Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

CPA HEAD EXCLUDES COOPERATION WITH OTHER COMMUNIST FORCES OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The Communist Party of Armenia
conduct at present negotiations with other political forces for
participating in the parliamentary elections in an alliance. But, as
Ruben Tovmasian, the First Secretary of the CPA Central Committee
stated at the February 16 press conference, independent participation
of the party in the elections is more probable. In his words. any
cooperation with other communist forces, the United Communist Party of
Armenia (UCPA) and the Progressive Communist Party of Armenia (PCAA),
functioning in the country is excluded. R.Tovmasian qualified the
already promoted at present pre-electoral campaign as a
"money-financial march" in which political organizations compete with
each other which will lavish more material wealth to the people. And
the ideological work done by the CPA, in the party head’s words, is not
noticed against the background of other Armenian parties’ "charity"
works. Commenting upon the National Assembly activity at present, the
First Secretary of the CPA Central Committee mentioned that about 40%
of deputies made no speech from the NA tribune during the recent four
years. Instead of it, in R.Tovmasian’s words, the people was
eye-witness of a number of "quarrelsome-curse" conflicts promoted in
the parliament hall. The CPA head emphasized that in the case of having
mandates in the NA, the party will stand near a common person: student,
worker, peasant. "We shall bring what was forgotten long ago:
morality," R.Tovmasian finished.

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Feb 16 2007

BRIDGE 2007 ECONOMIC FORUM TO LAUNCH IN ARMENIA SOON

YEREVAN, February 16. /ARKA/. Bridge 2007, the forth international
economic forum is to launch on Saturday in Tsakhkadzor, Armenian
resort.
The forum organization committee told ARKA News Agency that the key
aim of the event is to present Armenia’s economic capacity to
businessmen from the West and Middle East.
Interregional economic cooperation prospects will be outlined at the
forum.
A series of round-table discussions will be held as part of the
forum.
Over 300 businessmen and state officials from Armenia, Germany,
Poland, Russia, Romania, Syria and Ukraine are expected to attend the
event.
The forum is organized by Armenian Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen and MASTER, the center for promoting international
integration.
The forum is supported by Armenian Trade and Economic Development
Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the Central Bank of Armenia. M.V.-0–

Ïðàî Âûáîðà, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
Feb 16 2007

"Echo": Stop Flights to Armenia and Deport 70,000 its residents
16.02.2007

A Member of the Great National Assembly of Turkey Shukru Elekdag
offered
Stop flights between Turkey and Armenia, cease "indirect trade" and
deport 70,000 undocumented Armenians from Turkey, in exclusive
interview with APA called Member of the Great National Assembly of
Turkey from Popular-Republic Party and former Turkish Ambassador to
the United States Shukru Elekdag. He urged to make such arrangement
in return to ongoing attempts to push a Resolution on recognition of
"Armenian genocide" through the U.S. Congress. He said that the
Turkish Government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a mistake in
this aspect. "Before Armenian diaspora to the U.S. is said to be
strong and controls of all drafts. But today there is nothing of the
kind. When Armenia got independence, foreign policy and diaspora
administration is carried out by Yerevan. The conductor and corrector
of this work is the Ambassador of Armenia to Washington. Because of
that we have to review our policy in respect to Armenia. No Turk
accepts cats-and-mouse game between Turkey and Armenia. Under
pressure of the United States and European Union we changed a policy
in respect to Armenia. After Azerbaijani lands occupation, Turkey
placed an embargo on Armenia. It pressed on Armenia strongly, but
under the pressure of the United States and European Union Turkey
softened embargo. What’s in result? In Istanbul airport six airplanes
from Armenia that cause damage to Turkey’s image land a week.
Armenian entrants to Istanbul exist at the expense of "shuttle-trade"
– they need it greatly. Turkish foodstuffs are imported to Armenia
through Iran and Georgia. 70,000 undocumented Armenian citizens live
in Turkish territory. Turkey should exert necessary pressure upon
Armenia to prevent the adoption of the Resolution on recognition of
"Armenian genocide"; first of all, it should stop flights and
indirect export to Armenia, and deport 70,000 its residents. Armenia
should understand that if it conducts anti-Turkish policy, it will
return a hundredfold." Shukru Elekdag called Turkish Government’s
present policy as "mistaken".
Indeed, Turkish Prime-Minister Receb Tayyib Erdogan permanently
underlines that Armenian-Turkish frontier will be opened unless
Armenia stops the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and lobbying
"Armenian resolutions" in third countries’ parliaments. At the same
time within its "European policy" Erdogan’s Government made serious
compromises to EU indeed, including "Armenian issue" that was
perceived ambiguously at the minimum. Today EU enlargement officially
is frozen, but Armenian lobbyists in many countries, first of all, in
France launch to attack: that was regarded as a broad gesture and a
step to reconciliation in Turkey, the Armenian circles seemed to
appraise it as a sign of weakness or fear with all consequences.
In theory, of course, behind statement of Shukru Elekdag elected to
the Parliament from PRP, can be seen "internal political" reason: the
ruling party’s foreign policy today is being critiqued sharply on all
directions, first of all, in Iraq and European policy, but excessive
soft policy in respect to Armenia is an accusation that can be turned
out to be painful for party, which the main electorate are moderate
Islamists. In Turkey where voting in the National Assembly of France
for the draft law considering the criminal responsibility for denial
of "genocide" is not forgotten yet, they are keeping up constrainedly
the developments in the U.S. Congress, Elekdag’s proposal cannot be
remained without consequences, in theory: the authorities are hardly
to ignore it.
In addition, Shukru Elekdag urged to break-up relations with Armenia
soon after the start of Gars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi project, which,
according to many observers, influenced significantly on alignment of
forces in Gars. Recently Armenia intended seriously to maintain
contact with Turkey behind Azerbaijan’s back, including at the
expense of "commercial lobby’s" efforts in Gars. They were looking
enviously on the Black Sea coast that shop-tours from the USSR turned
to one of the more dynamics developing regions of the world and were
making plans for use of their own borders. Now railway project start
opens new horizons before Gar’s businessmen that cannot but decrease
commercial interest with all consequences to Armenia in theory.

CHAIRMAN OF VIASPHERE TECHOPARK UNDERLINES NECESSITY OF REFORMS IN TELECOMMUNICATION, EXPORT-IMPORT AND EDUCATION

Noyan Tapan
Feb 14 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Tony Moroyan, Chairman of the
Organizing Committee of the first Armtech 2007 congress on Armenian
high technologies to be held in San Francisco on July 4-7, Chairman
of Viasphere Technopark (Armenia), co-founder of several private
technoparks and venture funds abroad, considers the current monopolies
in the telecommunication sector as the greatest obstacle to development
of high technologies, particularly IT, in Armenia.

During the February 14 press conference he said that legislative
changes to facilitate the import and export of some equipment will help
develop the sector. Besides, American Armenian businessman attached
importance to rapid implementation of reforms in the education sector,
which will allow to increase the qualification and number of employees
of high-tech sectors. T. Moroyan underlined the importance of bringing
the legislation on intellectual property and trade mark protection into
line with international standards as important legislative changes,
which were made in recent years and promoted the high-tech sector’s
development.

EXHIBITION OF TENI VARDANIAN’S PICTURES OPENS IN CAIRO

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Feb 15 2007

CAIRO, FEBRUARY 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The exhibition
of Armenian artist Teni Vardanian’s pictures dedicated to the 15th
anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia
and Egypt opened at the exhibitions hall of the Ahmad Shauki Museum
in Cairo.

The best works of the artist, including those paintings presented in
January at the Cairo 10th international biennial which were awarded
"Golden Medal" by the awarding committee of the Ministry of Culture
of the Arab Republic of Egypt, are presented at the exhibition opened
on February 13 on the initiative of the RA Embassy to Egypt.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and
Information Department, foreign Ambassadors accredited in Egypt, art
sphere figures as well as representatives of the Armenian community
were present at the official opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be open till February 17.

OSCE OFFICE HELPS PROMOTE OSCE PRINCIPLES AND VALUES IN ARMENIA

Armradio.am
15.02.2007 17:46

Within its broad mandate, the Office continued to assist the Armenian
authorities and civil society in promoting key OSCE principles
and values. It provided legal and policy expertise on elections,
anti-trafficking, migration, media and SME development, capacity
building in the fields of human rights, media freedom, gender equality,
environmental protection and youth leadership.

The Office intensified its anti-corruption efforts and helped the
authorities in fighting cyber crime. It also continued to chair
working groups on elections, anti-corruption, Ombudsman issues,
media legislation and cyber security.

The Office widened the scope of its activities through the
establishment of the first economic and environmental programmatic
presence in the Syunik province and by expanding the ‘Aarhus’ public
environmental information centres’ network to the regions. Two major
ongoing projects – recycling of rocket fuel component (Melange) and
promoting trust between police and population – entered an intensive
implementation stage.

BACK TO THE ORIGINAL RELATIONS, BACK TO THE ISRAELI RELATIONS
by Nabaz Goran

Iraqi Kurdistan National Democratic Union newspaper Midya, Arbil, Iraq
14 Feb 07 p 8

This is the third time I write about Kurdish-Israeli relations. My
aim in these writings is to instil some courage in the hearts of our
writers so that they would not be intimidated by political Islam to
avoid talking about our relationship with Israel. Today we, the Kurds,
need to have our own state. In the Middle East there is only one gate
through which the sun of Kurdish state can shine and it is the broad
gate of Israel. We must again go to this gate to make friends with
a great power and open ourselves to the outside world.

Some time ago, when the Kurdish revolutionary leader Mustafa Barzani
felt that this is a gate through which the Kurds could enter towards
the prospect of nationhood, the Israelis then opened their door for
him. But this relationship did not become a strong long-term strategic
relationship for the Kurds. Today we must again follow the steps of
Mustafa Barzani in order to renew this relationship and consolidate
our future gains.

The Arabs are all, behind their rhetoric, friends with Israel. They
do not want to abort this friendship. They are aware of the fact that
to lose Israel is to lose [the support of] half of the world. The war
that some Arabs pursue against Israel on the pages of newspapers is a
nationalistic war that has nothing to do with Islam and religion. But
the Arab media aim to attract the sympathy of the people of the East
and give a [religious] legitimacy to their [nationalist] wars. In
fact, Jerusalem, which the nationalist Arabs consider their land,
is the native land of the Jews. It is similar to how the Turks and
Arabs claim that Kirkuk, which is a Kurdish land, is theirs. But the
Jews were much stronger than us and they were able to throw out the
occupiers of their land.

Kurdish Islamic politicians must acknowledge that sometimes we
must put many things aside in order to ensure the liberation of our
country. Those who give up their homeland for their faith, have in
fact become faithless. They have lost all faith. Authentic faith lies
in having your own homeland, not an occupied homeland.

Often I feel like laughing at those failed politicians who consider
Barzani’s relationship with the Israelis was shameful. These people
have such a myopic view that they do not deserve to become members
of Hamas, let alone a Kurdish party, because the war that is waged by
Hamas against the Israelis is a war that again reveals the despotic and
aggressive nature of Arabs’ occupation of the lands of other peoples.

I do not wish our writers to be so feeble as to be influenced by the
discourse of political Islam. We must work together to ensure our
survival and rediscover our old friend Israel, the friend that is
happy with the existence of Kurds in the Middle East as a state. Our
lack of awareness should not lead us to take pride in Salah-al-Din,
the man who only thought about his religion not his nation, the man
who could occupy a country through the swords of Arabs.

Salah-al-Din for us the Kurds was no different from an Arab caliph.

He was the Arabs’ man, the Arabs’ hero. We cannot be proud of a
man who ignored all the oppression suffered by his own nation and
went on to occupy and oppress another nation. Until this moment the
religious brothers of Salah-al-Din have not stopped oppressing the
Kurdish people. They never became friends of the people of the East:
the Kurds, the Jews and the Armenians. To depend on the Arabs for
establishing our national state is an act of ignorance and a disastrous
road which we must not take again.

In the Middle East, the Kurds, the Jews and the Armenians are the
three nations whom the Arabs, relying on their religious texts,
have always oppressed. That is why we need to seek and rely on those
forces that are outside the Arab circle so that we will not suffer
from their aggression again. The Armenians are not as strong as the
Jews to become our allies. However, the original road of our salvation
is the road taken by the Jews. We must follow this road to reach our
dreams. Except for the Israeli gate, we do not have a gate of hope
anywhere else. We should be happy to see the Israeli flags flying in
our country – this flag which already exists in many Arab countries
but has been made a heresy for us; this [Israeli] flag under which
we have not suffered from genocide.

Whenever the emirs of Qatar and the Egyptian president deny the
existence of the Israeli state and its flag, then let our failed
half-politicians find a fault with our relationship with Israel.

ECONOMIC BENEFIT FROM POSSIBLE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA IS KEY SUBJECT OF POLITICAL DISPUTE IN ANKARA

Yerevan, February 13. ArmInfo. The economic benefit from possible
establishment of relations between Turkey and Armenia is the key
subject of the political dispute in Ankara, the report of the Jane’s
research center says.

According to the experts, the settlement of the Armenian issue may
give a new political privilege to the Turkish government, and the
improvement of relations with Armenia may shake the positions of those
who are against Turkey’s admission to the EU. These positions have
consolidated after the murder of Hrant Dink, an Armenian journalist
and Turkish citizen.

Nevertheless, according to the source, a very small part of
the Turkish elite mainly consisting of progressive people with
pro-Western orientation realizes the necessity of normal relations
with Armenia. After Hrant Dink’s murder, the Turkish society expressed
amazing sympathy with Armenians. For a short period of time at least,
this sympathy united two nations with historical hostility towards
each other. The tragic event also contributed to the progress in the
political life of the country, and here a great role belongs to the
public opinion which started reappraise Turkey’s policy with respect
to Armenia.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA OUTLINES ARMENIAN AMERICAN FOREIGN AID PRIORITIES

— Urges Key House and Senate Foreign Aid Panels to Support
$75 Million for Armenia; $10 Million to Karabagh; and
Continued Armenia-Azerbaijan Military Aid Parity

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
today, called on key Congressional foreign aid appropriators to
maintain current levels of U.S. assistance to Armenia, expand the
Nagorno Karabagh humanitarian and developmental aid package, and
keep in place the agreement to ensure parity in U.S. military
assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The ANCA’s roll-out of the Armenian American community’s foreign
aid priorities comes in the wake of the Administration’s recent
release of its fiscal year (FY) 2008 proposed budget request. The
President’s request would reduce U.S. assistance to Armenia from
$75 million to $35 million, breaks military assistance parity
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and makes no specific mention of
U.S. assistance levels for Nagorno Karabagh.

In February 13th letters to each of the members of the House and
Senate State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee members, ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian highlighted Armenia’s growing
relationship with the United States: "We are, of course, very
proud that Armenia has been a good friend to America, providing
strong and consistent support to the global war on terror, taking
part in the NATO Partnership for Peace, and contributing forces to
Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as for peacekeeping operations in
Kosovo."

The ANCA argued for maintaining U.S. economic assistance to Armenia
at least at the current level of $75 million, noting that "in great
measure as a result of reforms supported by U.S. economic
development programs, Armenia’s economy has grown by more than 10%
in each of the past six years, more than doubling the size of
Armenia’s Gross National Product. Sadly, however, the people of
Armenia are still faced with the devastating impact of Turkey and
Azerbaijan’s illegal dual blockades – estimated by the World Bank
as costing Armenia at least $720 million on an annual basis."

In urging a shift in U.S. aid to Nagorno Karabagh from humanitarian
to developmental programs, Hamparian stressed that this expansion
"would reflect our success in leveraging local efforts to
dramatically reduce Nagorno Karabagh’s once-daunting humanitarian
challenges. The time has come to support Nagorno Karabagh’s young
democracy and its efforts to expand its free market economy by
funding programs aimed at supporting democratic governance,
encouraging sustainable economic development, and creating
conditions conducive to greater stability and lasting peace in this
strategically important region."

Citing the agreement struck between the Congress and the
Administration in 2001 to maintain U.S. military aid parity to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hamparian argued that any retreat from this
principle would "destabilize the region and embolden the
Azerbaijani leadership to act on their threats to impose a military
solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict." He added that, "more
broadly, the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity
agreement would reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for obstructing
the peace process, while at the same time undermining the role of
the U.S. as an impartial mediator of the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict."

Finally, Hamparian urged support for a $200,000 allocation for the
California-Armenia Trade Office, dedicated to strengthening
American company trade with Armenia and surrounding countries. He
noted that, "this modest commitment of resources will expand U.S.
access to foreign markets and trade and help keep these countries
economically viable and independent. California, which boasts the
largest Armenian population outside of Armenia, almost 1,000,000
strong, is the natural partner here in the United States to serve
as the foundation for this important relationship."

The complete text of the ANCA letter to the House and Senate
Appropriations Subcommittees on State-Foreign Operations is
provided below.

#####

Text of ANCA letter to the House and Senate Appropriations
Subcommittees on State-Foreign Operations

February 13, 2007

The Honorable Nita Lowey
Chairwoman
State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representative
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairwoman Lowey:

I am writing to you, after having reviewed the President’s recently
released Fiscal Year 2008 budget request, to share the Armenian
American community’s views on several provisions that will likely
be addressed as part of your panel’s consideration of the FY 2008
State-Foreign Operations bill.

Before touching on these specific points, I would like to express
once again our community’s profound appreciation for the role that
you and this Subcommittee have played in strengthening the special
relationship between the United States and Armenia, and reinforcing
the enduring bonds that have long existed between the American and
Armenian peoples. Armenian Americans deeply appreciate America’s
helping hand, both as a reflection and a practical expression of
the commitment of the United States to Armenia’s independence,
security, and prosperity.

We are, of course, very proud that Armenia has been a good friend
to America, providing strong and consistent support to the global
war on terror, taking part in the NATO Partnership for Peace, and
contributing forces to Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as for
peacekeeping operations in Kosovo.

Our specific concerns are outlined below:

1) Parity in military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan:

We call for the appropriation of equal levels of military
assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, in accord with the agreement
struck between the White House and the Congress during
deliberations, in late 2001, over the conditional waiver of Section
907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.

This agreement was struck between the White House and Congress in
2001, during deliberations over granting the President the
authority to waive the Section 907 restrictions on aid to
Azerbaijan. The Armenian American community has vigorously
defended this principle, stressing that a tilt in military spending
toward Azerbaijan would destabilize the region and embolden the
Azerbaijani leadership to act on their threats to impose a military
solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. More broadly, the ANCA
has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would reward
the leadership of Azerbaijan for obstructing the peace process,
while at the same time undermining the role of the U.S. as an
impartial mediator of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.

In a clear breach of this agreement, the Administration, in its FY
2008 budget proposal, has called for breaking parity, in
Azerbaijan’s favor, in both Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and
International Military Education and Training (IMET). We ask the
panel to reject this ill-advised proposal by restoring military aid
parity.

In addition, we encourage the panel to carefully monitor all
military aid provided to Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the
Caspian Guard Program, Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, De-mining
and Related Assistance, and other military-related programs, to
ensure that both the principle and practice of military aid parity
is maintained in all spheres. Each dollar in U.S. military
assistance – either specifically appropriated or provided at the
discretion of the Administration – should be matched with a dollar
of military aid to Armenia.

2) Economic Assistance to Armenia:

We urge you to include language requiring no less than $75 million
in direct U.S. economic assistance to Armenia in FY 2008.

Since Armenia’s independence in 1991, U.S. assistance has played a
vital role in meeting humanitarian needs, fostering democratic
reforms, and building self-sustaining economic growth.

Today, with the help of the United States, Armenia is a member of
the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and
World Bank, has signed bilateral agreements with the United States
on trade relations, investments, and the protection of investments,
holds regular Economic Task Force meetings on U.S.-Armenia economic
cooperation, and – in 2005 – was granted Permanent Normal Trade
Relations status.

The Wall Street Journal-Heritage Foundation 2007 Index of Economic
Freedom ranked Armenia as the 32nd freest economy in the world,
based on a study that covered 10 broad factors of economic freedom,
including property rights protection, regulatory environment, tax
rates, fiscal policy, government intervention in the economy,
monetary policy, black markets, and trade policy.

In great measure as a result of reforms supported by U.S. economic
development programs, Armenia’s economy has grown by more than 10%
in each of the past six years, more than doubling the size of
Armenia’s Gross National Product. Sadly, however, the people of
Armenia are still faced with the devastating impact of Turkey and
Azerbaijan’s illegal dual blockades – estimated by the World Bank
as costing Armenia at least $720 million on an annual basis.

The Armenian American community is, of course, tremendously
encouraged by Armenia’s participation in the Millennium Challenge
Account, the new and innovative merit-based foreign aid program.
We wish to be clear, however, that this program does not serve as a
substitute for assistance provided by the Congress under the
FREEDOM Support Act. In fact, the Administration made clear to
Congress when the MCA program was initiated that it would very
explicitly not be a substitute for normal foreign aid but would
rather serve to augment it. In this case, the MCA is specifically
designed to help alleviate poverty through the strengthening of
Armenia’s rural infrastructure, primarily in the areas of roads and
irrigation. The FSA, by contrast, provides concrete and vitally
needed assistance for key reforms in democratic governance, health
care, social protection, and education.

3) U.S. Assistance to Nagorno Karabagh:

We encourage the panel to allocate no less than $10 million in its
FY 2008 bill for programs in Nagorno Karabagh, and to gradually
retarget this aid package from humanitarian to development
assistance.

For the past decade, the U.S. Congress has played a unique and
vital role in providing direct aid to meet pressing humanitarian
needs in Nagorno Karabagh, helping its people to rebuild their
lives after years of devastating Azerbaijani aggression. The
expansion of our efforts to include development aid would reflect
our success in leveraging local efforts to dramatically reduce
Nagorno Karabagh’s once-daunting humanitarian challenges. The time
has come to support Nagorno Karabagh’s young democracy and its
efforts to expand its free market economy by funding programs aimed
at supporting democratic governance, encouraging sustainable
economic development, and creating conditions conducive to greater
stability and lasting peace in this strategically important region.

For this crucial transition to begin, Congress needs to clearly
specify in its FY 2008 State-Foreign Operations bill that U.S.
assistance for programs in Nagorno Karabagh must include
development programs.

4) Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act:

We ask the panel to keep Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act in
place and to ensure strict compliance by the Administration of the
conditional authority it has been granted by Congress to waive this
law.

5) California-Armenia Trade Office:

We urge the panel to appropriate $200,000 to allow the California-
Armenia Trade Office to expand its operations to assist business
communities in California as well as other U.S. states.

Currently, this office, the only official American trade
representation in the Republic of Armenia, is operated by the
Foundation for Economic Development, a California not-for-profit
corporation that has been contracted by the State of California to
handle its operations. CATO began operations in October of 2005
under the auspices of the California Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency, but is funded entirely through privately raised
donations. Though located in Armenia, it serves a much larger
region, covering the Newly Independent States and the countries of
Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The mission of the Trade Office
is to assist California companies increase their exports to Armenia
and the surrounding region, as well as to help companies from the
region to build commercial and investment relationships with
businesses in California.

This modest commitment of resources will expand U.S. access to
foreign markets and trade and help keep these countries
economically viable and independent. California, which boasts the
largest Armenian population outside of Armenia, almost 1,000,000
strong, is the natural partner here in the United States to serve
as the foundation for this important relationship.

In closing, please know that the ANCA respects and values your
friendship and the Subcommittee’s long-standing leadership on
issues of concern to the Armenian American community. Your
attention to the important matters outlined in this correspondence
is greatly appreciated.

We would, of course, welcome the opportunity to meet with you to
discuss these matters in greater detail.

Sincerely,

[signed]
Aram S. Hamparian
Executive Director

NEW TIMES PARTY APPLIES TO OPPOSITION

Panorama.am
19:36 12/02/2007

The New Times Party applied to opposition calling it to form a common
proportional list composed of opposition political figures, party
leaders, intelligentsia and individuals.

The statement also suggests all opposition political leaders who have
public trust to nominate themselves on majority list especially in
Yerevan in order to make the capital more active.

"We are sure the common fight will make the combat against election
fraud more effective excluding the reproduction of the criminal
authorities in power," the statement says.