Author: Tadevosian Garnik

Arms control treaty slashed military arsenals in Europe after Cold War

The Associated PressPublished: July 14, 2007

A glance at the main elements of the Conventional Forces Treaty in
Europe:

_ ORIGINALLY CONCLUDED: on November 19, 1990 between NATO and Warsaw
Pact nations.

_ AREA AFFECTED: Between Atlantic Ocean and Ural mountains.

_ FORCE LIMITS: Each bloc was limited to 6,800 combat aircraft and
2,000 attack helicopters, as well as 20,000 tanks, 30,000 armored
personnel carriers, and 20,000 artillery guns. The changes eliminated
the Warsaw Pact’s overwhelming numerical superiority in Central Europe.

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_ DEPLOYMENT LIMITS: Basing of military forces was progressively
restricted near the line dividing the two blocs, thus ensuring that
neither could launch a surprise attack.

_ TRANSPARENCY: The treaty called for both blocs to allow inspectors
from the other side to monitor military maneuvers and other movements,
and to verify the destruction of weaponry.

___

_ AMENDED TREATY: Signed in Istanbul on November 19, 1999.

_ MAIN CHANGES: Due to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the
defection of many of its members to NATO, bloc force limits were
abolished and replaced by a complex system of ceilings for individual
nations and regions. The new version also called on Russia to pull out
its forces from Georgia and Moldova.

_ SIGNATORIES: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada,
Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine,
United Kingdom, and the United States.

_ RATIFIED BY: The amended treaty has so far been ratified by Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia.

_ COMPLAINTS: NATO signatories have complained that Russia has not
withdrawn its forces from Moldova’s breakaway Trans-Dniester province.
Moscow says they are peacekeepers preventing a resumption of combat
between the two sides. Russian leaders repeatedly criticized the
treaty’s revised version, saying it was irrelevant due to its continued
non-ratification by NATO members.

___

SOURCES: NATO, OSCE, Russian government.

EXPERT: EUROPEAN UNION ONE OF ARMENIA’S BIGGEST ECONOMIC PARTNERS

ARKA
Jul 13 2007

YEREVAN, July 13. /ARKA/. European Union is one of Armenia’s biggest
economic partners, Tigran Jrbashyan, director of Armenian office of
AEPLAC, Armenian-European consulting centre for economic policy and
law, said Friday at a press conference.

He pointed out some figures as convincing evidence of that. "In
2006, Armenia’s exports totaled about $1bln. 47.2% of this amount,
particularly $473mln is exports to EU countries", he said.

Jrbashyan said that imports totaled $2.154bln in 2006. According
to him, goods worth $692mln (31.5%) were imported in Armenia from
EU countries.

The expert added that such tendencies are seen also in the first five
months of 2007 despite Armenian trade turnover’s bent toward Russia.

According to him, quite interesting developments are seen in Armenia-EU
economic relations.

Jrbashyan said that cars and equipment are mainly brought to Armenia
from EU countries.

He views this as positive phenomenon and evidence of Armenian economy
conformity with European technologic development.

The expert thinks European equipment importing in Armenia is
increasingly becoming beneficial, as national currency grows. Armenia’s
total trade turnover grew 39.1% in Jan-May 2007, compared with the
same period a year earlier, and reached $1536.3mln.

Commodities worth $423.58mln were exported from Armenia and those
worth $1112.75mln imported in the country in Jan-May 2007.

Trade turnover with CIS countries made 33% and that with EU countries
37.7% of Armenia’s total trade turnover.

Russia’s quota in Armenia’s trade turnover made 14.6%.

ETYEN MAHCHUTIAN: "60% OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN TURKEY WILL VOTE FOR PARTY IN POWER"

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jul 13 2007

ISTANBUL, JULY 13, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Etyen Mahchupian, the
editor-in-chief of the Weekly Akos, declared that 60% of the Armenian
community in Turkey will vote for the "Ardarutiun and Zargatsum"
("Justice and Development") party in power.

In his interview with the "Tempo" journal, Etyen Mahchupian spoke
about the forthcoming parliamentary elections to be held in Turkey and
declared that 60% of the Armenian community is going to vote for the
"Justice and Development" party: "According to our studies, Armenians
also support Basken Oran, a candidate who has been put forward as an
independent MP in Istanbul.

However, if we leave out the factor of Basken and make a comparision
between political parties, we will see that 60% of the Armenian
community is going to vote for the "Justice and Development" party,
and the remaining 40% will vote for the Democratic-Republican, as well
as the Youth and Democratic parties," The editor-in-chief mentioned.

Basken Oran, a professor of the faculty of political sciences of the
University of Ankara, 2004, and Ibrahim Kboghlun made a report on
the order of the 2004 government, according to which wider rights
were suggested for national minorities. They brought out a fact,
according to which the name "Turk" concerned an ethnic group, however,
there are other ethnic groups in the country as well. And this fact
has become a reason for filing a case on the charge of "splitting
the Turkish nation" against them.

Mahchupian touched upon the issues concerning the belongings of the
Mohammedan communities and declared that the "Justice and Development"
party implements certain positive measures concerning this question,
in difference to the Democratic-Republican and the "Nationalistic
Movement " parties: the "Justice and Development" party is standing
closer to the dream world of non-Moslems," Etyen Mahchupian declared.

It should also be mentioned that Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian, the
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, declared a month ago that
the Armenian community in Turkey was going to vote for the "Justice
and Development" party in the forthcoming parliamentarian elections:
"We Armenians prefer the "Justice and Development" party as the latter
has adopted a less nationalistic policy against national minorities,"
the Patriarch mentioned.

IS MATTHEW BRYZA’S OPINION THE SAME AS THAT OF US STATE DEPARTMENT’S?

PanARMENIAN.Net
Analytical Department
13.07.2007 GMT+04:00

The USA treats Azerbaijan the way it treats Turkey.

"If you don’t support us in the Iranian issue, we will solve the
Karabakh issue and will grant independence to Karabakh".

During the ongoing military-political discussions held between the
USA and Azerbaijan the parties exchanged opinions regarding the issue
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict resolution. In the course of the
press-conference in the US State Department the Azeri Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs Araz Azimov announced, that the given conflict had
been discussed within the frames of the discussions of the regional
security issues.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri diplomat emphasized that "Washington has
always recognized the independence and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan". However, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Matthew Bryza
(USA) refused to comment on the issue of the US recognition of the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. "Discussions are held over
the question whether the principle of territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan is of more importance than the issue of nation’s right
on self-determination. There is no universal formula for this issue
accepted on the international level," he announced. Yet there is one
very essential detail to be mentioned in this regard. Araz Azimov
himself is the very person who decides who, what and when will say
anything in Azerbaijan. In fact, he is not only the Azeri Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also the face of the foreign policy
of Baku. As for Matthew Bryza, he is the one who gives publicity to
the US State Department’s opinion though he doesn’t even have any
diplomatic rang; in other words, he is "the second" Araz Azimov.

"The revelations" of the American diplomat obviously poured like cold
water on Baku. No such announcement has ever been made by Washington
or other OSCE Minsk Group co-chair country over all these years of
the negotiation process. Armenia has already got used to the fact that
whoever comes to Baku and whatever the Azeri Media writes, everything
comes to the same thing; "territorial integrity of Azerbaijan". But
everything is not as easy as it would seem at first sight, said
Bryza. Today America needs Azerbaijan a lot, maybe even more than
Turkey; there is the issue of the Iran Nuclear program, which Bush
Administration can’t submit for anything. But on the other hand the
USA treats Azerbaijan the way it treats Turkey. "If you don’t support
us in the Iranian issue, we will solve the Karabakh issue and will
grant independence to Karabakh". The same measures are implemented
on Turkey, this time regarding the adoption of Resolution 106 on the
Armenian Genocide.

Meanwhile the political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan confirms
that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan hasn’t been violated;
the army of Nagorno-Karabakh liberated its territories. "Europe and
the whole world in general don’t realize what the situation was after
the USSR breakdown. The Armenian diplomacy doesn’t work hard in this
matter. We must continuously explain the whole world where the borders
of the modern Azerbaijan lie," he mentioned.

The American or the European diplomats will hardly be ignorant of the
history of the modern Azerbaijan. The question is for what purpose
they use their awareness.

In the opinion of Armen Rustamyan sometimes political and economic
interests prevail in the Karabakh issue and the remarks of this or
that organization are initiated by these very interests. "And then,
of course, the contradictory statements make the situation more
complicated. If the world community wants to take up the responsibility
of conflict solving, which as is admitted by everyone should be done
in a peaceful way, it should first of all take into consideration
Baku’s announcements about the possibility of force implementation
in the issue," he said.

ARMENIA THE FIRST WITH REGARD TO THE PACE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

armradio.am
12.07.2007 15:39

Armenia occupies the second place among 28 post-Soviet and Eastern
European countries with regard to the pace of economic development,
according to the reports of "Economist" magazine titled "Economic
boom and dangerous policy."

According to the predictions of the magazine’s specialists, in
2007 the economic growth of Armenia will reach 10%, while in 2006
the index exceeded 13 %. Azerbaijan is the first among post-Soviet
and Eastern European states with 34.4% GDP growth in 2006 and 20%
in 2007. Kazakhstan is the second, Georgia – the third.

Specialists of the magazine assess the inflations trends in Armenia
as stable. According to their evaluation, the inflations in Armenia
will be a little more than 3%, while in 2006 it was equal to 4%. In
Azerbaijan inflation rate will double, the "Economist" said.

OLLI REHN SEES NO OBSTACLES FOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP IF ALL OBLIGATIONS ARE FULFILLED

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.07.2007 15:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union Commissioner for Enlargement,
Mr Olli Rehn said yesterday that he sees no reason for Turkey not
to join the EU after it fulfills the necessary criteria, adding that
there is no problem in this.

Rehn stated that Turkey is going through a difficult time due to
the looming July 22 general elections. "No one should underestimate
the reforms seen in Turkey in recent years," he said, Star newspaper
reports.

NUMBER OF YOUNG WRITERS HAS INCREASED IN RECENT YEARS IN ARMENIA, LEVON ANANIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Jul 10, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Levon Ananian, the Chairman of the
Union of Writers of Armenia, at the July 10 meeting with journalists,
said that an indefinite situation was created in the literary family
in the 1990-s and the issue of change of generations was endangered,
while the situation has changed abruptly and the number of young
writers has increased in the recent years.

In his words, today not only young writers have joined the Union
of Writers of Armenia, but also the Serund electronic newspaper,
the Tsolker youth magazine have been created, and more than twenty
books of young creators have been published by the Mutk series
of books. L. Ananian also said that works of young Diasporan
writers should be also published by the Mutk series of books,
for these writers’ to become known both in the Diaspora and in the
homeland. "That is, today the youth has all possibilites for creating
and being published," the Chairman of the Union said.

Touching upon the Union’s plans, L. Ananian said that a week of
Russian language, a conference of Armenian writers writing in foreign
languages, as well as days of Georgian poetry will be held in autumn
in Armenia and in Artsakh. It was also mentioned that the preparation
for the All Armenian Writers’ Conference and International Festival
of Poetry to be held next year in Armenia has already started.

Azerbaijan’s Media Council condemns criticizm of Azeri intellectuals
who visited Armenia and Karabakh

armradio.am
07.07.2007 13:37

The Media Council of Azerbaijan is worried about the assaults of the
Azeri intellectuals who recently visited Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia.

The Media Council of Azerbaijan disseminated a statement, which says
that the biased opinions of certain sectors of society can be
understood, but the Media Council stands against those who do not keep
to moral norms. The Council notes in the statement that it considers
impermissible the publication of offensive and critical articles in
leading print media and web pages, Day.az reports.

`Nagorno Karabakh is a global issue, which is in the center of
attention of the international community. Therefore, it is quite
natural that the visit of Azeri intellectuals to Nagorno Karabakh and
Armenia raised interest also outside the borders of our country,’ the
statement says.

Let us remind that at the initiative of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
Ambassadors to Russia a group of Armenian and Azerbaijani intellectuals
visited Stepanakert, Shoushi, Yerevan and Baku. They met with NKR
President Arkady Ghukasyan, RA President Robert Kocharyan and Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev.

Responsibility for cheating people

Armavir Musayelyan
07-07-2007 14:55:17 – KarabakhOpen

The demarche of the adviser to NKR president Arman Melikyan who left
the round-table meeting held by the Caucasus Analytical center was
protest against Armenia’s interference with the internal affairs of
Karabakh.
Melikyan’s worry is not justified. As a politician, he should know
interference is if the Armenian high-ranking officials put up their
candidate but not discussion of the pre-election situation in Karabakh.
It is strange that the politician does not understand that a
presidential candidate has the right to have advice and support from
famous political scientists who understand geopolitics. Besides, the
adviser to the president of unrecognized NKR must acknowledge that this
election will either restore Karabakh to the year 1088 and people will
again have to go through hell or will lead the state along the track
for democracy and civilization.
In addition, Melikyan stated later at the Friday Club he could not
participate in a discussion held by the Caucasus Center funded by
Russia. If the adviser to NKR president protests against the two
political experts of the Caucasus Center who support one of the
candidates, what can he say about the other candidate who is supported
by all the parliament parties of Karabakh, the Union of Veterans of War
of Artsakh and Armenia, General Manvel Grigoryan, and allegedly even
President Robert Kocharyan. For some unknown reason, nobody in Karabakh
thinks it is illegal.
An election is held to elect someone. Where is this fear and fuss from?
What’s the matter? Does the society in Karabakh have the right to fight
for their rights, a dignified life and a civilized future for their
children? How long are the pseudo-politicians going to do a career and
live a good life at the expense of the poor existence of the people of
Karabakh? How long are these people going to cheat people
unconscientiously and lead the country towards an imminent catastrophe?
And maybe they succeed because they are not made responsible. Now the
people of Karabakh know everyone who is to blame for this situation and
will demand responsibility.

Economy and ecology journalists of Armenia protest against actions of
new ecology minister

arminfo
2007-07-06 16:47:00

Representatives of the two press clubs of Armenia – economy and ecology
journalists of Armenia protest against actions of new ecology minister,
the former urban minister Aram Harutyunyan.

As ArmInfo correspondent came to know from trustworthy sources, the
minister has recently organized a trip of several representatives of
mass media, including the local TV company ‘H2’ to Tekhut
copper-molybdenum deposit in Lori region of Armenia. These mass media
were "charged" to prepare articles where the ecology measures of
Armenian Copper Programme (ACP) were presented positively. Meanwhile,
the major part of 20 ecology public organizations, that formed the
coalition SOS-Tekhut and members of the above mentioned press clubs did
not find themselves in that trip. To recall, at the beginning of the
current year the coalition SOS-Tekhut applied to the president of the
republic with a
letter and asked to revise the problem of expediency of exploiting the
deposit via the open processing. Moreover, ecologists said about
violation of several laws and international conventions as well as
about defects of the project on exploitation of the deposits, charged
by the ACP, that got a right to exploit that for 25 years. The project
did not contain conclusion on possible damage to the health of the
Tekhut and Shnokh residents, as well as ancient archaeologic monuments,
virgin wood and fresh water source, that runs through the Tekhut
deposit.

Members of the organizations are going to submit to the minister their
protest against evident attempts to isolate the active part of the
ecology community of the country from the problems of Tekhut. But the
minister avoids meeting them, and his assistants explain this that
himself with the affairs, he is not ready to meet them>.