Author: Kamalian Hagop

HEAD OF ACADEMY OF POLITICAL RESEARCH COMPLAINS OF LACK OF
PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMATS AND JOURNALISTS IN COUNTRY

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5. ARMINFO. The Armenian diplomacy has “failed” the
resolution of PACE on Nagorny Karabakh for lack of a foreign political
concept of the country, first of all, and for lack of professional
cadres among diplomats and journalists engaged in the Karabakh
problem. Professor of Yerevan State Univeristy, head of the Academy of
Political Research, Alexander manasyan, said at a press conference in
the Discussion Club Media today.

He said that a special Institution of Propaganda with an annual budget
of $2 mln had been established in Baku under of Heydar Aliyev. The
institution was engaged only in Karabakh problem, meanwhile, neither
native diplomats nor journalists often had any idea of the essence of
the conflict, Manasyan said. He proposed his services for organization
of seminars on the problem of Karabakh conflict’s settlement.

A1 Plus | 13:52:19 | 03-02-2005 | Regions |

EVEN LINCY FUNDS DID NOT HELP

The cultural centers of Gyumri including museums have not been heated
for several years. The heaters purchased and placed by the Lincy
Foundation last year are not appropriate for heating museums. In order
to provide normal temperature all the heaters should work according to
10-hour schedule which demands considerable expenses. The funds
assigned by the budget are not enough to provide more or less
appropriate heating.

“If we try to save the funds during summer and spend them on heating
in winter, this will be sufficient for a month only,” Director of the
the Museum of Folk Architecture and Urbanism Sona Harutyunyan told our
colleagues from Tsayg TV Company.

Optimal temperature for keeping the displays is 17-20 degrees
Celsius. According to the museum directors, stable temperature should
be maintained in the halls otherwise sharp temperature drops will
result in spoiling of the exhibit and canvases.

Administrations of the cultural centers hope that the electric heaters
will be replaced by gas ovens or heaters. City Hall officials promised
to solve the problem by supplying the museums with natural gas.

RFE/RL Georgia: Government Says Premier Died In Accident As NGOs Demand
Independent Probe
Thursday, 03 February 2005

By Jean-Christophe Peuch

Georgian authorities say Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania died of carbon
monoxide poisoning and are treating the case as an accident. Zhvania
and a friend, Raul Yusupov, were found dead early this morning in
Yusupov’s Tbilisi apartment. Rights groups are already questioning the
official version and demanding an independent investigation.

Prague, 3 February 2005 (RFE/RL) — Interior Minister Ivane (Vano)
Merabishvili, who first broke the news of Zhvania’s death, identified
Yusupov as the deputy governor of Georgia’s predominantly ethnic Azeri
eastern region of Kvemo Kartli.

Regional officials, however, told RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service that
Yusupov was working as a junior government official and that he was
expected to be appointed deputy governor sometime soon. Reports say
Yusupov was a long-time political ally of Zhvania, who brought him
into government after the change in political leadership that followed
President Eduard Shevardnadze’s resignation in November 2003.

Addressing reporters at a press conference today, Merabishvili said
both men were found dead by state security officers in the middle of
the night. “According to our information, Mr. Zhvania arrived at his
friend’s apartment at about midnight. His security team waited outside
for a long time. Since the prime minister was not answering either
their telephone calls or the door bell at around 4 or 4:30 a.m., they
broke a window and discovered the bodies of Mr. Zhvania and his friend
in the apartment.,” Merabishvili said.

Merabishvili said an investigation was under way to determine the
exact circumstances of the deaths. But he seemed to rule out foul
play. “This is a tragic accident. I went to the scene personally. We
can say this was probably a gas poisoning accident,” he said. “An
Iranian-made gas heater was installed in that room. The deaths must
have occurred instantly. Mr. Zhvania was sitting in an armchair and
the body of his friend was lying in the kitchen. A table was laid with
food and drinks and a backgammon board was open.”

Levan Chachua, who heads the forensic team charged with examining the
bodies, confirmed the accidental version of Zhvania’s death: “At the
present stage, it is possible to say that [Zhvania’s] body does not
show any external wounds apart from a scar on the left side of the
lower lip. We haven’t found any internal wound either. After careful
examination of the body, and judging by the marks that cover it, we
can determine that he was poisoned with carbon monoxide.”

Chachua said the preliminary results of the biochemical analysis —
expected later in the day — will allow forensic experts to have a
better idea of how Zhvania and his friend died.

President Mikheil Saakashvili, who convened an emergency meeting of
government ministers, expressed deep sorrow over Zhvania’s
death. “This is a major blow to our country and to me personally, both
as a president and a man, just as it is probably to all of you,” he
said. “With Zurab Zhvania, Georgia lost a great patriot, who had
tirelessly dedicated his entire life to serving his country. I lost my
closest friend, my most trusted adviser, and my greatest ally.”

Saakashvili said he will temporarily run the government. It was
earlier announced that Deputy Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze would be
the caretaker prime minister. Government officials quickly dismissed
suspicions that Zhvania’s death could have been anything but
accidental. They also denied any possible link with the bomb attack
that left three policemen dead in the central city of Gori on 1
February.

But some are already questioning the official version. Nana Kakabadze,
chairwoman of an NGO known as Former Political Prisoners for Human
Rights, told RFE/RL that her group and other NGOs are demanding that a
commission made up of journalists, independent legal and medical
experts, and others be set up to supervise the official investigation
into Zhvania’s death.

“We believe that what happened tonight is so important that the people
should know the truth,” she said. “[They should know] who stands
behind [Zhvania’s death]. Therefore, we think it is important to us to
participate in that [commission].”

Zakaria Kutsnashvili, a former member of the Georgian parliament who
now works as an independent legal expert, told RFE/RL that he also
supports an independent investigation. “We believe the investigation
should be conducted in a very transparent manner so that everyone
should know whether this was an accident, a murder, or a suicide,” he
said. “Since we can rule out suicide, the investigation must
concentrate its efforts so that the second version — murder — is
definitely ruled out.”

Kakabadze said the official version of Zhvania’s death was not
convincing. “We have some doubts,” she said. “For example, Interior
Minister Merabishvili said [Zhvania’s] bodyguards broke a window [to
enter the apartment.] But when journalists went there to inspect the
building, they didn’t notice anything unusual and saw that all windows
were in place.”

Georgia’s parliamentary opposition today also called upon authorities
to make sure that the investigation is conducted transparently.

Manana Nachkebia, a member of the opposition New
Rightists-Industrialists parliamentary group, told Georgia’s
Novosti-Gruziya news agency that Zhvania’s death had already spawned
widespread speculation and that the authorities should do their utmost
to dissipate any doubt.

“Our aim is not to accuse anyone of murder or to hinder the official
investigators,” Kutsnashvili told RFE/RL. “We just want to know the
truth,” he said.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
01/27/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) French Foreign Minister Reiterates Turkey Must Come to Terms with Its Past
2) US Will Pay the Bill If Kirkuk Plunges into Turmoil, Turkish PM Warns
3) Armenian Charities Receive New York Life Settlements
4) President Kocharian Addresses Nation on Army Day
5) New Armenian Genocide Publications Dedicated to 90th Anniversary

1) French Foreign Minister Reiterates Turkey Must Come to Terms with Its Past

NEW YORK–French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier again stressed the importance
of Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide, speaking to reporters in New
York on Tuesday.
Barnier made his remarks during a press conference held after the UN General
Assembly session commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz.
Barnier told reporters that he hoped Turkey, “as a developed country,” will
come to terms with its past, and in aspiring to become a member of the
European
Union, will admit to perpetrating the Armenian Genocide 90 years ago.
He added that the EU has an “obligation to not only commemorate the victims
[of the Armenian genocide] but to, at the same time, be alert and unyielding,
so that similar tragic acts are not repeated.”
Asked by a reporter what France’s position would be if Armenia demanded that
the UN General Assembly hold a session similar to the one commemorating the
liberation of Nazi concentration camps 60 years ago, Barnier reminded the
reporter that the French Parliament unanimously passed a law in 2001
recognizing the Armenian genocide.

2) US Will Pay the Bill If Kirkuk Plunges into Turmoil, Turkish PM Warns

ANKARA (AFP)–The United States will bear the consequences of ethnic
turmoil in
Kirkuk if it fails to prevent the oil-rich city in northern Iraq from falling
under Kurdish control, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on
Thursday.
“Any wrong move in Kirkuk will have a negative impact on peace in Iraq in the
future,” Erdogan told reporters at Ankara airport before he flew out to Davos,
Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
“The United Nations, America, and the other coalition forces should never
allow an unfavorable structure there,” he said. “If they turn a blind eye to
such a mistake, they will pay the bill in the future.”
Ankara is vehemently opposed to Kurdish control of Kirkuk, which many Kurds
want to incorporate into their enclave in northern Iraq and even see as the
capital of a future independent Kurdish state, a nightmare scenario for Iraq’s
neighbors.
Separatist moves in northern Iraq, Ankara fears, may spill over to adjoining
southeastern Turkey, which is home to its own large and restive Kurdish
community.
Erdogan’s remarks were the latest in a series of warnings issued by Ankara
since mid-January when the Iraqi Kurds reached a deal with Baghdad that
cleared
the way for an estimated 100,000 Kurds said to have been expelled from Kirkuk
under Saddam Hussein, to vote for the local government in Sunday’s elections.
The deal effectively tipped the balance of power to the Kurds, fanning ethnic
tensions in the city, which is also home to a large number of Arabs and
Turkmens, a community of Turkish descent backed by Ankara.
Turkey has charged that more Kurds than those expelled in the past have now
settled in the city and registered for the elections.
Critics in Ankara believe that the population shift is taking place with the
tacit approval of the United States.

Crisis Group Warns of Regional Conflict

The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned on Thursday that ethnic tensions
in Kirkuk are the biggest threat hanging over the country’s stability and
could
spark a regional conflict.
“In northern Iraq, largely unnoticed, a conflict is brewing that, if allowed
to boil over, could precipitate civil war, break-up of the country and in a
worst-case scenario Turkish intervention,” said the report.
The ICG, an international conflict resolution think-tank, warned that
aggressive rhetoric had been festering unchecked in the ethnic tinderbox of
Kirkuk since the April 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, as Kurds seek to
the right the wrongs of the old regime.
The ICG said that as US attention is shifting to other troublespots in Iraq,
the neutralizing influence of US troops is receding, and the Kurds, Arabs,
Turkmens, and Chaldo-Assyrians of Kirkuk “find themselves in a violent
stand-off.”
“Turkey is anchoring its strategy in commitment to the political process in
Baghdad… (and) is banking on progress in accession talks with the European
Union to reduce any appetite for secession its Kurdish population might still
harbor,” the ICG said.
But “public pressures resulting from Ankara’s manipulation of the Iraqi
Turkmen question and the continued deployment of Turkish troops on Iraqi soil
could create a dynamic of their own, possibly precipitating military
intervention in Kirkuk,” it warned.

3) Armenian Charities Receive New York Life Settlements

NEW YORK (AP)–Five Armenian charities received checks for $333,333 each
Wednesday as part of an insurance settlement with descendants of Armenians
massacred 90 years ago by the Turks.
The checks are part of a $20 million settlement with New York Life
Insurance
Co., which issued 2,300 policies to Armenians in Turkey before 1915 that were
never paid, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Brian Kabateck.
The agreement set aside at least $11 million for descendants, $3 million for
charities, and $2 million for administrative costs. Four charities in Los
Angeles will receive the rest of the $3 million.
Descendants of the policy holders have until March 16 to file claims.
The settlement, approved last year by a federal judge in Los Angeles, is
believed to be the first involving the events of the era.

4) President Kocharian Addresses Nation on Army Day

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–President Robert Kocharian congratulated the
nation
and the military on Armenia’s Army Day, a holiday that was recently added to
the Republic’s list of official observances.
The president told the nation that the January 28 commemoration is
invaluable,
having been “achieved through the heroic acts and collective will of the
Armenian people on the borders of Artsakh and Armenia.”
The establishment of the Armenian Armed Forces began in the early 1990s,
practically before the collapse of the Soviet Union. One of the first steps
was
the formation of a special regiment of the Armenian Interior Ministry in 1990
that had up to 400 men. In early 1991, when the regiment was reorganized into
four battalions, it already had over 1,000 troops. At the same time,
volunteers
fighting on the border with Azerbaijan were organized into six to eight
battalions
President Kocharian congratulated soldiers for their difficult and noble
service to their country. “Your professionalism and high spirit are the
pillars
of our freedom and independence,” he told the servicemen.

5) New Armenian Genocide Publications Dedicated to 90th Anniversary

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–The government of Armenia has allocated over 36 million
drams, nearly $77,000, to the Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs to fund
the
publishing of several books dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide.
The list includes 27 books, among them works by various authors and
historians, as well as official documents of foreign countries on the
Genocide,
reports of German diplomats from 1915-18, and “The History of the Armenian
Genocide,” by Vahakn Dadrian.

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Investment Opportunities in Armenia

BISNIS Armenia Update
27 January 2005

Contents:
1. Now on the BISNIS web site
2. New BISNIS trade leads from Armenia
3. Job Announcement from Project Harmony

*************************************
New Reports on the BISNIS web site:

Armenia: Mining Sector Overview
htm

Armenia: The Imported Building Materials Market
ldam.htm

Commercial News Summary for December
ewsam.htm

Key Contacts in Armenia’s Food Processing Sector
.htm

New Resource: Armenia Export Catalog
Acatalog.htm

More information on Armenia is at

************************************************* *****************
BISNIS Trades & Tenders leads from Armenia

Company: Ale Profile LLC
Description: Corn and sunflower oil filled in transparent PET bottles of
1 L capacity
LeadLink,

Company: Nomad Express
Description: Small-sized used fruit and vegetable processing equipment
Specifications: Capacity – 50,000 tons
LeadLink,

******************************************************************
Job Announcement from Project Harmony

Country Director, Armenia

Project Harmony currently seeks an experienced professional to serve as
our Country Director in Armenia. This is the most senior management
position for Project Harmony in Armenia, with supervisory and managerial
responsibility over all in-country personnel, programs, finances and
policies. The Country
Director provides the vision and leadership in program development and
management, monitoring overall program performance by tracking progress
toward specified objectives. Fluency in Russian and / or Armenian a
STRONG plus.

Country Director responsibilities:

Strategic vision: Communicate a clear vision of present and future
program goals; provide leadership and direction; develop a program
strategy to be communicated to team members, local partners and the
international community.

Financial and administrative: Coordinate and manage overall
country/program budgets; ensure compliance with all donor and Project
Harmony policies and regulations; ensure smooth operation and
functioning of country office.

Teambuilding and staff development: Foster a culture of collaboration,
results orientation, and accountability with staff members; provide
staff with the framework to meet or exceed program objectives; create
opportunities for group and one-on-one professional development.

Representation and relationships: Develop and maintain both internal and
external relationships to ensure optimum program success, including
Project Harmony headquarters and field offices, international and local
NGOs, US and host government officials, donor organizations, embassies,
vendors, media and the general public.

Program evaluation and reporting: Ensure regular and complete program
evaluations, and complete program reporting to donors on a timely basis.

Qualifications sought:
– At least 5 years’ nonprofit management experience, at least three of
them international
– 3 years’ field-based experience in staff team-building and financial
management
– Flexibility and grace under the demands of changing tasks
– Excellent organizational and budget management skills, experienced in
the policies of US government funding agencies
– Experience in transitioning programs from donor support to
independently registered host-country organizations
– Cultural sensitivity and ability to adjust to a demanding work schedule
– Experience living and working in Eurasia a plus
– Fluency in written and spoken Russian and/or Armenian strongly desired
– US citizenship is required

This position will remain open until filled. For more information on
Project Harmony programs and career opportunities, please visit our web
site:

Benefits include salary commensurate with experience, health insurance,
and international travel expenses. Project Harmony is an equal
opportunity employer, and provides its staff opportunities for job
growth, innovation, and creativity.

Interested applicants should send cover letter, resume, and salary
history by email to: [email protected] Subject line should read:
CD-Armenia. No phone calls please.

********** Forwarded by: ***************************
Ellen S. House, BISNIS Trade Specialist for Armenia
U.S. Department of Commerce
Tel: 202/482-2284, Fax: 202/482-2293

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KLAS-TV, NV
Jan 27 2005

Homeland Security to Review Deportation Case

(Jan. 27) — Since the sisters were detained by immigration officials
nearly two weeks ago, family lawyers, relatives, even complete
strangers have lobbied politicians to get involved.

The girls are currently in custody in Los Angeles. Immigration
officials want to send them to Armenia because they’re not United
States citizens. But the girls grew up here and know nothing but
America.

A massive effort has been brewing to keep the girls in the United
States and on Wednesday, Senator Harry Reid is joining the fight.

Inside Tropicana Pizza at Wigwam and Pecos, it’s anything but
business as usual. The Sarkisian family restaurant must stay open
even though immigration officials have taken two of their own.

“It’s been very different. It’s not the same,” said Michelle
Sarkisian, who is the sister of the two girls facing deportation.
Thirteen-year-old Michelle is helping out and filling the gap left
behind by her older sisters, 18-year-old Emma and 17-year-old Mariam.

The two girls typically work the front counter. Now, their pictures
are all that’s left. Emma and Mariam are locked up in Los Angeles
facing deportation to Armenia.

“Well, this is an example of what’s wrong with our immigration
policy,” said Senator Harry Reid, (D) Nevada. After widespread
publicity about this case, Nevada Senator Harry Reid is stepping in.

“This is a situation where these two young girls, through no fault of
their own, have been thrown into a situation that’s really
untenable.” In a satellite interview from Washington, D.C., Reid
tells Eyewitness News that he has called the Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Wednesday. Reid talked about the
Sarkisian girls.

“And he interrupted me and said, ‘don’t tell me we’re deporting
them.’ I said, ‘yes.’ He said, ‘oh no.'” Reid is optimistic Secretary
Ridge will step in. After 9-11, Homeland Security took over control
of immigration enforcement.

Ridge is the top person and has the power to keep the girls here. “I
know Tom Ridge pretty well. I don’t think this is something he wants
to happen in the last few days of his administration,” Reid said.

The last few days for the Sarkisian family have been a complete
nightmare. Rouben, the father is hopeful Reid’s effort will close the
lid on this dark chapter in their lives.

Secretary Ridge is not serving a second term under the Bush
administration. So his last day will be Tuesday. Reid believes this
will all be resolved by then and the girls will be back home in Las
Vegas.

ArmenPress
Jan 24 2005

ARMENIAN PM TO ATTEND CEREMONY OF LIBERATION OF NAZI DEATH CAMP IN
POLAND

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister Andranik
Margarian and several other government officials are flying to Polish
Krakow to attend January 27 ceremonies there marking the 60-th
anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by Soviet
troops near the town of Oswiecim.
The ceremonies will be attended by many heads of states and
governments. Armenian officials will meet also with members of the
Armenian community of Poland.
For the first time in its history, the United Nations on Monday
marks the liberation of Nazi death camps during World War II.
Foreign ministers of Israel, Germany, France, Argentina, Armenia,
Canada and Luxembourg, representing the European Union, are scheduled
to speak. Between 1 million and 1.5 million prisoners, most of them
Jews, were killed in Auschwitz alone, dying in gas chambers or of
starvation and disease. Six million Jews overall were exterminated in
Nazi death camps.
Some 600,000 citizens of Soviet Armenia, then a republic of less
than two million inhabitants, took part in the WW II . Only half of
them stayed alive.

New York Times
Jan 23 2005

Bending Folk to Fit a 12-Tone Style and Vice Versa

Stephanie Berger for The New York Times

Photo: The Kronos Quartet, which plays three works by the Azerbaijani
Franghiz Ali-Zadeh on a new CD.

N a 1947 essay, Arnold Schoenberg dismissed with a sweep the
possibility that folk music could have a meaningful relationship to
art music. “They differ perhaps no more than petroleum and olive oil,
or ordinary water and holy water,” he wrote, “but they mix as poorly
as oil and water.”

In the eyebrow-raising climax of his rant, Schoenberg conflated folk
music with any non-Western musical tradition and imagined the
“nightmare” that might have ensued if Japan had conquered America,
England and Germany and imposed its scales on the rest of the world.
“Friends of Eastern Asiatic music claim that this monodic music is
capable of such variety as to express every nuance of human feeling,”
he wrote. “This may be true, but to the Western ear it sounds – ah –
different.”

What would Schoenberg make of Tigran Mansurian or Franghiz Ali-Zadeh,
two modern composers from the former Soviet Union whose work is
influenced by his 12-tone methods but who deliberately integrate the
traditional music of their cultures into their compositions?

Mr. Mansurian is Armenian. His latest album, “Monodia,” a two-CD set
from ECM, showcases the violist Kim Kashkashian, who has long
explored folk music alongside new music. The opening concerto, “And
Then I Was in Time Again,” nominated for two Grammy awards, is
striking, as she and the orchestra – the Munich Chamber Orchestra,
conducted by Christopher Poppen – trade long, jagged phrases.

But “Confessing With Faith,” where the viola acts as a fifth voice
against the four singers of the Hilliard Ensemble, is the most
haunting work. It is a setting of seven prayers by the 12th-century
Armenian priest and composer St. Nerses Shnorhali. The Hilliard’s
countertenor, David James, captures the characteristic acoustical
brilliance of the highest voice soaring up to the stone cupola of an
ancient church.

Yet Mr. Mansurian’s composition is by no means a faithful rendering
of sharakan, the Armenian hymn form. The rhythmic force of the second
movement charges this typically sober idiom with nearly chaotic
intensity.

Mr. Mansurian’s Violin Concerto, played by Leonidas Kavakos, is
undoubtedly more 20th century than 12th, but a repeating four-note
passage exemplifies what Ms. Kashkashian has called an “intervallic
tension” that makes Mr. Mansurian’s music “so Armenian.” The phrase
entreats like a distant call that contributes a sense of geographic
isolation.

The music’s roots are more exposed still in recent compositions by
Ms. Ali-Zadeh, an Azerbaijani. A new Nonesuch CD, “Mugam Sayagi,”
offers four works by Ms. Ali-Zadeh, performed by the Kronos Quartet
and herself, on piano.

The distinctive sound of the album comes from Ms. Ali-Zadeh’s
confident adaptation of the Azerbaijani mugam, a complex set of modes
or scales with specific rhythmic and structural requirements.
Traditionally monophonic, the mugam is refitted here for the
polyphony of a string quartet and piano.

Ms. Ali-Zadeh’s “Oasis” begins with layers of pizzicatos that sound
like raindrops. The plucking escalates to a surprising solid rhythm
that could just as easily be coming from hand drums – an unusual
texture alongside others on the album, including whispering voices.

“Apsheron Quintet” starts with Ms. Ali-Zadeh playing an indulgently
beautiful piano run that is a contrast to the raucous explorations of
other pieces. In Music for Piano, she transforms her instrument into
a sort of zither by laying a heavy beaded necklace across the piano
strings.

In the title track, “Mugam Sayagi,” the Kronos players cover varied
terrain that reflects the moods evoked by specific mugams. In subdued
passages of sustained notes, they seem armed with a kamancheh, kanun
and oud instead of the violins, viola and cello they are playing.
Later, the quartet bends vivid tone colors into lively turns in a
section that feels like a village dance.

Ms. Ali-Zadeh’s project may call to mind the work of a compatriot,
Fikret Amirov, who first introduced Azerbaijani mugam into Western
symphonic composition in the 1940’s. But Amirov’s works sound, by
comparison, like the superficially folk-inspired symphonies of
Khachaturian or Rimsky-Korsakov.

Music by Mr. Mansurian and Ms. Ali-Zadeh is being performed in the
Juilliard School’s current Focus Festival, “Breaking the Chains: The
Soviet Avant-Garde, 1966-91.” The festival includes 29 composers
spanning the Soviet Union, but as the new recordings demonstrate,
within that vastness lies great specificity.

Armenian opposition wants government to accept constitutional changes in full

Arminfo
21 Jan 05

YEREVAN

Armenian Parliament Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan and the secretary of the
opposition Justice bloc, Viktor Dallakyan, discussed the suggestions
of the opposition on constitutional changes at a meeting today, Viktor
Dallakyan has told Arminfo.

He said the meeting had been initiated by Artur Bagdasaryan. The
speaker promised that the ruling coalition would duly consider and
respond to the possibility of including the suggestions in the final
draft of the constitutional changes to be ready in 10 days.

During the meeting, Dallakyan stressed that the opposition insists
that the entire package of its suggestions should be accepted.

“It will be unacceptable to us if the coalition approves only some of
the provisions in this package,” he said. Also, the opposition insists
that the coalition should work out a single position on these
suggestions.

“We won’t accept it if, for example, the Republican Party and the
Orinats Yerkir [Law-Governed Country] Party work out one position on
the issue, while the Armenian Revolutionary Federation –
Dashnaktsutyun another,” Dallakyan said.

The bloc suggests reconsidering three crucial provisions of the draft,
which concern the responsibilities of the executive, judicial branches
and local governments. Namely, the bloc suggests introducing a
provision whereby the composition of the government would be approved
by the parliament following the president’s recommendation. If the
parliament does not approve the composition of the government proposed
by the president, then the legislature has to propose and approve an
alternative composition of the executive branch.

As far as the formation of the judiciary is concerned, the bloc
suggests that it should be formed by the Justice Council without the
president’s intervention because the judiciary should not depend on
the executive branch of power.

The bloc also considers it necessary to make the position of the
Yerevan mayor an elected one and introduce a corresponding provision
in the draft.

The opposition National Unity Party has joined the suggestions of the
Justice bloc. If the ruling coalition pays attention to the
opposition’s suggestions, the latter may join the discussions of the
draft.

The constitutional referendum is due to be held in late spring-early
autumn 2005.

ArmenPress
Jan 20 2005

KOCHARIAN DISCUSSES DETAILS OF HIS VISIT TO ROME

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian met
today with Italian ambassador in Yerevan, Marco Clemente, to discuss
the details of his visit to Italy, slated later this month. Kocharian
emphasized the importance of his visit, mentioning good and friendly
relations between the two nations. He also singled out the growing
trade between Armenia and Italy.