REFERENDUM ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS TO BE CONCLUDED WITH “FLOWER”
REVOLUTION, ARSHAK SADOYAN THINKS
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24. ARMINFO. The referendum on constitutional reforms
in Armenia this autumn will be doomed to failure, followed by “flower”
revolution. Deputy of National Assembly of Armenia from the opposition
Justice bloc, leader of party Bloc of National Democrats Arshak
Sadoyan stated during news conference, Tuesday.
He reminded that his bloc has delivered an ultimatum to the authors of
the package of the amendments from the ruling coalition. According to
the ultimatum if no one out of 11 amendments proposed by the BND is
accepted, then the party will agitate for failure of the referendum,
by the way the deputy is ‘150%’ sure in that the ultimatum will remain
without a response. In this connection Sadoyan reminded that his
party organizes a rally in the square near Matenadaran. The whole
political elite – beginning from the ruling coalition to radical
opposition, as well as representatives of all the parliamentary
factions, foreign diplomats accredited in the Republic of Armenia,
special representative of CE Secretary General to Armenia and the head
of the OSCE mission are invited to the rally. “Let them go and say
what they like and what they don’t like in the package of the
reforms”, Sadoyan said.

THE RA MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS RECEIVES A DELEGATION OF MEMBERS
OF THE COMMITTEE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS OF THE US CONGRESS
YEREVAN, August 25. /ARKA/. The RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan
Oskanian received a delegation of members of the committee of
International Affairs of the US Congress, according o the RA MFA
Press Service Department. According to the press release, in the
course of the meeting the sides touched upon the issue of Armenia’s
participation in the Millennium Challenge Program. Oskanian
introduced work done by the Armenian side in the framework of the
program and suggestions referring it.
The members of the delegation emphasized that the project of
suggestions offered by the Armenian side is real and well- elaborated
and they told that the project will be approved by the Corporation.
In the course of the meeting the sides expressed their satisfaction
with the level of the Armenian -American relations and came to the
mutual opinion that the bilateral relations will foster development
of relations in all spheres. A.H. –0–

ARDSHININVESTBANK (ARMENIA) HOLDS “CHILDREN’S SUMMER” CHARITABLE
ACTION AT YEREVAN “ZATIK” CHILDREN’S HOME
YEREVAN, August 24. /ARKA/. The Ardshininvestbank (Armenia) held the
“Children’s Summer” charitable action at the Yerevan “Zatik”
children’s home, press-service of the bank reported ARKA news Agency.
The bank provided over AMD 2mln for this action. Upon the agreement
between the management of the “Ardshininvestbank” and the directorate
of the children’s home 130 inmates of the children’s home were
supported in acquiring clothes and writing-materials before the
upcoming school year within this action. The bank’s management also
decided to grant two computers to the children’s home, to organize
the vacations of the inmates at the Water Land and dinner parties at
“Zatik” and Water Land.
The Ardshininvestbank has been engaged in chartable actions during
almost the three years of its activities. Its most significant
actions are donations to the construction of roads in Armenia and
Artsakh, sponsoring the Armenian team in Olympic Games in Athens,
sponsoring the Armenian teams in international chess competitions, as
well as providing stipends for the students of the four higher
educational institutions of Armenia.
The “Ardshininvestbank” CJSC obtained a license for banking activity
(N83) from the Central Bank of Armenia on February 27, 2003. Its
founder is the Russian “International Business Center” financial and
industrial group. A.A. -0–

PACE CHAIRMAN: KARABAKH CONFLICT CANNOT BE SETTLED IN ANY WAY BUT
PEACEFUL
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24. ARMINFO. Karabakh conflict can be settled in no
way but peaceful. PACE Chairman Rene van der Linden made this
statement at a press conference after his visit to the South Caucasus
yesterday, Azerbaijani Echo newspaper reports.
He stated that he had discussed the issue seriously both with Armenian
and Azerbaijani leadership. Linden stated that the CE also exerted
efforts to solve the problem. In this connection he mentioned the
existence of the Subcommittee for Karabakh Conflict at PACE. He
stated that he had already discussed the issue of economic isolation
of Armenia with the authorities of that country. Armenia cannot use
contacts with two economically developed neighboring states – Turkey
and Azerbaijan, he thinks.

SPEAKER OF RA PARLIAMENT MEETS WITH HUNGARIAN DELEGATION
YEREVAN, August 25. /ARKA/. Speaker of the RA Parliament Artur
Baghdasaryan has held a meeting with a Hungarian parliamentary
delegation led by the Parliament members Pal Shteiner and Laslo
Meshter. Speaker Baghdasaryan pointed out the importance of
developing bilateral relations and conveyed his greetings to the
Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament. Baghdasaryan confirmed the
invitation to visit Armenia, saying that a visit of the Speaker of
Hungarian Parliament to Armenia may give an important impetus to the
development of Armenian-Hungarian relations. The sides pointed out
the Armenian community’s important role in Hungary, particularly in
Budapest. The sides also discussed issues of establishing regional
ties and implementing specific programs.
P. Shteiner and L.Medhner pointed out positive trends in the
development of Armenian-Hungarian relations, expressing the opinion
that the cooperation agreement between the two countries’ capitals
can also serve as a basis for the implementation of mutually
advantageous programs, particularly in the tourist sphere. A non-stop
Budapest-Yerevan flight can also greatly contribute to this process.
P.T. -0–

YURI MERZLYAKOV: AS MEDIATOR RUSSIA PROVIDES ACTIVE ASSISTANCE IN
SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24. ARMINFO. As a mediator Russia provides active
assistance in the settlement of the conflict in Nagorny Karabakh. As
Golos Rossii reports, Russian Cochairman of OSCE Minsk Group for
settlement of the Karabakh conflict Yuri Merzlyakov stated after the
Moscow negotiations of the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
According to him, if the conflicting parties reach mutual acceptable
agreement then Moscow is ready to become a guarantor of its
fulfillment. But Armenia and Azerbaijan must reach such an agreement
independently, without any interference from outside, Merzlyakov
stressed.

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS THOSE OF DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE: KONSTANTIN
ZATULIN
MOSCOW, August 24. /ARKA/. Russian-Armenian relations are those of a
defensive alliance, and Azerbaijan must know that, Director of the
Institute of CIS Konstantin Zatulin told ARKA. According to him,
Azerbaijan is making use of the withdrawal of Russian troops from
Georgia for suspecting Armenia and Russia. “Though, as you can
understand, the distance between Armenia and Russia makes groundless
the claims that another group in Armenia will considerably change the
balance of forces in the region,” Zatulin said. According to him,
even if Azerbaijan “is so much afraid of that,” Russia can re-group
forces in its territory. “And nobody ban stop us,” Zatulin said. P.T.
-0–

ARMENIA’s FOREIGN MINISTER NAMED “NORMAL” MEETING WITH
AZERI COUNTERPART
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24. ARMINFO. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan estimates positively a Moscow meeting with his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov. He expressed such an opinion in an
interview to Radio “Liberty”.
“On the whole, the meeting was normal. We continued the discussion of
issues being on the agenda. Some of them will be submitted at the
meeting of presidents in Kazan”, he noted refusing to detail his
words. Oskanyan also noted that a press-conference might take place
after coming back from Kazan. He stressed that they plan to sign no
document in Kazan. “I can say unambiguously that there will be
signing of no document there as the sides are far from it. The
discussions will be continued and if presidents decide to say
anything to press, it will be their decision”, Oskanyan noted.

REPRESENTATIVE OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF TBILISI RUNS FOR VACANCY AT
GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24. ARMINFO. Representative of the Armenian community
of Tbilisi Robert Haroutunian runs for vacancy at Georgian parliament.
As A-INFO informs, the elections for two vacant places by the majority
system at the Georgian parliament will take place on Oct 1. In
1992-1997 Haroutunian was the trade and economic representative of
Armenia in Georgia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency
Aug 24 2005
ROBERT KOCHARYAN: CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN ARMENIA SHOULD NOT BE
CONSIDERED AS AUTHORITIES’ VICTORY OR OPPOSITION’S DEFEAT
YEREVAN, August 24. /ARKA/. The constitutional reforms in Armenia
should not be considered as the victory of the authorities or defeat
of the opposition, RA President Robert Kocharyan stated in his
interview given to the Armenian Public television. He said that “this
is the most dangerous aspect”. “I am confident that constitutional
reforms should not be viewed from this point of view. They can not be
the subject of the authorities’ victory or opposition’s defeat. They
should only be considered as victory of the people and the country”,
Kocharyan said. He said that the constitutional reforms should be
popularized, which will result in people’s unity as it was done for
the Round Dance of Unity on May 28, 2005. He said that if with the
festive mood we will achieve positive result, it will be the victory
of the people and the country. Kocharyan pointed out that it is
necessary to help opposition to come to positive field.
“Constitutional reforms are not for the certain individual or party.
The draft amendments to Constitution has objective nature, and all
sides will benefit from it, including the opposition”, Kocharyan
said. He pointed out that it is the most important task, and the
active work should be done in this direction to achieve a positive
result.
The draft amendments to the Constitution will be discussed in the
second reading at the RA National Assembly on August 29, 2005. The
opposition parliamentary forces – the “National Unity” party and the
“Justice” bloc, which have boycotted the sessions of the RA NA since
February, 2004 decided to participate in these discussions. They also
stated previously that there are not any pre-conditions to approve
this draft. A.A. -0–