Author: Zakarian Garnik

ARMENIA CONNECTED TO INTERNET VIA SATELLITE – AGENCY

Regnum, Moscow
7 Aug 06

7 August: Armenia is currently connected to the Internet via satellite,
which explains the low speed and poor quality of connection, the
press secretary of the national operator, ArmenTel, Asmik Chutilyan,
has told our Regnum news agency correspondent.

ArmenTel has exclusive rights to provide access to international
telecommunications from Armenia.

"In comparison with Saturday [5 August], bandwidth has been
doubled. Steps are being taken to expand it further and bandwidth
will probably be expanded before the end of the day," the company
representative said, noting that repairs and restoration work on the
fibre-optic cable in the bed of the Black Sea will be completed within
10 days.

[passage omitted: background information on Internet failure in
Armenia]

ARMENIA TO HAVE FULL INTERNET COMMUNICATION IN 10-15 DAYS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, NOYAN TAPAN. Since August 6, Armenia has been
almost deprived of Internet communication for two days because of
the damage of the cable on the Black Sea bed. NT correspondent was
informed by Hasmik Chutilian, head of ArmenTel’s PR Department, that
the Internet communication has been partly restored by other means
of communication, in particular, by satellite communication. "The
cable was damaged on the sea bed, which makes the restoration work
difficult and may take 10-15 days," H. Chutilian noted.

PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN RECEIVES CREDENTIALS OF NEW
AMBASSADOR OF GERMAN TO THE COUNTRY

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Aug. 7, 2006

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on 7 August received credentials
of the newly appointed ambassador of the Federative Republic of
Germany to the country Per Christopher Stanchina.

The Ambassador expressed pleasure for diplomatic activity in
Azerbaijan. Noting that realization of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project
and integration of Azerbaijan to world policy and economy is of great
importance the Ambassador estimated the economic action scheduled
for late this year in Germany as significant. ‘Germany will make any
effort to assist Azerbaijan to join New Neighborhood Policy of the
European Union’, the Ambassador underlined.

Ambassador said he is aware of difficulties caused by delay of
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict and
without solution of this problem Azerbaijan cannot realize its full
potential.

Per Christopher Stanchina expressed hope for peaceful settlement of
the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and in the frame
of international principles. The German diplomat said he would try
for expansion of relations between Azerbaijan and his country.

The President and German ambassador were taken their photos in memory.

Head of the Azerbaijan State wished success to Ambassador in his
diplomatic mission.

Azerbaijan posts highest H1 industrial output growth in CIS

Interfax, Russia
Aug 4, 2006

Azerbaijan posted the highest year-on-year industrial output growth
in the CIS in the first half of 2006 at 41.1%, the CIS Interstate
Statistics Committee said Thursday.

Industrial production increased 22.4% in Turkmenistan, 12.6% in
Belarus, 6.3% in Tajikistan, 5.1% in Kazakhstan, 4.4% in Russia and
3.6% in Ukraine.

Production fell 6.8% in Kyrgyzstan, 6.4% in Moldova and 1% in Armenia.

The CIS statistics committee does not have industrial production
figures for Georgia, and Uzbekistan.

GDP grew 6.5% year-on-year on average in the CIS in the first half
of 2006 and industrial production was up 5.5%.

GDP growth was highest in Azerbaijan at 36.3%. GDP went up 11.9%
in Armenia, 10.1% in Belarus, 7.1% in Tajikistan, 5% in Ukraine, and
3.1% in Kyrgyzstan. GDP has not yet been calculated for the rest of
the CIS countries.

"The economic growth trend will continue to be restored throughout
the CIS in 2-6. However, half of the countries will see a lower rate
of growth than in 2005 and 2004 for many basic economic indicators.
The CIS Statistics Committee predicts that GDP will increase by an
average of 6% in the CIS, compared with 6.8% in 2005 and 8.1% in 2004,
and average growth in EurAsEC countries is, respectively, 6%, 6.7%
and 7.5%," the committee said.

"The rate of GDP growth in Azerbaijan will continue to grow at a record
high rate with continued increased oil production and the official
launch in June 2006 of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline," analysts predicted.

"For Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, GDP growth will be higher than the
relatively low base from the previous years. Ukraine saw the lowest
GDP growth in five years among all the CIS countries in 2005, while
in Kyrgyzstan production remained virtually at the same level as the
previous year due to reduced production at Kumtor," the analysts said.

"GDP growth is expected to slow in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Moldova and Russia," the committee said. me

AZERI GENERAL CONSUL CONCERNED ABOUT STATEMENT OF HEAD OF KARS
ADMINISTRATION ABOUTING UNBLOCKING BORDERS WITH ARMENIA

Yerevan, August 2. ArmInfo. The Turkish-Armenian borders may be
unblocked under three conditions only. APA informed that Hasan
Zeinalov, General consul of Azerbaijan to Kars, stated about this.

"The borders may be unblocked only, Armenia should renounce the issue
of the Armenian Genocide, give up territorial claims from Turkey and
leave the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Zeinalov said. He added
that there are forces in Turkey that are interested in unblocking the
border with Armenia. "I state once again that the issue of unblocking
the borders is neither in the plenipotentiaries of the head of regional
administration, nor in the rights of the interested forces," he said.

It’s worth mentioning that Alibekoghlu, head of Kars administration,
emphasized the importance of opening borders with Armenia in the
interview to "Turkish Daily News" newspaper. He said this will help
export the Turkish goods to the Middle East and Far East by a cheap
and reliable path.

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to discuss Karabakh in Paris

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
August 1, 2006 Tuesday 2:55 PM MSK

BAKU Aug 1

Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs Matthew Bryza, a co-chairman of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, is leaving Baku for
Paris on Tuesday to meet with his colleagues from Russia and France.

I came here as a co-chairman to listen to the opinions of Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mamedyarov, Bryza said after talks with the authorities of the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, adding that he was leaving for Paris
on Tuesday to meet with the other co-chairmen.

Bryza visited Azerbaijan and Armenia, where he listened to the opinions
of the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the settlement.

Baku lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts
in a bloody conflict with Armenia in the 1990s. The conflict sent
some one million Azerbaijanis fleeing to seek refuge.

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group from the United States,
Russia and France are involved in efforts to settle the conflict.

Official tolerance to visits to Karabakh aimed at defeatist peace – Azeri daily

Yeni Musavat, Baku
31 Jul 06

The Azerbaijani authorities’ recent tolerance to some visits from
Azerbaijan to Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh is part of their policy
to prepare the people for defeatist peace, the opposition daily Yeni
Musavat has said.

"Some NGO representatives, human rights activists and journalists have
recently increased their visits to Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh. The
authorities, which previously organized propaganda against such
cases, have started to show tolerance to such visits. For instance,
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has recently said that such visits
are necessary as it is high time to put an end to mutual hatred. It
seems that a rise in the number of visits to Armenia and Nagornyy
Karabakh is part of the authorities’ policy to prepare the people for
defeatist peace," the daily said, commenting on the recent visit of
the chairperson of the Azerbaijani National Committee of the Helsinki
Citizens’ Assembly, Arzu Abdullayeva, to Karabakh.

However, the paper also added that Abdullayeva’s position on Karabakh’s
direct participation in the peace talks was against Azerbaijan’s
official stance. The paper quoted Regnum news agency as reporting
that Abdullayeva said this at the meeting with the separatist leader
of Karabakh, Arkadiy Gukasyan, on 30 July.

DAVIT HAROUTIUNIAN: "MAYBE I AM A BAD SOLDIER BUT I DON’T WANT TO BECOME A GENERAL"

YEREVAN, JULY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Minister of Justice Davit
Haroutiunian will be included in the political sphere, but he will
pretend to the post of the President of the country neither in the
coming elections, nor ever. He announced about this at the July 25
meeting with the journalists. "You can consider me a bad soldier,
but I don’t want to become a general," mentioned the minister of
justice in response to the Noyan Tapan correspondent.

For the purpose of promoting political activity, Davit Haroutiunian,
in his words, is not going to found a new party. He mentioned that
he rejected this variant from the beginning as he considers such
idea depreciated as a result of emergence of a number "egocenter"
parties in Armenia.

Informing that he was going to join one of the present parties,
Haroutiunian mentioned that he was not ready to give any information
about this yet. "I will announce my decision when I decide my next
step", said the minister in response to the questions about his
joining Prosperous Armenia and or Republican Parties.

Haroutiunian mentioned that there are parties which he will never
join, but he refused to name them. At the same time, in his words,
there exist a number of parties in the political sphere of the country
"about joining which it is worth thinking." In the minister’s words,
such parties are already formed, and the constitutional amendments
will inevitably bring to increase in the qualify of political sphere.

STATE DEPARTMENT MISLED SENATE ON TURKISH COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT AMB. EVANS

WASHINGTON, JULY 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. In yet another
troubling development concerning the controversial nomination of
Richard Hoagland to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Department
of Justice records have revealed that the State Department has
misled the U.S. Senate regarding its communications with the Turkish
government concerning the February 2005 public affirmation of the
Armenian Genocide by U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a letter, dated June 28, 2006 written on behalf of Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice to Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), the
Ranking Democrat of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
the State Department denied that the Turkish government had even
approached the Administration on this issue. However, official
Foreign Agent Registration filings by the Turkish government’s
registered foreign agent, the Livingston Group, document that, in
the days following Ambassador Evans’ February 19, 2005 remarks, one
of Turkey’s agents communicated on at least four different occasions
with State Department officials concerning the envoy’s statement and
his subsequent retraction.

"With each new revelation, we see more clearly the corrosive
impact that the Administration’s complicity in Turkey’s denial is
having on our own core values as Americans," said ANCA Chairman Ken
Hachikian. "This latest failed attempt by the State Department to
mislead the Senate adds to the many compelling reasons to block the
confirmation of a new Ambassador to Armenia."

Consistent with the pattern of unresponsiveness that has come to
characterize the Administration’s actions on the Hoagland nomination,
the only answer the State Department chose to provide in response
to Senator Biden’s four questions was a misleading one. His other
inquiries – including an official request for an explanation of why
Ambassador Evans was being replaced prematurely – remain unanswered.

On June 23rd, as part of Ambassador Richard Hoagland’s confirmation
process to replace Amb. Evans in Yerevan, Senator Biden wrote a letter
asking Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a series of questions
including the following: "Has the State Department received any
communication – written, electronic, or spoken – from the Turkish
Government concerning Ambassador Evans?"

Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Jeffrey T. Bergner
responded on behalf of Secretary Rice with the following assertion:
"Please be assured that allegations that the U.S. is removing
Ambassador Evans under pressure from the Government of Turkey
are simply untrue. The Government of Turkey has not approached the
Administration on this issue, and the United States and Turkey engaged
in no diplomatic exchanges related to this matter."

However, Justice Department filings by the Livingston Group reveal
that a day after Amb. Evans’ statements on the Armenian Genocide were
publicized in an ANCA-San Francisco press release dated February
24, 2005, a Turkish agent communicated with the State Department
concerning his statements. On February 28, 2005, one business day
after the agent’s first phone call, Ambassador Evans issued his
first public retraction – noting that his mention of the Armenian
Genocide was made in a private capacity. Later that same day, the
Livingston Group reported three additional calls between one of
Turkey’s agents and State Department officials including the Deputy
Chief of Mission-designate at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara to discuss
Ambassador Evans’ retraction. The very next day on March 1, 2005,
Ambassador Evans issued a public correction of his retraction –
removing entirely any mention of the Armenian Genocide.

In addition to the Justice Department filings, several Turkish
press accounts reported that officials of the Government of Turkey
communicated their concerns to the State Department regarding
statements made by Ambassador Evans:

1) Turkish Press

On March 3, 2005, Turkish Press reported that, "Turkey’s Ambassador
in Washington Faruk Logoglu reacted to this. Ambassador Logoglu
reminded his interlocutors in the State Department that the United
States did not recognize ‘Armenian genocide’ noting the expression
in Evans’ apology was unacceptable. Justifying Turkey’s warning,
US State Department made Evans to issue a ‘correction’ for the
apology." ("Evans Had to Correct His Statement Again After Using
‘Genocide’ in His Apology," Turkish Press, March 3, 2005)

2) Anadolu News Agency

On March 4, 2005, the Anadolu News Agency reported that, "The Turkish
ambassador to Washington Faruk Logoglu reacted to this message and
the Washington administration approved Turkey’s demand and made
Evans correct the message of apology. Logoglu reminded the US State
Department that the US does not recognize the Armenian genocide,
but the term was used in the message of apology of the US Yerevan
Ambassador. Logoglu noted that a term that is not accepted by USA could
not be used in a statement of policy." ("Double Genocide Correction
from US Yerevan Ambassador," Anadolu News Agency, March 04, 2005)

3) Turkish Daily News

On May 27, 2006, Turkish Daily News reported that, "’After his remarks
last year that caused reaction at the State Department and by Turkey,
Evans was gi ven a second chance, but he continued to deviate from the
official U.S. policy, working almost as a part of Armenian groups
that have a specific agenda,’ one U.S. analyst familiar with the
matter said on Thursday. ‘As a result he was recalled.’" ("US Envoy
Fired Over ‘Genocide’ Claims," Turkish Daily News, May 27, 2006)

The ANCA has circulated relevant sections of the Justice Department
FARA filings to Congressional offices.

"RESCUER 2006" CPX CREATES PRECONDITIONS FOR FURTHER INTERNATIONAL
July 24, 2006

COOPERATION FOR ARMENIA
ARKA News Agency, Armenia

YEREVAN, July 24. /ARKA/. The joint command-post exercises (CPX)
"Rescuer 2006" created preconditions for further international
cooperation, the US Co-Commander of the "Rescuer 2006" CPX, member of
the National Guard, Kanzas, USA, Colonel Joe Wheeler told reporters.

He pointed out that numerous difficulties, particularly linguistic
ones, arose during the exercises. However, all the tasks set to the
participants were accomplished. Wheeler reported that attention was
focused on tactical decisions and on planning specific procedures.

Without making any appraisal of the exercises, he pointed out that
they must be finished before. On behalf of the Kansas National Guard,
Colonel Wheeler thanked the RA Ministry of Defense for high-level
organization of the exercises. The "Rescuer 2006" CPX are held under
NATO’s "Partnership for Peace" program, involving 300 servicemen
from 11 countries: the USA, Armenia, Albania, Austria, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Macedonia, Romania, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

The USA-sponsored exercises are held under a joint program of the US
European Command and the RA Ministry of Defense. P.T.