Author: Jidarian Alex

Armenian opposition movement to stage rally in capital despite ban

Arminfo
22 Mar 07

Yerevan, 22 March: "Yerevan mayor’s office has not made the decision
to prohibit staging of a rally within the allowed deadline," Nikol
Pashinyan, one of the leaders of the opposition Alternative movement
and Impeachment bloc and editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak
newspaper, has said.

He said that the Alternative movement is not going to give up staging
the planned rally on 23 March from 1700 [1300 gmt] to 1900 [1500 gmt]
exactly at the Freedom Square.

The first instance court of Yerevan’s Centre and Norq-Marash
communities has denied the suit by the leaders of the Aleternative
movement, Nikol Pashinyan and Petros Makeyan, against Yerevan mayor
Yervand Zakharyan. The leaders demanded that the mayor recognize his
13 March ban to stage a rally at the Freedom Square on 23 March
invalid. The court acknowledged that the mayor’s office did make a
mistake in terms of the timing of informing the organizers about its
decision. However, the court deemed this insufficient for declaring
the mayor’s decision void.

IN CASE OF FAIR ELECTIONS, "ZHARANGUTIUN" TO GET MAJORITY OF ELECTORS’
VOTES, PARTY BOARD CHAIRMAN IS SURE

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The boundless administrative and
information possibilities will allow the ruling forces to have success
at the May 12 elections. But, if fair elections are held, the
"Zharangutiun" (Heritage) party will get the majority of the electors’
votes, as party leader Raffi Hovannisian enjoys great popularity.
Vardan Khachatrian, the Chairman of the "Zharangutiun" board made such
a statement during the debate organized on March 23. In his words,
data of the sociological surveys held by them prove it. V. Khachatrian
mentioned that parties are in unequal conditions in the sense of
presenting their activity by mass media. Proving the said, the
"Zharangutiun" Board Chairman mentioned that press conferences and
statements of their party representatives and especially of
R. Hovhannisian are not covered by the authorities’ instruction.

Hamlet Haroutiunian, a Council member of the Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA), participating in the debate stated in his turn that the
authorities have neither problem nor time to put any party in
information blockade. The republicans’ activity, in his words, is
aimed to solution of other issues, particularly, to anti-corruption
struggle. "Corruption is everwhere, from Belgium to China: it is the
mankind’s guide. It is impossible to liquidate corruption but it is
possible to decrease its sizes," H. Haroutiunian said. In his words,
an exhibition where means assimilated by corrupted officials and then
taken with the legal bodies’ efforts were presented, was recently
organized even in autoritarian China. Opposing the opponent,
V. Khachatrian emphasized that unlike China, means stolen by officials
is never presented anywhere in Armenia, and those officials remain
unpunished.

ARMENIAN FM, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR DISCUSS POSSIBILITIES OF BILATERAL COOPERATION

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 21 2007

YEREVAN, March 21. /ARKA/. Israel’s Ambassador Ehud Gol (residence in
Jerusalem) handed copies of credentials to Armenia’s Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian.

The RA Foreign Minister’s press service reported that the sides agreed
on the opinion that practical steps are necessary for activating
bilateral cooperation. Mutual visits, consultations between the
countries’ Foreign Ministries as well as the development of bilateral
contractual basis will contribute to that.

The sides discussed regional issues as well as the prospects of
settlement of Palestinian-Israeli and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts.

Ehud Gol was born in 1946 in Jerusalem. He was the Consul on the
issues of press and information in Israel’s General Consulate in
Chicago, then – consul in New York. In 1986-88 he held the office
of the Speaker and Head of Media Department in the Foreign Ministry,
Councilor of Israel’s President.

In 1988-1991 he was Consul General in Rio-de-Janeiro. In 1991-1992
he was Israeli Foreign Minister’s Councilor on media issues.

In 1995-1999 Gol was Israel’s Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. In
1999-2001 he held the office of Foreign Ministry’s Deputy General
Director on the issues of Western Europe, and in 2001-2006 Israel’s
Ambassador to Italy. In 2007 he was appointed Ambassador to Armenia,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

TURKISH ARMY INVADED NORTHERN IRAQ

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.03.2007 18:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish army invaded bordering regions of Nothern
Iraq preparing a large scale operation against Kurdish gorillas, one
of Iraqi internet web-sites close to Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
reported on Thursday. "The Turkish army with large forces invaded
Haftanin, Sineht and Pirbila districts in Northern Iraq, where
armored equipment and "commandos" of Special Forces are stationed,
Iraqi media reports. The Turkish general staff has not made any
comments concerning this message, RIA "Novosti" reports.

Earlier in its parts Turkish media reported about transfer of a
20-thousand division to the border with Iraq. "Elements of Turkish
armed forces created security zones along the border with Iraq in order
to prevent penetration of terrorists of Workers’ Party of Kurdistan
(PKK), CNN-Turk reports citing military sources.

The longstanding conflict of Turkey with PKK, which aims at
establishing the so-called independent Kurdistan on Turkish territory,
resulted in deaths of more than 37 000 people. Turkish authorities
refuse to carry on a dialogue with separatists and are going to
forcefully put an end to PKK.

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

March 19, 2007

Information Blockade Against Heritage Still in Force

Yerevan–Two television stations have recently phoned the press department
of the Heritage Party to invite its chairman Raffi K. Hovannisian to appear
on their political programs. It seems fairly bizarre that following their
eighteen month-long blacklist of Hovannisian, these stations have begun to
tender invitations in the few days that he is absent from the country. The
brief absence, incidentally, had already been publicly announced by Heritage’s
press secretary.

If these invitations are genuine, and not mere publicity stunts, those and
all television companies will have the opportunity to host Raffi Hovannisian
upon his imminent return. Only when these opportunities are realized will we
declare that the presidential blockade has been somewhat relaxed. The fact,
however, that other Heritage officials–who, by the way, are all in the
country–are still refused television airtime leaves much room for doubt.

In a recent news conference, speaker of parliament Tigran Torosyan stated
that Raffi Hovannisian’s absence from television is due to his frequent
absences from the country. First, we should point to the fact that the
travels of Armenian politicians like Mr. Torosyan (which are far more
extensive than Hovannisian’s travels) somehow do not prevent television
stations from covering and broadcasting their activities–not for seconds or
minutes, but for numerous hours. Second, Hovannisian’s trips are far too
rare to explain–let alone justify–an information blockade. Third, they are
always based in the defense of national interests; in his current travels,
Hovannisian is addressing Armenian issues at Clark University and the
University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Torosyan’s statements, which come
in the process of a clearly illegal and unethical blackout, reflects a
disdain, based on disinformation, of his fellow citizens.

In the same news conference, Torosyan conveyed regret that the debate
between him and Hovannisian, as organized by A1 Plus Television Company, had
been postponed. We consider this a pledge to take part in the discussion and
are happy to announce that Hovannisian will be ready to participate in this
television debate when he returns in a few days.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia,
with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email
at [email protected] or [email protected], and website at

Heritage Press Department

FIRST SITTING OF ADVISORY BOARD OF CENTER FOR EUROPEAN LAW AND
INTEGRATION HELD BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The first and foremost goal of the
Center for European Law and Integration created in 2006 in Yerevan is
to inform the public about the importance and activity of European
Union (EU) institutions. Board Chairman, RA Justice Minister David
Haroutiunian stated this in his interview to journalists held on March
19, after the first sitting of Center’s Board. In his words, over the
past year the Center has already trained high-quality specialists on
the line of law, international relations and foreign languages.

According to the press release of Center’s Press Service, the funds
provided by EU for founding the Center for European Law and
Integration amounted to 915 thousand euros. The Center located in the
premises of Yerevan State University plans to have a Resource Center
with a library having 2 thousand titles of books. "The library will
provide information and publishing services to researchers, lecturers,
students and other interested people," the press release read.

By the way, it is noteworthy that against the same press release,
according to which the event, the first sitting of the Center for
European Law and Integration, was to be open for journalists, was held
behind closed doors. Before the meeting with the Minister the
representative of the Press Service of the Center advised journalists
"to satisfy themselves" with the press release given to them.

AmRating opens its web site

Arminfo
2007-03-16 15:02:00

Today AmRating, the national rating agency of Armenia, opened its
web-site – The agency is part of Global Rating Group,
a network comprising national rating agencies established by Richard
Hainsworth: AmRating in Armenia, RusRating in Russia and KzRating in
Kazakhstan.

The press service of Global Rating Group reports that shortly the
Group will embrace the national rating agencies of Azerbaijan
(AzeriRating), Ukraine (UaRating) and Kyrgyzstan (KgRating). The key
objective of the Group is to form a network of national rating
agencies operating in the CIS, to promote national brands, to
strengthen the positions of national rating agencies in their
countries.

Global Rating Group will coordinate the activities of daughter
agencies, foster business contacts among financial institutions of
different countries, help to attract investors in banking sectors,
offer subscription for analytical reports on banks and surveys of
banking sectors.

The formation of national rating agencies in the CIS will give profit
to local banks, their clients, partners and pontetial investors, says
Richard Hainsworth, the director general of Global Rating Group and
the director of all rating agencies of the group. National agencies
will employ only native specialists – this is the principle of the
group.

To note, AmRating has prepared its first analytical product, Survey of
Banking System of Armenia: analysis of the state, risks and
development problems of the banking system of Armenia, its leading
banks and their investment appeal.

To remind, the first successful project of Hainsworth was RusRating,
an agency that has been working in Russia for over 5 years. Its rating
list comprises almost 50 banks and a number of leasing
companies. KzRating was set up in Mar 2005.

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 16 2007

OSCE promotes media self-regulation in Armenia

( OSCE ) – Establishing a media self-regulation system in Armenia, as
well as accountability and professional norms in the coverage of
elections and inter-ethnic relations, were discussed at a seminar
that ended in Yerevan.

The two-day event brought together more than 50 participants from the
Armenian National Assembly, local media outlets, and international
organizations, as well as media experts from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
Georgia, Romania and Turkey.

"The ongoing democratic reforms in Armenia call for professional,
independent and responsible media," said Ambassador Vladimir
Pryakhin, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

"I hope this seminar will help promote better understanding by the
Armenian media community of the process of establishing media
accountability systems."

In a letter to the participants of the seminar, Miklos Haraszti, the
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said: "It is important
for Armenia to launch a self-regulatory body. While promoting media
professionalism and respect for ethics, the existence of a
self-regulatory mechanism can minimize the chances of State
intervention and help restore civil society’s trust in the media."

Boris Navasardyan, the President of the Yerevan Press Club, said:
"Since 2004, the Yerevan Press Club has been closely co-operating
with the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Open Society Institute on
ways of introducing an effective self-regulation system for Armenian
media. Introducing norms of professional conduct, particularly in the
coverage of elections and regional problems, is one of the most
urgent issues."

The Yerevan Press Club has called on the media community to jointly
develop a Code of Professional Ethics. So far, 19 media outlets and
leading media NGOs have signed the proposed document. The initiative
helped establish a Media Ethics Observatory which will survey the
fulfilment of the Code of Professional Ethics and gradually become a
prototype of a Press Council in the country.

Participants also noted that the seminar was particularly important
in light of the May parliamentary elections.

The event was organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the Office of
the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Yerevan Press
Club and the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation – Armenia.

SELIM MOUNTAIN PASS IS ALMOST IMPASSABLE BECAUSE OF SNOW

YEREVAN, MARCH 16, NOYAN TAPAN. As of the present the Selim mountain
pass became almost impassable because of March 16 snow and snow-storm.
As the Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by the "Hayavtochan"
company, corresponding works are done to guarantee normal traffic
through the mountain pass. It was also mentioned that all other
republic and interstate car traffics of Armenia are open.

Attorneys of Dink’s family demand legal investigation

ArmRadio.am
16.03.2007 17:42

Attorneys of the family of the slain editor-in-chief of the Istanbul
based Armenian Agos weekly have demanded to carry out a legal
investigation against those officials who `have been involved in the
crime.’

Istanbul based `Marmara’ newspaper informs that attorney Fettie Chetin
has shown the copy of the document in which Trabzon policemen inform
their colleagues in Istanbul about the murder being prepared.
According to the layer, 17 documents with the same content have been
sent to Istanbul Police.