Author: Hakobian Adrine

HEAD OF ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES GENERAL STAFF: WE OUGHT TO HAVE POWERFUL ARMY ABLE TO PROTECT OUR MOTHERLAND

arminfo
2008-01-24 15:07:00

ArmInfo. ‘We ought to have powerful army able to protect our
motherland’, Head of Armenian Armed Foreces General Staff, Colonel
General Seyran Ohanyan told the students and the teaching staff of
Yerevna State University, Thursday.

Seyran Ohanyan mentioned that there are various conflicts pursuing
economic, political and other goals both in the region and the
world, on the whole. He mentioned that among Armenia’s neighbours
are Turkey and Azerbaijan. With the first country Armenia has no
diplomatic relations, with the second one it is in the state of no
war no peace. In this connection, we ought to have a powerful army
able to protect our motherland, he said.

Seyran Ohanyan also added that being smaller than the Azerbaijani army,
the Armenian army is stronger, especially the front line.

NO POLLING STATIONS WILL BE SET UP IN KARABAKH

KarabakhOpen
22-01-2008 15:49:41

On February 19 the citizens of Armenia staying in Karabakh will have
to leave for Armenia to vote to president on February 19, said the
chair of the NKR Central Election Commission Sergey Nasibyan in an
interview with Karabakh-Open.com. He said no polling stations will
be set up in Karabakh.

In answer to the question whether the representatives of the NKR CEC
will observe the Armenian presidential election, Sergey Nasibyan said
the CEC got an invitation, and the members of the CEC will observe
the voting in Armenia.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS TO WORK OUT NEW PROPOSALS ON NAGORNO GARABAGH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Today
s/42508.html
Jan 21 2008
Azerbaijan

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group have familiarized with
positions of Azerbaijan and Armenia and will prepare a new version
of proposals, taking into account these positions, according to the
spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan Khazar Ibragim.

He noted that they will not visit the region until a new version
is prepared.

Asked whether diplomatic efforts are exhausted or not, Khazar Ibragim
noted that the two sides stated their proposals and opinions during
co-chairs’ visit to the region.

"It shows that we are able to continue our activity. Diplomatic
resources are not exhausted and we need a constructive position to
achieve success," he said.

InTheNews.co.uk, UK
Jan 19 2008

Thousands remember Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink

Saturday, 19 Jan 2008 17:19

Thousands of people have gathered in central Istanbul to commemorate
the one-year anniversary of the death of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink.

The 52-year-old was murdered a year ago to the day outside the
offices of his Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos.

His shooting drew international condemnation, particularly in
Armenia, while the Turkish government came under fire for reportedly
not acting on information his life was in danger.

A 17-year-old male youth has been accused of the journalist’s murder
and is due to next appear in court in February along with 18 others
alleged ultranationalists.

At least 8,000 of Mr Dink’s supporters gathered outside the offices
of Agos today, laying red carnations at the spot of his murder before
brandishing placards bearing the message "for Hrant, for justice".

Addressing the crowd, Mr Dink’s widow Rakel said: "We are at the
pavement where they tried to clean his blood with soap.

"You are here for justice today. A scream for justice rises from your
silence."

While he urged reconciliation, Mr Dink provoked controversy in Turkey
by claiming the killings of Armenians in the second world war under
the Ottoman Empire was genocide – a stance recently officially
adopted by the US.

In July 2006 he was prosecuted for criticising Turkish national
identity; legislation due to be repealed by the country’s parliament
later this year.

SHARMAZANOV APPRECIATES A. MANUKYAN’S SENSE OF HUMOR

Panorama.am
17:46 18/01/2008

"I attach high value to the sense of humor of Aram Manukyan,"
Edward Sharmazanov, the press speaker of Serzh Sargsyan’s election
headquarter, told a news conference today speaking about the statement
made by Manukyan, member of Pan Armenian National Movement, that
Levon Ter-Petrosyan is going to win in the first round.

Sharmazanov is sure that Levon Ter-Petrosyan has no chances of winning
in the first round. Speaking about the possibility of winning in the
second round, Sharmazanov reminded the statement of Levon Ter-Petrosyan
made on September 21, 2007 that it may be possible to defeat the
candidate of the authorities only if the opposition unifies around
one person.

"Since we witnessed that the opposition candidate did not unify and
each one goes with his program and policy, I believe that based on
this logic Serzh Sargsyan will win in the first round," he explained.

ACCORDING TO MATTHEW BRYZA, IT IS POSSIBLE TO SOLVE KARABAKH PROBLEM THIS YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Jan 17 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian minister of defence
Mikael Harutyunian on January 17 received the U.S. Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State, the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza
who is on a regional visit to Armenia. At the beginning of the meeting,
the sides spoke about the document of proposals on the noncoordinated
issues of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which was presented by the
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in Madrid. M. Bryza stated that in
case of manifestation of good will by the sides, it is possible to
come to a final agreement and solve this problem in 2008.

NT was informed by the RA ministry of defence that the sides
also discussed the current state of Armenian-U.S. military
cooperation, expressing confidence that it will develop and deepen
this year. Speaking about Armenian peacekeepers implementing their
mission, M. Bryza appreciated Armenia’s participation in international
peacekeeping operations and pointed out the efficiency of Armenian
peacekeepers.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BLOC OF NATIONAL-DEMOCRATS SURE THAT THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA WILL BE FALSIFIED

Mediamax
January 16, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Having rich experience in falsification of
elections, it will be very easy for the authorities to do the same
now, Chairman of the Bloc of National-Democrats of Armenia (BND)
Arshak Sadoyan stated in Yerevan today.

Mediamax reports that Arshak Sadoyan informed that the oppositional
candidates clearly realize this and some of them participate in the
elections not aiming at "gaining victory, but reestablishing their
reputation".

Chairman of BND, who supports the candidature of the Leader of the
National-Democratic Union (NDU) Vazgen Manukian for the upcoming
presidential elections, noted that the main task during the upcoming
elections is the struggle against falsification.

Lragir, Armenia
Jan 14 2008

ARMENIA MUST REJECT THIS STATUS

Nagorno-Karabakh is ahead of Kosovo regarding the grounds for
self-determination, Member of Parliament Stepan Safaryan, Heritage,
and the leader of the National Democratic Party Shavarsh Kocharyan
said in a news conference on January 14. According to Stepan
Safaryan, the Prague process on the Karabakh conflict which started
in 2004 is coming to an end because Robert Kocharyan, one of the
participants of the talks, is leaving office soon, and the co-chairs
cannot see a guarantee for the effectiveness of the process. Stepan
Safaryan says currently a modified option of the stage-by-stage
solution of 1998 is negotiated.

The first guarantee of effectiveness of the talks, according to
Shavarsh Kocharyan, is the participation of Karabakh in the talks as
a full-right party. According to the leader of the National
Democratic Party, the notions of stage-by-stage and package solutions
are conventional and often mislead the public, whereas it is
necessary to clarify the basic issues. Shavarsh Kocharyan thinks
Armenia must act as a guarantor of the security of Karabakh but has
no right to discuss the status or territories of NKR instead of
Karabakh. According to the leader of the NDP, the government of
Armenia should not discuss whose option is more favorable or who will
return more or less territories but should employ the basic approach
that Karabakh is a conflict side. Shavarsh Kocharyan says Albania
never negotiated instead of Kosovo. The leader of the NDP who
supports the presidential candidate Vazgen Manukyan says the new
president of Armenia must announce that he will not participate in
the talks if it will be viewed as representation of Karabakh to the
talks.

Shavarsh Kocharyan says his stance on Karabakh is the same as the
stance of the candidate that he supports. Stepan Safaryan also shares
this stance, so he also thinks that the role of Armenia in the talks
should be limited, and Karabakh must be a full-fledged party of the
talks. However, Stepan Safaryan accuses the government of Karabakh,
saying that it complains of its absence at the table of the talks but
does not display sufficient political will to replace Armenia as a
negotiator representing Karabakh.

Stress in policy of South Caucasus countries should be shifted from
conflicts themselves to economic cooperation, Peter Semneby says

2008-01-14 20:27:00

ArmInfo. The unresolved conflicts in the South Caucasus region, which
arose from the USSR’s collapse, hinder the establishment of stability,
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby said at
an international conference entitled "Wider Black Sea Region: Prospects
of International and Regional Security" in Yerevan.

Determining the further steps towards development of the region,
Semneby noted that the countries of the region should strive for common
goals, including consolidation and stability, ensuring of mechanisms to
receive tangible benefits, as well as holding of institutional reforms.
The diplomat said that at the moment, the dominant in the policy of the
region’s countries is the conflicts and not the benefit the parties may
receive in case the conflicts are settled. He added that the stresses
in the policy should be shifted towards the economical vector and
cooperation. Stating the economic progress in the region, Peter Semneby
said that there are problems here, which don’t result from economic
unfavorable conditions, nevertheless, are directly connected with
security issues. The EU representative added that the difficulties are
also connected with the borders’ blockade in the region, which prevents
from using all the potential of the region and hinders extra
investments. "These problems present a real challenge for the EU,
taking into consideration EU’s growing interest in the South Caucasus
region. The region became closer with Bulgaria’s and Romania’s entrance
in the structure", the diplomat said. He added that the region may be
viewed as one whole only when institutional reforms in the sphere of
freedom of expression or human rights are made in all the countries of
the region simultaneously. Moreover, P. Semneby said that EU recently
started to establish more disciplined and institutional relations with
the partners of the region. In particular, EU develops cooperation with
these countries within the frames of "New European Neighborhood
Policy". Relations also develop with Russia and Turkey.
"These are EU’s first steps on the way of stage-by-stage development,
however, inclusion of our structure in these process is perspective",
he emphasized.

At last Shushi got water

Armen de Shushi
14-01-2008 18:25:20 – KarabakhOpen

It is known that Shushi has a water problem. They promise to solve the
problem next year. What are people supposed to do until that time?
Apparently to be happy with the government water they stand in line to
get from time to time. People do not complain much because the problem
of water is not only Shushi’s problem. Neighbors often help each other
with water, who manage to store up some.

Shushi gets water supply once in two days. In winter often no water is
supplied at all because it freezes in pipes. Last time the high-rises
near Ghazanchetsots Church and Manoogian Street had water on January 1
and January 5. Recently the government gave people a surprise and
brought water by trucks. It is chilly outside but people have to carry
water. On the same day 8 tons of water was given to 80 families, 100
liters to each. They need to have a bath, do the laundry and use in the
toilet for a week.

Water in the pipes of the private sector froze a month ago. They get no
water at all. Nobody complains because it is winter. They carry water
from the source by cars.

It is true that winter this year was cold, and disruptions are possible
but the government should take care of carrying water for the residents
of high-rises by car. It is not so expensive for the government. As to
people, they will learn to carry buckets of water upstairs.