Author: Frangulian Shushan

TREND, Azerbaijan
June 17 2006

Statement of ex-advisor of Russian FM is provacation

Source: Trend
Author: R.Agayev

17.06.2006

The statement of the advisor of Russian Foreign Minister on
natonality affiars in 1999-2001 Vsevolod Maryan is a provacation
first directed agaisnt Russia itself, Soyun Sadigov, the president of
"Azerros", told the special correspondent of Trend in Moscow.

Maryan made a statement that Azerbaijani group in Russia annually
allocated $50m for killing Armenians. In oppinion of Maryan, the
crime in the national context has started after the collapse of the
USSR.

Sadigov called this a provacation directed against Russia itself and
towards kindling the restless international relations in this
country.

In Russia there are such types of politicians such as Jirnoviski,
Zatulin, Kazimirov who do not avoid to speculate such attacks and
violate the friendly relations of Russia with its neighbours, as well
as with Azerbaijan, told Sadigov.

Besides, Sadigov did not agree with the issue that mob groups of
Azerbaijan function in Russia. He noted that there were numerous and
mixed groups of business people in Russia which are not involved in
crimes, but economical interests.

About 160 nations are living in Russia and we take our position that
Azerbaijanis are not comers, but pure people of Russia. For instance,
Darband was and is pure Azerbaijani city, and during the power of
Khurushov it was included in the composition of Dagestan.
Unfortunately, there are certain political forces in Russia such as
Jirnovski and other communists who offer to apply visa regime with
Azerbaijan and limit economic opportunities of Azerbaijan. It is
clear that all these statements are directed towards hostility.
Therefore we invite all Russian national-patriotic organizations to
our measure " We – Russians!" to understand them the real things and
deliver the truth to them.

PEACEKEEPING OFFICERS IN GERMANY BEST STUDENTS

Panorama.am
17:02 15/06/06

Peacekeeping officers studying in Germany are the best students,
Renate Haike Patch, Germany ambassador, told a discussion organized
by George Marshal Center Alumni Armenian Association. The center is a
joint German-American establishment. Speaking about career advancement
of the center alumni, John Evans noted that 16 graduates have become
defense ministers, 21 have held other ministerial positions, 22 have
become ambassadors and so on. "There is a close link between them. In
a good sense I would say that it is a mafia in Europe and Asia,"
he said.

CENTRAL ASIA – CAUCASUS ANALYST
Wednesday / June 14, 2006

ARMENIA’S RULING COALITION UNRAVELS

Grigor Hakobyan Last month, beset by numerous defections of a number of
deputies from the Orinats Yerkir (Law-Governed Country) faction and
mounting differences between Orinats Yerkir and its coalition partners,
the speaker of Armenian Parliament, Artur Baghdasaryan, resigned from
his position. The change in Armenia’s ruling coalition underscored the
immaturity of many political forces in Armenia and created a new
political reality in the country that may also have certain implications
for the foreign policy of Armenia in the region. BACKGROUND: On May
29th, Artur Baghdasaryan officially relinquished his position as the
Chairman of National Assembly of Armenia. His resignation was caused by
growing differences between his party and the presidential
administration, as well as its partners in the coalition, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Republican Party of
Armenia. To some external political observers, the history of
disagreements between the outspoken Chair of National Assembly, often
accused by his opponents for engaging in populism, began last year. At
the time, Artur Baghdasaryan accused the ruling government of engaging
in voting irregularities on the eve of the constitutional referendum in
Armenia and forwarded a list of recorded cases of alleged voting
misconduct to the Supreme Court for review.
The tensions between him and the member coalition partners, as well as
the presidential administration, continued to increase when he further
ventured into the foreign policy field and began making statements on
various issues pertaining to Armenian-Russian, Armenian-NATO and
Armenian-Turkish relations. Specifically, he advocated the pursuit of
NATO membership for Armenia, retaliatory actions toward Russia for their
decision to raise gas prices for Armenia by charging the difference in
gas prices for the hosting of Russian military base in the country. The
last straw for Baghdasaryan’s career in the ruling administration came
after he made calls for reviewing the 2001-2003 privatization decisions,
due to various fraudulent tenders that he alleged had occurred during
the implementation of the controversial privatization program.

IMPLICATIONS: Baghdasaryan’s active advocacy with a view to scrutinizing
the country’s recent privatization program caused discontent among many
of his party’s business elite, who benefited from the above-mentioned
privatization program and saw their positions endangered from their
association with the ever more vocal Baghdasaryan, whose criticism of
the ruling administration failed to subside. The defection of nearly a
dozen of parliamentarians associated with Orinats Yerkir resulted in the
decline of the party’s faction in the Armenian National Assembly and
undermined the party’s role in the coalition government. That also
showed the main weakness of the party, which was the lack of a unique
political vision that would attract people regardless of whether the
party is a part of the ruling government or the opposition.
Artur Baghdasaryan was considered the most outspoken politician
advocating NATO membership for Armenia, as well as rapid integration
into European political structures. His pro-European views earned him
the title of `The Best European of the Year’. Very often, he was
perceived by various political observers as the most likely candidate to
earn the largest number of votes in the next presidential elections.
However, his subsequent demise and the party’s positioning as an
opposition force toward the current authorities, coupled with the
desertion of many wealthy businessmen that provided financial backing
for the party, may seriously undermine his chances to win the upcoming
presidential elections in 2008. Very few wealthy businessmen would ever
consider to back a political opposition force, thus undermining their
own access to the ruling administration which provided them with the
opportunity to prosper in the first place.
The Orinats Yerkir party’s past membership in the ruling coalition does
not attract make it appealing to the current opposition forces in
Armenia either, as many of the opposition forces view the transition of
Orinats Yerkir from party of power into a party in opposition as another
calculated political move by the presidential administration of Armenia
to further split the less than cohesive opposition. Meanwhile, other
opposition forces consider the sudden move of Orinats Yerkir party into
the opposition camp as a calculated pre-election move on behalf of
Baghdasaryan, designed to further his personal ambitions by first
distancing himself from the ruling administration and secondly creating
a momentum to recreate himself for the purpose of enlarging his
electorate and creating an opportunity to pick up additional votes from
a portion of Armenian voters who would otherwise have voted for a
mainstream opposition candidate.
Another factor to consider is the potential for the remaining parties in
power, the Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutiun), if successful in the upcoming parliamentary
elections, to eventually play a decisive role in speeding up the
realignment of political forces in Armenia by consolidating them into a
more cohesive and clear-cut political spectrum where a line between
liberal and conservative ideologists would be easier to distinguish. The
amorphous political situation in Armenia has created a situation where
most political parties lack a clear political vision. They mostly feed
off empty rhetoric, and their would-be members rally around specific
personalities and not specific policies. Parties may pride themselves by
the number of their party memberships, yet this only increases or
decreases depending on whether the party in question is in power or in
opposition and not by any tangible accomplishments for the benefit of
the people. Clearly, this situation is not sustainable.

CONCLUSIONS:The transition of the Orinats Yerkir from a party in power
to a party in opposition was long anticipated, as the disagreements
within the ruling coalition became more transparent after the passage of
the Constitutional Referendum in Armenia. The controversies over voting
irregularities during the Constitutional Referendum, differences over
the country’s foreign policies, and the common belief among the two
junior partners of the government led by the Republican Party of Armenia
` that is Orinats Yerkir and the ARF ` that they were cheated out of
votes during the parliamentary elections could not but undermine the
effective work of the coalition government. Indeed, Orinats Yerkir is
not the only disgruntled party: the continuous tension between the ARF
and the Republican Party could further split the ruling coalition by
resulting in the exodus of another party from the coalition government.
As Armenia’s parliamentary elections of 2007 are fast approaching, it is
expected that further splits, consolidations and the introduction of new
political parties in the nation’s political life will continue to occur.
As a number of well-known oligarchs and government officials rush to
create new political parties to vie for the laurels of power,
strengthening their own positions and advancing their personal agendas,
the common electorate will continue to feel ostracized and further
disfranchised from the entire political process. The situation will
change only if and when people realize that their votes do really matter
and that they do have a power to a make a difference in the life of
their country.

AUTHOR’S BIO: Grigor Hakobyan is a freelance writer based in the U.S.
East Coast.

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DRAM’S APPRECIATION LEADS TO IMPOVERISHMEMT OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND ENRICHMENT OF A FEW, OYP FACTION MEMBER SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Jun 14 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The current trends in development of
the Armenian economy pose a threat to the country’s future. Member of
the RA National Assembly Orinats Yerkir Party (OYP) Mher Shahgaldian
made this statement in the parliament on June 13. In his words, "if
such appreciation of the Armenian dram continues under conditions of
half-finished reforms, a surface fight against corruption (sometimes
an imitation of it), strengthening of banks, elite construction,
small and medium business choking under the burden of taxation, and
the economy’s oligarchization, our economy will be brought to a state
of stagnation in a few years."

He considered it quite strange that the Armenian dram is appreciating
against both the dollar and the euro, which is not consistent with
international trends: the dollar is depreciating against all other
currencies in the world.

According to the deputy, a significant part of the Armenian
citizens make their daily bread thanks to remittances from relatives
abroad. "Their relatives send a small sum of money, and the current
appreciation of the dram hits their pockets," M. Shahgaldian said.

According to him, the dram’s appreciation also causes a decline
in exports.

He said that today Armenia’s imports exceed exports by more than
50%, which results in bankruptcy of producers who either close their
enterprises or have to operate in the shadow sector. "Oligarchization
of the economy is taking place. These trends lead to impoverishment
of thousands of people and enrichment of a few," the OYP faction
member stated.

RELATIVES AND FRIENDS COMMEMORATE VICTIMS IN AIR CRASH OF A-320 IN SOCHI

SOCHI, JUNE 14. ArmInfo. 180 people from Armenia left for Sochi to
commemorate the victims in the May 3 air crash. Hrach Makeyan, head of
the Sochi branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia, told "Interfax."

"Today we will mark the forty days after the day of the tragedy. Not
less than 300 people will participate in the commemoration arrangement,
including the friends and the relatives of the victims who arrived
from Armenia, Sochi and Krasnodar region," Makeyan said.

He told that at present the mourning procession is on the board of
a boat that sails to the place of the tragedy.

"They will throw flowers and wreaths onto the sea and go to the church,
as soon as they arrive in Adler," Makeyan said.

AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIAN FMS AGREED TO CONTINUE TALKS ON CONFLICT REGULATION

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 14 2006

On June 13 in Foreign Ministry building of France Azerbaijan and
Armenian foreign ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanian held
the next round of talks on regulation of Nagorno Garabagh, within
"Prague process."

Foreign Affairs Ministry Press and Information Policy Office chief
Tahir Taghizade has told APA that agreed issues were discussed in the
meeting, the ministers came to accord to continue the talks. In the
negotiations, OSCE Minsk Group Russia and France co-chairmen –Yuri
Merzlyakov and Bernar Fasie, as well as OSCE chairman in- office
personal representative Andrzey Kasprzyk have participated. American
co-chair, Steven Mann, terminating his duty did not participate
in Paris. No information is given on the date of the ministers’
next meeting.

HONOURABLE CONDITIONS FOR THE JUDGES OF THE CASSATION COURT

A1+
[03:56 pm] 13 June, 2006

Impartial Decisions In The Beautiful Halls?

Criminal cases will henceforth be heard in the Red hall and civil cases
in the White hall of the Cassation court. Asked the question why are
the newly reconstructed halls of the Cassation court called in that
way chairman of the chamber Hovhannes Manoukyan gave the following
answer, “While deciding the names of the halls we were guided by
non-traditional principle. If we didn’t do that you wouldn’t arouse
that question.”

The Cassation court will also have a rich library for its readers
with 60 thousand samples of books. The majority of the books are in
English. It was interesting to know how many other judges besides Mr.

Manoukyan will be able to make use of the library in English, “I am
also incapable to read all those books in their full volume but we
have got specialists who will help us on this score.”

Journalists and all those who are interested in the literature on
law may make use of the library services. The hall of conferences
has also been reconstructed. The repair was mainly financed by the
State budget but the chairman couldn’t say exactly how much money
it cost. Asked whether the repaired halls will enhance justice
administration, Mr. Manoukyan said, “I assume that they will have a
serious impact in this context. Each person strives to improve his
work when working in honorable conditions. We shall soon register
that change in the activity of the Cassation court.”

David Haroutyunyan, Minister of Justice claims that outer attributes
really have their direct influence on the justice. “If you stand on the
entrance of courts you may see the satisfaction of citizens when they
step into the newly repaired halls. Courts and theatres are alike on
this score, theatres start from cloak-rooms and courts – from halls.”

David Haroutyunyan mainly underlined the importance of the new
library and expressed his regret that not all judges may make use
of the books. “We must urge the obligatory knowledge of English from
the next generation of judges.”

Enoq Azaryan, chairman of the qualifying committee of Lawyers’ chamber
also focused on the importance of the repaired halls and rich library,
“Halls and general conditions create psychological atmosphere on the
whole and help to administer justice.”

Chairman of the Lawyers’ chamber Ruben Sahakyan said, “How can
impartial decisions be made in such beautiful halls.”

ARMENIAN FAILURE TO STUDY LATEST TALKS TO CAUSE ITS DEFEAT – AZERI OFFICIAL

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006

Baku, June 9, AssA-Irada
An Azerbaijani official has warned that Armenia will suffer a defeat
if it fails to properly assess the latest talks on settling the
long-standing conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.

“Armenia should analyze the Rambouillet and Bucharest talks and make
conclusions, otherwise, it will lose,” said Deputy Foreign Minister
and the Azerbaijani President’s Upper Garabagh negotiator, Araz Azimov.

The latest rounds of talks between the two presidents in Rambouillet
and Bucharest turned out fruitless.

Azimov declined to make any specific projections but said the chances
for resolving the dispute in 2006 have not been exhausted and it is
only necessary to capitalize on them.

“Azerbaijan has waited this long and can still wait. But we have no
intention to back away from our position of principle. At the same
time, our stance is constructive. If we advance in the direction
we have proposed, I believe it is possible to achieve results,”
the deputy minister said.

He reiterated that Azerbaijan’s priorities entail liberation of the
occupied Azeri territories and the return of refugees and IDPs home,
and only after this could other issues be tabled.

Azimov emphasized that President Ilham Aliyev had made far-sighted
proposals during his meetings on various levels. “Ensuring Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity is key. If this fair condition of official Baku
is complied with, using international experience to solve the problem
is possible.”

Azimov warned that if Yerevan fails to relinquish its non-constructive
stance, this will not be in its favor. “Some countries have refused to
forge ties with Armenia altogether due to its occupation claims against
Azerbaijan. Half of Armenia’s population has left the country. Such
a stalemate could lead to escalating tensions,” he said.

As for the upcoming replacement of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group’s US
co-chairman, Steven Mann, the diplomat said this would not negatively
affect peace talks in any way. He added that the Azerbaijani government
had been content with the mediator’s activity.

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 58.08.77, 52.22.38
Fax: (+374 – 10) 54.38.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

June 9, 2006

Heritage Case Delayed for Three Days

Yerevan–The hearing of Heritage Party Chairman Raffi K. Hovannisian’s case
against defendants Paronian Theater and the government’s Department on State
Property Management (DSPM) reconvened today at the Court of First Instance
of Yerevan’s Central and Nork-Marash communities, Judge Edward Avetisian
presiding. The previous hearing, held on June 1, was postponed a second time
for one week because Aram Ghlechian, the legal representative of defendant
DSPM, had requested a continuance in order to study further the details of
the claims made by Hovannisian.

Opening today’s hearing of the case, Judge Avetisian again presented the
causes of action of the lawsuit, citing that it includes the plaintiff’s
claims against both defendants to remove the unlawful encroachment upon the
right of access, control, and usage of his property, as well as those which
derive under the law by consequence of defendants’ nullification of
contracts. Thereupon, following a brief recess, the judge urged the parties
to settle the matter out of court and so ordered a three-day continuance for
that purpose.

In compliance with the Court’s April 14 injunction against the defendant
theater’s restriction of access to Hovannisian’s premises and property,
bailiffs from the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial Acts (SMEJA)
of the Ministry of Justice had reopened the Heritage Party headquarters on
May 29. During the inspection of the latter it became clear that on March 8,
exactly four days after the main office was put under lock and further
access to it was blocked, someone had gained entry to the main computer
where all information regarding the party, its membership and activities is
maintained. With a call for an official investigation sent to the chief of
police and attorney general regarding this second break-in at his
headquarters, Hovannisian demanded that this incident be investigated
thoroughly and its architects be brought to justice.

This, however, did not complete the saga. The SMEJA officials returned to
Heritage’s office the same day, on May 29, commanding that the staff vacate
the premises in order that the outside door, which had been unlocked by the
very same officials just six hours before and in compliance with the ruling
of the Court, be resealed. And this unlawful demand became a reality the
next day, on May 30, when SMEJA bailiffs forcibly vacated the premises,
evicting Hovannisian and his staff from the headquarters. All office doors,
external and internal, were then sealed.

Hovannisian then filed a new suit against the SMEJA bailiffs and their
supervisors “of all kinds,” demanding the immediate removal of their seals
from his office doors and urging their criminal prosecution by the attorney
general. The Heritage Party chairman also sent a letter to Armenia’s
ombudsman, asking for the latter’s assistance in the restoration of his
violated civil rights.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central headquarters are located at 7 Vazgen Sargsian Street, Yerevan 0010,
Armenia, with telephone contact at (374-10) 580.877, fax at (374-10)
543.897, and email at [email protected]

US OFFICIAL SAYS 2006 CRUCIAL FOR GARABAGH SETTLEMENT

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 7 2006

Baku, June 6, AssA-Irada
A US official has said that a promising option to settle the
long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict is
currently on the negotiating table and an agreement may be reached now.

Commenting on Sunday’s round of talks between Azerbaijani and Armenian
Presidents in Bucharest, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Matthew Bryza said the fact it yielded no fruit should not create
hopelessness. The United States is confident that peace talks will
continue and the desired results will be achieved.

“Courage is required from Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian. At a time of ongoing negotiations, the presidents are
likely to face daunting tasks,” said Bryza. He said the sides should
act swiftly to achieve a solution on Garabagh soon, as the elections
to be held in the future may delay the process.

“2006 is a crucial year for the conflict resolution and we believe a
solution will be reached, as political developments in Armenia will
be more complex next year,” the American official added.