Author: Chaltikian Arsine

EX-DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER OF ARMENIA: AZERBAIJAN CANNOT BLACKMAIL WORLD COMMUNITY WITH ITS THREATS OF NEW WAR AGAINST NAGORNO KARABAKH ANY MORE

ArmINFO
2008-12-17 13:04:00

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan cannot blackmail the world community any more as
if the blackmail policy goes on, Baku will be viewed as an unserious
partner, Chairman of the parliamentary Commission on Defense,
National Security and Internal Affairs, ex-deputy Defense Minister of
Armenia Artur Aghabekyan told ArmInfo. ‘Some lull in the Azerbaijani
military and aggressive rhetoric during the last month is the evident
confirmation of my words’, he said.

Aghabekyan thinks the policy of Azerbaijan with respect to the Karabakh
conflict settlement was in continuous threat towards Armenia along
with holding of negotiations within the frames of the OSCE Minsk
Group. Moreover, according to the Azerbaijani party, if no consensus
is achieved, it will resolve the conflict in a military way. ‘If the
threats towards us in the beginning of the conflict were only a product
of internal consumption, now the situation has principally changed,
and Baku permanently blackmails the world community, in particular,
the OSCE MG countries, with its threats’, A. Aghabekyan resumed.

INTEREST RATES MAY BE REDUCED IN ARMENIA SOON, PREMIER STATES

ARKA
Dec 16, 2008

YEREVAN, December 16. /ARKA/. The interest rates may show a downward
trend in Armenia soon, RA Premier Tigran Sargsyan said during a
hot-line arranged by the Golos Armenii (Voice of Armenia) newspaper.

Since the inflation risks have been reduced over the last month,
Armenia has increased its imports of goods and services.

"The lower prices allow the Central Bank of Armenia to revert to the
interest rate policy. Since we registered lower rates of GNP growth
last month, the interest rates may soon be reduced. However, it must
be a prudent, not a stereotypic, step," T. Sargsyan said.

He pointed out the different macroeconomic situations in different
countries.

"We mainly focus on large developed countries, which have been deeply
affected by the crisis.

The globalized world, which promptly responds to the changes in the
developed countries, creates serious problems for all the states. But
some states have not yet been seriously affected by the world economic
crisis, and Armenia is among them," the RA Premier said.

T. Sargsyan said that Armenia has to maintain its macroeconomic
stability, and all the macroeconomic indicators must be strictly
controlled by the Government.

"This will ensure stability for investors. At the same time, we have to
maintain financial stability and use all the means possible to promote
the development of national economy and export," T. Sargsyan said.

He stressed the necessity for a most prudent policy, including the
interest rate policy.

"On the one hand the Government has to control the balance of payment,
on the other hand it must control the potential gross national product
and other macroeconomic indicators," the RA Premier said.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE SYRIAN EMBASSY IN ARMENIA?

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.12.2008 18:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Syrian Embassy in Yerevan has officially refuted
information that the Embassy staff addressed the RA Foreign Ministry to
complain about sexual harassment and inadequate behavior of Ambassador
Abdul Hammed Sallum.

The message received by PanARMENIAN.Net says that the Embassy staff
denies having any problems with the Syrian diplomat.

"This information is false. All we have witnessed is deferential
attitude and courtesy. We regret that former employee circulated her
personal complaint," the message says.

On December 11, PanARMENIAN.Net received the following letter:

"We, the staff of the Syrian Embassy in Armenia would like to draw
your attention to an urgent issue, which has aroused vast grievance
among the employees of the Embassy.

When each of us was accepting their job at the Embassy of Syria in
Armenia, he or she was happy because they thought that they would
have to deal with serious diplomats from whom they could learn a great
deal, as well as would be able to meet their financial needs. It was
the case until 20 days ago.

Before then the working atmosphere at the embassy was mild and
friendly. The employees would work with the diplomats as with
friends. None of our rights was ever violated: the employees of the
embassy had never seen the Ambassador in underwear, female employees
had never received dating proposal from the Ambassador who threatened
them to fire immediately if they rejected. Shortly after working for
two weeks the new Ambassador dismissed the cook (female) working in
his house, as if upon her own resignation note.

The resignation note had not been written by the cook and the
reason could not be mentioned naturally. That immoral decision
was made knowing that the woman was the only one working in the
family. Moreover, just for the sake of diplomatic correctness the
author of the decision did not even wish to receive and talk to
that woman for the last time who had lost her job by a pen stroke,
who was highly virtuous, possessed higher education degree and who
fulfilled all her duties. The reason for dismissal was claimed to be
the absence of knowledge of Arabic.

Now most of the employees of the Embassy who are citizens of the
Republic of Armenia and have high sense of dignity are under the threat
of losing their jobs. Those who gave us our jobs at the embassy were
also ambassadors, and not knowing Arabic has had no role in losing
jobs so far.

We request considering all the information we have provided since it
is truthful. We have high hopes that friendly relationships between
our countries will never allow that Ambassador Abdul Hammed Sallum
change the Embassy staff due to personal needs.

NKR PRESIDENTS MEETS ARMENIA’S PROSECUTOR GENERAL AND PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

armradio.am
12.12.2008 12:38

NKR President Bako Sahakyan received the President of the
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia, Gagik Haroutyunyan,
Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR President
reported.

Issue related to enlarging cooperation between the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Armenia and the Supreme Court of the Nagorno
Karabagh Republic, increasing effectiveness of the work of judicial
bodies as well as the course of legal were discussed at the meeting.

Head of the Office of the NKR President, secretary of the Security
Council Marat Mousayelyan and chairman of the NKR Supreme Court Ararat
Danielyan partook at the meeting.

NKR President Bako Sahakyan received also the Prosecutor General of
the Republic of Armenia, Aghvan Hovsepyan.

A wide range of issue related to cooperation between the two Armenian
states in legal sphere as well as to the reforms being carried out
in the appropriate sphere of the republic.

The Head of the State considered important signing of a cooperation
agreement between the offices of public prosecutor of the Republic
of Armenia and the Nagorno Karabagh Republic calling it a solid basis
for further development of interrelations between the two structures.

Head of the Office of the NKR President, secretary of the Security
Council Marat Mousa yelyan, NKR attorney general Arshavir Gharamyan
and other partook at the meeting.

HOW MUCH CAN THE EU EXPAND?
Andrei Konurov

en.fondsk.ru
12.12.2008

It is not necessarily true that no news is good news. The same
day foreign ministers of NATO countries made the final decision
to postpone extending the NATO membership plan to Georgia and
Ukraine the European Commission unveiled the Eastern Partnership
Project. Currently the initiative proposed by Poland and Sweden in
March, 2008 is materializing at a fast pace. No doubt, the motivation
for the rush largely stems from the war in South Ossetia, and Europe
is quite open about this aspect of the matter.

The camp of Ukrainian President V. Yushchenko must be happy about
the developments. Some media already feature comments claiming that
the Eastern Partnership will replace the European Neighborhood Policy
allegedly regarded as a failure by the EU and that the new partnership
will be much broader in terms of its proportions and future. The
opinion, though, is likely to reflect the wishful thinking not
uncommon among the media brethren. The European Commission indicated
clearly that the Eastern Partnership is an integral part of the
same old European Neighborhood Policy and any steps to be made in
the framework of the former entirely fit within the confines of the
latter. Essentially, the same things are given new names, but even
this is not the core of the matter.

The thrust of the European Commission’s new document is that for
the post-Soviet Republics – Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus,
Ukraine, and Moldova – the Eastern Partnership is by no means going
to be a stepping stone to the EU membership. At the moment, the EU
has no unfilled vacancies, obviously.

Presenting the plan European Commission President José Manuel
Barroso said unequivocally that at present the EU is not in the
position to promise admission to anybody. Though the document
reads that the Eastern partners got drawn closer to the EU thanks
to a series of its successful expansions, the configuration which
emerged as the result of the expansions is loaded with problems. The
EU grew into a heterogeneous alliance of 27 countries having widely
varying socioeconomic development levels, and in its current shape
it clearly lacks cohesion. New expansions, if any, are going to be
highly selective. No expansions for their own sake will follow in
the foreseeable future. For example, though Turkey and Croatia are
official EU candidates, their cases remain undecided. Brussels does
not quite perceive the Balkan Slavs as absolute Europeans and harbors
strong reservations about Turkey.

–Boundary_(ID_bf+wnbgduT7RD7SXUy0WWg)–

POSITIVE ATMOSPHERE

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
10 Dec 08
Armenia

"No declarative document can determine the course and outcome of the
negotiations as claimed by some people. Both the Moscow Declaration
and the joint statement of the Co-Chairs only reiterate the desire
to bring nearer the settlement of the conflict within the scope of
principles and norms of international law.

The only new thing in the Helsinki statement was that the mediators
decided to introduce certain technical elements, exhorting the parties
to withdraw the snipers from the contact line. Tomorrow they may
propose us to create another demilitarized zone and the day after
tomorrow, they may offer us to introduce other technical details.

This means that the atmosphere of the talks was all in all positive,"
VAHRAM ATANESYAN, Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NKR
National Assembly is convinced.

ARMENIA-BULGARIA ECONOMIC COOPERATION FALLS BEHIND POLITICAL DIALOGUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.12.2008 12:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who arrived to
Sofia by the invitation of the President of Bulgaria, Georgi Prvanov,
has started today his two-day official visit. The Armenian delegation
headed by the President comprises the Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
Culture, Economy, Transport and Communications, other officials, as
well as the renowned journalist Svetana Paskaleva, the RA leader’s
press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.

After the official welcoming ceremony in Sofia, the President
of Armenia laid a wreath at the Memorial of the Unknown
Soldier. Afterwards, the two Presidents held a private meeting followed
by the negotiations in the extended format. Serzh Sargsyan and Georgi
Prvanov hailed the current level of political dialogue between the
two countries. The Presidents of Armenia and Bulgaria noted also
that economic cooperation and the trade turnover in particular, which
approaches 150 million USD, are lagging behind the political relations
and that necessary steps should be taken toward the reconstruction
of the trade structure as well as for the further development of
economic cooperation. Presidents Sargsyan and Prvanov highly praised
the bilateral as well as the multilateral cooperation of Armenia and
Bulgaria. President Sargsyan thanked the President of Bulgaria and
said that in some difficult historical junctures the Bulgarian people
were congenial to and embraced kindly our people who later integrated
entirely in the Bulgarian society. The President of Bulgaria also
highly praised the Armenian-Bulgarian relations and noted that the
high level of trust, which exists between the two peoples, allows to
develop new comprehensive programs.

The Presidents of Armenia and Bulgaria also mentioned that the two
peoples have many common features, share common problems, and on many
instances have faced together arising challenges. The President of
Armenia underscored that the two countries have a common future and
that the future is built on the values shared by the two peoples,
which are the Christian values, a democratic system, and liberties –
all of which allow to look toward the future.

The leaders of the two countries mentioned with satisfaction the
existing adequate legal field – there are almost fifty agreements
between Bulgaria and Armenia which today have been augmented by another
four. One of them pertains to the organization and conduct of the Days
of Bulgaria in Armenia in 2009 and the Days of Armenia in Bulgaria in
2010. The other three agreements are related to the cooperation in
the areas of civil service and state governance, amendments to the
agreement on avoidance of double taxation of income and property,
as well as to the cooperation in the area of archives administration.

The Presidents of Armenia and Bulgaria highlighted the importance
of fostering cooperation between the executive agencies and business
circles and noted that the tomorrow’s Armenian-Bulgarian Business Forum
in Sofia provides an excellent opportunity for the businesses to get
acquainted, to examine the possibilities, and develop joint programs.

Presidents Sargsyan and Prvanov stressed also the importance of
cooperation in the area of transportation. The President of Bulgaria
hailed and welcomed the Armenian-Turkish dialogue and expressed hope
that the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border would be beneficial
for Bulgaria as well. The two Presidents concurred on that issue and
noted that the open borders would provide a direct transportation
and automobile connection between Armenia and Bulgaria. President
Sargsyan spoke also about Armenia’s intention on constructing the
Armenia-Iran railway. The sides also stressed the importance of the
establishment the air transportation link between the two countries.

President Georgi Prvanov invited President Serzh Sargsyan to attend
the energy forum to be held in Bulgaria next year.

The President of Bulgaria expressed readiness to assist Armenia with
experience and expert assistance in the framework of the Eastern
Partnership Program.

The President of Armenia handed to the President of Bulgaria a letter
of gratitude from the people of Armenia to the people of Bulgaria
and the Bulgarian authorities for their assistance provided after the
devastating earthquake of December 7, 1988 in Spitak. The President of
Armenia sent over a hundred thank you letters to the world leaders,
with the words of gratitude on behalf of the people of Armenia for
their assistance to Armenia after the earthquake.

The Presidents of the two countries came up with a Joint Declaration
and answered the questions of the journalists.

TURKISH INTELLECTUALS WHO APOLOGIZED FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECEIVE THREATS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2008 17:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Employees of Agos Armenian-Turkish bilingual
newspaper are well acquainted with the Turkish intellectuals, who
apologized for the Armenian Genocide, said the editor of the Armenian
sector of Agos.

"Media somehow obtained the statement that was supposed to be
promulgated on January 1, 2009. Nevertheless, they will continue
their action," Bagrat Estukyan told a news conference in Yerevan today.

"These people present their personal viewpoint of the problem and do
not impose it on anyone," he said.

Mr. Estukyan informed that several days after the publication of their
letter, the intellectuals started receiving threats and offending
messages.

A group of Turkish intellectuals have apologized for the "great
disaster that Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915."

Professors Baskan Oran and Ahmet Insel, journalists Ali Bayramoglu
and Cengiz Aktar personally apologized for the 1915 events.

The group is asking other people to sign the petition, which reads
as follows: "I cannot conscientiously accept the indifference to
the great disaster that Ottoman Armenians suffered in 1915, and its
denial. I reject this injustice and acting of my own will, I share
the feelings and pains of my Armenian brothers and sisters, and I
apologize to them."

The campaign initiators have underlined that first they will collect
signatures from intellectuals and they will then open a secure website
to collect signatures.

AN INTERNATIONAL THEATRICAL FESTIVAL OF CIS COUNTRIES TO BE HELD IN MOSCOW

ARMENPRESS
Dec 10, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: An international theatrical festival
of CIS countries will be held in Moscow in spring, 2009, which will
be organized in collaboration with "Golden Mask" national theatrical
festival and the International fund of humanitarian cooperation of
CIS countries.

The national theatrical "Golden Mask" award has been set up by the
union of Russian theatrical figures as a professional award for the
best works in all the types of theatrical art.

The festival is inclined to become a serious representative theatrical
conference combining the most significant, bright and interesting
performances and stage lovers. It also aims to expand the geography of
theatrical performances of CIS countries and to develop the creative
and professional relations between theatrical groups and theatrical
figures.

An official from Armenian Culture Ministry told Armenpress that for
the selection of the presented performances an expert council of
Russian leading theatrical critics has been established.

The selection will be made as a result of 2006-2008 records of works
and watching held at the place. Theatres of all the CIS countries
may take part in the festival.

Georgian Business Week
Dec 9 2008
Georgia

GBC
Monday, December 08, 2008 – 06:13

Tbilisi (GBC) – Azerbaijan flatly ruled out Armenia’s participation
in the Nabucco project, Azerbaijan Prime Minister, Artur Rasizade,
said at a news conference December 4 held after the meeting of the
joint Economic Commission of Georgia and Azerbaijan.

"Armenia will not be able to take part in any of Azerbaijan’s projects,
including Nabucco, until the country gives back occupied Azerbaijani
territory," Rasizade said.

Rasizade made the above comment following Russian media reports that
the Russian party offered Azerbaijan the option to replace Georgia
as partner with Armenia.

The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will
transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria. The project will cost
USD 12.4b. Construction is slated to start in 2010.