Author: Kamalian Hagop

INVESTIGATOR ARRESTED

A1+
[08:46 pm] 09 December, 2008

Investigator of the investigative department of Tumanyan of the Lori
Marz investigative department of the RA Police General Investigation
Department, Lieutenant Samvel Tandilyan was arrested at the scene
of taking a 1,000 dollar bribe through the operative/investigative
measures taken by the RA Police and National Security Service officers.

According to the press release of the National Security Service,
Tandilyan had bribed resident A of the Lori Marz in exchange for
concealing his blame for theft.

A case has been instituted based on the points of article 311 of the
RA Criminal Code and preliminary investigation is underway.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER IN RUSSIA: SVETLANA ALEKSEEVNA GANNUSHKINA

Amnesty International
pdates/feature-stories/human-rights-defender-russi a-svetlana-alekseevna-gannushkina-20081209
Dec 9 2008

Svetlana Gannushkina, is a mathematician by training and for many
years was professor of mathematics at a university in Moscow. She
started her human rights work in the late 1980s during the break-up of
the Soviet Union, arranging support for refugees during the conflict
around Nagorny Karabakh, an autonomous region in Azerbaijan.

In 1990 she was one of the founders of the NGO Citizen’s Assistance
(Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie). In subsequent years, the NGO campaigned
for the protection of human rights and the integration of internally
displaced people, migrants and refugees into Russian society.

Citizen’s Assistance has helped many individuals, lobbied the
authorities on improvements on the law on citizenship, on refugee
rights and on laws easing the plight of people displaced from conflict
areas in the former Soviet Union. It has protected many refugees
from being extradited or deported to countries where they might be
at risk of being tortured or sentenced to death. Lobbying the third
governments helped to provide protection to refugees in Russia and
asylum-seekers from Russia.

Svetlana Gannushkina was also one of the founding members of the Human
Rights Centre Memorial. Working for both organizations, Svetlana has
done a lot to protect the rights of Chechens during the first (1994 –
1996) and second (1999-2007) armed conflicts in Chechnya.

She went to Chechnya to provide humanitarian aid and to help set up
legal advice centres. She founded a network of centres for migrants,
refugees and the internally displaced in Russia, supported by the
UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR). In Moscow she started a centre where
volunteers teach Russian, English, mathematics and other subjects to
children from Chechnya who due to the conflict, often had not been able
to go to school regularly. Psychologists work with those children,
who are traumatised, and the volunteers organize trips to museums,
theatres or summer camps.

Svetlana Gannushkina has acted many times on behalf of people accused
of terrorism, criticizing the denial of basic human rights to those
suspected of such crimes and protesting against the fabrication
of criminal cases against young Chechens or Uzbekistani citizens,
facing deportation to Uzbekistan.

Svetlana has received many awards for her work, among others the UNHCR
Nansen Award for Refugees and the human rights award from AI Germany.

At the same time, she has been accused of supporting criminals
and received many threats, some of which she had to take seriously
. Her name, date of birth and address were posted on a website which
listed a number of Russian human rights activists and journalists
as so-called enemies of the people. The accompanying text could be
read as an incitement to kill her as well as the other civil society
activists listed.

She is a member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society
Institutions and Human Rights under the President of Russia.

CSTO NATIONAL SECURITY SECRETARIES ADOPT JOINT STATEMENT

ArmInfo
2008-12-10 13:36:00

ArmInfo. The Committee of Secretaries of National Security Councils
of Member-States of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
have adopted a joint statement.

The statement says that the Committee, based on the provisions of the
declaration of the session of the Collective Security Council of the
CSTO (Moscow Sept 5 2008), confirms its support for Russia’s initiative
to conclude a treaty on European security envisaging formation of
a single efficient system of collective security in Euro-Atlantic
region. The CSTO member-states welcome the Russian-French initiative
to organize a pan-European summit at the OSCE involving the CIS, the
CSTO, the EU and NATO and concerning the future security architecture.

CONSULTATION ON SITUATION IN JUDICIAL SYSTEM HELD IN STEPANAKERT

De Facto
Dec 9, 2008

YEREVAN, 08.12.08. DE FACTO. On December 8 Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
President Bako Sahakian convoked a consultation on situation and
the course of reforms being carried in judicial system The President
considered important the establishment of the institute of forensic
department which is to contribute to increasing the effectiveness of
the system’s work.

Bako Sahakian underlined that the necessity to keep implementing
activities to form a corresponding moral and psychological atmosphere
in sphere as well to sum up the activities of each organ of the
judicial system in a public way on an annual basis.

The heads of judicial system organs, NKR finance minister and other
officials partook at the consultation, the Central Department of
Information of the Office of the NKR President reports.

PROBLEMS REMAIN UNSETTLED AFTER THE OSCE SUMMIT
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.12.2008 GMT+04:00

All the statements in the declaration are given in the subjunctive
mood, which, as we all know, is a most suitable form to conceal one’s
inability of affecting the developments in the South Caucasus region.

The meeting between the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Helsinki is
already over. As expected, the major issues to be discussed at the
summit were the situation in the Caucasus region, particularly the
problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation, and, naturally,
the Russian-Georgian relations. It would, of course, be naive to
expect anything new in the Karabakh problem, in spite of the fact
that certain forces in Armenia and Azerbaijan hurried with their
conclusions concerning the dates of regulation.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Most apparently, the reason for these conclusions was
the statement of the OSCE CiO’s Special Representative Heikki Talvitie,
who claimed that the year of 2008 proved useful for resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "Next year Greece will assume the OSCE
presidency and much will depend on how Athens will integrate into the
process of the Karabakh conflict regulation," said Talvitie, adding
that the meetings between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents
can be viewed as important steps towards the conflict settlement.

If we convert the diplomat’s words into common language, it proves
that neither changes, nor progress can be observed in the regulation
process, because all the statements in the declaration are given in
the subjunctive mood, which, as we all know, is a most suitable way
to conceal one’s inability of affecting the developments in the South
Caucasus region. It happened in Georgia in the August of 2008, and
it is what we have been experiencing in Karabakh for 20 years already.

Meanwhile, Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov declares:
"The Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states
have submitted some changes in Madrid principles concerning the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I am sure that either a ministerial
or a presidential meeting will follow a thorough analysis of these
changes." By the way, the Armenian Foreign Minister in no way commented
on Mammadyarov’s statement. Thus, either the statement is true or it
is the Azeri Foreign Minister’s heart’s desire… And the changes are
quite incomprehensible like the principles themselves, which aren’t
yet made public. Most likely, there are some secret things about
which it is still rather early to speak, but shouldn’t the Armenians,
or to be more exact, the Karabakh people know about it? After all,
it is their fate that is at stake. Here one may unwittingly draw
an analogy with the pact Â"Molotov-RibbentropÂ", whose particulars
became known only 50 years later.

In the meantime, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian informs
the OSCE Ministerial Council that Azerbaijan misinterprets all the
provisions of the Moscow Declaration. "Baku goes as far as stating,
in particular, that the peaceful settlement does not exclude use of
force. I wonder if there is any other state here, around this table,
which could have such interpretation of the very clear notion of the
‘peaceful political settlement’," Nalbandian notes.

According to RA FM, despite all this Armenia would like to hope that
the two sides of the conflict will be able to maintain the spirit
and the positive momentum of the Moscow declaration and will advance
towards the resolution of the conflict. "This was also the vision
of the declaration made yesterday by the three Co-Chair countries in
framework of our Ministerial meeting," the Minister said.

The declaration signed in Helsinki by the Co-Chair countries of
the OSCE Minsk Group says: "The Moscow Declaration opened a new and
promising phase in our shared endeavor to expand peace in the South
Caucasus. In that declaration, the Presidents reaffirm their commitment
to advancing a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
in the framework of the Basic Principles developed by the Minsk Group
Co-Chairs in collaboration with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
on the basis of their proposals advanced last year in Madrid. We
call on the parties to work with the Co-Chairs to finalize the Basic
Principles in coming months, and then begin drafting a comprehensive
peace settlement as outlined by those agreed principles. We reiterate
our firm view that there is no military solution to the conflict and
call on the parties to recommit to a peaceful resolution."

In a word, it is one of those usual non-binding and pointless
documents, of which the Karabakh people have seen a lot in the long
process of the conflict Â"regulationÂ".

–Boundary_(I D_5QKIGCEbEX5zOjCU0CaU3Q)–

RA FM: TOGETHER ARMENIA AND TURKEY WILL ACHIEVE COMMON GOAL – NORMALIZE RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.12.2008 15:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The bold steps taken by the Presidents of Armenia
and Turkey demonstrate political will and readiness to move forward,
Armenian Foreign Minister said.

"Of course, no one expects miracles and we were pragmatic enough not
to think that all problems would be solved overnight. However, the
important thing is to achieve a tangible result and not to negotiate
for the sake of negotiations. We are looking for establishment of
diplomatic relations and opening of borders without any precondition
and we expect the same approach from the Turkish side. Parties continue
to work and negotiate and I hope that together we will achieve what
I believe is our common goal – normalize our relations and bring
security and stability to our region," Minister Edward Nalbandian
said in his address to the OSCE Ministerial Council.

"I would like to wish success to the incoming Chairmanship-in-Office
and to ensure my distinguished Greek colleague, Minister Dora Bakoyanis
that she can count on the support of Armenia in all her endeavours
aimed at reaching security and prosperity in the OSCE area."

"There is one more long-standing problem which needs wise approach
and political courage to be resolved. I would like to briefly touch
upon the Armenian-Turkish relations, the normalization of which will
highly contribute to the establishment of stability and security in
the whole region," he said

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul was in Yerevan on Sept. 6 to watch
a World Cup qualifier between the Armenian and Turkish national
teams. Before the match, the heads of state discussed possibilities to
normalize bilateral relations. "We hope we will be able to demonstrate
goodwill to solve the problems between our countries and not leave
them to future generations," Armenian President Sargsyan said after
the meeting.

RULING COALITION’S REPRESENTATIVE IN FACT-FINDING GROUP WILL HINDER ITS WORK, DAVID SHAHNAZARIAN STATES

Noyan Tapan

Dec 4, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. At the December 4 press conference,
representative of the Armenian National Congress David Shahnazarian
presented the written order of RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepian
to the special investigation group’s senior investigator. According to
the order, the control over the investigation of the March 1 events
is laid on Deputy Head of Prosecutor General’s Office Administration
Gevorg Tovmasian, who has been lately delegated from the ruling
coalition to the fact-finding group on the March 1 events.

According to A. Shahnazarian, in essence, a person from the ruling
coalition became a member of the fact-finding group on the March 1
events in Yerevan, who destroyed the whole investigation and should
have been himself invited for presenting the proper materials to the
group. "No doubt G. Tovmasian has been sent to the group specially,
to hinder its work," the ANC representative said.

Mentioning that all coalition parties are responsible for that
appointment, D. Shahnazarian said that this circumstance is another
proof of the real attitude of authorities to the disclosure of the
March 1 events.

NALBANDIAN: AZERBAIJAN MISINTERPRETS ALL PROVISIONS OF MOSCOW DECLARATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.12.2008 14:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian informed
the OSCE Ministerial Council on the latest developments of the Nagorno
Karabakh peace process for which OSCE has an important mediation role
through the dedicated effort of the three Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

"The negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh settlement received a new
impetus at the Moscow meeting initiated by President of the Russian
Federation in his capacity as a Head of Co-Chair state and the
signing by Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia of the Moscow
Declaration. The Co-Chairs supported and approved the Declaration,
and we believed that it would intensify the peace process," Minister
Nalbandian said in his address.

"However, Azerbaijan misinterprets all the provisions of the
Declaration going as far as stating, in particular, that the peaceful
settlement does not exclude use of force. I wonder if there is
any other state here, around this table, which could have such
interpretation of the very clear notion of the ‘peaceful political
settlement.’

"The other vivid example of the misinterpretation of the declaration
and the whole process of negotiations, was the provocative non-paper
distorting the whole sense of the peace talks circulated yesterday
by Azerbaijani delegation, which I don’t even want to comment.

"Despite this, we would want to hope that we will be able to maintain
the spirit and the positive momentum of the Moscow declaration and
will advance towards the resolution of the conflict. This was also
the vision of the declaration made yesterday by the three Co-Chair
countries in framework of our Ministerial meeting," the Minister said.

Foreign Ministers of France, Russia, and the United States – the
Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group – issued a joint declaration
of the on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which says:

"We, the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries
– France, Russia, and the United States – call on the parties to the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict to build on the positive momentum established
during the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in
Moscow on November 2, 2008. The Moscow Declaration signed that same
day opened a new and promising phase in our shared endeavor to expand
peace in the South Caucasus. In that declaration, the Presidents
reaffirm their commitment to advancing a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the framework of the Basic Principles
developed by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in collaboration with the
leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of their proposals
advanced last year in Madrid.

We call on the parties to work with the Co-Chairs to finalize the Basic
Principles in coming months, and then begin drafting a comprehensive
peace settlement as outlined by those agreed principles. In keeping
with the Moscow Declaration, we call on the parties to work with
the Co-Chairs to develop confidence-building measures, beginning
with pulling back snipers from the Line of Contact to save lives of
innocent civilians and soldiers as our mediators already proposed to
the sides at the highest level during the last visit mid November. It
is urgent for the parties to work with each other, the Co-Chairs,
and the Personal Representative of the Chairman in Office to stabilize
the ceasefire through this and other measures. We reiterate our firm
view that there is no military solution to the conflict and call on
the parties to recommit to a peaceful resolution."

ARMENIA C. BANK CUTS REFINANCING RATE TO 7.25%
by Maria Kiselyova

Reuters
Life Style Extra
Dec 2 2008
UK

YEREVAN, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Armenia’s central bank said on Tuesday it
had cut refinancing rate to 7.25 percent from 7.75 percent to boost
economic growth amid falling global prices.

‘In this environment the central bank’s board deems expedient to soften
the monetary policy helping to maintain high economic growth rates,’
the bank said in a statement.

AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA GOOD RELATIONS IMPROVE ALSO TURKEY-ARMENIA TIES

Dec 1 2008
Turkey

FM Babacan defined the Upper Karabakh issue as an important problem.

The Turkish foreign minister commented on Turkish, Azerbaijani and
Armenian relations during his formal visit to the Azerbaijani capital
of Baku on Monday.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan expressed thought that
Azerbaijani-Armenian good relations would contribute to relations
between Turkey and Armenia.

"Good relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and positive step
taken to solve relations will also better relations between Turkey and
Armenia," Babacan told a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani
counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.

Babacan defined the Upper Karabakh issue as an important problem.

"Some of territories of Azerbaijan are under the occupation of Armenia,
which is an important problem that need to be solved," he said.

Babacan said that problems should be solved through diplomacy and
peaceful means.

"Our goal is not to leave a problem to upcoming generations, but to
leave a better and more prosperous Caucasus that lives in peace and
order," he said.

Babacan said that it was difficult to ensure real peace and stability
in the Caucasus as long as problems were not solved.

"A real welfare can be ensured after real peace and stability are
assured," he said.

Babacan hoped that diplomacy traffic would yield positive results.

On Turkish-Armenian relations, Babacan said Turkey would always stand
by Azerbaijan.

Also speaking in the press conference, Mammadyarov said that Babacan
and he agreed to continue talks on Turkey’s proposal to set up a
platform on stability and cooperation in the Caucasus.

Babacan met Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Oktay Esadov and President
Ilham Aliyev. He is scheduled to also have a meeting with Prime
Minister Artur Rasizade.