Author: Nahapetian Boris

EX MAYORS ABOUT THEIR FAULTS

Panorama.am
20:02 07/02/2007

Ex mayors of Yerevan Vahagn Khachatryan, Souren Abrahamyan and Albert
Bazeyan were today the guests of "Mirror" club. All they during their
speeches said that the problems in Yerevan are much. Moreover, they
think that they are increasing gradually. So we asked, what was the
share of their fault for the current situation of the city.

"My fault is that I left the position of the mayor. I have been a
good mayor", Souren Abrahamyan said.

"I have worked as a mayor for one year and few months, of course,
and that is I have my share of fault", Alber Bazeyan noted.

And Vahagn Khachatryan does not want to assess his activities. "In
my opinion you should be the appraiser", he said and added – At any
rate, if we can walk in the city, keeping our heads lifted, then I
feel well. I understand that I have really earned the right to live
in the city"

GEORGIA FOR GOODNEIGHBOUR RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
February 7, 2007 Wednesday 01:56 PM EST

Georgia is for "the development of goodneighbourly relations with all
neighbour countries," President Mikhail Saakashvili said on Wednesday
at the ceremony of signing the agreement on the construction of the
Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish railway Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku,
"It is important to us that not one country of the region be isolated,
not one country be left out," Saakashvili said. "We are for equal,
close and goodneighbourly relations with Armenia, as the Transcaucasian
countries have no way but joint development," the said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Gegam Gariabdzhanyan said in January that
his country "is ready to open the border with Turkey" and to get
linked up to the railway.

Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan began discussing the construction of
the railway back in the 90s, and the negotiations became intensive last
year. To implement the agreement, Georgia will restore 162 kilometres
and build 29 kilometres of the railway, to stretch from Akhalkalaki
to the Turkish border, while Turkey will lay out 75 kilometres of
the railway line. Azerbaijan will give to Georgia a low-interest
one-percent credit for 25 years to a sum of 300 million dollars,
to be repaid by profits from the railway’s operation. Turkey will
bear the expenditures for the construction of the Turkish stretch of
the railway.

ARMENIAN ARMY EFFICIENCY DOESN’T DEPEND ON SIZE OF U.S. AID

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.02.2007 17:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ If the U.S. can explain disparity in military aid to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, it will be possible to make comments, RA Deputy
Defense Minister, lieutenant general Artur Aghabekyan said in Yerevan
today. In his words, the United States should prove that violation
of parity will not have any impact of the regional security. "This
story repeats itself every year and then parity is restored. Let’s
live and see. I should stress that the efficiency of the Armenian
army doesn’t depend on the size of U.S. assistance. However, the
international community should be sure that neither of conflicting
sides receives more armament than the other," Artur Aghabekian said.

The Bush Administration, in its FY2008 federal budget, has proposed
a 49% cut in aid to Armenia, and is – once again – seeking to break
the agreement it struck with Congress more than five years ago to
maintain parity in military aid levels to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The
President’s budget recommends cutting U.S. economic aid to Armenia from
the FY2006 actual level of $69 million to a proposed FY2008 level of
$35 million.ANCA (Armenian National Committee of America) reports,
that moreover, the budget proposal does not include any specific
assistance figures for Nagorno Karabakh. The proposed military aid
cuts come in two broad categories, Foreign Military Financing (FMF)
and International Military Education and Training (IMET).

The proposed FY2008 FMF figure for Armenia is $3 million, a cut of
$960,000, fully 30% less than the proposed FY2008 figure for Azerbaijan
of $4.3 million.

The President is seeking only $300,000 in IMET for Armenia, down
$538,000 from FY2006, a dramatic cut of 64%. In sharp contrast, the
White House is proposing that Azerbaijan receive $1 million in IMET,
a considerable increase over their FY2006 level of $823,000 and more
than three times the IMET levels being proposed for Armenia. Overall,
the President’s budget proposes 38% less in U.S. military aid for
Armenia than for Azerbaijan.

TURKEY-U.S.: PKK AND KIRKUK HIGH ON FOREIGN MINISTER’S WASHINGTON AGENDA

AKI, Italy
Feb 6 2007

Washington, 6 Feb. (AKI) – Turkish foreign minister Abdullah
Gul continued his three day visit to the United States on Tuesday
including a meeting with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in
Washington set to focus on Turkey’s fight against Kurdish separatism
and the status of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. In particular, Gul and his
American counterpart are expected to discuss the presence in Northern
Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from where Ankara alleges
it launches attacks against Turkey.

Ankara also opposes Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region’s claim of
sovereignity over the oil-rich region of Kirkuk whose population
includes ethnic Turkmen, Arabs as well as Kurds.

Gul is expected to seek Washington’s support to curb PKK activity
and to thwart Kurdistan’s ambitions in Kirkuk.

Gul raised the issues in meetings with US Vice President Dick Cheney
and US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley on Monday.

Besides Iraq and the PKK, Gul will also try to prevent Washington
from recognising that the early 20th century massacre of Armenians
under the Ottomans was a genocide.

A resolution introduced last week in the House of Representatives,
the US Congress’ lower house, calls on the Bush administration and
Congress to classify the massacre, which Ankara says never took place,
as a genocide.

While Bush’s administration opposes the measure, the new Democratic
leadership in Congress is sympathetic towards it.

On Wednesday, Gul is scheduled to meet US top Democrat officials to
convince not to support the Armenian genocide legislation.

ARMENIAN DEPUTY MINISTER HOPES FOR GREATER CIVILIAN PRESENCE IN DEFENCE SECTOR

Arminfo
5 Feb 07

Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Lt-Gen Artur Agabekyan has said that
the introduction of civilian elements in the defence sector is one
of the most important goals of the country’s military reform process,
the Arminfo news agency reported at 1023 gmt on 5 February.

The agency quoted Agabekyan as telling the seminar "Strengthening
civilian control over the security sector", which was organized
in Yerevan jointly by the Defence Ministry and the George Marshall
European Centre for Security Studies, "On the basis of the bill on a
special civilian service, which has been developed and will shortly
be presented in parliament, new civilian posts will be introduced in
the ministry and the defence sector and their activities will not be
directly connected to military ones."

Agabekyan said that existing defence legislation does not correspond
to current realities and impedes the democratization and modernization
of the armed forces. "The activity of the armed forces is regulated
by laws that were adopted about 10 years ago, and our task is to
bring these laws into line with contemporary demands," he said.

At 1120 gmt, Arminfo quoted Agabekyan as telling journalists that the
goal of Armenia’s security sector reform has never been to join NATO.

Agabekyan said that Armenian policy involves cooperation with NATO
and also in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) with
Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. He
said that this cooperation is ultimately aimed at modernizing defence
systems.

"It is necessary to approach the process of defence reform
comprehensively, and reforms can be classified in three stages:
management of conceptual principles; development of military doctrine;
and implementation of legislative reforms. The reform process has
begun and will be completed in 2015. This process includes the task
of modernizing the army and the entire defence system, enhancing
security and eliminating potential threats," he said.

He said that the development of the military doctrine should be
completed this year.

At 1003 gmt, Arminfo quoted the deputy director of the German Marshall
Centre, Maj-Gen Horst Schmalfeld as saying that it is up to Armenia to
decide for itself how closely it wishes to develop relations with NATO.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 1 2007

Abdulla Gul to visit US to impede bill on so-called Armenian genocide

[ 01 Feb. 2007 12:48 ]

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdulla Gul will pay an official visit to
the US next week, APA Turkish bureau reports.

The minister will meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Stephen
Hadley, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Tom Lantos
and the representatives of Jewish lobby within his visit on February
4-9. The main themes to be discussed at the meeting will be the bill
on the so-called Armenian genocide and PKK. Abdulla Gul is said to
voice a message to official Washington on stooping strategic alliance
between the two states in case the so-called Armenian genocide is
recognized.
`Turkey has done its best. We opened our archives. But Armenia avoids
it. Yerevan should also open its archives. Our proposal to establish
a joint commission was not accepted. Our proposal is still efficient
and we expect the US support. The US may also join the commission,’
he said.
According to some information, Bush administration will want Turkey
to open its borders in order to work against the bill in the
Congress. /APA/

Haykakan Zhamanak, Armenia
Feb 1 2007

Nevertheless he will run for president

by Kristine Khanumyan

According to a trustworthy source, the president of Nagornyy
Karabakh, Arkadiy Gukasyan, is going to stand as a candidate in the
June 2007 presidential election. This was not unexpected. It became
clear that Gukasyan would not lose his chance to run for a third term
as president after the Nagornyy Karabakh prosecutor general Armen
Zalinyan said, "By adopting the constitution, Nagornyy Karabakh
starts its history from a new page, and the incumbent president may
stand once again."

Otherwise what was the sense of adopting the constitution several
months before the presidential election? The working group developing
the constitution was set up in 2000, but it did almost nothing and
wrote only two chapters of the constitution in six years. Imagine the
enormous work the group must have done in the spring and autumn of
2006 to manage to finish the constitution in time.

After that, people naturally started suspecting that all this was
done to give Gukasyan the opportunity to stand once again. In order
that people wouldn’t say "no" to the constitution and wreck
Gukasyan’s plans, he said that he would not be standing for the third
time. Then such officials as Vahe Karapetyan, Ara Abraamyan and
Andranik Migranyan started persuading the people not to let Gukasyan
go. They made these statements in order to give the people a
guarantee that the constitution was not adopted for him. But Gukasyan
deceived his own people by giving his word as a man and president in
the knowledge that he would break this word.

Thus we can say almost for sure that Gukasyan will stand for a third
term, but not due to his own desire but in response to the people’s
request. But surely Gukasyan cannot fail to realize into what sort of
an adventure he is putting the authority and future of Nagornyy
Karabakh?

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 31, 2007 Wednesday

DISPOSITION TO MATCH WEATHER
by Grigori Aleksandrjan

YEREVAN AND BAKU: INTERPRETATIONS OF THE VISIT OF OSCE MINSK GROUP
CHAIRMEN TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH DIFFER; Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group
visited Nagorno-Karabakh.

The president of Armenia met with chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group
for Karabakh conflict resolution – Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard
Fasie (France), and Matthew Bryza (USA), and with special
representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzei Kasprzyk. The
current phase of Karabakh talks was discussed. Chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group came to Yerevan from Stepanakert where they had met with
Karabakh President Arkady Gukasjan last Thursday.

Official reports on the meeting in Yerevan were scarce. Foreign
diplomats merely reiterated the necessity to solve the problem by
peaceful means.

Gukasjan had been more talkative when he admitted that negotiations
over certain issues (like the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani
territories under Stepanakert’s control, and refugees) would be
lengthy and difficult yet. Stepanakert updated the foreign diplomats
on its stand on these and related matters and suggested what it
perceived as solutions. Judging by what the chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group said afterwards, they liked what they had been told.

Baku, in the meantime, is angered by the foreign diplomats’ visit to
Stepanakert. No wonder. The visit sends the following message: unlike
Azerbaijani authorities, chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group do
recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as a warring side – however indirect this
recognition. This assumption is confirmed by the foreign diplomats’
words that they owed it to Gukasjan because they had been unable for
a long time to visit Stepanakert as a group and discuss matters with
he Nagorno-Karabakh leadership. This is what probably became the most
important nuance of the foreign diplomats’ visit to Stepanakert.

As for the prospects of conflict resolution, chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group and president Nagorno-Karabakh regard them as quite
murky. A breakthrough in the peace process is not about to
materialize in the foreseeable future. It follows that the visitors’
somewhat elated disposition was probably caused by an unexpected
spell of warm weather in Nagorno-Karabakh that coincided with their
visit – and not to diplomatic etiquette or any progress in the talks.

Source: Novoye Vremya (Yerevan), January 2, 2007, EV

Translated by A. Ignatkin

A1+

SUPPORTERS OF KHACHATRYAN CARRY OUT THE ORDERS OF AUTHORITIES?
[05:28 pm] 31 January, 2007

The Court of Appeal has decided to meet the claim of the supporters
of Hrant Khachatryan and to cancel the decisions of the 17th
Conference of the Constitutional Right Union which took place on
September 2006.

Chairman-in-Office of Constitutional Right Union Hayk Baboukhanyan is
going to appeal the decision of the court. It will be necessary in
order to apply to the European Court of Human Rights. We asked Hayk
Baboukhanyan to comment on the decision of the court.

– The authorities are in agony. They are simply trying to eliminate
those powers which are this way or another able to put an end to their
dictatorship in Armenia.

– That is to say, you think Hrant Khachatryan’s activity is provoked
by the authorities?

– I don’t know. Hrant Khachatryan’s name is not mentioned in the
case. Those who turned to court were fired from the party long
ago. They are officials in different places and are used by the
authorities as tools. As for Hrant Khachatryan, he must be engaged in
his own affairs, as he has lots of them: his son is in he army.

– What will be the result of the decision of the court? Does it mean
that you are no more President of the CRU?

– All the structures in this country, including the court system, are
illegal. They are part of the criminal grouping. Generally, it is
ridiculous to treat the courts from the legal point of view. I was
elected President of the party. Regardless of whether Hrant
Khachatryan’s son serves in the army or not, I am President of the
party.

Panorama.am

20:01 31/01/2007

HJAM LIST NOT READY

`At this moment the list is not ready,’ Seiran Avagyan, Armenian
People Liberation Union (HJAM) leader and adviser to the Armenian
president, said speaking in a debate.

He said HJAM assembly will be in mid February and only then the format
of participating in elections will become clear. HJAM leader said his
party supports `the interest of small and mid size business.’

Source: Panorama.am