Author: Varosian Antranik

CNN WILL MAKE US BEAUTIFUL

Lragir.am
31 Aug 06

Armenia will be advertized on CNN. On August 31 the government approved
the conditions of CNN for advertising Armenia on this channel. The
decision was made in accordance with the government policy on
tourism provided for by the law on tourism. The deputy minister of
trade and economic development Tigran Davtyan was instructed to sign
the letter of agreement foreseen by the decision which will enable
signing a contract with CNN and "present our country as sustainable,
safe, favorable for business, investments, as well as attractive
for tourists."

The expenditures on advertisement will be covered on the funds
allocated for turning Tsaghkadzor a center of tourism in the framework
of the program of development of tourism in Armenia.

ARKADY GHUKASYAN: INDEPENDENCE IS THE ONLY CONDITION OF SURVIVAL OF ARTSAKHI PEOPLE

ArmRadio.am
31.08.2006 14:56

"Independence is not an end in itself. It is the only condition
of survival, development and prosperity of Karabakhi people on the
land of their predecessor," NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan declared,
MEDIAMAX Agency reports.

In Arkady Ghukasyan’s words, "we realize pretty well" that the
international recognition of NKR is an extremely complex and long path,
which depend also on the geopolitical processes in our region.

The NKR President mentioned that the Nagorno Karabakh Republic is
de facto a full-fledged state, and many accept this. "We not only
managed to defend our independence in the war imposed by Azerbaijan,
but also managed to overcome its results in a comparably short period
of time and to build a state, which has gone far ahead of Azerbaijan
as it refers to socio-economic and democratic standards."

Commenting on the non-participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the
negotiations process, Arkady Ghukasyan noted that "Baku prefers
to deal with Yerevan for the purpose of reshaping the issue of
self-determination of Karabakhi people into the territorial disputes
between Armenia and Azerbaijan."

SEC HOLDS MEETING

Emirates News Agency
August 28, 2006 Monday 1:04 PM EST

The Sharjah Executive Council (SEC) held here today its ordinary
weekly meeting, presided over by its deputy chairman, Sheikh Abdullah
bin Salim Al Qasimi, Chief of the Sharjah Emiri Court..

During the meeting, which was held at the Sharjah Ruler’s Office,
the council reviewed a memorandum referred to it by the Sharjah
Department of Culture and Information.

The memo deals with the department’s decision to renew cultural
cooperation agreement with the Armenian Ministry of Culture and Youth..

The council also reviewed a number of general issues related to the
emirate, discussed a number of reports and issues on its agenda and
took the appropriate decisions on them.

VARTAN OSKANIAN MEETS WITH MATTHEW BRYZA

Noyan Tapan
Aug 28 2006

BLED, AUGUST 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian had a meeting with the US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
Matthew Bryza during the two-day international conference "Caspian
Prospects 2008" in the Slovenian city of Bled. Vladimir Karapetian,
Acting Head of the Press and Information Department of the RA MFA,
told Radio Liberty about it. V. Karapetian gave no details of the
meeting. V. Oskanian did not meet with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamedyarov. V. Karapetain also said that at the conference
V. Oskanian made a speech on Armenia-European Union relations within
the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy. More than 180
representatives of a number of states, including the President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, are taking part in the conference.

SLOVENIAN LEADER URGES EU TO CONTRIBUTE TO KARABAKH PEACE – AZERI TV

ANS TV, Baku
28 Aug 06

Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek has expressed the hope that the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be
resolved peacefully.

Meeting his visiting Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Ljubljana
on 28 August, Drnovsek said the EU should contribute to the peaceful
settlement of the conflict.

The two presidents also discussed political and economic relations
between their countries.

Azeri army sees 36 fatalities in eight months – paper

Zerkalo, Baku
26 Aug 06

Excerpt from report by the "Doktrina" Centre for Journalists’ Military
Studies in Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 26 August headlined
"Peacetime fatalities in the army" and subheaded "185 soldiers died
in 44 months"; subheadings as published:

There were over 36 fatalities in the Azerbaijani army in the first
eight months of 2006. The figure shows that the number of fatalities
increased in comparison with the same period last year when the army
lost 29 soldiers.

In total, at least 39 servicemen died in 2005 and 35 in 2004.

Thus, there is an upward trend in the death rate in the armed forces.

In the past four years, the most unfavourable was 2003 when 75
servicemen died for various reasons.

Fatalities in the personnel

Based on data confirmed by officials from power-wielding bodies in
various periods, we can say that out of 36 servicemen who died in the
past eight months, 35 served in the Defence Ministry’s units and one
in the State Border Service.

A total of 35 servicemen of the Defence Ministry, three of the State
Border Service and one of the [Interior Ministry’s] Internal Troops
died in 2005.

The number of fatalities among officers also increased in 2006.
Fatalities include eight officers in the rank from lieutenant to
colonel, one warrant officer and 27 privates and sergeants.

[Passage omitted: fatalities in 2005]

Monitoring of the country’s print and electronic media in the past
eight months shows that eight servicemen were killed in various
accidents, 10 were killed by Armenians, one in a landmine blast,
two in fires, five committed suicide, three were killed in avalanche,
six in bullying incidents and one by sunstroke.

[Passage omitted: reasons for fatalities in 2005]

The wounded

We will try clarify the situation with wounded soldiers. It has turned
out that 20 servicemen were wounded in different circumstances.

[Passage omitted: 44 soldiers were wounded in 2005]

RWE Australian Business News
August 21, 2006 Monday 11:54 AM AEST

Iberian Resources fast tracking Armenian gold program

Sydney Monday, August 21

Iberian Resources (IBR) is implementing a program to fast track the
expansion of the resource base at the Lich Gold Project in Armenia.

A large exploration drilling programme will commence in the near term,
says managing director Matthew Wood.

He believes the Lichkvaz Gold Project is a world class gold project
that has not been explored for more than 20 years.

Mineralisation comprises an extensive swarm of more than 12
sub-parallel epithermal veins.

The majority of the current +1 million ounce resource is contained
within just one of these veins.

The other veins are known to be well mineralized, but only minimal
exploration has been undertaken on them previously.

A diamond core drilling rig and a reverse circulation drilling rig
have been contracted and are being mobilized to site.

The company will also commence drilling with its own underground core
drilling rig.

It is expected that exploration drilling will continue at the Lichkvaz
Gold Project for at least 12 months, the report to the ASX disclosed.

The company will be seeking to contract additional drilling rigs
during this period.

The company has determined that its expansion strategy in Armenia is
best served by focusing all of its exploration efforts on the Lichkvaz
Gold Project and surrounding exploration licences.

Exploration efforts will be concentrated on increasing resources
and reserves within close proximity to a central expanded stage two
processing plant.

As a consequence of this strategy the Company has withdrawn from its
joint venture in the Marjan Gold Project in central Armenia and will
divert these funds to exploration at the Lichkvaz Gold Project.

Iberian Resources is fast approaching a significant milestone of
first gold production from the Lichkvaz gold project in Armenia.

"The company is well positioned to grow rapidly and to generate early
cash flow by bringing the Lichkvaz Gold Project into production during
an environment of high gold prices.

"The company is also considering a number of potential corporate
strategies to fast track the development and growth of the company,"
Matthew Wood, managing director declared.

O.BOZHKO: "ANCIENT ARMENIAN-UKRAINIAN TIES BORN ANEW"

YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian-Ukrainian cultural
ties have many old traditions. As Olexander Bozhko, the Ambassador
of Ukraine to Armenia said in the interview to the Noyan Tapan
correspondent, there are facts that prove that Armenians moved to
Ukraine developed thier national culture there even centuries ago. "We
have thousands of manuscripts which Armenians created on the Ukrainian
land. A performance of the first Armenian school theater took place
in Lviv still in the 16th century. Armenian books were published,
monasteries were built in Lviv, in the Crimea, in Kamenets-Podolskiy
and other Ukrainian cities," the Ambassador continued. He mentioned
that the Ukrainian-Armenian cultural ties very actively developed in
the Soviet period as well.

Numerous translations were published. "I must mention with a pity that
the liveliness that existed in our peoples’ contacts during those
years, reduced at some extent, caused by some reasons," Mr.Bozhko
said. At the same time, in his words, the situation in this sphere
is being improved. Legal bases are being created which will allow to
develop ties in the spheres of culture and education, An agreement
on cultural cooperation was signed still in 1996, agreements on
attestation of scietific and scientific-pedagogical personnel as
well as on cooperation in the medical and health care sphere were
also signed, Bozhko said. Ambassador Bozhko mentioned as an example
of estiblishing ties the fact of opening the Ternopol Academy branch
in Yerevan. As well, in his words, Armenian younth has possibility
to get education in Ukraine. The Ambassador stated that a document
is being prepared owing to which Armenian diplomates will be able to
be re-trained in the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine. "Just to say,
that for us, Ukrainians, the Armenian culture is very interesting,
would be very little. We consider that for the Ukrainian people,
treasures of the Armenian culture of many centuries must become an
indivisible element of the cultural life of our country," O.Bozhko
stated. In his words, Grigor Narekatsi’s "Book of Tragedies," the epic
"David of Sasun" and other works were in the Ukrainian published in
Ukraine during the recent years. Even more, Ukrainian publishing
houses publish Armenian authors’ books in the Armenian as well,
O.Bozhko said. The Ambassador stated that the Embassy attempts at
present to re-establish the old kind traditions when Armenian writers
participate in the "Taras Shevchenko" annual holiday.

OLEXANDR BOZHKO OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ARMENIAN-UKRAINIAN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The level of relations between
Ukraine and Armenia is quite high. The Ukrainian Ambassador to Armenia
Olexandr Bozhko stated this in an interview with NT correspondent. He
said that at the present time, the legal and contractual basis of
the bilateral relations includes 65 documents, the major of which
is the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between Ukraine and
Armenia signed on May 14, 1996. According to him, over the past
decade, the presidents of the two countries have met more than ten
times. Besides, recently consultations on a permanent basis resumed
between the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Armenia.

As for economic cooperation, today Ukraine is the second largest
trade partner of Armenia among CIS countries and the fifth one –
among all the countries in the world. In 2005, the bilateral trade
turnover grew by 40% and exceeded 110 mln USD, while in the first
half of this year it grew by one third.

Armenia imports equipment (for example, Bogdan buses), metals,
foodstuffs, etc. from Ukraine.

The ambassador pointed out the importance of the Ilyichevsk –
Poti-Batumi ferry link for Armenia’s economy. In this connection
O. Bozhko mentioned the estimation of Armenian businessmen, according
to which this ferry link operated by Ukrferry company is in essence
a "life road" for Armenia, as the main flows of Armenian goods pass
through it to Ukraine and on to Europe, and in the opposite direction.

At the same time, Olexandr Bozhko noted that the potential for the
bilateral trade and economic cooperation has not been exhausted. He
expects that in the visible future, the sides will start implementing
joint programs and projects in such spheres as energy, transport,
agricultural and industrial complex, and others. In the ambassador’s
opinion, there are great opportunities for increasing mutual
investments. "We just start developing this direction," he said. As
an example, the ambassador mentioned the acquisition of 35% of
Arminvestbank’s shares by Ukrprombank in April 2006.

RESTORATION OF SURP KHACH CHURCH ON AKHTAMAR IS OVER
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
24/08/2006

PM Erdogan to Officially Open it in September

Atilla Koc, minister of culture and tourism of Turkey, spoke to
journalists aboard a ship to Greece and touching upon the restoration
works of Surp Khach church on Akhtamar Island he said that all works
are over and the church will open its doors before visitors in October
after an official opening ceremony attended by prime minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.

"Turkey attaches importance to the opening of the church on Akhtamar
that’s why culture ministers of all countries headed by the minuets
of Armenia and France will be invited to see that our country –
the cradle of civilization – is also a center of tolerance and the
church of Akhtamar is the example of it."