Author: Frangulian Shushan

FIRST REPUBICAN CELLO MUSIC FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
March 25, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 25, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of the RA ministry
of culture, the first republican cello music festival dedicated to
People’s Artist of Armenia, Professor Heronti Talalian will be held in
Armenia in the period of March 26 to May 4. The festival director,
cellist of the string quartet after Komitas, docent of Yerevan
Conservatory Aram Talalian said at the March 24 press conference
that the purpose of the festival is assist with improvement of young
cellists’ mastery. In his words, the cello art has no long history
in Armenia: it originated in the 1920s and managed to achieve a high
level in a short time. However, many musicians of the middle generation
have left Armenia in recent years due to hard material conditions,
as a result of which the alternation of generations has not been a
smooth one.

According to A. Talalian, the festival is of rather educational
and instructive importance. It is not in all music schools that
cello classes have been kept. For this reason during the festival
concerts will be given in those cities and marzes (provinces) where
the teaching of cello classes has been retained: in Gyumri, Vanadzor,
Kapan, Stepanakert, Abovian, and Charentsavan.

Aram Talalian announced that among festival participants ara famous
cellists from the UK, Switzerland, Georgia, Iran, Russia and France,
including Alexander Chaushian, Aydin Ahmadinejad, Mikael Hakhnazarian,
Yovan Markovich and others.

SERZH SARGSYAN HOPES FOR CONTINUATION OF POLICY OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH RUSSIA

arminfo
2008-03-24 20:38:00

ArmInfo. Today newly elected president, prime minister of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan met with President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

Sargsyan thanked Putin for his invitation to visit Moscow. He
congratulated Putin on the successful presidential election in Russia
and expresed hope that Armenian-Russian relations will continue to
develop in the form of strategic partnership especially as they are
underpined by a firm basis created by presidents Putin and Kocharyan
and guaranteed by centuries-old cooperation beetween Russia and
Armenia.

The interlocutors discussed the post-election situation in
Armenia. Sargsyan presented the situation, noting that the Armenian
authorities are decisive and will do their best to stabilize
it. This is necessary for consolidating the society’s solidarity and
tolerance. The meeting also covered issues of military and economic
cooperation. They touched upon the Karabakh peace process as well. At
the same time, Putin pointed out that the peace process should continue
within the OSCE MG frames. The Russian president expressed confidence
that under the guidance of the newly-elected president of Armenia,
all the domestic problems of the republic will be settled soon.

DAVID HAROUTIUNIAN: IF WE HAVE DEVIATIONS FROM EUROPEAN VALUES, WE SHOULD BE READY TO LISTEN TO OUR COLLEAGUES’ OPINION

Noyan Tapan
March 21, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. Discussions about the RA presidential
elections of February 19 and the activity of the democratic
institutions in Armenia are envisaged at the PACE plenary session
to be convened on April 14-18 in Strasbourg. The latter will be
included in the agenda as an urgent issue and will be discussed on
April 17. As David Haroutiunian, the head of the Armenian delegation
in PACE, the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal
Issues, said in his interview to Noyan Tapan and Radio Liberty, in
difference to the report on the elections, the discussion of the issue
connected with post-electoral processes also envisages adoption of the
respective resolution. "PACE is unequivocally a political structure,
and certainly, politics plays an important part in the activity of
each delegation. Nevertheless we suppose that the evaluations will
be as balanced as possible," he predicted.

D. Haroutiunian, who has taken part in the sitting of the Assembly’s
Monitoring Commission lately in Paris, said that "strict speeches"
were voiced during the discussions connected with Armenia’s home
political situation. Such speeches were also voiced by Azeris, which
is a "natural and familiar style." "They always use such chances in
consideration of the fact that it is also a way to distract attention
from the problems faced by their country," the head of the Armenian
delegation said. He also expressed an opinion that the discussion of
the above mentioned issue at the Commission’s sitting "nevertheless,
was rather balanced." "After all we should not consider Council of
Europe as an instrument of intimidation, a court. It is a club we
have joined of our own free will saying that we share the European
values. And if we have deviations, we should be ready to listen to
our colleagues’ opinion," D. Haroutiunian said.

He also mentioned that besides him, Avet Adonts, the Chairman of the
NA Standing Committee of European Integration Issues, a member of the
Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) party, and Raffi Hovannisian,
the head of the Zharangutiun (Heritage) faction, have also taken part
in the Commission’s sitting. In response to the issue of possible
disagreements among the delegation members, D. Haroutiunian said:
"We can have different evaluations in connection with different
situations, but we have no serious divergence in the respect of
democratic development."

SUPREME COMMANDER IN CHIEF TO DECIDE FATE OF DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.03.2008 16:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The fate of Deputy Defense Minister, lieutenant
general Manvel Grigoryan will be decided by the Supreme Commander in
Chief, RA Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan.

"Lieutenant general Grigoryan has been on leave.

According to the Constitution, the President will take a decision,
since as the Supreme Commander in Chief, he is empowered to appoint
or dismiss, or confer military ranks," he said.

Earlier, Serzh Sargsyan expressed regret that "Manvel Grigoryan
attempted to engage in politics and disobey the Supreme Commander
in Chief."

During the February 21 rally, former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan
announced that two Deputies to the RA Defense Minister, including
Lieutenant general Manvel Grigoryan, head of the Yerkrapah union,
joined the opposition movement.

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF USA PROTESTING AGAINST ACTIONS BY DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIVES OF AZERBAIJAN

arminfo
2008-03-21 12:08:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian-American community stands united in rejecting
recent attempts by Azerbaijan’s representatives in the United
States to exploit the recent tensions in Armenia to misrepresent our
community; anything less tan fully committed and forever devoted to
the independence, security, and growth of the Republic of Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh, says the statement by the Armenian-American
community received by ArmInfo.

‘Recent statements y Azerbaijan’s Consul General in Los Angeles,
Elin Suleymanov, represent an unprofessional and cynical, but
ultimately fruitless, effort to play divide-and-conquer politics
among Armenians both within the homeland and among the Diaspora. His
comments intentionally misinterpret a diversity of opinion among
Armenians regarding issues of governance within the motherland as a
lack of resolve to vigorously assert our rights, defend our common
interest, and protect our hard-fought freedom.

Having lost, in the international court of public opinion on historical
and legal grounds, and already having proven themselves incapable
on the battlefield of imposing a military solution, Mr. Suleymanov
and his government are now resorting to irresponsible and incendiary
tactics that seem to serve no other purpose than to incite domestic
support for their corrupt and increasingly unpopular regime in the
run-up to this year’s Azerbaijani elections.

In the past, we have stood together in defending ourselves against
Azerbaijan’s war of aggression. Today, more determined than ever
we will continue to work together to further strengthen Nogorno
Karabakh’s statehood, and are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with
our brothers and sisters in Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and worldwide
in collectively responding to any threat against the Armenian people’,
the statements says.

FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER OF KARABAKH: PASSAGE OF AZERI RESOLUTION AT THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS FAILURE OF ARMENIAN DIPLOMACY

arminfo
2008-03-21 15:48:00

ArmInfo. "Even if the resolution were passed at the UN General Assembly
by narrow adds, nevertheless it is an international document. Therefore
the passage of the document "On the situation in occupied territories
of Azerbaijan" at the UN General Assembly may be considered failure of
the Armenian diplomacy in any case", Arman Melikyan, a former candidate
for Armenian president, the former foreign minister of Karabakh, said.

According to him, the Armenian authorities shouldn’t shut their eyes
the resolution passed at the UN General Assembly. Nevertheless, the
politician noted that this measure is not a disaster for Armenia, and
one may find out a worthy way out of the current situation. Armenia
should take the lead in settling the conflict and taking more active
steps in this direction. The republic needs new approaches and new
people to participate in negotiations.

People who gave no promises or who are bound with no agreements
are needed.

We have all the trump cards and nobody can take them away, all the
more so as Azerbaijan has held quite an aggressive position in the
peace process", Melikyan said.

KARABAKH MEDIATORS PUSH FOR NEW ARMENIAN-AZERI SUMMIT

Radio Liberty
March 20 2008
Czech Republic

International mediators urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
late Wednesday to resume "as soon as possible" negotiations on the
basic principles of a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement that were formally
submitted to the conflicting parties last November.

In a joint statesmen, the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group said they pressed for the holding of a fresh
Armenian-Azerbaijani summit on Karabakh during separate meetings last
week with the foreign ministers of the two countries. They said both
sides agreed to such a summit "in principle." The statement did not
specify when and where it might take place.

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said earlier this month that
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev and his newly elected Armenian
counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian, could meet on the sidelines of the NATO
summit that will take place in Bucharest on April 3-4.

Oskanian said nothing about such a meeting as he commented on the
Karabakh peace process in Armenia’s parliament on Wednesday. He spoke
instead about Azerbaijan’s reported demands for the dissolution
of the Minsk Group and a radical change in the format of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks. He said Baku has been emboldened
by the passage late last week of a UN General Assembly resolution
that upheld Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh and demanded an
"unconditional" Armenian withdrawal from occupied Azerbaijani
territories.

Aliev on Thursday touted the resolution as a "big diplomatic victory"
for Azerbaijan." According to the APA news agency, he also said that
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity can not be a subject of negotiations
with the Armenians.

Armenia’s outgoing President Robert Kocharian, meanwhile, said
Yerevan should formally recognize the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic as an independent state if Baku pulls out of the Minsk Group
process. "At least, that’s what I would do," he told reporters.

"We can’t have a better format," Kocharian said of the Minsk Group.

"But that doesn’t mean that if Azerbaijan doesn’t want to negotiate,
we will cling to [that format.] They don’t want to? No problem. But
they must at the same time think about who will bears responsibility
for further developments."

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin also spoke out against
any changes in the negotiation format "Any change in format would
bring a sense of uncertainty and an expectation of something new,"
he said after meeting Kocharian and Sarkisian in Yerevan. "I think
that is hardly appropriate in delicate and sensitive processes like
a peaceful settlement."

ARMENIE: KOTCHARIAN CONTRE LES ELECTIONS LEGISLATIVES ANTICIPEES

RIA Novosti
20 Mars 2008
Russie

EREVAN, 20 mars – RIA Novosti. Le president armenien Robert Kotcharian
a insiste jeudi sur l’inutilite des elections legislatives anticipees
reclamees par certaines forces politiques en Armenie.

"J’entends parler de la necessite d’organiser de nouvelles elections
legislatives pour sortir le pays de la crise politique. Je vous dis
clairement que je rejette ce point de vue", a-t-il indique a la presse.

D’après M. Kotcharian, on ne pourrait organiser des elections
legislatives anticipees que dans si le parlement elu ne parvient
pas a former le gouvernement. "C’est le b.a.-ba de la politique,
et ceux qui veulent des elections legislatives anticipees devraient
le savoir", a-t-il fait remarquer.

Selon le president sortant, aucune campagne electorale organisee
jusqu’a present en Armenie n’a contribue a calmer les passions au sein
de la societe. "Pourquoi entrer a nouveau dans ce cycle?" s’est-il
demande.

Cinq partis sont entres dans le parlement armenien a l’issue des
elections legislatives du 12 mai dernier: le Parti republicain (65
sièges), Armenie prospère (25), le Parti socialiste (16), Etat de droit
(8) et Heritage (7). En juin 2007, les leaders du Parti republicain,
d’Armenie prospère et du Parti socialiste ont cree une coalition.

–Boundary_(ID_UHm54q3pwmSzGqZqqSuBoQ) —

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION REPRESENTATIVES HIDING IN GEORGIA – NGO

Kavkas-Press
March 20 2008
Georgia

Tbilisi, 20 March: The head of the Multiethnic Georgia NGO, Arno
Stepanyan, has confirmed in remarks to Kavkas-Press that some 40-60
representatives of the Armenian political opposition are currently
in Georgia.

He said opposition representatives began entering Georgia two or
three days after the violent dispersal of protests in Yerevan [on 1
March] which followed the disputed Armenian presidential election on
19 February.

Stepanyan says it cannot be ruled out that some of them will request
asylum in Georgia.

POLITICAL PARTIES CONDEMN POSITION OF OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIR COUNTRIES

AzerTag
March 20 2008
Azerbaijan

At the initiative of the New Azerbaijan Party, representatives of
various political parties gathered at the "roundtable" meeting on
March 19 at the Ataturk Center to protest against the position of OSCE
Minsk Group co-chair countries, which voted against the resolution
"The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" adopted at
the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly.

The event brought representatives of political parties, NGOs and
public represented in the Milli Majlis.

YAP deputy chairman, executive secretary Ali Ahmadov said Azerbaijan
was hopeful that OSCE Minsk Group peace process will produce positive
results, and Azerbaijan`s occupied territories would be freed. He
expressed regret that while OSCE meetings adopted some documents
ensuring fair resolution of the conflict, Armenia`s non-constructive
position did not allow reaching the agreement.

He pointed out that OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs were not consistent in
their efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Their
statements distorting the essence of the conflict have a negative
impact on the process of talks.

While the resolution "The situation in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan" was adopted at the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly,
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries voted against it.

It casts shadow on their objectivity and indicates that they show
solidarity with aggressive Armenia.

Ahmadov said the position of co-chair countries is "unacceptable". It
contradicts the UN resolutions No 822, 853, 874 and 884, which demand
withdrawal of Armenian forces.

Speaking at the meeting were members of the Milli Majlis: chairman
of the Ana Veten party Fazail Agamaly, Chairman of the Great Gurulus
(Establishment) Party Fazil Mustafayev, President of the National
NGO Forum Azay Guliyev and Zahid Oruc. They strongly condemned the
position of co-chair countries.