Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

IN OPINION OF ARSHAK SADOYAN, MAIN PURPOSE OF LEVON TER-PETROSIAN IS TO CLEAN HIMSELF

Noyan Tapan
Jan 16 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The most correct way of fighting
election rigging is to back the candidature of the NDU chairman
Vazgen Manukian in the presidential elections, the chairman of the
Alliance of National Democrats (AND) party, member of V. Manukian’s
pre-election headquarters Arshak Sadoyan expressed this opinion at
the January 16 press conference. In his words, the opposition should
unite around V. Manukian, "on whom it is impossible to find filth".

A. Sadoyan said that if it were possible to control the process of
elections, V. Manukian would win without fail. However, the problem
is that all the elections have been rigged so far, and this time
the elections will be rigged again. According to him, at first the
authorities planned to hold elections in two rounds but upon seeing
the political situation, they have decided to hold elections in one
round. As A. Sadoyan put it, the election results will be "drawn"
in favor of the prime minister Serge Sargsian.

The AND leader said that the ideas about Levon Ter-Petrosian’s
being the main opposition candidate at the upcoming elections are
artificially formed by the press that supports him, whereas the main
goal of the first Armenian president is "to clean himself from the
previous filth".

MIKHAIL KROTOV: RA ELECTORAL CODE CORRESPONDS TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

armradio.am
16.01.2008 15:04

On January 16 Speaker of the National assembly of the Republic
of Armenia Tigran Torosyan received the Secretary General of the
CIS Interparliamentary Assembly (IPA) Mikhail Krotov. The meeting
was attended by the Armenian Permanent Representative at the CIS
Interparliamentary Assembly Felix Ghushchyan.

The discussions focused on the forthcoming presidential elections in
Armenia. Speaker Tigran Torosyan expressed hope that these will not
be less successful than the parliamentary ones and will correspond
to international standards, enabling the observers to register good
results. Mr. Torosyan attached importance to the work of the CIS IPA
observation mission, which had its contribution to the successful
conduct of the parliamentary elections in May.

On behalf of the President of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly
and himself Mikhail Krotov congratulated Mr. Torosyan on New Year and
wished a democratic year to Armenia. He informed that after receiving
an invitation to carry out an observation mission, a group comprised
of 10 experts has been formed, and in early February it will conduct
an interim monitoring.

Mr. Krotov confirmed that they studied the Electoral Code of the
Republic of Armenia still during the parliamentary elections, they
are aware of the changes implemented in November and consider that
the Code has been maximally improved and corresponds to international
standards, thus creating good legal bases for best organization of the
elections. According to his assessment, the Electoral Code provides
the opportunity to increase the voter turnout, improve the voting
lists and prevent the electoral frauds.

Mr. Krotov also informed that in February the head of the observation
mission Anatoli Torshin intends to have meetings with the leadership
of Armenia, the President of the Central Electoral Commission and
those presidential contenders who wish so.

Interfax Russia
Jan 14 2008

Mediators in Karabakh settlement talks meeting with Azeri authorities

BAKU. Jan 14 (Interfax-AVN) – The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group
from France, Russia, and the United States are beginning talks on the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement with Azeri authorities on Monday, the
press service of the Azeri Foreign Ministry told Interfax on Monday.

A meeting with the leadership of the Foreign Ministry will start the
talks. It is expected that Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev will receive
the mediators as well.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs, co-chairman of the Minsk Group Matthew Bryza told
journalists a day earlier that the mediators expect that the Azeri
and Armenian presidents will reach an oral agreement on the
settlement before the presidential elections in both countries.

The U.S. diplomat also opposed attempts to equate the Nagorno-
Karabakh and the Kosovo conflicts since each of them is unique. ar sm

SKRIN Market & Corporate News
January 14, 2008 Monday 10:08 AM GMT

Russian Railways to participate in tender of Transport Ministry of
Armenia

Russian Railways is the only participant of a tender organized by the
Transport Ministry of Armenia for a 30-year concession of Armyansky
Railway in mid-Oct 2007. Russian Railways and Rail India
(RITES) passed the first stage of the tender. But Rail India
stepped down which is confirmed by advisor to Transport Minister of
Armenia Gayane Torozyan.

A concessioner will pay out a $10mln down payment and invest $170mln
in the upgrade of the company, repair and acquisition of rolling
stocks and the development of infrastructure.

RZD is planning to take part in the tender. Torozyan said that the
winner will be selected in January 2008, even if one bidder remains,
Vedomosti reported.

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Jan 15 2008

Erdogan: Mediterranean Union no alternative to EU membership

The New Anatolian / Ankara
15 January 2008

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday the
Mediterranean Union cannot be an alternative to European Union
membership.

"We are against such an understanding. And we are definitely against
participation of Turkey in such a formation if it is put forward as
an alternative to the EU," he told in a breakfast organized by Europa
Press in Spanish capital of Madrid.

Erdogan said however, Turkey has to learn the aim of the
Mediterranean Union and see whether it will be a geographical
identity or a political or economic union.

On the other hand, Erdogan said Turkey cannot say anything about how
long cross-border operations into northern Iraq can last.

"But we hope we can end them as soon as possible," he said.

Erdogan said Spain has also been countering terrorism for tens of
years, and Turkey’s operations will not end until terrorism is
eradicated.

"The parliament has granted authorization for cross border operations
for one year. We can ask for authorization from parliament again if
we cannot solve this issue within a year," he told.

On Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code (TCK), Erdogan said an amendment
to the article may be brought to parliament within a month and the
issue may be solved.

Article 301 makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness".

The prime minister said U.S. authorities showed understanding about
Turkey’s gas deal with Iran and added that there was no problem
regarding this matter.

Asked why Turkey got closer with Iran although this country had
problems with the United States and Israel, Erdogan said Israel or
the United States were unable to meet Turkey’s natural gas demand.

"So I have to take care of myself," he told reporters.

"United States is a friend, a strategic partner and an ally of
Turkey. But they have to understand us since we must import gas from
Iran," Erdogan said.

"Our American friends showed understanding when we brought up this
issue in our talks. There is no problem about this matter," he added.

Despite having made a promise to Turkey that the supply of natural
gas would resume on Monday, Iran announced that the supply of natural
gas which was halted last week would not begin due to "extremely cold
temperatures in Iran."

On the new draft constitution being prepared by the government
Erdogan said Turkey was studying all the constitutions in the world.

When asked, "they say Turkey will take the Spanish constitution as an
example in its new constitution and consider recognition of some
regions and groups. Will the Kurdish region be recognized then?"
Erdogan said, "I think this information was relayed erroneously. We
are interested in all the constitutions in the world."

Responding to another question, Erdogan said, "intensification of
ethnic elements in a specific geography is regardless of question.
All ethnical elements have intermingled with eachother in our
country. Fragmentation to ethnicity is out of question."

Asked to comment on relations between military and the government,
Erdogan said, "there is a democratic structure in Turkey. There is no
problem between any question or organization in Turkey. This is a
step necessary to be successful.

Upon another question, Erdogan said his ruling Justice and
Development (AK) Party was not a religion-oriented political party.

"We have always refused to carry out politics by exploiting
religion," Erdogan said.

He also denied descriptive expressions such as "Islamist party" or
"progressive Islamist".

"These characterizations do not befit political literature," he
noted.

Erdogan also said that "headscarf" was not a political symbol and
that all political parties in Turkey have women members wearing
headscarves.

"Even if it is a political symbol, can you ban political symbols or
can you say that wearing a symbol is a crime?" Erdogan asked.

"Girls in the United States or Europe can go to universities wearing
headscarves, but we have such a problem in country where 99 percent
of the population is Muslim. I believe that we will overcome this
problem," he stated.

Erdogan said, "the (Armenian) Diaspora continues to muddle up
everything. Following their attacks in various countries they try to
obtain relevant or irrelevant support."

Erdogan said, "the matter (regarding the bill on Armenian allegations
submitted to the US Congress) seems to be postponed, particularly
thanks to the sensitivity of U.S. administration. U.S. President
George Bush and other officials exerted intensive efforts. However, I
would like to express very clearly that there are very serious
prejudices regarding this issue."

"I wrote a letter to Kocharian in 2005 and said this (the
allegations) should be assessed by historians. Turkey opened its
archives. There are more than one million classified documents.
Turkey also asked that Armenia open its archives. Kocharian has not
yet responded to my suggestion," Turkish PM remarked.

Erdogan said, "the Armenian Diaspora is in an effort to get indemnity
(from Turkey)."

"Turkey’s cause is rightful. Turkish government opened air corridors
to Yerevan and restored Armenian Orthodox church in Akdamar Island in
Van Lake. There are currently 40,000 Armenians living in Turkey who
escaped from Armenia. We have not extradited them. Armenian citizens
living in Turkey do not have problems," Erdogan said.

Responding to a question on headscarf issue, Erdogan said, "people
wearing headscarf can get education in universities in Europe and the
United States. Unfortunately, this is a problem in our country.
Overcoming this problem will also help to solve the problem on right
to education.

On Sunday Erdogan visited Sunday the Alhambra Palace and Granada
Mosque.

A group that calls itself "Los Turcos" welcomed Erdogan near the
palace. They were wearing clothes resembling those of the Ottoman
Turks.

Erdogan later visited Granada Mosque, where he was welcomed by Malik
Ruez, the head of the Spanish Muslim Union, and Abdulhasib
Castineira, the head of the Granada Mosque Foundation.

Granada Municipality was another place where Erdogan visited before
he proceeded to Spanish capital of Madrid.

Erdogan went to Madrid after having a dinner with high-level
officials of Granada and Autonomous Community of Andalusia.

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs
of Granada, in southern Spain (known as Al-Andalus when the fortress
was constructed), occupying a hilly terrace on the south-eastern
border of the city of Granada.

LEGISLATION ON RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF ARMENIAN TAXPAYERS IN GOOD STATE

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian legislation on rights
and obligations of taxpayers and the level of tax collection are in
quite good state, the director of Aharon Paradigma company Aharon
Chilingarian told resporters on January 11.

The company together with the Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice
Centre (ARPLAC) and the USAID has made an assessment of administrative
capacities of the State Tax Sercvice (STS) of Armenia. Based on 344
questions, the administrative capacities of the STS were assessed by
comparing them with European standards. A. Chilingarian said that in
the opinion of experts, the problems of the tax sector are related to
issues of human resource management, ethics and communication.

In the words of the deputy head of the STS Armen Alaverdian, external
interest (by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund) in tax
administration is gradually increasing. According to him, the
assessment results are important for planning further steps in the
sector. "16 years’ work of the State Tax Service shows that development
is proceeding in line with European standards, even though we still
have much work to do in some directions," A. Alaverdian said.

EVEN ARMENIAN PAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT HAS NOT DISCUSSED PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF FIRST PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: MP FROM RPA FACTION SAYS

arminfo
2008-01-09 18:15:00

ArmInfo. Presidential campaign of the first presdient of Armenia
Levon Ter Petrosyan was not discussed even at Armenian Pan National
Movement party, Parliamentarian from the Republican Party of Armenia
Armen Ashotyan said at Mirror Club when asked if RPA discussed Levon
Ter- Petrosyan’s pre-election program.

A.Ashotyan said L. Ter-Petrosyan prepared his campaign
independently. ‘I have arrived at such conclusion after his speeches
and given the way he works with his team’, he said. Ashotyan also
stressed that RPA reads the populistic speeches of Ter-Petrosyan in
order to be informed of developments and draw relevant conclusions.

THE FORMULA OF SUCCESS OF THE POST-SOVIET GOVERNMENT
James Hakobyan

Lragir
Jan 8 2008
Armenia

Perhaps only the Armenian opposition understand best the opposition
of Georgia who complain of fraud in the presidential election. They
complain, whereas the government is celebrating victory, and the
international observers are pouring "oil" to this victory, stating
that a truly democratic election was held although there are some
drawbacks which need to be eliminated. Meanwhile, there are drawbacks
in the election systems of all the countries, including Armenia,
which became known after the parliamentary election of May 12, 2007.

We used to think before that the elections in our country are rigged,
and the voting is fair in some polling stations only to display them
to observers. However, on May 12 the international observers told us
that in reality the election was fair in all the polling stations,
there were only some drawbacks which need to be eliminated. We may
not doubt that the international observers will say the same thing
after the voting of February 19 or March 5, if there is a second
round. They will say the election was half a step or a step toward
progress but the government needs to work hard to have more dynamic
progress in the parliamentary election in four years.

Then the same international observers will say there is need for
continuous reforms, improvement of election legislation, improvement
of voters’ registers, separation of business and government to prevent
money from being a deciding factor in the election process.

There may be also separate observations regarding the menus of
Armenian restaurants to improve and innovate them from election to
election. But the latter observations will not be for the society in
general because it is clear that the menu of restaurants is not the
business of the society, therefore people should not be loaded with
unnecessary information.

After all this it is amazing that for instance Armenia had joined
the initiative of Russia and several other Central Asian states to
reduce the number of the OSCE observation missions. What did the OSCE
observers do wrong? It is true that Vardan Oskanyan had explained
later that the OSCE needed this initiative more than us, but what if
the OSCE is hurt and tells some bitter words to the Armenian government
in the presidential election because it did not appreciate its loyalty
on May 12, 2007? On the other hand, however, the OSCE will take into
account that the notion of Armenian government is highly relative. Who
is this government: Robert Kocharyan who has joined Russia’s initiative
or Serge Sargsyan whose stance on this initiative is not known?

On the other hand, however, it is clear that the OSCE will not act in
spite of anyone but will pursue its own interests or the interests
of the countries which make the core of this organization, namely
the United States. Everyone has understood this, and there are no
secrets. Generally, no observation mission is intended to promote
democracy or to protect human rights. Those are mere statements they
use when they want and when it is convenient. The example of Georgia
confirmed this. What is underway in that country has nothing to do
with human rights and democracy, when a TV company is closed down
and they state it works against the state, or when the second person
of the country states that violence was used to repress protests
because they were feared to grow and spread. After those nonsensical
explanations the election is declared as democratic by both Western
and CIS observers. This already means that Sahakashvili has succeeded
satisfying all the three – the United States, Russia and Europe. Here
is the formula of success of any post-soviet government – meet the
interests of great powers rather than their own society, and you are
government until someone else supports those interests better.

MORE NEO-NAZI VIOLENCE IN MOSCOW

Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, DC
Jan 7 2008

Neo-Nazis attacked an Armenian man in Moscow, according to a January
4, 2008 report by the national daily "Moskovsky Komsomolets." On
the evening of December 30, three neo-Nazis in their 20’s reportedly
pulled the Armenian out of the taxi cab he was driving and beat him
with baseball bats. They then robbed their victim and fled the scene.

Police are investigating the incident. Two hours later in a different
part of the city, around 18 youths started to threaten passersby
and scream racist slogans. They dispersed upon hearing police sirens
responding to complaints. Police sources played down the possibility
that the culprits in both incidents were neo-Nazis, saying that they
could have been drunken youths instead.

International Herald Tribune, France
Dec 5 2007

EU prepares ground to decide Kosovo fate

By Paul Taylor ReutersPublished: January 4, 2008

BRUSSELS: Brick by brick, the European Union appears to be building
up its own legitimacy to determine Kosovo’s final status if Russia
blocks agreement on the breakaway Serbian province at the United
Nations.

In a series of statements, the EU’s Portuguese presidency and its
foreign policy and enlargement chiefs have declared that Kosovo is a
European question, that its future lies in the EU and that the
Europeans will have to manage the outcome.

"Kosovo’s status is fundamentally a European issue," EU Enlargement
Commissioner Olli Rehn told Reuters in an interview this month. "We
trust that other parties such the United States and Russia will avoid
unilateral actions."

Kosovo’s two million ethnic Albanians are demanding independence,
while Serbia has offered broad autonomy.

EU officials insist their preferred option is a negotiated solution
between the Belgrade government and Kosovo’s Albanian leaders, backed
by a U.N. Security Council resolution.

The province has been in legal limbo under U.N. rule since NATO
waged an air war in 1999 to force a Serbian withdrawal.

A troika of international mediators led by German diplomat Wolfgang
Ischinger is trying to broker a deal by Dec. 10.

But the chances of a consensual outcome are slim and the EU is
preparing for a situation in which there is no deal and the Security
Council remains deadlocked.

Moscow’s threat to veto any resolution granting Kosovo independence
without Serbia’s consent, and Washington’s pledge to recognise a
unilateral declaration of independence by the Kosovo Albanians puts
the Europeans on the spot.

"I cannot conceive that we could have at the end a situation where
there is a strong position of Russia, a strong position of the United
States, and where Europe simply does not exist," Portuguese Foreign
Minister Luis Amado said on Sept. 8.

"This is a European territory. It’s not in Asia or Latin America," EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.

EU officials note that Brussels has paid for the last 8 years of
limbo, European troops already make up the bulk of the NATO-led
peacekeeping force in Kosovo, and the EU is due to take over
supervision and running the police from the United Nations.

The EU would also bear the brunt of managing a potential wider Balkan
crisis if Kosovo erupts into violence, they say.

But diplomats and analysts say there are legal, political and
practical problems with trying to make the EU an alternative source
of legitimacy for Kosovo’s final status.

The legal issue is the precedent of recognising a state’s
independence without the backing of the U.N. Security Council, the
acknowledged authority in the international community.

Moscow has warned that could become a model for breakaway areas of
Georgia and Moldova or for the Armenian-occupied territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan.

NATO launched its air campaign against the former Yugoslavia in 1999
without U.N. blessing because of Russian opposition, but founding a
state without such authority poses longer-term legal headaches than
waging a military operation for a few weeks.

"While people acknowledge that this is what NATO did in 1999,
stomachs would be a little too weak at this moment for the EU to do
the same thing," a European military source said.

Kosovo could not become a member of the United Nations without the
consent of Russia or Serbia, nor access sorely needed credit from
international financial institutions.

The political problem is that EU member states do not yet agree on
recognising Kosovo’s sovereignty.

Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Cyprus and to a lesser extent
Spain, all have reservations about such a move because of ethnic
minorities or separatist movements at home.

EU officials say the mood at a two-day brainstorming session of the
bloc’s foreign ministers in Portugal this month was one of
determination to put European unity above national qualms. But that
does not guarantee agreement in December.

Practical problems include how to maintain the NATO force and get an
EU administrative and police presence into place without a Security
Council resolution, and how to prevent the northern part of Kosovo,
populated by ethnic Serbs, seceding.

The European military source said the Europeans would likely need
some sort of U.N. cover, possibly a permissive statement by
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to take over on the ground.