Avec Kachkar, Robert Louis-Dreyfus =?unknown?q?Accel=E8re_Le?= Proce

AVEC KACHKAR, ROBERT LOUIS-DREYFUS ACCELèRE LE PROCESSUS DE VENTE DE L’OM
Par Renaud LAVERGNE

Agence France Presse
16 janvier 2007 mardi 8:40 PM GMT

La probabilite d’une vente rapide de l’Olympique de Marseille
(L1 de football) s’est precisee un peu plus mardi, a la suite des
garanties bancaires apportees par l’industriel canadien Jack Kachkar
a l’actionnaire principal du club, Robert Louis-Dreyfus.

Kachkar etait le seul candidat officiellement avere au rachat du plus
populaire des clubs francais. Entre en contact avec "RLD" a la fin de
l’ete, il avait jusqu’a ce mardi pour apporter ces garanties bancaires.

Arrive a la presidence de l’OM en decembre 96, Robert Louis-Dreyfus
demandait 100 millions d’euros minimum pour le rachat de ses parts.

Inconnu du milieu du football, Kachkar, patron de la PME de pharmacie
Inyx, lui en a apporte la garantie.

"Cela ouvre la voie a un processus de negociations avancees, qui
pourrait aboutir, d’ici 2 a 3 semaines a la cession du club", a
indique en fin d’après-midi un porte-parole de "RLD".

Propos confirmes par le president du club Pape Diouf, lors d’une
conference de presse très suivie, où etaient apportees des precisions
sur les garanties demandees par "RLD" au probable futur proprietaire
du club: "une capacite d’investissement importante permettant de
perenniser le club, il est question aujourd’hui d’un plan de relance
de cinq ans, et la preservation de l’ensemble du personnel du club".

Rencontre Diouf-Kachkar

En soiree, Diouf et Kachkar se sont rencontres dans un avion sur le
tarmac de l’aeroport de Marignane, afin d’evoquer en commun, pour la
première fois, les projets de Kachkar.

L’extreme rapidite avec laquelle le "deal" semble s’etre conclu
merite en effet de nombreuses garanties. Diplomate, Diouf a declare
qu’il n’avait pas "d’inquietudes particulières". "Des questions,
naturellement, se posent", a-t-il cependant reconnu, precisant
qu’il s’etait "employe a rassurer le personnel du club, sportif et
administratif".

Que vient faire en effet dans le football francais Jacques Kachkar,
43 ans, homme d’affaires canadien d’origine armenienne et PDG de
la societe d’investissement Karver Capital Holdings, qui contrôle
notamment la societe pharmaceutique Inyx? Avec quels hommes, une
fois passe le delai de garantie sur le maintien du personnel en
place, va-t-il gerer ce club, habitue aux valses d’entraîneurs et
de presidents mais qui prône depuis cette saison les vertus de la
stabilite?

Il ne devrait en tout cas pas venir avec l’ex-selectionneur suedois
de l’equipe d’Angleterre, comme l’intention lui etait pretee.

"Kachkar m’a dit clairement qu’il n’y avait aucun engagement de sa
part avec (Sven-Goran) Erikkson, a assure Diouf.

"Un club mythique"

"Cela fait longtemps que je souhaitais m’investir personnellement
dans un grand club de football, le football me passionne et je suis
tout particulièrement les performances de l’OM depuis longtemps",
a explique Kachkar dans un communique prepare par une prestigieuse
agence de communication parisienne. Il a aussi evoque "un club
mythique" et une region qui lui est chère. Peut-etre en allusion a
la forte communaute armenienne de Marseille.

Il a dit aussi son ambition de faire de nouveau de l’OM "un grand club
europeen". Un objectif maintes fois caresse, mais en vain, par Robert
Louis-Dreyfus, qui n’a remporte aucun titre en 10 ans et 200 millions
d’investissement a l’exception d’une Coupe Intertoto. Et qui s’apprete
a quitter ce club, pris par ses affaires et le coeur meurtri d’avoir
ete condamne en juin, en première instance, a trois ans de prison
avec sursis dans le procès des transferts suspects entre 1997 et 1999.

–Boundary_(ID_eB3oOv3O21PHdII62xsM/g)–

In 2006 Armenia-OSCE Relations Activated

IN 2006 ARMENIA-OSCE RELATIONS ACTIVATED

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.01.2007 18:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The last year was marked by activation of relations
between Armenia and OSCE, says the RA MFA annual report on Armenia’s
foreign activities in 2006. "OSCE continues to play a positive role
in the region in the spheres of stability and security, preventing
and solving conflicts, management of emergency situations, as well
as in the spheres of human rights and democratic processes," says
the document.

The report underlines that at the beginning of the year Karel de
Gucht, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, as well as the MG Co-Chairs
visited Armenia. The organization also participates in environmental
programs in Armenia. By OSCE’s assistance was exploited the factory
for processing rocket propellant ‘Melange’. The factory was opened
by Mark Perren de Brichamboo, the OSCE Secretary General. Also the
OSCE office in Syunik region began its work.

Vigen Chaldranian’s ‘Priestess’ To Be Premiered In Los Angeles

VIGEN CHALDRANIAN’S ‘PRIESTESS’ TO BE PREMIERED IN LOS ANGELES

Armenpress
Jan 8 2006

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, ARMENPRESS: "Priestess,’ the latest film shot
by one of the leading Armenian film directors, Vigen Chaldranian,
will be premiered on January 25 in Chinese Theater cinema house in
Glendale, California, USA.

The film will be screened also by cinema houses in Los Angeles,
San Francisco and New York.

Speaking to Armenpress Chaldranian said the main idea behind this film
was to present Armenia as the first nation to convert to Christianity
and adopt it as their national faith.

The film was first shown in Yerevan last October.

Chaldranian said the main source of information for the film was the
‘History of Armenia’ by a 5-century Armenian historian Agatangeghos.

The film was done in just five months in a Los Angeles studio and
in Armenia.

"The idea to make this film occurred to me first back in 1993 when an
actress Anahit Aghasarian and I began to work on its script, but we
could not materialize it largely due to financial problems," he said.

Chaldranian said 600 costumes were made specially for this film,
which is the first large-scale Armenian film in the last decades.

The film lasts 150 minutes. The original music is composed by Ara
Gevorkian.

The Armenian Scientific Sector Receives a Boost

EurasiaNet, NY
Jan 5 2007

THE ARMENIAN SCIENTIFIC SECTOR RECEIVES A BOOST
Haroutiun Khachatrian 1/05/07

With an eye toward attracting foreign investment, the Armenian
government is trying to update and overhaul Armenia’s scientific
sector for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

During the Soviet era, Armenia was known for its scientific edge –
aside from academic pursuits, the country excelled in applied uses of
physics, chemistry and materials sciences. As in other former Soviet
republics, though, the end of Kremlin subsidies for research
institutes involved in the development of technologies for the Soviet
military left many scientific professionals without work, prompting a
brain drain that still continues. Those scientists left behind
continue to work under difficult conditions, with almost no funding
for scientific projects and salaries barely over the minimum of
$40-$50 per month. Scientific research and development accounts for
less than 1 percent of Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product.

The government is now trying to correct that situation. In May 2006,
the Armenian parliament adopted a law for the state support of
so-called "innovative activities." Four months later, the government
adopted a five-year program outlining specific measures to encourage
scientific innovation.

"This program is the first serious attempt by the Armenian government
to show that Armenian scientific products are interesting to
investors," commented Ashot Khandanian, head of the Science,
Technology and Investment Policy Department at the Ministry of Trade
and Economic Development. Both the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization and the United Nations Development Programme
have pledged their financial and technical support for the
government’s plans.

Under the program, an analytical center, housed in an existing
scientific institute, will evaluate promising scientific projects and
developments and then promote the findings with outside investors. In
a complementary move, the government intends in 2007 to adopt
legislation to establish venture capital funds that would use both
state and private monies to encourage development of privately run
scientific projects.

The lack of such financing has already tripped up some scientific
institutes from securing foreign investment. In one such institute,
according to Khandanian, a proposal from a leading European
consulting firm for mass production of nano-batteries with highly
improved parameters fell flat after the institute failed to secure
the $15,000 needed to produce a trial run of the batteries for
testing and certification. No legal basis existed for the government
itself, in the absence of private funds, to back the project,
Khandanian said.

Meanwhile, a draft proposal on restructuring academic scientific
research was released in October 2006 for public discussion; reforms
are expected to start in 2007 once a final policy paper is adopted.
As an initial step, the monthly salary of scientific workers in
state-run institutes, which averages about 22,000 drams, or $60 (the
national average is 60,000 drams or $140), will be doubled in 2007.

The private sector is also getting involved in developing Armenia’s
research potential. The privately funded National Foundation of
Science and Advanced Technologies (NFSAT), together with a team of
business consultants, recently sent out promotional materials on 16
peer-reviewed scientific proposals to potential investors worldwide.
The Washington-based Civilian Research and Development Fund — an
NFSAT partner that tries to reverse the outflow of scientific
specialists from former Soviet republics — provided $36,000 for the
initiative.

The program has already had one success. Plans are now underway for a
joint venture between an Armenian researchers’ group and an American
firm interested in a vibration detector developed at Yerevan State
University that can be used in seismic devices.

"These successes are important not only by themselves, but also as
evidence that Armenia is still a country with a scientific sector
which is interesting for investors," commented NFSAT Chairman
Haroutiun Karapatian. "The problem is that many people, both in
Armenia and abroad, do not believe this. Skepticism is still high
about the potential of Armenian science and its ability to create
viable products."

The government’s Khandanian shared NFSAT’s optimism. Having one
successful proposal out of the 48 received by NFSAT is not a bad
result for a country like Armenia, he said. "With start-up
businesses, three, four or five successful results out of a hundred
are considered normal," he said.

Whether similar results can be obtained elsewhere remains to be seen,
but the government maintains that Armenia has the wherewithal for
other joint ventures as well. More than a dozen Armenian institutes
of applied science continue to work successfully and regularly
cooperate with colleagues in Europe, the United States and China,
stated Khandanian.

Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.

Antelias: His Holiness Aram I Visits The Armenian Elderly & Orphans

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I VISITS THE ARMENIAN ELDERLY AND ORPHANS

His Holiness Aram I and Cilician Brotherhood members attended Christmas and
New Year celebrations in the National Old People’s Home for Armenian elderly
and the "Birds’ Nest" orphanage, spreading joy and warmth to the hearts of
the young and old sheltered Armenians. A delegation from the Cilician
Brotherhood also visited the Azounieh National Sanitarium and Armenian
prisoners.

PONTIFICAL VISIT TO THE NATIONAL OLD PEOPLE’S HOME

The Armenian Catholicos visited Thursday the Armenian National Old People’s
Home in Bourdj Hammoud, where director Kevork Karaboydjian, the members of
the Board of Trustees and the sheltered elderly put on a very warm welcome.

A tangible expression of the Christian Church’s humanitarian service
mission, the Pontiff’s visit aimed at spreading the joy of the holidays to
those in his flock in need of love and care. His Holiness was welcomed and
cheered amidst joyous smiles and heart-spoken wishes.

Mr. Karaboyadjian delivered the opening remarks of the luncheon organized on
this occasion, stressing that in addition to his annual visits, His Holiness
‘ continued support is a driving force for the institution’s senior and
junior employees to further service and commitment.

The elderly expressed their happiness by singing and performing special
poems. Others spoke words of gratitude to the Catholicos and the managers of
the institution.

At the end of the luncheon, His Holiness addressed the elderly with warm
wishes on the occasion of Christmas and for the New Year. "You have done all
you can for our nation and now our nation is doing what it can for taking
care of your health and providing you with a safe shelter," the Pontiff
reassured the elderly. He praised the institution’s director, members of the
Board of Trustees, staff and all those who voluntarily commit themselves to
the service of the sheltered. Finally, he commended all the contributors and
philanthropists, named and unnamed, for their continued financial support to
the welfare of the Armenian elderly.

THE CATHOLICOS VISITS ARMENIAN CHILDREN

In the afternoon of the same day, His Holiness shared the joy of Christmas
with Armenian children sheltered in the "Birds’ Nest" orphanage under the
direct care of the Catholicosate of Cilicia. The Pontiff’s care for these
institutions spreads throughout the whole year with the cooperation of its
Board of Trustees and a special committee he has established himself.

The Dean of the "Birds’ Nest", Rev. Paren Vartanian briefed His Holiness on
the activities carried out by the institution and its future plans. They
plant Singing hymns
The Armenian spiritual leader then attended the Christmas and New Year
celebration, patiently listening to songs and poems of the innocent
children, as well as their wishes and dreams for 2007 in their second home
and shelter.

Compared to international humanitarian institutions, this small house of the
Armenian nation is a relatively modern shelter for orphaned Armenian
children and those from unfortunate families. It is one of the important
dimensions of the Catholicosate of Cilicia’s mission, embodying the Church’s
humanitarian nature.

In his fatherly words to the Armenian children, the Catholicos called on
them to be good human beings, exemplary Armenians, hard-working students and
honest and decent citizens. He also praised all the philanthropists and
Armenian supporters who hold the "Birds’ Nest" close to their hearts both
financially and morally supporting the Armenian orphans.

VISIT TO THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL SANITARIUM

Members of the Cilician Brotherhood visited the Azounieh Armenian National
Sanitarium congratulating the Christmas and New Year of the sheltered. They
planted spiritual satisfaction among the elderly and the ill by singing
hymns, reciting the gospels and performing a number of beautiful songs.

The brotherhood members also visited the rooms of those confined to bed,
praying for them and talking with them and thus consoling those suffering
from physical pains and distanced from their families.

VISIT TO ARMENIAN PRISONERS

His Holiness Aram I also delegated Cilician Brotherhood members to bring the
joy of the season to the cells of Armenian prisoners across Lebanon. They
performed short church service for the spiritual satisfaction of the
prisoners, listened their confessions, the difficulties they faced and
provided them guidance.

The Brotherhood members also met with the managers of the prison, presenting
their proposals for the betterment of living conditions in the prison
specially for Armenian prisoners.

Christmas gifts were distributed in all the above institutions and the
Armenian prisoners corresponding to the individual needs of each of the
sheltered.

##
View the photos here:
41.htm
s42.htm
os43.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

http://www.cathcil.org/
http://www.cathcil.org/v04/doc/Armenian.htm
http://www.cathcil.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos
http://www.cathcil.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photo
http://www.cathcil.org/v04/doc/Photos/Phot
http://www.cathcil.org/

System Of A Down: Future Uncertain – Splitting up?

Ultimate-Guitar.Com
Dec 29 2006

System Of A Down: Future Uncertain

System Of A Down insist they are not splitting up – but admit the
band has an uncertain musical future, reports World Entertainment
News Network.

John Dolmayan, Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian and Shavo Odadjian
announced their hiatus from the band earlier this year to work on
separate projects.

And frontman Tankian believes the break was long overdue.

He says, "I’ve wanted to make my solo record for years, but I just
haven’t had the time. For the last 11 years we’ve all been wedded to
this band, and now we want to take a break.

"I honestly don’t know if System Of A Down are over or no. Maybe in a
few years we’ll want to make another album. It’s impossible to tell
right now. It’ll be later down the line that we’ll be able to tell
what might happen."

System Of A Down is featured in a new documentary called "Screamers",
about the history of genocide throughout the 20th century. The film
premiered in Los Angeles on December 8 and will expand to other
cities in January.

System Of A Down’s last two albums, "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize", were
released in May and November 2005 respectively. Both debuted on The
Billboard 200 chart at No. 1 and have sold a combined total of three
million copies in the U.S.

music_news/system_of_a_down_future_uncertain.html? 200612291037

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_

Armenian Chemical Giant Again Hit By Fire

ARMENIAN CHEMICAL GIANT AGAIN HIT BY FIRE
By Ruben Meloyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 25 2006

Rescue workers were trying to put out a massive fire at a big chemical
plant in Yerevan that raged for a second consecutive day on Monday,
emitting large amounts of toxic gas.

Some 600 tons of inflammable industrial waste stored in two reservoirs
belonging to the recently privatized Nairit plant caught fire in
still uncertain circumstances on Sunday morning.

Scores of firefighters were immediately rushed to the scene. They said
that although the blaze was under control by next morning, they will
take several more days to extinguish it completely. Massive fireballs
were still billowing skywards from the reservoirs of ethinol varnish,
a by-product of synthetic rubber, as of Monday afternoon.

This is the second incident of its kind registered at Nairit in less
than two months. Some 150 tons of the substance, which is subject to
disposal through combustion, were burned there in a similar fire on
November 12.

Nikolay Grigorian, deputy director of the Armenian government’s Rescue
Service, said he suspects the plant management of deliberately setting
fire to its stockpiles of ethinol in order to avoid extra costs and
time needed for their destruction. "I would like to take the risk
and say that a deliberate intent is evident here," he told RFE/RL.

But the Nairit director, Ruben Saghatelian, strongly denied this.

"This substance is prone to self-immolation, especially if it is
stored for man years," he said.

Under official safety regulations, the ethinol varnish can not be
stored for more than a year for that reason. Nairit has not disposed
of the waste for nearly a decade.

State prosecutors did not immediately launch criminal proceedings in
connection with the latest fire. They are currently investigating
a September gas explosion at Nairit that injured four residents
of a nearby Yerevan suburb and damaged a number of local houses. A
spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General’s Office said three Nairit
employees have already been charged with negligence.

The once thriving chemical giant has gone through difficult times
since the Soviet collapse and is still struggling to remain afloat
despite repeated changes of ownership and management. Its most recent
privatization was announced last August when the Armenian government
approved a complex deal with an obscure British-registered firm.

Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said last week that the new owner,
Rhinoville Property Limited, has pledged to invest $120 million in
Nairit in the next few years.

Court of Cassation: Those Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Are Innocen

A1+

COURT OF CASSATION: THOSE SENTENCED TO LIFE
IMPRISONMENT ARE INNOCENT

[04:13 pm] 22 December, 2006

Today the Court of Cassation has made a sudden and sensational
decision: Razmik Sargsyan, Musa Serobyan and Arayik Zaryan who
were accused of the murder of soldiers Movses Mkrtoumyan and Roman
Eghiazaryan and sentenced to life imprisonment by the previous two
instances, have been declared innocent.

This is the first case in the history of the third Republic of Armenia,
taking into account the fact that military prosecutor Gagik Jhangiryan
announced until the very last moment that the soldiers are guilty.

Let us remind you that the three soldiers have been imprisoned for
three years. They went on a long hunger-strike in order to prove their
innocence. Due to mal-nutrition they fainted during court sessions.
At present Razmik has tuberculosis. "The Mataghis Case" has been
covered in a number of local and foreign newspapers as downright
violation of human rights. Representatives of both the OSCE and many
Embassies have followed the course of the trial.

It is noteworthy that the session of the Court of Cassation was
fixed for December 20 but it was re-fixed for December 22 for unknown
reasons.

As for today’s trial, the court decision was so sudden for those
present that Razmik Sargsyan’s mother almost fainted, Radio station
"Azatutyun" reports. After hearing the decision the parents of the
accused started to kiss the hands of the judge.

Archbishop of Canterbury Condemns Iraq War Policy for Endangering Ch

Fox News
Dec 23 2006

Archbishop of Canterbury Condemns Iraq War Policy for Endangering
Christians in the Middle East
Saturday, December 23, 2006

LONDON – Christians in the Middle East are being put at unprecedented
risk by the England’s "shortsighted" and "ignorant" policy in Iraq,
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, says today.

In an extraordinary attack, Dr. Williams accuses Tony Blair and
the U.S. of endangering the lives and futures of many thousands of
Christians in the Middle East, who are regarded by their countrymen
as supporters of the "crusading West."

He has been backed by bishops across the Church of England, who say
that Christians in the Middle East are now paying the price for the
"chaos" in Iraq after the British government failed to heed their
warnings about the consequences of military action.

Dr. Williams, writing in today’s Times, says that one prediction that
was systematically ignored was that Western military action would
put the whole of the Middle East’s Christian population at risk.

Writing from Bethlehem, where the number of Christians has plummeted
to a quarter of what they were, he condemns the government for failing
to put in place a strategy to help Christians.

"The results are now painfully adding to what was already a difficult
situation for Christian communities across the region," he says. "The
first Christian believers were Middle Easterners. It’s a very sobering
thought that we might live to see the last native Christian believers
in the region." In some Middle Eastern countries where Muslim-Christian
relations have always been good, he says that extremist attacks on
Christians are becoming "notably more frequent."

Dr Williams, who is visiting Israel with Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian,
the Armenian Primate of Britain and David Coffey, the head of the
Baptist World Alliance, returns to Britain today with a call for all
British churches to take action to raise the profile of Christians in
the Middle East. Dr Williams said yesterday that the Israeli-built wall
around Bethlehem symbolised what was "deeply wrong in the human heart".

Despite Dr. Williams’s attack on British policy in Iraq, the government
insists that the strategy in southern Iraq, where about 7,000 troops
are based, is bearing fruit.

Des Browne, the Defense Secretary, told The Times in an interview
this week: "There is no evidence that the strategy is not still
on course." He said that Operation Sinbad, under which troops and
reconstruction teams are devoting resources to improving Basra,
was the key to Britain’s strategy.

The Government hopes that next year British troops will be able to
adopt a "watching role", leaving the trained Iraqi security forces
to take over responsibility for Basra. "I think it’s highly unlikely
that we will need the same number of troops to watch over the Iraqis
as we have there at present," Mr. Browne said.

He insisted that the environment in Basra was "genuinely improving".
In October, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, gave
warning in a newspaper interview that if the British troops stayed
for too long they would risk exacerbating the situation.

Senior bishops threw their weight behind Dr. Williams. Dr. Tom Wright,
the Bishop of Durham, said: "Nobody takes any notice of what churchmen
say about these things. Now this has turned into a very sorrowful
‘I told you so’."

Dr Wright, who is one of the Church’s top five clerics, said: "We
have argued all along that what was being done in our name by our
government, led by America, would have disastrous consequences.

"The 64-and-a-half thousand dollar question is, what do we do now? We
have made a problematic situation far worse. Even if there were
changes of government in America and Britain, they will still have
to cope with the chaos that has been unleashed."

He called for the U.N. resources in the region to be strengthened.
"Long term, that is what we must do because it is ridiculous for any
one, two or three countries to pretend they can be global policemen
in other people’s parts of the world. We desperately need a credible
international police force."

"As long as it is America and Britain doing the policing, local
people will see it as Christian nations coming in and beating up
Muslim nations, so it merely makes matters worse." He said that the
ensuing chaos could lead to a situation that was "worse than Saddam".

The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev John Gladwin, said: "I am
fully aware of the appalling situation in which many Christians
in the Middle East now find themselves and would wish to give my
whole-hearted support to the Archbishop."

The Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Rev James Jones, said: "The
Archbishop has done much to deepen friendship between Christians,
Muslims and Jews in this country. We must pray that this friendship
spreads.

"We face two further possibilities: either a conflict of attrition
between the faiths or a settlement of peaceful coexistence. We must
hope that Christians will find the same just treatment in the Middle
East as Muslims have a right to expect in this country."

South Caucasus Is A Region Of Instability And Competition Between Su

SOUTH CAUCASUS IS A REGION OF INSTABILITY AND COMPETITION BETWEEN SUPERPOWERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.12.2006 16:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today South Caucasus is a region of instability
and competition between superpowers, as a result of which Armenia
experiences considerable difficulties, said Ara Abramian the head of
CAR (Council of Armenians of Russia) during an interview to The Novoye
Russkoe Slovo. In his words, Russian sanctions against Georgia have
serious impact on Armenia’s economic situation, particularly on freight
flow, which goes through Georgia from Russia and other countries. "Or
the tension which occurred between the West and Iran. Not only it
leads to additional tension of situation in the region, but also it
threatens Armenia with hold-ups of Iranian gas supply.

Unfortunately, there are no serious moves on the Nagorno Karabakh
talks. Azerbaijan activates its efforts to create a negative image
of Armenia and weaken Armenia’s international position. Such a
policy pursues an only goal-that is to create a necessary propaganda
background for probable forceful solution of the conflict," Abramian
noticed.

Alongside, he thinks that a considerable standstill is being noticed
in Armenian foreign policy during the past years. "It lacks of offence,
activity, pre-emptive foreign-policy moves. The foreign-policy guiding
lines should be formulated more vivid for the world community to
have clearer notion of what Armenia expects from Moscow, Brussels
and Washington," stressed the President of CAR.