Author: Kalashian Nyrie

RISE IN GAS PRICES TO ESCALATE SOCIAL TENSION IN ARMENIA

ARKA
March 24, 2010

YEREVAN, March 24. /ARKA/. Raise of gas price will escalate social
tension in Armenia, Aram Sargsyan, leader of Democratic Party of
Armenia, said Wednesday at a press conference.

He thinks public disaffection accumulating in the country can escalate
into a powerful wave of protests, especially when gas price raise
drive other prices up.

Natural gas price for Armenia’s consumers will be raised 37.5% to
AMD 132 on April 1, 2010, from present AMD 96 per one cubic meter.

Those consumers using more than 10,000 cubic meters of gas monthly
will pay $243.13 per each 1,000 cubic meters instead of $215 presently.

Armenian Democrats’ leader said that the government doesn’t understand
full gravity of the situation, and this gives ground for doubting
government members’ competence.

Speaking about inflation, Sargsyan said that things on Armenia’s
import market are uncontrollable.

"Shady dealing is not lessening here. Instead, it is flourishing. And
all the statements of the government are nothing more than mere words."

Sargsyan said that the government should order prosecution of economic
entities for unjustified raise of prices.

He said a good will is needed for that.

Otherwise, the current situation can trigger a social burst.

According to the National Statistical service of Armenia, the country
recorded 8.2% inflation in January and February 2010, compared with
the same period a year before.

Armenian government planned 1.2% economic growth and 4±1.5% inflation
in the 2010 state budget. ($1= AMD 399.33).

PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION OF BELARUS VISITS TSITSERNAKABERD

NOYAN TAPAN
MARCH 23, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. During the official visit to Armenia,
the Belarusian parliamentary delegation headed by Valery Ivanov, Vice
Speaker of Belarusian parliament, and Hrayr Karapetian, Chairman of the
RA National Assembly Standing Committee of Defence, National Security
and Internal Affairs, Chairman of the interpaliamentary commission
on cooperation between the parliaments of Armenia and Belarus,
went on March 23 to Tsitsernakaberd and laid flowers and wreaths at
Monument to the Victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. They observed
a one-minute silence in remembrance of 1,500,000 innocent victims.

Then the high-ranking guests went to the Genocide Museum where they
became acquainted with the documents bearing witness to the Armenian
Genocide.

The vice speaker of the Belarusian parliament made notes in the book
for honorary guests.

The press service of the RA National Assembly reports that on the
same day the interparliamentary commission on cooperation between
the parliaments of Armenia and Belarus held meetings in the Armenian
parliament.

The Belarusian delegation met with Nerses Yeritsian, Armenian Minister
of Economy, Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Belarusian Intergovernmental
Commission on Economic Cooperation. During the meeting the sides
discussed issues related to cooperation in industry, agriculture
and other sectors, and to the Intergovernmental Commission’s sitting
scheduled for April.

The necessity to strengthen relations of the parliaments of the two
countries, their cooperation in international organizations were
discussed at the meeting with David Harutyunian, Chairman of the RA
National Assembly Standing Committee of State and Legal Affairs. The
sides expressed a high opinion about Armenian-Belarusian ties and
attached importance to their cooperation in international organizations
where the two countries always support each other.

ERDOGAN: ARMENIANS HAD PLOTTED TO EXTERMINATE TURKS

Ikhwan Web (Moslem Brotherhood Web)

March 23 2010

Erdogan claimed there was no genocide in their civilization confirming
that in fact their civilization had enjoyed love, tolerance and
brotherhood. "Muslims don’t commit genocide," he said.

During the 95th commemoration of a Turkish military victory during
World War One Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained
that Armenians in the Ottoman Empire had not faced genocide but in
fact had plotted to exterminate Turks.

He added "Our warriors always respected ancestral laws and did not
kill innocent people even on the battlefield".

He underscored that his country’s history boasted of a clean and
untarnished slate citing that "No country’s parliament can tarnish
it". He was referring to the U.S. and Swedish lawmakers’ latest
resolutions recognizing the annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians by
Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Erdogan claimed there was no genocide in their civilization confirming
that in fact their civilization had enjoyed love, tolerance and
brotherhood. "Muslims don’t commit genocide," he said.

However it was reported that the Turkish premier did use the word
"genocide," when he slammed the deaths of several dozen Turkic-speaking
and Muslim Uighurs during last years unrest in China’s northwestern
Xinjiang region.

REGULAR SESSION OF THE ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN INTER-PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION TAKES PLACE IN MOSCOW

93/lang/en
2010-03-23
YEREVAN

Regular session of the Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary
commission took place in the "Gerbovi" hall of the RF’s State
Duma. Armenian ambassador to Russia Oleg Yesatyan participated in the
event. Armenpress correspondent reports from Moscow that co-chair of
the commission from the Russian side Nikolay Rizhkov delivered an
opening speech, welcoming the Armenian parliamentarians and noted
that the inter-parliamentary commission carried out a serious work
toward coordinating the political activity of the two parliaments.

Co-chair of the Armenian side also delivered a speech, informing
about the implementation of decisions adopted during the past session.

Referring to the cooperation between the Armenian and Russian
parliamentarians in international platforms, A. Safaryan said he is
very pleased with the registered progress. He also referred to the
economic cooperation issues.

During the meeting the participants also discussed other issues of
mutual interest.

FIRE AT SCHOOL N120

12:21 pm | March 23, 2010

Three firefighting crews left for the scene of which two left after
they found out that they didn’t need to be there.

The fire left an electronic control panel and wirers burnt. Network
specialists have been informed about the incident and the fire was
put out at 4:23 a.m.

Fire at bread factory

On March 22, a fire broke out at 25 Myasnikyan Street in Hrazdan city
of Kotayk region.

The fire left 10 square meters of fuel kept at A. Grigoryan’s bread
factory and killed a calf and a piglet in the cattle-farm near the
factory.

Grass and trees burnt

On the same day at 7:08 p.m. a fire broke out on the 8th kilometer
section of Spitak-Vanadzor highway.

A firefighting crew left for the scene and the fire was put out at
7:55 p.m.

The fire left 20 trees and 1 hectare of grass burnt, as reported by
the press center of Armenia’s Rescue Service.

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AND TURKEY IN SECOND EUROVISION SEMI-FINAL

news.am
March 23 2010
Armenia

Armenia’s representative will participate in the second semi-final
of Eurovision 2010 song contest held on May 27.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine, Denmark, Israel, Lithuania,
Sweden, Switzerland, Georgia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Jordan,
Netherlands, Romania and Slovenia will appear in the second semifinal.

The first semi-final will be held on May 25, whereas final- on May 29.

The draw for the running order is to take place today.

February 14, Eva Rivas made the Armenian national cut with "Apricot
Stone" song.

HOVHANNES HOVHANNESYAN: NATURE OF ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT TENDS TO BECOME INCREASINGLY MARASMIC

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
23.03.2010 16:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia-Turkey rapprochement got off to a bad
start, followed by the wrong development of the process, according to
Hovhannes Hovhannesyan, the chairman of the Liberal Party of Armenia
(LPA).

"Having no legitimate status in Armenia, the president sought to
compensate the lack of it with his so-called initiative foreign policy,
which also failed miserably," he told a news conference in Yerevan.

"The nature of Armenia-Turkish rapprochement tends to become
increasingly marasmic, posing a threat to Armenia’s security.

Resignation of current authorities and early presidential elections
are the only way out of situation," he stated.

Dwelling on Karabakh conflict, LPA leader emphasized that the revised
Madrid principles have cornered Armenia. "These principles offer a
stepwise approach to conflict settlement, which is a much harder
solution compared to that proposed by Levon Ter-Petrossian," LPA
leader concluded.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out back in 1991, when, subsequent
to the demand for self-determination of the Nagorno-Karabakh people,
Azerbaijani authorities attempted to resolve the issue through ethnic
cleansings, carried out by Soviet security forces (KGB special units)
under the pretext of the implementation of the passport regime and by
launching of large-scale military operations, which left thousands dead
and caused considerable material damage. A cease-fire agreement was
established in 1994. Negotiations on the settlement of the conflict are
being conducted under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen
(Russia, USA, France) and on the basis of their Madrid proposals,
presented in November, 2007.

Azerbaijan has not yet implemented the 4 resolutions of the UN
Security Council adopted in 1993, by continuing to provoke arms race
in the region and openly violating on of the basic principles of the
international law: non-use of force or threat of force.

SAMVEL MARTIROSYAN: AZERBAIJAN REFUSES FROM THE MADRID PRINCIPLES IT HAD ACCEPTED EARLIER
Anna Nazaryan

"Radiolur"
22.03.2010 15:46

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in his interview with EuroNews
that he proposes Azerbaijan to sign an agreement on non-use force.

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately issued a
statement, saying the Armenian President wishes to eliminate the
danger of use of force.

"We welcome statement by Serzh Azadovich Sargsyan and his calls to
sign a statement on non-use of force, and are prepared to it but only
after removal of a reason causing such a threat. i.e. deoccupation
of Azerbaijani territory," spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry Elkhan Polukhov said.

Elkhan Polukhov’s words evidence that, in fact, Azerbaijan refuses
from the Madrid Principles, and this provides certain opportunities
to Armenia, political scientist Samvel Martirosyan told "Radiolur."

"In fact, Azerbaijan rejects the principles it says to have accepted.

At this point Azerbaijan presents itself as a non-constructive party,
as a threatening party, as a party that hampers the negotiations. All
this allows us to view Azerbaijan as a party that wishes to withdraw
from the talks," Samvel Martirosyan said.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS SYRIA

news.am
March 22 2010
Armenia

On March 22, RA President Serzh Sargsyan, with his wife Rita Sargsyan,
arrived for a three-day official visit to Syria at Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad’s invitation.

The RA presidential press office informed NEWS.am that the two states’
leaders held a private meeting, which was followed by an enlarged
meeting of the official delegations. The Armenian and Syrian leaders
pointed out a high-level political dialogue.

Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Bashar al-Assad discussed the
implementation of agreements reached during the Syrian leader’s visit
to Yerevan, pointed out the importance of intensifying business
contacts, which would enable the two friendly nations to expand
bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Following the negotiations, the Armenian and Syrian Presidents made
a statement for the press and answered journalists’ questions. At
the Damascus Opera the Armenian President and his wife attended the
performance of Aram Khachaturian’s ballet "Spartak".

REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA WOULD LIKE TO RIGHT THE WRONGS OF HISTORY

22.03.10

"Today, our approach on the Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR) negotiations
are, to a certain extent, different: we are for and propose that
Nagorno-Karabakh be a part of negotiations," said Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK) Deputy Chair, MP Razmik Zohrabyan, at a press
conference today.

According to Zohrabyan, from the 90s, this story has come and entered
a deadlock, and the reason for this is because NKR has been left out
of the negotiating process.

"We propose to right the wrongs, [and] it is from that that Armenia’s
former authorities take offense. Yes, a mistake took place, and
it would be right to have courage to correct that mistake," said
Zohrabyan.

The MP noted that Armenia will work toward including NKR in the
negotiating process.

"I believe that after that it will be possible to find solutions with
Azerbaijan," he said, adding that the Armenian side has never been
in favour of war.