Author: Tigranian Ani

PRIVATE SECTOR TO MANAGE ARMENIAN ENTERPRISES TRANSFERRED TO RUSSIA

ARKA
July 23

RA President Serge Sargsyan reported that the Armenian enterprises
transferred to Russia against Armenia’s debts will be managed by the
private sector.

A $93mln agreement on the transfer of Armenian enterprises against
Armenia’s national debt to that country was signed in 2002.

Under the document, the following enterprises were transferred
to Russia: Mars CJSC ($56.29mln), Yerevan Research Institute of
Mathematical Machines ($2.75mln), Yerevan Research Institute of
Automated Research System ($3.37mln), Yerevan Research Institute of
Materials Science ($0.35mln) and Hrazdan heat and power plant (HHP).

"The issue of transfer of the enterprises to private management was
settled a week before my visit to Moscow. This is the only possible
solution to the problem of re-operating the enterprises, and serious
changes in this issue should be expected," President Sargsyan said. The
RA President was on a working visit to Moscow on June 23-25. P.T.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN RECEIVES ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA DELEGATION

ARMENPRESS
JULY 22

President Serzh Sargsyan received today a delegation of the Armenian
Evangelical Association of America, led by its executive director
Andrew Torikian.

The presidential press office said to Armenpress that Serzh Sargsyan
congratulated the Armenian Evangelical Association of America on the
occasion of its 90-th anniversary noting that it is a good occasion
to assess the passed path.

Serzh Sargsyan emphasized the work of all Armenian organizations aimed
at helping Diaspora Armenians maintain their national identity, their
involvement in Armenia-related events, as well as their contribution
to making Armenia a strong country.

The president spoke about the to-be established new Diaspora Ministry,
saying its major functions will be to preserve the Armenian identity,
help repatriate those who wish it and use the Diaspora’s full resources
for the sake of Armenia and Armenians.

Representatives of the Armenian Evangelical Association of America
presented a brief look into its history. They referred then to its
programs being implemented now in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh,
presenting also the expected undertakings.

They said that the Association will gradually shift the focus from
humanitarian to development projects.

RA PRESIDENT: BAKU TRIES TO FORCE MG TO RETREAT FROM ITS POSITIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.07.2008 16:57 GMT+04:00

A peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict may be achieved
via talks, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan told a news conference
today.

"Potential for a peaceful solution has not been exhausted yet. During
a meeting in Saint Petersburg, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
demonstrated willingness to continue talks," he said.

Commenting on Baku’s discontent with the talks, President Sargsyan
said, "There is nothing to worry about as long as Baku slams the
Minsk Group activities. Resorting to tricks, Baku tries to force the
MG to retreat from its positions and satisfy Azeri claims. However,
it hampers the negotiation process."

As to Azerbaijan’s threats to resolve the conflict with the use
of force, Mr Sargsyan said that at least two officials in the
country – the President and Defense Minister – should be ready for
hostilities. "I will spare no effort for development of our armed
forces," he said.

Asked about the recent visit of Russia’s President Medvedev to Baku
and about the Russian-Azeri Declaration, the RA President said he
doesn’t see problems in development of relations between Russia and
Azerbaijan. "The most important thing is that they should not develop
at expense of the Armenian-Russian relations," he said.

"I fully disagree with the opinion that recognition of
Azerbaijani territorial integrity by Medvedev is the failure of
the Armenian foreign policy. Every President should recognize both
territorial integrity of any country and the right of nations to
self-determination," President Sargsyan said.

TURK PRESIDENT SAYS EU ACCESSION SHOULD RANK FIRST

Hurriyet
July 18 2008
Turkey

The modernization project of Turkey as regards to European Union (EU)
membership should be one of the priorities of Turkish diplomacy and
other state institutions, Turkish President Abdullah Gul told Friday
at during a lunch in Ankara attended by Turkey’s ambassadors.

Turkish Republic strengthened its security, national unity and
integrity, upgraded its prosperity level and reached its goal to
become a "positive power" for peace and stability in its region, Gul
told the Turkish ambassadors, currently in Turkey within the scope of
"1st Ambassadors Conference".

He said Turkey launched initiatives on many regional problems including
the Middle East, assumed roles in multinational peace protection
forces, and played a significant role in peace and cooperation
activities in the world.

Gul said political, economic and cultural clashes in the Middle East
region deeply affected global peace and stability, adding that the
efforts exerted for the solution of the problems in question could
not yield results.

"We see that the actual situation was only in the interests of
fanatics, terrorists and speculators, so I think that mechanisms should
be established soon to prevent crises and to restore a new confidence
and cooperation atmosphere in the Middle East," he also said.

Gul said careful works and creative ideas of the ambassadors
contributed a lot for the solution of some problems, and added that
U.N. plan regarding the Cyprus question was negotiated successfully.

Turkey launched many good-will initiatives to normalize relations with
Armenia since this country announced its independence, he said, adding
"the initiatives in question and the proposal of Turkey to establish a
"joint history commission" waits for response."

Gul also said Turkey made important steps on fundamental principles
of democratic, secular and social state for the past 85 years on the
way to reach level of contemporary civilization.

"Full membership talks with the EU is the most important phase of
this," he added.

"Fundamental principles of the EU are based on democracy, supremacy
of law, protection of human rights, recognition of social rights, free
market economy, cultural diversity and respect. The values in question
are in conformity with the philosophy of our Republic and expectations
of our people. Thus, this project should be one of the most important
priorities of our diplomacy and other state institutions," he said.

AGGRESSIVE AZERBAJAN; TALK OF WAR FROM AZERBAJAN, OVER NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Economist.Com
July 17, 2008 Thursday

THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

Having spent heavily on its military, Azerbaijan has raised the
possibility of recovering Nagorno-Karabakh and its other occupied
territories by force. Although the forthcoming presidential election is
a factor, this more aggressive stance is not mere bluster. Azerbaijan
is frustrated at the failure of 14 years of negotiation and has
concluded that a credible military threat might be the best way to
force the Karabakh Armenians to make concessions–or, if that fails,
to drive them out.

Talk of war

OSCE observers carried out an unscheduled monitoring of one section
of the ceasefire line by Nagorno-Karabakh on July 16th, following
allegations from both sides of violations. The atmosphere has been
tense ever since Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, said in early
June that although Azerbaijan would continue to take political steps to
recover Karabakh and neighbouring territories under Armenian control,
"we should be ready to liberate our lands in a military way at any
time." He added that Azerbaijan’s army was the strongest in the region.

In the wake of Mr Aliyev’s remarks there has been considerable
debate in Azerbaijan’s press regarding a military solution to the
Karabakh problem. Armenian politicians have been deeply critical,
seeking to draw international attention to Mr Aliyev’s remarks and
to generate support for their position. Within Karabakh itself, the
response has been less diplomatic. On July 16th the entity’s defence
minister claimed that he had sufficient military capability to repel
any Azerbaijani attack.

As the exchanges of gunfire across the ceasefire line in recent
weeks attest, Karabakh is not really a frozen conflict–nor has it
been for much of the time since the 1994 ceasefire. For Azerbaijan,
moreover, the stakes are enormous: some 15% of its territory is
under occupation. In addition to Karabakh, seven other regions within
Azerbaijan’s internationally recognised borders are being held by the
Karabakh Armenians, only two of which are needed to maintain a land
connection to Armenia. The occupation of the seven regions arguably
arouses more ire within Azerbaijan than the occupation of Karabakh
itself, because there is no political justification for it.

The major change in the situation in recent years has been on
the Azerbaijani side: the army that lost the war is undergoing a
transformation funded by the country’s oil windfall. Mr Aliyev said
recently that defence spending had risen tenfold since 2003 and now
stood at $2USbn annually. Already this is far in excess of Armenia’s
defence budget and it is set to rise still further. The military
hardware that Azerbaijan has acquired is not on its own regarded as
sufficient to recover the occupied territories, but it is a statement
of intent. The crucial element is understood to be the quality of
Azerbaijan’s troops. Pointedly, Mr Aliyev said in early June that
their professionalism is increasing daily.

Welling frustration

The more bellicose tone adopted by Azerbaijan’s government is probably
connected in part to the presidential election due later this year,
which Mr Aliyev is all but certain to win. However it is wrong simply
to ascribe the increase in war talk to electoral factors.

Azerbaijan is deeply dissatisfied with the work of the OSCE’s Minsk
Group, which comprises the US, Russia and France and is charged with
seeking a solution to the conflict. Since 1994, the Minsk Group has
achieved little or nothing. In Azerbaijani eyes, Russia prefers to
keep the conflict frozen in order to preserve its own influence in
the Caucasus. France is regarded as passive and biased in favour of
Armenia because of the Armenian diaspora among its citizenry. Most
hope is invested in the US, but it is viewed as having failed to
overcome Russian obstructionism (and the US too has an influential
Armenian diaspora).

Muscular diplomacy

The frustration with the Minsk Group is understandable, but perhaps
misses the point. The conflict has remained frozen not because the
mechanisms are wrong, but because there is insufficient political will
on both sides to compromise. The conflict is deadlocked because, while
the status quo is unacceptable to Azerbaijan, the Karabakh Armenians
are broadly satisfied with it–or rather, they prefer the status quo to
a compromise that would involve the loss of a land-bridge to Armenia
or the acceptance of substantial autonomy in Azerbaijan. Hence the
failure to reach a negotiated solution.

Until recently, the threat of Azerbaijani military action was not
sufficiently serious to sway Karabakh Armenian calculations. Baku
seems to have concluded that the best way forward is to change the
other side’s calculations by posing a more credible military threat.

It is therefore wrong to dismiss Azerbaijan’s re-armament and more
aggressive stance merely as pre-election bluster. It is a response
to the failure of conflict resolution, and it betrays a belief that
a change the balance of power in the region is one way to force the
Armenian side to be more flexible in negotiations. For Azerbaijan’s
leadership, this course of action has the added attraction of creating
an option to seek to recover the territories by force if its more
muscular diplomacy fails.

ROBERT KOCHARYAN MIGHT BE INVITED

Panorama.am
17:30 16/07/2008

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia announced that those four
police officers, under whose attempts people have been murdered on
March 1, have been revealed. In this regard the journalists asked Aram
Safaryan member of NA ad hoc committee whether they are planning to
speak with those police officers. "If the judiciary bodies think the
question is set, then we’ll meet with those ovfficers to get some
explanations," he said.

To the question whether they are planning to invite and speak with the
second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, who has had a principle
role in those activities and even some think that he has been the
commander, Aram Safaryan answered that if they need they will invite
both the first and the second presidents.

ARMENIA USA: KARABAKH SETTLEMENT ONLY THROUGH PEACE TALKS

HULIQ
July 15 2008
NC

On July 14 the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian met
with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussing of further
developing the relationship between Armenia and USA and asserting
that the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that involves
Azerbaijan can be only achieved through peace negotiations and not
by force.

At the beginning of the meeting Edward Nalbandian said Armenia attaches
importance to multifaceted relations with the United States and will
pursue the development and reinforcement of friendly partnership
relations and deepening of cooperation between the two countries.

The heads of foreign agencies of Armenia and the United States noted
that the history and traditions of Armenian-American relations, the
existing contractual-legal field, demonstration of political will in
the direction of expansion of cooperation provide an opportunity to
develop the bilateral relations in different spheres.

The interloccxutors discussed the latest developments in the settlement
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In this regard it was noted that the
issue can be solved exceptionally in through peaceful talks under way
within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. The parties appreciated
the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and stressed the importance
of continuing the negotiations on the basis of the Madrid proposals,
which create an opportunity to register progress in the peace process.

Turning to the perspectives of normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations, Minister Nalbandian reconfirmed the willingness of Armenia
to establish diplomatic relations and open the Armenian-Turkish border
without any preconditions and presented the steps Armenia takes in
this direction.

The interlocutors turned to the process of confirmation of the new
US Ambassador designate to Armenia by the Senate. In this regard,
Minister Nalbandian expressed hope that the Ambassador will soon be
confirmed and the will arrive in Armenia, which will have a positive
influence on the further reinforcement of bilateral relations.

Following the meeting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian signed on July 14, 2008, the
"Joint Action Plan between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the Republic of Armenia on Combating
Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials."

This political agreement expresses the intention of the two governments
to cooperate to increase the capabilities of the Republic of Armenia
to prevent, detect, and respond effectively to attempts to smuggle
nuclear or radioactive materials. With this agreement, the U.S. and
Armenian governments are significantly enhancing their collaborative
efforts to combat the threat that nuclear or highly radioactive
materials could be acquired by terrorists.

This is the fifth agreement of this nature that has been concluded by
the U.S. government’s Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative. Previous
agreements were completed with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the
Kyrgyz Republic. To date, eight countries and three international
organizations have partnered with the U.S. government to provide
assistance to support implementation of these agreements.

SUKHOI TURNS SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES

Financial Times
July 14, 2008 Monday
London, England

FT REPORT – AEROSPACE 2008; Pg. 4

It armed the Soviet military, but now it has civilians in its sights,
writes Miriam Elder

On an airfield in the Far East in mid-May, a sleek mid-range jet
touched down smoothly after a maiden, one-hour voyage, marking Russia’s
anticipated entry into the world of global civilian aviation.

With the SuperJet-100, Sukhoi – which made its name arming the Soviet
Union and its allies with bombers and fighter jets – is hoping to
overcome the stereotypes that cling to Russia’s ailing civilian air
industry and lead the country’s foray into the global market.

Yet the project, marked by delay and a strong state presence, indicates
the day Russia can challenge the domination by western companies could
be a long way off. "Our first task is to become the best in terms of
regional jet manufacture, and we consider our competition the likes
of Bombardier and Embraer," Mikhail Pogosyan, the general director
of Sukhoi, says in an interview at the firm’s Moscow headquarters.

SuperJets are regional aircraft likely to seat 75 to 95 passengers
and the first aircraft fully designed in the post-Soviet era. Mr
Pogosyan says 70 per cent will be destined for customers in Europe,
the United States, and south-east Asia.

"Of the 75 orders we already have, 12 are going to a foreign country,"
he notes. ItAli of Italy has ordered 10, and Italy’s Alenia, a
subsidiary of defence giant Finmeccanica, owns a 25 per cent stake
in the Sukhoi SuperJet project. The other two planes were ordered by
Armavia of Armenia. Hungary’s Malev has floated the idea of ordering
15 of the aircraft, which are expected to cost about $25m apiece.

"We’re certain that soon we’ll see a host of new contracts," Mr
Pogosyan says.

Previous attempts to market post-Soviet civilian aircraft to western
markets, including the Tu-204 and Il-96, failed, but Sukhoi is hoping
Alenia’s involvement as its marketing agent will mean that this is
not the case this time around.

An increased focus on safety – the SuperJet will fly 80,000 test
hours instead of the 20,000 flown by its predecessors – could help
change that too.

Yet the question remains as to when the SuperJet will get off the
ground commercially. It has flown five of an expected 600 test flights,
and its target launch date of late 2008 has already been pushed back
by at least one year.

"A plane is like a child," says Mr Pogosyan, commenting on the secrecy
that surrounded the SuperJet’s maiden test flight in May. "It can be
born two days early or three days late. The most important thing is
that the baby is healthy and develops well."

Sukhoi, along with Russia’s military jet design agencies and
manufacturers, has been folded into the state-controlled United
Aircraft Corporation, in line with the Kremlin’s desire to build
national champions in strategic industries. It is chaired by a deputy
prime minister, Sergei Ivanov, who has said he hopes to see Russia
become number three globally in civilian and transport aircraft by
2025, winning up to 12 per cent of the market, up from around 1 per
cent today.

Yet many remain sceptical about the state stamp on Sukhoi’s global
ambitions.

"Privatisation is almost certainly a necessary pre-condition for
any Russian jetliner recovery," says Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace
expert at the Teal Group. "The SuperJet is more about maintaining a
flagship project. It’s a way to defend a bit of what they had."

In building the SuperJet, Sukhoi has succeeded in casting off the
integration problems that plagued its erstwhile predecessors, the
Tu-204 and Il-96.

Some 40 global companies, from Thales to Goodrich, are contributing
parts to the jet, and Boeing has acted as a consultant to the $1.4bn
project since its inception at the turn of the century.

"This new aircraft, with good technological characteristics, can
compete and can get a niche in the global market," says Elena Sakhnova,
an aerospace analyst at VTB, the Russian bank.

Mr Pogosyan says the SuperJet is just the beginning. It is likely the
company will look next at a regional jet aimed at business class –
a VIP jet to match Russia’s teeming oil-driven wealth.

"We’ll present to the market a broad nomenclature of trade on the
basis of this SupetJet-100," says Mr Pogosyan.

He expects civil aviation to surpass the military’s share in Russia’s
aerospace industry within five to seven years. "This is not because
the military portion will end its work – it might even grow – but we
want to boost the amount of civil aviation."

Mr Aboulafia, of Teal, says that in future Russia will need to follow
the Japanese model and link up with Boeing or Airbus to produce larger
competitive jets.

"Unfortunately, the thrust of Russian aerospace initiatives right now
involves national jetliners, which is not a promising way forward,"
he says.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Baku: South Caucasus will be in NATO if U.S. wants it
12.07.2008 15:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia will never dare to start a war against
Georgia, an Azeri political scientist said.

`Russia resembles a wounded bear which is furious and needs to be
stopped. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a visit to
Georgia with a purpose to cool Russia. Europe is not independent,
Russia is not the USSR. There is the owner of the world, the United
States, which deals with all international problems,’ Vafa Guluzade
said.

`If Russia intrudes into Georgia, the U.S. will attack Iran. The
entire Caucasus will be shocked. But I do not think this scenario is
possible. If the U.S. decides that South Caucasian countries must join
NATO, they will join the Alliance. Russia has lost the region in early
1990-ies and has to put up with it,’ he said, 1news.az reports.

SABINA FREIZER : IT WILL NOT BE CORRECT TO EXPECT RADICAL CHANGES WITH ELECTION OF SERZH SARGSYAN

Azeri Press Agency
July 11 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva -APA." It is possible to conduct a new dialogue
between Armenian newly-elected President and Azerbaijani President,"
Sabine Freizer , Europe programme director of the International Crisis
Group told APA

She noted that changes in Armenian Government would not influence on
foreign policy of the country.

"It will not be correct to expect radical changes with election of
Serzh Sargsyan . It is possible to conduct a new dialogue. Difference
of opinion between Armenia and Azerbaijan is linked with status of
Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia wants independence of Nagorno Karabakh
and includes the fact in core principles. Azerbaijan is against it
decisively. Determination of status of Nagorno Karabakh should be
solved after forming mutual confidence between the two countries and
nations," she said.