Author: Hambardsumian Paul

VLADIMIR KARAPETYAN: THE ARMENIAN SIDE IS POSITIVE ABOUT THE MEETING OF FMS IN GENEVA

armradio.am
05.03.2007 16:02

Responding to ArmInfo question about Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister
Araz Azimov’s concern over the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign
Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, acting press secretary of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Karapetyan said: "Negotiations
take place between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
and the Armenian side is positively disposed. I would not like
to comment on sentimental statements of one of the members of he
Azerbaijani delegation."

According to Day.az., the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan
declared about his "serious concern" to ANS CM radio station. In
Azimov’s words, "the talks between the Foreign Ministers of the two
countries were unproductive." "If the negotiations continue this way,
I don’t know what we shall be discussing in Geneva. I think the Azeri
side is leaving for Geneva with a sense of anxiety," he noted.

Let us remind that the meeting of the Foreign Ministers is due on
March 13-14 in Geneva.

It’s worth mentioning that Araz Azimov’s statement is kind of strange,
taking into consideration that Elmar Mammadyarov was the first to
declare about his willingness to meet with Vartan Oskanian in Geneva.

ABOUT 34 MILLION DOLLARS TO BE INVESTED IN ELECTRIC NETWORKS OF
ARMENIA THIS YEAR

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Investments of 12 bln 065.7 mln drams
(about 34.4 mln USD) will be made in Electric Networks of Armenia
company this year. 45% of this sum will be spent on reconstruction
and reequipment of distribution networks. According to the RA Public
Services Regulatory Commission, in 2008, 7 bln 51.1 mln drams will be
invested in networks, with 47.3% of this sum being spent on purchase
of machinery and equipment. In 2009, investments will amount to 7 bln
496 mln drams. According to the same source, work on reconstruction,
reequipment and extension of distribution networks, introduction of an
automated system of electricity assessment, creation of a center on
information servicing of users and rapid response, and capital repair
of meters will be done within the next three years. It is also
envisaged to repair administrative and production buildings and
purchase computers and office equipment. This year the frequency and
duration of blackouts will be reduced by 2.5% and 10% respectively,
while in 2009 – by 4.5% and 12%.

Armenian opposition movement holds rally in Yerevan

Arminfo
2 Mar 07

Yerevan, 2 March: "We have to state today that unfortunately, the
Armenian opposition could not put aside its ambitions and
stereotypes," Ashot Sargsyan of the Armenian Pan-National Movement
said at the rally of the Alternative movement [on 2 March].

He said President Robert Kocharyan’s impeachment should be the key
goal of the new public movement. The impeachment could be initiated by
the parliament to be elected on 12 May. "This is why we called on the
entire opposition at our first rally on 20 February to unite in one
election bloc called Impeachment which could consolidate the efforts
to fight together. No opposition party opposed the initiative, some of
them even supported it. The current situation allowed us to see the
real faces of some of the opposition leaders. The authorities have
received a unique opportunity to stage a show called a ‘parliamentary
election’," Sargsyan said.

Political expert Aghasi Yenokyan said that lack of unity among the
opposition in the parliamentary election campaign is the result of the
tricks by President Kocharyan’s agents, who did their best to prevent
the opposition from uniting. He said that no problem of the country
could be resolved "until Kocharyan’s killers travel freely in the city
and fight leaving innocent people dead". He said that for the
Alternative movement, the participation in the parliamentary election
is a means of fighting for free and fair elections.

Statements were voiced at the rally, which was attended by around
1,500 people, that ruling parties’ actual rating was no more than 10
per cent and that it took only determination and will to win the
election. The next rally of Alternative supporters will be held on 9
March.

New Anatolian, Turkey
March 3 2007

‘Turkey a major transit route’

The New Anatolian / Washington
03 March 2007

According this year’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
(INCSR), Turkey is a major transit route for Southwest Asian opiates
to Europe and serves as a staging area for major narcotics
traffickers and brokers.

The report issued by the U.S. Department of State indicates that
Turkey is also a base of operations for international narcotics
traffickers and associates trafficking in opium, morphine base,
heroin, precursor chemicals and other drugs. "Both morphine base and
heroin are then smuggled from Iran to Turkey and ultimately to
Western Europe."

Underscoring the strong commitment of Turkish law enforcement forces
in disrupting narcotics trafficking, the INCSR said the police were
Turkey’s most proactive counter-narcotics force, while the
Gendarmerie and Customs units continued to play a significant role
against narcotics.

INCSR underlined that though Turkish authorities continued to seize
large amounts of heroin and precursor chemicals it was estimated that
multi-ton amounts of heroin are smuggled through Turkey each month.

The report also pointed out that the government devoted significant
financial and human resources to counter-narcotics activities and
Turkey continued to play a key role in Operation Containment (a DEA
regional program to reduce the flow of Afghan heroin to Western
Europe), as well as in other regional efforts.

According to the report, full-year drug seizure statistics for Turkey
are as follows: 10,283 kg heroin, 529 kg morphine base, 23,884 kg of
cannabis, 440 kg of opium, more than 19,900,000 captagon tablets and
2,400,000 ecstasy tablets.

The INCSR warned that despite drug abuse remaining at a modest in
scale in Turkey, compared to other countries, the number of addicts
is increasing.

The report also noted that Armenia’s borders with Turkey and
Azerbaijan remain closed due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, adding
however that small amounts of opiates and heroin are smuggled to
Armenia from Turkey via Georgia. "When all of Armenia’s borders open
once again, police predict drug transit will increase significantly,"
the report stressed.

TURKEY PROTESTS CYPRUS-FRANCE MILITARY ACCORD

Assyrian International News Agency, CA
March 1 2007

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey protested a military cooperation accord
signed between France and Cyprus, saying Thursday that it threatened
stability in the eastern Mediterranean and would affect efforts to
reach a solution to the Cyprus problem.

The French Defense Ministry confirmed that a military agreement
with Cyprus was signed in Paris on Monday during a visit by the
Cypriot foreign minister, but did not provide further details. The
French Foreign Ministry said the accord was "standard" between two
EU members and that it involved military training and information-
and knowledge-sharing.

Turkey has vowed to defend the interests of Turkish Cypriots, and
stations some 40,000 troops on the north of the divided island.

"France’s signing of a military agreement with the Southern Cypriot
Greek Administration is a worrying development," Turkey’s Foreign
Ministry said in a statement Thursday. It said the accord contradicted
previous agreements on the island’s status and "represented a threat
to the stability and security of the Eastern Mediterranean."

Tensions over the status of Cyprus, an EU member, have thrown Turkey’s
European Union membership bid into disarray.

Turkey props up a government in northern Cyprus that no other country
in the world recognizes, and it refuses to recognize the Greek Cypriot
administration as the primary authority on the island.

This has also been a period of heightened tension in Turkish-French
relations. France’s parliament voted in October to approve a bill
that would criminalize denying that the mass killings of Armenians
by Turks at the beginning of the 20th century was genocide, prompting
Turkish trade organizations to call for a boycott of French companies
and the Turkish military to say it would break off all contacts with
its French counterparts.

Turkey vehemently denies that it committed genocide against Armenians,
saying they were killed in interethnic fighting as the Ottoman Empire
collapsed.

FIRST CANDIDATES NOMINATED AT ELECTORAL DISTRICT N 38

Noyan Tapan
Mar 01 2007

KAPAN, MARCH 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Two applications for nomination for RA
NA elections by majoritarian system were submitted to Syunik district
electoral commission N 38 on March 1. As Noyan Tapan correspondent was
informed by Artur Gevorgian, the Chairman of the District Electoral
Commission, RPA member, RA MP Vahe Hakobian and Orinats Yerkir member,
Head of Department of NA Control Chamber Gerasim Alaverdian submitted
applications on nomination.

MICROECONOMIC INDUCES REGISTERED IN ARMENIA SINCE EARLY 2007 ARE PROMISING

Noyan Tapan
Mar 01 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 1, NOYAN TAPAN. During the February 28 working meeting
of the Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Chairman of the Central
Bank of Armenia (CBA) Tigran Sargsian, the microeconomic indices
registered in the country since early 2007 were assessed as promising.

The interlocutors pointed out posistive tendencies in the export-import
structure, according to which the share of imported equipment and new
technologies has increased this year, which means that new enterprises
with higher productivity will operate soon.

The CBA chairman said that an unprecedented growth – 12% of time
deposits was registered in January, which shows that citizens trust
banks and prefer to deposit in Armenian drams. Tigran Sargsian said
that this changed attitude to the national currency explains also
the fact that that more than 50% of resources attracted by commercial
banks were made for the first time in Armenian drams.

According to the RA President’s press service, the meeting participants
also spoke about the salary growth indices, according to which a 20%
growth was registered in January of this year.

HAYKO TO REPRESENT ARMENIA AT EUROVISION-2007

ArmRadio.am
26.02.2007 12:39

At Eurovisión-2007 song contest due on May 12 in Helsinki Armenia
will be represented by RA Honored artist, Armenian best singer of
2007 Hayko with the song "Anytime you need." The author of lyrics
is Karen Kavaleryan, the tune was composed by Hayko himself. The
representative of Armenia will go directly to the final, since last
year Armenian singer Andre was included in the top ten.

The jury chose Hayko from 7 finalists, including also Emmi,
Sergey Grigoryan, Karine Asryan, Asta, Arina Hovhannisyan and Meri
Voskanyan. It’s worth mentioning that applications to participate
in the contest were received not only from Armenia, but also from
Armenians abroad.

Representatives of 42 countries (Armenia, France, Germany, Spain,
Great Britain, Ukraine, Russia) will participate in the contest,
14 of which will go directly to the final. The semi-final will take
place on May 10.

–Boundary_(ID_kPbjV5qAg4inkLIQW6cumg)–

A1+

ARTHUR ABRAHAM IS DUAL CITIZEN
[02:31 pm] 23 February, 2007

‘My Armenian education helped me to find so much strength to beat the
rival,’the world famous boxer, Arthur Abraham announced at the press
conference, stating about the victory over Edison Miranda. Abraham is
likely to meet his rival in summer.’I will advise him to quit boxing
and take up another proffession, as he was unable to win me even when
my jaw was broken,’ claims Arthur Abraham.

As a matter of fact, the experts consider this contest the best in the
last 10 years.

Though fights under the flag of Germany, he raises the Armenian flag
after the victories. ‘I have an Armenian citizenship, my parents live
here, but at the same time I am a German citizen,’ he states.Abraham’s
forthcoming contest is on April 21, but the rival is still unknown.

Rumors have been around lately about Arthur’s younger brother Alex,
who was arrested by the German police and set free afterwards.When
asked, he answered,’They check and set you free if not guilty.My
brother has nothing to do with suchlike cases. My brother and I have
had no problems with the police so far.Alex keeps on exercising and by
the end of March he is likely to have a contest.’

PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. unable to swallow Iran
23.02.2007 14:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. will not be able to swallow Iran up. This
state is too big and strong, specialist of Iranian studies Tadevos
Tarkhchyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. No aggression against Iran
is not expected, according to him. `The U.S. just moves muscles in an
aspiration to show it’s being the superpower. The U.S. administration
clearly understands that Iran is not Iraq. Having plenty of problems
in the region, it can’t shoulder one more burden,’ Tarkhchyan
said. Islamic solidarity, which can gain force in case America
launches hostilities against Iran, should not be neglected
either. `Not only Big Near East but also Middle Asia may render
support to Iran. The U.S. will hardly like such state of affairs. So,
I am sure, there will be no military operations launched,’ the
Armenian expert said. He reminded that not only media but also George
Bush himself announced that the CIA’s information on Iranian nuclear
facilities proved ungrounded.