Author: Nadirian Emma

ARMENIA TO JOIN ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK IN 2008

ARKA
March 11, 2008

YEREVAN, March 11. /ARKA/. Armenia is to officially join the Enterprise
Europe Network (EEN) together with Israel and Switzerland. EEN provides
services on entering the European markets to its clients, Executive
Director of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National
Center (SMEDNC) of Armenia Ishkhan Karapetian said in his interview
to ARKA agency.

The Center attaches particular importance to providing Armenian
companies with broader opportunities for offering their products and
services on European markets and for more efficient business partner
search, he said adding that Armenia is the only EEN-member country
in the region.

"Besides, we will get an access to offers of European colleagues and
an opportunity to establish business cooperation with them," he said.

The head of the Center also reported that Armenia will be receiving
information about grant projects held in EU countries with financial
component reasonable to Armenian small and medium enterprises.

"Our center will be offering interested businessmen and small and
medium enterprises a complete consulting package, including that on
the acting European legislation and standards in signing agreements
and exchange of goods," Karapetian said.

Today the EEN operates in 40 countries and consolidates 600
organizations, 23 mln small and medium enterprises and 4,000 employees.

The SMEDNC was founded in 2002. Under the state budget for 2007, 400mln
Drams were allocated for support to small and medium entrepreneurship
in Armenia. ($1=308.91Drams).

BODY OF AZERBAIJANI CIVILIAN KILLED BY ARMENIAN INVADERS WAS WITHDRAWN FROM THE BATTLE AREA

Azeri Press Agency
March 10 2008
Azerbaijan

Agdam. Teymour Guliyev – APA. Body of peaceful Azerbaijani resident,
Niyamaddin Mashallah oglu Ismailov killed by Armenian invaders in the
direction of Afatli village of Agdam Region on March 8, was withdrawn
from the neutral area.

APA Karabakh Bureau reports, Azerbaijani soldiers withdrew his body
from the area under enemy’s fire and handed over to his family.

Armenians shot dead N.Ismailov and his uncle Etibar Mikailov from
occupied Yusifjanli village on March 8. N.Ismailov’s father Mashallah
and his uncle Muzaffar Ismailov were wounded. Mashallah Ismailov
wounded in throat was put under intensive care in hospital. Doctors
said he was in hard conditions. Muzaffar Ismailov, who purchased six
bullets, was sent to the Central Clinik of Barda Region.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DISMISSED CASES

DeFacto Agency
March 10 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 10.03.08. DE FACTO. March 8 the RA Constitutional Court
rejected the cases of presidential nominees Tigran Karapetian and Levon
Ter-Petrossian on overruling the presidential elections’ results. The
CC resolved to retain the CEC decision concerning the presidential
elections’ results without alternations and to send the materials
given by plaintiffs on violations in the course of elections to the
General Procurator’s Office. March 7 the representatives of the party
of defendant and plaintiffs delivered a concluding speech.

The plaintiffs insisted that the violations in the course of elections
had been of massed and organized nature and thus influenced on the
elections’ final results. In its turn, the party of defendant noted
that the documents presented by the plaintiffs bore no relation to
elections and there was no reason-consequence connection between the
fixed violations and the elections’ results.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 9 2008

Armenian Armed Forces shot dead two civilians of Azerbaijan

[ 09 Mar 2008 13:29 ]

Aghdam. Teymur Guluyev -APA. Armenian Armed Forces have violated the
ceasefire on the frontline in Aghdam region of Azerbaijan.
APA Karabakh Bureau reports that Armenian military units fired on
civilians in Afatli village on March 8.

Niyamaddin Mashallah Ismayilov, 26, who had an underage son, was shot
dead at 20.00 in Afatli village. His uncle Etibar Misir Mikayilov,
37, was also killed when he ran towards his nephew, his father
Mashallah Farman Ismayilov, 53, and uncle Muzaffar Farman Ismayilov
were wounded.

The wounded have been to the emergency room because of serious bullet
wounds.

Because Armenian Armed Forces keep the site on target, Niyammadin
Ismayilov’s dead body has not been taken away from the place when he
was killed.

ARMENPRESS

ARMENIAN NA SPEAKER RECEIVES PETER SEMNEBY

YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS: Armenian National
Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosian received today
delegation headed by the EU Special Representative to
the South Caucasus Peter Semneby.
National Assembly press service told Armenpress
that the aim of the meeting was to discuss the
post-electoral developments which took place in the
country.
Torosian said that during the pre-electoral and
post electoral periods Armenian prime minister called
on cooperation and was underscoring the conduction of
dialogue noting that the place of criminals is in the
court after the verdict of which they will bear
responsibility and there can be no dialogue with them.
The special representative noted that the
developments which took place in Armenia during the
past week are still under the limelight of EU as
Armenia has become a serious partner for the
establishment. He confirmed the wish of EU to help in
getting out of the situation.
He noted that the adopted limitations are not
desirable saying that all the political forces must be
involved in the regulation of the situation and the
state of emergency be suspended as soon as possible,
mass media get an opportunity for free activity, the
March 1 detainees be released. He said he is pleased
that Serzh Sargsian has displayed initiative of
cooperation with the opposition and noted the
necessity of expansion of cooperation.
The NA speaker said he respects the viewpoints of
the opposition but he does not think that burning cars
is means of expression of political position. Anyone
who has committed criminal crime must get his worthy
punishment.

12 ARMENIAN TROOPS KILLED IN CLASH IN KARABAKH

Day.Az
March 4 2008
Azerbaijan

The ministry spokesman, Eldar Sabiroglu, said in a statement late in
the day that three Azerbaijani servicemen werealso killed and one
was wounded in a cease-fire violation that he called an Armenian
"provocation".

"The enemy resorted to provocation in order to divert the attention
of the international community from thebloody events and civil
confrontation in Armenia," Day.az quoted Sabiroglu as saying. "The
Azerbaijani armydisplayed great heroism, responding the enemy fittingly
and dealing him a heavy blow."

Sabiroglu added that the fighting was still underway.

The APA news agency said four Azerbaijani troops were killed in
the clash.

Armenia reported no casualties on its side.

In a statement early on 4 March, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan had blamed Azerbaijan for the violation ofthe cease-fire. He
said that the fire-fight started after the Azerbaijani army seized
an Armenian position to the north of Nagornyy Karabakh.

The region, which is home to 150,000 ethnic Armenians, broke away from
Azerbaijan following a separatist war in the1990s. Major hostilities
ended with a cease-fire in May 1994, but Nagornyy Karabakh has
remained under Armenian control along with seven adjacent districts
of Azerbaijan.

Peace talks mediated by the USA, Russia and France have yielded no
results so far.

ARMENIA – WITH NEWS MEDIA PARALYSED AND WEBSITES INACCESSIBLE, GOVERNMENT IS URGED TO LIFT STATE OF EMERGENCY

CNW Telbec (Communiques de presse)
March 6 2008
Canada

MONTREAL, March 5 /CNW Telbec/ – A 20-day state of emergency which
President Robert Kocharyan proclaimed in the capital Yerevan on 1
March is having a serious impact on the activity of the news media,
Reporters Without Borders said today. The emergency was declared
after clashes between security forces and opposition protesters who
say last month’s presidential election as rigged.

"This authoritarian decision to liable to reinforce part of the
population’s resentment of the lack of real free expression in
Armenia," the press freedom organisation said. "We urge the authorities
to lift the state of emergency so that the media can resume working
normally and report on the circumstances in which force was used in
clashes leaving a toll of eight dead and more than 130 wounded."

Under the state of emergency, all news media are required to use only
official information in their domestic coverage. Reporters Without
Borders has learned that access to several online news publications –
including the news agency A1+ (), the opposition newspaper
Haykakan Jamanak () and website of the daily Aravot
() – has been blocked by their hosting service provider,
Arminco Ltd, on the orders of the security services.

The programmes of Radio Free Europe, the only foreign radio station to
broadcast in Armenian, have been replaced by music, and the station’s
website is also inaccessible.

Three pro-government dailies – Azg, Hayastani Hanrapetutyun and
Hayots Ashxar – continue to be published but one of the most popular
newspapers, Aravot, did not appear yesterday. The issue was banned
by the security services after it was sent to the printer’s. The
newspaper’s staff then decided to publish blank pages in protest but
they were prevented from doing this as well. Other newspapers such
as Haykakan Jamanak and 168 Zham were not published either.

A complaint has been brought against Levon Barseghyan, the president
of the "Asparez" journalists club in Gyumri, the second largest
city (125 km north of Yerevan), accusing him of organising illegal
gatherings. He has denied this, and his denial has been supported by
several witnesses, but his trial is due to start within a few days.

At least three journalists have had run-ins with the police in
Gyumri. Radio Free Europe correspondent Satenik Vantsyan was hit by
police officers. Nune Arevshatyan of Aravot was manhandled by policemen
who took her camera. And Armine Vardanyan of local television station
Gala TV was arrested while doing her a report and her equipment was
confiscated, including the video she had filmed just before her arrest.

Many journalists have criticised the vagueness of the directive
banning the use of unofficial information as it complicates their
work. When they interview members of the government, for example,
they often do not know whether they can publish the information.

The TV stations are under especially close surveillance. The national
news reports and information they are providing are in fact being
broadcast by police press officers. Not only is the video footage
the same but also the analyses and comments.

For further information: Katherine Borlongan, secretary general,
Reporters Without Borders, (514) 521-4111, Cell: (514) 258-4208, Fax:
(514) 521-7771, [email protected]

‘ORINATS YERKIR’ PARTY LEADER MEET DELEGATION HEADED BY EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR SOUTH CAUCASUS

arminfo
2008-03-05 13:42:00

ArmInfo. "Orinats Yerkir" party leader Artur Baghdasaryan met Special
Representative of the European Union for South Caucasus Peter Semneby
and members of the delegation he heads.

As the party’s press-service reports, the issues related to the
post-election situation in Armenia, were discussed during the
meeting. P. Semneby congratulated A. Baghdasaryan in view of creation
of a new political coalition and expressed hope that the trust of 70%
of electors, who voted for Serzh Sargsyan and Artur Baghdasaryan,
may become a good basis for deepening of the democratic reforms
in the country. The parties emphasized importance of solving the
legal problems, available in the country, in the legal field and the
political problems – in the political field.

CAUCASIAN DEATHS TEST THE KOSOVO EFFECT

Foreign Policy Passport
March 5 2008

PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty ImagesAs many as 16 soldiers died Tuesday in
a clash between Azeri and Armenian forces in the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh. The province, located within Azerbaijan, was
the site of large-scale violence and civilian relocation in the early
1990s after ethnic Armenians declared it independent. Warring parties
signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994, but the self-run province
remains largely unrecognized abroad and isolated from the world,
thanks to an Azeri blockade.

As reports of the clash reached the Azeri public, President Ilham
Aliyev declared his country’s readiness to use force in order to
retake the province:

We have been buying military machinery, airplanes and ammunition to
be ready to liberate the occupied territories, and we are ready to
do this."

Indeed, tensions have been escalating for a while — in November,
Azerbaijan’s defense minister said the chances of war were "close
to 100 percent." Nonetheless, Azerbaijan blames the Armenians for
yesterday’s violence, claiming they forced an attack in order to draw
attention away from the riots and deadly violence that gripped their
capital over the weekend. Armenia, in turn, accuses Azerbaijan of
exploiting Armenia’s internal struggles to advance its own territorial
claims.

Aliyev’s speech came in part as a reaction to Kosovo’s recent
declaration of independence. Azerbaijan staunchly opposes independence
for Kosovo, fearing that Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh could
see international recognition of Kosovo as a green light for its
own full independence. U.S. officials may repeat the refrain that
"Kosovo does not constitute any precedent whatsoever," but clearly,
plenty of other countries and regions see it as exactly that.

VICTOR SOGHOMONYAN: DIALOGUE WITH OPPOSITION MAKES NO SENSE NOW

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.03.2008 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It was possible to establish dialogue with the
opposition before the disorders, now it makes no sense to speak of
it, Armenian President’s spokesman Victor Soghomonyan told a news
conference in Yerevan.

"Cooperation was repeatedly proposed to Ter-Petrosyan during the
election campaign but he refused. What can we speak about with people
who incited disorders that claimed human lives," he said, adding that
all those guilty of March 1-2 disorders will answer for their deeds.