GUAM POSTPONES DISCUSSION OF RESOLUTION "ON FROZEN CONFLICTS" AT UN

Yerevan, December 4. ArmInfo. The issue on "frozen conflicts" that
was submitted to the discussion of UN General Assembly by GUAM will
not be considered today on December 4. Permanent Representative of
Armenia at UN Armen Martirosyan told RFE/RL that that a coordination
meeting of GUAM took place in Georgia and the Ambassadors of GUAM
states to UN informed him that the discussion of the issue has been
postponed till next year.

To recap, 16 countries, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Turkey, Great Britain and the USA, voted for submission of the
initiative to the consideration of UN General Assembly. 15 countries,
including Armenia, Russia, Greece, Algeria, Indonesia and South African
Republic voted against the discussion of the initiative by the General
Assembly. A. Martirosyan said the postponement was not accidental as
the document is rather disputable, in his opinion. It is at least
difficult if not impossible to discuss 4 different conflicts under
one resolution. Especially when its authors tried to find the keys
to 4 conflicts in one resolution, A. Martirosyan said.

He added that the attitude of the UN to the document is "very careful."

NATO REP.: ARMENIA ACTIVE PARTICIPANT OF NATO PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE PROGRAM

Yerevan, December 4. ArmInfo. The Individual Partnership Action Plan
(IPAP) of Armenia with NATO is mainly aimed at security sector, NATO
expert Evert Somer told journalists in Yerevan, Monday. E. Somer is
in Armenia to participate in a seminar devoted to crisis management
that has got underway today, on December 4.

He said IPAP consists of numerous components, including the
cooperation with the Rescue Service of Armenia and the role of crisis
management. NATO expert said that Armenia is an active participant
of the EuroAtlantic Partnership Council and NATO PfP program. It
takes an active part in the events organized. That is why, he and
his colleagues from the USA and the Netherlands are in Armenia and
hope for a successful meeting, the expert said.

ARMENIAN PM ATTENDS CEREMONIAL CLOSING OF ARMENIA’S YEAR IN RUSSIA IN SAINT PETERSBURG

Yerevan, December 4. ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan participated in the ceremonial closing of Armenia’s Year
in Russia in Saint Petersburg.

The Armenian Government press-service told ArmInfo that before
attending the ceremony, Andranik Margaryan visited the opening of an
exhibition "Culture of Armenia" at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

The constantly refreshed exhibition represents a considerable period of
Armenia’s history starting from the Hellenistic epoch. The ceremonial
closing of Armenia’s Year in Russia was held at Yekaterininsky
Palace. Vice Premier of the Russian Government Dmitry Medvedev attended
the ceremony as well.

ARMENIA SAYS UN DEBATE MAY "SERIOUSLY DAMAGE" KARABAKH TALKS

Mediamax, Armenia
Dec 1 2006

Yerevan, 1 December: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said
in Yerevan today that Armenia continues to oppose the GUAM [alliance
of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova] initiative to discuss
the issue of frozen conflicts at a UN General Assembly session.

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today, the foreign minister
noted that passing a resolution on the matter may seriously damage
the talks to resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, which have been
moving ahead in a constructive way recently, Mediamax reported.

Vardan Oskanyan also said that it was unacceptable "to put into one
basket" all the conflicts in the post-Soviet countries. "The mediators
themselves said repeatedly that the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is
considerably different from all others," Vardan Oskanyan said.

Responding to a question, the foreign minister said that "Armenia does
not consider the possibility of becoming a member of GUAM since the
ideological basis of this organization does not suit our interests".

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BAKU WILL NOT RECOGNIZE THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM IN NKR

ArmRadio.am
04.12.2006 13:49

"Azerbaijan will not recognize the results of the Constitutional
Referendum in Nagorno Karabakh," says the statement of the Azeri MFA
disseminated in Baku.

"Any constitutional document on the autonomy of the population of
Nagorno Karabakh region can be applied only through a thoroughly
elaborated legal, democratic and peace process, in which both the
Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of the region will have equal
legal rights to participate," the statement notes.

SWEDISH PARLIAMENT DISCUSSING THE ISSUE OF THE COMMUNAL GRAVE FOUND IN TURKEY

ArmRadio.am
04.12.2006 15:02

Swedish leftist MP Hans Linde presented an inquiry to the legislative
body of the country connected with the communal grave found in Turkey
on October 17, which, according to Swedish historian David Gaunti, is
the grave of 270 Armenians and Assyrians murdered at the Instruction
of Young Turk leader Halil Edip.

"Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" newspaper reports that before December 6 the
Swedish Parliament will discuss the above-mentioned inquiry. According
to the source, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, who is due to
respond to the inquiry, has demanded reports from Swedish diplomatic
representations in Ankara and Istanbul. Commission formed of diplomatic
representatives of Sweden will visit Ksirabebaba village to investigate
the case.

No study of the case has been launched in Turkey so far. According to
the same source, Turkish army officers have instructed to close the
entrance of the cave where the grave was found. Turkish soldiers do
not allow journalists to enter the cave, and dwellers of the village
have been prohibited to show the way to the cavern. Recently, local
Police told mass media representatives that the grave has been covered
with soil.

ARMENIA’S POTENTIAL TO FIGHT TERRORISM TO BE DISCUSSED AT CODEXTER SITTING

ArmRadio.am
04.12.2006 12:14

In the framework of the 11th sitting of the Council of Europe’s
Committee of Experts on Terrorism /Codexter/ the core characteristics
of Armenia’s potential to fight terrorism will be presented in
Strasburg today

ArmInfo agency was told at the Press Service of the Council of
Europe Office that besides Armenia, the core characteristics of
Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Russia, Sweden and Macedonia will also
be presented. Members of the Committee will discuss issues related
to the compliance to the provisions of the convention on fighting
terrorism and the cooperation with Interpol.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KAREL DE GUCHT: THE KARABAKH SETTLEMENT PROCESS HAS MOVED FROM THE DEAD POINT

ArmRadio.am
04.12.2006 15:47

"A move from the dead point" is felt in the process of settlement of
the Karabakh conflict, but it would be a senseless thing to anticipate
resolution of the Karabakh issue in Brussels, OSCE Chairman-in-Office,
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said today, speaking at the
sitting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers, "Trend" agency
reports.

The sitting, featuring Foreign Ministers of 56 member states, is
dedicated to the rise of effectiveness of the organization’s activity.

JIVAN GASPARYAN’S DUDUK WILL SOUND IN THE KREMLIN HALL

ArmRadio.am
04.12.2006 16:16

Together with the National Orchestra of Russia world-known legendary
duduk player Jivan Gasparyan will perform the best musical parts from
the "Day Watch," "The Gladiator" and "The Passion of the Christ" films.

"This is a unique concert, for the first time I will play two
parts with a symphonic orchestra," Jivan Gasparyan said during
a press conference in RIA Novosti. He said he had played with the
symphonic orchestras of Boston, Vienna and London, but only for 10-15
minutes. The musician said this is the first time he I meeting with
the Russian National Orchestra.

The fans of the great maestro will enjoy duduk without the orchestra,
since Jivan Gasparyan is going to present several Armenian national
compositions.

CONSTITUTION AS A NATIONAL VALUE

Yerkir.am
December 01, 2006

Everything that is accomplished by the nation during its history is
considered to be national value. National values can be developed
through evolution, they can be natural or enforced, or they can be
duplicated voluntarily.

>From this perspective, customs and traditions, religions, ideologies,
national culture and science can be considered as national
values. These value systems are what distinguishes nations from
one another.

Each of the above-mentioned values has its sub-values. For instance,
if the language is a value for the Armenian nation, then Grabar
(the old Armenian), Eastern Armenian, and Western Armenian can be
considered as national sub-values in the overall value system of the
language. In our national value system, the concept of independent
state has a history of only one century because of historical reasons.

Before that, mostly after the fall of the Ani and Cilicia Kingdoms,
the Church and regional rulers had taken up the functions of our
nation state, and they managed to preserve the concept of the state
only partially. The statehood, as a national value, re-emerged in
our history during the First Republic of 1918.

The elements of this value – the anthem, the tri-color, the cote d’arms
and other symbols became values that present our statehood. In our
case as well, as a newly emerging state, we need to create a value
system that would present our statehood. The natural evolution of
this process has reached a point when a constitutional referendum
will soon be held in the Nagorno Karabagh Republic.

Let us once again state that national values are created by the nation
itself. They cannot be imposed over a short period of time. Values
emerge from history. In order to carry these values through history
we need to educate the nation on these values. And for this, we need
national unity and conciliation.

We have the honor to found a new value in our national value
system, a value which is the Constitution of the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic. Adoption of the Constitution will not immediately make it
a national value.

The Constitution, as the basis of all laws, should be accessible to
everyone. Accessibility does not mean availability of some booklets
or promotional materials. Accessibility should be ensured through
every day implementation and compliance with the Constitution. If
we manage to achieve this, the Constitution of the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic will emerge as a national value.
"Aparazh" (Rock), Stepanakert