Author: Nargizian David

MEXICAN AMBASSADOR HANDS CREDENTIALS TO KOCHARIAN

ARMENPRESS
Feb 27, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS: Alfredo Peres Bravo, the Moscow
(Russia)-seated Mexican ambassador to Armenia, handed today his
credentials to president Robert Kocharian in Yerevan.

Kocharian was quoted by his press office as saying that Armenia is
sincerely interested in developing cooperation with Mexico.

Cooperation within international organizations was emphasized by
the two men. They also emphasized the importance of intensifying
the political dialogue on issues of reciprocal interest, exchange of
information between the business communities, which will enable to
determine the concrete directions of cooperation.

According to Kocharian, in case of coordinated work it is possible
to reach serious results in a short period of time.

AZERBAIJAN TO PULL TROOPS FROM KOSOVO: OFFICIAL

Reuters
Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:35am EST

BAKU (Reuters) – Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has asked parliament
to vote to withdraw the ex-Soviet country’s peacekeepers from Kosovo,
an Azeri official said on Thursday.

Aliyev submitted the initiative to a parliamentary committee this
week, and the vote is expected on March 4. The proposal is expected
to pass into law with little opposition.

Azerbaijan has had 33 soldiers serving in Kosovo since 1999 with a
Turkish battalion under NATO command.

Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said Kosovo’s recent declaration
of independence from Serbia had "sharply changed the political scene".

"Azerbaijan, as well as a host of other NATO partner-countries, is
now re-examining the position of its peacekeeping platoon," Azimov
told reporters.

Azerbaijan is locked in a once-bloody dispute with neighbor Armenia
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The countries are technically still
at war and Baku fears Kosovo’s independence will embolden regional
separatists further.

Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh threw off Azerbaijan’s
rule in a 1990s war that killed about 35,000 people and sent hundreds
of thousands fleeing.

Azerbaijan has vowed to restore its control. The region is host to
a pipeline pumping Caspian Sea oil to world markets.

Azimov said his country was not changing its relationship with NATO,
where it cooperates in educational exchanges and joint troop training,
and Baku had recently doubled its commitment to the alliance’s presence
in Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Lada Yevgrashina, writing by Chris Baldwin, editing by
Elizabeth Piper)

SMBAT AIVAZIAN CHARGED WITH VIOLENCE

A1+
27 February, 2008

Today the Police of the Republic of Armenia released a statement
according to which ex-head of the tax service, Smbat Aivazian, detained
on February 24, is under arrest. He is charged with violence against a
government representative (Article 316.1 of the Penal Code of Armenia).

ERDOGAN’S COUNTER OFFENSIVE AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CLAIMS

Turkish Daily News
Feb 27 2008

As the 16th year of the Hocali massacres are commemorated in
Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Armenia of
committing genocide and of unlawfully occupying Azerbaijani territory.

"We condemn those who perpetuated such an atrocity as a nation,"
said Erdogan in a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting
yesterday. Armenian armed forces are accused of killing over 1,000
Azerbaijani civilians on Feb. 25, 1992 in Hocali, during the armed
conflict between people of the largely Armenian-populated region
of Nagorno-Karabakh, which unilaterally declared independence from
Azerbaijan in 1992, and Azerbaijani forces. The battle ended, after
Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and invaded a portion of Azerbaijani
territory, when a Russian brokered ceasefire went into effect in 1994.

Erdogan called on Armenia to end its occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
region, recognized internationally as Azerbaijani territory. "When
they come up with various claims against Turkey they should bear
these in mind. Massacres will not lead you anywhere," Erdogan said.

Erdogan refuted Armenian claims of genocide by the Young Turks
against their kin in 1915, and said Armenia committed genocide in
Hocali. "Against the nonsense they fabricate and disseminate in
the world public opinion, we tell them the following: Talk after
looking right into the mirror. If there was a genocide, it was you
who perpetuated its most violent form," Erdogan said. He argued that
genocide is uncharacteristic of Turks. "The character of this nation
does not let it commit such crimes. We call Armenians to end their
unjustified occupation," Erdogan said. The Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe oversees negotiations between two South
Caucasian states, but the ceasefire is breached occasionally, like
the incident in mid-February when an Azerbaijani soldier was killed
due to Armenian fire.

CONGRATULATIONS FROM NIKOLAI RYZHKOV

armradio.am
26.02.2008 13:48

Member of the Fedearl Council of the Russian Federation, Co-Chair of
the Interparliamentary Commisison on Cooperation between the Federal
Council of Russia and the National Assembly of Armenia Nikolai Ryzhkov
congratulated RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan on his victory in the
presidential elections.

The congratulatory message says, in part:

"Dear Mr. Sargsyan,

I sincerely congratulate you on your firm victory in the presidential
elections in the Republic of Armenia. This high trust of the people is
the evidence of your state activity, when under the hardest conditions
you managed to reach considerable success for the sake of prosperity
of the Armenian people. I’m confident that the brotherly ties between
Armenia and Russia that stood the test of time will become firmer,
and the relations between our two peoples will become more productive
and multifaceted.

I appreciate the high level of our personal relations and express
hope that these will reinforce year by year.

I wish you success in your hard and responsible work for the sake
of wellbeing and prosperity of the diligent and talented people of
Armenia. I wish you sound health, peace and happiness."

"WE SHOULD RECEIVE RIGHT FOR FINAL MANIFESTATION OF SELF-DETERMINATION OF NKR PEOPLE," VARDAN OSKANIAN MENTIONS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 26, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. On February 25 the "Tolerance
and Xenophobia in South Caucasian Region" international conference
dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Sumgait massacres started
its proceedings in Yerevan on February 25. It was organized on the
initiative of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Museum-Institute
of the Armenian Genocide and the Yerevan State University. Political
scientists, historians from Armenia, Russia and Great Britain are
taking part in the conference.

As RA Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned, the subject of the
conference is present-day both in regional and global terms. According
to him, the discussion is being held on Armenian, regional and global
planes. "I say Armenian plane with sorrow as I did not imagine that
such a situation is possible to be created inside our country and that
different parts of our society will not tolerate each other in any
way," the Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned. In the estimation of
Vardan Oskanian, unfortunately, not ideas but individuals with hatred
and intolerance clashed during the presidential campaign. Whereas,
according to him, the Karabakh issue is not settled as yet. "And
under the conditions of such challenges no one has a right to split
our society," the Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

In the estimation of Vardan Oskanian, today the problem of Nagorno
Karabakh is set in front of us, the basis of which are the Sumgait
events but for which the developments of the Karabakh issue will
receive quite another shade.

Touching upon the Kosovo problem, Vardan Oskanian mentioned that
if the international community unanimously accepts the independence
of Kosovo and makes impossible the return to its former status quo,
the return of Karabakh to the former status quo in the structure of
Azerbaijan is also excluded.

"If there is any precedent, we should be able to introduce it to the
international community in public, so as we receive a complete legal
right for a final manifestation of the self-determination of the NKR
people," Vardan Oskanian mentioned.

OMBUDSMAN OF ARMENIA VISITS ARRESTED SMBAT AYVAZYAN, FORMER ARMENIAN MINISTER OF FISCAL REVENUES

arminfo
2008-02-25 16:19:00

ArmInfo. Armenian Human Rights Defender Armen Harutyunyan visited the
Central Department of RA Police to meet the arrested former minister
of fiscal revenues of Armenia, Smbat Ayvazyan, in the investigative
department Monday morning.

The Armenian ombudsman’s press-service told ArmInfo that the
ombudsman’s office received a signal that Smbat Ayvazyan was subjected
to pressure and torture by the police. According to the source, during
the meeting Ayvazyan denied this information and noted that he had
problems with neither his health nor the investigative actions with
respect to him. The source also says that Ayvazyan has been presented
the lawyer whom he himself chose.

To recall, Smbat Ayvazyan, a member of the oppositional Republic
party supporting Levon Ter- Petrosyan’s candidacy was detained on
February 24, and arrested on February 25. A charge has been brought
against him under Article 316, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code –
"violence against representative of power".

DO OLD FRIENDS NOT RESIGN?

Lragir
18:45:37 – 23/02/2008

The resignation of the deputy speaker of the National Assembly Vahan
Hovanisyan may launch a new serious home political process or intensify
the ongoing process. The point is that Vahan Hovanisyan’s decision has
caused a strong reaction among the leadership of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun. However, we may also say that this reaction had
occurred long before this and has caused Vahan Hovanisyan to resign.
The point is that before the presidential election some part of
Dashnaktsutyun had doubts that Vahan Hovanisyan worked in favor of the
presidential candidate Serge Sargsyan. Moreover, according to
information from the ranks of Dashnaktsutyun, in some areas activists
of Dashnaktsutyun gave election bribes but for the Republican
candidate, not for their candidate. Doubts became deeper when after
failure Vahan Hovanisyan did not make any important pronouncement
regarding the presidential election. It aroused more doubts among the
party ranks about his activities. And perhaps this is the reason why
Vahan Hovanisyan decided to make an assessment of the election and
resign from the post of deputy speaker three days after February 19 to
dispel doubts among his party members about his plot with Serge
Sargsyan.

However, Hovanisyan’s resignation which was expected to dispel doubts
inside the party and ease tension has kindled it even more because now
the problem of a logical continuation of the resignation has occurred,
that is the ministers from Dashnaktsutyun should now resign, especially
that it is in the interests of the ranks of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, who
heard before the election the statements of their leadership to go all
the way, whereas after the election they were shocked by the silence of
their party leadership after this outrageous election. However, the
demand of the ranks is not in the interests of the party leadership who
have taken a convenient place in government, including ministerial
posts. This situation has caused a heated debate among the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun leadership: to resign or not to resign from ministerial
posts. In fact, it might sound exaggerated but the political future of
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is at stake if the interests of part of the
leadership prevails over the party ranks.

In addition, this controversy has occurred a long time ago, since the
coalition agreement signed in 2003 when the actions and words of the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun started to contradict, and not only in Armenia but
also in the political life of Karabakh, when the opposition ARF
Dashnaktsutyun joined the `common candidate’ plot after it had been
crushed in the parliamentary election in Karabakh. Perhaps the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun has a good opportunity to overcome internal
controversies and misunderstanding, if certainly it goes for
ideological consistency rather than political conformism.

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DESCRIBED AS A "LIE" ALL THE STATEMENTS, MADE ON BEHALF OF HIS DEPUTIES IN THE COURSE OF THE RECENT FEW DAYS

Mediamax
February 23, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Defense Minister Mikhael Harutiunian
described today as a "lie" all the statements, made on behalf of his
deputies in the course of the recent few days.

Mediamax reports that, answering the questions of the journalists
today after the ceremony of placing wreaths on the Eternal Fire in
Yerevan Victory Park, Mikhael Harutiunian stated:

"All the deputies of the Armenian Defense Minister are fulfilling
their responsibilities, and the ones, who make statements on behalf
of the deputies, will bear the responsibility for their word according
to the law".

The Minister stressed that no one has the right to make statements on
behalf of the Army and the "Yerkrapah" Union of volunteer home guards.

Mikhael Harutiunian stated that "Army has its own responsibilities,
and it does not get involved in politics".

SUPPORTERS OF TER-PETROSIAN STATED THAT THEY ARE GOING ON A "SIT-DOWN STRIKE"

Mediamax
February 21, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. The supporters of the presidential candidate of
Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian stated that they are going on a "sit-down
strike" in the Freedom Square in the center of Yerevan.

Mediamax’s correspondent reports that the representative of
Ter-Petrosian’s staff Nikol Pashinian stated that they will stay in
the Square for 24 hours, until their claims are fulfilled.