ARKA News Agency
Nov 19 2004

12.9% of questioned Yerevan citizens called the chairman of People’s
Party of Armenia Tigran Karapetian a man of the year

NKR Prime Minister: NKR strives to keep in line with European values

Armenia and UNDP sign memorandum of cooperation on development of
national housing concept to the sum of $30 thou

NKR Foreign Minister: OSCE Minsk group does not give proper
consideration to the legal aspect of the problem

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12.9% OF QUESTIONED YEREVAN CITIZENS CALLED THE CHAIRMAN OF PEOPLE’S
PARTY OF ARMENIA TIGRAN KARAPETIAN A MAN OF THE YEAR

YEREVAN, November 19. /ARKA/. 12.9% of questioned Yerevan citizens
called the chairman of People’s Party of Armenia Tigran Karapetian a
man of the year, according to the results of telephone poll placed at
the site persons.am conducted on Nov 9-15 among 964 citizens of
Yerevan by Vox Populi Center.
According to the poll, 11.4% of respondents gave this title to RA
President Robert Kocharian, 10.9% – RA PM Andranik Margarian, 9.4% –
RA NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasarian, 6.8% – Minister of Defense Serge
Sargsian, 6.3% – gave other answers and 17.8% – could not tell.
Besides, 24.3% think that there is no such person in Armenia.
According to the results of the same poll, 33.4% of respondents
called George Bush a man of 2004 in the world and 16.4% – Vladimir
Putin, 10.2% – Yasir Araffat, 9.5% – Mihail Sahakashvili, 6.8% – Ben
Laden. L.D. –0–

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NKR PRIME MINISTER: NKR STRIVES TO KEEP IN LINE WITH EUROPEAN VALUES

STEPANAKERT, November 19. /ARKA/. NKR strives to keep in line with
European values, as stated by NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan
at the meeting with the delegation of youth organizations from
Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, Hungary, the Ukraine,
Moldova, Georgia and Latvia that arrived in Stepanakert for an
introductory visit. Also representatives of youth organizations of
NKR were present at the meeting. According to ARKA’s reporter in
Stepanakert, greeting guests on behalf of the authorities of NKR,
Danielyan expressed regret for youth organizations of Azerbaijan do
not participate in such an arrangement. He noted that they are ready
to accept them in NKR, however the authorities of Baku avoid direct
contacts and meetings with Karabakh authorities and the public. NKR
Prime Minister told about the priorities of internal and external
politics of the republic, economic programs implemented in NKR, which
according to him are a result of liberal economic politics. A.H.-0–

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ARMENIA AND UNDP SIGN MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION ON DEVELOPMENT OF
NATIONAL HOUSING CONCEPT TO THE SUM OF $30 THOU

YEREVAN, November 19. /ARKA/. The RA Ministry of Urban Development
and UNDP signed today the memorandum of understanding on cooperation
in developing the national housing concept. According to Lise Grande,
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, the program
to the overall sum of $30 thou will be implemented through
co-financing, where the share of UNDP will make 70%, the rest 30%
will be provided by the RA Ministry of Urban Development. She said
that the program is designed for 4 months and provides for the
development of the concept which will underlie the strategic program
of housing improvement for the most vulnerable strata of the society.
“According to the conducted studies, after the earthquake in 1988 in
Armenia many families remained homeless. Our estimates show that
today there are 13 thou families living in temporary dwellings, which
do not correspond to technical standards”, said Grande.
In his turn, Aram Harutunyan, the RA Minister of Urban Development
noted that, the concept of the housing strategy will allow creating
basis for the implementation of accommodation of the poor. “In
particular, the concept includes two elements – analysis of the
existing housing complex of Armenia and the development of standards
for the housing to be granted to the poor”, said Harutunyan. He noted
that, according to the latest data of the Ministry, there are about
10 thou families in Armenia which remained homeless as a result of
natural or man-caused disasters, however this sphere still requires a
profound study. L.V.–0–

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NKR FOREIGN MINISTER: OSCE MINSK GROUP DOES NOT GIVE PROPER
CONSIDERATION TO THE LEGAL ASPECT OF THE PROBLEM
STEPANAKERT, November 19. /ARKA/. Given all the efforts to reach the
peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict, the OSCE Minsk group does
not give proper consideration to the legal aspect of the problem. As
the Press Service Department of NKR Foreign Ministry told ARKA, this
was stated by Ashot Ghulyan, the NKR Foreign Minister during his
meting with the delegations of youth organizations from Sweden,
Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, the Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia,
Georgia and Armenia. He noted that the “judicial base for the
withdrawal of Nagorno Karabakh from Soviet Azerbaijan is so
irreproachable and solid that can only confirm the political
settlement of the conflict”. The Minister noted that the achievement
of comprehensive settlement of the conflict is possible only given
the full participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiation
process. He mentioned the disruptiveness of Azeri position on this
issue and continuing provocations with regard to Nagorno Karabakh.
“The aim of Baku propaganda is to create a word curtain so that the
common Azerbaijani citizens could not have the possibility to
understand how groundless are all charges against Karabakh’, said
Ghulyan. At that the Minister noted that during the meetings with the
authorities and community of Nagorno Karabakh, many foreign political
figures, diplomats, human rights activists and journalists asserted
with satisfaction that the strive of Karabakh to build its state
through strengthening of democratic institutions and human rights
protection fully corresponds to their vision of contemporary way the
world is. L.V.–0–

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