Author: Torosian Aram

SERZH SARKISIAN STATED THAT THE RPA IS READY TO COOPERATE WITH ALL THE "EFFICIENT" PARLIAMENTARY AND NON-PARLIAMENTARY FORCES

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 22 2007

Yerevan, May 22. /Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian
stated in Yerevan today that the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA),
headed by him, is ready to cooperate with all the "efficient"
parliamentary and non-parliamentary forces.

As Mediamax was told in the press service of the Armenian government,
Serzh Sarkisian said this today, answering the question of the Head of
the International Observation Mission Boris Frlec on the plans of RPA
concerning the cooperation between the political forces of the country.

Armenian Prime Minister informed that the talks in that direction
are already in process.

PROBLEM OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN THE PRE-ELECTION PERIOD WAS DISCUSSED IN STEPANAKERT

KarabakhOpen
18-05-2007 18:20:14

A round-table meeting on access to information in the pre-election
period was held in Stepanakert by the Unity youth organization.

The organization had conducted a poll the results of which suggest
that half of respondents are not aware of the presidential election
on July 19 or are not aware who the candidates are. In addition, most
respondents say they learn news from television, although they do not
think the Public channel of Karabakh provides sufficient information.

The executive director of Artsakh Public TV and Radio Vardges
Bagryan said it does everything provided by the law. The president of
Stepanakert Press Club, Member of Parliament Gegham Baghdasaryan said
the media reflect the political reality in Karabakh. "The media cannot
lead the political and public spheres. Over the past few months the
political parties have held a number of meetings and consultations
but none was discussed publicly. Unfortunately, the pre-election
period in Karabakh passes in secrecy, and this affects the media,"
said Gegham Baghdasaryan.

"I agree that the media are not to blame for the passive political
process.

But I disagree that everything is backstage. The parties have announced
their standpoints, there can be no active process until the start
of the election campaign," said Vahram Atanesyan, the chair of the
committee of external relations of the National Assembly.

Armine Petrosyan, chair of the Generation of Haik youth organization,
said they are likely to set up a Youth Headquarters which will call
on people to vote. She said they are already seeking sponsors.

PanARMENIAN.Net

The idea of establishing the Moscow-Tehran-Yerevan
axis doesn’t seem so unattainable

Russia, having cut off all the ways of gas supply to
Europe, has maintained its role in the sphere of
energy and its positions in its dialogue with the
West.
17.05.2007 GMT+04:00

The idea of establishing the Moscow-Tehran-Yerevan axis was first
mentioned in 90’s of the passed century, and may be realized within
the next 5 years, if not even earlier. The first steps in this matter
may become the decision of the Caspian pipeline construction and the
announcement of the Secretary General of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization Nikolai Bordyuzha (CSTO) regarding the possibility
of Iran’s involvement in this project.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `As for Iran as a participant of the Treaty on
Collective Safety, we are co-operating with Iran, especially regarding
the drug trafficking issues. CSTO is open and if there is any
application from Iran, it would be taken into consideration. I will
not say that Iran will be admitted but the application will be
considered, just like application submitted from any other country,’
writes RIA Novosti.

The plan of the Caspian pipeline construction also speaks for the
probability of the union. After Kazakhstan denied circulating oil
through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, signing the declaration between
Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan may be taken as
Astana’s wish to revert to `an old friend’, i.e. to Russia. According
to the General Manager of the Council for National Strategy Valeri
Khomiakov, the declaration on the construction of a common pipeline is
a political decision. `Russia has prompted its Asian partners to take
up the construction of the Caspian pipeline, and besides economic
profits gained an extremely profitable political position weakening
the US influence in the region. In fact, America cannot even object to
anything, it has no right to make any statements and give its opinion
on these agreements. Moreover now, when its Presidential elections are
close we should not expect any foreign-policy moves from America.
Russia gained freedom in carrying negotiations with the USA, got hold
of new arguments in our bilateral negotiations, for instance deploying
AMB systems in Eastern Europe. These agreements are one of the most
important achievements in the foreign-policy implemented by Putin,’ an
expert from `Rossiiskaya Gazeta’ announced.

Most of the experts also believe that at the present time Russia has
in fact crossed out the idea of diversification of ways to supply gas
to Europe. Russia, having cut off all the ways of gas supply to
Europe, has maintained its role in the sphere of energy and its
positions in its dialogue with the West. It is quite obvious that a
serious supplier expects quite a different treatment.

At the same time the US Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman announced
that Europe must diversify the sources of its energy supply, otherwise
it will become even more dependent on Russia. According to Bodman the
construction of the Caspian pipeline will do no good to Europe. `This
will issue a challenge to the diversification of suppliers. Europe
must take into consideration Russia’s plans and consequently specify
its reaction accordingly.’ The United States, European countries and
China would like to gain a direct access to the Turkmen gas, the large
part of which Russia gets for a lower price; Reuters mentions.

The USA will also speak against Iran’s involvement in the
project. Russia in fact supports Iran in its nuclear program, and now
it supports Iran’s probable membership in the military coalition and
its wish to become a more powerful country than it is at present. For
Armenia at present all these events may have a positive outcome. First
of all the energy and military security of the country will be
organized on a higher level, if taking into consideration the fact
that Turkey has not yet been involved in the pipeline construction.
However, taking into account the old traditions of the Russian-Turkish
relations Turkey’s involvement in the construction of the Caspian
pipeline is not excluded. There is already one experience of
Turkish-Russian cooperation; the `Blue Stream’ project, through which
the Russian gas was carried to Turkey, though not for a long time. The
`Blue Stream’ started to function with a three-year delay, in February
of 2003, and in March Turkey stopped importing gas from Russia.

However, it should not be forgotten that Turkey gave a rather anxious
response to the new project, especially because it gives some
advantages to Armenia too. Time only knows how quickly all the ideas
and opinions will come to life. «PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical
department

DARFUR: THE ONLY HOPE

The Phoenix, MA
May 17 2007

It is time for corporations and investors to disinvest in Sudan

The genocide in Darfur continues. With the exception of former
Secretary of State Colin Powell, no one in the Bush Administration
has ever been concerned with the ethnically inspired, predominately
Muslim-on-Muslim killing that has claimed a minimum of 250,000 lives
and displaced another 2.5 million in the drought-stricken wastes of
western Sudan. While the murder is horrible, and the magnitude of
the refugee problem is staggering, the widespread and systematic
rape of women and girls that is an integral part of the terror is
almost incomprehensible.

Now that the United States is hopelessly mired in Iraq and stalemated –
if not losing ground – in Afghanistan, the long-shot hope that the US
would intervene has evaporated. It is true that the United Nations
does a credible job of providing humanitarian aid in Darfur, but it
does not have the political or military will to stop the terror.

Neither do the European Union and NATO have the stomachs or the spines
to step in. And intervention by African nations is a pipe dream. That
which New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff, writing in the New
York Review of Books, has called "genocide in slow motion" grinds on
with no end in site.

The best hope of curtailing the slaughter, and perhaps even ending
the genocide, now rests with the international financial community.

Oil profits, which are used to fund genocide in Darfur, are Sudan’s
only substantial source of revenue. And it is China that buys the
most oil from Sudan. PetroChina, a Beijing company that trades on the
New York Stock Exchange, acts as the middleman in the blood-soaked
transaction.

According to the most recent information available from the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which polices Wall Street,
the Boston-based Fidelity family of mutual funds is PetroChina’s
largest US investor, with $1.3 billion worth of shares.

The Save Darfur Coalition is mounting a campaign to pressure
corporations and investors, such as Fidelity, to divest in Sudan –
just as opponents of apartheid in the 1980s targeted companies who
conducted business in and with South Africa. Success is mounting:
just a few weeks ago, the British aerospace firm Rolls-Royce, which
has supplied engines to oil firms in Sudan for the past five years,
announced it is pulling out of Sudan. That came on the heels of a
similar announcement by two of Europe’s largest companies, German
engineering giant Siemens and the Switzerland-based ABB Limited
energy company.

Persuading investment firms and mutual funds such as Fidelity to
disinvest in PetroChina and the companies that service and supply it,
however, will be a formidable battle. Television viewers may have
seen the stark 30-second advertising spot in which a female refugee
reads a list of Fidelity’s reasons why it feels its duty to make its
customers a profit is more important than genocide. But they did not
see it on CNN, which succumbed – at least for now – to pressure from
Fidelity, which is a large advertiser. Newsweek likewise declined to
run print versions of the ads, as did the New York Times and its local
subsidiary, the Boston Globe. T riders can view anti-genocide ads,
but if they look closely they will discover no mention of the local
financial company.

Fidelity has thrown up a successful smokescreen. It argues that it
has special, socially conscious funds for altruistic investors.

That’s great. But what does that have to do with its past and/or
present holdings in PetroChina? And why will it neither confirm nor
deny whether it continues to hold it? It’s conceivable that when
the SEC releases its latest reports, Fidelity will have reduced its
PetroChina holdings. But will it commit to stop investing in other
companies that do business in or with Sudan and thus fund genocide?

Harvard, the world’s richest university, is backing away from
Sudanese investments. And a move is afoot to bar such holdings from
Massachusetts’s state-pension funds.

Publications and broadcasters have every right to accept or reject
advertisements as they see fit, just as they have the right to
determine what news stories and commentary they publish. But it is
indeed a bitter irony that the New York Times, which, by sponsoring
the reporting and commentary of Nicholas Kristoff may have done
more than any other media outlet to bring the plight of Darfur to
the public’s attention, won’t accept ads that could lead to the
slaughter’s end. It’s understandable to give a big customer such as
Fidelity a break or the benefit of a doubt. But what sort of break
do the victims of genocide get?

It may be hard to find people who defend genocide, but it is even
harder to get anyone to do anything about it. The genocide of the
Armenians, European Jews, Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge, and Rwandans
are testimony to that. Governments everywhere have failed in their
moral obligation. It’s time for people to act.

Act Now To find out more about divestment efforts on the federal
level, go to For
state-by-state efforts, check out

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER HOLDING SIT-IN TO PROTEST ELECTION OUTCOME

Arminfo
16 May 07

Yerevan, 16 May: The leader of the [opposition] Impeachment bloc and
editor-in-chief of the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak, Nikol Pashinyan,
started a sit-in on [Yerevan’s] Freedom Square this evening.

Pashinyan has told an Arminfo correspondent that he was protesting at
the existing state of affairs in the country, including the official
outcome of the [12 May] parliamentary election.

"I am acting not as a politician or a newspaper editor but as an
Armenian citizen. In doing so, I want to demonstrate that there are
layers in society which are unwilling to put up with what is going
on. I am aware that this is a small step but it is with small steps
that the main goal of toppling the regime of [President] Robert
Kocharyan and [Prime Minister] Serzh Sargsyan can be achieved,"
Pashinyan said.

He added that he intends to continue the strike until Friday [18 May],
the date when the opposition parties Republic and New Times and the
Impeachment bloc are to hold a rally.

Republic party leader Aram Sargsyan and his team came to Freedom
Square to express solidarity with Pashinyan.

AGHALI ALISHOV SHOT BY ARMENIANS IS LEAVING FOR AZERBAIJAN

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 16 2007

I gave testimony to the investigator of Moscow city south-west
district Interior Office. But I can not say anything related to my
testimony according to the investigation rules", Aghali Alishov shot
by Armenians during the incident between Azerbaijani and Armenian
students at Peoples’ Friendship University after Patricia Lumumba
told APA. He said he is to come back to Azerbaijan soon.

"My wound does not let me to attend the training. Moreover, the doctors
also advised me to limit the number of training. I am to leave again
for Moscow after some months of stay in Baku," he said.

POLICE CONTINUE REFUTING IMPEACHMENT BLOC REPRESENTATIVE’S STATEMENT ABOUT PRINTING 400 THOUSAND PASSPORTS FOR FALSIFYING ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan
May 16 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. 1906 citizens having participated in
the elections restored their right to vote, 80 of them by judicial
order, 1826 on the basis of certificates given to them by territorial
passport services. Sayat Shirinian, Head of Information and Public
Relations Department of RA Police, reported at the May 16 meeting with
journalists. In his words, 80% of citizens who received certificates at
passport departments were citizens taken off the books by applications
of new owners.

A. Shirinian refuted the statement of Impeachment bloc representative
Nikol Pashinian that 400 thousand passports were printed, with which
the authorities organized falsification of elections. He said that
194 thousand 623 passports were printed from May 10, 2006 to May 10,
2007, 31 795 out of which for citizens aged from 1 day to 16 years,
49 717 for 16-18-year-old persons, 113 118 for citizens aged above 18.

S. Shirinian informed journalists that the Police cooperate only with
a French organization on contractual basis in the issue of printing
passports. In 2004-2006, 453 thousand 977 passport books were provided
by that organization.

S. Shirinian said that 433 signals about violations were received
on the day of elections. The Police checked 201 signals within its
competence, materials were prepared in connection with 9 of them,
institution of criminal case in connection with 3 of them was rejected,
a criminal case was instituted on one fact of voter buying.

OFFICIAL YEREVAN: "BAKU LIAR" LIES AND IS NOT DANGEROUS

Source: Novoe Vremya (Yerevan), May 10, 2007, p. EV
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
May 14, 2007 Monday

REACTION OF ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES TO THE STATEMENTS OF ILKHAM ALIEV
ON RESOLVING OF THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT; Statements of the
President of Azerbaijan, Ilkham Aliev, on May 4 released in the Ramany
suburb of Baku during a meeting with Azerbaijanis from Shusha stirred
up practically all top-ranking officials of our country. The Prime
Minister of Armenia, Serzh Sarkisyan, spoke about the "revelations"
of Aliev that Azerbaijani mass media immediately called a "disclosure
of the content of confidential negotiations."

Statements of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilkham Aliev, on May
4 released in the Ramany suburb of Baku during a meeting with
Azerbaijanis from Shusha stirred up practically all top-ranking
officials of our country. The Prime Minister of Armenia, Serzh
Sarkisyan, spoke about the "revelations" of Aliev that the Azerbaijani
mass media immediately called a "disclosure of the content of
confidential negotiations."

Denying the statement of Aliev about Aremina’s alleged agreement
with unilateral concessions in the conflict resolution, Sarkisyan
said: "I have no idea what goals Ilkham Aliev pursues delivering
such statements. If I get to know this I will draw the relevant
conclusions. Let him say whatever he likes. We have already announced
our stance. It is clear and understandable."

Mikhail Arutyunyan, who replaced Sarkisyan on the post of the Defense
Minister, explained yesterday what Sarkisyan meant: "If there are no
mutual concessions, there will be no resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Azerbaijani authorities are perfectly aware of the
capabilities of the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and
will not be very easy for them to fulfill any aggressive tasks."

Commenting on more active conversations of Baku officials about the
"territorial integrity" of Azerbaijan, the Defense Minister said:
"They have always talked like this. In turn, we state that it is
impossible to settle this issue without mutual concessions. Thus
they will not receive any other territories controlled by the
Nagorno-Karabakh army. If they do not make concessions, we will not
make them, either." Overall, according to Arutyunyan, such aggressive
statements do not befit the President of Azerbaijan, who is holding
direct negotiations on the conflict with his Armenian colleague, R.
Kocharyan.

According to Vladimir Karapetyan, acting press secretary of the
Foreign Ministry of Armenia, the ministry believes that the "frequent
repetition of belligerent statements by the President of Azerbaijan,
as well as threats to use force in resolving of the conflict, manifests
ignoring of international obligations, as well as weakness and deep
mistrust." Karapetyan once again confirmed the stance of Armenia at the
negotiations: the recognition of the principle of self-determination
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the priority.

Other issues are derivatives and proceed from recognition of the main
principle of resolution."

We also need to speak about the reaction of parliament. Whereas deputy
speaker Vaan Ovanesyan qualifies the words of Aliev as "bold lies,"
which are not the first ones in the political career of the President
of Azerbaijan, speaker Tigran Torosyan is more peaceful, although
he speaks with equal clarity: "The statements of the President of
Azerbaijan are from the field of fantasy. Ilkham Aliev has dreams and
in releasing such statements, the Azerbaijani President merely tries
to find consolation on the eve of the 15th anniversary of liberation
of Shusha."

Successful elections provide good basis for the Karabakh conflict settlement

14.05.2007 17:15
Tatul Hakobyan
"Radiolur"

In separate statements the European structures welcome the progress
registered in the parliamentary elections of Armenia. These
appreciations are important for our country not only from the
perspective of reinforcement of democracy, but also from the point of
view of the positive resolution of the Karabakh issue.

May 10-11 the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Vartan
Oskanian and Elmar Mammadyarov met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
in Strasbourg. Earlier the Co-Chairs had a meeting with the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos. Ways of the Karabakh conflict resolution were discussed
during the meeting. Moratinos declared he will do his best to promote
the resolution of the conflict.

Obviously, the election period is not the best period for holding
intensive negotiations. For having firm positions in the talks, it is,
certainly, important for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh how the
elections passed. Since four international organizations ` he
OSCE/ODIHR, OSCE PA, PACE and the European Parliament, as well as the
CIS Observation Mission ` labeled these elections as corresponding to
European standards, it should be noted that this is a good basis for
the future talks.

Presidency of the European Union (EU) stated `with satisfaction’ that
the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on 12 May `were, on the
whole, conducted fairly, freely and largely in accordance with the
international commitments which Armenia had entered into.’
`Presidency welcomes the fact that, compared to previous elections,
significant progress has been made,’ the document reads.

European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy
Benita Ferrero-Waldner declared today that by holding the
parliamentary elections largely in compliance with international
standards, `Armenia made an important step forward in fulfilling one
of the priorities of the Action Plan in the framework of the European
Neighborhood Policy.

The progress registered in the elections was welcomed by Washington as
well. The US Embassy today congratulated the Armenian nation for
holding better elections as compared to the previous ones.’ `We share
the satisfaction of the international observers with the fact that
both legal and technical electoral infrastructures have been greatly
improved.’

Among others, the resolution of the Karabakh conflict is connected
with the state of democracy in the negotiating countries. Under the
conditions when the international community is more interested
Azerbaijani rich in oil, rather than blockaded Armenia, the obvious
progress in the issue of democracy can become a very important
factor. Since never in its history Azerbaijan conducted free and fair
elections, Armenia can go far ahead of its neighbor.

The presidential elections in Nagorno Karabakh on July 19 are of equal
importance. Although the international community has not recognized
any elections held in Nagorno Karabakh, it does not mean the
international community does not follow these. Finally, it is very
important for Nagorno Karabakh to be ahead in regard to democratic
standards than the internationally recognized Azerbaijan. It will be
hard to make the free and democratic Nagorno Karabakh obey Azerbaijan.

Let us remind that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are scheduled to
visit the region later in May. Early June OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Miguel Angel Moratinos is expected to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan. On
June 10 the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are due to meet in
Saint Petersburg.

BY RESULTS OF SURVEY AMONG MOBILE PHONE SUBSCRIBERS, "HERITAGE" PARTY
IS LEADER OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

YEREVAN, MAY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. By results of a post-electoral SMS
survey conducted by the Radio Hay radiocompany among mobile phone
subscribers, 127 out of 584 participants, who sent SMS messages, voted
for the "Zharangutyun" ("Heritage") party. Director of the
radiocompany Aram Mkrtchain stated this at the press conference at
8:30 pm on May 12.

According to him, "Heritage" is followed by "Impeachment" alliance –
99, Republican Party of Armenia – 66, People’s Party of Armenia – 57,
ARF – 56, "Orinats Yerkir" party – 42, "Prosperous Armenia" party –
29, "Republic" party – 27, National Democratic Party – 18, United
Labor Party – 17, "New Times" party – 11, Communist Party of Armenia –
8, "Alliance" party – 6, Youth Party of Armenia – 6, People’s Party –
4, Marxist Party of Armenia – 3, United Liberal National Party – 3,
"National Unity" party – 2, "Christian People’s Rebirth" party – 1,
"National Concord" party – 1, "Democratic Way" party – 1, Democratic
Party of Armenia – 0, Social-Democratic Hnchak Party – 0.