Author: Maghakian Mike

CRPS CONSIDERED THE MUTUAL COMPLAINTS OF THE "ARMENTEL" AND VIVACELL MOBILE OPERATORS

Mediamax Agency, Armenia
April 4 2007

Yerevan, April 4 /Mediamax/. The Commission for Regulating Public
Services of Armenia (CRPS) considered today the mutual complaints of
the two mobile operators – "ArmenTel" and VivaCell.

Mediamax reports that, according to the decision, made by the
Commission, the VivaCell Company must in the course of one day place
information in its website on the tariffs, applied within the framework
of the "Optima +" tariff plan, as well as to inform the CRPS on any
changes in the tariff plans of the company in written form. At that,
the CRPS established that VivaCell should also notify its subscribers
about tariff changes in all the service centers.

The Commission made a decision to partly suspend the "Family and
Friends" service, which the "ArmenTel" Company has been providing
starting from March 1 of 2007 concerning the international calls,
and charged the company to present grounds to CRPS in the course of
10 days, according to which the 27 drams per minute tariff within
the framework of the "Family and Friend" service is not dumping.

The Commission decided that the VivaCell Company should in the course
of 10 days present to the CRPS grounds for their statement, according
to which the 27 drams per minute tariff, established by "ArmenTel"
within the framework of the "Family and Friends" service is dumping.

Mediamax reports that the General Director of the "ArmenTel" CJSC Oleg
Bliznyuk stated that the tariff, established within the framework of
the "Family and Friends" service is not unprofitable for the Company,
it continues to bring profit and, consequently, cannot be considered
dumping. The General Director of "ArmenTel" stressed that the new
owners of the Company have always been for the reduction of tariffs,
which will allow making the mobile service more available for the
citizens of Armenia.

"When we entered the market, we announced right away that we will not
be earning money by means of increasing the prices", Oleg Bliznyuk
stated.

"Our calculations evidence that the given tariff is over the prime
cost of the service. If we can provide this service by this price,
and the other operator cannot, it is not our problem", the General
Director of "ArmenTel" stated.

The General Director of VivaCell Company Ralph Yirikian refused to
comment on the statements of Oleg Bliznyuk, noting that he will be
following the decision of the CRPS. He also noted that in the nearest
future he plans to give a news conference and to tell about the plans
of VivaCell.

SERGEY LAVROV: RUSSIAN, US AND OSCE INTERESTS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT DO NOT CLASH

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 3 2007

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unique in its nature and it is the
only conflict, where interests of Russia, the United States and OSCE
do not contradict each other, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
stated a joint press conference with Armenian Acting Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian in Yerevan, APA reports.

Russian Minister said the OSCE Mink Group has worked out such a
document for settling the conflict that a lot of other conflicting
countries would envy. "I hope exactly this uniqueness will help Baku
and Yerevan to reach a new level of settlement. Authorities of Armenia
and Azerbaijan must make final decision, but mediator countries,
including Russia, will be guarantees of commitments reached during
the negotiation process," Sergey Lavrov underscored.

Acting Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said still there is no
agreement on principal issues of the settlement. "Exactly principles
of settlement become a stumbling block. At the coming April meeting
with Azeri FM talks over these issues will be continued, which will
allow the Co-Chairs to begin preparation works for a meeting between
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan after parliamentary elections
in Armenia," Oskanian said.

Results of experimental examination are not bad

02-04-2007 13:28:01 – KarabakhOpen

On Saturday the NKR minister of education, science and sport Kamo
Atayan held a news conference on the results of the experimental
examination on March 15. The final exam was held in 25 schools, and
the general state exam was held in Stepanakert. The high school
students who will go to university took the general state exam in
Armenian.

The final exam was held at schools. 492 took the exam, including 147
the general state exam.

According to the minister, the maximum score of the general state exam
is 75 points, and that of the final exam is 50. The best score in the
final exam was 47 points (1 student) and the best score in the general
state exam was 68 points (1 student). The lowest score in the final
exam was 3 (1 student), and the lowest score of the general state exam
was 18 (1 student).

The minister said 55 students who took the final exam scored 0-15,
four students who took the general state exam scored 0-25. It means 59
out of 492 students are at risk. The minister thinks the new exam
system needs more contemplation but `the new system of exams will
continue, and this figure may get smaller.’

On the whole, the minister is satisfied with the results of the exam
although he admitts that 10 percent of students may not get a school
certificate.

Reuters AlertNet, UK
April 2 2007

Party nominates its head for new Armenian PM
02 Apr 2007 16:41:57 GMT
Source: Reuters

YEREVAN, April 2 (Reuters) – Armenia’s leading Republican Party
nominated on Monday its acting head and the country’s Defence
Minister Serzh Sarksyan for the post of prime minister, paving the
way for his official appointment, the party said.

President Robert Kocharyan is now widely expected to sign a decree
endorsing Sarksyan’s candidacy. Previous Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan, who at the same time led the Republican Party, died
suddenly of a heart attack on March 25.

NON-FOOD COMMODITY PRICES INCREASE BY 0.1% IN MARCH IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Mar 30 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The 0.1% price growth registered
in the Armenian non-food commodity market in March on February 2007
was mainly conditioned by a 0.1-0.6% growth in prices of clothing,
furniture, textiles, cosmetic, horticultural goods, footwear, and
kitchen utensils.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, prices of cultural
goods, jewelry, fuel, stationery, detergents, building materials,
medicines declined by 0.1-2.9% in the indicated period, while
the prices in other commodity groups remained at the level of the
previous month.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM LAST ON EURO-2008 GROUP TOURNAMENT’S TABLE

Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2007

WARSAW, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. By Euro-2008 selective tour’s program
in A group tournament, on March 28, the national team of Poland
defeated the national team of Armenia with a score of 1:0. At the
beginning of the match sport-lovers stood in one-minute silence to
respect the memory of Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian. The
football-players of the two teams had black bandages on their arms.

The leader of the group is Polish national team with 16 points and
Armenian national team is in the last 8th place with one point.

ARMENIAN DELEGATIONS ARRIVES FOR OPENING OF RESTORED CHURCH IN TURKEY

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
March 28 2007

Van, 28 March: An Armenian delegation including senior state officials,
historians and architectural experts arrived in the eastern city of
Van to attend the inauguration of a 10th century Armenian church on
the small island of Akdamar, 3 kilometres off coast in Lake Van.

The delegation included Gagik Gyurdzhyan, deputy minister of culture,
and Avel Avedisyan, chairman of the Ethnographic Sciences at the
National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

Built during the years 915-921 of pink sandstone, the Akdamar Church
underwent a restoration by the Turkish government between May 2005
and October 2006, and is set to open on Thursday [29 March].

TODAY ARMENIA AND KARABAKH BIDS ITS FAREWELL TO RA PRIME MINISTER ANDRANIK MARGARIAN

KarabakhOpen
28-03-2007 14:29:34

Today is a national mourning day in Armenia and Karabakh – the
countries bids farewell to RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian,
who died from heart attack on March 25 in his flat.

The state flags of Armenia are lowered today on the buildings of all
the Republic’s Ministries, Departments, the regional administrations,
the Yerevan City Hall and the foreign diplomatic representations
in Armenia. A civil funeral for the deceased Prime Minister was
held the day before in Andranik Margarian’s flat. The President of
Armenia Robert Kocharyan, RA Parliament Chairman Tigran Torosian,
the Secretary of the National Security Council under RA President,
Armenia’s DM Serzh Sarkisian were present at the funeral.

The burial of Andranik Margarian will be held today at 3:00 PM in
the capital Pantheon after Komitas.

Confident Turkey looks east, not west

Simon Tisdall
Monday March 26, 2007
The Guardian

Turkey was not invited to Europe’s big birthday bash yesterday despite
being an official candidate for EU membership. Ankara expressed
disappointment at a "missed opportunity". Media reaction to the
perceived snub was sharper.

"In the 1990s, the EU was a giant organisation governed by prominent
leaders," said leading columnist Mehmet Ali Birand. "Today it has
become a fat midget that lacks perspective and is governed by
small-thinkers."

Disillusion with the EU has deepened since Brussels part-suspended
talks in December after a row over Cyprus. The hostility, as seen from
Ankara, of French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and the
German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has poisoned the pot further.

But anger and frustration is slowly giving way to a new, more
assertive idea: that perhaps Turkey does not really need Europe after
all … – … and the EU will come to regret its insultingly
complacent chauvinism as Turkey goes its own way. "Europeans
underestimate the importance and influence of Turkey," said Fuat
Keyman, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Koc
university. "If they are serious about the future of Europe as a
power in global affairs, they need to change their thinking."

Turkey was recalibrating its external ties and the EU was but one part
of the equation, Dr Keyman said. "Membership should not be seen just
as a gift to Turkey. There are benefits for Europe, too."

Semih Idiz, a foreign affairs columnist, goes further: "The EU is off
the radar. It has confirmed Turkey’s worst expectations. At present,
it’s an irrelevancy."

Turkey’s new-found confidence about life beyond Europe is based in
part on a booming economy, whose sustained, IMF-supervised 7% annual
growth rate far outperforms large EU states. Export earnings are
rising too, including in the Arab lands of the old Ottoman empire.

Demographic trends are also boosting independent thinking, said Guven
Sak, an Ankara-based economist. "In Turkey the working age population
as a proportion of the total population is growing. In Europe, the
opposite is true."

Nor should Europe fear a new barbarian horde at the gates. Rates of
growth meant that by 2015, Turkey could become a net importer of
labour, he said.

Turkey’s increasingly important regional leadership role is also
changing the way it views the EU. As a vital transit hub, it provides
much of Europe’s oil and gas from the Caspian basin, Russia and,
prospectively, the Turkic republics of central Asia. This is leading
to closer cooperation with Moscow and reviving ideas of a Turkic
Commonwealth from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan.

The "reformed Islamist" government in Ankara is also cultivating the
Arab and Muslim world. It signalled a new strategic relationship with
Egypt this week. It sent peacekeeping troops to Lebanon last year. It
talks to Iran when many will not or cannot. Close links to Israel have
not prevented the building of ties with Hamas and the Palestinian
Authority. And despite tensions with the Kurds, Turkey is northern
Iraq’s main economic partner. Istanbul is the likely venue of next
month’s Iraq summit.

Rising ultra-nationalism and "neo-Ottoman" thinking, Islamist
extremism and political instability are the acknowledged dangers of
Turkey’s rise. But its strength is its 70 million people’s drive and
energy, a dynamic resource that flabby, middle-aged western Europe
lacks.

And then, there is fierce pride. "Ours is the only country to
reconcile Islam with a fully functioning, multiparty democracy in a
modern, secular republic," said opposition MP Sukru Elekdag. "Our
experience shatters the myth that Islam cannot accommodate democracy."

Officially, Turkey still wants to join the EU, says Faruk Logoglu of
the Centre for Eurasian Strategic Studies in Ankara. But Europe must
banish its ignorance and acknowledge its own needs. "Europe is not yet
ready for Turkish membership," he said. "It’s going to take a long
time to educate the European public."

NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION CRUCIAL THEME OF NEGOTIATIONS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
22/03/2007

During the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Armenia
on April 3-4 the main topic of discussion will be the bilateral
relations of the two states, said Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian on a press conference at REGNUM agency’s hall.

According to the Foreign Minister, regional issues and the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are also to be discussed.

Commenting on the peace negotiations on Karabakh, Mr. Oskanian
said that there is still much to do until an agreement between the
conflict’s sides is signed. The last meeting of the Armenian and
Azeri foreign ministers indicated numerous contradictions between
the sides. Mr. Oskanian said that he cornerstone of the talks remains
the principle of national self-determination of the people of Karabakh.

Mr. Oskanian said he is authorized to state that mentioning Karabakh
in the US Department of State Human Rights Report as an "occupied
territory" is a mistake, and the US authorities will do the best to
correct it.

Referring to the inner political situation in Armenia, the Foreign
Minister emphasized holding fair democratic elections. He said that
the coming parliamentary elections will be a testimony for Armenia,
and failing it would have extremely negative consequences.