VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO: UKRAINE STANDS FOR NAGORNO KARABAKH AUTONOMY WITHIN AZERBAIJAN
ArmRadio.am
09.09.2006 14:19
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko declared at the Slavonic
University of Baku that official Kiev considers that the Karabakh
conflict should be resolved with “the indisputable maintenance of
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.”
Yushchnko noted that the conflict could be settled only based on
the withdra wal of Armenian troops from the “occupied territories,
return of refugees and provision of autonomy to Nagorno Karabakh
derived from the results of the referendum.” The President noted that
“the main principle to be taken into consideration is the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan.”

DERBYSHIRE TOWN NAMED ‘MOST ENGLISH’ PLACE IN THE COUNTRY
Brussels Journal, Belgium
Sept 10 2006
Grey Wolves in Politics: The Immigrant Far-Right Joins the European Left
>From the desk of Paul Belien on Sun, 2006-09-10 21:21
The immigrant vote is becoming ever more important in Europe. In
many countries foreigners are allowed to vote in local elections
(in addition to thousands of immigrants who have been granted
citizenship). In last spring’s municipal elections in the Netherlands
the immigrant vote tipped the balance clearly in favour of the Left.
Indeed, immigrants in Western Europe, who often migrated in order to
enjoy generous welfare benefits, are rentseekers who vote in favour
of maintaining the welfare systems of the states that invited them in.
Pim Fortuyn tilted Dutch politics to the Right, but I think this was
only a temporary phenomenon, and would have been temporary even if
Fortuyn had not been assassinated. Pieter Dorsman pointed out that,
contrary to what the mainstream media write, Dutch politics has not
turned Right, but I doubt whether the main causes are the divisions
among the Right following Fortuyn’s assassination and the disastrous
handling of the Hirsi Ali case. I suspect that European politics will
swing dramatically to the Left in the coming decades, owing to the
growing influence of an immigrant vote eager to retain and expand
the welfare benefits.
Of course, the immigrants will not be able to remedy the economic
flaws of the welfare state. Hence, there is no doubt that the welfare
systems will collapse. Moreover, the immigrant electorate will thwart
any attempts to gradually remedy Europe’s economic catastrophe through
abandoning the self-defeating welfare politics. This makes it even
more likely that the system will collapse in chaos, possibly even
(as Fjordman fears) in violence when the rentseekers will use force
instead of the vote to grab what they feel they are entitled to. Many
indigenous Europeans are considering emigration. Partly because they
no longer feel secure and at home in their own country, and partly
because the welfare state claims most of their income, while they
have little hope that this will change in the future.
In last Spring’s municipal elections in the Netherlands, 92% of the
non-indigenous electorate voted for parties of the Left. Moreover,
they voted almost exclusively for candidates of their own ethnic
groups on the parties’ electoral lists, driving out indigenous
candidates. Instead of starting their own parties immigrants have
begun to take over existing ones.
Belgium is holding municipal elections on October 8th. It is striking
that in immigrant neighbourhoods, such as the Turkish Antwerp district
of Old Berchem, one only sees posters of candidates from the ethnic
background specific to the neighbourhood. As the immigrants voters
constitute a growing segment of the population, especially in large
and middle-sized cities, all parties, except the “islamophobe”
Vlaams Belang (VB, Flemish Interest), have begun to put forward
foreign candidates. Filip Dewinter, the VB leader in Antwerp, told
the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws this weekend that his party (which
is currently the largest in town with 33% of the vote) might win
the elections again this year, but cannot continue to do so. “I am
a realist. The number of potential voters for our party is declining
year by year. Currently a quarter of the population are immigrants.
These people do not vote for us. Every year 4,000 indigenous
Antwerpians move out and 5,000 immigrants move in,” he said.
“In ten years’ time the number of new [naturalized] Belgians in
Antwerp has doubled to 55,000 [Antwerp has 460,000 inhabitants] –
half of whom are Moroccans. […] If the number of foreigners in
Antwerp continues to grow by 1.5% a year, as it currently does, then
in twenty years from now there will be more people of foreign than
of indigenous extraction in this city. […] Our party has foreign
members, but I do not want to be a hypocrite. At present we do no
put forward ‘alibi Ali’ candidates. But I know that it is bound to
happen some day. We extend our hands to welcome every foreign-born
person who wants to become a Fleming among the Flemings.”
It is doubtful, however, that many rentseeking immigrants, even those
who are situated ideologically on the far-right, would want to join
a party that is generally perceived as being opposed to the European
welfare system. Belgian parties had to submit their electoral lists
this week. Ironically, Belgian establishment parties such as the
Socialist Party and the Christian-Democrat Party, who both claim to
abhor the far-right, have put forward Turkish candidates who belong
to far-right, islamist and anti-Socialist groups.
This is ironic in two respects. Firstly because these same parties
solemnly announced that, even if the VB wins on 8 October, they will
refuse to form local coalitions with the VB because they consider the
VB to be… far-right. And secondly, because far-right immigrants,
who belong to groups that hate Socialists and Christians at home, are
joining Socialist and Christian parties in their European host country.
Mehmet Ozcelik, a member of the Socialist Party caucus in Berchem,
is close to the Grey Wolves, an extremist group which denies the
1915 Turkish genocide of 1.5 million Armenians and which is accused
of assassinating political adversaries. The Grey Wolves are also said
to have organised the anti-Kurdish riots and raids on Kurdish shops in
Brussels in 1994 and 1998. Last April 8th, Mr Ozcelik was present at a
Brussels meeting of the Turkish far-right Nationalist Movement Party
(Milliyetci Hareket Partisi, MHP) in honour of the late Alparslan
Turkes, a Turkish Fascist and racist who founded the MHP.
Mesut Yucel is another Antwerp Socialist candidate for the October
elections. Mr Yucel is a party hopper, who entered politics six years
ago on the list of the far-left Green Party. Like Mr Ozcelik, he is a
member of the Belcika Turk Federasyonu (BTF, Association of Turkish
Organisations in Belgium), a group which links various Grey Wolves’
cells in Belgium.
In Ghent, another city with a large concentration of Turks, one of
the Christian-Democrat candidates is Fuat Korkmazer. Mr. Korkmazer
was the chairman of Turk Ocagi (TO), a cultural organisation of the
Grey Wolves. He only resigned from his function as TO chairman last
Friday, after having been exposed in the Flemish press. According
to the papers he had been appointed TO chairman at a BTF meeting
attended by Devlet Bahceli, the current party president of the
far-right MHP. On April 8th. Mr Korkmazer, too, attended the BTF
meeting in Brussels in honour of the late Alparslan Turkes.
Pierre-Yves Lambert, a Brussels police officer, told the Belgian
newspaper De Morgen last week that political parties must be careful
whom they recruit. “The Parti Socialiste in [the Brussels borough
of] Schaarbeek also has a Grey Wolf within its ranks,” he said,
“while the second candidate of the MR [Francophone Liberal Party] in
[the Brussels borough of] Sint-Joost-ten-Node withdrew his candidature
after it was revealed that he had told a Turkish paper that he would
make his party revise its position on the [Armenian] genocide.”
The leading Turkish politician in Brussels is Emir Kir, a Socialist
member of the Brussels regional government. Mr Kir is the Brussels
secretary for public monuments and is campaigning for the demolition of
the Brussels monument commemorating the 1915 genocide of the Armenians.
20
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HEADS OF NKR PERMANENT REPRESENTATIONS HELD CONSULTATIONS IN THE MFA
ArmRadio.am
09.09.2006 15:08
One of these days consultations of Heads of NKR Permanent
Representations were held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Nagorno Karabakh.
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs told “Armenpress” that the
problems Karabakh diplomacy faces were clarified during the
consultations. Participants of the meeting discussed current issues,
which, particularly, refer to the cooperation of the MFA Central
Apparatus and NKR Permanent Representations, dissemination of precise
information on Nagorno Karabakh in the world and prospects of further
development of collaboration between Permanent Representations of
the Republic.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES WORKS CARRIED OUT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
8 Sep 06
A council on the fight against corruption led by Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Markaryan has discussed a process of strategic
measures to combat corruption. Reform programmes have already been
carried out in the main. The prime minister instructed the council
to issue a full report on the work carried out so that the public
will be able to familiarize itself with these measures.
The reforms were mainly carried out in three areas – the state
administration, the civil service and financial management. The prime
minister instructed the monitoring commission on fighting corruption
to discuss problems relating to civic societies with representatives
of public organizations with aim of involving them in the programme
as well.
The Armenian president’s aide, Gevork Mgeryan, was elected chairman
of the monitoring commission to combat corruption.

RIGHTS & CONCERNS OF THE LEBANESE-ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
Elias Bejjani
Global Politician, NY
Sept 10 2006
The LCCC (Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council) strongly denounces
the Lebanese Government’s unjust refusal to call off the Turkish Army’s
participation in the UN Peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) mandated by
the UN Security Council to deploy in South Lebanon in the aftermath
of the devastating 34-day long Israeli-Hezbollah war. The denied
request was made officially by Lebanon’s Armenian community in all its
denominational, political and social sectors and representatives. The
same appeal was made to the UN General Secretary, Mr. Kofi Annan.
The government’s refusal of the request is not merely a harsh
response of indifference and an act of condescendence in dealing
with one of Lebanon’s basic eighteen communities that make up the
multicultural and multiethnic Lebanese society, but it is in fact a
blatant infringement on a central article of the Lebanese constitution
that states: “No authority violating the common co-existence character
shall be legitimate”.
Alienating the Armenian community, ignoring its genuine concerns and
keeping a blind eye on its painful history hinders Lebanon’s national
unity, indicates plainly and sadly that the Saniora government is
ruling with the same oppressive strategies of marginalization and
discrimination inflicted by the Baathist Syrian regime on numerous
Lebanese communities during Syria’s 29-year long horrible occupation
that came to an end 16 months ago.
The Lebanese Armenian’s community cry for justice is well understood
and well supported by the majority of the Lebanese people. This
well-respected community does not believe that the Turks should be
allowed under any given circumstances to be a part in any peacekeeping
mission before their state admits publicly the genocidal massacres
the Turkish Ottoman rulers committed in 1915 against the Armenian
people. 1.5 million Armenians were brutally murdered in cold blood
by the Ottoman Turkish Army in 1915 and many territories of their
country were confiscated and still are.
This is besides the fact that the Turkish Army is not qualified to play
a neutral role between the parties involved in the current conflict
unfolding on the Lebanese soil. The Turkish Parliament has made the
participation of its troops in UNFIL conditional on not taking part
in any assignment aiming to disarm Hezbollah.
Meanwhile the Lebanese people did not yet forget the hardships,
oppression, starvation, displacement, torture and humiliation
committed by the Ottomans during their 400 years of bloody and criminal
occupation of Lebanon and neighboring countries that ended with World
War I.
The LCCC appeals to both the Lebanese Government and the United Nations
to call off immediately the participation of the Turkish Army in the
peacekeeping mission of UNIFIL in Lebanon, and to block any other
UN similar task involving the Turks before the Turkish Government
publicly and officially admits the Genocide Massacres the Ottomans
committed in 1915 against the Armenian people and accepts all ethical,
moral and legal responsibilities.
The LCCC affirms the fact that any marginalization of any of Lebanon’s
eighteen distinct cultural, ethnic and religious communities is in
effect a flagrant infringement on the Lebanese constitution, the
principle of shared living, consensual democracy, national unity and
the UN Human Rights Charter.
We salute the Lebanese Armenian community in its longing for justice
and fully support its legitimate request submitted for both the
Lebanese government and the UN.
Elias Bejjani is a human rights activist, journalist & political
commentator. He is the Spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human
Rights Federation (CLHRF) and the Media Chairman for the Canadian
Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC) E-Mail: [email protected]
LCCC Web Site: com/articledes.asp?ID=2129&cid=2&sid=5
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN JOURNALIST SENTENCED TO 4 YEARS FOR DRAFT DODGING
AP Worldstream
Sep 09, 2006
The editor of an Armenian newspaper famous for its critical coverage
of government policies was sentenced to four years in prison for
draft dodging _ an unusually severe punishment condemned by media
activists as an attempt to stifle freedom of speech.
A Yerevan court on Friday found Arman Babadzhanian, 26, editor of the
daily Zhamanak-Yerevan (Yerevan Times) guilty of forging documents to
avoid compulsory military service. Babadzhanian admitted to forging a
marriage and children’s birth certificates of a friend living in the
United States in order to dodge the draft, but said he never stole
the documents, as prosecutors contend.
Babadzhanian spent some time in the U.S., where he criticized Armenian
authorities in local media, and then returned to Yerevan to run the
daily, which regularly criticized the government.
Media watchers said the sentence was unusually harsh, considering
draft-dodging normally carries a maximum three-year prison sentence
under Armenian law, and accused authorities of repressing independent
journalists.
“It’s not me who is on trial, its free media,” Babadzhanian said at
a recent court hearing.
Military service is compulsory in Armenia for men aged 18-27. Those
with two children or more do not have to serve, and university students
are eligible for draft deferrals.

PAPER GIVES POLL RATINGS OF CANDIDATES FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENT IN 2008
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
9 Sep 06
Text of report by Armenian newspaper Aykakan Zhamanak on 9 September
headlined “Ratings”
Since 7 August the Election Systems Centre has initiated a new Internet
project entitled “The ratings of possible candidates for the post of
Armenian president in 2008”. Yesterday it published its first results
as of 8 September. A total of 23.7 per cent of those questioned said
they were ready to vote in favour of Vazgen Manukyan [the leader of the
National and Democratic Union], 10.3 per cent for Artur Bagdasaryan
[leader of the LGCP], 9.8 per cent for Andranik Markaryan [prime
minister], 8.8 per cent for Serzh Sarkisyan [defence minister], 8.2
per cent for Levon Ter-Petrosyan [first Armenian president], 6.3 per
cent for Vardan Oskanyan [foreign minister], 4.7 per cent for Gagik
Tsarukyan [leader of the Prospering Armenia party], 4.4 per cent for
Aram Sarkisyan [leader of Republic party], 3 per cent for David
Arutyunyan [justice minister], 2.9 per cent for Stepan Demirchyan
[leader of Justice bloc], 2.9 per cent for Artashes Gegamyan [leader
of National Unity party], 2.8 per cent for Gurgen Arsenyan [leader
of the United Labour Party] and 2.8 per cent for Tigran Torosyan
[parliamentary speaker]. The centre emphasized that incidents of
unfair voting had been observed from those who voted for Vazgen
Manukyan. As for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, his name was included in the
list two weeks later. Incidentally, there is no mention of how many
people had participated in the poll as of the 8th September. The poll
will continue up to the election.

THE LANGUAGE WAS UNIVERSAL
By Donna Gorman
Christian Science Monitor, MA
Sept 10 2006
Making friends and learning the language in Armenia took longer than
expected – until the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
The house we moved into was huge and beautiful. The neighborhood
was supposed to be one of the best in all of Yerevan, the capital of
Armenia, but it didn’t impress me.
Our elegant house was surrounded by an eight-foot wall topped with
gleaming metal spikes. The neighboring houses were large, and while
many were walled like ours, others were protected by flapping plastic
tarps or corrugated metal sheeting that rattled ominously in the
wind. Stray dogs roamed streets full of potholes. Soviet-era cars
careened down the hill, with no sidewalk separating pedestrians
from vehicles.
In the Monitor Monday, 09/11/06
Across the street was a small cinder-block building, a shop that had
been tacked onto the front of a house as an afterthought. The windows
of this squat little place were covered with bars. The walls were
crumbling, the paint peeling. Two scrawny cats groomed themselves at
the entrance.
Every day I walked past this little shop on my way down the hill to
work, and the laughter I heard from within seemed directed at me,
the foreigner. The metal shop door slammed closed behind customers
who exited with loaves of bread tucked under their arms, hurrying
past with surreptitious glances.
I couldn’t see past the bars and the dusty glass, so I avoided the
store, choosing instead to frequent a larger one near my office,
even though I had to lug bags of groceries home on a rickety bus.
Then one day, I ran out of bread. I gathered my courage and opened that
creaking metal door, squinting into the shadows. Makeshift shelves
stretched from floor to ceiling, piled high with candy, shampoo,
and flour, among other necessities. A glass case filled with cheese
and sausage separated the customers from the cash register.
Another glass case, which ran the length of the shop, was filled with
ice cream. I stood cautiously near the door, looking for the bread.
The woman behind the counter smiled at me. In Russian, she greeted me:
“So you’re the new neighbor. We’ve been expecting you. I’m Anna.
Come in, come in.”
She called into a back room, summoning the rest of her family from
the house for introductions: her white-haired husband, Gevorg;
daughter-in-law, Hasmik; three sons; and two small grandchildren,
who hid behind their mother.
They all lived together in the house behind the shop, and they ran
the store together. They peppered me with questions, all speaking at
once in Russian, which I understood, and in Armenian, which I didn’t.
It took 30 minutes to get the bread and cross the street again, and
in that time, I realized what a fool I’d been to travel across town
twice a week when everything I wanted was in that store.
A few days later, I ran out of eggs. I grabbed some change and dashed
across the street. This time, Anna introduced me to some of her other
customers. It took almost an hour to buy my eggs, as the neighbors
lined up to meet me, to ask me about America. These same neighbors
had seemed so unwelcoming, hostile even, just one week before.
On my third visit to the store, I confessed that I was studying
Armenian. So Anna switched from Russian to Armenian: “What do you
need today?” she asked me slowly.
The line behind me grew as I stumbled through my order, but Anna
wouldn’t let me switch back to Russian. The store grew crowded as
my neighbors gathered to cheer me on, laughing good-naturedly at my
mistakes, pleased to hear me try.
Soon I began stopping by the store each day to greet Anna and buy a
crusty loaf of bread. One day I asked why she almost never took money
from anyone, choosing instead to write their totals in a dog-eared
book she kept by the register.
Her smile faded. “The people here, they are so poor, so poor. If they
can’t pay now, I’ll give them what they need. Some day, if they have
the money, they’ll pay me back.”
She pulled out her book. “This one here, she’s a widow,” Anna said.
“How will she survive without me?” The widow owed $75, an impossible
sum in a country where most don’t earn that in a month. “This man lost
his job. But he has children to feed. They all have children to feed.”
She put the book away, patting it carefully. “Some day, they will
pay me. And if they can’t, well, I still can’t turn them away.”
When I had the time, I stood in the store practicing my Armenian with
anyone who stopped at the register. My Armenian improved slightly,
but it was still a struggle to speak and be understood.
I grew to love this place, so different from home. The people in
Anna’s store seldom had any money, it’s true, yet they weren’t poor
except in the financial sense of the word. The friends I made were
loud and passionate people who shared what little they had with their
extended families. Families were close-knit, with several generations
under one roof – all pitching in to move each day forward.
On Sept. 11, 2001, I sat in my Armenian house and watched as the
faraway events unfolded on my television. I sat all afternoon and
into the evening – shocked, unmoving – eyes glued to the TV screen.
Although I’d lived overseas for years, I’d never felt quite so far
away from home, quite so lost in the middle of nowhere. The life I’d
constructed for myself in this land suddenly seemed lonely, and I
desperately wanted to be back in America, to grieve with people who
understood what had just happened.
The next morning, feeling a bit numb, I ventured out to work, past
the flapping plastic tarps and rattling metal fences – all familiar,
yet still eerie somehow.
On my way past the store, Anna ran out and stopped me. “We saw your
light on last night and wanted to come over,” she said, “but we didn’t
want to disturb you. Oh, I am so, so sad and sorry.”
Behind her stood a small clutch of customers, my neighbors, all lined
up to offer me their condolences. Some cried when they spoke. They
spoke to me in Russian and in Armenian. And I understood.

AGENCY QUESTIONS ARMENIA’S EU ADMISSION CHANCES FOR YEARS TO COME
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
9 Sep 06
Armenia, as well as other South Caucasus states, should forget
about speedy EU admission in the near future, the Armenian news
agency Mediamax has said. Although certain moves have been taken by
both sides towards each other, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia lag
behind their European neighbours in terms of holding ” free, fair
and transparent elections, the results of which would raise doubts
neither in the country itself nor outside”, it said. In addition,
Baku’s problems with the EU over ties with Northern Cyprus are
another obstacle for all three South Caucasus countries, Mediamax
added. The following is text of report in English by Armenian news
agency Mediamax headlined “Unclear European prospects for Armenia”;
subheadings inserted editorially:
This week, the Armenian authorities made just another step to
demonstrate seriousness of Yerevan’s intentions concerning the issue of
deepening the relations with the European Union. On 7 September, the
Armenian government made a decision on setting up a National Council
for Armenia’s cooperation with the EU, as well as a Commission for
coordination of the cooperation. We should remind that in July 2006 a
Commission for the coordination of the cooperation with the European
structures was set up in Armenia chaired by President Robert Kocharyan.
In early October, a delegation of the European Union Troika will
visit the South Caucasus. It is expected that during the visit the
Action Plans of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia under the European
Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) will finally be signed.
EU and Armenia differ on cooperation objectives
All the above mentioned, undoubtedly, proves that the sides make
serious steps towards each other. However, sometimes there is an
impression that the European Union and Armenia differently interpret
the goals and the objectives of their deepened cooperation, and this
often becomes a reason for discords and disappointment.
The Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) of Armenia with NATO,
put into force in December 2005, was the only document in which Armenia
officially voiced its desire to become a full EU member. “In line with
its objective to integrate into European structures and institutions,
Armenia intends to enhance its cooperation with the European Union
and to seek closer institutional compatibility with the ultimate goal
of full membership,” the document reads.
It is significant that several months after the approval of the IPAP,
in April 2006, the Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said the
following in the interview to “Golos Armenii” newspaper: “Today,
Armenia is preparing for a closer cooperation with the European
Union within the European Neighbourhood Policy, but we have not set
the task to join the EU.” This “mismatch” is an obvious evidence of
the absence in the Armenian government of systemic approach to its
relations with the EU.
On the other hand, the European Union makes it clear that it is not
ready to consider the issue of the membership of Armenia, Georgia and
Azerbaijan in the foreseeable future. The special representative of
the EU in the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, said in May 2006 that
“although the EU offers deepened relations to regional countries
within the ENP, this does not envisage a prospect for membership in the
EU”. Semneby admitted that the absence of such a prospect in a certain
context deprives the regional countries of motivation, necessary for
the continuation and the deepening of political and economic reforms.
South Caucasus states not ready to join EU
Hence, the states of the region and Armenia, in particular, in reality
cherish a dream to join the EU. The European Union, on the contrary,
openly declares that the discussion of the prospects for joining the
EU for the South Caucasus states is a utopia today. Most likely, the
main reason for the present state of affairs is that Brussels clearly
realizes that today’s striving of the South Caucasus states to join
the EU is reasoned to a greater extent by mercantile considerations
rather than by perception of one’s own European identity. The main
proof for that is in particular the incapacity of the countries of
the region to hold free, fair and transparent elections, the results
of which would raise doubts neither in the country itself, nor outside.
Baku’s problems with EU another obstacle
The Armenian diplomats, in their turn, declare that the EU strive for
indispensable preserving the “parity” in the development of relations
with the South Caucasus states hinders the real integration processes.
Let us remember that the Armenia-EU talks have been postponed twice
because of some problems in relations between Baku and Brussels. In
summer 2005, the talks with Armenia on the Action Plan have been
postponed for several months because Azerbaijan decided to open
a direct air communication with the Turkish Northern Cyprus. In
response, the authorities of [the Republic of] Cyprus vetoed the
consideration of the Action Plan with Azerbaijan. In 2006 Armenia-EU
talks stopped again. This time Baku insisted that EU included the
phrase “the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict can be resolved only within
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity” into Azerbaijan’s Action Plan.
The European Union, for its part, took a time-out.
The further relations of the South Caucasus states with the
EU will mostly depend on realization of Action Plans, in which
special attention is paid to the issues of democracy and human
rights protection. And while the Armenian authorities have yet to
determine as to how sincere they are in their strive for deepening
cooperation with the EU, the population of the country has already
made its decision. The data of the survey carried out this spring
by Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization proved that 80 per cent
of polled Armenian citizens think that Armenia should in the future
enter the EU. Only 3 per cent of the polled were against Armenia’s
accession to the EU.

BULGARIA: ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER’S VISIT STARTS ON 11 SEPTEMBER
BTA news agency
8 Sep 06
Sofia, 8 September: Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan opens
a three-day official visit to Bulgaria [on] Monday [11 September]
at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Veselin Bliznakov,
the Defence Ministry’ Press Centre said on Friday [8 September].
The two ministers will discuss cooperation in the defence sphere
and will sign a joint declaration on its development. They will also
discuss issues of regional and international security.
During the visit the guest will be received by Bulgaria’s President
and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Army Georgi Purvanov,
National Assembly Deputy Chairman Petur Beron and the leaders of the
National Assembly Defence Committee.
Sargsyan is scheduled to visit the Vasil Levski National Military
University in Veliko Turnovo and the Graf Ignatiev aviation base.