ARMENIAN GENERAL BENEVOLENT UNION MARKS ITS 100

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.12.2006 18:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Diaspora is a means of widening the
living space of our nation, a way to pass the cultural wealth of
the nation to each other, a solid basis for economic and political
investments, with the help of which the Diaspora can participate in
awakening of the state and people," said Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian in Paris during the 100th celebration of Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU). "After gaining Independence in
Armenia AGBU became one of those national structures, which actively
participates in reconstruction of the Armenian State. I am sure that
in the upcoming 10 years Armenia will have a steady progress. We
do not have an alternative. Only by this way we can preserve the
national originality of the new Diaspora, offering them a democratic
and prospering Armenia, to which they can resemble and be proud of,"
underlined Oskanian.

In Paris Oskanian met with AGBU presidency and leaders of other
Diaspora organizations. During the meetings issues of reconstruction
of Armenian villages have been discussed, reports press office of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

EBRD TO DOUBLE ITS INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIA

Armenpress
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: The European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) has pledged to double the amount of its
investments in Armenia.

Michael Weinstein, head of the EBRD Armenia Office, said told reporters
today that EBRD’s current investment portfolio in Armenia made 60
million euros.

He said this figure is expected to grow to 120 million euros by the
end of 2008.

EBRD provides credits for development of agriculture, small and
medium-sized businesses, health and other sector. In a latest report
EBRD praised Armenia for continued economic growth saying, however,
it was largely due to the increased foreign investment, a high inflow
of remittances, strong private consumption and an increase in exports.

It said construction, services and investments driven by remittances
and bilateral grants will help to maintain Armenia’s economic
momentum in the short term, but warned that a combination of continued
currency appreciation and high energy prices that led to strengthened
inflationary pressures pose a significant risk in the medium term.

ARMENIA RECEIVES FIRST DISBURSEMENT FROM MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES CORPORATION

Armenpress
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: A senior U.S. diplomat praised today
Armenian authorities for doing a great deal of good job to meet the
requirements for the first disbursement of $1.4 million from the
U.S. government-funded Millennium Challenges Corporation (MCC).

Anthony Godfrey, charge d’affaires of the U.S. embassy in Yerevan, told
a news conference today that MCC has already transferred to Armenia
$882,000 and will transfer another $507,000 later this month. Under
the Compact signed by the MCC and Armenia, the latter will receive
$236 million in extra U.S. aid to develop its rural areas.

The Armenian Compact is designed to reduce rural poverty through a
sustainable increase in the economic performance of the agricultural
sector. Armenia plans to achieve this goal through a five-year program
of strategic investments in rural roads, irrigation infrastructure
and technical and financial assistance to improve the supply of water
and to support farmers and agribusinesses. The Program will directly
impact approximately 750,000 people, or an estimated 75 percent of
the rural population, and is expected to reduce the rural poverty
rate and boost annual incomes.

The Compact includes a $67 million project to rehabilitate up to 943
kilometers of rural roads, more than a third of Armenia’s proposed
Lifeline road network. When complete, the Lifeline road network
will ensure that every rural community has road access to markets,
services, and the main road network.

Under the Compact, the Government of Armenia will be required to commit
additional resources for maintenance of the road network. The Compact
also includes a $146 million project to increase the productivity
of approximately 250,000 farm households (34% of which are headed
by women) through improved water supply, higher yields, higher-value
crops, and a more competitive agricultural sector.

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government corporation
designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is
based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces
good governance, economic freedom, and investments in people that
promote economic growth and elimination of extreme poverty.

ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS PRAISE KARABAKH REFERENDUM

Armenpress
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: A group of Armenian parliament
members who traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh to watch a constitutional
referendum there last Sunday said today in Yerevan the referendum
was fair, just and transparent.

A parliament member Samvel Nikoyan from the Republican Party, said it
was a move in the right direction. "It marks a new democratic phase
in Nagorno-Karabakh’s drive to build a democratic state," he told.

Another parliament member Shavarsh Kocharian described the referendum
as ‘an event of key significance that will have impact on all future
developments." He argued that the referendum will spoil Azerbaijani
efforts to portray the conflict as a territorial dispute with Armenia.

Asked to comment on the negative international reaction to the
referendum, after the EU and the Council of Europe said they would
not recognize it as having legal validity, Shavarsh Kocharian
blamed the international organizations for recognizing Azerbaijan’s
constitution which he said was ‘a disgrace, a constitution becoming
of a dictatorship regime."

ARMENIAN AND GREEK DEFENSE MINISTERS HAD SHORT MEETING IN YEREVAN

Armenpress
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: Defense minister Serzh Sarkisian
had a short meeting today at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport with defense
minister of Greece, Evangelos Meimarakis, who made a stop-over in
Armenia on his way to Afghanistan to inspect a Greek peacekeeping
battalion serving there.

Armenian defense ministry said the two ministers spoke about bilateral
military cooperation, as well as about Armenian peacekeepers serving
in Kosovo under the command of a Greek battalion.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IS SEFILIAN ONE OF KARABAKH LIBERATORS OR FOREIGN CITIZEN?
By Marieta Khachatrian

AZG Armenian Daily
13/12/2006

The statement disseminated by RA Defense Ministry aroused certain
concerns yesterday. According to that statement, the U.S. sources have
definite proofs that Lebanese citizen Zhirayr Sefilian and his allies,
in particular, "The Union of Armenian Volunteers" organization, are
aimed to hinder the coming elections by committing extremist acts. It
was emphasized in the statement that the members of the abovementioned
organization called for taking certain steps sparing no forcible
methods for seizing the power in the republic. The statement is full of
various characterizations of Sefilian, who fought in the Karabakh war
in 1990s, is a commander who was awarded the Battle Cross medal. In
particular, in the statement he is called a foreign who is financed
by untrustworthy sources, a person who strives for having political
adventures. Besides, according to the statement, on December 10 the
relevant U.S. forces arrested Sefilian and instituted a criminal case
against Vardan Malkhasian, one of the leaders of the organization.

Yesterday, at "Armenia-Marriott" hotel, Aram Karapetian, leader of
"Nor Zhamanakner" opposition party and Samvel Haroutiunian, member
of "The Union of the Armenian Volunteers" initiative, as well as MP
Hmayak Hovhannisian, represented the details of the arrest. According
to them, Sefilian was arrested during the restaurant party organized by
"Vivacell."

In particular, on December 9, 15 members of the law enforcement bodies
in masks entered the hall, made everybody lay down on the floor, even
the pregnant wife of Sefilian, his friend and the wife of his friend
and arrested Sefilian. On the same day, about 40 members of initiative
were arrested, but were released few hours later. H. Hovhannisian
stated that on December 2, during the sitting nobody called for the
committing violence. He added that he will appeal to the Prosecutor’s
Office, and institute a criminal prosecution against 17 people
who held speeches at the sitting, including him. The opposition
representatives, present to the sitting, were mainly concerned that
all the abovementioned facts as well as the statement by the USA imply
deporting Mr. Sefilian in the same manner as Vahagn Chakhalian. The
opposition parliamentarians said that such state of things reminds
of the repressions of 1937 and may rouse the people’s hatred towards
the authorities.

Deputies Paruyr Hayrikian, Grigor Harutiunian, Michael Apresian,
Raphael Ghazarian and Garnik Margarian proposed to address the
Government a petition requesting to set the detainees free and grant
Armenian citizenship to Sefilian and thus prevent his deportation.

All these, considered in context with the possible suppression of
the Karabakh problem, the contradictory statements of the Armenian
and Azerbaijani sides, the adoption of the Constitution in Karabakh
(which delimitates the borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and
proclaims all its territories intangible), can make one think that
those events are linked somehow. Most probably Armenia’s firmness
in its intention not to yield its historical territories and the
constitutional definition of Karabakh’s borders force the international
structures and interested countries accept the present state of things
in Karabakh.

P.S. In the late evening we were informed by Sefilian’s lawyer that the
Government had made decision to deport Mr. Sefilian to Aleppo. "But
the authorities did not take two things into consideration," said
the lawyer, "first that Sefilian’s Lebanese passport is outdated
and that his wife is the assistant of the Lebanese Ambassador to
Armenia. Therefore Sefilian is subject to the articles of the Geneva
Convention".

CRRC-ARMENIA AND AIPRG ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

AZG Armenian Daily
13/12/2006

On Saturday, December 9, 2006, the Caucasus Research Resource Centers
– Armenia (CRRC-Armenia), in cooperation with the Yerevan office of
the Armenian International Policy Research Group (AIPRG), organized
a roundtable discussion on "Armenian-Turkish Relations: Challenges
and Perspectives", which was moderated by political analyst Richard
Giragosian. The round table was initiated by an independent Turkish
think-tank TESEV (Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation)
that is implementing a project entitled, "The Normalization of
Turkish-Armenian Relations".

This TESEV project seeks to address the problems between the two
countries and to come up with policy proposals for decision makers on
both sides, with an overall objective of proving that the normalization
of relations constitutes a win-win situation.

The event was held at CRRC-Armenia premises and attended by a
number of participants (27), including representatives from leading
Armenian academic, scientific and public institutions, NGOs, and some
journalists. Opening the meeting, Heghine Manasyan, CRRC-Armenia
director and AIPRG fellow, presented a brief overview of the CRRC
and AIPRG, explaining their activities and upcoming events. In
particular, she cited the CRRC Data Initiative and Training programs
and the AIPRG’s ongoing research on the possible consequences of
the Armenian-Turkish border opening, including a subsequent AIPRG
conference on the issue to be held in Yerevan in January 2007.

Following the opening of the meeting, Mr. Mensur Akgun, TESEV
Foreign Policy Program Director, and Mr. Richard Giragosian,
international analyst and AIPRG Fellow, introduced the framework
of issues of Armenian-Turkish relations that were to be discussed
during the meeting. The meeting focused on three specific areas of
Armenian-Turkish relations, beginning with the key question of what
should be understood from "the normalization of relations?"

Second, the meeting then addressed several "problem areas"
in Turkish-Armenian relations, including the border, and its
recognition, the economic consequences of its closure, and the possible
outcomes of reopening the border for both sides; the effects of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on bilateral and multilateral relations;
the current situation in the region; the latest developments in
negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; and the effects of
the Armenian genocide issue on Armenian-Turkish relations, looking
at both mutual perceptions and the Diaspora factor.

The third issue addressed in the meeting was an analysis of Armenia’s
Euro-Atlantic integration process and its possible effects on bilateral
relations and regional stability (Armenian policy regarding NATO,
Armenia’s place in ENP). Much of the focus on these broader issues
also included an interesting look at the scale of change within Turkey
as well.

The discussion was held in a friendly and professional atmosphere
and raised substantial interest among the participants and sparked
a number of questions, observations and suggestions, including the
fact that Turkish policy toward Armenia had largely become "hostage"
to Azerbaijan, with Turkish foreign policy options for its possible
"normalized" relationship with Armenia having become subject to
considerations of Turkey’s relations with Azerbaijan in general,
and over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in particular. The discussion
also emphasized the importance of dialogue and exchange between
independent experts from both Armenia and Turkey and the need for
future collaboration, and studies on possible scenarios for the future
course of Armenia-Turkey relations within a broader perspective of
the next 15-20 years.

The Turkish participants noted that the economic and commercial
opportunities may present the most feasible start to a "normalization"
of relations, with the economic incentives serving as dynamic catalysts
for beginning a fresh approach to the complexities of Armenian-Turkish
relations.

While the meeting was an important step forward in terms of a
deepening of dialogue and exchange, the participants agreed that it
was merely a first step toward an effort to break down misperceptions
and misunderstandings on both sides of the issue. And perhaps most
notably, while the Turkish participants never questioned the historical
legitimacy of the Armenian genocide issue, there was a stress on the
need to focus on educating and engaging Turkish society on the issue,
rather than continuing with an international diplomatic recognition
effort alone.

The meeting, one of several scheduled during the Turkish group’s visit
to Yerevan, offers a sense of hopeful enthusiasm that the level of
engagement can continue, to both overcome the intransigence of some
Turkish officials and to exploit the Armenian government’s positive
offer of establishing relations with no preconditions.

SCIENTISTS BELIEVE ALL FINANCIAL SOURCES ALLOCATED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE SHOULD BE SPENT ON SECURING COMPETITIVE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS
By Rouzan Poghosian

AZG Armenian Daily
13/12/2006

On December 9-10, the Interdepartmental Commission, as well
as RA National Fund for Promotion of the Science and Leading
Technologies initiated "The Principles for Reforming in Scientific
Sphere" discussion in Tsakhkadzor. It’s worth mentioning that the
leadership of RA National Academy of Science didn’t participate in
the discussion. As for the absence of the leadership of RA National
Academy, Harutyun Karapetian, head of RA National Fund for Promotion
of the Science and Leading Technologies, stated that they have no
problems with the academy leadership and they only have a concept
that has almost nothing in common with the science. "Armenia isn’t
rich in financial sources and, at the same time has huge scientific
potential. Thus, all financial sources allocated for the development
of the science should be spend on securing competitive scientific
results," he said. He added that provincial approaches are applied
at the Academy when giving the various academic degrees.

Karapetian added that only competitive scientific results should be
financed. He said that the concept is a good one, expect for the points
for the Academy and the Higher Qualification Committee. "Their statuses
remain unchanged, they can yield good results neither for the country’s
development nor for European development approaches," he said.

On his turn, academician Eduard Ghazarian touched upon the issue of
Nan technologies. He stated that Nan technologies can’t be a primary
line for the Armenian science, though in 1991 there were 21 thousand
specialists of Nan Technologies in Armenia and we still have the same
potential," he said.

As for the concept for scientific development, he said that wee
seem to be fallen into a swirl for already 4-5 years and fail to
make progress. He said that in order to make progress, one should
elaborate the scientific development program and mechanisms for its
implementation as soon as possible.

Ara Avetisian, RA Science and Education deputy Minister, emphasized
that the newly appointed Director of RA Economy Institute at
RA National Academy should elaborate the economic aspect for the
concept’s implementation.

Samvel Gevorgian, lecturer at the Yerevan State University’s Physics
Faculty, stated that a council dealing with the scientific development
issues should be shaped at RA President’s or RA Prime Minister’s Office
that will include also young Armenian scientists that work abroad. He
added that the academy should only evaluate the scientific value of
the researches and elaborate strategic plans, the rest should be done
by the council. He added that the concept is a plan of actions that
should lead us to the destination we attain.

It’s worth mentioning that RA Science and Education Minister Levon
Mkrtchian wasn’t present at the conference, either.

ARMENIA IS ONE OF THE COUNTRIES THAT HAVE A SMALL EXTERNAL DEBT
By Ara Martirosian

AZG Armenian Daily
13/12/2006

In 2006 it will be 1 billion 261 million dollars

New economic bonds will be put out on January 16 next year, which
are designed for natural persons. The guest of Economic Journalists’
Club Arshaluys Margarian, head of external debt regulation department
at Finance and Economy Ministry, said 2 days ago. He noted that their
reimbursement deadline would be from 3 months till 25-30 years. But
the first putting out will be for 9 months or 1 year term. They will
be sold not by auction but by direct sell during a month.

To the basic subject which interested people about bonds profit
Arshaluys Margarian responded that they are a little low of bank
middle deposit rate. Now the rate is 7-7.5. Why low? As it is known,
the public bonds are out of competition and they have low profit
but they are guaranteed. Arshaluys Margarian stated that the first
edition would be in the amount of 100-150 million drams and then he
touched upon the main subject of the press conference about external
and internal debts service.

"We have the best credit portfolio", assured Arshaluys
Margarian. Credits acquired from the International Financial
Organizations are for 30-40 year deadline and they have 10 years
privileged term and almost without any rate. It does not make a serious
overload on the budget and Armenia is counted as one of the countries
with small external debt.

The GDP-the external debt correlation was 22 percent last year,
this year it will be 21 percent, next year 17 percent.

In 2006 according to 9 months results the Armenian external debt
is 1 billion 168 million dollars. In Arshaluys Margarian’s words,
it will be 1 billion 261 million dollars by the annual results. It
is expected that the external debt will increase till 1 bln 369 mln
dollars. Here are amounted the sums which the International Financial
Organizations according to the accepted decision is giving to Armenia.

How is the reimbursing of the external debt getting on? According
to Arshaluys Margarian, in 2006 Armenia has liquidated 16.8 million
dollars or 7 billion drams of the credit sum and 9 million dollars or
3.7 billion drams of rates. Next year it is expected to pay off 17.2
million dollar or 6.2 billion drams of the credit sum and 10 million
dollars or 3.6 billion drams of rates. The head of public debts
regulation department said that the greatest paying off would be in
20250-2026 years. Taking into consideration the study results made by
international organizations, he said that even at the worst (economic
recession till 2.5-3 percent, diminution of export and increasing of
import) Armenia would remain a country that has a small external debt.

As for to the internal debt it is 58 billion drams.

Only this year it became 7 billion drams.

ZHIRAYR SEFILYAN IS CONCERNED ABOUT HIS PROBABLE BANISHMENT FROM THE COUNTRY

A1+
[06:10 pm] 12 December, 2006

"Zhirayr Sefilyan is not surprised by his arrest", Vahe Grigoryan,
Mr. Sefilyan’s advocate informed A1+.

In Mr. Grigoryan’s words, Sefilyan is not discouraged by his arrest; he
is currently concerned over his probable banishment from his homeland.

"Zhirayr Sefilyan deems his banishment probable as the steps of the
acting authorities lead to it", says Vahe Grigoryan and adds that the
representatives of the National Security Service treat Sefilyan kindly
and politely. "Their treatment is determined by Zhirayr Sefilyan’s
reputation". Vahe Grigoryan informed us that Zhirayr Sefilyan cannot
be banished from the country without the corresponding legal grounding.

Reminder: Zhirayr Sefilyan, coordinator of a public organization
Protection of Liberated Territories and commander of the Shushi
battalion has settled in Armenia since 1988. He had his great share
in the Artsakh war and its victory.

All his applications to receive RA or NKR citizenship have been turned
down by the current authorities – by the very authorities who have
granted Sefilyan many titles and awards.