Author: Varosian Antranik

THIS YEAR ANCA EASTERN REGION WILL PRESENT THE FREEDOM AWARD TO
SAMANTHA POWER

WASHINGTON, JULY 25, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN The Armenian
National Committee of America, Eastern Region (ANCA-ER), announced the
honorees for its Second Annual Banquet and Awards Program, to take
place on September 13, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
As announced previously, the ANCA-ER will present the ANCA Freedom
Award to Harvard University professor and human rights activist Dr.
Samantha Power. A leading voice on genocide awareness, Power won the
Pulitzer Prize for her book A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of
Genocide. She teaches at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at
Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and was a senior
adviser to U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama.

OPPOSITION MEDIA NOT INVITED TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S PRESSER

Aravot
July 23 2008
Armenia

An Armenian pro-opposition editor has described as an "unreasonable
decision" the failure to invite the opposition press to President
Serzh Sargsyan’s news conference on 21 July.

An editorial in Aravot daily on 23 July said that the media should
not be divided into friends and foes. Since Sargsyan has declared
himself the president of all citizens, the readers of opposition
newspapers also have the right to know what the president says,
the report said. It added that on the other hand, young journalists
representing Armenian bloggers had attended the news conference. The
report said that "the bloggers" were mainly interested in why the
government did not use violence against the opposition sit-in in
Yerevan’s Northern Avenue and why the government did not disperse
opposition rallies in the capital.

In the meantime, presidential spokesman Samvel Farmanyan has said he
did not invite opposition Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper to President
Serzh Sargsyan’s news conference on 21 July as he did not find it
"appropriate" and because Haykakan Zhamanak did not cover events
objectively, Haykakan Zhamanak reported on 23 July. Haykakan Zhamanak
believes that Farmanyan has been assigned a very difficult mission, as
"being a state official, he decides who is objective and who is not".

ARMROSGASPROM TO INVEST 7.7BLN DRAMS THIS YEAR TO MODERNIZE GAS DISTRIBUTING SYSTEM IN ARMENIA

ARKA
July 25

ArmRosgasprom, an Armenian Russian company importing and distributing
natural gas in Armenia, is going to invest 7.7bln drams ($25.6mln) to
reconstruct the gas distributing system by the end of this year. The
company says 3bln ($9.96) will be spent to construct a new gas
distributing station for Yerevan, the fourth one.

1.1bln drams ($3.7mln) will be used to relay the accident-prone gas
pipelines, and 3.6bln drams ($11.9mln) to regulate gas supply modes,
improve gas supply system and ensure safe operation.

ArmRosgasprom has a monopoly right to deliver and distribute Russian
natural gas on Armenian market. The company was founded in 1997. Its
current capital totals 278bln AMD ($900mln). The shareholders are
Gasprom (81.16%), the Ministry of Energy and Natural resources of
Armenia (22.78%) and the Itera oil and gas company (5.06%).

ARMENIA’S HAYPOST TO ATTEND CONGRESS OF UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION IN GENEVA

ARKA
July 23

A delegation of the Republic of Armenia headed by Hans Boon, Director
General of HayPost CJSC, is to participate in the 24-th UPU Congress
which will take place from 23 July to 13 August at the International
Congress Centre in Geneva /ICCG/. More than 1,500 delegates are
expected to attend the Congress. The delegation is officially headed
by RA Minister of Transport and Communications Gurgen Sargsyan.

Republic of Armenia has put forward its candidacy for re-election
to the Council of Administrations /CA/ – one of the UPU’s permanent
bodies. Due to high performance and significant results achieved in
the postal reform modernization process, Armenia has already received
a number of official letters from leading Postal Administrations
including from Russia, USA, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria etc. which
endorse Armenia’s candidacy.

In its effort to attain a higher level of quality services, and also
as part of its transformation program, Haypost CJSC attaches great
importance to its role in the international postal industry. For this
purpose, Haypost CJSC is keen in establishing and maintaining strong
business partnerships with international companies.

The participants will discuss the urgent problems of the sector with a
special focus on the development of a world postal strategy to serve as
"road map" for=2 0UPU members in the coming years.

Universal Postal Union was founded in 1874. It comprises 196 countries
now.

The goal of this interstate organization is to ensure and improve
postal communication on the territory covered by the Union.

HayPost CJSC is the national postal operator of the Republic of Armenia
operating through its 900 post offices and 41 regional departments
throughout the country. Under an agreement signed on November 30,
2006, HayPost was transferred in trust of the Dutch HayPost Trust
Management Company. N.H.

MILITARY LANGUAGE SUCCESSES IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
23.07.2008 11:15

As part of the UK’s continuing cooperation with Armenia in the field of
defense, Britain’s Defense Attaché to Armenia, Lt. Col. Nick Ridout
along with deputy Chief of Main Staff of Armenian Armed Forces Major
General Artashes Paytyan and Col. A Simonyan, Commanding Officer of
Armenia’s Peacekeeping Brigade, presented certificates of proficiency
in English to members of the Armenian Armed Forces at the Peacekeeping
Brigade’s barracks in Yerevan.

The on-going dialogue on defense between the UK and Armenia is
supported by activity ranging from reforms in the areas of doctrine,
finance and personnel, to assisting with language training to enhance
Armenia’s capability on the international front.

Since 2006, the UK has been working with the Armenian Ministry of
Defense to develop a local training system for English language
that operates to NATO requirements. Since 2006, nearly 300 military
personnel have followed courses at training units established at the
Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade, the International Humanitarian Demining
Centre and the Ministry of Defence.

In 2007, officers from Armenia’s Peacekeeping Brigade were the first
to take an advanced level test of Military English in Armenia. Now
in 2008, a second group has taken this examination.

Among the most successful candidates were Captain Ara Mesrobyan, Deputy
Head of the NATO Division o f the Department for International Military
Cooperation and Defence Programmes, and Major Artur Zakhrabekyan,
Chief of Staff of the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade. Captain Mesrobyan
requires his English in preparation for following a six month
international course in defence studies at the NATO Defence College
in Rome. Major Zakhrabekyan needs English to carry out his duties
at the Peacekeeping Brigade. Members of the brigade regularly carry
out peacekeeping duties as part of an international force in Kosovo
and Iraq, along with colleagues from the International Humanitarian
Demining Centre in Echmiadzin.

"Proficiency in English underpins almost all of what we do on the
defense side" said Britain’s Defense Attaché to Armenia, Lt. Col.

Nick Ridout. "Armenia is an active member of NATO’s Partnership
for Peace and the UK is very pleased to offer its support. The
need for military personnel with strong foreign language skills
can only grow and all officers who pass these exams are to be very
highly commended. Not only are they professional soldiers with high
standards of military skill, but they have also proven themselves to
be excellent linguists, able to operate anywhere internationally."

–Boundary_(ID_n7BiU1G4MSF KLjoUPFArxw)–

SOLID BASIS FOR REFORMS FORMED DURING SERGE SARGSYAN’S 100-DAY PRESIDENCY

ARKA
July 21

Solid foundations for reforms were laid in Armenia during the first 100
days of Serge Sargsyan’s presidency, states Chairman of the National
Democratic Union Shavarsh Kocharyan.

"Speaking of the president’s activities, we are not speaking of an
individual, but of the work of the Government, which can generally
be given a good rating," Sh. Kocharyan told a press conference.

According to him, the incumbent Government is the first in Armenia’s
modern history to launch a policy of building up post-industrial
society, which policy is reflected in the frame of government,
economy and public’s role in the country’s economy.

Sh. Kocharyan also pointed out measures to curb corruption. "We are
witnesses to increasing budget receipts mainly due to customs and
tax revenues," he said.

Serge Sargsyan won the February 9 presidential election in
Armenia.

SERZH SARGSYAN: I AM PRESIDENT OF ALL CITIZENS OF ARMENIA EVEN OF THOSE WHO DO NOT RECOGNIZE ME PRESIDENT

ArmInfo
2008-07-21 15:34:00

‘I am president of all the citizens of Armenia even of those who do
not recognize me president’, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
said at a press conference in Yerevan on 21 July when asked about
prospects of dialogue with first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

He said he ought to be president for all the citizens of the Republic
of Armenia and will remain their president. As regards the dialogue,
the president said: ‘what we can speak to the people who demand new
election. I have tired of elections, the country has experienced at
once several election processes and the next elections must be in
2012. It will be regular elections to the parliament’ Serzh Sargsyan
said.

Nevertheless, the president said he does not think the dialogue
‘belated’.

Dialogue is communication with the people, public in the format
state-public and not president and isolated persons, he said. ‘I
believe such processes must continue and it is wrong believing any
format of dialogue belated’, S.

Sargsyan said. ‘I am always in my room since 9:00am till the evening so
there is a great variety of topics for dialogue’, the president said.

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July 18, 2008 Friday 4:02 PM AEST
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Box: Darchinyan promises to up his aggression

Adrian Warren
SYDNEY July 18

Back with his very first trainer, a focused Vic Darchinyan is
promising to produce a more "stable and aggressive" performance in his
challenge to Russia’s IBF junior bantam weight world boxing champion
Dimitri Kirilov in Washington early next month.

Darchinyan isn’t even allowing missing out tomorrow on the first
birthday of his son Ruben to distract him from his August 2
engagement.
For the first time in his professional career, Darchinyan (29-1, 23
KOs) will have his amateur trainer of 15 years, Vazgen Badalian as the
No.1 man in his corner.
Already rated by the prestigious Ring magazine as one of the top
ten hardest punchers in the world, Darchinyan said he was hitting even
harder after reuniting with his original coach.
Badalian who like Darchinyan hails from Armenia, has had his
protege doing more running, especially sprinting, and has made
modifications to his established style.
"Before my style was always aggressive, I didn’t like it if someone
punched me. I would go and punch him back," Darchinyan said from his
training camp in Las Vegas.
"My coach’s style is some more cover and more protection and always
going forward and not back and just taking punches on my arms.
"I like that style and I think you are going to see a more stable
and more aggressive fighter.
"I am going to control all the rounds. Every time you see me, in
the first three or four rounds I like to move and see what my opponent
is trying to do, but this time I will be breaking him down from the
start."
Darchinyan said he had already sparred over 140 rounds in
preparation for the fight, with three more sessions remaining.
The 32-year-old Sydneysider, who has been sparring against world
rated fighters, emphasised he would still be working in Australia
under his regular trainer Billy Hussein.
With the respected Sydney trainer working the corner of his brother
Hussein Hussein in a fight in South Africa earlier this month
Darchinyan installed Badalian as his chief adviser for the fight with
Kirilov (29-3-1, 9 KOs).
"Billy was busy with Hussy, I decided to bring my amateur coach
in. When I’m in Australia I’m going to train with Billy," Darchinyan
said.
"If I’m going to fight in America or getting ready for a big fight
in America, maybe I’m going to go to Armenia.
"I like Billy but sometimes I need my old coach to remind me what I
used to do better."
His wife and son will arrive in Washington on the day of the fight
and he was adamant being parted from them at present wasn’t a
distraction.
"I’m very focused on my fight. Before I was training for two hours,
now I’m training for three, one (extra) hour for my son."

APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED WITH THE ECHR

A1+
18 July, 2008

Lusine Sahakian, Erwand Varossian and Tigran Safarian, the advocates of
the ex-deputy prosecutor Gagik Jhangirian, and Vahe Ghazarian sentenced
to a 4.5 years’ imprisonment for "mass disorders", have lodged
applications with the European Court of Human Rights on breaches of
the rights to freedom and personal immunity (Article 5 of the European
Convention). The advocates will lodge an additional application on
breaches of other articles, freedom of speech, freedom to assemblies
and discrimination, reports the Centre for the Popular Movement.

US ASSISTANCE

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 17, 2008
Armenia

The US House of Representatives and the Senate Allocation Committees
will separately discuss the bill on the foreign assistance of the
financial year of 2009.

On March, 2008, congressmen, co-Chairmen of American Congress of
Armenians Joe Nolenberg and Frank Palone, with the support of 37 other
Congressmen demanded from Nita Lowey to support the implementation of
the six principal goals adopted for the progress of the USA interests
in Armenia and the region.

They have proposed to cut the assistance shown to Azerbaijan, until it
continues its bellicose announcements, to allocate 5 million dollars’
military assistance to Armenia, to continue the implementation of
article 907 of the Freedom Assistance Act, to give 70 million dollars’
economic assistance to Armenia and give an end to the ban on the
USA-NKR touches.

The budget proposed by the White House in February of this year
has artificially cut the assistance shown to Armenia by 59%, over
again breaching the balance of the military assistance in favor of
Azerbaijan, and despite the intimidations of official Baku to use the
growing arsenal to resume the war against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.