Author: Kamalian Hagop

ECOTOURISM TO BE DEVELOPED IN ARMENIAN "DILIJAN" NATIONAL PARK

ARKA
September 5, 2008

YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. The required basis for development
of ecotourism is being created in Dilijan national park in Armenia,
Director of the park Ashot Davtyan reported.

Together with the USAID the park is planning to lay two routes for
ecotourists, provide special areas for picnics, build recreation
sites and bridges, Davtyan told journalists.

The staff of the park ahs already developed eight routes for
ecotourists; total length of two of them is 8-9 kilometers, Davtyan
said adding that special information bulletins have also been issued.

Back in 2005 a special recreational department was set in the
national park to study where in the national park ecotourist routs
could be developed.

Davtyan said that serious training of personnel has been carried out,
particularly 25 guides were selected and eight of them received
appropriate licenses. Guides have been trained to ensure maximum
safety of ecotourists in the park, Davtyan aid.

Dilijan national park is situated in north-east of Armenian Plateau,
110 kilometers from Yerevan. The area is famous for its thick forests,
mineral waters and ancient monasteries. The territory of the national
park is 33,700 hectares.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT RELATIONS WITH TURKEY

ArmInfo News Agency (in Russian)
Sept 4 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 4 September: There already are evident changes in relations
between Armenia and Turkey, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has
said at his meeting with Armenian diplomats and representatives in
international organizations.

"On the whole, I think a situation has emerged that can be
characterized as evident changes in relations between Armenian and
Turkey. We need to show a political will and consistency. This will
be a touchstone of political maturity for both countries," Sargsyan
said. "I invited [Turkish President] Abdullah Gul to Armenia because I
am sure that direct contacts are the only way for settling relations
between neighbouring nations. From that point of view, my invitation
has a context of political expectations. Without forgetting the
past, we have to look into the future and begin contacts without
preconditions. I think we will be able to discuss any issue, even
the most difficult ones."

Ankara confirmed yesterday that Gul will arrive in Yerevan on 6
September to watch the 2010 World Cup qualifier football game between
the Armenian and Turkish teams.

TURKISH PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO CHANGE CLIMATE OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

ARKA
Sep 3, 2008

YEREVAN, September 3. /ARKA/. Turkish President Abdulah Gul’s visit
to Armenia may change the climate of Armenian-Turkish relations,
stated the political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan, Director of
the Caucasus Institute.

"The visit may change much. Of course, it is clear that the
Armenian-Turkish border will not be re-opened immediately after the
football match," Iskandaryan stated at the round table "Armenia and
conflicts over South Ossetia and Abkhazian".

The RA President officially invited his Turkish counterpart to a
football match between the two national teams, which is to be held
in Yerevan on September 6.

Speaking of Turkey’s role in the region, Iskandaryan said that the
country is well aware of the rapidly changing situation in the South
Caucasus so it is seeking heavier influence in the region.

He pointed out that Turkey has been taking such steps for a long time.

Specifically, the Armenian church on the island of Akhtamar has been
restored. Turkey also proposed the formation of a security platform
in the region.

Chairman of the European Integration NGO Karen Bekaryan disagreed
with Iskandaryan. He pointed out that the Armenian-Turkish relations
will not clear up soon.

"I do not share the opinion that there is anything clear in the
Armenian-Turkish relations nor do I hope that=2 0it will become clear
in the near future irrespective of whether Gul pays a visit to Armenia
or not," he said.

AZERBAIJANIS SPLIT OVER TURKISH PRESIDENT’S YEREVAN VISIT

Hurriye
Sept 3 2008
Turkey

The Azerbaijani-Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Working Group will discuss
Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s expected visit to Armenia, an Azerian
news agency reported on Wednesday.

"During discussions, there are sharp opposers and supporters of
Turkish President’s visit to Armenia," the head of the Working Group,
MP Nizami Jafarov, told TrendNews.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited Gul to Armenia to watch
together the 2010 World Cup qualifying round game between the two
countries national teams on Sept. 6 to mark "a new symbolic start in
the countries’ relations".

Gul’s close circles and recent reports claim the Turkish president
would accept the invitation and travel to Yerevan to watch the
game. But Turkish officials have refrained from revealing the final
decision until the last moment.

If Gul visits Yerevan, Turkey, which has no established diplomatic
relations with its neighbor Armenia, therefore would have formal
contact at the presidential level on the occasion of the football
match.

The public of Azerbaijan attentively follows whether Turkey will
accept the invitation extended by Armenia, TrendNews reported.

Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it
declared its independency. However there is no diplomatic relations
between the two countries, as Armenia presses the international
community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting
Turkey’s call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of
20 percent of Azerbaijani territory despite U.N. Security Council
resolutions on the issue.

Jafarov said any change in either Azerbaijan or Turkey’s attitude
towards these or other questions can not change the relations between
Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Azeri news agency reported. He added
it deals with the tactical change in Turkey’s attitude towards the
Armenian problem.

The Azeri MP said the whole world is concerned by the non-solution
on the Armenian problem for such authoritative countries as Turkey
and Azerbaijan, and added that therefore such accelerative attempts
may be made.

"The development of events shows that the Turkish president’s taking
such a step in the attitude towards Armenia is a tactical move. This
does not change its attitude towards Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will not
change its attitude towards Turkey due to such a step. The matter
is that a new period has already begun in the attitude towards the
Armenian issue. This is Turkey’s initial steps. But I think that it is
impossible to make claims that with this, Turkey will make concessions
to Armenia, change its policy, implement dictate of great forces,"
Jafarov said.

The MP does not believe that in the present condition, Turkey will
pursue a policy strengthening Armenia because Armenia’s attitude
towards Turkey is clear, according to TrendNews. Turkey can not take
revenge in the face of Armenia’s aggression, Jafarov told the agency.

ARMENIA ALMOST IN THE LAST PLACE OF THE LIST OF US ARMS IMPORTERS

Panorama.am
16:05 03/09/2008

The State Department of the USA has recently published the report
of US military export for the last year. According to the document,
total sum of the export was 24.5 milliard dollars.

It turns out that all former Soviet states bought arms from the USA
except for Belarus and Moldova. Armenia’s import of US arms cost
487.200 dollars: this index surpasses only those of Turkmenistan
(0.1 million $) and Uzbekistan (0.079 mill.$).

According to the report last year Russia bought the US arms,
electronics, missiles, aviation technologies, explosives and other
military equipment for total sum of 40.7 million dollars.

Georgia’s military import from the USA cost 25 million dollars,
Kyrgyzstan’s 20, Tajikistan’s 7. Latvia bought the US arms for 4.4
millions, Ukraine 3.4, Lithuania 2.6, Azerbaijan 2.5, Estonia 2 and
Kazakhstan 0.8616.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF OSCE PA PRESIDENT FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT AND GEORGIA DISCUSSES SITUATION IN SOUTH CAUCASUS AT AZERI PARLIAMENT

arminfo
2008-09-01 16:17:00

ArmInfo. At a meeting at the Azerbaijani parliament, Special
Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s President for the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Georgia Goran Lennmarker discussed the
current situation in the South Caucasus. As the head of the Azeri
delegation to PACE Samed Seidov told Trend, the meeting covered
general problems of the region and related issues. For his part, MP
Asim Molladze, who also took part in the meeting of Lennmarker with
members of the standing commission of international organizations and
inter-parliamentary relations of the Azeri parliament, said that the
OSCE PA Special Representative wanted to familiarize himself with the
commission’s position regarding the conflicts in the South Caucasus
and their settlement. "We told Lennmarker that to maintain stability
in the region and secure constant development, one should first and
foremost gain settlement of the conflicts and this should be done on
the basis of international legal standards and fundamental principles
of the OSCE", the member of the commission said.

Goran Lennmarker replied that Azerbaijan is in the main strategic
region of the South Caucasus and one should try to settle the conflicts
and do this on the basis of international legal standards to maintain
stability.

WEST CAN URGE AZERI LEADERSHIP ON RESOLUTION OF KARABAKH PROBLEM BY USE OF FORCE?

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.09.2008 18:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The West’s ultimate goal is to weaken Russia’s
influence in Georgia and Azerbaijan, through which Nabucco pipelines
will go. It’s quite clear that the struggle for energy sources
transportation bypassing Russia is the main cause of armed conflict
in the Caucasus, according to a Russian expert.

"Gambling on Russia’s support to Armenia, there will be attempts to
involve Russia in a conflict with Azerbaijan, thus inciting the Azeri
leadership to resolve the Karabakh problem by the use of force,"
said Mikhail Delyagin, head of the institute of globalization studies.

Azerbaijan ‘has always pursued a reasonable foreign policy’,
according to him. "We hope that this country will not yield to
provocation. Furthermore, maintaining close ties with both Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Russia will not be able to take an unequivocal position
on Nagorno Karabakh," he said, ibk.ru reports.

Anatolia news agency, Turkey
Aug 29 2008

Turkey, Azerbaijan said agree on Caucasus peace initiative

Ankara, 29 August: Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Friday
Turkey and Azerbaijan share same understanding on the "Caucasus
Stability and Cooperation Platform", an initiative that came up by
Turkey’s efforts.

"Turkey and Azerbaijan have similar approach towards the platform,"
Babacan said.

Babacan held a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Memmedyarov that lasted close to two hours in Turkish capital of
Ankara.

Following their meeting, the two foreign ministers held a joint press
conference.

"Our meeting today was important in exchanging views at a time when
important developments are taking place in the region," Babacan said.

"Relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are ‘very special’. As former
Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev said, Turkey and Azerbaijan are
one nation with two states," Babacan stressed.

"The recent developments in the Caucasus are of interest not only to
the region, but the whole world. Such developments would have a global
impact. It is very natural for Turkey and Azerbaijan, two countries
with the same destiny, to hold comprehensive consultations in every
level at this critical period," Babacan said.

Reminding that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Baku
last Wednesday holding talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev,
Babacan said that it was in Baku that the two leaders decided for the
foreign ministers of both countries to hold consultations with each
other.

"Our meeting today came after Erdogan and Aliyev’s directives,"
Babacan noted.

We had a very comprehensive discussion with Memmedyarov today, Babacan
said.

We went over the recent developments in our region, Babacan said.

We exchanged opinions on the "Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform", Babacan said.

We would continue discussions on this platform in the upcoming days,
Babacan underscored.

Pointing out that Turkey would host the foreign ministers of Georgia
and Russia very shortly, Babacan stressed that discussions on the
aforementioned platform would continue with these ministers.

"Turkey and Azerbaijan would continue to act with an understanding of
a common destiny and strategic partnership at all levels and in every
issue," Babacan said.

On his part, Memmedyarov said that Babacan and he discussed the
developments in Georgia, and regional issues, including the matter of
Upper Karabagh.

"Azerbaijan and Turkey are brotherly countries," Memmedyarov said.

Relations between the two countries are higher than being a strategic
partnership, Memmedyarov added.

FIRST-HALF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS INFLOW INTO ARMENIA UP 65%

ARKA
Aug 29, 2008

YEREVAN, August 29. /ARKA/. Armenia’s National Statistical Service
(NSS) reported $515.1mln of net inflow (without loans allotted by
public management agencies and banks) into Armenia’s economy in the
first half of 2008 – 65% year-on-year increase.

Direct investments were up 64.8% to $352.7mln, having the lion’s
share (68.5%) in the first-half inflow of investments into Armenia
(against 68.6% in the first half of 2007).

According to NSS, $221.8mln (43.1% of total investments, 62.9% of
direct investments) was invested in electricity, gas, steam and water
distribution sector. First-half investments in communications totaled
$35.9mln (10.2% of total investments). Some $25mln was allocated in
air transport (7.1%), NSS reported.

Armenia’s major investors in the first half were Russia ($386.7mln),
Argentine ($28.2mln), Lebanon ($21.9mln) and the United States
($16.2mln).

IRAN AND ARMENIA FINALISE MUCH-DELAYED GAS PIPELINE DEAL, EXPORTS TO START IN OCTOBER
by Samuel Ciszuk

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
August 29, 2008

A new deal has been reached between Armenia and Iran over the export of
Iranian gas through a long-finished pipeline in exchange for Armenian
exports of electricity,Upstreamreports (seeIran: 12 August 2008:). In a
2007 deal, the countries originally agreed to construct a gas pipeline
and entered into a supply agreement, but gas failed to flow after the
pipeline’s completion by mid-2007, with unspecified technical problems
on the Armenian side cited as the main cause of the standstill. The
newly reached deal specifies that Iranian gas exports will start by 1
October 2008 at a rate of about 1.1 bcm/y, eventually increasing to
2.3 bcm/y. Armenia will pay Iran in electricity from a power plant
close to the Iranian border at 3KWh per every cubic metre of gas.

Significance:While the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia
is handy to blame for Armenia’s sudden willingness to start using
the Iranian import option–Armenia currently imports all of its
gas from Russia through a pipeline passing Georgia–there seems
to be a confluence of interests making this moment particularly
opportune. Russia’s Gazprom took a leading stake (57.6%) in the
Russian-Armenian company that owns the pipeline, ArmRosGazprom,
indicating that the switch to Iranian supplies–if it actually gets
under way–will be in Russia’s best interests too. With Armenia no
longer dependent on the trans-Georgia pipeline, Russia will be free
to shut down its exports to Georgia, which also supplies the country,
giving it further political leverage over its neighbour. Meanwhile,
Armenia is given a golden opportunity to escape rising Russian
gas export prices in favour of Iranian gas, bought from Iran with
electricity at a time when Iran is in the midst of a deep electricity
shortage and seems to have agreed to a more favourable pricing scheme
than before (seeArmenia: 1 August 2008:). With Armenia a close ally
of Russia, its large protector might not see Iran’s role as Armenian
supplier as a particular threat anyway, preferring for the moment to
help shield its poor, but strategic ally from rising costs. However,
Iran’s chronic gas shortages do cast doubt over its chances of
guaranteeing steady supplies to Armenia, especially later this year,
when the winter kicks in.