Author: Madatian Greg

ACCORDING TO "NATIONAL UNITY", RELEASE OF PERSONS IMPRISONED UNDER CASES OF MARCH 1 EVENTS TO IMPROVE SITUATION IN COUNTRY

Noyan Tapan

Nov 20, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. During the November 20 sitting
of the National Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on Inquiry into the March
1-2 Events in Yerevan and their Causes, the deputy chairman of
"National Unity" (NU) party Sargis Muradkhanian made a statement, in
which NU proposes that the Ad Hoc Committee submit a petition to the
president Serzh Sargsyan – a petition on the "release of the persons
imprisoned under the cases on the March 1-2 events through the high
presidential intervention". According to the authors of the statement,
this position of their party aims to strengthgen Armenian statehood,
establish solidarity and develop democracy in the country.

"NU" believes that such a humane step of the Armenian president
will reduce the tension in the internal political life, improve the
situation in the country and become a serious impulse for all political
forces to unite around the Armenian president and act jointly in order
to consolidate the nation and confront the challenges threatening
Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, and it will also contribute
to formation of a political atmosphere excluding a repetition of the
March 1-2 events in the future".

The Committee made a decision not to discuss the statement of
"National Unity". In the words of the Committee’s chairman, secretary
of "RPA" faction Samvel Nikoyan, the Committee is ready to discuss any
proposal made by its member, but not by a political force because in
its activities the Committee must be independent and not constrained
by a political force whose representative is a member of the Committee.

Armenia: special visit of Commissioner Hammarberg to assess inquiry
progress

Strasbourg, 19.11.2008 – The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human
Rights Thomas Hammarberg, will carry out a special visit to Armenia from
20 to 22 November to assess the situation of persons deprived of their
liberty in relation to the event of 1-2 March and the inquiry into those
events.

"I intend to assess the situation of persons deprived of their liberty
and the progress made in discovering the responsibilities of the March
events" he said. "It is essential that a true and factual description of
what actually happened is established. If this can be done it will also
benefit future work to protect human rights in Armenia."

During the visit, he will meet with the President of the Republic, Serge
Sargsyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, the Head of the National Police and the Prosecutor General. He
will also hold meetings with the Chairman of the ad hoc inquiry
committee of the National Assembly and the members of the
newly-established fact-finding group tasked with the inquiry into the
March events, the Human Rights Defender, as well as representatives of
international organisations and civil society. Commissioner Hammarberg
will also visit places of deprivation of liberty.

Last September, the Commissioner published his findings
< CommDH(2008)29&Language=3DlanEnglish&Ver=3 Doriginal&BackColorInternet=3DFEC65B&BackC olorIntranet=3DFEC65B&BackColorLogged=3DFFC679 >
stating that there was an urgent need to reach a satisfactory solution
for prisoners and to hold accountable those responsible for the March
events.

Press contact: Stefano Montanari, Office of the Commissioner,
Tel. +33 6 61 14 70 37; [email protected]

***

The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent, non-judicial
institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness
of, and respect for, human rights in the organisation’s 47 member
states. Elected by the Council’s Parliamentary Assembly, the present
Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, took up his duties on 1 April 2006.

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A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to
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common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 47
member states.

RUSSIA’S INITIATIVES IN CAUCASUS NORMAL PHENOMENON

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.11.2008 15:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Moscow’s initiative to hold a trilateral meeting
is a normal phenomenon. It’s quite clear that Russia has its own
interests in the Caucasus, Eduard Sharmazanov, a spokesman for the
Republican Party of Armenia, told a news conference today.

"As the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia should endeavor for
resolution of the Karabakh conflict and certainly, its initiative for a
trilateral meeting was welcomed by the other co-chair states," he said.

During the November 2 meeting, the Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of
Russia, Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
signed a declaration envisaging resolution of the Karabakh conflict
on the basis of principles and norms of the international law.

FIRST JOB FAIR FOR DISABLED TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN, ARMENIA

ARKA
Nov 14, 2008

YEREVAN, November 14. /ARKA/. The first job fair for the physically
challenged is to be held in Yerevan on November 25 a part of a month
of protection of their rights.

Chairman of the Unison NGO Armen Alaverdyan reported that the month’s
campaign will last from November 15 to December 15.

"Employment remains one of the topical problems of physically
challenged people. The job fair organized by our organization will help
them to solve this problem to an extent," Alaverdyan told reporters
at the international press center Novosti.

According to him, 20-25 leading employers are ready to create vacancies
for physically challenged people.

Among the participants in the fair will be private businessmen who
will offer homework to physically challenged people.

The month’s campaign has been organized by the RA Ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs, with the assistance of the RA Commission for Protection
of Disabled People’s Rights. The Commission consists of representatives
of a number of NGOs – Bridge of Hope, Unison, Paros.

ANOUSH OFFERS FINE INTERNATIONAL FARE
By Jake Ten Pas

The Columbian
Nov 14 2008
WA

Anoush Deli and International Food Market serves a wide range of
ethnic dishes from gyros, borsch with rye bread and intricately
decorated biscuit cakes. Among the beverages available is Vimto, a
Middle Eastern fruit drink. (Photos by N. Scott Trimble/The Columbian)

Anoush Deli’s homemade biscuit cakes are a mix of vanilla and espresso
layers coated in cinnamon and other spices.

Why: With its Olympian selection of groceries and other goods from
Greece and around the Middle East, its freshly baked cakes and pastries
and homemade gyros, Anoush Deli and International Food Market recently
added Russian fare to its daily offerings. Now, borsch (or borscht)
sits alongside pelmeni (Russian dumplings), hummus and a variety
of other sandwiches. Owner Art Nazaretuian is Armenian by descent,
and he brings a strong cross-cultural feeling to the menu, so you
can span several countries in one meal. As if to prove it, Anoush
features Greek, French, Danish and Bulgarian feta cheese in a case
also stocked with square and heart-shaped sausages, a range of olives,
cured fish and sauces.

Atmosphere: If you want to feel like Andrew Zimmern from the Travel
Channel’s "Bizarre Foods" for a day without leaving the familiar
confines of Vancouver, Anoush is the place for you. Not only is
it filled with foods unpronounceable to the unadventurous, it also
features magazines, videos and even medicines from throughout the
world. The seating area for the deli is nestled amid all these
products, and while it might not be your typical dining locale, it
does have the flavor of a Mediterranean street market, bristling with
people and products that will make you curious to browse. Customers
can place their orders at the counter when they enter, then take a
seat and wait for the food to arrive.

Food: The gyros include a mix of lamb and beef on soft pita bread
with crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, onions, spices and tzatziki,
plus the option of feta. I opted for a gyro and a bowl of borsch,
which is served with Anoush’s homemade rye or white bread. I chose
rye, which nicely complemented the sweet, tangy borsch. The soup was
less blazingly red in color than some that I’ve had, but was filled
with sliced beets and potatoes, which had taken on the orange hue
of the broth, as well as seasoned beef. It needed no salt or pepper,
although the dollop of sour cream was a welcome addition.

My dining companion opted for a vegetarian gyro, which looked like
a pale imitation of mine. It turned out to be exactly the same,
except instead of the traditional meat mix, it had some sort of
rubbery Swiss-style cheese on it. She would have rather simply had
more feta and no Swiss at all. Unless you’re an herbivore, stick to
the traditional gyro, which is delicious. Even if you don’t eat meat,
you’d probably be better off simply getting a side of hummus and
some tzatziki, which is fresh, creamy and filled with enough garlic
to put a vampire in the emergency room.

In addition to traditional sodas, Anoush has a cold case along
the back wall that is filled with sodas, teas, juices and kefir, a
European relative of yogurt that appears to be drinkable. They also
sell Vimto, a popular carbonated fruit beverage from the Middle East
that is quite sweet, but totally refreshing if you’re not prone to
sugar shock. While we’re on the subject of sweet, we finished off
our meal with one of the homemade biscuit cakes, a mix of vanilla
and espresso layers coated in cinnamon and other spices and topped
with grasslike frosting and mushroom-shaped cookies.It was dense and,
surprisingly, not overly sweet.

Quick take: Anoush Deli and International Food Market is just what
it sounds like, serving freshly made gyros, hummus, borsch, pelmeni,
bread and pastries among a jaw-dropping selection of groceries,
media and medicines from across Europe and Russia.

Price: The standard gyro is $5.49, add 35 cents for feta, and a
veggie gyro is $4.49. A bowl of borsch with bread is $2.99, and a
bowl of pelmeni in broth is $5.75. A side of hummus will run you
$1.75. Other sandwiches, which include standard toppings such as
turkey and roast beef, will set you back $4.99. The biscuit cake was
$2.50, while other pastries ran between $1.50 and $3 for individual
servings. The prices vary on a range of full-size cakes and traditional
European-style breads.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9
p.m. Sunday.

Where: 6808 E. Fourth Plain Blvd. Suite L, Vancouver.

Contact: 360-693-4359.

Health score: Anoush Deli and International Food Market received a
score of 17 on June 19. Zero is a perfect score, and Clark County
Public Health closes restaurants that score 100 or higher. For more
information, call 360-397-8428 or see

8 JUDOISTS OF ARMENIA BECOME PRIZE-WINNERS IN INTERNATIONAL YOUTH TOURNAMENT

Noyan Tapan

Nov 12, 2008

AKHMETA, NOVEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. International Judo Youth Tournament
was held on November 8-11 in the city of Akhmeta, Georgia. 26
sportsmen performed from Armenia. Grigor Mkhitarian (35 kg, Gyumri)
and Edgar Mikayelian (60 kg, Armavir) beat all their rivals and took
the first place.

The other three sportsmen from Armenia took the second and third
places.

ARMENIA SHOWS STABLE GROWTH IN MORTGAGE LOANS: CBA CHAIRMAN

ARKA
Nov 11, 2008

YEREVAN, November 11. /ARKA/. Stable growth in mortgage loans following
Armenia’s recent economic progress will continue in Armenia, Chairman
of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Arthur Javadyan said in his
exclusive interview to ARKA.

Local mortgage market faces a slump, as foreign investors create
mortgage market demand in Armenia, Javadyan added. "The global
financial meltdown makes investors and real estate agents more
cautious. This is the reason for slumping demand in mortgage market,"
the CBA chairman continued.

Since mortgage loans had a speculative character in Armenia,
investors rushed to sell property to avoid landslide of prices,
according to Javadyan.

Up-to-date standards of risk management in unfavorable market
conditions demand more prudent banking policy, he said.

Witnessing the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Armenian
banks had to toughen crediting policy and raise interest rates,
Javadyan added.

To the question whether Armenian credit organizations can suffer
unrecoverable losses as the U.S. organizations did, the CBA chairman
said the U.S. investment banks, whose portfolios mainly consisted
of mortgage-backed securities, were the most vulnerable to the
crisis. Armenian banks specialize in traditional banking operations,
according to Javadyan.

"Besides, mortgage loans extended by local banks do not exceed 70%
of the property price," he said, adding this protects Armenian banks
from losses.

"As property prices have not fallen in Armenia, local banking system
will not suffer unrecoverable losses," Javadyan continued, pointing
out high capitalization level of the country’s banking system.

Adequacy of local banks is 12%, compared to 8% in the USA. "Taking
into account all these factors, we can say for sure that Armenia’s
strong banking system is unlikely to repeat the U.S. scenario,"
the CBA chairman concluded.

Almost all local commercial banks and six credit organizations (out
of 23) extend mortgage loans.

As of early September, Armenian banks and credit organizations extended
mortgage loans a total of 81bln drams and 5.8bln drams respectively
(compared to 53.4bln drams and 4.5bln drams in early 2008).

CYPRUS HOUSE SPEAKER TO PAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARMENIA

Financial Mirror
Nov 10 2008
Cyprus

President of the House of Representatives Marios Karoyian leaves for
Armenia on Tuesday on a two-day official visit, at the invitation
of the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
Hovik Abrahamyan.

According to the Cypriot Parliament, Karoyian will be received
by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan. He will also hold a meeting with his counterpart Abrahamyan.

During his stay, Karoyian will address the Parliament and on
Wednesday evening an official reception will be given in his honour
by Abrahamyan.

On Thursday, Karoyian will meet Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Edvard Nalbandyan and afterwards he will be received by His Holiness
Garegin II, Catholicos of all Armenians.

He will lay a wreath at the Memorial Complex of the Genocide and
visit the museum in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide,
the Matenadaran, Institute of Ancient Manuscripts as well as the
Museum of the Catholicosate and the Cathedral.

The Cypriot Speaker will be accompanied by the Representative of
the Armenian religious group to the House of Representatives Vartkes
Mahtesian, other officials, as well as business people.

The delegation returns home on Friday afternoon.

DUMA TO CONSIDER PEACEKEEPING ACTIVITY OF CSTO

ArmInfo
2008-11-10 12:57:00

ArmInfo. President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev introduced an agreement
on peacekeeping activity of CSTO to the State Duma for ratification,
RIA "Novosti" reports.

The peacekeeping activity of CSTO is in peaceful actions aimed at
resolution of disputes (in compliance with UN Statute). It also
includes collective actions being taken by CSTO member-states using
a military, police and civil personnel and aimed at prevention,
repression and termination of military actions among the states or
within a state, as well as contributing to maintenance of peace and
security. The agreement determines that CSTO member-states allocate a
peacekeeping force on a permanent basis for completion of peacekeeping
forces.

The decision of holding of a peacekeeping operation in the territories
of CSTO member- states will be made by the Collective Security Council
(CSC) based on the official appeal of a member-state on holding
of a peacekeeping operation in its territory or on the decision
of UN Security Council on holding of a peacekeeping operation in
a territory of a state not in CSTO’s structure. The peacekeeping
operations will not replace conflict settlement through negotiations
and other peaceful means.

The agreement was signed in Dushanbe on October 6, 2007. It regulates
the issues of practical participation of CSTO in peacekeeping
operations at the world and regional levels for strengthening of its
international positions.

The agreement also regulates the issues of creation of CSTO
peacekeeping forces on a permanent basis and determination of their
completion procedure, the accompanying documents say.

SUKIASYAN DECLARES THAT THEIR ASSETS ARE ROBBED

A1+
[07:19 pm] 06 November, 2008

"The father, who is unable to defend his son’s innocence through the
state and the son is unable to defend his father’s honor are forced
to find other means," this was a reference from the letter of Albert
Sukiasyan, 71, who is the father of NA Deputy Khachatur Sukiasyan. The
latter sent an open letter to the Armenian authorities, the presses,
accredited embassies in Armenia and international organizations.

We present the letter in its entirety.

OPEN LETTER I am 71 years old. I have gone through many troubles
throughout my life, but I have raised my children to work and do good
deeds. They have always succeeded through diligence, consolidation
and fraternity. That is the foundation for the successes in our family
as a result of which we have created strong businesses and thousands
of jobs.

My elder son Khachatur Sukiasyan has been an NA Deputy for three
conventions and had enough courage to be present during the reception
of First President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan on September 21,
2007 and declared that he was going to support Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s
nomination in the presidential elections. That was when the authorities
began a violent, illegal and shameful campaign against our family,
friends and organizations that cooperate with us.

I will bring up a couple of examples. In late 2007 taxation service
officials invaded the Pizza di Roma restaurants, threatened them,
arrested them and sent the head of the company to jail. Then, they also
imprisoned the two woman workers of Pizza di Roma to jail; the women
had already spent two years in the cell (one of them is a widow and
has two minors). Don’t be surprised, but according to the estimations
of the taxation service, "Pizza di Roma" has made 11,000% profit a
year and having that amount of profits in the history of economy,
has not transferred the corresponding taxes to the state budget.

The next target was the "Bjni" mineral water factory. The taxation
officials were not able to find anything illegal there and were
forced to discover "misuse" of natural resources. According to the
"genius" reasoning of taxing officials, the company had installed the
water meter in the "wrong" place and had caused severe damage to the
state budget. I must clarify that the water meter of the factory had
been installed in 2005 by the Ministry of Environmental Protection,
after which the ministry had checked-up on the meter and had found
no violations. Generally, the meter has nothing to do with the
"Bjni" factory. The meter and the passage for the meter belong to
the ministry. The taxation service had not registered any violation
either during the 2006 check-up, but in January 2008, the officials
came to another conclusion. According to the officials, "Bjni" must
pay for the mineral water that is no longer of use. But the reality
is that according to the contract, "Bjni" had to secure the constant
flow of mineral water and pay only for the mineral water that it had
received from the ore through the tube. But they demanded that "Bjni"
pay for the mineral water that was not used as well. After trials and
tribulations (and we all know how "independent" the judicial system
of Armenia is), it was decided that "Bjni" would pay 4 billion drams
(more than 13 million dollars). At the moment, the company has stopped
production and 480 workers have been left unemployed.

Next up was the "Pares Armenia" company, which imports the products
of "Phillip Morris" to Armenia. The customs service made an absurd
decision to set bans on the import of large amounts of products. "Pares
Armenia" was forced to appeal to the court. The case was postponed
for months in the Administrative Court and the people close to the
authorities (including RA President Serzh Sarkisyan’s son-in-law)
started talks with "Phillip Morris" with the proposal to change the
partner in Armenia. Thus, they are trying to take away the business
by using all kinds of methods and opportunities.

The customs service refused to accept the accounts given by "Adidas"
to the "Sport Time" company as a basis and added 40% tax on the
customs price for the company’s products, when the addition was the
maximum of 1% before September 21, 2007. So, this is an attempt to move
"Sport Time" out of the market just because it belongs to our family.

The taxation service fined 300 million drams against the
"Econominkasatsia" company and brought up a case against the head of
the company, when the RA Central Bank had given official clarifications
on the issue to the benefit of the company. In addition, the taxation
service had not presented any demands during the past years.

I won’t bring up any other examples. I will only state that all
the check-ups, arrests, stop in production and the files for taxing
reaching up to tens of millions of dollars started after September
21, 2007.

As a citizen, I understand all those people, who supported Serzh
Sarkisyan in the elections. It is the choice and right of any
person. But if so, what has my son Khachatur done? Is it because he
stood next to his elder friend? That was my son’s political right,
which Serzh Sarkisyan and any member of his political team must
respect.

Today, our country is littered with murders and other crimes. That
goes to show that there is injustice and people are trying to solve
issues their own way.

I find it hard to blame those people. The father, who is unable to
defend his son’s innocence through the state and the son is unable
to defend his father’s honor are forced to find other means.

There is only one thing that consoles me-the attitude of the
society. Hundreds and thousands of people are trying to help us with
their words and actions and are not leaving us behind. For example,
the more they try to crush "Bjni", the more people buy the products.

I know very well that some authority figures have the goal of
redistributing and stealing all that we have worked for. They are doing
this every day against a family, which has a big reputation in the
country, as well as abroad and which is a very big taxpayer. If they
are doing this to us, what can the hundreds of other entrepreneurs
do? Imagine how many people lost hope in the state and try to solve
their issues through illegal means.

It is necessary to have political will to put an end to all this.

I call on you to persuade the current administration to think not only
about their personal interests today; otherwise, the hatred will get
deeper and you can’t rule a country with hatred.