Author: Frangulian Shushan

OSCE HEAD HOPES FOR PROGRESS IN AZERI, ARMENIAN LEADERS’ MEETING ON 10 JUNE

Trend news agency, Baku
4 Jun 07

The visiting Spanish foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, who
is also the OSCE chairman-in-office, has expressed the hope that
the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders will make progress towards the
Karabakh settlement at a meeting planned in St Petersburg on 10 June.

"The OSCE is trying to make sure that the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents take real steps in this direction at their meeting in St
Petersburg on 10 June," Trend quoted Moratinos as saying in Baku on
4 June.

The Spanish foreign minister said that Azerbaijan and Armenia had
never been so close to reaching an agreement on the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict, Turan said.

Following his meetings with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku on 4 June, Moratinos said that Azerbaijan
"has the desire to take a step forward", Turan reported.

He expressed the hope to see the same in Yerevan.

On 5 June, Moratinos will leave Baku for Yerevan, where he plans to
meet Armenian officials and the separatist leader of Nagornyy Karabakh.

Euro 2008: Armenia beats Kazakhstan 2-1 with goals from Arzumanyan and
Hovsepyan

The Associated Press
Published: June 2, 2007

ALMATY, Kazakhstan: Robert Arzumanyan and Sargis Hovsepyan scored a
goal each to help Armenia beat Kazakhstan 2-1 Saturday in a European
Championship qualifying match.

Arzumanyan opened the scoring in the Group A match in the 31st minute.
Eight minutes later, Gamlet Mkhitaryan was fouled in the area and
Hovsepyan converted the penalty.

Kazakhstan dominated the second half and scored a late goal in the
88th after Arzumanyan fouled Murat Suyumagambetov. Ruslan Baltiev made
it 2-1 from the penalty kick.

Armenia now has four points, one behind Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan: David Loria, Samat Smakov, Aleksandr Kuchma, Maksim
Zhalmagambetov, Farkhadbek Irismetov, Anton Chichulin, Eduard
Sergienko (Dmitry Byakov, 36), Ruslan Baltiev, Zhambyl Kukeyev (Murat
Tleshev, 57), Murat Suyumagambetov, Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev (Oleg
Kornienko, 78).

Armenia: Gevorg Kasparov, Robert Arzumanyan, Aleksander Tadevosyan,
Aghvan Lazarian, Ararat Arakelyan (Aram Hakobyan, 80), Artur
Voskanyan, Yeghishe Melikyan, Samvel Melkhonyan (Arman Karamyan, 90),
Sargis Hovsepyan, Gamlet Mkhitaryan (Armen Shahgeldyan, 75), Vahagn
Minasyan.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkey rushes to peacekeeping mission in Nagorno Karabakh
02.06.2007 13:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `In case if NATO decides to carry out a peacekeeping
mission in Nagorno Karabakh, Turkish soldiers will participate in it
with pleasure,’ head of the Turkish delegation in NATO Parliament
Assembly, member of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party
Vahid Erdem stated.

Meanwhile it is worth underlining that only OSCE has a mandate for
peacekeping mission but the organization does not have peacekeeping
forces as such. The United Nations and NATO have peacekeeping
forces. However neither the UN or NATO has peacekeeping mandate in
Karabakh. The matter is which organization will carry out that
operation. The second problem is the following: the conflicting sides
came to an understanding that the OSCE Minsk Group countries and
neighboring states (i.e. Turkey, Iran and Georgia) cannot participate
in the peacekeeping mission. So it means that Turkey’s statements are
baseless.

COUPON BONDS OF "ARARATBANK" ASSIGNED "ABOND" LEVEL

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 23 2007

Yerevan, May 23 /Mediamax/. The coupon bonds of "ARARATBANK" CJSC,
which underwent listing in the Armenian Stock Exchange, are assigned
the "Abond" level.

"Assigning the bonds of "ARARATBANK" CJSC "Abond" level by the
Armenian Stock Exchange means that the given bonds, according to the
results of their financial activity, meet the strictest requirements
of the upper level of listing of bonds, established by the Exchange",
Mediamax was told in the press service of "ARARATBANK".

Coupon bonds of "ARARATBANK" CJSC are emitted for the term of 12
months circulation, with the nominal value of 10.000 drams and annual
interest rate of 8%.

THE RF MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING NEW IN BAKU

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.05.2007 GMT+04:00

The decision that parties arrived at were as follows; Baku decided
not to send any diplomatic notes, Russia promised to assist in the
issue of the energy supply.

The RF Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov didn’t say anything
new in Baku, and only what had already been mentioned in Yerevan
was repeated.

"Russia’s fundamental viewpoint regarding the Karabakh issue remains
unchangeable, the main responsibility for the final choice of the
resolution method depends on Azerbaijan and Armenia, as for Moscow,
in case of agreement achieved by mutual concession, it is willing to
become the guarantor of the regulation," this has been mentioned more
than once and perhaps will still be mentioned.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ And the matter is not in Lavrov’s personality,
but in the principles of diplomacy. The truth is though, that the
visit to Baku was a little "overshadowed" with three notes from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan concerning the Russian TV
Companies and Russian encyclopedia, yet everything went off smoothly.

For Azerbaijan, just like for Armenia, Russia remains one of the key
mediators in the Karabakh issue. "In any kind of conflict often the
history is being crunched over and over, something what unfortunately
happens to the results of World War II. It is necessary to have any
conflict is resolved in a peaceful way," stated the RF Minister of
Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov in Baku. According to his words, the
outcomes achieved by the OSCE Minsk group should be supported. "Russia
is stands up for the problem resolution within the frames of the OSCE
Minsk Group.

Moscow wants the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict be fair
and acceptable for all the parties," said Lavrov during the concluding
press-conference in Baku.

But of course the Nagorno-Karabakh problem wasn’t the only issue Sergey
Lavrov spoke about in Baku. At first the issue of energy cooperation
was being discussed during the meeting. A week before the visit of
the RF Minister of Foreign Affairs to Baku the President of Azerbaijan
had participated at Krakow Energy Summit.

Together with the President of Ukraine, Georgia and Poland Ilham Aliyev
discussed the options of realizing the ideas of the ex-President of
Ukraine Leonid Kuchma about continuing the Odessa-Brody pipe line up
to Gdansk. However Azerbaijan’s role in this very project is rather
limited. The new oil-pipe line is needed for transporting first of
all Kazakh oil. So Azerbaijan is first of all a transit country in
this project, as the country has almost run out of own oil. The truth
is, that the Krakow Summit ended with nothing, as the main potential
supplier of the alternative "black gold" for Ukraine and possibly the
Baltic countries wasn’t present at the meeting. That time Nursultan
Nazarbayev preferred meeting Vladimir Putin.

Judging from the commentaries of the Azeri press, Lavrov’s visit to
Baku was normal. The decision that parties arrived at were as follows;
Baku decided not to send any diplomatic notes, Russia promised to
assist in the issue of the energy supply. According to the political
scientist Rasim Musabekov, both Russia and Azerbaijan are interested
in the development of the political and financial relations. "But
unfortunately in politic objective moments are not as common as
subjective ones."

However regarding Azerbaijan and Russia there is the question of
allotment of the Caspian, the relationship between Iran and the
USA. Natural besides Armenia the RF wants to take control of Azerbaijan
which has lately started to threaten the International Community with
resolution of the Karabakh problem by use of force. Obviously Ilham
Aliyev’s announcements are of propagandistic nature; however for
Moscow it is better to keep all the events of the region under control.

This may be the reason why Russia is insisting on a veto in UNO
regarding the Kosovo issue, for it is well aware that the domino
effect in the Caucasus will work very fast. After all besides Karabakh
and Abkhazia there is also the issue of Chechnya, which strives for
independence by Kosovo example. In this matter Baku and Moscow are
of the same opinion unfortunately.

However, Rasim Mussabekov considers that in spite of the fact that
over the last several years some difficulties and misunderstandings
occurred between the two countries, the parties tried to come to a
mutual understanding. "In any case the relationship didn’t change
for the worse," said the political scientist.

RA NA SPEAKER TO LEAVE FOR BELGRADE ON MAY 23

Noyan Tapan
May 22 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The PACE Standing Committee sitting will
take place in Belgrade on May 23-24. Tigran Torosian, the RA National
Assembly Speaker, head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE will
participate in works of the sitting. Noyan Tapan was informed about
it by the RA NA Public Relations Department.

Reports relating to people traceless lost in Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia during the conflicts in the regions of Nagorno Karabakh,
Abkhazia and South Osetia as well as relating to the monitoring of
the May 12 National Assembly elections of the Republic of Armenia
will be discussed among other issues at the sitting of the Standing
Committee. The reports will be presented by Leo Platvoet.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TRADE OFFICE OF NORTH CYPRUS IN KUWAIT CITY?
Yuksel Soylemez

New Anatolian, Turkey
May 21 2007

The Kuwait Prime Minister was recently the official guest of Prime
Minister Erdogan. Their main agenda was the intention of developing
economic and trade relations, facilitating Kuwaiti investments in
Turkey and vice versa. Prime Minister Al Sabah was accompanied by
the Turkish Minister of Finance on his visit to Istanbul where he
met with Turkish industrialists and businessmen. All in all, it was
a successful and beneficial visit.

One important outcome concerned the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
with an initiative to open a TRNC Trade Office in Kuwait City, so that
Kuwaiti businessmen can do better business with TRNC and exports can
be increased from Northern Cyprus to Kuwait.

Trade Offices over the world serve as economic and tourism
agencies with no political bias. One such example is in China-Taiwan
relations. China does not recognize Taiwan, but there is a huge trade
volume and investment between the two. Turkey does not recognize
Taiwan diplomatically, but there has been a Turkish Trade Office in
Taipei since 1993.

I was in charge of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei as Representative
for three and a half years between 1995 and 1998. The first
representative was retired ambassador, the late Metin Sirman.

Beijing had no objection to a Turkish Trade Office in Taipei. Our
official trade volume some ten years ago was around $500,000, but in
actual terms it was probably about the $2 billion mark at the time,
according to Turkish businessmen, if one includes a) luggage trade,
b) trade from third countries and c) unregistered trade.

The Greek Cypriot administration in the South immediately reacted
by political reflex against the Kuwaiti Cabinet decision to allow a
TRNC trade mission in Kuwait City by making representations in Kuwait,
saying that the Kuwaiti decision is an "unwanted development and they
will use all means to stop this decision being materialized." By doing
this, the Greek Cypriot leadership reminded themselves, as much as
the Kuwaitis, that "this decision cannot mean granting legitimacy to
the Turkish Cypriots." It was a statement of the obvious.

Taiwan has had a Trade Mission in Ankara since 1992 and is busy
developing Taiwan’s exports and investments to Turkey, especially
in electronics and, more specifically. laptop computers. China has
no objection to Taiwan’s Trade Office in Ankara. By comparison, the
Greek Cypriots’ objection, as a matter of political reflex, to fight
against its establishment is beyond reason or international practice.

Turkey does not recognize Armenia, but has some trade with Yerevan,
and, to my mind, should open a Trade Mission in Yerevan, as there
is an Armenian representative in Istanbul visibly under the title
of Representative to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Region
Organization, who is probably taking care of such matters.

Now some time has passed, and I am afraid no news is not good news,
which presumably means that the Greek Cypriot leaders must have been
active in getting the Kuwait Government to stop its Trade Office
initiative and will to stand behind its cabinet decision and its
Prime Minister’s word to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. To open a
trade office cannot be interpreted as recognition of TRNC and Kuwait
was not wrong in suggesting this. It cannot be argued that it is
a first step towards recognition, because there are precedents in
favor of their decision. The Greek Cypriot leadership’s efforts to
block this initiative may prove counterproductive, if not negative,
to their already negative and uncooperative image.

For more than three decades the Greek Cypriot leadership, with their
economic blockade against the Turkish Cypriots have been trying to
strangle the North Cyprus state economically. The European Union’s
decision to break this economic blockade has already been obstructed
by the Greek Cypriot leadership in the south.

Trying to stop development of economic and trade relations between
Kuwait and the Turkish Republic in the North is the latest example
of their ill-conceived positions and uncompromising policies. Can,
or will, the Kuwaiti Government surrender easily to negative Greek
Cypriot pressure is the question. To stand their ground and to deliver
on their Prime Minister’s promise to open a Turkish Cypriot Trade
Mission in Kuwait City is their sovereign right and may be in their
own interests, a matter they should decide.

Commemorative stamps to be issued in the framework of the year of France in
Armenia

ArmRadio.am
21.05.2007 10:40

In the framework of the year of France in Armenia special
commemorative stamps are to be issued jointly by HayPost and La Poste
on May 22, 2007.

The First Day Issue will be celebrated at at 13.00 hours at the
Embassy of France in Armenia. A parallel event will be also held in
Paris, France.

The stamps issued have a value of 350 AMD and 70 AMD in Armenia and
0.85EUR and 0.54EUR in France. The stamps represent the fragments of
the famous spiritual art and pieces of Armenia and France. The
Armenian stamp is a fragment of a manuscript `Nativity’ of 15th
century Lectionary, which is currently kept in Matenadaran. The French
stamp has a fragment of the famous `Smiling Angel ‘ statue, part of
ensemble of the Our Lady of Rheims Catholic Cathedral, which dates
also 15th century.

`We are very proud and excited that HayPost, the National Postal
Operator of Armenia, can contribute to the year of France in Armenia’,
says Hans Boon, the Trust Manager of HayPost CJSC. ` Stamps are much
more than the traditional means of payment for transporting a
letter. Stamps express a message to the whole world, and we are glad
that the joint issue is such a perfect demonstration of the long-term
and intense friendship between the nations of France and Armenia, both
with a rich culture. We trust that the issue of the stamp encourages
to personal communications between the two nations and all others.

Starting January 2007 the exclusive right of issuance of the postal
stamps has been transferred to HayPost CJSC- Armenian National Postal
Operator.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PINS HOPES ON PARTNERSHIP

EurasiaNet, NY
May 18 2007

"The fate of Armenia depends on one person, and this one person
is you," read sheets of paper pasted on the base of a monument in
Yerevan’s Freedom Square. But as Armenia’s opposition pushes ahead
with plans to contest the May 12 parliamentary vote results, emphasis
is increasingly being put on the need for joint action.

Turnout, however, was low at a May 18 pan-opposition rally to protest
alleged election result falsification; the numbers of attendees were
smaller than at an initial demonstration held immediately following
election day. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Ironically, though, the demonstration marked one of the few times
during the 2007 election season that Armenia’s scattered opposition
has managed to combine forces. Members from the two opposition parties
that gained seats in parliament — Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law)
and Heritage — joined the more hardline Republic Party-New Times
Party-Impeachment bloc alliance in the square. The People’s Party
of Armenia, led by former presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian,
also took part.

Observers have said the failure to form such a coalition for the May
12 parliamentary vote partly explains the opposition’s weak showing
in the new National Assembly. That history of discord could put long
odds on the parties’ ability to now join together to contest the
election results.

The one point on which most opposition parties appear to agree is that
the official preliminary election results, which handed pro-government
parties complete control of the legislature, were rigged. [For details,
see the Eurasia Insight archive].

At a May 16 press conference, Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian
claimed that his party had received not 80,000 votes (roughly 5.82
percent of the vote), but 250,000. "We all saw how after midnight [on
May 13] that 250,000 was reduced to 80,000 through invalid ballots,
miscounts and other means," Hovannisian claimed. "And when European
observers declare progress, perhaps the progress is that 250,000
[votes] were not reduced to 25,000, but that 80,000 [of the actual
votes] remained." [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Hovannisian added, however that the party’s "documented proof" of such
falsification is by itself "insufficient." For that reason, he said,
the party will share its findings with "our partners."

Orinats Yerkir Party leader Artur Baghdasarian, who recently
announced his intention to run for president in 2008, is one of
those partners. Baghdasarian’s party won 6.85 percent of the vote,
based on official results.

In an appeal to "all political forces of Armenia that have concrete
evidence about electoral fraud and can provide it to us," Baghdasarian
announced plans on May 16 to contest those results before the
Constitutional Court. The onetime parliamentary speaker claimed that
results in some 400 polling stations nationwide were falsified.

"How is it possible that the party [Orinats Yerkir] gets 70-150
votes in one village, and no vote in the neighboring one?" he asked
reporters. "It’s impossible. Simply people were intimidated. Our
proxies left the polling stations half way through the elections.

They phoned me personally and said: "Mr. Baghdasarian, we are
abandoning the polling station . . . because we will still have to
live in this village."

Nonetheless, although both opposition parties claim the election
results are inaccurate — Heritage Party’s Hovannisian calling the
election process unbecoming not only to Armenians, but to "humans
in general" — neither has indicated it will give up its seats in
parliament.

Orinats Yerkir has termed boycotting parliament an incorrect way of
struggling against the government; an earlier opposition boycott in
2004 proved glaringly unsuccessful.

Hovannisian, the US-born Heritage Party leader and a former foreign
minister, stated that his party is keeping its options open — for
now. "Everything is possible under this sun, especially in Armenia,
but we are ready to do our work both in parliament and outside it,
using all possibilities, rights and powers given to us," he said.

Some opposition members have also taken up that declaration. As a
prelude to the May 18 protest, Nikol Pashinian, an Impeachment bloc
leader, staged a two-day round-the-clock sit-in in Liberty Square to
protest the election results. Former world boxing champion Israyel
Hakobkokhian, who ran for parliament as a non-partisan candidate,
has declared a hunger strike.

Government officials, however, have given little sign of noticing these
actions. "People gave such big promises during the campaign period
that now they have to explain their failure [to get into parliament]
somehow," commented Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosian at Yerevan’s
Tesaket (Viewpoint) Club, shrugging off organizers’ explanations for
the May 18 rally.

In response to the allegations of vote tampering, Central Election
Commission spokesperson Tsovinar Khachatrian repeated earlier
assurances that everything is "normal" with the vote count and results.

Since May 12, she told EurasiaNet, the Commission has received only
seven complaints about election results for both party lists and
first-past-the-post races. Recounts have "been implemented, with no
essential changes in the results," she said.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties protesting in Liberty Square have
scheduled their next demonstration for May 25.

Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the independent
online ArmeniaNow weekly in Yerevan.

HEART OF POLITICS BEATS IN RALLIES AHEAD OF ELECTIONS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 14 2007

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the Aegean province
of Ýzmir in the latest anti-government rally ahead of the upcoming
general elections, slated for July 22.

The rally, attended by three leftist opposition leaders, came a day
after up to 100,000 supporters of the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) raised gigantic Turkish flags and chanted slogans
denouncing the opposition as they enthusiastically listened to Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul at
a meeting in the eastern province of Erzurum.

Streets and buildings, including army barracks, in Ýzmir — Turkey’s
third-largest city and known to be a bastion of the main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) — were awash with a sea of red
Turkish flags and portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered
founder of modern Turkey. Demonstrators chanting slogans in favor
of secularism had expected the rally to be a platform for unity
between the politicians on the left, namely Deniz Baykal of the CHP
and Zeki Sezer of the smaller Democratic Left Party (DSP), which has
recently agreed to an election alliance with the CHP. But the two
leaders did not meet or address the demonstrators, although they
were believed to be among the crowd. A third leftist politician,
Social Democratic People’s Party (SHP) leader Murat Karayalcýn,
also attended the meeting.

The Ýzmir demonstration was the latest in a series of "republican
rallies" that began in Ankara on April 14 and later continued in
Ýstanbul, Manisa and Canakkale, aimed at supporting secularism
and opposing a candidate from the ruling AK Party becoming the
next president of Turkey. The rallies have received praise as a
demonstration of the people striving to make their voices heard.But
the meetings, which intensified after the military issued a strong
statement on April 27 expressing concern over the presidential election
process and warning of intervention, also raised questions over the
demonstrators’ desire to see the military, the die-hard guardian of
Turkey’s secular order, intervening in the country’s politics.

The AK Party, which has overseen the start of accession talks with the
European Union and pushed for radical economic and political reforms
aimed at bringing Turkey closer to the bloc, denies it is pursuing an
Islamist agenda. "Would we have worked that hard to join the EU if we
had a hidden agenda?" Foreign Minister Gul, the AK Party’s presidential
candidate who had to withdraw his bid after the Constitutional Court
annulled the parliamentary vote, has recently asked.

Demonstrators in Ýzmir, gathering in Gundoðdu Square and along the
coastal strip of Kordonboyu, chanted anti-EU and US slogans as well
as ones against the AK Party government. "Neither the US nor the EU,
fully independent Turkey," "Voting for Tayyip kills," "Killer US,
get out of the Middle East" and "International Monetary Fund out,
this is our country," were among the slogans frequently chanted by
protestors. The banners raised by demonstrators called for unity
among the leftist parties in order to counter the AK Party in the
general elections. One banner read "We are all Turks," apparently
in reaction to banners reading "We are all Armenians" raised at a
funeral ceremony in January for Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
slain by a teenage hit man in Ýstanbul.

An opinion poll recently published by Vatan daily said some 62 percent
of those who attended the pro-secularist rallies voted for the CHP
in the previous elections, held in 2002.

Retired Gen. Hurþit Tolon, a prominent member of one of the main
organizers of the meeting, the Kemalist Thought Association (ADD) and
Workers’ Party (ÝP) Chairman Doðu Perincek were also in attendance
at the rally. Many demonstrators came from Ýstanbul, Ankara and
other cities.

The rally took place a day after a bomb fastened to a bicycle exploded
at an open-air market in Ýzmir as traders were preparing their stalls
for the day, killing one vendor and injuring 14 other people.

The government is now pushing for constitutional changes to pave the
way for election of the president by public vote after its attempt to
get Gul elected in Parliament was blocked by the Constitutional Court
and the CHP. The latter successfully challenged the election at the
court, based on the claim that there were less than 367 deputies in
attendance when the vote began. CHP leader Baykal said he opposed the
public election of president, saying it would result in "sultanate"
coming back to Turkey and warning that it would lead the public will to
"shatter."

Erdoðan lashed out at Baykal during his visit to Erzurum, which
was organized to hand over houses built by the Public Housing
Authority of Turkey (TOKÝ) to their owners. "We have never lost
our common sense in the face of those who try to stir up tension
[or] create polarization. You know who I am talking about," Erdoðan
told supporters in Erzurum, where a two-kilometer-long Turkish flag
streamer was raised aloft.

"You will teach them the lesson when the time comes," Erdoðan said,
referring to the coming elections. He said that Parliament had elected
the president in the past, but when it came to Gul, his candidacy was
blocked. "My nation would send me to Parliament even with 550 deputies
(the entire Parliament), but you (the opposition) would still make up
excuses to block it," he said, adding: "Here are those who believe
in democracy and the secular republic. But the opposition is afraid
to go to the people."

Banners at the Erzurum gathering read, "Neither in Tandoðan, nor in
Caðlayan, the republic is in Erzurum," referring to past rallies in
Ankara’s Tandoðan and Ýstanbul’s Caðlayan squares.

–Boundary_(ID_iwz7CfqRGht+l/fjBaey4g)–