Author: Harutyunian Christine

CHAIRMAN OF "PROTECTION OF CONSUMER RIGHTS" NGO CONFIRMS RUMORS ABOUT
FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The chairman of Protection of Consumer
Rights NGO Abgar Yeghoyan confirmed the rumors about foot-and-mouth
disease in Armenia during the June 29 press conference.

According to him, some cows died in a mountainous pasture of Vardenis
region because herdsboys did not call a veterinary in time or inform
the State Food Safety and Veterinary Inspection of the RA Ministry of
Agriculture. In the words of A. Yeghoyan, "we also have foot-and-mouth
disease-related problems in other marzes (NT: provinces)".

To recap, the rumors about cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the
country were denied by the Ministry of Agriculture.

VIMPELCOM CONTINUES NEGOTIATING WITH ARMENIAN BI LINE FOR JOINT USE OF BRAND

arminfo
2007-06-29 16:24:00

VimpelCom, which is included in the Group of Companies Beeline,
continues negotiations with the Armenian IT Company Bi Line for joint
use of the brand, Dmitry Pleskanos, VimpelCom Executive Vice President,
Business Development in CIS, told journalists in Yerevan, Friday.

He said that ArmenTel brand is good enough for VimpleCom if the
negotiations bring no result. The company will continue using ArmenTel
brand. High quality communication is of prior importance, re- branding
is of secondary, he said. It is another matter that the Russian brand
Beeline operates in 6 countries.

ArmenTel Director General Oleg Blyznuk believes the hullabaloo in
the Armenian press artificial. "There is no problem connected with
the brand," he said.

NEW U.S. CHARGE D’AFFAIRES TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA JULY 10

ARMENPRESS
Jun 27 2007

WASHINGTON, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS: Newly appointed U.S. charge d’affaires
in Armenia Rudolph Perina will arrive in Armenia on July 10, head of
U.S. embassy’s public relations department Tom Midnacht stated today.

"Rudolph Perina will arrive in Armenia on July 10.

He has a status of an ambassador, he was U.S. ambassador in Moldova,
but he is arriving in Armenia not as an ambassador but as charge
d’affaires.

Ambassador Richard Hoagland continues to be the candidate of George
Bush and we are expecting the approval of his candidacy by the Senate,"
Tom Midnacht said.

>From August 2001 till 2004 R. Perina was co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group. From 1993 to 1996 he headed U.S. diplomatic mission
in Belgrade, from 1996-1997 he was senior deputy of the USA state
secretary assistant in European and Canadian issues.

In 1998-2001 Rudolph Perina was U.S. ambassador to Moldova.

PRESIDENT OF GREECE VISITS TSITSERNAKABERD

ARMENPRESS
Jun 27 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS: President of Greece Karolos Papoulias,
with his spouse May Popoulia, visited today Tsitsernakaberd, memorial
to the victims of the Armenian genocide.

In the memory book of the Genocide museum the president wrote "The fact
of genocide is very barbaric from the point of you of the violation
of human rights and is a black line in the contemporary history of
humanity. The fact of the genocide must at least be recognized and
take the responsibility and apologize."

May Popoulia wrote "I once again felt the deep roots which unite
Armenian and Greek peoples."

Karolos Papoulias put a wreath to the memorial of the victims of the
genocide and planted a tree in the memory alley.

The Greek parliament approved a resolution condemning Armenian genocide
in 1996.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGES BAKU TO TAKE CARE OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS NOT ONLY ON DOCUMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.06.2007 14:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ One of the largest populations of internally
displaced people per capita in the world faces discrimination,
segregation and an uncertain future. According to a new report titled
"Azerbaijan: Displaced then discriminated against – the plight of
the internally displaced population", which was released by Amnesty
International, some 600 000 Azeris have lived in internal displacement
for over a decade as a result of the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh.

Although minimum essential levels of human rights have been provided
for by the Azerbaijani government with international assistance,
Amnesty International is concerned that current measures are not
adequate to provide for the progressive realization of human rights
in a context of long-term displacement.

Human rights treaties to which Azerbaijan is a party require the
authorities to respect and protect the rights of internally displaced
people to life, and an adequate standard of living. "Although on paper
the Azerbaijani government appears willing to allocate resources to
the needs of the internally displaced population, these resources are
not being used in ways that allow the progressive realization of their
human rights. State officials consistently emphasize the ‘temporary’
nature of social and housing programs for the displaced. Yet this
emphasis is increasingly in conflict with the prolonged nature of
displacement," Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Program
Director at Amnesty International said.

In order to address the human rights issues of the displaced people,
Amnesty International calls on the government of Azerbaijan to remove
all obstacles to the rights of the displaced population to freedom
of movement and choice of residence; take steps to provide for the
right of displaced people to genuinely participate in a process of
consultation on issues affecting them; ensure that the right of the
displaced population to an adequate standard of housing is respected
in both rural and urban contexts.

Amnesty International calls on the international community to continue
to assist the Azerbaijani authorities in this regard.

NKR PRESIDENT RECEIVED FOREIGN JOURNALISTS

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
June 28 2007

June 27 the Nagorno-Karabagh President Arkady Ghoukassian received
a professor of Sorbonne University, "Population and Future" French
magazine’s editor-in-chief Gerard-Francois Dumont and "Le Mond
Diplomatique" bulletin’s special correspondent for South Caucasus
issues Florance Martirosian.

At the request of the guests, who cover regional conflicts and key
processes at the order of French and British publications, Arkady
Ghoukassian presented official Stepanakert’s stand on current stage
and perspectives of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict settlement.

PRESIDENT KAROLOS PAPOULIAS BEGINS THREE-DAY STATE VISIT TO ARMENIA

Athens News Agency
June 26, 2007 Tuesday

YEREVAN (ANA-MPA/S. Tzimas) – President Karolos Papoulias began a
three-day state visit to Armenia on Tuesday with talks with Armenian
President Robert Kocharian.

"Turkey should consider that it cannot pursue accession to the
European Union with an occupation force amounting to 35,000 in a
European Union member-state,(Cyprus)" President Papoulias said during
his meeting with President Kocharian.

"Both our countries border with Turkey and I believe that we share the
will for the strengthening of its democratic institutions. Greece has
supported the accession course of Turkey from the beginning, because
we deeply believe that the EU sets the framework of principles and
rules that necessitate respect for international law, respect for
democracy and the human rights of minorities.

However, we expect Turkey’s full compliance with all the criteria
and prerequisites of the EU concerning respect for human rights and
religious freedoms," the President of the Republic added.

Asked whether there is a question of Armenia joining the NATO
alliance, President Kocharian replied categorically that there is no
such question since, as he said, this would not serve his country’s
security.

Referring to the level of bilateral relations between the two
countries, President Kocharian thanked the Greek side for the many
programmes it is implementing in Armenia and in particular in the
sectors of defence and agriculture, while expressing the desire for
coooperation to be extended to other sectors as well.

Addressing the Armenian President earlier, President Papoulias referred
to the "martyred times that the two countries experienced in the
20th century due to a common cause" and pointed out that "we do not
forget the (Armenian) genocide in 1915 and we are proud that under the
conditions prevailing at the time the Greeks were among the few peoples
who gave asylum to the Armenians." President Papoulias also focused
on the conflict between Armenians and Azeris over Nagorno Karabakh,
saying that Greece supports a peaceful solution to differences.

"We believe that the framework of the Minsk Group of the OSCE is
the best for a solution to the problem and we believe that at the
present time conjuncture the involvement of any other agency would
be counter-productive," he said.

Greece, according to data revealed in the framework of talks, is
the third biggest investor in Armenia with about 214 million dollars
invested in capital, with Russia coming first and the United States
second.

As regards development aid provided by Greece over the period between
1997-2005, it amounted to 26.6 million dollars, while with the signing
of a bilateral strategic cooperation document in 2007 covering the
2008-2011 period, another 8 million dollars will be provided.

President Papoulias will be meeting with President Kocharian again
on Wednesday and afterwards with the prime minister. He will then be
planting an olive tree at the Armenian genocide monument and later on
he will be receiving representatives of the Greek community in Armenia.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: APPROACHES OF AERMENIA AND GREECE TO ALL SENSITIVE ISSUES ARE QUITE CLOSE TO EACH OTHER

Noyan Tapan
Jun 26 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The approaches of Armenia and Greece
to all sensitive issues are quite close to each other, which forms a
serious basis for the development of extensive relations, the Armenian
president Robert Kocharian stated at the meeting with reporters after
negotiations the Greek president Karolos Papoulias who is on a state
visit to Armenia and the following negotiations of the delegations on
June 26. According to him, the agenda related to bilateral relations
of the two countries is rich: a lot of issues, including those on
regional developments, were discussed. Robert Kocharian confessed
that they had no time to discuss all the issues, so the discussions
will continue late June 26 and on June 27.

The Armenian president thanked his Greek counterpart for the
assistance programs implemented in Armenia. R. Kocharian pointed out
the cooperation in defence, agriculture, tourism and education. He
underlined the necessity for deepening and extending the cooperation in
these and some other spheres. "We are really interested in developing
the bilateral relations, especially as the similarities in terms of
cultural legacy and history facilitate our contacts," R. Kocharian
noted.

K. Papoulias in his turn called the bilateral Armenian-Greek relations
"excellent and dynamically developing". In particular, he said that
Greece positively assesses the cooperation between the two countries
in the sphere of defence.

K. Papoulias agreed with the Armenian president that based on the
past experience, it is necessary to extend programs implemented in
Armenia and to allocate more funds for these programs. He said that
during negotiations the sides confirmed that there is a great field for
extending the bilateral relations. In particular, as K. Papoulias said,
there are opportunities for more efficient cooperation in education
and culture. "I am convinced that our warm and normal cooperation
should continue in all spheres," the Greek president stated.

EMERGENCE OF MILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN GAGIK TSARUKIAN IN ARMENIA’S POLITICAL ARENA IS A POINT OF CONCERN

ArmInfo
2007-06-26 10:40:00

After the parliamentary election returns in Armenia had been announced,
it turned out that the Prosperous Armenia party founded in March
2006 by millionaire businessman Gagik Tsarukian and supportive to the
policies of the incumbent President of Armenia Robert Kocharian made
a rapid emergence as a serious political force in these elections,
MP Leo Platvoet (Netherlands) says in his report "Observation of
Parliamentary Elections in Armenia", which was discussed at the PACE
session in Strasbourg, Monday.

The author of the report notes that the sudden emergence of the
Prosperous Armenia Party of millionaire businessman Gagik Tsarukian
as a leading political force, is a point of concern, as it displays
connection of political and business interests, especially in the
light of the relatively weak provisions regarding financial disclosure
and transparency of campaign finances. Moreover, he points out that
the opposition in Armenia is fragmented. "Most opposition parties
seemed to have lost a degree of popular support, and their position
seemed to have weakened, as a result of their decision to boycott
the Constitutional referendum in 2005", the document notes.

KAROLOS PAPOULIAS: TURKEY MUST ADAPT HIMSELF TO EU REQUIREMENTS, AND NOT THE OPPOSITE

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.06.2007 19:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "As you know, since 2005 Turkey holds membership
negotiations with the European Union.

>>From the first day Greek supported Ankara’s membership to the
EU, however Turkey must accept European preconditions like all
other states, which have become European Union member-states," Greek
President Karolos Papoulias stated to a joint press conference with his
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian in Yerevan. He said, Turkey must
adapt himself to EU requirements, and not the opposite. "I hope Ankara
will think it over and take into consideration that it is unacceptable
to enter Europe under the existence of a 35-thousand occupation army
in Cyprus, which is a member of the European Union," K. Papoulias said.