Author: Tvankchian Parkev

GOVERNMENT REPORTS CONTINUED GROWTH IN TOURISM
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 15, 2006

Armenia’s tourism industry continued its steady growth in the first
half of this year, with the number of foreign visitors rising by 11.6
percent to over 122,500, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Mekhak Apresian, head of the tourism department at the Ministry of
Trade and Economic Development, told the Regnum news agency that the
figure is expected to total at least 350,000 by the end of the year.

The peak period of travel to Armenia usually starts in August and
ends in October.

According to official statistics, the country already had a record-high
318,000 tourists last year. Most of them are believed to be ethnic
Armenians from Europe and the United States. Government officials and
industry executives in Yerevan say the share of non-Armenian visitors
has been steadily growing in recent years.

The reported further growth of the tourism sector is supported by
anecdotal evidence, with virtually all hotels in central Yerevan
fully booked at the moment. Flying there is also not an easy task
despite the increased frequency of flights to the Armenian capital
carried out by several major European airlines.

President Robert Kocharian reiterated last week that the sector’s
development is a top economic priority for the Armenian government.

Kocharian said the country should be able to attract 500,000 tourists a
year in the near future. He also promised more government investments
in the still underdeveloped tourism infrastructure in regions outside
Yerevan.

Local travel agencies say the sector’s more rapid expansion is also
hampered by the relatively high cost of travel and accommodation
in Armenia. Ara Petrosian, deputy minister of trade and economic
development, estimated earlier this year that the average foreigner
has to spend approximately $1,000 on a one-week stay in the country.

Armenpress

CRISIS MANAGEMENT ACADEMY TO OPEN IN STEPANAVAN

VANADZOR, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS: A crisis
management state academy will be established in
Vanadzor from the beginning of the new academic year.
It will not be the branch of the Yerevan academy but
will function as an independent higher educational
establishment.
Rector of the Yerevan crisis management state
academy Hamlet Matevosian said that it will be
established in Stepanavan because `Lore’ rescue squad,
of republican importance, is operating there.
According to Matevosian, the development of the squad
is very important.
The rector of the Stepanavan crisis academy will be
the head of the rescue squad Armen Arakelian. The
study in the academy requires payment but it is more
available as compared with the Yerevan academy. The
best graduates of the academy will have jobs.

PASHAYEVA: ARMENIAN ACTIONS CONTRARY TO PRINCIPLES OF COE, GENEVA CONVENTION, ETC
Author: J. Shakhverdiyev

TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug. 10, 2006

The Armenian actions are contrary to principles of the Council of
Europe, the Geneva Convention, and other international principles.,
MP Ganira Pashayeva, the member of Azerbaijan delegation to the
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe told Trend.

She pointed out that she prepares a document concerning the recent
firings of peaceful population of villages located close to the front
by Armenians, and the intense breaking of the cease-fire regime by
them to the Parliamentary Assembly. "The main goals of the recent
breakings of the cease-fire from by Armenians are local peaceful
population. The people of those villages which lies near the front
fear to come out to the fields under crops where they work because
of Armenian snipers", she told.

She also pointed out that there are no suspicions that just Armenia
stands for the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists. "I raised this issue
at the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly. I marked that
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan congratulated the separatists on
the day of occupation of the Town of Shusha. The visit of the Armenian
Prime-Minister and Defense Minister to Nagorno-Karabakh complicates
the situation. Moreover, the Armenian Defense Minister participates
in the military trainings of the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists. During
my speech I proved that Armenia is the main party of the conflict",
she stressed.

According to her, despite the 14/16 Resolution of the Parliamentary
Assembly of Council of Europe on Acknowledgement Armenia as an
aggressor urged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan, Yerevan has chosen the way of complicating
of the situation. "Now Armenian targets are peaceful population of
the areas lies close to the front. The people live in a fear in their
villages. Armenian military units regularly fire them", she told.

The MP told that despite the Armenia being a member of the Council
of Europe, it carries out actions contrary to the principles of
this organization. She also said that during the summer session of
the Parliamentary Assembly more than 40 members of the organization
signed the document on Armenian Policy on Illegal Settlement of
Armenians on the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan being prepared
earlier. "The document also points out that Armenia makes burnings
on the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, excepting Kalbajar
and Lachin where it settles Armenians. That speaks that Armenians
intend to hold a referendum in the future", she stated, pointed out
that according to the official state program of Armenia till 2010 it
is stipulated to raise Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh up to
300,000 people. I marked in the document that 23,000 Armenians were
settled in Lachin. Among them the most are citizens of Armenia.The
Armenian Government pledges to provide them with all necessary
conditions and render a financial aid to them. There are foreign
citizens of the Armenian origin there", she told.

G. Pashayeva also told that she has prepared a resolution on the
Armenian actions contrary to all international principles and submitted
it to the parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe.

DM MEETS WITH NEW AMBASSADOR OF RUSSIA

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Aug. 9, 2006

Defense Minister Colonel-General Safar Abiyev met August 8 with the
newly appointed Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of the
Russian Federation to Azerbaijan Vasiliy Istratov.

The Minister expressed Azerbaijan’s intention to continue cooperation
with Russia in many fields, including the military one. "Russia is
our historical neighbor. We should keep and develop traditions of
good neighborhood by all means. It was not by accident that it was
Baku that hosted the 50th anniversary session of the Council of the
CIS Defense Ministers.", he said.

Ambassador Vasiliy Istratov, in his turn, said: "I’m very satisfied
with my appointment as the ambassador to Azerbaijan. I believe
nothing will hinder the development of the bilateral ties between
our two countries. Azerbaijan-Russia partnership should cover all
the fields. We’ll do our best to achieve this. Presidents Vladimir
Putin of Russia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan have also directed
their efforts to this. We will also continue our military cooperation
with Azerbaijan".

On the situation over the Azerbaijan-Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Safar
Abiyev said: "We want the Russian Federation, as a co-chairing country,
to be more active in the settlement of the conflict, as Russia knows
well the history and origin of this conflict".

Mr. Istratov said that Azerbaijan is an important country for the
Russia in the South Caucasus, adding that "Russia will seek earliest
settlement of the dispute".

Safar Abiyev and Vasiliy Istratov also discussed ways to further
develop the all-round bilateral relations.

AIMS OF OSCE MG AND CONFLICTING SIDES DIFFER IN UNDERSTANDING CORE OF CONFLICT

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.08.2006 17:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today’s settlement plan and the format of the
talks is not targeted at long-term settlement of the conflict, NKR
President’s Aide for Foreign Policy Arman Melikian said in an interview
with PanARMENIAN.Net. "The aims of the mediators and sides involved in
the conflict differ in understanding the core of the conflict. As for
the proposals already rejected by the parties, it’s not worth talking
of them and judging which one was better. Restoration of communications
and opening of borders cannot resolve the conflict; moreover this will
not guarantee considerable economic progress. They say if the proposal
is accepted Armenia will prosper and investments will flow. Nothing of
the kind. The country should develop itself. People in the West can
count money and they will give as much as it’s essential to secure
their interests," he said.

ISRAEL TELLS SOUTH BEIRUT RESIDENTS TO GET OUT

AFX Europe (Focus)
Aug 10, 2006

BEIRUT (AFX) – Israeli forces hit the heart of the Lebanese capital
for the first time in three weeks on Thursday and dropped warning
leaflets that sent thousands of residents of southern suburbs fleeing
their homes.

Hundreds of families were leaving the southern suburbs, some in cars
and others ferried away on state-owned buses from the Shiyah district
to the Armenian quarter of Burj Hammud, north of the capital.

Loudspeakers urged panicked Shiyah residents without access to private
transport to gather at a square nearby to board the buses.

Israeli air strikes on Monday killed 32 civilians in Shiyah.

On Thursday, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on south Beirut telling
residents still living in three districts to get out, according to
a copy seen by AFP.

"To residents of Hay El-Sollum, Burj El-Barajneh and Shiyah, for your
own safety, you must immediately evacuate these areas, and evacuate
all areas from which Hezbollah elements perform terrorist acts,"
the tract read.

The southern suburbs are a Hezbollah stronghold which has been
devastated by bombing raids since e start of the Israeli offensive
a month ago, and thousands of residents have already fled for safer
havens.

However Hay El-Sollum had been relatively spared by the bombardments
while the district of Shiyah was considered a place of refuge until
it was hit by the Israeli air strikes on Monday.

The strike on the heart of the Lebanese capital on Thursday hit a
state radio relay antenna on an old lighthouse, triggering panic in
a densely-packed residential area.

The tip of the disused lighthouse, in an open field in the Koreitem
neighbourhood of central Beirut, was damaged by the Israeli gunboat
fire, according to Lebanese army troops based in the area.

A security official told AFP that the lighthouse included a relay
for the Radio Liban state station. He said another relay station in
the northern coastal village of Amshit was also hit by Israeli fire.

Fuad Hamdan, the director of Radio Liban, told AFP that the relay at
the lighthouse had been disused for over 30 years, while the one in
Amshit was out of use since a similar Israeli strike on July 15.

Two people were slightly wounded in Koreitem, rescue workers said.

The explosions triggered panic among residents of the capital’s upscale
neighborhood where windows of several cars, houses and apartments
were shattered, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

Army troops cordoned off the area.

The old lighthouse is located in a heavily-guarded neighbourhood
housing the Saudi embassy compound, the Lebanese American University,
a French school and the residence of the family of slain former prime
minister Rafiq Hariri.

It was the first time that central Beirut has been hit in three weeks
during Israel’s massive military offensive on Lebanon, launched after
the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli
soldiers on July 12.

STATEMENTS ON CATASTROPHIC STATE OF LAKE SEVAN EXAGGERATED: DIRECTOR OF HYDRO- ECOLOGY AND ICHTHYOLOGY INSTITUTE

Yerevan, August 8. ArmInfo. The statements by ecologist of Armenia
regarding the catastrophic state of Lake Sevan are exaggerated, Rafael
Hovhannissyan, Director of Hydro-ecology and Ichthyology Institute,
National Academy of Science of Armenia, told ArmInfo.

He called a normal factor the rotting of plants that went under
water due to the rise of the lake’s level. He did not deny that
waterlogging increases the harmful substances in the water, which
leads to deficit of oxygen and kills small fish. R. Hovhannisyan said
after the cleaning of coastal areas, the so- called "blossoming" in
the lake will stop. Moreover, he thinks the great volume of plankton
that was a result of eutrophication will become a good source of food
for fish and animals.

To note, in the current year the Government of Armenia provided 69
million drams to the National Park "Sevan" for cleaning of coasts
from plantations as the yearly water rise by 40 cm in average leads
to rotting of coastal plantations. Specialists and ecologists say the
cleaning is carried out extremely ineffectively. Water has flooded
over 92 ha of lands planted with trees and bushes.

WE BOTH INCREASE AND DECREASE

Lragir.am
08 Aug 06

According to the information of the Statistics Service of the
Commonwealth of Independent States, in the first half of 2006
production in Armenia decreased by 1 percent compared with the
first half of 2005, which is the eighth rate in the CIS. An overall
1 percent growth of production was reported in the CIS. The highest
rates were reported in Azerbaijan 141.1 percent, Belarus 112.6 percent,
Turkmenistan 122.4 percent.

The same source reports that the growth of the GDP in Armenia totaled
11.9 percent, which is the second rate in the CIS. Azerbaijan also has
a leading position with 36.3 percent. The average rate of economic
growth in the CIS is 6.5 percent. In the first half of 2006 the GDP
in Georgia grew by 8.4 percent.

PROPOSED TO PROHIBIT PREPARING AND SALE OF HOT FOOD IN YEREVAN UNDERGROUND CROSSINGS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, NOYAN TAPAN. As a result of researches implemented
at 24 underground crossings of Yerevan by the Rescue Service of the RA
Ministry of Territorial Administration, by the Yerevan Mayor’s Office
and community heads’ offices, it was proposed to prohibit preparing
and sale of hot food in underground crossings. Vrezh Gabrielian, the
Deputy Chief of the Rescue Service informed about it at the August
7 press-conference. He mentioned that this food is mainly prepared
in non-satisfying sanitary hygienic conditions and is dangerous for
people’s health. According to V.Gabrielian, there are underground
crossings which have not been restored for a long time and became
dangerous from the viewpoint of future operation. The underground
crossing of the "Barekamutyun" (Friendship) underground station which
is made use of by metro passengers as well, was mentioned as the most
dangerous one. V.Gabrielian informed that restoration works are being
done at present in the crossing. Similar works will be implemented
also in a number of other underground crossings of the capital as well.

APPLICATION OF FIRST INSTANCE COURT JUDGES’ SPECIALIZATION PRINCIPLE BRINGS RESULTS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, NOYAN TAPAN. In the first half of 2006, the Armenian
courts of first instance accepted 2,184 cases, rulings were made
on 1,503 cases, incliding 57 cases of juvenile offence. Chairman of
the RA Cassation Court Hovhannes Manukian stated this at the August
7 press conference. According to him, 57 out of the cases accepted
by courts were suspended (including two juvenile cases), in 15 cases
medical constraint measures were taken with respect to insane persons,
15 cases were sent for additional investigation, and 594 cases,
incuding 26 cases of juvenile offence, will be examined in the second
half of 2006. H. Manukian reminded that in the first half of 2005,
2,110 criminal cases went to the Armenian courts of first instance:
rulings were made on 1,484 cases (including 35 juvenile ones), 85 cases
were suspended, including 3 juvenile cases. H. Manukian explained the
increase in the number of criminal cases that ended with a ruling
to the application of the principle of judjes’ specialization in
criminal and economic cases’ examination. It was noted that in the
first half of 2006, 1,879 persons (including 80 minors) were convicted
in connection with 1,575 criminal cases. Cases against 60 persons
(one minor) were suspended, medical constraint measures were taken
with respect to 15 insane persons, cases against 18 persons were
sent for additional investigation, and 4 persons were acquitted. The
RA Cassation Court Chairman said that in the period under review,
5,106 petitions were examined by the RA courts of first instance,
5,004 petitions were upheld, and 102 dismissed. 417 appeals against
1,575 court rulings and decisions were filed to the RA Appeal Court
on Criminal Cases, with 106 appeals being dismissed. 30 cassation
appeals were registered at the Criminal and Military Cases Chamber of
the RA Cassation Court, 3 appeals were dismissed. 1,128 court rulings
were not appealed and took effect. Stability of rulings of the first
insance courts made 78.6% in the first half of 2006.