Author: Ekmekjian Janet

27th Plenary Session of Interparliamentary Assembly of Commonwealth
of Independent States in Saint Petersburg

National Assembly, Armenia
Nov 17 2006

On November 16 the 17th plenary session of CIS IPA began its work in
Tavricheskiy Palace in Saint Petersburg. Mr. Sergey Mironov, Chairman
of IPA CIS Council delivered a welcoming speech and assured that the
cooperation has proved its efficiency in free trade, fight against
organized crimes, drug business and terrorism and in development of
different forms of humanitarian cooperation. He also noted, that the
main theme of the 27th plenary session is the 15th anniversary of CIS,
the results of interparliamentary cooperation and the perspectives.

For the first time the Speaker of the Parliament of the Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan Mr. Mohammad Yunus Qanooni was participating
in the IPA CIS session. From the name of PABSEC, Mr. Mustafa Bash
made a welcoming speech and wished success.

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Mr.
Tigran Torosyan noted in his speech, that after the collapse of the
USSR the countries turned out to be in a difficult situation and were
forced to create new state and inter-state systems, economic relations,
develop democracy and resolve problems, each of those being a serious
complication for any country. The CIS has been useful in the resolution
of these problems and has helped to work efficiently in creating
legislation and solving the problems caused by the collapse of the
USSR. Now one can record that the CIS is a real operating organization,
which has great achievements. The Presidents of CIS countries work
on reforms of CIS, and necessarily the Interparliamentary Assembly
also has to work on these reforms because new time brings about new
problems. The IPA CIS has been so strengthened, that it can become an
arena for the debate of different issues, and for which new mechanisms
and opportunities have to be created. During these years the countries
have gained a rather big experience, which can be used in the CIS. In
that context there is much work to do, because there are rather high
results in economy, and a new situation is created, which requires
new solutions, so the CIS would work due to time demands. In that
context Mr. Torosyan emphasized the role of IPA CIS, which is of great
significance in the life of CIS and in the establishment of national
legislations, settlement of conflicts and establishment of regional
peace. The President of the National Assembly wished success to the
works and future activity of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly.

Other Presidents of Parliament of member countries also had speeches
at the IPA CIS plenary session.

After the debate of the theme "Fifteenth Anniversary of CIS: Results
of Inter-parliamentary Cooperation and Perspectives" the participants
of the plenary session discussed issues concerning the adaptation of
national legislation in the sphere of security. The participants of
the session were presented recommendations on "Ensuring Legislative
Regulation of Migration Processes in CIS member nations," on Model
Environmental Code, Water and Education Codes and other issues. These
and other draft laws were approved at the IPA CIS session and will
be used in elaborating national legislations.

The works of the 27th plenary session of IPA CIS were summed up at
a joint press conference.

The President of the National Assembly Mr. Tigran Torosyan had a
tete-e-tete talk with the Chairman of the Federation Council of the
Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Mr. Sergey Mironov, during
which they touched upon the works of IPA CIS, the meeting of four
Caucasian countries and the forthcoming official visit of the President
of the National Assembly to the Russian Federation and other issues.

On the same day the meeting of four Caucasian countries took place,
with the participation of the Presidents of Parliament of Armenia,
Russian Federation, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

DEFENSE MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN MAY MEET IN JANUARY

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 13 2006

The recurrent meeting between the Defense Ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan Serge Sargsyan and Safar Abiev may take place in January,
declared the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office,
Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, APA agency reports, referring to Russian
media. He noted that he has already applied the parties, but has
received no response.

To remind, at the initiative of Andrzej Kasprzyk, Foreign Ministers
Serge Sargsyan and Safar Abiev met on October 20. The parties discussed
the question of maintenance of the cease-fire regime.

ArmInfo correspondent did not manage to get information confirming
the meeting from RA MFA. According to APA report, Azeri MFA was not
informed about Kasprzyk’s statement and the forthcoming meeting of
the Defense Ministers.

CHECHEN BOY FATALLY STABBED

The Moscow Times, Russia
November 13, 2006 Monday

Police are searching for the killers of Kazbek Dadakhanov, 17,
a Chechen who was fatally stabbed outside the Rechnoi Vokzal metro
station.

Dadakhanov, a student at the Plekhanov Institute, was on his way
home from judo training with his cousin when he was involved in an
altercation with two men on the escalator as they were leaving the
northern Moscow metro station, Kommersant reported.

Dadakhanov, a relative of former Grozny Mayor Bislan Gantamirov,
was stabbed in the heart and died on the spot.

"I’m in shock," said Kazbek’s father, Murat Dadakhanov. "I can’t
even imagine why my son was killed. He only cared about sports and
studying."

Police have issued composite sketches of the suspects.

"There was no ethnic motive in this murder," a source involved in the
investigation said, Interfax reported. "The murder was committed in
a drunken fight."

In May, Artur Sadaryan, 19, an ethnic Armenian, was stabbed to death
on a suburban Moscow train.

The month before, Vigen Abramyan, 17, also an ethnic Armenian, was
fatally stabbed at the Pushkinskaya metro station.

No one has been convicted of either crimes.

Fresno Bee , CA
Nov 11 2006

Living with war

Sam Kalfayan’s 95 years have been shaped by the world’s conflicts.

By Christina Vance / The Fresno Bee11/11/06 03:53:20

War stole Sam Kalfayan’s name.

It blotted out his father’s bespectacled face and his mother’s
ability to speak of her dead children without crumbling. He believes
war’s sinister influence contributed to his first wife’s suicide.

But war spared Kalfayan’s life. The World War II survivor, at 95, is
among Fresno’s oldest veterans.

A trim man, Kalfayan still fits into his Army uniform. He continues
to wear a neat mustache, as he did when serving as interpreter to
Gen. George S. Patton more than 60 years ago.

Age has grayed Kalfayan’s hair and sapped his strength. But his sense
of humor remains bright, even though health woes have kept him in bed
a lot lately.

He’d be younger, he jokes, except "my parents made the mistake of
bringing me into this world a little too early."

War and Kalfayan seemed destined to meet. Born in 1911, the boy was
named after a general – Sarkis, a saint revered by some Armenian
Christians.

He was born Sarkis Papazian in Samson, Turkey. His Armenian father,
two brothers and two sisters died in Turkish massacres, but the
3-year-old escaped with his mother to Cairo, Egypt.

The survivors lived in a second-story apartment without electricity,
hot water or a toilet. Kalfayan learned French at his Armenian
school, and he picked up Arabic and Turkish from other people.

Kalfayan said his mother moved to Wisconsin in 1921 to marry his
stepfather after meeting him through a mail matchmaking service. The
boy took his stepfather’s last name, and his first name was
anglicized as "Sam." The family moved to the Visalia area a few years
later.

The Central Valley was good to Kalfayan. He grew up, married and
began to farm. Then World War II hit.

"During our days, we felt like we owed our country something," he
said. "I felt this country had done me a lot of favors."

Kalfayan tried to volunteer, but the government rebuffed him, saying
it was more important that he go on farming raisins. So Kalfayan sold
his 30 acres and returned to the Army. This time, they took him.

When the Army discovered the new recruit spoke several languages, it
sent him overseas to work as Patton’s interpreter. The private got a
Jeep to follow the general and often stayed some distance from the
front.

But during the bloody Battle of the Bulge – which involved more than
1 million soldiers and claimed nearly 200,000 dead and injured –
Kalfayan fought alongside other soldiers. The enemy hid, and it was
hard to tell where shots came from – or went.

"I don’t know whether I killed 10 guys or didn’t shoot anybody," he
said.

Kalfayan was in his 30s when he served, and younger soldiers called
him "pop." But, although he served for three years, he left the Army
a buck private – the lowest-ranked soldier – because he occasionally
disobeyed orders. Each time, he would be demoted from private first
class back to private.

Once, he took an unauthorized side trip to Paris. Another time, he
wore a wool cap with earflaps that Patton had ordered to be
confiscated. The general said it made his soldiers look like sissies.

"The hell with Patton. I was being sensible," Kalfayan said.

Ironically, Kalfayan never performed interpreting duties for Patton
because of the famed general’s manic pace in taking territory – even
if hundreds of lives were lost.

"Patton never stayed long enough to interrogate anybody. He just kept
pushing," Kalfayan said. "If he felt like taking it, to hell with
everything, he’d take it."

When the war ended, Kalfayan returned home to find his wife had
become mentally ill. Soon after, she killed herself. Kalfayan
believes the war, so many thousands of miles away, was partly to
blame.

"I spent three years in the war. I didn’t get a scratch," he said.
"She became a war casualty."

After returning home, Kalfayan earned multiple academic degrees,
including a master’s degree in agricultural economics. He worked as
manager for several California cities, such as San Jacinto and Desert
Hot Springs. He married again, outlived his second wife of 50 years,
and then married his current wife, Lena.

Like Kalfayan, many soldiers from the World War II generation
returned home and got on with life, said Bob Specht, deputy director
of Fresno’s Legion of Valor Museum.

"That generation was very steely. They didn’t bring up all that
stuff," he said.

At age 80, some soldiers talk about the carnage for the first time.
Specht said they’re more apt to talk to another veteran than their
families. He’s heard some of their stories himself.

"It’s not a pleasant experience," he said. "A lot of them don’t go to
war movies."

Living through any war "from 1776 on" unites people in a way others
can’t understand, Specht said. The museum volunteers tease one
another and enjoy a bond – one that Kalfayan shared until recent ill
health kept the longtime docent from volunteering.

Right now, Kalfayan spends hours reading and talking to his wife. He
has no children, no other family members. And, he has no regrets.

"My genes will disappear. That’s it. I don’t give a damn," he said.
"Somebody said all good things come to an end. I’m at the end of it.
I have no complaints. I’ve lived a good life."

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 10, 2006 Friday

RUSSIAN ARMY WILL LEAVE GEORGIA IN 2006

General of the Army Alexander Baranov, Caucasus Military District
Commander, says that units of the Russian army will leave Georgia
this year. The initial plans stood for their withdrawal in 2008.

On Russian defense minister’s order, plans of rapid withdrawal have
been run by official Tbilisi. All units, command structures, and
military hardware will leave Georgia for Armenia and Russia over the
next two months. Four railroad echelons will be used in evacuation.
Two will go to Russia and two to the 102nd Russian Military Base in
Armenia.

Most servicemen volunteered for continuation of service in the
Caucasus, Moscow, and Volga-Urals military districts. Some will
retire. Eighty certificates for apartments have been set aside for
them, and 56 flats will be bought for retired officers in Stavropol,
Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody in the Caucasus, and other cities. The
command promises that not a single officer or warrant officer will
retire without an apartment to live in.

Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, November 6, 2006, EV

Translated by A. Ignatkin

A1+

TIME WILL COME, AND DALLAQYAN WILL MAKE UP HIS MIND
[06:07 pm] 10 November, 2006

`When the most important moment comes, I will decide
how to participate in the 2007 Parliamentary
elections’, today in `Pastark’ club NA deputy Viktor
Dallaqyan neither confirmed nor refuted the
information about his participation in the elections
as member of `Prosperous Armenia’. Instead, he
referred to the possible developments of the inner
political situation in Armenia.

According to him, the 2007 Parliamentary elections,
the confrontations inside the authorities, the
Karabakh conflict, the end of the office of Robert
Kocharyan, as well as other issues can affect the
inner political situation in Armenia. In Contrast to
2003, this time the Presidential elections will follow
the Parliamentary ones. `Those political powers which
will be dominating after the Parliamentary elections
will influence the Presidential elections’, Mr.
Dallaqyan mentioned.

Although the deputy thinks that during the past 15
years Armenia suffered from the problem of fabricated
elections, this time there is a chance to organize
free and fair elections in 2007. According to him, we
must put an end to the slogan of Nicaraguan despot
Samosa, `You won during the elections, I won while
calculating the votes’.

In the organization of free and fair elections Mr.
Dallaqyan found the order of formation of the
electoral committees important. `The electoral
committees must consist of equal numbers of
representatives of the authorities and the
opposition’.

As for the 2008 budget which according to the Prime
Minister is just wonderful, Viktor Dallaqyan thinks it
is another `survival budget’.

Dallaqyan drew parallels between the budgets of
Armenia and Azerbaijan and drew a sad conclusion, `The
settlement of the Karabakh conflict has been taken to
the economic field. The country which has stronger
economy will be dominating while settling the
conflict’.

In order to show the gap between the economic
development of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Viktor
Dallaqyan enumerated, `In 2003-2007 the budget of
Azerbaijan rose 8 times, whereas that of Armenia –
four times. During the last nine months the economic
growth of Azerbaijan was 34%, whereas that of Armenia-
12.5%. Besides, the state budget of Azerbaijan allots
1 billion USD to the defense of the country, whereas
that of Armenia – only 263 million USD’.

ELECTORAL LISTS FOR REFERENDUM ON NKR CONSTITUTION READY

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Nov 9 2006

According to the NKR CEC Head Sergey Nasibian, the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic Central Election Commission, Stepanakert city hall and NKR
regional administrations held joint preparatory and organization work
on ensuring the citizens’ full-fledged participation in a referendum
on the NKR Constitution.

In the course of the CEC sitting it was underscored the electoral
lists had been ready, while the Constitution’s text would be circulated
among the electoral commissions in the near future. The NKR citizens
that have attained their majority with the exception of those serving
their sentence will vote.

S. Nasibian noted 36 million drams had been allocated to conduct the
referendum, KarabakhOpen reports.

To remind, the referendum on the NKR Constitution will be held in
the Republic current December 10.

AZERI ARMY CAN LIBERATE ‘SEIZED TERRITORIES’ DURING ONE WEEK, AZERI EXPERT SURE

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.11.2006 13:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I am convinced that but for Russia’s support to
Armenia, Azerbaijan could liberate the seized territories," Azeri
military expert Uzeir Jafarov said in an interview with Day.az. "As
for the fact that Armenia can buy Russian weapons at a lower price,
one should remember that Armenia is a member state of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and this allows buying arms at a
reduced price," he said. When touching upon the defeat of Azeris is
1990-ies the expert said, "Now Armenians are idealizing the events of
that time and forget that they also met defeat at some periods. Now,
despite certain shortcoming of the Azeri army there are forces that can
fulfill the task quickly. It’s not a secret that during the Karabakh
war Russia was actively supporting Armenia. But time has passed and
a big deal of work has been carried out," Jafarov said.

ARMENIA CONCENTRATES ON BALANCING ACT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND GEORGIA
Haroutiun Khachatrian

EurasiaNet, NY
Nov 8 2006

Worsening relations between Georgia and Russia continue to pose a
difficult problem for Armenia, as it tries to maintain some form of
balance in its relations with the two sides.

The effect of these tensions for the Armenian economy remains a
paramount concern. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive.]
Armenian President Robert Kocharian’s October 30-November 1 state
visit to Russia, which included meetings with Russian President
Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, was a case in
point. In remarks to reporters, Kocharian noted that while Russia’s
transportation blockade with Georgia could pose difficulties for
bilateral trade between Russia and Armenia, "serious [Russian]
investment projects" would help compensate Yerevan for any economic
damage done by the Georgian embargo, the ITAR-TASS quoted Kocharian as
saying. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

Those investments appear to be growing. Russian energy giant Gazprom’s
acquisition of a controlling stake in the country’s gas distribution
network and, through this, potential control over an Armenian
section of an Iranian gas pipeline, its recent takeover of the fifth
unit of the Hrazdan electricity plant, and Russian company Rusal’s
modernization of aluminum manufacturer Armenal are among the most
prominent of these "serious" investment projects. Unlike neighboring
Georgia, Armenia will see its current $110 per 1,000 cubic meters
price for Gazprom gas frozen until 2009 in return for transferring
ownership of the Hrazdan unit to the Russian company, the government
has announced. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

On November 3, announcement was also made that the Russian firm
VimpelCom has purchased a 90 percent stake in ArmenTel, the country’s
main mobile telecommunications carrier. The government will retain
the remaining 10 percent stake in the company.

Despite these signs of robust business ties, concerns about Russia’s
position toward Armenia have been growing since mid-October, when
nationalist Russian parliamentarian Konstantin Zatulin, a member
of the pro-Kremlin party United Russia, protested at an October
17 meeting of the Russian-Armenian inter-parliamentary commission
in Yerevan that Armenia "does not support its strategic partner
[Russia]" in its conflict with Georgia. Zatulin, who has previously
cast himself as pro-Armenian on the issue of the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh, called on Yerevan to choose between "normal
relations" with Russia or Georgia, the daily newspaper Haykakan
Zhamanak reported.

Zatunin’s statements met with almost unanimous protest by the Armenian
political elite, although some, like Armen Ashotian, a member of the
governing Republican Party, have stressed that the remark is the view
of one politician, not the official position of the Russian Federation.

Nonetheless, Armenian officials have continued to address the
Russian-Georgian dispute cautiously. "Current Russian-Georgian
relations are these countries’ internal problem," Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian said at a joint press conference on October 24
with Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorski. "Armenia… should
not interfere with the resolution of this problem."

Margarian, however, has stated that Armenia is ready to "help with
the… solution" for the impasse between President Putin and Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili if asked by Russia or Georgia.

So far, neither Moscow nor Tbilisi has shown interest in mediation.

At a November 1 meeting on the sidelines of a Moscow gathering
of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and Georgian Foreign Minister Gela
Bezhuashvili met, but details on the conversation were scarce. In a
succinct statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry stated that the
two men discussed "issues of bilateral relations, the influence
of Russian-Georgian relations on the region and possibilities for
softening the current tension," the news service Mediamax reported.

Before the talks, Georgian Ambassador to Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze,
in an October 30 meeting with National Assembly Chairman Tigran
Torosian, thanked Armenia for its "balanced approach."

Greater speculation about Armenia’s relations with Georgia and Russia
has surfaced in media coverage of the October 10 arrest of Vahagn
Chakhalian, one of the leaders of the Miasnakan Javakhk, or United
Javakhk, non-governmental organization in Georgia’s predominantly
ethnic Armenian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Chakhalian was jailed
for two months pending trial for having allegedly "illegally" crossed
Georgia’s border with Armenia. On October 30, he was released. Some
local publications have argued that the release was at Russia’s
request.

Chakhalian’s arrest surprised most Armenians since no visa regime
exists between the two states; the arrest of an ethnic Armenian
for entering Armenia struck many as strange. Some members of the
opposition, including the Dashink Party of former Nagorno-Karabakh
warlord Samvel Babayan, said the arrest had been made at the request
of Tbilisi officials who wanted to curtail United Javakhk’s support
for ethnic Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti. (The leader of a rival
non-governmental organization to Miasnakan Javakhk has gone even
further, charging that Chakhalian was working with Georgian special
services to destabilize the region and push ethnic Armenians out
of the area.) The movement’s opposition to the construction of the
Kars-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki railroad, which will connect the region with
Turkey, was seen as the reason for such action.

Both pro-government and opposition publications share strong opposition
to this project. Yerevan fears the line would further isolate Armenia,
currently hemmed in by blockades on its borders with Turkey and
Azerbaijan. On October 19, the pro-government daily newspaper Hayots
Ashkharh published an analysis that argued that the railroad would
damage ties between Armenia and Georgia, and urged the Saakashvili
government not to harm its relations with Armenia for "a $200 million
bribe by Turks and Azeris."

The opposition newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak, a pro-Western publication
close to former President Levon Ter-Petrossian’s Armenian National
Movement, has taken a different approach. In its October 19 issue, the
paper argued that Russia could use Miasnakan Javakhk to put pressure
on Georgia. The newspaper Iravunk followed that line on November 3,
saying that Miasnakan Javakhk’s "strongly pro-Russian" position and
activities are "certain to worry Armenian Prime Minister… Margarian
and [Defense Minister] Serzh Sarkisian" as they pursue dialogue with
the West.

The government, to date, has not responded to the allegations.

Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTED DRAFT CONSTITUTION

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Nov 4 2006

On November 1 the second reading of the of the draft constitution of
NKR took place. Speaker Ashot Ghulian said after the first reading
and public debates a number of proposals were made, including 127 by
the parliamentary groups and factions and members of parliament. In
accordance with the bylaws, all the proposals have been presented to
the head of the Task Force on the Constitution. The amended draft was
presented to the parliament for the second reading. The head of the
Task Force, Attorney General Armen Zalinian thanked the members of
parliament for their constructive approach during the debates over the
draft constitution and mentioned that this cooperation resulted in a
Constitution "we can be proud of". He also thanked the citizens of the
Republic for their activity during the public debates on the draft,
which means that the society is involved in the process of writing
and adopting the constitution, and everyone realizes its importance
in our present and future life. With regard to the proposals, the
head of the Task Force said the focus was on the provisions, which
need additional clarification to enable every citizen to perceive the
structural and functional powers of one state institution or another,
as well as the proposals which would improve the draft. The chair of
the State and Legal Committee Yuri Hairapetian and the chair of the
Committee of Defense, Security and Law Enforcement Rudik Hyusnunts
stated in their reports that the conclusions of the committees were
positive. After the reports of the factions the majority, 29 members of
parliament voted for the draft, 1 member of parliament voted against,
and 1 member of parliament abstained.