Author: Kafian Jirair

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA CALLS ON BARACK OBAMA TO MAKE NAGORNO KARABAKH A PARTY IN NEGOTIATIONS ON KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Noyan Tapan
July 24, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Karabakh problem
cannot be solved unless the Nagorno Karabakh Republic participates
in the negotiations. The Head of the Armenia and NKR Office of the
Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) Arpi Vardanian expressed this
conviction during the July 24 press conference. "The Assembly recently
sent a latter to U.S.

President Barack Obama, calling on the president to fulfill one of his
pre-election promises and make Karabakh a party in the negotiations,"
she stated.

In her words, being a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and a
superpower, the U.S. can involve the people of Nagorno Karabakh in
the discussions. In response to the question about whether Obama will
keep this promise when he has already broken his promise regarding the
Armenian Genocide, Arpi Vardanian replied that presidents have their
interests, while the Armenian community has its interests. According to
her, if even once Obama has not justified the hopes of the Armenians,
the community must continue lobbying until the achievement of results.

A. Vardanian said that it is ten years that the AAA has been
implementing a student program, under which each year young Armenian
Americans visit Armenia for two months. They become acquainted with
homeland and engage in professional activities.

T. SARGSYAN SAYS THERE IS ALREADY CERTAIN POSITIVE STIMULUS IN RA ECONOMY

ARMENPRESS
July 23, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS: There is already certain positive
stimulus in RA economy, said Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan at
the today’s session of the government pointing out to the statistical
data on the first semester of the running year issued by the Armenian
Statistical Service.

According to him, there are notable positive tendencies especially
in construction sphere; as of June, an unprecedented growth by about
230 % has been registered here. According to him, it is conditioned
by the periodicity of that sphere on one hand, and by the formation
of positive expectations on the other, as well as by the support
projects implemented by the government.

The Prime Minister said that the industrial fall was about 12 % in the
first semester of 2009, in agriculture – 2, 5 %. The season phenomena
had their impact on the latter as well. In August the situation in
the sphere may be improved.

The index of wholesale trade, which Tigran Sargsyan considers an
important factor, has increased despite the reduction of private
transfers and economic fall of nearly 16 %. He conditions it by
increase of salaries by 13 %, the pensions – by 14 %, in the result
of which the paying capacity of thousands of people has increased.

The extension of volumes of cash register appliance has in its turn
promoted to uncovering the retailed trade out of the shadow economy,
and to ensure greater volumes are registered.

"The shadow in the Armenian economy is still quite high, but the
appliance of cash registers allows to register positive results,
which influences on macro-economic indexes", – T. Sargsyan said.

A certain growth has also been registered in the sphere of services
as of the semester. There are certain improvements also in external
trade turnover: the registered volumes made only the 54 % of the last
year’s indexes, the import volumes – 72 %. But there is a positive
shift in June compared with May.

94,8 % GAS CONSUMERS SERVED IN 2009 SECOND QUARTER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.07.2009 16:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ AEG Service LLC engaged in domestic gas supply
systems maintenance in Armenia exercised 578469 test visits in the
second quarter of 2009 against 249283 for the same period in 2008,
ArmRosgazprom press office reported.

277853 (94,8 %) consumers were served.

36830 consumers were not served because they did not open the door
to gas inspectors. As result of violations fixed, 155562 reports were
drawn up.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA HOSTS EU TROIKA DELEGATION

armradio.am
21.07.2009 10:41

President Serzh Sargsyan received a delegation of the EU Troika led
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt, which has
arrived to Armenia in the framework of its regional visit to the
South Caucasus, President’s Press Office reported.

Welcoming the Troika’s visit to Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan said,
"The fact that you’re starting your chairmanship with the visit to
the South Caucasus speaks of your attitude toward the region and
our country. We believe it is only logical since Sweden was at the
beginnings of the EU Eastern Partnership." Serzh Sargsyan noted
that Armenia has been attaching great importance to her relations
with the European Union since day one of her independence and today
these relations are a significant component of Armenia’s foreign
policy. Expressing confidence that during the Swedish chairmanship
the foundations of the Eastern Partnership would become stronger,
the President of Armenia said that the program not only provides
opportunities to deepen relations with the European Union but also
to expand cooperation among the six participants.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden said that as the President
of Armenia has correctly mentioned, their first visit is indeed to the
South Caucasus and stressed that it testifies to the importance which
they attach to the regio n, its problems, and the Eastern Partnership.

The parties discussed in detail regional issues and particularly
those pertaining to the settlement of the NK conflict.

Carl Bildt once again stressed the importance which the EU attaches
to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the framework
of the OSCE Minsk Group, and expressed EU’s support for the efforts
undertaken by the Co-Chairs.

President Serzh Sargsyan noted that three day ago he discussed the
issue with the President of Azerbaijan. According to the President,
this time the discussions were a little different since the Minsk
Group Co-Chairs have already made public the principles which lie
at the core of the negotiations. Serzh Sargsyan considers it to be
rather helpful since according to the President, "unfortunately, the
parties not always present to the public the exact issues discussed
during the negotiations.

After the Moscow meeting, the agenda and the essence of the
negotiations have been presented in the neighboring country in a
different light.

Notwithstanding, I can tell you that despite the difficulties there
is some progress. As you know, right now we are discussing the main
principles separate from the Madrid principles. After that we will
discuss the remaining principles, and later, based on all this,
we will draft the main agreement. I believe everybody knows by now
that the main issue is the status of Nagorno Karabakh, which must be
decided through free will and the adopted decision must be legally
binding. After we have put together this issue in a proper and
unequivocal way, I think the negotiations will go on much smoother."

The parties discussed also the EU-Armenia agenda, speaking
in particular about the possibility of signing the association
agreement, prospects of economic cooperation, issues related to the
extended free trade agreement, as well as the democratic reforms in
our country. They also discussed the possibilities of easing EU visa
regime with Armenia. The President of Armenia stressed that this is
an important issue for our country because a considerable part of
the Armenian people lives outside Armenia.

ELMAR MAMMADYAROV: "RUSSIAN PRESIDENT IS INTERESTED IN ACHIEVING SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

APA
July 20 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva – APA. "The meeting of the presidents of
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia in Moscow created some hopes.

There is a progress in the process", Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists, APA reports.

The minister said Azerbaijani side was hopeful for both St Petersburg
and Moscow meetings. "We believe and feel that Russian President
Dmitriy Medvedev is interested in achieving solution to the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict on his initiative. We felt during the discussion of
details at the Moscow meeting that he intended to reach any progress".

Mammadyarov added that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs would continue
their work on the principles of the conflict solution in August. "They
expected to visit the region separately early September and jointly
late September".

KIRO MANOYAN: ARMENIA HAS TO ANNOUNCE SUSPENSION OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH TURKEY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.07.2009 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ If Turkey intended to sign an agreement on
establishing of diplomatic relations and opening of borders with
Armenia until October 2009, it should already have undertaken steps
in this direction, Head of Hay Dat Bureau Kiro Manoyan told a news
conference in Yerevan.

"Turkey still links Armenian-Turkish relations with NKR conflict
settlement. Negotiations between Yerevan and Ankara are practically
frozen, everyone expects Turkey to act, and Turkey is waiting for
progress in NKR issue. We believe, that under circumstances Armenia
has to announce suspension of negotiations with Turkey," Manoyan
emphasized.

RUSSIA SHOULD SHOW THAT IT REALLY WANTS ADJUSTMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: CSIS SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Trend
July 14 2009
Azerbaijan

Interview with Bulent Aliriza, Senior Associate at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Director of its
Turkey Project

Question: Recently of group of intelligence both from Armenian and
Azerbaijan payed a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh and then met with both
Azeri and Armenian presidents. How do you value such visits and do
you believe there is a space for civil society diplomacy as another
tool to adjust the conflict?

Answer: This isn’t the first visit of that kind. Of course, it is
good, that such contacts happen. The question is, when there is no
adjustment on the political level, do such visits and meetings help –
that is difficult to say. Ministers of foreign affairs and presidents
are meeting, but there is no settlement yet. The danger is – how long
will the Nagorno-Karabakh interview last, when will it be settled? And
what keeps this conflict from being resolved…

Q: Nagorno-Karabakh was one of issues on Obama-Medvedev
meeting’s agenda, how do you believe this meeting can influence
the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process?Did it create any new
opportunities? How would you value the meeting on the whole?

A: It is clear that U.S. and Russia both want their relations to
become better. There a number of issues they did agreed to reduce
their nations’ nuclear arsenals. Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev
have signed a "joint understanding" to reduce their countries’
nuclear warheads and the means to deliver them by up to a third of
current levels. Secondly, but not less important, they have also
discussed Afghanistan issue. And yes, they of course touched upon
the unresolved conflicts – Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and
Abkhazia. The question in which sides are still not having joint
opinion – is Georgia. The thing is Russia is still opposing Georgia
and also Ukraine in terms of integrating into NATO, and there are a
number of other issues. We are still very far from saying that Russia
and USA have agreed on everything and there are no more disputes – then
it would be ideal, but this isn’t the case now.Coming to your question
on Nagorno-Karabakh, yes, this issue was also discussed.Of course,
it is good that this conflict is being discussed on such level. But
I think Russia should show that it really wants the adjustment of
the conflict on Karabakh. You know, the thing is everybody talk from
year to year that they want to solve the conflict and so on, but we
are still there – the conflict is still not resolved.

Q: U.S., Russian and French presidents today distributed a statement
in Italy at the G8 summit concerning Nagorno-Karabakh. What does it
mean for the future negotiation process?

A: Well, this wasn’t actually the issue on summit’s agenda. The
G8 presindets spoke much more on the issue of the climate change,
situation in Africa, financial crisis and ways out of it, etc. there
was a statement on Nagorno-Karabakh by the Minsk Group countries
presidents, well, there was also a statement on the situation in
Iran. I think that the institute of the Minsk Group had been very
active so far, and they had done a lot of work. It is good there
is optimism, and it has to lead somewhere. But so far I wouldn’t
overvalue the meaningof this statementat the G8 summit for the
negotiation process.

MFA: 40 ARMENIANS, 5 CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AMONG THE AIR CRASH VICTIMS

armradio.am
15.07.2009 19:25

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia reports that about 40 of
the passengers of the Iranian plane that crashed en route to Yerevan
were Armenians. Five of them were citizens of the Republic of Armenia.

Representatives of the Armenian Embassy in Tehran have arrived at the
site of the disaster. Newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of
Armenia to the Islamic Republic of Iran will arrive in Qazvin.

NAGORNY KARABAKH DESERVES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION – PRESIDENT

RIA Novosti
July 13, 2009

The international community should recognize Nagorny Karabakh as an
independent state, the president of the disputed region said Monday
in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.

Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet
republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan since the late 1980s. The province
has its own government and is de facto independent, with close ties
to neighboring Armenia.

"I think not only experts but simply people familiar with the Karabakh
problem can unanimously confirm that the Nagorny Karabakh Republic was
proclaimed on the basis of all international norms and principles,"
Baako Saakyan said when asked whether there were legal grounds for
the republic to be recognized.

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh
Sargsyan, discussed the conflict last month in Prague on the sidelines
of the EU’s Eastern Partnership summit. They said there had been some
progress and are expected to meet in Russia on July 17.

A war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the mountainous enclave in
1988-1994 left an estimated 35,000 people dead. Sporadic violence on
the border has continued ever since.

Moscow pushed the two countries together last year in an effort to
get the stalled peace process moving again.

Saakyan said the republic should be involved in the negotiating
process.

"Any document, any initiative that does not presuppose the
participation of the Nagorny Karabakh Republic is relative, and our
efforts are now aimed at ensuring that such documents and initiatives
are coordinated with us and, moreover, that without fail everything
takes place with our participation," Saakyan said.

Asked on the possibility of a military resolution to the conflict,
Saakyan said: "Remaining adherents to the peaceful conflict resolution,
we have always said that should Azerbaijan decide to resolve the issue
in this way [aggressively], it will receive the appropriate rebuff."

VIVACELL-MTS PRESENTS NEW TOURIST PREPAID CARD

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.07.2009 11:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s cellular operator VivaCell-MTS has
presented a new Tourist prepaid card designed especially for foreigners
visiting the republic.

Getting a Tourist card, subscriber is offered a possibility to send
first 10 SMS free of charge, to talk first 2 minutes of the first
international call for only 10 AMD/minute and more affordable tariffs
for international calls for a whole month.

In addition to the prepaid card the package also includes a map of
Yerevan and Armenia as well as a Yerevan guide with discount cards
for using various services. The price of the package is AMD 3000,
the company said on its website.