Author: Maghakian Mike

RA FM: THERE IS PRELIMINARY AGREEMENT ON VISIT OF COCHAIRMEN TO YEREVAN ON JANUARY 15-18

arminfo
2008-01-11 14:12:00

ArmInfo. RA Foreign Ministry confirmed probability of OSCE MG
co-chairs’ visit to Yerevan on January 15-18, RA FM’s spokesman
Vladimir Karapetyan told ArmInfo.

He said that ambiguities with the co-chairs’ visit terms were
conditioned by the visit of Armenia’s president to France. "There is
a preliminary agreement on the co-chairs’ visit within these terms",
V. Karapetyan said. To recall, RA President Robert Kocharyan left
for France yesterday, where he will undergo examination in one of
the ophthalmological clinics.

As APA reports, the co-chairs will visit Baku on January 13-15,
Yerevan – on January 15-18, Stepanakert – on January 18-21 and Tbilisi
– on January 21-22.

LEVON TER-PETROSIAN STATED THAT HE WILL DEEPEN THE RELATIONS OF ARMENIA WITH RUSSIA

Mediamax
January 11, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Ex-President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian stated
in Yerevan today that in the years of his rule, "Armenian-Russian
relations were the most balanced, correct and mutually beneficial".

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Levon Ter-Petrosian stated that "those were not relations of a vassal
and a suzerain".

The Ex-President stated that in case he comes to power, he is going
to develop and deepen the relations with Russia.

"I WANT TO MEET WITH 9 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES"

A1+
[06:31 pm] 10 January, 2008

While talking about the presidential candidates, representatives of
NGOs and other organizations in Armenia, Secretary General of the
Council of Europe Terry Davis and the OSCE Needs Assessment Mission
have pointed out that the most obvious violation before 19 February
presidential election is the unequal conditions for the presidential
candidates in the information field.

Members of the OSCE observation mission refused to answer to the
question of "A1+", in favor of which candidate the principles of
equality are violated by the mass media and advised to read the Needs
Assessment Mission Report.

OSCE/ODIHR media analyst Ivan Godarsky was involved in the monitoring
of mass media in the pre-election period. Ambassador Geert-Hinrich
Ahrens, head of the observation mission also reflected on the primary
role of the mass media in the elections. "The role of mass media can
be decisive in the elections", said Mr Ahrens. He raised the issue
during the meetings with the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs and the
Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission. "I want to meet with all
presidential candidates, judicial authorities and the representatives
of NGOs. I also want to meet the long-term observers in the regions",
said the head of the OSCE observation mission.

The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutes and Human Rights (ODIHR)
opened an election observation mission today for the presidential
election in Armenia on 19 February. Besides 11 core staff of the
mission, 28 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the
country on 15 January.

Mr Ahrens also informed that 250 short-term observers would be deployed
immediately prior to the election.

They will monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the
counting of ballots and the tabulation of results. Mr Ahrens, who
headed the OSCE observation mission during the election in Ukraine in
2004, declared that they would asses the electoral process in terms
of its compliance with OSCE commitments for democratic elections,
other international standards and national legislation. Before 19
February, the OSCE observers will present 2 interim reports, the next
day of the election they will present their assessment, and the last
one they will release in 2 months after the election.

The head of the OSCE mission mentioned that the OSCE has never
conducted an exit poll, and it is the US Government’s intention to
conduct an exit poll in Armenia.

"We can use it as information and analyze it, but we cannot consider
the results of the exit poll decisive for the final results of
election", said Ambassador Greet-Hinrich Ahrens.

30 PERCENT OF SCALES ARE ACCURATE

Lragir
Jan 10 2008
Armenia

On the eve of New Year besides the soaring prices of goods the problem
of underweight aggravated, which persists always. The problem of
underweight was raised by the head of the Protection of Consumers’
Rights NGO Abgar Yeghoyan in a news conference on January 10 at the
Pastark Club.

According to him, there is no checking of scales on the consumer
market, only 6 thousand scales were checked in Armenia. "Two kinds
of scales are used in Armenia, mechanical and electronic. According
to the National Institute of Measurement, last year 6000 scales were
checked. According to the law on common measurements, the scales much
be checked for accuracy once a year. On average, there are 20-25
thousand scales in Armenia used in shops, excluding scales used in
outdoor trade," Abgar Yeghoyan says.

According to him, a breach is fined 50-100 thousand drams. Abgar
Yeghoyan says income from short weight is multiple, and a businessman
prefers to pay a fine of 100 thousand drams from his income from
short weight goods. Abgar Yeghoyan proposes raising the fine from
100 thousand to 250 thousand drams.

ANKARA, WASHINGTON CAP STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP IN PRESIDENTIAL TALKS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 9 2008

Turkish and US presidents yesterday confirmed the two NATO allies’
strategic partnership over a wide range of issues after a period
of turmoil in ties over Iraq and US inaction on the presence of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

Speaking after a meeting with President Abdullah Gul at the White
House, US President George W. Bush called Turkey a major "strategic
partner" and said relations with Turkey are stronger now. The US
president also reiterated that the PKK was a common enemy for the
United States and Turkey as well as for the people who want to live in
peace and added that Washington was ready to work with Turkey against
the group to promote peace. "We are long-standing allies and we share
common values," said Gul for his part, noting that Turkish-US relations
have an impact not only on the two countries but also on the region
and on global politics. Gul also said he and Bush confirmed that the
cooperation against the PKK would continue.

Positive comments from the two leaders were no surprise as the visit,
the first by a Turkish president to the White House in nearly 12
years, came amid a spring mood in Turkish-US relations that followed
successful efforts to win US cooperation in the fight against the
PKK. Bush said the outcome of the talks was in line with expectations,
explaining that this is the natural result when two friends sit down
in a room and talk.

The two leaders also discussed energy and the situation in the Middle
East in their meeting, which came just before Bush departed for a
tour of the Middle East. Bush also supported Turkey’s troubled bid
to join the European Union, saying the EU will benefit if Turkey joins.

Gul met Bush for a meeting and lunch, attended also by Foreign Minister
Ali Babacan, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and Economy Minister Mehmet
Þimþek. Prior to the meeting with Bush, he met Vice President Dick
Cheney at the White House and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
over breakfast.

The visit came after landmark talks between Bush and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoðan on Turkish-US cooperation against the PKK in
early November, which Gul said opened a new era in relations and ended
a period of turmoil between the two countries. Bush then offered
Turkey a commitment to cooperate in the fight against the PKK and
since then, the US has assisted a series of air strikes against PKK
targets in northern Iraq by providing intelligence about the group
and not objecting to strikes by Turkish jet fighters.

"It is a fact that there has been some turmoil in relations in past
years. But today this has been overcome and a climate of confidence has
emerged," Gul told journalists aboard his plane en route to Washington.

The extensive agenda of Gul’s talks with Bush, analysts comment, is
the sign of a sharp improvement in relations, which, over the past
five years, have been mostly confined to disagreements over Iraq and
the PKK. Having mostly left aside the acrimony over the PKK dispute,
the two countries are now able to discuss cooperation on a wider
range of issues, said analysts.

Gul said in his Monday comments that on almost all of the major
regional issues, Turkey and the United States were on the same page and
that he would clearly express Ankara’s stance on regional issues, since
Turkey is one of the countries that best understands the Middle East.

Tension in ties with the US goes back to 2003, during the buildup to
the Iraq war. The Turkish Parliament then rejected US requests to send
troops into Iraq through Turkish territory. In the following years,
the US Congress also did its share to poison the atmosphere.

Despite pleas from the Bush administration and personal appeals from
Gul, who served as foreign minister at the time, and other prominent
Turks, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives
passed a nonbinding resolution last year that described the World
War I-era deaths of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman
Empire as genocide.

Revealing the depth of the crisis, a poll last summer showed just 9
percent of Turks saw the US favorably.

Gul’s visit comes amid an improvement in the US image in Turkey. But it
also marks a change of stance in Washington towards Gul, who, as the
prime minister in 2003, was widely blamed among US neo-conservatives
for Parliament’s rejection of US requests for cooperation in the Iraq
war. Gul’s reception by Bush at the White House shows that the era
of mistrust of Gul in certain segments of the US administration is
over now, according to Turkish analysts.

Before his official meetings at the White House on Tuesday, Gul
visited an exhibition of paintings by Turkish artists. The exhibition
was jointly organized by the Turkish Central Bank and the US Federal
Reserve.

Gul was accompanied by his wife, Hayrunnisa, and by Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan. Gul will meet Defense Secretary Robert Gates
on Wednesday before flying to New York to meet at the United Nations
with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), presidential
spokesman Hasan Ercakýca said he expected Gul to convey the Turkish
Cypriot expectations and their position on efforts to restart
reunification talks to the United States and the United Nations.

While in the United States, he is also to meet with representatives
of the Meskhetian Turks. A minority group ousted from the Soviet
Republic of Georgia. The Meskhetians were bounced around to other
Soviet republics until settling in Krasnodar Krai in southern Russia.

The timing of Gul’s visit has been a contentious issue in Turkey,
with critics saying it was not necessary to pay a top-level visit
to the United States just two months after a landmark visit by Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan in November. In Ankara, main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal claimed such
visits may lose their importance if they take place too often.

Others, however, say Erdoðan’s visit was focused particularly on one
issue, namely that of cooperation against the PKK, while Gul’s talks
in Washington are about everything that concerns Turkish-US relations.

–Boundary_(ID_AwUQvH4vMu0QP9Kx/9NxDQ) —

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I RECEIVES SEASON’S GREETINGS

Catholicos Aram I conveyed good wishes and greetings on the occasion of
Christmas and the New Year to the spiritual leaders of several churches as
well as governmental, political and diplomatic figures. He received
greetings from the former president of Lebanon, the Prime Minister, the
Speaker of Parliament, former prime ministers and Parliament speakers.
Former president Emine Jemayyel personally visited the Catholicos in
Antelias to convey his wishes for the holiday season to him.

On this occasion the Catholicos also held phone conversations with the
President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian, Catholicos Karekin II
of All Armenians and Prime Minister Serge Sarksian exchanging good wishes.

The Christmas Liturgy officiated in Antelias on the occasion of Christmas on
January 6 was broadcast live on the satellite channels of LBC and Tele
Lumiere which allowed Armenians worldwide to follow the service in the
Cathedral in Antelias and listen to the Pontiff’s sermon.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

TURKEY SAYS TO AMEND LAW CURBING FREE SPEECH
By Hidir Goktas

San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Reuters
Jan 7 2008

ANKARA – Turkey’s government, under pressure from the European Union,
will propose changes this week to a law that has been used to prosecute
writers and is widely seen as a major obstacle to Ankara’s troubled
EU membership bid.

Article 301 of the penal code makes it a crime to insult ‘Turkishness’
and has been used to prosecute Nobel Literature Laureate Orhan Pamuk
and many other writers and journalists.

Advertisement’The change in article 301 … will be presented to
parliament as a proposal this week,’ Justice Minister Mehmet Ali
Sahin told a news conference on Monday.

Sahin gave no details of the proposed changes, but a justice ministry
official told Reuters the revised article would make it a crime to
insult ‘the Turkish people’ instead of the vaguer ‘Turkishness’.

Also, the justice ministry would have to give its permission in
future for cases to be opened under article 301, the official said,
a move that should prevent nationalist prosecutors with their own
political agenda from exploiting the law.

Tackling article 301 has become a litmus test of Turkey’s commitment
to reforms for the EU, which opened formal accession talks with the
large Muslim but secular country in 2005.

Ankara’s EU negotiations have slowed to a crawl amid disputes over
human rights and Cyprus.

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has recommended that the EU not
extend accession talks to the justice dossier until the article has
been changed.

NATIONALISTS

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has
repeatedly pledged to amend article 301, but analysts say it has been
treading warily despite its large parliamentary majority for fear of
sparking a nationalist backlash.

Despite the high-profile cases brought under the law, it remains
broadly popular among the Turkish public. Defenders of article 301
point out that few cases end with a conviction.

Pamuk, whose own case was dropped on a legal technicality, upset
nationalist prosecutors with his comments about the mass killings of
ethnic Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-16.

Ankara denies Armenian accusations, which are backed by many Western
historians, that the killings amounted to systematic genocide. Most
Turks view the genocide tag as an insult to their national honour.

Supporters of Turkey’s EU bid hope amending article 301 will help put
the accession process back on track, but Ankara faces opposition from
French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel say Turkey is too big
and too culturally different ever to fit in the EU and want Ankara
to accept instead a ‘privileged partnership’ falling well short of
membership, a proposal Erdogan has rejected.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

THE BEIRUT MARONITE ARCHBISHOP VISITS CATHOLICOS ARAM I

The Beirut Maronite Archbishop, Mgr Boulos Matar visited the Catholicosate
of Cilicia on January 3 and held talks with His Holiness Aram I.

The two discussed the continuous postponement of the presidential elections
in Lebanon. Archbishop Matar conveyed Patriarch Sfeir’s thoughts on the
issue.

The Armenian Pontiff and his guest also talked about the reorganization of
the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). The MECC Assembly last month
elected Catholicos Aram I as one of the presidents of the Council.
Archbishop Matar asked the Catholicos to employ his long experience in the
ecumenical field in the service of reviewing MECC’s mission and activities
in the region.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

Russia & CIS General Newswire
December 28, 2007 Friday 7:36 PM MSK

Intl bodies invited to monitor Armenian presidential election

YEREVAN Dec 28

Armenia’s parliament has invited international organizations to send
observers to the Armenian presidential election on February 19, the
speaker said.

Invitations have gone to the parliamentary assemblies of the Council
of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, to the European Parliament and to the Interparliamentary
Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Tigran Torosian
told Interfax.

Torosian expressed hope that both short and long-term observers would
come.

It would be finally clear by January 10 which organizations would
monitor the election, he said.

Forbes, NY
Dec 26 2007

Armenian banks’ credit outlook stable – Moody’s
12.26.07, 12:20 AM ET

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) – Moody’s Investors Service the credit
outlook for rated Armenian banks is stable, reflecting an evolving
regulatory framework, buoyant credit growth, low banking penetration,
robust aggregate capitalisation and good asset quality.

In its new banking system outlook for the country, the ratings agency
said these strengths are offset by the challenging operating
environment, potential for accelerated asset quality deterioration
due to the unseasoned nature of loan portfolios, and real concerns
regarding operating risk due to under-developed infrastructure.

Moody’s (nyse: MCO – news – people ) said the Armenian banking sector
has undergone considerable consolidation in the past decade after the
banking sector turmoil of the mid-1990s and subsequent tightening of
prudential regulations.

Moody’s said it notes that the system, comprising twenty-one banks,
remains highly fragmented, however, the four largest banks control
45.54 pct of total banking system assets and the ten largest banks
79.61 pct.

The ratings agency said the Armenian banking sector lacks economies
of scale in its current structure, resulting in low productivity and
thereby raising the potential for further market consolidation.

Moody’s said it notes that Armenia’s regulation is improving from a
historically low base, and could benefit from further refinement and
better infrastructure and risk controls.

Moody’s said it maintains a generally positive view regarding banks’
efforts to expand their retail and mortgage lending operations,
although the rating agency emphasises that fast credit expansion
could result in elevated non-performing loans (NPLs) for the system
in an economic downturn, particularly as loan portfolios are not
seasoned.

As the country’s nascent banking sector evolves and the sector’s loan
book term structure lengthens, Moody’s said it expects NPLs to grow
to levels observed in other countries at similar stages of
development.

The weight of foreign-currency loans as a proportion of total loans
has decreased significantly in recent years, from a high of 78 pct of
total loans in 2002 to around 42 pct towards the end of 2007.

‘If the weight of foreign currency-denominated loans continues to
contract at current rates, our concerns are likely to be alleviated,’
Fimi Gostanian, a Moody’s senior associate said.