Author: Ekmekjian Janet

CORRUPTION INDEX REDUCED

Panorama.am
19:57 23/09/2008

This year the lowest corruption index has been recorded in Denmark,
Swiss and New Zealand. The triple is followed by Singapore.

Every year "Transparency International" international anticorruption
center publishes the indexes of corruption spread in different
countries. Amalia Kostanyan, the president of "Transparency
International" Armenia organization presented the data of the
current year.

Based on "Development Asian Bank", "Bertelsman Foundation", "World
Bank", "Freedom House", "Global Insight", "International Group of
Businessmen" and "World Economic Forum" data the index of corruption
in Armenia has been reduced compared with the previous year.

According to the organization the highest index is recorded in Somali
and Iraq.

ARMENIAN OFFICIALS SEEM TO BE SINCERE FOR SOLUTION, SAYS TURKISH FM

Tuesday, 23 September 2008 10:34
Turkey

Turkish FM Babacan said that Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan had strong
will to solve problems.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said that Armenian officials
seemed to be sincere for solution.

Babacan, who is currently in New York for UN General Assembly meetings,
said regarding Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s visit to Armenia
that Armenian officials said that they wanted solution not only for
Armenian-Turkish relations but also for Azerbaijani-Armenian relations.

Babacan said that the recent crisis in Caucasus made countries in
the region revise their attitudes, adding that Armenia and Azerbaijan
were also among these countries.

Babacan said that he and President Gul evaluated that new situation
as a good opportunity and visited Armenia.

Babacan said that Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan had strong will to
solve problems.

Babacan said that all problems, which concerned those three countries,
were related with each other, and representatives of the three
countries would meet on Friday.

NEWLY APPOINTED U.S. AMBASSADOR PRESENTS HER CREDENTIALS TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Noyan Tapan

Se p 22, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The newly appointed Amabassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the U.S. to Armenia Marie
Yovanovitch on September 22 presented her credentials to Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan. Congratulating the ambassador on her
appointment, S. Sargsyan said that Armenia attaches great importance to
the development of its relations with the United States. He expressed
his gratitude to the U.S. government for its consistent assistance
to Armenia since the country’s independence.

He expressed a high opinion about the role of the U.S. as a co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

The newly appointed U.S. ambassador conveyed U.S. President Bush’s
congratulatory message on the occasion of Armenia’s Independence
Holiday.

Underlining the willingness of the U.S. to assist Armenia with its
progress on the path to democracy and market economy. M. Yovanovitch
stated that she will do her best for the development and extension
of bilateral relations.

On behalf of the U.S. government she welcomed the brave initiative
to invite Turkish President to Armenia, saying that it has a great
importance for the region and will promote peace and stability.

As NT was informed by the RA presidential press service, during the
talk the sides also discussed the problems of economic cooperation
between Armenia and the U.S, and exchanged ideas about the regional
developments.

MATENADARAN TO HAVE NEW ANNEX, AREA OF SHOW-ROOMS TO INCREASE FOUR-FOLD, 10 MILLION DOLLARS BEING INVESTED

Noyan Tapan

Se p 22, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
on September 19 visited the construction site of the old building
of the the Ancient Manuscripts Institute – Matenadaran after Mesrop
Mashtots.

A preliminary sum of 10 million dollars is being allocated by the
Moscow Investment Construction Company headed by Sergei Hambartsumian
for construction of an annex to occupy an area of 12,100 square
meters. S. Hambartsumian stated that the idea of financing the
construction of a new annex of the Matenadaran arose after Serzh
Sargsyan’s appeal to businessmen of the Diaspora. The design’s
architect is Arthur Meschian, while the idea of building an annex is
not a new one: the first design was developed as long ago as 1987-1988
by Armpromproject Institute at A. Meschian’s architectural studio. The
construction began in 1988 but remained incompleted after the 1988
earthquake. In 2007 a new design statement was prepared which became
the continuation of the previous design. By the design, the main
buildling will continue to be the dominant one and the new annex will
not be seen from Mashtots Avenue. In case of constructing a new annex,
the total area of show-rooms will increase four-fold: the main building
currently occupies 3,300 square meters. The design envisages allocating
areas for a book depository, a manuscript house, an archive with its
reading halls, another two reading halls, a virtual Matenadaran hall,
a restoration and modelling unit, a room for researchers, a computer
unit, a 240-seat multifunction auditorium, labs, an Armenology center,
a publishing-house and a printing-house, as well as photographic labs.

According to the director of the Matenadaran Hrachia Tamrazian, the
project is a big charitable program, which is the biggest scientific
and cultural one in recent decades. He said that construction
of the new building will allow to turn the Matenadaran into the
largest center on Armenology and medieval studies of international
importance, which will have modern equipment. "It also solves the
problem of alternation of generations in science, which is the most
urgent problem of Armenology," H. Tamrazian said, adding that the
construction of the new annex will allow to create 150 jobs and
double the scientific staff of the Matenadaran over a year. "Stormy
are fruitful years are awaiting us," he noted.

In response to a reporter’s question about whether the project is
ambitious or necessary, Arthur Meschian replied: "Let’s go to the book
depository, the maniscript house and the restoration unit and see in
what conditions the employees work, and this will be the answer to
your question. Important work is being done… the number of whose
who prevent it is quite great and organized, while we need helpers
and not impediments."

EU: GEORGIA CRISIS FORTIFIES IMPORTANCE OF TURKEY

The Associated Press
September 19, 2008

HELSINKI, Finland: The Georgian crisis has strengthened the strategic
importance of Turkey both in the Caucasus and for the European Union,
the bloc’s enlargement chief said Friday.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said Turkey was "engaged in very
active and evidently successful diplomacy" in its neighboring regions.

Turkey has met separately with Georgian and Russian officials in an
effort to promote peace between the two countries since their war
in August.

It is also helping to normalize ties between Syria and the EU and is
mediating talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Istanbul.

"Turkey remains a very important bridge between Europe and the
Islamic world," Rehn told reporters during a visit to Helsinki. "In
other words, everything that has happened in recent weeks has only
strengthened Turkey’s strategic importance from the EU’s point
of view."

Today in Europe Chunnel fire’s cause still as dark as the tunnel
itselfGates urges cautious NATO stance on Russia What’s in a street
name? Moscow is finding out He did not give any specifics, however,
on if or when Turkey was likely to join the EU.

Rehn said that Turkey, eager to join and currently engaged in accession
talks with the bloc, had made "a very important initiative" in talks
aimed at achieving stability in the Caucasus.

"The problem in the Caucasus now is that there are many countries
that cannot engage in bilateral talks; Russia and Georgia, Armenia
and Azerbaijan, and just a little while ago, Turkey and Armenia,"
Rehn said. "Turkey is very active in (regional talks) and the EU
supports them."

Rehn also described Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s June 6
breakthrough visit to Armenia as a sign the two countries were
beginning to normalize relations and said the political implications
of the visit were "significant."

Turkey, a NATO member, has cause for alarm about how Russia’s
recognition of the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia might inspire its own separatist Kurds, or provoke Armenia
to boost support for separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of
Azerbaijan, which is a close Turkish ally.

Since the Georgia conflict, Turkey has proposed a regional grouping
for stability in the Caucasus, which would include Russia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

ARMENIA TO DELIVER ELECTRICITY TO TURKEY

United Press International
Sept 17 2008

Armenia will begin delivering electricity to Turkey in 2009, Armenian
leaders announced recently.

Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian said
the agreement for the electricity supply was reached while Turkish
President Abdullah Gul was visiting Armenia, the Daily News Bulletin
reported.

Armenian company High Voltage Power Lines and Turkish company Unit
signed the contract on electricity deliveries.

According to the agreement, the Turkish side will restore damaged
portions of high-voltage power lines on its territory and set up
new transformers, and Armenia will deliver 1.5 billion kilowatts of
energy per year to Turkey, which later will increase to 3.5 billion
kilowatts per year.

NKR PRESIDENT REITERATES THE NECESSITY TO PRESERVE THE MINSK GROUP FORMAT

armradio.am
17.09.2008 11:49

President of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Bako Sahakyan met French
Co-Chair of the OSCE Minks Group Bernard Fassier.

A wide range of issues related to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict
settlement and current situation in the region were discussed at
the meeting.

Bako Sahakyan noted the importance of Europe and France in particular
in establishing peace and stability in the region. The President
reiterated the necessity to preserve the Minsk Group format adding that
everything should be done to restore the status of the NKR as a full
party to the negotiation process. Both sides noted the importance to
carry out concrete steps to establish an atmosphere of mutual trust
between the parties to the conflict.

SESSION OF COMMISSION COORDINATING WORKS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ARMENIA’S COOPERATION WITH EUROPEAN ESTABLISHMENTS TAKES PLACE

ARMENPRESS
Sep 16, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS: Session of the commission set up
to coordinate the works within the framework of cooperation of Armenia
with the European establishments took place today chaired by the head
of the commission, Secretary General of the National Security Council
Arthur Baghdasarian.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that during the session the
participants discussed issues on Armenia’s cooperation with European
establishments. Armenian deputy foreign minister Gegham Gharibjanian,
deputy economy minister Vahe Danielian, deputy defense minister Ara
Nazinian made reports on the events held by the EU programs and NATO
Individual Partnership Action Plan Program.

The commission decided to take into consideration the reports and
assign the ministries to present reports over the work conducted
by now as well as prepare suggestions for the implementation of the
commitments assumed by Armenia.

Arthur Baghdasarian presented the priorities of the work carried out
with the EU and European establishments and expected that effective
work will be carried out for the implementation of the programs. He
said the president of the country will control the implementation of
the work.

TURKEY WILL NEVER RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH YEREVAN, AKP MEMBER SAYS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.09.2008 17:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey will never recognize the Armenian Genocide
to improve its relations with Yerevan, said an executive of the ruling
Justice & Development (AK) Party.

Speaking at the panel discussion "Whither Turkey" hosted by the
Eastern Institute during the Krynica Economic Forum, one of the most
prestigious forums in Eastern Europe, in Polish capital city of Warsaw,
Egemen Bagis, deputy chairman of the AK Party, said, "Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed Armenia to establish a joint
commission with the participation of the third countries and to open
archives. Armenia has not yet given a response to Turkey’s proposal."

"Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s paying a visit to Armenia upon
invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is the most concrete
sign of Turkey’s good-will. On the other hand, more than one million
documents examined upon directives of Turkey proved that those bitter
events were not genocide, but a civil war during a world war," he said,
the Anatoly news agency reports.

JURIES RETURN IN EUROVISION REVAMP

The Press Association
Sept 15 2008
UK

Juries are to return to next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, it has
been announced, following criticism of tactical voting by former
eastern bloc countries.

The world-famous contest has been labelled a politically-motivated
farce because of the decision by some countries to vote together.

Sir Terry Wogan had threatened to quit the commentating job he has
held for 37 years because of the repeated tactical voting. Now it
has been announced that the 2009 final, due to take place in Moscow,
will feature votes from viewers as well as a jury.

Sir Terry had called for a return to juries to judge the contest
after Russia won this year’s contest, while the UK, with Andy Abraham,
came last.

Russia received the maximum 12 points from former Soviet states
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Armenia, as well
as Israel.

The UK has only finished in the top 10 once in the last 10 contests
and has finished outside the top 20 four times in that period.

Sir Terry has criticised the contest for becoming "ridiculous",
stating: "The UK and the BBC has to decide whether they want to
take part anymore. I don’t want to be presiding over yet another
debacle… Russia were going to be the political winners from the
beginning."

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We are waiting with interest to hear the
details of how the mix of jury and telephone voting will work."

Ruurd Bierman, chairman of the Eurovision reference group, said:
"We strongly believe in televoting as a way of measuring the opinion
of our millions of viewers across Europe. After the public debate
about neighbour and diaspora voting, we decided to give the national
juries a say in the outcome of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest."

Svante Stockselius, executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song
Contest, said: "Nothing is more democratic than the vote of the
public. But a jury takes the opportunity to listen to the songs
several times, before they make up their minds. In Belgrade, we saw
a difference in judgment of the public and the back-up juries, and
we believe a combination will make the show more interesting."