Author: Khoyetsian Rose

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT-ELECT CALLED ON NATION TO ELIMINATE WALL OF MISUNDERSTANDING

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.04.2008 20:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President-elect Serzh Sargsyan assumed
the office today.

"Today is an extremely responsible day for me. A few minutes ago, I
swore an oath to our people to unconditionally follow the provisions
of our Constitution. On this historic day, we all swear an oath:
I do it aloud, and ask you to do it silently. I am confident that
each of you has an oath of your own to serve our fatherland and people.

"We all swear this oath for a brighter future of our country, for
development, for democracy, for the rule of law, for a stronger and
more prosperous Armenia.

"May the Lord give me strength to not disappoint anyone of my
supporters! May the Lord give us all strength to overcome difficulties,
to find the cure for all the problems that worry the disappointed or
disillusioned ones, the ones who today need hope, faith, and optimism.

"I recognize the enormous responsibility I have assumed. I know that I
will be the one whom you will consider responsible for everything. I
pledge not to avoid the responsibility, the magnitude of which I
realized when joining the Republican Party and declaring that I would
agree to be nominated for the presidential elections only in case the
Republican Party won the largest number of votes in the parliamentary
elections. I realize the magnitude of the responsibility now, and I
shall recognize it every day for the next five years. I shall bear
with honor the responsibility of being the President of all citizens
of the Republic of Armenia.

"On this day, I wish to thank my supporters, all the individuals
that have voted for my program. I am grateful for the confidence. I
assure you that together we can improve life in our country. Today,
I call for a change. Once again, we are proclaiming a new beginning
for change. Everyone must be ready to start change from one’s own self.

"A part of our people supported other candidates, and I now appeal
to them: it was your right to vote for someone other than me, but I
do not have the right not to be your president. We should not part,
should not create division between various parts of our people, should
not disregard each other’s concerns and pain, and should not go beyond
each other’s reach. Even if a wall of misunderstanding stands between
us, I urge you to join us in eliminating that wall.

"I express my gratitude to President Robert Kocharian, a man who will
have a solid place in the Armenian history, as the decade of his
presidency were years of significant achievements for our country,
achievements based on which we have set ambitious targets for the
future. President Kocharian has performed an invaluable role in
the establishment, advancement, and protection of the Republic of
Mountainous Karabakh. I am confident that generations will duly
appreciate his service and contribution to the development and
strengthening of our statehood.

"Although the election campaign was intense and did not do without
insults, I wish to thank my opponents for the struggle, with a special
thank you to those who admitted their defeat with dignity, those who
reciprocated the extended hand of cooperation and accepted the offer
to come together to develop the Republic of Armenia.

"I shall remain committed to all of my pre-election promises, and we
shall join our efforts in fulfilling them.

We shall build the Armenia that brings together all Armenians, one
that will be the fatherland of any Armenian.

We shall build the Armenia where mutual respect, love, and tolerance
will prevail.

We shall build the Armenia where our citizens and families will live
and realize their potential in security and dignity.

We shall carry out a proactive foreign policy, and do everything to
find a just, peaceful, and favorable solution to the Artsakh issue.

We shall build a strong, proud, and democratic state of Armenia,
where everyone shall be equal before the law.

I am confident that you, our fellow Armenians and friends, also hold
the key to the success of all of our initiatives. To accomplish this
historic mission, I once again urge us to unite. Unity will be the
platform for fundamental value creation and progress along the path
of democracy and freedoms.

I shall do all of this, because I wish to be a president who will fully
implement his program, bring peace and stable development to Armenia,
enhance the reputation and image of our country, overcome all of the
major problems we currently face, and be capable of foreseeing and
responding to all of the potential challenges. This is the type of
President I can and shall be," Mr Sargsyan said.

IN ARTISTS’ OPINION, THEY ARE SPLIT LIKE PEOPLE

Noyan Tapan
April 8, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The meeting organized on April 8
in the Hayeli (Mirror) club was dedicated to the problems of the
cultural sphere.

Producer Vigen Stepanian and actor of G. Sundukian State Academic
Theater Tigran Nersisian took part in the meeting. Both artists gave
assurance that the public-political phenomena and situation in the
country are closely connected with culture and its development.

"We, artists are split like the people: when somebody finds fault,
blackens any of us, the others do not speak in support of him. It
is evidence that we not only fail to consolidate with each other,
but also to consolidate over the theater," they emphasized.

"There is much to do in the cultural sphere. Everything is in a
confusion.

Disgraceful things inappropriate to art and artist take place," Tigran
Nersisian said. He is convinced that this indifferent attitude to
cultural sphere comes not only from this or that minister or ministry,
but from higher instances: "it is seen clearly from the amount of money
allocated to culture and the place culture takes on this or that list:
it is always either in the last or at best in the penultimate place."

Vigen Stepanian is convinced that over these years the Ministry of
Culture failed to solve an important problem, to work out cultural
policy of strategic significance for the country. According to him,
cultural policy is not organization of concerts and exhibitions,
but organization of the whole cultural sphere, starting from cultural
education.

Agreeing with his colleague, Tigran Nersisian added that in this
complicated situation some artists, who try to take a place in the
history of theater, destroy and ruin everything created over many
years. "I do not mind their willingness to strengthen their positions
and to take a place in a new genre: let them act in the very genre
and not try to destroy repertoire theaters and to make a name in
theater’s history that way."

OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVES OF 58 COUNTRIES AND 12 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WILL ATTEND INAUGURATION OF THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-04-08 23:30:00

ArmInfo. Official representatives of 58 countries and 12 international
organizations will attend the Apr 9 inauguration of the newly elected
president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, says Viktor Sogomonyan, the
spokesman of the incumbent president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.

Among the guests will be the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
Matthew Bryza, the head of the staff of the president of Belarus
Gennady Nebydnov, the deputy foreign minister of Bulgaria, the
president of the Milli Mejlis of Turkmenistan Akja Nurberdyyeva,
the energy minister of Iran Parviz Fattah, the secretary general of
the STO Nikolay Borduzha, the vice speaker of the Senate of Kazakhstan
Muhammed Kopeyev, the state secretary of foreign affairs of Switzerland
Michael Ambuhl, the president of the Senate of the Czech Republic, the
speaker of the Stat Duma of Russia Boris Gryzlovm, the prime minister
of Georgia Lado Gurgenidze, the deputy foreign minister of Ukraine Ivan
Gnatyshin, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter
Semneby, the Special Representative of the OSCE CIO Heikki Talvitie,
the deputy secretary general of the League of Arab Nations.

POLICE DISPERSE RALLY IN FRONT OF FRANCE EMBASSY IN BAKU

Trend News Agency
April 3 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 3 April / TrendNews corr. J.Babayeva / About 30
activists of the Muasir Musavat party attempted to stage a rally in
front of the France Embassy in Baku on 3 April. Police did not allow
the rally participants to come close to the Embassy building. The
rally was staged in the Malakan park.

The participants of the rally demanded the activity of the OSCE Minsk
Group to be refused because the OSCE member-countries including Russia,
France and the United States voted against the Resolution on Situation
in Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan adopted during the session of
UN General Assembly on 14 March.

The slogan of the rally was ‘OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs must refuse
from pro-Armenian positions’ and ‘French co-chairs must be removed
from his position’.

The rally was unsanctioned by the Baku Executive Power.

Farhad Aliyev, the chairman of Muasir Musavat, submitted a protest
statement to the representative of French embassy.

Muasir Musavat was founded in 2000. In 2002, the party received state
registration. Party takes constructive opposition course towards
the authorities.

FAZIL GAZANFAROGHLU: "IF ISRAEL RECOGNIZES THE SO-CALLED "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE", WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO ADOPT THE DOCUMENT ABOUT GENOCIDE COMMITTED BY ISRAELIS AGAINST PALESTINIANS"

Today.Az
April 3 2008
Azerbaijan

"Document about Israeli genocide policy conducted against Palestinians
since 1967 can be sent for parliamentary discussions", Fazil
Gazanfaroglu, Chairman of the Great Order Party and member of the
Parliament told APA.

He said he had prepared this document, but has not submitted it to the
parliamentary commission yet in order not to damage Azerbaijan-Israel
relations.

"If Israel recognizes the so-called "Armenian genocide", we will do
our best to adopt the document about genocide committed by Israelis
against Palestinians and Israel will be responsible for such measure".

Fazil Gazanfaroglu said he believed that his counterparts at the
Parliament would support him.

"At first, the document will be submitted to the Human Rights
Commission of the Parliament. I believe all members of the Parliament
contributing to the national interests will support this document".

ARMENIAN CHURCH IN LVIV DESECRATED BY VANDALS

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2008 15:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Last weekend vandals broke a wooden cross at the
entrance to the Armenian Church in Lviv and covered its facade with
writing, said Olga Ignatova, a member of reconstruction coordinating
council.

For his part, Lviv city council member Vardkes Arzumanyan said he
has already informed the state bodies of the incident.

"Young people, whose conduct leaves much to be desired, always gather
at site. "We do not think that the offensive actions were targeted
at the Armenian Church. Any other Christian shrine would be damaged
the same way," he said.

"I am hopeful that the authorities will look into the incident and
ensure state guard," he added, IA Regnum reports.

NKR PRESIDENT: "THE KASHATAGH REGION IS OF STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE ARMENIAN NATION"

DeFacto Agency
April 1 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 01.04.08. DE FACTO. A three day (March 28-30) conference took
place in the Berdzor district centre of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Kashatagh region, which was devoted to the development of the region.

"This conference, which is devoted to the development of the Kashatagh
region, is the first sui generis, and I hope that it will become
a basis for holding similar events in the future. It will promote
effective solution to the problems existing in the region, as well
as realization of programs aimed at its further development", NKR
President Bako Sahakian said in his speech made at the opening of
the conference.

Meanwhile, he noted that the "Kashatagh region is a unit of strategic
significance for the Armenian nation".

"It is no coincidence that within nearly 70 years our enemy turned
this territory into a wedge between Armenia and Artsakh. The region’s
role has deeply changed since May of 1992, and the narrow section
liberated in that period became a real "lifeline" for the people
of Artsakh. Realizing both political and economic significance
of Kashatagh and all the responsibility for its future we have to
undertake the region’s development, create stable and competitive
economy, increase the level of the people’s welfare, and improve the
people’s living conditions. It is today’s imperative required by the
interests of our national security", Bako Sahakian said.

The head of the Karabakh state also mentioned that "the existence of
strong, developed and populated Kashatagh will create stable background
for reinforcement of positions not only in the negotiation process
on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, but also on the front
line making it more protected and secure".

"This year and in the following years the amount of means assigned
for the region’s development will considerably increase. The budget
of the Kashatagh region in 2008 is 3, 7 billion drams, which exceeds
the previous year’s index by 40%. 1 billion drams is provided for
capital construction, 400 million drams is provided for the sphere
of capital investment. These tendencies of proportional development
will be maintained in the future as well", Bako Sahakian noted.

Meanwhile, the president informed that together with the economic
development of the region reforms aimed at improvement of the
population’s social condition were also provided.

Representatives of 40 organizations of the Armenian Diaspora and
independent entrepreneurs and benefactors participated in the work
of the conference in Berdzor.

Various programs which are to stimulate the complex development of
the region, secure stable economic growth, solve education and health
care problems, improve demographic situation etc. were presented
during the conference.

The attendees visited the region’s villages and familiarized themselves
with the situation in site.

E. SHARMAZANOV: "REPUBLICAN IDEOLOGY HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH EXTREMESTS’ IDEOLOGY"

Panorama.am
14:50 31/03/2008

"The ideology of national protection professed by the Republican Party
has nothing in common with the ideology professed by some Italian
Fascism and German National-Socialists," said Eduard Sharmazanov a
Republican member in a conference held on today. He said that their
ideology is based on Nzjdeh’s ideology and it has no connection with
the Hitler and national-socialists.

As for the various announcements and opinions made by the international
organizations on the recent situation in Armenia, the deputy of the NA
said that the local authorities and citizens are much more concerned
by the ongoing strained situation and are ready to take measures to
develop the democratic ideology in the country.

He said that it is important to separate democracy from the
dictatorship. "There is no democracy without political pluralism and
solidarity," he said.

Sharmazanov mentioned that Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s post electoral
activities were not democratic ones, they were like the ideologies
of of Germany and Italy in 20th and 30th.

BAKU LAUNCHED COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES FOR MG DISSOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.03.2008 14:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Organization for Karabakh Liberation has
initiated a collection of signatures for dissolution of the OSCE Minsk
Group. The OKL is also planning to involve other public and political
organizations in the process. The initiative followed the opposition
of OSCE MG co-chair countries to the UN GA resolution "On the situation
in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Day.az reports.

TENDER FOR CELL PHONE THIRD OPERATOR

Panorama.am
16:08 27/03/2008

In May 2008 a tender will be announced for the cell phone third
operator in Armenia. It is possible to apply to the tender committee
which is headed by the minister of transport and communication within
90 days after the tender is announced.

Panorama.am was informed from the ministry’s public relations
department that the company’s should compete for getting license of
GSM 900/1800 standard.

According to the ministry the detailed information and methods of
the tender are being clarified.

According to some rumors the application period will start from 1
March and in August the results of the tender will be announced by the
Civil Service Regulating Committee. According to the experts Russian
"Megaphone" company has chances to get the tender.