Author: Vasilian Manouk

SERZH SARGSYAN GOING TO INVITE TURKISH PRESIDENT TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.06.2008

Armenia’s position on establishment of relations with Turkey is exact:
there can be a closed border between neighbor states in the 21st
century, the Armenian President said.

"Turkey proposes to form a commission to study historical facts. We
do not mind it but the land border between our countries should be
opened first. Otherwise, the commission may become a tool of abuse
and protraction of the issue for many years," Serzh Sargsyan said
at a meeting with the Armenian community of Moscow, the RA leader’s
press office reported.

"I intend to take new steps toward establishment of relations with
Turkey. I will probably invite Turkish President Abdullah Gul to
Yerevan to attend a football match between the Armenian and Turkish
national teams," the Armenian President said.

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: "TERMS OF RETURN OF FOUR ARMENIAN CITIZENS, CAPTURED BY AZERBAIJANIS, ARE NOT CLEAR YET"

Today.Az
ics/45824.html
June 20 2008
Azerbaijan

Terms of return of four Armenian captives from Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan
are not clear yet, said Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan.

"We do not have new information regarding their return and I can not
say the definite terms, yet they will be returned to their countries",
said Ohanyan.

He noted that Armenia continues talks with due international
organizations on this issue.

The Armenian Defense Minister noted that the health of the captured
Armenian citizens is normal. He noted that he has no information
about their being subjected to torture.

TURKEY’S RESPONSE TO OBAMA’S MESSAGE AND FRIED’S SPEECH

AZG Armenian Daily
21/06/2008

Armenian Genocide

In despite of the unprecedented inner political tensions in Turkey,
the interest of the Turkish public towards the Armenian Genocide
issue is not decreasing.

The Turkish press from time to time addresses the week-log USA tour of
Foreign Minister Babacan, brings expertise results on the possibilities
of recognition of the Genocide and interviews American statesmen and
public figures, as for example, ex-ambassador of the USA to Turkey,
Abramovitz.

In the latest period The Armenian Genocide issue, as ever, has been
one of the most popular topics in the mass media of Turkey. The
June 16 message of candidate Obama to Hay Dat commission chairman Ken
Hajickian, as well as Daniel Fried’s speech at the Senate provoked even
more interest to the question of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

In an earlier publication "Azg" has written about both the
aforementioned message and the speech. On June 19 "Aksam" newspaper
commenting on Obama’s message pointed out the following phrase, "I
agree with You, the authorities of the USA must qualify the 1915-1923
events as genocide. During those events about 2 million Armenians
were expelled and 1,5 million massacred. We have to adopt that fact."

On the very same day "Milliet" commented on Fried’s statements,
making a very interesting quotation for the Armenian reader from
the speech, "We have never denied the events of 1915. They have been
thoroughly addressed and accepted. Nobody is trying to forget that
historical period. All relevant measures are taken to commemorate
April 24. President Bush used the ‘massacre’ phrasing".

U.S. CALLS ON BAKU TO FOCUS ON PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.06.2008

One of Azerbaijan’s greatest challenges is to find a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute, according to the Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

"The United States, in its role as Co-Chair of the Minsk Group
alongside our French and Russian colleagues, continues to actively
pursue a diplomatic resolution of this problem. While we support
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Nagorno Karabakh’s final status
must be determined through negotiations and a spirit of compromise that
respects international legal and political principles," Daniel Fried,
said in his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s
"The Caucasus: Frozen Conflicts and Closed Borders" hearing.

"An important step forward was taken by President Aliyev and Armenian
President Sargsyan when they met for the first time in St. Petersburg
on June 6 to discuss the resolution of the conflict, after which
they met with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Both sides reaffirmed their
commitment to working within the Minsk process and expressed their
readiness to continue discussions on the Basic Principles, a document
developed under the auspices of the Minsk Group that lays out the
basic framework for a lasting, peaceful settlement."

"As Azerbaijan’s income from its rich oil and gas resources rises
dramatically, we continue to urge its leadership to use these revenues
wisely for both current and future generations. We hope that the
Azerbaijani government will avoid the temptation of thinking that
renewed fighting is a viable option. In our view, it is not. We
have noted our concern with persistent bellicose rhetoric by some
Azerbaijani officials. We have urged the government of Azerbaijan to
focus on the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute and
its resultant benefits for regional integration, which will lead to
greater prosperity and stability for the entire Caucasus region. In
sum, Azerbaijan has the opportunity to accelerate its economic and
political development, to build on its successes in establishing good
relations in its region, and to settle the Nagorno Karabakh dispute,"
Mr Fried said.

‘ARMENIAN IT-BRAND’ CAN BE ESTABLISHED IF PRIORITY IS GIVEN TO FORMATION OF BIG NATIONAL IT COMPANIES

arminfo
2008-06-18 18:40:00

ArmInfo. ‘Armenian IT-brand’ can be established if priority is given
to formation of big national IT companies, says Hayk Khanjyan,
the president of Bi Line, one of the biggest computer sales and
maintenance companies of Armenia.

Here, priority should be given not to the quantity of companies but
to their quality, i.e. their software products should meet the world
standards.

The concept for the development of IT in Armenia suggests increasing
the number of IT companies in Armenia by 2018. As a result, the
average number of employees per company will drop from 25 in 2006 to
16 in 2018.

Small companies are more vulnerable and less stable. As a result,
local programmers find it hard to acquire necessary experience and
achieve necessary quality. So, it would be much better if we create a
small number of big companies able to carry out large-scale competitive
projects. Thus, we will attain our key goal: our companies will stop
doing just preliminary rough work for foreign companies and will get
a chance to create own software products – even for export. This is
the only way we can establish ‘Armenian IT-brand’ in the world.

To remind, Bi Line company was set up in 1996. In 2006 it was granted
ISO9001 certificate. Among its projects is Armenian localization of
WINDOWS XP.

RA PRIME MINISTER MET WITH IMF MISSION

RIA Oreanda
June 18 2008
Russia

Yerevan. ">OREANDA-NEWS . June 18, 2008. RA Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan met with head of the IMF mission Martha Castello-Branco, IMF
Permanent Representative in Armenia Ninke Oomes and the IMF Armenia
Office representatives. In our country to discuss a macroeconomic
policy- and structural reform-related agenda, the mission presented to
the Prime Minister the IMF report on Armenia’s tax reform by noting
that the current discussions may provide a basis for the upcoming
talks on a new IMF-GOA cooperation program. The meeting was attended by
the chief economic adviser to RA President, the ministers of finance
and economy, the head of the State tax service by the government,
the CBA chairman and the head of the RA National Assembly standing
committee on economic affairs.

The mission head said those at the IMF are encouraged by the
Government’s undertakings in the area of tax reform as reflected
in the government program which she said to be in conformity
with the principles issued by the Fund. In the opinion of mission
representatives, aimed at curbing poverty and keeping up the pace
of growth whilst combating corruption, Armenia’s tax reform program
is sufficiently comprehensive and all it needs is implementing in a
coherent manner, account taken of the observations and recommendations
raised in the Report. During the discussion, the interlocutors
underscored the logic behind these reforms, namely the need for
informing the public at large in a timely and easy-to-reach manner.

Expressing his appreciation for the preparation of the report, Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan valued the comments available in the paper
which is supposed to provide a framework for the development and
implementation of the new bilateral cooperation program.

PRODUCT EXPOS WILL BE HELD IN STEPANAKERT

KarabakhOpen
13-06-2008 12:03:51

The representatives of the Expo Media company Anna Hakobyan and
Ruben Ohanesov are visiting Stepanakert. In a meeting with President
Bako Sahakyan they discussed the possibility of holding expos in
Stepanakert.

The entrepreneurs from Artsakh take part in expos abroad but no expo
has been held in NKR yet. In the meantime, given the food crisis in the
world, Karabakh has something to offer – organic and quality products.

NKR GOING TO ESTABLISH RELATIONS WITH KOSOVO?

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.06.2008 18:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Parallels between Kosovo and Karabakh and the
mechanism of recognition of independence on the Kosovo model were
discussed a few days ago in Stepanakert. The discussion was initiated
by the Open Society NGO. The round-table meeting was conducted by Karen
Bekaryan, the chair of the European Integration NGO (Armenia). The
representatives of the parliament, the foreign ministry, NGOs,
experts took part in the discussion.

With regard to the recognition of Kosovo, Karen Bekaryan said as a
result of developments regarding this process the most pro-Russian
nation suffered which will affect the process in the South Caucasus
in the sense of sustaining the interests of the West. As a result,
Karen Bekaryan says, Serbia suffered great losses and was nevertheless
involved in the process of European integration but without any
expectation from Russia.

"There is the danger of application of the Serbian, more exactly the
Yugoslavian model, to the South Caucasus. Having a number of internal
problems, we can appear in the shoes of Yugoslavian Serbia. There is
such danger, and it is necessary to be aware of it and to define the
political agenda clearly," Karen Bekaryan said.

With regard to parallels, Karen Bekaryan said unlike the Armenian
states, Kosovo was able to gain independence during this process and
avoid the Albanian factor. "Everything was done for the Kosovo elite
not to become part of the Albanian elite, unlike Armenia. And it
is not accidental that at some point Karabakh was not participating
in the talks. Kosovo was able to avoid this and get a trump card,"
Karen Bekaryan said.

And if in our case Armenia is perceived and presented as the guarantor
of security of Karabakh, in the case of Kosovo Albania has never been
perceived as such.

Therefore, the world offered guarantees to Kosovo, the UN and the
European organizations. And this was inevitably reflected in the
process of settlement.

"Therefore the UN resolutions on Kosovo were guarantees of security and
humanitarian issues, and in our case the restoration of territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan. It would be ingenuous to view the problems
on the legal level because it is obviously a political issue. From
the standpoint of political interests of the West, recognition of
Karabakh’s independence has not ripened yet. As soon as it ripens,
all the hindrances will be easily overcome," the expert said.

Among one of the steps it was offered to set up relations between
Karabakh and Kosovo, KarabakhOpen reports.

PACE CO-RAPPORTEURS TO VISIT ARMENIA TO ASSESS IMPLEMENTATION OF PACE RESOLUTION 1609
X-X-Sender: [email protected]
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ARKA
June 12

Co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) George Colombier and John Prescott are to visit Armenia on 16
and 17 June, in order to assess the implementation of PACE Resolution
1609 (2008) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia.

CE information office reports that the PACE co-rappourteurs will meet
with Armenian President Serge Sargsian, Speaker of Armenian Parliament
Tigran Torosian, representatives of coalition and opposition parties,
extra-parliamentary opposition, including Levon Ter-Petrosian, the
presidential working group for coordination of implementation of PACE
resolution 1609, the parliamentary working group on the electoral
code reform, defence lawyers of detained opposition activists and
representatives of NGOs.

If, at the end of their visit, the co-rapporteurs conclude that
insufficient progress has been made, the Assembly may hold a debate
under urgent procedure on 25 June, at its summer session, on the
functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia, says the report.

The PACE resolution 1609 was passed on April 17 in relation to the
complicated internal political situation in Armenia where uninterrupted
protest actions held against the results of the presidential elections
developed into mass disorders on March 1-2.

The resolution recommends conducting an independent investigation of
the March 1-2 events before the PACE summer session, establishing
political dialogue and strengthening democratic institutions in
the country. Otherwise Armenia may be stripped of the vote in
PACE. N.V.

RA PM MEETS HEAD OF OSCE MISSION IN YEREVAN
Aeminfo
2008-06-12

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan met Head of OSCE mission in Yerevan
Ambassador Sergey Kapinos.

As the Armenian governmental press service told ArmInfo today, during
the meeting, RA PM thanked OSCE mission for its efficient activity,
which includes implementation of projects in different regions,
and expressed readiness, on behalf of RA government, for further
cooperation.

During the meeting, Sergey Kapinos touched on the OSCE programmes
in the military- political, economic, ecological spheres, human
rights protection and democracy. He said that OSCE office in Yerevan
attentively follows the processes taking place in Armenia, the
Armenian government’s activity, and it is interested in assisting
in the development of a new strategy of corruption-fight, as well as
stimulation of a small and middle- business development. S. Kapinos
said that it is envisaged to hold a conference within the next few days
dedicated to Aarhus Convention for public participation in decision-
making and access to justice in environmental matters.