Author: Vardanian Garo

NA SPEAKER DISAGREES WITH THE SCENARIO

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on June 07, 2008
Armenia

NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan yesterday refuted the information on his
being appointed Ambassador of Armenia in France.

Let’s note that as a result of several `castlings’, Hovik Abrahamyan is
to be elected an MP and later become the Speaker of the National
Assembly. And MP Henrik Abrahamyan is to hold the post of the
Provincial Governor of Ararat. By the way, Alik Sargsyan has already
been removed from the above-mentioned post and appointed as the Chief
of Police, and the resignation of Henrik Abrahamyan, an MP elected from
majority constituency No. 17, has been approved.

In this connection, T. Torosyan yesterday made the following statement,
`I am not engaged in fortune-telling. There are a lot of spheres of
activity for me outside the National Assembly, but the Parliament is my
workplace now, and it will be my workplace in future as well. ‘

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 6 2008

Hutchinson Encyclopedia introduces Nagorno Karabakh conflict as a
religious one

[ 06 Jun 2008 13:09 ]

Baku. Zaur Nurmammadov-APA. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict has been
introduced in the Hutchinson Encyclopedia as a religious conflict.

According to APA, it is said in the article about Nagorno Karabakh
() that `the Christian Armenians forming
an enclave within the predominantly Shiite Muslim Azerbaijan’. There
is a number of untrue points in the article: `The region formed part
of Armenia until the 7th century, but was subsequently taken by the
Arabs, and ruled by them for 300 years. In the 11th century, the
region came under the rule of the Bagratid kings of Georgia, who held
the area until the Mongol invasion. After a century of Mongol rule,
Karabakh fell into Turkish hands. In the early 1600s, Persia gained
control of the region, and AbbÄ?s I allowed the local khan to
rule in Karabakh. This line of khans was overthrown in 1805 by the
Russians, who created a province of the region in 1822′, said in the
article and added that `Nagorno-Karabakh was annexed to Azerbaijan in
1923 against the wishes of the largely’. The article’s authors think
that `the conflict was rooted in many centuries of Christian Armenian
and Shiite Muslim Azeri enmity’. They used forged facts in the
Encyclopedia to argue their claims: `In 1920, inter-ethnic clashes in
the Karabakh town of Shusha resulted in the deaths of 30,000 Armenians
and 15,000 Azeris. By February 1994, 18,000 Armenians and 5,000 Azeri
were reported to have been killed in the conflict and 1 million
peoples made refugees. In May 1994 a ceasefire was agreed between
Azerbaijan and Armenia. Border fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia
continued through 1997 and, in November 1998, the Government of
Azerbaijan announced the rejection of the OSCE peace plan for the
Nagorno Karabakh dispute’.

Project of construction of oil refinery in Armenia estimated at $2-3 bln
2008-06-06 17:34:00

ArmInfo. The project of construction of an oil refinery and the
necessary infrastructure in Armenia is estimated at $2-3 bln, Armenian
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsissyan said at a
press-conference, Friday.

According to him, a working group of Armenian, Russian and Iranian
representatives has been set up, which is working on the feasibility
study. "In 2 or 3 months it will be possible to make a specific
statement on the project’s details", the minister said. The financing,
capacities, place of construction and other issues are currently being
considered. Earlier it was planned to build the oil refinery in Meghri,
however, now a decision has been taken to build it near Yerevan to make
transportation of the finished products easier.

It was reported earlier that the refinery is to process the oil from
Iran and receive light petroleum products, particularly, gasoline and
diesel fuel. The refinery’s capacity will be 7,5 mln tons of crude oil
per year. About 1 mln tons of the oil products will be sold in Armenia,
the major part will be sold abroad.

ROUGH DIAMOND CONUNDRUM RESOLVED BETWEEN RUSSIA AND ARMENIA
Rachel Lieberman

Israel Diamond Portal
June 5 2008
Israel

AFNS reports that Armenian Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan stated
that diamond mining giant Alrosa has begun cash sales of rough diamonds
to Armenian polishing plants.

As reported on the Portal on June 1, the agreement signed last year,
according to which Alrosa was to supply rough diamonds weighing 0.3
to 1.5 carats, was not implemented until now because Russia insisted
that the diamonds polished in Armenia be returned to Alrosa for
re-export. Armenia was left with rough diamonds imported from Belgium
and Israel, along with small quantities from African countries.

The Armenians have the facilities to cut 1 million carats of diamonds
annually, and in the past polished exports worth up to $250 million
were produced per annum.

The Armenian Diamond Manufacturers Association, ADMJA, was recently
admitted to the ranks of the International Diamond Manufacturers
Association (IDMA).

ANKARA WEIGHING CHALLENGES OF PROBABLE OBAMA PERIOD
by Emine Kart

Today’s Zaman
June 5 2008
Turkey

As Barack Obama takes a huge stride toward becoming the first black
US president, the relative unpredictability of changes in US foreign
policy in the event of his eventual presidency has led to concern
in the Turkish capital — particularly due to Obama’s inexperience
compared to other candidates and his clear support for the official
recognition of an alleged genocide of Armenians in the final years
of the Ottoman Empire.

Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential
nomination on a promise of hope and change for Americans weary from
years of war. Obama’s victory sets up a November election contest
against Republican John McCain that looks to be a clash of generations
as well as a debate on Iraq, The Associated Press said yesterday —
summarizing what the contest between Obama and McCain means for the US.

As for Turkish decision makers and politicians, there are a number
of reasons to take into consideration while weighing between possible
McCain and Obama terms. Apparently, McCain’s experience, including his
knowledge of Turkey’s strategic importance for Washington as well as
his friendly attitude toward Turkey concerning Armenian allegations of
genocide, make him a more favorable candidate for Ankara. Nevertheless,
Turkish officials have ruled out such a choice while also playing
down any kind of uneasiness with Obama’s foreign policy rhetoric.

"This is an issue for US Democrats, and Turkey does not have any
particular preference between Obama and McCain. Obama’s remarks on
the Armenian issue are actually not very different from those of past
presidential candidates. It is a strong possibility that he will try
to be more balanced on this issue once elected," Suat Kınıklıoglu,
a deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party),
told Today’s Zaman yesterday.

Obama says he would withdraw US troops within 16 months of taking
office in January 2009. Some analysts say that this is a disadvantage
for Turkey as a quick withdrawal of US forces would leave it to deal
with a neighbor in an even deeper quagmire.

KınıklÄ&#xB1 ;oglu, who was head of the German Marshall Fund’s Turkey
office before being elected to Parliament in July 2007, believes that
a quick withdrawal is not in favor of US interests and that any move
to withdraw if Obama is elected would be on a small scale in order
to satisfy domestic expectations in the US.

On the Iranian issue, another important foreign policy issue of close
interest to Ankara, Obama and McCain have very different approaches.

McCain backs much tougher financial and trade sanctions against
Tehran, while Obama’s position is open to dialogue and seems closer
to Turkey. Ankara firmly favors the resolution of the Iranian nuclear
dispute via diplomatic means.

Kınıklıog lu said he believed that McCain would not ignore regional
partners’ stances on the Iran issue, particularly that of Turkey. "He
would not like to repeat mistakes made ahead of the Iraqi war by
ignoring regional partners," he said.

Egemen BagıÅ~_, a top foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, sounded confident concerning probable effects of the
outcome of US presidential election over US policy toward Turkey.

"Whoever is elected in the end, we will respect the outcome of the US
citizens’ will in compliance with our stance asking for respect for
democracy in Turkey. Nonetheless, sitting in the presidential chair
has always made one better understand Turkey’s strategic importance to
the US and its people, no matter what the president’s ideology may be,"
BagıÅ~_, in charge of the AK Party’s foreign policy affairs, added.

–Boundary_(ID_ABFkiwKDvVRuLDwXVBlgWg)–

ELDAR SABIROGHLU: "ARMENIA SHOULD RELEASE AZERBAIJANI OCCUPIED LANDS, OTHERWISE, WAR IS INEVITABLE"

Today.Az
s/politics/45431.html
June 4 2008
Azerbaijan

"If Armenia continues occupation of Azerbaijani lands, the situation
in the region may worsen", said spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Defense
Ministry Eldar Sabiroghlu at a press conference today.

"Armenia should release Azerbaijani occupied lands, otherwise war is
inevitable. This was said by President of Azerbaijan, senior commander
of Azerbaijani armed forces Ilham Aliyev during yesterday’s visit to
Nakhchivan", said Sabiroghlu.

He noted that the budget of the Azerbaijan has grown by 10 times
since 2003 ($135 mln).

"The might of the Azerbaijani army is also expanding, which is
recognized not only by Azerbaijan’s friends but also by its enemies",
announced Sabiroghlu.

CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA RAISES ANNUAL REFINANCING RATE UP TO 7%

ARKA
June 4, 2008

YEREVAN, June 4. /ARKA/. The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has raised
the refinancing rate by 0.25 pct up to an annual of 7%, the Press
Service of the CBA reported.

The Central Bank confirmed that oil product prices remain high showing
upward trends despite the weaker external inflationary pressures and
the reduction of world prices for foodstuffs and bakery goods and
rice in particular.

The expected rates of growth of composite demand and the ongoing
secondary influence of external price rise contain additional risks.

The CBA Board of Directors attaches particular importance to mitigating
inflationary expectations and reducing deviations from inflation
targets to minimum and, hence, suggests that further changes in the
refinancing rate will depend on the scale and rate of response of
domestic prices to the mentioned trends in foodstuff price rise on
world markets.

In May inflation was 1.3% in Armenia against April. In yearly terms
inflation constituted 9.9% as compared with the same period of last
year – a 4.4pct increase against the annual inflation level recorded
at the end of 2007.

Under the state budget, inflation is to be 4% (±1.5%) in Armenia by
the end of this year.

–Boundary_(ID_NoFQ9VtN/55WIcgD3dkf4g)–

VASILY ISTRATOV: THE KARABAKH CONFLICT HAS NO MILITARY SOLUTION

armradio.am
04.06.2008 16:30

Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasily Istratov declared that the
Karabakh conflict has no military solution.

"As for the withdrawal of this or that military formation from this or
that territory, it’s a matter of bilateral relations," he told a press
conference in Baku, commenting on the statement of the Spokesman for
the Azeri Ministry of Defense Spokesman Khazar Ibrahim that "Moscow
should demand from Yerevan to withdraw its troops from the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan."

"Now I have no information whether the Russian Federation has somehow
reacted to that statement or not," Istratov said.

UNICEF AND HAYPOST RELEASE NEW STAMP

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 2, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 2, UNICEF and Haypost released a
new stamp dedicated to children. Part of money gained from their sale
will be given to INICEF for spending it on children’s needs. Arman
Kirakosian, the RA Deputy Foreign Minister, said that much work has
been done in Armenia in the direction of improving children’s life,
to which UN Children’s Fund also contributed.

A. Kirakosian said that UNICEF’s Armenian office also assists
Armenia in fulfilment of commitments assumed by Armenia, perfection
of the respective legislative field. According to the Deputy Minister,
UNICEF’s achievements in the sphere of Armenia’s health are invaluable:
Armenia has been recognized a zone free of poliomelite, children’s
death-rate continues to reduce.

Sheldon Yett, the Head of the UNICEF Armenian Office, said that the
stamp costing 100 drams has been made on the basis of the picture
of seven-year-old Eduard Shahbazian. 30 drams (0.10 cents) from each
sold stamp will be given to UNICEF and that sum will be transferred
to programs implemented for the purpose of reducing new-born babies
death-rate in the country.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN MEETS WITH CSTO SECRETARY GENERAL AND CHAIRMAN OF CIS COMMISSION

ARMENPRESS
June 2, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian visited in Moscow International Relations State University
where he graduated from thirty years ago.

Armenian Foreign Ministry press service told Armenpress that the
minister delivered speech on Armenia’s foreign policy in front of
professor staff and students of the university. The minister also told
about the years of studying in the university and said that it is very
exciting to return back after 30 years as an Armenian foreign minister.

On May 31 Armenian foreign minister met with the Secretary General
of the CSTO Nikolay Bordyuzha. They discussed a number of issues the
establishment is facing. They also referred to the coming chairmanship
of Armenia in the organization and the events which are going to
take place during that period. Armenian foreign minister noted that
Armenia underscores its chairmanship in CSTO and will work towards
consolidation of partnership among the member countries.

Nalbandian also met with chairman of the CIS affairs commission of
the Russian state Duma Alexey Ostrovski and discussed with him a
number of issues on the further development of the CIS.