Author: Nalchajian Markos

ARTSAKH TERRITORIES CANNOT BE CHANGE COIN IN THE MEDIATORS’ GAME

Yerkir.am
June 01, 2007

A conference titled "The Call of Mrav" was held in Moscow on May
27. The conference was organized by the Armenian refugees from
Shahumian region in cooperation with the youth organization "Mitq",
"Yerkramas" newspaper of Armenians in Russia writes.

The participants of the conference discussed the Karabagh issue
and the historical-political issues connected with the territories
occupied by Azerbaijan. The main topic of all reports delivered during
the conference was the situation with the Shahumian region. The main
conclusion of the reports was: " Shahumian region is an indispensable
part of Artsakh."

It was noted that the issue of Shahumian and Getashen is not raised
during the Karabagh settlement negotiations because the Nagorno
Karabagh Republic is not participating in the negotiations process.

The mediators’ cynical approach to the settlement process
was also pointed out. The mediators are trying to create an
illusion of settlement by making unilateral concessions in favor of
Azerbaijan. They are not concerned with the future of the population
of Artsakh. Neither are they concerned with the peace and stability
in the South Caucasus region.

"Shahumian region and other territories of Arstakh cannot be change
coins in the mediators’ games that are trying to pursue the narrow
interests of their states," advisor to the Karabagh Foreign Minister
Arsen Melik Shahnazarov noted.

It was also noted that the official Yerevan’s position is too
consenting which is expressed in the indifference towards Shahumian,
Getashen and other territories in Northern Artsakh. The Armenian
population was driven out of these regions during the ethnic cleansings
in 1988. This approach is wrong because it makes it impossible to
counter the territories liberated by the Nagorno Karabagh Defense
Army to the Karabagh territories occupied by Azerbaijan.

In a report dealing with the Soviet period Azerbaijan’s aggressive
and discriminatory policies towards the Armenian population were
described. The Armenian population was forced to secede from Azerbaijan
due to these policies.

It was noted that the referendum held in Karabagh on December 10, 1991
was the expression of the will of the Armenian population in Karabagh,
including Shahumian region. The referendum was conducted in accordance
with the then effective Soviet legislation and international law.

The information war currently waged between Azerbaijan and Nagorno
Karabagh Republic is also an important issue. "Today, thirteen
years after the war between Azerbaijan and Karabagh Baku is making
propagandistic statements about " occupation of the 20% of the Azeri
territory and one million refugees".

These figures are obvious falsification, merely a propaganda tool. A
generation of pathologically falsified citizens and political leaders
is thus brought up in Azerbaijan which is not capable of any peaceful
settlement based on a consensus," one of the reports stated.

Andrey Areshov, an expert from the Foundation for Strategic Culture,
described in his report the current situation in the region and the
Karabagh negotiations process.

Documentary films telling about the Karabagh war were screened during
the conference. Deputy Director of the Caucasus Studies Center at the
Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations Vladirmir Zakharov welcomed
the participants of the conference. Zakharov frequently visits Artsakh
lecturing at Artsakh State University. Zakharov presented his vision
of the Artsakh issue expressing his opinion that the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic must be an independent state.

A booklet titled "The Call of Mrav" was published for the
conference. The booklet presents the history of the ancient Gyulistan
and the chronology of the 1988-1992 events in Shahumian region. The
reports delivered during the conference will also be published.

ARZUMANYAN LODGED AN APPEAL

A1+
[08:53 pm] 01 June, 2007

RoA ex Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanyan has appealed to European
Court of Human Rights. He states that his rights to freedom, immunity
and freedom of expression have been violated. The rights are stipulated
by Articles 5 and 10 of the Convention on "Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms."

Alexander Arzumanyan was arrested on May 8. He is accused of money
laundering.

STATE BUDGET FULFILLED WITH SUPLUS OF 9.4 BILLION DRAMS IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2007

Noyan Tapan
May 31 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 31, NOYAN TAPAN. In the first quarter of 2007, the RA
state budget (without the inflow of funds under the credit programs
financed from external sources) was fulfilled with a surplus of
9.4 bln drams (more than 26.1 mln USD). The surplus was negatively
financed by 16.4 bln drams from domestic sources and was positively
financed by 7 bln drams from external sources.

According to the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy, the state budget
was negatively financed by about 489.5 mln drams at the expense
of treasury bonds (their issue made 12.8 bln drams, redemption –
13.3 bln drams). 440 mln drams was allocated from domestic sources of
deficit financing for payment of promissory notes. Available budgetary
resources grew by 15.4 bln drams.

In the indicated period, 10.2 bln drams was provided by the World
Bank under the Poverty Reduction Assistance Program.

In the first quarter of 2007, 2.6 bln drams was allocated from the
RA state budget for state debt servicing, which ensured fulfilment
of the program for the first half of 2007 by 49.8%, in particular,
1.6 bln drams was allocated for servicing the domestic debt and 975.1
mln drams – for servicing the foreign debt.

3.2 bln drams was allocated from the state budget for payment of
foreign liabilities, in particular, 1.4 bln drams was allocated
for payment of liabilities under programs financed by World Bank,
1.4 bln drams – for payment of liabilities under programs financed
by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and 410.9
mln drams – for re-payment of the US commodity credit.

MILITARY TRAIN LEAVES RUSSIA’S BATUMI BASE IN GEORGIA

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 31 2007

MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti) – A military convoy left a Russian
military base in Georgia by rail early Thursday as part of a 2006 deal
on the withdrawal of Russian bases from the South Caucasus country.

The train, consisting of 32 carriages, is transporting 60 122-mm
artillery shells and spare parts to a howitzer, totaling 200 tons of
cargo, from the Batumi base on the Black Sea to Russia via Azerbaijan,
the Georgian Defense Ministry’s press service said.

So far, Russia has sent four military convoys with equipment and
ammunition from the 12th military base in Batumi to a Russian base
in Gyumri, Armenia.

More military hardware will be removed from Batumi each week until
August 2007, the ministry said. The next train from Batumi will depart
June 7 via the same route.

According to the agreement between the countries, Russia must complete
the removal of its Batumi base in Georgia by the end of 2008.

Georgia’s Western-leaning leadership, which is seeking to join NATO,
is uneasy about Russia’s continued military presence and has repeatedly
urged Moscow to close its Soviet-era bases.

ARMENIAN, AZERI PRESIDENTS SET FOR "DECISIVE" TALKS ON KARABAKH
By Emil Danielyan

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
May 29 2007

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to hold yet
another face-to-face meeting that could result in a long-awaited
breakthrough in international efforts to resolve the conflict over
Karabakh. The U.S., French, and Russian diplomats acting under
the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group say the two warring nations
have already agreed on most of the basic principles of a peaceful
settlement put forward by them. The mediators hope that Presidents
Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev will eliminate the remaining
sticking points when they meet on the sidelines of the June 9-10
summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in St. Petersburg.

Agreement to hold the meeting was reached during last week’s joint
visit to Yerevan and Baku by the Minsk Group’s Russian co-chair, Yuri
Merzlyakov, and his French counterpart, Bernard Fassier. The two men
are due to again visit the conflict zone just days before the St.

Petersburg summit together with the group’s U.S. co-chair, Matthew
Bryza, and Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, the OSCE’s
current chairman-in-office. The timing of Moratinos’s trips illustrates
just how high international hopes for Karabakh peace are at the moment.

"The parties are really close to a common denominator on the basic
principles," Azerbaijani media quoted Merzlyakov as saying after
talks with Aliyev on May 25. He told journalists in Yerevan on May
24 that the "circle of unresolved issues is narrowing." "If the St.
Petersburg meeting is successful, then the number of principles that
have not yet been fully agreed on will be practically brought down
to zero," Merzlyakov added.

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian echoed the cautious optimism
the next day. "The meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents in Saint-Petersburg will be a decisive one, and after that,
it will become clear whether a real progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement is possible in the near future," he said.

The mediators are pushing for the signing of a framework peace
agreement before the start of campaigning for presidential elections
due in both Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2008. Fassier warned in Yerevan
that failure to do so would effectively nullify substantial progress
that has been made in Karabakh peace talks in recent years. Both he
and Merzlyakov stressed that although a framework deal would not
constitute a comprehensive peace accord, it would formally commit
the parties to making serious mutual concessions and thereby pave
the way for conflict resolution.

Aliyev and Kocharian had been widely expected to cut such a deal
when they held two days of intensive negotiations in the French
chateau of Rambouillet in February 2005. But neither those talks,
nor their follow-up encounter in Bucharest in June 2005, produced any
agreement. The two leaders revived hopes for a near-term solution to
the Karabakh dispute when they held what appears to have been a far
more productive meeting in Minsk last November. The Minsk meeting led
to a renewed flurry of diplomatic activity by the mediators and more
direct talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers.

"I would say that never before have we been so close to a settlement,"
Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said during an early
May visit to Moscow.

The highly confidential discussions center on the Minsk Group’s
existing peace plan that essentially boils down to holding a referendum
on self-determination in Karabakh years after the liberation of
Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani districts surrounding the disputed
enclave. Disagreements on the date and other practical modalities of
the proposed referendum are believed to have been one of the reasons
for the collapse of the Rambouillet and Bucharest talks. Armenian
officials say Karabakh’s predominantly Armenian population would
thus be able to legitimize its secession from Azerbaijan. Aliyev has
claimed, however, that the Karabakh Armenians would only vote on the
degree of their self-rule within Azerbaijan.

According to Armenian diplomatic sources privy to the negotiating
process, the would-be peace deal may not set any dates for such a
vote. In that case, Karabakh will indefinitely remain under Armenian
control without Azerbaijan having to renounce its sovereignty over
the territory.

Another key stumbling block is Armenian withdrawal from Kelbajar and
Lachin, two of the seven Azerbaijani districts that are sandwiched
between Karabakh and Armenia proper. The Armenian side has been
ready, at least until last summer, to liberate Kelbajar only after
the referendum, something that was deemed unacceptable by Baku. It
has also rejected Azerbaijani demands for the return of Lachin, which
serves as the shortest overland link between Karabakh and Armenia.

The mediators have expressed hope that Aliyev and Kocharian will show
the "political will" to overcome these and other disagreements.

Whether either leader has such resolve remains an open question.

Aliyev, for example, regularly insists that time favors his oil-rich
nation, which he says will eventual gain military superiority over
Armenia and force the latter to make more concessions. That Kocharian
is really committed to mutual compromise is not a given either, even
though his government has essentially accepted the Minsk Group’s
current and previous peace plans. Besides, with Kocharian due to
complete his second and final term in office in less than a year from
now, any peace deal will need the backing of his longtime associate
and most likely successor, Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian. The latter
has publicly backed the existing international peace plan but sounded
skeptical about peace prospects of late, pointing to Aliyev’s bellicose
statements.

(Day.az, May 25; Arminfo, May 25; Azg, May 25; RFE/RL Armenia Report,
May 24, May 8)

MILITARY DOCTRINE OF ARMENIA TO BE READY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE – TILL THE END OF 2008

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.05.2007 14:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is capable of realizing Armenia-NATO
Individual Partnership Action Plan, the IPAP successfully, there
exists all objective preconditions and reliable base for that purpose,
head of International Cooperation and Defense Programs Department of
the Armenian Defense Ministry General Mikael Melkonyan stated to a
press conference in Yerevan. He said, Military Doctrine of Armenia
will be ready till the end of 2008, which is ahead of the scheduled
time planned by the Program. "We must finish works on the Doctrine
till the end of 2008, but already today the process goes on much
quicker. In the coming months we will form an inter-departmental
commission, which will begin its work on the bases of the project
prepared by our experts," he said.

He also underlined in fact the issue of establishing the institute
of military ombudsman is already resolved. "The government has
assigned corresponding financial means and a separate post in the
RA Office of Ombudsman for Ombudsman’s Assistant on Armed Forces is
already confirmed," Melkonyan said. The major general underlined any
serviceman can freely turn to the human rights advocate for assistance.

ARMENIAN COALITION TALKS ‘STILL GOING ON’
By Astghik Bedevian and Ruzanna Khachatrian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 28 2007

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is still negotiating with
other parties loyal to President Robert Kocharian over the formation
of a new coalition government, Pirme Minister Serzh Sarkisian said
on Monday.

"Negotiations are still going on," Sarkisian told RFE/RL, confirming
that his party is ready to share power with the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK)
despite its landslide victory in the May 12 parliamentary elections.

The HHK will control just over a half of the seats in parliament,
putting Sarkisian in a position to form a new government
single-handedly. Nonetheless, observers believe that the Armenian
premier is willing to give several ministerial portfolios to
Dashnaktsutyun and the BHK to give his cabinet greater legitimacy and
build broad-based political support for his bid to succeed Kocharian
as president early next year. Kocharian’s support for continued
coalition rule, which he made clear over the weekend, is also seen
as a major factor.

"The Republican Party is in favor of forming a serious and legitimate
coalition government as a result of constructive negotiations,"
said Eduard Sharmazanov, the HHK spokesman. He said

Dashnaktsutyun is understood to have agreed in principle to remain
in government despite its leaders’ earlier statements that they will
not be a "fifth wheel" in an HHK-led coalition and demands that the
Armenian Ministry of Defense be headed by a member of the nationalist
party. Sources privy to the ongoing talks told RFE/RL on Monday
that the recently appointed Defense Minister Mikael Harutiunian,
who is a career military officer and not affiliated with any party,
will remain in charge.

Newspaper reports have said that the Republicans are only prepared
to let three of the four Dashnaktsutyun-affiliated ministers serving
in Sarkisian’s outgoing cabinet keep their jobs. None of them is in
charge of defense, national security, and foreign policy.

The BHK and its leader Gagik Tsarukian will reportedly settle
for two minor ministerial portfolios not least because of their
worsen-than-expected performance in the elections. The pro-Kocharian
party has been widely regarded as a counterweight to the HHK ever
since its creation in late 2005.

Sarkisian cautioned that the ongoing negotiations will not necessarily
end in success. Asked whether the HHK might eventually decide to go it
alone, he said: "Everything possible. That is why we are negotiating."

Sarkisian also did not rule out the possibility of making power-sharing
offers to even some opposition forces, notably Raffi Hovannisian’s
Zharangutyun party. "Everything is possible. Just wait for a couple
of more days and everything will be clear," he said.

The HHK leader spoke while attending with Kocharian an official
celebration near the southern town of Armavir of the 89th anniversary
of the establishment of a short-lived independent Armenian republic.

The anniversary is a public holiday in the country officially known
as First Republic Day.

The event was also attended by virtually all government ministers.

Even the most influential of them seemed unsure of their political
future. "I’m not the one who decides that," Minister for Local
Government Hovik Abrahamian told RFE/RL.

Abrahamian was effectively sidelined from the HHK’s election campaign
despite being its nominal manager. Sarkisian and other senior
Republicans allegedly suspected him of secretly collaborating with
the BHK and Kocharian.

Asked whether he is indeed mistrusted by Sarkisian, Abrahamian said:
"Ask him. In my opinion, our relations are good."

Another prominent official, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, said he
has not yet been offered to continue to perform his duties. "Nothing
is clear yet," he said. "We have to wait and see."

Sources told RFE/RL that Oskanian as well as Minister for Transport
and Communications Andranik Manukian, Education Minister Levon
Mkrtchian, and Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosian will be re-appointed
by Sarkisian.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AGAIN ON AGENDA OF PARLIAMENT OF HOLLAND

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 23 2007

AMSTERDAM, MAY 23, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The draft
criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide is again on the agenda
of the Parliament of Holland. The draft will prohibit denial of both
Armenian Genocide and Jewish Holocaust and Rwanda Genocide, press of
Netherlands states.

The initiative to put the draft on the agenda of the Parliament
belongs to Joel Voordewind, a member of the Christian Union. Some
members of the ruling coalition and D-66 party functioning at the
Parliament which is, by the way, known for his pro-Turkish position,
are against that initiative.

The D-66 party got the T-66 nickname, associating letter T
with the name of the state of Turkey. It is possible that the
Christian-Democratic and Socialist parties will assist that initiative
of Christian Union member Voordewind.

"CONSTRUCTION 2007" INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS TO BE HELD IN TSAKHKADZOR ON JULY 20-23

Noyan Tapan
May 22 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of the Master
international integration assistance center, the "Construction
2007" international congress will be held in Tsakhkadzor on July
20-23. According to a press release submitted to NT by the center,
during the congress, discussions will be organized on the strategy
for development of Armenia’s construction complex, as well as on
modern problems of interregional and international cooperation in
development of the investment, construction, building materials and
technologies markets.

Over 100 Armenian and about 20 foreign organizations of the
construction sector will participate in the work of the congress
organized with the official assistance of the RA Ministry of Urban
Development, the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia
and the Union of Builders of Armenia.

GOVERNMENT DELEGATION HEADED BY RA PRIME MINISTER TO LEAVE FOR UKRAINE ON TWO-DAY VISIT ON MAY 24

Noyan Tapan
May 23 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The government delegation headed by RA
Prime Minister Serge Sargsian will leave for Ukraine on a two-day
working visit on May 24, to participate in the regular sitting of
the Council of the heads of governments of the CIS member states
to be held in Yalta. Noyan Tapan was informed about it by the RA
Government’s Information and Public Relations Department.

At the Council sitting the heads of the governments will discuss issues
relating to cooperation of the CIS member states in different spheres.

Particularly, it is envisaged to discuss and made decisions concerning
formation of the general electric energy market of the CIS member
states, struggle against falsified medicine, cooperatiuon in the
sphere of physical education and sports, agreements about activity
of united peace keeping forces of the CIS and the staff’s financial,
technical and front security, joint complex events in the direction of
preventing introduction and spreading of the avian influenza in the
territory of the CIS countries, working out of drafts of interstate
programs on methods of joint struggle against crime and narcotics,
psychotropic substances and their precursors as well as educational,
financial, organization and a number of other issues.

RA Government staff head-Minister Manuk Topuzian, RA Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs Gegham Gharibjanian, RA Permanent Authorized
Representative to the CIS charter and other bodies Oleg Yesayan,
RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine Armen
Khachatrian, RA Authorized Representative to the Commission on Economic
Issues attached to the CIS Economic Council Artak Vardanian, heads
of sub-departments of the RA Government’s and RA Foreign Ministry’s
staffs, other officials were involved in the RA delegation staff.