Author: Tavakalian Edgar

IT IS ENVISAGED TO CREATE ABODE FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE ATTACHED TO GYUMRI DISABLED AND OLD PEOPLE’S HOME

Noyan Tapan
Dec 12 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Two stationary institutions
of care for the disabled function in Armenia. They are Vardenis
Neuro-Psychological and Gyumri Disabled and Old People’s Homes, where
there are 150 and 370 disabled people, respectively. As Noyan Tapan
correspondent was informed by Anahit Gevorgian, the Deputy Head of the
Department of Disabled and Old People’s Problems of the RA Ministry of
Labor and Social Issues, Gyumri Disabled and Old People’s Home needs
to be enlarged, and it is envisaged to increase its seats by another
30. Besides, in her words, it is envisaged to create a 30-seat abode
for homelss people attached to the Disabled and Old People’s Home.

A. Gevorgian also said that work is being done in the Ministry to
work out a long-term strategy of old people’s social protection,
which will contribute to improval of the condition of old people. It
was mentioned that at present survey of old people’s needs is being
conducted in Armenia. The strategy’s main provisions will be worked
out on the basis of survey’s results.

ARMENIAN ELECTION COVERAGE ‘WORSENING’
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Dec 10 2007

Armenia’s main broadcasters have grown even more tendentious over the
past month in their coverage of the upcoming presidential election,
openly promoting the frontrunner, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian,
and attacking his most formidable opponent, a media watchdog said
on Monday.

The Yerevan Press Club (YPC) has been monitoring the election-related
news coverage of the Armenian Public Television and Radio as well as
six private TV channels and releasing reports on a monthly basis. It
criticized the broadcasters last month for showing "unprecedented"
bias against opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian and casting
Sarkisian in a highly positive light.

Unveiling the findings of its latest monthly monitoring, the YPC
said the situation has further deteriorated since then. "There
are unprecedented phenomena which we have not witnessed in the
past," the YPC chairman, Boris Navasardian, told reporters. "That
includes an overtly negative coverage of opposition candidate Levon
Ter-Petrosian. It’s even more large-scale than what our previous
monitoring detected."

According to Navasardian, the Public TV and Radio are particularly
active in vilifying Armenia’s former president. He said the
state-controlled H1 TV channel, the most accessible in the country,
aired 47 overwhelmingly critical reports on Ter-Petrosian in
November. Sarkisian’s name, by contrast, figured in the news for 148
times and almost always in the positive context, he added.

The YPC monitoring also found that the public radio aired over a
hundred Ter-Petrosian-related reports in November and that 80 percent
of them were "negative."

"In terms of the volume [of news coverage] Levon Ter-Petrosian holds
the number place at the radio," said Navasardian. "That’s a unique
phenomenon." "It is unfortunate that that is being done by media
outlets which we previously cited as positive examples," he added,
referring to their coverage of last May’s parliamentary elections
praised by Western observers.

The YPC suggested that the TV coverage is now far more biased because
the outcome of the presidential election scheduled for February 19 is
less predictable than that of the May polls. "The more unpredictable
the election outcome becomes, the more unethically media outlets
behave," he said.

The Armenian authorities say that Ter-Petrosian is backed by less than
5 percent of voters and will not be even Sarkisian’s main opposition
challenger. Observers believe, however, that they see a much greater
threat emanating from the ex-president.

Navasardian criticized Ter-Petrosian as well, saying that he has
turned down offers to be interviewed by unnamed TV stations. "It’s
easier to talk at a rally," he said. "You say only what you want to
say and don’t have to answer resulting questions.

ZHARANGUTIUN’S DECISION WILL BE CONDITIONED BY NOT PERSONALITY OF CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENCY, BUT BY HIS PREELECTION PROGRAM

Noyan Tapan
Dec 7, 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The Zharangutiun (Heritage) party’s
Board, at the December 6 expanded sitting, made a decision not to
nominate any candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections. The
Board also empowered the party administration to make an official
decision on the format of party’s participation in the elections after
the final registration of the candidates. As representatives of the NA
Zharangutiun faction said at the December 7 press briefing, party’s
decision on supporting any candidate will be greatly conditioned by
not candidate’s personality, but by his preelection program.

According to Larisa Alaverdian, a faction member, for Zharangutiun’s
political orientation, it will be decisive whether candidates’
program provisions will be aimed at changing the "political regime
from authoritarian to more liberal one." The party will attach no less
importance to presence of precise mechanisms of establishment of real
democracy and liberalization of economy in a candidate’s program.

TWO CANDIDATES NOMINATED FOR VACANT POST OF CHAIRMAN OF RA NA STANDING COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 5, 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 5, the RA National
Assembly started discussing the issue of election of the Chairman of
the Standing Committee for Human Rights and Public Affairs. It should
be mentioned that this post has been vacant since November 12, when
Arevik Petrosian taking it assumed the post of the NA Vice-Speaker.

According to the political coalition’s agreement, the right of
nomination of candidature to that post is reserved for the Bargavach
Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) faction, which offered the candidature
of faction member Mkhitar Mnatsakanian. The latter since 1994 has taken
leading posts in the Red Cross International Rehabilitation Center and
in 2001 was elected the Chairman of the Armenian Red Cross Association.

The Zharangutiun (Heritage) faction offered the candidature of
first RA Ombudsperson, faction member Larisa Alaverdian to that
post. Applying to deputies representing parties making part of
the political coalition, RPA, Bargavach Hayastan, and ARFD, being
coalition’s partner, L. Alaverdian proposed giving that post to
opposition’s representative. According to her, human rights "have
always been for her protection of not only some individuals’ honor,
dignity, but also protection of country’s and people’s dignity."

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER: USD DEVALUATION HAS A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON EXPORT OF ARMENIAN COMMODITIES

arminfo
2007-12-05 19:20:00

ArmInfo. The USD devaluation has a negative effect on export of
Armenian commodities and the standard of well-being of most Armenian
citizens, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan said at a briefing
in parliament, Wednesday.

According to him, Armenia’s economy is very small and vulnerable to
ongoing processes in the world. He compared it with a small ship which
is caught in storm. He added that many citizens of Armenia receive
"huge" funds from their relatives leaving in the United States and
Russia. These funds are sent to Armenia in USD, and in case of USD
devaluation, prices in the Armenian domestic market do not decrease,
therefore, the standard of these citizens’ well-being drops, Sargsyan
said. He stressed that this worries the Armenian government, which
tries to find out the reasons of the abrupt fluctuations in the
exchange rate and take measures. "We are concerned over the fact
that there may be abrupt exchange fluctuations within a day, and
we should find out whether they are caused by speculations in the
domestic market or by external influence", S.Sargsyan.

To note, last weekend USD/AMD exchange rate dropped by 10%.

BIA, Turkey
Dec 7 2007

Camera "Not Working" in Dink And Zirve Cases

In both the Hrant Dink murder case and the Malatya murder cases,
recorded evidence has "disappeared".

Býa news centre – Malatya
07 Aralýk 2007, Cuma
Erol ÖNDEROGLU

The Turkish public is discussing the disconcerting similarities
between the murders of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and the
three Christian men at Zirve Publishing in Malatya, all murders
targetting different identities. It seems that the similarity does
not stop there; in both cases, evidence has disappeared.

Akbank recordings of relevant time gone

After Hrant Dink was murdered on 19 January, it only occured to the
prosecution to analyse recordings of the near-by Akbank branch after
Dink family lawyers called for such an analysis.

Hrant Dink’s family identified murder suspect O.S. from security
cameras of shopkeepers in the area. However, although the Akbank’s
cash machine camera had recordings from the previous day and until
the afternoon of the day of the murder, there were no recordings of
the murder, which took place at around 3 pm.

If it had been possible to analyse the recordings, it would have been
possible to find out more about some suspicious people who entered
and left a building site near the murder site before the murder.

When the police did not think of analysing the cameras, the joint
plaintiffs intervened. But when an investigation was started, the
building site had long been completed…

Ten-day recordings in hospital destroyed

In the Zirve murder case, there have been similar inconsistencies.
Emre Günaydin, the main suspect in the three murders, jumped from the
third floor of the Agbaba Apartment where the murders took place on
18 April. Seriously injured, he was taken to the Inönü University
Hospital, where two cameras were installed in his room to record 24
hours a day.

However, it has since emerged that the recordings have been "lost",
and that it is thus not possible to know who visited Günaydin during
his stay in hospital.

Officer organising recordings is himself implicated

Lawyers have analysed the case file and have found that the Malatya
prosecution ordered a change in cameras because they did not record
voices. So, ten days after the murder, security officers replaced the
old cameras with new, sound-recording ones, but in the process, "they
were not able, for technical reasons, to copy the ten-day recordings"
and destroyed them.

Malatya Police Chief Ali Osman Kahya had denied that the recordings
were destroyed, saying that they had been handed over to the court.
However, the Police Department for Smuggling and Organised Crime told
the prosecution that it with the existing technological possibilities
it had not possible to copy the recordings into media format, and
that the recordings had been destroyed.

Furthermore, it has emerged that lieutenant H.I., who was
commissioned by the prosecution to organise the recordings in
hospital, is suspicious himself.

A letter sent to the Presidency of the Union of Turkish Protestant
Churches on 25 May implicated several people in the murder, including
lieutenant H.I., who is said to have been one of the incitors of the
murders.

In the letter it said, ""the persons encouraging and directing Emre
Günaydin were our commander M. Ü. and a lecturer at the theology
faculty, R. Balat. (Polat). Balat was working with our commander M.Ü.
for around 4-5 months. The first person to contact Balat was H. I.,
the commander of the university police station. Later, contacts with
our regiment commander were made through sergeant M. C., with the
code name Seyhmus. Particularly before and after the event, these
meetings were frequent." (EÖ/AG)

3413/camera-not-working-in-dink-and-zirve-cases

COURT REFUSED NDP CLAIM

Panorama.am
22:48 04/12/2007

Today, recently First Instance Court of Center and Nork Marash
communities refused Aram Karapetyan’s claim against Police passport
and visa department.

According to Emanuel Margaryan, the press secretary of the National
Democratic Party, they feel sure that the refuse was "political order"
from the executive body.

According to him the party has not yet decided whether they will appeal
against the decision of the first instance court or not. Margaryan
said that there will be extra comments about it.

Note that Aram Karapetyan applied to court as the police station did
not give him the reference of living in Armenia during the last 10
years. This document is important for him to have right to apply to
Central Electoral Committee.

December 6 is the last day of the candidates’ nominations.

MICHAEL HARUTYUNYAN: THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF THE KARABAKH ISSUE

armradio.am
27.11.2007 13:32

RA Defense Minister Michael Harutyunyan does no see an alternative
to the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh issue.

"We see no alternative to peaceful solution. Our Presidents are holding
negotiations on the peaceful solution of the Karabakh conflict,"
the Minister said after the sitting of the CIS Council of Defense
Ministers in Astana.

Michael Harutyunyan said the statement of Azeri Defense Minister
Safar Abiyev on inevitability of a military confrontation is
"extremely sharp."

"The Defense Minister is not authorized to make such statements,
when the commanders-in-chief, the Presidents of our countries, are
negotiating a peaceful solution," the Armenian Defense Minister said.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev declared earlier that the
military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is likely. "Until the
Azerbaijani territory is under Armenian occupation, the probability
of war is almost 100%," he said to a news conference in Astana.

CANADIAN DUNDEE PRECIOUS METALS SEES GREAT POTENTIAL IN KAPAN MINE IN ARMENIA

ARKA News Agency
Nov 28 2007
Armenia

YEREVAN, November 28. /ARKA/. The Canadian Dundee Precious Metals
sees a great potential in Kapan mine in Armenia, said the company’s
President Jonathan Goodman. In 2006 the company purchased the mine
to launch activities in gold, zinc and copper mining industries.

The mine has a great potential and will meet the company’s
expectations, Goodman said.

In 2008 Dundee Precious Metals plans to invest $20mln in exploration
of Kapan mine. Goodman pointed out that the company has involved
three drilling units for this purpose.

The drilling activities were supposed to be launched nine months ago,
but mining industry is rather competitive all over the world and
the Canadian company had difficulties in getting drilling units,
according to Goodman.

The company’s concentration plant can annually mine 1.2mln tons of
ore. For this, Dundee Precious Metals needs about $10mln investments,
the company’s President said.

He pointed out that the company will never focus on productivity
improvement to the prejudice of the mine’s safety.

Research activities carried out in Kapan mine show that it contains
large ore reserves which enables carry out to open-cast mining
activities. For this, the company needs some $300mln, Goodman said.

He pointed out that the company does not rule out the possibility of
making investments in other mines in Armenia.

Regional Director of Dundee Precious Metals Jeremy Cooper pointed out
that one tone of ore concentrate contains 55% of zinc, 20% of cooper
and 20 grams of gold.

After purchasing Kapan mine, Dundee Precious Metals spent $9.6mln on
modernization of infrastructures and equipment. $21.3mln was allocated
for large-scale research activities in 2007 to reveal the whole
potential of mines. $5.3mln of the sum was spent by September 2007.

In April the company was licensed to put into operation the 350 sq/m
territory around Kapan mine.

OSCE PA PRESIDENT CONTINUES TO BELIEVE IN THE "GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY" FOR KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

armradio.am
29.11.2007 15:28

Speaking at the OSCE Ministerial meeting in Madrid, President of
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Goran Lenmarker said he continues to
believe in the existence of the "golden opportunity" for the settlement
of the Karabakh issue.

"For about four years I have been actively supporting the efforts
of the OSCE Minsk Group directed at the resolution of the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh. I have said
that I see a "golden opportunity" for the signing of a peace treaty
and I continue to think so. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by France,
Russia and the United States, has presented a framework agreement. It
is ready to be signed by the leaders of the two countries in case of
existence of political will," the President of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly declared.