Author: Hakobian Adrine

IN OPINION OF ALEXANDER ISKANDARIAN, ARMENIA TOOK CORRECT POSITION DURING CONFLICT IN SOUTH OSSETIA

Noyan Tapan

Au g 26, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian government took quite a
correct position during the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia.

Political scientist Alexander Iskandarian expressed this opinion at the
August 26 press conference. In his words, under such circumstances it
was necessary not to interfere in the events and to wait for passions
to calm down – just the way Armenia has behaved. In the opinion of
A. Iskandarian, the South Ossetian developments have changed the
South Caucasian region: Georgia has weakened, and Russia’s role has
changed in the region.

In his opinion, Turkey is also trying to change its role in the South
Caucasus. In this respect, according to him, Armenia should be able
to make use of the existing situation. "Armenia should maintain its
relations with all states, including the West, and show the maximum
caution," he said, adding that Russia-Georgia and U.S.-Iran relations
affect Armenia but the country is trying to keep its relations with
each of these states.

A. Iskandarian said that the issue of recognition of Nagorno
Karabakh’s independence by Armenia has no relation to the recognition
of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In his words, this
only forms a "background" for thinking so. "The recognition of
the NKR by Armenia is of no importance in terms of international
recognition. Azerbaijan should first of all of do it, while in case
of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia should recognize, which in
its turn will cause a wave of recognitions," he noted.

GREEK LOBBY’S JOY AT OBAMA CHOICE FOR RUNNING MATE
By Marcos Charalambides

Cyprus Mail
26 Aug 08

BARACK Obama’s choice of Senator Joseph Biden as his vice presidential
running mate has sparked hopes among Greek lobbyists in the United
States that the promotion of the Cyprus problem will take on a more
substantial profile.

Leaders of the Greek American community as well as deputies in
Washington who deal with promoting Greek national issues praised
Biden’s consistent philhellenic views throughout his 35 years in the
Senate and considered his selection the best thing that Greece and
Cyprus could hope for.

As far back as 1997, the Athens News Agency reported, Biden had firmly
asserted, speaking to the then newly appointed US ambassador to Ankara,
that the Turkish government had violated international law by invading
Cyprus in 1974 and continued to violate international law by keeping
its troops there.

"Our policy is that [the Turkish invasion and occupation] was illegal,"
he had stated.

More recently, according to yesterday’s Phileleftheros, he appeared
with his fellow Democrats, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, during the
23rd conference of the International Co-ordinating Committee Justice
for Cyprus (PSEKA) in 2007, where he expressed the view that, while
he supported Turkey’s EU accession, the United States’ position should
depend on Turkey’s adherence to improving20its citizens’ human rights
and religious freedom and its attitude regarding its differences with
Greece over the Aegean dispute and the Cyprus problem. He went on
to comment that the United States should demand and make perfectly
clear that the foundations of their relations with Turkey would
depend directly on the way the Cyprus problem would be resolved,
on the complete withdrawal of Turkish forces and on whether Turkey
would continue its claims regarding its right to the oil that had
been discovered two years ago in the waters between Cyprus and Egypt.

During this year’s PSEKA conference, he announced his satisfaction
with Demetris Christofias’ election as President and stated that
he was hopeful about the possibility of a resolution to the Cyprus
problem since the two sides’ interests were now beginning to converge.

Biden cautioned his audience not to expect much from George W. Bush
and further expressed his hopes that, in this year’s presidential
elections, the United States would elect a truly committed president
who would be willing to take on some risks so that the procedure can
actually progress.

Biden, who heads the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, is also
known to have voiced positions against Turkey with regards to both
the Armenian and Kurdish disputes, according to Phileleftheros.

Unsurprisingly, the Democrats’ choice of Senator Joseph Biden was
met unfavourably by the Turkish press.

According to the English-speaking version of Zaman, a leading deputy
of the ruling Justice and Development Party commented that "it is
not easy to be happy with this selection when looking from Turkey
and considering Biden’s almost two-decade-long firm support of the
Armenian diaspora’s efforts for recognition of their allegations of a
genocide," and further asserted that he believes the Turkish public
opinion will follow McCain’s strategies "more closely than before
given the disappointment over Biden’s selection."

The daily also pointed to the front page of the leading Turkish
newspaper, Hurriyet, which criticised Biden’s selection and labelled
him as "inconsiderate" following a 1999 conversation between Biden and
the then prime minister of Turkey, Bulent Ecevit, when the senator
had reportedly told Ecevit, "if you do not solve the Cyprus problem
then I will not approve the financial aid package of $5 billion which
you expect from us, from the Congress" in a bid to put pressure on
the Turkish government.

Despite the overall contentment with Biden’s selection prevalent among
the Cypriot media, some have expressed worries that the senator may
now decide to loosen his firm positions regarding Turkey following
his newly-appointed role as Barack Obama’s right hand man.

Furthermore, as reported by the Washington Post=2 0earlier this year,
although Obama doesn’t reject their advice, he is not a big fan of
lobbies, declaring, "they won’t run my White House, and they won’t set
the agenda in Washington." Nonetheless, according to a recent ABC News
article, although Obama may decry taking cash from federal lobbyists,
Biden doesn’t seem to share this opinion and has taken $344,400 from
lobbyists since 1997, indicating he may be more open to lobbies,
including ones favouring Greek and Cypriot national interests.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRAN-ARMENIA RAILWAY URGENT
Vasak Tarposhyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
26 Aug 2008
Armenia

After the reconstruction of the bridge on Georgia-Armenia railway,
the regular load on its way to Armenia was blasted over again, this
time 10 km from Gory to Khashury. The blast took place when the train
was passing the bridge. The loads were not previewed for Armenia they
were Azerbaijani wagons loaded with fuel.

Unlike the previous one the railway was not damaged seriously. As we
were informed from the Ministry of Transportation the railway has
been reconstructed. A new schedule of transporting the loads has
been elaborated.

They hope in the Ministry that in case no new incidents happen today
35 wagons loaded with wheat will reach Armenia.

This is the third blast within ten days. As we know on August 16
the railway 40 km far from Gory has been bombarded. Taking into
consideration the long term previewed for the reconstruction of the
bridge it was decided to launch the small part of that sector.

The launch of the temporary sector is also important because
the mentioned terms of the reconstruction of this bridge are very
different. That is why it is not yet clear when the railway will be
completely reconstructed. In such circumstances the launch of the
passing line is indispensable.

But it was followed by two blasts, which luckily didn’t damage the
bridge seriously. Thi s fact proves that the Georgian railway is not
safe, at least at this stage.

In such circumstances the automobile load-transportation will most
probably be launched in order to bring some emergency goods. Thousand
tones of fuel and wheat have already been brought to Armenia by this
road (by the way both by Georgia and Iran). The transportation of
Turkmenistan fuel via Iran has been restarted.

It is very difficult to say how long will the loads be transferred to
Armenia by automobile road, because everything depends on Georgian –
Osatian conflict, where the situation is not very clear.

No doubt, the situation will go from bad to worse because of
the incidents taking place in the region. In the existing limited
conditions of railway communication the non-operation of the Georgian
railway can have a serious impact on the economy and first of all the
export. Especially as we know the automobile load transportation is
much more expensive than the railway. That is why not only can its
absence make the internal market expensive, but also influence the
foreign competitiveness of the local products.

In such circumstances the necessity of having new railway communication
options with the world is becoming indispensable. Iran-Armenia
railway can serve as one option. The so-called obligatory demurrage
of the Georgian railway force to make the works in this direction
more active. At this stage they are in process on the level of the
working groups from the both countries. In September the meeting of
those groups is previewed during which the latter will sum up the
implemented work and plan their future activity.

Georgian-Osatian conflict displayed that alternative railway knot is
indispensable for Armenia.

THE CAUCASUS MOMENT
By Vartan Oskanian

AZG Armenian Daily
26/08/2008

Regional

YEREVAN, Armenia. Although we could see the clouds gathering, the
recent Georgia-Russia confrontation shook us all. No one had allowed
themselves to believe that mixed messages and complicated agendas
would come to such a head, causing so much devastation, loss of life
and geopolitical chaos.

The South Ossetia conflict should not be viewed solely through the
larger prism of Georgia-Russia relations. This is an ethnic conflict,
after all, and one of several in the Caucasus. It is a warning to
the international community: If pipeline safety is a concern now,
then imagine the very real dangers that an Azerbaijani-Armenian
conflict over Nagorno Karabakh would create.

Therefore, in order to seriously tackle the more difficult conflicts
throughout this region, the comparatively more straightforward security
and stability issues must be resolved first – and quickly.

Conflicts in the region would be viewed in a wholly different, more
reassuring and tolerant context if there were a binding and strong
security pact that assured non-use of force.

These conflicts are not frozen. In the absence of a security pact,
there is an arms build up that is in itself destabilizing, distorting
national budgets and hampering the normal development of civil society.

Yet in the Caucasus, our countries and peoples have lived under a
common umbrella far more than we have been divided. Today, we share
a common vision of European integration, a vision that is greater
and more enduring than issues that divide us. It is in the broader
context of European integration that our issues should be resolved.

Although integration with Europe is not controversial, NATO expansion
is. Never in history has a grand coalition formed to defeat a
particular enemy survived after the task was completed. Not after
the Napoleonic wars, not after World War I and not after World War II.

After the West’s Cold War victory, two things happened. NATO tried
to reinvent itself by directing its attention and resources to other
regions and addressing other problems. Containing Russia was not a
declared intention. And NATO created the Euro Atlantic Partnership
Council, which invited all Eastern Bloc and former Soviet republics
to participate.

This was visionary and potentially sustainable. After all, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council
of Europe extended their efficacy in that way by including the
remnants of the USSR. Not only did they remain relevant and viable,
they contributed immeasurably to our own growth and development.

But NATO also planned to continue and even expand in the same form,
even after its stated goal had long been met. Given the changed
security environment and Russia’s great security sensitivities,
this was, it appears, a strategic mistake.

Georgia’s eagerness to get into NATO is understandable. But the
security benefits to Georgia that NATO membership would bring would
be offset by the creation of a dividing line in the Caucasus, and
its attendant security challenges.

Perhaps this is the Caucasus moment: A historic opportunity, in the
context of a new regional security pact, for Brussels, Washington and
Moscow to meet with Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku and create a nonaligned
Caucasus, free of security memberships and adversarial alliances. Such
positive, engaged, inclusive neutrality will be possible and beneficial
all around.

This would be in the best interest of this highly combustible region. A
U.S.-Russia confrontation at the Georgia-Russia level will make life
very difficult, not just for us here in Armenia but also for Azerbaijan
and Turkey.

It is in the context of these existential security issues that we
must view the recent Turkish proposal for a Caucasus Stability and
Cooperation Platform.

The idea of such a pact was floated already in 1999. The concept
found favor because there were fresh memories of the use of
force in our region, and the urgency of security arrangements was
evident. Opposition to Russian interests was not yet deep and there
were no tensions through proxies. But even during such a honeymoon,
the idea didn’t become reality.

Today, force has been used again, and perhaps for that reason, the
idea has resurfaced. But today, with the threat of a renewed Cold-War
mentality, divisive lines may be drawn through these mountains and
all regional relations will become unimaginably complicated. That is,
where there still are relations.

Turkey’s proposal is therefore interesting and the urgency is not lost
on anyone. But the concept must be developed right and implemented
well. But we’ve been down this road before in this part of the world,
where good intentions were sidetracked by the very political problems
they were meant to resolve.

The Black Sea Economic Cooperation pact, for example, was created
precisely for the purpose of bringing together those who otherwise
shared no common forum for economic cooperation and the resolution
of problems. But it’s effectiveness has been limited because Turkey
lacked the commitment to use the forum as a way to relate with a
country like Armenia, with whom its borders are closed.

The proposal today, in this new tense environment, must be more
serious and sustained. It must marginalize no one. Security issues
are intertwined, and they ought to be addressed in a stability pact
with a comprehensive, strong security component.

During his visit to Baku last week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan discussed the Turkish plan and publicly made reference
to Armenia’s inclusion. It is also a fortuitous coincidence that
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey has been invited by President
Serzh Sargsian of Armenia to watch the Turkey-Armenia FIFA World Cup
qualifying match on Sept. 6 together.

This offers an opportunity for these two neighbors to discuss common
security challenges and pave the way for a region of peace.

Vartan Oskanian was foreign minister of Armenia from 1998 to April
2008. He is the founder of the Civilitas Foundation in Yerevan,
which addresses foreign policy, democracy and development issues in
the Caucasus.

3 BILLION DRAMS FOR PAYING EXTERNAL DEBTS

Panorama.am
15:27 25/08/2008

Nearly 3 billion drams were assigned for paying external debts
during first seven months of 2008. According to the Ministry of
Finance, 2.3 milliard drams were assigned for debts on World Bank
support programs, 374.2 million drams were allocated to pay the US
commodity credits, 272.2 mln. drams were to disburse the debts for
International Agriculture fund programs and 17.1 mln. drams for AEP
"dry energy maintenance" France supported program debts.

Ministry of Finance also reports that from RA state budget was
made an assignment of 15.1 billion drams for NKR in January-July
period. This transfer has already excelled the previous year’s result
for 31.1%. Also 28.8 million drams came from external financial
sources giving credit to Georgia.

ALL MUNICIPAL SCHOOLS IN YEREVAN TO BE PROVIDED WITH LOCAL HEATING SYSTEMS BY 2010

ARKA
Aug 25, 2008

YEREVAN, August 25. /ARKA/. All Yerevan municipal schools will be
provided with local heating systems by 2010, Yerevan Deputy Mayor
Kamo Areyan said on Monday.

He told journalists that 20 schools had local heating in 1999, at
initial stage of the implementation of the municipality’s program
and the number of schools enjoying local heating reached 157.

He said that the city authorities are planning to provide all
202 municipal schools in Yerevan with local heating systems by
2010.

AMBASSADOR OF BELARUS IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assembly of RA
Aug 25 2008
Armenia

On August 25, Mr. Tigran Torosyan, President of the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia received Mrs. Marina Dolgopolova,
Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to Armenia, on the occasion of
the completion of the Ambassador’s mission in Armenia.

Saying that she had lived and worked for five and a half
years in Armenia and that had been considerable part of her
life, Mrs. Dolgopolova characterized those years as being both
interesting and responsible. Being the first Ambassador of the
Republic of Belarus to Armenia, Mrs. Marina Dolgopolova highlighted
that high-level political ties were established between the two
countries. Especially when touching upon the inter parliamentary
relations she noted that during this period there was a transfer
from the parliamentary friendship group to the creation of the
committee of inter parliamentary cooperation, three sittings of
which have been already taken place. There were also official mutual
visits of the Presidents of the Parliaments. After the foreseen
parliamentary elections of Belarus on September 28, in the newly
established parliament new committee personnel of cooperation with
Armenia will be created, and the regular meeting will be held in
Minsk. Mrs. Dolgopolova reassured the invitation of the visit of
Mr. Tigran Torosyan, President of the National Assembly to Minsk,
after the regular elections. She also expressed hope that the MPs
will participate in the works of observation mission within the
framework of OSCE PA and CIS IPA, for getting familiarized with
Belarus experience in place, and for the improvement of which the
exchange of the Armenian experience is very important, as already
appreciated by the OSCE and International structures.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus thanked the President
of the National Assembly for displayed professionalism and human
warm attitude during their joint work, noting how important was the
promotion of the President of the National Assembly and the promotion
of the parliament for the productive work of her, as an Ambassador
and other Ambassadors’ works.

The President of the National Assembly, Mr. Tigran Torosyan, highly
assessing the works of Mrs. Dolgopolova in Armenia, wished success in
her further activities and certified that she would stay the relative
of our country. According to Mr. Torosyan the next Ambassador should
make great efforts aiming to preserve and develop high level of the
executive relations. The President of the National Assembly wished
success the Belarus people in their parliamentary elections, assuring
that the MPs will participate in the observation mission within the
framework of international structures.

Turkey intends to involve Armenia in Caucasian Alliance through
Russia’s mediation

2008-08-23 10:50:00

ArmInfo. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan is going to continue his
talks with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov over Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Erdogan’s initiative to create a platform of stability and cooperation
in the Caucasus.

Referring to Aksam, Trend reports that Babacan and Lavrov will decide
when they will continue their talks. Turkey hopes for Russia’s active
mediation under this project. Particularly, Lavrov is supposed to
convey the proposal to the Government of Armenia. If the Armenian
authorities accept the initiative, Turkey will send its FM official,
Ambassador Unal Cevikoz to Yerevan.

The talks with Armenia are scheduled for Sept. During the next UN
General Assembly session Babacan is planning to discuss the initiative
with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan.

INTERVIEW: JOHN DOLMAYAN OF SCARS ON BROADWAY

411mania.com
Aug 22 2008
TX

411 sits down with John from Scars On Broadway to talk illegal
downloading, touring, earthquakes and the new album…

This was my first interview for 411mania. Ok, to be completely honest
this was my first interview ever. Being my first interview, I was
very nervous seeing as how I had to interview a pretty big name like
John Dolmayan from Scars on Broadway and System of a Down. I wasn’t
sure if I wanted to make this like the Esquire "What I’ve Learned"
, or an Enquirer interview but then I decided, "Fuck it, this is my
interview and I will transcribe it how I feel is understandable."

So here I go.

John and I both live in southern California and I just so happened
to interview him the day of the earthquake you all probably heard
about a few weeks ago.

So I give John a call and he tells me to hold on because his dad
called. Then when he returns I ask him if he felt the earthquake. He
replies as if he forgot about it and says, "Ya, it was no big deal,
earthquakes don’t bother me"

I thought this was funny because the interview was postponed a couple
of hours due to the earthquake "If you’re gonna die, you’re gonna
die" exactly.

When I ask him what the inspiration for the album was he explains
that that question could end up in a three hour conversation. But I
waited to hear the answer.

"Life I guess, life in general is the inspiration for the album. All
the things that you go through kinda mold you into who you are, and
the environment that you live in also has a lot to do with it. And
in the end you have the music that comes out, ya know, I don’t write
the music but I imagine that is what Daron (Malakian) goes through
channeling whatever he channels to create this stuff. Part of it has
to do with his life experiences."

Prior to the interview I talked to some die hard System of a Down
and Scars on Broadway fans because, I knew they would have some good
questions for John that they were just dying to get the answers to. One
of them was about their new self-titled album leaking out on the net
before its release date where John stated, "I don’t care. As long as
they like the album, I think that the true fans are going to go out
and buy it anyway. You know there are people that can’t afford it,
what can I say? It’s tough times. But we put a lot of work into this
and dedicated our lives to it for the last year and a half so it’d be
nice if people extended the courtesy and actually went out and bought
it and if they cant or don’t choose to, that’s ok with me. You gotta
live within your means and however you get through life is up to you."

Scars on Broadway have been touring all over Europe so I was curious
as to how the fans over there were reacting to the new material and
also if they would be touring the rest of the world.

"They’ve been pretty into it. With the advent of you tube they know a
lot of the lyrics already from the previous shows that we’ve played
which is great for them to take that kinda time and go ya know,
its pretty crappy quality recordings on you tube I was impressed by
how many of the lyrics they actually knew. I don’t know half of the
lyrics! I know very little, when I listen to music, I don’t listen
to the lyrics I listen to the music."

As for touring,

"Well we will be touring the United States, then we are going to Europe
in august. When we get back we are going to be doing the united states
, that’s what we have planned so far of course we will be doing more
than that but that takes us all the way into November and that’s as
far ahead as I want to think about right now."

Scars on Broadway has a very distinct and different sound then a
lot of music that is on the radio. Some of their songs can be quite
controversial as well with some raunchy lyrics. For example in the song
"Chemicals":

"MADNESS! I’m feeling scared/Looking around and nobody there/When I
say ‘Fuck the world!’/As we’re ready to rock/Piss on your face while
you suck on my cock."

So I asked John if they try to find a gap in the music scene by
pursuing a certain sound or if they create music that just comes
natural at a certain point of his life.

"I think that the less you think about music scene the better
off you are as a musician and an artist, we don’t really take into
consideration what might be happening in the music scene today I guess
in a lot of ways we want to be a part of the trend that is about to
come not the one that is about to go out, so its more a matter of
just playing where you are in life, playing the type of music you’re
listening to or that has inspired you or was uninspiring sometimes,
sometimes it’s the stuff that kinda irritates you that inspires you
to write something else because maybe you want something different out
there. so I don’t really know too many new bands out there to be honest
with you. I generally listen to a lot of older music occasionally if
someone suggests something I’ll listen to it but I generally find a lot
more time spent on specific music that is 25 to 30 years old. Lately
I have been listening to a lot of Mozart. I go through phases a lot,
I’m a phase type of person, I remember I listened to Pink Floyd’s
The Wall for a year straight every day when I was 18 years old I can
definitely lose myself in music. To me music is like a warm bath,
you just immerse yourself in it and forget about what’s going on."

I was curious as to what they were going to do with all the extra
songs that didn’t make the cut of their new album. I hate looking for
all the lost recordings on the internet so I was hoping there would
be a B-side compilation album in the near future.

"Some will be on B-sides for singles some will be used for soundtracks
or some will never be used at all! One or to might make the next album
but I doubt it, they usually don’t. For example, Systems (of a down)
first album we had "X" recorded so we weren’t happy with it and "X"
ended up on Toxicity and it was completely rerecorded, a new structure
for it and everything. So sometimes songs can reemerge but hopefully
they are better and better suited for the album that your gonna put
them on. But its no necessarily guaranteed. I kind of like not having
songs that aren’t anywhere."

I agreed and told him it keeps things personal. Then he agreed and
lifted the hopes of fans by hinting towards that B-side compilation
album,

"Keep it personal or maybe later on one day you’ll do like a
compilation or something and put them all together."

"They Say" is the first single off of the new Scars on Broadway album
but it was an unexpected move.

"We released ‘They Say’ not expecting it to become a single we just
wanted people to have a taste of the album and it ended up becoming a
single completely out of our mindset of what it was going to be. We
intended it to be just for the fans, something to have just to feed
them something so they wouldn’t be hungry for it..and be sorry. Then
we put ‘Chemicals’ just to give them another taste ya know I don’t
expect ‘Chemicals’ to be a radio song but we wanted them to have a
completely different example of what is on the album."

Yeah, I don’t think "Chemicals" would be able to be on the radio
either.

Then I started to go simple and ask easy questions that aren’t boring
for the readers, like what he likes to do in his free time,

"What most people do, spend time with our friends and family. I know
Daron goes to Disneyland a lot and when hockey seasons are out he goes
to hockey games and baseball season he goes to baseball games. I like
to play poker I like to read an collect and sell comic books and go
have a drink occasionally."

I got really excited when he said he was into comic books so I had
to ask what his favorite one was, and he said Fantastic Four which
I thought was pretty interesting because most people say Batman
or Superman.

I asked him if there was any place in the world that he would want
to tour that he hasn’t yet, and again to my surprise he said South
America and expects to tour there in the future. Being of Armenian
descent, John also explained that he would like to and has thought
about playing a show in Armenia.

I thank him for his time and tell him to be safe in case of an
earthquake, he tells me he will and asks if I will come save him if
he is going to get killed. I tell him I will do what I can.

Go check out the new Scars on Broadway self-titled debut album and
do not miss them on tour!

OCTOBER 19 Masquerade, Atlanta, GA 20 House of Blues, Myrtle Beach,
SC 22 TLA, Philadelphia, PA 23 Ram’s Head Live, Baltimore, MD 25 The
Fillmore, New York, NY 26 Paradise, Boston, MA 28 Le Medley, Montreal,
QC CANADA 29 Phoenix, Toronto, ONT CANADA 31 St. Andrews, Detroit, MI

NOVEMBER 1 Metro, Chicago, IL 2 The Eagles Club, Milwaukee, WI 4
First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 5 Beaumont, Kansas City, MO 7 Ogden,
Denver, CO 8 Murray Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT 11 Edmonton Events
Center, Edmonton, AB CANADA 12 MacEwan Ballroom, Calgary, AB CANADA
14 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC CANADA 15 Showbox SODO, Seattle,
WA 16 Roseland, Portland, OR 22 Marquee, Phoenix, AZ 24 White Rabbit,
San Antonio, TX 25 Emo’s, Austin, TX 26 House of Blues, Houston, TX

NUMBER OF TOURISTS TO ARMENIA INCREASES BY 13.3% IN FIRST HALF OF 2008 ON SAME PERIOD OF 2007

Noyan Tapan

Au g 20, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 20, NOYAN TAPAN. 207,479 tourists visited Armenia in
January-June 2008 – against 183,110 tourists in the same period of
2007, with the growth in their number making 13.3%.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, 211,182 people
left Armenia to travel abroad in the indicated period, their number
increased by 12.8% as compared with January-June 2007.