Author: Kamalian Hagop

Corruption feeds Russian health crisis
By MARIA DANILOVA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Jun 28, 2007

MOSCOW — When Karen Papiyants lost his leg in a road accident last
year, his medical nightmare was only beginning.

Although like any Russian he was entitled to free treatment, he says
the doctors strongly suggested he pay $4,500 into their St. Petersburg
hospital’s bank account, or be deprived proper care – and perhaps not
even survive.

Faced with that choice, the 37-year-old truck driver’s relatives
scrambled to scrape together the money. But Papiyants said that
didn’t stop the nursing staff from leaving him unattended for most of
the night and giving him painkillers only after he screamed in agony.

"It’s nothing but blackmail and extortion on the part of doctors,"
Papiyants said.

In theory Russians are supposed to receive free basic medical
care. But patients and experts say doctors, nurses and surgeons
routinely demand payments – even bribes – from those they treat. And
critics say the practice persists despite Russia’s booming economy and
its decision to spend billions to improve the health care system.

Medical care in Russia is among the worst in the industrialized
world. A 2000 World Health Organization report ranked Russia’s health
system 130th out of 191 countries, on a par with nations such as Peru
and Honduras.

This is one of the few nations in the world where life expectancy has
declined sharply in the past 15 years. The average Russian can expect
to live only to age 66 – at least a decade less than in most Western
democracies, according to a 2005 World Bank report. For men, the
figure is closer to 59 – meaning many Russian men don’t live long
enough to start collecting their pension at age 60.

Compounded by alcoholism, heart disease claims proportionately more
lives than in most of the rest of the world. Death rates from
homicide, suicide, auto accidents and cancer are also especially high.

Russia’s population has dropped precipitously in the past 15 years, to
below 143 million in what President Vladimir Putin calls "the most
acute problem of contemporary Russia."

In 2004, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, Russia spent $441 per capita on health care, about a
fifth of what the Europeans spend. Over the past two years the
government has more than doubled health care spending to some $7
billion, but that still works out to only about 3.4 percent of all
government spending, and the World Health Organization recommends at
least 5 percent.

Experts here say new spending does little if it fails to tackle
corruption.

The state covers all Russians under a standardized medical insurance
package, while well-heeled citizens can buy extra insurance and be
treated privately.

In the Soviet era, patients occasionally rewarded doctors with money
or gifts, but were largely guaranteed free treatment. The Soviet
Union’s public health system was, for a time at least, considered
among the world’s best.

But the system failed to keep up with Western medicine, and after the
Soviet collapse, went into decline. Today, many who can’t afford to
pay or bribe – especially those in remote provinces – may never
receive proper care.

Some experts say this has helped drive up death rates.

"Corruption in health care is a threat to Russia’s national security
in the broadest sense of the word," said Yelena Panfilova, head the
Russian branch of Transparency International, a global corruption
watchdog.

According to a summer 2006 study commissioned by the group, 13 percent
of 1,502 respondents who had sought medical help during the previous
year had to pay an average of $90 under the table, out of wages
averaging $480 a month. The poll had a margin of error of 2.6
percentage points.

Panfilova also said medical and pharmaceutical companies routinely
bribe health officials so that hospitals buy their equipment and
medicines, even though their quality is often not the best.

Kirill Danishevsky, a health researcher with the Russian Academy of
Sciences’ Open Health Institute, has estimated that up to 35 percent
of money spent on health care consists of under-the-table payments.

At the Dzhanelidze Emergencies Institute where Papiyants was treated,
spokesman Vadim Stozharov denied that doctors refused to provide free
care. But he conceded the hospital has received so many similar
complaints it set up a hot line to deal with them.

The Health Ministry declined to comment on the bribery
allegations. But Galina Lavrishcheva, the top health official in
Stupino, an industrial town in the Moscow region, acknowledged that
health care workers sometimes demand payoffs.

"Yes, it is true, I am not going to hide it – extortion takes place,"
Lavrishcheva said.

The Stupino regional hospital is at the forefront of government reform
efforts. Officials have fought overcrowding by cutting the number of
beds from 800 to 625, have set up an outpatient clinic and have
installed new equipment, including ultrasound and electrocardiogram
machines.

Overspecialization, a legacy of the Soviet era, is a big problem
because patients are shuttled from one narrowly focused specialist to
another.

Meanwhile, no physician generally takes responsibility for their state
of health.

Dozens of Stupino’s specialists have been retrained as general
practitioners and their salaries raised to reduce the lure of bribes
and create incentives for more doctors to become GPs.

Yelena Filippova, a freshly retrained GP, now treats some 2,000
patients and earns $700 a month, more than double her previous
salary. Filippova, 27, says the system is more efficient. Her patients
like it as well.

"It’s professional, it’s high quality, it’s quick and convenient – you
don’t have to stand in lines," said Viktor Lenok, a 60-year-old
retiree, whom Filippova treats for asthma.

But critics say these changes are no substitute for radical change –
just a high-profile way of spending the country’s oil-driven wealth in
an election year. They insist the reform does not address bribe-taking
by emergency health care providers and medical specialists.

"A huge heap of money is being pumped into the same health care system
– but why invest into something that doesn’t work?" said health
researcher Danishevsky. "The very system needs to be reformed."

AZERI MP ACCUSES ARMENIAN LEADERS OF ACTING LIKE "TERRORISTS"

Day.az website, Baku
26 Jun 07

The Azerbaijani Milli Maclis [parliament] MP Anar Mammadxanov has
accused the Armenian leaders of behaving like "common terrorists"
and backed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s call for political,
economic and diplomatic attacks against Armenia. In an interview
published on a web site he also poured scorn on Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan, describing him as a "buffoon" for
his "illogical" remarks about resolving the Nagornyy Karabakh
dispute. Further criticism was heaped on the Minsk Group of the
OSCE which had proved incapable of finding a solution to the Karabakh
issue. The following is the text of his interview with Day.az entitled:
"Anar Mammadxanov: ‘We are now much closer to war than peace’",
published on the Day.az website on 26 June; subheadings have been
inserted editorially:

[Correspondent] Anar muallim [mode of address], would you like to
comment on the recent statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
who said that we must attack Armenia in all directions economic,
political, diplomatic and propaganda?

Azeri president’s statement

[Mammadxanov] Of course, I totally agree with what President Aliyev
says.

There is no doubt that the Armenian leadership is not just
demonstrating an unconstructive position at the talks on a settlement
to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh, but has
now switched to a policy of lies and ridiculous statements. Believe
me, when we listened to statements in the past by the Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan we realized that we were faced by an enemy,
but one who was smart and intelligent and had his own views on how
to resolve the conflict. Now there has been a transformation and
Oskanyan has turned into a political buffoon who merely amuses us
with his funny, illogical and at times simply false statements. One
only has to recall his ridiculous and false claim that Armenia will
extract hydrocarbons from an Azerbaijani pipeline. I would like,
therefore, to propose a minute’s silence in memory of the passing of
a once intelligent man.

One could even hold a memorial service to the whole of the Armenian
leadership who, having forgotten about elementary political culture
and that we live at a time of high technology where the truth simply
cannot be suppressed, continues to make a fool of its own people by
making populist statements and demonstrating its political nakedness
to the whole world.

They have simply nothing with which to cover up their shame. The world
is beginning to understand this more and more and this is leading to
a strengthening in Azerbaijan’s position. And we must strengthen our
positions and attack Armenia in all directions, as President Aliyev
said in his speech.

[Correspondent] Are you happy with the position of the Minsk Group
of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe]
which has set itself up as an intermediary to settle the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict, but is more and more often declaring its inability
to find a just settlement?

Criticism of Minsk Group

[Mammadxanov] Of course, I am not at all happy at the position
of the Minsk group. It seems to me that a great many political
experts and diplomats in our country could come out with similar
statements. Indeed, one is surprised to say the least by the position
of these political barnstormers, who instead of doing something
positive to put pressure on Armenia and its destructive position
are making intelligent facial expressions forgetting that [?French
film-maker Jean-Pierre] Gorin once said that an intelligent facial
expression is not a sign of intelligence and the most stupid things
in the world have been done wearing precisely this facial expression.

The exhortations of the co-chairmen of the Minsk group who are
proposing that Armenia and Azerbaijan should resolve the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict by themselves sound particularly strange. In that
case what was the point of setting up a structure which at the end
of the day admits its own powerlessness in carrying out the duties
which they themselves bestowed upon them?!

And here’s another thing. The people of Azerbaijan have never seen a
specific plan for a settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
around Nagornyy Karabakh from the Minsk Group. All we hear about are
some mythical "new ideas and initiatives" from this organization.

In this connection, I am personally starting to come to the conclusion
that the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group say one thing in Baku and
another in Yerevan, putting out arguments in both countries which suit
whichever side they are in at the time, playing a dirty political game.

Also illogical, in my view, are the arguments of the co-chairmen of
the Minsk Group when they say it is impossible to put pressure on
the Armenian leaders with presidential elections coming up in that
country. Even someone who knows nothing at all about geopolitics
can see that it is precisely during the period of an election,
i.e. a period when the leadership of a country is prepared to make
concessions for the sake of staying in power, that pressure should be
put on the Armenian leadership to force it to restore justice in the
question of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict around Nagornyy Karabakh.

Besides, as far as I recall, the Minsk Group is not a body that
is responsible for internal and external stability in Armenia, and
therefore to hear such talk is, to say the least, surprising.

[Correspondent] Let’s go back to our Armenians. It was precisely
a combination of political, economic, diplomatic and propaganda
pressure from the US which led to the collapse of the USSR. Why does
the Armenian leadership not learn the lessons of history?

"Terrorists" in Armenian leadership

[Mammadxanov] I would start by saying that this would be the time
to recall the words of [Secretary General of Council of Europe]
Terry Davis, who said that the Armenian leadership, which takes
up such a destructive position over a settlement to the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict, should start to think about the future of its
children and grandchildren. Why does it not think about its future
generations? The answer to this question is simple and sad for the
Armenian people who have become hostage to the situation and their own
impotence. The point is that right now there are common terrorists
in the Armenian leadership and not people who advocate a political
methodology of running the country and solving conflict situations
with neighbouring states.

You only have to recall how those terrorists who try to get money
and a safe flight from the scene of their crime in exchange for
hostages operate. It is precisely to this kind of blackmail that
the Armenian leadership is resorting, and instead of discussing
specific proposals by the Azerbaijani leadership and listening to the
persistent advice of influential organizations and their leaders,
it is gambling on the primordial Azerbaijani territories that are
under Armenian occupation. Terrorism, as an ideology of the present
Armenian leadership, was also seen in the events of October 1999
when members of the Armenian parliament, headed by Karen Demirchyan
and Vazgen Sarkisyan, were shot. This is [Armenian President] Robert
Kocharyan’s political philosophy. He makes it perfectly clear that
Armenian politicians who do not agree with the views of the Armenian
terrorists who have fought their way into power, await death in the
Poplavok restaurant [in Yerevan]. And it is a tragedy of the Armenian
people that they are in submission to these terrorists.

[Correspondent] Let me put the question another way. What counter
measures can Armenia offer in response to Azerbaijan’s growing
economic influence?

[Mammadxanov] If we are talking about legal methods proceeding from
the generally accepted political-economic philosophy of waging war and
negotiations, then the Armenian leadership has not been left with any
mechanisms of countering Azerbaijan’s growing influence in the world.

Only one thing is left either to continue with the philosophy of the
terrorists which consists of trying to get concessions out of official
Baku over the question of the status of Nagornyy Karabakh by gambling
on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, or to switch to specific
terrorist activities through sabotage, terrorist acts and other inhuman
activities which are normal for the present Armenian leadership.

But they will achieve neither one nor the other: Azerbaijan will
never agree to losing Nagornyy Karabakh, and our National Security
Ministry is prepared for any terrorist acts from the Armenians.

[Correspondent] You have mentioned more than once that there are
currently terrorists in the Armenian leadership. Of course, the
world community is also aware of this, just as it knows that there
is a well-known terrorist organization called ASALA [Armenian Secret
Army for the Liberation of Armenia] in Armenia and that there are
memorials to such well-known terrorists as Monte Melkonyan being set
up in Armenia. Why does it stay silent and not put proper pressure
on that country?

World should be told truth about Armenian leaders

[Mammadxanov] This would be a good time to return to the appeal
mentioned earlier by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev who called
for Armenia to be attacked in all directions. And it is very important
to make the world public and the world media aware of the whole truth
about who is currently running Armenia and with whom they are proposing
that the Azerbaijani leadership should reach agreement.

All of us should use every opportunity to tell the whole world the
truth and to remind the world about how dear a price it once paid
when it allowed the Nazis and the terrorists led by Adolf Hitler to
come to power and strengthen their positions. We must tell the world
the truth about the genocide of the Azerbaijanis at Xocali [in 1992]
and to point out that the present Armenian leadership was involved
in this inhuman act. Azerbaijan’s prestige and respect in the world
is growing from day to day and the links of our political experts,
representatives of non-governmental organizations, MPs and journalists
are broadening.

If we pool our efforts this will undoubtedly lead to a situation
where the world will be able to see with horror the true face of
Armenian terrorism.

And this will become another victory for Azerbaijan which will draw
all of us closer to the return of our own Nagornyy Karabakh.

[Correspondent] To sum up what we have been talking about, can we
expect that Azerbaijan’s superiority over Armenia, which still exists
and is increasing every year in the economic, diplomatic, propaganda
and military spheres will in the near future lead to the liberation
of our country’s territory now under enemy occupation?

[Mammadxanov] I will begin by saying that we are now much closer to
war than peace. And the reason for that is the destructive position
of the Armenian leadership. Undoubtedly, Azerbaijan’s superiority
over Armenia, which still exists and is increasing every year, is
definitely being transformed into the overwhelming superiority of
our army over the Armenian army.

We must understand that war is a very real thing and to prepare for
it. No, it will not be an easy stroll, but there is no way that Armenia
can stand up to Azerbaijan. Things will be even more distressing
for them in the future and I am sure that all these advantages over
Armenia will lead Azerbaijan to a successful anti-terrorist operation
to restore our territorial integrity and one which will be met with
understanding all over the world.

TURKEY: DINK MURDER TRIAL A TEST FOR JUDICIARY

Reuters AlertNet, UK
Human Rights Watch
HRW news
June 29 2007

(New York, June 29, 2007) The Turkish judiciary must hold accountable
any security forces found responsible for negligence or collusion
in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Human
Rights Watch said today. Evidence that will be heard in the trial,
which starts on July 2, may raise serious questions about possible
involvement of the security forces in the killing. "Hrant Dink’s murder
trial is a critical test of the Turkish judiciary’s independence,"
said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights
Watch. "We will be closely watching how the court handles any evidence
that may implicate the security forces."

Dink was a courageous champion of open debate, dialogue and
cooperation between all communities in Turkey, and a man committed
to democratization and human rights in Turkey. He was gunned down
outside his office in Istanbul on January 19. Dink’s killing was
apparently politically and ethnically motivated; he was identified
by his murderers as an Armenian who had been convicted in court for
"insulting Turkishness."

Eighteen defendants named in the April 20 indictment will stand trial
for Dink’s killing. Two of the defendants are accused of being leaders
of an armed gang that allegedly planned the murder. The gunman is
a 17-year-old youth allegedly appointed by the gang to carry out
the killing.

Dink had been receiving death threats for some time before his murder
and had reported these threats to the local prosecutor in Istanbul.

His reports apparently went unheeded. In the 18 months preceding
his murder, officials in Istanbul and Trabzon also reportedly failed
to act on numerous police intelligence reports revealing a plan to
murder Dink.

In fact, the indictment alleges that one of the three main defendants
had operated as a police informer, and the police had repeatedly been
informed that another defendant was planning to kill Dink. Since
the murder, several senior public officials have been removed from
office, including the governor of Trabzon and the head of the city’s
police, who were removed on the grounds of negligence and failures
of duty. The authorities should also investigate a number of others,
including members of the gendarmerie in Trabzon, although criminal
investigation of public officials in Turkey remains a cumbersome
process, relying on a very old law.

"The Turkish authorities failed to protect Hrant Dink, despite evidence
that his life was at risk," said Cartner. "They must now ensure
that those responsible are held to account and, where appropriate,
prosecuted."

Human Rights Watch is also deeply concerned by the statements and
conduct of some Turkish officials that point to possible bias and
raise questions about their ability to act impartially in the Dink
case. Before any investigation could be conducted, Celalettin Cerrah,
the head of the Istanbul Police stated publicly that there was no
political dimension to Dink’s killing, that the suspected gunman
had no links to political organizations, and that the gunman was
motivated only by nationalist sentiment. The Ministry of Interior
inspectorate recommended that he receive an official condemnation
for this statement. Lawyers for Hrant Dink’s family have appealed a
decision not to pursue a criminal investigation into Cerrah’s conduct
and statements.

Moreover, Turkish television broadcast footage it had obtained of
several police and gendarmerie officers posing for photographs with
the murder suspect directly after his apprehension in the Black Sea
city of Samsun on January 21. The footage reveals the suspect holding
up a Turkish flag and surrounded by officers in the Samsun Security
Directorate, who apparently considered this a souvenir. Eight members
of the police and gendarmerie were suspended from duty pending an
investigation.

"In this climate of growing intolerance and violence against minority
groups, the Turkish authorities must fully investigate Dink’s murder
and bring all perpetrators to justice," said Cartner. "Failure to
ensure justice in this case would send a dangerous message. Violent
attacks on minority groups or on those expressing critical and
dissenting views must not be tolerated."

Background: Prosecutions against Dink and the newpaper Agos

In the 18 months prior to his murder, Hrant Dink had been the
subject of three prosecutions for speech-related offenses. For
an article in which he discussed Armenian identity, Dink last
July received a six-month suspended sentence under Article 301,
a provision of the Turkish penal code that criminalizes "publicly
insulting Turkishness." Dink was prosecuted again in September under
the same article for using the term "genocide" in a statement made
to the Reuters news agency to describe the massacres of Armenians in
Anatolia at the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Agos (Furrow), the bilingual Turkish and Armenian-language newspaper
that Dink edited until his death, continues to be targeted on charges
of speech-related offenses. Arat Dink, Hrant Dink’s son and now editor
of Agos, and Serkis Saropyan, owner of the newspaper, are still on
trial for "insulting Turkishness" as the publishers of Hrant Dink’s
remarks and for a petition organized by Agos entitled, "A signature
against Article 301." Two Agos journalists, Aydýn Engin and Karin
Karakaþlý, are also on trial under the same article. In the aftermath
of Hrant Dink’s murder, prosecutions under Article 301 continue.

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on the Turkish government
to abolish Article 301 and other laws that inhibit freedom of speech.

They should also drop all charges against journalists, writers and
editors who face prosecution for their peaceful expression.

–Boundary_(ID_PslZ1yNy1xwSlsbtuFELQg )–

IT IS TIME TO THINK ABOUT NEW PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM, IMF MISSION HEAD SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Jun 29 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian prime minister Serge
Sargsian on June 28 received the head of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) mission Martha Castelo-Branco and the delegation headed
by her, NT was informed by the RA Government Information and PR
Department.

M. Castelo-Branco appreciated Armenia’s cooperation with the IMF since
1992 when the country joined the IMF. She underlined that in the IMF’s
opinion, Armenia has registered a considerable growth and conducted
a reasonable tax-budgetary and monetary-credit policy. In her words,
Armenia’s currency exchange rate police has been most flexible as
compared with other regional countries.

At the same time M. Castelo-Branco said that there are still some
challenges, and serious efforts should be made to overcome them. In
particular, among such challenges are the difficulty of maintaining
the two-digit economic growth rates registered in recent years,
the review of tax collection ratio (with a tendency to increase it),
internal competition, problems connected to monopolies, improvement
of the business environment, which in its turn includes a number of
issues: accessibilty of credits, improvement of infrastructures.

The IMF mission head attached importance to the identification of
possible risks and the implementation of steps aimed at overcoming of
these risks, around which discussions are being conducted with the RA
minsitry of finance and economy and the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA).

The IMF program in Armenia will be completed in May 2008. According
to M. Castelo-Branco, it is time to think about the next partnership
program. She attached special importance to such directions as
improvement of tax administration, extension of the tax base,
development of the financial market, and fight agains the shadow
economy. She underlined that the IMF is ready to assist with solution
of these problems and will continue to promote the reforms aimed
at stabilizing Armenia’s macroeconomic, particularly, payment and
settlement system.

The Armenian prime minister in his turn said that henceforth
the IMF’s experience and recommendation will also be useful for
Armenia. According to S. Sargsian, all indices, which the Armenian
government will discuss with the IMF, will be fulfilled.

WILL RFE/RL BE CLOSED DOWN?

A1+
[07:35 pm] 27 June, 2007

Today the Armenian MPs gathered to discuss the amendments to the
law on Television and Radio and to decide the fortune of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty.

If the amendments are adopted, RFE/RL, funded by the United States
Congress, will not be transmitted on the Public Channel.

Tigran Torosyan declined to answer reporters’ questions as "the bill
is still under consideration."

The report is to be presented by Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan.

According to the amendments, the foreign media cannot be broadcast
on the frequencies used by the public radio and television without
preliminary arrangement with the Armenian Public Television and
Radio Board.

Under the amendments to the law on "State Duty" organisations must
pay 70 000 drams per one-hour transmission. Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty is broadcast 4 times a day and logically it must pay 280 000
drams a day.

PROSECUTOR REQUESTS 14-YEAR SENTENCE FOR AZERBAIJAN’S TRAITOR SOLDIER

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
June 28 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr.K.Zarbaliyeva/ The preparation hearing
of Eldaniz Nuriyev, charged with treason, has concluded in Azerbaijan.

On 28 June during the hearing presided over by Judge Mammadbagir
Zeynalov in the Azerbaijani Court of Grave Crimes, the State Prosecutor
asked the judge to sentence Nuriyev to fourteen years imprisonment. The
hearing came to an end with concluding remarks delivered by Nuriyev’s
advocate. The court verdict is expected to be announced on 29 June.

Nuriyev is charged with changing the shifts of guards, desertion,
and treason. Nuriyev was called up to military service from the Fizuli
region Armed Commissariat.

After five months, Nuriyev left the Fizuli region N Military Department
without permission and was taken captive by the Armenians.

In compliance with the bill of indictment, the soldier, who left
the Military Department, acted against Azerbaijan and relayed State
secrets to the enemy country.

VARTAN OSKANIAN: THE ROLE OF THE NEGOTIATING PROCESS IS IRREPLACEABLE

ArmRadio.am
27.06.2007 10:02

Speaking at the summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization in Istanbul, RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said,
in part:

"Fifteen years ago, when BSEC was founded, it was a visionary effort
at a time when the world stood at a historical crossroads, when almost
all of our member states were themselves living their own historical
turning point, heading a new or a re-organized state. Just as our
organization was young, so were each of our states.

Fifteen years later, each of our countries and BSEC, too,
have changed. I can speak for Armenia: Our economic growth is
gratifying, the collapse of the time of independence is only a
bad memory. Institutions are stronger, as evidenced by our recent
elections, I am proud to say very positively assessed by the
international community. People are more confident. That confidence
comes not just from within, but is buttressed by the assessment
of international indices. From economic freedoms to failed states
to capital hospitality, we are significantly ahead of all our
neighbors. That gives us a solid basis on which to continue to grow.

So, just as our countries can’t, neither can our organization hide
behind the label of inexperience any more. If, in these 15 years, we
could have ascribed our occasional hesitation to certain of our own
quarrels and interests and alliances, today we see that by allowing
ourselves to be led by our differences, we limit this organization’s
capacity to make itself felt in world politics.

Broadening interaction between BSEC and the EU is a measure of our
maturity and one of our significant outputs. As the EU considers the
benefits of a Black Sea Dimension for economic, social, environmental
and energy cooperation, and as BSEC works to enhance its interaction
with the EU, we around the Black Sea, have much to learn from those
around the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Baltic and North Seas. Our need
for deeper relations is not limited to the structural, technical and
institutional expertise in the EU space. Rather we stand to benefit
from the European ability to create a bond between human beings that
transcends older boundaries and makes out of these new institutional
forms something that really is a community.

We also have much to learn from Europe in trying to find new solutions
to old problems. BSEC could have, should have, aided in creating an
environment conducive to resolving conflicts in our region. Resolutions
are only possible through compromise, compromise requires reciprocal
trust between peoples, and cooperation is the obvious and proven
way to inculcate such trust. Rejecting cooperation is a symptom of a
misplaced desire to find one-sided solutions; this is unrealistic. The
era of one-sided solutions is over.

In our case, in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, we have worked hard to
produce a negotiating document that is indeed based on compromise, and
has sufficient positive elements to justify our efforts to move forward
to resolve the remaining difficult differences. We are cognizant of the
irreplaceable role of the negotiating process, as difficult as that is,
to lasting resolutions. In fact, the process itself is a signal to our
populations and other stakeholders that we understand compromise and
the concessions that compromise requires. Therefore, at this stage,
to speak in the language of attack and absolute solutions is neither
realistic nor helpful.

Nor is it useful to mistake cause with consequence. The people
of Nagorno Karabakh were victims who won the military battle,
successfully defending themselves in Karabakh against a government
that attacked people it considered its own citizens. Not all victors
are aggressors. Sometimes the underdog wins because he is defending his
family, his home, his land. The people of Karabakh defended themselves,
against great odds, and won. Today, they want nothing from Azerbaijan,
except a willingness to live and let live.

In the run-up to the anniversary summits to come, the effectiveness of
this organization will be measured not just by the extent and number of
its activities, but by the boldness of our aims, the foresight of our
goals, the value of our achievements, and the audacity of our intent."

PRIME MINISTER SAYS CONSTRUCTIVE OPPOSITION BEING BUILT

Panorama.am
19:20 26/06/2007

Tense discussions around 2007-2012 government program indicate that
some of its provisions are in fact interesting. Prime minister,
Serzh Sargsyan, said "cooperation with constructive opposition is
being built despite of criticism of Zarangutiun and Orinats Yerkir
parties." In his words, the program is very ambitions but gives hope
because it has been developed by those political forces that received
high public vote on May 12. The prime minister says some of the
solutions to these challenges may be "new" for the Armenian society.

Source: Panorama.am

DAVID BALBIRNIE, SECRETARY GENERAL OF EUROPEAN HOCKEY FEDERATION, VISITS ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Jun 25 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 25, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 22, Mikayel Ispirian, the
Deputy Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, received David Balbirnie
(Irland), the Secretary General of the European Hockey Federation. The
Deputy Minister told the Secretary General about the hockey kind of
sport registered in Armenia still in the 1-2nd centuries, the sizes
of the playground and the rules of the game. He also mentioned the
fact that Armenians are quick at acquiring skilfulness in hockey
and added that Armenian teams have won prizes and cups in all-union
championships, and Sos Hayrapetian from Yerevan was included in the
world symbolic team as the best half-back of the world eight times.

David Balbirnie mentioned that he is acquainted with Armenian hockey
and its traditions to some extent and that he is eager to see the
representative teams of Armenia in international tournaments. He
also stated that the European Federation will send equipment and
belongings to Armenia to contribute to the further development of
this kind of sport.

Warning Armenia anew, Azerbaijani president vows to strengthen military
forces
AIDA SULTANOVA, AP Worldstream
Published: Jun 22, 2007

Azerbaijan’s president declared Friday the country was in a "state of
war" and pledged continuing increases in military spending to put
pressure on Armenia in the two countries’ territorial dispute.

"Military expenditures are now the priority. Azerbaijan is in a state
of war and therefore military expenditures will increase yet further,"
said Ilham Aliev.

In an address to officers graduating from a Baku military school, Aliev
said the country’s military budget had quadrupled in the past four
years and would reach US$1 billion (A740 million) this year.

Exports from the country’s vast Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves have
helped lift Azerbaijan’s economy since the Soviet collapse, and
propelled an aggressive upgrade of its armed forces.

Tensions are high between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two South Caucasus
regions that saw a six-year conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region
that is inside Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenian
forces since a 1994 cease-fire. Some 30,000 people were killed and more
than 1 million driven from their homes.

International mediators have repeatedly sought to get the two countries
to resolve the dispute, which has held up development in the strategic
region.

"We should move to an offensive in all directions: political,
diplomatic, economic and propagandistic. We do not want a military
resolution to the conflict, but we should be ready for it. The
negotiation process cannot continue forever," he said.

"The Armenian leadership should find the political will and vacate the
lands that don’t belong to them and then move toward peace."

Azerbaijan would never agree to the separation of Nagorno-Karabakh or
its union with Armenia and he accused Armenia of "artificially drawing
out the negotiating process, which has involved mediators from the
United States, Russia and France.

In Armenia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian dismissed
Aliev’s comments as rhetoric.

"This is not the first time that President Aliev has made such loud
statements. Nothing ever happens after these (statements)," Karapetian
said.

Aliev also said Azerbaijan, would soon have the capability to
manufacture its own military hardware _ possibly by year’s end.