Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

ADB TO ALLOCATE $1MLN GRANT FOR TECHNICAL STUDIES ON CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIA-GEORGIA MOTOR-ROAD CORRIDOR

Noyan Tapan
Feb 17, 2009

YEREVAN, February 17. /ARKA/. Technical studies on the construction
of North-South motor-road corridor between Armenia and Georgia are
included in the program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 2009.

The bank intends to allocate a $1mln worth grant for this purpose, head
of transport and communication of ADB central and western department
Hong Vang said at his meeting with Armenian Minister of Transport
and Communication Gurgen Sargsyan as quoted by Press Secretary of
the Ministry Susanna Tonoyan.

Vang reported that currently the results of the tender on consultant
services are being summarized, and the consultant is to start in
mid April.

The ADB representative suggested allocating the funds for the road
construction in stages.

Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gurgen Sargsyan, in
his turn, stressed the importance of building the North-South motor
road and said that it will not only connect Armenia with Georgia,
but will also enable transmit cargo transportation.

Sargsyan addressed the possible construction of Iran-Armenia railroad
and said that ADB is interested in the project.

ESSAY: GENOCIDE BY ANY INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
By Sean Gannon

Jerusalem Post
33304765559&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowF ull
Feb 13 2009

"The persecution of Armenians is assuming unprecedented
proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate
a systematic attempt to uproot peaceful populations and through
arbitrary efforts, terrible tortures, wholesale expulsions and
deportations from one end of the Empire to the other, accompanied by
frequent instances of rape, pillage and murder turning into massacre,
to bring destruction and destitution on them." – Henry Morgenthau Sr.,
US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, July 10, 1915

But did this constitute genocide? Not according to Israel which, for
reasons of "practical realpolitik" regarding relations with Turkey
has long refused to recognize the 1915-1923 massacre of up to 1.5
million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as an act of ethnic extermination.

Nor according to the United States, which bases its refusal on
similar grounds.

And not without cause. Most recently, Turkey responded to an October
2007 draft congressional resolution calling on president George Bush
to characterize the killings as genocide by threatening to cut its
logistical support for US operations in Iraq and close its strategic
Incirlik air base to American aircraft. Turkey spent $300,000 a month
on Washington lobbyists to ensure its message hit home. The resolution,
which had already passed the committee stage and had 225 cosponsors
in the House of Representatives, was quickly withdrawn.

Ankara’s indefatigable efforts to prevent international recognition of
the Armenian genocide derive from the fact that its denial is part of
Turkey’s founding mythology, a plank of official policy since the 1922
Lausanne Conference, where claims of mass killings were dismissed as
"Christian propaganda." In 1934, it successfully lobbied Washington
to persuade MGM to drop plans to film The Forty Days of Musa Dagh,
Franz Werfel’s best-selling novel about the Armenian experience,
by threatening to boycott American films.

This campaign of denial intensified after 1965 when Armenian
commemorations of the 50th anniversary brought the issue to
international attention. By the mid-1970s, Turkey was engaged in
what Richard Falk described as "a major, proactive, deliberate
effort to… keep the truth about the Armenian genocide from
general acknowledgment." By the 1990s, this included the endowment
of chairs in Turkish studies at several US universities with the aim
of disseminating Ankara’s version of events.

ACCORDING TO THIS VERSION, Armenians have willfully painted an
inaccurate picture of what happened in the World War I period and
why. And there is certainly truth in Turkey’s claim that the situation
was not as clear-cut as generally presented. Rarely acknowledged,
for instance, is that the rise of Armenian nationalism in the 19th
century led to enormous tensions between Armenians and their Ottoman
overlords, and that many had sided against the empire in the 1828,
1854 and 1877 wars.

It is also infrequently admitted that although 250,000 Armenians
were conscripted into the Ottoman armies during World War I, another
150,000, out of a sense of religious affinity with the Orthodox Slavs
and in the hope that a Russian victory would lead to an independent
Armenian state, volunteered to serve under the czar, while a further
50,000 joined Armenian guerrilla groups which openly sided with
him. Seldom spoken of either is the fact that hundreds of thousands
of Muslim, Greek and Jewish civilians died directly at their hands.

But while Constantinople may have gained grounds for viewing the
Armenians as a fifth column, nonpartisan sources make clear that their
deportation and murder began before any attempted insurrection. As
David Fromkin, who studied German sources, has written: "There are
historians today who continue to support the claim… that the Ottoman
rulers acted only after Armenia had risen against them. But observers
at the time who were by no means anti-Turk reported that such was
not the case. German officers stationed there agreed that the area
was quiet until the deportations began."

Ankara also denies that 1.5 million Armenians actually died. While
some Turkish historians allow that up to 600,000 were killed, the
semi-official Turkish Historical Society puts the figure closer to
300,000 and argues that, of these, only 10,000 were massacred, the
remainder dying of starvation and disease. It further claims that
these 10,000 were killed, not as part of a genocidal plan, but in
the heat of battle and more often than not by Kurds.

But it is a matter of historical record that the Special Organization,
an official arm of the Defense Ministry, oversaw the activities
of Einsatzgruppen-style killing squads that, in the words of one
US diplomat, "swept the countryside, massacring [Armenian] men,
women and children." And while Kurds were certainly involved in the
killing, they were deliberately coopted for the task by the Turkish
War Ministry in the knowledge that, as the Armenians’ historic blood
enemies, they would lose no opportunity to avenge ancient grudges.

Ankara’s distinction between those directly murdered and those who
died indirectly from starvation, disease and exposure is also highly
questionable. With no provision made for clothing, food or shelter,
the anticipated outcome of the deportations into the Syrian desert
was obviously death. In fact, the Turkish interior minister termed
them "marches to eternity" and his meaning was clear to his appalled
German allies who distanced themselves from the policy. To say that
the Armenians who died during the deportations were not deliberately
killed is like claiming there were no intentional Jewish deaths during
their "relocation" to the East or on the death marches to the West
during World War II.

THE FACT IS that the Armenian massacres constituted genocide by any
international standard, conforming to the UN’s criterion of having been
"committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious group." Indeed, Raphael Lemkin, who
coined the term ‘genocide’ in 1944, used the Armenian massacres as
an illustrative example.

Today Turkey’s campaign to prevent its recognition is assuming
a Canute-like quality. Some 21 countries have already formally
acknowledged it, including Russia, Canada and France, as has
the European Parliament, the World Council of Churches and the
International Association of Genocide Scholars. And with President
Barack Obama (who twice pledged to recognize the genocide during his
election campaign), Joe Biden, Hilary Clinton, CIA chief Leon Panetta
and the NSC’s director of multilateral affairs Samantha Power also on
board, we now have what the Turkish daily Hurriyet described as the
"most pro-Armenian [administration] in history," and the Armenian
National Committee of America is currently preparing to place another
"recognition resolution" before Congress. In fact, Obama may well use
this year’s April 24 White House statement commemorating the killings
to recognize them as genocide.

Furthermore, an official with a leading American Jewish organization
recently told The Jerusalem Post that the post-Cast Lead "deterioration
in Israel-Turkey relations might prompt his group and others to
reconsider" their traditional support for Ankara’s stance. And Israel,
which Yair Auron, author of The Banality of Denial: Israel and the
Armenian Genocide, describes as Turkey’s "principal partner" in denial,
has itself made similar noises, with Deputy Foreign Minister Majallie
Whbee warning that if Turkey persists in its claims that genocide is
taking place in Gaza, "we will then recognize the Armenian-related
events as genocide."

Albeit for the wrong reasons, this is surely the right thing to
do. For, while fears regarding repercussions for both bilateral
relations and Turkey’s 25,000-strong Jewish community are unfortunately
well-founded, Israel, perhaps more than other nations, has a moral
obligation to call this crime by its name.

The writer is a freelance journalist, writing mainly on Irish and
Middle Eastern affairs. He is currently preparing a book on the
history of Irish-Israeli relations.

SECOND ARMENIAN THEATER FESTIVAL TO RUN IN YEREVAN FROM FEB. 16

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.02.2009 16:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ X Theater Festival Opening Ceremony will be held
in Yerevan on Feb. 16.

The Festival will host 16 troupes from Yerevan, Gyumri and
Vanadzor. The second Festival organized by Theatre Workers National
Union under the aegis of the RA Ministry of Culture will be opened
with Malyan theater performance and run till Mar. 2.

Festival Chairman and Head of Theatre Workers National Union, Ruben
Babayan informed that the Festival will include those theaters and
theater unions which applied before deadline. The Festival aims at
exposure of Armenian theater – related issues.

One of the organizers, theater critic Ara Hzmalyan noted that the
aim of X Festival is to bring audiences back to the theater, which
is a major problem today.

In contrast to current festival, the previous one was held on voluntary
lines and hosted only seven troupes.

"HERITAGE" PRESENTS LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE ON MAKING ADDITION TO LAW ON MOTOR TRANSPORT

Noyan Tapan

Feb 10, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The head of the parliamentary
"Heritage" faction Armen Martirosian on February 10 presented a
legislative initiative on making an addition to the RA Law on Motor
Transport. According to the press service of "Heritage" party, the
party is seriously concerned about the negative manifestations of the
deepening crisis in the country, with their impact being increased by
the incorrect policy of the authorities with respect to taxi drivers.

The adoption of the bill is conditioned by the necessity to keep
about 3,000 jobs of those engaged in passenger transportation by taxis
and the exercise of the fundamental principle of not restricting an
income-generating activity. The bill’s adoption will contribute to
solution of the social security problems of those engaged in the
indicated activity and their families – under conditions of the
current financial crisis.

ON MUTUAL PERCEPTION OF ARMENIANS IN TURKEY
Ruben Melkonyan

09 February 2009
"Noravank" Foundation

The problem of mutual perception of different groups of the Armenians
becomes of vital importance today but this time on the grounds of
the Armenians in Turkey. The issue of the Armenians who were forced
to convert their religion (i.e. who were Islamized) in Turkey has
become the subject of wide speculations in scientific and analytical
circles of Armenia quite recently. This unknown and veiled problem
causes ambiguous reactions. First of all there is an objective problem
of lack of information, which gradually vanishes and this generates
both questions and answers. Thus the contradictive evaluations (from
unreasonably optimistic to nihilistic), which were caused by this
problem may be regarded as quite regular.

The facts show that the issue of mutual perception of different
groups of the Armenians is rather vital even for Armenian community
of Istanbul.

Taking into consideration the fact that Christian Istanbul-Armenians
associate more with different groups of the converted Armenians in
Turkey and their successors lower we shall try to turn to different
elements of their mutual perception.

It should be mentioned that the Armenian community of Istanbul,
which is mainly guided by different stereotypes and commonplaces,
is not inclined to associate with the Armenians from other groups,
which are different from them. Armenia ns from the RA are no exception
either. They are mostly regarded (perceived) by the Armenians of
Istanbul as "strangers" or "aliens". The growth of the number of
articles and publications is the evidence of the topicality of
the problem of mutual perception of the Armenians in Turkey and
Istanbul-Armenians who are on different stages of estrangement.

Thus Istanbul-Armenian journalist of "Akos" daily Bagrat Esdugyan
has been turning to that problem rather often recently. And here
we find it necessary to make rather extended quotations from his
articles. Because, being a member of Armenian community in Istanbul,
he could present the matter impartially, from constructive positions
and, which is most important, "from within": "One of the main issues,
which are on the agenda in Turkey now, is the issue of national
identity. Many prejudiced ideas, opinions and even statements
fall to the ground today. Till recent times the authorities have
liked to believe that 99.9% of the population of the country is
Muslims. Armenian community in the country seems to think the same
way. Or it does not realize that there are also other Armenians in
this country and it does not want to hear about them. There is no
place in our narrow-minded perception for the Armenian who is not
a Christian (underlined by us – R. M.). Till recent times we could
go on not calling Armenian the one wh o did not speak Armenian. And
today we do not want to hear of those whose way of life differs
from our philistine traditions. But there are such people. There are
Armenians who hold on their national identity, ignoring their religious
affiliation. There are Christians who cling to their faith without
realizing their national identity. There are Armenian-speaking people
who only now disclose the national identity of their ancestors. Some of
them occurred in the regions inhabited by Kurds and Kurdishized. The
others stayed in the regions inhabited by Turks and Turkishized. And
the third group is the Armenians who seeking for their roots come to
our church.

But are the doors of church open before them? What is the answer
an Armenian from province receives from the priest when he asks to
christen him, to carry out wedding ceremony or funeral?"

By the way, Bagrad Esdugyan talked on that subject in the interview
with Armenian internet-site "Hetq" (the Association of Investigating
Armenian Journalists"): "When we speak of Armenian community in
Turkey we mean Istanbul Armenian community. And we speak of Istanbul
Armenian community we mean a kind of philistine way of life. And
that philistine, narrow-minded way of life wants to see Armenians
who are just like them. I.e. an Armenian has to live in some distinct
districts, to go to the island in summer and visit church with some
frequency. And an Armenian should keep himself within some definite
bounds set by the majority of those who live in the city. An Armenian
who does not fit with this mode of life will arouse suspicion and
will be disdained. This group may include either those who live in
the RA or those who have lived out of Istanbul for a long time and
preserved their identity or lost it but now try to realize it.

Those Armenians cannot be integrated with Armenian community of
Istanbul either.

It should be mentioned that the same situation can be also met in
Europe where they have a number of obstacles determined by language,
social and other differences between Armenians who have re-converted
their faith (i.e. who re-converted Christianity) or who are on their
way to do that and those who have not converted their faith, and this
causes estrangement among people.

There is no doubt that Armenian Apostolic Church has a lot to do in
the issue of correct perception and integration of crypto- or Islamized
Armenians (especially those who want to re-convert Christianity). And
the uncharitable attitude of Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul towards
the Armenians (and this may be conditioned by different facts, such as
prudence, the restrictions applied by Turkish government and also by
the possible danger of avaricious intentions) who want to re-convert
Christianity is reprehensible.

It is obvious that in the discourse of the Armenians of Istanbul the
=0 D question "Who is an Armenian?" is pointed out. And Bagrat Esdugyan
has also touched over that issue on the pages of "Akos" daily: "Indeed,
who is an Armenian? What do we understand saying "Armenian"? E.g. what
do we, the Armenians of Istanbul expect from the Armenians? Is it
possible that an Armenian does not speak Armenian? Life has shown
that it is possible. Do the Armenians living in Armenia accept those
who do not speak Armenian as an Armenian? Who knows, may be they do.

And can an Armenian be non-Christian? Can we imagine a man who has
converted Islam saying that he is an Armenian? It occurs that it
is possible. On the next day after the murder of Dink we had been
on guard by the entrance of the office of "Akos" daily, i.e. people
from "Sayat-Nova", guys from "Kartesh Turkiler", youth from "Tostlar
Gorozu", and dozens of Sasunians. That night we saw Muslim Armenians
who came to pay a tribute to the greatest martyr of our days Hrant
Dink. We saw that this is possible too". The author of the article
confirms the idea, which was presented by us repeatedly that the
adequate perception of crypto- or Islamized Armenians and their
successors in Turkey, the specification of the attitude toward them is
possible only after comprehensive acknowledgment and understanding of
that issue. One can see that Esdugyan approaches to the issue of the
perception of estranged Armenians in Turkey on behalf of the Armenians
from the RA with the unveiled caution and preconception which are
justly based on our "inexperience", i.e. lack of awareness concerning
that issue as compared with them. Esdugyan also indirectly accepts that
Istanbul-Armenians today have a problem of recognition of the Armenians
who live in province and who are on different stages of estrangement,
as they do not know the whole matter profoundly. "Who did know about
20 thousand Armenians of Adiyaman twenty years ago? Two years ago our
community got acquainted with that province, because several dozens
of pupils came to our national high schools. Is our country a place
where are a lot of crypto-Armenians or those who has lost their roots?

We find that the issue of the perception of the Islamized Armenians
and their successors on behalf of the Turks, the Kurds or in one
word Muslims surrounding them is not of a minor importance and it is
noteworthy. It is not a secret that in Turkey the converted Armenians
were not regarded as "true Muslims" either on state or on social
levels, and today that approach has not changed. There are a lot of
facts showing the foregoing. It is enough to mention the fact that
there were some sanctions imposed by the republican Turkey on state
level against Islamized Armenians. The Islamized Armenians accept that
even a fter their faith conversion their milieu does not regard them
as true Muslims and they are always labeled as "gyavur" of "denme"
(converted). E.g. the converted Armenian 85-years old Sasunian
Zeynep Iylmaz who is believed to be a faithful Muslim (even more
Muslim than her Muslim husband) says: "We were Armenians and now we
are Muslims but when occasion offers Muslims always say "You are the
Armenians". We cannot get rid of it". Turning to that matter Bagrat
Esdugyan mentions that Muslims still regard Islamized Armenians and
their successors as Armenians. "Muslim never accept them, they say
"this is gyavur village". Such an attitude has not changed and has
been passed on from generation to generation".

It would be interesting to know the opinion of Turkish nationalists
concerning the question "Who is a Turk?" and to see in the same
context the way they treat non-Turks who are on different stages of
estrangement. Thus one of the pioneers of pan-Turkism Nihal Atsz
(1905-1975) answered the question "Who is a Turk?" in his article
"Turkish race = Turkish nation" published in 1934 in "Orqun" magazine
saying: "For the Turks the issue of nation is first of all the issue
of blood. Thus the one who say that he is a Turk must be from the
Turkish kin.

The one of the other blood even if he does not know any other language
but for Turkish cannot be a Turk".

Summing up all what was said above we should mention that we must have
a differentiated approach and, which is most important expectations
from various groups of Islamized Armenians. The attempts and the
aspiration of crypto-Armenians to re-integrate Armeniacy must be
awarded our positive attitude. It is necessary to get over the
differences between us, which have occurred due to the objective
reasons.

There are different occurrences to be noticed among Islamized Armenians
and their successors from mixed marriages: some of them, as we have
already told, are proud of their Armenian descent and begin to treat
it in special way, the others try to ignore this, thus not to be
labeled as "gyavur" or "enemy-Armenian", and the third part feels
hostility towards the Christian Armenians (and this is conditioned
by some psychological reasons too).

Of course it is said that we can often see that the estranged
successors of Islamized Armenians have some deformed or "corrupted"
human features characteristic of our nation, of the Armenian
anthropological type. Anyway we should realize that there are people
who have an Armenian descent and those who want to learn more about
it. That is why we must not deny the existence of the Islamized
Armenians and their successors and quite the contrary; we must find
some common edges to associate with them.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES OVER $0.5MLN FOR CAPITAL FINANCING OF HERBAL TEA PRODUCER

ARKA
Feb 5, 2009

YEREVAN, February 5. /ARKA/. The RA Government allocated 161mln AMD
(about $527,000) for the financing of capital of the Mega Ararat
Company (Vaiots Dzor region, Armenia), which produces herbal teas.

At the RA Government’s sitting today Minister of Economy Nerses
Yeritsyan reported that this credit is an example of assistance
to small and medium-sized enterprises under the programs of the RA
President and of the RA Government.

He said that the crediting implies business assessment, reforms
of the company’s legal and organizational management, issuance of
securities, replenishment of capital due to the Government’s share,
formation of a new board in conformity with international corporate
management standards.

Ishkhan Karapetyan, Executive Director of the National Center for
Small and Medium Business, pointed out that the Mega Ararat Company
produces six herbal teas, including thyme, mint, rosehip and haw teas.

"The company plans to create over 50 jobs and employ over 100 families
in herb picking. The company plans to export 905 of its products to
Russia and, after being certified, to Europe," Karapetyan said.

He said that Mega Ararat will become a stock corporation as the
Government will purchase 161mln AMD shares of the company. The company
will develop its business, and the Government will improve its 0D
management and introduce a new business culture.

"Investments will be made for five years. Thereafter the company will
receive an offer to share in business considering the prospects for
development," Karapetyan said. According to him, the company needs
50 tons of herbs for five years.

Karapetyan also reported that the company is considering the
possibility of opening its branch in Nagorno-Karabakh.

He said that the evaluation of the company in progress. The experts
consider not only its financial assets, but also good reputation and
brand awareness.

The RA Premier said that the Government assumed responsibility for
public supervision of anti-crisis measures.

FRANCE TELECOM TO MAKE EXTRA $70 MILLION INVESTMENT IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.02.2009 15:22 GMT+04:00

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met Tuesday with the Chief
Executive Officer of France Telecom (Orange Armenia), Mr. Bruno
Duthoit, the RA government’s press office reported.

France’s Ambassador to Armenia Serge Smessov, and Managing Partner
at Grant Thornton Amyot LLC (Armenia) Armand Pinarbasi also attended
the meeting.

Welcoming the entry of France Telecom to the Armenian market, the
Prime Minister pointed out to several advantages of this event,
namely, competition in the telecommunication field, new investments
and new job opportunities.

"The Company’s activity will facilitate development of the
Armenian-French friendly relations," he said.

For his part, Mr. Duthoit briefed on France Telecom’s plans in the
republic. "The Company intends to make an additional $70 million
investment to offer services not only in Yerevan but also the regions,"
he said.

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTRY PRESENTS REPORT ON ITS ACTIVITY FOR 2008

ARMENPRESS
Jan 30, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, ARMENPRESS: Starting from today the heads
of state establishments of Armenia present reports on their 2008
activity to the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan who tasked
them to mainly present the works which were not conducted and give
relevant explanations.

Today the prime minister called on the ministers to be attentive to
the registered flaws and not to repeat them in future. According to
Tigran Sargsyan, it is necessary that all the ministers realize that
tax gathering is not only the issue of State Revenue Committee but
they too must support it.

First the report of 2008 activity was presented by the Energy and
Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian. According to him, there
are 4 main issues in the sphere – development of atomic energy,
variety of directions of communication and integration with regional
energy systems, ensuring progress of own restoring energy resources,
reproduction of natural resources and creation of legislative field
for ensuring their effective, complex usage.

A. Movsisian noted that last year the works on projecting Iran-Armenia
400 kilowatt air wire and construction of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline’s
Kajaran-Ararat sector were finished. The projecting works of
Armenia-Georgia 400 kilowatt air wire have also been finished though
in 2008 they did not succeed in signing the financing program as the
German KfW bank decided to study the technical-economic grounding of
the works once again.

"As a result of studies they have been reconfirmed and it has
been decided to sign the financing document at the session of
Armenian-German inter-governmental commission scheduled for May,"
he said.

For promoting the development of own restoring energy resources two
large programs have been initiated in the republic – construction of
Lori and Meghri hydro power plants.

As to Lori hydro power plant, the minister said they tried to bring
to life already developed alternative programs but because of the
financial crisis it was impossible to apply them. Currently the
ministry is working in that direction with the World Bank.

The scheme of financing of Meghri hydro power plant was planned
to be developed by the end of the year, but it was postponed every
time. According to the minister, currently it is ready and is presented
to the Iranian side and probably next week will be signed.

A. Movsisian also noted that the work on creation of legislative field
for ensuring the effective, complex usage of natural resources will
be finished in 1.5 month.

The prime minister pointed out that the level of natural losses in
the energy sphere has an essential impact on the tax entries.

"It is necessary that the relevant departments of the ministry conduct
an oversight and if there will be issues immediately inform tax bodies
about them," the prime minister said.

"CHALLENGES TO RECOGNISE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE," SAYS HILLARY CLINTON

Panorama.am
16:48 29/01/2009

The members of Board of Trustees of Armenian Assembly of America
have met the members of the new President’s Administration during
Obama’s inauguration, reports the press service of the Assembly to
Panorama.am. The members of the Assembly expressed their concerns on
Armenian case. "We have had an effective talk with Hillary Clinton
and we hope to co-operate with her," said Anni Totan the member of
the Board of Trustees.

Our morality and the statue of our country as voicing human rights
dictate new challenges to President and the Congress to recognize
Armenian Genocide, said Hillary Clinton.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO TAKE CONSISTENT MEASURES TO RESOLVE SITUATION IN GOLD MARKET

Noyan Tapan

Jan 29, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. At the January 29 sitting of the
Armenian government, the prime minister Tigran Sargsyan stated that
they will take consistent measures to resolve the situation in the
gold market (in Yerevan’s Khorenatsi Street) owned by Vagharsh & Sons
Ltd. "We are not going to yield to the pressures that exist today. If
that man cannot ensure normal working conditions for thousands of
employees, there will be others ready to provide these services,"
the prime minister underlined.

In his words, he received a letter from employees of the market, in
which they complain about the terrible working conditions there. Even
elementary working conditions are absent in the market, and there are
numerous problems related to health, hygiene and sanitary conditions,
heating, air conditioning, fire prevention, etc. In addition, they
have to pay huge amounts for a square meter of trade space. Jewelry
workshops of no smaller areas than a jewelry plant are operated in
the market, but the safety rules are not observed there either.

The prime minister said that the organizer of the trade place had
told the employees of the market that "if they are dissatisfied with
these conditions, they may leave their jobs". However, according
to T. Sargsyan, these people have to put up with all this in order
not to lose their jobs and small incomes. "At the same time the trade
organizer conceals his superprofits from the state and at their expense
builds elite houses in Tsakhkadzor," T. Sargsyan noted. Besides,
according to him, hundreds of unregsitered employees were revealed,
which is another manifestation of tax evasion.