Author: Torgomian Varazdat

"ELIMINATION OF RESULTS OF TERRORISM IS MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN THAT OF ITS INITIAL CAUSES," NATO’S OFFICIAL SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Jul 12 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The Foreign Policy of Armenia is led
by the principle of intersuppliment and is building a complex system
for security provision in conformity with current challenges. This
statement was made by Arman Kirakosian, the RA Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs, during the working meeting of NATO and the General
Council of the European Security titled "Provision of readiness for
struggling against terrorism", which was held on July 12. According to
the Deputy Minister, the cooperation with NATO is one of the important
elements of the security policy of Armenia and the cooperation with
regard to the struggle carried out against terrorism is a component
part of the above-mentioned cooperation." Taking into consideration
its geographical location and realizing the degree of the threat of
international terrorism, as well as the importance of international
cooperation directed at the struggle against it, Armenia joined NATO’s
"Program of Partnership Activities against Terrorism" document,"
A. Kirakosian mentioned.

According to George Katsirdakis, the Senior Officer of NATO’s Defence
Partnership and Cooperation, Defence Security and Planning Division,
the issue of international terrorism appeared in the center of
attention of society after the great terrorist act committed in
the United States on September 11, in particular. He believes that
this very incident became the cause for international instituitons
to conduct a better organized and consistent struggle against
terrorism. George Katsirdakis added that currently the elimination of
the results of terrorism is more productive, than that of its initial
causes, as too much time is necessary in order to reveal these initial
causes. This circumstance, according to him, has been taken into
account when developing the anti-terrorism strategic program of NATO.

OPENING CEREMONY OF KAZAKH EMBASSY TO TAKE PLACE IN YEREVAN ON JULY 12

Noyan Tapan
Jul 12 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The Embassy of the Republic of
Kazakhstan in Armenia will open in Yerevan on July 12. During the
meeting with Ayimdos Bozjigitov, the Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Armenia, which took
place the day before, Serge Sargsian, the RA Prime Minister, expressed
hope that the active work of the diplomatic representations of the two
countries will contribute to a better strengthening of the relations
between Armenia and Kazakhstan.

Ayimdos Bozjigitov mentioned in his turn that there are
great possibilities of cooperation, as well as interesting and
mutually benefitial drafts, concerning which he has already had
discussions also with the co-Chairman of the Armenian side of the
intergovernmental commission of the economic cooperation between
Armenia and Kazakhstan. The Ambassador also mentioned that the
Armenian community of Kazakhstan as well, which is composed of about
25 thousand Armenians, is a considerable potential in the strengthening
of Armenian-Kazakh relations and development of interactivities.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the
Information and Public Relations’ Department of the RA Government,
the interlocutors attached importance to the cooperation between the
Republics of Armenia and Kazakhstan within the frameworks of different
international organizations during the meeting.

GOLDEN MEDAL OF "GOLDEN APRICOT" TO THE DIRECTOR OF "VIVACELL"
By Mariet Makarian

AZG Armenian Daily
12/07/2007

Many guests were present at a press-cocktail meeting organized in
the summer park of Yerevan Hotel on June 10.

RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosian welcomed the guests saying,
"The success of the festival is not only the success of the state
but also all the Armenian people. It was realized with the help of
those sponsors who stood by the side of the state."

The Minister thanked the General sponsor of "Golden apricot" "Vivacell"
Co. for its charities in the sphere of culture.

Ms. Poghosian awarded the director of "Vivacell" with a golden medal –
the supreme award of the Ministry of Culture.

The Director of "Vivacell" Ralf Yerikian thanked for the award saying,
"If we believe in our culture, we should believe that it’ll be stronger
day by day, as culture has a very important role in our future and
for our Armenia".

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: WE WILL NOT ALLOW TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN DICTATE THEIR CONDITIONS TO US

arminfo
2007-07-10 15:26:00

Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan said when making a speech
at the first ArmTech CONGRESS ’07 San Francisco, USA July 7, 2007.

As ArmInfo was informed from press-service of Foreign Ministry,
Vardan Oskanyan said that Armenia will not allow an unrepentant
Turkey to determine our agenda. "We will also not limit our choices
and options by the lack of a willingness on the part of Azerbaijan
to enter into a lasting agreement.

They do not want to acknowledge either the past, or the present. As
a result, they are not interested in discussing a common future",
the minister added.

Oskanyan also said: "The mental state of war persists in Azerbaijan. In
Armenia and Karabakh, I am proud to say that OUR outlook is towards
the future, towards an eventual peace, towards progress, stability
and prosperity".

ETYGEN MAHCUPYAN, THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH WEEKLY AGOS, SPOKE TO DER SPIEGEL ABOUT THE TRIAL OF THE ALLEGED KILLERS OF HIS PREDECESSOR HRANT DINK.
Interview conducted by Annette Grossbongardt

DER SPIEGEL
10 July 07

Etyen Mahcupyan replaced murdered journalist Hrant Dink as
editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.

The Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was gunned down on Jan. 19
this year. Now, six months later, the trial of his alleged killer and
17 other suspects has started. The trial is being carried out behind
closed doors because the accused gunman, Ogun Samast, is a minor.

Dink was hated by ultranationalists for describing the mass killing
of Armenians in the early part of the 20th century as genocide. He was
prosecuted for his comments under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code,
which bans insults to Turkish identity.

Critics have accused the authorities of failing to act on reports of a
plot to kill Dink. Two of the suspects, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel,
even claim they were working for the security forces. The current
case is seen as an important test of whether the Turkish judiciary
is capable of investigating claims of official negligence.

DER SPIEGEL spoke to Etyen Mahcupyan, Dink’s successor as
editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos about the trial.

SPIEGEL: The trial against Dink’s alleged 17-year-old murderer and
his accomplices has started. But now the investigation is to be
continued. Were there other people involved?

Etyen Mahcupyan: This type of attack must have been prepared by a
bigger network than just the gang that is currently on trial. There
had to be political connections, people who pulled strings, paid
money or laid the ideological groundwork. So far only two members of
the nationalist Great Unity Party (BBP) have been charged.

SPIEGEL: One of the accused claims that they were controlled by a
group within the police force.

Mahcupyan: A number of police officers knew what was going to
happen. But they didn’t prevent the murder. Were they acting of their
own accord, or did someone give them orders? That is unclear.

People demonstrate near the court in Istanbul where the Dink murder
trial is being held.

SPIEGEL: What was the perpetrator’s motive?

Mahcupyan: There is a link here between ultra-nationalism and criminal
gangs. The aim was probably to cause unrest in the election year
with the intention of torpedoing Turkey’s chances of joining the
European Union.

Presumably a whole series of attacks was planned, but the public
reaction was too strong to go ahead with them.

SPIEGEL: In general, politically motivated crimes are seldom solved
in Turkey. Will it be different this time?

Mahcupyan: In the past the judges were usually afraid to take
risks. None of them wanted to expose the links between the military,
the government and the judiciary. But in this case there is the
potential to really get to the bottom of things. The judges are
flexible and are working with the lawyers.

SPIEGEL: You are Dink’s successor as editor-in-chief at Agos. Are
you and your colleagues still being threatened?

Mahcupyan: Yes, but that is the usual hatred that we have to face. The
Armenian community and their patriarch often receive threats from
the nationalists as well.

SPIEGEL: Dink was pulled up before judges on several occasions because
of his articles. Have you also been hampered in your work?

Mahcupyan: Not at the moment, but if it were politically desired then
someone could find an old article and file charges. I have already
been put on trial for allegedly insulting state institutions.

RUDOLF PERINA APPOINTED CHARGE D’AFFAIRES OF U.S. EMBASSY TO ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Jul 10, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. From July 10, Ambassador Rudolf Perina
has assumed the post of the Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy
to RA.

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan by the U.S. Embassy, R.

Perina’s profound knowledge and experience he had in Armenia, as
well as his personal and professional contacts with the RA leadership
will greatly contribute to ensuring the permanence of the bilateral
relations with Armenia. It was also mentioned that this is not a
long-term appointment, and the need of having a permanent ambassador
still remains. According to the report, Richard Hoagland still remains
the candidate offered by President George Bush for the post of the
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.

PROTECTING THE COUNTRY IS IMPORTANT
Margarita Karamyan

KarabakhOpen
10-07-2007 10:41:03

The political parties of Karabakh risk becoming accomplices in the
return of the territories for which many got killed and lost their
friends. Thereby they cross out the idea of the liberation of Karabakh
and creation of a sovereign country, an idea that underlies the
Karabakh movement, and many who have now forgotten used to uphold it.

The conclusion is that the parties which support the common candidate
risk to be remembered as the parties which signed agreement and put an
end to the state named Nagorno-Karabakh. The visit of the Azerbaijani
delegation led by the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia Polad Byul-Byul
oghli (the same Byul-Byul oghli who held a protest in Moscow against
the performance of our young singers of the Voices of Artsakh project,
and frightened the innocent children with a bomb laid in the hall),
and the warm welcome of the Karabakh government shows that the talk
about the return of territories, deployment of peacekeeping force
and establishment of friendly relations between the "communities"
of Karabakh and Azerbaijan is not just a talk. It is already the new
framework of the talks.

Perhaps the euphoria among the people who came together around the
"common candidate" and hail consolidation of the society does not
let them feel the danger of the move they made. Some think they will
save the nation from divide, others thereby settle their scores with
the nation, but apparently nobody thinks that all this may become
moot since today the Karabakh state faces the question to be or not
to be. If we become a civilized country, the questions will solve
themselves. And if we are ranked among the third world countries,
just there will be nobody to take revenge on. And there is no time
to think. Instead, there is time to acknowledge the crucial moment
and admit to mistakes. Protecting the country is important.

RUBBISH DISPOSAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN IJEVAN

Noyan Tapan
Jul 09 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. Great Britain’s Department of
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) starts implementation of
the Ijevan Rubbish Disposal Management Project within the framework
of the assistance program aimed at Armenia’s development implemented
by that country’s government. The project’s goal is to encourage
investment of resources into the organic rubbish disposal system
in the town. Anthony Cantor, the Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of Great Britain to Armenia, said this on July 6,
when presenting the above mentioned project at Ijevan’s Business and
Tourism Information Center.

In his words, the project, costing 84 thousand pounds sterling,
relates to the development program implemented in the Tavush region
since 2005. It is implemented with the assistance of Great Britain’s
International Development Department. The last program also includes
an environment protection component. The Ambassador expressed the
hope that the Ijevan Rubbish Disposal Management Project will be
successfully finished in nine months and will contribute to the
improval of the environment in the region and in the town.

Armen Ghularian, the Tavush Governor, attached importance to
the circumstance that the international structures respond to the
proposals to support the region’s development programs. In his words,
the community of Ijevan, on its own, could hardly solve the problem
of rubbish system modernization, including the modernization of
dump operations.

Gagik Minasian, the Head of the Business Consulting Department of
the Ameria Armenian consulting company, the advisor of the program’s
implementation, said that the above mentioned components are involved
in Ameria’s technical assistance stage to the program. Within the
framework of that assistance the company will work out the Ijevan
Rubbish Disposal Management Project.

Ijevan Mayor’s Office has registered success within the framework
of the 2003-12 rubbish disposal system improvement program. Varuzhan
Nersisian, the Mayor of Ijevan, said that the total amount of payments
for rubbish disposal program in the first six months of 2006 made 2m
drams (nearly 4.5 thousand USD), while the same index made 3m drams
in the same period of 2007, and it is envisaged to bring it to 8m
USD by the end of the year.

Small and accumulation dustbins have been placed in Ijevan, the town’s
dump has been fenced, the salary of 22 cleaners has been raised from
10 thousand drams to 30 thousand drams, and a rubbish removing machine
has been purchased with 14m drams allocated by the 2006 town budget,
within the framework of the program implemented by the Mayor’s Office.

RUSSIAN ‘INDUSTRIAL INVESTORS’ ACQUIRE ARMENIAN GOLD-MINER

arminfo
2007-07-04 22:01:00

Signing of a contract about sale of the Ararat Gold Recovery Company
(AGRC) is expected the next week between the "Madneuli" Georgian
Company, the owner of which is the "Industrial Investors" Russian
financial-industrial group and the chief beneficiary is the Russian
oligarch Sergey Generalov, and the Vedanta Indian Corporation, a
source in one of the biggest British Consulting companies told ArmInfo.

According to the source, the deal may sum to $80 mln-$100
mln. Consultations on a specific price are still underway, while a
memorandum about intentions was signed last Sunday. Earlier, Director
General of AGRC B.K. Sharma told ArmInfo that 30 companies took
part initially in the contest on sale of AGRC assets. Afterwards,
only 3-4 companies remained after aggravation of relations with RA
government. B. K. Sharma emphasized that the Company’s management
did not agree with the tax claims of the state at the rate of $12
mln. These claims were presented as a result of inspections of AGRC
activity in a period from 2000 to 2006. In the issue, the management
of Vedanta, owning the AGRC assets, had to start searching the buyers.

To recall, the shares of Madneuli ore mining and processing company
passed on to the Russian Group via its subsidiary "Stranton Equits
Corporation" British Company at $51,1 mln. The AGRC exploits the
Sodk gold deposit in Armenia, the reserves of which are estimated of
80 tons.

CENTRAL BANK GAVE PRELIMINARY CONSENT TO GRANT A LICENSE TO "PROCREDIT ARMENIA" BANK

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
July 4 2007

Yerevan, July 4 /Mediamax/. The Board of the Central Bank of Armenia
gave preliminary consent to grant a license for banking activities to
"ProCredit Armenia" bank.

As Mediamax was told in CB press service, the given decision was
made after the consideration of the application, submitted by three
founders of "ProCredit Armenia": ProCredit Holding AG, The German KfW
Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Mediamax recalls that in April of 2007, the EBRD announced that it
would become the 20% shareholder of the "ProCredit Armenia" bank,
which would start functioning in Armenia in September of 2007.

The participation of EBRD in the capital of ProCredit Armenia Bank
will make 1.2bln AMD, or $3.2mln.

The EBRD statement read that the ProCredit Armenia Bank will be
specializing in financing of micro and small enterprises outside the
Armenian capital, and the European Bank will allocate a credit at
the sum of $7mln with maturity of up to five years financing micro
and small enterprises.

Mediamax notes that the ProCredit Group consists of 19 banks,
functioning in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America, whose
operations are overseen and guided by ProCredit Holding AG, located
in Frankfurt.