Author: Takmazian

POLITICAL, COMMUNICATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH POSSIBLE IN ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS IN FORESEEABLE FUTURE

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2008 14:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Campaign aimed at economic and transport blockade
of Armenia is a part of Azerbaijan’s strategy, an Armenian expert said.

This idea has been the foundation stone of independent Azerbaijan’s
strategy and Baku seemed to believe in its efficiency, Sergei Minasyan,
head of political studies department at Caucasus Institute, told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"However, Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s landmark visit to Armenia in
September 2008 outlined opportunities for establishment of diplomatic
relations and opening of the border, a fact that discredits the policy
pursued by Baku. There are many obstacles for the Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation but the positive dynamics prompts that political and
communicational breakthrough possible in Armenia-Turkey relations in
foreseeable future," he said.

DAVIT HARUTYUNYAN: KARABAKH TALKS WITHOUT NKR PARTICIPATION IMPOSSIBLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.11.2008 14:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE Davit
Harutyunyan appreciated positively adoption of a joint declaration
on Nagorno Karabakh.

"The most important fact is that the parties to Karabakh conflict
pledged to continue peaceful talks," he told a news conference in
Yerevan today.

Commenting on concerns that the Moscow declaration will completely
exclude Nagorno Karabakh from talks, Mr. Harutyunyan said that it
will not happen, as talks without NKR participation are impossible.

"The August war in South Ossetia proved that use of force leads to a
deadlock," he said, adding that talks demand compromise from all sides.

AZERBAIJANI ALIYEV TO MAKE FIRST VISIT TO TURKEY AFTER ELECTION

Nov 4 2008
Turkey

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will arrive in Turkey on Wednesday
for a two-day formal visit upon an invitation by Turkey’s President
Abdullah Gul.

The president of Azerbaijan will pay a formal visit to Turkey this
week, the Presidential Office of Turkey announced on Tuesday.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will arrive in Turkey on Wednesday
for a two-day formal visit upon an invitation by Turkey’s President
Abdullah Gul, Anatolia Agency reported.

This visit will be Aliyev’s first abroad state visit after he was
re-elected to this position on October 15.

Aliyev will have tete-a-tete meetings with President Gul and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and address the Turkish parliament.

President Aliyev will also inaugurate a street in the Turkish capital
of Ankara which was named after Haydar Aliyev, the late president
of Azerbaijan.

During his talks with Turkish executives, Aliyev is expected to
debate bilateral relations, developments in the South Caucasus, and
a Turkish proposal on setting up a stability and cooperation platform
in the Caucasus.

Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsian signed
last week the document along with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev,
who is seeking to underline Russia’s clout in the Caucasus region.

They agreed after talks outside Moscow with Medvedev to develop
confidence building measures as they search for a way to resolve
the conflict.

President Gul also visited Armenia on September 6 over Sargsian’s
invitation. They watched together Turkey-Armenian soccer match.

Gul stressed that that national match could help in eradicating
problems in relations between Turkey and Armenia.

RIA OREANDA, Russia
Oct 31 2008

Tigran Sargsyan Received Delegation of Gazprombank Representatives

Yerevan. "OREANDA-NEWS . October 31, 2008. RA Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan received a delegation of Gazprombank representatives, led by
Executive Vice-President Alexander Kaznacheyev, as well as Karen
Karapetyan, Chairman of Board, and Armen Khandkaryan, Director General
of Areximbank with the latter being a full member and a 100%
subsidiary of Gazprombank Group.

On the 10th anniversary of Areximbank, the Prime Minister
congratulated the representatives of the Bank and wished them every
success and a speedy implementation of all those ambitious programs
designed jointly with its chief stakeholder Gazprombank. During the
meeting, Tigran Sargsyan was briefed on Areximbank’s future plans and
the prospects for development of the cooperation with Gazprombank.

The head of the Armenian government suggested investing into small and
medium-size businesses as he considers this sector to be a promising
one. He further noted that if Gazprombank is to secure leading
positions within Armenia’s competitive environment, it should be quick
in taking decisions and using the opportunities available considering
that despite its small size as compared to Russia, Armenia’s financial
sector is very strong and stable.

Speaking about the current global trends which compel everybody to
place funds in possibly stable environments, the Prime Minister said
that Armenia is just one to be invested in with confidence.

RUSSIAN TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION TO OPEN REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN ARMENIA

ARKA
Oct 31, 2008

YEREVAN, October 31. /ARKA/. The state corporation Russian Technologies
plans to open its representative office in Armenia next year, RA
Trade Representative in Armenia Alexander Zaitsev stated while making
a report at the conference "Russia-Armenia: prospects for economic
cooperation" in Yerevan.

He pointed out that Rosoboroneksport (Russian defense export) opened
its representative office in Armenia early this year.

"Only this organization is entitled to deliver all types of exportable
arms to the world market, including dual-purpose products," he said.

Speaking of the RF Trade Representation’s activities in Armenia,
Zaitsev invited all those interested in working on Armenia’s market
to apply to the agency.

The RF Trade Representation in Armenia was opened in March 2006 and
is a government agency representing Russia’s interests in Armenia –
interests of Russian business and promotion of products and services
offered by Russian companies.

MR. SAAKASHVILI, IT IS TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

Pravda
olumnists/30-10-2008/106641-saakashvili-0
Oct 30 2008
Russia

The Fat Lady has sung, the BBC, mouth piece of the British Neocons,
has declared that, yes, Georgia and Saakashvili in particular are
guilty of the murder of civilians in South Ossetia. Of course, they
quickly then backed it up by saying Russia was wrong in defending
those civilians being butchered by the Georgians. After all, we
would not want Russia and the Russian people to feel they were right,
even when they were, now would we?

Anyways, moving right along, dear reader, we return to our useful
fool, Saakashvili. Well, when one of the key propaganda organs of the
Anglo-American Trotskyte Neocons declares you in the wrong and you
are a petty dictator of a small nation and one, to boot, presently and
from day one on the Neocon payroll, that can only mean one thing…you
are done, yesterday’s news, kaput.

To boot, the opposition now plans marches on the 7th of November, the
day that Saakashvili sent his Anglo-American trained goons in to beat
the opposition to the ground in 2007. Back then, the Anglo-American
Trotskytes still cared about their puppet, so they made a few noises
about his assault upon unarmed peaceful demonstrators and than quickly
blamed the demonstrations on Russia, surely not on the corruption and
autocracy of their favorite puppet. This year promises to be different.

Now that the puppet has been used to try to restart the Cold War and
failed. Now that most of the sensible folks of Europe have told the
Anglo-American Trotskytes to go pound sand and the evidence is mounting
daily that Georgia is a rouge state in every definition of the word
and the people will be rising up against the Soros paid, CIA/MI6
controlled puppet, the Anglo-Americans are moving to keep ahead of
the situation. It is obvious that Saakashvili is useless, worse than
useless now, so a new replacement must be picked, one picked by the
Neocons before the Georgians manage to pick one themselves. Oh sure,
just like the last 3 times, the pick will look like it came from the
people but they are an easy bunch to fool.

But what about Saakashvili? Surely a man in his situation might turn
to Russia for help, except for that whole little August war thing
and Russia having declared him a war criminal. Can’t go there. To
Europe? No, to much of a liability. Azerbaijan and Turkey have both
declared their worries about his fitness to rule so they are probably
out. Surely not the Armenians, not after what he’s done against
his own Armenians. Ukraine might be an option, at least as long
as Yushchenko, the withered Orange is still hanging on the branch,
but that too might not be for long.

Gosh, few choices. Its times like these one checks his life insurance
policy to make sure it is paid up, the West does not like loose ends.

Stanislav Mishin

The article has been reprinted with the kind permission of Stanislav
Mishin and can be found on his blog Mat Rodina

THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA ANTICORRUPTION COUNCIL MET AT THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT, PRESIDED AT BY COUNCIL CHAIR, RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN

centre_8/official_news_en.php?&date=1224788400
Friday, 24th of October, 2008

The council discussed issues bearing on the methodology to be used
in implementing both the anti-corruption strategy and the second
part of the draft 2008-2012 action plan, as well as in monitoring
corruption level assessment activities. The meeting agenda also
featured changes in the composition of the anti-corruption strategy
monitoring commission, according to which Gevorg Kostanyan was
appointed to be head of commission.

The Council was presented with the RA anti-corruption strategy and the
second part of the draft 2008-2012 action plan which, unlike the first
part dealing with the level of corruption and the results obtained
over the past 5 years, outlines the government’s anticorruption
policy. According to the paper, the fight against corruption in
Armenia is conducted through harmonized action based on the outcomes
of the anticorruption policy and anticorruption strategy plus the
efficiency of 2008-2012 action plan. The government was said ready
to push ahead with its drive for public support mobilization through
broader civil society participation and a pro-active awareness raising
campaign. Anticorruption policies will be revised and updated on a
regular basis to ensure consistency with other State policies.

The main principles and objectives underlying Armenia’s anticorruption
strategy and the action plan were said to have been separated based
on the results (impact) expected from their implementation at the
intermediate and preliminary stages. Lowering considerably the
overall level of corruption in the country is the chief objective
behind the action plan. The Prime Minister instructed to amend the
second part of the action plan in order to strengthen the role of the
anticorruption council and the monitoring commission, as well as to
state their functions more clearly.

The meeting likewise discussed the methods to be used in monitoring
action.

Corruption assessment measures were said to be important from
the perspective of developing effective State policies in this
field. This implies evaluating the overall level, the tendencies,
the different forms, the causes and effects of corruption in order
to design and carry out targeted programs, as well as to monitor and
evaluate its impact on the economy. It was noted that any research
into this phenomenon in Armenia should first of all concentrate upon
the anticorruption strategy monitoring efficiency, as well as on how
these measures are perceived on the part of the target groups and
the public-at-large.

NALBANDIAN, FALL DISCUSS REGIONAL CONFLICTS RESOLUTION PERSPECTIVES

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.10.2008 13:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Currently in London, Armenian Foreign MinisterEdward
Nalbandian met with Sir Brian Fall, UK Special Representative for
the South Caucasus to discuss development of bilateral relations and
prospects of resolution of regional conflicts.

Minister Nalbandian also attended Chatham House, the Royal Institute
of International Affairs, where he addressed analysts, scientists and
diplomats with a statement on Armenian vision for Caucasus stability.

Afterwards, the Armenian Minister answered numerous questions on
Armenia’s foreign policy.

IN ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN’S OPINION, REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA WILL LOSE MANY OF MARCH 1 CASES IN EUROPEAN COURT

Noyan Tapan
Oct 23, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. We should think of making social
relations sound to exclude cases like March 1 in the future, RA
Ombudsman Armen Haroutiunian said in his interview to the Shant
TV company. The Ombudsman with the consent of the RA President
is to be involved in the fact-finding group to be created for the
purpose of studying those events. According to the Ombudsman, rather
a deep analysis should be made and it should be cleared up what
deformations have been made in social relations and what need to be
corrected. According to him, having a common goal to make Armenia a
democratic and legal state, people can have divergences over some
issues, but it does not mean that the divergences should lead to
hostility and March 1. The Ombudsman considers that the culture of
a civilized political struggle should be introduced in the country.

The Ombudsman welcomed "RA President’s political will" to form
a fact-finding group from equal number of opposition and power
representatives and considers positive that experts and not political
figures will be involved in the group. A. Haroutiunian refrained
from giving estimations to the activity of the NA Ad-hoc Committee
on Events Occurred on 1-2 March, however he said that in difference
to the fact-finding group, the Committee has been formed by another
principle, that of coalition majority. At the same time the Ombudsman
said that it will not be right to oppose the activities of the two
structures to each other, it is important that the two structures
be able to present an all-embracing picture of the events thanks to
complementing each other.

The Ombudsman is for changing arrest chosen as a restraint to NA
deputies Myasnik Malkhasian, Hakob Hakobian, and Khachatur Sukiasian
(the latter is being searched for), as he does not think that being
in freedom they can hinder the preliminary investigation.

As regards the cases on the March 1-2 events, A. Haroutiunian said
that as a lawyer his attitude is equivocal. "I have an apprehension
that RA will lose many of these cases in the European Court of Human
Rights." He rendered it more clear by saying that if PACE clearly
mentioned in the well-known resolution adopted by it that "only
testimony of the Police is not enough for an objective investigation
of the case, it is not difficult to guess how these cases will be
treated in the European Court."

3 CANDIDATES RUN FOR GYUMRI MAYOR’S ELECTIONS AND 4 FOUR ARTIK MAYOR’S ELECTIONS TO BE HELD ON OCTOBER 26

Noyan Tapan
Oct 20, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Local self-government elections
are scheduled in the communities of Shirak region on October 26,
including community head elections in the towns of Gyumri and Artik.

As Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by Tatev Ohanian, the
Spokesperson of the RA Central Electoral Commission, one of four
candidates registered for Gyumri Mayor’s elections, non-partisan
Karapet Nersisian, has withdrawn his candidature in the established
term. So, current Gyumri Mayor, RPA member Vardan Ghukasian, National
Assembly independent deputy Martun Grigorian, and member of the
National Self-Determination Union Daniel Darbinian are candidates
for Gyumri Mayor’s elections.

The candidates for Artik Mayor’s elections are current Mayor,
non-partisan Hmayak Abrahamian, RPA member Khachatur Varagian,
member of the National Self-Determination Union Annman Khachatrian,
and ANM member Mkrtich Mkrtchian.