KOCHARIAN: COOPERATION WITH RF REGIONS IS A GOOD BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF INTERSTATE RELATIONS AS WELL
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA President
Robert Kocharian received Alexander Tkachov, the Governor of the
region of Krasnodar, Russian Federation, on October 12.
The President of the republic expressed satisfaction with the fact
that within the framework of the Year of Russia in Armenia, mutual
visits, different initiatives and cultural events became rather active.
Attaching importance to the cooperation with regions of Russia,
Robert Kocharian mentioned that this is a good basis for development
of interstate relations as well.
The head of the region of Krasnodar notices a considerable activization
in the business field of Armenia and said that he is impressed by
the volume of construction works going on in Yerevan.
Alexander Tkachov mentioned the great role of the Armenian community
of the region in the issue of deepening bilateral ties. According to
the Governor, good relations are created with the community, and they
are involved in almost all the spheres of the life of the region.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA President’s Press Office,
the sides touched upon the process of the Armenian-Russian
economic relations as well. Robert Kocharian mentioned that owing to
activization of business ties, the Russian business gradually occupies
a greater place in the economy.

SYNOPSYS TO ACQUIRE HPL TECHNOLOGIES’ PACKAGE OF SHARES FOR APPROXIMATELY 13 MLN USD
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The US company Synopsys that opened
its branch last year in Armenia will acquire the package of shares
of another American company HPL Technologies for approximately 13 mln
USD. The shareholders of HPL Technologies must approve the transaction
in 2006. Brian Gordon, Vice President of HPL Technologies, stated at
the October 12 press conference that in case of the transaction’s
approval, the 100 specialists currently working at the company’s
Armenian branch – HPLA will be included in the staff of Synopsys
Armenia – the Armenian branch of Synopsys. It was mentioned that
merger of these two companies will allow to create new jobs, including
in Armenia.
HPL Technologies is a world leader in yield management software and
test chip solutions. The Armenian branch of the company – HPLA was
founded in 1995.
Rich Goldman, Synopsys Vice President for Strategical Development
of Marketing, noted that the use of HPL technologies will enable to
increase complex semiconductors’ design and production efficiency.
Particularly, the duration of the cycle between design and production,
currently taking 18-20 months, will be reduced. R.
Goldman did not rule out the possibility of purchase of other companies
by Synopsys.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A DOCTOR ON THE FRONT LINE: DR. KEVIN CAHILL
By Georgina Brennan
Irish Voice, NY
Oct 12 2005
In an era of self-serving memoirs by stars whose lights flicker out
quicker than a candle, Dr. Kevin Cahill has written a very moving and
lasting memoir about his romance with his late wife Kathryn Cahill
and his observations of suffering and death around the world.
Like an old movie unfolding slowly but completely before your eyes, To
Bear Witness, a Journey of Healing and Solidarity (Fordham University
Press) involves the observer in a way few humanitarian writers have
ever done.
Cahill, familiar to almost all Irish Americans in different ways
because he is both historian and healer, says he decided last year to
compile the writings he had published and many more of his unpublished
thoughts because it was time.
His beloved wife Kathryn, mother to his five sons, had passed away
early in 2004, and the time since had left Cahill some room to ponder.
“During the past 45 years, I have undertaken medical and humanitarian
missions, or lectured on these topics in 65 countries in Africa, Asia,
Latin America and Europe; my wife Kate was my partner in 45 years,”
he tells the Irish Voice. And so it was quite impossible for his book
to leave her out.
Fortunate or unfortunate to have seen things most humans will never
witness, Cahill is a witness to history in a way few of his fellow men
are, from treating Pope John Paul II after his assassination attempt to
working with the poorest of the poor in slums from Calcutta to Africa,
to dealing with major public health crises in the United States.
Yet, it is to his wife that the book is ultimately dedicated. “The
spirit of my wife Kate can be found throughout these pages,” he writes.
In one photo caption, he writes that theirs “was a marriage made in
heaven, and honed to perfection in some of the hell holes on earth.”
Cahill’s medical career began in 1959 when he studied tropical diseases
in the slums of Calcutta, alongside Mother Teresa. “Nobody knew Mother
Theresa then,” he muses.
Cahill treated refugees in the Sudan, was among the first to predict
the famine in Somalia, and has been caught behind lines of armed
conflict in Beirut and Managua.
While serving in the U.S. Navy, he was the director of Clinical and
Tropical Medicine in Egypt. From 1975-81, Cahill served concurrently
as the special assistant to the governor for Health Affairs, and
chairman of the Health Planning Commission, and chairman of the
Health Research Council of New York State. From 1981-93 he was a
senior member of the New York City Board of Health.
Cahill now offers his expertise on humanitarian efforts to a number
of national and international organizations, including the United
Nations and the NYPD, where he is the chief medical advisor for
counterterrorism.
He is chairman of the Department of International Health at the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, director of the Institute of
International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University, president
of the Center for International Health and Cooperation, the Tropical
Disease Center at Lenox Hill Hospital and a clinical professor of
tropical medicine and parasitic diseases at New York University
Medical School. He is also the president of the American Irish
Historical Society.
He has received 25 honorary doctorate degrees and has written 29
books on a range of topics, including tropical disease, humanitarian
and foreign affairs and Irish literature.
The titular chapter in the book begins, “Shortly after completing
emergency abdominal surgery on Pope John Paul II…” With an opening
like that it might at first glance seem the most compelling chapter,
but yet other chapters are equally as interesting.
“Armenian scholars no longer search for God in the Near East school of
Theology in West Beirut. The cool archives room in the cellar is now a
blood bank, and the conference hall where ecclesiastical nuances were
once the topic of discussion now contains two operating tables for
assembly line amputations and a bin for severed limbs,” he writes in
Beirut’s “Smell of Death.” Dispersed amongst the chapters that tell
in horrific but moving detail of the struggles faces by nations in
conflict, including Northern Ireland, Cahill reflects on America’s
attitudes to foreign nations.
In “A Doctor’s Reflection on the Libyan Situation,” he ominously
writes, “History does not indicate that we will be treated kindly.”
Cahill is not afraid of words. “Humanitarian assistance, particularly
in the midst of conflicts and disasters is not a field for amateurs,”
he writes in a “Framework for Survival: Health, Human Rights and
Humanitarian Assistance in Conflicts and Disasters in1993.”
Cahill knows things. In 1984 he was writing about Ireland, in “A
Perverse Silence,” chronicling the atrocities in Northern Ireland
and airing the truth that there were no charitable outlets then to
channel money in Northern Ireland to fund some kind of peace.
On current matters he offers that the world is at risk for a
devastating outbreak of avian flu. “It’s a real danger, historically
we are overdue an outbreak but I hope the world has gotten on enough
to fight it,” he said.
“Biological terrorism is a real threat to our society,” he admits.
“But there are now better techniques for detecting it.”
While Cahill might warn about such things, he admits that most of
the book talks about the humanity of life.
“Somehow in the twisted wreckage of war and in the squalor of refugee
camps, the beauty of humanity prevailed for me,” he admits.
In fact, at the very end of the book in a poem written to him
by his wife she writes, “You can’t foresee a life without love,
without feeling.”
Possibly for that reason, To Bear Witness is one of the most feeling
compilations to hit bookstores this year.

WCC MODERATOR AND GENERAL SECRETARY TO ADDRESS ECUMENICAL CHALLENGES AT US SYMPOSIUM
Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (Comunicados de prensa), Switzerland
Oct 12 2005
“Challenges facing the ecumenical movement in the 21st Century” is
the theme of a symposium to be held on 22 October at the Interchurch
Center in New York.
Planned in honour of Catholicos Aram I, head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church (See of Cilicia) and moderator of the World Council of Churches’
(WCC) central committee, who will be visiting the United States in
late October, the symposium will feature WCC general secretary Rev. Dr
Samuel Kobia as keynote speaker; Aram I will offer closing reflections.
Other symposium speakers will include Rev. Dr Wesley
Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church of
America; Rev. Dr Diane Kessler, executive director of the Massachusetts
Council of Churches; Bishop Thomas Hoyt, president of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; Rev. Dr Robert Edgar,
general secretary of the National Council of Churches, Dr Anthony
Kireopoulos, deputy general secretary of the National Council of
Churches, Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky, moderator of the US Conference for the
WCC and ecumenical officer, Orthodox Church in America, Rev. Deborah
DeWinter, programme executive for the United States office of the WCC;
and a representative from the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops. Archbishop Oshagan, prelate for the Eastern United States
of America of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, will deliver
the welcome speech.
The symposium is being jointly sponsored by the Armenian Apostolic
Church of America, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in
the USA, and the WCC.
On Sunday, 23 October a pontifical divine liturgy will be celebrated
by Aram I at St Bartholomew’s Church at 13:30 p.m, to be followed by
a banquet at the Pierre Hotel commemorating the 75th anniversary of
the Armenian Apostolic seminary in Antelias, Lebanon.
Aram I was one of the founding members of the Middle East Council of
Churches in 1974. He attended the WCC assemblies in Nairobi, Vancouver,
Canberra, and Harare as a delegate; in 1975, he was elected to the
WCC’s Faith and Order Commission, and soon after as a member of the
central committee. At the 1991 Assembly in Canberra, he was elected
moderator of the WCC.
Media contacts: – Caroline Hennessy 212-870-2192 917-407-6172 (mob.)
– Armenian Apostolic Church of America 212-689-7810
Interchurch Center address: 475 Riverside Drive, New York , NY
10115, USA.
A free high resolution photo of Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
with HH Aram I is available on the WCC website at:

NEW UNREST IN JAVAKHETI PROMPTS WARNING FROM YEREVAN
By Zaal Anjaparidze
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
The Jamestown Foundation
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Akhalkalaki, the main town in the predominantly Armenian-populated
and Armenia-bordered Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, was the
site of an anti-government protest rally on October 5. The incident
reaffirmed that this turbulent region remains unstable, despite the
Georgian government’s efforts to normalize the situation there.
The unrest began after tax officials from Tbilisi, conducting a
routine inspection of local retailers, closed 10 shops for financial
irregularities. The shop owners, mostly ethnic Armenians, and about
300 supporters, evidently influenced by local provocateurs, gathered
outside the Akhalkalaki district administration building to protest
the alleged violation of the Armenians’ rights. The protestors’s
complaints quickly moved from economic issues to political demands
such as stopping the closure of Russian military bases and granting
political autonomy for the region.
Local police dispersed the rally using rubber truncheons and firing
shots in the air. The clash between the authorities and the protesters
left several people injured. The police efforts to break up the rally
instead prompted more residents of Akhalkalaki and nearby villages
to join the protest, making the situation even tenser.
Civic groups based in Samtskhe-Javakheti, as well as some Russian
sources, have alleged that the government deliberately planned
the brutal end to the protest in order to intimidate the local
Armenian population following local demands for political autonomy
in the region. A council of local non-governmental organizations,
meeting September 23-24, adopted a resolution calling on the Georgian
government to grant autonomy to the region (see EDM, September 29).
Javakhk-Info, the local news agency, distributed a bellicose statement
by regional Armenian non-governmental organizations saying that the
aggressive behavior by the Georgian authorities towards the region’s
ethnic Armenians leaves them “no other choice than the use of force
to protect their interests and dignity” (Regnum, October 5).
However, a source in Georgian law enforcement told Kavkas Press that
the police shot into the air only after one of the protesters had
taken a shot first (Kavkas Press October 5).
Giorgi Khachidze, the presidentially appointed governor of the region,
managed to calm the angry crowd through negotiations.
Khachidze criticized the police for excessive use of force and
promised to hold some of them accountable. “In my opinion, they had no
right to fire shots, even in the air,” he said (TV-Rustavi-2, October
6). Meanwhile, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili hailed the police
actions, saying, “there is no serious problem” and emphasizing that
law-enforcement officials were merely maintaining order in a region
that had been poorly controlled in recent years (TV-Imedi, October 6).
Saakashvili and other Georgian officials have tried to downplay the
latest events in Akhalkalaki, claming that the radical organizations
advocating autonomy for the region do not enjoy serious popular
support.
Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told the Armenian
newspaper Aikakan Jamanak that Tbilisi welcomes autonomy
for Javakheti so long as that means no more than ordinary
self-governance. Merabishvili said he is not interested in the
Javakheti civic groups expressing political ambitions. “We are going
to listen to the elected deputies,” he said (Regnum, October 6-7).
A diplomatic warning from Yerevan snapped the Georgian authorities out
of their complacency. On October 8, Garnik Isagulian, national security
aide to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, warned Tbilisi to show
restraint when dealing with the predominantly Armenian-populated
Samtskhe-Javakheti. Of the October 5 clash, Isagulyan commented,
“Georgian authorities should be extremely cautious and attentive
in their actions, because any minor provocation could turn into a
large-scale clash.” Isagulian also dismissed rumors about Russian
intelligence playing a role in recent events in Samtskhe-Javakheti
(Regnum, Civil Georgia, October 8).
However, the Russian media’s wide and largely biased coverage of
the October 5 unrest in Akhalkalaki, routinely voicing the Kremlin’s
position, suggests that Russia is not a mere observer.
Georgian media have long speculated that Russia and several radical
Armenian groups are behind the provocations in Javakheti. Van Baiburt,
an Armenian member of the Georgian parliament, confirmed this in an
interview with GazetaSNG.ru. Meanwhile, Levon Mkrtichyan, from the
Armenian Dashnaktsutiun party, one of the alleged supporters of the
Javakheti radical organizations, insisted that Javakheti Armenians
advocate only for cultural autonomy.
The Armenian newspapers are increasingly linking the recent unrest
in Samtskhe-Javakheti with the construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki
railway, which bypasses Armenia. They suggest that as Georgia
increases its ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia may be left
isolated. Armenian papers also argue that if Georgia’s national
interests conflict with those of Armenia, Tbilisi “should not be
astonished at the eruption of a natural expression of self-preservation
and self-defense among the Samtskhe-Javakheti population.”
As the problem becomes increasingly complicated, Tbilisi will be
forced to act. When he visited Armenia on September 29-30, Georgian
Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli stated that Georgia would not implement
any programs directed against Armenia. Meanwhile, Nogaideli publicly
underlined that regional autonomy in Georgia is only available for
Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Ajaria.
Nogaideli’s Armenian trip, coming on the heels of the demands
for autonomy in Samstkhe-Javakheti, suggests that stability in
Samtskhe-Javakheti greatly depends on Yerevan’s good will, as
Tbilisi has always appealed to the Armenian government to mediate
serious disturbances in the region. Saakashvili’s government, which
inherited the unresolved problems of Samtskhe-Javakheti from former
president Eduard Shevardnadze, follows the same pattern. Saakashvili,
like Shevardnadze, strives to resolve the region’s problems with
short-term decisions (see EDM, March 23, May 24, August 3).
Meanwhile, Yerevan is gaining more leverage to manage the situation
in Samtskhe-Javakheti and may be clandestinely urging Tbilisi to
reconcile itself to this fact.

DEFENSE EXPENDITURES IN AZERBAIJANI BUDGET WORTH 65% OF TOTAL ARMENIAN BUDGET
Regnum News Agency, Russia
Oct 12 2005
On October 11, Azerbaijani Parliament discussed the draft law on
the budget-2006. Presenting the document, Chairman of the Parliament
Committee for Economic Policy, Sattar Safarov noted that this year’s
draft differs from the previous budgets by a considerable growth of
revenues and expenses, by 66.7% and 61.9% accordingly.
According to Chairman of the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA) Elman
Rustamov, $650 million from this budget will be spent on defense
improvement. That is approximately 65% of the whole Armenian budget
(that is worth $1 billion). In 2007 defense expenditures will be
equal to the Armenian budget.
According to Rustamov, in 2006 inflation rate will stay at 9%, the
rate of manat will rise because of currency flow in the country. The
GDP is forecast to be at 30.5%, but if the price of per barrel of oil
will rise from $40 to $50, the GDP growth would reach 40%. Chairman
of NBA also said that equity market of Azerbaijan is only 0,4% of GDP
(for comparison, in Russia it is 18%, and 26% in Kazakhstan).

ANDORRA 0 – 3 ARMENIA: ARMENIA AVOIDED FINISHING BOTTOM OF FIFA WORLD CUP GROUP 1
UEFA.com, Switzerland
Oct 12 2005
Armenia avoided finishing bottom of FIFA World Cup qualifying Group
1 as they gained a comfortable victory in Andorra.
Armenia dominate Andorra’s best campaign to date, which had included a
first ever competitive win against F.Y.R. Macedonia, had brought them
five points, and they needed only a draw today to avoid finishing last.
But Armenia, who won the home fixture 2-1, had other ideas and Romik
Khachatryan and Karen Aleksanyan dominated in midfield against a
defensive home formation.
Own goal The visitors were attacking down the wings, and Khachatryan
fired a shot across goal before Valeri Aleksanyan went close following
a corner. With six minutes left in the first half Armenia struck,
Egishe Melikyan crossing from the left and the luckless Óscar Sonejee
turning the ball into his own net.
Lead doubled Before half-time Andorra were down to ten men, Ildefons
Lima dismissed for dissent. With an extra player Armenia tightened
their grip on the game and Ara Hakobyan had a shot saved before his
brother Aram made it 2-0, converting Hamlet Mkhitaryan’s cross on
the half-volley in the 52nd minute.
Victory sealed Ara Hakobyan got on the scoresheet ten minutes later
with a good run and shot from the edge of the area. Armenia did
not add to their lead despite some intricate moves, but ended their
campaign on a high as both countries now look towards the UEFA EURO
2008~Y draw on 27 January 2006.
–Boundary_(ID_6OytvWegL24GoDYFsyEYSg)–

ARMENIA END CAMPAIGN WITH 3-0 WIN OVER 10-MAN ANDORRA
Reuters, UK
Oct 12 2005
ANDORRA LA VELLA, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Armenia ended their World Cup
qualifying campaign on a high with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Andorra
on Wednesday that lifted them off the bottom of Group One.
Armenia, whose only other win came against the same opponents in March,
finished in sixth place in the group with seven points from their 12
matches, two ahead of Andorra.
It was a disappointing end to what has been Andorra’s most successful
campaign in their short history in international competition.
The team from the tiny Pyrenean principality beat Macedonia 1-0 at home
a year ago to claim their first points in an official qualifying match.
They then earned a 0-0 draw away to the same opponents in February and
won another point with a goalless draw at home to Finland last month.
Although they held the visitors for most of the first half they
self-destructed in an unfortunate five-minute spell just before
the break.
Midfielder Oscar Sonejee turned a cross from the left into his own
net in 39th minute and defender Ildefons Lima received his marching
orders soon after for spitting at an opponent.
Andorra suffered another setback at the start of the second half when
Aram Akopyan smashed home a volley at the far post after a quickly
taken corner.
Things went from bad to worse just after the hour when Ara Akopyan
made it 3-0 with a virtuoso individual goal.
The Armenia striker received the ball with his back to goal on the
edge of the area, turned inside a defender, skipped past another and
rifled home into the top corner to complete an emphatic win.

HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER ARRESTED AFTER CHALLENGING GOVERNMENT
By Anna Saghabalian
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 12 2005
A human rights lawyer who has helped Yerevan residents facing eviction
from their homes to sue the Armenian government has been arrested on
fraud charges which he believes were fabricated in response to his
activities, it emerged on Wednesday.
Close associates and clients of Vahe Grigorian, head of a Yerevan-based
law firm called Right, said he was detained by officers of Armenia’s
National Security Service (NSS) and promptly remanded in pre-trial
custody by a court on Tuesday.
The NSS opened a criminal case against Grigorian last May shortly
after raiding Right’s offices and confiscating some of its documents.
The Armenian successor to the Soviet-era KGB alleges that the lawyer
cheated a client, a charge he strongly denies.
Speaking at a news conference in June, Grigorian claimed that
the criminal proceedings were brought in retaliation for his legal
assistance to residents of old neighborhoods in central Yerevan that
are subject to demolition as part of its massive government-sanctioned
redevelopment. Many of those residents complain that financial
compensation offered to them by the state is extremely low because
of high-level government corruption.
Some of them have taken legal action against the Yerevan municipality,
but virtually all of those lawsuits were deemed unsubstantiated by
local courts. Grigorian and his firm have helped several such families
take their case to the European Court of Human Rights. in Strasbourg.
Minas Safian is a member of one of those families. He and other
remaining residents of Buzand Street in downtown Yerevan expressed
their solidarity with the arrested lawyer at an improvised open-air
news conference. “With Vahe’s arrest we lost our only source of hope,”
Safian told RFE/RL.
“He is one of the few lawyers who has protected our interests,”
said another resident.
According to Artur Grigorian, one of Vahe Grigorian’s defense counsels,
the NSS, which is supposed to investigate only grave crimes, has
failed to substantiate its charges. But the feared security agency
has previously denied any wrongdoing.
The Yerevan municipality, for its part, insists that the Buzand Street
protesters represents only a small minority of hundreds of dislocated
families which it says have been properly compensated.
However, the integrity of the process has been seriously questioned
by Armenia’s state human rights defender, Larisa Alaverdian.
Incidentally, Alaverdian earlier condemned the NSS actions against
Right. Her office has closely cooperated with the law firm.
(Photolur photo: A barricade built by Buzand Street residents in a
deseperate attempt to stop the ongoing house demolitions.)

OPPOSITION BLOC URGES ‘NO’ VOTE IN CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM
By Shakeh Avoyan and Astghik Bedevian
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 12 2005
Armenia’s largest opposition group ascertained on Wednesday its
strategy in the run-up to next month’s constitutional referendum,
urging supporters to vote against President Robert Kocharian’s
Western-backed package of amendments.
But at least one of nine parties making up the Artarutyun alliance
insisted that a popular boycott is a more effective means of scuttling
the passage of the proposed changes. As a consequence, Artarutyun’s
only implicitly called on Armenians to take part in the referendum
slated for November 27.
“By saying no to the so-called constitutional changes you will say
no to the regime which is responsible for the political terror of
October 27 [1999], which rigged the 1998 and 2003 presidential and
parliamentary elections, and which perpetrated barbaric acts against
peaceful protesters on April 13, 2004,” the bloc said in a statement
issued after a meeting of its ruling board.
Most members of the board were clearly in favor of a “no” vote, but
said they have no problem with their colleagues urging a boycott. “My
personal view is that we should go to the polls and say no so that
the peoples’ votes are not stolen,” said Grigor Harutiunian of the
People’s Party, the biggest Artarutyun force.
The boycott option is preferred by Vazgen Manukian’s National
Democratic Union (AZhM). “Our position is known and will not undergo
any changes,” Manukian said after the meeting.
“Boycott will be expedient only if it is accompanied by active mass
protest actions,” said another member of the Artarutyun board, Albert
Bazeyan. “I support both an active boycott and a ‘no’ vote.”
Manukian and some other prominent oppositionists believe that a low
voter turnout would make it easier for the opposition to expose and
thwart government attempts to rig the referendum. To pass, Kocharian’s
amendments need the backing of at least one third of Armenia’s 2.4
million eligible voters. Opinion polls and anecdotal evidence suggest
that most Armenians remain apathetic about constitutional reform.
A “no” vote is supported not only by the Artarutyun majority but also
the National Unity Party (AMK), the second opposition force represented
in the Armenian parliament. According to Victor Dallakian, a senior
Artarutyun lawmaker, the bloc and the AMK will express their common
position in a statement later this week. The two opposition groups
plan to hold rallies across the country in the coming weeks
The Artarutyun leadership formed an ad hoc body that will coordinate
its pre-referendum campaign and the work of election commission
officials and proxies affiliated with the bloc. The “coordinating
council” will be headed by Dallakian.
Preparations for the referendum were also discussed late on Tuesday
by Armenia’s three governing parties spearheading the “yes” campaign.
Leaders of the Republican Party (HHK), the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Orinats Yerkir Party again failed
to agree on who should manage their joint campaign. The Republicans
insists on its collective leadership, while Dashnaktsutyun is pushing
for a single campaign manager.
Levon Mkrtchian, a Dashnaktsutyun leader, told RFE/RL that the three
parties represented in Kocharian’s government hope to reach agreement
on Thursday. He said they have already agreed on joint financing
of the “yes” campaign. “We will set up a fund to which every party
saying ‘yes’ [to the amendments] will make a contribution,” he said
without elaborating.
Galust Sahakian, the HHK’s parliamentary leader, revealed that the
cash-strapped Armenian government will donate a princely 1.5 billion
drams ($3.4 million) to the campaign. He said much of the money will
be spent on production of TV ads and posters.