Author: Navasardian Karapet

GYUMRI TECHNOPARK TO BE LAUNCHED BY LATE 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. It is envisaged that development of the
Gyumri technopark’s project will be completed and its implementation
will begin by late 2008, the RA minister of trade and economic
development Nerses Yeritsian stated, adding that the technopark will be
specialized in IT, tourism and fashion sectors.

According to the minister, the vision of creation of Gyumri technopark
should be described promptly based on the results of his March 28 visit
to Gyumri, which will facilitate cooperation of the RA ministry of
trade and economic development, which coordinates this work, and the
other sides interested in the technopark’s creation.

In his words, one purpose of establishing Gyumri technopark is to link
the university system to business so local higher educational
institutions also have to participate in the creation of the
technopark. The minister said that there are enterprises in the city of
Gyumri which are prepared to take part in the technopark’s program
(also by allocating their areas), such as Gyumri branch of the Armenian
Center of Scientific Information, the Gyumri IT Center. The latter,
according to N. Yeritsian, is already a business incubator by its
nature. It has a successful history of work, which shows that its
experience may be used by Gyumri technopark.

Representatives of leading companies of IT industry (Microsoft,
Synopsys, National Instruments), as well as tourism and fashion sectors
have been involved in foundation of the technopark. Some international
structures (the World Bank, the USAID, the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development) have agreed to participate in the work
on creation of Gyumri technopark.

N. Yeritsian said that in 3-5 years after its being launched, the
technopark may be able to assist with creation of over 100 small and
medium enterprises. There is a goal to turn one or two of them into big
enterprises to enter international market within this period. The
minister expressed an opinion that Gyumri may become a business center,
taking into account its cheap labor and infrastructures (as compared
with Yerevan), development of the capacities of Gyumri airport and the
business skill of local residents.

The minister announced that the state is ready to provide small grants
to Gyumri technopark’s researchers for the development and
implementation of ideas, as well as to set up an advisory structure
with the aim of "transforimg these ideas into business", which in its
turn will help find financing sources for the technopark’s enterprises
and attract capital of the Diaspora. It is envisaged to allocate 80 mln
drams (about 260 thousand USD) from the state budget for Gymri
technopark-related work.

N. Yeritsian said that the experience of implementing the Gyumri
technopark program will be used for developing a larger technopark
project near Yerevan.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Bush nominates Marie L. Yovanovitch for U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
29.03.2008 15:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. President Bush intends to
nominate Marie L. Yovanovitch, of Connecticut, to be
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United States of America to the Republic of Armenia.
Ms. Yovanovitch, a career member of the Foreign
Service, currently serves as Ambassador to the Kyrgyz
Republic. Prior to this, she served as Senior Advisor
to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the
Department of State. Earlier in her career, she served
as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kyiv. Ms. Yovanovitch
received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton
University and her master’s degree from the National
War College.

An earlier attempt to nominate Amb. Richard Hoagland
to replace Amb. Evans was blocked by Sen. Robert
Menendez (Dem.-N.J.), to protest the dismissal of Amb.
Evans and to object to Amb. Hoagland’s poor choice of
words in responding to Senators’ questions on the
validity of the Armenian Genocide.

CIS COUNTRY FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTERS SESSION STARTED

Panorama.am
18:11 28/03/2008

Today in Moscow the session of the CIS member countries foreign
affairs ministers’ started.

Yesterday the foreign affairs minister Vardan Oskanyan left for Moscow
to take part in the session.

According to the public relations department of the ministry
the following issues should be discussed in the session: holding
ceremonies commemorating the 65 anniversary of the Big Patriotic War,
preparedness of the anti-drug policy. The officials also made some
arrangements for the Cooperation Country officials summit held in
Bishkek on 26 September.

Remind: the foreign affairs ministers of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, as well as the state officials
from Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine took part in the
session. The executive secretary of the executive committee of the
CIS Sergey Lebedev took part in the session activities.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CRITICIZES TURKEY FOR SLOW REFORM

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.03.2008 13:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Parliament criticized Turkey for slowing
down the reforms provided by the EU accession talks. EP rapporteur
Oomen Ruijten developed a report which records lack of rule of law
in the country.

The General Staff’s initiative on dissolution of the AKP ruling party
was also subjected to sharp criticism. She made a special mention of
investigation into Ergenekon network and arrest of over 40 people,
including politicians, journalists and intellectuals.

"Despite adoption of the bill allowing to wear a headscarf university,
it’s not put into practice," Ms Ruijten said, adding that the army
should restrain its activities.

The EP rapporteur called on the Turkish authorities to repeal article
301 and resolve the Kurdish problem politically, RIA Novosti reports.

Turkish media says the draft report may be amended before April 3,
then it will be submitted for EP vote.

Accession talks were launched in October 2005. The process may take
some 10-15 years.

AZERBAIJANI REPRESENTATIVES DELIVERED SPEECHES AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS

Azeri Press Agency
March 26 2008
Azerbaijan

Washington. Husniyye Hasanova-APA. Chairman of Azerbaijan Society
of America Tomris Azeri, Executive Director of U.S Azeris Network
Adil Bagirov and President of the Azerbaijani-American Council Javid
Huseynov delivered speeches at the Lower House Subcommittee on Foreign
Operations of US Congress.

APA US Bureau reports that representatives of Azerbaijani Diaspora
requested the Congress to render no aid to Nagorno Karabakh in 2009.

Making a speech at the subcommittee hearings on budget estimates for
fiscal year 2009, T. Azeri stated that Azerbaijan was a dynamically
developing country. To her, censorship was lifted in 1993, more than
2000 Mass Media operate in the country and nearly 1400 NGOs have been
registered to date. She said that the US-Azerbaijan energy security
cooperation was of strategic importance and reminded that Condoleezza
Rice and Elmar Mammadyarov had signed a MOU in energy field a year
before and added that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum
pipelines made great contributions to this cooperation.

Another representative of the Diaspora Adil Bagirov also delivered
a speech and noted that Armenia had received $225 million from the
United States since 1992 for democratization and this figure is
four times more in comparison with the aid rendered to Azerbaijan,
the closest ally of the United States in the region. He shared his
views on the events lately occurred in Armenia and emphasized that
the United States should not support the state, which occupied the
territories of neighboring country, committed genocide, carried on
a policy of ethnic cleansing and even killed its citizens.

Further, Javid Huseynov made a speech and spoke of the economic
advancement of Azerbaijan. He noted that Azerbaijan has sent its
peacekeeping forces to Afghanistan and Iraq.

They requested to take all abovementioned into account, remain in
force the aid to be rendered to Azerbaijan in 2009 and not to render
the assistance to Armenia more than 24 million dollars.

Representatives of Azerbaijani community wished the Congress to render
no aid to Nagorno Karabakh in 2009.

SARGSYAN WINS PUTIN’S SEAL OF APPROVAL
By Anna Smolchenko

The Moscow Times
March 25 2008
Russia

President Vladimir Putin and Serzh Sargsyan on Monday pledged
continuity in bilateral relations, as the Armenian president-elect
made Moscow his first destination after being declared the winner in
a controversial election last month.

"I know that political processes in Armenia are not developing easily,
but we very much hope that everything we have built up in bilateral
relations in recent years will remain and develop further in the
future, regardless of events inside Armenia," Putin said at the start
of the talks in the Kremlin.

Sargsyan was elected in a Feb. 19 vote that the opposition says
was rigged. The growing protests that followed were then violently
dispersed by police and a 20-day state of emergency was imposed.

The state of emergency ended last week.

Sargsyan thanked Putin for Russia’s support, including its backing
in the run-up to the Armenian vote.

"Both [Armenian President Robert Kocharyan] and our ambassador passed
your personal messages on to me, and I will be honest: Never before
have we witnessed such an unambiguous approach," he said.

Sargsyan’s trip comes on the heels of a visit by Kocharyan, who came
to Moscow for an informal Commonwealth of Independent States summit
on Feb. 22.

Putin congratulated Sargsyan, currently prime minister, on his
victory, while Sargsyan said the election of First Deputy Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev as Putin’s replacement in March instilled
hope that the bilateral relations would continue to develop positively.

Sargsyan met Medvedev earlier on Monday. Sargsyan is to be inaugurated
on April 9, while the ceremony for Medvedev will take place on May 7.

The talks between Putin and Sargsyan were to focus on expanding
trade and economic relations, including nuclear cooperation, the
Kremlin said in a statement on Monday. Armenia has been invited to
join Russia’s international uranium enrichment center in Angarsk and
is expected to finalize its commitment in the near future.

Azhdar Kurtov, an analyst with the Russian Institute of Strategic
Studies, said continuity in relations with Yerevan was important
for Moscow, as Armenia remains virtually its only ally in the South
Caucasus.

"Armenia has been successful so far in keeping the Caucasus from
drifting toward the West or, rather, the south," said Kurtov, who
focuses on the CIS.

Landlocked Armenia borders Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey,
in a region that is becoming a key transit route for oil exports to
European and world markets. Georgia and Azerbaijan have both said
they are interested in NATO membership.

The difference between Moscow’s relations with Armenia and its
relationship with Georgia was evident, Kurtov said, from the Russian
media coverage of postelection riots in Yerevan and of the earlier
riots in Tbilisi. The disturbances and the police reaction in Armenia
have received much less coverage than did the events in Georgia,
he said.

Armenia, which hosts a Russian military base, is part of the
Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, a regional body
aimed at strengthening military and political ties. Armenia will take
over the chairmanship of the organization this fall.

Russian investment in Armenia totaled about $1 billion at the end of
2007, a year that saw trade between the countries top $800 million,
the Kremlin said, adding that a figure of $1 billion was a realistic
forecast for the near future.

In a standard indication of good relations between the countries, the
Kremlin said Armenia would host a series of Russian cultural events
this year, while Russia would host a "Season of Armenian Culture"
in 2009.

Despite the pledges of continued friendship, however, Gazprom is soon
likely to significantly hike the prices that Armenia pays it for gas,
analysts have said. Armenia currently pays a mere $110 per thousand
cubic meters.

ARMENIA: BETTING ON A COALITION FOR POLITICAL STABILITY
Marianna Grigoryan

EurasiaNet
March 25 2008
NY

Nearly one month after a bloody clash between police and opposition
protestors, the Armenian government is betting on a newly formed
coalition to restore political "stability" and "solidarity." But,
with its protests continuing, the opposition insists that only policy
and personnel changes can defuse the simmering crisis.

To outsiders, a political memorandum released March 21 seems to usher
in an awkward coalition: the governing Republican Party of Armenia
and pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party are being joined by two
parties that were outspoken government critics during the recent
election campaign – the Country of Law (Orinats Yerkir) Party and
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) .

The government states that the partnership was formed based "on the
results of the February 19, 2008, presidential election, pursuing the
goal of ensuring progressive development of the Republic of Armenia."

Orinats Yerkir leader Artur Baghdasarian and ARF senior member
Vahan Hovhannisian finished third and fourth, respectively, in the
presidential race. [For background see the special feature – Armenia:
Vote 2008].

The coalition, which outgoing President Robert Kocharian supposedly
helped establish, has stated in the memorandum that it plans to deepen
"popular reforms," improve "mechanisms for human rights protection",
oppose "foreign and domestic challenges to the Republic of Armenia,"
and implement "bold and realistic reforms.".

"Authorities are doing everything in order to establish stability in
the country," said senior Republican Party MP Armen Ashotian. "Thanks
to the coalition memorandum, other political forces have gathered
around key issues."

Meanwhile, the opposition has continued to protest the election results
and the March 1 violence. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive]. So-called "silent protests" through downtown Yerevan have
continued since March 21, when the government lifted Armenia’s state
of emergency. [For background see the Eurasia insight archive]. Former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who claims he won the February 19 vote,
remains under house arrest, and scores of prominent opposition figures
and activists remain in jail.

Without the release of these detainees and the end of "political
persecutions," argues opposition Heritage Party parliamentarian Anahit
Bakhshian, the government’s memorandum is meaningless. "Based on its
content, the memorandum is reassuring. When I read it, I thought that
I would, too, wish to sign to such a memorandum," said Bakhshian. "The
question, however, is whether or not they will be able to realize
the points included in it. In this atmosphere …

there is still not the political will by which it will be possible
to bring stability to the country."

Baghdasarian’s participation in the coalition is a particularly sore
point for government critics. Among many convinced Kocharian opponents,
the 39-year-old former parliament speaker was long suspected of
being a fair-weather politician. Prior to the presidential election,
he seemed poised to join forces with Ter-Petrosian. [For background
see the Eurasia Insight archive]. That he suddenly switched sides,
accepting on February 29 an appointment as the chairman of the National
Security Council, left many Ter-Petrosian supporters harboring feelings
of enduring enmity for Baghdasarian.

Baghdasarian now is one of the government’s biggest boosters. "There
is . . . resolve on the part of the newly elected president [Serzh
Sarkisian]," he said recently. "There is a desire, indeed, to make
positive changes in the country."

For its part, the ARF of late has expressed similar admiration for
Sarkisian’s political skills, even though the ARF’s own presidential
candidate, Hovhannisian, earlier resigned as deputy parliamentary
speaker in protest at alleged election violations.

Despite the appearance that unsavory political deals have been sealed,
one independent political analyst contends that the coalition may in
the end prove the right choice. "The coalition may have an inglorious
end, or it may also [make] clear changes that will alleviate the
current situation," observed Yervand Bozoian. "At present, perhaps
it is not so important who signed the memorandum, as it is what the
next steps and policy will be."

The protests leading up to the March 1 events, along with the more
muted post-March 21 demonstrations, provide proof that thousands of
Armenians are dissatisfied with the government, Bozoian continued.

The key is whether the authorities can win over the discontented.

The government already has taken tentative steps to improve the
social safety net. On March 20, for example, the cabinet announced
plans to allocate roughly $400,000 to provide relief to distressed
farmers. Ashotian, the Republican Party MP, said additional welfare
measures will soon be taken. "The inauguration of the newly elected
president will take place on April 9," Ashotian said. "And after that,
the actions will become clearer."

During the presidential campaign, Sarkisian pledged that families’
incomes "will at least double" under his administration, and that
"newly formed" families "will have an opportunity to get an apartment
and a car." Residents of Armenia’s remote border villages, he claimed,
will also be able to lead "a dignified life."

Government critics content that civil rights, not living standards
are the primary concern of most Armenians. To stabilize the domestic
political situation, argues the Heritage Party’s Bakhshian, the
country’s leaders need to "change their attitudes and many officials
at the top."

"However, we do not see a trend towards those changes right now,"
she said. "And, in this case, people cannot calmly wait."

WHITE HOUSE NAMES NEW AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.03.2008 14:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Bush Administration has submitted to the Armenian
government the name of Marie L. Yovanovitch as the next Ambassador to
Armenia, according to several Armenian and American reliable sources,
writes Harut Sassounian, The California Courier publisher

She is currently serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic.

This is the first step in diplomatic protocol in the nomination of a
new U.S. Ambassador to a foreign country. After receiving Armenia’s
consent, Pres. Bush would then officially nominate Ms. Yovanovitch
as Ambassador to Armenia and submit her name to the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and subsequently to the full Senate for final
confirmation.

This will be Bush administration’s second attempt to nominate an
ambassador to Armenia after its recall of Amb. John Evans for using
the term Armenian Genocide.

An earlier attempt to nominate Amb. Richard Hoagland to replace
Amb. Evans was blocked by Sen. Robert Menendez (Dem.-N.J.), to protest
the dismissal of Amb. Evans and to object to Amb. Hoagland’s poor
choice of words in responding to Senators’ questions on the validity
of the Armenian Genocide.

GATHERING OF OPPOSITION MASS STARTED IN NORTHERN AVENUE FINISHES IN REPUBLICAN SQUARE WITH INTERFERANCE OF POLICEMEN

Noyan Tapan
March 24, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Approximately 40 supporters of Levon
Ter-Petrosian, the first President of the Republic of Armenia and
the former candidate running for presidency, gathered on the Northern
avenue of Yerevan at 17:00 on March 22. Irrespective of the fact that
it was declared beforehand that a mourning march was to take place
towards the Embassy of France, those gathered claimed that they have
just come to stand on the avenue. Just from the very beginning the
representatives of the police called on them to break up and "not to
turn it into a rally." In response to the call, those gathered made
assertions that they do not intend to make a rally at all, that they
are just walking.

The chain made by policemen armed with shields and rubber cudgels
gradually approached the people and the latters, the number of whom
already made almost 100, had to direct their steps towards somewhere
a little downwards and stopped. At 18:15 the police gave 10 minutes
for those gathered to break up, in response to which the people not
only did not go away, but also started to sing. Ten minutes later the
policemen walked towards the people, however, at that very moment
a group of foreign journalists taking photographs appeared and the
policemen withdrew.

The people continued to quietly walk towards the Republican square,
where they had hardly entered when the police declared that their
"march" is not authorized and ordered those with cudgels "to clean" the
place. Hearing the order, the people dispersed in different directions
in separate groups. The policemen continued to pursue them for another
50 meters and stopped. All that time logomarchy was proceeding between
the people and law enforcement bodies, in particular, the opposition
mass called those with cudgels "Turks" and cursed in their address.

A young man among those gathered, whose name is Mher, said in the
interview with a Noyan Tapan correspondent that he himself will come to
the Northern avenue until "the Liberty square is returned to people."

OSKANIAN, SEMNEBY POINT TO IMPORTANCE OF STABIITY IN ARMENIA

ARKA
March 24, 2008

YEREVAN, March 24. /ARKA/. Stability in Armenia is a guarantee both
for the country’s development and for the further implementation of
regional programs, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and EU
Special Envoy to the South Caucasus Peter Semneby stated in a meeting
in Yerevan. Oskanian and Semneby discussed the post-election situation
in Armenia and possible ways to regain public solidarity.

The twenty-day state of emergency imposed in Yerevan by President
Robert Kocharyan expired on March 21. The decree on state of emergency
was issued after the rallies of the opposition forces protesting
against the results of February 19 presidential elections attributing
victory to Prime Minister Serge Sargssyan turned into public unrest
and clashes with the law-enforcement bodies in which 230 people were
injured, and eight were killed.

Oskanian and Semneby also discussed the results of UN voting on
the Karabakh resolution offered by Azerbaijan and the aftermath of
the voting. On March 14, UN General Assembly passed the resolution
on Karabakh demanding that Armenian forces be immediately pulled
out of the "occupied" territories and that Azerbaijan’s rights to
Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories be confirmed. The resolution
was adopted with 39 in favor, 7 against, and 100 abstentions. The
United States, France and Russia, co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,
were among those who voted against.