WEB’S PRISONERS INCREASE, POSSIBILITIES DO NOT
Lragir.am
30 Aug 06
There are about 100 thousand users of the web in Armenia. 30 percent
are companies, 70 percent are individuals. The director of Arminco
Andranik Alexanyan told these facts to the news agency ARKA. He
said the number of the Internet users in Armenia goes up because
the information technologies are becoming an indivisible part of
everyday life, as well as a means of business. At the same time,
Andranik Alexanyan said the potential of the sphere is not used at
full. He gave the example of the regions where a lot of gifted people
are found but where the Internet is not available. The director of
Arminco appreciated the healthy competition on this market. He said the
Internet providers learn a lot from one another. “Our market is small,
and competition should be tolerant,” said Andranik Alexanyan. At the
same time, he stated that the Internet infrastructures in Armenia
are in an extremely bad state.
“The tariffs are extremely high, the highest in the world, whereas the
quality is bad,” said Andranik Alexanyan. He says Armentel is to blame,
for it does not give due attention to the creation of quality Internet
infrastructures. “Armentel abuses the monopoly and does not give due
attention to the development of the Internet n Armenia, which has a
great future both as a business and as an infrastructure. For Armentel,
however, this direction is not attractive because it is mostly
interested in cellular communication,” said Andranik Alexanyan. He
said the government should be consistent and require due fulfillment
of obligations assumed by contract. Andranik Alexanyan said only in
2006 the only fiber optic cable of Armenia was damaged 20 times and
the country did not have Internet.

PRESIDENT IS AGAINST FOR TWO REASONS
Lragir.am
30 Aug 06
The rumors that Robert Kocharyan is for the 100 percent proportional
system of election are not true, said Victor Soghomonyan, the speaker
of president August 30. Victor Soghomonyan says Robert Kocharyan has
two reasons to be against it.
“I will give two reasons. First, the political forces forming
government today, which the news reporters call coalition after
certain changes, met and came to an arrangement on the present
correlation. I mean the 90/41 format. And the president is against
breaking arrangements,” says Victor Soghomonyan.
According to him, the president is also against 100 percent
proportional system of elections because the political sphere is
still imperfect. Victor Soghomonyan says the president thinks it
is wrong to rip off the member of parliament from the voter, which
can be sustained by the majority system of election with the current
imperfect political sphere. “And this figure enables having members of
parliament elected from constituencies who will have direct contact
with their voters,” says the speaker of the president of Armenia,
hinting at the provision on 41 members of parliament elected under
the majority system foreseen by the Electoral Code reform.

PRESIDENTS WAITING FOR FOREIGN MINISTERS
Lragir.am
30 Aug 06
It is early to consider a new meeting of presidents in the framework
of the talks over the Karabakh conflict, stated Victor Soghomonyan,
speaker of president August 30. However, he did not deny that the
presidents may meet until the end of this year. Victor Soghomonyan said
it is accepted practice that the meeting of presidents takes place on
the basis of the outcome of the meeting of foreign ministers. Robert
Kocharyan’s speaker said the arrangement on the meeting of foreign
ministers was made on the eve, and a new meeting of Robert Kocharyan
and Ilham Aliyev depends on the outcome of this meeting.

AGAIN YEREVAN THREATENS TO DECLASSIFY
Lragir.am
30 Aug 06
“I did not threaten, sincerely,” in an August 30 news conference Victor
Soghomonyan, the speaker of the president of Armenia tried to sound
sincere, when the news reporters reminded him about the statement he
had made after the revelations of Matthew Bryza, and wanted to know
whether Armenia is still willing to declassify the talks.
“Yes, we announced that we are ready to publish all the documents,
i.e. all the documents that have ever been put on the table of
negotiations. I am sure that after publication much will become
clear to many people. In other words, what policies and by whom were
conducted, what and when the negotiators said. It will become clear to
everyone,” says Victor Soghomonyan. He repeated the view that Bryza
revealed the talks partly and selectively, creating an impression
that one of the parties is defensive.
“Sooner or later the documents are published, no matter how
confidential they are. Even a hundred years later. And history
will settle everything, and it will be clear who negotiated, how,
on the basis of what principles, what they were ready to give and
take, in short, all this will become known,” says the speaker of
Robert Kocharyan. However, he repeats that if more cases of partial
revelations of the talks occur, Yerevan is ready to publish the
contents of the talks at any time. Victor Soghomonyan says in different
years of Robert Kocharyan’s presidency the problem of Karabakh became
a subject of political manipulations, which the speaker considers
impossible to overcome, saying that history will settle everything.
The speaker of president declined to say who according to Yerevan
is to blame for the gridlock in the talks. Victor Soghomonyan says
the problem is to accept the reality as it is. According to him,
everything will change as soon as the conflict parties accept some
realities, including the independence of Nagorno Karabakh.

ARMENIA WILL NOT SEND PEACEKEEPERS
Lragir.am
30 Aug 06
For the time being Armenia will not send peacekeepers to the
Israel-Lebanon conflict area, stated the speaker of president of
Armenia on August 30.
“There are several reasons, I will mention two of them. First of all,
the question of mandate of peacemaking forces is not clear yet.
In other words, the boundaries their actions will be confined to are
not clear yet. And considering that the Armenian military unit cannot
have an important role beside other countries, additional problems
may occur. On the other hand, the Republic of Armenia is worried
about the interests of the large Armenian community in Lebanon,
realizing that the engagement of Armenian peacekeepers in different
clashes may bring about problems for the Armenian community,” says
Victor Soghomonyan. According to him, considering this, official
Yerevan decided that the Armenian peacekeepers will not join the
peacekeeping force to the area of conflict between Lebanon and Israel.

OSCE OFFICE REPRESENTATIVES VISIT PENAL COLONY FOR WOMEN AND JUVENILES
ArmRadio.am
30.08.2006 13:00
OSCE Office representatives and board members of the Public Monitoring
Group for Penitentiary Institutions today visited the Abovian Women and
Juvenile Colony to present school-related items for the new academic
year to children in detention, as well as provide OSCE publications
to the library.
The visitors met with prison administration, detainees and the only
child born in prison, who will go to a regular school for the first
time this year.
Board members also observed physical conditions and the overall
protection of detainees’ rights.
“This is my fifth visit to this criminal executive institution,
and I can see some progress in the area of arranging visits and
cell space allocation,” said Michael Baghdasaryan, Chairman of the
Board. “However, there is still obviously room for improvement in
the sanitary and hygiene conditions of the institution”.
The OSCE has been supporting criminal justice reform in Armenia
since 2001, among other ways through helping to establish the Public
Monitoring Group, which began operating in 2004. The Group monitors
the rights of detainees in criminal executive institutions and provides
recommendations to the Justice Ministry to improve the situation.
Besides day-to-day support provided to the group, the OSCE Yerevan
Office provides regular training for the members of the Group,
jointly with OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,
and invites experts in the field from other participating States to
exchange experiences with their Armenian colleagues.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESIDNET KOCHARYAN TO VISIT GERMANY AND KAZAKHSTAN
ArmRadio.am
30.08.2006 14:10
RA President is expected to pay a working visit to the Federal
Republic of Germany by the end of the year. The President will
participate in the CIS summit and will leave for Kazakhstan on an
official visit, President’s Press Secretary Viktor Soghomonyan said
in a press conference today. The Spokesman noted that the opportunity
of the French President Jacques Chirak’s official visit to Armenia is
being discussed in diplomatic circles. In Viktor Soghomonyan’ s word,
France and Armenia have traditionally been friends, and Jacques Chirac
‘s visit would further promote the development of the political ties
between two countries. It would become one of the best expressions
of the traditional Armenian-French friendship.
This year Presidents of Slovenia and Romania are also expected to
visit Armenia.
Viktor Soghomonyan noted also that up to now no agreement has been
reached on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit.

AWAOC LITERARY MEETING TO TAKE PLACE SEPTEMBER 7
ArmRadio.am
30.08.2006 13:17
Monthly literary meeting of the Armenian Writers Association of
California (AWAOC), sponsored by Glendale Public Library, will take
place at on Thursday, September 7 2006, at the Auditorium of the
Library. Poet Grish Davtian will give a lecture on “The Orthography
of the Armenian Language.” Proceedings will be in Armenian.

ARMENIA NOT TO SEND ITS PEACEKEEPERS TO LEBANON
ArmRadio.am
30.08.2006 14:20
“Today Armenia does not intend to send its peacekeepers to Lebanon,”
RA President’s Press Secretary Viktor Soghomonyan said today in a
press conference.
Viktor Soghomonyan noted that Yerevan’s non-participation in the
peacekeeping operation in Lebanon is conditioned by several factors.
“First, the mandate of the peacekeepers has not been fixed so
far. Second, we should consider the interests of the Armenian
community of Lebanon: the possible involvement of our peacekeepers in
any clash can have negative consequences for our compatriots residing
in Lebanon,” Viktor Soghomonyan clarified.

BENITA FERERO-WALDNER: EU WILL UPHOLD THE EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH PEACE IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
ArmRadio.am
30.08.2006 13:53
“The European Union will uphold its role in the establishment of peace
in the South Caucasian region. The European New Neighborhood Policy
will serve as a tool in this direction,” UN Commissioner for Foreign
Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferero-Waldner
said at the “Caspian Prospects 2008” forum in the Slovenian city of
Bled. The Commissioner expressed the hope that it would be possible to
adopt the Actions Plans in the framework of the European neighborhood
Policy early October during the visit of representatives of the EU
Finnish Chairmanship and herself.
According to Benita Ferero-Waldner, the last weeks and months
have caused worrisome trends in the South Caucasus. Three negative
directions are noticeable, the combination of which is alarming. In
her words, the first one is the lack of progress in the settlement
of the frozen conflicts in Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. The second is the increase of military expenses. The third
one, she considers, is the growth of militant statements. “We saw
during the past several months that the militant statements distort
the attention of the society. The political and military logics should
prevail,” the Commissioner declared.
“This region has a huge economic potential, but peace is necessary
for the utilization of it. The natural resources are restricted here,
but it is impermisssable to waste the new opportunities for the
development of the region. I call on the leaders of the countries of
te region to comprehend the responsibility not only for their people
but for the region as a whole,” Benita Ferero-Waldner declared.