Author: Zakarian Garnik

GREEK PRESIDENT SAYS TURKEY CREATES PROBLEMS BOTH FOR ARMENIA AND GREECE

Panorama.am
18:15 27/06/2007

Armenian Prime Minister, Serzh Sargsyan, has met with Carlos
Papulias, President of Greece, who arrived to Armenia on an official
visit. Government press services say Sargsyan thanked the president
for Greece’s support to Armenia in many different spheres.

Sargsyan underscored deeper relations with Greece especially in the
context of Individual Action Plan with NATO. Carlos Papulias wished
Turkey changed according to European values since he said Greece
and Armenia would not have to invest in defense and security at the
expense of social challenges.

AJK LEADER SAYS ARMENIA HAS BETTER CHANCES TO JOIN EU THAN TURKEY

Panorama.am
18:17 27/06/2007

Shavarsh Kocharyan, National Democratic Party (AJK) leader, told a
news conference today that "Armenia has all preconditions to join
EU." He said Armenia must develop own strategy to walk parallel with
super powers. Kocharyan also said "Armenia has better chances to join
EU than Turkey." According to the politician, Georgia is also close
to the "door" of EU whereas Azerbaijan may join such totalitarian
states as Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Belarus and Ghazakhstan.

Speaking about internal political situation, AJK leader said no major
changes will take place after the presidential elections so he is
not going to nominate his candidacy.

PRESIDENT OF GREECE VISITS MATENADARAN

ARMENPRESS
Jun 28 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS: President of Greece Karolos Papoulias
with his spouse May Papoulia visited today Matenadaran and got
acquainted with the exclusive samples of ancient manuscripts.

The attention of the Greek president and his delegation was focused on
"History of Alexander the Macedonian", Aristotle’s "Categories" and
Eusebius Caesar’s "Chronology" works which were translated from Greek
by Mesrop Mashtots and his pupils in the 5th century, the samples
of that time were not preserved, instead medieval (13-15 centuries)
re-creations of the works exist.

K. Papoulias left a note in the memorial book of Matenadaran. According
to him, they are grateful that by the efforts of the Armenian side
translations of valuable Greek manuscripts have been preserved today.

PERINCEK CRITICIZES SWITZERLAND FOR NOT PROVIDING VISA

New Anatolian, Turkey
June 28 2007

Dogu Perincek, the leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party (IP), Thursday
criticized Switzerland for not providing a visa to him so that he
will be able to appeal a court case to defend himself.

Perincek said he plans to go Switzerland to appeal the verdict at the
Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s supreme court after a Swiss appeals
court has confirmed the sentence against him who was convicted of
racism for denying that the early 20th century deaths of Armenians
was genocide. "I will meet my lawyer to finalize our preparations
regarding the case," he said.

He also noted that he is to attend a conference in Winterthur, which
will be followed by press members across Europe.

"We are facing a very interesting situation," he said. The Swiss
government which has tried me, does not give a visa to me so that
I will have chance to defend myself. This hesitation in providing
a visa to me shows how unjust their attitude is. Penalizing those
who do not accept Armenian lies is just a medieval application. How
will the Swiss authorities judge someone who can’t enter Swiss soil,
who can’t meet his lawyer in Switzerland or someone who can’t even
present his petitions to authorities?"

He also urged officials to end this unfriendly approach and provide
him a visa.

Perincek was charged with breaking Swiss law by denying during a visit
to Switzerland in 2005 that the World War I-era deaths of up to 1.5
million Armenians amounted to genocide. He has since repeated the
claim, including during his trial earlier on March. Perincek accused
the judge of "racial hatred" toward Turkey and said he would appeal the
verdict with Switzerland’s Supreme Court. Perincek also said that he
would take his case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

The IP leader, who submitted 90 kilograms of historical documents,
argued there had been no genocide against Armenians, but there had been
"reciprocal massacres."

The case was seen as a test of whether it is a violation of
Switzerland’s anti-racism law to deny that the Turks committed
genocide in the deaths. The legislation has previously been applied
to Holocaust denial.

The case has caused diplomatic tension between the Alpine republic and
Turkey, which insists Armenians were killed in civil unrest during
the tumultuous collapse of the Ottoman Empire and not in a planned
campaign of genocide.

Turkey has called the case against Perincek "inappropriate, baseless
and debatable in every circumstance." In a written statement on May the
Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed Ankara’s uneasiness with the Swiss
court’s decision. Saying that the decision would not be accepted by
Turkey, the statement added, "We hope that decision will be corrected
by independent Swiss judicial officials which we believed that there
were in Switzerland."

Turkey strongly opposes the claims that its predecessor state, the
Ottoman government, caused the Armenian deaths in a planned genocide.

The Turkish government has said the toll is wildly inflated and that
Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the empire’s
collapse and conditions of World War I. Ankara’s proposal to Yerevan
to set up a joint commission of historians to study the disputed
events is still awaiting a positive response from the Armenian side.

After French lawmakers voted last October to make it a crime to deny
that the claims were genocide, Turkey said it would suspend military
relations with France.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO MAKE EFFORTS TO BRIDGE GAP BETWEEN YEREVAN AND PROVINCES

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 26 2007

YEREVAN, June 26. /ARKA/. Armenian government intends to ensure
balanced distribution of economic activity between Yerevan and the
country’s provinces, the government says in its 2008-2012 action
program put on National Assembly’s floor on Tuesday.

Some measures will be taken to bridge the gap between Yerevan and
provinces. National programs are to be worked out intercommunity
unions will be created and partnership between state and private
sectors will be promoted.

The first place the government plans to start applying these mechanisms
in Gyumri, Shirak province’s administrative center, and later to
apply them in other Armenian cities.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: PEOPLE OF KARABAKH WANT NOTHING FROM AZERBAIJAN, EXCEPT A WILLINGNESS TO LIVE AND LET LIVE

ArmInfo
2007-06-26 21:57:00

"In the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, we have worked hard to produce
a negotiating document that is indeed based on compromise, and has
sufficient positive elements to justify our efforts to move forward
to resolve the remaining difficult differences," Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian said in his speech at the summit of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC).

The press-service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told ArmInfo that
V.Oskanian noted that Armenia is cognizant of the irreplaceable role
of the negotiating process, as difficult as that is, to lasting
resolutions. "In fact, the process itself is a signal to our
populations and other stakeholders that we understand compromise
and the concessions that compromise requires. Therefore, at this
stage, to speak in the language of attack and absolute solutions is
neither realistic nor helpful. Nor is it useful to mistake cause with
consequence. The people of Nagorno Karabakh were victims who won the
military battle, successfully defending themselves in Karabakh against
a government that attacked people it considered its own citizens. Not
all victors are aggressors. Sometimes the underdog wins because he
is defending his family, his home, his land. The people of Karabakh
defended themselves, against great odds, and won. Today, they want
nothing from Azerbaijan, except a willingness to live and let live,"
V.Oskanian said.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT: NATO MEMBERSHIP WILL GENERATE ADDITIONAL QUITE SERIOUS PROBLEMS FOR ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2007-06-26 21:40:00

Armenia is not considering joining NATO, Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan said during a joint press-conference with Greek President
Karolos Papoulias today.

"We are inclined to enlarge our relations with NATO and are actively
working under IPAP but we are not considering membership in that
alliance," Kocharyan said. He noted that NATO membership will generate
additional quite serious problems for Armenia. "We believe that the
existing security and defense format is optimal for our interests,"
Kocharyan said.

BAKO SAHAKIAN DISMISSED FROM THE POST OF DIRECTOR OF NKR NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
June 18 2007

Today Nagorno-Karabagh Republic President Arkady Ghoukassian signed
a decree on dismissing of NKR Presidential nominee Bako Sahakian from
the post of Director of NKR National Security Service.

According to the information DE FACTO got at the NKR President’s
Press Office today, the decree had been signed in line with the NKR
Electoral Code.

By the NKR President’s another decree NKR National Security Service
first deputy director Victor Kocharian has been appointed the Chair
of NKR National Security Service.

NKR PRESIDENT STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF ATTRACTING INVESTORS FROM ARMENIA TO ECONOMY OF NAGORNO KARABAKH

ArmInfo
2007-06-18 09:08:00

On June 16, NKR President Arkady Ghoukasyan received the delegation
of entrepreneurs from Armenia headed by Chairman of the Union of
Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs of Armenia Arsen Gazaryan. As NKR
President’s press-service told ArmInfo, welcoming the efforts of
entrepreneurs aimed at strengthening of relations and cooperation with
NKR, A. Ghoukasyan stressed importance of attracting the investors from
Armenia for development of the republic’s economy. In particular,
the president said that the Karabakh authorities also took the
relevant steps to reduce the investment risk, as well as improve the
administration and carry out a flexible tax policy. Chairman of the
Union of Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs of NKR Samvel Hakopyan also
took part in the meeting.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPECT FULL APPLICATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Lragir.am
KarabakhOpen
18-06-200 7 17:30:06

The deputy speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Vahan
Hovanisyan, member of the ARF Bureau, says with regard to the
presidential election of Karabakh that it is impossible to expect full
application of the democratic institutions in Nagorno-Karabakh. Vahan
Hovanisyan said this in a news conference on June 18 at the National
Press Club. On the other hand, however, Vahan Hovanisyan thinks
everyone has observed more fair elections in Karabakh than in the
neighboring countries, including Armenia. The member of the ARF Bureau
is not worried about home political tensions in Karabakh, as to the
concern voiced by individual experts about the efforts to prevent
change of the government, namely NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan’s
efforts to make Bako Sahakyan president, Vahan Hovanisyan’s attitude
is positive.

"I think any government seeks reproduction. It is an axiom, I did not
invent it. It is another problem whether it is good or bad, but let
us take into account that if the government wants to reproduce and
improve, it is not bad, if at the same time the security, prosperity,
growth of people is sustained," Vahan Hovanisyan says. Ostensibly, Bako
Sahakyan is "good reproduction" for the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, otherwise
the decision to support Sahakyan made by the ARF Dashnaktsutyun
Karabakh, which is allegedly opposition, would be illogical. The stance
of this organization is the stance of the party which was spelled out,
and Vahan Hovanisyan has nothing to add.

Nevertheless, the logic of the decision of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s
Karabakh organization and generally the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s stance on
the presidential election of Karabakh is not distinct. The point is
that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun insists on naming president of Armenia,
meanwhile in Karabakh it did not name president and supports the
government’s candidate. In answer to the question of Lragir.am Vahan
Hovanisyan said Armenia and Karabakh are different.

"I think the importance of the Armenian presidential election and
the Karabakh presidential election cannot be compared. For the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun, it is highly important to remain independent in
this stage.

This is the reason why we insisted on this decision," Vahan Hovanisyan
says. In this case, isn’t the independence of the Karabakh organization
important to the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s leadership, which tolerates
the decision of this organization to support the candidate of the
government?

"Look, in Karabakh, I repeat the conditions are different. And if
some people make the Karabakh presidential election a political
event of global importance, we think the security of Karabakh does
not depend on the personality and approaches of the president of
Karabakh only. It is fought for and prepared here as well. Finally,
a clash in the presidential election in Nagorno-Karabakh is not
justified, because the final result is not justified. We had such
experience when we had our president in Karabakh who was opposed to
the Armenian government. We know how difficult it was to prevent the
reality that posed threat to Karabakh. It is hard work and in political
calculations the parties should first take into consideration the
national interests. We think the national interests require a quiet,
swift change of government in Karabakh and a clash of ideas, opinions,
approaches in Armenia. This is what the necessity for development
requires," the member of the ARF Bureau member thinks.

By saying that Dashnaktsutyun had its president in Karabakh Vahan
Hovanisyan means that before the presidential government the parliament
of Karabakh had two leaders from the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Arthur
Mkrtichyan and Georgy Petrosyan who now is the foreign minister of
Karabakh. "We were strong at that time, but the political opponents
were also strong, and relied on the Armenian government," Vahan
Hovanisyan says. And by saying political opponents he means the wing
which brought Robert Kocharyan to power in Karabakh.