Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

A1+

CB REGULATES CURRENCY FLUCTUATIONS
[07:30 pm] 22 June, 2007

`Dollar-dram fluctuations in Armenia are not conditioned by economy
and international tendencies,’ said economist Eduard Aghajanov in
answer to A1+’s question.

The exchange rate is determined by a group of people, i.e. economy,
international currency policy and market state do not affect Armenia.

-Whom do you mean?

The dram depreciation is profitable for importers. The foreign trade
deficit increases. In my opinion, this year the deficit will exceed
$1.5 – 2 milliard as the current rate promotes import and hinders the
growth of the national output.

Does the President of the Central bank Tigran Sargsyan support these
groups?

Surely, he does. He confessed it. By 2005 he had cheated everyone
saying that the dollar rate was free in Armenia and he had no
connection with the dollar-dram movements. In 2005 he announced that
the Central Bank regulated the currency fluctuations.

How long will the fluctuation last?

It depends on the appetite of the interested groups.

Do you foresee dram depreciation?

It depends on the interests of the above-mentioned groups. The dollar
rate went up in April as they needed dram during the elections.

Can the dollar rate go up in 2008 during presidential elections?

I don’t exclude it. They need the dram to give briberies. They
collected the dram in April and the exchange rate fell. And now they
have fixed cheaper price for the dollar.

And what factor is the gold price determined by?

By the dollar. In case the dollar price goes up at the international
market, the gold price falls and the vice versa. Banks and great
businessmen store gold.

-How did the election affect the Armenian economy?

Armenia is the only country where elections do not affect the
economy. During the 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections
Armenia had the highest economic growth- 13.9 per cent. The same scene
was observed after the 2005 referendum.

And how do elections affect economy in developed countries?

Generally, political activeness surpasses economic activeness as
people are more interested in policy than in economy.

Then, why do we have the opposite picture in Armenia ?

The answer is evident. Armenia differs from other countries. We are
unique. I cannot find any other explanation.

Knarik Isoyan

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

June 20, 2007

HERITAGE VOUCHES FOR RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS

Yerevan–Today Raffi K. Hovannisian and the six other members of the
Heritage Party’s parliamentary delegation signed and officially deposited a
certificate of guarantee for the release from custody, pending any trial, of
Alexander Arzoumanian, Zhirair Sefilian, and Vardan Malkhasian. The warranty
for Arzoumanian’s release, in which case no judicial action has been
initiated to date, was addressed to Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan,
while Sefilian’s and Malkhasian’s certificate was delivered to their
presiding judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan.

In a related development, Raffi Hovannisian sent a letter to National
Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosyan and all members of the National Assembly,
asking them to consider adding their signatures to the current call for
liberty and civil rights. "In the years of our public service, we must
uproot from our nation the concept, practice, and even appearance of the
shameful stigma called ‘political prisoner,’" Hovannisian concluded.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia,
with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email
at [email protected] or [email protected], and website at

GUAM SUMMIT OPENS IN BAKU

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.06.2007 18:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Summit of the Organization of Democracy and Economic
Development GUAM opened in Baku June 18. GUAM Foreign Ministers and
members of appropriate structures of the organization met to consider
issues referring to GUAM. Formation of GUAM peacekeeping party will
be discussed by experts.

The sides are expected to sign two agreements and a joint statement –
Baku Declaration that will be the principal political document of the
summit, which will include political assessment of the work carried
out after the first summit and an action plan for further activities,
Novosti Azerbaijan reports.

GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) was formed in 1997. In
2006 in Ukraine it assumed the status of an international organization.

"PUBLIC NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT"

A1+
[07:55 pm] 18 June, 2007

"Nothing has changed in Armenia after the parliamentary election. We
shouldn’t sit with our hands crossed. We must continue the political
struggle and vivify people," Nikol Pashinyan, the representative of
the Impeachment Bloc told A1+.

The Impeachment will continue outdoor meetings, rallies and regional
visits as they still have something to say.

There is a wide-spread opinion that political figures remember about
people only during elections.

"I have just descended at the political arena and I don’t want to be
labeled in that way," Pashinyan said.

As for Surenyants suggestion to stop rallies, Pashinyan said, "Each
person is free to express his opinion."

SENATOR BIDEN: ARTICLE 301 CONTRIBUTED TO THE TOXIC POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT THAT LED UP TO DINK’S MURDER

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.06.2007 15:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
Joseph Biden welcomed the initiative of 53 Nobel Laureates who called
on Armenia and Turkey to cooperation and tolerance. In his statement
Senator Biden also supports their call on Ankara to end all forms of
discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities and repeal of
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, the Armenian Assembly of America
reports. Shortly after the murder of "Agos" bilingual editor-in-chief
Hrant Dink, Biden introduced legislation, condemning the assassination
of the Turkish-Armenian journalist. The resolution urges Turkey to
take appropriate actions to protect freedom of speech by repealing
Article 301. It also calls on Turkey to establish full diplomatic,
political and economic relations with Armenia. "There is no question
that Article 301 contributed to the toxic political environment that
led up to Mr. Dink’s assassination in January," Joseph Biden stated.

Turning to the issue of the Armenian Genocide, Biden reminded that
an independent legal study was corroborated by the International
Association of Genocide Scholars, which determined the events of
1915 constituted genocide and conform to the statutes of the United
Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. "The
existence of these independent evaluations of the Armenian Genocide
and relevant international law should provide an opportunity for both
countries to accept the verdict of history and move forward. I hope
that the words of these Nobel Laureates will encourage the people of
both nations to recognize and ultimately transcend the legacy of the
Armenian Genocide. Once this occurs, I have every confidence that the
people of Armenia and Turkey will be able to rebuild the ties between
their countries and forge a new, enduring peace," senator Biden stated.

FIRST AND SECOND PARTS OF "TWO PILGRIMS" NOVEL BY ARCHIMANDRITE SAHAK MASHALIAN PUBLISHED

Noyan Tapan
Jun 19 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The first and the second parts of the
three-part "Two Pilgrims" novel written by the archimandrite Sahak
Mashalian was published by the publishing department of the Mother
See of Holy Etchmiadzin with the blessing of the Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. The novel was published
due to the sponsorship of the Yerevan State Medical University after
Mkhitar Heratsi.

The book is dedicated to the two prominent figures of the Armenian
Church of the 18th century, patriarchs Hovhannes Kolot and Grigor
Shghtayakir, who have left an unforgettable trace in the national
history of the Armenian people with their mission. The lives of these
two monks, who were the disciples of the miracle-worker archimandrite
Vardan, contain lessons for religious pilgrims of all periods.

The archimandrite Sahak Mashalian, the supervisor of the Gevorgian
seminary, following the evangelical traces of their life, introduces
to the reader an interesting novel that is a novelty in our religious
literature with its mystic heroic deeds and imaginary illustrations.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Information
Service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the novel was at first
written in Eastern Armenian and then translated into Western Armenian
by the Publishing Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

RA PRESIDENT ESTIMATES 15 YEARS’ ACTIVITY OF HAYASTAN ALL ARMENIAN FUND AS PRODUCTIVE AND ENCOURAGING

Noyan Tapan
Jun 19 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The Hayastan All Armenian Fund that
celebrates the 15th anniversary of its foundation has recorded a
great progress in its activities, and turned into a representative
and organized institution, a national treasure. This appreciation
of fund activities was given by the RA President Robert Kocharian,
the official Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the fund, who opened
the 16th sitting of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All Armenian
Fund on June 19. In his opinion, the activities of this All Armenian
instituiton "are various, productive and encouraging."

About 10 members of the Armenian Diaspora were awarded with the "Anania
Shirakatsi" medal by the decree of the RA President, three more members
were granted letters of acknowledgement of the RA President on the
occasion of the fund anniversary, as well as productive activities
and a significant contribution within the frameworks of the fund.

At the sitting two new members were officially included in the staff
of the Board of Trustees: Tigran Torosian, the newly-elected RA NA
Speaker, and the newly-elected Prime Minister Serge Sargsian.

463.8km of roads, 211.8km of water pipelines, 43.8km of gas pipelines,
and 71.4km of electric cables were built during the 15 years of
the fund activity. Construction and re-construction projects of 97
schools and kindergartens, 410 blocks of flats and private residences,
34 health institutions, 21 sports and cultural institutions, as well
as educational and scientific programs were implemented. In general,
programs of 165m dollars were implemented with the assistance of 250
thousand donators.

GUDAUTA BASE AND UNACCOUNTED-FOR TREATY-LIMITED EQUIPMENT: ONGOING RUSSIAN BREACHES OF CFE TREATY COMMITMENTS
By Vladimir Socor

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
June 18 2007

General Konstantin Totsky In a formulation reminiscent of Soviet
five-year plan-fulfillment reports, senior Russian officials claim
that Russia has completely "fulfilled and over-fulfilled" its 1999
treaty commitments to withdraw its forces from Georgia and Moldova.

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and General Konstantin Totsky,
Russia’s permanent representative at NATO, reiterated that claim
during the June 14 session of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) at the
level of defense ministers in Brussels (Interfax, June 14).

The NRC chairman’s concluding statement (NATO Data Service, June
14) mentions only that the issue of the 1999 treaty was "discussed"
— a one-word treatment indicative of deep differences that could
be papered over. The NRC meeting overlapped with the June 11-15
extraordinary conference in Vienna on the implementation of the Treaty
on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), the treaty that entails those
Russian commitments. At the Vienna conference as well, Russia insisted
that it has completely fulfilled them.

While the Vienna conference focused on the Russian troops in Moldova
(the top issue among the unfulfilled commitments on troop-withdrawal),
other unfulfilled commitments seem to receive less attention there. One
such issue is that of Russia’s base at Gudauta in Georgia. The United
States and other countries raised this issue in the closed-door
conference and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried,
delegation leader at the conference, raised Gudauta publicly as well
(State Department transcript, June 12).

As part of its 1999 commitments, enshrined in the CFE Final Act at
that year’s Istanbul summit, Russia was to close the Gudauta base,
evacuate the personnel and equipment, and hand the base over to Georgia
by July 1, 2001. However, Russia retains the base to the present day,
albeit with a reduced garrison.

According to data supplied by Moscow, some 400 Russians — about
half of them active military personnel, the remainder being military
retirees and dependents — are stationed at Gudauta, along with some
combat and transport helicopters, various military vehicles, a fuel
storage area, and some other facilities. That information remains
largely unverified. Moscow has not allowed international inspection
of the base and has provided no data on suspected stockpiles of
arms and ammunition or the content of container-type structures at
the base. The Russian military also clings to the Bombora airfield,
which is part of the Gudauta base complex.

Gudauta is located inside Abkhaz-controlled territory, where Moscow
can hide behind its proxies to frustrate international inspection
of the base. In this vein, Russia has periodically claimed that it
is up to Georgia to guarantee the safety of any international arms
control team that would wish to inspect Gudauta. At the same time,
Moscow has plainly been stating that it would allow an inspection
under OSCE aegis provided that it concludes that the base is "closed."

In the last three years, German diplomacy has attempted to promote
some kind of compromise solution over Gudauta. A tripartite group
of Germany, Russia, and Georgia has negotiated intermittently within
the OSCE over the modalities of an observation mission at the base.

Moscow has sought a one-time, non-intrusive inspection, with
Moscow-vetted participation, without a follow-up process, and
predetermined to close the issue. For its part, Tbilisi seeks
modalities for a genuinely international observation mission and a
continuing observation process, in accordance with the CFE Treaty’s
verification procedures.

Georgia will regard Gudauta as closed when multinational observation
missions with unrestricted access confirm the complete evacuation,
and the base and other facilities are transferred to Georgia in
a legal sense (a physical transfer would be precluded by Abkhaz de
facto control of the surrounding area). NATO allies support Georgia’s
position and did so again at the Vienna conference. At the same time,
Georgia and its Western partners expressed appreciation for the ongoing
withdrawal of Russian forces from the Batumi and Akhalkalaki bases. As
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gela Bezhuashvili noted in Vienna, the
withdrawal is being carried out in accordance with the agreed schedule
(Georgian Mission statement, June 14).

The problem of Unaccounted-For Treaty-Limited Equipment (UTLE) is
closely connected with the secessionist conflicts in Transnistria,
Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Karabakh. Treaty-Limited Equipment
(TLE) is the overall category of weaponry that falls under CFE Treaty
restrictions (whether numerical limits under national or territorial
quotas; or mandatory scrapping; or removal to Russia, from case to
case). UTLE is the official, euphemistic designation of TLE-types of
weaponry held by secessionist forces.

Those unlawful forces possess combat hardware — including armored
vehicles, artillery systems, and helicopters — that fall under
CFE Treaty restrictions. The Russian military handed those arsenals
over to secessionist authorities on the territories of Moldova and
Georgia. The Armenian military did so in the territory of Azerbaijan,
where part of the UTLEs is located beyond Karabakh, deep inside
Azerbaijan. Consequently, Armenia has found it inexpedient to campaign
for ratification of the 1999 CFE Treaty even as allied Russia does so.

Those arsenals are "unaccounted-for" because the areas of deployment
are under Russian and secessionist control, inaccessible to on-site
verification and inspection.

The CFE Treaty (both the 1990 original in force and its unratified
1999 adaptation) provides for an elaborate inspection mechanism by
the state-parties, but this is not allowed to operate in any of the
secessionist enclaves. The presence of those arsenals generates
military tensions, constitutes a major impediment to political
settlements of those conflicts, and deals a major breach to the
international verification regime.

Russia cannot be deemed to have fulfilled the terms of the CFE Treaty
and Istanbul Commitments as long as the problems of the Gudauta base
and the UTLEs remain unresolved.

MEMBER OF ARF BUREAU DOES NOT RULE OUT SWEEPING CHANGE

Lragir.am
18-06-2007 13:55:07

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun will name president of Armenia, which means it
will be competing with the ARF candidate, most probably Serge Sargsyan,
but it does not necessarily mean clash and swearing, Vahan Hovanisyan,
member of the ARF Bureau, said in a news conference on June 18 at the
National Press Club. "It is not an acceptable way of struggle. I do not
know, as far as I know the Republican Party has not named president
yet. When it names, it will be clearer, but whoever they name,
we are not adversaries with the Republican Party. We are partners,
we have walked a long way together, we only have our own approaches
towards lots of issues," Vahan Hovanisyan says. Among other issues
he mentions the social sphere and battle against corruption.

Besides, Vahan Hovanisyan reminds that if the president is not
Republican, there is nothing to fear because the Republicans remain
parliament majority.

"There is no need to fear coups, shocks, for there are counterweights.

Meanwhile, when both the president and the parliament are Republican,
the balance seems to be broken. In this sense, I think not the
specific political interests but the interests of the country should
be considered.

After all, it does not matter who is elected. Armenia already
has mechanisms which will prevent the country from plunging into a
dictatorship, although these mechanisms are not fully established. I
think a Dashnak president is the best for their development," Vahan
Hovanisyan thinks.

In answer to the question why the society which made the Republicans
absolute majority should not elect the Republican candidate,
especially if according to the ARF Dashnaktsutyun and generally,
the parliamentary election was free and fair, Vahan Hovanisyan says:
"I am happy that our election was evaluated highly, but we have certain
peculiarities in our country where the voter and the vote are not the
same." In this context, he thinks the picture may differ in 2008,
especially that in the presidential election the political factor
gets at its highest, and the extra-political factors are reduced.

Vahan Hovanisyan does not expect a political shake-up after the
election of 2008. He says the shake-up follows the parliamentary
election which has already taken place. But if by shake-up we mean
defection from one faction to another, Vahan Hovanisyan does not rule
this out although he does not consider it as a shake-up. "A shake-up
may first of all happen by making everyone respect the law. In Armenia
today the arrangement is against the law, certain political forces
have political arrangements, which think their continuity is in the
ideological confrontation, but the so-called elite of our country is
divided by their attitude towards the law because idea has nothing
to do. All are equal, but some are more equal than others, Orwell
said. This is the situation. If all become equal, really equal,
a real shake-up will happen," Vahan Hovanisyan says.

PASSES TO BE GIVEN TO SERVICEMEN FOR VACATION HOMES FREE OF CHARGE

Noyan Tapan
Jun 15 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, NOYAN TAPAN. At the June 14 sitting of the
RA government a resolution was passed on making addenda to the
government Resolution 778 passed on November 27, 2000. According
to the information provided to journalists by Suren Haroutiunian,
the Head of the RA Ministry’s Department of Social Protection of
Servicemen, one-off social assistance of about 100 thousand drams
(285 US dollars) will be given to the families of the servicemen
who have perished or become disabled. The sum is given taking into
account the social condition of the applicant. That sum is envisaged
to be used for the purpose of immediate apartment repair, water and
energy payments, to name but a few. It was mentioned that in 2006
the Ministry recieved 6000 applications for assistance.

S. Haroutiunian declared that amendments have been made in Articles 30
and 32 of the RA Law on "Social Security of Servicemen and the Members
of Their Families." According to these articles, a serviceman can get
a pass for a vacation home free of charge and a member of his family
at a discount of 50%.