The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear frends! Arminfo news agency inform Politics 2007-10-05 17:50:00 Prosperous Armenia Party comes out against withdrawal of Article 301 from Armenian Criminal Code ArmInfo. The Prosperous Armenia Party doesn't support the draft law "On amending the Criminal Code of Armenia", which stipulates withdrawal of Article 301 (calls of forced overthrow of the constitutional system in Armenia) from the Criminal Code of Armenia. To recall, the draft law was submitted for consideration of the Armenian parliament in September by Heritage Party member Zaruhi Postanjyan. Aram Safaryan, a member of the parliamentary faction of Prosperous Armenia, said at the Oct 5 press- conference at Pastark club that it is wrong to withdraw this article only to "help some veterans of the Karabakh war", namely Zhirayr Sefilyan, the leader of the Union of Armenian Volunteers, and his companion-in-arms Vardan Malkhasyan. They were arrested on Dec 9, 2007, on the suspicion of calls of forced overthrow of the constitutional system in Armenia. "My opinion is that there are no political prisoners in Armenia," the MP said. 2007-10-05 14:54:00 It is not ruled out that certain circles in the West are behind the first Armenian president, member of the RPA faction thinks ArmInfo. It is not ruled out that certain circles in the West are behind the first Armenian president, member of the RPA parliamentary faction Mkrtych Minasyan told journalists in Urbat club, Friday. He also added that Levon Ter-Petrosyan's speech on 21 September was just a desire to come back to the big politics. But one should not forget that the interests of superpowers come across each other in Armenia, for this reason such a politician as Ter-Petrosyan cannot but cause interest of certain circles i9n the West. He does not think that Ter-Petrosyan's decision to run for president depends on Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan's visits in abroad. But one should never say never in the politics, he emphasized. 2007-10-05 14:30:00 DPA leader: It is hurtfully to think that Armenian people have forgotten their yesterday or they choose the least of two evils ArmInfo. Leader of the Democratic party of Armenia Aram Sargsyan considers the recent meeting of ex-President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan with representatives of ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" strange, he expressed his opinion at today's press-conference in "Tesaket" club. "The situation is strange enough and unexpected for me. No one knows what they discussed during a 40-minute meeting", DPA leader said and added that in view of absence of specific information, different assumptions can be made. A. Sargsyan hypothecate that it is profitable for ARFD not to remember "the problems of the past years", while it is profitable for ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan "to forget" his own deeds (with respect to this party- ed.). Asked about possibility of creation of an election bloc between ARFD and the Armenian National Movement party, A. Sargsyan replied: "I rule out nothing". As for possibility of L. Ter-Petrosyan's participation in the forthcoming presidential election, A. Sargsyan recalled that the "issue of nomination of the ex-president's candidacy is still unclear despite the attempts of Ter-Petrosyan's relationship to reanimate him as a political figure". "My attitude to his personality and his organization is well-known. The people elected him, indeed, in 1991, and this is a fact. However, if he enters the political arena today, he can receive the voices only. The people's attitude towards him is also well-known. It is hurtfully to think that the Armenian people have forgotten their yesterday or they choose the least of two evils", Aram Sargsyan said. 2007-10-05 14:12:00 Leader of Democratic Party of Armenia: they are negotiating but there is no result ArmInfo. The Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is one of the most important issues of Armenian foreign policy. But although they are negotiating, there is no success except the one reached in 1994, the leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia Aram Sarkisyan said at the press-conference, Friday. At the same time Sarkisyan thinks that unlike Armenia the people of Nagornyy Karabakh managed establishing inner stability in their republic and gaining security as a result. In this sense the NKR is in more favourable state than Armenia, Aram Sarkisyan said. Touching on the Karabakh talks, he pointed at two mistakes of the Armenian diplomacy. The first is that the NKR does not take part in the talks. The second is that the Armenian party unlike the Azerbaijani one does not hold agressive propaganda. 'The world needs information about the Karabakh conflict. We should always voice our position. But it turns out that private persons fulfill obligations of the state', - Sarkisyan said. He also added that no principle of the document on Karabakh settlement is in line with the interests of the Armenian party. 'What do those principles suppose? Returning of territories, returning of Azerbaijani refugees to the places of their former residence. And there is no word about the Armenian refugees. They also suppose peace-makers, behind which Azerbaijan will be able to arm better. Incidentally Azerbaijan is not going to recognize independence of Nagornyy Karabakh!', - Aram Sarkisyan concluded pessimistically. 2007-10-05 14:07:00 Special Representative of Eroparliament offers to replace France in OSCE MG by European Union ArmInfo. Special Representative of the European Parliament on South Caucasus Isler Beguin offers to replace France in OSCE Minsk Group by the European Union, he said during hearings on South Caucasus in the Europarliament's Committee on Foreign Relations, the "Trend" reports. "The European Union should participate more closely in settlement of conflicts in the South Caucasus. This concerns Nagorno Karabakh conflict as well", Beguin said. "I am French, however, I think that the mandate of France in Minsk Group should be passed to the European Union", Beguin said. He thinks that EU, thus, will be able to regulate the conflict at a high level. He also paid attention to the fact that the Turkish-Armenian border is closed. According to him, this is a factor which deepens the problem. Special Representative of the European Parliament on Nagorno Karabakh conflict Lydia Paulfer expressed concern over two issues. "Armenia remained aside of Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline and other regional projects. This circumstance may lead to the country's instability in a long-term perspective. Moreover, extension of Azerbaijan's military budget will tense the situation in the region", L. Paulfer said. As deputy Chairman of the Europarliament on South Caucasus, Slovakian parliamentarian Duka-Zolyomi said, each conflict is specific and requires an individual approach. He thinks that Russia, in many cases, plays a role of a power which destabilizes the situation in the region. It was also noted that Kosovo cannot become a precedent for other conflicts. Deputy of the Europarliament from German socialists Vural Oger blamed Armenia for occupation of Nagorno Karabakh and its adjacent regions. He demanded of EU to take an unambiguous position. "Azerbaijan is important for Europe in the energy policy and this is limited not only to availability of energy resources", Oger said. 2007-10-05 13:55:00 Speaker of the Armenian parliament: there is no state in Europe where human rights where broken at least once ArmInfo. 'There is no state in Europe where human rights where broken at least once', - speaker of the Armenian parliament Tigran Torosyan said at the two-day international conference 'The role of the Constitutional Court and Human Rights Defender in human rights protection issues' opened in Yerevan today. The conference is organized by the joint efforts of Constitutional Court of Armenia, Armenian Ombudsman office and the European Commission 'Democracy via law'. Representatives of constitutional courts of more than 30 European states are taking part in the conference. President of the European Court on Human rights Jean-Paul Costa and Secretary General of Venice Commission of the Council of Europe Gianni Buquicchio made a greeting speech at the conference. Tigran Torosyan emphasized that after making amendments to the Armenian Constitution ordinary citizens of Armenia gained an opportunity to apply to the Constitutional Court. Just close parallel activity of the three structures - constitutional court, parliament and ombudsman office can effectively resolve the problem of ensuring and human rights protection, Torosyan said. To note, a scandal happened at the beginning of the conference, as its organizers did not take the number of the participants into account, as a result of which not only journalists but also deputy Russian ambassador to Armenia could not get earphones and listen to translations. The latter was loudly expressing his indignation until getting earphones. As for the journalists, the majority of them relied on their knowledge of foreign languages. Economy 2007-10-05 17:19:00 Armenian Trade and Economy minister supports exploiting project of Tekhut cooper-molybdenum deposit ArmInfo. Armenian Trade and Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan thinks that it would be correct to start exploiting of Tekhut cooper-molybdenum deposit on the north of Armenia, than to froze that under the pressure of Green Peace, he said today when meeting students and teachers of Yerevan State Economy University. He also added that natural resources of the country should not remain under the ground. At present specialists analyze the project so that not to damage ecology much in case of its fulfillment. The minister said that today three serious investors declared about construction of high technological smelting plants in Armenia. Such plants construction will make possible implementing of deeper processing of metal in Armenia and getting higher technological production, he said. To recall, Russian VTB is ready to give $200 mln credit to the Armenian Copper Progamme (ACP) to prepare Tekhut cooper-molybdenum deposit for exploitation. Finance and banks 2007-10-05 18:30:00 Central Bank of Armenia registers a branch of Araratbank in Tsaghkadzor ArmInfo. The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has registered a branch of the Araratbank in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor. The CBA press-service told ArmInfo that this decision was taken by the CBA chairman on October 2. ArmInfo was told in the Araratbank that now the bank has 7 branches, 4 of them in Yerevan, the rest - in Tsaghkadzor, Gyumri, and Nagorno-Karabakh. By the end of 2007, a branch will be opened in Davidashen district of Yerevan, and two regional branches - in Abovyan and Echmiadzin. To note, one of the Araratbank's branches is the only specialized Western Union branch in Armenia. The bank is expanding its relations with the Western Union company to acquire the first level partner status. In this connection, possible creation of a network of branches specializing in transfers under the Western Union system is being currently considered. 2007-10-05 17:25:00 On October 3 the volume of currency transactions in Interbank Market made up $350 thsd at the average exchange rate of 333,01 AMD/1 EUR ArmInfo. On October 3, the volume of transactions in the Interbank currency market made up $350 thsd (116.554 mln AMD), this index being 1.4 times as high as during the previous trading day on October 2 (83.450 mln AMD). According to the data given to ArmInfo by the commercial banks, during this period the USD average exchange rate fell by 0,2 percentage points to 333,01 AMD/1USD. The currency transactions on the floor made up $2.900 mln (964.905 mln AMD), which is 8,3 times as much as the same index of the Interbank market. The USD average weighted rate in the exchange market made up 332,73 AMD/$1. 2007-10-05 14:06:00 Exchange rate of dram against US dollar and EUR ArmInfo Today, the maximum buying rates at commercial banks of Yerevan were 333 drams for 1 dollar, 466 drams for 1 EUR and 13,15 drams for 1 Russian ruble. The minimum selling rates stood at 333 drams for 1 dollar, 472 drams for 1 EUR and 13,38 drams for 1 Russian ruble. Culture 2007-10-05 17:51:00 Exhibition entitled 'Armenian landscapes in modern art and architecture' held in Zurich ArmInfo. An exhibition entitled "Armenian landscapes in modern art and architecture" has been opened in the EWZ showroom in Zurich. It is organized by the Armenian Embassy in Switzerland in close collaboration with Zurich City Hall. The Armenian Foreign Ministry's press-service reports that the exhibition is dedicated to modern Armenian art and architecture. This is not the first exhibition organized by the Armenian Embassy to present the rich cultural heritage of Armenia to the Swiss public. No information from Site can be used without prior permission of ARMINFO http://www.arminfo.am -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=media.arminfo&email=e@mail http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com