Author: Nahapetian Samvel

PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assembly of RA
April 10 2008
Armenia

On April 9 the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Mr. Tigran Torosyan received the President of the Senate of
the Czech Republic Mr. Pøemysl Sobotka, who was in Armenia to take
part in the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President
of the Republic of Armenia. The Ambassador of Armenia to the Czech
Republic Mr. Ashot Hovakimyan attended the meeting.

Welcoming the guest the President of the National Assembly Mr. Tigra
Torosyan expressed satisfaction that Mr. Slobotka was in Yerevan
this important day for Armenia. It’s a day when the past 10-year
achievements are summed up and the futher activities are outlined.

The NA President expressed confidence that the visit of the President
of the Senate of the Czech Republic will also promote the development
of the inter-parliamentary relations. Saying that there have been
traditional friendly relations between two peoples, Mr. Torosyan noted
that even in case of very good relations there is a need of everyday
work. The relations with the Czech Republic were highlighted as a
country of the Eastern Europe that passed a hard and instructive
path as a result of post-Soviet transformation. Its experience is
very useful for Armenia in the aspect of European integration and
has good perspectives for the development of bilateral relations.

The President of the Senate of the Czech Republic Mr. Pøemysl Sobotka
noted that receiving the invitation of the inauguration ceremony of
the newly elected president he immediately responded and was happy
to be in Armenia in this important day. In the globalizing world it
became possible to rapidly reduce the distances due to modern means
of communication but nothing replaces human communication. So, Mr.

Sobotka is for direct relations and at the invitation of the President
of the National Assembly in September he is going to visit again
Armenia. He highlighted the role of Armenia in the region, noting
the great attention towards our country in the European Union.

He said that there were 18 issues for discussion but due to lack of
time those issues would be delayed till September.

Mr. Sobotka sees the necessity of signing inter-governmental agreements
after the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries,
which will enable the Czech businessmen to make investments in
Armenia and develop trade-economic and scientific-cultural relations
with Armenia.

At the meeting the sides also touched upon the post-electoral
processes. At the request of the President of the Senate of the Czech
Republic Mr. Pøemysl Sobotka the President of the National Assembly
told about the March 1st events, noting that they were tragic events
not connected with the elections, which are under examination in
the prosecutor’s office and those guilty will bear responsibility
within the framework of law. Mr. Tigran Torosyan also noted that by
the recommendation of the newly elected President Mr.

Serzh Sargsyan a coalition of political forces had been formed, the
candidacy of the future Prime Minister had been already defined,
and next week the government will also be formed. Mr. Sobotka
expressed satisfaction that the life in Armenia is coming back to
its normal, and expressing success invited the President of the
National Assembly on an official visit to the Czech Republic, noting
that the inter-parliamentary relations are the important part of the
inter-governmental relations and they open a path in other spheres
for cooperation.

–Boundary_(ID_B34U2QJzedw1BerZ13PAL A)–

"FRIENDS OF ARMENIAN CULTURE" COMPANY TO HOLD ANNUAL ARMENIAN EVENING ON JUNE 21

Noyan Tapan
April 8, 2008

LONDON, APRIL 8, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. "Friends of Armenian
Culture" company will hold the annual 57th Armenian evening on
June 21. As the electronic sites report, 19-year-old pianist Narek
Arghamanian from Armenia will feature during the evening.

ARMENIA’S RECOGNITION OF KARABAKH SHOULDN’T BE A ‘SINGLE SHOT’

KarabakhOpen
06-04-2008 21:09:20

"However, such a move on behalf of the Republic of Armenia, to put
it figuratively, should not be a single shot. It must be followed by
similar statements by other countries. If no preparations have been
made, it is necessary to get to work as new international relations
are being established," Masis Mayilyan said.

"Theoretically, it would be desirable if Azerbaijan were among
countries which will recognize NKR first. In that case the
conflict would be settled, and opportunities for effective regional
cooperation, beneficial for all the nations of the South Caucasus,
would appear. However, since our neighbors are not ready for such
actions, NKR and Armenia must pursue a policy on the Karabakh issue in
two parallel directions. On the one hand, it is necessary to resume
the talks in the full three-party format under the aegis of the OSCE
Minsk Group, on the other hand, it is necessary to work with separate
countries and international organizations for the de jure recognition
of NKR. Such an approach is positive in every sense since the least
success on the second track will help the Minsk process move forward,"
he said.

A ‘solo’ recognition of NKR by Armenia would be of vital necessity
in case of armed aggression against NKR on behalf of Azerbaijan,
according to him.

"Meanwhile, in this phase it would be expedient to establish a legal
basis for the military cooperation of the two states. It will help
to solve a number of issues, including that of the military service
of volunteers from Armenia in the NKR Army of Defense. It is evident
that the NKR Army of Defense defends not only the border of NKR but
also the eastern border of the Republic of Armenia, from the ridge
of Mrav to the Armenian and Iranian border in the south. It is also
necessary to set down in an agreement the status of the Republic of
Armenia as a guarantor of the security of NKR and its people," he said.

As to Azerbaijan’s attempt to replace the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,
Mr Mayilyan said, "The recent actions of the Azerbaijani side were
like blackmail rather than real steps toward changing the composition
of the co-chairs or to thwart the Minsk process. The point is that
besides Azerbaijan there are other sides of the conflict, and the
choice of mediators is not made by one of them. All the three sides
should agree. To some extent, this blackmail was successful. I was
a bit surprised at the excusing tone of the interview of one of
the co-chairs".

PanARMENIAN.Net

European Commission: Armenia achieved progress in
Armenia-EU Action Plan implementation
04.04.2008 19:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Commission Directorate
for External Relations has issued `Implementation of
the European Neighborhood Policy in 2007′ Progress
Report Armenia.

The report says, in part:

`Armenia made progress in several important areas in
the implementation of the ENP Action Plan, despite
delays caused by parliamentary elections in May 2007
and internal coordination problems between different
Armenian ministries. Good progress was achieved in
particular in the areas of judiciary reform, the
administration of elections and the Ombudsperson
Institution. Of key importance for 2008 will be proper
implementation of recently adopted legislation.

`The conduct of the February 2008 presidential
elections raised concerns, in particular the state of
emergency that was introduced in their aftermath. The
events have shown the necessity for further
improvement in the field of human rights despite the
progress achieved in 2007. The issue of corruption
still needs to be addressed. Progress was achieved
regarding human rights but there is room for further
improvement. Armenia has widely aligned with CFSP
declarations and is generally very active in
cooperating on CFSP-related issues.

`This document reports on overall progress made on the
implementation of the EU-Armenia ENP Action Plan
between November 2006 and 31 December 2007, although
developments outside this period are also considered
when deemed relevant. It is not a general review of
the political and economic situation in Armenia.’

THE ONLY GOAL – TO SATISFY ONE’S OWN AMBITIONS

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 05, 2008

According to SAMVEL BABAYAN, `None of the freedom fighters had the
right to stand next to L. Ter-Petrosyan in 2008, because he never made
any statement on changing his standpoint with regard to the Artsakh
issue.

Therefore, the candidate and the team desiring to return to power had
not set any national or ideological task. The only goal some people
could have pursued by appearing next to this particular candidate was
just to satisfy their own ambitions.

It was obvious that some people would resign from posts during the
tenure of Serge Sargsyan. And these were the people who, in the
pre-election period, resorted to blackmail with the purpose of securing
their position for an additional period of 5 years. As to the rest,
they just followed L. Ter-Petrosyan immediately, because he was
promising everything. Such is the reality.’

NEW BUILDING OF ARDSHININVESTBANK’S HEAD OFFICE OPENS

Noyan Tapan
April 4, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. "I am impressed by the new building of
Ardshininvestbank’s head office. So far no bank has had such a building
of its head office. I think that it will form serious motives in this
competition field, and other banks will also have buildings of this
kind for their head offices and branches," the Armenian president
Robert Kocharian stated on March 4 after touring the new head office
of Ardshininvestbank.

The reconstruction, reinforcement and repairs of the building was
done by International Business Center (IBC) company – a shareholder
of Ardshininvestbank.

In the words of R. Kocharian, "all the sides of the deal have
benefited" as a result of the deal on finishing the construction of new
Yerevan municipality building against transferring the old minicipality
building to IBC and the implementation of the respective programs.

According to IBC director general, deputy chairman of Ardshininvestbank
Khachatur Zakarian, 5 bln drams (about 16.3 mln USD at the current
exchange rate) was spent on the purchase of the old municipality
building and adjacent land after the conclusion of the indicated
deal in 2003, and about 3 bln drams was spent on the construction
which began in 2005. Two storeys were added to this building, which
was constructed in 1951 (now it is a 6-storey buiding). The building
has been also strengthened and made more earthquakeproof. IBC also
carries out repairs of more than 53 branches of Ardshininvestbank in
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

OSCE MG: A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION WILL REQUIRE A NEGOTIATED POLITICAL COMPROMISE ON THE FINAL STATUS OF KARABAKH

armradio.am
04.04.2008 10:48

The Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group released the following
statement yesterday:

"On the margins of the NATO summit in Bucharest on April 2-4, 2008,
the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov
(Russian Federation), Ambassador Bernard Fassier (France), and
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza (United States),
and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman in Office,
Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister and President-elect Serge Sargsyan,
together with their Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Elmar Mammadyarov
and Vartan Oskanian.

"The two leaders and the Co-Chairs exchanged views on ways to reduce
differences between the sides and forge consensus on the Basic
Principles for the Peaceful Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (NK)
Conflict.

"The Co-Chairs reiterated their support for the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan and reaffirmed their longstanding view that a peaceful
resolution of the conflict will require a negotiated political
compromise on the final status of NK, pending the future approval of
its population.

"The two leaders and the Co-Chairs agreed to continue the negotiations
on the existing basis, further clarify the current proposal on the
table, and pursue additional steps to advance the peace process. For
that purpose, the mediators underscored the utility of meetings at
the highest level between the sides as soon as possible."

4,5-9% GROWTH OF GRAPES HARVEST EXPECTED IN ARMENIA IN 2008

arminfo
2008-04-04 14:57:00

ArmInfo. By preliminary estimations, the grapes harvest in Armenia in
2008 will make up 230-240 thsd tons, that is more by 10-20 thsd tons
than in 2007, Head of the Department of Plant-raising of RA Ministry
of Agriculture Garnik Petrosyan told ArmInfo.

He said that the weather conditions were favourable to receive a good
harvest. "If somewhere the vineyards perished, this happened because
of carelessness of winegrowers who do not raise the earth around the
grapevine in winter", G. Petrosyan said. He added that winegrowing
in the republic develops, that is testified by the annual growth
of the territories allocated for vineyards. "In 2007, the vineyards
increased by 1500 Ha to 19800 Ha. The demand for grapes in Armenia
is explained by growth of procurements by the agricultural product
processing enterprises", G. Petrosyan said.

According to the data of RA Ministry of Agriculture, there were
144,000 tons of grapes in Armenia in 2007 against 106,000 tons in 2006.

AZIMOV: WE CONTENT WITH OSCE MG ACTIVITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.04.2008 12:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Voting against the Azerbaijani resolution "On
the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chair states broke neutrality, said Araz Azimov, Azeri
Deputy Defense Minister. "Baku’s enquiry on replacement of the OSCE
MG co-chairs is an alarm signal."

"The co-chairs should make conclusions. We’re content with their
activity. However, their recent moves caused dissatisfaction. The MG
has not exhausted its potential yet, but the intermediaries monopolized
the peaceful talks," he said.

"The proposals submitted by the Minsk Group 4 years ago highlighted
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

"If it were not so, Baku would break off talks.

Nagorno Karabakh was supposed to remain a part of Azerbaijan, with
Armenians and Azeris living there," Azimov said.

He said that the Lachin corridor is of great importance both for
Azerbaijan and Armenia. "Official Baku can offer the possibility of
using the Lachin corridor by both sides in case it remains within
Azerbaijan. The Minsk Group is aware if this condition which can be
the topic of further discussion," he concluded, ANS Azeri TV channel
reported.

RUSSIA TO RECONSIDER RELATIONS WITH NATO-ASPIRED STATES

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.04.2008 12:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia has a firm position on NATO enlargement
and doesn’t conceal it, said Vasily Istratov, Russia’s Ambassador
to Azerbaijan.

"Any country aspired to NATO should understand that Russia will
reconsider relationship for security reasons," he said.

Touching on mutual broadcast talks, Ambassador Istratov said that
they were broken off last December.

"Nevertheless, Russia is ready to discuss any proposal," he said,
the Azeri Press Agency reports.