Author: Hunanian Jack

COE SECRETARY GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN THE PARLIAMENT

National Assembly of RA
Jan 14 2009
Armenia

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Mr Hovik
Abrahamyan on January 14 received Ms Silvia Zehe, Secretary General’s
Special Representative to Armenia of the Council of Europe.

During the meeting issues concerning the cooperation of the National
Assembly and the Council of Europe in 2009 were discussed. RA NA
Speaker Mr Hovik Abrahamyan noted that there were numerous programmes
and a lot of things would be done this year. He also touched upon the
visit of the co-rapporteurs of CoE Monitoring Committee to Armenia,
noting the steps undertaken towards the fulfillment of PACE 1609 and
1620 resolutions regarding our country.

At the meeting other issues were also discussed.

PEACEKEEPERS OF ANY NATIONALITY ARE FAVORABLE FOR AZERBAIJAN
NANO ARGHUTYAN

Lragir.am
16:48:34 – 12/01/2009

The Armenian force … shot at Azerbaijani force … near the village
of … hurled back … no casualties. The daily news on the Azerbaijani
TV channels and news sites start with such information. Apparently the
Azerbaijani army has instructed to inform daily that the Armenians
violate the ceasefire. In the absence of information about peaceful
life in Karabakh the impression is that in Karabakh they never stop
shooting, and there is no way to control the Armenians.

This information policy of Azerbaijan is well-thought and
has far-reaching aims. Despite the claims of the Armenian side
that international peacekeepers would only break the balance and
ceasefire, Azerbaijan tries its best to have peacekeepers deployed
in the region. And if the nationality of the troops who will be
deployed in its territory is highly important to Armenia, it makes
no difference to Azerbaijan. The point is that the peacekeepers who
will be deployed in Karabakh will be stationed at the border of the
former Autonomous Region of Nagorno-Karabakh rather than the current
line of contact. In other words, by deploying troops, Azerbaijan will
solve at once the problem of the seven territories which are not part
of the Autonomous Region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Afterwards when these
territories are cut from the Armenian force, it will be possible to
agree on the pullout of foreign troops, the former Autonomous Region
of Nagorno-Karabakh will remain which will not be difficult to stifle.

Azerbaijan is slowly but steadily moving towards this aim. Drop by
drop accruing information about border skirmishes, Baku is preparing
the international community for the inevitability of deployment
of peacekeepers.

And the Armenian propaganda, instead of announcing that this step is
unacceptable is faintly refuting Azerbaijan’s information.

The Noyan Tapan Highlights weekly, Yerevan,
no. 46, 8 December 2008.

Among Top Six in the World. About an Achievement of Armenian Scientists

By Haroutiun Khachatrian

It was an ordinary laboratory in the basement of the Physics
Department of Yerevan State University. The university has dozens of
such laboratories whose shelves are filled with unnoticeable devices
that seem to have remained unchanged since the Soviet time. When I was
in the lab, there were only three people there, Samvel Gevorgian, the
head of the lab, a modest man with an almost shy smile, and two young
scientific workers of his small group … Two items on the table, the
prizes the group had recently won, were the only unusual thing. The
silver cup with an inscription "2008 Global Security Challenge
Finalist" immediately caught the eye.

Global Security Challenge was a competition in science and technology
organized by famous London Business School and NUC Enterprise Company
(U.S.) in July-November of this year. Its goal was described as
follows:

"Global Security Challenge (GSC) runs the leading international
business plan competition to find and select the most promising
security technology start-ups in the world. The mission of the GSC is
to stimulate technological innovations that make airports, cities and
enterprises safer without encroaching on civil liberties."

The winner was to receive half a million dollars. About two thousand
companies, research groups and individuals took part in the
competition. In order to reach the final stage, each participant was
to win a regional competition at first. Armenia was included in the
so-called Asian Group, in which some 800 works participated – from
countries ranging from Japan and Australia to those of the former
USSR. On September 26 the work of Samvel Gevorgian’s group was
recognized as one of the five that won in the indicated group and it
reached the Grand final, to be held in London on November 13 (besides
the Asian Group, there were also European an American groups). So, on
that day, six works were recognized as Global Security Challenge
Finalists, actually, winners of the competition. The above mentioned
half a million dollars was given to only one work which, in the
opinion of many, was not the best one. In particular, an unofficial
vote of the experts present at the competition evaluated the Armenian
work among the top three, better than the American work that received
the monetary prize.

What was done

The brief and dry words of the description of the scientific work say
that the Armenian scientists developed an ultra-high sensitivity
Seismic Detection Subsystem that can also be used in many other fields
where very small and very slow movements must be detected, for
example, products for high precision instruments and tools, or so
called absolute position sensor products. The key to achieving all
this is an instrument small enough to be held in the palm. It is hard
to imagine by casting an unaccustomed glance that several coils of a
black wire wound on a square metal represent the indicated
revolutionary innovation officially called a "single-layer flat or
domed pick-up coil with high Q-factors". Samvel Gevorgian showed me
two graphs – seismograms made in this basement room on two different
days. On one day the oscillations were much higher than on the other
day. However, it does not mean that an earthquake occurred that day.
The Day of Strong Oscillations was a usual working day, whereas the
Day of Weak Oscillations was a holiday. The seismograph just recorded
the concussions caused by passing cars and even human footsteps. This
device with a fantastic sensitivity can record position changes as
small as one nanometre, that is, million times smaller than a
millimetre. Even more important is that, different from devices no in
use, the Gevorgian’s coil can recognize also very slow movement, It is
difficult to believe, but the device is sensitive to movement of the
Moon, it reacts to (and registers) the rise of the Moon like the ocean
water during tide!

It is obvious that such a high-sensitivity device can be used not only
in seismology. It was acknowledged at the Global Security Challenge
Competition that the device can be applied in various spheres, from
medicine to the fields where an unexpected danger not perceptible to
the human eye and ear may emerge.

"We were told in London: "It does not matter that you did not receive
this half a million dollars. Instead you have won recognition and
attracted interest. This can bring much more money," Samvel Gevorgian
said. According to him, negotiations on the sale of the technology are
now underway with representatives of four countries, and negotiations
with one of them – a Singaporean firm, have come quite close to
bringing results.

Science and economy

Now I should mention Samvel Gevorgian’s words which may seem unusual
to many. In his words, the fact that the invention of his group will
bring money soon is first of all satisfying because he will be able to
allocate resources for new studies and inventions. "We have a great
wealth – our qualified specialists. Very often they are more skilful
than their colleagues in other countries but they demand less payment.
The very restricted funds provided by the state are never sufficient
for science".

We can add that, in particular, funds provided by the Armenian state
are quite insufficient. The question of why this government, which has
proclaimed creation of a knowledge-based economy as a priority,
allocates 0.6% of GDP to science while at least 2% is considered
normal (according to Samvel Gevorgian, 2% would not be enough either)
is a subject of a separate conversation. Let’s see how this group
managed to achieve such a result with limited resources. Two persons:
Harutyun Karapetyan and Levon Torose should be mentioned in this
connection.

Harutyun Karapetyan heads the National Foundation of Science and
Advanced Technologies (NFSAT), a non-state organization engaged in the
introduction of modern methods of science financing in Armenia for ten
years. These methods envisage an independent peer review of the
projects; it was not applied in the USSR and is not used effectively
in Armenia so far. Karapetyan noted with pride that their Foundation
has provided grants to the group of Samvel Gevorgian several times,
thanks to which the group managed to complete the development of its
single-layer flat coil.

The NFSAT’s grant called Commercialization of Products/Results Support
Program deserves special mention. In this case the grant was provided
not for implementation of purely scientific work but for
commercialization of the work done. It was also an unprecedented case
in the history of Armenian science.

How this concrete scientific work became a commercial product is a
long story. Suffice it to say that in the above mentioned Global
Security Challenge Competition, the bid was submitted not by the
laboratory of Dr Samvel Gevorgian but by a commercial enterprise,
Precision Sensors/Instrumentation Development & Production Co. (PSI).
Samvel Gevorgian, though one of the founders of that enterprise, is an
advisor at it, and the manager is the third man who plays an important
role in this work – Levon Torose. U.S-based Levon Torose is known as a
benefactor in Armenia and Artsakh. He worked at a big U.S. company for
many years and knows well what is needed in order to pass from science
to production and commerce.

At this point our story ends. It can be called a success story in
Armenia, even though it is quite far from a real success story by
Western standards. Its participants believe that the cause of
transforming scientific results of Armenian thought into money, and
thus ensuring the country’s progress and preventing the brain drain is
quite real and promising.

ANC DEMANDS INITIATING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR SUBJECTING IMPRISONED OPPOSITIONISTS TO BEATING

Noyan Tapan

Jan 8, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The extraction of applications for
pardon from political prisoners is nothing else than demanding a ransom
for freedom in exchange for renunciation of their political views and
admission of the crimes they did not commit. This mode of action may
in no way help overcome the deepening political crisis, it will deepen
the estrangement between the society and the authorities," is said
in the January 7 statement of the Armenian National Congress (ANC).

Reminding that political prisoners Grigor Voskerchian, Gevorg Manukian
and Armen Khurshudian were subjected to beating in their prison cells
on December 23 – the day of a regular court sitting on "the case of
the seven", the ANC said that the aim of this action is to break the
spirit of political prisoners and force them to hand in applications
for pardon.

Condemning this "this next in turn cowardly and mean action" of the
authorities, the ANC demands that criminal proceedings be initiated
in connection with each case and all those guilty be punished.

We Arm the World
The United States once again leads the world in exporting weapons

by Frida Berrigan
Published on Saturday, January 3, 2009 by In These Times

A $7 billion missile-defense system for the United Arab Emirates. An
estimated $15 billion potential sale of Lockheed Martin’s brand-new
fighter plane to Israel. Billions of dollars in weaponry for Taiwan and
Turkey. These and other recent deals helped make the United States the
world’s leading arms-exporting nation.

In 2007, U.S. foreign military sales agreements totaled more than $32
billion ‘ nearly triple the amount during President Bush’s first full
year in office.

The Pentagon routinely justifies weapons sales as `promoting regional
stability,’ but many of these arms end up in the world’s war zones. In
2006 and 2007, the five biggest recipients of U.S. weapons were
Pakistan ($3.5 billion), Iraq ($2.2 billion), Israel ($2.2 billion),
Afghanistan ($1.9 billion) and Colombia ($580 million) – all countries
where conflict rages.

In Pakistan, the fighting ranges from communal violence and state
repression, to attacks against India, to deadly battles between
Pakistani military and al Qaeda forces in the northwest provinces.
Israel has used U.S.-supplied weapons in the West Bank and Gaza, as
well as in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon. Colombia uses U.S. weaponry to
fight the drug war. Of the 27 major conflicts during 2006 and 2007, 19
of them involved U.S-supplied weapons.

While full data is not yet available for 2008, the United States
continues to flood warzones with more destabilizing weapons. In 2008,
the Pentagon brokered more than $12.5 billion in possible foreign
military sales to Iraq, including guns, ammunition, tanks and attack
helicopters.

Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi analyst with American Friends Service Committee,
notes the chance that this weaponry will promote peace and democracy in
Iraq is slim.

`The current Iraqi armed forces are the same forces and militias that
have been committing ethnic and sectarian cleansing during the last
years and they have a violent record full of human rights violations,
torture and assassinations,’ says Jarrar.

What’s more, the United States cannot successfully track its weapons.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S.-supplied pistols and automatic weapons
destined for Iraqi security forces between 2004 and 2005 remain lost,
according to the Government Accountability Office.

The Pentagon has `no idea where they are,’ Rachel Stohl, a senior
analyst at the Center for Defense Information, a national-security
think tank, told the Washington Post in 2007. `It likely means that the
United States is unintentionally providing weapons to bad actors.’

U.S. law curbs weapons sales to countries engaged in a `gross and
consistent’ pattern of human rights abuses or to countries using U.S.
weapons for aggressive purposes. But these requirements are often set
aside in favor of short-term objectives.

Michael Klare, director of the Amherst, Mass.-based Five College
Program in Peace and World Security Studies, has followed the arms
trade for decades. He discounts official claims that the delivery of
arms can help promote stability.

`The more we help one side, the more that regime’s opponents are driven
to seek arms from another supplier, leading to an inevitable spiral of
arms buying, provocation and conflict,’ Klare says.

According to Stohl, `The Bush administration has demonstrated a
willingness to provide weapons and military training to weak and
failing states and countries that have been repeatedly criticized by
the U.S. State Department for human rights violations, lack of
democracy and even support of terrorism.’

The Obama administration could mark a new era in arms trade. On the
campaign trail, Obama expressed openness to signing the global cluster
munitions ban, but he has yet to speak about a global Arms Trade Treaty
‘ which would establish more rigorous conditions for weapons exports ‘
or about curbing weapons sales, in general.

`The arms trade is never a panacea for instability,’ Klare says. `It
can only enflame regional tensions and heighten the risk of war.’

Frida Berrigan is a senior program associate with the New America
Foundation’s Arms and Security Initiative. Information in this article
is drawn from a new report she co-authored with William D. Hartung,
"U.S. Weapons at War: Beyond the Bush Legacy."

Hürriyet, Turkey
Jan 3 2009

President warns against impact of 1915 apology

ANKARA-The apology campaign for the events of 1915 would adversely
affect the diplomatic efforts between Turkey and Armenia, says
President Abdullah Gül, and the latest debates about the
campaign do not help relations with Yerevan

President Abdullah Gül, one of the main actors who initiated
the normalization process of Turkish and Armenian relations through
football diplomacy, said the apology campaign for 1915 events would
adversely affect the diplomatic efforts between the two countries.

"When we examine the latest debates in terms of their results, I do
not think they make a positive contribution," Gül said in a
televised interview on ATV on Thursday.

"Ideas that we like or not, support, or even fight against, can be
discussed if they do not target violence. However, the polarization
sometimes can reach serious dimensions due to the sensibility of the
subjects," Gül said.

Lively debates in Turkey Referring to his previous statements on the
campaign, he said his views had been distorted. "There is a free and
democratic atmosphere in Turkey, there is a live debate. I am content
with this," he said following the campaign.

Aside from his statements about the campaign, Gül’s rector
appointments also caused controversy in the country, calling his
presidential neutrality into question.

"I believe a new era should be initiated in universities. A new era
does not mean an era of silenced universities that do not take an
interest in the country’s issues or politics. However, I want our
universities not to become a platform for daily politics, but make
attempts to increase Turkey’s power," Gül said, adding that he
could abdicate his assignment power within this framework.

"However, a constitutional amendment is required. I hope Turkey can
undertake a more extended study on the constitutional amendments,
which includes everybody, in 2009. What is important here is the
method," Gül said.

Stating that the government and the opposition have many points in
common in their draft constitutions, he said there was consensus on
the main issues. "Issues should be discussed in an appropriate,
peaceful and participatory way, without turning them into polemics and
confusing them with daily politics."

In relation to the Constitutional Court’s decision that the two
articles of the Constitution on the headscarf could be amended only
through a court decision, Gül said everything could be
achieved. "All the draft constitutions agree on main issues, like
democratization, the rule of law and freedoms. Thus, I am optimistic,"
he said.

The articles, which foresee equality before the law and equal rights
in education, were amended by Parliament in an attempt to lift the
headscarf ban in universities. However, the Constitutional Court
canceled the amendments, starting a new debate over its jurisdiction.

Reflecting on the year 2008 for Turkey that fell on hard times due to
the closure case against the Justice and Development Party, or AKP,
terror attacks and the financial crisis, Gül said Turkey had
overcome these difficulties and gained ground. "Turkey tries to solve
these problems through its maturity. I see the debates as part of the
maturation process. Turkey has even started to debate some issues that
are discussed in the richest countries and seem marginal. These are,
indeed, good things," Gül said.

Gül also denied the allegations that Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and he were on strained terms.

Court sitting on "case of seven" postponed again

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Having lasted only a few minutes,
the court sitting on "the case of the seven" presided over by the judge
Mnatsakan Martirosian in the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan’s
Shengavit community on December 27 was postponed until January 9, 2009.
Based on the fact the 7 accused persons did not rise and thus showed a
disrespectful attitude to the judge, the latter made a decision to
remove them from the courtroom, postpone the trial for 13 days and "not
to include these days in the term of punishment of the accused persons".

The former foreign minister of Armenia, defendant A. Arzumanian
demanded that he should be addressed as "Mr. Arzumanian" or "the
political prisoner Arzumanian" because he is not an accused person. The
National Assembly deputy, defendant Myasnik Malkhasian demanded that
the authorities should make a decision on "the case of the seven"
immediately, without delay so as to save the nerves of the trial
participants, journalists and the relatives of the defendants.

It is noteworthy that the Armenian National Congress called on the
activists and the relatives of the defendants not to enter the
courtroom, as a result of which the courtroom was almost empty when the
trial began. The journalists were forbidden to enter the courtroom, and
they were working in a separate room, following the trial by means of
three monitors. Based on the circumstance that the courtroom was
half-empty, the journalists tried to persuade the court instructors to
allow them to enter there. After an argument, the journalists applied
to the RA ombudsman Armen Harutyunian, saying that the monitors’ sound
and images are of low quality, and they can work properly only in the
courtroom. The ombudsman promised to speak immediately with the judge
regarding the issues of journalists and the trial’s delay.

A few minutes later A. Harutyunian came out of the judge’s room, saying
that he officially declares that it is inadmissible not to let the
journalists in under conditions of a half-empty courtroom. He promised
to apply to the court department on this issue. As regards the trial’s
delay due to the fact that the defendants did not stand up, in the
words of A. Harutyunian, "the judge considers himself a procedural
person, and he cannot start a sitting in case of a disrespectful
attitude to him". During a talk with journalists, the lawyer Hovik
Arsenian in his turn said that not to stand up is the right of an
accused, and it may not be a reason for delaying a court sitting.

Representatives of the ARF party Artsvik Minasian and Artyusha
Shahbazian attended the court sitting. As during the previous sittings,
a crowd gathered outside the court, chanting "Freedom to the Heroes!"
all the time.

PRESIDENT OF EUROPEAN MOVEMENT IN ARMENIA: "IF AZERBAIJAN IS INTERESTING FOR THE WESTERN COUNTRIES AS OIL SUPPLIER, ARMENIA ATTRACTS THEM AS A LEADER OF DEMOCRACY IN THE REGION"

Today.Az
litics/49802.html
Dec 25 2008
Azerbaijan

"Europe does not apply double standards to Armenia", considers
president of the European movement in Armenia Viktor Yengibaryan.

"Europe has no double standards, it has a separate approach to each
state", said he Wednesday.

"If Armenia is expected to be democratic, it is not a demonstration
of double standards", added he.

According to Yengibaryan, the Council of Europe is a community of
states for which democracy and human rights is important.

"Deprivation of Armenia’s right to vote in PACE will have hard
implications both for European integration and for the external
political weight of the country", considers he. According to him,
the Foreign Ministry and the public organizations of Armenia must
spare no efforts to prevent it", said he.

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER 19-25, 2008

HIGHLIGHTS:

JOURNALISTS CHARGED WITH DISRESPECT TO COURT

"HAILUR" SHOOTING CREW OBSTRUCTED FROM COVERING THE CONFERENCE OF ARMENIAN
NATIONAL CONGRESS

PARLIAMENTARY HEARING DID NOT ADDRESS THE KEY BROADCASTING ISSUES

SUIT OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER AGAINST ARABKIR ADMINISTRATION

"GALA" TV COMPANY LAUNCHED ITS WEB-SITE

JOURNALISTS CHARGED WITH DISRESPECT TO COURT

On December 24 the Police Department of Kentron community of Yerevan charged
freelance journalist Gagik Shamshian and correspondent of "Chorrord
Ishkhanutiun" newspaper Gohar Vezirian with Part 1 of Article 343 of the RA
Criminal Code ("Disrespect to Court"). As it has been reported, incidents
with journalists occurred during the hearing of the same case in the court
of primary jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan.
On August 5, 2008 upon the order of judge Gagik Avetisian Gagik Shamshian
was put out of the courtroom. The journalist was first locked in the
basement of the court building and was further moved to the Kentron Police
Department. The next day, August 6, a similar sanction was applied to Gohar
Vezirian: upon the order of the same judge the journalist was put out of the
courtroom, she was kept for about an hour and half in a room, intended for
defendants, and was further moved to Kentron Police Department. Having spent
over two hours in the police department, Gagik Shamshian and Gohar Vezirian
were released on August 5 and 6 respectively. The criminal proceedings
against journalists were instituted in September, 2008 (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, September 5-11, 2008).

As YPC was told by attorney Hovik Arsenian, journalists do not plead guilty,
saying it was the judge who exceeded his competence. Part 1 of Article 343
of the RA Criminal Code stipulates a fine ranging from 100 to 300 minimal
salaries or imprisonment of one to two months.

"HAILUR" SHOOTING CREW OBSTRUCTED FROM COVERING THE CONFERENCE OF ARMENIAN
NATIONAL CONGRESS

On December 21 the shooting crew of "Hailur" newscast of the First Channel
of the Public Television of Armenia was refused entry for covering the
conference of the Armenian National Congress (opposition political
organization led by the RA First President Levon Ter-Petrosian). As YPC was
told by "Hailur" correspondent Anna Vartanian, the External Relations
Officer of the Congress Vladimir Karapetian asked the journalists of the
Public Television to leave the hall where the conference was taking place.
According to the journalist, Karapetian substantiated this ban on coverage
by the attitude of the Armenian National Congress towards the incumbent
authorities. The Congress Coordinator Levon Zurabian described the
occurrence as a response to authorities’ refusal to provide the Armenian
National Congress with a hall for the conference.

PARLIAMENTARY HEARING DID NOT ADDRESS THE KEY BROADCASTING ISSUES

On December 19 the RA National Assembly Standing Committee on Science,
Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Issues held parliamentary hearings on
"Content of the TV Air and Legislative Regulation of TV Advertising". The
journalistic associations that took part in the debate, including Yerevan
Press Club, had supposed that the discussion would center on the urgent
issues of the broadcasting. Unfortunately, the hearing was of a general
nature. Most of the remarks made referred to the problems of language use
and esthetics. Such key issues as the formation of the regulatory body, the
transparency of broadcast licensing competitions and distinct criteria upon
which the National Commission on Television and Radio bases its license
provision decisions, development of mechanisms for regulating the activities
of the Public TV and Radio Company, digitalization in the context of
Armenia’s commitments to the Council of Europe were not touched on. The
representatives of journalistic associations drew the attention of the
organizers to this fact, and the Chairman of the specialized parliament
Committee Armen Ashotian assured that new hearings will be organized to
consider the whole range of problems faced by the broadcasting.

Meanwhile it was reasonable to expect due attention to the recent
resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In
particular, on December 18 the provisional version of PACE Resolution "The
Implementation by Armenia of Assembly Resolutions 1609 (2008) and 1620
(2008)" was released after the approval of the Committee on the Honoring of
Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe
(Monitoring Committee). Clause 8.2 of the provisional version refers to the
amendments to the RA Law "On Television and Radio", adopted on September 10,
2008, according to which the broadcast licensing competitions are suspended
till July 20, 2010 due to the need to make preparations for digitalization
(see YPC Weekly Newsletter, September 5-11, 2008). This Clause stresses that
"the technical requirements for the introduction of digital broadcasting
should not be used by the authorities to unduly delay the holding of an
open, fair and transparent tender for broadcasting licenses, as demanded by
the Assembly". The provisional version of the new Resolution, stipulating a
sanction of suspension of voting rights of the Armenian delegation, will be
presented for the consideration of the PACE winter session on January 26-30,
2009.

SUIT OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER AGAINST ARABKIR ADMINISTRATION

On December 19 the RA Administrative Court considered the suit of the
Freedom of Information Center versus the administration of Arabkir community
of Yerevan. The NGO addressed the court with a demand to commit the communal
administration to provide the information requested. On July 30, 2008 the
Freedom of Information Center made an inquiry as to the number of apartments
held by Arabkir community with ownership right, asking to specify their
addresses, as well as provide the judicial statistics on the cases of
eviction of the residents from unprivatized apartments. In the letter of
August 6 the communal administration responded only to the last part of the
inquiry, without providing the information about the apartments it owned.

At the court session of December 19 the respondent stated that the
unprivatized apartments had not been taken stock of previously, and their
registration started only recently, upon the order of the head of the
community. In the opinion of the judge, the administration should have
responded in any case, even if it lacked the necessary information.

The court ruling is set to be publicized on December 30, 2008.

"GALA" TV COMPANY LAUNCHED ITS WEB-SITE

"GALA" TV company of Gyumri launched its web-site, .The TV
company reports that apart from the Armenian-language resource, the news of
"GALA" will soon be placed on the web in English and Russian languages as
well.

N.B. Dear readers, please note that the YPC Weekly Newsletter will next be
issued in January 2009. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
_____________________________________ _______
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

TURKEY’S STANCE REMAINS UNCHANGED
LUSINE HOVHANNISYAN

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
23 Dec 2008
Armenia

"Gyul’s visit has mainly got a symbolic character, it doesn’t give
any hint about principal changes. But if Turkey really intends to
make positive changes in Armenian-Turkish relations after this visit
it will be more visible and clear," Director of the Institute of
Oriental Studies under the Academy of Sciences Ruben Safrastyan said
in his interview given to "Hayots Ashkharh" daily one day before the
visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gyul to Armenia.

Summarizing the period following the recent football diplomacy of
Armenian-Turkish relations, he underscored yesterday: "Judging from the
reports of the Turkish press and the announcements made by different
high ranking officials in Turkey, there is no significant change in
Turkey’s stance regarding Armenian-Turkish relations. Not only is it an
important, but in my view the most important circumstance, because the
present situation of Armenian-Turkish relations is mainly conditioned
by the stance of the Turkish state, Turkish policy towards Armenia".

Touching upon the proposal on security and cooperation in South
Caucasus initiated by Turkey: that is to say the format 3+2, Armenia,
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, Russia, R. Safrastyan linked it with
the fact that the August developments in the region were solved to
the benefit of Russia.

According to the observations of the speaker, what Turkey really
needs is that the before mentioned initiative is supported by Russia
and the South Caucasian countries. Georgia abstained from supporting
the proposal only because Russia was involved there. In this regard
Armenia’s positive approach is very important for Turkey, because in
case Armenia also refused to participate, only Azerbaijan would have
remained there: "This was the first case when Armenia became valuable
for Turkey in terms of diplomacy, which Armenian party must use in
the negotiation process."