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| June 1-7 |
Citizens of Armenia have little trust
in government bureaucracy and rarely contact officials, but when they
do, they are likely to get help, a study recently released by the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) reported. IFES
is a U.S. government-funded organization that provides advice and
technical assistance on democracy in about one hundred countries around
the world. Its "Citizen's Awareness and Participation Survey 2001"
was conducted among 1,500 adults randomly selected throughout Armenia.
When asked to name the branches of government or organizations for
which they have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence, respondents
ranked the President first, at just over 51 percent. Respondents to
another poll commissioned by the Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
last year identified a similar split in public approval of the President's
performance. IFES survey found the following levels of confidence
for other entities (percentages are rounded): local governments (48),
provincial governors (41), international organizations (41), non-government
organizations (40), the National Assembly (32) and Courts (26).
Job creation, emigration and regular water supply (primarily for rural
areas) and other services top the list of concerns that the respondents
want the government to address. Only about 17 percent of all respondents
have ever contacted their elected officials. The majority of them
contacted their local elected leaders (63 percent); contact with parliament
members came a distant second (19 percent). In most cases (86 percent),
elected officials replied to constituents' requests and in just over
half the cases (51 percent) the response was considered "somewhat"
or "very" satisfactory. Response and satisfaction rates were somewhat
lower with appointed officials: 80 and 44 percent respectively.
In terms of access to information, the majority of respondents said
they have better than adequate information about national events,
but very little in terms of local news. Armenian Public Television
remains a primary source of news for nearly two-thirds of the respondents,
even though the vast majority of Armenians have free access to dozens
of local and foreign channels. Print media is not a popular choice,
with the most popular newspaper, Iravunk weekly, read by only 6.5
percent of respondents. Only about 7 percent say they have ever used
the Internet, and only half of them use it "often" or "sometimes." |
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June 1-7
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Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian this
week visited European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CE) headquarters,
two regional organizations with which Armenia maintains close relations.
While in Brussels, Oskanian met with the EU's High Representative
for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and External
Relations Commissioner Chris Patten. Their talks focused on Armenia's
energy security and ways to further improve Armenian companies' access
to the European markets. EU countries already account for the largest
share of Armenia's exports. The officials also discussed "steps aimed
at the improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations" and ways to speed
the Karabakh peace process. EU backs Armenia's view that chances for
the conflict's settlement would significantly improve, should Azerbaijan
agree to a series of economic confidence-building measures, something
which its president, Heydar Aliyev, continues to oppose. Oskanian
also met with leaders of the European Parliament and Brussels-based
Armenian organizations.
On his visit to Strasbourg, France, Oskanian met with the secretaries-general
of the CE and its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). Their talks focused
on Armenia's progress towards reaching standards of human-rights set
by the organization, which Armenia joined in early 2000. Meanwhile,
the head of the Armenian delegation to PACE, Chairman of the Parliament's
Foreign Relations Committee Hovanes Hovanisian noted that Azerbaijan
is continuing to stall the appointment of the organization's Rapporteur
(Envoy) on Nagorno Karabakh. Last year, NKR's President Arkady Ghoukasian
invited PACE officials to send a fact-finding group, following a series
of libelous accusations made against Karabakh by the Azerbaijani delegation
to PACE. Hovanisian also mentioned that a recent PACE report on migration
notes that Azerbaijan continues to seriously exaggerate the number
of its refugees. |
| June 1-7 |
The Armenian Government is reportedly
planning to disband the Soviet-era Ministry of Internal Affairs (NGN),
a body that deals with issues as wide-ranging as fire-fighting and
criminal investigations, according to reports in two opposition-leaning
newspapers this week. The reports said that a soon-to-be-introduced
law on police will devolve much of its public order authorities to
local governments, while two new entities - an investigations bureau
and the national guard - will replace NGN's Investigations and Interior
Forces directorates. The reports cited sources "close to the government"
as saying that the changes are in line with the ongoing Civil Service
reform. As a first step in this reform and as part of Armenia's obligations
to the Council of Europe, control over prisons has already been transferred
from NGN to the Ministry of Justice.
The newspapers themselves claim that the reforms are politically significant
as they are expected to resolve what they describe as the ongoing
tug of war between pro-government factions for control of the powerful
ministry. They also believe that NGN's reorganization would harm the
country's law-enforcement capabilities and result in an increase in
crime. At the same time, if the reports prove accurate, Armenia would
become one of the first countries of the region to move from a highly
centralized Soviet-style police organization to a more Western-like
system. |
| June 1-7 |
Two of Armenia's largest chemical
enterprises will begin production this month, the Trade and Economic
Development Ministry reported. Yerevan's Nairit Chemical Plant managed
by the Ransat Group, an Indian-owned company registered in the United
Kingdom, will begin producing chloroprene rubber. Ransat Group is
expected to buy Nairit, after clearing its multi-million dollar debt
to a bank, which it is also buying. The company is beginning to eliminate
wage arrears for some of its 2,750 employees and hopes to reach its
maximum production capacity by 2005. Another company long-plagued
by stoppages, but expected to resume work this month is the Vanadzor
Chemical Complex. At one time the Complex was the largest employer
in Armenia's third largest city and is again expected to provide thousands
of jobs once it reaches full capacity. Privatized by a Russian company
in 1999, the Complex has not been able to fully return to work due
to high prices for imported natural gas. That problem is now said
to be resolved. |
| June 1-7 |
The European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank's International Finance
Corporation (IFC) are likely to provide up to 70 percent of financing
for the proposed plan to bring oil from off-shore Azerbaijan to Turkey
via Georgia. The rest of the financing, last estimated to total $2.9
billion, will be covered by the BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan consortium.
The project has long been criticized as politically and economically
flawed. Less expensive ways to export the oil without further polarizing
the countries of the region have been ignored. Doubts persist that
there will be sufficient oil in the parts of Caspian Sea claimed by
Azerbaijan to fill the pipeline. In the last several years, eleven
international consortia led by companies such as Exxon-Mobil, Chevron-Texaco,
TotalFinaElf and others, abandoned their projects after sinking tens
of millions of dollars into drilling holes that came up dry. |
| June 7-14 |
Armenian and Turkish foreign ministries
are quietly preparing for another round of talks, Turkish and Azerbaijani
newspapers reported this week. Foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian and
Ismail Cem are scheduled to meet on June 25 in Istanbul during the
annual session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), a group
that aims to foster regional integration. According to Turkish press,
at stake is the possible reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border
and use of the Kars-Gyumri rail road, both of which have remained
closed since Turkey introduced its blockade of Armenia in 1993. President
Robert Kocharian this week reiterated Armenia's readiness "to
establish relations with Turkey without any preconditions." However,
it is not yet clear if establishment of full-fledged diplomatic relations
will be discussed.
Prior to the Istanbul meeting, senior officials from the two ministries,
Karen Mirzoyan and Ertan Tezgor, will meet in "one of the central
European capitals" early next week to prepare for the upcoming
summit. A spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry was quoted
as saying that such a meeting was "very likely." An Azerbaijani
report this week said Tezgor was paying a "secret visit"
to Azerbaijan in order to "coordinate positions of Baku and Ankara."
Turkey has so far conditioned normal relations with Armenia on the
latter's concessions in the Karabagh conflict. Numerous Turkish commentators
have recently urged revision of this approach, citing, in particular,
the two countries' partnership in the U.S.-led anti-terrorist coalition.
Meanwhile, Hakob Chakrian, an Armenian commentator on Turkish affairs,
wrote this week in Azg that Turkish press reports merely create the
impression of ongoing "secret talks" between Armenia and
Turkey. The commentator further claims that Turkey needs this impression
to deflect the international community's calls for normalization of
relations with Armenia and to stave off further affirmation of the
Armenian Genocide. |
| June 7-14 |
The Nagorno Karabagh Republic is ready
to resume supplies of irrigation water to adjacent Azerbaijani districts,
NKR Foreign Minister Naira Melkumian said this week. She said the
measure would serve as an example of much needed confidence-building
measures (CBM's) and show average Azerbaijanis that NKR bears no ill
intent towards them. Melkumian was speaking at a Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty briefing during her week-long visit to Washington, DC. Her
visit included detailed discussions on possible CBM's with conflict
management experts at the Council on Foreign Relations and the International
Crisis Group.
During the visit, Melkumian met with U.S. State Department officials,
Members of Congress, think tanks and media. Meeting with the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues, she praised its co-chairs Frank Pallone,
Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) for their leadership in strengthening
U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Nagorno Karabagh relations. Members of Senate
Appropriations, Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees pledged
to exercise strict oversight over the use of U.S. military assistance
to Azerbaijan. Melkumian also spoke at American University and met
with leaders of the Armenian-American community. |
| June 7-14 |
Speaker Armen Khachatrian called the
National Assembly into recess this week without finishing its legislative
business. This action followed a disruption of the proceedings by
several members of the political opposition. For three days, activists
of the Republic, People's and Communist parties physically occupied
the podium and prevented government officials or other parliamentarians
to address the Assembly. This followed Khachatrian's refusal to include
on the legislative agenda the opposition's measure for debate on presidential
impeachment. Political parties and groups opposed to President Robert
Kocharian have repeatedly tried to raise the issue since shortly after
his election in 1998. Normally, support of one-third of all the deputies
is needed for Parliament to debate whether or not the President has
violated the Constitution and may be considered for impeachment. Parliamentarian
Grigor Harutiunian from the People's Party conceded that the opposition
was acting in violation of regulations, but he also blamed the parliamentary
majority for blocking the impeachment debate.
Commentators described the most recent efforts by the opposition (that
included both legislative measures and several rallies) as a kind
of "psychological attack" on Kocharian in the run-up to
presidential elections slated for early next year. One opposition
leader, former Prime Minister Aram Sargsian promised to resume the
campaign after summer holidays. But another opposition figure, former
Interior Minister Levon Galstian, who is deputy chairman of the recently
established Homeland and Honor Party, urged his colleagues in opposition
to begin a dialogue with the government. Major pro-government groups,
such as the Republican Party and Armenian Revolutionary Federation,
condemned the opposition's tactics. |
| June 7-14 |
With higher taxes for the wealthy
and a crackdown on large cash payments announced this week, the Armenian
Government is hoping to increase state revenue and to spread the benefit
of the strong economic growth of recent years. According to the country's
State Revenue Minister Yervand Zakharian, much of last year's growth
came in agriculture, construction and export-oriented industries.
However, all of these sectors work under a preferential tax arrangement
and their contribution to state treasury is therefore insignificant.
Meanwhile, the new government proposals call for an increased property
tax on real estate valued at over $52,000 in exchange for the current
flat tax levied on properties worth over $5,200. The new measures
envisage an even greater increase in taxes for owners of Western-made
luxury cars. They also introduced a limit on corporate transactions
in cash to $865. The government hopes that these measures will help
in the ongoing crackdown on untaxed incomes and respond to concerns
over the widening income gap. The National Assembly must approve the
proposed new regulations. |
| June 7-14 |
The Armenian Government this week
transferred Zvartnots International Airport, one of Armenia's main
outlets to the outside world, to the management of Eduardo Eurnekian's
Corporaci㮠?udamericana
of Argentina for thirty years. The deal is expected to bring $35 million
in investments in the first five years and as much as $100 million
over the total period. It comes shortly after the passage of a new
law on aviation, which grants considerable tax privileges to the airport.
Some of the projects planned by Eurnekian's company include a new
terminal, runway repairs, creation of a free trade zone and entertainment
center next to the airport.
Armenia's opposition parties have criticized the deal as a "sale"
of state sovereignty. They charge that investment and employment commitments
are not clearly identified. They have also protested Eurnekian's plan
to buy plots of land from nearby villages to expand the would-be trade
zone outside the airport. Government officials defended the deal as
capable of turning Zvartnots into a regional trade hub.
Eurnekian, described as a "hard-charging visionary" runs
one of the largest businesses in Argentina. He reportedly built a
$1 billion fortune in mass media in the 1990s. He has since expanded
into tourism and agriculture. In 1998, backed by U.S. and Italian
investors, his corporation won a thirty-year concession for most of
Argentina's airports, including its main international airport of
Ezeiza. With a pledge to invest a total of $2.2 billion in that airport
system, Eurnekian has succeeded in improving quality of service and
bolstered tourism. During Argentina's most recent financial crisis
in late 2001-early 2002, Eurnekian's corporation stayed afloat and
was one of the few major companies to avoid default on debts. |
| June 7-14 |
President Robert Kocharian this week
hailed the privatization of the Yerevan Brandy Plant (YBC) as a "successful
deal." France's Pernod Ricard bought the company for $30 million
in 1998. At the time, the deal was criticized as disadvantageous for
the country. Since the acquisition, the company has fixed its finances,
improved the quality of brandy and found new markets. Its production
volume has grown steadily and the YBC president Pierre Larretche expects
it to reach pre-privatization levels this year. In 2001 the company
contributed $2.7 million in taxes and other fees to the state budget.
YBC employs 480 people and provides stable income for some 3,000 families
in Armenia's grape-growing regions. |
| June 14-28 |
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian reiterated
this week Armenia's call for establishment of normal bilateral relations
with Turkey without preconditions. He was speaking at the Economic
and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), a leading Turkish think tank,
at the end of a three-day visit to Istanbul. The visit, described
as "historic" by the Turkish press, focused on bilateral talks with
Oskanian's Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem and the work of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) summit. The Armenian-Turkish talks
produced no apparent breakthroughs, but both sides described them
as "positive" and pledged to continue meeting. However, Oskanian predicted
that establishment of relations "is going to be a long processİ with
numerous hurdles."
Speaking at TESEV, Oskanian said that "it was not too soon for [Turkey
and Azerbaijan] to realize that the last decade's politics of pressure,
discrimination and blockades have not achieved their intended goals."
He was referring to the blockades imposed by the two countries against
Armenia in the early 1990s and Turkish assistance in Azerbaijan's
military effort in Nagorno Karabakh. He added that, in spite of Azerbaijan's
hopes to the contrary, Armenia is far from being on the verge of economic
collapse or capitulation on the Karabakh issue. Oskanian went on to
say that Azerbaijan has so far succeeded only in making Armenian-Turkish
relations a hostage of its own misguided policies.
This week, Turkey's Cem publicly reassured Azerbaijani President Heydar
Aliyev, who was also visiting Istanbul, that Armenia-Turkish relations
will not be normalized until a Karabakh settlement is achieved. Aliyev
expressed confidence that "no third country can damage Azerbaijani-Turkish
relations."
Turning to the impact of the Armenian Genocide on bilateral relations,
the Armenian Foreign Minister welcomed the noticeable changes in Turkish
public attitudes towards the issue that has for so long been held
as taboo in Turkey. He urged "solid steps to seriously address challenges
borne out of historically rooted conflicts." At the same time, Oskanian
said that normalization of ties cannot wait for Turkey's recognition
of the Genocide.
Meanwhile, former advisor to the ex-President of Turkey Suleiman Demirel
Ilnur Cevik said that Turkey must establish relations with Armenia
in order to avoid being further drawn into the Karabakh conflict on
the side of Azerbaijan. Cevik, who is the Editor-in-Chief of the Turkish
Daily News, was speaking with a group of Armenian journalists visiting
Ankara last week. The visit was part of the ongoing Track Two efforts
between the two neighboring countries, which have in recent days also
included contacts between members of parliaments, women's groups,
intellectuals and businessmen.
Cevik further argued that establishment of economic relations with
Turkey would decrease the influence of the Diaspora over Armenia,
implying that the former is the driving force behind the international
efforts to affirm the Armenian Genocide. He also criticized Turkish
foreign policy as "always trailing after the events." He expressed
particular anxiety that improvements in U.S.-Russian relations decrease
the value of Turkey as a U.S. ally. |
| June 14-28 |
Azerbaijan's demand for control over
the Armenian southern-most Meghri district is now the main stumbling
block in the Karabakh peace process, an anonymous senior source close
to the negotiating process told Radio Liberty this week. According
to the source, Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev agreed to recognize
Armenian control over Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin during talks with
President Robert Kocharian in France and the United States over a
year ago. In exchange, Karabakh Armenian forces were to withdraw from
districts they hold south and east of Nagorno Karabakh. According
to the alleged agreement, known as the "Paris Principles," Azerbaijan
would also get unfettered access via Meghri, which would remain a
sovereign Armenian territory.
However, Aliyev toughened his position shortly after he reportedly
shared the content of the "Paris principles" with Turkish leaders
in March 2001. Since then Aliyev has made acquiescence to the reunification
of Armenia and Karabakh conditional on Azerbaijani sovereignty over
Meghri. That would give Azerbaijan a direct ground route to Nakhichevan
and from there to Turkey. The Armenian Government has categorically
rejected this new demand. This week, an indication of Meghri's strategic
importance, Armenia's Defense Minister Serge Sargsian told an Armenian
daily that the Armenian town can not be traded even for a "half of
Azerbaijan." Speaking to a local television station NKR President
Arkady Ghoukasian also expressed strong opposition to a "settlement
of the Karabakh conflict at Armenia's expense."
The latest spate of revelations about the content of what were until
recently secret negotiations came after Aliyev publicly violated their
confidentiality two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the two Presidents' envoys
on Karabakh are reportedly planning to meet again some time next month. |
| June 14-28 |
A senior NATO officer this week praised
two dozen Armenian soldiers and officers for their performance in
the "Cooperative Best Effort - 2002" exercises under the NATO Partnership
for Peace (PfP) program. The officer, a Turkish four-star General,
Oktar Ataman, is the commander of the Izmir-based NATO's Joint Headquarters
Southeast, which oversaw the exercises. The Armenian unit joined hundreds
of other troops from six NATO and eight partner countries in two-week
exercises held at the former Russian military base in Vaziani, Georgia.
In the first joint exercises with Turkish and Azerbaijan forces, the
troops from a recently established Armenian peacekeeping detachment
practiced patrolling, organizing checkpoints and crowd control.
Armenia's Deputy Defense Minister General Artur Aghabekian, who joined
the troops in the final days of the exercises, said Armenia attached
great significance to cooperation under the PfP program. He called
Armenia's participation in the Georgia exercises a step towards closer
Armenia-NATO relations. Armenia is planning to host similar exercises
next year and may deploy peacekeeping forces abroad in the near future. |
| June 14-28 |
President Robert Kocharian paid first-ever
official visits to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia this week for talks
with the countries' leaders. While in Lithuania's capital of Vilnius,
Kocharian said that Armenia was interested in studying the experience
of democratic and economic reforms in the Baltic States and integration
with the European Union (EU). The three former republics of the ex-USSR
have been most successful in reforms and are currently candidates
for EU membership. Kocharian also expressed "understanding" for the
countries' drive to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
something that Russia has long opposed.
As part of the tour, Kocharian visited several Baltic Sea ports and
discussed ways to strengthen commercial links with the three countries.
Kocharian also signed an agreement on military cooperation with Lithuania.
(In the past, both countries served as important centers for the former
Soviet military electronics industry.) Armenia together with Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania stood at the forefront of the Soviet reform movement
in the late 1980s - early 1990s. |
| June 14-28 |
Armenia's Defense Minister Serge Sargsian
this week denied media speculation that he may not support incumbent
President Robert Kocharian's reelection bid next year. Sargsian said
by spreading such rumors, the opposition groups were in fact trying
to drive a wedge between Kocharian and him and generally weaken the
pro-presidential camp. "It is ruled out that I could ever take
any step against President Robert Kocharian," he said. While
acknowledging that he may not always agree with the President's views,
he said nothing could shatter their 20-year friendship, tested by
the Karabakh war. |
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