Author: Ekmekjian Janet

EVICTED FAMILIES DISMISS KOCHARIAN’S EXTRA CASH PLEDGE
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Aug. 14, 2006

Disgruntled families whose old houses have been torn down in an
ongoing redevelopment in downtown Yerevan on Monday bristled at
President Robert Kocharian’s pledge to slightly raise compensations
paid to them by his government.

In televised remarks broadcast late Friday, Kocharian announced
that the government was wrong to controversially levy a 10 percent
income tax from the already modest sums paid to hundreds of displaced
families. He said proceeds from the tax, worth about 1.3 billion drams
($3.3 million), will be given back to them in the next few months.

Kocharian’s remark that "the issue will be closed" with the payment
of extra cash seems to have angered those former house owners who
feel that the compensations offered to them were well bellow the
market value of their demolished properties. Vachagan Hakobian, head
of a group representing their interests, said it does not represent
a fundamental solution to their grievances.

"We are not fighting for 10 percent," Hakobian told RFE/RL. "We just
want the amount of compensation to be revised [upwards] and individuals
who committed illegal acts to be punished."

"They won’t deceive us with that sum. Of course, we will take the cash
because it was stolen from us. But we will continue our struggle to
the end," he said.

The pledge of extra money was Kocharian’s first public statement
on the controversy surrounding his government’s handling of the
redevelopment program that was effectively declared illegal by
Armenia’s Constitutional Court in April. Angry evicted residents,
backed by human rights activities, opposition politicians and
prominent public figures, have for months protested outside his
officials residence in the hope of clinching heftier sums.

The Armenian constitution stipulates that private property can
be confiscated by the state "only in exceptional cases involving
overriding public interests, in a manner defined by law, and with a
prior commensurate compensation." The court backed critics’ argument
that the process, marred allegations of high-level corruption,
has been regulated only by a government directive and is therefore
unconstitutional. Still, it stopped short of ordering the authorities
to return the increasingly expensive land to their former owners.

Some of those residents were baffled by the timing Kocharian’s
announcement and saw political motives behind it. "Elections are
coming up," one of them, Aleksandr Safian, said. "The president has
gone public to present himself in a better light. We don’t believe
in fairy tales."

Another man, Zohrab Vahanian, claimed that the Armenian authorities
are worried about lawsuits filed by several disgruntled families to
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. "They have realized
that we can’t do anything against them only in Armenia and that things
work a bit differently there [in Strasbourg,]" he said.

Kocharian’s statement, whatever its motives, is totally irrelevant
to Gohar Gharibian and her family that were offered $14,000, barely
enough to buy a tiny apartment in a Yerevan suburb, for their now
demolished house in the city center. They rejected the sum and now
hope for a "just" verdict by the Strasbourg court.

"We didn’t sign any [compensation] agreements," said Gharibian. "They
came and threw us out. Our case is now considered by the European
court. That’s why I don’t care about that 10 percent."

MAJORITY OF ARMENIAN CONSUMERS ARE NOT AWARE OF THEIR RIGHTS, CRP
CHAIRMAN SAYS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. A sociological survey conducted under
the program "Social Initiative on Consumer Rights Protection in
Armenia’s Public Service Sector" has identified the public service
sector’s problems that most concern citizens. Abgar Eghoyan, Chairman
of the Consumer Rights Protection (CRP) NGO, stated this during the
August 11 press conference. According to him, consumers are mainly
concerned with issues related to gas, water, electricity supply and
telecommunications. "There are numerous complaints about the low
quality of Internet connection service provision, especially regarding
bills sent against services that were not delivered," A. Eghoyan
said. The survey revealed that the majority of Armenian consumers are
not aware of their rights. Particularly, most of them are not
informed about tariffs of gas supply network installation in their
houses or apartments. A. Eghoyan said that in order to fill this gap,
with the assistance of the Eurasia Foundation the CRP has implemented
a program of measures aimed at informing the population. A "Consumer
Guide" was published, posters with information about water, gas and
electricity supply and telecommunication were put up at minicipalities,
condominiums and some banks’ branches. Thanks to a hot line at the
CRP, consumers can get free advice. "Consumer Guide: Book 2" was
published by CRP’s Civil Interests Protection Assistance Program
jointly with Counterpart International, it is distributed free of
charge. The book contains examples of applications, complaints and
claims, as well as information about the appropriate state bodies and
organizations.

Official Kremlin Int’l News Broadcast
August 10, 2006 Thursday

INTERVIEW ON RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES, RUSSIAN NAVY WITH MIKHAIL
BABICH, DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE STATE DUMA COMMITTEE FOR DEFENSE GAZETA
DAILY, P. 5, AUGUST 10, 2006

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE DUMA DEFENSE COMMITTEE MIKHAIL BABICH:
"IF WE CAN’T USE OUR FLEET AT A TIME OF CRISIS, WHAT’S THE POINT OF
KEEPING IT THERE?" Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense
Committee and the head of the State Duma Working Group on Legislative
Support for the Operation, Financial Welfare and Social Guarantees of
Military Servicemen, Civilian Personnel and Their Dependents, Mikhail
Babich, speaks in an interview with Gazeta correspondent Madina
Shavlokhova about how the legislative branch plans to solve the
problems facing the military.

Q: How many military bases does Russia have in the near abroad now?

A: There are three to four bases in Central Asia. There are bases in
Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is
stationed in Sevastopol.

Q: Has the status of our bases outside the country been determined?

A: Yes. There are international agreements ratified by the
parliaments of all countries where we have our military contingents.
Everything is all right with their legal status. But there are some
problems in details.

Q: Where do we have most of all problems?

A: In Ukraine. But politics have nothing to do with this. There are
other reasons that come to the fore. For example, the size of the
lease payment for the use of the Black Sea Fleet’s base.

Q: Wasn’t the size of the lease payment determined in the middle of
the 1990s when the agreement on the division of the Black Sea Fleet
between Russia and Ukraine was signed?

A: It was. We divided the Fleet in accordance with the previously
agreed-upon terms. The size of the lease payment was determined in
1997. But today our Ukrainian colleagues say the economic situation
has changed and the lease payment should be much higher. This is
wrong because Russia, as a legal successor to the Soviet Union,
assumed many obligations and honors them.

Our position is clear: increasing the lease payment for the Black Sea
Fleet’s base is out of the question. One must not forget whose
financial resources have been invested in the development of this
base and who paid Ukraine’s debts to the European Union for the use
of the Black Sea.

Q: Is this where our disagreements with Ukraine end?

A: I wish it were so! There are many disagreements over social
guarantees to military servicemen, the privatization of their
housing, and dual citizenship of our military.

The State Duma Defense Committee, jointly with the Defense Ministry
of Russia, has prepared two bills: "On Social Guarantees for Military
Servicemen Undergoing Military Service in Military Units of the
Russian Federation Stationed in the Territories of the Republic of
Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and Civilian Personnel of These
Units" and "On the Terms of Mandatory Pension, Social, and Health
Insurance of Civilian Personnel, Members of Military Families within
Military Units of the Russian Federation Deployed in the Territories
of CIS Member States."

The first bill has gone through all stages approval in the government
and will be submitted to the State Duma this fall. The draft budget
for 2007 already envisages funds for its implementation. The second
bill has not yet been discussed with ministries.

Q: Several years ago our ships stationed in the Sevastopol Bay were
not let out to take part in military exercises. Has anything changed?

A: We no longer have such acute situations. But then, the Fleet is
different and Russia’s policy is tougher. I can hardly imagine any
forces trying to prevent our Fleet from carrying out its missions.
And yet from time to time there emerge different frictions over the
use of military infrastructure, airspace or training ranges.

Q: Can the Russian Fleet be used for psychological pressure in an
international conflict, for example in the Georgian-Abkhazian
conflict?

A: This is one of the disputable issues. For example, there is an
emergency situation where the Fleet has to be used for its direct
purpose. Our Ukrainian colleagues think that if Ukraine assumes a
neutral position in such a conflict, Russia may not use its Black Sea
Fleet. And if Russia does otherwise, Ukraine will press for an early
withdrawal of the Russian Fleet from its territory. A fleet or any
military unit is deployed in a certain place in order to be used in
the interests of the state wherever necessary. There are relevant
international practices. If we cannot use our fleet at a time of
crisis, what’s the point of keeping it there."

POET FROM TAVUSH WRITES ODE DEDICATED TO U.S. AMBASSADOR

Noyan Tapan
Aug 10 2006

IJEVAN, AUGUST 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Lyubik Chibukhchian, the Tavush
Regional Governor’s Assistant, a poet from Ijevan completed the ode
entitled "John Evans" where he did honour to the U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia for calling the Armenian Genocide with its name. In the past,
he wrote the "Vladimir of Vladimirs" poem dedicated to RF President
Vladimir Putin which he translated into Russian and sent to the RF
President’s staff. To recap, L.Chibukhcjian has recently joined the
opposing "Orinats Yerkir" (Country of Law) party.

RECONSTRUCTION OF HADRUT

Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
07 Aug 2006

Hadrut is one of the old settlements in Artsakh. In 1923 it became the
administrative center of the region of Hadrut. The town is surrounded
with high mountains in the south, west and north, in the east it looks
at the Artsakh valley. This geographical position has always been very
important in defending the settlement from the enemies. During the war
in Artsakh Hadrut went through great difficulties. On August 15, 1992
the foe stepped up an offensive in the direction of Hadrut, intending
to capture the hill of Khurhat and the village of Melikashen. The
fall of Hadrut would endanger NKR. The local militants and the force
that joined them counterattacked and prevented their advance.

The war in Artsakh took the lives of 57 people. 22 peaceful people were
killed during shelling. During the war, Hadrut had a very important
strategic position; a number of attempts were made to capture the
town. Over 150 houses, schools, shops, restaurants, thousands of km
of power transmission lines were damaged. In the post-war years 140
houses and apartments have been reconstructed, 48 apartments have
been built for the families of the killed soldiers, refugees and
poor families. The building of the music school and the Center of
Children’s Art has been repaired. The repair of the secondary school
of Hadrut is over, the repair of the gym and the club is underway. The
streets are being repaired, the government has provided 350 million
drams for this purpose.

Water remains the main problem of the town of Hadrut. The water supply
system was built in 1976 and has not been repaired since. Hadrut is
supplied from underground water, which is pumped to the town from
a pumping station three km from the town. The pumping station does
not operate normally and the town gets almost no water. There was a
plan to lay a 5-km pipeline from the Parzaget, and water will flow
to the town under natural pressure. In 1995, Armenia Foundation built
the second pipeline and installed a filtering station. The filtering
station did not work, however, because of the lack of corresponding
materials. Currently the draught has made the situation worse. The
government allocated 1.5 million drams to repair the pumping station
and the artesian wells. Hopefully, the new quarter of Hadrut will soon
have water, which will flow to the town under natural pressure, said
Mayor A. Abrahamian. The City Hall is going to celebrate the day of
the town on August 15, which has already become a traditional holiday.

E. DAVITIAN.

ARMENIAN POLITICIAN CLAIMS US MEDIATORS PRO-AZERI STANCE

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 4, 2006 Tuesday

The latest statements by the US mediator brokering settlement to the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict openly revealed
his slant toward Azerbaijan, an Armenian parliament member maintains.

The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and the new co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG), Matthew Bryza, has told the press
that the mediators submitted a framework accord to the conflicting
sides and outlined its key principles, but added t hat the latter
have yet to accept it. Armen Ashotian, who represents the Armenian
Republican Party, said the first part of the statement did not cover
determination of the Upper Garabaghs status and the issue concerning
the Lachin and Kalbajar districts. There is a considerable difference
between the statements of Bryza and those of other MG co-chairs,
the MP said. He went on to say that the United States binds great
hopes with its new intermediary. He said international experience
in the area of settling conflicts over Georgias breakaway republics
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia enables a conclusion that these hopes
are not groundless. Commenting on Bryzas position on other issues,
Ashotian said the American mediator places a particular emphasis
on launching dialogue between Armenia and Turkey after the Garabagh
dispute is settled and normalizing relations between the two countries
in the future.

Israel Aims to Annihilate Lebanon

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.08.2006 21:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Israel’s aim is to annihilate Lebanon. Civic
constructions and state infrastructure are being demolished, Lebanese
Ambassador to Armenia Gebrail Jaaray said. In his words, last night
3 bridges were destroyed in the north of Lebanon and restoration of
each will demand $50 million. "During 22 days of Israel’s operation the
damage caused to Lebanon reached $5 billion this figure increases day
by day. 15 thousand of flats were completely destructed, the number
of displaced persons reached a million. Numerous visits of high rank
officials have been fruitless so far. The war is going on," he said.

The Ambassador also remarked that 8 Lebanese and some 10 thousand
Palestinians are kept in hostage in Israeli jails. "The Near East is an
explosive and conflict zone. It’s a long way for peace here," he said.

The Ambassador presented the decision of the Lebanese government
consisting of seven items that should be fulfilled to stop the
war. These are the exchange of war prisoners and hostages, withdrawal
of the Israeli troops beyond the Lebanese border, deployment of
Lebanese army throughout the country, deployment of U.N. peacekeepers
in the south Lebanon, observation of the agreement of 1949 on ceasefire
between Israel and Lebanon, proclamation of Lebanon a calamity zone
and rendering humanitarian assistance to it. "Lebanon receives major
part of assistance from Saudi Arabia and France. We also highly
appreciate the aid rendered by the Armenian government. This proves
that our nations are bound with fraternal friendship ties," he said.

The Chief of Mission also remarked that two days ago the spiritual
leaders of all the confessions in Lebanon including His Holiness Aram I
of Cilicia issued a statement in support of the government’s decision.

WILL GALUST’S DREAM COME TRUE?

Lragir.am
03 Aug 06

Already the former deputy mayor of Yerevan Arman Sahakyan said
the reason for his resignation is the election to the head of the
community of Ajapnyak in fall. Arman Sahakyan said he is likely to
run in the local election. Therefore, he submitted his resignation,
which was accepted by Arman Sahakyan’s party leader, Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan. The factor of the political party was not secondary
because the system of governance is concerned. The Republicans will
now be deployed in the community of Ajapnyak. Arman Sahakyan was
first nominated head of the community of Ajapnyak in 2003. However,
Arman, the son of Galust Sahakyan, was defeated by the encumbant
candidate Artsrun Khachatryan. Khachatryan is the representative of
the so-called clan of Aparan, the protege of Nig Aparan, the honorary
chair of which is Attorney General Aghvan Hovsepyan.

At that time the Republican Party failed to have its candidate win.

In fact, the Republican Party did not take pains to win and came
to an agreement with Nig Aparan. Naturally, it happened under the
"godfatherhood" of the president administration. There is information
that Galust Sahakyan, Arman Sahakyan’s father, had a grudge on the
leader of the Republican Party because they did not go all the way
to defend his son and make him head of the community. And now Arman
Sahakyan is going to try again, in fact. And though the attempt and
the trier are the same, the situation has changed considerably. The
Republican Party is not the same, and the Attorney General is not
the same either. Of course, it is not known whether Nig Aparan and
Artsrun Khachatryan are also going to try. However, the fact that some
time before the election of the head of the community Arman Sahakyan
resigns from the post of the deputy mayor of Yerevan proves that he
has certain guarantees, nevertheless. And these guarantees are thanks
to this change of the situation. Three years ago the interests and
goals of the government were somewhere else, and fitted into the
principle of "one for all and all for one".

Now this logic does not work any longer. The Attorney General, who
had just made a bid for becoming a serious political factor three
years ago, is now announcing that he is not going to became engaged
in politics. In other words, Aghvan Hovsepyan announces that he will
not join the Republican conglomerate led by Serge Sargsyan. In this
case, the Republican Party and the wealth of this party, i.e. the
administrative criminal, cannot make a compromise with the Attorney
General if he once again struggles for the office of the head of
the community of Ajapnyak. And this office, as well as the office of
the head of community in general, is a vital need for the Republican
Party which is now working in the reproduction mode. Consequently,
this time the Republican Party will go all the way. Or most probably
there will be no struggle if Arman Sahakyan confidently resigns from
the office of deputy mayor. After all, he failed once and he would
be more cautious not to lose what he already has. Even if he did
not think about it, his experiened father would give him advice,
who has already become convinced that it is not so "profitable"
to rely on the almightiness of the Republican Party.

But it should be noted that the situation has changed. Everybody
knows this, especially Galust Sahakyan and his son. If three years
ago Serge Sargsyan supported the Republican Party, three years later
he is already the chair of the Council of the Republican Party. In
other words, at present Serge Sargsyan is simply for, in other words,
he has a clear and determined interest. Moreover, the Attorney General
failed "to do politics", he did not join Serge.

Consequently, it should be supposed that Serge Sargsyan "solved
the question" of Arman Sahakyan to become head of the community of
Ajapnyak. In fact, Sargsyan did what Margaryan failed three years
ago. Whereas, it was a simple wish of the brother-in-arms to make his
son head of the community. If the leader of the party cannot fulfill
such simple wishes, and fulfilled only his similar wish to make his
son head of community, the Republicans may naturally come to think
that he is unable to solve more complicated problems, consequently
a more able leader is needed.

After all Galust Sahakyan is not the only Republican who has wishes.

On the other hand, he may not be the only one whose wish came true.

After all, there is a lot of time until the local election, and
if we assume that Serge Sargsyan guaranteed the election of Arman
Sahakyan, it is a question whether someone gave this guarantee to
Serge Sargsyan. And the disappointment with the new leader will be big.

HAKOB BADALYAN

RIFAT HISARCHIGOGLU: "WE WON’T CHANGE OUR STANCE UNTIL ARMENIA
PULLS OUT ITS TROOPS FROM AZERBAIJANI LANDS"

Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 3, 2006

"Why should we change our position while Armenia have not pulled out
its troops from the Azerbaijani territories and give up it claims
against Turkey?" Rifat Hisarchigoglu, president of Chambers and
Exchanges Union of Turkey told.

Half a year ago he said the Union Turkish member companies would not
establish trade relations with Armenia, APA reports.

"Why change our position? Did Armenia give up its groundless
territorial claims against Turkey? Since Armenia has not made any
changes to its stances regarding such urgent problems, why should
we change ours? First of all, they should unconditionally pull
out their troops from the occupied Azerbaijani regions in order to
provide internally displaced persons return their native lands,"
Mr.Hisarchigoglu said.

The Chambers and Exchanges Union of Turkey is the biggest NGO in the
country, which unites 1 million companies. It has a strong influence
on the government’s domestic and foreign policy and remarked for its
active lobbying efforts for Turkey’s EU membership.

URL:

SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP AGAINST THE VISION OF PERSONAL HAPPINESS

Lragir.am
01 Aug 06

Perhaps the Republican Party has not realized yet what favor it did
to the public by holding an early conference on July 22. Not only did
the Republican Party display its face, but it also revealed the faces
of others. Perhaps this premonition made some political parties reveal
their own faces long before the conference, although it would be more
precise to tell that they hurried to take the step of covering their
own face more safely. Dashnak Alvard Petrosyan announced that over
70 percent of the intellect in the political sphere of Armenia is in
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The answer of the Republicans
did not make wait long. Certainly, they did not announce that the
godfather of the most intellectual victory of Armenia, the "king of
Torino" Serge Sargsyan is a Republican.

But young Republican Armen Ashotyan announced before the conference of
the Republican Party that let Dashnaktsutiun mind their own business
until the parliamentary election.

It is difficult to tell what business Armen Ashotyan hinted at, but
he is a rather smart young man and he must have known something when
he spoke or at least he had been told what to say. It goes without
saying that responsibility for 70 percent of the intellect is really a
hard job. They require care. Intellect does not grow in the field to
go and pick up. They have hardly come, so one needs to take care of
them. And perhaps the Republican Party knows how difficult it is for
Dashnaktsutiun to take care for its intellectuals, therefore it advises
to mind their own business instead of one aspiration or another. In
order to sponsor intellect one needs to be at least a defense minister,
whereas the only defense minister is in the Republican Party. And to
become convinced of this, the Republicans had invited representatives
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) to come
and see and get down to minding their own business.

And the Dashnaks went and saw. It is not clear, however, what they
thought. Other’s "good luck" makes remember one’s own problems but
everything is different when this other implies by their behavior
at several ways of getting over problems. For instance, how Dashnaks
can get rid of problems. It is clear: one gets rid of Dashnaktsutiun
and one is free from the problem of the ARF. However, such a simple
solution would not occur to everyone, of course. The intellect is
not good at simple solutions. For this, one needs to be a genius or
lack intellect, at least a little. Certainly, Dashnaktsutiun would
not have a problem of genius if there was at least one genius in our
political sphere. Therefore, the most simple solution of getting rid
of problems would occur to those whom others would prompt.

And it is not accidental that the Republicans prompted Dashnaks about
the problems before the early conference and invited them to the
conference to prompt the simple way of getting rid of problems. They
pointed to the "happiness of the criminal" and forgot about the
"problem of the intellect". Certainly, only for those who saw
the happiness of the criminal. And among Dashnaks the members of
parliament Armen Rustamyan and Spartak Seyranyan were "lucky" to see
the "happiness of the criminal". And they even say that witnessing did
its "evil job" and it even occurred to Armen Rustamyan to tell his
party friends and persuade them that the percentage of intellect is
not as important in life as the percentage of votes, which guarantees
seats in the parliament and the government.

And they even say that Rustamyan has already acquired supporters
inside the political party. In other words, he managed to persuade
some people. In case of failure they have the vision of "personal
happiness", however. In other words, the simplest way of getting rid
of the problem of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

HAKOB BADALYAN