GOVERNMENT DISPELS CRIMINAL CASE SUSPICIONS
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
23 June 06
Many people might think that the June 22 accident in Malatia-Sebastia
Community in Yerevan is just another criminal skirmish, another act
of settling accounts, which has become a usual thing in Armenia.
Perhaps, everything is not as simple as it might seem at first sight.
What happened in Armenia is really a usual thing, which is built
and supported. However, as a phenomenon it is much larger in scope
than just a skirmish. The accident in Malatia-Sebastia Community is
a manifestation of controversies inside the Armenian government. It
does not mean that the gunmen and the target are involved in these
controversies. The phenomenon itself is related to the atmosphere
inside the government, and it is not accidental that after a long
pause a skirmish took place at a moment when different branches of
the power are seriously concerned about their future, for they have
deep suspicions that the political career of the present system,
which guarantees their existence, is coming to its end. There are
a number of examples. These concerns naturally affect the criminal
as well, let alone that most government forces are the pageboys of
this criminal. And if the criminal is shattered, which underlies the
power pyramid, it will become impossible to keep it. Consequently,
the aim is clear – to assure the forces and the criminal gathered at
the “sides of power” that the government keeps the situation under
control. And the criminal accepts only one proof – freedom of actions,
which was enabled on the very first opportunity. It was necessary
to assure that nothing has changed, everyone remains in their scope
of “rights and duties,” the power-criminal “framework” agreement
remains. For the Police, it watches the public to prevent them from
making changes to the agreement. It is a real danger for the future
of the government because the criminal will endanger the government
sooner than the public. As soon as it discovers that the government
may lose the levers of guarantees of the criminal, it will not wait
to see how the developments will end.
Concerned about their own fate, the criminal will not wait for a
new government; it will establish a new government for itself as
soon as it doubts the “efficiency” of the old one. Consequently,
we may surely suppose that the necessity to relieve the doubts of
the criminal environment emerged in the context of home political
and pre-election developments.

NKR DELEGATES TO MEET U.S. OFFICIALS
Lragir.am
23 June 06
On June 23-30 NKR Speaker Ashot Ghulyan and Foreign Minister Georgy
Petrosyan will visit the United States. They will visit Boston, New
York and Washington, meet with representatives of Bush administration,
the Congress and the Armenian community. A wide range of questions
will be discussed from the Karabakh settlement to cooperation with
NKR. A visit to Capitol is scheduled on June 28.

ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS VISIT TO ISTANBUL ACCOMPANIED BY SCANDAL
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.06.2006 13:20 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ June 20 Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II left
for Istanbul on a ministerial visit on the invitation of Armenian
Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian and Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew I. The Turkish Public TV ignored Catholicos’
visit. Turkish NTV, central newspapers: the Milliyet, Sabah responded
to the arrival – even the news was in the headlines.
According to reports, due to arrival of Garegin II special security
measures were taken at Ataturk airport in Istanbul, journalists’
entry to the airport territory was banned. Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian
met Catholicos and they left not passing through VIP, as provided
before. Next to the airport entrance a group of 50 people organized a
protest action. Lraber, official bulletin of Constantinople Patriarchy,
notes that those protesting threw eggs on cars of two Patriarchs, who
were meeting Garegin II. Catholicos of All Armenians was received in
the Patriarchy building, which is guarded around the clock by Turkish
security forces.
“We are worried and this refers not to Catholicos but nationalism
and chauvinist moods,” Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian said. The same day,
Lraber reports, the Patriarch of Constantinople addressed a written
request to Istanbul governor take strong security measures.
Besides Armenian web-site, Lraber has also those in Turkish and
English. However, it is notable that aforementioned short reports on
Catholicos’ visit were published only on the Turkish page, while two
other versions said nothing of the visit of Garegin II.
Armenians of Istanbul know Turkish, however those of the Diaspora and
Armenia do not – they need information in English and Armenian. By
posting information on the Turkish-language page only Lraber has
deprived Armenians in the Diaspora and Armenia of opportunity to get
information on the visit of Garegin II so as to limit the response
to the visit of the Catholicos, reports the Azg newspaper.

ALERT WATCH OF PUBLIC ORDER
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
23 June 06
After the epic battle of Tetsi Krug in Yerevan everybody believes
that the society is regularly going to witness criminal skirmishes,
for the criminals were not punished. If a criminal is dismissed,
crime is automatically encouraged. And it reoccurs with some delay
to express itself more brazenly than before. The June 22 incident
proved this. If in Tetsi Krug the criminals nevertheless avoided
battle in broad daylight (although they may also have taken into
consideration tactical problems), Malatia was a “daytime show,”
let’s wait for the dawn.
Most probably, we will not have to wait long. Very soon the government
will encourage the valiant soldiers of Malatia in court.
After all, they have to show that intellect is not the only power of
the government. Intellect was useful in Torino, whereas in Yerevan they
need a “mauzer” not to let the people, excited about chess, think that
the ruling elite became intellectual. A long pause between gunshots can
shatter the government because dictatorship fears civilization. This
fear helps the police disperse peaceful protestors in a couple of
seconds, whereas they miss the raging criminal. And it would be too
ingenuous to think that the guilty will be punished this time. There
will not be such a thing, especially on the eve of elections. The
government will not break up with the criminal because very soon the
government will need it. And who knows, maybe it was the order of
the government to start exercising, and we should even be grateful
that they at least shoot one another.
However, passers-by suffer too. In other words, the public is already
in danger. It means that the law enforcement agencies fail. And
it is strange that on their professional day Robert Kocharyan
awarded law-enforcers with different awards and medals. As they
say, for good work. The job of a law enforcers is to guarantee the
security of the citizens. If the life of citizens is in danger, as
we become convinced every 6 months, so for what good work does the
president award the Police, the National Security Service and other
law enforcement agencies? What do they rely on to announce that the
Police succeed in maintaining public order? Maybe they really succeed,
whereas what happens outside the public order is not the business
of the Police. They are not awarded for this. They are awarded for
not interfering.

ICE DANCERS ANASTASIA GREBYONKINA AND VAZGEN AZROYAN TRAINING IN TSAKHKADZOR
ArmRadio.am
22.06.2006 16:18
Starting June 18 Anastasia Grebyonkina – Vazgen Azroyan ice dance pair
of Armenia has been training in the Olympic village of Tsakhkadzor.
The major aim of the trainings is to raise the physical preparedness
of the ice dancers. On July the 1st Grebyonkina and Azroyan will
leave for Moscow, where they will continue the trainings.

“MTS” PASSES THE QUALIFICATION ROUND OF THE TENDER DECLARED BY OTE
ArmRadio.am
22.06.2006 16:51
Russian cell operator “MTS” has overcome the first round of the tender
to purchase 90 percent of “ArmenTel” shares declared by OTE Company,
Press Secretary of MTS Kirill Alyavdin told MEDIAMAX Agency. At the
same time he noted that “they have not submitted the final application
so far.”
Press Secretary of “Vimpelcom” Company Yulya Ostroukhova preferred
not to say whether the “BeeLine” Company has passed the qualification,
saying the information is confidential.

RUSSIAN SCIENTIST: NK IS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY’S PART
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
June 22 2006
Nagorno Karabakh is the international community’s part, and the
conduct of the international scientific conference in Stepanakert
is quite logical. A scientific worker of the Russian Institute of
the World Economy Victor Nadein-Raevsky, who is participating in the
conference’s work, expressed his opinion to journalists in Stepanakert,
Novosti-Armenia reports.
In his words, the international community should be informed of the
situation in the world’s “tense” region. “If we recall the Russian
President’s words concerning other regions, he stated “one should
consult with a nation on the issues’ resolution”. “Generally speaking,
the nation’s power has not been cancelled”, noted the Institute’s
worker.
The international scientific conference titled “Nagorno Karabakh
Republic: Past, Present, Future” dedicated to the 15th Anniversary
of the NKR’s declaration opened today at the Artsakh State University.
About 200 representatives of over ten countries, including RA, France,
the US, Russia, Germany and UK take part in the measure.
There will be three sections in the course of the conference –
historical, cultural, as well as political-legal and social-economic.

TRAIN CARRYING RUSSIAN MILITARY EQUIPMENT LEAVES GEORGIA’S ADJARIA
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 22 2006
TBILISI, June 22 (RIA Novosti) – A fifth train with Russian military
equipment has left the northwestern Georgian region of Adjaria for
Armenia, the Georgian defense ministry said Thursday.
Under an agreement Russia and Georgia signed March 31, Russian
troops and hardware are to leave Georgia’s two Soviet-era bases in
Akhalkalaki and Batumi by 2008. The withdrawal is being monitored by
a joint Georgian-Russian commission set up under the March agreement.
The bulk of Russia’s weapons will return to Russia and the rest of
it will be delivered to a Russian base in Armenia.

THE KARS-AKHALKALAKI RAILWAY: GOOD FOR GEORGIA?
M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
June 22 2006
The Financial Committee of the U.S. Congress has forbidden American
companies from investing in the Kars-Akhalkalaki railway. However, even
if U.S. companies don’t finance the project it will be quite possible
to other sources of funding. Turkey is more than ready to bear the
cost, but just how beneficial is this project going to be for Georgia?
Economist Gia Khukhashvili argues that it is necessary to conduct
market research, as it could well turn out that the railway will
redirect cargo which had been passing through Georgian ports, which
would ultimately be detrimental to the Georgian economy.
“It may result in catastrophic conditions for Georgian ports. The
government has not thought the decision through. Serious analytical
works must be conducted; problems should not be created for our
ports, only if this is guaranteed will the project be beneficial”
said Khukhashvili in the newspaper Rezonansi.
Analyst Emzar Jgerenaia is far more skeptical. According to him
operating the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway line won’t
bring any economic benefits for Georgia at all. “The construction
of the railway needs a lot of investment, the line runs through an
earthquake zone and additional works will be needed,” Jgerenaia said
in Khvalindeli Dghe.
Some analysts believe that it would be more profitable to focus on
the needs of neighbouring Armenia. According to Akhali Taoba, Georgia
should consider Armenia’s concern over building the Kars-Akhalkalaki
railway and its interest in the reopening of the Sokhumi-Tbilisi
line. By discussing this issue with Russia, Georgia could find itself
in a stronger bargaining position on the conflict in Abkhazia.
“It is not ruled out that the Kars-Akhalkalaki project and the
reopening of the railway line in Abkhazia may have profound effects
on the reintegration process in Abkhazia,” says the newspaper Akhali
Taoba.
But these statements are mostly conjectural, as there has been no
detailed costing of the proposed railway, and no funds have yet been
raised. The opinions are primarily conditioned by political, rather
than economic, attitudes to the issue.

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER VISITS AJARA
The Messenger, Georgia
June 22 2006
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian is visiting Armenia to
discuss an opening of the Yerevan-Batumi railway line.
Arminfo learned at the Press Office of the Armenian Government that
both sides talked about the dynamic development of Georgian-Armenian
political and economic relations, and stressed the importance of
joint agreements and the opportunely to fulfill previous agreements,
namely, the launch of Yerevan-Batumi Railway Link. The corresponding
agreement was reached last summer when Andranik Margarian met with
the Georgian President and Prime Minister.
Irakli Chogovadze, Minister of Economic Development, noted that the
Batumi-Yerevan railway line would become additional inspiration
to increase tourism between the two states. He said the Georgian
government made considerable investments in Ajara for improvement
in motorways and infrastructure, constructing new hotels, repairing
Batumi Airport. It is anticipated that over 50 000 Armenian tourists
will visit Georgia this year.
The sides also talked about the Samtskhe-Javakheti Region,
predominantly populated by Armenians. Chogovadze noted that the
Georgian authorities, taking into account the grave socioeconomic
situation of the segion, spent large sums rehabilitating motorways.
Andranik Margarian said that he was going to visit Batumi in July
within the Georgian-Armenian Intergovernmental Commission.