
Ter-Petrosian and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian as the main election
contenders, a view resented by Dashnaktsutyun. The nationalist party,
which is represented in Sarkisian’s cabinet, says its candidate
represents a viable alternative to the two men and political groups
behind them.

Accordingly, Hovannisian has been attacking both camps in his campaign
speeches. He admitted on Monday that the increasingly acrimonious
relationship between the Sarkisian and Ter-Petrosian camps is putting
him in a difficult situation as public criticism of one side could
benefit the other.

Meanwhile, Sarkisian all but wrapped up his election campaign in
Yerevan Monday with rallies held in the city’s two northern suburbs,
Avan and Nor Nork. He assured local residents that Armenia will not
"regress" economically and in terms of human rights if he wins the
February 19 election.

Sarkisian also stressed that he wants to prevail in a free and fair
vote and be seen as a legitimate president. "I need your votes because
I want to be a full-fledged president," he said. "I want the president
of Armenia not to be inferior to the presidents of other countries
in any way."

AZG Armenian Daily #020, 02/02/2008

Culture

SERGEY PARAJANOV EXHIBITION IN KIEV

On January 30, in Kiev took place the opening ceremony
of world known film director Sergey Parajanov’s
exhibition. The exhibition presents Sergey Parajanov’s
55 works from Yerevan Museum.

Director of Sergey Parajanov Yerevan Museum Zaven
Sargsian, Ukraine Culture and Tourism Minister Vasili
Vovkun, poets Ivan Drach and Ivan Dzyuban, Parajanov’s
spouse Svetlana Sherbatyum and son Suren Parajanov
participated in the ceremony and delivered speeches.

Translated by L.H.