Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIA HAS PROBLEMS WITH INTERNET ACCESS
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 7, 2006
YEREVAN, August 7. /ARKA/. Armenia still has problems with Internet
access, beginning from Friday the connection is unstable.
At present access to Internet is almost impossible, connection to
foreign Websites is extremely difficult.
During recent three days two big damages have happened on fiber-optic
cable passing through the territory of Georgia.
Arminco Global Telecommunications, largest local provider company
informed ARKA News Agency that according to the information centre of
“ArmenTel”, on the territory of Georgia on August 5 at 02:00 o’clock
(local time) fiber-optic cable on the Sochi-Poti section was damaged.
As a result, OTEGLOBE VOIP E3 and UKRTEL E3 have technical problems.
Reconstruction work is being done, Arminco reports.
A day earlier, on August 4 at 11:55 o’clock the cable was caused
rather big damaged on Kutaisi- Zestafon section, which caused cut of
the Internet connection in Armenia.
ArmenTel supplies Armenia with internet only through Georgia by means
of the only cable passing through the bottom of Black Sea.
Armenia Telephone Company enjoys the sole right to supply internet
access to Armenian internet providers. Since 1997, 90% of ArmenTel’s
shares belong to Greek OTE Company while the remaining 10% belong to
the Armenian government. S.P.-0–

Internet down in Armenia again due to accident in Georgia – agency
Regnum, Moscow
5 Aug 06
5 August: Armenia’s population has been twice deprived of Internet
within the past two days. A Regnum correspondent reported by phone from
Yerevan yesterday [4 August] that disruption to Armenian providers’
operation on 4 and 5 August had been caused by an accident on the
fibre optic communications cable in Georgia.
ArmenTel company, the national operator with exclusive rights to
provide international telecommunications from Armenia, said that
the cable had been damaged near the town of Kutaisi on 4 August that
caused a six-hour disruption in Internet. Today the cable was damaged
on the Black Sea bed, the company’s press service said. There is no
information as to when the link will be restored.
The Armenian government considers the development of information
technologies as the main priority of the country’s economy. Meanwhile,
the country is very vulnerable because its communications are connected
via the only cable that goes from Armenia to Ukraine through Georgia
and the Black Sea bed. In the south, the cable is connected to Iran’s
communications. The current incident is the third major accident on
the cable in Georgia.

OSCE MG Co-Chairs to Meet in Paris August 2
PanARMENIAN.Net
01.08.2006 14:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US Ambassador Matthew Bryza, the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chair, intends to inform in Paris his fellow co-chairs about the
results of the visit to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict region. Bryza
briefed about it in Baku on 1 August as a result of consultations
held at the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
The diplomat said that the talks with Azerbaijani authorities did
not concern the Azerbaijani-U.S. cooperation. “As a co-chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group I want to hear the opinions by President and Foreign
Minister on the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,”
Bryza stressed, reports Trend.

Bryza: Elections do not hinder negotiations on Karabakh
Regnum, Russia
July 31, 2006
“I see there is a political will to solve the question; philosophy
laid in the basis of our proposals, is acceptable,” OSCE Minsk Group
US co-Chair Matthew Bryza stated to Radio Liberty after his meeting
with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan.
Speaking on proposals’ details, he stressed that there are questions,
connected with Kelbajar and Lachin, as well as conducting a
referendum. Matthew Bryza confirmed that, according to OSCE MG
co-chairs, Nagorno Karabakh people should solve the question of
Karabakh’s status itself. “However, the question is who should be
considered to be Karabakh people. There are people, who lived there
in 1988 and who wish to participate in the referendum too,” Mr. Bryza
stated. “All these questions should be processed as a part of single
package.” “Principles, which are now on the negotiation table, are no
agreement. They are just principles, proposals. Hence, an agreement
is unavoidable, if there is no such yet,” he stressed.
Answering a question, whether there is a chance to reach an agreement
within this year or whether the question will be postponed till 2009,
Mr. Bryza said: “Of course, there is a chance. It would be favorable
for presidents of both countries to appear at the elections with a
settled problem. However, elections do not prevent from negotiations.
Simply, the question is much easier to be solved, when political
processes are not escalated.” At the same time, the US diplomat
stressed that the OSCE MG is ready to act until parties seriously
consider the talks: “We see that our friends in Armenia consider the
question quite seriously.”
Mentioning situation with democracy in Armenia, Mr. Bryza said:
“We hope that Armenia moves in a right direction. The US-Armenian
relations will be the stronger; the Armenian democracy will be
stronger. Armenia’s participation in the Millennium Challenge Program
is the best evidence for the US to be sure that Armenia is moving
forward on a democratic way. Democracy is a process.”

RA MFA: Armenia Ready for Cooperation on Ecology Issues with Baku
PanARMENIAN.Net
31.07.2006 16:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yerevan attaches importance to the creation of
atmosphere of trust in the region and is ready to cooperate on ecology
issues with the Azeri side, RA Foreign Ministry’s Acting Spokesman
Vladimir Karapetian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
For his part, head of the department of press and information policy
at the Azeri MFA Tahir Taghizade remarked that Azerbaijan is ready
to cooperate with Armenia in order to liquidate the consequences of
the fires at the Karabakh border, reported Trend.
It should be noted that EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus Peter Semneby said both parties should be interested in
formation of a joint committee for combating fires.

ARMENIAN FIXED TELEPHONE NETWORK PASSED OVER TO RUSSIAN COMPANY
YEREVAN, JULY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian fixed telephone network,
the monopoly of which belongs to ArmenTel, will be passed over to
the MTS company making part of the Sistema Russian holding. As NT
correspondent was informed from unofficial sources, ArmenTel will be
officially passed over in late August, after an agreement is signed
between the sides.
According to some information, the Russian side is already studying
ArmenTel’s activity on the spot for the purpose of assuming its
management.
As for the ArmenTel’s mobile communication, according to some Russian
media, it will be governed by an international consortium formed with
participation of the Indian VTEL Holding and Knigtsbridge companies.
To recap, the OTE Greek company, to which 90 percent of ArmeTel’s
shares belongs, sells its shares through an international tender,
the organization of which has assumed HSBC bank. The tender results
will be published in early August.

Terror in hotel; Lebanon is such a beautiful country and it has been destroyed
Hill Shire Times (Australia)
July 25, 2006 Tuesday
NOTHING could have prepared 16-year-old Peter Kolokossian and his
brother Garbis for what they saw in Lebanon.
The Castle Hill teenagers were trapped in an hotel in the Christian
area of Beirut with the Sydney Armenian Dance Group, as the warfare
between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon escalated.
The trip of a lifetime lived up to all their expectations, with the
dance group lauded and applauded throughout the international festival
in Armenia, taking part in both the closing and opening ceremonies.
“The atmosphere was huge dancing in front of 20,000 people in Armenia,”
Garbis said.
“We were on Syrian, Armenian and Lebanese television. It was the most
amazing experience.”
The group performed several concerts in Armenia during their three-week
stay and then a special concert in Syria before returning to Lebanon
for another concert before they flew home.
The had performed in Beirut when Garbis heard of the kidknapping of
two Isreali soldiers.
“I knew straight away that something would happen. Then 20 minutes
later my mum called and she was crying on the phone,” he said.
The group was due to fly out the next day. It was that day Beirut
airport was bombed and the airport closed.
They and their families then waited five agonising days before
Australian consulate staff got them on to three buses and on the road
to Jordan through Syria.
Garbis said: “People were crying. One of the mums thought she’d never
get back for her son’s wedding.
“It was frightening.”
He said they could not leave the hotel for two days, because when
they knew when they were evacuated, it would be quick.
“A lot of people didn’t want to go by bus because they knew one had
been blown up by the border and 20 people killed,” Garbis said.
When the buses came, escorted by Australian Federal Police, it was
met with mixed emotions.
Peter said: “We had grown so close to some of the families [in
Lebanon’s Armenian community] our hearts were breaking leaving them
behind.”
Garbis said he watched families clutching their young children as
the buildings shook around them.
“Lebanon is such a beautiful country and it has been destroyed,”
he said.
With bombs exploding close by, the brothers found themselves in two
different buses for the 17-hour journey to Amman in Jordan .
“We were packed like sardines,” Peter said. “It was quiet,” Garbis
said. “People were praying.”
The brothers arrived most of the majority of the dance troupe at
Sydney airport at 10.30pm on Friday Garbis’s 19th birthday.
They were met by family, parents Silvia and Reg, plus younger brothers,
Michael and John sister Saree and aunts uncles, grandparents and
friends.

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER JOINS RULING PARTY
EurasiaNet, NY
July 24, 2006
In a widely expected move, Armenia’s Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian
has taken a senior leadership position with the ruling Republican
Party amidst an apparent push by the party to retain its political
weight in upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.
Sarkisian, often depicted as a favorite to succeed President Robert
Kocharian, was elected as board chairman of the Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA) at a July 22 congress in Yerevan called to amend the
party’s policy platform and regulations. The post of chairman of
the board was reinstated for the elections, and 28 new members were
appointed to the party’s 42-member board. Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian was elected as the party’s president.
Sarkisian’s decision to join the Republican Party has been scrutinized
as an indicator of political strategies to come among Armenia’s ruling
elite in the run-up to the country’s parliamentary elections in 2007
and presidential elections in 2008. But party members have taken pains
to emphasize that the inclusion of Defense Minister Sarkisian and Prime
Minister Markarian only testifies to the government’s political unity.
“No one has a doubt that Serge Sarkisian would be able to create his
own party, as many other politicians did or intended to,” commented
parliamentarian Hranush Hakobian, another Republican Party member, in
an interview with Armnews TV. “But he preferred to join the existing
party instead, thus showing his commitment to avoiding conflicts.”
Sarkisian told journalists at the congress that he has no rival in
Armenia, and denied reports of an ongoing conflict with President
Kocharian, adding that he has no plans to resign from his post as
defense minister.
In a 90-second speech to congress participants, Sarkisian, speaking
as if already a party veteran, criticized those who had predicted a
split in the RPA in the past and added that the party was determined
to strengthen the spirit of national unity as Armenia takes on new
challenges. At a briefing following the congress, Sarkisian told
reporters that his election as chairman of the Republican Party board
was not an extraordinary event. “I have cooperated with this party
for a long time now,” he said, mentioning that he had run in the 2003
parliamentary elections on the RPA’s candidate list, although not as
a party member. “So we have just made a document correspond to the
reality of the situation,” he said.
Parliamentary Speaker Tigran Torosian, vice-president of the RPA,
earlier also advanced that view, describing Sarkisian’s decision to
join the party as “nothing strange.”
“Of course, Mr Sarksian is an influential person and the RPA is
an influential political party, if not the most influential one,”
Aravot newspaper quoted Torosian as saying on July 20. “His joining
the RPA is natural.”
Outside observers have focused on Sarkisian’s own ambitions for the
presidential elections in 2008, but the defense minister and other
senior party officials at the congress kept mum on that score. In
a July 20 interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Sarkisian
claimed that President Kocharian approved his decision to join the
Republican Party, but stressed that he himself has not decided whether
or not to run for president when Kocharian steps down in 2008. Prime
Minister Markarian told reporters after the congress that a decision
about an RPA presidential candidate will be taken only after next
year’s parliamentary elections.
The May 2007 parliamentary elections, however, also did not feature
on the congress’ agenda, but party leaders did not deny that steps
taken at the gathering were in preparation for next year’s vote.
Sarkisian stated that the RPA would work with other parties in the
elections, adding that the ballot “will be the best elections in
Armenia so far. It is because I want them to be.”
The congress demonstrated the Republican Party’s growing political
potential. The party now claims more than 30,000 members, twice its
official number in 2004. In recent weeks, scores of new members have
joined the ranks, not least due to rumors about Sarkisian’s expected
decision to register as a member. At least seven government ministers,
many influential regional governors and community heads, as well as
prominent businessmen took part in the party congress.
Torosian told congress participants that the influx of new members
emphasizes the growing importance of Armenian political parties and
the tendency for consolidation to capitalize on those gains. Torosian
argued that this is a consequence of the constitutional amendments
adopted last November, which enhance the role of the parliament
vis-a-vis the president.
According to Suren Zolian, an independent political analyst, the RPA
stands to take as many as half of the next parliament’s 131 seats.
(Serge Sarkisian himself has said that he would be glad if the
party could win 21 percent of the vote.) However, another political
scientist, Manvel Sarkisian of the Kavkaz Analytical Center, believes
the situation is not that simple. Kocharian and his entourage will more
likely support Bargavach Hayastan, or Prosperous Armenia, a new party
that has been cast as part of the campaign for a “liberal, democratic
Armenia” backed by the West, commented Sarkisian, who is no relation
to the defense minister. While terming the congress an “unprecedented
event in Armenian history” since the ruling party has no explicit
support from the president or “a foreign country,” Sarkisian predicted
that conflicts with Prosperous Armenia are likely since the party has
“recruited those who were not allowed to join Bargavach Hayastan.”
For now, though, the RPA is taking pains to emphasize its
alignment with the Armenian and Western mainstream. Founded in
1990 as a nationalist party, the group now describes itself as a
“national-conservative party.”
“We are a classical conservative party, for which the basic values
are: God, nation, motherland, traditional family, a stable system of
moral values, a liberal economy,” Prime Minister Andranik Markarian
said in a speech addressing the congress.
Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.

NATO WISHES TO RECONCILE ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN;
In exchange for a compromise the conflicting parties are offered economic benefits
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
July 24, 2006 Monday
By Sokhbet Mamedov
PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF NATO PIERRE LELUCH
PREPARED PROPOSALS FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH REGULATION; President of the
parliamentary assembly of NATO Pierre Leluch will visit Azerbaijan
and Armenia.
President of the parliamentary assembly of NATO Pierre Leluch will
visit Azerbaijan and Armenia. For Baku and Yerevan, he has proposals
for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
After abolishment of the planned meetings of presidents Ilkham Aliyev
and Robert Kocharjan planned this year, two times the parliamentary
assembly of NATO decided to sit them down at a table of negotiations.
A source in the parliament of Azerbaijan reported that president
of the assembly Pierre Leluch already prepared proposals for the
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia that he would present to them
in autumn during his visit to these countries.
According to the source, Leluch will propose several measures to the
parties of the conflict that will allow “avoidance of political and
other difficulties after signing a peaceful agreement.” The president
of the parliamentary assembly promises economic dividends to the
parties in exchange for compromises. So far, Baku and Yerevan prefer
not to say what kind of economic benefits are offered.
This is the second time when Leluch tries to join the negotiation
process carried out under the aegis of the Minsk group of OSCE where
Russia, US and France are co-chairs. Back in May, Leluch invited
presidents Aliyev and Kocharjan to Paris to take part in the spring
session of the parliamentary assembly. Kocharjan ignored the invitation
then, referring to “business.”
According to analyst Alpay Akhmed, Yerevan has to build its relations
with NATO looking back at Moscow that is discontent with active
cooperation of its loyal ally in the Caucasus with NATO. Besides,
in the future this cooperation may grow into a wish to become a
member of this organization. Incidentally, such symptoms are already
observed. In spring, speaker of Armenian parliament Artur Bagdasaryan
visited Europe and spoke about possible entrance of Armenia in NATO
and European Union. However, such liberty of the speaker encountered
harsh critique of the President and Bagdasaryan had to resign.
As for Ilkham Aliyev, lately he has been focusing attention in
every speech on “non-constructive stance of the Armenian part at the
negotiations.” Recently Aliyev announced that “a chance is given to
Armenia to liberate the occupied Azerbaijani territories voluntarily
and to solve the problem without bloodshed and war.”
According to local analysts, such harsh statement by the Azerbaijani
leader can be taken as a response to the recent statement of the
co-chairs of the Minsk group of OSCE where they actually confessed
their helplessness and laid responsibility for resolving the conflict
on heads of the states of the two countries. This means that the
negotiation process has come to a dead end. The cease-fire regime is
very fragile and there are no international separating forces between
the parties of the conflict, which means that an undesirable incident
is not ruled out at any moment. Official Baku also hints that it is
not going to take part in fruitless negotiations.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 20, 2006, p. EV

FM MAMMADYAROV: “AZERBAIJAN APPRECIATES PAKISTAN’S SUPPORT IN SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT”
[July 21, 2006, 22:13:28]
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
July 21 2006
Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on 21 July met the
ambassador of Pakistan to Azerbaijan Mohammad Hafiz on completion of
his diplomatic mission in the country.
The Ambassador expressed pleasure with the works done for strengthening
of the friendly and cooperation links between two countries during his
activity, thanked the Azerbaijan Government for help rendered to him.
M. Hafiz expressed gratitude for Azerbaijan’s support on the
international organizations, in particular, in conducting reforms in
the United Nations. He stressed the necessity of expansion of links
also in the economic field.
Minister Mammadyarov, noting the close friendship ties between
the two nations, especially emphasized ‘Pakistan’s fair stance in
support of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in settlement of
the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict’.