Turkish President “Hopes for Soonest Establishment of Peace and Stability in South Caucasus”
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.07.2006 17:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Turkey is bound with Caucasian peoples with deep
historical roots, and I wholeheartedly hope that peace, stability
and prosperity will soon become South Caucasus symbols. I believe
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline as a model of cooperation
between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia will be a pledge for prosperity
of the entire region,” Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer stated
at the opening ceremony of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline at Ceyhan
Terminal after Heydar Aliyev July 13.
In his words, Turkey is in the center of “the energy map of the
world”. “Official Ankara works for using all advantages of the
geostrategic position,” Sezer said. “After the BTC oil pipeline
Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipelines are
planned to be put into operation. Special attention will be paid to
implementation of East-West energy corridor, specifically putting into
operation NABUCCO gas pipeline. All this will finally contribute to
economic development of the region, as well as strengthening stability
and peace,” Sezer said.

EBRD Will Provide $20-Million Credit to Reconstruct Zvartnots Airport
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.07.2006 17:57 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) will provide Armenia – International Airports CJSC a credit of
$20 million to reconstruct Zvartnots Armenian airport. The financing
is provided for completing the building o the new passenger terminal
of the airport and to buy equipment to enhance service quality.
In the words of head of EBRD Yerevan Office Michael Wallerstein the
project will play an important role in development of the internal
transport network and effective transport system of Armenia, which
does not have an access to sea and notably depends on air transport
services. The deal is implemented along with German Investment and
Development Corporation (DEG), which is part of KfW German group, which
will provide another credit of $10 million, reports Novosti-Armenia.

EUROPEAN PARTY OF GREENS DEMANDS UNBLOCKING TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER
Armenian Genocide Issue
Marie Anne Isler Beguin, Chairwoman of the EU
Parliament’s delegation to Armenia, Georgia and
Azerbaijan, recently published the materials she
accumulated during her visit of the Armenian Turkish
border. The Armenian Federation of Europe informed
that according to her, “the European Parliament in its
resolutions never missed the opportunity to emphasize
the importance of unblocking Turkey’s borders with
Armenia, as in the terms of the blocked borders, not
only the Armenian and Turkish borderline dwelling
places suffer, but also the region does.” Isler
emphasized that the issue of unblocking the borders
should become a criteria for Turkey’s admission to EU.
She reminded that 10 years ago, when blocking the
borders with Armenia, Turkey intended to exert
pressure on the process of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict development. In its turn, the Committee for
Foreign Affairs at the European Parliament postponed
the discussion of the draft resolution “On Turkey’s
Progress for Admission to EU.” The voting for the
draft resolution was postponed till September. This
was conditioned by several drawbacks in the
translation of some amendments for Turkey to apply.
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MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI: BLOCKING UPPER LARS BORDER CONTROL POINT IS MORE HARMFUL
FOR ARMENIA THAN FOR GEORGIA
AZG Armenian Daily #131, 14/07/2006
Regional
The blocking of the traffic through the Kazbegi- Upper
Lars control point on the Russian-Georgian border by
the Russian party was a greater blow for Armenia than
for Georgia. Mikheil Saakashvili, President of
Georgia, said this at July 11 press-conference.
“Closing of the control point “Upper Lars” did not
affect the economy of Georgia, because Georgia exports
goods using another way. But it is bad for the people
who travel from one country to another. And it is
especially bad for Armenia as the main freight from
Russia was transported through “Upper Lars”,
Saakashvili emphasized. It~Rs worth mentioning that on
July 8 the Russian frontier guards closed the north
part of the Georgian-Russian border on CP “Kazbegi-
Upper Lars”. According to the official information,
the CP was closed in connection with repair works.
The authorities of Georgia made a decision to open a
temporary control point on July 10 near village
Ergneti of Tskhinvali region to let people who could
not enter Georgia from Russia through “Upper Lars”
enter the territory of the country. Many people trying
to enter Georgia reached the control point “Lower
Zaromag” on Russian side and entered Tskhinvali region
through Roki tunnel where there were no official
control points for crossing the Georgian-Russian
border.
By Nana Petrosian

KAREKIN II OF ALL ARMENIANS MEETS WITH FAWZI SALLOUKH, FOREIGN MINISTER OF LEBANON
AZG Armenian Daily #131, 14/07/2006
Meeting
Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, received Fawzi Salloukh,
Foreign Minister of Lebanon, today. The Press Service of Holy See
of Echmiadzin informed that in the course of the meeting, Karekin II
thanked the minister for warm attitude of the Lebanese authorities to
the Armenian community of Lebanon. In his turn, Mr. Salloukh highly
estimated the contribution of the Armenian Diaspora in the development
of Lebanon.

ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN STATES HIS ALLIES WILL TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES TO AVERT VOTE RIGGING
AZG Armenian Daily #131, 14/07/2006
Zhirayr Sefilian, Head of the public organization “For Protection of
Liberated Territories, said that a group of former civil guardsmen
tries to revive the atmosphere of public enthusiasm of 1988-1990. he
said this at July 12 at a press conference. “We have already agreed
about certain steps which will allow us take real and drastic measures
to avert vote rigging at the coming parliamentary and presidential
elections,” he said. Armenia needs the power shift to avert launching
of a new military conflict with Azerbaijan, he said. Sefilian stated
his allies, namely former defense minister of NKR Samvel Babayan,
the founder of the party “Bloc” in Armenia, will support him in his
initiatives. As for the current NKR Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian,
Sefilian said he displayed himself as a real son of the Armenian
people during Karabakh war, while recently Seyran Ohanian is much more
dependent on the will of the president and defense minister of Armenia.
By Tamar Minasian

NOT FEARING TO BE FLOODED, ARMENIAN PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES
STILL BUILD SERVICE OBJECTS ON SHORE OF LAKE SEVAN
AZG Armenian Daily #131, 14/07/2006
The Interdepartmental government commission shaped by the order of RA
President in end June revealed a number of violations concerning the
construction of service objects near Yerevan-Sevan road, in Tsovagyugh
village, as well as in the Varser and Sevan towns. The Press Service
of RA Government informed ArmInfo that 43 of the 77 constructions were
illegally built near the Lake Sevan. Besides, 32 of the 43 buildings
were situated at the height of 1908 meters, when the level of the
lake has already reached 1899 meters. As a result, 36 buildings were
destroyed. More severe sanctions will be exerted against the private
constructors that ignore the construction norms near the Lake Sevan.

MILITARY EXERCISES HELD AT MILITARY AVIATION INSTITUTE
Panorama.am
16:40 13/07/06
US European Command military exercises Rescue-2006 will be ceremonially
opened tomorrow at the Military Aviation Institute under Armenian
ministry of defense, Seiran Shahsuvaryan, ministry of defense press
secretary told Panorama.am.
The exercises will be held within Partnership for Peace program and
envisage participation of 250 representatives from 12 countries. The
aim is to organize and coordinate the rescue services of Armenian
ministry of defense military-medical department and RA territorial
administration ministry emergency department. Another objective is
to enlarge cooperation with partner countries./Panorama.am/

GOVERNMENT APPROVES CHANGES TO CRIMINAL CODE
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JULY 13, ARMENPRESS: The government has approved today a
justice ministry-designed bill on making changes to Armenian Criminal
Code which allows courts to cancel a long list of private cases in
case the plaintiff and the defendant reach a reconciliation accord.
The list includes such offences as sustaining health damage,
stealth of personal property, torture, breach of copyright and some
others. Justice minister David Harutunian said the reconciliation
deal must be reached before the judge leaves the court-room for
deciding the verdict. The draft law fixes that forcing people to
strike reconciliation is a criminal offence.
Another draft amendment in the Criminal Code establishes a special
court hearing procedure allowing judges to cut the punishment term
by one third if the defendant admits both the charges levied against
him and the evidence of prosecutors.
The minister argued that any court proceeding costs money and if
a defendant cooperates with prosecutors which allows to cut these
expenses the government must meet him or her halfway. He said the
special procedure applies to those crimes which envisage a prison
term up to ten years.

Saakashvili: Kazbegi-Verkhny Lars Closing Dealt Blow to Armenia Rather than Georgia
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.07.2006 13:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The closing of the Verkhny Lars checkpoint dealt
a blow to Armenia rather than Georgia, Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili said at a press conference in Tbilisi July 11. The
closing of the Verkhny Lars checkpoint did not deal blow to the
Georgian economy because Georgian cargo was not transported this
way. But for ordinary people, who move from one state to another,
it’s really bad. And it’s especially bad for Armenia, since the major
part of cargo destined for this country was transported through the
Verkhny Lars,” Saakashvili said remarking that Georgian cargo was
not let pass this way.
July 8 Russian border guards blocked the northern sector of the
Georgian-Russian border at the checkpoint of Kazbegi-Verkhni Lars
over some construction works.
July 10 the Georgian authorities ordered to establish a temporary
checkpoint to allow the citizens enter Georgia from Russia. Many
of these people trying to enter Georgia headed from Verkhny Lars
towards Nizhny Zaramag checkpoint (at the Russian border) and then
via the Roksky tunnel into the Tskhinvali region where there are no
formal checkpoints for crossing the Russian-Georgian border, reported
Georgia online.