Author: Hakobian Adrine

Armenian Central Bank Registers New Branches of Armbusinessbank and
Armeconombank

arminfo
2007-07-06 12:50:00

The Central Bank of Armenia (CB) has registered new branches of
Armbusinessbank (ABB) and Armeconombank, CB press-service told ArmInfo.
CB Chairman made a relevant decision on July 3 2007.

These are the new branches of ABB: Stepanakert (Stepanakert city,
st.Lusavorich 31), Vardanants (Yerevan city, st. Vardanats 6/1) and
Kajaran (town of Kajaran, st. Lernagortsi 15 ). The new branches of
Armeconombank are Noragavit (Yerevan, st.Arshakunyats 127/2). In
addition, the CB registered the new address Nor Horizon UCC branch
Vanadzor (town of Vanadzor, st. Tigran Mets 48/1).

As of January 1 2007, ABB branch network comprised 1 branch in the
capital city, and Armeconombank had 43 branches (18 in the capital
city, 24 in regions and 1 in NKR). Armeconombank occupies the third
position in the banking system of Armenia by the number of affiliated
banks. Nor Horizon UCC, which was licensed by the CB in March 2006, had
4 branched in the towns of Ijevan, Sevan, Kapan and Vanadzor.

AZERBAIJAN FLEXES MUSCLES

Moscow News (Russia)
July 6, 2007

BAKU (RIA Novosti) – Armenia must voluntarily cede Azerbaijaniterritory
if it wants to avoid a new war over Nagorno-Karabakh, theAzerbaijani
president said Monday.

"Azerbaijan is militarily the strongest power in the region,and our
neighbors should face up to this.

Armenia shouldvoluntarily withdraw its troops from Azerbaijani lands.

Only onthis condition will it be possible to say with certainty that
therewill not be a new war," Ilkham Aliyev said.

He said Azerbaijan will never put up with the occupation ofits lands
and is ready to free them by any means, includingmilitary.

"None of us want losses, but Azerbaijan is gaining strengthand is
ready to conduct any operation at any moment. We will neveraccept
the situation now prevailing," he said.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijanwith a
largely Armenian population, first erupted in 1988 when itdeclared
its independence from Azerbaijan, and moved to joinArmenia.

Over 30,000 people were killed on both sides between 1988 and1994,
and over 100 died following a 1994 ceasefire.Nagorno-Karabakh remained
in Armenian hands, but tensions betweenAzerbaijan and Armenia have
persisted. Azerbaijan is determined torestore its control over the
separatist region.

The New York Times: Just trial on murder of Hrant Dink will not be
possible

04.07.2007 11:56

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The world press widely covers the trial on the
murder case of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of `Agos’ Armenian-Turkish
bilingual.

The New York Times newspaper has declared that this case will test the
rule of law in Turkey. The paper also said that the court is not open
to public because the suspects are too young. The NYT claimed that a
just trial will not be possible according to the defense counsels
because of the high interest in the case. In its turn the French
newspaper Le Monde said that the police had known about the intentions
of the murderers but that the counsels’ demand to investigate the
subject was rejected.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais asserted that the case tries the
objectiveness of the court in Turkey. The paper claimed that there are
still doubts that Turkey keeps the structure of a
`state-within-a-state’. El Pais also remarked that the EU follows the
case closely.

A court in Istanbul, which yesterday started the trial on the murder
case of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of `Agos’ Armenian-Turkish
bilingual, has decided to broaden the investigation to consider
allegations of official negligence. After a 12-hour hearing, the court
released four of the 18 suspects. The judge also decided to postpone
the hearing till October 1.

Market of cell phones in Armenia ‘grew white’ lot: expert of ‘Euroset’
company

arminfo
2007-07-04 14:47:00

The "Euroset" Russian company, which is the biggest world retailer of
cell phones, has recently opened the fourth specialized shop in
Yerevan, Executive Director of "Euroset Armenia" Namir Al-Mashta told
ArmInfo.

He said that the first two shops of cell phones were opened in Yerevan
in January and February, 2007, and two more shops have been opened one
of these days. The Company intends to settle down in the regions as
well. It is scheduled to open the shops in Vanadzor, Gyumri and
Stepanakert. In general, according to the Company’s plans, it is
envisaged to increase the network of shops to 30 and work
up a sufficient part of the Armenian market, Namir Al-Mashta said. He
thinks that the market of cell phones in the republic has "grown white"
lately, while import of "grey" phones reduced much. The service also
improved due to the state regulation of the market.

As Namir Al-Mashta told ArmInfo earlier, penetration of cell
communication in Armenia in early 2007, made up 35% in all. However, it
has a great development potential that induced the "Euroset" to enter
this market. He said, for comparison, that penetration of cell
communication in neighbouring Azerbaijan and Georgia makes up about
65-70%.

NKR PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: ARMENIA SHOULDN’T INTERFERE INTO KARABAKH’S INTERNAL AFFAIRS

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 3 2007

YEREVAN, July 3. /ARKA/. Armenia shouldn’t interfere into Karabakh’s
internal affairs, Nagorno-Karabakh President’s Adviser Arman Melikyan
said Tuesday in Yerevan during round-table discussion over presidential
elections in Karabakh.

He thinks Armenia shouldn’t interfere in election processes and
discuss presidential candidates.

In his opinion, such discussions cast into question Karabakh people’s
ability to elect their president.

Melikyan said Armenia and Karabakh can discuss other matters, such
as Karabakh conflict settlement.

Presidential candidates started campaigning on June 20. Voting day
is scheduled for July 19, 2007.

Nagorno-Karabakh Central Election Commission has registered five
presidential candidates – Bako Saakyan, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
National Security chief; Masis Mailyan, deputy foreign minister; MP
Armen Abgaryan; Vanya Avanesyan, professor at Artsakh State University,
and Hrant Melkumyan, Karabakh Communist Party leader.

ALLEGED KILLERS OF ETHNIC ARMENIAN JOURNALIST GO ON TRIAL IN TURKEY
By C. Onur Ant, Associated Press Writer

AP
Published: 03 July 2007

More than six months after the killing of an ethnic Armenian
journalist, 18 suspects went on trial yesterday in a case widely
seen as a test of whether the country’s judiciary will be able to
investigate allegations of official negligence in the slaying.

Hrant Dink was gunned down on 19 January and his killing led to
international condemnation and debate within Turkey about free
speech. Dink was hated by hardline nationalists for describing the
mass killings of Armenians early in the last century as genocide.

The trial was taking place behind closed doors because the alleged
teenage gunman, Ogun Samast, is a minor.

But lawyers, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not
allowed to report details of the case, said two of the key suspects,
Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, claimed they worked for the security
forces. The alleged gunman had remained silent during the trial.

Critics accused authorities of failing to act on reports of a plot to
kill Dink, and it is unclear whether allegations that could potentially
be embarrassing for top officials will be explored in the trial.

Hayal, accused of providing gun and money to Samast, wrote some 20
letters to court officials and police explaining his links to security
forces, according to his lawyer, Fuat Turgut.

"The police manipulated us, now they should protect us," Turgut quoted
Hayal as saying in his letters.

Tuncel, who is suspected of masterminding the killing, reportedly
told the court that he was paid by police for gathering intelligence,
according to a lawyer who attended Monday’s hearing.

Turkey had vowed a thorough investigation, and the governor and police
chief of the Black Sea city of Trabzon, the hometown of Samast, were
removed from office because of negligence. Some security officials
who posed for photographs with the gunman as he held a Turkish flag
were also dismissed.

There has been no evidence that directly implicates any police or
government officials in the slaying of Dink outside his office.

Amnesty International, whose request to be an official observer in the
case was turned down by the court, called on the Turkish government
to investigate officials accused of negligence.

"If people within the state didn’t perform their duties correctly,
then they too have to be brought to justice," said Andrew Gardner,
the organization’s researcher in Turkey.

Many Turks are convinced that a so-called "deep state" – a network of
state agents or ex-officials, possibly with links to organized crime
– periodically targets reformists and other perceived enemies in the
name of nationalism.

"This trial will be a test of whether this quagmire will be dried
up or not," lawyer Kezban Hatemi, representing Dink’s family, told
reporters before the hearing Monday. "The indictment lacks evidence
and there is a need to find out real culprits."

Dink sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. But
he was prosecuted under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which bans
insults to Turkish identity, for his comments on the mass killings
of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century.

Armenia Solidarity
British Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group
Nor Serount Publications
The Armenian Genocide Trust

Report on House of Commons Meeting on
Genocide Denial and the UK Government’s "Ethical Foreign Policy"
Held on 22 June 2007

Tel 07876561398 or 07718982732
e-mails : [email protected], [email protected]
norserount@btconnec t.com [email protected]

The meeting was convened on the day that a new Prime Minister took up
the seals of office and in anticipation of a subsequent cabinet
reshuffle. Its purpose was to focus on the present UK government policy
as it affected both the Armenian Genocide recognition and the current
genocide in Darfur in the hope that it could become more effective and
ethical.

The meeting was sponsored by David Drew MP and chaired by John Bercow
MP. The chairman gave an overview of the terrible events in Darfur and
the lack of effective international action to stop the carnage. He
proposed that the inability to clearly condemn earlier genocides was one
factor that allowed more than 60 repetitions of such crimes against
humanity in the essentially genocidal 20th century.

Ruth Barnet, a survivor of the Holocaust who works with genocide
survivors, stated that a diaspora remains troubled by genocide until it
is recognised by the perpetrator. Denial consists of attempts to cover
the evidence and to argue the events never happened. This worsens the
psychological impact as true mourning cannot commence and survivors who
carry the burden of memory cannot live their lives to their full
potential. These feelings spread down the generations and are carried
until the proper acknowledgement is given. The murdered ancestors are a
loss to the whole of humanity, not just to their own people. A ‘genocide
footprint’ can measure the destruction of humanity just as a carbon
footprint the destruction of the environment. Each time there is no
protest at genocide, a footprint is made on the human soul for the loss
of the living and the unborn. What is needed for sufficient people to
protest so as to make a difference to the direction of governments and
other state organisations.

Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, brought out the
startling similarities between the Armenian Genocide and Darfur even
though these are over 90 years apart. Both have a victimising power
that claims to be responding to a threat from a minority in the context
of external conflict (1st World War, fight against terrorism), the use
of irregular forces against civilians coordinated by government forces,
the use of privation and violence as a means of extermination, good
communication of the unfolding events to the outside world who response
is high on rhetoric and low on action. In both cases, the perpetrators
have not been held effectively to account, and denial continues despite
the wealth of information to the contrary from reliable independent
sources. The Armenian Genocide can be seen as a good prototype for
denialism and Darfur follows the Turkish model of obfuscation and
dissemination of confusion. Even today, Turkish denialism is rampant
having temporarily closed a New York exhibition on the Rwandan genocide
(because of a single reference to the Armenian Genocide) and the
activities of TARC (Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Committee) aimed at
diverting attention from the real issues. Denial legitimises the
original murders and avoids addressing prevention. It must be met
head-on.

Yet today there is an International Criminal Court which may have to
wait decades before it is given the powers to prosecute the indicted of
Darfur. Meanwhile, the Sudanese authorities still benefit from
significant oil revenues using it to buy the hardware for repression,
continue to control the irregular forces that brutalise civilians and
the much talked about no fly zone has not been implemented. One wonders
if the world had acted in concerted effort to stop the killing of
Armenians in 1915, the 20th century may have been a different place.

Turkish society is beginning to change with some of the new generation
becoming more aware of the past and challenging radical
ultra-nationalistic views. The UK government is not helping this
process by supporting the position of the Turkish government. The Aegis
Trust would welcome an enquiry not only into the impact of the British
foreign policy in failing to identify and stop the killing of Armenians
during the 1st World War but also the behaviour of the British
government in all subsequent genocides such as Rwanda and the Bosnia.
Until we really understand the failings and lessons of these events, and
bring the decision makers to account for the failure that leads to
unnecessary mass murder of innocents, we will not change the future. We
do have to look at history and combat denial to apply these lessons.

HE Dr Vahe Gabrielyan, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia, applauded
the convergence of many organisations to focus on all genocides and the
relationship between them. The outcome of the recognition of past
genocides should be not only be the moral and ethical tribute to the
survivors but also lead to the prevention of potential future
repetition. Because the Armenian Genocide has not been condemned,
further appalling events could not be stopped. There should be a united
front against all genocides across all nations backed by huge
cross-border and cross-people pressure on all governments. Only then
will governments, including the UK, act to the required measures.

The government of Armenia with its people adds voice to the
international community to stop the atrocities in Darfur. The lessons
from the Armenian Genocide should be input to this initiative so as to
achieve effective action.

ARMENIAN YOUNG BOXER TIGRAN ARMENAKIAN REACHES FINAL STAGE OF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Noyan Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The quarter final matches of the
European Young Boxers’ Championship were held in the city of Siophok
in Hungary on June 28. The Armenian representative, Tigran Armenakian
(74kg, Yerevan), defeated his Romanian rival, reached the final stage,
and secured at least a bronze medal for himself. The other boxers of
Armenia did not qualify to get medals.

Birmingham Post, UK
June 30, 2007, Saturday
1ST Edition

Derry face crippling trip to Armenia after draw

Derry director Michael Burns admits the Champions League first-round
draw is a "nightmare" for the club.

The Candystripes must travel to the other side of Europe to face
Armenian champions Pyunik, with the reward for the winner a
second-round clash against Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk.

And Burns, the club’s secretary, revealed the pairing "could not have
been worse" for City both on and off the field.

He said: "Logistically speaking it’s a nightmare. We are having to
charter a plane, we’ve got a hotel sorted and we’re still trying to
get the transportation sorted out.

"Some of our people have played in Georgia in the past. One of our
players Paddy McCourt, a Northern Ireland Under-21 international, was
in Armenia and he has already spoken about the difficulties we could
face over there.

"You are basically talking about going to the Middle East, it’s
neighbouring Iran which is as far away in Europe as you can go. It is
a nightmare, it’s going to cost us a fortune."

And if the thought of crippling costs and traumatic travel
arrangements were not enough, City also face the daunting prospect of
trying to defeat a side which boasts nine Armenian internationals.

Elsewhere, Rangers will meet the winners of the match between Zeta
and Kaunas, with the games to be played over two legs on July
31-August 1 and August 7-8.

Irish Premier League champions Linfield have been drawn against
Swedish side Elfs-borg, while Welsh Premier League winners The New
Saints will face Latvian champions Ventspils with the ties to be
played on July 17-18 and 24-25.

The winner of that tie will meet Austrian side Salzburg, while
Hungarian side Debrecen await Linfield should they progress.

NDP WILL NOT NOMINATE ITS CANDIDATE

A1+
[06:33 pm] 27 June, 2007

The National Democrats Party will not nominate a candidate for the
presidential elections. Neither will the party support Vazgen Manukyan,
the leader of the National Democratic Union, in case the opposition
nominates a few candidates, NDP leader Shavarsh Kocharyan, said at
the Pastark Club June 27.

According to him, the new Constitution of Armenia has turned
the country into a typical semi-presidential state. It means the
parliamentary election solved the problem of government: power
belongs to the parliament majority and the prime minister leads the
real government. In this context, the prospect that the president,
the prime minister and the speaker are from the same party is not so
important, Shavarsh Kocharyan says.

Shavarsh Kocharyan didn’t give assessments on the opposition. In
other words, Shavarsh Kocharyan says Armenia needs an opposition which
understands the logic of the new rules of the game. If the opposition
does not change and become united setting forward a common candidate,
it will inevitably lose the presidential election, Shavarsh Kocharyan
thinks.

Generally Shavarsh Kocharyan doen’t consider the Orinats Yerkir
Party opposition.

"They are opposition as they were left out of the power," he said.