COMMODITY TURNOVER BETWEEN ARMENIA AND INDIA GREW 50% DURING RECENT YEARS
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.03.2006 01:05 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The visit of the business delegation led by RA
Honorary Consul in Bombay Harshad Mekhta proves the wish of the
Armenian and Indians parties to strengthen cooperation, RA Deputy
FM Armen Bayburdian stated opening the Armenian-Indian business
conference in Yerevan today. The conference was attended by 36
representatives of Armenian companies and departments and 18 Indian
entrepreneurs. For her part Indian Ambassador Rina Pandei noted
that during the recent years the commodity turnover between the
two states has grown with 50 per cent. In her words, the expansion
of the economic cooperation will be discussed at the sitting of the
Armenian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Development
to be held in Yerevan this year. According to RA Deputy Minister of
Trade and Economic Development Tigran Davtian, the potential of the
Armenian-Indian trade and economic relations is great. In his words,
both counties entered the stage of sustainable and dynamic economic
development.

LYONS MAYOR FAILED TO FULFILL PROMISE
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.03.2006 01:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ March 18, when a wave of rallies shocked France
several thousands of Turks protested in Lyons against the erection of
the monument to the Armenian Genocide victims. They came across French
ralliers at the municipality. Turks attacked the French and the police
dispersed the crowd with tear-gas bombs. French and Turkish press
covered the incident widely. Hurriyet Turkish newspaper wrote that
“Armenians came to the rally to trouble Turks and three Armenians were
wounded” what later turned out as a lie. According to chairperson of
the Armenian Federation of Europe Hilda Tchoboian, the Mayor of Lyons
promised to prevent the action against the monument erection. “However
March 17 he announced that the rally was authorized despite the demands
of all the political circles of Lyons to prohibit it,” she said.
Hilda Tchoboian considers that the Mayor took the decision under
the pressure of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which said that Turks
promised to refrain from anti-Armenian posters and slogans. However
they did not keep their promise. They shouted out offences swaying
anti-Armenian posters. “The Armenian youth explained the essence of
the case to the French, who started shouting to Turks “France is not
your place”.
March 19 Armenians gathered at the editorial office of Progress
newspaper that published some anti-Armenian articles. The editor said
the newspaper will not publish articles of the kind any more, Hilda
Tchoboian said. She added that March 20 a press conference dedicated
to the recent events will be held March 20 and underscored that all
genocide denying rallies will be barred. “The Armenian community of
France will not keep silent, moreover this country and its people
have announced their position on the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman
Empire in 1915,” she said.

NO DECISIONS AGAINST ARMENIA… YET!
A1+
04:48 pm 20 March, 2006
“If we receive decisions of the European Court of Human Rights against
Armenia, the situation will be changed completely,” the head of the
Court of Cassation Hovhannes Manoukyan thinks.
The Court of Cassation organized a seminar with the theme “The European
Court of Human Rights and Armenia: the Present Practice and the
Tendencies of Development”. The first reporter was the representative
of the American University in Armenia Emil Babayan who spoke about the
cases from Armenia in ECHR and represented statistics from the Court.
In 2005 ECHR had 81 thousand applications. They were mainly about the
delays of trials, inefficient trials and non-execution of the court
decisions. According to Emil Babayan, the first five countries by the
number of decisions against the state are Turkey, Ukraine, Greece,
Russia and Italy. Last year 290 decisions were made against Turkey
by the ECHR.
Up to now there have been no decisions against Armenia, but in
this respect Emil Babayan had bad news for the participants of the
seminar. Last year 240 applications have been sent to the Court. 110
of them have already been sent to the court body making decision,
62 have been rejected, 21 have been sent to the RA Government to get
an answer, and one more will be heard this year.
Mr. Babayan was worried about the last two facts as the 21 cases
will be heard together and the facts mentioned in them will not be
investigated thoroughly.
“This means that in 2006 we will have a number of decisions against
Armenia”, the reporter said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE EU AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
A1+
07:14 pm 20 March, 2006
Tbilisi/Brussels, 20 March 2006: To guarantee its own security,
the EU must become more engaged in resolving the conflicts in the
South Caucasus lest they ignite into full-fledged wars in Europe’s
neighbourhood.
Conflict Resolution in the South Caucasus: The EU’s Role,* the latest
report from the International Crisis Group, examines the EU’s efforts
to address tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
and points out how the EU can do more.
“Greater engagement is a challenge Brussels has only just begun
to address”, says Sabine Freizer, Crisis Group’s Caucasus Project
Director. “There have been a few promising steps, but there is a long
way to go”.
Thus far, others have taken the lead in promoting conflict settlement
in the region, but over a decade of negotiations led by the UN in
Abkhazia, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) in Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia, have not produced
comprehensive peace agreements. With its reputation as an “honest
broker”, access to a range of soft and hard power tools, and the lure
of greater integration into Europe, the EU has a greater role to play,
and offers added value to compliment the UN and the OSCE.
To avoid instability on its borders, the EU seeks a ring of
well-governed countries around it. It is further interested in the
South Caucasus to ensure access to Caspian oil and gas, develop
transport and communication corridors between Europe and Asia, and
contain such threats as smuggling, trafficking and environmental
degradation.
As the EU is unlikely to offer membership to Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan any time soon, it must identify innovative means to
impose conditionality on its aid and exercise influence. European
Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans are being finalised. These offer
a chance for the EU to enhance its role especially if the peaceful
resolution of the conflicts are defined as commitments.
The new EU Special Representative should observe ongoing negotiations
for the Abkhazian, South Ossetian and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts. The
Commission has allocated significant funding to rehabilitation in
South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It should assess how it can start doing
more in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The EU is trying to define its role in a new neighbourhood which is
neither at war nor at peace”, says Nicholas Whyte, Director of Crisis
Group’s Europe Program. “If the EU fails to implement its strategic
vision for a secure neighbourhood, its credibility in the region, and
generally vis-a-vis Russia and the U.S., will suffer. More troublingly,
if the South Caucasus conflicts continue to deteriorate, the EU may
find itself unprepared for responding to wars among its neighbours”.

TREES WERE CUT
A1+
08:26 pm 20 March, 2006
According to trustworthy sources, nine poplars were chopped down in the
area called “Ttujur” of the city of Gavar. The trees were sold as raw
material. A criminal case has been aroused in connection with the fact.
The Ecological administration of the Gegharqounik region does not
exclude the possibility of the repetition of suchlike cases as an
area of about 150 hectares factually does not have an owner.
“Qyavar” TV Company of Gavar.

ARMENTEL WILL APPEAL THE DECISION
A1+
08:32 pm 20 March, 2006
The State Committee of Economic Competition Defense had made a
decision to fine “ArmenTel” on the basis of the application of
“Gh-Telecom”. “ArmenTel” has not paid the fine as they are going to
appeal the decision.
“ArmenTel” has not carried out the second demand of the Committee: it
has not ceased to allot bonuses to those who remained subscribers of
“ArmenTel” during the year 2005.
The Company did not give us details about the appeal.
Let us only add that the deadline for the appeal is tomorrow.

BITTER FRUITS OF REFERENDUM
Panorama.am
14:23 20/03/06
Today the for-day sessions of the National Assembly began with
the bitter recollection of the referendum of constitutional
amendments. The Parliamentary minority, particularly “Ardarutyun”
(Justice) representative Victor Dallakyan suggested to his
parliamentary colleagues to form a temporary committee to “carry out
corresponding examination and give a political estimation to what
had happened.” Hmayak Hovhannisyan had an analogical speech. Yet the
dream of the parliamentary minority did not come true as after the
voting for the question the image was as follows: 20 for, 0 against,
and 27 abstained form voting. The result of the voting made Aram
G. Sargsyan think: “The unpunished crime is fraught with the danger
to be repeated.”
Victor Dallakyan came to the following conclusion: “In this way the
Parliamentary majority proved that they took part in falsification
of the referendum.” In reply to these ideas of the oppositional
representatives NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan said: “The committee
were to give the estimation that already exists. And voting is the
right of every political body.”

“THE RAILWAY GYUMRI-KARS IS THE PROBLEM OF THE ARMENIANS”
A1+
06:20 pm 20 March, 2006
“The problem of the railway Gyumri-Kars is that of your country. One
can’t be so naïve as to think that Georgia can have an influence on
Azerbaijan and Turkey when the OSCE Minsk group cannot do it. The
railway Kars-Akhalqalaq is a sort of hostage in the Karabakh issue. If
you manage to solve the problem, Georgia will be glad, but we will
not interfere with it”, the Georgian Ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary to Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze announced in the
National Press Club.
The Ambassador also mentioned that Georgia is not guilty for the
non-exploitation of the railway Gyumri-Kars and it must not become
a reason for depriving Georgia of the Kars-Akhalqalaq railway.
According to him, the Armenian must be very glad as in case the
Kars-Akhalqalaq railway is exploited Akhalqalaq will become a
transitional center, “Just fancy: the railway Paris-Beijing will
pass through Akhalqalaq. This means that there will be new jobs
in Akhalqalaq”.
According to Revaz Gachechiladze, Georgia does not have personal
dislike for the national minorities living in Georgia, including the
Armenians. By the way, the Ambassador sympathized with the Armenian
nation in connection with the Armenian Genocide. He mentioned that
after the international situation is cleared up Georgia will do
everything possible for the recognition f the Armenian Genocide. The
Ambassador also referred to the incident in Tsalka as a result of
which an Armenian was killed, “It was an act of hooliganism and has
nothing to do with the Georgian Government. Georgia will not allow
acts of hooliganism towards the representatives of any nation.”
–Boundary_(ID_sDFte1oE2Yt04j5CldV5Tg)–

NAIRI HOUNANYAN NEEDED A DOCTOR
A1+
07:53 pm 20 March, 2006
Nairi and Karen Hounanyans who have been sentenced to life imprisonment
in connection with the “October 27” case needed a doctor several
months ago. It is not known what specialist they needed and what
for. The RA Justice Minister David Haroutyunyan informed “A1+” about
it when we tried to learn something about the group which was guilty
in the October 27 crime.
“They asked for a doctor. I can’t say what the reason was, but they
themselves asked for a doctor. I did not hear any other complaints”,
David Haroutyunyan said.
According to him, Nairi and Karen Hounanyans are in isolated
cells. “I’m not aware of the other members of the group as it is the
inner affair of the criminal institution and the Minister has nothing
to do with it. As for Hounanyan, I was simply informed about it”.

BUILDING TO BE BUILT ON HOUSE OF CINEMATOGRAPHY WILL PROBABLY BE 21-STOREYED
Panorama.am
14:26 20/03/06
“A multifunctional complex is expected to be built in the place
of House of Cinematography keeping the cultural centre,” announced
Yerevan chief architect Samvel Danielyan at the news briefing today.
The latter assures all favorable conditions will be offered for
Cinematography House further activity. At present the city government
only allowed to carry out only the destruction works. And what refers
to the height of the building to be built S. Danielyan informed that
the information published in the mass media about the number of storeys
doesn’t correspond to the reality: “The complex is going to have not
24 but 21 storeys.”
As S. Danielyan said the projects of building has been introduced to
the discussion of City Building Council.
Representatives of Public Organizations are also going to be involved
into the discussion.
But at least a number of questions arise in concern with what has been
said above. First, the Chief Architect doesn’t find the information
about the height of the building published in the press right, yet
he himself mentions that the number of storeys will be finally fixed
after the project of breaking down into zones is approved. Thus, one
can mention 21, the other 24, a third 16 for the number of storeys as
far as that number is not finally fixed. Moreover, it becomes clear
from S. Danielyan’s words that the building to be built simply has
no plan yet.