Author: Nahapetian Samvel

COOPERATION PLAN BETWEEN YEREVAN AND SAINT PETERSBURG SIGNED

armradio.am
23.05.2007 17:18

In Saint Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko and the Mayor of
Yerevan Yervand Zakharyan signed the 2007-2009 plan of cooperation
in the trade-economic, scientific-technical and humanitarian spheres.

Valentina Matvienko declared during the ceremony of signing that
the relations with Yerevan have always been a priority for Saint
Petersburg, but the potential of cooperation is not exhausted yet.

"It is necessary to increase the volume of cooperation, primarily
in the filed of trade and economy. The cooperation in the spheres
of architecture and urban development also seem to be prospective,"
the Governor of Saint Petersburg said, adding that Saint Petersburg
is ready to exchange experience with Yerevan, Russian media report.

"There has been centuries-old friendship between our peoples, and
this program will unhopefully enhance its further reinforcement,"
Yervand Zakharyan declared.

AFTER THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, A FORMATION OF "A NEW PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL SYSTEM" IS LAUNCHED IN ARMENIA, MEMBERS OF THE RPA COUNCIL BELIEVES

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 21 2007

Yerevan, May 21. /Mediamax/. Member of the Council of the Republican
Party of Armenia (RPA) Armen Ashotian stated in Yerevan today that
after the parliamentary elections of May 12, a formation of "a new
progressive political system" is launched in the country.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Armen Ashotian stated that "the transition period in the Armenian
politics nears its end".

Armen Ashotian explained the unsuccessful performance of the opposition
during the parliamentary elections by the fact that "they did not
manage to solve the problem of generation shift". Member of the RPA
Council believes that "the main way out" for the parties, which did
not enter the parliament, is the merger with stronger parties with
closer ideologies.

Armen Ashotian stressed that "being a strong party and representing
the political backbone of the country, the Republican Party of Armenia
is open for cooperation with all the political forces".

Member of the RPA Council expressed opinion that "the foreign policy
of Armenia should be modified".

"The complementary foreign policy should be replaced by a multi-vector
and well-considered policy, based on the interests of the country",
he noted.

EVEN IF THERE IS A RULING COALITION IN ARMENIA, IT WILL BE FORMAL, HEAD OF RPA FACTION SAYS

arminfo
2007-05-17 13:51:00

There are no preconditions for aggravation of the post- election
situation in Armenia. If there were such, the opposition would
attract more people to its May 13 rally, Galust Sahakyan, head of
RPA parliamentary faction, said at a press conference, Thursday.

The small number of opposition protest rallies showed that the
people are satisfied with the election result, he said. Speaking
of RPA’s plans, he said the party is ready to cooperate with all
the political forces solidary with it, including the forces that
failed to overcome the 5% threshold to the parliament but approached
it. "Despite constituting absolute majority in the parliament,
RPA is against monopolization of the political field. Thus, it
is ready to cooperate with other forces, and not necessarily in a
bloc or coalition. Even if a coalition is formed, it is likely to be
formal. If political forces refuse to cooperate with us, we are ready
to assume a full responsibility for the country’s future," G. Sahakyan
said. He added that RPA could gain much more votes. As regards the
presidential election, he said that the candidate representing RPA
will gain the necessary 51% of votes. Commenting on rumors about his
appointment to the post of the minister of culture and youth affairs,
Galust Sahakyan said: "I am a cultivated man, but this post is not
for me." Regarding Prosperous Armenia party, G. Sahakyan said that
the party will have a serious role in the parliament.

Asked to comment on the hunger strike by Israel Hakobkokhyan,
the candidate for parliament in the 11th electoral district and
the sit-down strike by Nikol Pashinyan, one of the "Impeachment"
bloc leaders, against the voting results, Galust Sahakyan said:
"There are no reasons for such actions of protest as the violations
during the election were insignificant." He expressed hope that the
opposition in Armenia will become more constructive.

ARMENIA PARTICIPATES IN "BOOK INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION XX" IN TEHRAN

AZG Armenian Daily
15/05/2007

On May 2-12, Armenia has participated in "Book International Exhibition
XX" in Tehran. The exhibition included two large sections of the local
and foreign publications. In pavilion of the foreign publications the
books printed in Venezuela, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Tunis, Oman,
Syria, South Korea, India, by UN, ECO, ISESCO offices, as well as in
the Great Britain, Germany, France, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Tajikistan.

The books exhibited in the Armenian pavilion were of spiritual,
historical, cultural, geographical character. The inhibition also
included books on the Armenian Genocide, on business, books for
children and literature. The visitors of the pavilion can also watch
video films about the sightseeing places of Armenia.

Armenia, as a separate section, is also exhibited in the pavilion
of the Caucasian, Central Asian and Russian studies of the Iranian
"IRAS" institution.

A number of lectures and round tables, as well as other cultural
events are simultaneously held in the course of the exhibition.

FOLK ARTS FESTIVAL OFF TO COLOURFUL START
By Matthew Van Dongen

St. Catharines Standard, Canada
The Standard
May 14 2007

Simone VanDerkel grinned at the question.

It wasn’t the first time she’s heard it, as the ambassador for Club
the Netherlands at the 2007 Niagara Folk Arts Festival.

It probably won’t be the last.

"Everybody asks if they’re comfortable," said the 20-year-old, gazing
down at her bright yellow wooden clogs.

"Actually, they’re not, really. The ridges don’t really fit the form
of my feet. But if they stay on, that’s a good thing."

VanDerkel had no clog malfunctions on the march to St. Catharines
city hall Saturday, where ambassadors from more than 20 ethnic clubs
kicked off two weeks of multicultural events.

The march was literally a whirlwind of colour, as the weather ensured
flags and traditional costumes alike flapped madly in the wind.

Tamara Kalagian, 16, looked poised to take flight as the long veil of
her taraz, a traditional Armenian dress, billowed excitedly behind her.

The delicate white costume was a bit chilly in the breeze, but this
year’s Miss Armenia didn’t mind.

She looks forward to the rare chance to dress up, Armenian style.

"It doesn’t happen all that often," she said, smilingly happily. "But
it’s always a lot of fun."

In the next two weeks, Kalagian will get plenty of opportunities to
dress up.

In addition to her ambassadorial dress, the 16-year-old will don
another colourful costume for traditional dancing at the Armenian
Community Centre open house next Sunday.

VanDerkel is looking forward to some dancing – possibly in different
footwear – at the Club the Netherlands open house May 21.

Her grin grows at the next question: is she looking forward to
croquettes, sausages and ollie bollen that go along with a big Dutch
get-together?

"Oh, the food is great. You’ll love it," she promised, nodding her
traditional white bonnet up and down.

St. Catharines residents will have plenty of opportunities to test
that promise.

More than 20 mouthwatering openhouses are scheduled between until
May 25 – and that doesn’t include the weekend culinary extravaganza
in Montebello Park May 26-27.

At the official festival opening Saturday, politicians of all stripes
spoke about the opportunity to share in Canada’s rich diversity and
promote cultural understanding.

But St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley noted another predictable result
of the 39-year-old multicultural heritage festival.

"I hear there’s a scale inside city hall where you can weigh yourself
before the festival, and then again after the festival," he said to
laughter from the crowd of more than 100 people.

Events for this week include:

~U Canadian Slovak Club open house today, 4-9 p.m. at Holy Rosary
Church Hall, 35 Queens, Thorold.

~U Club Heidelberg open house Tuesday, 5-10 p.m. at 569 Lake St.

~U Club Sardegna Nel Niagara open house Wednesday, 5-9 p.m. at 17
Gale Crs.

~U Citizenship ceremony Thursday, 6 p.m. at Robertson Hall, 85
Church St.

~U Greek Community of Niagara open house Friday, 4:30 p.m.-1 a.m. at
CAW Hall, 14 Bunting Rd.

~U St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church open house Friday, 5-10 p.m. at
St. John Activity Centre, 91 Lakeshore Rd.

~U Greek Community of Niagara open house Saturday, noon to 1 a.m. at
CAW Hall, 124 Bunting Rd.

~U Latin American Club open house Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. at Ukrainian
Black Sea Hall, 455 Welland Ave.

US Embassy: The current elections were a considerable improvement towards
international standards

ArmRadio.am
14.05.2007 12:19

The US Embassy in Armenia welcomed today the parliamentary elections,
`congratulating the Armenian nation for holding better elections as
compared to the previous ones,’ Mediamax reports.

It is noted in the statement disseminated by the US Embassy that `we
share the satisfaction of the international observers with the fact
that both legal and technical electoral infrastructures have been
greatly improved.’

`We are proud that our partnership with governmental and
non-governmental structures of Armenia yielded good results. We value
the work of many election officials devoted to the unbiased
fulfillment of their task. We share the comment of ODIHR Ambassador
Frlec that these elections are not over yet.

At this point our position is as follows: `These elections were a
considerable improvement towards international standards. Part of the
electoral process was the detailed investigation of the problems
connected with the elections, including the numerous accusations of
election frauds which could affect the outcome of the polls.

We hope that an active probe into these accusations of election frauds
will be launched,’ the statement of the US Embassy reads.

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 13 2007

Armenian CEC summed up the preliminary results of elections;
opposition representatives refused to sign the protocol

Yerevan, May 13. /Mediamax/. The Central Electoral Commission of
Armenia summed up today the preliminary results of the parliamentary
elections under the proportional representation system, according to
which, 5 parties overcame the 5% barrier.

Mediamax reports that the members of CEC Feliks Khachatrian, Sona
Sarkisian and Zaven Pluzian, who represent, correspondingly,
`Justice’ bloc, `Orinats Yerkir’ and `National Unification’ parties,
refused to sign the final protocol.

They all argued their stance by the statement that `on May 12, there
were mass violations’.

The Republican Party of Armenia – 457.032 votes (32.8 %), the
`Prosperous Armenia’ party – 204.443 votes (14.7 %), the
`Dashnaktsutiun’ party – 177.192 votes (12.7 %), the `Orinats Yerkir’
party – 95.256 votes (6.8 %) and the `Heritage’ party – 80.890 votes
(5.8 %) overcame the 5% barrier.

All in all 1.389.521 electors participated in the election.–0–

Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan agree on Caspian gas pipe -2

15:50 | 12/ 05/ 2007

TURKMENBASHI, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia, Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan agreed to build a gas pipeline along the Caspian coast and
will sign the deal by September 1, a joint declaration of the three
presidents said Saturday.

The pipeline will run from Turkmenistan along the Caspian coast of
Kazakhstan and on to Russia, the sole re-exporter of the Turkmen gas.
It is a rival project to a U.S.-sponsored Trans-Caspian pipeline across
the Caspian Sea to carry Turkmen gas to southern Europe bypassing
Russia.

Following their summit meeting in Turkmenistan, Vladimir Putin,
Nursultan Nazarbayev and Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov instructed their
governments to start the construction of the pipeline from the second
half of 2008.

Putin also said the restoration of Soviet-era Central Asia-Center
pipelines going to Russia via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan would make it
possible to increase transportation by at least 12 billion cubic meters
by 2012.

Russia’s energy minister, Viktor Khristenko, said the 1974 pipeline
system was capable of transporting more than 90 billion cu m a year
after repair. "Two declarations that were signed today basically
outline the future development of the largest infrastructure projects
in the entire Central Asia," he said.

Alexei Miller, the chief executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom
[RTS: GAZP], said the Caspian pipeline project and the Soviet pipeline
system, once restored, would help raise supplies of Turkmen gas to 80
billion cu m a year within the Russia-Turkmenistan contract until 2028.

In September, Russia and Turkmenistan agreed on terms of Turkmen gas
supplies for 2007-2009 at a price of $100 per 1,000 cu m and set the
volume at 50 billion cu m a year.

In 2006, Russia imported via Kazakhstan 39 billion cu m of gas from
Turkmenistan, 9 billion from Uzbekistan, and 7.5 billion from
Kazakhstan proper. In 2007, Central Asian supplies to Russia are
expected to be 55.7 billion.

Despite the agreement on the Caspian pipeline, Turkmenistan’s president
said that the Trans-Caspian project bypassing Russia remained on the
agenda, thereby rejecting the Russian energy minister’s contrary
assurances.

"The whole world is looking for ways to diversify gas supplies,"
Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov said.

Putin’s Central Asian tour of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan coincided
with an energy summit in Poland May 11-13 aimed at reducing energy
dependence on Russia. Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev, its key participant,
pulled out from the forum also being attended by Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Ukraine and Lithuania.

Turkmenistan gas production

The Russian leader signaled his country’s readiness to invest in the
development of Turkmenistan’s gas field on the Caspian shelf. "Russia
is ready to invest in gas production as well as in the pipeline
system," Putin told reporters. "Our energy companies have already
agreed on such investment."

Russia’s industry and energy minister, Viktor Khristenko, said Russian
companies would develop the gas field under a production-sharing
agreement (PSA), a format envisaging substantial privileges to foreign
investors.

"The best option is a production-sharing agreement," Khristenko said.
"This is the position of the owners of the field." He also said Kazakh
companies would fit well into the PSA.

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 11 2007

Armenian CEC made a decision on depriving the `Gyumri’ NGO of the
right to realize an observation mission

Yerevan, May 11. /Mediamax/. The Central Electoral Commission (CEC)
of Armenia made a decision today on depriving the `Gyumri’ student
NGO of the right to realize an observation mission during the
parliamentary elections of May 12.

Mediamax reports that the CEC Chairman Garegin Azarian stated today
that the leaders of the `Gyumri’ student NGO Karen Petrosian and
Gharib Harutiunian were involved in propaganda of the candidate of
`Dashink’ Party Martun Grigorian.

During the session of CEC, the representative of `Justice’ opposition
bloc Felix Khachatrian proposed to deprive of the right for
observation mission not the very NGO, but only the defaulter
representatives.

Nevertheless, CEC made a decision by a majority on depriving the
`Gyumri’ student NGO of the right to realize an observation mission
during the parliamentary elections of May 12.–0–

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 11 2007

Robert Kocharian stated that the new Armenian parliament and the
President should be able to cooperate

Yerevan, May 11. /Mediamax/. Armenian President Robert Kocharian
stated that the new parliament and the President should be able to
cooperate.

Mediamax reports that the President said this late May 10 in an
interview to the Public TV of Armenia, the `Second Armenian
TV-Channel’ and the `Armenia’ TV-Channel.

According to him, `the people suffers because of the opposition
between the two institutions, and the situation in Ukraine is an
evidence of that’.

Robert Kocharian also noted that `the forces, capable of cooperating
with each other, should appear in the National Assembly’. Armenian
President described as unlikely the possibility that any of the
parties will gain the absolute majority in the parliament and will
form the government alone.–0–