Author: Khondkarian Raffi

ALI BABACAN: "2009 TO BE MILESTONE IN TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS"

Panorama.am
19:20 28/01/2009

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday that he expected
the problems between Turkey and Armenia to be solved in 2009, CNN
Turk reported.

"Actually, it would not surprise me if a solution was found this
year. 2009 can be a milestone in Turkish-Armenian relations as long
as both parties maintain their political will till the end," he said.

Turkey severed diplomatic ties with Armenia and closed border with
the landlocked country in 1993.

In September 6, 2008, the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan invited
the President of Turkey Abdullah Gul to watch the football match of
the national teams of Armenia and Turkey. After that very meeting
the bilateral communication has been activated.

Babacan says that bilateral political will is of great importance
to have the relationship normalized. He says that both Turkey and
Armenia seem to express that will. According to him, solution of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict is important for Turkey.

PACE REFRAINS FROM DEPRIVING ARMENIA OF VOTING RIGHTS

AzerNews Weekly
Jan 28 2009
Azerbaijan

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided
not to suspend the voting rights of the Armenian delegation to the
Assembly at this stage.

The decision on the issue, which had been raised by the assembly
co-rapporteurs in December, came at the end of Tuesday`s winter
session debate.

The PACE said it had taken into account "the recent initiatives of the
Armenian authorities as an indication of their readiness to address
the demands made by PACE" in two resolutions of the Assembly adopted
in 2008.

The PACE said it remains "dissatisfied and seriously concerned" by the
situation of persons jailed during the dispersal of the March 1-2,
2008 mass protests that followed Armenia`s February 19 presidential
election.

Nevertheless, it believes that the number of pardons granted by
President Sarkisian (28 to date), the National Assembly`s recent
initiative to revise two articles of Armenia`s Criminal Code in
accordance with Council of Europe standards within no more than two
months and the positive steps taken towards the establishment of
an independent, transparent and credible inquiry, indicate that the
Armenian authorities are prepared to address the Assembly`s demands.

The PACE called on the Armenian authorities to continue releasing
the detainees by using other legal means, including amnesties or the
dropping of charges. PACE also invited its Monitoring Committee to
examine, before the April part-session, the progress achieved by the
Armenian authorities with regard to the implementation of Tuesday`s
resolution – as well as the previous ones – and to propose any further
action to be taken by the Assembly as required by the situation.

Armenia`s opposition had refused to recognize the results of the
election won by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, charging vote rigging
and taking to the streets. 28 people were reportedly killed and
hundreds were injured during the demonstrations.*

STUDENTS ORGANIZE MARCH DEDICATED TO 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF FORMATION OF ARMENIAN ARMY

Noyan Tapan

Jan 28, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Students of Armenian higher
educational institutions organized a march to Yerablur on the occasion
of the 17th anniversary of the formation of the Armenian army on
January 28. An incense burning ceremony took place at Yerablur. Those
present paid a tribute of respect to the memory of the perished freedom
fighters. In the words of student of State Engineering University of
Armenia Nare Sahakian, the events started on January 27. Yesterday
students distributed 35 thousand congratulatory postcards. Besides,
17 groups (each composed of 5 students) visited families of freedom
fighters.

PACE NOT TO SUSPEND ARMENIA’S VOTING RIGHT

APA
Jan 27 2009
Azerbaijan

Strasbourg. Alexander Kin-APA. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe did not suspend Armenia’s voting right, APA’s special
correspondent reports from Strasbourg.

PACE winter session has put resolution on Armenia to the vote. 141 PACE
MPs voted for the resolution, three against it, 5 were neutral. Though,
preliminary draft resolution envisages to suspending Armenia’s voting
right, PACE Monitoring Committee amended the resolution. According
to amendments Armenia was not deprived from voting right. If there
is not serious progress in democratization in the country, PACE will
reconsider the issue during April Session.

Current Resolution covers anxiety about arrest of people
participated in protest actions after presidential elections in
Armenia. PACE declared that these people were arrested basing on
political motives. PACE assessed Armenian president’s decision on
establishment of experts’ group to investigate developments occurred
on March 1-2. The document says that hiding the activity of the group
decreases belief of people for measures taken in the country. PACE
urged all political parties to avoid politicizing activity of experts’
group and called on the Government to create condition for cooperation
between state bodies and investigation group. PACE expressed regret
at not caring PACE calls on release of imprisoned people arrested
during developments happened on March 1-2. The resolution envisages
that an investigation carried out on imprisoned people mostly based
on testimonies of the police.

VASILY ISTRATOV LABELS "DOCUMENT ON RUSSIAN ARMS DELIVERY TO ARMENIA" FAKE

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.01.2009 18:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Ambassador to Armenia labeled the documents
on Russian arms delivery to Armenia published by Azeri media as fake.

"Such document doesn’t exist. There was no delivery of arms," Vasily
Istratov said.

He voiced regret that the negative experience of arms delivery
to Armenia in 1996 is dominating over today’s Russian-Azerbaijani
relations.

"I am hopeful that the issue will be finally settled during the
impending meetings between the Ministers of Defense and Foreign
Affairs," the Ambassador said.

He also regretted that despite the official note sent by the Russian
MFA, the Azeri media and some members of Milli Mejlis are still
discussing the issue.

Commenting to Azeri journalists, Ambassador Istratov said, "It
doesn’t mean that the Russian Federation has never supplied Armenia
with arms. Armenia and Russia are strategic allies. Nevertheless, the
document circulated by the Azeri media is false," Novosti Azerbaijan
reports.

WB VICE PRESIDENT: THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS MAY HAVE FURTHER IMPACT ON THE REAL SECTOR OF THE ARMENIAN ECONOMY

ArmInfo
2009-01-27 20:16:00

ArmInfo. The global economic crisis may have further impact on the
real sector of the Armenian economy, WB Vice President for Europe
and Central Asia Shigeo Katsu said during a press-conference in
Yerevan today.

The financial crisis has passed by Armenia as the country’s financial
system is not deeply integrated into the global economy. However, the
real sector of the Armenian economy, particularly, mining industry,
has failed to avoid the crisis. This has resulted in declining
export. The role of the WB is to alleviate the consequences of
the crisis. Particularly, the bank is planning to issue loans for
large-scale road construction in the spring-autumn 2009.

These programs are expected to create new jobs and to improve the
situation.

It is important not to allow this crisis to turn into a persistent
problem.

Former WB Country Director Donna Dowsett-Coirolo said that the
additional money would be also spent on support of small and
medium0sized business. The Armenian Government has asked $250mln
for this purpose. $50mln has already been agreed on. The rest may be
provided by other financial organizations. Dowsett-Coirolo said that
it was the last time she was in Armenia as Country Director as now
this post has been given to Asad Alam.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN CALLED A CONSULTATIVE MEETING TO DISCUSS A JEWELRY- AND DIAMOND PROCESSING INDUSTRY-RELATED AGENDA

Frida y, 23 January 2009

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan called a consultative meeting to
discuss a jewelry- and diamond processing industry-related agenda. In
attendance were top executives from this branch of economy, as well
as the representatives of concerned ministries and agencies.

According to the Prime Minister and sector representatives, the
global turmoil is the chief reason behind the problems faced in our
country. Those few tax privileges offered to the operators of this
sector can no longer ensure sustained development in this area.

"This sector enjoys quite serious output capacity in Armenia inclusive
of highly skilled labor. As formerly we used to have numerous jobs
in this area, we are now concerned about the future of this branch
of economy," Tigran Sargsyan said by stressing that the existing
bottlenecks inclusive of the problem of those 2 thousand workers
employed in 45 line enterprises can be tackled by means of joint
endeavors. We can have some progress as early as in 2009, and this
is the main target of this meeting.

In addition to providing an in-depth analysis of the international
markets, RA Minister of Economy Nerces Yeritzyan outlined the overall
state of affaires in Armenia and came up with a set of proposals
aimed =0 D at mitigating the negative impact of the global financial
and economic crisis.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Yeritzyan was told to join the Minister
of Finance and the Head of State Revenue Committee by the Government
in an effort to sum up the package of proposals discussed during the
meeting and submit a well-scheduled action plan within two days’ time.

10,5% INCREASE OF POWER GENERATION BY ‘SEVAN-HRAZDAN CASCADE’ CJSC IN 2008

ArmInfo
2009-01-26 13:05:00

ArmInfo. "Sevan-Hrazdan Cascade" CJSC increased power generation in
2008 by 10,5% to 576,2 mln kWh as compared with 2007, "International
Energy Corporation" CJSC, which operates HPP Cascade and belongs to
"Inter RAO UES", told ArmInfo.

According to the source data, growth of power generation is connected
with increase of flushes from Sevan lake for irrigation, which flow
through HPP Cascade. Electric supply to the power system of Armenia
grew to 566,9 mln kWh against 512,4 mln kWh in 2007. To note, the
property complex of "International Energy Corporation" includes seven
hydropower plants located on Hrazdan river. The cumulative installed
capacity of the Cascade equals 561,4 MW that makes up about 20%
of the total generating capacities of Armenia.

ACCOMPANIED BY THE MINISTERS OF ECONOMY, FINANCE, EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS, THE STATE REVENUE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN AND OTHER OFFICIALS, RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN CALLED AT THE VAGHARSH AND SONS LTD-OWNED GOLD MARKET IN KHORENATZI STREET

Satur day, 24 January 2009

Accompanied by the ministers of economy, finance, employment and social
affairs, the State Revenue Committee chairman and other officials,
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan called at the Vagharsh and Sons
Ltd-owned gold market in Khorenatzi street to get acquainted with
the traders’ working conditions and hear their grievances, repeatedly
voiced during the sits-in held in front of the government building.

After going round the marketplace and talking to several traders,
the Prime Minister concluded that there are too many problems –
sanitary-hygienic, health care- and fire safety-related – which is a
gross breach of legislation. In addition, many of the pavilions lack
in cash registers. The traders also complained of high monthly fees
charged by market administrators: the minimum fee stands at about AMD
70.000 of which only 18.000 drams are paid to the Treasury and 5.000
to the Pension Fund with the balance going to the administrator for
leasing, accounting and other purposes. During interviews held with
the traders, the Prime Minister explained that the latest legislative
amendments are aimed at relieving the tax burden for sellers20by
shifting the focus upon market administrators.

The administrator is the one to pay for new cash registers, install
them and ensure normal working conditions at the workplace.

Following his visit, the Prime Minister called a consultative meeting
in order to summarize the outcomes and find solutions to the existing
problems.

Accordingly, the head of the State Revenue Committee by the Government
was charged to prepare an analytical note on the annual financial
statements, lease settlements and fiscal liabilities of Vagharsh
and Sons Ltd within short time-limits for the Prime Minister’s
consideration.

In compliance with another assignment, the Labor Inspectorate by
the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs shall conduct surveys
round the marketplace to make a record of labor code breaches and take
the measures called for by domestic laws. The Ministry of Emergency
Situations was directed to look into the safety standards applicable
in this market, including the fire safety requirements and take all
necessary action.

The head of government is convinced that as a result of all these
measures, favorable conditions will be created for thousands of
employees of trade fairs and supermarkets in both financial-economic
and operating terms.

PHOTO GALLERY: COMMEMORATING HRANT DINK TWO YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH

BIA Magazine
Jan 20 2009
Turkey

Around 10,000 people gathered in front of the Agos newspaper office
in order to remember Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, murdered
there two years ago.

Around 10,000 people gathered in front of the Agos newspaper office
in order to remember Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, murdered
there two years ago.

Following an appeal by Halil Ergun to join the apology campaign,
the crowd listened to a piece of music in Dink’s memory, followed by
a moment of silence.

The crowd shouted slogans such as "For Hrant, for justice", "Gangs
will be acccountable to the people" and "We are all Hrant, we are
all Armenian."