Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES JUNE 28 WORKING DAY

ARMENPRESS
June 26

The government of Armenia decided today to declare June 30, Monday,
a non-working day and June 28, Saturday, a working day.

The decision is based on the proposal of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
which said it would like Monday to be a non-working day as that day
the Armenian Church remembers all the deceased people.

Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said the decision was welcomed by
Catholicos Karekin II, head of the Church. Tigran Sarkisian said hence
five days a year which the Church marks as day of remembrance of all
the deceased will be declared non-working.

He said the decision is based on the Law on Consciousness and Religious
Organizations.

CULTURAL VALUES OF THE CAUCASUS. WHERE IF NOT IN SHUSHI?

KarabakhOpen
25-06-2008 17:53:09

The Armenian, Georgian and Karabakh YMCAs will hold a festival of
the cultural values of the Caucasus in Shushi from July 20 to 27 in
which young people from these countries will participate.

During the festival the participants will take part in song, dance and
drawing contests. According to the leader of YMCA in Karabakh David
Melkumyan, the drawings made during the festival will be displayed
in Prague in August.

David Melkumyan said the festival is religious and will be held
regularly in different countries.

RESULTS OF TENDER FOR ARMENIA’S THIRD MOBILE OPERATOR EXPECTED IN OCTOBER
Michael Lacquiere

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
June 24, 2008

Armenia’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has indicated that
the results of the tender for the country’s third mobile licence will
be announced in early October. Various press reports quote Transport
and Communications Minister Gurgen Sargsyan as saying that a package
of the necessary terms and documents has already been approved by the
government. Companies will have 10 days to submit applications once
the tender is announced, after which they will be considered by the
Public Services Regulatory Commission.

Significance: Sargsyan has stressed his optimism that the tender will
attract international interest, mentioning that European companies
are likely bidders, while Asian companies, including those from Iran,
are also expected to participate. He asserted that the tender would
be "open and transparent", with "quality, price and image" among the
selection criteria to be used. The third operator will eventually join
Armentel, owned by Russia’s VimpelCom, and Vivacell, owned by Russia’s
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) on the Armenian GSM market. Armentel General
Director Neycho Velichkov is quoted in ARKA as suggesting that his
company’s service package, which includes 3G and converged services,
will benefit it in the face of fresh competition from the new operator.

THE WOLF ATTACKED TWO ELDERLY PEOPLE AND TRIED TO TAKE AWAY 3-YEAR-OLD BOY

KarabakhOpen
24-06-2008 12:40:36

The female wolf attacked three people of the villages of Artashen and
Aknaghbyur of the NKR region of Hadrut. The correspondent of the Regnum
Agency in Stepanakert reports that the father saved three-year-old
Mher Arzumanyan from Artashen by miracle, who rushed into the cave
where the wolf had taken the child from the backyard of their house
where the baby was playing with another baby. After first aid at the
regional hospital the child was taken to Stepanakert with injuries
on the neck. Doctors say the child is safe now.

And in the neighboring village of Aknaghbyur the female wolf attacked
Armik Khanyan, 62, who saved the life of the 12-year-old child. Khanyan
was badly injured, and is now at the republic hospital. He will
undergo surgery and lasting treatment. The wolf also attacked Alexander
Osipyan, an 82-year-old man from the same village, who got some light
injuries and is now getting a treatment at the regional hospital. The
local hunters have shot the wolf but the people of the village say
a pack of wolves is wandering around the villages, Regnum reports.

"TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS WON’T BE REGULATED WITHOUT KARABAKH ISSUE SETTLEMENT"
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
21/06/2008

Turkey-Armenia

"Turkish-Armenia n relations won’t be regulated without Karabakh
issue settlement", announced Speaker of the Grand National Assembly
of the Republic of Turkey Koksal Toptan in Baku, according to June
18 Turkish press.

At a meeting with journalists he mentioned that Turkish policy on
Nagorno Karabakh is clear. "We are resolute in that issue. I hope
and I wish that each will contribute to the settlement of the issue
precisely assessing the situation. And Armenia will undoubtedly
gain from it most of all. Turkey only demands to return Azerbaijani
territories and make peace".

Chairman of Azerbaijani Milli Mejlis Oktay Asadov at a meeting with
Toptan spoke with gratitude about Turkish support for Karabakh issue,
at the same time he underlined that "Azerbaijan in its turn helps
Turkey with the issue of 1915 incidents".

"SHOOTINGS SEEM TO CALM DOWN"

Panorama.am
19:27 19/06/2008

"The Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan has returned to Armenia
at night and had a conversation with the Personal Representative
of the OSCE ongoing president Andrzej Kasprzyk," answered the press
secretary of the Defense Ministry Seyran Shahsuvaryan to the question
of Panorama.am reporter on the plans of Armenian side.

Remind that yesterday two inhabitants of Tavush region – Rafik
Soghomonyan and Levon Petrosyan were shoot and murdered when
implementing their agricultural daily work.

Andrzej Kasprzyk said that tomorrow he leaves for Baku and the
question will be discussed there. According to the press secretary,
before the conversation between the minister and OSCE representative,
the head of Armed Forces Yuri Khachaturov has taken measures talking
with Azeri side and reminding them about the armistice signed between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to the official source, after the responding shooting the
conditions in the border calmed down.

"TURKEY’S SECRET ARCHIVES ON 1915 INCIDENTS ARE OPEN"

Hurriyet
June 17 2008
Turkey

Turkey opened to researchers its most secret archives regarding the
incidents of 1915, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday.

Keeping a record of history is not the business of politicians or
parliaments; it should be the business of historians and scholars,
Gul told the 11th International Congress on "Social and Economic
History of Turkey" held at Ankara’s Bilkent University.

"That is our government’s stance on the Armenian allegations that
constantly remain on the agenda," he said.

Gul said researchers could take advantage of Turkey’s most secret
archives, adding that Turkey was proud of its history.

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. The
Armenian diaspora has lately increased its organized activities
throughout the world for the acknowledgment of their unfounded
allegations in regard to the incidents of 1915 as "genocide" by
national and local parliaments.

Turkey rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with
at least as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when the
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.

Turkey also says parliaments and other political institutions are not
the appropriate bodies to debate and pass judgment on disputed periods
of history. Past events and controversial periods of history should
be left to historians for their dispassionate study and evaluation.

However Turkey’s efforts to carry a deeper investigation have yet to
have a positive outcome. In 2005, Turkey officially proposed to the
Armenian government the establishment of a joint historical commission
composed of historians and other experts from both sides to study
together the events of 1915 and to open the archives of Turkey and
Armenia, as well as the archives of all relevant third-party countries
and share their findings publicly. Unfortunately, Armenia has not
yet responded positively to this initiative and Turkey’s proposal
remains on the table.

CORNET-AM TO ROLL OUT BROADBAND WIRELESS NETWORK
by Julian Watson

World Markets Research Center
Global Insight
June 16, 2008

Cornet-AM, Russia-based Comstar’s Armenian subsidiary, is to roll
out a 3660-3700 MHz WiMAX network in Yerevan plus 18 other towns,
reports ARKA News Agency. The WiMAX licence it was granted is valid
until March 2017. The operator has announced that the first group of
covered cities will have access this July.

Significance: Comstar’s proactive move to enter the Armenian broadband
market (see Armenia – Russia: 1 February 2008: ) is going according
to plan. Armenia, where the physical infrastructure is poor and
the internet penetration rate still below 10 users per 100 people,
serves as a good example of a market with high potential for wireless
broadband–the WiMAX technology allows Comstar to reach initially
75% of the population, and the company has plans to expand that
coverage further. Also, broadband markets in other countries in the
Commonwealth of Independent States remain largely untapped, and offer
similar business opportunities for an early mover such as Comstar.

ARMENIA, RUSSIAN DEPUTY FMS DISCUSS RA PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO MOSCOW
ARKA
JUne 12

RF Secretary of State, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and
RA Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Garibjanyan discussed the details
of RA President Serge Sargsyan’s upcoming visit to Moscow.

The Information and Press Department, RF Foreign Office, reports that
the sides discussed the current stage of Armenian-Russian relations.

At his meeting with the Armenian President on June 6, RF President
Dmitry Medvedev invited him to pay an official visit to Moscow during
the next few months.

FASSIER: OSCE MG MAIN TASK TO ACCOMPLISH WORK AT BASIC PRINCIPLES

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.06.2008

Each presidential meeting is a sign of progress. The presidents managed
to create a positive atmosphere during the St. Petersburg meeting,
according to Bernard Fassier, OSCE Minsk Group French Co-Chair.

He said the Co-chairs will pay the next visit to region to facilitate
the process. "We will specify the date of the visit within several
days. We are going to visit both Baku and Yerevan, but everything
depends on the schedules of the foreign ministers and the presidents".

Fassier said they need to visit Yerevan to get familiarized with
the position of the new leadership of Armenia. "The main task of
the Co-chairs now is to complete the work on the basic principles
considering proposals of both sides". Fassier said there were some
new points in the negotiations, but didn’t make them public.

"Our aim is clear: we will organize news meetings of the foreign
ministers and presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia," Amb. Fassier
resumed, the Azeri Press Agency reports.