ARMENIA AND KAZAKHSTAN SIGNED SEVERAL BILATERAL DOCUMENTS
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2006 18:06 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A number of bilateral documents were signed
today in Astana upon completion of talks between Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian. The sides
concluded agreements on mutual travels of the citizens, the convention
on cancellation of double taxation and prevention of avoiding
taxation on income and property, the intergovernmental agreement on
international automobile communication, the intergovernmental agreement
on encouragement of mutual protection of investments and agreement
on cooperation in the cultural field, reports Kazakhstan Today.

ILHAM ALIEV’S POLICY CONCERNING THE QUESTION OF ARMENIA IS FULLY IN DEADLOCK
PanARMENIAN.Net
03.11.2006 GMT+04:00
Matthew Braisa: “The President of Azerbaijan can say whatever he wants;
we are not going to comment on any of his statements”
The only obstacle for the continuation of the negotiations and for the
achievement of the success in the settlement is the absence of trust
between the nations. Absolutely everybody speaks about it, including
EU, OSCE, and the co-chairmen countries of MG OSCE in the adjustment
of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict. And exactly in that question the
whole world is powerless. The reason is not the unwillingness of
the Armenian side to carry on a normal dialogue as it is the way of
putting up the things in Azerbaijan but in the idea carried on by
Ilham Aliev about the total isolation of Armenia.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Sometimes it even seems that the president of
Azerbaijan has lost his sense of reality and proportion and he thinks
that if Azerbaijan still lives in the feudal Middle Ages then the rest
of the world has the same idea as he has -to annihilate the Armenia
that dares to stand on the way of the “Great Azerbaijan”. We can
only guess what the reactions of the political figures and world-wide
mass media towards these statements are, since the Azerbaijan press
comes breathless with delight from their president’s openness at
the time when the other countries keep absolute silence. We can
suppose that this silence is not a mark of consent but just an
unwillingness to comment on this absurdity. Matthew Braisa from the
USA in the framework of MG OSCE reacted best of all to junior Aliev:
“The president of Azerbaijan can say whatever he wants; we are not
going to comment on his statements”.
Ilham Aliev will fail to drive Armenia at a deadlock and to become
“the second national leader’ by the example of his father for a
variety of reasons. The main cause that he, being just the image of
his father, makes statements that match only for a tribal princeling
with excessively developed ambitions. By the way, Haydar Aliev will
never let himself to make such statements. He treated the question
more seriously; the unfounded statements were not enough for him,
but he paid the mass media for reports in the favor of Azerbaijan. It
was the way during the war of Karabagh. And later in Moscow and not
only there the matter was quickly taken under control and they began
writing and showing what was really going on. Making the impact of
the Armenian lobby greater, roughlyspeaking Azerbaijan doubts the
common sense of the whole world.
The fact that Ilham Aliev’s policy in the matter of Armenia is driven
at a deadlock is clearly known in Baku. They also know that not the
Azerbaijanis can become impatient, as by the highest standards nothing
matters to them but the world community can lose the patience. Ilham
Aliev’s hopes concerning the political dividends from the oil-pipe line
can not become the very truncheon with the help of which the Armenians
of Karabagh can be “pacified”. To put it mildly, these dividends are
more like soap bubbles, as judging by the words of American expert
Richarg Giragosyan, the value of the oil-pipe line Baku-Tbilisi-Ghehyan
turns to be in the direct dependence on Kazakhstan. That is to say
if tomorrow Nursultan Nazarbaev decides that there is no point to
support Azerbaijan than he will just turn off the tap. And it will
mean the end of Aliev’s flow of the oil dollars. And if we add onto
all this the steady slump in oil prices then Azerbaijan will appear
in difficult straits. The oil in Caspian Sea makes 3% of the world
wide explored reserves; in the Middle East it makes 63%. It is a
simple arithmetic-Azerbaijan can not be seriously perceived by the
USA and Europe as one of the leading suppliers of hydrocarbons. And
it means that the political influence of that country is in the direct
dependence on that very 3%.
“PanARMENIAN.Net” analytical department

SAAKASHVILI MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURE OF GEORGIA
Armenpress
Nov 06 2006
TBILISI, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: A public opinion survey in Georgia
has found that its president Mikhail Saakashvili remains the most
influential figure of the country.
The survey conducted by a Georgian weekly -Kviris Palitra- among 552
readers found that 91.3 percent trusted their president. This was 0.7
percent down from a similar poll conducted by the weekly two years ago.
Second most influential figure was defense minister Irakly Okruashvili,
followed by interior and national security minister Vano Merabishvili
and parliament chairwoman Nino Burjanadze.

ARMENIAN DM SAYS DEFENSE BUDGET ENOUGH TO ENSURE HIGH COMBAT READINESS
Armenpress
Nov 06 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: Armenian defense minister Serzh
Sarkisian said today the amount of defense spending envisaged by next
year’s government budget is quite sufficient to keep an effective army.
Speaking to journalists after parliament hearings on 2007 budget the
minister said Armenia’s military budget for next year will soar by
35 percent. He said from now on Armenia’s military budget will make
3.65 percent of the country’s GDP. “Therefore the stronger Armenian
economy is the bigger the defense spending will be,’ he said.
The minister said nearly half of this budget will be used to pay army
officers. Next year the average wage of a military officer will grow
to 165,000 drams (approximately $450). The minister commented also
on Azerbaijan’s plans to increase its military spending for next year
up to $1 billion, saying a wise and thrifty use of the budget is more
important than its volume.
The draft 2007 budget calls for 100.4 billion drams (about $300
million) in military spending.

ARMENIAN AND KAZAKH PRESIDENTS HIGHLY ASSESS DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES
Armenpress
Nov 06 2006
ASTANA, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: Delegation headed by the Armenian
President Robert Kocharian has left today on a two-day official
visit to the capital of Kazakhstan Astana. The delegation consists of
Armenian Trade and Economic Development Minister Karen Tshmaritian,
Armenian Culture and Youth Affairs Minister Hasmik Poghosian, deputy
foreign ministers Gegham Gharibjanian and Samvel Avetisian, deputy
defense and education ministers Yuri Khachaturov and Bagrat Yesayan,
Chairman of the Armenian Central Bank Tigran Sargsian, Chief Prosecutor
Aghvan Hovsepian and other officials.
After the meeting ceremony negotiations took place at the residence
of the Kazakh president after which a number of intergovernmental
documents have been signed. At a joint press conference, followed
after the signing ceremony, the presidents of the two countries noted
that the documents will create a better basis for cooperation. Kazakh
President Nursultan Nazarbaev said that during the meeting with
his Armenian counterpart they mainly referred to the development of
trade-economic cooperation between the two countries as the volume
of the turnover does not satisfy either of the sides.
President of Armenia Robert Kocharian pointed out the high level of
the political dialogue existing between the two countries but he said
bilateral economic cooperation between the countries is rather weak.
“Kazakh business has started displaying interest towards Armenia,”
Kocharian said, noting that the Armenian-Kazakh inter-governmental
commission for economic cooperation, which held its second session
yesterday, may have an essential role in the development of bilateral
relations.
The two presidents also referred to the cooperation in the humanitarian
sphere. Robert Kocharian said that the potential of the two countries
is not being fully used in this sphere.
Kocharian also said that during the meeting with his Kazakh counterpart
he presented to him the current pace of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
regulation process.
Tomorrow the Armenian president will meet with the representatives
of the Armenian community in Kazakhstan.

“SERGE SARGSYAN IS A CORRUPT OFFICIAL”
A1+
[07:32 pm] 06 November, 2006
Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan uses his administrative and personal
means in order to reach his aims. According to Amalya Kostanyan,
Armenian representative of “Transparency International”, this
is political corruption, as according to the definition of the
organization, “abuse of the state rank with the aim of personal
benefit is corruption”.
According to the representative of “Transparency International”,
the pre-election campaign which has already started non-officially is
also political corruption. The data of “Transparency International”
claim that the most corrupt field is that of political parties.
The political control over Mass Media, fabrications during the
elections, and voting of people who are not registered in the electoral
area is also corruption, Amalya Kostanyan announced in the National
Press Club.
According to the report of “Transparency International”, the
Corruption Perceptions Index is 2.9 but our country is among those
where corruption is widespread, despite the fact that Armenia has
been realizing an anti-corruption strategic program for the last
three years. “The investigations carried out in Armenia once in every
three years since 1999 show that level corruption is rising”, Amalya
Kostanyan said.
Nevertheless, the index of Armenia is lower than that of Georgia
(2.8), Azerbaijan (2.4) and Turkey (2.8).

POLISH MARSHAL IN THE PARLIAMENT
A1+
[04:05 pm] 06 November, 2006
RA NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan has had a private conversation with
Bogdan Borusevich, the Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland.
The NA Speaker found the visit of the Marshal important within the
framework of the policy of integration into the European structures. He
mentioned that it is the priority of the foreign policy of Armenia,
and Poland has considerable experience having become member of the
EU only two years ago. Referring to the relations with the NATO,
Tigran Torosyan mentioned that the Individual Partnership Action Plan
is being realized in Armenia, and the two countries can cooperate in
this respect too.
Bogdan Borusevich, who is in Armenia for the first time, expressed
readiness to support Armenia in deepening relations with the EU and
the NATO. The Marshal found it important that the 2007 Parliamentary
elections should be held up to democratic standards as the development
of Armenia depends on it greatly. Mr.
Borusevich also found the peaceful settlement of the conflicts
important for the stability and development of the region.
The Marshal of the Polish Senate also invited his Armenian colleague
to Poland on official visit.

“MY TONGUE IS MY ENEMY”
A1+
[07:45 pm] 06 November, 2006
After the announcement of Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan about
accusations against him by Aram Karapetyan, the head of the New Times
party has made a statement.
“Every time he has to answer a serious question, he calls people
pitiable. It is obvious that he loses control more and more
often. Despite the fact that Mr.
Sargsyan and I act in the Russian political-geographic field, he
has already lost the game with his illogical steps which has created
serious ground for mental disorder.
I would like to advise Mr. Sargsyan not to forget the famous Armenian
saying ‘My tongue is my enemy'”, Aram Karapetyan said.

CROSSROAD CHALLENGES
A1+
[05:22 pm] 06 November, 2006
Which are the problems and possibilities of the region at the crossroad
of East and West? What lessons has the 15-year independence taught
us? What is the economic policy the Governments should pursuit? These
and other questions will be answered by the international conference
to be organized in Yerevan.
On November 6-9 the conference of the famous British organization
“Wilton Park” titled “South Caucasus; perception of the region and
the challenges” will be held in Yerevan. This is the first time the
conference is held in South Caucasus.
The themes of the conference are political, security, economic,
environmental, terror, social and informational issues. Another
peculiarity of the conferences organized by the “Wilton Park” is that
the discussions are not shot in order to promote sincerity.
The participants of the conference are people of different
nationalities and professions.
RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan will deliver a speech during the
opening ceremony of the conference.
Special envoy of the UK to South Caucasus, sir Brian Fall,
deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia Georgi Manchgaladze, personal
representative of the OSCE CiO, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, former
special representative of EU to South Caucasus, Ambassador Heikki
Talvitie and others will make speech in the conference.

TURKISH SHOP-KEEPER AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
A1+
[07:50 pm] 06 November, 2006
Another attempt of rejecting the Armenian Genocide was made yesterday
in Vercelli, Italy. According to newspaper of “Azdak”, Beirut, the
exhibition of photos by Armin Vegner about the Armenian Genocide was
opened with a delay of 1.5 hours.
A little before the opening of the exhibition a Turkish shop-keeper
who lives in Italy tore away the posters, broke into the exhibition
hall and tore 5-6 photos; moreover, he beat down the Italian woman
working in the hall.
Shortly after that, the police arrested the aggressor.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress