Author: Hambardsumian Paul

RF GENERAL STAFF: GEORGIAN REPORT ON AUGUST WAR IS A PETTY FORGERY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.08.2009 18:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Declassified material", Georgia’s report on last
year’s South Ossetian war is based on, is a "petty forgery," Deputy
Head of RF General Staff Anatoliy Nogovitsin stated, commenting on a
"Report on Russia’s full-scale aggression against Georgia" presented
a day before in Tbilisi. In his opinion, the documents contains no
unknown facts.

"No photos, showing our armored units on the night of August 7,
were presented. They’re just non-existent," says the General.

As Georgia asserts, August 8’s Tskhinvali shelling was a response to
Russian armored troops’ entrance in South Ossetia a day before. Russia
denies the fact, stating the entrance took place upon Georgia’s launch
of military offensive.

According to Nogovitsin, the report was prepared with Western PR
agencies’ assistance and report presentation held in the morning to
gain more audience in US and Europe.

On August 6, Georgian Government presented a 190-page report on
"Russia’s full-scale aggression against Georgia", which includes
declassified material published in Georgian and English.

According to Tbilisi, the documents are meant to testify to Georgia’s
intentions to avoid war, yet "was unable to stick to its plans because
of Russia’s intervention".

RUSSIAN-TURKISH DYNAMIC RELATIONS NOT TO AFFECT ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.08.2009 12:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan proved very
efficient for Moscow, an Armenian expert said.

"Russia succeeded in engaging Turkey into South Stream. This move
will whip up the U.S. and Europe to launch new projects," Sevak
Sarukhanyan, deputy director of Noravank research center, told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

He also said that Russian-Turkish dynamic relations will not affect
Armenia.

"Russia will always be interested in Armenia. Armenian-Russian
relations are not linked to Russian-Turkish terms," he said

NIKOLAY BORDYUZHA: NO ALTERNATIVE TO PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

ArmInfo
2009-08-06 14:11:00

ArmInfo. There is no alternative to peaceful settlement of the Karabakh
conflict, Nikolay Bordyuzha, CSTO Secretary General declared during
the TV Bridge Moscow-Yerevan on the topic "Results of CSTO Informal
Summit in Kyrghyzstan" on Thursday.

"Recently, especially with Serzh Sargsyan’s taking the post of the
Armenian President, the contacts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani
leaderships, the contacts aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict
have been significantly activated. In addition, the meetings of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have also become more
frequent," he said.

N. Bordyuzha hopes that the peace process and all these meetings will
bring specific results. "There is no alternative to peaceful settlement
of the Karabakh conflict. The developments in the Caucasus a year
ago once more proved that use of force does not lead to settlement of
any discrepancies between the states. In this context, only peaceful
solutions will ensure peace in the Caucasus," N. Bordyuzha said
hinting at the August incidents in Georgia.

AZERBAIJAN AWAITING "GOOD NEWS" FROM OBAMA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
05.08.2009 18:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US Azeri and Turkish Diaspora addressed a letter
to US President Barack Obama. "Last year’s war between Georgia and
Russia punctuated the continuous threat to peace and security in
the South Caucasus arising from unresolved territorial conflicts
that have spanned more than two decades since the fall of the Soviet
Union. Recently several Iranian officials openly threatened Azerbaijan
for hosting Israeli President Shimon Peres in Baku. Similarly,
four UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Armenian forces
withdraw and cease the occupation of Azerbaijan lands since 1993 have
achieved little for the displaced one million refugees and IDPs. All
of this adds to the urgency of reaching a sustainable peace based on
the fundamentals of international law and human rights, or, as you
have stated earlier, "a lasting and durable settlement of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict."

"The South Caucasus holds great promise for regional and global
peace and prosperity. Yet the region’s potential has been disrupted
and disabled by two decades of conflict between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. Armenia’s own development has been paralyzed as a result
of self-imposed isolation from major regional projects." "Should
the Armenian leadership demonstrate productive pragmatism, it can
help integrate the nation with the economic and democratic future
of the region securing a peace and prosperity for its people. Such a
future would include open communications and borders, including the
Turkish -Armenian border. A lasting and durable peace would advance
US interests as it provides for lasting stability in a strategically
important region where the United States requires solid friends."

"Therefore, on behalf of the Azerbaijani-American and Turkish-American
communities, we support and encourage your Good Office to intensify US
efforts towards reaching a just peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan
based on UN Security Council resolutions and the Helsinki Final Act
of 1975, and to seize this historic opportunity. While we recognize
the significant pressures that bear from special interests opposed to
peace for a variety of reasons, including nationalist and religious
ones, we hope that America’s vision for South Caucasus is informed by
its national interests and its relationship with strategic partners
in the region."

Letter copy was sent to US Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton, 1news.az reported.

ARMENIAN POLITICAL EXPERT: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RESOLVE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT WITHOUT NKR’S PARTICIPATION

ArmInfo
2009-08-05 17:19:00

ArmInfo. It is impossible to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
without NKR’s participation, political expert, professor of Yerevan
State University Alexander Manassyan said during a press-conference
today.

In the last few years the negotiations have been held exclusively
in the format of presidential meetings and sooner or later
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic must be involved in the process. Manassyan
quoted US co-chair of OSCE MG Matthew Bryza as also saying that no
settlement is possible without NKR’s involvement.

Manassyan said that Azerbaijan’s plan for return of refugees to
Nagorno-Karabakh and controlled territories was just a propaganda
campaign.

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN UNIVERSITY AND "SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAYS" FOUND MANAGEMENT SCHOOL

Panorama.am
18:03 04/08/2009

The general director of "South Caucasus railways" Shevket Shaidulin
and the chancellor of Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) university Armen
Darbinyan signed a memorandum on founding "Management school".

The mission of the school is to prepare specialists for the "South
Caucasus railways". It is said that in 2009-2010 20 top-managers and
20 specialists should be educated in the school.

The educational schedule has been drafted by the professors of
Russian-Armenian University.

RA NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS FUND (NCF) BOARD OF TRUSTEES MET ON AUGUST 1 AND 2, PRESIDED AT BY BOARD CHAIRMAN, RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN

Mon day, 3 August 2009

The meeting reviewed the new program package, defined activity areas,
discussed educational initiatives etc.

Four activity areas have been identified: tourism, health care,
education and attending sub-areas. A package of program proposals
was identified for each area.

The Fund will concentrate on 4 geographic itineraries in the field
of tourism. A 3-year program for the revival and reconstruction
of Tatev monastic complex has been underway since early this year,
which seeks to promote southbound tourism in Armenia.

In the sphere of health care, the Fund will make efforts to promote
treatment of tumors and cardiology in Armenia. A center of nuclear
therapy will be set up to this end.

The Fund will seek to develop higher education, teacher training and
the system of high schools in Armenia.

Developing information networks in Armenia and fostering communication
skills among Armenians has been determined to be a separate activity
area.

Underway is the World Bank-supported Advanced Communication Network for
Armenia program which seeks to expand telecommunications countrywide.

A special discussion was dedicated to educational problems. Keynote
statements were delivered by RA Minister of Science and Education Armen
Ashotyan, Head of the World Bank Armenia Office Aristomene Varudakis,
Director of Luys Foundation Jacqueline Kara-Aslanyan and Partner of
McKinsey&Co. Avetik Chalabyan.

The meeting heard and approved the concept of creating a complex of
development efforts for research and education in Armenia, presented
by NCF Executive Director Bekor Papazyan. It has been decided to
work out a comprehensive program package for discussion at the next
meeting of Board of Trustees.

THE GOVERNMENT IS AGAINST

A1+
08:31 pm | July 30, 2009

Official

The RA government did not give its consent to the RA bill on "Making
changes and additions in the RA electoral code" presented by MP Armen
Martirosyan by the order of legislative initiative and explained
its conclusion.

During the session, the RA government was against MP Victor Dallakyan’s
package of bills on making changes and additions in the RA law on "Mass
information" and "Making changes in the RA criminal code", as well as
the bills on making changes in the laws on "Operative-investigative
activities", "National security bodies", "RA Budgetary system" and
explained its conclusions.

The government didn’t make any principled objection to the RA bill
on making changes in the RA law on "Civil Service" presented by the
same parliamentarian and simply proposed to modify it.

The mentioned bills will be presented to the RA National Assembly by
constituted order.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA TO ATTEND INFORMAL CSTO SUMMIT IN BISHKEK

armradio.am
30.07.2009 15:33

The Presidnet of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, will pay a working visit
to Bishkek on July 31 to participate in the non-official meeting of
the Presidents of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO), President’s Press Office reported.

US AZERIS PROTEST AT ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS

AzerNews Weekly
July 28 2009
Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) has issued a statement
protesting calls by two Armenian groups in the United States to
have the separatist regime in the Armenia-occupied Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh region of Azerbaijan involved in ongoing peace talks between
Baku and Yerevan.

Ken Hachikian, the head of the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA), in a letter sent to US President Barack Obama on July 14,
complained that the countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group
mediating the peace process are allegedly pressuring Yerevan to accept
unilateral and dangerous concessions.

Referring to Obama`s pre-election pledge, Hachikian called for
the involvement of the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic in
negotiations.

The Armenian Assembly of America issued a similar statement on July 22.

In its statement, the AAC recalled that Obama, in his pre-election
speech, had spoken about peace satisfying all sides involved, noting
that one of these sides is the Azeri community of Upper Garabagh.

The Council said it was closely following the peace process, expressing
hope that the parties to the long-standing conflict would achieve
sustainable peace in the near future.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing
of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh
and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international
law. Peace talks have not yet resulted in resolving the conflict.