Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Panorama.am

17:48 22/11/2008

PRESIDENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONTINUES HIS NEW YORK MEETINGS

On 21 November the President of Nagorno Karabakh Bako Sahakyan had a
meeting with the representatives of Armenian General Benevolent Union
in New York. During the meeting the sides have discussed the
implementation of on going projects in Karabakh and the perspectives
of new programs. The President has highly evaluated the role of AGBU
for their efforts in the development of Artsakh and Armenia.

On the same day Bako Sahakyan met with businessman and benevolent
George Pagumyan and discussed the perspectives to implement various
health projects in Artsakh.

Bako Sahakyan had a meeting with the President of `Tufenkian’
foundation James Tufenkian.

Source: Panorama.am

WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 21, 2008 Friday

OSCE IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE INCIDENT ON THE LINE SEPARATING THE ARMED
FORCES OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH AND AZERBAIJAN;

Co-chairs of the Minsk OSCE group for resolving of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict expressed concern about the incident on the
line separating the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan
that resulted in losses. American co-chair of the group, Mathew
Braiza, said, "We hope that personal representative of the acting
chair of OSCE Kasprshik will start crisis monitoring." on the night of
November 16, a special-purpose detachment of the armed forces of
Azerbaijan tried to break through to the rear of the army of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

SECTION: CHRONICLE; No. 130
LENGTH: 13 words

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, November 18, 2008, p. 6
Translated by InterContact

NO CASE FOR ATTACK ON JOURNALIST

A1+
[12:47 pm] 18 November, 2008

Police are investigating to find out who attacked head of the
"Investigative Journalists" NGO, journalist Edik Baghdasaryan.

On November 17 at 7:50 p.m. three anonymous people beat Baghdasaryan
near the building located on 1/3 Buzand Street and fled the scene.

At 8:55 p.m. Edik Baghdasaryan was transferred to the "St. Grigor
Lusavorich" hospital with a brain injury and was given a forensic
medicine notice.

As the police news service told "A1+", there is no case at the moment
and it may be brought up after the materials are prepared.

Edik Baghdasaryan is currently in the hospital with stitches on
his head.

NAGORNO-KARABAGH PRESIDENT LEAVING FOR U.S.

De Facto
Nov 17, 2008

STEPANAKERT, 17.11.08. DE FACTO. On November 17 President of the
Nagorno- Karabagh Republic Bako Sahakian leaved for Yerevan, afterwards
– to USA to take part in the organizational works of the "Hayastan"
All-Armenian fund’s annual telethon. DE FACTO received the information
at the Central Information Department of the Office of NKR President.

OSCE MG: CONFLICT RESOLUTION IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT CONSENT AND PARTICIPATION OF KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.11.2008 12:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NKR President Bako Sahakyan met Saturday with
Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Matthew Bryza of the
U.S., Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of Russia and Ambassador Bernard
Fassier of France and accompanying them functionaries to consider
a wide scope of issues related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement. The Moscow declaration signed by Armenian, Azerbaijani
and Russian Presidents was also in focus, the central information
department of the office of the NKR president told PanARMENIAN.Net.

During the November 2 meeting, the Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of
Russia, Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
pledged to intensify negotiations to end the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The declaration envisages resolution of the conflict on the basis of
principles and norms of the international law as well as agreements
and documents concluded in this framework.

President Sahakyan emphasized that NKR values any document that
can contribute to the establishment of a civilized dialogue in the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement process. In the meantime, the
he noted that the talks will not be all-embracing without full-fledged
participation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, especially taking
into account that Artsakh has its own position on the settlement of
the conflict.

For their part, the Co-chairs reaffirmed that resolution of the
conflict is impossible without consent and participation of Karabakh.

NKR Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan and personal representative of
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk also attended
the meeting.

REPERCUSSIONS OF REMARKS BY DEFENSE MINISTER ON THE ‘NATION-STATE’

Today’s Zaman
Nov 13 2008
Turkey

First Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on various occasions
that those who do not like Turkey’s "one nation, one flag" structure
can leave and go anywhere they like better.

Defense Minister Vecdi Gönul took this threatening discourse to new
heights on Monday with a speech he gave at the Turkish Embassy in
Brussels. "Would we be the nation-state we are today if the Greeks in
the Aegean region or the Armenians here and there continued to stay
in Turkey?" he asked. Gönul drew harsh criticism from intellectuals
and civil society organizations for expressing ideas in a way that
could be taken for justifying ethnic cleansing.

Ali Bayramoglu of Yeni Å~^afak criticizes Gönul for implying
that the nation-state [of Turkey] managed to exist by deporting
Armenians, Greeks and other minorities. "This is an unacceptable
discourse. Gönul’s remarks remind me of one of my previous interviews
with a [Turkish] Ä°stanbulite. He said Ä°stanbul had a population of
around 1 million in 1955. ‘A considerable number of this population
comprised minority groups. They acted as if they were the real owners
of the city. They were not sympathetic. At every opportunity they
made you feel they were different,’ the man told me. Now I see that
this mindset [to see minorities as an enemy] is still alive. This
is the mindset that tore us and Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armanian
journalist who was shot dead by an ultranationalist Turk in 2007,
apart. This mindset carries the sorrow of the Sept. 6-7 incidents [a
state-sponsored campaign designed to intimidate Turkey’s non-Turkish
communities into leaving their homeland to clear the way for a
homogeneous Turkish state] to our day. The fact that this mindset
has grabbed the opportunity to be represented by a prominent figure
of the ruling party is a misfortune for all of us," Bayramoglu states.

Star’s Eser KarakaÅ~_ says he is surprised to see that a defense
minister who did not utter a single word on the Oct. 3 Aktutun
terrorist attack that left many Turkish soldiers dead and who
does not brief the nation on issues directly related to national
defense has now delivered a speech on nation building. "He says:
‘Before the foundation of the republic, there were four districts in
Ankara, where Jews, Armenians, Greeks and Turks lived. Minorities
owned the fertile lands in the Aegean region. The most important
step in building this nation was the population exchange. Mind you,
would we be such a nation-state if the Greeks in the Aegean region or
Armenians here and there [in Turkey] continued to stay?’ Everything
he said was politically and legally scandalous," remarks KarakaÅ~_,
adding that Gönul violated the Constitution and committed a crime
with these remarks. "According to Article 66 of the Constitution,
Armenians [who number around 70,000] and Greeks [who number around
3,000] live in Turkey as our citizens. Gönul made a blunder by
considering these citizens a ‘threat to the nation-state.’ This is
a crime according to the Constitution. The defense minister should
either resign or be removed from office. He should, furthermore,
be tried in accordance with Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code
[TCK] since he declared Armenians and Greeks, who are our citizens,
non-national elements. This absurdity cannot have anything to do with
freedom of expression," KarakaÅ~_ concludes.

–Boundary_(ID_cXx2W0oVI47/BSY7I7r9Uw) —

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES IN FIRST READING PACKAGE OF AMENDMEMTS AND ADDITIONS TO LAW ON MINIMUM MONTHLY WAGE AND SEVERAL OTHER LAWS

Noyan Tapan

Nov 12, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. On November 12 the RA National
Assembly, with 82 votes in favor and 7 abstentions, passed the
government-submitted package of bills, by which amendments and
additions are made to the Law on Minimum Monthly Wage, the Law on
Income Tax and the RA Code of Administrative Infractions. Based on
the package, the minimum monthly wage and the amount of personal
deduction from the gross income was established at 30 thousand drams
instead of the current 25 thousand drams.

It was mainly the members of "Heritage" faction who abstained from
voting: they stated yesterday that they would vote for the final
version of the bill if the government took into account their proposal
to establish the minimum monthly wage at 40 thousand drams.

The head of "ARF" faction Vahan Hovhannisian said on behalf of their
faction that unfortunately, after a long period of struggle and
demands, their proposal about a minimum wage of 40 thousand drams
was not accepted by the government, but to vote against would be
"illogical because at least a small step forward is being taken". The
NA vice speaker, member of the ARF party Hrayr Karapetian reminded
that about 30 NA deputies had submitted a legislative package that
also included the indicated proposal about minimum wage.

The parliament also passed in the first reading a bill envisaging
amendments and additions to the Law on Welfare Payments, as well as
a package of bills on environmental payments and tax privileges of
some companies in the water industry.

CASCADE BANK OPENS FIRST BRANCH IN YEREVAN

ARKA
Nov 12, 2008

YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. Cascade Bank opened its first "Yervand
Kochar" branch in Yerevan on November 6.

"The opening of the first branch is a very important event for the
bank and is the first step towards our expenditure in 2009," said
Jonathan Stark, the Chairman of Board of Cascade Bank and Executive
Director of Cascade Capital Holding CJSC.

He expressed a hope the bank’s competitive services, professional
ethics and accessibility will facilitate the works of the branch and
will contribute to the development of its activities.

According to Aharon Levonyan, the Executive Director of Cascade Bank,
the Yervand Kochar branch is an evidence of succeeded implementation
of a stage of the bank’s affirmed strategy.

"We intend to open two more branches in Yerevan by the end of this
year and then to expand to the regions of Armenia next year," he said.

Levonyan stressed Cascade Bank strengthens its stand and provides its
customers with high-quality services by increasing its recognizability
in the market.

Cascade Bank was established on May 26, 2005, when Cascade Capital
Holdings became the sole owner of Emporiki Bank (Armenia) CJSC. By
September 30, the bank’s total capital had reached 5.1bln AMD, assets
13.9bln AMD, with profits being 192mln AMD this Jan-Sept.

According to ARKA News Agency, Cascade Bank is the=2 018th in the
banking system of Armenia in terms of its assets and the 17th in
terms of liabilities, capital and net profits for this year.

The Bank collaborates with the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development under microcrediting program. In 2006 the Millennium
Challenges (Armenia) Fund chose Cascade bank to serve its banking
account opened under the program on US Government assistance to
Armenia which costs $236mln.

Cascade Capital Holdings CJSC was established in 2004 by Gafeschian
Family Fund. Cascade Bank CJSC, Cascade Investments CJSC, Cascade
Credit UCO, Cascade Insurance CJSC, Cascade Consultants CJSC are
included in Cascade Capital Holdings.

AMBASSADOR HULUSI KILIC: "MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI, TURKISH AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS CAN BE HELD IN TURKEY LATE IN 2008"

Azeri Press Agency
Nov 11 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova-APA. "The meeting of Azerbaijani, Turkish and
Armenian Presidents can be held in Turkey late in 2008," Turkish
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic said at press conference on
the outcomes of Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Turkey.

Asked can Russia assess Turkey’s proposal as an attempt to deprive
of its initiative, the Ambassador noted that Turkey and Russia were
at the same position in this issue.

"We want solution to the conflict. We will assist those, who can
solve the problem", he said.

TALKS OVER AMERIABANK’S PURCHASE OF ARMENIAN BANK NOT INITIATED YET

ARKA
Nov 10, 2008

YEREVAN, November 10. /ARKA/. Ameriabank has not initiated talks on
the purchase of one of Armenian banks, reported Ameriabank’s General
Director Artak Anesyan.

"We are still studying financial accounts of some banks to choose
which of them is more advantageous," Anesyan said Saturday at a press
conference in Stepanakert.

The bank will launch talks after close scrutiny.

The bank’s general director did not disclose details of the talks,
citing confidentiality provisions.

The purchase of a local bank will help Ameriabank expand business in
Armenia, according to Anesyan.

Tigran Jrbashyan, the bank’s director for development, previously
said Ameriabank planned to buy one of the local commercial banks.

He hesitated to say whether the new bank would be Ameriabank’s member
or a separate structure, adding everything would depend on the deal.

Ameriabank (formerly Armimpexbank) was established in July 1992 as the
Armenian branch of the USSR Vnesheconombank (Foreign Trade Bank). On
September 8, 1992, it was licensed by the Central Bank of Armenia.

TDA Holdings Limited, affiliate of the Russian Troika Dialog Investment
Company, became the bank’s principal shareholder (96.15%). In May
2008 the bank was renamed Ameriabank.