Author: Chavushian

TRIAL OF AZERI SERVICEMAN, WHO KILLED ARMENIAN OFFICER, TO START IN BUDAPEST

08.11.2004 18:13

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ November 23 in Budapest trial of Azeri officer Ramil
Safarov, who has committed a brutal murder of Armenian officer Gurgen
Margarian, will start in Budapest, representative of the interests of
the successor of G. Margarian lawyer Nazeli Vardanian reported. At
the same time N. Vardanian noted that she has not received official
notification about it yet. It should be reminded that February 19
this year R. Safarov hacked sleeping G. Margarian, along with whom
he took English courses organized by the NATO in the Hungarian capital.

Yomiuri, Japan
Nov 5 2004

Singer has Georgia on her mind

by Ichiro Ue Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Georgia, a small country between Caspian Sea and Black Sea, is little
known among the Japanese. A former Soviet republic that became
independent in 1991, it is still struggling with economic reforms and
beset by regional conflicts.

One Japanese who does know the Caucasian country is 56-year-old
singer Utako Watanabe.

Watanabe first learned about the country through Bulat Okudzhava, a
famous poet and writer who had a Georgian father and Armenian mother.

She described her meeting with Okudzhava as epochal. He had a tough
childhood because his father had been branded a political criminal
during the Soviet era. Okudzhava used his guitar and voice to express
the joys and sorrows of the Georgian and Russian people, and protest
the meaninglessness of war.

Watanabe visited Okudzhava in the suburbs of Moscow in 1989 after she
had heard his “Song of Georgia,” on an old album. Describing her
first meeting with Okudzhava, Watanabe said, “It was as if we were
old friends.”

Okudzhava made an exception for Watanabe, and sang “Song of Georgia”
for her, accompanying himself on guitar, although he had told people
around him he would not sing any more.

She decided to become a singer at the age of 18 when she heard
chanson at Ginpari, Japan’s leading chanson cafe located in Ginza,
Tokyo. Ginpari closed in 1990.

Watanabe thought she had faced some difficult moments in her career
as a chanson singer, but she changed her mind after Okudzhava “became
the guiding light of my destiny.”

Watanabe sings songs about the soil of Georgia and her desire for it
to find peace.

A film about a family in Georgia, “Since Otar Left…” (titled
“Yasashii Uso” in Japanese), received the Critics’ Week Grand Prize
at Cannes Film Festival in 2003.

The movie is currently showing at a movie theater in Hibiya, Tokyo,
and Watanabe will present a miniconcert there Sunday evening during
which she will sing “Song of Georgia,” in memory of Okudzhava, who
died in 1997.

American elections and Armenia

Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
5 Nov 04

by Sarkis Gevorkyan

The presidential elections in America have demonstrated that George
Bush’s active foreign policy is supported by more than 50 per cent of
the Americans at least. The reason is evident: George Bush is a
guarantor of the country’s security. Bush’s failure in the elections
would be tantamount to acknowledging by the American voters their
country’s defeat in Iraq. This would also be a strong psychological
blow to America’ confidence.

At the same time we think that during his second term of office,
George Bush will pursue a more balanced foreign policy which will be
based on the following priorities:

1. The antiterror fight will continue with a tendency towards
attracting both strong and weak allies;

2. The role of the UN and other countries will be increased in the
reconstruction of Iraq in order to “legitimate” the previous US
policy;

3. A new balance of forces will be formed in Eurasia to continue the
fight against terrorism.

Passage omitted: recaps on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
and Putin’s support for Bush

The results of the US elections should not have a negative impact on
Armenian-American relations. From this point of view, it would be a
dangerous misunderstanding to think that that the support of the US
Armenian diaspora for John Kerry coincides with the political position
of Armenia. The leadership of Armenia has always thought that
prospects for Armenian-American cooperation have nothing to do with
the outcome of the presidential elections in the USA.

Therefore, any attempt to present the position of the Armenian
diaspora of the USA as Armenia’s position is a deliberate attempt to
distort reality. However, in order to substantiate this, some people
even used the results of the make-believe election recently held by
the US embassy in Armenia, when Armenian officials invited to the
embassy voted for John Kerry, who, by that time, had already suffered
a defeat.

Armenia is a state whose interests do not coincide with the political
position of the US Armenians.

Passage omitted: minor details

NATO not to be involved in Karabakh settlement, Scheffer says in Armenia

Mediamax news agency
5 Nov 04

YEREVAN

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in Yerevan today
that “the alliance has no intention or ambition to settle the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict”.

Mediamax news agency reports that the secretary-general said this at a
briefing on the results of his meeting with Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that although “NATO is in
favour of a swift solution to this conflict, which has been dragging
on for too long, we think that the main role in the peace process
should be played by the OSCE Minsk Group”.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also gave a negative answer to a question about
NATO’s possible involvement in ensuring the security of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. He said that “stability and security
in the region are important factors for the work of pipelines, but
this does not mean that NATO intends to play any active role in this
process”.

UGAB France
11, square Alboni
75016 PARIS
France

Tél. : 01 45 20 03 18
Fax : 01 40 50 88 09
Email : <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]

UGAB-INFOS
BULLETIN DE LIAISON DE L’UGAB-FRANCE / Novembre 2004

83e Assemblée générale de l’UGAB à Erévan

Les Sections de l’UGAB de Nice, Marseille et Paris, ainsi que le
District de France étaient représentés à Erevan à l’occasion de
l’Assemblée bisannuelle de l’organisation. La conférence a permis aux
représentants des sections dans les vingt-cinq pays où l’organisation
est représentée de faire le point sur leurs activités et de développer
la stratégie de l’organisation à la fois au niveau international et
local. Les sections européennes de l’UGAB, en particulier, ont eu
l’occasion de travailler à une stratégie commune. L’assemblée fut
enfin l’occasion pour les représentants des sections de l’UGAB et pour
le Conseil central de faire le point sur l’action de l’organisation au
profit de l’Arménie, notamment au cours d’entretiens avec le président
Robert Kotcharian, le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Vartan
Oskanian, et le président du Karabagh, Arkadi Ghoukassian.

Pour plus d’informations, voir le site de la conférence:

Conférence : Diasporas d’Europe et Citoyenneté Européenne

Barcelone, 27-29 janvier 2005

La Fondation Yehudi Menuhin (Bruxelles), en partenariat avec l’UGAB,
lance un débat sur le rôle des Diasporas dans le processus
d’intégration européen, leur identité et leur place dans la définition
de la citoyenneté et l’identité européennes.

La conférence, qui réunira des spécialistes de premier plan à la fois
des Diasporas d’Europe et des institutions européennes, est une
initiative conjointe, outre la Fondation Yehudi Menuhin et l’UGAB, du
Service Européen d’Action Citoyenne de Bruxelles (ECAS), et du Centre
de Recherche sur la Citoyenneté et la Société Civile de l’Université
de Barcelone (CISC). Elle est financée par la Commission européenne et
la Fondation Heinrich Bôll.

La conférence est ouverte à tous, sous réserve de place.

Pour tout renseignement complémentaire : IYMF, Chaussée de la Hulpe
61, B-1180, Brussels

tél. : +32 2 673 35 04 – fax.- +32 2 672 52 99

Contact Ms Eieni Efstathiou.

Séjour de ski

L’UGAB-France organise du 20 au 27 février prochain un séjour de ski à
Ancelles dans les Hautes-Alpes pour les jeunes de 10 à 16 ans au prix
de 390 =80. Celui-ci comprend l’hébergement en pension complète, les
forfaits remontées mécaniques, la location du matériel, l’encadrement
sur les pistes et les activités.

Nous vous proposons en supplément des cours de ski avec l’École de Ski
Française (ESF) pour seulement 70 =80 par personne.

Pour renseignements et réservation : UGAB-Séjour de Ski, Hermine
Duzian 11, square Alboni, 75016 Paris Portable : 06 76 48 58 73
[email protected]

Le Mémorial de Lyon

La maquette du futur Mémorial Lyonnais du Génocide des Arméniens a été
présentée, à l’occasion du bal de l’UGAB à Lyon, le 9 octobre dernier,
par l’architecte et actuel président de l’UGAB de
Saint-Etienne-Saint-Chamond, Léonardo Basmadyian, qui est chargé de sa
réalisation, avec ses collaborateurs. L’événement, qui a eu lieu dans
le casino de Charbonnières les Bains, a rassemblé 400 personnes.

Monsieur Jacques Ekmekdjian, ancien président de l’UGAB Lyon, a pris
la parole à cette soirée en lançant un appel au public à contribuer
activement à la construction du mémorial en souvenir d’un passé
tragique qui hante encore les Arméniens.

Le mémorial du génocide arménien évoquera également la mémoire des
déportés, combattants et résistants arméniens morts pour la France
ainsi que les autres crimes contre l’Humanité.

Son inauguration officielle est prévue pour le 24 avril prochain sur
la prestigieuse place Antonin Poncet, près de la place Bellecour. La
municipalité de Lyon s’est fortement impliquée dans la réalisation de
ce projet en y apportant sa participation à la fois morale et
financière. La Communauté arménienne est également sollicitée pour la
réalisation de ce projet.

UGAB- LYON

12, rue Emile Zola, 69002 LYON

Permanence téléphonique : 04 78 42 73 32

Dates à retenir

2004

* 14 novembre : Messe de Requiem organisée par l’UGAB-Lyon en hommage
à Setrak Sandjian, Président d’honneur à vie de l’UGAB Lyon,
décédé le 6 juillet dernier. Eglise Apostolique Arménienne
* 3 décembre : Bruxelles. Arménie, Nouveau Voisin : Scénarios pour
2020 Conférence en partenariat avec Armenia 2020 sur les perspectives
et le potentiel économique de l’Arménie

2005

* 31 janvier : clôture des candidatures aux stages d’été de l’UGABà
Paris et New York
* 27-29 janvier, Barcelone. Conférence : Les Diasporas d’Europe et la
Citoyenneté Européenne 20- 27 février, Ancelle : séjour de ski
pour les jeunes
* 20 juin au 13 août, Paris : stages d’été à Paris
* 14 avril, Paris : conférence au Mémorial de la Shoah à
l’occasion du 90ème anniversaire du génocide arménien
* 4 au 25 juillet, Ancelle : colonie de vacances de l’UGAB pour les
jeunes de 7 à 14 ans

Séminaire de l’UGAB aux Nations unies

L’UGAB a organisé, le 8 septembre dernier, un séminaire aux Nations
unies dans le cadre de la 57ème Conférence Annuelle du département de
l’information et des ONG sur les “Objectifs de Développement du
Millénaire: la société civile passe à l’action”. L’atelier organisé
par l’UGAB était intitulé «Surmonter les obstacles à la croissance
économique et au développement local : le rôle de la société civile»
et portait sur les efforts d’ONG dans le déminage et la remise en
culture de terres agricoles rendues inaccessibles par les mines
antipersonnelles. En l’occurrence, les expériences mises en parallèle
étaient celles de Armenia Tree Project au Karabagh, du Rotary
International au Cambodge et de Roots for Peace en Afghanistan. La
représentante de l’UGAB auprès des Nations unies, Adrienne Alexanian,
résume la raison d’être de ce séminaire : « Il est important que les
organisations arméniennes s’impliquent dans les organisations
internationales comme les Nations unies, et mettent en avant des idées
et des questions qui nous concernent. Je suis fière que nous
puissions, par ce travail, organiser des séminaires professionnels qui
intéressent le reste du monde», c’est-à-dire, en l’occurrence, les
représentants d’ONG internationales et les diplomates présents à la
conférence. Le séminaire a fait le plein de participants, et l’on y a
même noté la présence de Peggy Kerry, s=9Cur du candidat démocrate aux
élections et déléguée aux relations avec les ONG auprès de la mission
des États-Unis auprès des Nations unies.

Pour plus d’information :

Lancement de la Revue Arménienne des Questions Contemporaines

Ni magazine d’actualité, ni revue scientifique, la Revue Arménienne
des questions contemporaines comble une lacune de la presse périodique
arménienne. À la fois accessible et fondée sur les meilleures
connaissances du moment, la Revue ouvre pour ses lecteurs les grands
dossiers qui concernent la Diaspora et l’Arménie. En monde arménien,
comme ailleurs, le temps présent est fait de défis à relever. Chacune
des composantes arméniennes, l’Arménie et la diaspora, a des problèmes
internes spécifiques à surmonter, mais aussi des questions communes à
résoudre. Il n’y a guère de doute sur le fait que les deux entités
doivent se nourrir l’une de l’autre et s’aider réciproquement à
trouver des réponses aux défis du temps présent.

La Revue n’a d’autre ambition que de nourrir une réflexion collective
sur des dossiers de société, en faisant appel à des contributeurs
reconnus pour leur expertise dans un domaine, en particulier aux
jeunes universitaires qui seront également associés à son élaboration.

En plus des dossiers couvrant des questions contemporaines, le volet
Mémoire/Histoire de la Revue vise à dresser un bilan des travaux
récents sur l’histoire contemporaine des Arméniens. S’y ajoutent enfin
des notes de lectures, des informations pratiques sur de grands
événements culturels touchant aux domaines qui nous occupent.

En publiant cette Revue, l’UGAB vise à nourrir sa propre réflexion sur
le rôle des organisations arméniennes face aux défis du temps présent,
pour réajuster en permanence son action en Arménie comme en diaspora.

Sommaire du numéro 1

Éditorial

=95 Les défis du temps présent Questions contemporaines

Dossiers

=95 Paix et sécurité dans le Caucase du sud

=95 L’Arménie des campagnes : le développement régional

=95 Ouverture de l’école maternelle M. Yessaian d’Alep

Mémoire/Histoire

Dossier

=95 Reconstruire la nation avec les femmes et les enfants enlevés
durant le génocide (1918-1919)

Actualité contemporaine

=95 Nouvelles publications

=95 Livres à la vente

=95 Colloques et expositions

—————————————————————————-
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Commande et paiement à l’ordre de «UGAB-Revue», à l’adresse
suivante :

UGAB France
11, square Alboni
75016 PARIS
France

Tél. : 01 45 20 03 18
Fax : 01 40 50 88 09
Email : <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]

—————————————————————————-
Ce message vous est envoyé par l’UGAB-France à titre d’information. Si
vous souhaitez ne plus recevoir les bulletins d’information mensuels
et communiqués occasionnels de l’UGAB, veuillez écrire à l’adresse
email [email protected] en indiquant «désabonner» dans la ligne objet.
Pour s’abonner à l’information en ligne de l’UGAB France, écrire à
cette adresse en mentionnant «abonner».

AFX.COM
November 1, 2004 Monday 11:04 AM Eastern Time

Turkish conference on minority rights’ report ends in chaos

ANKARA

A debate over a report criticising breaches of minority rights in
aspiring European Union member Turkey collapsed when members of a
government-sponsored human rights group, which authored the document,
clashed in public.
The incident is the latest in a series of rows within the Human
Rights Advisory Board — a body attached to the office of Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan — which highlighted widespread hostility
in Turkey to advanced cultural freedoms for the country’s Kurdish and
non-Muslim communities.
Nationalist members of the board, which is comprised of government
officials, academics and civic groups, sabotaged a news conference
called to formally release the report, which makes some controversial
recommendations to the government and excerpts of which were last week
leaked to the media.
Shortly after the head of the board, Ibrahim Kaboglu, began
speaking a nationalist unionist grabbed the papers from his hands and
tore them to pieces, yelling: “This report is a fabrication and should
be torn apart.”
Kaboglu was forced to leave the hall, stating: “We cannot even hold
a news conference. This is the state of freedom of thought in Turkey.”
The EU, which Turkey is seeking to join, has long pressed Ankara to
grant equal cultural freedoms to its sizeable Kurdish minority as well
as smaller, non-Muslim communities such as Greeks, Armenians and Jews.

German Greens to visit Turkey on 1 November

ddp news agency
29 Oct 04

Text of report by German news agency ddp on 29 October entitled
“High-ranking Greens delegation going to Turkey”

Berlin: On Monday 1 November top representatives of the Greens
will go to Turkey for a five-day informational visit. In Ankara the
eight-member delegation will meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the Greens Bundestag
Group announced in Berlin on Friday. In addition, the delegation
will talk with representatives of human rights organizations in the
Turkish capital.

In Istanbul, talks with representatives of the Armenian Patriarchate
and the Ecumenical Patriarchate are also on the agenda. Furthermore,
meetings with representatives of the German-Turkish Industrial and
Trade Chamber are planned. At the conclusion of the visit, Deputy
Bundestag Group Chairman Winfried Nachtwei and Greens leader Claudia
Roth will go to the province of Sirnak in eastern Turkey. There,
German armoured personnel carriers have reportedly been used against
Kurds. Roth announced some days ago that she intends to acquaint
herself with the situation by visiting the area personally.

In addition to Nachtwei and Roth, the talks in Turkey will also
be attended by Bundestag Group Chairwomen Krista Sager and Katrin
Goering-Eckardt, Parliamentary Manager Ekin Deligoz, European affairs
expert Rainder Steenblock, Greens Chairman Reinhard Buetikofer, and
Marieluise Beck, the Federal Government’s commissioner for integration.

Fifty-ninth General Assembly
General Committee
5th Meeting (AM)
October 27, 2004

GENERAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS INCLUSION OF THREE ADDITIONAL ITEMS ON
GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S CURRENT AGENDA, SPLITTING OF DEBATE ON PALESTINE,
MIDDLE EAST

The General Committee this morning decided to recommend the inclusion of
three additional items on the General Assembly’s current agenda, and
decided to split its joint debate on the situation in the Middle East
and the question of Palestine.

The Committee, by a show of hands vote of nine in favour with none
against and 14 abstentions, recommended the inclusion of an item on the
situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The request was
contained in a letter from the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan
(document A/59/236), annexed to which was an explanatory memorandum
stating that the ongoing conflict in the Nagorno Karabakh region had
resulted in the occupation of a significant part of Azerbaijan’s
territory, the expulsion of a large portion of its population and severe
damage to the national economy.

The memorandum noted that the process for the peaceful settlement of the
conflict on the basis of the norms and principles of international law
was being carried out by the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE), through the Minsk Group. But as of yet, no results had
been achieved. In the meantime, according to the memorandum, illegal
activities were currently being carried out in the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan, in particular by transfer of settlers to artificially
create a new demographic situation in those territories.

Azerbaijan’s representative said his country had made the request due to
the lack of effective response to the obvious threats to its sovereignty
and territorial integrity. Azerbaijan would not tolerate colonization of
its territory. It truly regretted that numerous warnings about dangerous
new realities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan had gone ignored
and, therefore, had been forced to come to the Assembly in an effort to
stop blatant violation of international and humanitarian law.

He stressed that the request was not an attempt to replace the OSCE
peace process but to facilitate it. The Assembly was the chief
deliberative, policy making organ of the United Nations, he said, and it
was Azerbaijan’s Charter-based right to raise the issue.

France’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Co-Chairmanship of
the Minsk Group, which also includes the Russian Federation and the
United States, said the OSCE had been actively dealing with this
situation for quite some time in a professional-minded spirit, chiefly
through the Minsk Group. Part of that process had already yielded
discussions between the parties and the Group had proposed further talks
on the situation.

With that in mind, the request for the introduction of a new item could
have negative consequences, he said, such as harming efforts to bring
about a just and lasting settlement. While the Group had no doubts about
the sincerity of Azerbaijan’s request, it did not believe that the
current session of the Assembly was the proper forum to discuss the matter.

Armenia’s Ambassador said that there was no urgent situation surrounding
Nagorno Karabagh today. According to rule 15 of the Assembly’s rules of
procedure, only an item of “an important and urgent character” justified
a request to include a new item on the Assembly’s current agenda. The
reasons offered to justify Azerbaijan’s request misrepresented the
situation on the ground.

He explained that first, there was the former autonomous region of
Nagorno Karabagh, which had always and continued to be
Armenian-populated. Then, there were the territories surrounding Nagorno
Karabagh, which had come under the control of Nagorno Karabagh Armenians
as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan in an attempt to stifle
the peaceful drive of the people of those territories for
self-determination.

It was obvious, he said, that there were no settlements outside of
Nagorno Karabagh proper, in territories controlled by Armenian forces.
Nor was there a policy to settle those lands. He wondered what new
demographic situation Azerbaijan had been referring to. The conflict had
created refugees on both sides. By initiating the request, Azerbaijan
relied on the sensitivities towards its country from members of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). He stressed that the
conflict had no religious connotations, but was closely related to the
security environment in the South Caucasus. He urged the Committee not
to take action on the request.

Speaking in favour of the inclusion of the item on, before the vote,
were the representatives of Gambia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Djibouti, and
Turkey (on behalf of the OIC). The representatives of Belgium and
Australia spoke against its inclusion.

The representatives of Kazakhstan and China hoped the situation could be
resolved through peaceful negotiations.

At the top of the meeting, the Committee recommended the inclusion of
two other items on its current agenda. The first, entitled “Andean Zone
of Peace,” was introduced by Peru’s representative. Speaking on behalf
of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela), he
said that the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass
destruction and anti-personnel mines constituted a concrete contribution
to the strengthening of international peace, security and trust, as well
as to the principles of the Charter and international law. It was also
recommended that the item be considered directly in the plenary meeting.

The second item, entitled “Observer status for the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation in the General Assembly”, was
introduced by Pakistan’s representative, who said the Association worked
to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their
quality of life. It also hoped to accelerate economic growth, social
progress and cultural development in the region, providing individuals
with the opportunity to live in dignity and realize their potential. The
Committee also decided to allocate that item to its Sixth Committee (Legal).

Acting on a request from the Secretary-General, the Committee also added
a new sub-item to its agenda in order to elect a member of the
International Court of Justice (ICJ). In document A/59/237, the
Secretary-General informed the Committee that a vacancy in the Court
would occur effective 11 February 2005, due to the resignation of Judge
and Former President Gilbert Guillaume.

Lastly, acting on a proposal by the representative of Syria, the
Committee decided to recommend that the Assembly split its consideration
of agenda item 36, on the Situation in the Middle East, and item 37, the
Question of Palestine, which was scheduled to be considered jointly.

The General Committee will meet again at a time to be announced.

Pressure group urges NATO to stop inviting Armenians to Azeri events

Assa-Irada
29 Oct 04

Baku, 28 October: The Karabakh Liberation Organization [KLO] appealed
to NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer today. In making
attempts to attend Baku-hosted NATO events, Armenia has been trying
to impede Azerbaijani-NATO relations and create confrontation and
tension in this country, the appeal reads. It says that the presence
at any event in Azerbaijan of representatives of Armenia, which
committed the Xocali genocide [massacre in Karabakh town in 1992],
killed thousands of Azerbaijanis and holds a lot of our compatriots
in captivity, is inadmissible.

The KLO regards the Armenians’ presence at the events in Azerbaijan
as an offence to the entire Azerbaijani people and the spirit of
the martyrs. Given the aforesaid, the KLO demands that NATO end the
practice of inviting Armenia to Baku-hosted events.

CRD / TI ARMENIA NEWS

PRESS RELEASE

Media Contact:
Sarah Tyler (Berlin, Germany)
Transparency International
Tel: +49-30-3438 2019
Fax: +49-30-3470 3912
[email protected]

Nara Arzumanyan
Center for Regional Development/ Transparency International Armenia
Tel/Fax: +374 1 585 578
[email protected]

INDEPENDENT INSTITUTIONS, EFFECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND TRANSPARENT
DECISION-MAKING NEEDED TO TACKLE CORRUPTION IN ARMENIA, SAYS
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL REPORT

Yerevan/Berlin, 29 October 2004 — A new report The National Integrity
Systems TI Country Study Report – Armenia 2003 has been published today
by Transparency International (TI) and TI’s national chapter in Armenia,
the Center for Regional Development (CRD)/TI Armenia. TI is the leading
global non-governmental organisation devoted to combating corruption.

The TI study assessed the effectiveness of the Armenian National
Integrity System (NIS), which is comprised of key institutions that
contribute to the fight against corruption. None of the institutions
evaluated are functioning effectively in Armenia, according to the
report. Among the key systemic factors influencing the NIS in Armenia
are the absence of political will, the lack of independence and autonomy
of institutions, the weak legal framework and poor law enforcement, the
lack of administrative and human capacity, the low level of public
participation in the policy-making, etc.

“It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of Government
anti-corruption activities in Armenia”, said report co-author and CRD/TI
Armenia chairwoman Amalia Kostanyan, “though in the last year certain
steps (such as adoption of the Anti-Corruption Strategy Program,
establishment of the Anti-Corruption Council and Monitoring Commission,
joining GRECO, etc.) have been taken by state authorities”. Political
will to combat corruption implies not only the adoption of the National
Anti-Corruption Program… but also evident intolerance towards
everyone’s illegal and immoral behaviour irrespective of position and
income, Kostanyan continued.

Most Armenians are still sceptical about commitment of the Government to
fight corruption. Only 22% of respondents of the phone survey conducted
by the CRD/TI Armenia in February 2004 believed that the adoption of the
Anti-Corruption Strategy demonstrated political will to combat
corruption. The view of experts is similar: Armenia received a score of
3.1 against a clean score of 10 in the TI Corruption Perceptions Index
2004, published on 20 October. According to the index, which is based on
the views of business people and country analysts, corruption is a
serious problem in Armenia.

“Ongoing reforms appear to be of declarative nature only and are
perceived as driven by donors”, as the report stated, “to turn this
around local ownership of anti-corruption reforms must be combined with
more effective donor assistance”.

The report calls for the promotion of law enforcement, along with the
improvement of existing legislation. Armenia also needs greater checks
and balances to curb the power of the President compared with the
legislature, and greater independence of the judiciary, prosecutors, and
police, as well as more transparency in the decision-making process.

The report emphasises the need to promote free and fair elections, by
strengthening the party system, making electoral commissions more
accountable to the public, and giving more rights to proxies and
observers. Improving institutional capacity is another priority. “The
success of the reform process is largely determined by the broad support
of the country’s population, which can be promoted by enhancing public
awareness and education”, according to the report. The role of
professional and independent media and, specifically, investigative
journalism, is also crucial for success in the fight against corruption.

A revised National Anti-Corruption Strategy and its Action Plan should
include the reforms cited above. Best practices of anti-corruption
measures all over the world should be reviewed to identify those most
applicable to Armenia.

The National Integrity Systems TI Country Study Report – Armenia 2003
was authored by Amalia Kostanyan, Chairwoman at CRD/TI Armenia, and
Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Public Policy Expert at CRD/TI Armenia. The report
was prepared under the auspices of a programme developed by the TI
Secretariat together with Professor Alan Doig and Stephanie McIvor of
the Teesside Business School in the United Kingdom. It is the latest in
a series of TI country study reports on national integrity systems.

The National Integrity Systems TI Country Study Report – Armenia 2003
and other country study reports in English can be downloaded at:

The National Integrity Systems TI Country Study Report – Armenia 2003
publications in English and Armenian can be downloaded at:

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