Author: Maghakian Mike

ROMANIA NOT TO RECOGNIZE INDEPENDENCE OF NAGORNO KARABAKH

People’s Daily Online, China
July 21 2007

Romania does not recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabah nor
the legitimacy of " presidential elections" held on July 19 in that
region, the Foreign Ministry (MAE) said in a press release on Friday.

The "presidential elections" should have no influence on the peaceful
settlement of the conflict in the Azerbaijani region, the MAE said,
stressing that the refugees should be allowed to get back to their
homes in safety and dignity in order to be able to attend the
elections.

MAE reaffirms its firm support for the Minsk Group and its co-
presidents to be able to solve the conflict in Nagorno Karabah and
encourages the sides to do more and find a negotiated solution.

Nagorno Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan with the majority of the
population being Armenians. Armed conflict broke out in the early
1990s between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the region’s status after it
declared independence, which was not recognized by the international
community except Armenia.

A ceasefire deal was reached in 1994 after mediation by the Minsk
Group, set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE). However, disputes still remain between Armenia and
Azerbaijan on the status of Nagorno Karabakh.

SECRET SERVICE CHIEF WINS NAGORNO-KARABAKH PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
July 20, 2007 Friday 3:11 PM EST
Stepanakert/Moscow

DPA POLITICS NKarabakh Elections Armenia Azerbaijan Secret service
chief wins Nagorno-Karabakh presidential vote Stepanakert/Moscow
Secret service chief Bako Saakyan was declared the winner Friday
in the presidential elections held in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave,
gaining 85 per cent of the vote.

The 47-year-old Saakyan was the overwhelming pre-election favourite
to succeed Arkady Gukasyan. His closest competitor, Masis Mailian,
gained 12 per cent of the vote, election officials said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is contested by Caucasus republics
Azerbaijan and Armenia, with those two countries fighting a war over
the enclave in the early 1990s which claimed thousands of lives and
saw the displacement of some 750,000 Muslims.

Under international law, the enclave belongs to Azerbaijan, but
Saakyan has gone on record to push for independence, backed by Armenia.

Last month, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev had warned against
the reignition of separatist conflicts in the Caucasus and said that
Azerbaijan would not recognize the presidential elections.

UNRECOGNIZED NAGORNO-KARABAKH HOLDS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
July 19, 2007 Thursday

Presidential elections are held in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh
republic on Thursday.

About 90,000 citizens are to elect the president for five years.

Five candidates are running for president of the Armenian enclave
of 137,000 – businessman Armen Abgaryan; professor at the Karabakh
University Vanya Avanesyan; Deputy Foreign Minister Masis Mailyan;
Communist party leader Grant Melkumyan; and Major-General Bako Saakyan,
who was National Security Service director before his registration
as a candidate.

Public opinion polls suggest that the main struggle will be between
Mailyan, 40, and Saakyan, 47.

August ends the second five-year term of Nagorno-Karabakh’s President
Arkady Gukasyan, who was elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2002. He
had repeatedly said in the past months that he was not going to run for
the third term, even though experts said the constitution allows that.

Central election commission chief Sergei Nasibyan said 276 polling
stations had been opened in Nagorno-Krarakh. Another polling station
is in Armenia, where Nagorno-Karabakh voters living in the Armenian
capital Yerevan will cast their ballots.

The international community does not acknowledge as valid the
elections in Nagorno-Karabakh republic that has not been recognized
by any state, including Armenia that gives Stepanakert the military
and financial aid.

It is believed in the world the elections could affect settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to which the OSCE Minsk Group on
Nagorno-Karabakh co-chaired by Russia, France and the US attends.

There is a conviction in Nagorno-Karabakh that only its elected leader
with the people’ mandate can negotiate settlement.

"Armenia supports Stepanakert’s steps aimed at further democratization
of the country," Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetyan said
on Wednesday.

"The democratization processes in the Nagorno-Karabakh republic,
including the presidential elections, will make a contribution to
development of law and civil institutions," he said.

Azerbaijan’s central election commission called the presidential
elections in Nagorno-Karabakh "illegitimate".

It said "such actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is an in inalienable
part of Azerbaijan, contradicts the norms of international law,
the Constitution and laws of the Azerbaijani Republic".

Observers from several states arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh for
monitoring the elections, including three members of the Russian
State Duma lower house of parliament.

Vice Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Ishkhan Zakaryan,
leads a delegation of observers from the Armenian parliament.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said the elections on Nagorno-Karabakh
without the participation of the Azerbaijani population "is a serious
violation of Azerbaijan’s Constitution and of the norms and principles
of international law".

The outgoing president of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arkady Gukasyan, said that
"even if the word community does not formally recognize the elections,
it cannot help noting the democratic conditions in which the elections
are going".

He said he was "absolutely sure that the elections will be honest,
fair and transparent".

KARABAKH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HRANT MELKUMYAN’S ELECTION PLATFORM

BBC Monitoring research
17 Jul 07

The leader of the Communist party in Nagornyy Karabakh, who is also
a presidential candidate, has said that the ultimate goal of this
separatist republic is its unification with Armenia. In his election
platform, Hrant Melkumyan also called for "drastic" changes in the
republic’s social and economic policies. Nagornyy Karabakh is to hold
a presidential election on 19 July. Following a war for this disputed
region in the early 1990s, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a cease-fire
in 1994, but the dispute remains unresolved after more than a decade
of negotiations and troops remain in a tense standoff. The following
is the text of Melkumyan’s election platform published and distributed
in Nagornyy Karabakh ahead of the election; subheadings as published:

Hrant Artem Melkumyan was born on 4 April 1951 in Stepanakert. He
studied in Stepanakert Armenian language secondary school No 2 and
later on in Stepanakert evening school’s mathematical class. In 1974
he graduated from the department of mechanics and machine-building
of Yerevan Polytechnic Institute.

After graduating from the institute he worked as a constructor at
Yerevan Art Clock factory. In 1975 he returned home and started
to work in Stepanakert Electrotechnical Plant and later on in the
Nagornyy Karabakh Regional Komsomol. In 1980 he joined the Communist
Party at the beginning as an instructor on industry of the Nagornyy
Karabakh regional party committee.

Then he became the second and later on the first secretary of the
Stepanakert city party committee. In 1986 he graduated from the
Supreme Party School under the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union and got a diploma in political analysis.

Hrant Melkumyan was an activist of the Karabakh movement. In 1989 he
was elected member of the [Nagornyy Karabakh] National Council. In
1991 he was the chief engineer in the Artsakh-Oniks firm, director of
the Shushi [Susa] radio production enterprise as well as a professor
at the department of technical sciences of Stepanakert pedagogical
institute. In 1996 he worked in the NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh republic]
construction ministry and between 1998 and 2002, in different
departments of the NKR cabinet of ministers.

Since December 2002 he has been the head of the Audit Service of the
NKR cabinet of ministers. In 2001 he was elected the first secretary
of the NKR Communist party. Hrant Melkumyan is married and has three
children.

His main slogans are "With the people for the people", "Law and
Justice", "Jobs and decent life", "Developing villages", "Quality
education", "Accessible health care and decent pensions".

Part one. Political sphere

A new cabinet of ministers trusted by the people should be
formed. Members of the cabinet should possess high professional
qualities and abilities to carry out a complex of activities to
handle the socio-economic crisis, rapid development of agriculture
and industry, create new jobs, raise the welfare of the population.

Substantial changes should be made to the NKR constitution to widen
the competencies and responsibilities of the legislative and executive
branches.

People must have a right to dismiss National Assembly deputies and
state officials who have failed to live up to people’s expectations. A
modified version of people’s power – soviets, which are the true
democratic and people’s political system – should be reintroduced.

In the NKR, human rights and individual liberties are absolute
values. A democratic multiparty system guarantees security, dignity
and freedom of NKR citizens, contributes to the formation of free
mass media and civic society, ensures internal harmony and peace.

Efforts should be made to establish supremacy of law and equality
before the law.

Special programme to fight corruption and bribery should be developed.

Part two. Economic sphere

The current socioeconomic policy carried out in the republic must be
drastically changed. All types of property should coexist in harmony
with the prevalence of state property.

There should be an inventory of state property and privatized
facilities while simultaneously checking whether privatization
was carried out in accordance with the law and the price paid for
privatizing facilities corresponds to their real value.

A special programme to nationalize large industrial enterprises of
strategic significance should be developed. An important guarantee
of the effective work of those enterprises would be joint ventures
with enterprises in the Republic of Armenia, Russia and ally states
in the CIS.

The state tax policy should be drastically changed. In the leading
spheres of agriculture and industry, tax rates should be substantially
decreased, while the opposite should take place in the spheres
of banking and brokerage. Tax evasion and shadow economy will be
severely punished.

A legal act stating that land is national property should be
issued. Land could be leased and inherited by individual or cooperative
agricultural enterprises only for producing agricultural products. The
purchase and sale of land should be prohibited.

Changes should be introduced in tax field exempting peasants
from paying taxes for two years. They have to be provided with
preferential long-term loans to purchase agricultural machinery,
seeds, etc. Peasants who live in liberated and border regions should
be exempted from all kinds of taxes and payments for three years. In
our republic we must crate tractor-machinery stations to assist the
development of the agricultural sphere. The production and sale of
bread and bakery products should be placed under state control. In
villages water for irrigation must be provided free of charge.

There should be a state monopoly on strategically important raw
materials, light and food industry, highly profitable spheres (alcohol,
tobacco, etc.).

Small and medium-sized businesses should receive state assistance and
for this very reason a special state fund must be established. State
assistance should be provided also to enterprises working on local
raw materials and possessing export potential.

Part three. Social sphere

We have to re-establish social justice and equality through
constitutional changes. We have to decrease unemployment through
creating new jobs.

Salaries, pensions and benefits should increase. A state network for
free health care should be established. Young people have to receive
free secondary and higher education. New impetus should be given to
the development of sports and tourism. Favourable conditions should
be created for ethnic minorities to develop their culture.

Programmes to boost birth rate should be carried out in the
republic. These programmes should be viewed as the most important
guarantee of strengthening our state. Young families should be provided
with long-term loans to buy apartments. These loans will not be paid
back if there are five or more children going to school in the family.

A republican house building programme should be developed. In the
NKR the free distribution of apartments should be reintroduced.

Part four. National security, defence and foreign policy

The essence of Artsakh [Nagornyy Karabakh] policies will be the
de-jure international recognition of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic
and its reunification with Mother Armenia in the long run.

The Nagornyy Karabakh conflict should be settled within the framework
of the OSCE Minsk Group and exclusively through political negotiations
on the basis of people’s right to self-determination. The status of
Nagornyy Karabakh as a full party to the negotiation process should
be restored. No agreement on Nagornyy Karabakh status can be reached
without the participation of the Karabakh side. Among the scenarios of
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict settlement could be the NKR’s joining a
new Union of Independent States as an independent and sovereign member.

The NKR self-defence system must be further strengthened. The
NKR’s defence army is the most important security guarantee for its
population. In the armed forces the share of professional servicemen
will be annually increased. Our goal is to have a hundred per cent
professional army.

Military departments should be reopened in all our universities.

Through legislative changes we have to expand the diaspora’s
involvement in the NKR’s economic revival. Artsakh and the diaspora
should establish mutually beneficial cooperation. We have to make
joint efforts for the international recognition of the 1915 genocide
[killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey].

Programmes for the further expansion of economic, educational and
cultural integration between the NKR and the Republic of Armenia
should be developed.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

11-07-2007

Vladimir Karapetian, Acting Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press and
Information Department, responds to a question by Radio Free Europe on GUAM.

Question: How would you comment on the GUAM announcement condemning the
elections in Karabakh?

Answer: Let me first say, that it would be better if these countries did not
comment on issues which don’t concern them.

After having declared independence, the people of Nagorno Karabakh chose the
path of democracy and rule of law, and have achieved significant progress in
that direction in this period.

I regret that these countries make statements driven by their domestic
interests, forgetting that the authorities of Nagorno Karabakh have always
been selected through democratic means.

Democratic processes within Nagorno Karabakh, including the upcoming
presidential elections, benefit the formation and development of legal and
civic institutions, which are themselves important prerequisites, and also
necessary as factors in the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

`Look out! Ethnic espionage’: Igor Muradyan about the Armenian
Assembly of America

10:35 29.12.2005
Regnum

A number of controversial reports about the Armenian Assembly of
America have appeared in the media of late. REGNUM has asked Armenian
political scientist Igor Muradyan for comments. `No doubt that the
reports have serious grounds. You can turn down some arguments – for
the authors seem to be somewhat under-informed about the developments
– but certainly it is high time to call a spade a spade. First of all,
you should take into account the continuing political struggle in
Armenia and view the stance of the Armenian Assembly of America also
in this light.’

I don’t think that ethnic NGOs enjoy full independence in the US, but
the point is that the Armenian Assembly of America is more than
dependent. Even more, the Assembly is functionally dependent. The
Assembly directors and employees don’t just look down on Armenia’s
political class and leaders, they look down on them with
disdain. Given a whole range of serious political problems of Armenia,
the Assembly is focused on the problem of its relations with Robert
Kocharyan. Kocharyan has proved not very much convenient a partner for
them, just because the Assembly directors are unable to consult,
instruct and contact him in private on the phone. One cannot but agree
with the opinion that the Assembly is facing a crisis of genre.

First, as an instrument of another state it is very much unwanted in
the politics in Armenia. Second, the scope of the Assembly’s lobbying
has come to its limits – for within the limits of its tasks the US
policy in the region is quite conforming to Armenia’s interests. And
so, the Assembly is forced to search for new domains. Quite enough has
been said about this in the internet and so I’d better just remind
some facts. In 2001 the Assembly’s board decreed `to fight Armenian
nationalism.’ This implies suppression of any instance of patriotism,
especially over the Karabakh problem and Armenian-Turkish
relations. The Assembly is discriminating towards Armenian political
parties, NGOs, politicians and experts.

The employees and friends of the Assembly were set to carry out
reconnaissance in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Republic. We know at
least six citizens of Armenia and one resident of NKR whom they tried
to recruit for information gathering. The above activities envisaged
the following directions: Gathering information on the state of the
armed forces of Armenia, including armaments, information on senior
officers, on the import of military hardware (invoice numbers, payment
terms, transportation routes), receiving analytical notes on the
fighting capacity of the Armenian army, information and assessment of
typical conflicts inside the military command, the concerns and plans
of different groups in the military circles; gathering information on
the leaders and activists of political parties, the mass media and
political leaders of Armenia, including economic interests, ties with
foreign countries.

For example, the Assembly wanted detailed information on the economic
interests of Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan in Russia, the
possibilities for discrediting him and the military command for
economic or other motives. Armenian citizens were shown video pictures
of Armenia’s military equipment and some military commanders, photos
of senior officers. Some of the videos and photos had apparently been
made from a very long distance. Special interest was given to possible
news about the import of air defense units, first of all, C-300, on
plans to develop military aviation, on possible purchases. They were
even interested in such non secret information as the parameters of
dynamic steel on tanks. They paid visits to Nagorno Karabakh – formal
and informal – they visited military units, talked with military
commanders. The talk was friendly and candid, but they got no
sensations – just stupid and thoughtless things. One NKR officer told
an Assembly agent in a friendly manner – `You guys are all but profies
or you cook like that in your country – you better learn a bit.’

One of the authors has already mentioned the interest of the Assembly
in the military intelligence of Armenia. As a matter of fact, one of
the `recruited’ young experts in Yerevan says that the Assembly is
very much interested in the personality of B.Azoyan. The Assembly
believes the exposure of the director of the military intelligence to
be one of its exploits. Exposed were quite banal facts – there
reportedly are proofs that the military intelligence of Armenia works
in `the American direction.’

Visitors from the Assembly have never much cared for political figures
in Armenia. They did care for analytical community, individual
experts. The experts were mostly very young and initially very much
eager to provide Assembly people with some information. But soon they
were told to supply information relating to the national security of
Armenia. These activities covered also the Armenian Embassy in the
US. It is a certainty that there were at least two information leaks
from the office of the military attaché. Also using documents from
the attaché’s table was repeatedly (and as if accidentally) the
military attaché of Belarus. So, it takes one no big effort to
carry out such activity. Let’s just hope that the military attaché
of Armenia may have no interesting information.

Mass media directors are also of interest. Of interest was, for
example, the dossier of the editor of Aravot daily Aram Abrahamyan,
especially his personal incomes and their sources. Very much of
interest was the personality of the well-known Alexander Haroutyunyuan
(if I am not mistaken, he is now the director of the public
television) and so on and so forth. It seems that the whole political
class of Armenia is being computerized.

Of certain interest is the impression I got personally from such
contacts. Strange but true: Assembly representatives get openly
malicious and bilious over the fact that the Armenian armed forces are
highly capable of discharging many combat operations on their
own. Would they be more comfortable if the army of their `historical
homeland’ had other characteristics and was like the armies of some
other states? Altogether incompetent the Assembly representatives were
as much annoyed to know that Armenia is not a perishing country and is
successfully developing economically.

The National Security Service and the Defense Ministry of Armenia are
perfectly informed of the activities of the Assembly and have relevant
directives on hand. For example, the top military command are strictly
forbidden to have meetings with their Assembly counterparts.

But no less worthy of mentioning is the fact that the Assembly
representatives are not the only ones to take a special interest in
their `historical homeland.’ Obviously having their definite interests
in Armenia and specialization is also the Armenian community of
Washington DC. For example, some Richard Kirakosyan, generally known
as analyst or political scientist or someone else, has offered an
Armenian citizen closely cooperating with the `Caucasian (Yerevan)
Center of Iranian Studies’ $10,000 for information on Iran –
absolutely definitely saying that this service was ordered by CIA.

I guess not everything is so dangerous for our country – as I do
believe that the US is our friend who knows that only Armenia can be a
strategic partner in the region (`small Israel’ or `Big Armenia’). The
Armenian society continues being modestly silent that the US strategy
is one of the major factors of our security, if not something
more. But somebody wants to be `more Catholic than the Pope is.’ These
are people for whom ethnicity is their profession. So it is time to
hang a sign `Look Out! Ethnic Espionage.’ In the meantime, we better
remember that our compatriots abroad are overwhelmingly citizens of
other states and are obliged to express their interests. We are still
far from being a `world nation.’ We have yet a long way to go. And
young vain analysts and political analysts better keep in mind that
our country is an active actor in the regional and global politics,
with quite a big interest given to it."

Source:

Africa News
July 13, 2007 Friday

Rwanda;
Rwandans Need to Know About Other Atrocities

by New Times

Today was the 12-year anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre.

To be fair, the massacres are not enormous pop culture anywhere but
in Bosnia, where the atrocities occurred. Many in Rwanda may have
known or do not know that on July 11 and 12, 8000 Bosnian Muslims
were slaughtered in the largest single massacre since World War II
and the first legally-determined act of Genocide.

But because of Rwanda’s history, the schism between its attention to
itself, and its attention to others like it, is all the more
noticeable. Rwanda should care about what happened in Bosnia that
day-or, for that matter, the last decade of the 20th century in the
Balkans-and what happened in Cambodia, and in Armenia; what happened
in Nazi Europe or present-day Namibia.

Genocide has been all around us. For the better half of our
existence, up to this very day in the Sudan, people have been killing
people out of simple dislike.

People need to know this, and more importantly, the youth of Rwanda
need to learn in schools about other atrocities similar to those that
took place here. Just like we expect the entire world to know the
truth of the 1994 Genocide, we will only be able to understand and
correct ourselves once we understand what happened with others.

Unfortunately, today’s Rwandans may largely be absent of explicit
awareness of these cousin histories. Although the memorial centre at
Gisozi has in-depth coverage of other genocides throughout history,
there is little attention-and more importantly, a sense of
empathy-paid to them.

Of course, such attention brings up a few questions. On one hand, it
is essential for Rwandans of all ages to know that the phenomenon and
act of Genocide has happened elsewhere. There’s not something
inherently wrong with Rwandans; people all over the world, from the
beginning to the end of history, have done horrible things.
Remembering other genocides, I believe, allows people to relieve
themselves of undue inferiority complexes.

On the other hand, there is-as there should be-strong resistance to
any sort of undermining or belittlement of the 1994 Genocide.
Acknowledging other genocides might, but shouldn’t, make the events
in Rwanda less meaningful; especially given that the progress the
country has made since then has been fuelled by the memory of the
killings.

What Rwanda will ultimately have to deal with is, how much the 1994
Genocide contributes to Rwanda’s national consciousness in the
long-term future?

The country is hoping its memorials make UNESCO’s World Heritage
list. The question that we really need to ask ourselves is, do we
want things like this to become part of our heritage? And what,
exactly, does ‘heritage’ imply? Most of them have never found
answers.

Rwanda does not want to find itself in a situation where, fifty years
from now, it defends its policies and positions on continued
Genocide-ideology eradication, however real the threat may be.
Secondly, I doubt that any country wants its history and psyche built
from mass killings or the reaction to mass killings. This country
continues to grow and will not always be 13-years old. But at some
point, I assume, Rwanda just wants to be Rwanda.

How does Rwanda today prepare itself for Rwanda tomorrow? A question
is a cheap way to end an argument, but it’s not one for me to answer.
The people’s hearts and minds will ultimately decide, but in the
interim, the Ministry of Education must come to terms with the terms

Kremlin tears up arms pact with Nato

Russia’s relations with West hit a new low point

Luke Harding in Moscow
Sunday July 15, 2007
The Observer

President Vladimir Putin yesterday signalled that Russia was on a new
and explosive collision course with Nato when he dumped a key arms
control treaty limiting the deployment of conventional forces in Europe.
Putin said Moscow was unilaterally withdrawing from the Soviet-era
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty because of ‘extraordinary
circumstances that affect the security of the Russian Federation’, the
Kremlin said. These required ‘immediate measures’.

The treaty governs where Nato and Russia can station their troops in
Europe. Moscow’s decision to bin it suggests that Putin’s talks earlier
this month with President George Bush came to nothing, and that the
Kremlin has reverted to its earlier belligerent mood. The Kremlin has
for months been bitterly incensed by the Bush administration’s decision
to site elements of its missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech
Republic.

Putin has derided American claims that the Pentagon system is designed
to shoot down rogue missiles fired by Iran and North Korea. Instead he
says the target is Russia.
Last month he said the US could use a former Soviet radar system in
Azerbaijan instead. But during his seaside summit this month with Putin
at the Bush family’s Maine home, President Bush rejected this offer – a
snub that appears to have triggered Putin’s latest defiant gesture.

‘The detente lasted two weeks,’ Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based
defence analyst, told The Observer yesterday, referring to the
short-lived thaw.

Putin’s decision to leave the treaty will come into effect in 150 days
after the parties of the treaty have been notified. It comes against a
backdrop of rapidly deteriorating relations between Russia and the
West. In particular, Russia’s relations with Britain are at their
lowest point since the Seventies following Moscow’s refusal last week
to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB agent charged with
poisoning Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London.

The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, is expected to announce punitive
counter-measures this week. They could see the mass expulsion of
diplomats from Russia’s embassy in London, and tit-for-tat reprisals by
Moscow.

In Brussels, Nato bluntly condemned Russia’s decision to abandon the
treaty, under which Nato and the Warsaw Pact agreed to reduce their
conventional armed forces immediately after the Cold War. ‘It’s a step
in the wrong direction,’ said spokesman James Appathurai. ‘The allies
consider this treaty to be an important cornerstone of European
stability.’ Estonia said it deplored the move.

The Kremlin insisted, however, it had been left little choice. Russia’s
Foreign Ministry called the treaty ‘hopelessly outdated’. It said
restrictions on Russian troop deployment were now ‘senseless’ and
prevented ‘more efficient measures against international terrorism’.

Under the treaty, signed by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
in 1990, Russia agreed to scrap much of its military hardware in
Eastern Europe and limit the number of troops stationed on its northern
and southern flanks.

The treaty was amended in 1999, calling on Russia to withdraw its
troops from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia. Russia
ratified the treaty but did not pull out its troops, prompting the US
and other Nato members to refuse to ratify the treaty until Russia
withdraws.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said Russia could no longer
tolerate a situation where it had ratified and its partners had not.
Yesterday analysts said that Putin’s move would probably not make much
difference to Russia’s military capacities, but it would allow Russian
generals to carry out exercises without informing their Western
counterparts and keep Russian troops in the breakaway regions of
Georgia and Moldova.

Moscow’s ferocious anti-Western rhetoric is set to continue ahead of
parliamentary elections in December and presidential elections next
year to choose Putin’s successor.

Some analysts, however, believe Moscow’s move is largely symbolic. The
moratorium probably wouldn’t result in any major build-up in heavy
weaponry in European Russia, Felgenhauer said. But it would annoy
Washington, he conceded. ‘This will be a major irritant. It will
seriously spoil relations.’

CONSUMER PRICES GROW BY 3.9% IN JUNE 2007 AS COMPARED WITH DECEMBER OF PREVIOUS YEAR IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Jul 10, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. In June 2007, as compared with 2006,
the consumer prices index in Armenia made 103.9%, including that
of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) 106.3%,
non-foodstuffs 100.8%, and tariffs for services 101.3%.

According to the data of the RA National Statistical Service, a 0.3%
fall in prices was registered on the RA consumer market in June 2007,
as compared with May, which is mainly the result of seasonal changes
in prices for some kinds of goods. Meanwhile, a considerable growth
in prices for some kinds of baked products was registered in the
country (the total growth in prices for grain, bread, and flour made
9.5%). Having a 11.5% total share in the consumer basket, the growth
in prices for the above mentioned kinds of goods contributed to growth
in consumer prices by 1.3 percent. Without the price changes of the
above mentioned kinds of goods, the consumer prices index in Armenia
would make 98.7%.

A 0.6% fall in prices for foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) was registered in June 2007, as compared with May,
in the country. The prices for non-foodstuffs in the above mentioned
period grew by 0.2%, and tariffs for services were kept unchanged.

In 2007 January-June the average monthly growth in consumer prices
made 0.6%, which is lower than the same index of the previous year
by 0.1 percent (0.7%).

In 2007 June, as compared with 2006 June, the consumer prices index
made 104.8%, including that of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) 106.2%, non-foodstuffs 99.1%, tariffs for services
105.3%, and in January-June, compared with January-June 2006, 104.5%,
105.6%, 99.4%, and 105.3%, respectively.

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. In June 2007, as compared with 2006,
the consumer prices index in Armenia made 103.9%, including that
of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) 106.3%,
non-foodstuffs 100.8%, and tariffs for services 101.3%.

According to the data of the RA National Statistical Service, a 0.3%
fall in prices was registered on the RA consumer market in June 2007,
as compared with May, which is mainly the result of seasonal changes
in prices for some kinds of goods. Meanwhile, a considerable growth
in prices for some kinds of baked products was registered in the
country (the total growth in prices for grain, bread, and flour made
9.5%). Having a 11.5% total share in the consumer basket, the growth
in prices for the above mentioned kinds of goods contributed to growth
in consumer prices by 1.3 percent. Without the price changes of the
above mentioned kinds of goods, the consumer prices index in Armenia
would make 98.7%.

A 0.6% fall in prices for foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) was registered in June 2007, as compared with May,
in the country. The prices for non-foodstuffs in the above mentioned
period grew by 0.2%, and tariffs for services were kept unchanged.

In 2007 January-June the average monthly growth in consumer prices
made 0.6%, which is lower than the same index of the previous year
by 0.1 percent (0.7%).

In 2007 June, as compared with 2006 June, the consumer prices index
made 104.8%, including that of foodstuffs (including alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes) 106.2%, non-foodstuffs 99.1%, tariffs for services
105.3%, and in January-June, compared with January-June 2006, 104.5%,
105.6%, 99.4%, and 105.3%, respectively.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

MEDIA ALERT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2007
CONTACT: Karoon Panosyan
E-mail: [email protected]

RE: Assembly Country Director Meets with Minister of Defense of Armenia

Yerevan, Armenia – On July 4, Armenian Assembly Country Director Arpi
Vartanian met with Armenia’s Minister of Defense Michael Haroutounyan
to discuss U.S.-Armenia bilateral relations.

During their meeting, Vartanian and Haroutounyan discussed the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, regional relations and developments, U.S. economic
and military assistance to Armenia, especially the importance of
maintaining military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and other
issues of concern. The Assembly has supported maintaining military
parity, and in March, testified before the House Subcommittee on
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, that such a balance
is critical in the face of Azerbaijan’s ongoing war rhetoric. Last
month, the House of Representatives voted to maintain military parity
between Armenia and Azerbaijan at $3.5 million each and provide $68
million in U.S. economic aid for Armenia for Fiscal Year 2008.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues.  It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.

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NR#2007-080