Author: Nadirian Emma

FIRST ARMENIAN DELEGATION OFF TO BEIJING FOR OLYMPIC GAMES

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.07.2008 22:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On July 31, the first Armenian delegation is
departing for Beijing to participate in the 29th Summer Olympic Games,
said Natella Hovasapyan, spokesperson for the Armenian National
Olympic Committee. "The initial delegation included judoists and
rifleman Norayr Bakhtamyan. The other sportsmen will leave for the
Chinese capital from August 1 to 7," she said.

The Armenian delegation totals 60 members. 25 sportsmen – rifleman,
swimmer, weightlifters, wrestlers, boxers, judoists and athletes –
will represent our country. The delegation is led by Gagik Tsarukyan,
President of the Armenian Olympic Committee.

"The Olympic Games open on August 8. Rifleman Norayr Bakhtamyan,
judoist Hovhannes Davtyan and boxer Andranik Hakobyan will start
competition on August 9," Ms. Hovasapyan said, Novosti Armenia reports.

DEFENSE MINISTER RECEIVED EXPERTS’ GROUP

Panorama.am
20:01 01/08/2008

The Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan received the experts’ group
from the US military-civic relations center, reported the press
secretary of the Ministry.

In the beginning of the meeting the Minister thanked the expert group
for the complete discussion-assessment which will be effectively used
in security and defense spheres.

The Minister said that a separate group or even a separate department
should deal with the defense strategy improvement activities in
defense system. The officials notified the importance to overview
the defense systems in Armenia and Azerbaijan in a reporting time.

CBA APPROVES PROCEDURE FOR INFORMING BANK ABOUT VIOLATIONS BY STOCK MARKET PARTICIPANTS

ARKA
July 31, 2008

YEREVAN, July 31. /ARKA/. The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) approved
the regulations 5/05 on controlled market operator’s reporting to
the Central Bank on violations committed by accountable issuers and
participants of controlled market.

The Central Bank also amended the procedure for Armenia’s commercial
banks to form and use reserve for possible losses on investments in
securities and the Regulations 3/09 on the procedure for classification
of assets of insurance companies, formation and use of reserves for
possible losses.

ISSUE OF CHANGING TARIFF FOR GAS IMPORTED FROM RUSSIA TO BE DECIDED IN SEPTEMBER

Noyan Tapan

Ju ly 30, 2008

YEREVAN, JULY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The preparatory work of construction
of oil processing factory in Armenia with the participation of Iran
and Russia continues. A meeting of the respective working groups will
be held in September 2008, during which factory construction programs
and terms of their implementation will be made clear. Armen Movsisian,
the RA Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, said on July 30.

According to him, the construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
proceeds according to the schedule. It may be finished ahead of the
schedule, by the end of the year.

Touching upon the issue of change of the tariff for Russian gas
imported to Armenia, A. Movsisian said that signing of an agreement
with the Gazprom company regulating the issue is envisaged in
September.

ARMENIA: MAJOR ROAD REPAIR TO BE OVER BY 2011

Esmerk
Express.am
July 30, 2008 Wednesday

According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Armenia,
300 kilometres of motorways are to be repaired in the country by
2011. The project investments will total US$ 67mn (EUR 42.87mn). 25
kilometres will be repaired in 2008, the remaining 275 kilometres
are to be ready by 2010. US$ 41.9mn more will be provided by the
Asian Development Bank to repair 227 kilometres more. The first 109
km will be completed in 2009, the remaining 118 km in 2010.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE HEAD SAYS KARABAKH CONFLICT TO BE SETTLED PEACEFULLY

ArmInfo News Agency in Russian
July 24 2008
Armenia

The Council of Europe sees settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict in the framework of international law and exclusively in
a peaceful way, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe [PACE], Lluis Maria de Puig, has said at a meeting
with the Armenian delegation to the Assembly.

The PACE’s president said that he recognizes both the principle of
the territorial integrity of states and the right of nations for
self-determination. "Notwithstanding that the Council of Europe did
not play an essential role in the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict, it can, upon necessity, make its contribution to organize a
dialogue at the level of meetings between MPs of the two countries,"
the PACE’s president said. He added that he considers it necessary to
provide full assistance to the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group on
settlement of the Karabakh conflict, which, as he put, "makes great
efforts to this end".

ARMENIA’S PM: KOSOVO SHOULD BE USED AS PRECEDENT IN N.-KARABAKH

Interfax News Agency
July 23 2008
Russia

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan insisted on Wednesday
that Armenia use Kosovo’s independence as a precedent in seeking
international recognition for the de-facto independence of Nagorno-
Karabakh, a disputed Armenian-speaking enclave in Azerbaijan.

Sargsyan made his point at a meeting at a youth summer camp.

ARFD WILL ORGANIZE ACTIONS OF PROTEST DURING TURKISH PRESIDENT’S POSSIBLE VISIT TO ARMENIA, ARMEN RUSTAMIAN WARNS

NOYAN TAPAN

JU LY 23

There is an atmosphere of non-announced war between Armenia
and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh issue, while there is a
non-announced conflict in Armenia-Turkey relations. Armen Rustamian,
a representative of the ARFD Armenian Supreme Body, stated at the July
23 press conference. According to him, to normalize Armenian-Turkish
relations that conflict should be first of all liquidated, the
cause of which is Turkey’s policy of speaking with Armenia with
preconditions. "These preconditions, in fact, are ultimatums,"
A. Rustamian said adding that Turkey continues active diplomatic work
in the direction of denying the Armenian Genocide. Even in the context
of improving Armenian-Turkish relations, according to the ARFD figure,
Dashnaktsutiun is against making the Genocide a subject of bargaining.

A. Rustamian touched upon former RA President Robert Kocharian’s
statement that if he continued ruling Armenia, in difference to Serzh
Sargsyan, he would not invite the Turkish President to Armenia to
watch football.

Mentioning that he considers commenting upon politicians’ statements
a thankless task, A. Rustamian said that in any case, high-ranking
Turkish officials do not make such mutually exclusive statements
over the most important issues as former and current Armenian
authorities do.

As regards Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s possible visit to Armenia,
the ARFD RA Supreme Body representative warned that in case he arrives
in Armenia ARFD is going to organize actions of protest.

VISIT OF PACE PRESIDENT TO ARMENIA

National Assembly of RA
July 22 2008
Armenia

On July 22 Mr Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), will arrive in Yerevan.

On July 23 in the National Assembly his meetings are foreseen with the
members of NA delegation in PACE, Heritage faction, NA parliamentary
majority and the NA Ad-hoc Inquiry Committee into the Events Occurred
on 1-2 March 2008 in Yerevan and Their Reasons.

On the same day a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of
Armenia is scheduled, meetings will be also with the representatives
of the NGOs, ambassadors of CE member-countries and Mr Levon
Ter-Petrosian.

On July 24 meetings are foreseen with the President of the Republic
of Armenia Mr Serzh Sargsyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly of
the Republic of Armenia Mr Tigran Torosyan, the RA Foreign Minister Mr
Edward Nalbandyan, Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Mr Armen Harutyunyan
and the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.

–Boundary_(ID_9d7Z6zuJLg4EVZWm47l7Lg)–

ARMENIA CHANGES ITS POSITION ON FALSE "GENOCIDE" ISSUE

Azeri Press Agency
July 21 2008
Azerbaijan

"We have to prefer not anti-Turk, but pro-Armenian mentality", said
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan at the meeting with Diaspora’s
young representatives, APA quotes Arminfo.

He said enmity shouldn’t take root in the public sense and shouldn’t
turn into dominant mind. "You tell me that Diaspora makes big efforts
for solution to the genocide issue, but such attitude is harmful for
our people first. We need in large sense to find right decisions. Our
main goal shouldn’t be a confrontation with anyone, but improving
welfare of our people. It doesn’t mean that the government doesn’t
desire recognition of genocide. We have to develop our economy and to
think about welfare of our citizens alongside with that". Responding
the question about possibility of economic ties with the countries
which have negative relations with Armenia, Sargsyan reminded about
calls for inadmissibility of any relations with those countries. "There
are such people who don’t wear Turkish jacket or don’t use Turkish
toothpaste. Of course we have to struggle for restoration of historic
justice and our national dignity, but we can’t do that with household
means".

Recently Armenia has sent warm messages to Turkey and insinuates that
it will not insist on international recognition of false "genocide",
the fundamental problem between the two countries.