Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

ORINATS YERKIR RETALIATES TO PRO-TER-PETROSIAN NEWSPAPER’S ALLEGATIONS

ARMENPRESS
Feb 14, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS: In a retaliating move the deputy
chairperson of the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party of former
parliament chairman Arthur Baghdasarian, lashed out today at
ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian to accuse him of having concluded
a secret deal with the authorities to split the opposition.

Speaking at a news conference MP Mrs. Heghine Bisharian, who is also
head of Arthur Baghdasarian’s campaign office, denounced a story in
today’s issue of pro-Ter-Petrosian daily-Haykakan Zhamanak-which
claimed that prime minister Serzh Sarkisian has devised a gimmick
‘to forestall" accusations of vote rigging after the February 19 poll.

The daily claimed that the core of the ploy is to give the victory in
the first round to Arthur Baghdasarian, who will collect more votes
than Sarkisian himself and both will appear in the run-off.

The paper alleged that Baghdasarian and other presidential candidates
would accept the first round’s outcome and in the second round ‘it
would be simply a technical issue to secure Serzh Sarkisian’s victory."

The daily claimed that Baghdasarian and Sarkisian have agreed on this
scenario. It also said that Baghdasarian had to agree to it after
Sarkisian’s allies showed him some secretly recorded video tapes
disgracing Baghdasarian and his relatives.

"Levon Ter-Petrosian had announced when campaigning in Syunik yesterday
that he would like Arthur Baghdasarian to quit the race and support
his bid, but the following day the pro-Ter-Petrosian daily engineers
a slander campaign against Baghdasarian.

This is very suspicious,’ said Mrs. Bisharian.

She reminded of talks that were being held by Ter-Petrosian and
Baghdasarian over a possible union.

"In the evening they (Ter-Petrosian and allies) negotiate an alliance
with us while in the morning publish slandering claims. This is
difficult to explain. Our candidate has a steady electorate and his
popularity is mounting day after day and we have actually no doubt
that he will win the right to the run-off. If Ter-Petrosian wants the
opposition candidate to be in the second round he should join us,’
she said.

She said her party condemns political blackmail and called on all to
observe political correctness and the spirit of cooperation.

"One of the nine candidates will be elected president of this country
and the other 8 will lose,’ she said.

SUPPORT GROWS FOR HRANT DINK RESOLUTION

DeFacto Agency
Feb 13 2008
Armenia

A congressional resolution condemning the murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink (H. Res. 102) continues to gain strength, as
five House Members added their support to the measure in recent days,
reported the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA).

Within the course of a week, Congressmen Jerry F. Costello (D-IL),
Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Ed Royce (R-CA), and Paul
Ryan (R-WI) joined the growing list of cosponsors, bringing the total
number of supporters to 49.

It should be noted that Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)
were added on Friday, February 8, bringing the total number of
cosponsors to 51.

To remind, a human rights defender, Dink was prosecuted under Article
301 of the Turkish penal code for his writings on the Armenian
Genocide. He was murdered on January 19, 2007 in broad daylight
outside of his office at Agos newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey.

"In order to uphold our democratic values, it is imperative that
America demonstrates its commitment to human rights and fundamental
freedoms to the rest of the world," said Assembly Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny. "Article 301 is a part and parcel with Turkey’s ongoing
campaign to deny the historical truth of the Armenian Genocide. We
will continue to push for passage of H. Res. 102."

ARMENIA AND IRAN DISCONENT WITH TURNOVER VOLUME

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.02.2008 19:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan met with
newy appointed Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Sayyid Ali Saghaian,
the RA government’s press office reported.

Welcoming the diplomat, the PM voiced hop for further development
of relations between Armenia and Iran. For his part, Ambassador
Saghaian pledged to do everythingin his power for strengtheing of
bilateral relations

The officials stressed the importance of cooperation in energy and
transport sectors, noting, however, that the volume of commodity
turnover doesn’t correspond to the level of political relations.

In conclusion, Mr Sargsyan voiced readiness to contribute to the
Ambassador’s efforts targeted at development of cooperation in
various fields.

"SOLIDARITY" ACTION CONTINUES IN TENTS

Panorama.am
14:13 14/02/2008

"Solidarity" movement representatives announced that the actions "For
United Armenia" still continue. The representatives of the movement
walk around the metropolitan stations with tents.

Note that the representatives of the social-political movement managed
to collect 80.000 subscribers in the framework of the action.

The mission of the movement is to find out which per cent of Armenian
population is for creating peace in Armenia.

RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES DID NOT MEET TER-PETROSYAN

Panorama.am
14:58 13/02/2008

The authorities of the Russian Government did not meet with Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, the former president of Armenia and the present
presidential candidate.

According to RIA Novosti, Ter-Petrosyan arrived in Moscow this week.

According to Russian newspaper "Commersant" attributing to Levon
Ter-Petrosyan’s headquarter office, the presidential candidate visited
with the Prime Minister and the presidential candidate of RF Dmitri
Medvedev.

Whereas according to our previous source Ter-Petrosyan was not accepted
by any authority from the Government.

He met only with Leonid Gozman, the deputy of "Unity" party.

RF MFA: KOSOVO UNILATERAL INDEPENDENCE IRRESPONSIBLE STEP

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2008 17:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on
Tuesday a move towards the declaration of unilateral independence
by Kosovo an irresponsible step that undermines the principles of
international law.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said last Friday that the
Albanian-dominated province was close to declaring independence from
Serbia, and its government was closely cooperating with international
organizations to alleviate any problems that may arise.

Top European Union diplomats have said they expect Kosovo’s
independence to be declared on February 17.

"We are speaking here about the subversion of all the foundations
of international law, about the subversion of those principles
which, at huge effort, and at the cost of Europe’s pain, sacrifice
and bloodletting have been earned and laid down as a basis of its
existence, we are speaking about a subversion of those principles
on which the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
rests on, those [principles] laid down in the fundamental documents
of the UN."

"Nobody can offer a clear plan of action in the case of a chain
reaction [of further declarations of unilateral independence]. It
turns out that they are planning to act in a hit or miss fashion in
an issue of paramount importance. This is simply inadmissible and
irresponsible," the Russian diplomat said.

"I sincerely fail to comprehend the principles guiding our American
colleagues, and those European [countries] who have taken up this
position," he added.

Of the 27 EU states, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Slovakia, Bulgaria and
Romania have joined Serbia and Russia in opposing independence for
Kosovo, saying the move could set a dangerous precedent for other
breakaway territories.

Lavrov also accused those insisting on the uniqueness of the Kosovo
problem of applying double standards.

"They are saying that Kosovo is unique, and it turns out that
international law can be defied there with the approval of others. This
will not happen," he said, RIA Novosti reports.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov announced on
Sunday that his country had no plans to recognize the sovereignty
of separatist South Ossetia and Abkhazia if Kosovo is declared
independent. South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from
Georgia following bloody conflicts in the wake of the Soviet Union’s
1991 collapse.

According to Serbian media, among UN Security Council members, Russia,
China, Vietnam, Indonesia and South Africa oppose independence for
Kosovo. The U.S., Britain, France, Italy, Belgium and Panama have been
calling for the province’s independence. Of the remaining Security
Council members, Libya, Croatia, Costa Rica and Burkina Faso have
not yet formulated their respective positions.

Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since the NATO bombing of the former
Yugoslavia ended a conflict between Albanian and Serb forces in 1999.

Public TV, Armenia
Feb 7 2008

ARMENIAN PREMIER STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF HANDOVER OF RAIL MANAGEMENT
TO RUSSIA

[Correspondent] A meeting of the [Armenian] cabinet was held today.
Before touching on the agenda, the prime minister[Serzh Sargsyan]
told the heads of the executive agencies of the republic to strictly
observe legal requirements during the [presidential election]
campaign and refrain from carrying out election campaign during
working hours.

Speaking about the draft agreement on the handover of the Armenian
railways [to Russia] for concession management,the prime minister
noted that it was an important decision which met the interests of
our country.

[Sargsyan, speaking at the cabinet meeting] There are problems in the
railways; there is a need for largeinvestments. As a state, we are
having difficulties with making investments. If we do not manage to
solve the issue ofthe railways, we will not be able to ensure the
rapid development of the economy. What the concessionaire will do
is,undoubtedly, extremely important. Our specialists should once
again and finally review the provisions of the agreementso that we do
not have problems afterwards.

EU DOES NOT ACCEPT MILITARY SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 6 2008

The European Union does not accept the military settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Dmitry Rupel,
the EU envoy, Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Novosti-Armenia reports.

"The EU opposes military settlement of each conflict, including
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The EU tries to apply the principles of
democracy in the process of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and
establish an atmosphere of mutual trust between the conflicting sides,"
he said.

According to Rupel, the European Union hopes that the diplomatic
efforts for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, will yield
positive results. In addition, he stated that the governments of
Armenia and Azerbaijan will continue their assistance in the settlement
of conflict, even after the coming presidential elections in Armenia
and Azerbaijan.

"Especially many politicians, including Foreign Minister- Vardan
Oskanyan, functioning in Armenia, who has cleverly acted in settling
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Rupel said.

AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES EUROPEAN UNION’S TROIKA

Trend News Agency
Feb 4 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 4 February / Trend / On 4 February the President
of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, received the delegation of the European
Union’s ‘Troika’, headed by the Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Dimitry
Rupel. The ‘Troika’ also includes EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs,
Benita Ferrero Waldner.

Aliyev voiced his confidence that the visit of ‘Troika’ to the region
will open new opportunities for the development of the co-operation.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the prospects of
co-operation in various spheres between Azerbaijan and the European
Union, as well as in the process of settling Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Robert Kocharian: Everyone must realize that Electoral Code is not
‘frozen’ in pre-election period

2008-02-01 20:35:00

ArmInfo. Everyone must realize that the Electoral Code is not "frozen"
in the pre-election period. On the contrary, on these days law-
enforcement agencies must be stricter in performing of their functions.
This is necessary to avoid extra problems caused by pre-election moods,
Armenian President Robert Kocharian said during his visit to the new
building of RA Defense Ministry, which is under construction. In
particular, the president touched upon the incident, which happened in
Talin town, when supporters of Levon Ter-Petrosyan beat a person. "The
incident in Talin took place to the view, was shot by several media,
and even if desired, law- enforcement agencies couldn’t turn a blind
eye to it", R. Kocharian said. As for the campaign motor rally in
Yerevan’s center, the authors of which were supporters of the
ex-president, the president emphasized that traffic rules are not
"frozen" either, and they refer to all.

"The matter concerns the incident which took place literally in front
of my eyes at Baghramyan- Demirchyan crossroad. This was real
impudence, and I think that such impudence should be suppressed and
prevented by state bodies properly, and guilty persons should be
punished", the president stressed. He recalled that a "hot line" is
open at the Police and there is a special working group under the
Prosecutor General’s Office. "They will regularly inform the public
about the measures being taken to liquidate the consequences of
incidents", Kocharian said.

One shouldn’t create provocation or yield to provocation, he said. "The
organizers of rallies are also responsible for order during the
rallies, and nobody should forget about this. There are several weeks
left before the election and I am sure that everything will pass
calmly, the state bodies will implement their functions and let nobody
doubt of this", the president emphasized. Speaking of the campaign in
general, he noted that everything is proceeding calmly, "though there
will be various incidents which are characteristic of all pre-electoral
campaigns in other countries, too".