Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

ORINTAS YERKIR PARTY’S UNAUTHORIZED BUILDINGS OF TOTAL AREA OF 80 SQUARE METERS TRANSFERRED TO AGRARIAN ACADEMY

Noyan Tapan
Dec 28 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. At the December 28 sitting,
the Armenian government made a decision, according to which the
buildings of the total area of 80 square meters (which were built by
the Orinats Yerkir Party without permission on the land considered
as state property and recognized as state property under the August
16, 2006 decision No 1345-A of Yerevan Mayor) at 74 Terian Street
on the land attached to the State Agrarian Academy of Armenia and
considered state property, together with the land plot occupied by
them, are transferred to the State Agrarian Academy of Armenia with
the right of free use. NT was informed about it from the RA Government
Information and PR Department.

RA FIGURE SKATING FEDERATION TO PREPARE OWN CADRES

ArmRadio.am
28.12.2006 13:02

RA Figure Skating Federation intends to increase the number of
sportsmen performing under the Armenian flag. President of the Figure
Skating Federation Samvel Khachatryan told "Armenpress" correspondent
that own cadres will be prepared; in case of necessity negotiations
will be held with foreign sportsmen. It should be noted that up to
now Anastasiya Grebyonkina-Vazgen Azroyan ice dancing pair has been
representing Armenia in international competitions.

In the corps of figure skating referees Armenia is already represented
by Irina Absalyamova.

WHERE TRANSPARENCY STARTS

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 27 2006

Even the lazy are speaking about a transparent election, because
speaking about a fair, free and transparent election does not take
much effort. Meanwhile, nobody has made real efforts for holding such
an election. And against this background what the Central Electoral
Commission has done can be considered as an unprecedented expression
of political will.

The sign in front of the building of the Central Electoral Committee
indicating the existence of the Commission is transparent. This
fact cannot be called otherwise but an oath of loyalty to the idea
of transparency. It should not be excluded, however, that this is
a tactical ruse. For instance, the international observers come to
observe the work of the CEC. In front of the building they discover
suddenly that the transparency of the CEC is so much that it has spilt
over the building. Naturally, the observers who are an embodiment
of rational thinking will decide not to waste time on observing this
temple of transparency.

IS THIS POSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH RELATIONS WITHOUT ANY PRECONDITION WITH YEREVAN?
By Ferai Tinc

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Dec 26 2006

In an article in The Wall Street Journal, Armenian Defense Minister
Serge Sargsian called on for normalizing relations with Turkey without
any precondition, which is very pleasing. However, unfortunately,
it’s not sufficient for opening a real door of dialogue, because
Sargsian didn’t discuss the issue with all its dimensions in his
article. He wrote that neither Turks, nor Armenians will leave the
region and the logical solution to establish relations with each
other and that neighbors do it in today’s world. He added that we
can’t stay enemies forever and that we must take steps forward for our
future. It’s impossible not to agree with him. Who can object to these
words? There are very warm relations between the Turkish and Armenian
nations, aren’t there? Why wouldn’t we crown this closeness with
diplomatic relations? He wrote that this opening wouldn’t mean that
they have given up the claims on Armenian genocide and the European
Union must relate this issue with Turkey’s full membership. Even if
we leave this suggestion aside, his presentation is lacking, because
Armenia’s preconditions aren’t the only thing that matters. As long
as Azerbaijan’s invasion and the Karabagh issue continue, is this
possible to correct Armenian-Turkish relations?

What’s more, he claimed that Turkey doesn’t act constructively. This
isn’t true. Turkey is one of the founding countries of the Minsk
group which tries hard for a solution and it has been making efforts
for the solution of the problem since the very beginning. Even if a
concern on overcoming the pressure from Europe and the US is felt in
his article, this wish for peace must be taken seriously by taking
the future developments in the region into account.

Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are three valuable neighbors for us
and important developments are expected to occur in this region. The
stability will be very important in southern Caucasia, which will feel
the effects of Turkmenistan’s president death and the harsh competition
of oil between Russia and the West. It’s vitally important not only
for Turkey, but also for the West’s interests to solve the problems
between these three countries. The region’s importance for the US’
interests appeared once more when US President George W. Bush received
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Washington Yashar Aliyev. Bush said to
Aliyev two weeks ago that the US supported Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and that the US would try to solve the problems as soon as
possible. Meanwhile, another important development caused Yerevan
to review its policies. The EU stated that it didn’t recognize the
referendum of independence in Karabagh and told Yerevan that neither
the referendum, nor its solution would be accepted legally, before
the problem is solved. Next year, it’s possible to see the results
of approaches of the EU and the US towards the region as southern
Caucasia’s rapprochement to the West.

Problems and conflicts which would hinder this process must be
certainly solved. Although Yerevan’s call is insufficient, it’s worth
discussing it with certain creative suggestions.

PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS EXPORT-IMPORT BILL INTO LAW

ArmRadio.am
25.12.2006 17:08

The legislation prohibiting funding for a railroad linking Turkey,
Azerbaijan and Georgia while bypassing Armenia was signed into law
as part of a comprehensive measure known as the Export-Import Bank
Reauthorization Act of 2006, the Armenian Assembly of America informs.

The legislation included an amendment by Senators Robert Menendez
(D-NJ) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) ensuring that no Export-Import funding
is used for a rail line, which seeks to isolate Armenia from economic,
and regional transportation corridors. The provision mirrors the South
Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act, which was introduced in
both Houses with the support of the Armenian Assembly.

In a statement to the Assembly, the Co-Chairs of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues welcomed the adoption of the Export-Import
bill.

"We are pleased that this important amendment was included in the final
overall legislation," said Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI). "US policy in the South Caucasus seeks to foster
regional cooperation and normalization of relations, not isolation. We
urge Turkey to review its policy of alienating Armenia, end its 13
year blockade and take steps to cooperate with its neighbors."

Enactment of this provision is part of the Armenian Assembly’s
anti-isolation campaign and resulted in a successful outcome with
final passage in the waning days of the 109th Congress.

"This Assembly initiative to combat Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s attempts
to isolate Armenia is just one of the many ways in which we are working
to ensure a secure and prosperous homeland," said Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny. "We very much appreciate the leadership of House and
Senate Members for bringing this important initiative to fruition."

"I also want to thank those organizations and individuals who joined
us in this community-wide effort," he added.

ICRC REPATRIATES AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER

Armenpress
Dec 25 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS: On 23 December 2006, an Azerbaijani
serviceman, previously detained in Nagorno- Karabakh, was handed over
to the Azerbaijani authorities under the auspices of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The operation took place on the "Line of Contact", in the Agdam region
of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The ICRC, participating as a neutral intermediary and in accordance
with its mandate, facilitated the transfer of the released serviceman
at the request and with the full cooperation of all sides.

ICRC delegates visited him before the operation to ensure he was
returning home of his own free will.

Since the start of its activities in connection with the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1992, the ICRC has helped repatriate or
transfer 660 persons, and the organization will support any similar
operation in the future should the need arise.

RECONSTRUCTION OF HRAZDAN TPP 5th UNIT AND YEREVAN TPP TO FINISH IN 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The contractor for construction
of a new power unit with a combined cycle in the territory of the
Yerevan Thermal Pwer Plant will be chosen soon, after which a tender
for a building company will be announced. The RA Minister of Energy
Armen Movsisian said at the December 22 press conference that the
construction work of the TPP power unit is done by schedule and will
be completed in late 2008. After putting the unit into operation,
150 grams of gas instead of the current 400 grams will be spent to
get 1 kwh of power. A. Movsisian said that the Gazprom company is now
carrying out the design work for construction of a gas turbine for
the 5th power unit of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant. As a result,
in 2008 the TPP will have a power unit with the capacity of 450
megawatts (instead of the current 300 megawatts), which will allow
to spend 240 grams of gas instead of the current 350 grams to get 1
kwh of electricity.

FRONTIER VIOLATIONS HAVE INCREASED

A1+
[04:22 pm] 21 December, 2006

The breaches of the Armenian frontier have doubled in comparison with
the previous year data. Over 413 attempts of borderline violations
have been prevented this year.

During one of the violations a Turkish serviceman tried to enter
Armenia attempting to evade the army discipline. By the way, the
Turkish soldier was armless. The Russian frontier forces immediately
returned the deserter to the Turkish side.

We got this information from Sergey Bondarev, head of Russian Frontier
Forces Department in Armenia. The statistic data of the passing year
reveal that the border-guards have combated against smuggling five
times better and have compensated cargo of about 3.9 million rubbles.

By the way, 14 people rendering direct assistance to the smugglers
have been identified.

The head of the Frontier Forces states that they have managed to
solve a number of issues in view of frontier security. But one of
their major tasks is to control all the flights at the entrance and
exit of "Zvartnots" Airport.

The control is realized with the joint efforts of Armenian and Russian
border-guards.

Sergey Bondarev claims that the Russian Frontier Forces Service has
got 4.5 thousand members in Armenia.

To note, the border-guards’ board gets financial assistance from both
the Armenian and Russian sides.

This year, the Russian government has allotted 24 million USD and
the Armenian government – 10 million USD to the board.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT OFFERS CONDOLENCES OVER TURKMEN LEADER’S DEATH

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Dec 21 2006

Yerevan, 21 December: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today sent
a condolence telegram to the government of Turkmenistan in connection
with the demise of the president of the country, Saparmyrat Nyyazow.

In the telegram, Robert Kocharyan noted that "we very much appreciate
the contribution of Saparmyrat Nyyazow in the strengthening and
development of Armenian-Turkmen relations", the press service of the
Armenian president told Mediamax today.

THE ARMENIAN PURSUIT FOR JUSTICE: THE NEXT PHASE

ArmRadio.am
20.12.2006 13:14

In a recent article titled "Time to Move Forward," and published in
Hairenik Armenian Weekly in Boston, Horizon weekly in Montreal, Aztag
Daily in Lebanon, The California Courier, USA Armenian Life Magazine
(page E3) in Los Angeles, and other publications, and posted on several
websites, Katia M. Peltekian wrote: "The time has come for Armenians
around the world to move forward. In the past couple of decades, we
have witnessed a surge of research by independent scholars who have
confirmed that what the Armenians were subjected to – massacres and
forced deportations into the desert – was in fact Genocide.

This has of course led to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
some governments and parliaments around the world. Yet, we Armenians
await the day when the Turkish government would admit the crimes
their ancestors committed.

Peltekian concluded: "The Land Registry Office in Turkey is concealing
a crucial part of our history. These documents give the details and
the boundaries of the lands, the names of the owners, who sold and
who bought them.

Research through these documents will prove once and for all who the
owners at the time were and when and in what kind of circumstances
changes in ownership occurred. To get what is rightfully our property
is not connected to whether Turkey admits the Genocide or not. The
heirs to those lands are alive and they are now the rightful owners
of those lands. We need to move fast before these land registration
documents also vanish in thin air."