Author: Mamian George

SEYRAN OHANYAN RECEIVED AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE

Panorama.am
15:00 25/06/2008

Today the Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan has received
the Ambassador of France in Armenia Serzh Smesov, reported the
press secretary of the Defense Ministry Seyran Shahsuvaryan. In the
beginning of the meeting the Ambassador has congratulated the Minister
for his appointment.

The Minister has stated that Armenian-French relations are proved by
centuries. He said that the relationship should be strengthened in the
field of peacekeeping activities and continued that the forthcoming
military exercises in September-October implemented in Armenia would
become more worthy and effective if France takes part in it.

The sides have talked about military medical issues and the problems
of studying language. They expressed their attitudes that hopefully
the recent active communication between the countries would result
in signing military cooperation agreement.

ARMENIAN ARARATBANK COMPLETES PRIMARY PLACEMENT OF BONDS WORTH AMD 400 MILLION

ARKA
June 25

On Tuesday, Armenian Araratbank completed primary placement of nominal
non-documentary coupon bonds worth AMD 400 million.

The press office of the bank told ARKA News Agency that 51entities,
including five legal entities, subscribed for purchasing bonds.

Remarkable is that demand exceeded supply by AMD 75 million.

The press report says 40,000 bonds of AMD 10,000 nominal cost were
placed under 9% annual interest and 18-month period of redemption.

According to the report, the bonds will be listed on Armenian Stock
Exchange.

The first bond emission of Araratbank was on May 10, 2007.

The bank then issued 25,000 bonds totaling AMD 250 million.

Their yield was 8% and payments on coupons were made once in every
three months.

The bonds were listed on Armenian Stock Exchange and their stock
exchange turnover on 94 amounted to AMD 405 million.

Araratbank (legal successor of Armcommunicationbank) was founded on
September 2, 1991. On October 31, 1996, the bank received License
No. 4.

By March 31, 2008, the bank assets had amounted to 26.2bln AMD, total
capital to 5.1bln AMD. In the 1st quarter of 2008, the bank’s profit
totalled 216.9mln AMD. ($1 – AMD 302.83).

DAVID HAROUTYUNYAN: PACE REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOLUTION 1609 BY ARMENIA MAY BECOME WELL-BALANCED IF PACE ACCEPTS THE PROPOSALS OF THE ARMENIAN DELEGATION

ArmInfo
2008-06-24

PACE’s report on the implementation of PACE Resolution 1609 by
Armenia may become a well-balanced document if PACE accepts the proposals of
the Armenian delegation, the head of the Armenian delegation to PACE David
Haroutyunyan said in a talk with ArmInfo’s correspondent.

At the first glance, the resolution looks normal – quite in the style of the
Council of Europe. "Our task is to try to amend the text in such a way as to
make it effective for Armenia. After all, we haven’t come here to fight with
the CE and the CE, too, has no reason for setting unclear or unsolvable
tasks," Haroutyunyan said. This is important in the context of the search
for ways to overcome the present situation and to ensure consistent
democratic development in the country.

Touching upon the resolution’s text itself, the head of the delegation noted
that the document has a number of inaccuracies. "In particular, this
concerns draft amendments to the Criminal Code. We suggest introducing
certain amendments related to involvement of experts with the right of
advisory, not casting vote in the interim commission’s work", Haroutyunyan
stressed. He added that in case the Armenian delegation’s proposals are
accepted, the document may be considered balanced. Furthermore, the head of
the delegation pointed out the fact that PACE and the co-rapporteurs think
that the time given to Armenia for implementation of Resolution 1609 was
restricted, nevertheless, during this period of time the Armenian
authorities showed a desire to implement the Parliamentary Assembly’s
decision, and this was a part of the political program of the ruling
coalition in Armenia.

________________________________________ ________________________________
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TURKISH FLAIR AT EURO 2008
Christopher Torchia

USA Today
June 24 2008

The armies of the Ottoman Empire could not conquer Vienna. Eleven
soccer players from Turkey can.

That’s the way many Turks feel, a heady, near-mystical sense that
Turkey’s underdog run to the European Championship semifinals involves
more than goal scoring. To these fans, it’s about pride and patriotism;
ethnic identity and insecurity; centuries of conflict and coexistence;
and the prickly, modern-day relationship between Turks and the West.

"There is an unwritten condition here in this country, the desire
to show to the world what the Turks can do as a soft power," said
Huseyin Bagci, a Turkish academic. "The Turks are bringing a new
flair to Europe. It’s like putting something spicy into food."

But it’s not just us versus them. The team has showcased Turkish
skill, tenacity, and – even the most fanatic of fans grudgingly
admit – mind-bending luck in comeback wins against the Swiss, Czechs
and Croats.

Turkey’s opponent in Basel, Switzerland, on Wednesday is Germany, home
to nearly 3 million Turks, some of whom moved there as "gastarbeiter,"
or guest workers, for low-paying jobs in the 1960s. Two of Turkey’s
top players, Hamit Altintop and Hakan Balta, grew up in Germany,
came through Germany’s soccer system and play for Bundesliga teams.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Europe | Germany | Japan | Muslim | Switzerland |
World Cup | Brazil | Palestinians | South Korea | Christian | Kurdish
| Parliament | Vienna | Turkish | Gaza | Mediterranean | Croatia |
Austrian | Championship | Istanbul | Frankfurt | Club | Turks |
Bundesliga | Czechs | Senegal | Basel | Sarajevo | Armenia | Croats
| Ottoman Empire | Orhan Pamuk | Izmir | Hamit Altintop | Hurriyet
| Fatih Terim | Bosporus Strait | Vatan So Turks and Germans are
intertwined, despite questions about assimilation and racially tinged
tension that occasionally boils into violence. The bond is evident –
among Turks, at least – at places such as Manolya, a Turkish restaurant
in Frankfurt that is decorated with Turkish and German flags.

"Great! The best thing that could happen to us," waiter Celalettin
Dagan, who came to Germany when he was 7 years old, said of the
semifinal matchup between his two favorite teams. "If Germany advances,
then we will be behind them."

Turkey and the European Union are also partners, or would-be ones. The
mostly Muslim country with a secular system wants to join the European
Club, but the process is drifting badly, afflicted by European
uneasiness and Turkish aggravation with terms it says are unfair.

It’s extra sweet, then, for Turks who are dealing defeat to
European opponents, albeit on the soccer field rather than the
battlefield. Ottoman rule dissolved nearly a century ago, but the
demise of imperial glory is often blamed on the meddling of Western
colonial powers.

"Joyful Turks conquered Vienna!" the Turkish daily Hurriyet said
after Turkey’s win over Croatia in a penalty-kicks shootout in the
Austrian capital. The headline recalled Ottoman campaigns in Europe,
repelled at the strategic city of Vienna in 1529 and 1683. By the time
of the latter siege, Ottoman military prowess and economic vigor were
in decline, and Europe was in the ascent.

More than a dozen people were injured in fights between fans after
the game against Croatia on Friday night. Triumphant Turks started
many of the rumbles.

Turkey has known soccer success, finishing third in the World Cup held
in South Korea and Japan in 2002. There, its opponents included Brazil,
Senegal and Asian nations, but victory in Europe, the cradle of global
soccer, is "more important," said Gursoy Delioglu, a chemistry teacher
in Istanbul.

Delioglu will watch the Germany showdown on a boat in the Bosporus
Strait, which flows between the European and Asian sides of the
former Ottoman capital. Most fans will be land-bound; if Turkey wins,
cities will reverberate with whoops, car horns, fireworks and even
celebratory gunfire.

In Parliament on Tuesday, Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said the national team had inspired "all people around the world
who have to succeed despite difficult conditions, shortcomings and
disadvantages."

Prospects for Turkey against the experienced, relentless Germans look
grim, with key players out because of injuries and suspensions. But
Turks place hopes in coach Fatih Terim, known as the "Emperor"
because he expects total obedience, directing players like a military
commander.

Terim embodies the intense nationalism in Turkey, where some feel
their sovereignty is under threat from Kurdish rebels, Christian and
other minorities, Western powers, and accusations that Turks committed
genocide against Armenia in the early 20th century.

Turkey’s Nobel prize winner, writer Orhan Pamuk, once said Terim was an
"ultranationalist." Terim responded that Pamuk, who was prosecuted for
allegedly insulting Turkish identity, was a "deficient nationalist."

The spectacle of euphoric crowds waving the red and white national flag
makes liberal Turks nervous about possible intolerance among people who
find an outlet in soccer, while none exists in the grind of daily life.

"People just think that they are better than the rest of the world,"
said Burak Demircioglu, a free-lance translator in the Mediterranean
city of Izmir. "This is success for them. It’s all about winning."

Hasmet Babaoglu, commentator for Vatan newspaper, noted that
Palestinians in Gaza and Muslims in places like Sarajevo have supported
Turkey. The Turkish team, he said, "has become the voice of the Muslims
who are being forced to throw in the towel, but who are resisting."

Bagci, the academic, said Turkey’s success was a rare source of
unity in a country where a deep rift is emerging between pious
Muslims who back a government with a strong electoral mandate,
and the military-backed elite that believes secular ideals are
in peril. Similarly, ethnic Turks and Kurds, who have long faced
discrimination in Turkey, rally around the team.

"Nobody can explain by rationality how Turkey is scoring. We have been
wondering too," said Bagci, professor of international relations at
Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

Turkey’s soccer glory seems to validate the idea, often a hindrance
for Turkish athletes, that unruly emotion and self-belief are a better
bet than cold-blooded logic and experience. Ask Turks who will win
on Wednesday, and they tend not to assess player skills or tactical
advantages. "It’s 50/50," they say.

"Showing the power of the Turk to the entire world," goes an old
Turkish saying. On Wednesday, if defeat looms in the final minutes,
some Turks might murmur another expression: "The Turk comes to his
senses late."

TRANSBORDER IMPACTS RULED OUT DURING OPERATION OF TEGHUT MINE,
ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER CLAIMS

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The expert examination on damage as a
result of Teghut mine’s operation should be conducted for 25 and not 8
years, the prime minister Tigran Sargsian said at the June 20 meeting
with a group of experts who are against the mine’s operation. According
to him, norms rather than punitive measures should form the basis of
calculation of the possible environmental damage.

The experts presented a number of problems worrying them, in
particular, they are concerned that the wastes will cause damage to
nature. T. Sargsian ruled out the possibility of transborder impacts
during the operation of Teghut mine. He suggested developing a
methodology of calculations to specify the amount of investments,
envisaged wages and the number of new jos. As for the problem of fish
destruction in the Shnogh River, T. Sargsian noted that this river is
not for commercial fishery. The real amount of damage done to the river
will be determined based on a new methodology.

T. Sargsian informed the meeting participants that a presentation will
be organized soon to substantiate the state importance of the project.
Besides, they will conduct another two working meetings for solution of
the indicated problems.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 21 2008

New US envoy nominee for Armenia defies `genocide’ pressure

A US diplomat nominated for the Armenian ambassadorship has refused to
call killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I "genocide,"
despite pressure from a leading pro-Armenian Democratic senator.

During her confirmation hearing before the US Senate’s Foreign
Relations Committee on Thursday, career diplomat Marie Yovanovitch,
current ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, responded to a salvo of
questions posed by Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who blocked the
Bush administration’s previous nominee over the issue. Nevertheless,
Yovanovitch rejected the use of the term "genocide" to describe the
early 20th century deaths of Ottoman Armenians out of political
considerations, saying that using the term would contradict the US
administration’s policy on the issue.

Yovanovitch nonetheless used the terms "mass killings, ethnic
cleansing and forced deportation" in her opening testimony to describe
the killings.

Armenia claims Ottoman Turks killed up to 1.5 million Armenians during
World War I, toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, and labels the
killings genocide. Turkey says the killings occurred at a time of
civil conflict in which both Armenians and Turks were killed and that
the casualty figures are inflated.

When Menendez asked whether her descriptions matched the definition of
the crime of genocide outlined by the UN Convention on the Punishment
and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, to which the United States is
a party, Yovanovitch said it was the president and State Department
who set the policy for defining historic events. Menendez called it "a
shame" that career foreign service officers had not been able to use
the term, while he described the US administration policy on the use
of the term as "a ridiculous dance."

Back in 2006, then US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans reportedly had
his tour of duty in Armenia cut short by the administration because in
a social setting he referred to the killings as "genocide."

In August, the White House withdrew its nomination of a career
diplomat, Richard Hoagland, after Menendez held up confirmation
hearings because of his refusal to call World War I-era killings of
Armenians a genocide. Late in March, President George W. Bush
nominated another career diplomat, Yovanovitch, to be US ambassador to
Armenia.

Following the Senate hearing, when asked by Today’s Zaman whether he
planned to block Yovano-vitch, Menendez said: "I don’t know. I will
decide after seeing her answers to written questions as well."

US Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama is among
senators who submitted a set of questions for the record in the
importance of official recognition of Armenian killings as "genocide"
was emphasized, Today’s Zaman has learned.

Republican Senator Robert Dole and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, who
chaired the hearing on behalf of Democratic Senator Joe Biden, backed
Menendez via using the term "genocide."

While pro-Turkish-thesis senators did not make any verbal or written
statement on the issue, Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, released a
written statement in which she criticized the US policy on the
Armenian issue, especially taking into consideration the fact that the
administration has called killings in Darfur, Sudan, genocide, but
refused to do so in the Armenian case. If she can gain the Senate’s
approval after responding to written questions from the senators,
Yovanovitch will depart for Yerevan in order to take office.

21 June 2008, Saturday
ALÄ° H. ASLAN

ARMENIAN WEIGHTLIFTERS WIN TWO SILVER MEDALS IN COLUMBIA

ARMENPRESS
June 20, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS: Armenian 20 year-old weightlifter Aram
Andrikian, 85 kg, won the silver medal of youth world championship
in Columbia’s Kali.

His combined result was 341 kg.

The fist was Alexander Ivanov of Russia with 365 kg combined result.

Aram Andrikian was the second Armenian weightlifter to win a silver
medal in Kali. Earlier Arakel Mirzoyan, 69 kg, did so with 302 kg
combined result.

The first was Oleg Chirin of Russia whose combined result was 307 kg.

A MONITORING CONDUCTED

KarabakhOpen
20-06-2008 19:51:19

On June 20, in accordance with the earlier achieved agreement with
the NKR authorities the OSCE mission conducted a regular monitoring
of the contact-line of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces
eastward of the settlement of Seysulan, NKR Martakert region.

>From the positions of the NKR Defense Army the monitoring was conducted
by Coordinator of the OSCE office lieutenant colonel Imre Palatinus
(Hungary) and Field Assistant of the Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Antal Herdich (Hungary).

>From the Azeri side the monitoring group was headed by the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. No
violation of cease-fire regime was fixed.

However, the Azeri side unlike the Karabakhi one did not lead the
OSCE mission to their front lines, as a result of which the monitoring
group had to monitor from a more remote distance. Imre Palatinus drew
Ambassador Kasprzyk’s attention to that fact.

The monitoring mission from the Karabakh side was accompanied by
representatives of the NKR Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: "THERE IS A RISK OF RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES"

Today.Az
ws/politics/45828.html
June 20 2008
Azerbaijan

"As the negotiation process on the Karabakh conflict settlement
continues and the problem has not been settled completely, there is
a risk of resumption of hostilities.

Therefore, the army should be strong and ready to avert any attack",
said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan during the session with high
officer command of the Armenian armed forces.

In this sense, the head of state stressed importance of consistent
work for raising combativity of the armed forces.

"It is necessary to improve and development the armed forces, continue
reforms, conducted in the sphere of defense, which is an important
condition for strong and mighty army", said Sargsyan.

As for the connection between army and policy, he said army is
an apolitical structure and its task is to ensure security of the
country. "Military men have no right to engage in political activity",
said the President.

"It is necessary to raise public trust to army, also attracting parents
of the servicemen to the said work for any demobilized serviceman to
become the army propagandist", said the Armenian leader.

He noted that though army has the biggest trust of the society among
all state system institutions,it should not be bound only to it.

"One of the main criteria of trust is that mothers send their sons to
army being confident that they will return safe and sound, becoming
a real men and full citizens of Armenia", said Sargsyan.

Another Armenian killed at border with Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.06.2008

On June 18, another resident of Chinar village, Tavush region of
Armenia, Rafik Soghoyan, 50, was killed by an Azeri sniper from a
height controlled by the Azeri side, the RA Defense Ministry’s press
office said.

Earlier that day, Chinar-native Levon Petrosyan, 21, was shot in a
firing commenced by the Azeri side. The young man died on the way
to hospital.