Author: Kanayan Tamar

THE PUBLIC COUNCIL DECIDES TO APPLY TO PRESIDENT SARGSYAN
Hasmik Dilanyan

"Radiolur"
10.06.2009 17:10

The issue of amnesty remains in the focus of public attention. On May
28 President Serzh Sargsyan called on political forces and the Public
Council to come forth with proposals regarding the amnesty. The Public
Council held a plenary session yesterday and decided to apply to the
President, Chairman of the Civil Society Commission of the Public
Council Hovhannes Hovhannisyan told reporters today.

The Public Council has already been formed, and the Commissions have
been established. Yesterday the Council held its first plenary sitting,
at which all 36 members were present. Amnesty was one of the pivotal
issues on the agenda. Opinions varied, but the majority agreed that
declaring general pardon was a necessity.

Members of the Council were concerned that the number of criminals
could increase after the amnesty. However, very few people committed
crimes after the previous amnesty of 2006, Hovhanness Hovhannisyan
said.

Chairman of the Civil Society Commission considers that the amnesty
should apply to those arrested after the events of March 1 and 2,
2008. "I think that the amnesty could be a step that would help
alleviate the atmosphere of mistrust and isolation established after
March 1," he noted.

The Public Council considers that the pardon should not apply to
those arrested for elect ion violations, those who committed cries
after the previous amnesty and people who committed very grave crimes.

SEMINAR "PUBLIC INTERNAL FINANCIAL CONTROL IN THE EU AND ARMENIA" HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
June 9, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The seminar "Public Internal Financial
Control (PIFC) in the EU and Armenia" was held in Yerevan on June 9
on the initiative of RA Ministry of Finance and the Budget Department
of the European Commission. Officials and experts of the European
Commission, as well as the Head of the European Commission Delegation
in Armenia, Ambassador Raul de Lutzenberger took part in the seminar.

The EU member states’ experience in PIFC and proposals on further
improvement of PIFC in Armenia were presented at the seminar.

The Head of the Budget Implementation Methodology Department of RA
Ministry of Finance Karen Brutian said that PIFC is an integrated
model that has been developed by the European Commission for creation
of internal control systems in the state sector which are in line
with international standards.

In his words, the introduction of such a system was envisaged by the
Armenian government’s activity program. The purpose of the system
is to have such a mechanism of spending state financial resources,
expenditure control and audit that will enable the state to fulfil
its obligations more efficiently. "This event was also envisaged
by Armenia-EU Neighborhood Action Plan, which shows the political
significance of the event," K. Brutian said.

Commenting on the Armenian government’s initiative on reforms of this
system, the Head of the European Commission PIFC Department Robert
Gielisse stated that they encourage and assist the reforms planned
by Armenia.

GYUMRI TO HOST BOOK FAIR ON JUNE 12

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
09.06.2009 17:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Upon the initiative of Art Bridge (Yerevan) and ELAV
(Gymri) bookshops, Armenian town of Gyumri will host a book fair on
June 12.

Visitors may get acquainted with the authors of books displayed during
the fair.

The same day, Gyumri will also host the presentation of two books:
"Unfinished Decade" (Vardan Oskanyan) and "Green and Black" (Tatul
Hakobyan).

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DELEGATION OFF TO MOSCOW

armradio.am
09.06.2009 13:04

The delegation headed by the Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran
Sargsyan, left for Moscow today to participate in the 23rd sitting
of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) on the level of Heads
of Government, Information and Public Relations Department of RA
Government reported.

The delegation headed by the Prime Minister will comprise the Head of
Staff of the Government, David Sargsyan, Minister of Finance Tigran
Davtyan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan,
Deputy Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan, Deputy Foreign Minister
Shavarsh Kocharyan, other officials.

APA, Azerbaijan
June 6 2009

Hillary Clinton: `We believe a lot of progress has been made in
relatively short period of time to resolve the issues over Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, which are long standing’

[ 06 Jun 2009 11:30 ]

Washington. Zaur Hasanov `APA. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held a joint press
conference on Friday. Secretary Clinton said she held wide and
fruitful discussions with her Turkish counterpart, APA US bureau
reports.

The Secretary of State reminded that Turkey was among the countries
where she and President Obama made their first official visits. She
said US and Turkey were working together to solve number of problems
and there are new opportunities alongside with the problems. `Both
U.S. and Turkey have unique roles to play. We obviously already
collaborate. Not only we are both members of NATO but we are working
with G 20 to respond to the world global economic crisis. We are
exploring ways to enhance our trade and commerce between our two
countries. We are working to develop new energy sources including
resources from the Caucasus and Central Asia. We are partners in the
fight against terrorism’.

Clinton said US allied with Turkey in EU membership efforts and
struggling PKK. She said they were strongly supportive of Turkish
effort to normalize its relation with Armenia and we also very
strongly supportive of the efforts to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu called his visit to
Washington as a continuation of the Secretary Clinton and President
Obama’s visit to Turkey. He said both parts had constructive dialogue
on the issues of Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the
Caucasus and Black Sea Region.

Secretary Clinton answered the question about the Turkish-Armenian
relations after the announcement of roadmap in April and possibility
of the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict soon. `I have been very
encouraged by the progress has been made and by the commitment of the
governments involved. Certainly Turkey and Armenia with the assistance
of Swiss government have committed themselves to the process of
normalization. We are well aware that it is difficult and requires
patience. But we are seen no flagging of commitment. The minister and
I discussed the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia
at length. He brought me up to date on developments. We are continuing
to encourage the parties to proceed on the path which they themselves
have set. Similarly with ongoing negotiations over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The government of Azerbaijan and Armenia are
proceeding and working together. They just were together in Saint
Petersburg. We believe a lot of progress has been made in relatively
short period of time to resolve the issues which are long standing’.

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu thanked the US government for
its support for both processes. `We are very optimistic. We want to
achieve a prosperous, peaceful Caucasus. And in that sense, we are
fully committed to our normalization process with Armenia, and also,
we are fully committed and we are ready to work together with United
States and other co-chairs of Minsk Group for the resolution of
Armenian-Azerbaijani issues’.

U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON TO VISIT ARMENIA, GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN

ssistant-secretary-gordon-to-visit-armenia-georgia -azerbaijan/
Jun 5, 2009

YEREVAN-Philip Gordon, the assistant secretary for European and
Eurasian affairs, will travel to the South Caucasus next week,
visiting Armenia on June 9.

The purpose of the visit is to discuss regional and bilateral
issues. During his visit, Gordon will meet with government officials,
civil society representatives, and other local figures.

Following his trip to Armenia, Gordon will visit Georgia and
Azerbaijan. This is Gordon’s first visit to the South Caucasus as
assistant secretary.

Gordon assumed office on May 15, replacing Daniel Fried. Before
joining the State Department, Gordon was a senior fellow from 2000-09
at the Brookings Institution, in Washington, D.C., where he focused on
European and U.S. foreign policy issues. Prior to joining Brookings,
he served as director for European affairs at the National Security
Council in the Clinton Administration

ARMENIAN CULTURAL CENTER OPENS IN ZHELEZNOVODSK

Noyan Tapan
June 5, 2009

Zheleznovodsk, June 4, Noyan Tapan – Armenians Today: On May
29 inauguration of a new Armenian Cultural Center took place in
Zheleznovodsk’s Inozemcevo districk. Zheleznovosk’s branch of the
Union of Armenians in Russia (UAR), headed by Henrik Meliksetyan,
supported the construction of the new Armenian Cultural Center.

According to the "Armyanskaya Panorama" newspaper, the event
was attended by the mayor of Zheleznovodsk Victor Lozovoy, head
of Stavropol’s branch of UAR Artem Arzumanyan, heads of Armenian
organizations of the region. Mayor of Zheleznovodsk Victor Lozovoy
emphasized the great role the Armenian community plays in the economic
and cultural life of the city.

As the news paper reports, lessons of Armenian language, culture and
history will be organized at the cultural center soon, all necessary
books have been already delivered from Armenia. The concert was
organized in the yard of the newly opened center during the opening
ceremony.

YEREVAN AND BAKU SHOULD RENOUNCE THE PRINCIPLE "KARABAKH IS OURS"

LRAGIR.AM
15:43:58 – 05/06/2009

The dialogues of the Armenian and Azerbaijani president taken place
in Prague showed that the stances of the sides are different in
relation to a public opinion poll. Yesterday, during the meeting
in St. Petersburg, the sides again did not come to an agreement;
the member of the Hanrapetutyun Party (Republic) Suren Surenyants
expressed his opinion. If Armenia views the public opinion poll from
the legal-political point of view, Azerbaijan considers it something
like a survey, stated Surenyants.

He stated that until Yerevan and Baku do not renounce the irrational
principle "Karabakh is ours", the issue will not be settled. And if the
Armenian and Turkish and Armenian and Azerbaijani relations are not
settled this will mean that Armenia is not a completely independent
county. If the conflict is not settled, the situation will be graver
after 10 years, stated the member of the Republic political board
Suren Surenyants.

Surenyants noted that any settlement supposes for compromises, but
with the condition that the Karabakhi security should be provided
internationally. The first is the right for the Karabakh people’s
self-determination.

AZERI, ARMENIAN MINISTERS NOTE "SOME PROGRESS" AFTER PRESIDENTS’ MEETING

ANS TV
June 4 2009
Azerbaijan

Presenter: Foreign Ministers spoke after the meeting held between
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

[Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan speaking in Russian]
The parties are moving forward even though today we cannot speak
about any breakthrough or significant progress but the parties are
moving forward and have agreed to continue the negotiations. There
is a possibility of setting up a new meeting between the presidents
and in connection with this the presidents have instructed foreign
ministers along with co-chairs [of the OSCE Minsk Group] to conduct
relevant preparatory work and continue further negotiations on reaching
an agreement on the positions of the parties.

[Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov speaking in Russian] I
agree with what my colleague has said. I can only add that unlike the
previous ones this meeting was conducted in a different manner. There
is some progress. I absolutely agree with the assessment of my
colleague. Of course we cannot speak about significant progress, but
in principle there is more understanding, more perception of each
other’s positions. Most importantly there is a common agreement on
the necessity of moving forward and settlement of the issue and this
decision makes [us] glad.

[Correspondent] Which questions were more discussed in the meeting?

[Elmar Mammadyarov] This is how I would characterize – considering
that some principles have been acquired over the past five years
which started as the Prague process and continued as the Madrid
document. In the end, all these principles [changes tack] – there is
more understanding on some of them, some outlines on some of them,
which were discussed between the presidents today, and I can say
in this context if a document is adopted, which presumes common
understanding, then it will be a comprehensive document.

[Correspondent] Did you discuss the Madrid principles?

[Edvard Nalbandyan] Of course the negotiations were based on Madrid
principles, Madrid document.

[Correspondent] Will you later give a statement saying that Armenia
demonstrated a non-constructive position?

[Elmar Mammadyarov] Our statements are always based on facts and
realities.

ARMENIAN PREMIER: OPENING OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER WILL HAVE POSITIVE EFFECT ON ARMENIAN ECONOMY

Today.Az
s/52917.html
June 5 2009
Azerbaijan

The opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will have a positive
influence on the economic system of Armenia, said Armenian Premier
Tigran Sargsyan.

"If we have an alternative way which will help us connect to Europe
and other countries of the region by the railroad, this will raise
independence of our economic system", said he Friday at the seminar
for young specialists "Crisis as an opportunity", organized by the fund
"Financial-banking college".

According to Sargsyan, today Armenia is extremely dependent on Georgian
infrastructures as the two thirds of its external turnover is carried
via Georgia.

"Dependence in this aspect is extremely negative and our neighbor
makes use of it as transaction expenses are too high and we fail to
reduce them", said he and added that transportation of goods from
any point of the world to Pati or Batumi is twice as cheap as from
Poti and Batumi to Armenia.

In this connection, the Armenian Premier said a monopoly situation
is being formed in Georgia and this country abuse it.

"Naturally, if we have alternative ways, our independence will grow
dramatically, transaction expenses will reduce sharply and we will
have cheaper ways and the overall macro-environment for business
will change. Most spheres of Armenian economy will be competitive,
which is currently not observed due to transportation charges and
in this connection most kinds of goods are impossible to transport",
explained he.

At the same time, Sargsyan is confident that "no wonders will happen,
time will be required for creation of the due enterprises and
investments" right after the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border.