Author: Khondkarian Raffi

CBA ISSUES "ARIES" SILVER COMMEMORATIVE COIN

Noyan Tapan
Feb 5, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
has put into circulation the "Aries" silver commemorative coin with a
depiction of the Aries zodiacal sign. The coin was issued under the
numismatic program "The Zodiacal Signs". According to the CBA press
service, commemorative coins depicting all the 12 signs of the zodiac
will be issued in this series.

The coat of arms of the Republic of Armenia is depicted in the middle
of the obverse of the coin. Below the coat of arms, the nominal value
of the coin is inscribed: "100" and "DRAMS" in Armenian and English
in a circle. The date of the coin’s issue – "2008" is inscribed above
the coat of arms. All this is enclosed in a striped circle. There
is another striped circle between the indicated circle and the
edge. The surface of the coin’s obverse between the two circles is
divided into 12 equal parts, in which the 12 zodiacal symbols are
depicted. "REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA" in Armenian and English is inscribed
in a circle along the edge of the coin.

The reverse of the coin has a depiction of the Aries zodiacal sign
against the background of the starry sky. There is also a star made
of white zirconium. Below on the right, the Aries zodiacal sign is
depicted. All this is enclosed in a striped circle. In the surface
between this circle and the edge, the name of the zodiacal sign is
inscribed in Latin (ARIES) in the top part of the coin and its name
is inscribed in Russian (OBEH) – in the bottom part. Color paints
have been used for the design of the reverse.

The author of the coin’s design is U. Valezhak. The commemorative
coin was minted at the Polish Mint. Its nominal value is 100 drams,
it is made of silver (925 alloy). Its weight is 28.28 grams, diameter –
38.61 mm, the number of the coins – 12 thousand.

OBAMA ARMENIANS’ FAVORITE IN DEMOCRAT PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Today’s Zaman
Feb 1 2008
Turkey

US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has gained support
from an influential Armenian diaspora organization, the Washington
based-Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), days after he
pledged to officially recognize the controversial World War I-era
killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide if he becomes president.

ANCA announced its support for Obama on Tuesday, praising him as "the
Democratic candidate best positioned to bring fundamental change to
how the United States addresses issues of special concern to Armenian
American voters."

A few days after Obama, rival Hillary Clinton had also announced
last month that she would officially recognize the alleged genocide
of Anatolian Armenians if she becomes president.

"Based on his strong record in office, his bold statements as a
candidate and our judgment as to the policies he will pursue as
president, we believe that, among a strong field of Democratic
candidates, Senator Obama will best reflect the views and values
of Armenian American voters," ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian was
quoted as saying a press conference held at the ANCA Western Region
headquarters. His quotes and the organization’s support have been
aired on the ANCA’s Web site.

The ANCA listed certain key elements of Obama’s record that led to the
endorsement. One of those elements is Obama’s "public criticism of the
Bush administration for firing former US Ambassador to Armenia John
Evans over his truthful remarks recognizing the Armenian Genocide."

The ANCA stressed that Obama "has publicly asserted that, ‘An official
policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an
untenable policy.’"

Ankara has already chided both Obama and Clinton, warning them to
act in a responsible manner while electioneering.

"Politicians who run for the US presidency should act in a more
responsible manner in regard to both history and the future; they
should take pains not to offend a friendly and ally country and its
people via groundless statements; and they should keep in mind the
sensitivities of the Turkish-American relations within this framework,"
the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released
over the weekend.

The Washington-based diaspora organization also noted that "unlike
other Democratic candidates, he [Obama] also pledged to ‘promote
Armenian security by seeking an end to the Turkish and Azerbaijani
blockades, and by working for a lasting and durable settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that is agreeable to all parties,
and based upon America’s founding commitment to the principles of
democracy and self determination.’"

Armenians claim that up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered
in orchestrated killings during the last years of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey categorically rejects these claims, saying that 300,000
Armenians, along with at least as many Turks, died in civil strife
that emerged when the Armenians took up arms for independence in
eastern Anatolia and sided with the Russian troops who were invading
Ottoman territory.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HOPES NATO TO HELP MEND TIES WITH TURKEY

Mediamax
Jan 30 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 30 January: An Armenian presidential candidate and member of
the [Armenian Revolutionary Federation]Dashnaktsutyun party bureau,
Vahan Hovhannisyan, said in Yerevan today that sooner or later NATO
would influence Turkey concerning the issue of normalization of
relations with Armenia.

Vahan Hovhannisyan said this today during his meeting with journalists
in the Information Center on NATO inYerevan.

The candidate noted that the talks on Turkey’s entry in the EU are
accompanied with reforms, which will have apositive influence on the
prospect of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations as well. At
the same time, VahanHovhannisyan said that Turkey is a member of
NATO for already a few decades and has always been considered to
be the"western advanced post of the alliance". "In Soviet times,
Turkey opposed the Soviet Union, today it alsohas a ‘special role’
caused by the instability in Iraq and in the whole Middle East,"
the member of theDashnaktsutyun bureau said.

Despite this fact, Vahan Hovhannisyan expressed the hope that other
member-states of NATO will realize the reason of cautious perception
of the alliance in Armenia, conditioned by Turkey’s policy, and will
work to improve thesituation.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FROM "DASHNAKTSUTIUN" URGED THE CITIZENS TO DEFEND THEIR RIGHT FOR SECRET VOTING

Mediamax
January 30, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian presidential candidate from
"Dashnaktsutiun" party Vahan Hovhannissian summed up today the results
of the first ten days of the pre-election campaign.

According to him, during the visits to the regions of the country,
he noted for himself that the residents of rural settlement are
interested in the political life, are concerned about the future
of Armenia and are not solving particularly daily problems. The
presidential candidate stated that the people is more concerned about
the opportunity of secret voting.

Vahan Hovhannissian informed that in the Northern regions of the
country, the electors are suggested the idea that in the end Vahan
Hovhannissian will give his votes in favor of the candidate from
the authority, and persuaded them to vote openly. He stated that
this is "an absolute lie and a legend", and that even in the second
round he is not going to give his votes to any of the candidates,
since he is sure that he will be the one to participate in the second
round. ""Dashnaktsutiun" party will not tolerate such attitude towards
the electors and urges all the citizens not to give any promises and
defend their right for secret voting", Vahan Hovhannissian stated.

At that, the candidate did not agree with the result of the sociologic
surveys of international organizations, noting that he does not
trust the agents of whose companies, which work in the provinces. He
noted that already 170 thousand citizens have signed agreements with
"Dashnaktsutiun" party and their number grows from day to day.

According to the candidate, each time, when "Dashnaktsutiun"
participates in the elections, the Public TV of Armenia demonstrates
a number of anti-dashnak feature films, and such a phenomenon is
already becoming funny.

Talking about the pre-election campaigns of the rivals, Vahan
Hovhannissian stated that some of them are extremely passive, but at
the same time, there are candidates, who visit the regions, and the
procession, accompanying them, is enough to secure audience for them.

AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER KILLED NEAR KARABAKH: OFFICIAL

Agence France Presse — English
January 28, 2008 Monday 11:18 AM GMT

Armenian forces have killed an Azerbaijani soldier near the disputed
region of Nagorny-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani defence ministry said
Monday.

Hatami Bahruz, 19, was killed when Armenian forces opened fire
on Azerbaijani positions in the Fizuli region overnight Monday,
violating a ceasefire, defence ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev said.

Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny-Karabakh from Azerbaijan
in the early 1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives
and forced about a million people on both sides to flee their homes.

The two sides signed a ceasefire in 1994, but the two countries have
cut direct economic and transport links and failed to negotiate a
settlement on the region’s status.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny-Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.

In 2007, 13 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed along the ceasefire line,
Verdiyev said.

UNDP ARMENIA TO HELP CARRY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES

ARMENPRESS
Jan 30, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, ARMENPRESS: The UNDP Armenia Office will help
implement this year a set of rural development programs in three
Armenian provinces.

Particularly, it will help restore the irrigation network of the
village of Lusadzor in Tavush province.

As a result 50 hectares of land will receive irrigation water. This
particular project will be implemented with the financial support of
the Italian government as part of a broader reprogram for elimination
of rural poverty. The village will also have a new drinking water
network.

Vrezh Jijian, UNDP program coordinator, told Armenpress that the
village does not have a drinking water system now and the villagers
use two springs instead. The work will be started in March and end
in August.

The other targeted rural communities are in the Ashotsk region of
the northwestern price of Shirak.

Last year the government of Norway helped establish there agricultural
machinery pool to serve Bavra, Saragyugh, Sizavet and Tavshut villages.

In the framework of that project, the old Soviet-time pool was fully
renovated and a fleet of several brand new machinery units have been
provided including four Belarus-made wheeled tractors, one plough,
a tractor-mounted mowing-machine, a baling press, a potato combine
and an automated potato-planter.

Due to the new equipment, many of the plough-lands which were used
previously as natural hayfields and were not cultivated properly
now are available for grain crops and potato growing. This will
significantly increased the per-hectare gross yield, which will be
incomparably higher than the yield from hayfields.

The agricultural machinery pool will serve all the four communities
of the cluster. Primary beneficiaries of the pool are the socially
vulnerable families of the four villages the total number of which
makes around one hundred households. These four villages will receive
new agricultural machinery this year as well.

An agricultural machinery pool, a flour mill and a seed station will
be established also with the help of the UNDP for the village of
Yeghvard in southern province of Syunik.

Vrezh Jijian said they expect also funds this year to start
reconstruction of a drinking water network in the village of Pokr in
Meghri region of Syunik.

TER-PETROSIAN’S HEADQUARTERS CLOSED DOWN

A1+
28 January, 2008

Presidential contender Levon Ter-Petrossian’s pre-election office in
Kapan was sealed on January 28.

Two policemen are presently guarding the office to prevent its
further operation.

"Over twenty policemen broke into the office and sent us off. We
weren’t even allowed to take our belongings and documents. Then they
sealed the office," the head of the office Roman Navasardian told A1+.

The sudden intrusion is accounted for the fact that the employees
had disobeyed the owner’s demand to vacate the premises. Although the
tenants hadn’t made a contract they had paid for two months in advance.

According to the local police, "after getting the money the owner
found out that she had made a mistake by allotting the premises to
Levon Ter-Petrossian’s adherents. She asked the marzpet for help and,
the latter assigned the corresponding bodies to tackle the problem."

"The woman must have been subjected to pressure. She didn’t even wait
for the court’s verdict due on January 30," Roman Navasardian said.

"We shall work outdoors. Surely, they will never allot us premises. We
have applied to the Kapan Mayor but so far we have got no response,"
he said.

"Obviously the police exerted pressure on the owner.

ARAM HARUTUNIAN TO START CAMPAIGNING ON FEBRUARY 2

ARMENPRESS
Jan 29, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS: A low-profile presidential candidate
Aram Harutunian will begin his election campaign by visiting several
towns and villages in the northwestern province of Shirak.

Speaking at a news conference today he said the first visits are
scheduled for February 2. Before that he plans to publish his election
manifesto and distribute it to people.

He said before starting his regional tours he will continue advertising
his election program on TV, ‘because it is the shortest and most
effective way to convey our ideas and visions to a broader audience.’
Harutunian praised media for equal and unbiased coverage of all nine
presidential candidates’ campaigns and called on his rivals to refrain
from smearing each other.

He also emphasized that his election program calls for passage of a
law on opposition saying such legislations have Germany and UK.

ARMENIAN LEADERS VISIT YERABLUR PANTHEON ON OCCASION OF DAY OF ARMY

Noyan Tapan
Jan 28, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian president Robert
Kocharian, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, the speaker of the
National Assembly Tigran Torosian, the prime minister Serge Sargsian,
members of the government, other high-ranking officials, top officers
of the RA Armed Forces on January 28 visited Yerablur Pantheon.

In the words of S. Sargsian, when visiting Yerablur, "one feels
pride, regret, pain, agitation, all kinds of proud emotions mixed
with each other".

"We have come to the graves of our friends, and we are proud that
we fought and won with our friends," the defence minister Mikael
Harutyunian stated during a talk with reporters. According to him,
over 16 years since its formation, the army has demonstrated its force,
which is evident to neighboring states as well.

In response to the question about his choice in the upcomimg
presidential elections, the defence minister replied that he long ago
decided to vote for Serge Sargsian because "he is a man who can govern
our state and become its supreme commander-in-chief capable of taking
decisions and heading the army, if, God forbid, a war starts". Saying
that everyone will make his/her decision in electing the president
of the RA, the minister at the same time expressed confidence that
"the majority of the army will give their votes for S. Sargsian".

DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 25, 2008 Friday

THE PACE EDITS ITS KOSOVO RESOLUTION;
Voting in favor of continuing negotiations

by Mikhail Zygar, Strasbourg

EUROPEAN POLITICIANS DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF KOSOVO; The current
session of the PACE turned controversial yesterday. During the debate
on the status of Kosovo, PACE delegates split into two camps: one
side arguing that Serbia should remain undivided and thanking
President Putin,
Enhanced Coverage LinkingPresident Putin, -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
the other side arguing that Russia’s stance is counter-productive.

The current session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) turned controversial yesterday. During the debate on
the status of Kosovo, PACE delegates split into two camps: one side
arguing that Serbia should remain undivided and thanking President
Vladimir Putin,
Enhanced Coverage LinkingVladimir Putin, -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
the other side arguing that Russia’s stance is counter-productive and
Kosovo’s independence is inevitable. Eventually, the PACE resolution
drafted by Lord Russell-Johnston was altered to say the opposite; in
effect, the PACE voted against independence for Kosovo.

In his introductory speech, Lord Russell-Johnston said that Russia is
being illogical in opposing independence for Kosovo: on the one hand,
it supports separatist regimes in Pridnestrovie (Trans-Dniester),
South Ossetia, and Abkhazia – but on the other hand, it refuses to do
the same for Kosovo. In his opinion, Kosovo’s independence wouldn’t
lead to any upheavals or set any precedents; in protesting against
it, Russia is behaving like a bear that tries to crush a mouse solely
as a demonstration of strength.

Although Lord Russell-Johnston had assured us that the final version
of his resolution was quite moderate, it caused a storm of outrage in
the PACE. Over 50 delegates queued up to express their opinions on
the issue of Kosovo.

The Russian delegation is headed by Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of
the Duma’s foreign relations committee. He was outraged by this
comparison of Russia to a bear: "I find it strange to hear such
judgements from a representative of Britain, which recently counseled
Russia to amend its Constitution and which appears to believe that
British laws should apply on Russian territory – I’m referring to the
recent conflict over the British Council." According to Kosachev,
it’s inaccurate to say that negotiations have exhausted their
potential – such statements only encourage the Kosovar Albanians to
believe that they don’t need to negotiate with the Serbs, since
Europe will recognize Kosovo’s independence anyway. Kosachev’s
conclusion: the only way Europe can help Kosovo and Serbia is by
admitting all of Serbia into the European Union – then Kosovo would
have no reason to secede.

The idea expressed by Kosachev may be described as a sensation. Until
now, Russia’s ally in Serbia had been the Radical Party, which
opposes joining the EU. But now Kosachev has effectively acknowledged
that the most constructive force in Serbia is the Democratic Party
led by President Tadic – since integration into the EU, rather than
isolation, could help to resolve the Kosovo conflict.

But no one at the PACE picked up on Kosachev’s idea. Half the
delegates opposed Lord Russell-Johnston’s report.

The delegation from Azerbaijan was among those who spoke out against
the resolution, arguing that Kosovo is sure to set a dangerous
precedent and obstruct efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
crisis.

Ivica Dacic, leader of the Serbian Socialists (Slobodan Milosevic’s
former party), asked why the European Union is prepared to impose
independence on Kosovo, but refuses to recognize the independence of
Corsica, Quebec, Catalonia, the Basques, Northern Ireland, Kurdistan,
Palestine, and Northern Cyprus.

"We thank Russia, the State Duma, and Putin!" said Natasha Iovanovic,
deputy speaker of the Serbian parliament.

Source: Kommersant, January 23, 2008, p. 9

Translated by Elena Leonova