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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Armenian-American Groups In Last-Ditch Push For Genocide Recognition
U.S. -- A US flag is displayed in front of the Capitol during a Flag
Ceremony hosted by the Tea Party Patriots in Washington, DC, 02Nov2010
22.12.2010
Emil Danielyan
Armenian-American advocacy groups were making last-ditch attempts to
push a resolution recognizing the 1915 Armenian massacres in Ottoman
Turkey as genocide through the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, despite what
appeared to be slim chances of success.
Democratic leaders in Congress raised hopes last week that the outgoing
House of Representatives will pass the resolution, endorsed by its
Foreign Affairs Committee in March, before completing its tenure in
early January.
Contrary to some expectations, the House did not debate the bill opposed
by the White House on Tuesday, and chances of that happening on
Wednesday were uncertain. The agenda-setting House Rules Committee did
not schedule a vote on it as of Wednesday morning.
Aides to the House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a morning letter
to other Republican congressional offices that the chamber may still
consider the genocide resolution. However, one Armenian-American leader
told RFE/RL's Armenian service that it will take a "miracle" for the
vote to go ahead.
The renewed prospect of the resolution's passage set alarm bells ringing
in Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday that
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent a letter to U.S. President
Barack Obama asking him to prevent the vote and saying it could damage
ties between the two allies.
"We cannot allow the resolution to hang over Turkish-U.S. ties like a
Sword of Damocles," Davutoglu was reported to tell the Turkish parliament.
U.S. - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi leans in as U.S. President
Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Act at the White House in
Washington, 01Jul2010
According to "Hurriyet Daily News," Davutoglu discussed Ankara's
concerns with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week. The
English-language paper said Turkish officials have been heartened by the
Obama administration's opposition to the draft resolution that was
voiced by a State Department spokesman on Friday.
Despite repeated campaign promises given to the influential Armenian
community in the United States, Obama has refrained from publicly
describing the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire as genocide. He has said only that he has not changed his
views on the highly sensitive subject.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted on Tuesday that Obama has
not pressed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other pro-Armenian congressional
leaders to block the genocide bill. "I do not believe that the president
has made any calls specifically on this, and I think his views on this
are known," Gibbs told journalists.
The two leading Armenian-American lobby groups, meanwhile, stepped up
this week their efforts to push through the bill. One of them, the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), urged supporters to call
House majority leaders and demand its immediate passage.
"We continue to look to the House Democratic leadership to schedule a
vote allowing a bipartisan majority to adopt the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, honoring the victims of this crime and to paying tribute to
the proud legacy of America's humanitarian response to this atrocity,"
Aram Hamparian, the ANCA executive director, said in a statement on
Tuesday.
"In the face of the continued denial campaign by the pro-Turkish lobby,
including defense industry representatives, we continue to press for an
affirmative vote," Bryan Ardouny of the Armenian Assembly of America
said for his part.
The ANCA and the Assembly enjoyed the backing of at least 180 members of
the 435-strong House before this week. Armenian-American sources say
that support for the draft resolution among U.S. legislators began
growing on Monday and that its congressional backers outnumbered
opponents by a solid margin the next day.
But, they say, more than a hundred lawmakers, most of them sympathetic
to the pro-Armenian legislation, left Washington after a key budget vote
later on Tuesday, making the outcome of a possible resolution vote
highly unpredictable.
The Assembly is understood to be against putting the draft resolution to
a full House vote in these circumstances. Its leaders believe that a
defeat of the resolution would set the genocide recognition campaign
back by years.
U.S. -- House Republican leader John Boehner speaks during the National
Republican Congressional Committee Election Night Results Watch event in
Washington, DC, 02Nov2010
"With Christmas here on Saturday, so many congressmen having left DC
yesterday and many other pro-resolution members planning to leave
possibly before a vote today would be scheduled complicates a vote," a
senior Assembly representative told RFE/RL's Armenian service from
Washington.
"We still see a majority voting for passage, but nobody wants to take a
loss in a floor vote in these circumstances," he said. "The genocide
denial industry would like nothing better than defeating the resolution,
even in an unfair vote."
The last-minute Armenian-American push for genocide recognition
reflected the realization that the next, Republican-dominated House of
Representatives will be extremely unlikely to adopt such a measure.
Republicans have traditionally been less supportive of Armenian causes
than their Democratic rivals. And virtually all Republican members of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted against the current draft
resolution in March.
Boehner, who is expected to become the next House speaker in January,
opposed a similar bill in 2007. News reports quoted him as saying at the
time, "I think bringing this bill to the floor may be the most
irresponsible thing I've seen this new Congress do this year."
Opposition Party Raps Ter-Petrosian Bloc
Armenia -- Zharangutyun party leaders Ruben Hakobian (L) and Stepan
Safarian at a press conference in Yerevan, 24Aug2010
22.12.2010
Tigran Avetisian
The opposition Zharangutyun (Heritage) party took a swipe at former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian's Armenian National Congress (HAK) on
Wednesday, saying that it is seeking "hegemony" over other major
opposition forces through foul play.
Top Zharangutyun representatives drew parallels between the HAK's
political strategy and the ruling Republican Party's perceived attempts
to keep a tight rein over its junior partners in Armenia's governing
coalition.
"Being one of the most important opposition forces, the HAK is
essentially doing what we see in the government camp," said Ruben
Hakobian, the deputy chairman of the party led by former Foreign
Minister Raffi Hovannisian. He accused Ter-Petrosian's bloc of spreading
"slander" against Zharangutyun.
"The HAK says that Levon Ter-Petrosian is the only alternative to the
existing president, that the HAK must be the only hegemonic force in the
future parliament, and all those in the opposition camp that ... won't
operate under the HAK's tutelage are deemed beyond the opposition and
given labels. That could have very dangerous consequences," Hakobian
told a news conference.
Both Hakobian and Zharangutyun's parliamentary leader, Stepan Safarian,
said this will only make it easier for President Serzh Sarkisian and his
loyalists to retain control over Armenia's parliament in the election
due in May 2012.
"If things continue like this, the main pre-election conflict will be
not between the opposition and the authority but within the authority
and within the opposition," warned Safarian.
HAK spokesman Arman Musinian dismissed these claims as "totally
illogical." "Let the society assess the veracity of such statements," he
told RFE/RL's Armenian service.
Musinian said the Ter-Petrosian-led alliance bringing together 18 mostly
small opposition parties is ready to work together with any political
group sharing its goals. "If this elementary strategy is difficult to
understand, then I can only wish them a fruitful fight against that
monopolization [of opposition activity,]" he scoffed.
The verbal attacks are another indication of a deepening rift between
the two opposition forces. Zharangutyun backed Ter-Petrosian during the
2008 presidential race and the ensuing government crackdown on his
opposition movement. Relations between the party and the HAK have
substantially cooled since then.
In a July speech, Zharangutyun's top leader, Raffi Hovannisian, stated
that Ter-Petrosian, his presidential successor Robert Kocharian and
President Sarkisian share responsibility for Armenia's political and
socioeconomic problems. Hovannisian also did not rule out his
participation in the next presidential ballot due in 2013.
Armenian Foreign-Language School Bill Passed
Armenia -- MInister of Education Armen Ashotian faces a protest against
the foreign-language school bill outside parliament, Yerevan, 04Jun2010
22.12.2010
Karine Kalantarian
The National Assembly adopted in the final reading on Wednesday a
controversial government bill allowing the existence of a limited number
of foreign-language schools in Armenia.
The bill involving amendments to two Armenian laws met with fierce
resistance from opposition and civic groups as well as prominent public
figures after being unveiled by the government in May. Critics believe
that it would jeopardize Armenian's constitutionally guaranteed status
as the country's sole official language.
The outcry led the government to water down the proposed amendments
before pushing them through parliament in the first reading in June. In
particular, the government agreed to restrict to two the number of
foreign-language private schools that would be allowed to operate in the
country.
The altered bill also stipulates that up to nine foreign-language high
schools can be opened elsewhere in Armenia in accordance with
inter-governmental agreements signed on a case-by-case basis.
The changes failed to satisfy the critics, who have staged street
protests outside the parliament and government buildings in Yerevan.
They have vowed more protests and legal action against the bill.
"The law contains no threat to our national identity, the preservation
of the Armenian language or the development of our national school,"
Education Minister Armen Ashotian told RFE/RL's Armenian service after
the parliament wrapped up final debates on the issue on Tuesday.
Parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian said the government has addressed
critics' concerns and echoed government arguments that foreign-language
schools will help reverse a post-Soviet decline in educational
standards. "We will be more flexible in the organization of education,
more competitive and more receptive to the best international education
programs," Abrahamian said during the debates.
The two opposition parties represented in the 131-member legislature
remained adamant in rejecting the bill. "With this package, we are
clearing the way for the entry of [foreign] sects into our language
sphere as well," said Artsvik Minasian of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). "And this is a matter of national security."
All of the two dozen lawmakers affiliated with the Dashnaktsutyun and
Zharangutyun parties boycotted Wednesday's parliament vote on the bill.
But it was backed by 69 other deputies representing the parliament's
pro-government majority.
Armenia To Upgrade More Hospitals With World Bank Funding
Armenia -- A newly refurbished hospital in Goris, 22Dec2010.
22.12.2010
Emil Danielyan
The World Bank has approved a new $19 million loan for Armenia that will
be used for upgrading more hospitals and smaller medical centers outside
Yerevan.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the bank said the low-interest
loan will finance the second phase of an Armenian government program to
modernize underfunded and obsolete healthcare facilities across the
country. The government will contribute $6.3 million of its own
resources to the effort, it said.
The statement specified that the funding will be mainly spent on
building a new hospital in Gyumri and providing modern equipment to
hospitals in a dozen other Armenian towns. The money will also be used
for improving physical conditions of 14 rural ambulatories and
retraining their personnel, it said.
World Bank officials said the release of the fresh loan repayable in 25
years was made possible by the success of the first phase of the
healthcare project launched three years ago. The bank lent Armenia $22
million for that purpose in late 2007. The sum is due to be utilized in
full by the end 2012.
The Armenian government has already refurbished five regional hospitals
with World Bank funding over the past year. One of them, located in the
southeastern town of Goris, was inaugurated by President Serzh Sarkisian
and Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian on Wednesday. The government put
the total cost of the facility's modernization at about $3 million.
According to the World Bank statement, more than 150 rural health
centers have also received new medical equipment, furniture and other
necessary items as part of the scheme. "Under the World Bank project,
1200 family doctors and more than 1300 family nurses have been trained,"
it said.
"The process of modernization of hospitals in the regions has already
resulted in a consolidation of services, improvement in efficiency and
reduction of costs, better access to quality health care in five regions
of Armenia," Asad Alam, the World Bank director for the South Caucasus,
was quoted as saying.
The latest loan underlined the bank's status as Armenia's leading
external lender and, in particular, the main source of funding for badly
needed infrastructure projects. It raised to more than $1.4 billion the
total amount of loans disbursed to the country by the Washington-based
multilateral institution since 1993.
Press Review
22.12.2010
"Zhamanak" says most Armenians have no expectations of positive change
from the latest changes within their government. The paper says they
regard the high-profile sackings as being part of an "intra-government
squabble" that has no bearing on their day-to-day lives. But it believes
that the Armenian citizens should capitalize on President Serzh
Sarkisian's latest pledges to combat corruption and tackle injustice in
order to "enhance their significance as a factor of influence on the
domestic political life."
"Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun" notes that no government official has stated
that any of those sackings had something to do with corruption. This is
so, it says, because "corruption is a felony that requires a criminal
case." "If those [sacked] people are corrupt, where is a court ruling?
If they are not, then on what front is Serzh Sarkisian fighting against
corruption?" asks the opposition paper.
In an interview with "Hraparak," the national police chief, Alik
Sargsian, dismisses as "slander" speculation about his impending
sacking. "I don't think that I will be dismissed at this point," he
says. "There has never been such talk. I visited the president of the
republic several days ago. I received normal treatment, normal
instructions that are not connected with one or two days, that are
connected with the coming months and even year." Sargsian also says that
he will not agree to take up a less high-ranking government position in
case of his dismissal.
"Aravot" reports that the European Court of Human Rights is close to
accepting an appeal from Mushegh Saghatelian, an Armenian opposition
figure who was jailed in 2008 and released on parole last month. His
lawyer, Vahe Grigorian, is quoted as saying that the Strasbourg court
has sent written inquiries to the Armenian government regarding
Saghatelian's suit.
"In the Armenian market, small and medium-sized companies and individual
entrepreneurs carry the biggest tax burden," writes "Kapital." "Such a
conclusion is contained in a tax study conducted by the International
Finance Corporation." The business daily say the IFC called for specific
reforms that would "simplify the tax process and improve the overall
business environment in Armenia." "The corporation expects that its
study will help Armenia's government identify the areas that need to be
improved," it says.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
Reprinted on ANN/Groong with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
From: A. Papazian
Armenian-American Groups In Last-Ditch Push For Genocide Recognition
U.S. -- A US flag is displayed in front of the Capitol during a Flag
Ceremony hosted by the Tea Party Patriots in Washington, DC, 02Nov2010
22.12.2010
Emil Danielyan
Armenian-American advocacy groups were making last-ditch attempts to
push a resolution recognizing the 1915 Armenian massacres in Ottoman
Turkey as genocide through the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, despite what
appeared to be slim chances of success.
Democratic leaders in Congress raised hopes last week that the outgoing
House of Representatives will pass the resolution, endorsed by its
Foreign Affairs Committee in March, before completing its tenure in
early January.
Contrary to some expectations, the House did not debate the bill opposed
by the White House on Tuesday, and chances of that happening on
Wednesday were uncertain. The agenda-setting House Rules Committee did
not schedule a vote on it as of Wednesday morning.
Aides to the House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a morning letter
to other Republican congressional offices that the chamber may still
consider the genocide resolution. However, one Armenian-American leader
told RFE/RL's Armenian service that it will take a "miracle" for the
vote to go ahead.
The renewed prospect of the resolution's passage set alarm bells ringing
in Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday that
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent a letter to U.S. President
Barack Obama asking him to prevent the vote and saying it could damage
ties between the two allies.
"We cannot allow the resolution to hang over Turkish-U.S. ties like a
Sword of Damocles," Davutoglu was reported to tell the Turkish parliament.
U.S. - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi leans in as U.S. President
Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Act at the White House in
Washington, 01Jul2010
According to "Hurriyet Daily News," Davutoglu discussed Ankara's
concerns with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week. The
English-language paper said Turkish officials have been heartened by the
Obama administration's opposition to the draft resolution that was
voiced by a State Department spokesman on Friday.
Despite repeated campaign promises given to the influential Armenian
community in the United States, Obama has refrained from publicly
describing the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire as genocide. He has said only that he has not changed his
views on the highly sensitive subject.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted on Tuesday that Obama has
not pressed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other pro-Armenian congressional
leaders to block the genocide bill. "I do not believe that the president
has made any calls specifically on this, and I think his views on this
are known," Gibbs told journalists.
The two leading Armenian-American lobby groups, meanwhile, stepped up
this week their efforts to push through the bill. One of them, the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), urged supporters to call
House majority leaders and demand its immediate passage.
"We continue to look to the House Democratic leadership to schedule a
vote allowing a bipartisan majority to adopt the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, honoring the victims of this crime and to paying tribute to
the proud legacy of America's humanitarian response to this atrocity,"
Aram Hamparian, the ANCA executive director, said in a statement on
Tuesday.
"In the face of the continued denial campaign by the pro-Turkish lobby,
including defense industry representatives, we continue to press for an
affirmative vote," Bryan Ardouny of the Armenian Assembly of America
said for his part.
The ANCA and the Assembly enjoyed the backing of at least 180 members of
the 435-strong House before this week. Armenian-American sources say
that support for the draft resolution among U.S. legislators began
growing on Monday and that its congressional backers outnumbered
opponents by a solid margin the next day.
But, they say, more than a hundred lawmakers, most of them sympathetic
to the pro-Armenian legislation, left Washington after a key budget vote
later on Tuesday, making the outcome of a possible resolution vote
highly unpredictable.
The Assembly is understood to be against putting the draft resolution to
a full House vote in these circumstances. Its leaders believe that a
defeat of the resolution would set the genocide recognition campaign
back by years.
U.S. -- House Republican leader John Boehner speaks during the National
Republican Congressional Committee Election Night Results Watch event in
Washington, DC, 02Nov2010
"With Christmas here on Saturday, so many congressmen having left DC
yesterday and many other pro-resolution members planning to leave
possibly before a vote today would be scheduled complicates a vote," a
senior Assembly representative told RFE/RL's Armenian service from
Washington.
"We still see a majority voting for passage, but nobody wants to take a
loss in a floor vote in these circumstances," he said. "The genocide
denial industry would like nothing better than defeating the resolution,
even in an unfair vote."
The last-minute Armenian-American push for genocide recognition
reflected the realization that the next, Republican-dominated House of
Representatives will be extremely unlikely to adopt such a measure.
Republicans have traditionally been less supportive of Armenian causes
than their Democratic rivals. And virtually all Republican members of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted against the current draft
resolution in March.
Boehner, who is expected to become the next House speaker in January,
opposed a similar bill in 2007. News reports quoted him as saying at the
time, "I think bringing this bill to the floor may be the most
irresponsible thing I've seen this new Congress do this year."
Opposition Party Raps Ter-Petrosian Bloc
Armenia -- Zharangutyun party leaders Ruben Hakobian (L) and Stepan
Safarian at a press conference in Yerevan, 24Aug2010
22.12.2010
Tigran Avetisian
The opposition Zharangutyun (Heritage) party took a swipe at former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian's Armenian National Congress (HAK) on
Wednesday, saying that it is seeking "hegemony" over other major
opposition forces through foul play.
Top Zharangutyun representatives drew parallels between the HAK's
political strategy and the ruling Republican Party's perceived attempts
to keep a tight rein over its junior partners in Armenia's governing
coalition.
"Being one of the most important opposition forces, the HAK is
essentially doing what we see in the government camp," said Ruben
Hakobian, the deputy chairman of the party led by former Foreign
Minister Raffi Hovannisian. He accused Ter-Petrosian's bloc of spreading
"slander" against Zharangutyun.
"The HAK says that Levon Ter-Petrosian is the only alternative to the
existing president, that the HAK must be the only hegemonic force in the
future parliament, and all those in the opposition camp that ... won't
operate under the HAK's tutelage are deemed beyond the opposition and
given labels. That could have very dangerous consequences," Hakobian
told a news conference.
Both Hakobian and Zharangutyun's parliamentary leader, Stepan Safarian,
said this will only make it easier for President Serzh Sarkisian and his
loyalists to retain control over Armenia's parliament in the election
due in May 2012.
"If things continue like this, the main pre-election conflict will be
not between the opposition and the authority but within the authority
and within the opposition," warned Safarian.
HAK spokesman Arman Musinian dismissed these claims as "totally
illogical." "Let the society assess the veracity of such statements," he
told RFE/RL's Armenian service.
Musinian said the Ter-Petrosian-led alliance bringing together 18 mostly
small opposition parties is ready to work together with any political
group sharing its goals. "If this elementary strategy is difficult to
understand, then I can only wish them a fruitful fight against that
monopolization [of opposition activity,]" he scoffed.
The verbal attacks are another indication of a deepening rift between
the two opposition forces. Zharangutyun backed Ter-Petrosian during the
2008 presidential race and the ensuing government crackdown on his
opposition movement. Relations between the party and the HAK have
substantially cooled since then.
In a July speech, Zharangutyun's top leader, Raffi Hovannisian, stated
that Ter-Petrosian, his presidential successor Robert Kocharian and
President Sarkisian share responsibility for Armenia's political and
socioeconomic problems. Hovannisian also did not rule out his
participation in the next presidential ballot due in 2013.
Armenian Foreign-Language School Bill Passed
Armenia -- MInister of Education Armen Ashotian faces a protest against
the foreign-language school bill outside parliament, Yerevan, 04Jun2010
22.12.2010
Karine Kalantarian
The National Assembly adopted in the final reading on Wednesday a
controversial government bill allowing the existence of a limited number
of foreign-language schools in Armenia.
The bill involving amendments to two Armenian laws met with fierce
resistance from opposition and civic groups as well as prominent public
figures after being unveiled by the government in May. Critics believe
that it would jeopardize Armenian's constitutionally guaranteed status
as the country's sole official language.
The outcry led the government to water down the proposed amendments
before pushing them through parliament in the first reading in June. In
particular, the government agreed to restrict to two the number of
foreign-language private schools that would be allowed to operate in the
country.
The altered bill also stipulates that up to nine foreign-language high
schools can be opened elsewhere in Armenia in accordance with
inter-governmental agreements signed on a case-by-case basis.
The changes failed to satisfy the critics, who have staged street
protests outside the parliament and government buildings in Yerevan.
They have vowed more protests and legal action against the bill.
"The law contains no threat to our national identity, the preservation
of the Armenian language or the development of our national school,"
Education Minister Armen Ashotian told RFE/RL's Armenian service after
the parliament wrapped up final debates on the issue on Tuesday.
Parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian said the government has addressed
critics' concerns and echoed government arguments that foreign-language
schools will help reverse a post-Soviet decline in educational
standards. "We will be more flexible in the organization of education,
more competitive and more receptive to the best international education
programs," Abrahamian said during the debates.
The two opposition parties represented in the 131-member legislature
remained adamant in rejecting the bill. "With this package, we are
clearing the way for the entry of [foreign] sects into our language
sphere as well," said Artsvik Minasian of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). "And this is a matter of national security."
All of the two dozen lawmakers affiliated with the Dashnaktsutyun and
Zharangutyun parties boycotted Wednesday's parliament vote on the bill.
But it was backed by 69 other deputies representing the parliament's
pro-government majority.
Armenia To Upgrade More Hospitals With World Bank Funding
Armenia -- A newly refurbished hospital in Goris, 22Dec2010.
22.12.2010
Emil Danielyan
The World Bank has approved a new $19 million loan for Armenia that will
be used for upgrading more hospitals and smaller medical centers outside
Yerevan.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the bank said the low-interest
loan will finance the second phase of an Armenian government program to
modernize underfunded and obsolete healthcare facilities across the
country. The government will contribute $6.3 million of its own
resources to the effort, it said.
The statement specified that the funding will be mainly spent on
building a new hospital in Gyumri and providing modern equipment to
hospitals in a dozen other Armenian towns. The money will also be used
for improving physical conditions of 14 rural ambulatories and
retraining their personnel, it said.
World Bank officials said the release of the fresh loan repayable in 25
years was made possible by the success of the first phase of the
healthcare project launched three years ago. The bank lent Armenia $22
million for that purpose in late 2007. The sum is due to be utilized in
full by the end 2012.
The Armenian government has already refurbished five regional hospitals
with World Bank funding over the past year. One of them, located in the
southeastern town of Goris, was inaugurated by President Serzh Sarkisian
and Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian on Wednesday. The government put
the total cost of the facility's modernization at about $3 million.
According to the World Bank statement, more than 150 rural health
centers have also received new medical equipment, furniture and other
necessary items as part of the scheme. "Under the World Bank project,
1200 family doctors and more than 1300 family nurses have been trained,"
it said.
"The process of modernization of hospitals in the regions has already
resulted in a consolidation of services, improvement in efficiency and
reduction of costs, better access to quality health care in five regions
of Armenia," Asad Alam, the World Bank director for the South Caucasus,
was quoted as saying.
The latest loan underlined the bank's status as Armenia's leading
external lender and, in particular, the main source of funding for badly
needed infrastructure projects. It raised to more than $1.4 billion the
total amount of loans disbursed to the country by the Washington-based
multilateral institution since 1993.
Press Review
22.12.2010
"Zhamanak" says most Armenians have no expectations of positive change
from the latest changes within their government. The paper says they
regard the high-profile sackings as being part of an "intra-government
squabble" that has no bearing on their day-to-day lives. But it believes
that the Armenian citizens should capitalize on President Serzh
Sarkisian's latest pledges to combat corruption and tackle injustice in
order to "enhance their significance as a factor of influence on the
domestic political life."
"Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun" notes that no government official has stated
that any of those sackings had something to do with corruption. This is
so, it says, because "corruption is a felony that requires a criminal
case." "If those [sacked] people are corrupt, where is a court ruling?
If they are not, then on what front is Serzh Sarkisian fighting against
corruption?" asks the opposition paper.
In an interview with "Hraparak," the national police chief, Alik
Sargsian, dismisses as "slander" speculation about his impending
sacking. "I don't think that I will be dismissed at this point," he
says. "There has never been such talk. I visited the president of the
republic several days ago. I received normal treatment, normal
instructions that are not connected with one or two days, that are
connected with the coming months and even year." Sargsian also says that
he will not agree to take up a less high-ranking government position in
case of his dismissal.
"Aravot" reports that the European Court of Human Rights is close to
accepting an appeal from Mushegh Saghatelian, an Armenian opposition
figure who was jailed in 2008 and released on parole last month. His
lawyer, Vahe Grigorian, is quoted as saying that the Strasbourg court
has sent written inquiries to the Armenian government regarding
Saghatelian's suit.
"In the Armenian market, small and medium-sized companies and individual
entrepreneurs carry the biggest tax burden," writes "Kapital." "Such a
conclusion is contained in a tax study conducted by the International
Finance Corporation." The business daily say the IFC called for specific
reforms that would "simplify the tax process and improve the overall
business environment in Armenia." "The corporation expects that its
study will help Armenia's government identify the areas that need to be
improved," it says.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
Reprinted on ANN/Groong with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
From: A. Papazian