Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 15 2008

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen leave for self-appointed "Nagorno
Garabagh Republic"

15 January 2008 [18:54] – Today.Az

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of
Nagorno-Garabagh conflict arrived in the capital of the unrecognized
"Nagorno Garabagh Republic"-Khankendi on January 15.

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group -Bernard Fassier (France),
Matthew Bryza (USA) and Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) as well as a
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andkey
Kaspshik arrived in the capital of the so called "Nagorno Garabagh
Republic" Khankendi in the framework of their regional visit on
January 15.

The co-chairmen plan to meet with the president of the self-appointed
"Nagorno Garabagh Republic" Bako Saakyan.

A briefing with participation of local and accredited reporters is
also scheduled to be held in Khankendi.

/Day.Az/

URL:

COLLAPSE KILLS MINER IN KAPAN, INJURES ANOTHER ONE

ARMENPRESS
Jan 10, 2008

KAPAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS: A collapse in a copper mine in southern
Armenia killed one miner and severely injured another one in the
early hours of today’s morning.

Armenian rescue service said the collapse occurred at an ore mining
and processing enterprise owned by Dino Gold Mining at about 1.40 am
today morning in Kapan, the administrative center of Syunik province.

The killed man was identified as David G. Mkrtchian, 30 and the
injured man was Mkhitar M. Abgarian, 53.

The latter was rushed to hospital after rescuers dragged him from
under debris. Doctors say his injuries are not life threatening.

GEERT AHRENS: WE HAVE COME TO ARMENIA OPEN-MINDEDLY AND EXPECT TO REGISTER DEMOCRATIC PROGRESS

Noyan Tapan
Jan 10, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The 11 main specialists and 28
long-term observers of OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR), who have arrived in Armenia for the purpose
of observing the presidential elections to be held on February 19
in Armenia, will start their activity in different regions of the
country from January 15.

Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens, the head of the OSCE/ODIHR monitoring
mission in Armenia, said at the January 10 press conference. According
to him, ODIHR will also send 250 short-term observers to Armenia
for observing the processes of opening of polling stations, voting,
calculation of ballot-papers and tabulation of results.

The head of the monitoring mission attached importance to the role
of media in the issue of holding the elections emphasizing that
"in some cases the role of media can be also decisive."

According to Geert Ahrens, the mission will estimate the election
process according to the standards of OSCE democratic elections,
as well as national standards, and national legislation. "We have
come to Armenia open-mindedly and believe that democratic progress
will be registered during the elections," Ambassador Ahrens emphasized.

Ambassador Geert Ahrens also said that before the voting day the
monitoring mission will make two interim statements and the day after
the elections, on February 20, will come up with a final conclusion
on the preliminary results. The monitoring mission will publish its
final conclusion on the elections two months later.

The journalists also asked questions about the presidential elections
held in Georgia, before and after which a number of non-unequivocal
incidents were observed, whereas OSCE gave a positive estimation to
those elections.

Can that estimation become a bad example for Armenia, a journalist
asked. "I have been an observer of elections in a number of countries,
including Georgian local elections. It is advised to the head of each
monitoring mission to focus his attention on the country where he
implements that mission. Another person has implemented the monitoring
mission in Georgia, I do not wish to speak instead of him," Ambassador
Geert Ahrens said.

ARMENIAN FM: KOSOVO, KARABAKH, NOT SO DIFFERENT

B92
Jan 9 2008
Serbia

YEREVAN, BAKU — The Armenian chief of diplomacy drew parallels
between the region of Nagorno Karabakh and Kosovo, reports say.

An Azerbaijani news website quoted Vardan Oskanyan, who was speaking
in a news conference Wednesday, as saying that the disputed region
and Kosovo conflicts have "several common features."

Nagorno Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory, is inhabited by majority
Armenians, and is often referred to as being a de facto independent
republic. But Baku is refusing to grant the territory independence,
and so is the international community.

"Each conflict is specific in nature, but at a definite stage the legal
and ethnic features of the conflicts are similar. The Karabakh and
Kosovo conflicts also have common features", Today.az cited Oskanyan
as saying.

The Armenian foreign policy chief is also quoted as saying that
"ethnic cleansing and crimes are among those common features."

"While ethnic cleansing and crimes have been prevented in Kosovo by
NATO and the international community, Armenia prevented these events
towards the people of Karabakh", Oskanyan said.

He said in case of Kosovo the incident became known on the
international arena, "while the ethnic cleansing and crimes in the
so-called Nagorno Karabakh conflict remained the local problem and
were not recognized by the world community," the website reported.

Meanwhile, in words eerily reminiscent of those heard from officials
involved in the ongoing Kosovo status crisis, Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev said his country "will never allow the creation of a
second Armenian state on its territory."

"We will never allow the creation of the second Armenian state in the
territory of Azerbaijan. If Armenians residing in Nagorno-Karabakh
want to decide their fate, they must do it basing on the principle
of Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity, but if they do not want to do
this, they must leave Nagorno-Karabakh and create their second state
in another place. Anyway, the creation of the second Armenian state
in Azerbaijan’s territory is impossible," Aliyev was quoted.

"We will never make a concession concerning our territorial
integrity. Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity is inviolable; the
Nagorno-Karabakh will never be given independence. The leadership
and the people of Azerbaijan will never agree with that, and
the international community will never recognize independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh. We are holding talks in this direction," Aliyev
added.

The question of whether granting Kosovo, a province of Serbia,
independence, would spur other disputed regions worldwide to follow
suit, unilaterally declare independence and expect the international
community to recognize such acts, has been at the heart of some EU
members’ opposition to allow the province to gain independence.

And while the United States, and the largest EU countries maintain
that Kosovo’s independence would not constitute for a precedent,
Russia, and some EU members, such as Romania, Cyprus and Slovakia,
claim the opposite.

JUSTICE MINISTRY REFUTES STATEMENT BY SEFILYAN, MALKHASYAN SUPPORT GROUP

Panorama.am
16:37 07/01/2008

Armenian Justice Ministry issued a statement today refuting the
statement released by Jirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan support
committee. According to the committee statement in Vardashen prison
of justice ministry, one of the employees, captain of justice Hrach
Goginyan, has been released from work because his father was a member
of one of the organizations supporting Levon Ter-Petrosyan. According
to the same statement head of Vardashen prison, deputy colonel L.

Baghdasaryan has been released from work for tolerating Sefilyan’s
and Malkhasyan’s political activity.

The justice ministry informs that L. Baghdasaryan has been appointed
as a head of another prison for his decent work and H. Goginyan has
been released from work based on his own application on the reason
of taking up another job.

EXPERTS OF UNESCO TO AGAIN ARRIVE IN ARMENIA IN 2008 TO EXPLORE
NORAVANK WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, NOYAN TAPAN. In 2008 the experts of UNESCO will
arrive in Armenia for already the third time in order to explore the
Noravank monastic complex with the 500 hectare territory surrounding
it, which includes Gnishiki gorge, Areni church, chapels, caves, flora
and fauna.

According to the information provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondent by
Gagik Gyurjian, the RA Deputy Minister of Culture, the Noravank
monastic complex was awarded with the attention of the UNESCO’s
Commission on the Protection of Cultural Heritage and in case of the
existence of certain standards, it will enter the world cultural
heritage list.

In his words, the issue on the inclusion of the monument in the
register of that authoritative structure has already been put for the
discussion of the UNESCO’s commission twice, however, it has not been
heard since there have been certain documentary and technical
inaccuracies. And since monuments are presented for being included in
the register of the world cultural heritage once in two years, in the
next 2008 year the experts will again arrive in Armenia and will
explore the whole territory with the assistance of the local
specialists, after which the issue will be discussed by the commission
of the UNESCO.

Reuters, UK
Dec 26 2007

Turkey prepares to amend free speech law

None hurt as Turkey bombs Northern Iraq
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey is preparing to amend a controversial law
on freedom of speech that has been criticised repeatedly by the
European Union and could slow EU accession talks with Brussels.

The justice ministry will hand the draft amendment to article 301 of
the penal code, which makes it an offence to "insult Turkishness", to
the cabinet within 15 days, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin told
reporters on Tuesday.

It was not clear when the cabinet would approve the amendment.

Article 301 has been used to prosecute Turkish writers and thinkers,
notably for comments on the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 under
the Ottoman Empire.

Two years ago the government tried Nobel literature laureate Orhan
Pamuk under article 301 for his remarks on the events of 1915-16, but
he was acquitted on a legal technicality.

The European Commission’s annual progress report on Turkey, published
in November, called on Ankara to make "significant further efforts"
on freedom of expression and religion, and noted that more people had
been prosecuted under article 301 last year than in 2005.

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has recommended that the EU not
extend accession talks to the key areas of justice and human rights
until the article is changed.

Critics say Turkey’s centre-right government is dragging its feet,
fearing that amending the law could spark a nationalist backlash at a
time when EU membership is becoming less popular among Turks.

EU officials said the law was poisoning Turkey’s relations with
Armenia and weighing on the media and non-government organisations in
Turkey.

Ankara began EU accession negotiations in 2005 but the EU suspended
talks last December on eight of the 35 chapters or policy areas into
which EU law is divided after Ankara refused to open its ports and
airports to traffic from Cyprus.

(Reporting by Hidir Goktas, writing by Paul de Bendern, editing by
Tim Pearce)

US Embassy:Neither the US Government, the IRI, nor the Gallup endorses
any particular party or candidate

armradio.am
28.12.2007 14:59

The US Embassy in Armenia has watched with interest the recent press
coverage generated by the "Armenian National Study" funded by the US
Agency for International Development.

While the Embassy is encouraged that the study has focused the
attention of Armenian society and political parties on the important
electoral processes underway in the country, it is nevertheless
concerned `by the inaccurate portrayals of the study being reported in
some national media.’

`As part of the US Government’s democracy assistance program in
Armenia, the "Armenia National Study" is an opinion poll designed to be
a neutral, objective mechanism to assist political parties in Armenia
to better understand and respond to the major political, economic and
social concerns of Armenian citizens. It is not meant to influence or
predict the way in which Armenians will vote during elections.

In democratic societies, opinion polls provide citizens with a forum in
which to express their views about major issues, both anonymously and
objectively, to elected officials and political parties that represent
their concerns. The opinion poll is also an effective aid for elected
officials and political parties to develop programs and platforms that
address societal concerns and national issues.

Commissioned by the International Republic Institute in 2006, the
"Armenia National Study" is being carried out in Armenia by the
Vilnius-based Baltic Surveys Ltd. / Gallup Organization with the
assistance of the Armenian Sociological Association. It is common
practice to work with local organizations in carrying out such public
opinion polls.

A total of seven quarterly opinion polls have been carried out since
May, 2006. The most recent poll was taken in early December, 2007. An
eighth and final poll is scheduled for mid-January, 2008. Baltic
Surveys Ltd. / Gallup Organization is also planning to conduct an exit
poll during the presidential election on February 19, 2008.

To ensure anonymity and objectivity of the opinion poll, the Baltic
Surveys Ltd. / Gallup Organization uses a random sampling methodology
that is the mainstay of reputable Western polling organizations. IRI
has shared the poll results, including specific information on
respective political parties, with party representatives. The results
of all seven polls conducted since May 2006, including more general
information on the major political, economic, and social issues, are
free for public examination on the IRI website (). Neither
the United States government, the International Republican Institute
nor Baltic Surveys Ltd. / Gallup Organization endorses any particular
party or candidate. Non-party specific results are made public;
candidate and party results are shared with the appropriate political
parties,’ reads the statement of the US Embassy.

Azat Artsakh Tert, Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Dec 26 2007

The aim is to stimulate the birth of third child in the family

On 25th of december, the decision about "the measures for
stimulation of the birth of many children in NKR", according to
which, from 1st of January of 2008, in case of the birth of 3rd child
in the family, for the child an account is opened in "Artsakhbank"
the size of which is 500 thous. drams, the same sum of money is
granted personally to the parents of the child. But in case of the
birth of 4th and the following child the sum will make up 700 thous.
drams.

For the families havindg more than 5 children, monthly aid is
given to the family within 1200 drams for used electrical energy. For
the families having more than 6 children the house is built for the
family. The member of the government B. Babayan proposed to stimulate
the birth of 1st and 2nd child due to these sums of money, the prime
minister Harutyunyan answered that the aim of the measures is the
bettering of demographic situation. The study showed that the
families refuse to have the third child.

TUFENKIAN LEASES SPACE IN WORLD MARKET CENTER BUILDING C

Home Furnishings Business, PA
20&var=story
Dec 26 2007

Tufenkian Carpets, a leading designer and supplier of hand-made Tibetan
and Armenian carpets, will open a 4,627-square-foot showroom next in
the Las Vegas Design Center in building C of the World Market Center
next year.

"We had a dealer council meeting with many of our key dealers,
and our dealers told us Las Vegas was the wave of the future," said
Harry Fry, vice president of sales and marketing for New York-based
Tufenkian. "The accessibility to and entertainment options in the city
were appealing to our customers as well "We agree that Las Vegas is
an ideal fit for who we are and who we cater to as a company."

Tufenkian’s Las Vegas Design Center showroom will cater to the
hospitality, contract and residential business.

"We are far more focused on the design trade than the retail trade,
so the year-round to the trade showroom is truly ideal for us,"
said Fry. The showroom will be open in July 2008.

With a wide variety of styles – including traditional, modern,
primitive chic and solids– Tufenkian has a patented product display
system and a "Designers’ Reserve" collection geared to the design
trade, featuring pieces by such design icons like Barbara Barry,
Clodagh, Kevin Walz, Vicente Wolfe, Mark Pollack and James Tufenkian
himself.

William Grenewald, general manager of Las Vegas Design Center, said,
"We are thrilled to have Tufenkian in our third building and are
confident that the company’s hallmark high-style design and fine
quality will be a year-round draw for our design community."