Author: Tambiyan Samvel

PRESIDENT KOCHARYAN EXPRESSES WILLINGNESS TO DISCUSS PACE PROPOSALS ON STABILIZATION OF THE SITUATION IN ARMENIA

armradio.am
20.03.2008 17:29

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan stated today that on March 21
the state of emergency will be lifted. Speaking at a news conference
in Yerevan today, the Armenian President stated that he does not see
any reasons to prolong the state of emergency.

"The implementation of a state of emergency on March 1 allowed avoiding
new human losses and more serious consequences for the country,"
Robert Kocharyan stated, noting that in the course of 20 days of the
state of emergency, no cases of its violation were registered. The
President reminded that in the course of the recent 20 days, he twice
signed decrees on mitigating the decree on the state of emergency.

"Today, my main task is the complete stabilization of the situation
from the point of view of control and return to the situation,
which we had in Armenia before the elections. To overcome the
psychological consequences, of course, more time will be necessary,"
Robert Kocharyan stated.

The Armenian President stated that the initial results of the
investigation evidence that the mass unrest in Yerevan on March 1-2
were organized, "there are no doubts about it."

Robert Kocharyan stated that in the nearest future, the cases of 40-50
arrested people will be sent to court and will undergo hearings in
accordance with accelerated legal procedure.

Robert Kocharyan stated that the law-enforcement bodies will suppress
any efforts to carry out unapproved rallies or demonstrations after
the lifting of the state of emergency at midnight today.

The President expressed disagreement to the opinion that the latest
changes in the law on rallies and demonstrations turn Armenia into a
"police state."

"The point is not in completely forbidding the conduct of rallies. But
in the present situation, the law-enforcement bodies, which are
responsible for the security of such events, will act in accordance
with the present situation," Robert Kocharyan stressed.

Robert Kocharyan expressed readiness to discuss the proposals,
concerning the stabilization of the situation in Armenia, made by PACE
rapporteur John Prescott and supported by PACE Monitoring Committee.

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today, Robert Kocharyan stated
that the prospect of a dialogue mainly depends on the readiness of
the sides to accept the first proposal of the OSCE representatives –
on recognizing the decision of the Constitutional Court on the results
of presidential elections.

According to the Armenian President, if all the sides agree to this
proposal, "the situation will pass on to another dimension, and it
will allow discussing other issues."

Commenting on the proposals of European organizations on setting
free the arrested people, who have not committed gross crimes, Robert
Kocharyan states that "it would be a political decision."

"I do not rule out the possibility that the new President may make a
legal decision on pardoning a certain part of the arrested people;
however, this may take place only after the legal consideration of
the cases. I believe that this is exactly what our European colleagues
mean," the Armenian President stated.

ARMENIA THREATENS TO RECOGNISE DISPUTED KARABAKH

Reuters UK
March 20 2008

YEREVAN, March 20 (Reuters) – Armenia should recognise Azerbaijan’s
separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state if
Azerbaijan does not change its approach to peace talks, Armenia’s
president said on Thursday.

"If Azerbaijan continues in this same spirit, then our step should be
to recognise the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh and sign agreements
with it. In any event that is what I would do," President Robert
Kocharyan, who steps down nest month, told a news conference.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population split from Azerbaijan
in a war in the 1990s and now runs its own affairs, with support from
Armenia. It has declared its independence from Azerbaijan, but this
has not been recognised by any state.

The separatists have said they hope Kosovo’s declaration of
independence from Serbia earlier this year will strengthen their own
claim for international recognition.

Armenia reacted angrily after the United Nations General Assembly
this month adopted an Azeri-drafted resolution demanding that Armenian
forces withdraw from Azerbaijan’s territory.

Azerbaijan says Armenia has illegally occupied Nagorno-Karabakh,
and a number of Azeri districts surrounding the region. It says it
is committed to stalled peace talks but has refused to rule out using
force to restore its control.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are observing a fragile ceasefire but they are
still officially at war and their troops frequently fight skirmishes
along a heavily mined front line. Up to 16 troops were killed in a
clash earlier this month.

Kocharyan is to step down next month when his long-time ally Serzh
Sarksyan takes over as president. Kocharyan — who like Sarksyan
is a native of Nagorno-Karabakh — is expected to retain influence
over policy.

Kocharyan declared a 20-day state of emergency on March 1 after
eight people were killed in clashes in Yerevan between riot police
and opposition protesters who were demanding the annulment of a
presidential election won by Sarksyan.

"I do not see any reason whatsoever to extend the state of emergency,"
said Kocharyan on Thursday.

"I must hand over a stable country and government to the next
president. We were not able to prevent the events of March 1 but we
were able to prevent more serious consequences." (Writing by Christian
Lowe; editing by Giles Elgood)

ACCORDING TO ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, AZERBAIJAN INITIATES PROCESS OF DISSOLVING OSCE MINSK GROUP

Noyan Tapan
March 19, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia has some information that
Azerbaijan is trying to start the process of dissolving the OSCE Minsk
Group by means of the OSCE Secretariat, the Armenian foreign minister
Vartan Oskanian stated in the RA National Assembly on March 19. He
said that Azerbaijan is doing everything in order to ruin the Minsk
process. Attempts have been made for several years to pass the process
to the UN, which has finally resulted in adoption of the resolution
which calls on Armenia to leave Azerbaijan’s territories.

According to V. Oskanian, this resolution passed by the UN recently is
a decision of advisory character and has no mandatory force. However,
Armenia should draw a lesson from this fact, while Azerbaijan,
according to the foreign minister, should also make up some conclusions
as in fact the majority of UN members states do not share Azerbaijan’s
approach. In the words of V. Oskanian, it is thanks to the "painstaking
work" of Armenian diplomats that over 100 UN member states abstained
from voting.

The Armenian foreign minister said that Azerbaijan’s addressing
the resolution at this moment is mainly related to the declaration
of Kosovo’s independence and its concern that it can be used as
a precedent for the Karabakh problem. He did not rule out that the
choice of the moment has also some relation to the internal situation
in Armenia.

Responding to questions of MPs, V. Oskanian said that Armenia will
announce its position on recognition or nonrecognition of Kosovo’s
independence.

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN OPERA BUILDING

Interfax News Agency
March 18 2008
Russia

New Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan will be inaugurated in the
State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet in Yerevan by a special
session of the parliament, Armenia’s National Assembly (parliament)
told Interfax on Tuesday.

Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosian said that in connection with
holding a special session on April 9, the next session of the Armenian
parliament will be cancelled.

The term of the current Armenian President Robert Kocharian expires
on the inauguration day. Current Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan has
become his successor having won the elections of February 19 with
52.82% of votes.

TO BE SUBJECTED TO CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
March 19, 2008

"I am sure that democracy will not suffer as a result of adopting a
law on ‘Holding Gatherings, Demonstrations, Marches and Rallies’, and
the imminent dangers to the state and the people will be essentially
averted.

However, there are still certain fears, because holding the pipe in
his mouth, the organizer of the March 1 events continues insisting
cynically that he is the elected president. And he does so without
aversion.

As long as he continues to cheat the people that he has received 65
percent of votes, there’s no guarantee that he won’t push them to
provocative actions in future. And the fact that he is the organizer
is confirmed by the case investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office. He
gave direct instructions to the participants of the demonstration to
strengthen their positions in the neighborhood of the French Embassy.

I think it is also necessary to subject him, the organizer of the
events, to criminal liability in order to prevent such developments
in the near future.

Of course, there are certain international forces that are trying to
prevent the factor of subjecting him to criminal liability although
they wouldn’t tolerate anything of the kind in their countries. We
too, must prevent our country from becoming a ‘guinea pig’ for them
or submitting to their coercions," RAFIK PETROSYAN is convinced.

PARLIAMENT OF ARMENIA PASSED AMENDMENTS TO LAW ON RALLIES

KarabakhOpen
18-03-2008 15:02:04

Late in the evening of March 17 the extraordinary session of the
parliament of Armenia passed amendments to the law on rallies,
marches and demonstrations on second reading. The parliament voted 90
to 6 in favor of the amendments. 5 of the six MPs who voted against
the amendments were from the opposition Heritage faction, one was
Victor Dallakyan.

The passage of the bill was preceded by statements of MPs. Speaker
Tigran Torosyan, Republican, said the bill might be imperfect but it
is aimed to prevent recurrence of March 1 and 2. "A drop of blood,
a human life is of more value than hundreds of meetings," said Tigran
Torosyan. The speaker agrees that people are dissatisfied and they will
always be but it does not justify the events of March 1, especially
that they took human lives. Torosyan underlined that after the passage
the law will be translated and extended to international experts.

For his part, Vahan Hovanisyan, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, said this law
is a situational solution of fundamental problems and in reality it
may not be a way out. "We are on the track for repressive solution
of problems. We do not admit our mistakes, and instead we introduce
more restrictions," he said. According to Hovanisyan, people are
waiting for another rally and the passage of such amendments may
provoke people. The member of parliament thinks that the role of the
government is to have people wait for reforms rather than rallies. The
member of parliament underlined that the role of the external factor
should not be excluded, but seeds grow in fertile soil and in this
situation "not only Soros is to blame".

Member of Parliament Victor Dallakyan said the bill has an obviously
political context and direction. "It is necessary to acknowledge
that today’s government may be opposition tomorrow." According to
him, all the restrictions on public events are clear repression and
"the impression is that situational problems and consequences are
addressed instead of the cause." He said it should not be forgotten
that those who voted for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the radical opposition,
in reality voted against the government, and Ter-Petrosyan simply
acted as a generator of disagreement of people. "We must not focus on
the personality of the generator and ascribe supernatural abilities
to him but we must solve the problem," said Dallakyan, urging to vote
against the bill.

The members of parliament of the opposition Heritage faction also
urged to vote against the bill, noting that if passed the amendments
will enable entitling the law "On Not Holding Rallies, Marches and
Demonstrations".

After the first reading the members of parliament proposed amendments
to the bill, according to which it is necessary to note the source
the information from which underlies the decision of the authorized
body to make a decision on banning the given event, as well as an
amendment by which the organizer of disorders in the past will not
be authorized to hold an event.

PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL CONGRATULATES PM SERGE SARGSYAN

armradio.am
17.03.2008 12:09

The President of the Federative Republic of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula
da Silva congratulated RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan on his victory
in the presidential elections. The message says, in part:

"Accept my best wishes for the success of your activity in your
important position.

I’m hopeful to continue cooperating with Your Excellency to further
develop and deepen the friendly relations between our two countries
and peoples."

–Boundary_(ID_xECFCVtrdONCQpjQ2N2 6Wg)–

Interfax News Agency, Russia
March 13 2008

Sargsyan may meet with Aliyev at NATO summit – Oskanian

YEREVAN

Armenian President-elect Serzh Sargsyan could meet with Azeri
President Ilkham Aliyev during the NATO summit in Bucharest in April
3 – 4, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian told a news
conference on Thursday.

"If the Azeri side agrees, we will definitely use this opportunity,"
Oskanian said. "This will be the first meeting of the two presidents.
This will be an introduction meeting. However, there will be
substantive discussions as well," the minister added.

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are already hard at work to
prepare the meeting, he said.

Oskanian is expected to leave for Vienna on March 14, where he will
discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement with the OSCE Minsk Group co-
chairmen.

Sargsyan will be sworn in on April 9.

Sargsyan may meet with Aliyev at NATO summit – Oskanian (Part 2)

Armenian President-elect Serzh Sargsyan could meet with Azeri
President Ilkham Aliyev during the NATO summit in Bucharest in April
3 – 4, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian told a news
conference on Thursday.

"Sargsyan is ready for the fist contact and dialogue. If the Azeri
side agrees, we will definitely use this opportunity," Oskanian said.

"This will be the first meeting of the two presidents. This will be
an introduction meeting. However, there will be substantive
discussions as well," the minister added.

The Armenian president-elect, who will be sworn in on April 9, will
head the Armenian delegation at the NATO summit, Oskanian said.

Oskanian is expected to leave for Vienna on March 14, where he will
discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement with the OSCE Minsk Group co-
chairmen. The co-chairmen are already hard at work to prepare the
meeting, the minister said.

"The topic of the upcoming discussion is the beginning of
negotiations. The co-chairmen are going to organize a meeting of
Armenian and Azeri leaders as soon as possible," the minister said.

Armenia’s stance in the Nagorno-Karabakh remains unchanged, while the
basic principles of a negotiated settlement are acceptable, Oskanian
said.

SARGSYAN: I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR MARCH 1 EVENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.03.2008 14:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Prime Minister and President-elect
Serzh Sargsyan said he is responsible for the March 1 and 2
events. "We are also responsible, since we couldn’t prevent such
developments. Today we must think how to smooth the consequences over
but not measure the fault of everyone. All facts and circumstances
will be investigated. Those guilty will be punished," Serzh Sargsyan
said on air of the Armenian Public Television, when responding to
the questions addressed to him via Internet.

"The authorities have taken all possible measures to avoid clashes
with the opposition. The latter, however, was preparing for collisions
from the very beginning, otherwise there would not be so many batons
found in Liberty Square and there would not be severe resistance to a
police search in the morning," he said, adding, "The rally initiators
got panicky while the other opposition accepted the proposal on
cooperation."

He refuted the hearsay that the law enforcers offered the protesters
to hold the action in Dinamo stadium or in the square in front
of the railroad station. "The documentary sequences show that the
oppositionists were offered to hold the rally at Matenadaran, but they
refused because Ter-Petrosyan had conveyed an order to stay near the
French Embassy. People started placing barricades, turn over buses
and trolleybuses," the PM said.

Commenting on the exaggerated number of victims, Mr Sargsyan said,
"It’s impossible to conceal the real number of the killed. "Eight
people died. It’s too much. One death is too much," he said, adding,
"Over 200 policemen and 50 civilians were injured. Police did not
use weapons against the rioters."

AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER TAKEN PRISONER BY ARMENIANS WILLFULLY LEFT MILITARY UNIT

Trend News Agency
March 13 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 13 March /corr. TrendNews E.Guliyev / The family
of the Azerbaijani soldier who was taken prisoner by the divisions of
the Armenian Armed Forces officially stated that he left the military
unit willingly, soldier Mukhtarov Yagub’s grandmother, Gannab Yagubova,
told Trend News Regional Correspondent.

According to her, they talked to Mukhtarov by telephone on 9 March
in which Mukhtarov said that on the eve of Novruz Holiday, he would
return home. Yagubova said that they first learned of Mukhtarov
being taken prisoner from the press on 12 March. She said that the
Defence Ministry and Military Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan had
not informed them of this.

The press services of the Defence Ministry and Military Prosecutor’s
Office confirmed that Mukhtarov had willingly left the military unit.

Previously, the press secretary of Armenian Defence Ministry, Seyran
Shahsuvaryan, reported that Azerbaijani soldier Mukhtarov, born on
29 April 1988 in Azerbaijan’s district of Sheki, was taken prisoner
in the direction of Azerbaijan’s district of Tovuz.

Mukhtarov was called up for military service by Sheki Military
Registration Commission.

Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry did not provide any additional
information in this regard.