Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

ARMENIAN STATE BUDGETARY EXPENDITURES INCREASE BY 70.3% IN JANUARY 2008 ON SAME MONTH OF 2007

Noyan Tapan
March 11, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA state budgetary expenditures
amounted to 32.2 bln drams (over 104.9 mln USD) in January
2008. In particular, current expenditures made 33.1 bln drams,
while expenditures related to operations with nonfinancial assets
made 886.6 mln drams. Budgetary expenditures increased by 70.3%
or 13.3 bln drams as compared with January 2007. This increase was
mainly conditioned by a growth of current expenditures: this growth
made 60.5% or 12.5 bln drams on January 2007.

According to the press service of the RA ministry of finance and
economy, the quarterly program of current expenditures was executed
by 22.3%. Out of the total amount of current expenditures, 1.7 bln
drams was allocated for payment of salaries of state institution
employees. 36.7 mln drams was allocated for compulsory social security
payments. 987.6 mln drams was allocated from the state budget for
the purchase of services and goods.

1.4 bln drams was allocated for servicing of the state debt in
January 2008.

In particular, 1.26 bln drams was allocated for servicing of
the domestic debt, 141,4 mln drams – for servicing of the foreign
debt. State debt servicing expenditures grew 2.9fold as compared with
January 2007. Subsidies from the state budget amounted to 845.9 mln
drams, exceeding 2.1fold the respective index of last year. Grants made
up 16.4% or 5.4 bln drams of the state budget’s current expenditures.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: THE KARABAKH ISSUE NEEDS CONSISTENT AND PATIENT MEDIATION

armradio.am
11.03.2008 16:42

American political scientist Zbigniew Brzezinski considers that "the
Nagorno Karabakh issue is complicated by the fact that the territories
outside Nagorno Karabakh are now controlled by Armenia." Zbigniew
Brzezinski said this in response to the question of an Azerbaijani
reader of the BBC Russian Service, asking "what will be the reaction of
the international community to Azerbaijan’s activities, if it launches
military actions to regain the territories occupies by Armenians."

"The Nagorno Karabakh issue is complicated by the fact that
the territories outside Nagorno Karabakh are now controlled by
Armenia. That is why the question needs a consistent and patient
mediation, which over time may allow reducing the level of hostility
and hatred the two parties of this conflict are guided with," the
former Adviser to US President Jimmy carter on National Security
issues said.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

ANTELIAS PILGRIMAGE DAY

ARMENIAN FAITHFUL BLESSED WITH THE HOLY RELIC OF SAINT GREGORY THE
ILLUMINATOR

The pilgrimage day in Antelias becomes an opportunity for a long-awaited
meeting every year between the faithful and the Holy Right Hand of Saint
Gregory the Illuminator. Our people once again experienced this unique
moment on March 9, when the Catholicosate of Cilicia was filled with a large
number of the faithful who had come to commemorate the beginning of Saint
Gregory the Illuminator’s imprisonment in Khor Virab.

His Holiness Aram I presided over the Holy Mass held in Antelias on the
occasion of the Pilgrimage Day. The Prelate of the Western Prelacy of
Northern America, Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian officiated the mass and
delivered the sermon. The Catholicosate’s "Shenorhali" choir sang the hymns
under guidance from artistic director Zakar Keshishian. While both the bells
of the Mother Church were being tolled during "Havadamk", the Pontifical
procession started marching from the Veharan, led by Cilician Brotherhood
members carried the box in which the Holy Relic of Saint Gregory the
Illuminator is placed. The silver-coated Relic consists of a bone from the
right hand of the Patron Saint of the Armenian Church.

In his Sermon, Archbishop Mardirossian first spoke about the life and
dedication of the Greatest Saint of the Armenian nation starting from his
years as a young teen when he was rescued from a vengeful Armenian king and
taken to Kayseri, where he received Christian education. Recounting the
historical chronicles, the Archbishop talked about the great conversion of
the Armenian nation to Christianity following the efforts of the Saint.
Finally, he prayed to God to keep the Catholicosate of Cilicia strong and
for peace in our Lebanese homeland.

Following the mass, a large procession of the Cilician Brotherhood members,
priests and Seminary students carrying several Holy Relics made a round tour
around the Mother Church led by Catholicos Aram I. During the procession,
elderly faithful with awful tears and children with innocent smiles kissed
the Holy Right Hand of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, presenting their
wishes to God and relying on the prayers of the Great Saint. When the
procession returned to the Mother Church, the Pontiff and the religious
class went up the Altar, where the ceremonious service of water blessing was
held with the Right Hand of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. The Catholicos
blessed the faithful with the Holy Right Hand of the Patron Saint.

The Catholicos recited the "Paradya" prayer for curing the ill and a special
prayer for the strengthening of faith. It said: "We, your pilgrim sons, oh
Saint Gregory, the great pilgrim of God, appeal to you from the Cathedral of
the Catholicosate of Cilicia in Antelias. Oh Illuminating Pontiff, bless our
nation in Armenia and the Diaspora under your Holy Right Hand. Bless in
particular, your pilgrim people gathered in the Mother Church in Antelias.
Erase our sins, cleanse our spiritual and physical faults; grant health to
the sick; enlighten the dark paths of our life; flourish with heavenly goods
the life of our nation’s children, our families and our Big Family, the life
of your honorable people for the brightness of the Holy Armenian Apostolic
and Orthodox Church and for the eternity of the Armenian nation."

After the water blessing service, the Holy Right Hand of Saint Gregory the
Illuminator was placed on the main Altar under the watchful eyes of Cilician
Brotherhood members. Armenian and foreign faithful visited the Catholicosate
until 8:00 OM in the evening to kiss the Relic. After Atchahampouyr, the
faithful also visited the Holy Trinity Altar, kneeling before the Relic of
Saint Gregory the Illuminator and praying to God in this sacred area.

##
View the photos here:
c/Photos/Photos208.htm
http://www.armenianorthodox church.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos209.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

MORE OPPOSITION LEADERS ARRESTED

Radio Liberty
March 10 2008
Czech Republic

Two more close associates of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian
were arrested on Monday as the Armenian authorities continued their
unprecedented crackdown on the opposition resulting from last month’s
disputed presidential election. A senior U.S. diplomat, meanwhile,
warned them against jailing the opposition leader as well.

The latest detainees are Aleksandr Arzumanian, a former foreign
minister and Ter-Petrosian’s election campaign manager, and Ararat
Zurabian, chairman of the former ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement
(HHSh). Their lawyer, Hovik Arsenian, said they are likely to be
charged with seeking to "usurp power" in the wake of the February
19 election.

Arsenian spoke to RFE/RL by phone from the headquarters of Armenia’s
National Security Service (NSS) where his clients were interrogated
and kept in custody as of late evening. He dismissed as baseless and
politically motivated the criminal cases brought against these and
other prominent opposition politicians close to Ter-Petrosian.

Arzumanian’s and Zurabian’s detention raised to at least 86 the number
of Ter-Petrosian supporters jailed in the past two weeks.

Among them are two opposition members of parliament. Two other
parliamentarians stripped of their immunity from prosecution have
gone into hiding.

According to a spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor-General,
Sona Truzian, 73 oppositionists have already been formally charged with
plotting a coup d’etat, organizing and participating in "mass riots"
and other grave crimes. The charges mainly stem from the March 1 deadly
clashes in Yerevan between riot police and thousands of opposition
supporters demanding a re-run of what they see as a rigged election.

"The political orientation of these individuals doesn’t matter to
the investigating body," Truzian said, referring to the detainees.

"Investigators are bringing accusations against those people who
organized and took part in mass riots and other events aimed at
undermining constitutional order."

The crackdown, which is not confined to Yerevan, is not letting up
despite the international community’s growing calls for the lifting
of the state of emergency in the capital and a dialogue between the
Armenian authorities and the Ter-Petrosian-led opposition.

"We don’t believe that further crackdown, further arrests, are the
right way to go," Kurt Volker, the U.S. acting assistant secretary of
state, for European and Eurasian Affairs, told RFE/RL from Washington
on Monday. "We think that what needs to be done is to move toward
lifting the state of emergency, assuring freedom of the media, assuring
the freedom of assembly, assuring the operation of political parties,
so that Armenia can walk back from this political crisis."

Also expressing concern at the wave of arrests was Joseph Pennington,
the U.S. charge d’affaires in Yerevan. "We have made clear to the
Armenian authorities that while we certainly recognize the right and
the obligation of the authorities to arrest and prosecute those who
were involved directly in violent activities last weekend, there is
a distinction that needs to be made between those people on the one
hand and those who may have expressed views that were bothersome to
the authorities," Pennington told RFE/RL.

"We strongly discourage those kinds of arrests that could be
interpreted as political arrests and think that would not contribute
to stability and reduction in tensions," he said.

Pennington also warned that the authorities will only heighten the
post-election tensions in Armenia if they follow through on their
threats to arrest and prosecute Ter-Petrosian. "We do not think that is
a step that would help to ease the situation here," he said. "We don’t
think it would be the right way. We don’t think it would useful. We
think it would probably increase tensions more than anything else."

President Robert Kocharian said last week that "many in Armenia"
believe that Ter-Petrosian too should be punished for the violent
standoff that left at least seven protesters and one police officer
dead. Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian likewise did not rule out the
possibility of the ex-president’s arrest, saying that the opposition
actions were "managed from one center."

Justice Minister Gevorg Danielian told the AFP news agency on Monday
that law-enforcment authorities "already have sufficient evidence"
to prosecute Ter-Petrosian. "The investigation will show which exact
charges will be brought against him," Danielian said. "He has crossed
from the political sphere to the criminal sphere."

Ter-Petrosian has been under effective house arrest since the violent
break-up earlier on March 1 of his supporters’ non-stop sit-in in
Yerevan’s Liberty Square.

TIGRAN HAMASYAN: NEW ERA

All About Jazz
d=28615
March 10 2008
PA

At twenty-one, pianist Tigran Hamasyan has already done much to
launch his name into the world of emergent young lions. He has toured
throughout Europe, moving beyond his native Armenia to take prizes
in jazz competitions from Moscow to Monaco. And, after winning
the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition in 2006,
he studied in the United States before returning to Paris, where he
recorded his first album, New Era.

Hamasyan’s predicament is a common one. Like many young jazz musicians
releasing their first records, he tries to prove his place in jazz
with a few standards, while also working overly hard to showcase his
range as a performer through originals and atypical tunes. The result
is an album that tries to do too many things, and leaves the listener
without a singular sense of the musician’s voice.

The suite that opens the album illustrates this problem. The first
part, "Homesick," is an energetic romp, carefully structured to
let the trio work through a series of hits on the melody, before
Hamasyan takes off with an up-tempo solo that hovers over harmonies
in the manner of Keith Jarrett’s trio work. "Part 2: New Era" borrows
a single tumbling fragment of the earlier melody and expands it into
a vamp, with Hamasyan doubling on piano and keyboards.

Both sections of the suite would make for nice compositions on their
own. But in the end, the relationship between these two parts is so
tenuous that one wonders why Hamasyan wanted to draw them together as
a suite. And the fact is that the young winner of the Thelonious Monk
Jazz Piano Competition can actually perform any of the aesthetics
that he samples on New Era. He simply needs to choose which one he
will devote himself to for the time being.

Naturally, the most arresting sounds that come off this record are
the ones that make the most use of Hamasyan’s unique background. In
addition to the spate of jazz originals, New Era features two
Armenian folk songs. "Aparani Par" and "Zada Es" not only fill out
the album-they give it depth, nuance, and a unique character. This
development is largely due to Vardan Grigoryan, who plays a series of
Armenian woodwinds on these tracks. The narrow, often oriental sounds
of the duduk and the shvi, wailing above the melody on "Aparani Par,"
are not easily forgotten.

The world of young jazz pianists is disturbingly broad, and it’s easy
to get lost within it, even if one so clearly exhibits the talents
and potential of a Tigran Hamasyan. Where this player will be able to
come to the fore is in the characteristics that make him an original.

Too many others will release first records with "Well, You Needn’t" and
"Solar" on them as proof of validity, but a song like "Gypsyology"
could be found nowhere else. It has all the gaudy bravado of an
Eastern European folk dance, and it’s frequently hilarious, with its
constantly rising chords and unstoppable backbeat. But it’s also
devoid of self-consciousness, and it’s the kind of song that one
can’t help but listen to.

If Tigran Hamasyan can bring together his virtuosic understanding
of past piano masters with this taste for the folksy and dramatic
to create a singular voice out of them, he has a long and exciting
career before him.

Tracks: Part 1: Homesick; Part 2: New Era; Leaving Paris; Aparani Par
(The Dance Of Aparan); Well, You Needn’t; Memories From Hankavan And
now; Gypsyology; Zada Es; Solar; Forgotten World.

Personnel: Tigran Hamasyan: piano, keyboards; Francois Moutin:
acoustic bass; Louis Moutin: drums; Vardan Grigoryan: duduk (4,8),
shvi (4), zurna(8).

59 MEN IMPUTED PARTICIPATION IN YEREVAN DISORDERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2008 16:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 59 men have been imputed participation in Yerevan
disorders on March 1. 180 soldiers and policemen as well as 48
civilians received various bodily injuries.

Ms. Sona Truzyan, a spokesperson for the RA prosecutor general’s
office, said instigators of disorders have been identified.

Witnesses say that money distributed by the organizers stimulated
the popular interest in opposition rallies.

For example, participation of Hrazdan residents in the rallies was
defrayed by MP Sasoun Mikaelyan, who also called to seize the power
by any means.

One of those who assaulted head of Gugark police criminal and
investigation department, colonel lieutenant Marat Manukyan was
detected.

Investigation is underway to detect the other accomplices in the riots.

Interfax News Agency, Russia
Russia & CIS
March 7, 2008

Armenia plans to increase gas imports from Russia 2.2% in 2008

YEREVAN March 7

Armenia plans to import 2.1 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia
in 2008, up from 2.054 billion cubic meters in 2007, the head of
ArmRosgazprom Karen Karapetyan told journalists on Friday.

Gas consumption in Armenia is on the rise, he said.

Russia and Armenia have not begun negotiating a gas price increase
for 2009, he said. Until the end of 2008, Armenia will pay $110 per
1,000 cubic meters.

Karabakh’s premier meets with local businessmen

STEPANAKERT, March 6. /ARKA/. The Prime-Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) Ara Harutiunian has met with a group of businessmen
engaged in trade, the NKR Government Press Service reported. The
Prime-Minister promised to study the proposals of businessmen and give
well-grounded responses particularly on applied penalties, mechanisms
for goods registration and the need for harmonizing the legal
provisions with today’s reality.

NKR’s Prime-Minister stressed the importance of implementing economic
activities while observing the laws and taking into account market
demands. `Often sales volumes of goods in trade centers are not
reflected in reports at all. We will be treating offenders strictly,’
Harutiunian said. He also reported serious steps taken by the
Government to ensure equal conditions for businesses.

NKR’s Minister of economic Development Benik Babayan has also
participated in the meeting. N.V. `0–

LEGITIMACY ` A LEGAL CATEGORY
ARMEN TSATOURYAN

Hayots Ashkhar
Friday 7 March 2008

When one has no facts and nothing to say

The speeches and statements L. Ter-Petrosyan and his proponents made
in the Constitutional Court testify to the fact that those people are
still under the direct influence of the post-electoral rallies and the
subsequent events organized on March 1-2, so they confuse the legal
process of disputing the election results with political assessments
and speculations.
As we know, the Constitutional Court is examining the election
results. Whereas, L. Ter-Petrosyan’s speech delivered on March 5
contained no single word on their being falsified. No evidence was
given with regard to any specific action aiming to falsify the results
either in the pre-election period or on the voting day.
If, instead of disputing the election results, the appealing party
exercises its right to make a speech in Constitutional Court with the
purpose of criticizing the post-electoral atmosphere, then, as it is
common to say, it de facto admits the legitimacy of the specific
numbers recorded in favor of each candidate on February 19.
Among Mr. Ter-Petrosyan’s arguments, the only one, which is more or
less related to the whole pre-election period, is the fact that Prime
Minister S. Sargsyan performed his official duties during the
pre-election campaign, that’s to say, the issue under consideration is
the legitimacy of the registration of the given candidate.
The following question comes up: when is the time for disputing the
issue of the given candidate’s registration: after he holds a
convincing victory or right after he is registered as a candidate?
What’s more, the representatives of the international observation
missions were satisfied with the explanation given by the Ministry of
Justice with regard to this issue, and they admitted that the existing
legislation of Armenia allows the incumbent Prime Minister to remain in
office during the campaign.
Especially considering that the concept known as `civil service’
bears no relationship to a political position. This is also confirmed
by the very first article of the RA Law on Civil Service adopted on
December 4, 2001. Its provisions also apply to the Electoral Code
adopted on February 5, 1999. And Article 78 of the Electoral Code
concerns the obstacles to terminating the official duties, i.e. it is
purely dispsositive in nature, rather than imperative in nature.
Another extraordinary example of a political speculation is the
second `argument’ brought by L. Ter-Petrosyan, i.e. the reference to
the constitutional requirement on the impermissibility of imposing
martial law or a state of emergency during the whole period of holding
elections and examining the post-electoral claims. A question arises as
to why in that case the ex-President tried to settle the events of
March 1-2 only a few days after applying to the Constitutional Court,
thus creating a `discrepancy’ between the Constitution and time limits
of examining the post-electoral claims, a competence vested in the
Constitutional Court. Didn’t L. Ter-Petrosyan know that the
Constitutional Court did not have the right to go beyond the
established time limits for examining his claim? So, why did he violate
the country’s internal political stability, thus necessitating the
state of emergency?
Perhaps, with the purpose of insisting on the contrary now, i.e. the
media do not elucidate the trial in a proper manner, his
proponent-witnesses are arrested, and hence, there is only one choice
for the court: to declare the results of the elections null and void.
After the unsuccessful attempts of discrediting the election results
by such ridiculous `arguments’, L. Ter-Petrosyan arrived at the
following conclusion in his speech delivered on March 5, `I have no
idea how any decision made by the Constitutional Court in such
conditions will be accepted by me as an appellant, by the people and
the international community.’ And he also demanded that the proposals
on improving the political atmosphere in Armenia as enshrined in the EU
Chairmanship declaration dated March 4 be complied with.
Do these proposals have anything in common with the case examined by
the Constitutional Court, i.e. the legitimacy of the February 19
elections? Isn’t it clear to L. Ter-Petrosyan that by transferring the
legal issue to the domain of political speculations he fully guarantees
the rejection of his own `arguments’ by the Constitutional Court?
We believe that the issue is more than clear to L. Ter-Petrosyan.
This person has nothing on earth to say; that’s why, instead of making
statements at the Theatrical Square, he chooses the Constitutional
Court.

ARMENIA PRESIDENT REJECTS TALKS WITH OPPOSITION: SPOKESMAN

Agence France Presse
March 4, 2008 Tuesday

The Armenian president rejected international calls for talks with the
opposition Tuesday as prosecutors in the capital Yerevan announced
the detention of 30 people in connection with violent post-election
clashes.

A state of emergency was declared in the ex-Soviet republic following
eight deaths on Saturday night during protests over February’s disputed
presidential election result.

The parliament Tuesday also approved a request from prosecutors to
arrest four pro-opposition lawmakers, whilst a European envoy called
for the lifting of the state of emergency.

A spokesman for President Robert Kocharian rejected negotiations
with opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian, saying the opposition
was responsible for the clashes Saturday that left seven protestors
and a police officer dead. "Currently I don’t see how dialogue could
be possible," presidential spokesman Viktor Sogomonian said. "How
can you negotiate with the people responsible for these events? The
wounds are still too fresh."

Prosecutors said they had detained 30 people in connection with the
unrest, which was sparked by police efforts to disperse thousands
of Ter-Petrosian supporters who had rallied for 11 days against the
result of a February 19 presidential election.

The opposition claims the election was rigged to ensure victory for
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, Kocharian’s hand-picked successor.

In parliament, deputies voted to strip the immunity of four
pro-opposition lawmakers and sanction their arrest.

"We have enough evidence to say that these deputies actively
participated in the mass disturbances… and to proceed with their
arrests," Prosecutor General Agavan Hovsepian told deputies before
the vote.

Meanwhile, a mediator from the Western-led Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe said talks to resolve the crisis would be
impossible until the end of emergency rule, which bans protests and
censors the media.

"There needs to be political dialogue to move forward and this dialogue
is impossible as long as the state of emergency remains in place,"
the mediator, Heikki Talvitie, said in a statement.

Emergency rule, which bans public demonstrations in Yerevan and imposes
strict limits on the media, is supposed to be lifted on March 20.

Seven civilians and one police officer were killed in Saturday’s
street battles between riot police and opposition supporters. Dozens
were injured, many from gunshot wounds.

The United States, United Nations and European Union have called for
calm and talks between the government and opposition.