Author: Tavakalian Edgar

JENAM-2007 IN ARMENIA EVIDENCE OF HIGH LEVEL OF ASTROPHYSICS IN COUNTRY

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 28 2007

YEREVAN, August 28. /ARKA/. The organization of a Joint European and
National Astronomy Meeting (JENAM-2007) in Armenia is evidence of
a rather high level of astrophysics in the country, Vice-President
of the Armenian Astronomical Society, JENAM-2007 Co-Chairman Areg
Mikaelyan told reporters.

JENAM-2007 is the largest-scale event during the whole history of
Armenian science in the aspect of both its international importance
and of its scale, and not every country can boast of the organization
of such congresses in its territory now," he said.

According to Miklaelyan, European astrophysicists highly appreciate
their Armenian colleagues’ works.

"This is no coincidence because Armenian astrophysicists made
a considerable contribution to the development of this scientific
field," he said.

Speaking of the aspects of organization of JENAM-2007, Mikaelyan
reported that Armenian scientists from different countries were
actively involved in the elaboration of the program.

Founded by the European and Armenian Astronomical Societies, JENAM-2007
was held in Armenia on August 20-25, its slogan being "Our non-stable
universe". Participating in the event were about 300 scientists from
37 countries. Armenia was represented by Byukakan Observatory staffers,
lecturers of the Department of Astrophysics, Yerevan State University,
Institute of Physics, Institute of Archeology and Ethnography and
Institute of History.

Eight symposiums and six special sections discussed the field’s
topical issues and its further development.

RA PM RECEIVED DELEGATION HEADED BY CHAIRMAN OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF LEBANESE ‘CREDITBANK’

arminfo
2007-08-29 16:17:00

Today, RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan received the delegation headed
by chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lebanese "CreditBank"
Tarek Khalifeh. As the governmental press-service told ArmInfo, the
Prime Minister welcomed the bank’s intention to develop an activity
in Armenia and said that it is fully concordant with RA government’s
policy, in particular, in the issue of the republic’s financial
market development. S. Sargsyan thinks that the experience of the
"CreditBank" may have a positive influence taking into account the
fact that Lebanon was always considered as an international financial
sector and had serious progresses in the financial sector development.

For his part, Tarek Khalifeh thanked Serzh Sargsyan for readiness
to cooperate. He added that meeting- discussions, held so far with
partners from RA Central Bank and a number of the Armenian commercial
banks, strengthened the intention of the "CreditBank" to launch the
works in Armenia. "Our observations show that serious prospects and
a favourable environment for development of the banking activities
exist in Armenia, and we shall be happy to have our contribution in
development of the republic’s economy ", T. Khalifeh emphasized. He
also said of the importance of cooperation with RA government in
implementation of certain investment programmes, including the
agricultural sector, development of infrastructures and the sphere
of industry.

Meanwhile, the interlocutors emphasized importance of the role of
the Armenian community of Lebanon in attraction of the Lebanese
capital to the Armenian market. S. Sargsyan wished successes o the
"CreditBank" on the way of implementation of the programmes in Armenia
and expressed confidence that the Armenian government will support
and promote fulfillment of perspective and profitable programmes for
Armenia’s bank and economy, within the frames of their authorities and
opportunities. To note, according to ArmInfo data, the "CreditBank"
is the second Lebanese banking group which shows a serious interest
to the financial market of Armenia. A memorandum on acquisition
of the bank’s shares has been recently signed between the Biblos
Lebanese banking group and shareholders of the Armenian ITB bank. It
is scheduled to complete the transaction by October, 2007.

"SECULAR" TURKEY’S PRIME MINISTER AND PRESIDENT ARE NOW BOTH ISLAMISTS
by The Stiletto

Blogger News Network

Aug 29 2007

The third time was the charm for Abdullah Gul. The devout Muslim
whose wife wears a headscarf won Turkey’s presidency Tuesday after
twice falling short of the two-thirds majority in parliament needed
to secure the position. In the third round of voting, he only needed
a simple majority. Gul’s party, the Islamic-oriented Justice and
Development Party (AKP) holds 341 of the 530 seats in the Turkish
parliament, and he got 339 votes.

The Wall Street Journal reports that "[i]n a recent meeting with
journalists, Mr. Gul said he would make use of his experience as
foreign minister to … make the Turkish presidency more active on
the international scene."

Gul made good on that promise even before assuming the presidency,
having worked in tandem with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to
apply pressure on Israel last week to bring Anti-Defamation League
National Director Abraham H. Foxman to heel after he conceded last week
that the near-annihilation of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks
"was tantamount to genocide." While Gul was working Israel’s ambassador
to Ankara over, Erdogan was whining to Israeli President Shimon Peres
that Turkey "was feeling ‘disappointed with its friends.’" Peres
called Foxman, who then sent a letter of apology for putting the
Turkish people "in a difficult position."

Given the Turkish military’s propensity to overthrow the country’s
government, Gul might not be around all that long – if he does not
exercise his veto power over legislation passed by parliament under
the leadership of political ally Erdogan that is perceived to pull
the country towards Islamism.

The Associated Press reports that "top generals did not attend the
swearing-in ceremony … Local media interpreted their absence as
a protest against the 56-year-old Gul. … The military has ousted
four governments since 1960, and an initial presidential bid by Gul
was derailed over fears that he planned to dilute secular traditions.

Some commentators said the generals’ failure to show up for Gul’s
oath-taking was ominous."

Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The
Stiletto Blog.

ARMENIA’S PRIME MINISTER TO ATTEND FUNERAL CEREMONY OF LORI REGION’S SLAIN PROSECUTOR

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 27 2007

YEREVAN, August 27. /ARKA/. RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsian will
participate in the funeral ecemony of the slain prosecutor of Lori
region Albert Ghazarian.

The Prime Miniter will visit Lernagoti village, Armavir district
where he will participate in the opening ceremony of a school in,
reconstructed by the sponsorship of the Children of Armenia Fund.

Lori’s prosecutor Albert Ghazarian was murdered on Saturday, 00:20.

An unknown shot at him four times, as a result of which, the prosecutor
got three perforating injuries and one blunt gunshot wound on the back,
neck and shoulders.

The investigative department of the RA Public Prosecutor’s Office
has sued a criminal case on the 2nd paragraph of the second part of
the RA Criminal Code’s 104 Article on public assassination.

An investigating group has been formed out of experienced workers
of the RA Public Prosecutor’s Office, Police and National Security
Service.

RA President Robert Kocharian charged the law machinery to take
necessary steps to disclose the assassination and to report him
regularly on the investigation.

A NUMBER OF BIG PROGRAMS PRESENTED FOR FINANCING BY VENTURE FUND MANAGED BY EIF AND CASCADE CAPITAL

Noyan Tapan
Aug 27 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 27, NOYAN TAPAN. With the aim of financing developments
of Armenian scientists, a number of big programs (the cost of each
exceeds a million dollars) have been presented to the board of the
venture fund (its authorized capital makes 1 million USD) set up by
the Cafesjian Family Foundation, NT correspondent was informed by
director of the venture fund’s co-manager, – the Enterprise Incubator
Foundation (EIF) Bagrat Yengibarian.

Another co-manager of the venture fund is Cascade Capital investment
company also founded by the Cafesjian Family Foundation in Armenia.

In the words of B. Yengibarian, the presented programs are, in
particular, related to such sectors as biotechnology, IT, pharmaceutics
and precise machine tool building. He said that negotiations are
currently underway with several US venture funds in order to obtain
additional sources of finance.

B. Yengibarian reminded that the indicated programs were presented
during the first All-Armenian high-tech congress ArmTech 2007 in San
Francisco on July 4-7, in which representatives of a number of large
US venture funds took part.

To recap, the venture fund managed by EIF and Cascade Capital was
created in early 2006.

Agency WPS
The Russian Business Monitor (Russia)
August 22, 2007 Wednesday

MTS NEGOTIATES ON ACQUISITION OF THE LARGEST CELLULAR OPERATOR OF
ARMENIA

MTS is negotiating on the purchase of the largest cellular operator
of Armenia K-Telecom (VivaCell trademark). Analysts estimate the
company at up to $600 million. If the deal takes place, the Armenian
cellular market will be divided by MTS and VimpelCom.

The network of K-Telecom was put into operation in the middle of
2005. According to ACM-Consulting, now the company has more than 1
million subscribers or 100% more than Armentel. Penetration of
cellular communication in Armenia amounts to 50%.

Partner of ACM-Consulting Anton Pogrebinsky considers K-Telecom to be
a good acquisition, "This is a market leader. Besides, there are only
two cellular operators in Armenia, which means that there is no
bitter competition." Analyst of Aton Nadezhda Golubeva presumes that
entire K-Telecom costs $420-480 million. Analyst of Troika Dialog,
Yevgeny Golosnoi, estimates the company a little higher at $500-600
million. Golosnoi explains that real penetration of cellular
communication in Armenia is most likely lower than the official level
and amounts to about 35%. He concludes, "The market has potential for
growth, that is why K-Telecom should be sold with a premium."

Source: Vedomosti, August 21, 2007

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 22 2007

Arif Mammadov: There will be a meeting in Baku with presence of
Venice Commission in early October

[ 22 Aug 2007 18:55 ]

`Lord Russell-Johnston has suspended his activity at Subcommittee on
Nagorno Karabakh conflict due to his retirement

Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative to Council of Europe,
Ambassador Arif Mammadov’s interview to APA.

-PACE Monitoring Committee rapporteur Andres Herkel said that he will
raise an issue on the current state of Azeri media…

-Yes, he did, but the issue is not yet on the agenda. We would have
been informed if there had been such an issue. Maybe co-rapporteurs
made speech at committee or sub-committee. It is not expected that
any issue on Azerbaijan would be discussed at PACE fall session.
-Will issue on Azerbaijan’s implementing European Court’s decisions
be discussed?
-We have enough time for this issue. There is no threat of raising
any issue in this case. We are for documents on the implementation of
new decision. The issue is not on the agenda.
-What about talks between Venice Commission and Azerbaijani
government on the Election Code and law on freedom of assembly’?

-There will a roundtable in Baku early in October with the presence
of Venice Commission. The talks will focus on the composition of
election commissions and procedures of considering complaints. I can
say that negotiations are underway at present. High-level experts of
President’s Office, parliament and Central Election Commission are
involved in this issue, individual talks are underway.
-What is your assessment of Ago group’s still considering Azerbaijan
in the list of countries under monitoring?
-AGO group has visited Azerbaijan recently, the group working
normally regarding Azerbaijan, and major steps have been taken. The
group gives recommendations and we are closely cooperating. This is
very important for us. I want to mention that post-monitoring
procedures exist for Eastern European countries. It means that if our
cooperation with this group is suspended and all the commitments are
fulfilled, post-monitoring procedures will continue. We are not yet
going to stop cooperation with the Group.
-Will Council of Europe senior officials visit Azerbaijan?

-Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammerberg is
scheduled to visit Azerbaijan on September 2-8 this year. The
Commissioner will visit Sumgayit and Ganja in the framework of his
visit. I will also participate in this visit, and then he will draw
up a report.
-PACE President Rene van der Linden’s tenure expires in January,
2008. Who is the real candidate for this post?

-Chairman of PACE delegation (Russian Duma) Michael Margelov’s
candidacy is on the agenda, I think. He is much likely to be elected
to this post, as his candidacy is supported.

-Are there any new reports regarding Nagorno Karabakh Subcommittee
members’ visit to the region?

-Armenians did not attend the last meeting of the subcommittee on
Nagorno Karabakh chaired by Lord Russel-Johnston. CE was dissatisfied
with it. We did not protest the committee members’ visiting region,
we always actively participated in the work of the Subcommittee. But
Lord Russel-Johnston has already stopped his activity due to his
retirement. Therefore, this issue is due to be delayed. The visit is
delayed as there is no agreement in the negotiations for the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict yet. Armenia is
demonstrating a very unconstructive position in this issue. /APA/

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 23 2007

Bodyguards of two Armenian MPs come to blows in Yerevan’s center

[ 23 Aug 2007 19:52 ]

Mass clashes occurred in central Yerevan, Armenian capital on 22
August, APA reports quoting Armenian media.

The clash occurred between bodyguards of pro-governemnt Prospering
Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukyan and ruling Republic Party member
Ashot Agababyan. The bodyguards came to blows in the square near
Triumf restaurant outside the offices of several information agencies
in Isaakyan-28. The conflict stared inside the restaurant and came to
the street. Police officers could not separate the bodyguards
clashing before the eyes of hundreds of people in the street. The
conflict was calmed down only after President’s security service head
Grigoriy Sarkisyan arrived in the site.
Armenian media reports that similar clashes were previously observed
between the security guards of Tsarukyan and Agababyan . Both
politicians are considered influential oligarchs of Armenia. Tsarukan
is President of Multi-Group concern which different establishments,
including breweries and fueling stations and Agababyan is owner of
Razdan Sport Complex in Yerevan. /APA/

ARMENIAN APRICOT GARDEN TO BE PLANTED IN INDIA

Noyan Tapan
Aug 17, 2007

DELHI, AUGUST 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian ambassador to India Ashot
Kocharian on August 16 met with India’s state minister of agriculture
Kanti Lal Bhuria.

Issues related to the extension of cooperation in the sphere of
agriculture were duscussed at the meeting. Speaking about the results
of Bhuria’s visit to Armenia in July, A. Kocharian reasserted the
Armenian government’s willingness to plant an Armenian apricot garden
in India. Welcoming the initiative of the Armenian nside, the state
minister Bhuria said that this proposal will be put into practice by
all means after Armenian and Indian experts make a conclusion.

According to a press release submitted to NT by the RA MFA Press
and Information Department, the interlocutors also discussed the
perspective directions of cooperation: milk product processing, joint
scientific studies, exchange of plants and seedlings, and training
of experts.

The state minister Bhuria said that the Indian side will participate
in activities of the Organic Food international forum to be held in
Armenia in October.

YEREVAN AND BAKU REITERATE DEADLOCK ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

The Messenger, Georgia
Aug 15 2007

The best way to settle conflict, some political analysts argue,
is with economic development that benefits all sides.

Recent rhetorical scuffles between Armenia and Azerbaijan suggest
this is not an option in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the news
agency Regnum writes.

During his recent visit to Kazakhstan, President Ilham Aliyev of
Azerbaijan blamed the Armenian side for the deadlock in negotiations
over the disputed region, and pointed out that the financial gain of
cooperating with Azerbaijan would outweigh any foreign aid Armenia is
receiving. Relations between Baku and Yerevan will improve, he said,
only when Armenia stops its politics of occupation.

Viktor Sodomonian, press secretary for Armenian President Robert
Kocharian, responded by saying that negotiations were frustrated
because of Azerbaijan’s unconstructive and backward-thinking approach.

Sodomonian added that the republic of Nagorno-Karabakh indisputably
exists, and cannot be subject to trade or concessions.