Author: Badalian Vardan

NO APPEALS FROM NAGORNO-KARABAKH TO ERMITAJ
Author: A. Ismayilova

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 9, 2006

No appeals from Nagorno-Karabakh concerning the displays put in the
Russian State Museum of Ermitaj have not been received, the Chief of
the Press Centre of Ermitaj Larisa Karabelnikova told Trend.

According to her, the museum which has collected more than 3 million of
exhibits does not have any separate exhibitions devoted to Azerbaijan,
particularly to Nagorno-Karabakh.

"These are ancient exhibits, and they belong to the Department
of East. The period they belong to there were neither exhibits of
Nagorno-Karabakh nor other countries ", she stressed. She also pointed
out that if Armenians decide to dispute these exhibits, then experts`
and arts critics` involving to this process will be needed.

It should be noted that according to the Informational Agency of
REGNUM, the Director of the so-called Artsakh Historic Museum of
Local Lore Melanya Balayan told that in the Depertment of Azerbaijan
of X-VII Centuries BC of Ermitaj, a golden seal found on the territory
of the Village of Arachadzor of Mardakert District of Nagorno-Karabakh
was put. Nagorno-Karabak was marked as the place where this seal was
found, and in this connection the Armenian party corresponds with
the Ermitaj Board.

In his turn, the Director of the Department of Policy and Culture
of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan Republic Fikret
Babayev told Trend that such an appeals are not of significance. F.

Babayev thinks that everybody including a natural person has a right
to apply to Ermitaj. On F. Babayev`s opinion, such an appeals cannot
be the cause of disputing of ancient exhibits.

KASPRZYK AND THE AZERBAIJANI PROPAGANDA

Lragir.am
10 Aug 06

Andrzej Kasprzyk, the special representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, refuted several directions of the Azerbaijani
propaganda machine in an interview with the news agency Trend. In
particular, he mentioned that in the beginning of this year the
situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani front line was tense, while in
May it became quiet. According to Kasprzyk, as a result of skirmishes
there were about 20 casualties from both parties.

If we compare this number with the figures the Azerbaijani
propaganda offers, we may suppose that Baku pursues certain aims
in presenting a higher number. Most probably, it wants to prove the
international community that Armenia is more aggressive than "defeated
Azerbaijanis". It is possible that on a convenient opportunity all
these facts will be used to station international forces in the region.

In fact, Kasprzyk refuted and added that the OSCE monitoring of the
front line helps to sustain the cease-fire. He also touched upon
the problem of fires and mentioned that the fires were not unusual,
they simply occurred too often. Kasprzyk said the Azerbaijani party
presented a good package of documents for this year. He mentioned
that the fires did not damage the settlements except Aghdam, where
the fire went farther than the border.

As for cooperation in this sphere, he did not receive any proposals
from the parties, Kasprzyk said. Maybe because it is a vacation time.

THE FILES WILL DO THEIR JOB

Lragir.am
9 Aug 06

The deal Property for Debt, which is so successfully slowing down,
has given rise to a rather serious process within the government of
Russia. The Lragir has written a number of times about this topic,
which is having new developments. The opinion is increasingly becoming
dominant in the Russian government that this deal, which first seemed
to be profitable for Russia, was but cheating.

Naturally, Russia considers itself to have been cheated in the sense
that these enterprises were assessed higher that their real value is,
and their physical and moral state requires more efforts than it had
been thought.

Our source from the Kremlin says the Russian government has accumulated
considerable materials about the deal of property for debt, which was
managed by the Armenian minister of defense Serge Sargsyan and the
former vice prime minister of Russia Klebanov. Our source informs that
these materials provide sufficient ground for serious conclusions on
machinations and misuse. The Kremlin does not hurry to publish these
materials. We have learned that these materials will be published on
an expedient political occasion, connected with the campaign of the
Armenian parliamentary election.

ARMENTEL MONOPOLY BLAMED FOR INTERNET FAILURE IN ARMENIA
By Anna Saghabalian

Radio Liberty, Armenia
Aug. 8, 2006

Armenia’s leading Internet service providers blamed the ArmenTel
telecommunications monopoly on Tuesday for a four-day effective
disruption of the country’s Internet connection with the rest of
the world.

The connection was cut off on Friday and was extremely slow in the
next three days due to what ArmenTel officials described as two
separate accidents on a fibro-optic cable that handles virtually all
of Armenia’s external Internet traffic. The Greek-owned company, which
has a controversial legal monopoly on the service, said the cable was
seriously damaged in neighboring Georgia and off the Russian Black
Sea coast and will not be fully repaired at least until the end of
this week.

A company spokeswoman, Hasmik Chutilian, told RFE/RL that the Internet
communication, which remained erratic on Tuesday, will be carried
out through reserve channels running across Georgia and Iran until
the repairs are over.

Service providers claimed, however, that the bulk of the Armenian
Internet traffic was rerouted to Turkey via Georgia. They also slammed
ArmenTel for its failure to put in place an alternative satellite link
that would end Armenia’s reliance on a single cable that regularly
gets damaged on Georgian territory.

According to Grigor Saghian of Arminco, Armenia’s largest Internet
provider, there have been at least two dozen such accidents since the
beginning of last year. "I am surprised that they are not creating
a reliable and fast satellite connection. It will cost them only
$100,000 or so," he said.

Earlier this year, the Armenian government obligated ArmenTel to
issue licenses to those providers that are willing to launch satellite
links and pay the telecom operate for using them. "ArmenTel is still
not giving those licenses," said Saghian.

Albert Tonoyan, deputy head of the Web.am provider, said his company
applied for a license several months ago and is still awaiting a
reply from ArmenTel. "The monopoly does not make ArmenTel interested
in finding quick solutions," he told RFE/RL. "They are only keen
to make money. They act as slowly as possible and invest as little
as possible."

The ArmenTel monopoly, a key term of the company’s 1998 takeover by
Greece’s OTE telecom giant, has long been blamed for the poor quality
and relatively high cost of Internet connection in Armenia. Analysts
consider it a serious obstacle to the development of information
technology, one of the new and most promising sectors of the Armenian
economy. The Armenian government has declared the sector’s expansion
a top economic priority.

The government has reportedly decided that the new owner of ArmenTel,
which was put up for sale by OTE last spring, will not inherit the
Internet monopoly from the Greeks. The latter are expected to announce
the winner of an ongoing international tender for ArmenTel by the
end of this month.

In the meantime, the providers are counting substantial losses which
they claim to be incurring as a result of the Internet disruption. In
Saghian’s words, it made a dent not only in their finances but
Armenia’s image in the international IT community.

"A single accident like this may have nullified several years of
work to promote IT in Armenia," said the Arminco executive. "There is
hardly any other country in the world that declares IT a top priority
but may have no Internet connection for several days."

ARMENIA TO STEP UP PRACTICAL, POLIT COOPERATION WITH NATO

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug. 8, 2006

YEREVAN, August 8 (Itar-Tass) – The main purpose of Armenia’s
foreign policy is "full-fledged integration into European bodies
and organizations," according to Armenia’s obligations within the
framework of the plan of individual partnership with NATO, a document
placed on the official website of the republic’s Ministry of Defense.

"Armenia intends to step up practical and political cooperation with
NATO with the purpose of closer rapprochement with the alliance,"
and the plan of individual partnership with NATO will be an important
instrument in this respect, the document said.

"Pursuing the integration into European bodies and organizations,
Armenia intends to expand its cooperation with the European Union,
considering full-fledged membership in the EU its priority objective,"
the document on Armenia’s obligations said.

It reiterated Yerevan’s commitment to "fully implement" the agreement
on security with NATO.

Armenia "will continue the formation of a peacekeeping battalion
conforming to NATO standards, counting on its further transformation
into a peacekeeping brigade."

Armenia also stated its intention to "revise its current practice and
security procedures" on its borders with the view of perfecting them.
Armenia’s state border with Turkey and Iran is guarded by Russian
border-guards.

Kars Mayor Wants to Reopen Armenian Border

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.08.2006 15:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kars Mayor Naif Alibeyoglu is waging an uphill
battle to overcome nationalist sentiments against Armenia to once
again get the Turkish-Armenian border reopened to civilian traffic
and trade since being shut down in 1993 due to the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Alibeyoglu says that reopening the border crossing with
Armenia will not be simply a move that will boost the local economy of
the region but will also constitute a major breakthrough for Turkish
exporters who have been dreaming of acquiring cheap and secure land
and rail access to markets in Central Asia and beyond.

Being a prosperous, multinational city, where Turks, Kurds, Armenians,
Russians and Georgians lived, Kars is today one of the poorest regions
of the country. 70% of Kars population left the town lately. The
only income of the locals is cattle breeding. The opening of the
border will revive Kars, the Mayor believes. "Turkey’s future is
in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Turkey lost this market to Russia
and America," Alibeyoglu says.

Kars Mayor Alibeyoglu is a devout believer that the city can regain
at least some of its past splendor. Alibeyoglu pictures Kars as the
Davos of the Caucasus. "If that was its status 80 years ago, then why
shouldn’t it be so now?" he asks. Kars will be home to the 3rd Festival
of Caucasus Cultures between Sept. 15-17, hosting groups from 30
countries including Armenia, Ukraine, Sudan and even Cuba. The festival
is just one attempt to earn Kars the recognition it deserves. Apart
from that, the municipality has a number of projects to preserve
the unique Tsarist-era architecture of the city, responsible for the
city’s decrepit charm. In addition, a large citadel and a crumbling
Armenian church-turned-mosque are some of the sights accounting for
Kars’ specialization in ruins, reported Turkish Daily news.

ARMENIA’S BANKING SYSTEM SERVES 745,000 CLIENTS BY END OF MAY 2006

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 1 2006

YEREVAN, August 1. /ARKA/. In May 2006, the number of clients served
by Armenia’s banking system increased by 9,955 and reached 745,075.

The RA Statistical Service reports that legal entities numbered 37,884
and individuals 707,191.

By May 31, 2006, 919,292 accounts had been registered at Armenia’s
commercial banks, 865,056 of them individual accounts. The combined
accounts of the Armsavingsbank involve 3,469.5ths people.

By June 30, 2006, the balance of deposits attracted from the population
had amounted to AMD 102,748 – an AMD 860 or 0.8% increase.

It increased by AMD 25,243mln or by 32.6% compared to the corresponding
period of last year. P.T.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Azerbaijan Won’t Be Allowed to Start War in Karabakh
28.07.2006 13:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The military operation in the Codori canyon is just
a political PR campaign launched by Mikhail Saakashvili, head of the
International Relations Department at the Institute of the Political
and Military Analysis Sergey Markedonov told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. In his words, neither Georgians nor Abkhazians control the
territory where the operations started. `This operation gives
Georgians the opportunity to hold talks with the `other state
structure’ of Abkhazia bypassing official Sukhumi. However this
territory is too small to talk about it seriously. It doesn’t even
include the Galsky region mostly inhabited by Georgians,’ Markedonov
said.

At the same time the Russian political scientist underlined that
Azerbaijan’s wish to follow Georgia’s example and launch hostilities
against Nagorno Karabakh is just unsound. `The operation in Kodori is
just a walk while incursion into Karabakh is a lingering and bloody
war Azerbaijan can lose. Karabakh’s security zone is a deeply
echeloned defense while the Defense Army of Karabakh cannot be
compared to a group of Georgian `guerrillas’ led by Emzar
Kvitsiani. The territory of Nagorno Karabakh is really controlled what
cannot be said about the Kodori canyon. There is one more nuance: late
Heydar Aliyev has created an image of a victim for Azerbaijan in the
West. Now, if military operations start in the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict region this image will immediately crack. It will be the end
of Ilham Aliyev and I suppose he understands this. It’s just a
political move. From time to time he just has to tell his people that
`Azerbaijan will liberate its territories. Moreover, Europe, the
U.S. and of course Russia will be against Azerbaijan’s
aggression. Thus, adding the factor of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline Azerbaijan will not start war. It just won’t be allowed,’
Markedonov said.

BUSINESSMEN WERE MISLEAD

Lragir.am
27 July 06

The public wonders why President Robert Kocharyan, nevertheless,
did not go to the CIS informal summit in Moscow. Nobody believes
the official excuse. The source standing close to the president
administration says Robert Kocharyan’s demarche towards Moscow is
connected with a definite factor of enlargement of the Republican
Party. The president of Armenia did not like businessmen running
businesses is in Russia to become members of the Republican Party.

The Armenian president doubts that the membership of these businessmen
to the Republican Party might have been encouraged by the Russian
government which thereby tried to support Serge Sargsyan. Our source
states that this concern pushed the president to make a demarche
towards Moscow. The evidence to this is the news from Russia that
the Russian partners of certain businessmen, who became members of
the Republican Party, advised them to leave the Republican Party as
soon as possible.

A-320 Commander Could Not Direct Plane into Sea

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.07.2006 15:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The conclusion of the Inter-State Aviation
Committee on A-320 airplane crash is not conforming with reality,
President of the National Aviation Association (NAA) of Armenia
Dmitry Atbashyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "I do not agree with
the conclusion. No one from the air crew believes Grigor Grigoryan,
having flied on various planes, would direct the liner into the sea. He
could not be mistaken, his qualification as a pilot is rather high.

It is laughable to say he lost the attitude position.

No pilot believes the conclusion of the Inter-State Aviation Committee:
it is counted for stupid passengers," Atbashyan noted.

He underscored, "Pilots are not suicides. Not worth a pin is a plane,
which crashes resulting from a pilot’s mistake. A-320 has no automatic
pilot – it is an ignorant wording. There is an automatic system of
steadiness, which are integrated in the control system. And no matter
how much you turn it off, it will not turn off fully. It keeps working
irrespective of the pilot’s wish," the NAA President said.

Dmitry Atbashyan is sure that the Inter-State Aviation Committee
conclusion is aimed at not damaging the image of Sochi, which aspires
for hosting the Winter Olympic games. In his words Adler airport falls
short of Russian federal aviation rules. "The regulations say that
flights are prohibited in dangerous meteorological conditions. 6 types
are considered dangerous. I will mention only two, present on that
day: storm rainfall and wind shear. There was no equipment at Sochi
airport to determine the availability of dangerous meteorological
phenomena at the trajectory of approach operation. An airport
does not have the right to receive Airbus liners without having
corresponding devices. Those, who allowed flights of those planes to
Sochi, should be responsible for the crash of the Armenian liner,"
Atbashyan said. He also remarked that everything, what happened to
the plane is an illustration of the aerodynamics textbooks, which
describe the plane movement during the so-called phenomenon of grab.