Author: Madatian Greg

LANDSLIDE DAMAGES PIPELINE SUPPLYING RUSSIAN GAS TO ARMENIA
Eka Mekhuzla

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
December 19, 2006 Tuesday

A landslide has damaged the 1,200-millimeter trunk pipeline supplying
Russian gas to Armenia and a number of Georgian regions.

The landslide occurred in the highland Dusheti district of northeastern
Georgia. The pipeline will be repaired in several days, a source at the
Georgian International Petroleum Corporation told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

The accident happened on December 18, and the deliveries are being
made through the spare 700-millimeter pipeline.

"The spare pipeline has a smaller capacity than the damaged
1,200-millimeter pipe, so the deliveries to a number of Georgian
areas and Armenia have reduced," the source said.

SOME OF ARMENIA’S NATIONAL METROLOGICAL STANDARDS TESTED IN SLOVAKIA

Noyan Tapan
Dec 20 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. In order to ensure the unity
of measurements, this year 600 approvals of measurement means, 495
state tests of measurement means were conducted, and one licence for
production and repair of a measurement means was granted. Robert Dayan,
Head of the Standardization, Metrology and Conformity Certification
Department of the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development,
said this at the December 20 press conference. According to him,
9 normative documents on metrology were sent to the CIS Interstate
Council to be tested. 270,519 units of measurement means were tested,
as well as the national standards AST 8.1 "State Tests, Approval
and State Registration of Measurement Means" and AST 8.11 "Metrology
Terms and Definitions" in line with the MP-19 international document
were developed. R. Dayan said that some of the national metrological
standards were tested in Slovakia.

IS REVOLUTION POSSIBLE?

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 18 2006

The leader of the Liberal Progressive Party of Armenia Hovanes
Hovanisyan stated December 18 at the Pastark Club that although they
are against major quakes, "there is too much trash in the country
and evolutionary development would take 50 years. Consequently, we
need a movement and a shake-up to clean up this trash. Trash cannot
foster stability." Hovanes Hovanisyan had one impression from Robert
Kocharyan’s recent interview. "He did not say a new thing. He said
they will do everything to hold power."

According to the leader of the LPP, if this logic of the government
persists, the parliament as a political institution will become
obsolete, the end of parliamentarism will come. "The government does
not pursue progress and change in this country, and the principle is
who will give out more. The government is seeking for a miscarriage
of the political thought and removing political struggle from the
political sphere. They do their best to eliminate political dialogue
and ideas." In addition, the electoral campaign started too early,
the entire political sphere was monopolized, the media are crammed
with PR campaigns, "however, these campaigns are not always effective,
very often these campaigns bring evidence against themselves."

According to the LPP leader, the government is waging an internal
struggle and a struggle with the opposition, and the second is not
adequate to the steps of the competitor, "we have no political
opponents, the government responds to our ideals with gossip,
distortion, rejects a political dialogue, acts boyishly in this
process." If the government carries out this policy successfully,
it will eventually reach the degradation of the society, the society
will become a dull, castrated mass unable to make any decisions. At
the same time, Hovanes Hovanisyan does not exclude that electoral
fraud in 2007 will make the society rise, "and a process may start
which is called a revolution."

Hovanes Hovanisyan denounces only the Republican Party. According to
him, the Republican Party gave no new ideas to the Armenian nation in
the 21st century except the ideas of Garegin Nezhdeh. But the ideas
of Nezhdeh are formal for the Republicans. Moreover, in connection
with shaping the structure of the parliament in 2007 by government’s
scenario Hovanes Hovanisyan said, "the Republican Party has become
an errand political party. There are people who have not uttered a
word at the National Assembly over the past decade but are likely to
run for parliament." By the way, Hovanes Hovanisyan thinks that no
one in Armenia can mention a definite rating of one political party
or another because "the elections have been falsified since 1995."

ECONOMIST EDUARD AGHAJANOV: SERGE SARGSIAN DESERVES CRITICISM FOR BAD
PREPARATION OF DEBT FOR EQUITY PROGRAM

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The fact that the Russian side has
not yet invested in the Armenian enterprises transferred to Russia by
the Debt for Equity Program is the consequence of the program’s bad
preparation. Economist Eduard Aghajanov, former head of the Armenian
Statistical Department, expressed this opinion during the December 12
meeting at the National Press Club. In his words, "we should
criticize for mistakes" Serge Sargsian, RA defence minister, Armenian
co-chairman of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission on
economic cooperation, which prepared the program badly. On the whole.
E. Aghajanov assessed positively Russia’s investment activities in
Armenia but he expressed a wish that particularly participants with
capital of other countries – Iran, even Azerbaijan would operate in
the country’s energy market, which would allow to avoid monopolies.

ADOPTION OF NKR CONSTITUTION CAN NOT HINDER FROM PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

Noyan Tapan
Dec 14 2006

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The NKR Ministry of Foreign
Affairs made a statement on December 13 in which it expressed
perplexity on the occasion of the attitude of the European
international structures, relating to the constitutional referendum
held in the NKR on December 10, which attempt to call into question
the fact of possibility of the Nagorno Karabakh people to be in
the legal field. It is mentioned in the statement that the given
referendum is the next stage to fix the democratic principles in the
main law of the country and, in general, to develop the legislation,
and has a goal to give new filling to formation and development of
new, more free thinking principles in the state government sphere as
well as to the process of improvement of the civil society. "On that
occasion, the attempts of the European instances, fostered democracy
and supremacy of the law, to ignore and deny the democratic and
legislative processes taking place in Nagorno Karabakh seem to be
more than strange," is said in the Foreign Ministry’s statement. The
Ministry at the same time expresses confidence that adoption of the
Constitution can not in any way hinder from international negotiators’
constructive efforts aimed to peaceful settlement of the Karabakh
conflict. The NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses a hope that
European organizations, led by the democratic principles proclaimed
just by them, will review their preconceived attitude towards the
democratic processes taking place in Nagorno Karabakh.

DEFENSE MINISTER REFUSED HIS DEPUTY

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 13 2006

An interesting thing happened during the conference of the Yerkrapah
Union of Volunteers on December 9. The deputy minister of defense
Arthur Aghabekyan stated that Yerkrapah will support Serge Sargsyan in
the presidential election, whereas another deputy minister of defense
Manvel Grigoryan, who is the president of the YUV, stated that there
is a year and a half to go till the election, and when the election
draws nearer, they will decide whom YUV will be supporting.

We have learned from a source in the Ministry of Defense that Serge
Sargsyan was dissatisfied with Manvel Grigoryan’s statement to the
point that he refused to receive Manvel Grigoryan who wanted to
meet with him, and he asked his aides to tell the general that he is
dissatisfied with his statement during the conference of the YUV. It
should be noted, that besides other problems Manvel Grigoryan wanted
to talk to the minister about Jirair Sefilyan.

PRESS RELEASE
Council of Europe Press Division
Ref: 791a06
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
[email protected]
internet:

Conclusions of the Informal Conference of Ministers of Education from
the new countries in the Bologna Process (Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and
Ukraine)

Strasbourg, 14.12.2006 – Ministers of Education from Armenia, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine met at Council of Europe Headquarters in Strasbourg
on 12-13 December 2006 to take stock of higher education reforms in
their respective countries and to prepare jointly for the Ministerial
conference of the Bologna Process to be held in London on 17 – 18 May
2007.

In the adopted conclusions, Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the
Bologna Process and its goal of establishing a European Higher Education
Area by 2010.

While pointing out that considerable progress has been made, they
stressed the need to step up reforms of higher education systems in
their countries, further developing the quality of higher education,
advancing work on qualifications frameworks and curriculum reform and
paying more attention to social dimension in higher education.

Recognising the importance of mobility for students and staff, they
acknowledged progress in their countries in visa procedures and called
upon their fellow Ministers of Education in all countries party to the
Bologna Process to raise the issue of facilitating the granting of
visas, work and residence permits and social security protection.

The Ministers pointed out that the work of students and staff to foster
the development and dissemination of knowledge and the right of students
to education should not suffer because of political disagreements.

Ministers recognised the need for more co-operation and the exchange of
experience between themselves and pointed to the Black Sea cooperation
as a framework conducive to further cooperation on key higher education
goals…

For further information, visit the higher education website –

To receive our press releases by e-mail, contact :
[email protected]

A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to
promote democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops
common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 46
member states.

RUSSIAN AZERBAIJANIS HELD PROTEST ACTION OUTSIDE ARMENIAN EMBASSY IN MOSCOW

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 13 2006

A protest action organized by Karabakh International Community and
Azerbaijani Youth Coordination Council in Russia took place outside
the Armenian embassy in Moscow, protestor Anar Shabanoglu told APA.

He said that the protestors condemned Armenian crimes and the
referendum in Nagorno Karabakh.

"Other aim was to make Russian media and society aware of historical
truth. A number of Russian media observed the picket", he said.

The protestors chanted "No Azerbaijan without Karabakh!", "Armenia,
Get out of Azerbaijani lands!", "Armenia, stop aggression!" and "No
terrorism and invasion". Then the resolution was presented to the
embassy. The protest action concluded with the anthem of Azerbaijan.

Anar Shabanoglu said that no incident happened as the protestors
abided by laws.

OFFICIAL DOUBTS QUAKE RESISTANCE OF ARMENIAN CAPITAL’S BUILDINGS

Second TV Channel, Armenia
Dec 7 2006

The seismic risk is currently higher in Yerevan [than in the area
of Gyumri, formerly Leninakan, where a devastating earthquake struck
in 1988].

The Armenian Seismic National Defence department head, Alvaro Antonyan,
has said that Armenia is one of several post-soviet countries with
a National Seismic Special Construction Code. He noted that not all
buildings meet this code. The criteria are adhered to in the [1988]
earthquake zone because of international organizations’ funding
and supervision. He added that Zvartnots International airport’s
new building has also been constructed according to the national
seismic norms.

He said that his organization is responsible for seismic risk
supervision, but it does not have any influence on adherence to it.

He said that in countries where a seismic risk exists, the community
needs to prepare, as otherwise more than 30 per cent may die in
a quake.

He said that seismic activity in the region has been high during
recent months. He also said that the equipment used by his department
can predict major tremors two months in advance. He said that
decision-makers are strict when an earthquake happens, but after
some time they forget about it. He said. "We have to prepare for an
earthquake to happen at any time, even if it’s 10, 15 or 20 years
from now".

FESTIVAL OF EUROPEAN FILMS KICKS OFF

Armenpress
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: Today the festival of European films
kicked off in Armenia. In Yerevan the festival will be conducted from
December 12 to 16, in Gyumri from December 14 to 17 and in Kapan from
December 16-19. It is the third festival conducted in Armenia.

Robin Lidel, the first consultant of the European Commission in
Armenia, told today at a press conference that within the framework
of the festival three films in Gyumri and Kapan will be shown free
of charge. In Yerevan the income which will be gathered from the sale
of the tickets will be used for charity reasons. Overall, as part of
the festival 10 films from Germany, Spain, Portugal, Poland, France,
Great Britain and Holland will be shown.

Poland and Portugal have joined the festival in Armenia for the
first time. R. Lidel expressed hope that the Armenian audience will
be interested in the films and quoted "film will never be a good one
if the camera is not an eye placed in the head of a poet".

According to the German ambassador to Armenia Heike Renate Peitsch,
it is very important that such like cultural events organized by the
EU member countries are held not only in Yerevan but in the Armenian
provinces as well.

The festival was opened today by "Destroyed Art" short film (Poland,
director Tomash Baginski).