CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `role` (
  `rid` int(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT 'Primary Key: Unique role ID.',
  `name` varchar(64) CHARACTER SET latin1 NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT 'Unique role name.',
  `weight` int(11) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' COMMENT 'The weight of this role in listings and the user interface.',
  PRIMARY KEY (`rid`),
  UNIQUE KEY `name` (`name`),
  KEY `name_weight` (`name`,`weight`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=6 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COMMENT='Stores user roles.';

--
-- Дамп данных таблицы `role`
--

INSERT INTO `role` (`rid`, `name`, `weight`) VALUES
(3, 'administrator', 2),
(1, 'anonymous user', 0),
(2, 'authenticated user', 1),
(4, 'editor', 3),
(5, 'staff', 2);

-- --------------------------------------------------------

--
-- Структура таблицы `role_permission`
--

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `role_permission` (
  `rid` int(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL COMMENT 'Foreign Key: role.rid.',
  `permission` varchar(128) CHARACTER SET latin1 NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT 'A single permission granted to the role identified by rid.',
  `module` varchar(255) CHARACTER SET latin1 NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT 'The module declaring the permission.',
  PRIMARY KEY (`rid`,`permission`),
  KEY `permission` (`permission`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COMMENT='Stores the permissions assigned to user roles.';

--
-- Дамп данных таблицы `role_permission`
--

INSERT INTO `role_permission` (`rid`, `permission`, `module`) VALUES
(1, 'access content', 'node'),
(1, 'diff view changes', 'diff'),
(1, 'search content', 'search'),
(1, 'use text format filtered_html', 'filter'),
(1, 'view addthis', 'addthis'),
(1, 'view date repeats', 'date'),
(1, 'view files', 'file_entity'),
(1, 'vote on polls', 'poll'),
(2, 'access content', 'node'),
(2, 'access own webform results', 'webform'),
(2, 'access own webform submissions', 'webform'),
(2, 'cancel own vote', 'poll'),
(2, 'diff view changes', 'diff'),
(2, 'inspect all votes', 'poll'),
(2, 'search content', 'search'),
(2, 'subscribe to comments', 'comment_notify'),
(2, 'use text format filtered_html', 'filter'),
(2, 'view addthis', 'addthis'),
(2, 'view date repeats', 'date'),
(2, 'view files', 'file_entity'),
(2, 'vote on polls', 'poll'),
(3, 'access administration pages', 'system'),
(3, 'access all views', 'views'),
(3, 'access all webform results', 'webform'),
(3, 'access content', 'node'),
(3, 'access content overview', 'node'),
(3, 'access contextual links', 'contextual'),
(3, 'access dashboard', 'dashboard'),
(3, 'access library reports', 'libraries'),
(3, 'access news feeds', 'aggregator'),
(3, 'access overlay', 'overlay'),
(3, 'access own webform results', 'webform'),
(3, 'access own webform submissions', 'webform'),
(3, 'access site in maintenance mode', 'system'),
(3, 'access site reports', 'system'),
(3, 'access statistics', 'statistics'),
(3, 'access toolbar', 'toolbar'),
(3, 'access user profiles', 'user'),
(3, 'add media from remote sources', 'media_internet'),
(3, 'administer actions', 'system'),
(3, 'administer addthis', 'addthis'),
(3, 'administer advanced pane settings', 'panels'),
(3, 'administer apps', 'apps'),
(3, 'administer blocks', 'block'),
(3, 'administer boxes', 'boxes'),
(3, 'administer CAPTCHA settings', 'captcha'),
(3, 'administer comment notify', 'comment_notify'),
(3, 'administer comments', 'comment'),
(3, 'administer content types', 'node'),
(3, 'administer delta', 'delta_ui'),
(3, 'administer delta blocks', 'delta_blocks'),
(3, 'administer features', 'features'),
(3, 'administer fieldgroups', 'field_group'),
(3, 'administer fields', 'field'),
(3, 'administer files', 'file_entity'),
(3, 'administer filters', 'filter'),
(3, 'administer follow', 'follow'),
(3, 'administer google analytics', 'googleanalytics'),
(3, 'administer image styles', 'image'),
(3, 'administer imce', 'imce'),
(3, 'administer menu', 'menu'),
(3, 'administer modules', 'system'),
(3, 'administer news feeds', 'aggregator'),
(3, 'administer nodequeue', 'nodequeue'),
(3, 'administer nodes', 'node'),
(3, 'administer page manager', 'page_manager'),
(3, 'administer pane access', 'panels'),
(3, 'administer panels layouts', 'panels'),
(3, 'administer password policies', 'password_policy'),
(3, 'administer pathauto', 'pathauto'),
(3, 'administer permissions', 'user'),
(3, 'administer recaptcha', 'recaptcha'),
(3, 'administer search', 'search'),
(3, 'administer shortcuts', 'shortcut'),
(3, 'administer site configuration', 'system'),
(3, 'administer software updates', 'system'),
(3, 'administer statistics', 'statistics'),
(3, 'administer taxonomy', 'taxonomy'),
(3, 'administer themes', 'system'),
(3, 'administer url aliases', 'path'),
(3, 'administer users', 'user'),
(3, 'administer views', 'views'),
(3, 'administer xmlsitemap', 'xmlsitemap'),
(3, 'block IP addresses', 'system'),
(3, 'bypass node access', 'node'),
(3, 'cancel account', 'user'),
(3, 'cancel own vote', 'poll'),
(3, 'change follow link titles', 'follow'),
(3, 'change own username', 'user'),
(3, 'create blog_entry content', 'node'),
(3, 'create document content', 'node'),
(3, 'create editors_choice content', 'node'),
(3, 'create home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(3, 'create media_gallery content', 'node'),
(3, 'create photo content', 'node'),
(3, 'create press_release content', 'node'),
(3, 'create profile content', 'node'),
(3, 'create resource content', 'node'),
(3, 'create services content', 'node'),
(3, 'create site_page content', 'node'),
(3, 'create url aliases', 'path'),
(3, 'create webform content', 'node'),
(3, 'customize shortcut links', 'shortcut'),
(3, 'delete all webform submissions', 'webform'),
(3, 'delete any blog_entry content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any document content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any editors_choice content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any media_gallery content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any photo content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any press_release content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any profile content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any resource content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any services content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any site_page content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete any webform content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own blog_entry content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own document content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own editors_choice content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own media_gallery content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own photo content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own press_release content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own profile content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own resource content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own services content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own site_page content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own webform content', 'node'),
(3, 'delete own webform submissions', 'webform'),
(3, 'delete revisions', 'node'),
(3, 'edit all webform submissions', 'webform'),
(3, 'edit any audio files', 'file_entity'),
(3, 'edit any blog_entry content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any document content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any document files', 'file_entity'),
(3, 'edit any editors_choice content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any image files', 'file_entity'),
(3, 'edit any media_gallery content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any photo content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any press_release content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any profile content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any resource content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any services content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any site_page content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit any user follow links', 'follow'),
(3, 'edit any video files', 'file_entity'),
(3, 'edit any webform content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit boxes', 'boxes'),
(3, 'edit own blog_entry content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own document content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own editors_choice content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own follow links', 'follow'),
(3, 'edit own home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own media_gallery content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own photo content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own press_release content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own profile content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own resource content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own services content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own site_page content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own webform content', 'node'),
(3, 'edit own webform submissions', 'webform'),
(3, 'edit site follow links', 'follow'),
(3, 'force password change', 'password_policy'),
(3, 'import media', 'media'),
(3, 'inspect all votes', 'poll'),
(3, 'manage features', 'features'),
(3, 'manipulate all queues', 'nodequeue'),
(3, 'manipulate queues', 'nodequeue'),
(3, 'notify of path changes', 'pathauto'),
(3, 'opt-in or out of tracking', 'googleanalytics'),
(3, 'revert revisions', 'node'),
(3, 'search content', 'search'),
(3, 'select account cancellation method', 'user'),
(3, 'skip CAPTCHA', 'captcha'),
(3, 'subscribe to comments', 'comment_notify'),
(3, 'switch shortcut sets', 'shortcut'),
(3, 'unblock expired accounts', 'password_policy'),
(3, 'use advanced search', 'search'),
(3, 'use context field editor', 'context_field'),
(3, 'use entity autocomplete', 'entity_autocomplete'),
(3, 'use media wysiwyg', 'media_wysiwyg'),
(3, 'use page manager', 'page_manager'),
(3, 'use panels caching features', 'panels'),
(3, 'use panels dashboard', 'panels'),
(3, 'use panels in place editing', 'panels'),
(3, 'use PHP for settings', 'php'),
(3, 'use PHP for tracking visibility', 'googleanalytics'),
(3, 'use text format filtered_html', 'filter'),
(3, 'use text format full_html', 'filter'),
(3, 'view addthis', 'addthis'),
(3, 'view date repeats', 'date'),
(3, 'view files', 'file_entity'),
(3, 'view own unpublished content', 'node'),
(3, 'view pane admin links', 'panels'),
(3, 'view post access counter', 'statistics'),
(3, 'view revisions', 'node'),
(3, 'view the administration theme', 'system'),
(3, 'vote on polls', 'poll'),
(4, 'access administration pages', 'system'),
(4, 'access all webform results', 'webform'),
(4, 'access content overview', 'node'),
(4, 'access dashboard', 'dashboard'),
(4, 'access library reports', 'libraries'),
(4, 'access overlay', 'overlay'),
(4, 'access own webform results', 'webform'),
(4, 'access own webform submissions', 'webform'),
(4, 'access site reports', 'system'),
(4, 'access statistics', 'statistics'),
(4, 'access toolbar', 'toolbar'),
(4, 'administer addthis', 'addthis'),
(4, 'administer blocks', 'block'),
(4, 'administer CAPTCHA settings', 'captcha'),
(4, 'administer comment notify', 'comment_notify'),
(4, 'administer google analytics', 'googleanalytics'),
(4, 'administer image styles', 'image'),
(4, 'administer menu', 'menu'),
(4, 'administer nodequeue', 'nodequeue'),
(4, 'administer nodes', 'node'),
(4, 'administer pane access', 'panels'),
(4, 'administer password policies', 'password_policy'),
(4, 'administer pathauto', 'pathauto'),
(4, 'administer recaptcha', 'recaptcha'),
(4, 'administer shortcuts', 'shortcut'),
(4, 'administer statistics', 'statistics'),
(4, 'administer taxonomy', 'taxonomy'),
(4, 'administer themes', 'system'),
(4, 'administer url aliases', 'path'),
(4, 'change follow link titles', 'follow'),
(4, 'create blog_entry content', 'node'),
(4, 'create document content', 'node'),
(4, 'create editors_choice content', 'node'),
(4, 'create home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(4, 'create media_gallery content', 'node'),
(4, 'create photo content', 'node'),
(4, 'create press_release content', 'node'),
(4, 'create profile content', 'node'),
(4, 'create resource content', 'node'),
(4, 'create services content', 'node'),
(4, 'create site_page content', 'node'),
(4, 'create url aliases', 'path'),
(4, 'create webform content', 'node'),
(4, 'customize shortcut links', 'shortcut'),
(4, 'delete all webform submissions', 'webform'),
(4, 'delete any blog_entry content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any document content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any editors_choice content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any media_gallery content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any photo content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any press_release content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any profile content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any resource content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any services content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any site_page content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete any webform content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own blog_entry content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own document content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own editors_choice content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own media_gallery content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own photo content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own press_release content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own profile content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own resource content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own services content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own site_page content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own webform content', 'node'),
(4, 'delete own webform submissions', 'webform'),
(4, 'delete revisions', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any blog_entry content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any document content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any editors_choice content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any media_gallery content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any photo content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any press_release content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any profile content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any resource content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any services content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any site_page content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit any user follow links', 'follow'),
(4, 'edit any webform content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own blog_entry content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own document content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own editors_choice content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own follow links', 'follow'),
(4, 'edit own home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own media_gallery content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own photo content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own press_release content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own profile content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own resource content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own services content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own site_page content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit own webform content', 'node'),
(4, 'edit site follow links', 'follow'),
(4, 'force password change', 'password_policy'),
(4, 'import media', 'media'),
(4, 'manipulate all queues', 'nodequeue'),
(4, 'manipulate queues', 'nodequeue'),
(4, 'notify of path changes', 'pathauto'),
(4, 'opt-in or out of tracking', 'googleanalytics'),
(4, 'revert revisions', 'node'),
(4, 'skip CAPTCHA', 'captcha'),
(4, 'switch shortcut sets', 'shortcut'),
(4, 'unblock expired accounts', 'password_policy'),
(4, 'use panels dashboard', 'panels'),
(4, 'use panels in place editing', 'panels'),
(4, 'use text format full_html', 'filter'),
(4, 'view addthis', 'addthis'),
(4, 'view date repeats', 'date'),
(4, 'view files', 'file_entity'),
(4, 'view own unpublished content', 'node'),
(4, 'view pane admin links', 'panels'),
(4, 'view post access counter', 'statistics'),
(4, 'view revisions', 'node'),
(4, 'view the administration theme', 'system'),
(5, 'access content overview', 'node'),
(5, 'access overlay', 'overlay'),
(5, 'access own webform results', 'webform'),
(5, 'access own webform submissions', 'webform'),
(5, 'access toolbar', 'toolbar'),
(5, 'create blog_entry content', 'node'),
(5, 'create document content', 'node'),
(5, 'create editors_choice content', 'node'),
(5, 'create home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(5, 'create media_gallery content', 'node'),
(5, 'create photo content', 'node'),
(5, 'create press_release content', 'node'),
(5, 'create profile content', 'node'),
(5, 'create resource content', 'node'),
(5, 'create services content', 'node'),
(5, 'create site_page content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own blog_entry content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own document content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own home_page_feature content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own media_gallery content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own photo content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own press_release content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own profile content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own resource content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own services content', 'node'),
(5, 'edit own site_page content', 'node'),
(5, 'skip CAPTCHA', 'captcha'),
(5, 'use text format full_html', 'filter'),
(5, 'view addthis', 'addthis'),
(5, 'view date repeats', 'date'),
(5, 'view files', 'file_entity'),
(5, 'view own unpublished content', 'node'),
(5, 'view revisions', 'node');

-- --------------------------------------------------------

--
-- Структура таблицы `search_dataset`
--

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `search_dataset` (
  `sid` int(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' COMMENT 'Search item ID, e.g. node ID for nodes.',
  `type` varchar(16) CHARACTER SET latin1 NOT NULL COMMENT 'Type of item, e.g. node.',
  `data` longtext CHARACTER SET latin1 NOT NULL COMMENT 'List of space-separated words from the item.',
  `reindex` int(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' COMMENT 'Set to force node reindexing.',
  PRIMARY KEY (`sid`,`type`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COMMENT='Stores items that will be searched.';

--
-- Дамп данных таблицы `search_dataset`
--

INSERT INTO `search_dataset` (`sid`, `type`, `data`, `reindex`) VALUES
(8, 'node', ' about the abc agency   abc agency offices are located at  123 main street washington dc 12345 email  info examplegov phone 2025551212   our offices are available mf 830 am to 430 pm   we re here to serve you please tell us how we can be of assistance   ', 1460434815),
(25, 'node', ' david grigorian cofounder senior fellow david grigorian is a senior economist at the international monetary fund s monetary and capital markets department in washington dc he holds a phd in economics from the university of maryland at college park 2001 ma in economics from the central european university 1995 msc in industrial engineering from the american university of armenia 1994 and msc equivalent in systems engineering from the polytechnic institute of yerevan 1992 prior to joining the imf he had worked at the world bank s europe and central asia region dr grigorian specializes in macroeconomics finance and development and has published on a wide range of issues including growth and institutions prices and fiscal policy remittances capital markets and banking publications research papers and works in progress  jamaica debt exchange with trevor alleyne and alejandro guerson international monetary  working paper 12244  october 2012 government involvement in corporate debt restructuring case studies from the great recession with faezeh raei international monetary fund working paper no 10260  november 2010 controlling for underreporting of remittances with j scott shonkwiler and tigran melkonyan  applied economics 110 january 2011  destined to receive the impact of remittances on household decisions in armenia with tigran melkonyan  review of development economics 151 pp 13953 2011  microeconomic implications of remittances in an overlapping generations model with altruism and selfinterest with tigran melkonyan imf working paper 819 january 2008  forthcoming  in the  journal of development studies  inflation and conflict in iraq the economics of shortages revisited with udo kock international monetary fund  working paper no 10159  july 2010  under review  in the journal of economic behaviour and organization tax potential vs tax effort factors behind the stubbornly low tax collection in armenia with hamid davoodi international monetary fund working paper no 7106  may 2007 bringing something different to the table potential for publicprivate cooperation in armenia and other developing transition countries with richard beilock and yvonne reinertson  armenian journal of public policy  2 no2 january 2007 how tight is too tight a look at distortionary policies in uzbekistan with edward gemayel  european journal of comparative economics  3 no2 pp 239261  december 2006 determinants of commercial bank performance in transition an application of data envelopment analysis with v manole  comparative economic studies  48 pp 497522  september 2006 a crosscountry nonparametric analysis of bahrain s banking system with vlad manole international monetary fund  working paper no 5117  june 2005 exchange rate money and wages what is driving prices in armenia international monetary fund  working paper no 4229  and  armenian journal of public policy  1 no2 march 2004 first time strangers second time friends on the determinants of firsttime sovereign bond issues international monetary fund  working paper no 3184  september 2003 banking sector in armenia what would it take to turn a basket case into a beauty case  armenian journal of public policy  1 no 1 september 2003 is there restructuring of large industrial enterprises in armenia a comparative analysis in growth challenges and government policies in armenia lev freinkman ed  world bank country report  2001 industrial growth and quality of institutions what do transition economies have to gain from the rule of law with albert martinez journal for institutional innovation development and transition  5    2001 ownership and performance of lithuanian enterprises world bank policy research working paper no 2343 may 2000 economic reforms in egypt emerging patterns and their possible implications with rania almashat world bank policy research working paper no 1977     september 1998   policy papers  an alternative approach for small and medium size business development assistance to transition and developing countries with richard beilock april 2003 armenia and its diaspora is there scope for a stronger economic link with alec gevorkyan  armenian forum a journal of contemporary affairs 3 no2  princeton nj washington dc united states  ', 1502119390),
(26, 'node', ' more about open government here are links to more about open government  ', 0),
(27, 'node', ' open government abc agency open government plan  lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit aenean placerat pellentesque diam id ultrices odio molestie et fusce ipsum velit accumsan sit amet convallis sit amet condimentum eu felis ut vulputate nibh sit amet mauris blandit varius morbi fermentum tortor vitae nisi ornare faucibus integer posuere sem mi at imperdiet augue duis a libero non neque porttitor convallis a ac justo mauris sodales nibh nec dolor condimentum sagittis curabitur est metus consequat fermentum laoreet id iaculis nec dui aenean ac magna vel quam euismod dictum pellentesque turpis tortor faucibus quis tempor ac consectetur sit amet tellus praesent nec egestas turpis cras imperdiet ante et quam dapibus luctus nunc a nisl vitae metus rhoncus rhoncus sed in metus sed condimentum varius leo nulla et sapien nisl ut venenatis risus proin iaculis feugiat luctus ut nunc nibh porttitor et sollicitudin at pellentesque eget enim ut eros lacus rutrum ut pellentesque a suscipit nec ligula cras in dapibus quam cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes nascetur ridiculus mus aenean id sapien ut massa accumsan imperdiet sit amet non nulla morbi vel sem lacus aenean ultricies ligula vitae lectus tempus tincidunt dignissim magna scelerisque praesent porta ligula a tristique dictum nisi nunc commodo felis eget consequat nisi felis a lectus sed ut metus risus aenean lorem elit aliquam eu tempus nec vulputate non nibh nam sit amet porttitor enim pellentesque et leo purus aliquam fringilla sem et scelerisque condimentum lacus eros tincidunt augue a convallis lorem libero id sapien suspendisse quis sapien augue ac tincidunt ligula quisque mollis mi a massa suscipit id suscipit sem sagittis in at diam sit amet eros molestie faucibus pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas suspendisse sed elit sit amet est suscipit pretium eu in mi ut justo est volutpat at congue a ultrices quis felis available reports aenean vulputate vestibulum lorem sit amet accumsan magna feugiat quis proin risus nulla vestibulum ac sodales ut dapibus in enim proin nec faucibus velit nullam quis felis nibh vel pretium velit  ', 0),
(28, 'node', '    ', 0),
(30, 'node', ' footer info po box 27008 washington dc 200387008 email  forum pfarmeniaorg copyright 20102012 pfa  ', 1462388155),
(31, 'node', ' contact us please write to us at the following address pfa 1250 i eye street nw suite 710 washington dc 20005 usa or email us at  exrelations at pfarmeniaorg  to find the email address of a pfa fellow senior fellow please visit  members section  full name company organization street address state select alabama alaska american samoa arizona arkansas california colorado connecticut delaware district of columbia florida georgia guam hawaii idaho illinois indiana iowa kansas kentucky louisiana maine marshall islands maryland massachusetts michigan minnesota mississippi missouri montana nebraska nevada new hampshire new jersey new mexico new york north carolina north dakota northern marianas islands ohio oklahoma oregon palau pennsylvania puerto rico rhode island south carolina south dakota tennessee texas utah vermont virgin islands virginia washington west virginia wisconsin wyoming zip email fax contact me contact me phone message please let us know your thoughts message captcha this question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions what code is in the image enter the characters shown in the image  ', 0),
(32, 'node', ' get updates subscribe  ', 0),
(33, 'node', ' feedback if you have a comment or question about our web site please complete the following form full name company organization street address state select alabama alaska american samoa arizona arkansas california colorado connecticut delaware district of columbia florida georgia guam hawaii idaho illinois indiana iowa kansas kentucky louisiana maine marshall islands maryland massachusetts michigan minnesota mississippi missouri montana nebraska nevada new hampshire new jersey new mexico new york north carolina north dakota northern marianas islands ohio oklahoma oregon palau pennsylvania puerto rico rhode island south carolina south dakota tennessee texas utah vermont virgin islands virginia washington west virginia wisconsin wyoming zip email fax contact me contact me phone message please let us know your thoughts message captcha this question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions what code is in the image enter the characters shown in the image  ', 0),
(36, 'node', ' press release kit press kit download ', 0),
(43, 'node', ' membership application individuals with graduate education professional experience a record of advocacy activism on issues of interest to pfa should send their resume and a statement of interest to  exrelations pfarmeniaorg  membership in pfa involves the following annual membership fees 150 for  academic advisers  and  senior fellows  100 for  fellows  needbased waivers of the membership fee may be granted  ', 0),
(49, 'node', ' press contact carol press carol press director of the press 2023415555 cpress opicgov  inadarei address 5432 5th st suite 606 washington dc 20036  ', 0),
(50, 'node', ' open gov contact for all open government inquiries  alexander johnson alexander johnson director of energy 5433425555 ajohnson examplegov twitter ', 0),
(57, 'node', ' our mission policy forum armenia pfa is an independent professional nonprofit organization aimed at strengthening discourse on armenia s economic development and national security and through that helping to shape public policy in armenia its main objective is to offer alternative views and professional analysis containing innovative and practical recommendations for public policy design and implementation through its activities pfa aims to contribute to the creation of an informed public and more effective and accountable government pfa s main asset is its worldwide network of professionals and leaders in their respective fields with dedication to armenia our vision we strive to build armenia as a country and society where  government is transparent and fully trusted by its subjects its main objective is the current and future wellbeing of citizens and nationals abroad its members are equally accountable before the law in the same manner as any other citizen of the country and have no direct commercial interests judiciary is free fair and incorruptible legislature is competent and respectable civil service is the most respected form of employment because it provides an opportunity to serve the country and people and is highly professional society has high standards of living it is well educated tolerant and humane economy is at the frontier of progress and innovation building upon the human capital of the nation as a whole it offers equal opportunities for everyone it does not tolerate unfair competition and redistributes through efficient and fair taxation environment and responsible management of natural resources are essential to the survival of the state and are key elements of wellbeing of future generations human rights are the most sacred set of values citizens of armenia  armenians yezidis greeks kurds russians and others alike are the most valuable asset of the state armed forces are by far the strongest in the region by spirit and dedication of its men and women by its advanced armament and by significance of its mission to protect life history and culture diaspora and armenia form a single entity the nation its stake in armenia and armenia s development are recognized and encouraged its potential is fully internalized its members have dual armenian citizenship history is of essence future is where we aim  ', 0),
(58, 'node', ' pfa s cofounder spoke at carnegie endowment on november 29 2011 pfa s cofounder david grigorian spoke at a twoday conference entitled the south caucasus 20 years after independence sponsored by the carnegie endowment for international peace and open society foundation the participants close to two dozen of nongovernmental experts academics journalists and civil society activists examined the lessons learned from twenty years of independence in armenia azerbaijan and georgia and offered some predictions for the region s future a summary of dr grigorian s comments can be found on pfa blog  ', 1469502345),
(60, 'node', ' armenia averting an economic catastrophe oct 3 2012 pfa s special report on armenia averting an economic catastrophe is a warning for people of armenia the diaspora and other stakeholders about an economic disaster in the making in the country it provides an assessment of policies that have driven armenia to where it is now and point out the signs of more trouble to come the report states that the country s political leadership needs to fully internalize these problems and related risks and address them expeditiously it offers a detailed set of recommendations to help overcome the severe short and mediumterm problems faced by the economy important among them is the formation of a legitimate authority to oversee the new policy course on behalf of the people of armenia the report states that the situation requires a true government of national unity that would lay out a workable agenda and reach out to all constructive forces in armenia and the diaspora to help accomplish that armenian version of the report download reports  report economic conditions  ', 0),
(61, 'node', ' gwu presentation of the pfa election report 5 ', 0),
(62, 'node', ' nice 1 ', 0),
(63, 'node', ' nice 2 ', 0),
(64, 'node', ' nice 3 ', 0),
(65, 'node', ' meeting the armenian community in nice 2009 april  photo gallery  ', 0),
(66, 'node', ' gwu presentation of the pfa election report 4 ', 0),
(67, 'node', ' gwu presentation of the pfa election report gwu presentation of the pfa election report in november 2008  photo gallery  ', 0),
(68, 'node', ' policy forum armenia announces the publication of a special report on armenia averting an economic catastrophe  for immediate release policy forum armenia announces the publication of a special report on armenia averting an economic catastrophe  the report is the loudest warning to date issued to people of armenia the diaspora and other stakeholders about the economic disaster in the making in the country its objective is to provide an assessment of policies that have driven armenia to where it is now and point out the signs of more trouble to come the report warns that unless drastic changes in the economic policy direction and politicaleconomy landscape are carried out within the next 3 years armenia will be forced to undergo a large and painful devaluation of its currency the dram and or an external sovereign debt restructuring or default the report states that the country s political leadership needs to fully internalize these problems and related risks and address them expeditiously so far it appears that the lessons of 2009 have largely been wasted and no significant change in policy direction was pursued which may have better prepared armenia for what is likely to come next instead the elements of the same crony capitalist practices where a select few have used their disproportionate access to power and influence over economic decisionmaking for their personal gain have been reinforced at the expense of growth public health education and national security this is not only immoral but in many ways also illegal and needs to change armenia s window of opportunity to build a viable economy and address its severe social and demographic problems is closing rapidly the report offers a detailed set of recommendations to help overcome the severe short and mediumterm problems faced by the economy important among them is the formation of a legitimate authority to oversee the new policy course on behalf of the people of armenia the report states that the situation requires a true government of national unity that would lay out a workable agenda and reach out to all constructive forces in armenia and the diaspora to help accomplish that these efforts would require adequate professional skills but also the support of a truly national and clean political leadership to be successful policy forum armenia is an independent professional nonprofit association aimed at strengthening discourse on armenia s economic development and national security and through that helping to shape public policy in armenia this and other pfa reports which provide assessments of critical developments taking place in armenia and the diaspora are available at wwwpfarmeniaorg reports  policy forum armenia pfa 1250 i eye street nw suite 710 washington dc 20005 usa email forum  pfarmeniaorg  web  http wwwpfarmeniaorg  ', 0),
(69, 'node', ' policy forum armenia issues its second state of the nation report for immediate release on december 31 2010 policy forum armenia pfa issued its report on the state of armenia s environment  the report provides an overview of environmental challenges facing armenia and highlights the severity of the current situation it is intended to serve as a reference to a complex set of environmental problems and issues that are closely intertwined with the country s development corruption and environmental activism are also discussed in some detail in the report the report argues that improving environmental governance requires increased transparency and public participation in key policy decisions as well as the effective implementation and enforcement of existing environmental laws the open pit mining operations in northern armenia the teghut case explored in the report is an example of one facility where both urgent policy changes and adequate enforcement of existing policies are needed section i of the report provides the general motivation behind the study section ii offers an historical overview of environmental conditions during the soviet period as well as problems that emerged in the early years of independence and were aggravated by the hardships of the energy crisis section iii examines a number of current environmental threats facing armenia section iv provides a case study on mining operations with a detailed examination of the controversial mining project in the teghut forest finally section v concludes the analysis this is the second report in pfa s state of the nation series which aims to provide an assessment of developments of critical importance taking place in armenia and the diaspora the report is available at wwwpfarmeniaorg reports  neither the authors nor the reviewers of the report have received any compensation for their contribution policy forum armenia is an independent nonprofit association aimed at strengthening discourse on armenia s economic development and national security and through that helping to shape public policy in armenia policy forum armenia pfa 1250 i eye street nw suite 710 washington dc 20005 usa email  forum pfarmeniaorg web  http wwwpfarmeniaorg  ', 0),
(74, 'node', ' diaspora relations raffi hovannisian s address to policy forumarmenia it is an honor to be back at georgetown university a very important university in a very important capital city which has always played its pivotal role throughout the modern history of the republic of armenia and the armenian people and as a graduate of the georgetown university law center it is especially enjoyable for me to be back in these hallowed halls although i would rather not recall too precisely how long i have been gone but i must also confess that it is also rather humbling for me to be here today particularly as i look through this distinguished audience in fact i am reminded of the conversation between two cows in the armenian countryside grazing there on the ashtarakgyumri highway and they see a truck whiz by and on the truck it says it s a milk truck pasteurized homogenized and vitamin d added and one cow turns to the other and says it makes you feel a little bit inadequate doesn t it well that is close to capturing how i feel today being here among this group of scientists ambassadors and professors and especially among a young generation which holds out a lot of promise for armenia and its future the keynote address i think is nothing more than a summary for those who have been present throughout this forum from last night s presentation of the new report by the organizers and the two panels today we have a new generation of a policy analysis of a critical approach to armeniadiaspora relations and i think that the challenge as we look forward almost on the eve of the third decade of armenia s independence to creating a unified or coordinated vision or a blueprint for the future would nearly have the challenge of conveying into a policy process the hearts and minds and the policy prescriptions that are being discussed here at this forum armenia and the diaspora are indeed as different from each other as they are one we know in this transnational globalized third millennium that both conceptually and literally armenia and diaspora have shared identities armenia has become part diaspora diaspora part armenia and therefore the challenges and tribulations and prospects for the armenian nation are very much attached to the developing discourse within armenia within dispersion and between the various diasporas and the one republic of armenia very symbolically this policy forum takes place during a trinity of days that mean a lot to us in armenian history twentytwo years ago on february 2728 this past weekend the armenian community of sumgait in azerbaijan was attacked based on its identity for being armenian and basically the militarization of the mountainous karabagh conflict and the quest of artsakh for liberty and selfdetermination took on a new form as a nation that in history had survived a genocide and national dispossession faced once again the specter of pogroms and victimization and deadly and violent punishment merely on the basis of one s own identity today march 1 exactly two years ago in downtown yerevan we armenians underwent a very shameful presidentialdriven tragedy where we lost ten citizens faith and confidence in our nation and the values and standards that our parents and grandparents have passed on to us as traditional armenian staples we remember the fallen beyond armenia s frontiers and within armenia proper and in our own way we say never again never again because the quality of armenia s making it the quality of its future the ability of armenia to deliver on foreign policy objectives is directly conditional on the quality of life in armenia the depth of democracy and the application of the rule of law we remember and we must work never again to allow tragedy both within our frontiers and outside them where any and all armenian rights are at issue or under attack and march 2 tomorrow is the eighteenth anniversary of armenia s accession to the united nations armenia s sovereign return to the family of nations and i am very happy that ambassador shugarian mr papian and many other public servants are with us here today as well as my father professor richard hovannisian the dean of modern armenian history who was there at that time and someone who has been also extremely concerned that armenian history should not repeat  ', 0),
(75, 'node', ' the state of armenia s environment pfa s report on the state of armenia s environment provides an overview of environmental challenges facing armenia and highlights the severity of the current situation it is intended to serve as a reference to a complex set of environmental problems and issues that are closely intertwined with the country s development through the combined application of academic analysis and practical experience of its authors the report argues that improving environmental governance requires increased transparency and public participation in key policy decisions as well as the effective implementation and enforcement of existing environmental laws the open pit mining operations in northern armenia the subject of the teghut case study contained in the report is an example of one facility where both urgent policy changes and adequate enforcement of existing policies are needed corruption and environmental activism are also discussed in some detail in the report download reports  report the state armenia environment the state the environment  ', 0),
(76, 'node', '   ', 1469502388),
(77, 'node', ' armeniadiaspora relations 20 years since independence pfa s first state of the nation report entitled armeniadiaspora relations 20 years since independence focused on the relations between armenia and its worldwide diaspora as part of the series that intends to take assessments of developmental and national security issues of importance for armenia and the diaspora the report produced an evaluation of the engagement between the two halves of the nation following the inception armenia s independence movement in 1988 it offers a comprehensive review of diaspora s engagement in armenia on three critical dimensions economic development governance and public sector reform and civil society strengthening while acknowledging the enormous effort required and the sacrifices made to support armenia during early years of independence the review is critical to what has been achieved on these important dimensions and provides reasons behind these outcomes finally the report makes the case for a collective action which if calibrated properly and with the focus on right values and objectives could help better address the developmental and geopolitical challenges faced by the nation download reports ', 0),
(78, 'node', ' yerevan s 2009 municipal election to build on the analytical work laid out in the 2008 election report pfa embarked on another electionrelated report entitled yerevan s 2009 municipal election statistical analysis the objective of the report was to examine the statistical properties of the data including by comparison with 2008 and 2007 election data where relevant to reveal election irregularities similar to pfa s assessment of the 2008 presidential election we found that the outcome of the may 31 2009 municipal election in yerevan did not produce any surprises as in the previous report the focus here was on indications of fraud that can be detected by statistical inference ballot stuffing and artificial augmentation of vote counts all four empirical tests utilized in the analysis offered evidence of fraud and irregularities including but not limited to ballot stuffing and stealing of opponents votes during the vote count all of which should be taken into serious consideration by all stakeholders involved download reports ', 0),
(79, 'node', '     ', 0),
(80, 'node', ' armenia s 2008 presidential election select issues and analysis consistent with its mission and operational objectives and responding to events unfolding in armenia in july 2008 pfa published its first special reports entitled  2008 armenia s presidential election select issues and analysis  provided a thorough and multidisciplinary analysis of events surrounding the february 19 2008 presidential election in armenia the report provided analysis of the election outcome and the civil and political disturbances that ensued and was very well received by a broad range of stakeholders the key issues analyzed in the report include the election irregularities and human rights abuses observed before and on february 19 and march 12 the role of civil society in the aftermath of the election and the political developments that followed the report provides a detailed statistical analysis of the election outcome and illustrates the massive deviations from the norm through identifiable forms of election fraud including ballot stuffing and vote steeling armenian version of the report download ', 0),
(84, 'node', ' pfa prospectus pfa has a hybrid mission operating as a think tank as well as an advocacy group the pfa provides its membership and general public with a forum for discus sion of issues of significance for armenia and its diaspora in addition to offering a platform for alternative views and professional discussions the pfa through its research and outreach intends to provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance broad strategic objectives  download annual reports ', 0),
(85, 'node', ' 2008 annual report summary pfa activities for 2008 download annual reports ', 0),
(86, 'node', ' 200910 annual report summary of pfa activities for 20092010 download annual reports ', 0),
(87, 'node', ' support pfa dear supporter policy forum armenia relies on membership dues and contributions from individuals like yourself to sustain its activities your support is crucial in making sure pfa is able to carry its mission of providing credible alternative views on issues of importance for armenia and the nation as a whole internet billing option is presently under construction therefore please consider forwarding your checks written to pfa to the following address pfa attn treasurer 1250 i eye street nw suite 710 washington dc 20005 for further information on how to donate to pfa please contact  finance at pfarmeniaorg  thank you very much in advance for your help pfa initiating group  ', 0),
(90, 'node', ' do you think political stability and economic prosperity can be achieved without due respect to civil liberties and fundamental yes 20 34 votes no 79 136 votes i don t know 1 2 votes total votes 172  ', 0),
(91, 'node', '   ', 0),
(92, 'node', ' armenian court ok s turkey protocols the constitutional court upheld on tuesday the legality of armenia s controversial normalization agreements with turkey amid continuing protests staged by nationalist groups opposed to the deal the widely anticipated verdict paved the way for the agreements ratification by the armenian parliament the national assembly is not expected however to start debating the two protocols before their endorsement by turkey s parliament the ruling read out by the court chairman gagik harutiunian concluded that the provisions of the two turkisharmenian protocols signed in october conform to the constitution of the republic of armenia the decision is final and cannot be challenged harutiunian said to shouts of shame from supporters of the opposition armenian revolutionary federation dashnaktsutyun present in the court try to look into the ruling before expressing yourself harutiunian shot back armen rustamian a dashnaktsutyun leader criticized the ruling and downplayed its passages implicitly stating that the protocols can not have any bearing on the nagornokarabakh conflict or inhibit armenia s pursuit of greater international recognition of the armenian genocide rustamian acknowledged that a court decision to declare them unconstitutional would have been exploited by turkey the issue should not have been sent to the constitutional court so early he told rfe rl rustamian expressed hope that president serzh sarkisian will now add reservations to the document before sending it to the national assembly for ratification eduard sharmazanov the chief spokesman for sarkisian s republican party of armenia hhk also present in the court would not be drawn on such possibility sharmazanov insisted instead that the westernbacked agreements provide for an unconditional normalization of turkisharmenian relations the turkish side must be the first to ratify them because it s the turkish side that has always talked in the language of preconditions and ultimatums he added the court s decision was condemned in stronger terms by a senior member of the opposition zharangutyun party another vocal critic of sarkisian s turkish policy stepan safarian claimed that it was ordered by the presidential administration this was an attempt to legitimize the disgraceful foreign policy pursued by serzh sarkisian safarian told rfe rl he also claimed that harutiunian compromised his objectivity by accompanying sarkisian on an october tour of major armenian communities which was aimed at promoting the protocols the other major opposition force the armenian national congress hak shrugged off the developments saying that both dashnaktsutyun and the constitutional court are government puppets we have a puppet opposition that pretends to protest and we have a puppet constitutional court that knows in advance what it will decide levon zurabian top hak representative told a news conference the constitutional court handed down the ruling several hours after formally starting to examine the protocols conformity with the armenian constitution the session was open to the media for only four minutes the court decided that the examination will follow a written procedure that does not involve public hearings and verbal questioning of government officials and experts harutiunian announced that the panel of nine judges will only consider written statements submitted by the armenian foreign ministry and other interested parties this is an issue which has an exceptional significance he said all those written documents that have been submitted to the constitutional court are available in the deliberations room and the members of the court can take them into account harutiunian added that they will also look into a 9page petition from dashnaktsutyun dashnaktsutyun leaders handed the document as more than a thousand of their supporters marched to the court building in yerevan on monday they demanded that the constitutional court declare the protocols at least partly unconstitutional several dozen dashnaktsutyun members and sympathizers gathered outside the court building on tuesday morning to keep up the pressure on armenia s highest judicial body some of them were ethnic armenians from the united states and other countries with sizable armenian communities vardges hagopian an elderly resident of new york was particularly unhappy with a protocol clause that commits armenia s to recognizing its existing border with turkey and presumably precludes future armenian territorial claims to its big neighbor which are favored by dashnaktsutyun i can t forget western armenia he told rfe rl referring to parts of eastern turkey that were populated by many armenians until 1915 we would lose our lands said hagopian we just couldn t have bigger losses shouldn t our grandchildren grow up in their ancestral lands another dashnaktsutyun supporter from the diaspora said the nationalist party should strive to topple armenia s current leadership if it fails to scuttle the implementation of the protocols dashnaktsutyun must fight till the end and there must be a revolt to reverse all this he said the nationalist party which quit armenia s governing coalition in april has so far refrained from demanding president serzh sarkisian s resignation there were further indications on tuesday that not all dashnaktsutyun supporters agree with this cautious line vahan hovannisian another dashnaktsutyun leader faced muted discontent when he told the small crowd picketing the court building to disperse after the announcement of the verdict people the struggle still lies ahead and it is pointless to stand here he said so please go home now comrade vahan we can t fight in this way countered one woman we need a tougher struggle we must change this government said another protester it s still too early to do that replied hovannisian  ', 0),
(93, 'node', ' crisis 2009 the world s woes reach armenia the year of 2009 was a year full of ordeals for armenia s economy bringing the boisterous growth of the past 10 years to a jarring end armenia has not managed to avoid the influence of the world economic crisis which revealed a weakness in the economy that some had warned against but none heeded primarily focusing on the precarious balance from growth generated by nonsustainable sources ie mining construction a 16percent economic decline was registered in armenia during 11 months of 2009 as compared with the same period last year december is expected to produce slightly less than a one percent increase yield a 15 percent decline for the year financial expert bagrat asatryan former head of the central bank in armenia 1990s and lecturer of economy at yerevan state university says that the economic decline is more severe if the gross domestic product gdp is expressed in dollars last year the gdp of armenia was 12 billion this year it will be about 8 billion which means that the economic decline will be about 30 percent asatryan says most loans are taken in dollars and exports are largely conducted on a dollar ratio the government of armenia developed an anticrisis program to confront the economic crisis that paralyzed the economy of armenia as prime minister of armenia tigran sargsyan explains the essence of this program is the following to essentially increase the expenditures directed at infrastructures to improve the atmosphere for small and mediumsized business to aid those companies which have temporary difficulties conditioned by the negative impact of the world contraction the state of the market the government turned to foreign funds as part of its crisis management which resulted in tripling the foreign debt of armenia because the state debt of the country was 37 percent last year it was 13 percent currently the foreign debt of armenia totals 36 billion moreover as aristomene varoudakis chairman of word bank s yerevan office estimates in 2011 the foreign debt of armenia will reach 50 percent of the country s gdp a troubling figure that some economists fear could lead to insolvency in 2009 the main reason for the economic decline was the dependence of the country s economy on several sectors mining two major and several minor mining plants stopped working as a result of crisis and construction volumes of construction were reduced by 384 percent in januarynovember 2009 as compared with the same period in 2008 and in spite of the government s intentions to diversify the economy of the country these two sectors were also paid attention to in spring the government made a decision to underwrite the construction industry by more than 50 million and it assigned funds to the mining sector from loans included in the loans secured to strengthen the economy nevertheless as financier asatryan believes the steps made by the government within the framework of the anticrisis course were not productive because there are systemic problems in the country the system oligopoly and corruption are among the systemic problems the essence of oligarchy is that it hinders the normal development of an economy and corruption simply kills the economy asatryan says as a consequence the most evident fall in 2009 was registered in the sphere of social maintenance where the number of the poor increased by 90000 three percent more as compared with last year and the number of the officially registered unemployed grew by more than 11 percent at the end of 2008 and during the first two months of 2009 the dollardram exchange rate was continuing to be stable contrary to the international tendency where the dollar was getting stronger but on march 3 central bank of armenia switched to a floating exchange rate sparking black tuesday a day on which the dram dollar fell from 300 to 360 nienke oomes former resident representative of the international monetary fund imf touched upon this issue with an earlier this month saying that she had been campaigning for a floating rate since january and if heeded could have saved armenia 700 million in foreign reserves export growth determined by dollar evaluation however was not registered in armenia even though the government simplified the processes of export for example lifting the prohibition of exporting fish products crayfish and cheese from armenia into russia in effect since 2007 the index of armenia s export within 11 months of 2009 was decreased by 374 percent totaling 624 million  ', 0),
(98, 'node', '   ', 0),
(100, 'node', ' armenian gdp exports continue rapid contraction during october according to the latest national accounts figures from the armenian national statistical service the country s economy collapsed by 175 yearonyear y y in januaryoctober arka news reports in october alone gdp contracted by 51 from september coming after the januaryseptember contraction of 183 y y these most recent figures suggest some moderation in the rate of annual output decrease in october however this does not provide much reason for cheer especially compared with the very respectable economic growth rate of 92 y y seen in the first 10 months of last year industrial output in januaryoctober fell by 114 y y whereas activity in the construction sector plummeted by 416 y y meanwhile agricultural production fell by 8 y y further it was reported that exports from armenia in the first 10 moths of the year suffered a fall of 407 y y amounting to us 5516 million while imports at the same time contracted by 285 y y totalling us 257 billion thus the trade deficit for the januaryoctober period came in at us 2018 billion the figures suggest some deceleration in the annual exports contraction in october whereas the fall in imports slightly accelerated in october alone exports decreased by 14 from september while imports increased by 61 from the previous month significance whereas the severe collapse of the armenian economy now should start to ease as cautiously suggested by the latest data the still worsethanexpected performance in the third quarter justified yet another downward revision in ihs global insight s armenian gdp forecast in the november round we expect 2009 annual contraction to somewhat exceed the lower end of the government s forecast of a 1015 fall the extreme severity of the current armenian economic conditions including its major liquidity pressures has been underlined by the fact that it has had to seek revisions to its standby arrangement with the international monetary fund imf which has approved changes to programme terms and payment schedules see armenia 3 november 2009  ', 0),
(101, 'node', ' armenia ranked among world s most corrupt countries a respected international watchdog reported on tuesday a further slight increase in government corruption in armenia ranking it among the 60 most corrupt countries of the world covered by its annual surveys armenia as well as bolivia ethiopia kazakhstan mongolia and vietnam share a lowly 120th place in transparency international s latest corruption perceptions index cpi of 180 nations it was 109th in the previous cpi released by the berlinbased group a year ago the 2009 survey assigned armenia a score of 27 measured on a 10point scale with zero indicating an extremely high degree of corruption as perceived by entrepreneurs and experts the south caucasus state scored 29 points in 2008 i must point out that as a rule a change of up to 3 points is not deemed significant within the framework of this study said amalia kostanian chairwoman of transparency s armenian affiliate the anticorruption center acc still kostanian stressed the fact that the watchdog has found no decreases in the scale of widespread bribery and other corrupt practices in the country for the past decade in fact we have been stagnating since 2003 she said presenting the findings of the latest cpi at a news conference the armenian authorities claim to have stepped up their declared fight against graft in recent years adopting various antigraft programs and forming special bodies tasked with their implementation the administration of former president robert kocharian launched in 2003 the first such program consisting of mainly legislative measures there is little evidence that it has strengthened the rule of law in the country however kocharian s successor and longtime close associate serzh sarkisian admitted last year that the virtual absence of prosecutions of corrupt government officials has undermined public trust in the stated crackdowns on corruption his prime minister tigran sargsyan has been even more vocal in acknowledging the seriousness of the problem the acc and other local civic groups believe that the situation has barely improved under the sarkisian administration kostanian stated in september that anticorruption drives periodically announced by the government will be doomed to failure as long as armenia s top government officials are allowed to have extensive business interests and strangle entrepreneurs challenging them she described the fusion between large entrepreneurs and politicians as the root cause of the problem armenia continues to compare favorably in terms of corruption perceptions with two of its neighbors azerbaijan and iran that are 143rd and 168th respectively in the transparency rankings however the two other neighbors turkey and georgia are well ahead of it ranking 61st and 66th in the closely watched survey  ', 0),
(102, 'node', ' imf warns yerevan over dram support the international monetary fund imf warned on thursday that it could freeze further financial assistance to armenia if the authorities in yerevan continue to heavily intervene in the local financial market to prop up the national currency the dram the central bank of armenia cba admitted intensifying its monetary interventions this month but insisted that the dram s exchange rate remains marketbased whereas we only once intervened in the market in october we have done so five or six times this month vache gabrielian the cba s deputy governor told rfe rl the volumes of our interventions have not been terribly high we consider that a normal practice the dram has slowly depreciated since the end of this summer after months of exchange rate stability fuelled by multimilliondollar loans provided by the imf and other foreign sources it lost almost 3 percent and 6 percent of its nominal value against the us dollar and the euro respectively in september falling below a minimum target rate projected by the authorities in march the dram is currently trading at 388 per dollar down by 7 percent from the late september level the central bank of armenia cba appears to have slowed down its weakening with substantial dollar injections in the currency market we have an actual target that we believe by the end of the year the central bank needs to have a certain level of hard currency reserves said nienke oomes the imf s resident representative in yerevan if they intervene too much if they sell too much they will miss this target and they will certainly not get the next tranche of the money so far they are still on track to meet the target but if they continue like in the last two weeks they may be in trouble she warned at a news conference oomes referred to the next installments of a 830 million standby loan approved by the imf earlier this year the launch of the 28month lending program followed a nearly 20 percent devaluation of the dram engineered by the armenian authorities in early march the authorities had controversially spent an estimated 700 million of the country s external reserves on keeping the dram s value virtually unchanged in previous months the imf has already disbursed three tranches of the loan worth 479 million in total the money has been used for replenishing armenia s hard currency assets and financing its widening state budget deficit the cba s gabrielian insisted later on wednesday that oomes s remarks were not a threat to suspend imf funding to yerevan and that she only noted that we have been in the market a bit more often than last month she didn t say that if armenia continues to behave in the same fashion it will be stripped of imf loans he claimed i ve spoken to ms oomes and she stressed that the imf has never been against frequent interventions in small markets but believes that if they become too frequent and result in artificial behavior that can create problems in terms of the understanding of the central bank policy so the problem is not with the imf said gabrielian the cba vicegovernor further asserted that armenia currently has hundreds of millions of dollars in excess of the minimum reserve requirement mentioned by the imf official we continue to insist that there will be no drastic exchange rate fluctuations in the coming months but are saying at the same time that because the exchange rate is floating it can go both up and down he said the bottom line is that it won t change drastically the cba is believed to provide a large part of dollars and euros sold in interbank currency trading as well as at yerevan s nasdaq omx stock exchange the latter has reported a daily turnover averaging between 4 million and 5 million this month it is lower than the trading volume of late 2008 and early 2009 but higher than that of the precrisis period  ', 0),
(103, 'node', '         ', 0);
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(104, 'node', ' pfa internship general  pfa internship program gives young professionals an opportunity to make their contribution to the activities aimed at strengthening discourse on armenia s economic development and national security and through that helping to shape public policy in armenia it provides an exceptional opportunity to interact both professionally and socially with worldwide network of professionals with experience in a wide range of areas of social sciences and economic development responsibilities  interns are selected according to their practical knowledge and ability to function and grow in a fastpaced environment they are given responsibilities on the basis of their educational background to include drafting sections for the state of the nation report conducting interviews for the radio pfa planning and organizing of pfa events assisting in outreach activities website maintenance application and selection  the requirements for the internship program include enrollment in a graduate program in social sciences or any developmentrelated field interest in armenia diasporarelated issues and ability to work with minimum supervision to apply please submit a resume along with a statement of interest to  ialaverdyan at pfarmeniaorg   pfa internship ', 0),
(105, 'node', ' pfa watch list pfa watch list brings to public s attention controversial legislative initiatives government decisions legal proceedings and behavior of public officials with implications for developmental policy design and implementation in armenia pfa s commentary will be limited only to how these controversial actions are likely to impact the policy design and conduct this tool is intended to generate awareness to help formulate alternative views and shape public opinion  objection human rights activists irritated by president s pa representatives of several human rights organizations in armenia sent an open letter to the international federation of human rights fidh expressing their discontent over the fact that the honor of opening the fidh yerevan forum has been given to serzh sargsyan the authors of the letter state that the results of the 2008 presidential elections disputed by peaceful rallies of thousands of people were altered by brutal force deepening the public suspicions that were aroused on the election day under these circumstances it is beyond our understanding how and why the honor of opening the fidh yerevan forum has been reserved for serzh sargsyan who continues to govern the republic of armenia with doubtful legitimacy the open letter says justice new challenges the right to an effective remedy before an independent tribunal will take place in yerevan armenia from 6th to 8th april 2010 followed by the fidh 37th congress wwwfidh   more  posted by admin on apr 3 2010 1156pm  add comment national council to represent armenian people s interests by some armeniabased news agencies yerevan dec 30 armenian diaspora ministry is going to set up the national council of armenians aimed to represent the interests of armenian people at the supranational level the national council members will be elected in 2010 from various structures of the armenian communities worldwide based on parity basis the national council will comprise both representatives from armenia and diaspora at present armenian diaspora numbers 7 million people over 30000 institutions and nearly 20000 panarmenian organizations posted by admin on jan 2 2010 1148pm  add comment armenia to borrow another 100 million from russia   1 by noyan tapan prime minister tigran sargsyan disclosed on friday december 25 that the armenian government is in the middle of negotiations with russia on a new 100 million loan designed to be used exclusively for the development of the jewelry business in armenia if the deal goes through the multimillion dollar loan will assist armenia in the opening of a diamond exchange that will be used to supply russian diamonds to local jewelry factories if the negotiations are successful and we manage to come to an agreement with russiabased alrosa company then the attracted loan will be used to develop the diamond cutting sector and to establish a modern diamondexchange in order to provide armenian companies with russian raw material the prime minister said according to sargsyan armenia s private sector whose representatives are involved in negotiations on the loan will bear the main burden of the loan repayment  more  posted by admin on dec 29 2009 0912am  add comment   view comments 1  appeal generals seek release of former comrade by armenianowcom prominent commanders of the nagornokarabakh war colonelgeneral gurgen daribaltayan and majorgeneral arkady tertadevosyan have appealed to president of armenia serzh sargsyan to release former mp sasun mikaelyan s veteran of nagornokarabakh war he is sentenced to eight years of imprisonment in connection with the march 1 2008 uprising charged with organization of mass disorders in yerevan and illegal possession of weapons the generals asked the president to consider mikaelyan s poor health state and enjoying the authorization of the president of armenia to solicit for mikaelyan to be set free from further punishment the generals mention in their letter that regardless of the reasons why he ended up in the prison his life is at stake and he is someone who unconditionally dedicated himself to nagornokarabakh war and the defense of our country s borders  more  posted by admin on dec 2 2009 0741pm  add comment an abstract from the pm s recent speech in the parliament  i would like to address another very important issue that is what issue is of highest concern for our citizens our research and public opinion polls show that the most essential issue for our citizens is neither pension and salary raises nor the issue of unemployment and creation of new workplaces nor inflation and exchange rates and nor even nkr and genocide issues but rather the issue of social justice everyone must be equal before the law irrespective of the fact what post he or she occupies what accumulated incomes and riches he or she has this issue is going to be in the center of our attention this issue first of all refers to the largescale business the path of the largescale business towards regaining the public confidence is transparency in work for the largescale business fulfillment of tax liabilities must be an issue of dignity we must strive together to make this process transparent more  posted by admin on nov 23 2009 0454pm  add comment investigative journalist attacked in yerevan november 18 rfe rl a prominent armenian investigative journalist known for his stories exposing government corruption became the target of a violent attack which he believes is connected with his reporting edik baghdasarian who heads the armenian association of investigative journalists and runs a yerevanbased online magazine hetq left his office in downtown yerevan at about 8 pm monday and shortly was ambushed and beaten by three unknown assailants as he was going to get into his car parked in the street according to his own account baghdasarian said the attack was an unprovoked one and the assailants did not demand anything particular from him right near the car two people attacked me and began to land heavy blows i retaliated and we were exchanging blows  more  posted by moderator on nov 19 2008 1115am  add comment opposition daily fights eviction october 10 radio free europe a court in yerevan opened on friday hearings on the legality of a local government body s decision to evict armenia s bestselling daily newspaper highly critical of the government from its stateowned offices the haykakan zhamanak daily has long leased the premises located on the ground floor of an apartment building in downtown yerevan from the administration of the central kentron district free of charge a relevant lease agreement between the two entities was signed in 2003 and extended in 2007 kentron s executive administration and legislative council decided to terminate the agreement and give the property to a littleknown children s cultural center last april at the height of the armenian government s postelection crackdown on the opposition haykakan zhamanak rejected the decision as politically motivated and challenged it in the court  more  posted by administrator on oct 14 2008 0208pm  add comment regional governor accused of corruption september 24 rfe rl the audit chamber of armenia s governmentcontrolled parliament leveled on wednesday corruption accusations against a controversial regional governor raising new questions about his political future the head of the chamber ishkhan zakarian claimed that surik khachatrian of the southeastern syunik region and local government officials subordinated to him have embezzled 575 million drams 19 million worth of public funds and property zakarian said about one third of the sum was misappropriated by officials in the regional administration he said they inflated the cost of procurements and failed to properly use government funds earmarked for construction work according to zakarian the mayors of local towns and villages have embezzled even larger sums through similar scams he singled out the mayor of syunik s capital kapan alleging that the latter sold 5200 square meters of public housing for as little as 3500 drams 12  more  posted by anonymous on sep 25 2008 1023am  add comment troops flood armenian capital after bloody clashes associated press hundreds of troops flooded armenia s capital today to enforce a state of emergency after clashes between opposition activists protesting against election results and government forces left eight people dead and more than 100 injured the bloodshed was the worst political crisis to hit the strategically located volatile former soviet nation in nearly a decade an envoy of europe s leading security body rushed to armenia to mediate the conflict the united states urged both sides to exercise restraint president robert kocharian declared the 20 day state of emergency last night following a day of clashes between government forces and demonstrators protesting against alleged fraud in the february 19 presidential election police used tear gas and fired in the air to disperse thousands of opposition demonstrators yesterday afternoon after breaking up an opposition tent camp earlier in the day  more  posted by pfa team on mar 3 2008 1127am  add comment cc to consider presidential election results appeals panarmeniannet the armenian constitutional court has pinned the suits brought in by tigran karapetyan and levon terpetrosyan on february 27 and february 29 respectively the hearing on appeal of the presidential election outcomes is due on march 2 the cc press division reported the decision on disputes over the presidential election results is to be taken within 2 days according to the ra cec prime minister serzh sargsyan was elected president of armenia with 5282 per cent of votes levon terpetrosyan came second with 215 per cent tigran karapetyan was backed by 6 per cent of votes posted by pfa team on mar 3 2008 1120am  add comment   ', 0),
(106, 'node', ' support pfa policy forum armenia is a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization   why support policy forum armenia  pfa helps policymakers civic society and the international community make more informed and timely decisions about issues impacting armenia and the diaspora its focus can be characterized as armeniacentric while its vision is global pfa provides all stakeholders within and outside armenia with professional reports on issues of vital importance to armenia s present and future these reports draw upon the contributions of specialists worldwide with background in economics finance sociology political science history human rights and related disciplines pfa takes its independence and freedom from interference seriously as a nonprofit nonpartisan organization made up of independent professionals pfa is able to sustain its academic integrity core principles and stated objectives we are proud of our record of professional quality and integrity  taxdeductible donation  ', 0),
(107, 'node', ' first pfa meeting in washington dc friday january 11 2008 all day washington district of columbia united states on january 11 2008 the pfa initiating group members met with a number of washingtonbased members and professionals the meeting started with formal presentation of the pfa s mission and objectives followed by exchange of views in his opening remarks david grigorian stressed the need for an independent professional organization that would offer credible assessment and alternative views on issues of importance for armenia s future pfa s mission he noted is to generate those assessments views utilizing the capacity of a worldwide membership with dedication to armenia and its development the state of the nation report will be the main tool for achieving this objective armen kharazian in turn shared with the participants the thinking behind pfa s interim charter he stressed the importance of adhering to best standards of governance as a way of maintaining credibility and attracting quality membership david grigorian presented the current public relations strategy outlining the activities aimed at promoting facilitating discussions on the topics currently included in the coming state of the nation report she also stressed the importance of online communication for successful pr activities speaking about information technologyrelated aspects of the preparatory work vahe avetian shared with participants the plans for pfa website under construction and discussed some of its features he mentioned that the site will offer a variety of tools such as polling bloging forums video and audio capabilities i report function that would enable efficient delivery of pfa views and allow active interactions with the stakeholders vlad shekoyan stressed the importance of securing financial independence and shared with the participants the details of proposed mediumterm budget plan while expected to be much more challenging initially he reassured that pfa will be in a very strong position to fundraise for its operational and longerterm needs eg an endowment fund once the state of the nation reports become part of the policy landscape in armenia and the diaspora these remarks were followed by an active questionandanswer session where participants inquired into the details and offered alternative views organizers agreed to continue these contacts to keep the washingtonbased membership and professional community abreast of recent developments and projects in the pipeline  ', 0),
(108, 'node', ' pfa presents its report on armenia s february presidential election in boston wednesday september 10 2008 all day united states on september 30 2008 policy forum armenia pfa in collaboration with bentley college international studies department and bentley college multicultural center in boston massachusetts presented pfa s recent report on armenia s 2008 presidential elections select issues and analysis the presentation provided an analysis of the heavily disputed february 19 2008 presidential election and the disturbances that ensued specifically highlighting human rights abuses and election irregularities the event was the first in a series to be held nationally and internationally to encourage debate around issues of importance for armenia s development and attracted an audience of nearly 80 members of the academic as well as local armenian communities including individuals who had been in armenia during the election the presentation was conducted by dr asbed kotchikian pfa senior fellow and ms ruby chorbajian pfa fellow and focused on a number of aspects of the report the major issues highlighted during the presentation included the preelection campaign and various violations the role of civil society in the aftermath of the election including during the state of emergency and the role of various stakeholders the authorities conduct during and after the election was discussed at length and included misuse of state resources and banning of some candidates from equal access to the media the presentation also focused on a detailed statistical analysis of the official election results based on a methodology devised to analyze russia s elections in 1993 the analysis of armenian 2008 election data showed massive deviations from the norm and indications of various forms of election fraud including ballot stuffing and vote steeling the 40 minute presentation was followed by a vibrant question and answer session where many audience members raised specific questions about the role of youth movements during and after the election period the role or lack thereof of diaspora organizations as well as the impact of the election on the overall political and human rights image of armenia policy forum armenia is an independent professional nonprofit association aimed at strengthening discourse on armenia s economic development and national security and through that helping to shape public policy in armenia its main objective is to offer alternative views and professional analysis containing innovative and practical recommendations for public policy design and implementation  ', 0),
(110, 'node', ' pfa s election report presented at a george washington university seminar thursday november 27 2008 all day united states on november 24 2008 the institute for european russian and eurasian studies ieres of the elliott school of international affairs at the george washington university hosted an event titled the south caucasus a year of ballots and bullets organized jointly with the policy forum armenia pfa the event featured pfa s report on february 19 2008 presidential election in armenia the report is an attempt to look at the multifaceted aspects of the election and postelection developments in armenia with an aim of presenting an independent assessment of what transpired the event was well attended with over 50 washingtonarea academics policy practitioners and graduate students in attendance and was chaired by professor hope harrison director of ieres in his opening remarks before turning to the pfa election report dr asbed kotchikian pfa senior fellow and a lecturer of political science at bentley university boston discussed the realignment of regional politics in the south caucasus visàvis russia by emphasizing the post election political dynamics in azerbaijan russia and armenia the speaker dwelled on the georgianrussian relations after the conflict over south ossetia and how the conflict had an impact on georgia s domestic and foreign political processes he argued that since putin came to power in russia moscow has pursued a more active policy of reestablishing itself as a regional power with a lot of interest in its near abroad furthermore the fact that many politicians in armenia made statements regarding the role of russia in a postelection period was an indicator the of extent of russia s importance in domestic political processes in armenia dr kotchikian brought up pfa election report in the context of the growing role of the civil society in the caucasus particularly in armenia he mentioned that pfa began collecting information about the election and postelection developments in armenia just as those were unfolding a lot of the information and data collected in the days following the election subsequently found their place in the report the report is built on three critical chapters chapter iii lays out evidence of misuse of administrative resources vote buying voter intimidation and other examples of abuse of power to secure a specific outcome chapter iv zooms in on ballot stuffing and artificial augmentation of vote counts and presents ample statistical evidence indicative of the presence of these two types of manipulations the election outcome also sheds some light on the extent of the postelection dissatisfaction and disaffection of a sizable portion of armenia s population finally while reviewing the developments pertaining to the civil society chapter v argues that armenia is critically positioned with a strong and empowered civil society and a determination to realize meaningful change on a national scale the second speaker was christopher kojm a professor of international affairs practice at the elliott school and the former deputy executive director of the 911 commission he spoke about his experience with traveling to armenia in october 2008 as part of a delegation to share the experiences of the 911 investigation with an armenian parliamentary commission looking into violence and deaths during the suppression of demonstrations on march 12 professor kojm s started off his presentation by putting those events in the context for attendees on that night 10 people were killed 100s were injured and over 70 of those arrested still remain in prison in a country of 3 million to translate that into the american context it would be a thousand killed over ten thousand injured and seven thousand imprisoned naturally had that occurred in our country this would have been a topic of discussion and the american people would like to know what happened on that night who is responsible tell us the facts so that our country can deal with them and move forward in his subsequent remarks professor kojm discussed the factors necessary to produce a credible investigation and a credible report first he stressed the importance of participation of professional staff including with experience in forensics as well as access to documents participants and witnesses in his view lack of professional staff attached to the ongoing parliamentary investigation rendered the process less effective furthermore members of the parliamentary commission themselves faced sparse access to documents and records which represents a serious shortcoming for the process second he emphasized that a credible report on a national tragedy requires participation of a broad spectrum of a country s political leaders in the conduct of the investigation the current parliamentary commission is hampered in this respect he said professor kojm ended his presentation on a note similar to the conclusions offered in the pfa s election report he noted that the challenge before all armenians is to build trust across opposition political boundaries and complete the story by revealing the truth of what happened on the night of march 12 and if you tell people what happened you can help heal the nation and move forward the presentations were followed by an active questionandanswer session more pictures from the seminar are available in  photo gallery ', 0),
(111, 'node', ' pfa activities discussed in nice france wednesday april 1 2009 all day united states as part of a wider effort to reach out to armenian communities around the world with a record of strong ties with armenia on march 22 members of the policy forum armenia pfa met with the armenian community of nice france having originated one of the first air cargoes to land in the earthquakestricken armenia in december 1988 this small but vibrant community has since remained engaged in armenia s development its members welcomed the opportunity to learn about pfa and its work as well as discuss economic and social conditions in armenia in his opening remarks pfa senior fellow vahagn movsesyan introduced the audience to the mission and vision of pfa its role as an independent impartial analyst and advisor was emphasized along with the fact that pfa attempts to consolidate the potential of armenians in various key areas of public policy and channel that expertise toward issues of importance for armenia and the diaspora dr movsesyan mentioned that that pfa s work has so far been well received by a wide range of stakeholders and the organization is working to improve its outreach examples of pfa products and activities were mentioned in the remarks of the founding senior fellow david grigorian who went on to talk about pfa s two recent reports produced by a large number of pfa members experts in their respective fields based around the world these reports serve in speaker s view as a new way of engaging with and providing assistance to armenia and various stakeholders on issues of importance for country s development dr grigorian again stressed the need for independent assessment as the only true way of understanding the severity of problems the civil society and the economy are facing especially in an environment where capacity of the establishment is an issue details of the recent pfa reports and their policy recommendations were subsequently discussed these remarks then followed by a lively questionandanswer session participants who were well informed about events taking place in armenia as well as economic and social trends there welcomed the existence of an independent policy group such as pfa questions raised during the session touched upon the relationship of pfa with the armenian authorities armeniabased academic institutions and think tanks various diaspora organizations as well as similar international entities in his closing comments one of the community leaders a coorganizer of the event expressed despair about the current state of engagement between diaspora and armenia and wondered how much was being done at the policy level to find solutions in this respect the need for reconciliation and joint search for new modes of engagement with armenia was emphasized in his remarks as well as in closing remarks of the pfa speakers pfa members thanked the organizers for their interest to host them and welcomed the suggestion to provide input for the local community newsletter additional photos from the meeting are available from the photo gallery  policy forum armenia pfa is an independent professional nonprofit association aimed at strengthening discourse on armenia s economic development and national security and through that helping to shape public policy in armenia for more information about pfa please visit wwwpfarmeniaorg or email exrelations pfarmeniaorg   ', 0),
(113, 'node', ' pfa s statement concerning the death of major vahe avetyan it is with utmost sadness that policy forum armenia has learned of the death of major vahe avetyan head of the ent department of the yerevan garrison hospital on june 28 2012 he was severely beaten along with two other doctors on june 17 on the premises of harsnaqar restaurant owned by governing republican party mp ruben hayrapetyan by a large group of restaurant employees and hayrapetyan s personal bodyguards policy forum armenia strongly condemns major avetyan s brutal murder and extends its deepest condolences to the avetyan family we reject the reprehensible atmosphere of impunity that has created a breeding ground for incidents like this and leaves irreparable personal wounds shatters social cohesion and undermines national security we call upon all friends of armenia individuals as well as political and civic organizations with stake in armenia s development in and outside of armenia to help bring about the longoverdue change in the country that would help prevent events like these from taking place again pfa executive board washington los angeles yerevan june 30 2012  ', 0),
(114, 'node', ' reception on the occasion of the first republic s independence wednesday may 18 2011 all day univesrity club of washington united states on may 28 2011 policy forum armenia held a reception on the occasion of the independence of the first armenian republic 191820 held at the historic university club of washington the reception was well attended by community members and friends of pfa from in and outside of the washington metropolitan area the event also served as the first in a series of introductions of members of the sardarapat movement s initiating group film director tigran khzmalyan and informational technology expert garegin chugaszyan who are visiting washington at the invitation of pfa to the armenian community and policy circles in the nation s capital in his keynote address dr rouben adalian director of the armenian national institute stressed the importance of the battle of sardarapat for preserving culture and identity as well as regaining statehood in those darkest of times for the history of armenia as improbable as it seemed at the time he noted that the success in sardarapat became an important milestone for measuring successes of the future highlighting the importance of the battle of sardarapat today tigran khzmalyan emphasized the need for continued fight for independence in the present context amid worsening governance and external dependence of armenia stressing that independence should not taken for granted he called on armenians worldwide irrespective of party affiliations and geography to help regain armenia s true independence one that will guarantee dignity freedom and prosperity recalling yeghishe charents poems written at the dawn of the first republic garegin chugaszyan reminded participants that the foundations of a strong statehood lie in people s unconventional love towards country at the most desperate of times he referred to the dark winter of the third armenian republic which will undoubtedly end soon and be followed by the spring of the forth republic to come in his closing remarks pfa s cofounder david grigorian called on the community members to intensify their search for new ways of engagement with armenia by focusing on civil society groups such as sardarapat who are on the forefront of the battle for democracy and stronger armenia he stressed that the existing mechanisms have offered little if any incentives for the successive ruling regimes in armenia to reform and do better emphasizing the need to scrap them in exchange for new models of engagement that will have allegiances to people of armenia as opposed to their rulers in their core discussions between members of sardarapat movement and stakeholders will continue through thursday june 2 to give an opportunity to share their views on the ongoing political and economic crisis in armenia and offer ways forward pictures from the reception are available from the  photo gallery   about sardarapat movement we created sardarapat movement as our answer to the armenian question we the men and women of the republic of armenia karabagh war veterans school teachers economists human rights activists and artists came together in late2010 to resist the ongoing political and economic crisis to build a country that generations of armenians have dreamt about a country of freedom and social justice of equal rights and responsibilities a country of hope and opportunities for each and every armenian worldwide we realized that citizenoriented domestic policies and independent foreign policy are far too important for be trusted to the current illegitimate ruling regime that is why we decided to take charge now just as we did 20 years ago when we rose and won the war for karabagh against all odds and just like our ancestors did 90 years ago by pushing back the advancing turkish armies in the battle of sardarapat there were no political parties involved then no regular army to speak of and not a state in charge just the free will of free people of armenia armenians and nonarmenians alike the name of our movement thus bears a direct reference to the sardarapat victory a critical turning point of our modern history indeed today s armenia is facing a new sardarapat the nation is divided by terrible polarization and injustice when people are deprived of their basic rights of free vote and independent due process when a handful of corrupt individuals has privatized the heritage of generations and bargains with adversaries on the terms equivalent to conceding our independence and our victories sardarapat movement stands for strong and vocal armeniacentric foreign policy against any territorial concessions in karabagh which would be equivalent to jeopardizing safety of people who live there and the security of the country as a whole no reconciliation with turkey is possible unless ankara accepts its responsibility for the genocide and takes credible steps for addressing its implications on the domestic front we believe that our economy can no longer be a hostage to a few oligarchs while the overwhelming majority of population is being humiliated by poverty and unemployment we have to rebuild a strong exportdriven economy in armenia instead of maintaining the current deeply flawed model of overreliance on foreign transfers and import thousands of small and medium sized businesses should sprawl where at present a few monopolies choke the economy we have to cherish our land and use its agricultural potential properly no matter if it is in armenia proper artakh or the liberated territories in rebuilding our economic potential we have to rely on all our resources first and foremost on the human capital of those in armenia and the diaspora together we can achieve a lot together we will  ', 0),
(121, 'node', ' socrat arakelyan fellow socrat arakelyan is a head of anti money laundering compliance at a leading international organization in the united arab emirates prior to moving to the uae socrat worked at the serious organised crime agency soca as the uk representative of the egmont group of financial intelligence units whilst working as an economic researcher and assistant to the director of the confederation of british industry london cbi socrat was responsible for developing policies and promoting the views of cbi members on transport land use planning infrastructure development environment energy and health and safety issues through active involvement in policy consultations with greater london authority with a degree in economics politics and diplomas in anti money laundering compliance acams and securities investments qualification socrat specialises in anti money laundering terrorist financing compliance and anticorruption having lived in armenia the uk and the uae socrat takes a keen interest in the current affairs of armenian diaspora and internal politics of armenia emirates nbd group  ', 0),
(123, 'node', '   ', 0),
(124, 'node', ' narine badasyan senior fellow narine badasyan holds a phd in economics and is currently a member of the murray state university faculty where she focuses on telecommunications economics and regulatory policy particularly related to the internet infrastructure murray state university  ', 0),
(125, 'node', ' edik baghdasaryan senior fellow edik baghdasaryan is currently the head of the investigative journalists ngo and editorinchief of the hetq online newspaper he also teaches courses in investigative journalism and tv journalism at yerevan state university he holds degrees in tv journalism from moscow state university and from the philological department at yerevan state university and he has won several professional awards including osce 2005 for environment and human rights internews armenia 2002 for the best tv investigative film of the year titled track and yerevan press club 1998 for best investigative film mr baghdasaryan has been invited as a trainer to share his skills in the field of investigative journalism by many international organizations and institutions including the caucasus media institute internewsarmenia and oscekazakhstan he is also the author of dozens of documentary films more than one hundred of his articles are available at hetq online which continue to be republished by local and international newspapers hetq no  ', 0),
(126, 'node', '   ', 0),
(127, 'node', '   ', 0),
(128, 'node', ' hamazasp danielyan fellow hamazasp danielyan is an assistant professor at the department of political science yerevan state university his pdd candidate of science dissertation was on the influence of external factors on the democratization of armenia he initiated and lead research in armenia and artsakh on verious topics including on the attitudes of armenians toward democracy political elite and electoral system of nkr etc currently hamazasp works as a monitoring and evaluation officer for the international foundation for election systems ifes armenian branch a leading organization providing assistance in the field of elections he also has an extensive experience in working with civil society organizations in armenia yerevan state university  ', 0),
(129, 'node', ' david davtian cofounder senior fellow david davtian has several years of experience in the armenian government and subsequently in the private sector in armenia and the us as part of his career in the armenian civil service mr davtian has worked as head of america and asia department at the ministry of diaspora a senior advisor to the minister of state revenues head of customs policy department at the ministry of finance and economy the chief negotiator in geneva for armenia s wto accession a senior expert international tax affairs at the state tax inspectorate and a department head at the chamber of commerce after moving to the us he has worked as a consultant at the world bank and as a communications manager at the armenian embassy in washington while in the private sector david has successfully launched a number of small scale startups both in armenia and the us he is a graduate of elliott school of international affairs at george washington university master of international policy and practice in washington and armenian state engineering university bachelors in engineering in yerevan and has taken courses at the joint vienna institute macroeconomics in vienna national institute of economic research postgraduate studies in yerevan and gia professional school management and marketing in paris  ', 0),
(130, 'node', ' annie demirjian senior fellow annie demirjian is an executive with the canadian federal government on secondment to undpiraq she has led the governance and civil society portfolio for over 12 un agencies and her responsibilities included overseeing and management of governance and civil society support initiatives for iraq she has worked with the prime minister s office deputy prime minister speaker of parliament various ministers and developed and managed institutional development and capacity building initiatives in iraq she has 20 years experience in public sector reform and public accountability having worked in canada for the privy council office the department of secretary of state consulting and audit canada and several other departments ms demirjian s international experience includes work with the united nations undp the world bank and the canadian international development agency in iraq jordan egypt tunisia palestine zimbabwe south africa nigeria and norway she has published articles on public administrative reform and has been invited to speak at global international conferences including those hosted by the world bank and the un canadian federal government  ', 1469946436),
(132, 'node', ' areg gharabegian senior fellow areg gharabeghian holds a bs in mechanical engineering and ms in energy resources and environment he has extensive experience in the construction of urban infrastructure in the us and has also been the project manager of the armenian engineers and scientists of america s aesa fast growing tree project in armenia in addition he has served as a project administrator of the lead in blood project in armenia which was a joint project between aesa and the general hygiene and occupational diseases institute of armenia in his own personal experience he has been involved in agricultural and livestock business in armenia no  ', 1472677439),
(133, 'node', ' hilda grigorian senior fellow ms grigoiran has close to thirty years of experience in international development working as a consultant for usaid un undp and the private sector in armenia afghanistan pakistan and the united states she has worked on issues including but not limited to counter human trafficking gender program management ngo development armenia project development pakistan sme and ngo development youth and women empowerment afghanistan she has received awards from undp ministry of youth affairs of afghanistan and undp government of pakistan for her services in international development ms grigorian is the founder of armenia village operation avo an ngo that specializes on communitybased projects in rural villages in armenia she holds an mba and is currently a phd candidate in public policy and international ngo management  ', 0),
(134, 'node', ' anush hakobyan fellow anush hakobyan is a doctoral candidate in economics at the center for economic research and graduate education prague cergeei she holds an ma in economics from cergeei and an ma from yerevan state university s department of cybernetic economics prior to starting her graduate work ms hakobyan had worked as head of correspondent relations and international transactions department at bank mellat in yerevan  ', 0),
(135, 'node', ' naira harutyunyan fellow naira harutyunyan is a phd student at the central european university budapest hungary conducting research on climate change and energy efficiency she holds her msc in cooperation and development from university institute of advanced studies italy msc in environmental sciences and policy from the central european university in budapest hungary and msc in management of information systems from yerevan university of management and informatics naira narutyunyan has worked at various yerevanbased research and policy entities as well as the ministry of trade and economic development she also has an extensive work experience within armenian ngos ms harutyunyan s fields of interest include climate change carbon markets clean development mechanism cdm energy efficiency and renewables no  ', 0),
(136, 'node', ' vahe heboyan fellow vahe heboyan is a phd candidate at the university of georgia usa specializing in international economics and development he holds a ba from the armenian state agrarian university 1999 and an ms from the university of georgia 2001 where he served as the president of the armenian club and the president of the department of agricultural and applied economics graduate student association in 2001 he won the claudia depalma davis outstanding ms student award and the rod f ziemer outstanding ms paper award while in 2007 he was recognized with the outstanding phd student award  ', 0),
(137, 'node', ' armen hovakimian senior fellow armen hovakimian is an associate professor of finance at the zicklin school of business baruch college the city university of new york where he has taught undergraduate mba and phd courses in financial management and corporate finance professor hovakimian s recent research has focused on determinants of corporate capital structure and credit ratings and on the effects of deposit insurance on commercial banks risk taking behavior professor hovakimian received his phd in finance from boston college prior to his academic career in finance he worked as a computer engineer in armenia  ', 0),
(138, 'node', ' armine ishkanian senior fellow armine ishkanian is a lecturer in social policy at the centre for civil society and a research associate at the centre for the study of global governance at the london school of economics lse her research focuses on civil society and democracy building and her regional expertise is on the countries of the former soviet union with a particular focus on armenia she has published widely on these issues in journals such as social politics central asian survey journal of international development and diaspora a journal of transnational studies among others her forthcoming book democracybuilding and civil society in postsoviet armenia routledge april 2008 addresses the challenges of democracy building in armenia and the broader postsoviet region  ', 0),
(139, 'node', ' anna jenderedjian fellow anna jenderedjian is a doctoral candidate at the university of hohenheim s institute of social sciences in agriculture stuttgart germany where she conducts research on food security and civil society organizations she has a msc in environmental sciences and policy from the central european university in budapest hungary and ma in psychology from yerevan state university armenia anna jenderedjian worked for the south caucasus regional environmental organizations where she worked on the public outreach and environmental awareness raising programs she was also involved in consultancy on water use and agriculture in armenia prior to starting her doctoral research ms jenderdjian worked with the armenia tree project no  ', 0),
(140, 'node', ' zaven kalayjian senior fellow zaven kalayjian is a principal engineer at applied physical sciences in arlington va until then he was a senior consultant at booz allen hamilton and a visiting scientist at johns hopkins university medical school from 2001 to 2009 he worked and lived in yerevan armenia he was director of microelectronics at epygi labs am an adjunct professor in cis at the american university of armenia and has worked as a consultant and in a number of startups in armenia in the telecom and technology sector he is also a deacon in the armenian apostolic church and has developed and run religious education and catechetical programs in yerevan dr kalayjian currently resides in maryland and is active in the dcmetro armenian community no  ', 1502119628),
(142, 'node', ' ursula kazarian fellow ursula kazarian worked as a project developer in tbilisi georgia and later as the country director for the armenian office of the caucasus environmental ngo network cenn in yerevan where she specialized in public awareness programming for urgent environmental issues pertaining to public health human rights and democracybuilding in the us ms kazarian has several years of experience working for water utility conservation programs and in environmental consulting on federal energy programs she holds a ba in international relations with an international environmental resources concentration from the elliott school at the george washington university in washington dc she holds an ma in international relations from the school of international service at american university in washington dc and an ma in sustainable development and natural resource management from the united nations mandated university for peace in san jose costa rica ms kazarian is currently a dual juris doctor licenciatura en derecho candidate at the washington college of law at american university in washington dc and universidad carlos iii in madrid spain in 2007 ms kazarian launched the armenian environmental network which will join in 2008 with the pfa structure to disseminate armenian environmental information and promote activism  ', 0),
(143, 'node', ' arthur kachikian senior fellow arthur khachikian holds a phd in international relations from stanford university his dissertation and research focused on great power politics and intervention in the international system as well as international history dr khachikian currently works in the private sector no  ', 0),
(144, 'node', ' arpine korekyan fellow arpine korekyan has several years of experience in development field focusing on design implementation fundraising and monitoring and evaluation of various projects and programs on community mobilization rural development public health hiv aids prevention and gender the focus of her current work is on population and development issues in the eastern europe and central asia she also works on public private partnerships aimed at enhancing public good and for bringing greater efficiency in provision of public services she holds a masters in public administration mpa degree from the harvard kennedy school of government an msc degree in development management from the london school of economics and political science and a bsc in international relations from the yerevan state university no  ', 0),
(145, 'node', ' hrant kostanyan fellow hrant kostanyan is a visiting researcher at centre for european policy studies ceps and an expert at the european neighbourhood policy instrument enpi info centre in brussels belgium he is a phd candidate in political science eu studies at ghent university belgium his current research focuses on the european external action service eeas and the eu policies towards its eastern neighbours he holds master of european studies from the university of leuven belgium and ma from marquette university wi usa  ', 0),
(146, 'node', ' asbed kotchikian senior fellow asbed kotchikian phd boston university 2006 is a lecturer in political science at bentley university before joining bentley he was the assistant director of international affairs program at florida state university where he taught courses in eurasian and middle eastern politics he has also taught at hobart and william smith colleges in new york boston university and wheaton college ma he spent two years 20002002 in armenia and georgia where he conducted research and was a visiting lecturer in political science and international relations at local universities during the last 10 years dr kotchikian has also traveled extensively and lived in the middle east iran lebanon syria and former soviet union he has written lectured organized conferences and delivered presentations on topics such as foreign policies of small and weak states national identity and regional developments in the middle east and eurasia within academic and public venues in the south caucasus middle east us and europe his book titled the dialectics of small states foreign policy making in armenia and georgia was published in 2008 by vmd verlag he is currently the editor of the academic peer reviewed journal armenian review  ', 0);
INSERT INTO `search_dataset` (`sid`, `type`, `data`, `reindex`) VALUES
(148, 'node', ' ara manoogian fellow ara manoogian is the representative of his family s shahan nataie foundation a nonprofit corporation with a mission to address social economic cultural and educational issues in artsakh over the last 8 years ara has also been involved with advocacy to defend the rights of the common citizen in armenia and artsakh when faced with undue prosecution by corrupt officials joining with the investigative journalists of armenia he has also been involved with investigative work involving the trafficking of women and children from armenia to the united arab emirates no  ', 0),
(151, 'node', ' jeff masarjian senior fellow jeff masarjian became executive director of armenia tree project in 2001 following a long career in clinical social work family treatment and organizational management in the nonprofit sector he founded and for 13 years directed a specialized foster care program for children at risk in addition to having a private practice as a licensed social worker he taught a course in community services administration at the university of massachusetts for 10 years in his spare time jeff enjoys hiking camping skiing kayaking and traveling no  ', 0),
(153, 'node', ' samvel a mkhitaryan senior fellow samvel a mkhitaryan holds a phd in technical sciences from ussr higher scientific certification commission in moscow he took postgraduate research courses at the institute of physics of the earth ipe of the ussr academy of sciences and specialized in designing of scientific and geophysical devices dr mkhitaryan received also a mpa degree specializing in management of enterprises from state university of public sciences of ml and a ms degree in engineering and electronics from the state engineering university of armenia dr mkhitaryan led and participated in designing and production of various scientific equipments along with his active involvement locally and internationally he authored and co authored about 60 research analytical and recommendation reports manuals guides directories as well as copyrights of patents on inventions and scientific articles on electronics scientific equipments information analytic systems securities markets finance investments smb community development higher educational reforms bologna process ects educational system quality assurance sm taxes etc published in international su us rf and armenian scientific magazines and publications dr mkhitaryan also has organized conducted and attended various international and local forums and conferences in finance securities markets corporate governance investment banking loans sme and community development scientific equipments and electronics among many other fields no  ', 0),
(154, 'node', ' vahagn movsesyan senior fellow vahagn movsesyan holds a phd in economics and management from sant anna pisa italy as well as a candidate of economic sciences doctoral degree from the economics research institue yerevan armenia and proceeded his graduate level legal studies at boal hall law school uc berkeley ca dr movsesyan has over 17 years of experience both in public and private sectors of different european countries he has consulted eu member states governments as well as international organizations banks for armenia related issues based in nice france he has always been keeping tight links with armenia by initiating and overseeing various projects dr movsesyan has been published in three languages and is fluent in five  ', 0),
(155, 'node', ' richard ohanian fellow richard ohanian received a bs in applied physics from azad university tehran iran in 1994 and a bs and ms from california institute of technology caltech in electrical and computer engineering he worked at jpl nasa pasadena california for a short period of time and is currently with axiom microdevices irvine california as rfic design engineer designing integrated circuits for wireless applications in iran he published a book on mechanics and optics for high school students he also published various articles on sociopolitical issues in alik armenian daily tehran iran and was a tv host on horizon armenian tv glendale california he continues to be a member of many associations interest groups and professional networks such as ieee he is the founder of armengine a worldwide organization focused on promoting entrepreneurship among armenian engineers and scientists no  ', 0),
(156, 'node', ' ashot papoyan senior fellow ashot papoyan is a research associate at tetragenetics inc he joined tetragenetics after completing his phd at cornell university in the department of plant biology during his graduate studies he majored in plant physiology and molecular biology where he was studying heavy metal accumulation and detoxification in hyperaccumulator plants before starting his graduate program dr papoyan worked in the department of molecular medicine at cornell university where he was studying the mechanisms of interaction between gtpbinding protein cdc42 and its biological targets dr papoyan completed his undergraduate and masters degrees in the department of biophysics at yerevan state university in yerevan armenia during his masters program he was studying the effects of steroid hormones on phospholipid composition of rat brain nuclear membranes no  ', 0),
(157, 'node', ' galina petrosian fellow galina petrosian received a jd from suffolk university law school concentrating in intellectual property and international trade laws her interests include foreign policy international trade and commerce and emerging markets especially in the post soviet block before entering law school ms petrosian worked in the biotech industry where her focus was gamma irradiation and inactivation of pathogens ms petrosian has a bs in neurobiology and mammalian physiology from university of maryland at college park no  ', 0),
(158, 'node', ' rev vertanes kalayjian senior fellow fr vertanes kalayjian is pastor emeritus of st mary armenian apostolic church in washington dc where he served 31 years in addition to his pastoral activities he has served as a diocesan representative on the national council of churches department of middle eastern missions and at the world council of churches regional conferences he has been a member of blue ribbon committees and task forces on youth and religious education issues fr vertanes has served as director of summer youth camps sponsored by the diocese and the armenian general benevolent union and spearheaded summer christian youth camps in the republic of armenia he participated and served as a consultant at the following briefings and conferences south africa and us policies state dept pornography commission report state department the church and health services the brookings briefing of the state department area specialists on eastern european and former soviet union republics concerning the state of the affairs of the church communities no  ', 1502119282),
(159, 'node', ' vahe sahakyan fellow vahe sahakyan is a phd candidate in economics at the universitat pompeu fabra barcelona and a phd candidate in quantitative finance at the swiss finance institute zurich he also holds a candidate of science equivalent to phd in mathematical methods in economics from the yerevan state university master of arts in economics from the central european university budapest and master of science in finance from the universitat pompeu fabra barcelona over 10 years of vahe sahakyan s experience includes work at the world bank as a consultant for private sector development and competition policy and work at the bank for international settlements as a quantitative financial analyst he held different positions within the armenian public sector including in central bank public services regulatory commission and ministry of trade and economic development vahe sahakyan also has an extensive teaching experience in econometrics corporate finance and game theory he has published about 10 articles and his research interests are in microeconomics of banking and financial markets corporate finance regulation economics and asset pricing and mathematical finance no  ', 0),
(160, 'node', '   ', 0),
(161, 'node', ' audrey selian senior fellow audrey selian currently works on sustainable development projects focusing on applying the rigor of commercial and private sector thinking to a range of development enterprise projects in the agriculture clean energy and water sectors in india during the period of her doctoral studies audrey researched the impact of information and communication technologies icts on postcommunist states and particularly on the processes of political development in transition states the focus of her work more broadly since 2000 has been on innovation systems economic development and political governance in eastern europe and the caucasus she has served as director of marketing and sales emea for a startup tech company and has also held shortterm external consultant positions at the strategy and policy unit of the international telecommunication union itu in geneva switzerland no  ', 0),
(162, 'node', ' jason sohigian fellow jason a sohigian is the deputy director of armenia tree project he is responsible for fundraising and the communication of program goals and achievements among stakeholders the media and the environmental community through publications press releases and public events jason has a master s in sustainability and environmental management from harvard university with a focus on conservation finance his capstone thesis on payments for environmental services was motivated by the findings of unep s program on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity jason s undergraduate degree is from the environment technology and society program at clark university with a concentration in physics and his 1993 capstone thesis was on energy interdependence in the former soviet union from 1999 to 2004 jason was editor of the armenian weekly newspaper published by the hairenik association in watertown massachusetts no  ', 1428611001),
(163, 'node', ' arsen stepanyan fellow arsen stepanyan is a civil society practitioner currently in charge of the advocacy program cluster of the civic advocacy support program he has extensive experience in providing consultations to a number of governmental and nongovernmental agencies on constituency relations public participation in and transparency of decisionmaking processes and other civil society related matters on the national level he has worked with the armenian parliament different executive agencies and local government institutions as well as media and nonprofit organizations no  ', 0),
(165, 'node', '   ', 0),
(166, 'node', ' mais vanoyan senior fellow mais vanoyan is a senior team leader at a usaidfunded local government program implemented by the research triangle institute international in armenia he received his masters degree in geophysics from yerevan state university in 1977 and his phd from st petersburg mine institute russia in 1986 since independence mais has taken lead positions with a number of international ngos including save the children and urban institute as part of his tenure at these institutions he has built an extensive record of dealing with decentralization and civil society issues leading directions on citizen participation citizen awareness youth involvement capital investment planning and public service delivery of local governments including housing waste water management while with the government of armenia in early1990s he worked on new administrative territorial division of armenia and the law on local government no  ', 1476716835),
(168, 'node', ' imf completes second review under standby arrangement with armenia approves request for waiver of nonobservance of performance criterion modification of performance criteria and rephasing of purchases the executive board of the international monetary fund imf has completed the second review of armenia s economic performance under a program supported by a standby arrangement sba and approved a request for a waiver of nonobservance of endseptember 2009 fiscal balance performance criterion modification of the quantitative performance criteria for enddecember 2009 to reflect the revised macroeconomic framework and rephasing of purchases to make the amounts scheduled to become available following the second and third review available upon completion of the second review these decisions enable the immediate release of sdr 3772 million about us 60 million bringing the total disbursed to sdr 30194 million about us 479 million the 28month sba was approved on march 6 2009 see press release no 968 with access augmented on june 22 2009 see press release no 9228 following the executive board s discussion on armenia mr takatoshi kato deputy managing director and acting chair stated the global crisis has continued to have a serious impact on the armenian economy while output appears to be stabilizing the fall in remittances and the collapse in the construction sector have caused a more severe economic contraction and lower fiscal revenue than anticipated in the first review the authorities have fully implemented their economic program which calls for the continuation of fiscal and monetary easing and a flexible exchange rate in light of continuing weak domestic demand the authorities will maintain fiscal easing this year with external resources taking up the revenue slack expenditure will focus on undertaking anticrisis measures increasing capital spending and protecting social spending the authorities are committed to starting fiscal consolidation in 2010 with a view to ensuring mediumterm debt sustainability the program allows for additional spending should more donor financing become available to smooth the withdrawal of fiscal stimulus an accommodative monetary policy stance remains appropriate given low inflation the move to a more flexible exchange rate has served armenia well helping the economy avoid significant overvaluation and increasing the effectiveness of monetary policy however given the remaining weaknesses in the monetary transmission mechanism targeted measures now being implemented to stimulate credit are crucial the shortterm outlook remains challenging as external conditions improve growth is expected to resume gradually in 2010 although risks remain including a slower recovery of the global economy continued reforms particularly in the areas of tax policy and tax reform administration the financial sector and the business environment will be necessary to boost the mediumterm growth potential of the economy mr kato said  ', 0),
(169, 'node', ' armenia warned to end oligopoly  armenia will not reach a higher level of development unless its leadership changes the oligopolistic structure of the national economy bolsters the rule of law and shows zero tolerance of corruption the world bank s managing director warned over the weekend i think you can only go so far with this economic model ngozi okonjoiweala told a news conference in yerevan armenia is a lower middleincome country if it wants to become a highincome or upper middleincome country it can not do so with this kind of economic structure that is clear the unusually blunt message came on the second day of okonjoiweala s visit to armenia during which she met with prime minister tigran sarkisian and local business and civil society representatives and toured several rural communities to inspect the implementation of infrastructure projects financed by the world bank she also had a lunch meeting with president serzh sarkisian on sunday the armenian authorities efforts to mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis on the country was the main focus of the talks okonjoiweala reaffirmed the world bank s strong support for their anticrisis measures which has translated into the disbursement of over 200 million in various lowinterest loans so far this year but she also stressed that the recession has exposed some vulnerabilities of the armenian economy that need to be urgently addressed looking to the future it is very clear that if armenia is to come out of the crisis well and grow in the future it has to confront some central challenges said okonjoiweala it has to confront a challenge of competition the economy needs to open up to more competition you strongly have to work to make sure that the economy is not captured by oligopolistic structures she added apparently alluding to a widely held belief that many forms of largescale and lucrative economic activity in armenia have been effectively monopolized by a small number of wealthy individuals and their government patrons okonjoiweala also called for a sweeping reform of tax and customs administration the creation of a strong and independent judicial system as well as a tough fight against government corruption you have to fight corruption very strongly if this economy is to have a chance to grow in the future she stated the armenian authorities claim to have stepped up their anticorruption efforts in recent years adopting various antigraft programs and forming special bodies tasked with their implementation however antidraft watchdogs and other civic group see no significant decrease in the scale of corrupt practices among various state officials in particular the armenian affiliate of the berlinbased transparency international believes that the country s rulers are inherently disinterested in combating graft because they themselves have extensive business interests and are heavily reliant on the political backing of oligarchs enjoying privileged government treatment indeed many government lawenforcement and other officials in armenia own lucrative businesses both directly and through their cronies and or share in the profits of other firms sponsored by them when asked to comment on the perception that the armenian leadership has a vested interest in preserving the existing economic system okonjoiweala said i think this is a question that the armenian people will also have to work on and decide for themselves but obviously it will be in the selfinterests of everyone in the country both policymakers and citizens if more competition is introduced the number two figure in the world bank leadership suggested that prime minister sarkisian is strongly wishing to move on reforms i think he fully realizes that these challenges are there and that if they are not tackled it will be an impediment for the economy she said sarkisian s commitment to reform is also acknowledged by local commentators however few of them think that the former governor of the armenian central bank has the political clout and power to effect the kind of changes that are sought by the world bank a statement issued by the armenian government after sarkisian s meeting with okonjoiweala on saturday said the premier briefed her on the course of ongoing reforms that are primarily aimed at improving tax and customs administration he said she success of those reforms would significantly improve country s business environment and expressed readiness to engage foreign experts in their implementation the statement said you can deal with the technical issues but what you need is a political will to say look we are going to have zero tolerance of corruption in these areas okonjoiweala told journalists the next day so we hope the prime minister will get support and i hope to meet with the president and that there will be support for this zero tolerance tigran sarkisian declared tax reform a top priority shortly after being appointed prime minister in april 2008 he swiftly managed to reduce with president sarkisian s assistance bribery and favoritism within armenia s notoriously corrupt customs service however some local entrepreneurs now say that corruption among customs officials which is greatly facilitated by their discretionary power to determine the market value of imported goods has been on the rise this year the customs may now be even more corrupt than it was under former president robert kocharian one importer alleged recently the businessman who did not want to be identified told rfe rl that local firms importing goods can easily contact intermediary firms that can help them pay less import duties in return for a cash payment those firms have close ties with the leadership of the state revenue committee src he claimed only one armenian businessman has made such allegations publicly to date gagik hakobian one of the owners of the royal armenia coffee packaging company claimed in 2004 to have been offered to engage in a fraud scam with senior customs officials including gagik khachatrian the current src chief hakobian was subsequently arrested and sentenced to six years in prison on controversial fraud charges  ', 0),
(171, 'node', ' gevorg poghosian armenian and turkish societies are not ready for the armenian sociological association held a survey among 1000 yerevan residents between september 21 to 25 to find out armenian society s opinion of improvement of armenianturkish relations association chairman gevorg poghosian said at an october 19 press conference that armenian society does not accept that issue unequivocally according to the survey 524 yerevan residents is against ratification of the protocols and 40 is against opening of the armenianturkish border g poghosian said that surveys were held in turkey as well and according to them before signing the protocols the considerable part of turkish society nearly 70 was against the protocols while after the signing that index decreased up to 5354 thus according to g poghosian armenian and turkish societies are not ready for improvement of relations according to his estimation the authorities of both countries overcome difficulties to ratify the protocols it means that the whole process should have been explained to society in detail our and turkish authorities did not make sufficient efforts in this direction as a result of which we meet resistance both in armenia and in turkey g poghosian said in his opinion for many of ra citizens it is not clear up to the present why armenia makes such concessions in his words if we mean the blockade turkey initiated in 1993 to punish armenia let turkey itself open the border  ', 0),
(173, 'node', ' alice agulian summer 2012  alice agulian interned with pfa in summer 2012 whilst participating in the terjenianthomas assembly internship program alice graduated from the university of manchester uk in 2011 with a ba honors in economics and development studies with plans to complete a graduate degree in economic development while interning at pfa alice helped put together a database on armenian organizations worldwide with guidance from hrach kalsahakian and david grigorian alice is back in the uk and is currently pursuing her studies in law  ', 0),
(174, 'node', ' marine sargsyan winter 2010  marine sargsyan interned with pfa in winter 2010 through the university of california washington dc academic internship program ucdc while an undergraduate student at uc irvine she managed to work on a research project on returns to education in armenia and helped with the preparation of an international forum on armenian diaspora organized by pfa her tasks included liaising with presenters panelists and managing the logistical aspects of the event she received ma degree in economics from uc santa barbara and a ba with magna cum laude from uc irvine with a specialization in international issues in economics marine is actively involved in los angeles community serving as a volunteer at catholic charities immigration and refugee department los angeles ca  ', 0),
(175, 'node', '   ', 0),
(176, 'node', ' united states commission on security and cooperation in europe helsinki commission holds hearing armenia after the election  below is the complete list of statements and testimonies made during the hearings statement rep alcee hastings rfl statement rep christopher smith rnj statement sen ben cardin dmd testimony matt bryza us state department testimony vigen sargsyan government rep testimony arman grigorian opposition rep testimony written giorgi gogia human rights watch unofficial transcript select quotes from chairman hastings if mr sargsyan you tell me there are no political prisoners then i will tell you that you re out of your everloving mind because there are now one need not live but just a little while to remember the 1996 election and the acknowledgement of the then internal minister that the election results were rigged which by any logic would question the moral authority of mr ter petrossian to raise question about rigged elections i will work hard as i have to try to help armenia but i m not so sure that i will do it from either of your vantage points i will do it from an armenian vantage point not from the vantage point of one side against another side all of you have good points and all of you have bad points so if i ve offended you it s deliberate  ', 0),
(177, 'node', ' genocide forgotten armenians horrified by treaty with turkey robert fisk the independent 8 october 2009 in the autumn of 1915 an austrian engineer called litzmayer who was helping build the constantinoplebaghdad railway saw what he thought was a large turkish army heading for mesopotamia but as the crowd came closer he realised it was a huge caravan of women moving forward under the supervision of soldiers the 40000 or so women were all armenians separated from their men most of whom had already had their throats cut by turkish gendarmerie and deported on a genocidal death march during which up to 15 million armenians died subjected to constant rape and beatings some had already swallowed poison on their way from their homes in erzerum serena sivas bitlis and other cities in turkish western armenia some of them bishop grigoris balakian one of litzmayer s contemporaries recorded had been driven to such a state that they were mere skeletons enveloped in rags with skin that had turned leathery burned from the sun cold and wind many pregnant women having become numb had left their newborns on the side of the road as a protest against mankind and god every year new evidence emerges about this mass ethnic cleansing the first holocaust of the last century and every year turkey denies that it ever committed genocide yet on saturday to the horror of millions of descendants of armenian survivors the president of armenia serg sarkissian plans to agree to a protocol with turkey to reopen diplomatic relations which should allow for new trade concessions and oil interests and he proposes to do this without honouring his most important promise to armenians abroad to demand that turkey admit it carried out the armenian genocide in 1915 in beirut yesterday outside mr sarkissian s hotel thousands of armenians protested against this tradefordenial treaty we will not forget their banners read armenian history is not for sale they called the president a traitor why should our million and a half martyrs be put up for sale one of them asked and what about our armenian lands in turkey the homes our grandparents left behind sarkissian is selling them too the sad truth is that the 57 million armenian diaspora scattered across russia the us france lebanon and many other countries are the descendants of the western armenians who bore the brunt of turkish ottoman brutality in 1915 tiny landlocked modernday armenia its population a mere 32 million living in what was once called eastern armenia is poor flaunts a dubious version of democracy and is deeply corrupt it relies on remittances from its wealthier cousins overseas hence mr sarkissian s hopeless mission to new york los angeles paris beirut and rostovondon to persuade them to support the treaty to be signed by the armenian and turkish foreign ministers in switzerland the turks have also been trumpeting a possible settlement to the territory of nagornokarabagh part of historic armenia seized from azerbaijan by armenian militias almost two decades ago not without a little ethnic cleansing by armenians it should be added but it is the refusal of the yerevan government to make turkey s acknowledgement of the genocide a condition of talks that has infuriated the diaspora the armenian government is trying to sweeten the taste for us by suggesting that turkish and armenian historians sit down to decide what happened in 1915 one of the armenians protesting in beirut said but would the israelis maintain diplomatic relations if the german government suddenly called the jewish holocaust into question and suggested it all be mulled over by historians betrayal has always been in the air barack obama was the third successive us president to promise armenian electors that he would acknowledge the genocide if he won office and then to betray them once elected by refusing even to use the word despite thunderous denunciations in the aftermath of the armenian genocide by lloyd george and churchill the first british politician to call it a holocaust the foreign office also now meekly claims that the details of the 1915 massacres are still in question yet still the evidence comes in even from this newspaper s readers in a letter to me an australian robert davidson said his grandfather john jock davidson a first world war veteran of the australian light horse had witnessed the armenian genocide he wrote of the hundreds of armenian carcasses outside the walls of homs they were men women and children and were all naked and had been left to rot or be devoured by dogs the australian light horsemen were appalled at the brutality done to these people in another instance his company came upon an armenian woman and two children in skeletal condition she signed to them that the turks had cut the throats of her husband and two elder children in his new book on bishop balakian armenian golgotha the historian peter balakian the bishop s greatnephew records how british soldiers who had surrendered to the turks at kut alamara in presentday iraq and were sent on their own death march north of 13000 british and indian soldiers only 1600 would survive had spoken of frightful scenes of armenian carnage near deir ezzour not far from homs in syria in those vast deserts the bishop said they had come upon piles of human bones crushed skulls and skeletons stretched out everywhere and heaps of skeletons of murdered children when the foreign ministers sit down to sign their protocol in switzerland on saturday they must hope that blood does not run out of their pens  ', 0),
(178, 'node', ' an open letter to the armenian nation protocols and preconditions the history of the armenian people has been an ordeal of suffering tragedy and genocide in this millennial series of misfortunes however never has the nation invited destruction upon itself but today it stands at the brink with a small group of improperly elected leaders apparently racing toward a forsaking of both identity and interest with the stroke of a pen the armenian president and his foreign minister have crossed the line of danger and dignity in zurich switzerland on october 10 2009 they resigned from a longstanding national quest to preserve the fundamental rights security and integrity of an ancient land and its native heirs the signing of the two diplomatic protocols between armenia and turkey might indeed constitute the latest entry in the ledger of crimes committed and covered up against the armenian nation core values are not commodities as a servant of the armenian nation reflecting both prior office and present opposition i am appalled by this latest offense as an armenian citizen for many years denied that honor by successive authorities i ache as the soul of our nation is traded away for illusory promises of good will and open borders with turkey our vital values from our collective responsibility as heirs of the genocide to our individual expression of liberty and belonging are not commodities that unrequited murderous conception of 1915 the original plan to drive to extinction the armenian people the armenian homeland and so the armenian species is one of the principal sources of our modern identity just as its equitable resolution is the anchor of our future national security this is duplicity not diplomacy what will open borders a courtesy commonly extended at no cost to all civilized nations cost the armenians of course every armenian seeks peace prosperity and goodneighborly relations but what we have in these protocols is only an expensive illusion of them the ends generally stated are sound open borders and normal diplomatic relations among neighbors are pure and prudent goals but the means we use must be as pure and prudent as the ends we seek unfortunately the secretive diplomatic process launched by the armenian and turkish administrations is defective at the fundaments sourced as they are in bloody soil where a pronounced asymmetry of power survives to this day first the protocols stipulate that armenia relinquish its lawful historic rights and extend an unlimited de jure recognition of turkey s de facto borders which were drawn and defined on the very basis of the eradication and violent dispossession of the armenian people from its ancestral heartland in so doing they demand and have received the armenian presidency s endorsement of that fantastic crime against humanity which has deprived generations of armenians of its civilization heritage and patrimony second the protocols entail a joint condemnation of terrorism yet fail to include any corresponding renunciation of the broader criminal outrage of genocide third the protocols impose a requirement for a dialogue on the historical dimension of relations this measure representing a unilateral attempt at imprisoning the armenian genocide in a bilateral echo chamber not only challenges the untouchable veracity of the genocide but secures the complicity of the armenian state in absolving turkey of any responsibility for its genocidal actions once these terms are brought to life absolutely little will remain of the legitimate expectation to secure turkey s and the world s reaffirmation of and redemption for the genocide turkey will forever deflect and delay liabilities for its genocidal acts by leveraging the infinite and inconclusive nature of the bilateral dialogue normalization or not these protocols move us not one inch toward reconciliation that pure and total communion based on the truth a brave recognition of all aspects of shared turkisharmenian history including the great genocide and national dispossession of the armenian people the protocols in the proper perspective in all the pomp and circumstance of diplomatic breakthroughs we cannot forget that the burden of normalization rests as it always has rested with the turkish republic the decisions to close the border with armenia and to withhold normal diplomatic relations violations both of all viable international norms were decisions that turkey made and realized on its own hence each of the turkish concessions reflected in the protocols represents only the most basic minimum commitment of a decent and civilized country turkey s bare and stated readiness to open borders and normalize relations the extent of its responsibilities in the framework of the protocols is therefore a nonevent no international initiative should have been necessary for those moves and that turkey has made that determination now only after accepting the sacrifice of an entire nation deserves not praise but continued skepticism in the substance behind its diplomatic flourishes whether they relate to the european union or broader geopolitical objectives from protocols to parliaments now that the armenian and turkish sides have signed these protocols the second stage of ratification is set for the parliaments at yerevan and ankara regrettably dispensing with a parliament s traditional role of advice and consent in the foreign policy of state the executives have imposed a prohibition on amending or altering these protocols in any way while this stands in clear contradiction with democratic standards and practices it also denies the public and its members in each country the right to exercise or engage their opinions in this process this extraordinary methodology flies in the face of customary diplomatic practice which calls for the establishment of official relations through a simple exchange of notes the scheme here is plain perfectly tailored and aimed at tying down for good history s loose ends soon the armenian national assembly too will be called upon to bear complicit responsibility in giving legislative validation nearly 90 years after the fact to the illegal bolshevikkemalist pacts which crowned the genocidal process and sought to seal the fate of the armenian nation what is more not content with pursuing this official acceptance of turkey s longstanding occupation of the armenian homeland its leaders will continue audaciously to abuse every turn of the ratification process in order to deflect their own culpability by linking implementation of the protocols and lifting of the turkish blockade with what they pitch as the occupied territories of azerbaijan clearly that would be a disingenuous and inapposite reference to the freedomloving people of mountainous karabagh its oddsdefying liberation and constitutional decolonization from the turcostalinist legacy and its resultant territorial integrity in the final analysis armenian and turkish citizens have been refused both voice and choice in determining the outcome of an immensely significant process that will forge the future course of both countries this is especially distressing because on the judgments to be made in the coming weeks and months shall turn the fate of generations to come and their imperative to face history remember collectively and bridge in earnest the great turkisharmenian divide raffi k hovannisian october 12 2009 yerevan  ', 0),
(179, 'node', ' ltp s mayday mayday may day is a pagan ritual which marks the end of the colder winter half of the year in the northern hemisphere and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations regardless of the locally prevalent political establishment but not for levon terpetrossian his mayday was more akin to the mayday associated with the emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal by ships and airplanes in radio communications derived from the french venez m aider meaning come help me the mayday used to signal a lifethreatening emergency by groups such as police forces pilots firefighters and transportation organizations and ltp yesterday ltp s ocean liner was visibly in distress suffering relentless buffeting from an armenian regime which terrorized and killed itself into office which runs a stateimposed lawless society holds democratic opposition supporters in prisons and bullies and beats correspondents who try to tell the story ltp has finally been trumped by the flying ace which kocharian has for years kept tucked up his sleeve and which sargsyan now flaunts with his international partnersincrime the ace of capitulation on karabakh and on genocide nevertheless the regime had prepared well for a potentially massive turnout which might have been the case but according to levon zurabyan vehicles bringing ltp supporters to the meeting from outlying regions were turned back in traditional regime style by security services brandishing automatic weapons at the city limits in contrast outgoing vehicles were encouraged to take their mayday holidaymakers to tend their plots of land in the countryside so ltp had fewer passengers than for previous voyages with the business class notable in its absence they are distancing themselves from ltp and jumping off his democracy liner now looking for a sargsyan lifeboat in the hope that after regime cronies have finished pillaging the multibillion dollar economic rescue genocide karabakh sellout package the leftovers will help to rescue their small and medium business enterprises the three thousand or so economy class passengers left on board were seeking cover in whatever sheltered place they could find realizing they were doomed to go down with the ship and its captain riot police were on display in abundance as usual with bus loads of reserves waiting in the surrounding streets to make sure nobody jumps ship the turkish press was eager to quote the international afp which rushed to report on how ltp announced to his 3500 supporters that he and his armenian national congress are in favor of the soonest settlement of armenianturkish relations and is ready to support all positive steps on this occasion the armenian press came to rescue with onnik krikorian one of armenia s last independent photojournalists using his global voice to report the truth of the matter and quoting ltp as saying in a damning indictment of armenia s rapprochement with turkey opposition leader levon terpetrosian accused president serzh sarkisian on friday of scuttling us recognition of the armenian genocide and gaining nothing in return we are left to conclude without the slightest exaggeration that for the sake of prolonging his rule serzh sarkisian has literally sold out the genocide his next step will undoubtedly be a sellout of karabakh after which he will become the first armenian to win the nobel prize unfortunately there is now little hope for an ltp rescue effort a multibillion dollar carrot backed by the power of the international propaganda machine has succeeded with its weed revolution for armenia the international community has happily fallen for the kocharian sargsyan flying ace hailing marvellous sargsyan achievements with turkish and azerbaijani relations the european union started the bidding and gambled the virtues of democracy the rule of law and human rights but realizing that sargsyan was not fooled by the bluff it instructed pace to throw in the hand and they joined sargsyan as coconspirators america then upped the anti with a billion plus dollar cash wb imf bet a calculated bid to draw the flying ace and knowing it had a winwin situation upping the stakes would either call the sargsyan bluff with the us collecting the pot or us losses would be recouped by obama reneging on his promise to recognise the armenian genocide on the 24th april moscow put in its half billion dollar bid in typically shrewd russian style reminding the armenian party that in the event of losses they would be covered by previous russian armenian agreements turkey and azerbaijan stayed in the bidding with promissory notes watching the major players jockey for position then the us threw in its billion dollar hand and obama reneged on his genocide promise as planned the players have been at the table for months on end each ready to back out in return for resolving its problems in the caucasus the eu and the us were happy to cut and run to leave the three former soviet players to finish the game each hoping that turkey which has been picking up strong cards along the way will not come up with a hand to trump them all armenia still has a betterthaneven chance of raking in the entire multibillion dollar pot all it has to do is to call the turkish azerbaijani bluffs and pick the right time to throw down its karabakh card the republic will then be endowed with an internationally installed bandit regime which for many generations to come will dictate life in armenia and all for the sake of a treacherous armenian capitulation on karabakh which unfortunately included an even more shameful sellout of the armenian genocide in typical style whilst diaspora armenians have been lobbying overseas armenians in the republic have been subserviently watching on as this process moves into its final stage the fifty or so thousand karabakhis are up in arms determined to defend their rights in the light of this kocharian sargsyan sellout but there is little hope that they will be able to stop the capitulation rollercoaster when armenia s regime unilaterally withdraws its troops from five of the surrounding territories egged on by bryza and his minsk associates and rubber stamped by the eu the tale goes that when the azerbaijani defense minister asked his president if he was prepared to take karabakh by force aliyev answered are you crazy there are fifty thousand of them the defense minister answered but we are a country of eight million and our army is several times larger in number than the entire karabakh population and we have spent billions of dollars on the latest military equipment aliyev replied but two karabakhis took over armenia singlehanded and now they own the republic imagine what fifty thousand of them will do to us that anecdote is now the reality with which armenia now has to live and armenia you can blame absolutely nobody for it except yourselves  ', 0);
INSERT INTO `search_dataset` (`sid`, `type`, `data`, `reindex`) VALUES
(180, 'node', ' armenia little has been achieved in combating crisis tuesday april 28 2009 event real gdp will contract by 5 this year the imf s april world economic outlook predicts significance economic activity is falling to a record low as the economy undergoes an abrupt decline in activity reflected among other things in lower government budget income analysis according to preliminary data from the national statistical service in the first quarter of 2009 real gdp contracted by 61 yearonyear this is the worst performance since 1993 all the main branches of the economy plunged compared with the yearearlier period industrial output in volume terms by 95 gross agricultural output by 51 and gross construction by 219 the service sector was the only one to show a slight increase mainly thanks to a 39 increase in retail trade the contraction is an obvious consequence of the global economic crisis which has resulted in a decline in investment in construction the main engine of gdp growth in the past five years and restricted demand for armenian exports mainly metals foreign trade has shrunk drastically with exports at a mere 527 of the level of a year ago and imports 778 imports now exceed exports more than fivefold in dollar terms 659 million and 123 million respectively budget crisis state budget revenues have also fallen in januaryfebruary the latest period for which data are available they came to 846 billion drams 277 million dollars at the thenexchange rate this is 15 less yearonyear and about 28 less than 2009 budget plan which adopted last november envisaged some 20 growth in revenues compared with 2008 in addition it has become known that the 500 million dollar loan from russia initially expected in april will not arrive before endjune in these conditions the government decided to reallocate budget expenditure on a quarterly basis on march 26 the cabinet restructured the budget by moving expenditures totalling some 131 billion drams 354 million dollars into the fourth quarter of 2009 from earlier periods this concerns mainly purchases for state bodies which may for the first three quarters buy no cars furniture or real estate the government does not see any need as yet to adopt a reduced budget counting on borrowing the imf approved in march a 28month standby arrangement for 540 million dollars of which 240 million is available now or an upturn in revenues remittances another difficulty is the decline in the level of private transfers from abroad mainly from russia according to estimates in januaryfebruary they decreased by 30 yearonyear however this factor has not yet had a very significant influence on the market as mentioned above retail market sales increased in januarymarch moreover after the central bank cba ceased intervening in the currency market on march 3 which resulted in the immediate depreciation of the dram from 305 to 370 to the dollar pressure on the currency market has been low in particular the population s sale of dollars near 40 million a week has exceeded its purchases by more than 5 from march 10april 15 forecasts in an amended monetary policy document released in late march the cba expected real gdp to fall by about 30 yearonyear by end2009 and estimated inflation at 59 in december moreover in march inflation was fairly low 10 yearonyear 7 since december 2008 and 20 over the first quarter compared with the yearearlier period this enabled the cba to lower the refinancing rate on april 7 by 25 percentage points to 75 it also decided to increase its purchases of government bonds to inject more liquidity into the market the world bank has warned that the economic crisis may result in an increase in the poverty level from 227 in 2008 to 279 in 2010 above the level in 2006 265 both the bank and the imf have urged the government to maintain a high level of social payments to limit impoverishment as far as possible in particular the imf insists that the government increases social payments by 3 of gdp as envisaged in the programme approved by the fund the government said it would protect social security expenditures in the state budget among the measures aimed at protecting the poor is a government programme of public works worth 700 million drams so far allowances pensions and other social payments have been paid without delay anticrisis measures the government has prepared the following anticrisis measures to boost business activity and create jobs under a bill adopted on march 19 valueadded tax payments due on imported investment equipment are postponed for three years the process of simplifying the taxation accounting and reporting rules for small and mediumsized enterprises smes has started under a legislative package adopted last year but its implementation is controversial five mining companies producing copper and molybdenum one of which stopped work altogether late last year have resumed operations at least for the time being and are to be working fulltime by endapril this has saved 6000 jobs which are important especially for syunik province in the south thanks to a partial recovery in metals prices their operations are nearly profitable and the government is providing assistance in particular the kajaran plant which is the biggest in this sector has obtained a shortterm 10 million dollar credit for modernising its equipment the government is subsidising businesses so far 18 companies have received some 25 billion drams in different forms of assistance ranging from loans and credit guarantees to the government s purchase of shares these companies activities include food processing textiles software and machinetool production one of the principal steps aimed at reviving construction is the provision of loan guarantees for developers finishing off buildings that are 50 or more complete the total sum of guarantees declared as of april 13 is 20 billion drams on april 2 the sme credit programme began with a 50 million dollar world bank loan the results of these measures are not yet evident in particular interest rates are still too high at 1520 per year the government is looking for other sources of credit besides such international financial institutions as the european bank for reconstruction and development and the asian development bank hopes are pinned on a domestic mortgage agency and a new bank which are to be created later this year however the cba is cautious about reducing interest rates further out of concern for inflation conclusion the government s anticrisis measures are unlikely to bring any quick improvement those taken so far are small with the only actions likely to stimulate investments totalling less than 70 million dollars planned infrastructure projects have not yet started other actions are only just getting under way and their impact will not be seen rapidly keywords ee rucis armenia imfworld bank international russia economy industry politics social debt exchange rate fiscal government growth monetary poverty prices agriculture balance of payments capital flows construction corporate foreign trade investment manufacturing metals mining public sector retail services welfare  ', 0),
(181, 'node', ' statement of president barack obama on armenian remembrance day ninety four years ago one of the great atrocities of the 20th century began each year we pause to remember the 15 million armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the ottoman empire the meds yeghern must live on in our memories just as it lives on in the hearts of the armenian people history unresolved can be a heavy weight just as the terrible events of 1915 remind us of the dark prospect of man s inhumanity to man reckoning with the past holds out the powerful promise of reconciliation i have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915 and my view of that history has not changed my interest remains the achievement of a full frank and just acknowledgment of the facts the best way to advance that goal right now is for the armenian and turkish people to address the facts of the past as a part of their efforts to move forward i strongly support efforts by the turkish and armenian people to work through this painful history in a way that is honest open and constructive to that end there has been courageous and important dialogue among armenians and turks and within turkey itself i also strongly support the efforts by turkey and armenia to normalize their bilateral relations under swiss auspices the two governments have agreed on a framework and roadmap for normalization i commend this progress and urge them to fulfill its promise together armenia and turkey can forge a relationship that is peaceful productive and prosperous and together the armenian and turkish people will be stronger as they acknowledge their common history and recognize their common humanity nothing can bring back those who were lost in the meds yeghern but the contributions that armenians have made over the last ninetyfour years stand as a testament to the talent dynamism and resilience of the armenian people and as the ultimate rebuke to those who tried to destroy them the united states of america is a far richer country because of the many americans of armenian descent who have contributed to our society many of whom immigrated to this country in the aftermath of 1915 today i stand with them and with armenians everywhere with a sense of friendship solidarity and deep respect  ', 0),
(182, 'node', ' weathering the storm a commentary on armenia s oligarchs several weeks since armenia felt the impact of the global financial and economic crisis the weakness of the armenian economy has become all too apparent starting with a drastic reduction in the amount of money or remittances coming into armenia from relatives working abroad mainly in russia most armenian families have already begun to feel the pinch from the larger global crisis although most families are now coping with much less financial support from abroad the crisis has only worsened matters as massive layoffs throughout the country s mining sector has left many armenians without jobs and now more recently the sudden decision to float or let the market determine the value of the armenian currency has sparked sharp price rises and fostered fear for the future what about the oligarchs although these new economic problems pose new threats to social and economic stability this new crisis is made only worse by the already serious disparities in wealth and income these disparities evident in a mounting social divide between the small wealthy elite and the much bigger proportion of ordinary armenians have magnified the rise of the socalled oligarchs in armenia but with this new economic crisis will armenia s oligarchs also feel the pain will the armenian oligarchs follow the same path of their russian counterparts as the russian state under the strain of its own domestic crisis has now moved against the russian oligarchs in fact there is an interesting lesson from the case of the russian oligarchs for russia s oligarchs the economic crisis weakened them considerably with most now begging the russian state for loans and assistance the underlying weakness of oligarchs any oligarchs not just the russian or the armenian variety is that their business empires are based on state patronage and debt and are not built on true business models or activities for many of the russian oligarchs the crisis exposed the fragile house of cards that underpinned their businesses and revealed their vulnerability as the top 25 richest russian businessman have lost a collective 230 billion this year as measured by an annual list compiled by forbes magazine it is this vulnerability that is now spurring the russian state to retake control over several key sectors of the russian economy as the oligarchs are being stripped of much of their economic clout and even political power during this crisis in the case of armenia however the state seems to lack the will to adopt such tactics sadly armenia s oligarchs have only consolidated their power through the control of several commoditybased cartels controlling the imports of nearly all important commodities and exercising powerful influence over exports but like the russian case armenia s oligarchs are also vulnerable with a sharp fall in commodity prices a slump in demand and an end to easy credit combining to pose new threats to their personal wealth and power although unlike russia the armenian state lacks the resources to rescue these failing businesses it has also failed to seize the opportunity to take on the oligarchs whether in terms of failing to pay their fair share of taxes or due to their illegal cartels and semimonopolies the oligarchs represent one of the most serious threats to the state flaunting their power and diminishing the authority of the government equally troubling the oligarchic structures are also obstacles to development robbing the state as much as the population of economic opportunities and competition this is especially crucial in light of the recent assessments of the armenian economy by the international monetary fund imf which show that armenia is now entering a new phase of zerogrowth this means that the armenian state will face declining revenue dwindling investment and an end to even the mirage of economic growth that the previous government so effectively used to hide its political shortcomings time to take on the oligarchs what is needed is a serious campaign to regulate these oligarchic business interests enforce and break up the illegal commoditybased cartels and hold the oligarchs to account forcing them to meet their tax obligations and respect existing laws and regulations only then can the armenian government begin to address its already serious lack of legitimacy and crisis of confidence such a state effort to target the oligarch s stranglehold on business is the first step to meeting the government s plans to develop small and mediumsized business and such a move would also send a serious message in support of the state s effort to fight corruption which has long been seen as too little too late although the armenian government is increasingly coming to the realization that it is the economic crisis even more than the current political stalemate in the country that poses the most serious threat to stability the imperative now is to take on the oligarchic cartels and as the lessons from russia reveal the time to tackle the oligarchs is now while they are weakened by the economic and financial crisis otherwise it will be too late too late for the state and much too late for the country the author richard giragosian is the director of the yerevanbased armenian center for national and international studies acnis weathering the storm is a weekly column exclusively for armenianow  ', 0),
(183, 'node', ' not home alone global economic crisis slows armenian workers migration armenian villagers who starting from march each year used to go abroad to work particularly in russia are not in hurry to leave their motherland this year closed doors and rejections await them because of the economic crisis outside armenia people were mostly hired as construction workers or renovated apartments on their own the results are clearly noticeable in gegharkunik province which according to a statistical research conducted in 20022007 by advanced social technologies ngo with the assistance of osce yerevan office has the highest outmigration index 15 percent of the 26200 residents have emigrated the number of work migrants from the 4975resident vaghashen village was 300350 every year but now according to aram hunanyan secretary of the rural administration body it has reduced by 85 percent about45 people have left and there are no jobs in our region ordinary peasants only harvest potatoes and cabbage on this land but last year the supply exceeded the demand and the peasants sold 1 kg of potatoes for only 4050 dram 1316 cent which naturally is not enough to support a family says hunanyan residents of this village were mainly leaving for the russian federation to work in the construction sphere one of them was 48year old armen hunanyan who worked on the construction of elite buildings cottages and roads in the city of tver this year i am not going because i have called my friends there and they told me people are being laid off there are no new workplaces he returned in november having received his salary for 5 months 1890000 dram 6300 of which 390000 dram 1300 was spent on living there and paying the travel expenses the rest of the money was used to start the construction of his private house but if i don t go there to work again the construction here will remain unfinished he was able to find work at the rural administrative body related to enforcement of army conscripts where he earns 40000 dram 133 his wife is a schoolteacher and earns 89000 dram 296 the amount is enough for them to support their 3 children his relative 35year old darvin hunanyan has not found a job yet his wife 30year old marine sukiasyan says they already have debts at the shop because for the past 5 years the family lived exclusively on the 240000 dram 800 a month which the husband earned working as a builder in moscow we have two sons one is 11 the other is 6 years old my mother and fatherinlaw live with us and don t get any pension yet we have one cow and a calf and a small patch of land where we grow potatoes she says one of the several venturing residents of vaghashen is sargis hayrapetyan 35 a father of two children he left for tula on march 14 to work there he does woodprocessing he used to earn 300000 dram 1000 before this time they did not name any specific figure but they warned that they would pay little said his wife 35year old hermine yeghiazaryan according to the state employment service data 53 percent of the population in the provinces don t have jobs according to the statistical research conducted by advanced social technologies ngo in 20022007 about 230000 people have emigrated from the whole territory of ra in the past 5 years each migrant has traveled abroad 2 times on average 96 percent went to russia the ra international organization on migration stated in its 2008 report that money transfers from the diaspora account for 20 percent of the gdp 70 percent of which comes from russia last year the money transfers made by physical persons through banks with noncommercial purposes reached nearly 5 billion drams 16 billion compared to last year this year s transfers have reduced by 25 percent said zaruhi barseghyan the central bank press secretary in january this year for example 165 billion drams 555 million were transferred whereas last year it was about 21 billion dram 70 million data referring to 2009 are still is the processing stage and cannot be published and irina davtyan head of the department of the ra agency on migration programs of the regional management ministry says it is not hard to guess that the number equaling to 5060000 work migrants will noticeably decrease because of the economic crisis in any case according to the data on their official website in january 2008 6965 left armenia for migrant work this january however only 2686 left this economic disease has also done harm to the people who already live in the russian federation for instance a resident of urtsadzor village in ararat province 30year old zhirayr margaryan according to his mother rima margaryan stopped working since november and was not paid his salary 1100000 dram 3600 for the previous few months they say let him come here and work but i don t know if they will pay him or not the mother says her husband s income has also decreased my husband hamlet has been a bus driver for 10 years now people are not going to work anymore and whereas before they sold 800 tickets and got a 1000 income each month now they sell 500 and get a 600 income economist tatul manaseryan predicts that people from rural communities will continue to face problems unemployment decrease of buying ability these issues can be solved if ra government organizes community work if they design projects aimed at stimulating economy and create new jobs  ', 0),
(184, 'node', '   ', 0),
(185, 'node', ' armenia seeks international loans to alleviate crisis february 17 business new europe germany armenia is close to signing a 500m stabilisation loan agreement with russia the government needs to raise more money if it is to carry out its 2009 budget plans which were based on an optimistic forecast of 92 growth since the budget was approved in november the impact of the international crisis on armenia has continued to deepen falling prices for its main exports copper and molybdenum and the collapse of a speculative bubble in the construction sector have caused a sharp increase in unemployment the number of people seeking work rose from 90500 in december to 95000 on january 23 the situation is worst in the mining regions of lori and lyunik according to the state statistical service job losses in the construction industry are also expected as virtually no new projects are being commissioned analysts argue that opportunities to diversify the economy and tackle corruption have been missed and low levels of tax collection are contributing to the current plight of the country as a result yerevan has no choice but to try to tap international lenders international lenders a 500m stabilisation loan already agreed with moscow is expected to be signed off on by early march finance minister tigran davtian has said terms for the 15year loan haven t been disclosed but are expected to be granted on relatively soft conditions and there is likely to be an initial grace period of four years to allow armenia time to deal with the crisis yerevan is hoping to raise additional funds from other international sources the world bank said in january it would more than double its lending to armenia over the next four years armenia is due to receive at least 525m in lowinterest loans from 2009 to 2012 as well as funding from the international finance corporation and the multilateral investment guarantee agency which could increase the total to as much as 800m the world bank s vicepresident for europe and central asia shigeo katsu has said armenia has only started to feel the full force of the crisis in recent months due to its being out of the mainstream of the world economy it has for example been spared the banking sector problems that have affected kazakhstan in particular no significant losses have been recorded in the sector to date however its economic prosperity will depend to a large extent on international metals prices and the flow of remittances from armenians working abroad many of whom are in countries that are now suffering it has become clear by now that the ongoing financial crisis will have a deep and prolonged impact on a wide range of economies says a recent report from policy forum armenia this is also likely to be true for a peripheral economy like armenia s regardless of how isolated its relevant sectors are from the rest of the world hovsep khurshudyan senior analyst at the armenian center for national and international studies acnis considers that the impact of the crisis is not yet fully felt in armenia it is on account of the government s gold and money reserves that it has so far been possible to secure stability in the country s financial market he says in particular the dollardram ratio is the same as it was prior to the outset of the crisis in august 2008 this also is having a positive effect on the societal mood as the increase of panic still is restrained however further job losses in mining and construction could lead to social unrest which has spurred on government efforts to raise cash but critics of the government say that the russian loan is unlikely to be used wisely and hark back to the last time russia forgave an armenian debt of around 100m soon after russian companies acquired strategic assets in the country armenian officials are being open about their expectation of increased russian influence once the deal is signed just before the loan was announced the parliament s permanent economic commission chairman vardan aivazian was quoted by interfax as saying that russia and armenia are strategic partners the loan will help increase russia s political influence in armenia most likely russia will agree to grant us a loan khurshudyan doubts the funds will benefit armenia in the long term forecasting that the money will merely be spent on maintaining the armenian dram s high exchange rate but without helping the economy to recover that is they will serve armenia s high negative foreign trade balance in which the volume of import nearly quadruples that of export the government will leave the burden of foreign debts on the shoulders of future generations and momentarily put off the social distress that ultimately could destroy the foundations of the authority of the oligarchic elite armenia s growth in the last decade was mainly driven by the metals and mining sector which benefited from high copper and molybdenium prices real estate prices also soared but the focus was on elite apartments and as the recent slump in prices has shown wasn t sustainable the government is currently trying to encourage development of small and mediumsized businesses with the aim of creating new jobs but it failed to act during the years of rapid growth widespread corruption has made it difficult for legitimate businesses to compete especially when they are burdened with high tax rates in recent years armenia has made efforts to move closer to europe but achieving financial stability has become a more immediate goal and as the recent example of kyrgyzstan demonstrates could lead to a fundamental change of direction should armenia receive those loans from the west and not from russia or china this means there still is hope that we ultimately won t deviate from the course of european integration and once again find ourselves in the east says khurshudyan  ', 0),
(186, 'node', ' obama foreign policy armen kharazian january 20 2009 washington 1 the obama administration has pledged to conduct a strong but consultative foreign policy driven by both principles and pragmatism and aimed at restoring us leadership reputation and influence on the world stage 2 the new administration has demonstrated a strong understanding of the centrality of the global security and development agenda to the success of american foreign policy it supports the strengthening of the nonproliferation treaty npt the ratification of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty ctbt and renewed negotiations on the fissile materials cutoff treaty fmct it also supports active us involvement in international efforts to address global climate change and has pledged to make every effort to ensure the success of this year s principal event in that regard the climate conference in copenhagen denmark in december 2009 3 there is strong bipartisan support in washington for the extension of the strategic arms reduction treaty starti with russia starti is the cornerstone of the us russian strategic relationship and a central element in the global security and stability architecture the treaty is due to expire on december 5 2009 the obama administration has publicly affirmed its strong interest in extending the treaty regardless of any disagreements with russia on other issues of mutual interest or concern russia however has linked that prospect with us plans for missile defense infrastructure in europe and nato enlargement issues on which it expects the us to take positions that better address russian concerns interestingly neither issue came up during the confirmation hearing last week in the senate foreign relations committee for secretary of statenominee hillary clinton a sign that the administration may well be consciously avoiding issues and probably also action that might jeopardize any forthcoming us effort to work with the russians on strategic arms control along with extending start the administration has is also interested in working with russia towards further reductions with initial target levels as low as 1000 accountable warheads each a us russian understanding on the extension of start and its further development might have a profound impact on european and eurasian security affairs particularly as regards missile defense and nato enlargement early contours of any such understanding should to be expected to emerge around julyaugust 2009 4 the new administration is willing to engage in direct diplomatic dialogue with iran to address concerns with respect to both proliferation and regional security a successful effort with iran might facilitate prospects for peace between israel and its neighbors also having a positive effect on us strategy in iraq and afghanistan leading members of the democratic party have encouraged the administration to think about the interconnectedness of these issues and seek comprehensive solutions to them it has been suggested that the administration is considering the possible opening of a us interests section in tehran and accreditation of an ambassador to damascus in addition members of the administration have acknowledged that there is a policy review underway presently regarding iran 5 energy security particularly us dependence on foreign oil and europe s gas supplies stands very high on the obama administration list of foreign policy priorities there are plans to establish a special energy security coordinator position within the state department with broad mandate compared to similar offices in the past that were established to deal with specific regional or infrastructure issues the administration looks forward to actively participating in the americas summit in trinidad in april 2009 with focus on partnerships in energy and technologies taking that event as an opportunity to work on solutions for stability and security in the western hemisphere considering that participants in the summit will also include brazil and venezuela the meeting in trinidad may have important implications for world energy affairs speaking of new policy initiatives in the western hemisphere it is also important that the new administration is considering easing certain restrictions on cuba which too will contribute to the hemispheric stability and development 6 overcoming global economic crisis and reforming the international financial system and institutions shall be a critical priority for the administration a principal opportunity in that regard will arise at the g20 world s 20 largest economies summit in london on april 2 2009 where the us will be working inter alia with russia china brazil and india to address the crisis and promote consensus on the reform of the international financial system 7 counterterrorism the situation in iraq and afghanistan and relations with pakistan are central to the administration s foreign policy and its success the new us leadership has reaffirmed adherence to the status of forces agreement sofa with iraq and its civilian counterpart the agreement on friendship and cooperation between the us and iraq and intends to start the withdrawal of combat units from population centers in iraq in july the normalization of the situation in iraq however will also depend on the success of confessional and interethnic dialogue in the country and cooperation from iraq s neighbors particularly iran and syria as well as regionwide efforts towards deescalation and greater stability in the middle east as for pakistan and afghanistan the new us leadership views these countries as the central theater for its counterterrorism effort and has pledged to work towards developing a more systemic response to the challenges that theater presents there are reviews pending on us policy regarding pakistan and afghanistan as well as sudan in africa and one must expect that in the coming weeks a better articulated policy will emerge as a result of these reviews with respect to each theater and the region as a whole 8 from the first day in office the administration has vowed to make an urgent and insistent effort towards restoring the us commitment to and leadership in helping resolve the arabisraeli conflict a deficit in such effort has seriously undermined the us national interest in the last few years in the region and beyond this is likely to be the most formidable foreign policy challenge the obama administration will face with no easy solutions but also no lack of understanding of the crucial importance of a consistent determined us pursuit of such solutions as one of his first executive orders the president is expected to announce the appointment of a highprofile presidential envoy to jumpstart us peace diplomacy in the middle east in earnest 9 the administration shall seek to renew and further develop relations with europe both traditional allies and new democracies working within the nato framework bilaterally as well as with the european union washington views these relations along with relations with its traditional allies in asia japan south korea and australia as the linchpin of its global diplomatic and security leadership and a source of strategic us power in the world 10 finally in the next few years another important dimension of american foreign policy will evolve around the administration s effort to secure increased funding for the state department expand its role in the us national security and interagency process and carry out a reform of us foreign assistance strategy enhancing the role of the usaid and better integrating the concept of development with traditional diplomacy to increase the effectiveness of us foreign policy and adapt it to modern needs 11 presently almost all principal aspects of us foreign policy are undergoing some form of review and may incur changes in the process in addition the administration s new or enhanced policy initiatives will need budgetary justification and support and can further be identified once the administration submits its new budget proposals in that sense the next few months will be transitional but very important in the evolution of the principal parameters of the obama foreign policy  ', 0),
(187, 'node', ' tigran sargsyan armenian government will ensure transparency of its anticrisis actions  the armenian government intends to confront the expected economic crisis in two major ways by giving impetus to construction of infrastructures and assisting the enterprises in difficult conditions the ra prime minister tigran sargsyan said during a talk with nt correspondent in his words armenia has good opportunities to launch new infrastructurerelated programs the government envisages spending 300 million dollars in the energy sector another 300 million dollars in the irrigation and water supply sectors and 250 million dollars on restoration of the earthquake zone within the next 12 years t sargsyan said that the world bank and the asian development bank have shown interest in allocation of respective funds to armenia negotiations are underway for receiving funds from russia and other partners armenia has asked the world bank to provide in addition to 420 million dollars a sum already approved for the country for the next 3 years another 250 million dollars for crediting small and medium enterprises and construction of infrastructures the prime minister noted that armenia s action plan was approved by the international monetary fund imf and the agreement envisages the possibility of providing a credit line urgently to armenia by the imf as regards the assistance of enterprises tigran sargsyan said that with this aim a wide range of instruments will be used including credit guarantees loans especially to small and medium enterprises the government s participation in the capital of companies and government subsidies the government is sure that it will have enough resources for all this even if the revenues of the 2009 budget are not sufficient for this purpose the government may spend its reserve resources in the central bank of armenia more than 300 million dollars besides thanks to the strict budgetary policy conducted in the previous years armenia has a low level of foreign debt 17 of its gdp and quite high credit rating which is favorable for receiving loans finally an extremely low level of budgetary deficit 95 of gdp is planned for 2009 this will allow the government to increase several fold the deficit of the budget in case of necessity and to obtain additional funds in this way the government has already provided 52 million dollars for crediting small and medium enterprises tigran sargsyan underlined that the armenian government will have to fulfill an unprecedented function soon to assess the state of enterprises and the business plans submitted by them in order to make decisions on provision of financial assistance to them with this aim an operative headquarters was established it is headed by the prime minister and composed of state officials and independent experts the prime minister stated that the government intends to ensure transparency of the headquarters activity so that the public will be informed and can control the decision making on the government s contribution as well as the allocation and spending of financial resources the government is also going to ease the tax burden of enterprises in 2009 according to tigran sargsyan this will be done not through reduction of tax rates although tax reduction is also possible in some cases but first of all by simplifying the order of paying taxes thanks to which entrepreneurs will spend less time on their contacts with tax bodies according to estimates of the world bank in 2008 businessmen spent 1120 hours on tax payment annually in armenia which is one of the worst ten indices in the world azerbaijan where businessmen spend 952 hours on tax payment annually is also among the worst ten however the prime minister did not indicate the amount of time by which they envisage reducing the time spent by businessmen on contacts with tax bodies in armenia  ', 0),
(188, 'node', ' armenian trade deficit hits new high armenia s massive trade deficit reached a new record high in 2008 amid soaring imports and sliding exports that reflected the growing impact of the global financial crisis on its economy according to the national statistical service nss the deficit jumped by 29 percent and all but passed the 3 billion mark in the first eleven months of the year the fullyear figure for 2007 reported by the nss was 212 billion the trade imbalance has worsened steadily in recent years not least because of sluggish exports that have sharply contrasted with the country s robust economic growth the official statistics show armenian exports falling by 45 percent yearonyear to just over 1 billion in januarynovember 2008 local mining and diamondprocessing industries were primarily responsible for the drop the metallurgy sector has been hit hard by a sharp fall in international prices of nonferrous metals armenia s number one export item resulting from the global economic recession hundreds of employees of armenian mining companies have been laid off or sent on indefinite leave since last october by contrast armenia s net imports jumped by 40 percent to almost 4 billion in januarynovember 2008 in particular the nss registered a 54 percent surge in imports of capital goods cars and other transport equipment that accounted for just over a quarter of the total natural gas and other minerals remained the country s single largest import item in this period import expenditure on them rose by 33 percent to 6078 million armenia also imported 302 million worth of prepared foodstuffs in januarynovember 2008 armenia has long been able to run large trade and current account deficits thanks to multimilliondollar cash remittances from hundreds of thousands of its citizens working abroad the remittances have also contributed to the country s overall strong macroeconomic performance since the mid1990s the armenian government and independent economists say the global crisis will likely reduce the vital cash inflows in 2009 the government intends to offset that reduction with increased spending on infrastructure projects and more loans to small and mediumsized businesses it hopes to obtain largescale financial assistance from the world bank and other lending institutions for that purpose  ', 0),
(189, 'node', ' no 2009 budget revisions in armenia prime minister says december 29 arka armenia s 2009 state budget will not be revised ra prime minister tigran sargsyan said we are strong enough to be able to execute all expenditures as to budget receipts we will make use of these reserves in 10 years he said adding those funds belong to the ra government the premier pointed out intense negotiations with imf and wb over increasing investments in armenia the world bank initially said it was going to pay us 420mln but during and after the washington talks we asked for a sharp increase in credit funds the prime minister said this is a threeyear program and we have asked additional 250mln for extending loans to small and mediumsized businesses he continued sargsyan emphasized the role of armenia s cooperation with the asian development bank pointing out largescale investments as well as road reconstruction activities and regional development programs among the short term objective is construction of a road linking armenia and batumi which according to the prime minister will ensure a considerable gdp growth both in armenia and georgia with negotiations with the russian federation and other partner states in full swing the ra government plans to implement new largescale projectsthis soundness speaks about the government s productive expenditure policy the premier said adding the wisest thing the government can do during a crisis is to invest in infrastructures infrastructures are the vital constituent of an economic progress he said the premier also stressed the importance of road construction programs for armenia underlining major problems with irrigation and drinking water supplies in regions the prime minister said the government stands ready to keep implementing the projects set for 20092010  ', 0);
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(190, 'node', ' armenian pm defends economic policies in face of global crisis the armenian prime minister believes the set of measures foreseen by the government will help armenia cope with the negative consequences and minimize the impact of the continuing economic crisis in 2009 tigran sarkisian said more investments in infrastructure development and several large projects to be launched by the state will provide new jobs for people to offset possible redundancies elsewhere we should essentially increase our spending in such directions as infrastructure development including road and housing construction rehabilitation efforts in the 1988 spitak earthquake area projects in the energy sector irrigation and drinkingwatersupply systems which coupled with a drastic increase in lending to small and mediumsized enterprises will create new jobs sarkisian said in an interview with rfe rl s armenian service last week besides we also plan to carry out several large projects that will provide essentially help in dealing with the consequences of the crisis he continued these in particular include the construction of the northsouth highway with the assistance of the asian development bank a program which has regional significance and is due to be carried out jointly with georgia as well as the construction of a new nuclear power plant and the construction of an iranarmenia railway all these programs also imply the creation of new jobs sarkisian also referred to some international evaluations including those made by moody s international ratings agency predicting stability for armenia in the immediate future but he added all predictions made in the world today change every week and it is conditioned by the circumstance that the global financial and economic crisis is gathering new momentum and there is no methodology or institution that would be able to make precise predictions as to how long this crisis will last and what impact it will have on developing countries so i think it would be more correct if instead of spreading pessimistic sentiments which by itself creates negative expectations and deepens the crisis we should speak realistically sarkisian concedes that armenia is expected to end the year with a tremendous foreigntrade deficit with imports exceeding exports nearly fourfold but he cited the example of the united states which in the past 28 years has imported more goods than it exported and by no means is among the world s worst economies naturally armenia has a very serious problem that is structural readjustments are taking place a new structure of the economy is emerging and we should be able to understand what the future of our economic system is and what structure our economy should have sarkisian said many dream of the day when we will have a strong machinebuilding sector when we will manufacture and export goods like those in china or india but i think all realize well it is not a future for us he added our strategy is to focus on an economy based on labor and intellect rather than materials which means that we should primarily pay attention to the balance of payments not the export of commodities but the export of services and carrying out economic activities not only in the territory of armenia but also in its worldwide diaspora the prime minister is hopeful that armenia will manage to carry out successful reforms required for continued us government aid under the millennium challenge account we have indeed made pledges to our own people to make these reforms also in terms of forming a system of good governance it is not a secret that we do have numerous difficulties such as corruption bribery an ineffective governance system low revenues the presence of more than a hundred thousand socially vulnerable families and we should overcome these difficulties also due to the millennium challenge account program sarkisian said we are extremely grateful to our american partners for the technical assistance that they have rendered to the armenian government so that we can overcome all these existing difficulties he added therefore we have developed a clear program which has also been appreciated by the millennium challenge account office and the program of these measures has a timetable and people who is in charge of ensuring its proper execution government reforms sarkisian also rejected allegations by some government critics that in the past several months the central bank has reneged on its adopted floating policy for currency exchange rates and has sought to keep the national currency from depreciating against major world currencies with financial interventions on the foreignexchange market our concept that we have developed together with the international monetary fund in 1993 implies that armenia sticks to the socalled floating exchange rate policy for its national currency which means that it is formed by the supply and demand existing on the market we have remained committed to this policy and will stay committed to it in the future we are not going to make artificial interventions in the formation of the exchange rate because it is fraught with many consequences he emphasized sarkisian also spoke in favor of creating equal conditions for competition in the agricultural sector though he said this would not include protectionism he also said that beginning next month large agricultural enterprises will have to pay valueadded taxes like enterprises in other sectors do this strategy implies that agriculture like in any country of the world should also be taxable he said noting that the sector has been exempted from all taxes thus far the prime minister also reiterated the government commitment to fight corruption and stressed the role of the active engagement of civilsociety organizations and opposition political parties in the anticorruption measures that s why i urged all opposition political parties to have an active participation in our anticorruption program in particular through monitoring which is one of the key instruments sarkisian said adding that this control will essentially increase public faith in the program and will raise its efficiency rejecting restrictions responding to the question about the state of democracy in armenia in a year that has seen plenty of criticism from various international organizations of how armenia has been handling its worstever internal political crisis sarkisian said freedom of speech democratic values do not imply that our country should be sliding into chaos freedom of speech is not arbitrariness people should also have a sense of responsibility in particular he responded to opposition claims that the authorities restrict its freedom of assembly by refusing to provide space for its political gatherings we provide the government conference hall to organizations on a contractual basis and if so the rules stipulated by the contract must be respected he said we have added one point to our contract that if an organization fails to observe the rules then it does not get the conference hall at the second time of asking this is a democratic approach if we do not respect our word ourselves no one will respect it sarkisian also denied any political implications behind the parliament s decision to suspend the tenders for tv frequencies in view of the mandatory digitalization of broadcasting in the country government critics say the move is primarily aimed at preventing a1 a television station critical of the authorities from returning to the air after it was controversially pulled off in 2002 sarkisian said he regrets that the decision to postpone tenders for tv frequencies has become a matter of political speculation all international organizations with which i have dealt with regarding this matter fully accept our reasons furthermore we had no alternative to this decision he said we could not announce a competition for two years because we have an international commitment to achieve digitalization in the broadcasting sphere and time should be given to the private sector to get ready for the tenders in which this transition that we must complete within five years should be considered the prime minister also disagrees that financial penalties against bjni a leading mineralwater producer are in any way linked to its owner proopposition lawmaker khachatur sukiasian who has been in hiding since the start of the government crackdown on opposition members who backed to former president levon terpetrossian in the february presidential election i do not agree that there is any political persecution in this case but i agree that one must not be persecuted for political views especially in the economic sphere he said as for bjni it is obvious that the company made serious violations evaded taxes and i would want you to focus on this issue in the first place didn t it in fact evade millions in taxes it is essential to answer this question and by answering it we will refrain from such political speculations the exercise of tax control started a long time ago and it concerned not only bjni but also other enterprises including those working in the same sphere such violations were found at many enterprises but unlike bjni those enterprises admitted their fault and fulfilled their tax obligations meanwhile bjni is trying to politicize the matter to avoid fulfillment of obligations that it has toward the state budget which is inadmissible the prime minister concluded  ', 0),
(191, 'node', ' armenian pm defends government response to global crisis prime minister tigran sarkisian has insisted that his government can minimize the global economic crisis s impact on armenia by implementing largescale regional projects drastically increasing public spending and providing hundreds of millions of dollars in cheap credit to local businesses this aggressive spending policy by the state will help us neutralize negative consequences of the crisis and create jobs sarkisian said in an exclusive interview with rfe rl broadcast on saturday the deepening worldwide recession is being increasingly felt in armenia where economic growth has slowed down dramatically in the third quarter of this year official statistics show its gross domestic product increasing by 72 percent in januarynovember 2008 down from 13 percent recorded in 2007 economists anticipate an even more modest growth rate next year sarkisian reaffirmed and defended the armenian government s strategy of dealing with the crisis which he presented to parliament last month one of its three key elements is a significant increase in public spending on road and housing construction and other infrastructure projects in particular the government plans to spend 250 million on completing the protracted reconstruction of armenia s northern regions devastated by the 1988 earthquake according to sarkisian this alone will create 5000 more jobs in the unemploymentstricken area parallel to that we will drastically increase lending to small and mediumsized businesses he said reiterating government hopes to borrow 250 million from the world bank and other foreign donors for that purpose the government will need much greater foreign funding for several ambitious projects which sarkisian said will also cushion the effects of the global crisis those include construction of a new nuclear plant and a railway connecting armenia to neighboring iran sarkisian spoke of very strong interest in the plant s construction shown by foreign investors but did not specify potential sources of at least 1 billion needed for putting the project into practice the prime minister dismissed reports that the crisis is putting growing downward pressure on the national currency the dram and that the central bank of armenia is spending heavily to prop up its value we do not intend to artificially interfere in the formation of exchange rates because that is fraught with many negative consequences he said speaking during a visit to rfe rl s yerevan bureau sarkisian also insisted that the government is on track to implement an ambitious reform agenda which he unveiled after being appointed prime minister in april that includes measures to combat widespread tax evasion improve tax administration and create equal conditions for all businesses the seriousness of the stated reform drive has been called into question by a continuing government crackdown on an armenian business group owned by khachatur sukiasian a rare millionaire businessman openly supporting the opposition several sukiasianowned companies were inspected by tax officials and accused of tax evasion shortly after the tycoon voiced support for former president levon terpetrosian one of them the bjni mineral water plant was forced to suspend its operation and put up for sale by the government last month after refusing to pay 42 billion drams 135 million in fines sarkisian denied any political motives behind the tax authorities treatment of bjni and stuck to the government line that it is part of a broader government crackdown on tax evasion it is obvious that bjni committed serious violations avoided fulfilling its tax obligations he said such violations were also found in many other enterprises added the armenian premier unlike bjni those enterprises accepted their guilt and met their obligations to the state budget whereas bjni has been trying to politicize the matter sarkisian argued that several other sukiasianowned businesses such as the armeconombank commercial bank have not been penalized by tax bodies i am personally making sure that no illegal actions are taken against that bank said the former central bank governor armeconombank is one of our best banks and it continues to thrive and has no problems with the government if bjni had operated as transparently as armeconombank does it would not have had problems  ', 0),
(192, 'node', ' armenian coup trial in turmoil the controversial trial of seven armenian opposition figures prosecuted on coup charges descended into chaos and was interrupted on tuesday as they were forcibly removed from the courtroom after ugly scenes involving their relatives and lawenforcement officials it was also marred by allegations that one of the defendants was beaten up in jail earlier in the day more than two dozen plainclothes police officers who presented themselves as victims of the postelection street clashes in yerevan were unexpectedly brought into the courtroom restricting the already limited space there as a result court officials ordered journalists to follow proceedings from monitors placed in an adjacent room moments later a bitter altercation broke out between the policemen and defendants relatives who managed to enter the court building in yerevan s shengavit district they traded insults before the presiding judge mnatsakan martirosian belatedly took the bench martirosian said the court session is starting 40 minutes later than planned because one of the defendants grigor voskerchian was ill the claim prompted angry protests from the defendants causing the judge to call a 30minute break voskerchian s lawyer stepan voskanian said afterwards that his client was assaulted in his prison cell by the commander of a special security force which he said inspected yerevan s nubarashen jail in the morning he claimed that the officer repeatedly hit him in the face after finding out that voskerchian is one of the oppositionists charged with plotting to overthrow the government in the wake of last february s presidential election a spokesman for the justice ministry department managing armenia s prisons categorically denied the claims meanwhile martirosian ordered court guards to take away the defendants saying that they demonstratively refused to stand up when he walked into the courtroom one of them suren sirunian was already expelled for contempt of court at the start of the trial on friday the judged also decided to adjourn the hearings until december 27 outside the court building a large group of opposition supporters holding placards and pictures of jailed oppositionists again gathered to protest against what they see as a politically motivated show trial tension rose after police officers guarding the building refused to let in several opposition leaders and relatives of the defendants space is limited valeri osipian a lieutenantcolonel leading the policemen told levon zurabian a leading member of the main opposition armenian national congress hak osipian also argued angrily with another hak leader former prime minister hrant bagratian i will force you to do what i m telling you if you break the law he warned bagratian the defendants among them former foreign minister aleksandr arzumanian and three opposition parliamentarians stand accused of organizing mass riots accompanied by murders and attempting to usurp state authority by force one of the lawmakers miasnik malkhasian is also charged with personally leading angry opposition supporters that clashed with security forces in yerevan on march 1 at least eight civilians and two police servicemen were killed in what the armenian authorities say was a botched opposition attempt to stage a coup d etat levon terpetrosian the main opposition presidential candidate and his allies strongly deny the coup allegation saying that the authorities deliberately used lethal force to enforce official vote results that gave victory to the establishment candidate serzh sarkisian the highprofile trial got underway two days after a key panel of the council of europe s parliamentary assembly pace described these and other jailed oppositionists as political prisoners and urged the pace to impose sanctions on yerevan the united states has also been pressing for the release of most of the detainees the authorities maintain that none of them is a political prisoner  ', 0),
(193, 'node', ' pace moves to sanction yerevan over political prisoners  a key panel of the council of europe s parliamentary assembly pace has urged the strasbourgbased body to impose sanctions on armenia because of the continuing imprisonment of dozens of opposition members whom it for the first time described as political prisoners the release of those individuals was a key demand of the two pace resolutions on armenia adopted following the disputed presidential election of february 19 and the march 1 violence in yerevan the pace s monitoring committee said after a meeting in paris late wednesday that the armenian authorities have failed to comply with those resolutions in full it said the voting rights of the assembly s eight armenian members must be suspended until the authorities have clearly demonstrated their political will to resolve this issue a new resolution drafted by the committee and made public on thursday reads notwithstanding positive developments in some areas the assembly finds it unacceptable that persons have been charged and deprived of their liberty for political motivations and that political prisoners exist in armenia more than 100 associates and supporters of opposition leader levon terpetrosian were arrested in the wake of the presidential ballot some 70 oppositionists remain in prison the vast majority of them have already received prison sentences on charges mainly stemming from the march 1 deadly clashes in yerevan in its proposed resolution the monitoring committee noted that a significant number of those sentences were based solely on police testimony a practice condemned by the pace earlier this year it also said that many of the opposition detainees have been prosecuted under articles of the armenian criminal code dealing with organization of mass disturbances and attempts to usurp state authority the draft resolution says there are strong indications that these criminal cases were politically motivated it follows that persons convicted on these charges can be considered political prisoners it adds rejecting armenian government claims to the contrary the monitoring committee recommended sanctions against yerevan while welcoming president serzh sarkisian s recent decision to form a new supposedly independent body tasked with investigating the postelection violence armenia s governing coalition and main opposition forces are equally represented in the factfinding group of experts the armenian government was quick to react to the committee s decision with foreign minister eduard nalbandian describing it as not favorable for the country at a latenight news briefing wednesday nalbandian said the government hopes to avert council of europe sanctions during upcoming negotiations with the monitoring committee s two armenia rapporteurs john prescott and georges colombier the latter are due to visit yerevan ahead of the next pace session scheduled for late january perhaps there will be developments in january that will allow for a revision of that proposal said nalbandian the minister might have hinted at a possible general amnesty for the jailed oppositionists an option advocated by council of europe officials the monitoring committee deplored the armenian authorities failure so far to declare such an amnesty the committee s recommendations were criticized on thursday by a spokesman for the ruling republican party of armenia hhk having said that we respect the opinion of our european colleagues and hope that the visit of john prescott and georges colombier will set the record straight eduard sharmazanov told arminfo news agency the hhk s parliamentary leader galust sahakian predicted that the pace will not after all sanction yerevan i don t think that the council of europe will be so imprudent as to push us closer to other bodies he told rfe rl the muslim world also has certain structures predictably a representative of terpetrosian s armenian national congress hak defended the recommendations in terms of political prisoners armenia has the worst record among the 47 council of europe member states hovannes igitian told rfe rl our record is even worse than azerbaijan s for his part armen harutiunian the state human rights ombudsman said you can t ensure democracy with sanctions we ourselves must solve problems facing our country  ', 0),
(194, 'node', ' four oppositionists cleared of coup charges lawenforcement authorities investigating armenia s deadly postelection strife have dropped controversial coup accusations leveled against four prominent opposition politicians allied to former president levon terpetrosian it was announced on wednesday aram sarkisian ararat zurabian karapet rubinian and gurgen yeghiazarian were charged with attempting to usurp state authority and provoking mass disturbances in yerevan for that purpose following the march 1 violence in yerevan zurabian rubinian and yeghiazarian were also arrested and released from jail pending investigation last summer sarkisian was never taken into custody despite playing a larger part in the terpetrosianled opposition movement vahagn harutiunian a senior official from the special investigative service sis leading the criminal inquiry said he decided to drop the accusations late last week because of a lack of evidence of the four oppositionists involvement in what the investigators call an opposition attempt to stage a coup d etat he had earlier insisted that there are sufficient grounds for keeping the three of them in detention the development was announced just two days before the start of a highprofile trial of seven other wellknown opposition figures facing the same coup charges among them is aleksandr arzumanian terpetrosian s presidential election campaign manager and three parliament deputies all of them deny the accusations harutiunian said that the investigators have still a long way to go in completing one of the most extensive criminal inquiries ever conducted in armenia in particular he said they have yet to determine just how justified the actions of police and other security forces were on march 1 two police officers and eight civilians were killed on that day as they tried to disperse thousands of opposition supporters protesting the alleged rigging of the february 19 presidential election terpetrosian and his entourage say the authorities deliberately used lethal force to quell the protests harutiunian admitted that the investigators have still a lot of work to do in ascertaining the circumstances of the civilian deaths he said they presently have no evidence to charge anyone in connection with those deaths  ', 0),
(195, 'node', ' armenia faces council of europe sanctions foreign minister eduard nalbandian spoke of unfavorable developments for armenia on wednesday after a crucial meeting of a body monitoring the armenian government s compliance with its membership obligations to the council of europe the monitoring committee of the council of europe s parliamentary assembly pace met in paris earlier in the day to decide whether to recommend the strasbourgbased assembly to suspend the voting rights of its armenian members at its january session the committee issued no statements as of late evening the pace has repeatedly threatened to impose such sanctions if the authorities yerevan fail to comply with its two resolutions on armenia the resolutions adopted in april and june demanded the immediate release of supporters of opposition leader levon terpetrosian arrested on seemingly artificial or politically motivated charges they made some proposals not favorable for armenia nalbandian told journalists commenting on the results of the paris meeting he did not specify those proposals saying only that the armenian government can still prevent their approval by the pace i must say that that is an ongoing process said nalbandian the issue will be put to the parliament assembly vote in january before that the committee s rapporteurs messrs john prescott and georges colombier will visit armenia perhaps there will be developments in january that will allow for a revision of that proposal earlier on wednesday a leading member of terpetrosian s armenian national congress hak urged pace to sanction the armenian authorities for their failure to free dozens of arrested opposition members political sanctions must be imposed on the armenian authorities said david shahnazarian at least the armenian delegation at the pace must be stripped of its voting rights because that delegation s activities seriously damage armenia s national interests some 70 terpetrosian loyalists remain in jail on charges stemming from the march 1 clashes in yerevan between opposition protesters and security forces the most prominent of them will go on trial this friday i am convinced that the monitoring committee s assessment won t be good for the republic of armenia because the armenian authorities have not honored their pace commitments said another hak figure vahagn khachatrian nalbandian again insisted however that armenia s government has mostly complied with the pace resolutions and does not deserve to be sanctioned the government denies the existence of political prisoners in the country still some government loyalists admit that more needs to be done to address the council of europe concerns about the postelection crackdown on the armenian opposition some work has been done including towards complying with the two pace resolutions said artsvik minasian a parliament deputy from the progovernment armenian revolutionary federation is that work complete of course not there is still some unfinished business  ', 0),
(196, 'node', ' turkey loses armenian property case in european court on human rights strasbourg hurriyet the european court on human rights echr ruled tuesday that turkey violated the property rights of two armenian foundations in istanbul reported the turkish hurriyet daily newspaper the board of governors of the samatya surp kevork armenian church school and cemetery and the foundation for the armenian hospital in yedikule appealed to the strasbourgbased court to overturn a turkish court decision confiscating properties donated to the armenian foundations the turkish court s rulings confiscated argued that their founding charter did not give them the right to acquire immovable property but the decision was in violation of property rights under the european human rights convention the two armenian foundations were established by imperial decree in 1832 under the ottoman empire and later registered under modern turkish law according to the ruling turkey must return the titles of all properties to each foundation and pay compensation of 600000 euro to the samatya foundation and 275000 euro to the yedikule foundation the charter of both foundations complies with the provisions of the lausanne treaty affording protection to foundations that provide public services for religious minorities the echr said turkey had violated the protection of property rights defined under article 1 of protocol no 1 of the convention turkey has the right to appeal the echr decision in a higher authority no announcement has been made as yet  ', 0),
(197, 'node', ' poll finds majority in karabakh oppose new referendum a new referendum to determine the legal status of the nagornokarabakh republic is unnecessary according to recent public opinion poll conducted in the country news agencies reported this week the survey conducted from december 39 on a random sample of 300 citizens in karabakh asked if it was necessary to hold another referendum to determine the status of the country of the respondents 83 249 said no while 8 24 said yes with 9 27 saying they were unsure according to armenpress the poll came exactly two years after karabakh held a referendum in which about 83 of voters 75000 people approved the country s first constitution reiterating that nagornokarabakh was a sovereign democratic state the document was approved fifteen years to the day after karabakh s indigenous armenian population voted overwhelmingly for independence from soviet azerbaijan the 10th of december is one of the most memorable days for our people on that very day in 1991 our people officially sealed their will to form a free independent and sovereign state nagornokarabakh president bako sahakyan was quoted by armenpress as saying in a written address on the occasion sahakyan delivered his address during welcoming remarks at a conference on human rights and constitutional justice held in the karabakh national assembly tuesday according to the his press office the conference was dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the united nations universal declaration of human rights which falls on the same day as both referendums he described the referendums as expressing the will of karabakh s population to further strengthen and develop independent statehood for nagornokarabakh he added that the plebiscites demonstrated the country s commitment to building a democratic country founded on international norms and integrated with the international community but a draft peace proposal by international mediators currently working for a settlement of the karabakh conflict threatens to derail karabakh s democratic development by requiring the fledgling democracy to allow an influx of refugees from azerbaijan to settle in the country before a new referendum to determine the republic s status under the yet undisclosed plan nagornokarabakh may be afforded an interim status before the referendum is held at some indefinite future date to decide its final status the temporary status however is to be granted after seven liberated armenian territories surrounding karabakh proper are relinquished to azerbaijan armenia and azerbaijani are understood to have agreed to most of the key points of the proposed settlement which was formally submitted to the conflicting parties in madrid last november karabakh which opposes some of the proposals is not a party to the current peace talks having been removed from the peace process in the early 90s following demands by azerbaijan and turkey that it should not be recognized as a party to the talks friday december 12 2008  ', 0),
(198, 'node', ' us extends freeze in armenia road funding the us millennium challenge corporation mcc has again refused to unblock some of its promised economic assistance to armenia indicating that the authorities in yerevan have still not addressed its concerns about the status of democratic governance in the country armenia was due to receive us 2365 million in additional us government assistance under the bush administration s millennium challenge account mca program designed to promote political and economic reforms around the world most of the sum was to be spent on rebuilding and expanding the country s irrigation networks another 67 million was set aside for reconstruction of about 1000 kilometers of rural roads last may the mcc which runs the aid scheme blocked the release of the first 75 million installment of the fiveyear aid package earmarked for road construction expressing serious concern about the armenian government s harsh postelection crackdown on the opposition mcc executives and other us officials have since repeatedly reiterated those concerns the move led the armenian government in july to allocate 17 million worth of its own funds to the planned road construction that got underway later in the summer a government statement on wednesday quoted ara hovsepian head of the mcc office in yerevan as saying that most of the sum has already been spent on roadworks in rural regions of the country hovsepian said he and armenian government officials expect the mcc s governing board to disburse about 7 million in the first quarter of next year but meeting in washington on thursday the mcc board again decided to keep the 75 million payment on hold the board reiterated its concerns about the status of democratic governance in the country and underlined its expectations that the government of armenia fulfill commitments to implement substantive reforms it said in a statement the board noted that it would again review armenia s performance and examine continued collaboration with the country during its march meeting according to us deputy assistant secretary of state matthew bryza washington remains seriously worried about the continuing imprisonment of dozens of opposition members arrested following the disputed presidential election of february 19 it should be clear to everyone for armenia s sake that there are no political prisoners bryza told rfe rl on thursday the accusation that armenia holds political prisoners shouldn t even surface all these cases should be resolved quickly and everyone ought to be released he said meanwhile a deputy chairman of president serzh sarkisian s republican party of armenia hhk expressed dismay at washington s refusal to resume mca funding to yerevan this decision was really unexpected razmik zohrabian told rfe rl on friday i hoped for a different decision but what can we do democratic developments are continuing and maybe they will allocate the sum in march zohrabian acknowledged some shortcomings in the development of democracy in armenia but said the sarkisian administration has made considerable progress in eliminating them but vahagn khachatrian an armenian opposition leader strongly disagreed there are still political prisoners serious problems with democracy and human rights and the mcc s stance is not accidental he said  ', 0),
(199, 'node', ' arf warns of turkish ploys the armenian revolutionary federation has urged the armenian government to be cautious in its rapprochement with turkey warning that ankara is using it to influence the karabakh peace process and scuttle international recognition of the armenian genocide the issue was high on the agenda of a threeday plenary meeting of the party s bureau where armenia s foreign and domestic challenges were examined the meeting which finished its work in beirut monday also discussed immediate and longterm strategies for coordinating its international affiliates in bolstering armenia s statehood in a statement released on thursday the bureau said international recognition of the genocide is a top priority for armenia s foreign policy warning that president serzh sarkisian s diplomatic overtures to turkey are being manipulated for halting the genocide recognition process and making relations between the two states conditional on armenia s relations with a third country azerbaijan earlier this week turkish foreign minister ali babacan traveled to baku for talks on the nagornokarabakh conflict with his azeri counterpart elmar mammadyarov he told reporters after the meeting that the normalization of relations would have a positive impact on the azerbaijanarmenia talks over nagornokarabakh babacan also held separate meetings with mammadyarov and armenian foreign minister edward nalbandian wednesday on the sidelines of a highlevel osce meeting in helsinki meanwhile the mediamax news agency thursday quoted a senior us official as saying that armenia and turkey are close to establishing diplomatic relations after months of intense talks the assertion made by us deputy secretary of state matthew bryza after the turkish and armenian foreign ministers met in helsinki came after foreign ministers sergei lavrov of russia and bernard kouchner of france and us assistant secretary of state daniel fried met with nalbandian and mammadyarov to discuss a framework agreement for resolving the conflict the meeting which lasted for about 15 minutes followed much lengthier talks in the finnish capital wednesday between the two foreign ministers and the american french and russian diplomats cochairing the minsk group according to armenian foreign ministry spokesman tigran balayan despite the apparent thaw in turkisharmenian ties ankara continues to maintain preconditions for establishing diplomatic ties requiring yerevan to agree to a historical commission on the armenian genocide and make major concessions to baku in the karabakh peace talks both turkey and azerbaijan severed ties with armenia in 1993 closing borders and imposing an economic blockade on yerevan in a bid to force armenia to drop support for the selfdetermination of the people of karabakh and end its campaign for international recognition of the armenian genocide it is extremely important to continue keeping the issue on the pannational agenda the bureau statement stressed referring to the ongoing attempts to pressure armenia into accepting the primacy of azerbaijan s socalled territorial integrity in the karabakh negotiations process the statement described karabakh s independence as vital to the survival and security of armenia and the armenian people adding that recognition of the genocide by turkey and the international community are imperative to armenia s national security the immediate importance of normalizing armeniaturkey relations must not take precedence over the rights of generations the bureau stressed the bureau statement comes a day after the armenian parliament voted to pass a governmentdrafted amendment that analysts close to the conflict believe paves the way for the government to hold a referendum on a compromise solution to the nagornokarabakh conflict president serzh sarkisian last thursday held extended closed door discussions on the nagornokarabakh conflict with leaders of armenia s political parties including the arf which was represented by the chairman of its supreme body in armenia armen rustamian after the nearly fivehour long meeting rustamian told reporters that he had forwarded to the president a set of principles and recommendations the arf considers paramount to the karabakh settlement he said that the negotiations must be based on the already expressed will of the people of nagornokarabakh adding that the nagornokarabakh republic should be recognized as an independent party to the conflict since the landmark meeting in yerevan between sarkisian and turkish president abdullah gul in september the arf has repeatedly advised the administration to be cautious in its dealings with turkey and azerbaijan warning a rapid approach to normalizing ties with turkey can be exploited by ankara to increase its influence in the region jeopardize karabakh s independence and scuttle international recognition of the armenian genocide  ', 0),
(200, 'node', ' prominent oppositionist again denied armenian citizenship the alliance of armenian volunteers hkh a sefilianled nationalist group said the outspoken oppositionist was informed by armenian immigration authorities on tuesday that president serzh sarkisian has turned down his fresh citizenship application sefilian condemned the decision as illegal and politically motivated it once again showed just how far these authorities are from the armenian people he told rfe rl sefilian lodged the application on june 18 one week after his release from jail he and another oppositionlinked war veteran vartan malkhasian had been arrested and charged with calling for a violent overthrow of the government in december 2006 just days after holding the hkh s founding congress in yerevan a yerevan court subsequently cleared sefilian of the charge but still jailed him for 18 months for illegally possessing a pistol which he claimed to have received as a gift from a former commander of the karabakh armenian army the lebanese national had already been twice denied armenian citizenship despite his active participation in the 19911994 war with azerbaijan that earned him the military rank of lieutenantcolonel he commanded one of the karabakh armenian units that stormed and seized the strategic town of shushi in may 1992 sefilian retired from the karabakh military in the late 1990s speaking to rfe rl norayr muradkhanian chief of the department of visas and passports ovir of the armenian police confirmed that sefilian s fresh application for an armenian passport has been rejected muradkhanian said a relevant decree signed by sarkisian late last month gave no reason for the rebuff a spokesman for the armenian president promised to comment on the matter on thursday the armenian authorities already sparked a public outcry when they tried to deport sefilian from the country shortly before his release from prison the police asked armenia s administrative court at the time to authorize the deportation on the grounds that his residency permit has expired the court refused to consider the application on a technicality on may 27 sefilian and the hkh which is strongly opposed to any armenian territorial concessions to azerbaijan chose to support opposition leader levon terpetrosian in last february s presidential election despite the latter s wellknown conciliatory views on the resolution of the karabakh conflict the hkh is one of about two dozen opposition groups making up terpetrosian s armenian national congress alliance sefilian recently joined a group of prominent opposition politicians and intellectuals in launching a new movement called miatsum unification campaigning against armenian withdrawal from azerbaijani districts surrounding karabakh the liberation of virtually all of those districts is a key element of international mediators existing peace proposals largely acceptable to yerevan  ', 0),
(201, 'node', ' yerevan loses more european court cases three more citizens of armenia controversially imprisoned during and after the disputed 2003 presidential election won on tuesday lawsuits against their government filed to the european court of human rights the court declared the arrests illegal and ordered the armenian government to pay each of the plaintiffs 4500 euros 5700 in nonpecuniary damages they will also get an additional 3000 euros worth of compensation each for legal expenses incurred during the lengthy litigation two of them lavrenti kirakosian and arman mkhitarian reside in karakert a village in the southern armavir region they both participated in march 2003 rallies staged in yerevan by stepan demirchian the main opposition presidential candidate they were subsequently arrested and sentenced to ten days in prison for allegedly disobeying police orders and using foul language against lawenforcement officers the third plaintiff miasnik tadevosian is a resident of another armavir village mrgashat a retired senior police officer he led the regional chapter of the opposition national unity party tadevosian was arrested and given a tenday sentence on the same charge after attending similar antigovernment rallies staged by demirchian and other opposition leaders in marchapril 2004 the three men were imprisoned under the sovietera code of administrative offenses the armenian authorities used the code for briefly jailing hundreds of participants of unsanctioned opposition rallies the socalled administrative arrests were strongly condemned by local and international human rights organizations the authorities abolished the practice in 2005 under strong pressure from the council of europe in separate rulings the strasbourgbased court ruled that the prison sentences given to the three men violated several provisions of the european convention on human rights ratified by armenia it said none of them had a fair trial and adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense the opposition supporters defense lawyer tigran teryesayan welcomed the rulings the european court simply certified that the rights of these individuals were violated during and after the presidential elections he told rfe rl but whether the authorities will draw appropriate conclusions from these verdicts and refrain from such actions in the future is an open question the authorities could face similar lawsuits from more than 100 other opposition members and supporters who were arrested in the wake of the last presidential election held on february 19 at least 70 of them remain in jail on charges stemming from the march 1 clashes in yerevan the council of europe and other international bodies say at least some of these detainees were jailed for exercising their political rights  ', 0),
(202, 'node', ' opposition leader to continue pace boycott opposition leader raffi hovannisian said on monday that he will continue to boycott sessions of the council of europe s parliamentary assembly pace in protest against what he sees as its leniency towards the armenian government hovannisian who is the only opposition member of the armenian delegation at the pace demonstratively walked out of the strasbourgbased assembly in june condemning its failure to sanction the authorities in yerevan for their failure to end their harsh postelection crackdown on the opposition the leader of the zharangutyun heritage party said he will not attend pace sessions until armenia meets standards its own and europe s and europe rises to the realization of its own values rights and benchmarks i don t think there are any grounds to change my tentative decision right now he told rfe rl i really wish the armenian authorities and the president leading them had given me reason to return to full service in strasbourg the us born politician insisted that the administration of president serzh sarkisian has failed to fully comply with the pace s april and june resolutions that demanded among other things the immediate release of all opposition members arrested on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges although on surface some demands have been satisfied by and large the june resolution has not been complied with he said the pace has threatened to suspend the voting rights of its armenian members if yerevan fails to meet its demands by next january council of europe officials are particularly concerned about the continuing imprisonment of some 70 supporters of former president levon terpetrosian arrested in the wake of last february s presidential election the council of europe s human rights commissioner thomas hammarberg strongly questioned the credibility of criminal accusations leveled against the most prominent of the opposition detainees during yet another visit to yerevan last month he at the same time praised the armenian authorities for setting up a new supposedly independent body tasked with investigating the march 1 clashes in yerevan that left at least 10 people dead and more than 100 others seriously injured hovannisian appeared skeptical about the new inquiry saying that the authorities have failed to prosecute anyone in connection with the march 1 deaths he seemed to imply that terpetrosian is also responsible for the deadly unrest and lingering questions about the circumstances in which eight civilians and two interior troops lost their lives the main actors on march 1 were the three presidents of armenia said hovannisian and as long as we don t have depositions from the three presidents their aides bodyguards and generals given under oath i don t think the armenian people can optimistically expect the disclosure of the full truth  ', 0);
INSERT INTO `search_dataset` (`sid`, `type`, `data`, `reindex`) VALUES
(203, 'node', ' hans boon i have worked in over 50 developing states however this was a unique experience  i have worked in over 50 developing states however this was a unique experience and maybe useful or of interest for any foreigner without armenian family relations says hans boon the director general of haypost cjsc in a letter to arminfo in this message i would like to provide you with some of the facts and backgrounds and experience regarding the two violent attacks because i am really surprised about the observation that i did not provide any statement to the police the opposite could also be said i have received other similar comments and therefore i hope to clarify this i have definitely no objection if you provide this statement to the police and other official investigators i do not know how to reach them and in fact have delivered information boon says further in the letter hans boon tells the attack on 10 october 2008 took place in the late evening the violent and possibly quick attack must have been organized very well probably from the back the attack included about 5 or more severe beatings on different places of my head it must be stated only on my head no other places of the body the attack has resulted in loss of memory of that moment in combination with the loss of conscience for about 12 hours consequently i do not know or do not remember who the assailant was and how it was done it must be stated however that it was not a medical issue like a heart attack after the assault i must have fallen down on the street and nearby living inhabitants are said to have made a call to police or hospital to report that a heavily wounded or death corpse was found on the street the hospital car or ambulance came and both the doctors and a police officer made an analysis confirming that it was the result of a criminal attack but also noting that my body was alive a colleague of haypost was also alarmed possibly by me in one of the moments awake the next day around noon i regained more normal conscience and also better memory most of the above between the assault and recuperation of conscience has been told to me the hospital st grigor lusavorich charged more than amd 400000 euro 1100 for the 1 night stay and research and explained that it charges to foreigners five times the rate to armenians the hospital looked in a very poor condition and therefore it was decided to leave it and to rest in the apartment the hospital had partially undressed me and i received my clothes back i noticed that the wallet was not there anymore the wallet had in cash an equivalent of around amd 400000 partially in armenian dram around amd 200000 russian rouble us dollars and euros in addition several creditcards not bankcards and a european union id card and a special card for the amsterdam international airport it is not clear whether the wallet has disappeared or fallen out of the clothes in the hospital or the ambulance but most likely it has been stolen as part of the attack in any case since then i have requested via the haypost company lawyer a mr arayk abrahayan for a police report this has been requested orally by email and by telephone to him and other colleagues more than 15 times the request has eventually also been reported to the minister of the economy the issue is that without such report on the police observation and notification the process in the netherlands with the insurance companies the credit card companies and the official authorities issuing ids is very difficult and that brings additional damages of 1000s of euros to me however a request to communicate with the police and to obtain the report remains unanswered by the armenian side in stead i was informed via an other colleague that the police had called the chief company lawyer ex cba about 20 days after the assault ie early november 2008 it means when i was already in the netherlands the police had asked him to request me to appear at the police station the colleagues reported that the company lawyer stated that i refused subsequently the police is said to have stated that i would be imprisoned to ensure my availability for the interrogation this was very shocking information subsequently the police have been visited on 11 november by the colleague mr a khachaturyan who also was during the night or morning of the assault in the hospital he is said to have made a 3 page statement clarifying the details situation as above described although i do not have any written evidence from the police or via the lawyers it was also stated that the police had requested that i need to provide all my clothes that i had during the attack that request came also in the first half of november 2008 and the police must also have known from the reports that the assault was entirely focused on the head with 5 or more beatings and not on other places of the body it is has remained unclear why the police is said to have made that request at that time most of the clothes have been cleaned washed and or used after the attack and it is unclear what the police expects to find that long after the attack however it would mean for me another expense of more than euro 1000 in loss of clothes and transportation costs the clothes taken of the first assault in july 2008 have also not been returned it has also been stated that more colleagues were planned to be interrogated such as a driver and a daytime security guard company assistant and housekeeper according to a newspaper this has happened most likely in the first of half of november i am not informed about this and have no report but read in the internet news that it was stated that most of the persons mentioned that they do not know my private life it would have been correct to state that there is practically no private life except from a dinner in a restaurant and a visit to shops or a walk on the streets during the weekend i should mention that i have never received a request from the police only heard about it via colleagues and these requests were never in a nonarmenian language and as far as requests were received or noted it has been responded to but none of the requests known to me refer to details of the assault and circumstances all kind requests from my side via armenian legal staff to provide to me a written police confirmation of the attack and theft remain unanswered the following questions and impressions appear why does the police start an investigation more than 20 days after the attack that could have resulted in death therefore an attempttomurder case and what is the quality and depth of the investigation one of the media reported that the police needs a court decision in order to be allowed to investigate the possibility of a combination between the two attacks why the first assault on the evening of 12 july 2008 which was a socalled hooliganism attack by 2 persons first attempting to hit by car me twice and subsequently by beating in a way that it would have resulted in death has lead to a verdict in november 2008 one of the persons will walk free in yerevan early 2009 and the other a bit later early 2009 the case was also a special experience it started for my dutch colleague and me with heavy wounds including bleeding the police initially refused to arrange first aid and when an armenian colleague was able to intervene after nearly 2 hours of bleeding in the police station the police prohibited and called a ambulance the first aid treatment resulted in 2 days hospitalization due to the heavy wounds then friendly police officers came to visit after treatment they were asked how the criminal prosecution would proceed initially they started laughing and after the smile they explained that the normal armenian way is that there is no prosecution but that the family representatives will approach us with an offer this scared us and we requested how we can ensure our security because we are not interested in such an approach subsequently the trust founder to whom we report tried to promote the intermediation in such a typical armenian approach it was however understood that we expected that the rule of law should prevail the police insisted on several hearings interviews in total more than 30 hours have been by each of us spent with the police to repeat every time the details of that assault of less than 7 minutes all statements have been interpreted by a qualified interpreter and have been written manually by the police initially none of the statements neither ours nor those of the attackers were accessible at the end of september we learned from the netherlands ambassador that a file with more than 450 pages had been prepared on our request via the company lawyer on documentation no answer has been provided we also heard that the scheduled court session of early october was postponed to november because it was said not be convenient for the barristers of the two who attacked us we received a 10 line message on the final outcome of the court session from the lawyer and also a confirmation that the damages claimed had been paid the impression is that the lawyer in my absence had been instructed to prioritize other activities but this is an impression the netherlands minister of justice officially complained in july 2008 about the police treatment of its 2 citizens keeping them nearly 2 hours wounded and without first aid in a police station it is said that the armenian side has investigated and responded to the ambassador that the dutch statements are not completely true and that the first aid was arranged rapidly there has been no excuse for this type of treatment from the official armenian side the impression is that the first attack is not done and executed by the same persons as the second attack it is also not possible to form evidence whether the two attacks were organized by a higher level of politically and economically interested parties the head of police should have received a letter from me but no response and also i do not know how to reach him this all represents a unique experience and maybe useful or of interest for any foreigner without armenian family relations  ', 0),
(204, 'node', ' vardan ayvazyan is named a defendant by international court of arbitration on september 5 2008 the new york base international court of arbitration attached to the international chamber of commerce named former roa minister of nature protection vardan ayvazyan presently serving as president of the national assembly s economic affairs committee as a defendant in a case involving the issuance of mining exploration licenses that hetq covered in detail at the beginning of this year for more information of the case in question 14770 ebs you can go to the court s website  wwwiccarbitrationorg  at the core of the matter is the gold mine in hankavan armenia while serving as nature protection minister vardan ayvazyan issued exploratory licenses to two companies at the same time the actual owner of one of the companies golden ore is andranik manukyan former roa minister of transport and communication who now serves as a presidential advisor to serzh sargsyan shortly thereafter and in a process that involved numerous violations of the law the ministry of trade and economic development issued the company an operating license in quick succession golden ore was then sold to geopromining ltd a diversified resources holding company headquartered in moscow almost immediately this company obtained the sotk and meghradzor gold mines owned by indian billionaire anil agarwal s ararat gold recovery company in a word the transaction was a package deal our informed sources tell us that the hankavan gold mine was sold to the tune of 30 million and that the government didn t receive one redcent from the transaction at least this is what the golden ore s tax accounts show along with vardan ayvazyan three other citizens of armenia were named as defendants mayren batoyan edvard djanibekyan and yuri lalazaryan what are the likely results from the arbitration court s proceedings regardless of whether the armenian citizens appear before the court or not the legal case will proceed and reach a verdict if the court s verdict goes against the roa citizens there will be penalties levied they will encounter problems visiting those countries with whom the united states has mutual treaties and their bank assets and properties will be frozen without doubt vardan ayvazyan is in the most vulnerable position given that he was a member of government and headed the body authorized to issue exploratory mining licenses as a topranking official he may be considered person non grata by the united states and aligned nations and not allowed to enter their borders vardan ayvazyan is the first high ranking armenian official up till now to be called before the international court of arbitration as a defendant regardless of whose support he enjoys within the ruling regime mr ayvazyan will have to obey the findings of the tribunal if it rules against him given that the roa has officially agreed to obey and execute any and all decisions handed down by the international court of arbitration  ', 0),
(205, 'node', ' ambushed investigative journalist becomes victim of violent attack another attack on a journalist has happened in armenia on monday evening three unknown persons beat edik baghdasaryan an awardwinning investigative journalist chairman of the investigative journalists ngo baghdasaryan who is also the editorinchief of the hetq online journal left his office located in 13 buzand street at 750 pm and went into the direction of his car where he was ambushed by three unknown persons those were strangers their faces were open but it was dark they did not say anything to me they started to hit me straight away they did not demand anything i tried to resist and we fought for a few minutes for quite some time then they dragged my clothes off me baghdasaryan told a1 plus a few minutes after the attack as he was being given first aid on the spot by ambulance workers he said he had resisted until one of the assailants hit him on the head with a rock baghdasaryan then according to his own account managed to escape and run quickly to the building asking for an ambulance service to be called in the assailants he said had run away taking with then an expensive photo camera the hetq editor is currently at the grigor lusavorich medical center receiving treatment for his injuries in particular he received an injury on the skull doctors say his current condition is satisfactory and soon he will be transferred to an ordinary room deputy chief of the hetq magazine liana sayadyan told armenianow that the editorial office had not received any threats either verbal or written of late there were cases in the past when we received emails where it was specifically mentioned who edik baghdasaryan should not write about but in this case we did not get anything like that and do not know who could have done such a thing she said he baghdasaryan himself does not suspect anyone particularly since in the recent period he has worked simultaneously on many stories ranging from corruption in banana imports the mining industry and the violence that happened near the odnoklassnki restaurant and other stories sayadyan added but one thing is clear to me it has to do with serious exposures that he made with his work all his stories expose abuses of office and are potentially dangerous i am convinced that the incident is linked with baghdasaryan s professional activities police instituted a criminal case under article 113 of the criminal code inflicting bodily harm of medium gravity by a group of persons an inquiry is ongoing at the same time the country s main opposition armenian national congress issued a statement strongly condemning the attack this outrageous deed is another proof that the criminal regime has declared war on free speech the opposition alliance in particular said it was reported later in the day that prime minister tigran sargsyan visited baghdasaryan in the hospital also presidential spokesman samvel farmanyan described the violence as unacceptable and condemnable the president of the republic has given instructions to lawenforcement bodies to find and bring to account those responsible for the attack he said in a statement this year has stood out not only by an unprecedentedly tense internal political situation in armenia but also and the link is obvious by an increased number of attacks on journalists in armenia several international and local watchdogs and human rights groups have slammed the government for not doing enough to prevent and expose cases of attacks on media representatives and trace and find those responsible for the attacks  ', 0),
(206, 'node', ' investigative journalist attacked in yerevan a prominent armenian investigative journalist known for his stories exposing government corruption became the target of a violent attack which he believes is connected with his reporting edik baghdasarian who heads the armenian association of investigative journalists and runs a yerevanbased online magazine hetq left his office in downtown yerevan at about 8 pm monday and shortly was ambushed and beaten by three unknown assailants as he was going to get into his car parked in the street according to his own account baghdasarian said the attack was an unprovoked one and the assailants did not demand anything particular from him right near the car two people attacked me and began to land heavy blows i retaliated and we were exchanging blows i punched one of them and since i was holding a mobile phone in my hand at that moment the phone now has blood stains on it presumably the blood of one of the attackers baghdasarian told rfe rl then according to baghdasarian a third person hit him on the head from behind presumably with a rock or some other solid object after which the journalist says he fainted eventually the three of the attackers took to flight after a security worker from a nearby construction site alerted by the squabble fired a shot into the air an ambulance service then administered first aid to baghdasarian on the spot and the journalist was hospitalized with a head injury doctors later said the injuries were not life threatening baghdasarian also says he lost a computer disc with several investigative stories that he planned for publication online the journalist says he saw the face of at least one assailant and could recognize that person if he saw him again a criminal case has been initiated in connection with the incident under article 113 of the criminal code inflicting bodily harm of medium gravity by a group of persons an inquiry was ongoing police officials said baghdasarian 49 is an awardwinning independent journalist known for his indepth investigative reporting on topics ranging from politics to crime and corruption in his latest series of investigative reports baghdasarian exposed cases of abuse and corruption in armenia s mining industry the latest attack became the seventh case of violence used against a media representative in armenia this year in august the then acting chief of rfe rl s yerevan bureau hrach melkumian also became a victim of an apparently politically motivated attack the rise in violence against media in 2008 has been slammed by local and international media watchdogs and human rights groups throughout the year however none of the crimes have been revealed and no one has been punished for either organizing or committing those attacks against journalists the attack against baghdasarian was condemned by armenia s main opposition alliance in a statement the armenian national congress led by former president levon terpetrosian in particular said this outrageous attack is more proof that the criminal regime has declared war on free speech president serzh sarkisian s spokesman also described the violence against the journalist as unacceptable and condemnable the president of the republic has given strict instructions to lawenforcement bodies to reveal the circumstances of the case and find those responsible for the attack samvel farmanian said in a statement later in the day prime minister tigran sarkisian visited baghdasarian at the hospital he expressed his concern over the attack against a journalist the investigation is on and we are convinced that those responsible will be found within a short period of time tigran sarkisian told reporters november 18 rfe rl  ', 0),
(207, 'node', ' double deprived high ranked corruption affects orphans housing at least 25 apartments purchased by the state using european union grant money to be used by graduates of children s orphanages are not fit for occupation armenianow reporters visited the apartments and found that some are constantly flooded with sewage waters making them useless even for keeping animals getting apartments for these young people deprived of parents since childhood and their children has led to illnesses generated by humidity some have left the apartments to escape being washed up by sewage waters the apartments are all eirther on the first or the last floor so humidity penetrates from either above or beneath the apartments were bought at prices several times higher than the market price thus enriching some officials at the expense of depriving the orphans of comfortable conditions almost none of the apartments conform to the criterion for being available for occupancy the apartments were alloted within the government s 2003 program for state support to the graduates of the child tutorship organizations of the republic of armenia based on the european commission food program according to the memorandum signed with the government the european commission provided 10 million euros to the republic s budget to implement agricultural and social programs according to the program the ministry of labor and social issues was supposed to provide heathcare support accomodation and property to 227 graduates of child asylums beginning 1991 however according to the official data only 109 apartments have been purchased within the past 6 years based on a trilateral agreement with the ministry of labor and social issues and the agency for the management of state property 35 apartments were purchased by private agencies karen z ltd with 63 more bought by sokol group ltd appartments the walls in jane babayan s apartment are covered with mould there are 3litre glass jars standing in several places to intercept waterdrops falling from the ceiling but the most horrifying are the winters when the frozen sewage pipes crossing the ceiling are heated down and the melting sewage waters burst out of the damaged pipes jane 32 takes her 6yearold son and her 2yearold daughter and goes out to the street to wait before the water pouring from above stops sewage water penetrates into her apartment also from the water drain in the bathroom seeping onto the apartment the family s furniture has rotted from humidity the beds are always wet and there are worms in the corners her daughter s legs hurt and her son s nose is constantly stuffed up and no medicines help him any more saving somehow jane has repaired the walls several times since moving into the apartment in 2004 but it s useless as long as the sewage permanently flows and the plaster on the newly repaired walls peels off giving way to new mould bloom electric wires have also been damaged by the humidity and the family often lacks electricity rats are permanent guests here that come through the sewage damaging all around the rats get into my drawers mixed up the grocery if only the rats could be fought back says jane in despair jane is one of seven graduates who got the remodeled apartments of the unused area in the basement of building 16 in the 16th district the sewage and drinking water pipelines that freeze up every winter like is the case with almost all of the buildings in the distrcit are located just above the apartments when the residents heat the pipes up to unblock them the waters burst out and pour onto to the heads of the orphans sewage pipes crossing beneath the buidling are also damaged the old residents of the building say the water used to spill out from the gutter but when the area was chosen for remodelling for the apartments the constructors simply filled the gutter with concrete and closed it so now the water finds its way out from inside the apartments it never rains but it pours says a graduate of the gavar orphanage khachatur afrikyan 32 who lives with his wife surrounded by moulded walls and humidity when we moved to the apartment everything seemed to be normal but when i pulled the carpeting i saw concrete beneath floors are of concrete in all apartments khachik says there is no system of ventilation so khachik has installed two flues i have lost my voice since the day i moved here it s either one side of me hurting or the other every morning the housewarming for grigor hakobyan turned into a fight against the pouring sewage water i spend 100000 drams about 300 every year to fight it but i can t manage it any more he says the money is not enough to change the plastic pipe for the drinking water as it blows up flooding the apartment every time the pressure in the pipes changes only 4 of the 7 apartments are inhabited the residents of the remaining three have been unable to resist the sewage and have abandoned them the mud from the sewage pipeline crossing artur abrahamyan s apartment has washed away a wall in it damaging the apartment he now lives in a different place they fooled us saying they give us apartments says artur who can t live in a humid place after an unsuccessful rupture surgery and foot injury the apartments were purchased by karen z ltd in 2004 for 3798000 drams each about 8400 based on the dollar rate of the time while a tworoom apartment on the middle floors in the 16th district the cheapest in yerevan could be bought for 45000 and a threeroomed one for 7000 the seven apartments were bought for 26777700 amd 48700 the residents of the building say the area used to be an inoperable storage that was turned into a garbage dump a real estate property dealer told armenianow the area may be sold for a song because nobody will ever buy it for any purpose asylum graduates who were given the 11 apartments on the upper 7th floor of a 7storied new building on tbilisian highway have been luckier as there is no water penetrating from the floor only the ceiling the ceiling is a onecentimeter thick gypsum cardboard that lets rain water in through its junctions there is no way to stop the leakage because the ceiling will collapse if any construction is done over it however even if the roof is repaired in a way as to prevent water penetration onto the ceiling the gypsum cardboard will still be unable to insulate the apartment from the noise of the rain and the weather changes it is so thin that we can hear the raindrops rattat rattat says nune simonyan who received the apartment in december 2006 i have asked the social security ministry why they don t cover with panel a roof here fighting cold in wintertime is impossible as the ceiling is unable to keep the heat inside no matter how much the apartment is heated it s impossible to heat no matter how much you burn a heater water in a glass turns into ice soon says nune she has changed also the window because she says rain and snow used to get inside through the cracks nune received the apartment without doors inside and has bought them herself unlike the apartments in the 16th district here the floors are not just the concrete but the parquet is laid over without having been properly glued and pops up underfoot the building lacks water for days nune s daughter diana suffers an illness of kidneys and incontinence but nune has no chance to bathe her she goes to school so i apply perfume on her to hide the smell what else can i do nune says the water pump burns very often and she has been forced to pay 1000 3 drams for the fourth time now to buy a new one the 7storied building has no elevator they took us for idiots and cheated us saying we wouldn t get an apartment if we didn t agree to take this one so we took it we had nobody to ask for advice says nune nune is forced to return to her former cell in the dormitory for a part of the year to withstand the winter cold and escape the downpours the picture is the same in the other 10 apartments lala ghazaryan the head of the agency for family women and child issues at the ministry of labor and social issues of armenia says nune is obliged to to live in her apartment independent of the conditions she says also the graduates of asylums do not entertain any further rights after receiving apartments ghazaryan says an apartment may be confiscated by the state if it is not lived in if the state assesses it to be fit for occupancy the builder of the apartment is the same karen z the organization that has purchased them that is it has sold the apartments it has built to the state for about 51090000 drams 113500 as of the 2006 exchange rate 10300 per each apartment hermine asatryan says she found a total wreck when she entered the apartment on the 4th floor of a 4storied building in the 4th district in 2004 the ceiling was leaking the balcony was falling to pieces the windows would not shut and the snow was getting inside in wintertime hermine claims of spending about 2000 to make the apartment available for life i have saved money bit by bit for 4 years saving even on food to repair my home i have spent 600 only on the roof says hermine 28 who works as a waitress the ceiling does not leak any more she has also built a new balcony and has also changed the windows but the toilet room still does not work and hermine continues to save every penny to repair it hermine knowing the deteriorating situation with the rest of the apartments believes she has been luckier because it was possible to repair her apartment unlike those in the 16th district and on tbilisian highway i have fought not to get a bad apartment and i got a good one hermine s oneroom apartment has also been purchased by the karen z for 4573391 drams 8300 in 2004 hermine has heard that the former owner of the apartment had sold it for 4500 lusine manukyan found her apartment on the last floor of the 12storied building in the 8th district with leaking roof and rotten pipes there was no electricity and the wires inside the walls were burnt off because of the humidity she says the pipes were replaced with the means of the district municipality the apartment was bought by karen z in 2004 for 42 million drams about 7600 building number 6 on karmir banaki street in the town of abovyan stands separate from the residential district and is at 500 meter distance from the nearest school or the bus station the area of the first floor of the building has been remodeled into 6 apartments for graduates of child asylums in all of the apartments humidity penetrates from beneath the plaster peels off the lower part of the walls and the floor swells the stench of humidity strikes at the entrance zvart kirakosyan 23 who spent her life in zatik asylum got her apartment in september 2007 she became a mother 5 months ago i like the apartment but i m afraid my baby will get ill from the humidity the apartments on karmir banaki 6 were bought by sokol group ltd for 72 million drams about 20000 in 2007 each the property almost all the tv sets in apartment owners homes have burned out within a month presumably the property was stored in a humid place after purchasing and was damaged the furniture armchairs and beds broke in many cases on the very first day a bed is broken in one apartment in another are the chairs in a third place the wooden parts but people still try to use them fixing somehow some have purchased new furniture but all say the cheap mats and blankets stink as the wool inside was not cleaned of sheep excrement lala ghazaryan complains the graduates do not use the property and some have sold it out she says the state will bring charges against them demanding the return of the property or compensation of financial losses the criminal cases in april 2008 the prosecutor general s office spread information saying the sokol group ltd has purchased only 63 apartments despite it has been obliged to purchase 132 apartments with further condition of passing them to the ministry and the agency for a total sum of 746230000 drams 2 million 490 according to the trilateral agreements signed between the sokol group ltd the agency for management of the state property by the government of armenia and the ministry of labor and social issues in 2004 2005 and 2006 having surveyed the prices of 12 apartments the prosecutor s office has identified the apartments were bought for prices exceeding their market price by 53 million drams 177000 the press release of the prosecutor s office says the mentioned agreements have been signed in the name of the ministry of labor and social issues by the head of the ministry administration dzonik margaryan who has abused the authority ascribed to him as an official person in favor of group interests and against the interests of the service that is by violating the requirements of the ra law on licensing by not defining mechanisms of supervision and specification of the purchase procedures and prices and the exact areas of the purchased apartments in the agreements with the sokol group ltd which lacks license for mediating in obtaining real property as a result lyova aghababyan the director of the sokol goup ltd has been engaged in an entrpreneural activities demanding licensing without permission the preliminary investigation into the case is now within the authority of the investigative agency of the police a criminal case has been brought into action against margaryan the case was initiated after the new government revealed in april the sokol group ltd had been receiving money by signing three agreements on purchasing apartments beginning 2004 but has not purchased them for 3 years in response to the inquiry by armenianow the police reiterated the information released by the prosecutor s office five months ago almost word for word which implies the investigation refers only to the joint abuses made by the ministry and the sokol group no investigation is made into the activities and the quality of the apartments purchased by the ministry and the karen z company the only difference between the two statements is that unlike the one by the prosecutor s office the police statement mentions dzonik margaryan three times but the documents show all the agreements have been signed upon an order of the minister of labor and social issues aghvan vardanyan and dzonik margaryan has only been the one who puts the seals the 2003 program for state support to the graduates of the child tutorship organizations has been enforced all the mentioned apartments have been purchased the karen z and sokol group organizations have been chosen and contracted and all the expropriations have been done during the years when the minister was aghvan vardanyan the apartments have been accepted by the joint commission of the ministry of labor and social issues and the agency for the management of state property cochaired by lala ghazaryan the sphere is supervised by the deputy minister filaret berikyan of the republican party of armenia owing to his high position in the armenian revolutionary federation dashnaktsutyun party and the connections aghvan vardanyan vardanyan left the ministerial post upon the order of the party in may and was chosen as member of the party bureau gevorg danielyan the minister of justice is the husband of his sister he is also in close relations with the former president of armenia robert kocharyan has not been brought to any responsilbity with only dzonik margaryan an official being turned into a scapegoat who has only fulfilled the minister s orders and has neither chosen sokol group and karen z companies for contracts nor has been related to the purchasing and the quality of the apartments the may 2 2007 issue of the haykakan zhamanak daily reported while in office aghvan vardanyan has obtained a summer house more proper to a tycoon three apartments the two in a newly built apartment blocs and a luxury car for his son another source reports vardanyan has a collection of highly valued paintings the dashnaktsutyun is aware of the corruption cases among its ministers and appear to encourage them because according to information passed on to armenianow some of the money for the corrupt deals goes into the party budget the authorities who feel their own lack of legitimacy cannot instigate cases against any of its arfd ministers as it may confront the whole party armenianow contacted a member of armenia s supreme body ruben markaryan advising of the information on hand alleging that the dashnak party accepts dirty money from ministers who belong to its party every member pays a defined average membership fee markaryan said that doesn t mean that all of them are paying the same amount those who can afford pay more ministers pay memberships fees higher than other members  ', 0),
(208, 'node', ' armenian moly coddled something funny happened on the way to the roaster molybdenum is a metal that doesn t lose its cool used in a variety of alloys for steel it remains rigid at 3000 degrees fahrenheit and doesn t melt until 4730 degrees f a point at which everything but four other natural elements have vaporized and disappeared the biggest source of demand for molybdenum alloys is in stainless steel production and as this also consumes nickel the price of molybdenum usually moves in parallel with nickel if nickel and stainless steel prices are rising so is molybdenum when they decline moly follows them down at least that s the theory the reality since midmay is that nickel has been falling in price from a peak just short of us 25 per pound at the same time molybdenum jumped to 32 lb in may then 35 lb in june it remained at that price until midoctober when it fell back a dollar another theory is that since molybdenum is a vital ingredient in the manufacture of highpressure oil and gas pipes along with containment vessels for newgeneration nuclear reactors its price will correlate with rising demand for oil gas and uranium they should drive moly pricing even if nickel and stainless steel fail and there s more although the global supply of molybdenum ore may be plentiful the capacity to roast the concentrate into metal is quite constricted on the way to the moly roaster therefore the market is sensitive to the possibility of shortages deep in the heart of the caucasus armenia produces a tiny proportion of the world s supply of molybdenum metal about 2 it mined 10 million tonnes of ore in 2006 converted this to 8700 tonnes of concentrate and exported 4888 tonnes 108 million pounds of ferromolybdenum for a declared value of 1578 million that represents an average price of 1461 per pound these statistics are difficult to come by they have been sourced for this report from a variety of published sources from telephone calls to the armenian state statistics office and from mining companies working in the country there is also an oddity in the export valuation the mining companies in armenia have told mineweb that they produced 96 million pounds of molybdenum metal from their concentrates in 2006 if this is valued at the average price for 2006 of 2650 lb the revenue value of output should have been 254 million about 100 million in moly value seems to have been coddled in the oldfashioned sense of that english term boiled and vaporized that is roughly 10 one dollar in ten of armenia s total export value in 2006 of 9851 million the reason for this uncertainty gains in significance because moly mining appears to be the single largest industry in armenia and is thus vital to the state s economic security moreover cronimet the german mining company which controls armenia s leading moly mine zangezur copper and molybdenum combine as well as its two smelters and roasters is the single largest investor in the armenian economy cronimet says it has invested 70 million in zangezur to date according to the government it promised to invest double that amount in return for the government concession awarded three years ago even if the value data and magnitudes are uncertain this makes the germans very big fish in a very small pond but cronimet on sudbeckenstrasse in karlsruhe is a private company owned by gunter pilarsky and his family it issues no public financial reports and pilarsky refuses to respond to mineweb questions the second moly miner in armenia is an american concern called comsup commodities inc its mine the agarak copper and molybdenum combine is located near zangezur in southeastern armenia officially located on fletcher avenue in fort lee new jersey comsup is owned by ben bollag whose two sons michael and dan are also in the business michael bollag who lists an address in santa barbara california is in charge of the armenian operation in addition to mining at agarak comsup is identified as trading the moly metal which is roasted by amp the acronym stands for armenian molybdenum production under that name it is incorporated as a limited liability concern in germany cronimet controls a majority of the shares in zangezur and holds stakes also in amp and in armenian company plant of pure iron oag which are also shareholders of zangezur thus there is a crossshareholding linking all three in august 2004 the then minister of trade and economic development karen chshmaritian announced that comsup and cronimet were to be linked in the shareholding structure of the moly business we have agreed in principle the minister was quoted as saying that cronimet and comsup will participate in the privatization on the fiftyfifty percent share basis but this didn t happen instead cronimet took zangezur comsup agarak what happened to change the plan no one in the armenian government will say nor anyone at cronimet and comsup the spokesman of the armenian ministry of natural resources artsum peponyan told mineweb that he could not say what had happened to comsup at zangezur but he said he could confirm that cronimet holds 60 of the shares of the mining company another 15 were held by pure iron and 125 by amp he claimed that for its stake cronimet made a down payment of 5 million in 2004 with another 87 million in 2005 altogether among the several shareholders peponyan said that zangezur had been sold for 132 million plus investment undertakings a total of 200 million is obligated for investment to 2012 by that time annual ore processing capacity should be 125 million tonnes cronimet declined to discuss these figures regional press reports of government announcements indicate that in early 2004 comsup paid the armenian government euro600  for 100 percent of the shares in agarak it also accepted the condition that it would invest another euro35 million in the mine over the next two years the privatization and concession deal also appears to have set production targets beginning from january 1 2005 agarak was obligated to lift its ore throughput to 3 million tonnes and its output of moly concentrate to 700 tonnes equivalent to 770000 lbs of metal michael vogel is a german executive of cronimet in karlsruhe he told mineweb we are a civilized german company and we don t have to answer questions he volunteered that cronimet mines moly at zangezur and then processes it at two local plants pure iron and amp he added that cronimet does not export concentrates but instead delivers these to pure iron and amp according to vogel cronimet s annual output is about 8000 tonnes of concentrates representing about 88 million pounds of metal cronimet s website reports 2006 production of 7940 tonnes of concentrate vogel declined to say what relationship his company has with pure iron and amp an armenian media report claims cronimet has a controlling stake in pure iron vogel declared we have no relationship with comsup a website statement by amp claims that comsup is the main consumer of amp production at amp s plant there was reluctance to disclose its input or output volumes or its relationship with comsup the secretary of the plant agreed to lift the director s telephone receiver but declined to give his name or her own asked for their production figures amp refused to answer at agarak there is an even deeper mystery according to a report on october 13 from the armenian news agency arminfo and the russian news agency interfax comsup has sold its concession the georgian madneuli mining company which is owned by the moscow holding industrial investors has acquired armenia s agarak copper and molybdenum combine ammk from comsup commodities of the us a source close the armenian government told interfax the deal gives industrial investors the right to develop the agarak coppermolybdenum deposit comsup commodities acquired a 100 percent stake in ammk in may 2004 it has invested over 20 million euro in the company asked about this report oleg rumyantsev spokesman for industrial investors in moscow told mineweb he had seen the report and had spoken to madneuli s chief executive koba nakopia according to rumyantsev this is all incorrect information madneuli is not trying to get control of agarak this is a mistake contacted at madneuli nakopia refused to answer questions the regnum news agency also issued the following statement from madneuli jointstock company madneuli being the property of the russian financial and industrial group industrial investors denies the information on acquisition of shares of the agarak coppermolybdenum combine madneuli does not conduct any negotiations concerning the acquisition of the agarak coppermolybdenum combine i do not know at all from where the mass media took the idea that we wish to get this armenian company noted koba nakopia mineweb asked the chief of the arminfo news agency emanuel mkartichyan where the news report had come from and whether arminfo had published a correction or retraction mkartichyan refused to reply a source in the agency claimed the report had come from a freelancer michael bollag was asked what has been happening at agarak he would not respond instead one source at the company volunteered i know the answers to your questions but i am not authorized to give you the answers he said agarak is producing 700 tonnes of concentrate per annum with an equivalent of 770000 lbs of metal he refused to say if the concentrate is processed locally or if moly is exported by comsup rustam raznikov heads comsup s moscow office he refused to answer the telephone a second source at comsup told mineweb that his company has been taking 1 million pounds of moly out of armenia annually he added that the agarak combine is also producing 2000 tonnes of copper concentrates per month author john helmerposted tuesday 30 oct 2007  ', 0);
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(209, 'node', ' the caucasus after the war an edgy neighborhood has become both more dangerous and more important the scenery is breathtaking sandwiched between two seas and home to europe s highest mountains the caucasus has always been an alluring and darkly mysterious region its reputation rose during its long slow conquest by imperial russia in the 19th century the caucasus features prominently in the poetry of pushkin and the fiction of tolstoy a classic russian figure the superfluous man who is powerless and doesn t fit in first appeared in the character of pechorin in lermontov s novel a hero of our time set in the caucasus russian readers were also enthralled by the exploits of the caucasian resistance hero imam shamil now the caucasus is at centrestage again the restive north caucasus republics in the russian federation are always in the news after two bloody wars with the russians chechnya is more or less at peace under the thumb of its strongman president ramzan kadyrov but could easily flare up again dagestan has become an increasingly lawless place worse ingushetia is in a state of nearanarchy with russian security services using the same brutal methods as armed ingush rebels but it is the three countries of the south caucasus georgia azerbaijan and armenia that are the bigger story now for they are the cockpit in a new clash between russia and the west the main reason these tiny countries matter despite a combined population of only 16m or so is geographical perched next to turkey north of iran and south of russia this is a place where empires have long met and clashed russia never reconciled itself to losing control of the caucasus when the soviet union broke up in 199091 moscow has been visibly fretful about rising western influence the russians have been especially hostile to georgia s president mikheil saakashvili who swept to power after ousting eduard shevardnadze in the rose revolution of 2003 indeed the icy personal relations between mr saakashvili and russia s vladimir putin have clouded the whole region the russians have kept up a trade and travel embargo on georgia they were incensed by nato s decision in april that georgia should one day be a member even if the country was not offered an immediate membership action plan russia is less neuralgic about the other two caucasus countries where its influence is stronger yet in many ways azerbaijan matters more than georgia as it has lots of oil and gas georgia and armenia have plenty of minerals but little energy the whole area is crucial for existing and planned pipelines especially for gas that can supply europe while bypassing russia see map pipelines go a long way towards explaining why the caucasus is now such a critical theatre in russia s faceoff with the west the third reason why the caucasus matters is that it harbours several simmering conflicts left after the collapse of the soviet union in 1991 indeed most of the fighting then took place in the caucasus georgia was left with two regions abkhazia and south ossetia that broke free of tbilisi s control in two wars in the early 1990s as became clear in august russia sustains their independence from the irritating mr saakashvili azerbaijan has the autonomous region of nagornokarabakh over which it fought and lost an even bloodier war with armenia in 199194 today armenia controls not only nagornokarabakh but also seven villages in azerbaijan proper and soldiers are frequently killed along the ceasefire line marching through georgia it was on august 7th that the world woke up to the dangers of the caucasus s territorial conflicts for months the russians had done their utmost to provoke the georgian president who has a reputation as a hothead bombs were dropped drones sent over georgian territory invasion exercises staged the americans insist they were urging restraint on mr saakashvili but some observers claim the signals were mixed after all mr saakashvili had promised to restore georgia s territorial integrity and he also seized a smaller rebellious enclave ajaria in 2004 he may have banked on doing the same in south ossetia without either american objections or a determined russian response tension rose steadily during the week leading up to august 7th indeed paata zakareishvili a close observer of the enclaves believes that war could have broken out on any day that week yet what actually happened on august 7th remains a matter of fierce dispute and may be the subject of an international inquiry that mr saakashvili says he would welcome and claims he was the first to call for the georgian version of events goes like this after several days of skirmishes with south ossetian forces mr saakashvili announced a ceasefire which he says was violated by the ossetians but he decided to shell and then invade tskhinvali the south ossetian capital only once russian troops and tanks started pouring in from north ossetia through the roki tunnel on the evening of august 7th the russians insist that no troops entered the tunnel and that the attack on tskhinvali was unprovoked monitors from the organisation for security and cooperation in europe trapped in tskhinvali say that they heard no ossetian shelling before the georgians opened up at the time the russians also asserted that 2000 people had been killed in the city and talked wildly of genocide the true number seems to be little more than 100 the russians responded with massive force although they took heavy casualties from the georgians as their columns drove south sheer numbers eventually told and the georgians were pushed back before abandoning the fight the russians then occupied swathes of territory around the enclaves and briefly threatened tbilisi before declaring a ceasefire yet for weeks after they first promised the european union that they would withdraw from georgia proper the russians kept their troops and checkpoints on the thin excuse of taking security measures these forces smashed up georgian bases ports railways and roads the russians have just declared that they have fulfilled their most recent promise to the eu to pull out of georgia proper by october 10th yet their troops are in places where they were not before august 7th and there are far more of them georgian villages in and near south ossetia have been subjected to brutal ethnic cleansing and the abkhaz have taken back the kodori gorge from georgian forces this is a long way from restoring the status quo before august 7th the short august war has also left georgia with the burden of as many as 60000 refugees the eu has now deployed some 200 ceasefire monitors but the russians will not let them into the two enclaves which they have unilaterally recognised as independent states talks over the enclaves status began in geneva this week but broke up almost immediately when the russians walked out agreement was clearly impossible the russians think they won the war and should reap the rewards the georgians cannot let go of the enclaves even nino burjanadze a former speaker of the georgian parliament who is now an opponent of mr saakashvili s says this would be like cutting off one s arms and legs one effect of the war was to dampen georgia s soaring economy real gdp rose by over 12 in 2007 thanks to a surge in foreign investment a liberalisation programme and a curbing of onceendemic corruption mr saakashvili says that if the war had happened just two years ago the economy would have collapsed now he notes with satisfaction russian financial markets have suffered the bigger falls admittedly growth looks like lapsing to 5 or less this year not least because of a bleaker world economic outlook but reconstruction work and a promised inflow of foreign aid should push it up next year the political prospects in georgia are murkier although mr saakashvili likes to say that the best response to russia s aggression is more democracy he has yet to translate his words into action he did himself no favours by crushing opposition protests in tbilisi last november he was reelected president in january and his party won the parliamentary election in may but the opposition is regrouping ms burjanadze plans to form a new party more critics of mr saakashvili s warmongering venture into south ossetia and his autocratic instincts are emerging georgia s ombudsman recently called for real democracy to replace authoritarianism ironically it is the russians who most want to get rid of mr saakashvili who are now his biggest prop since the war his popularity rating has risen to over 75 even today mr saakashvili claims to regret nothing he maintains that he had no alternative and that the war was not really about south ossetia and abkhazia at all indeed he barely accepts that georgia lost as he sees it the russians already controlled both enclaves his government has not fallen vital pipelines across georgia were undamaged despite russian bombing and the economy is holding up and he revels in the world s attention when georgia was overrun by bigger neighbours in the past he says nobody paid any heed this time leaders from all over europe flocked to tbilisi to show their support the oilandgas game the august war has profoundly affected azerbaijan and armenia too neither is anywhere near as democratic as georgia both are friendlier to russia armenia in particular is a close ally and neither aspires yet to join western clubs like nato or the eu yet in the war s aftermath both are looking to the west more than before azerbaijan s president ilham aliev predictably won reelection on october 15th in part because most opposition candidates boycotted the poll on the ground that it was neither free nor fair an autocratic government can appear to create stability yet the younger mr aliev is widely seen as a weaker leader than his father heidar who bequeathed him the presidency in 2003 and some think he is in hock to the country s most powerful business oligarchs opposition leaders like eldar namazov claim that there is even less freedom now than before what is certain is that azerbaijan s oilfired economy has been booming as one diplomat says it feels and looks a bit like a slightly seedy gulf emirate the bakutbilisiceyhan pipeline is now shipping 1m barrels of oil a day gas is flowing to georgia turkey and russia baku is smothered in petrodollars with glitzy new buildings and horrendous traffic jams it is less clear that ordinary citizens are benefiting many complain about inflation which is running anywhere between 16 officially and 30 say some economists the government talks up its programme of economic liberalisation which has been praised by the world bank yet azerbaijan also has a reputation for corruption there is a big downside to the oil boom it crushes the nonoil economy one economist says that oil and gas now account for half of gdp and over 90 of exports the real exchange rate has appreciated sharply one reason why baku is so expensive worse oil and gas reserves in azerbaijani territory are finite bill schrader head of bp azerbaijan notes that the real game for the future will be to try to tap into the turkmenistan side of the caspian which has huge reserves of gas azerbaijan s energy wealth is naturally of interest to the russians who want it to sell more oil and gas northwards russia s energy giant gazprom is desperate for more gas but the government is having none of it it supplies georgia with gas against russia s wishes for example and it is enthusiastic about pipelines to the west including the planned nabucco pipeline officials see big advantages in not depending on a single buyer looking for allies another big cloud on the horizon is nagornokarabakh negotiations over the armeniancontrolled territory continue fitfully in the socalled minsk group led by russia america and france until the war in georgia observers were worried that a newly rich azerbaijan which is spending heavily on defence might again resort to force ordinary azerbaijanis angry that oneseventh of their country is occupied by armenia remain belligerent but after georgia a new war looks less not more likely not least because the russians would not allow armenia their ally and host to two big military bases to be beaten yet the armenians are not complacent russia s war with georgia made this tiny landlocked country feel highly vulnerable its eastern border with azerbaijan has been blocked by the aftermath of the 199194 war and the turks sealed their western border in 1993 in sympathy with their azeri cousins some 80 of armenia s trade goes through ports in georgia many of which were damaged by the russians not surprisingly the armenians are looking around for more friends in the neighbourhood besides russia a new gas pipeline from iran is planned for instance armenia is hardly less autocratic than azerbaijan the election in february that brought serzh sargsyan into the presidency was criticised by most western monitors worse the opposition leader and former president levon terpetrossian who says roundly that the election was stolen took his followers on to the streets the result was the most violent protests yerevan has ever seen put down by the government with the loss of eight lives as many as 74 opposition demonstrators remain in jail although mr sargsyan blandly assures interlocutors that there are no political prisoners in armenia as in the rest of the caucasus the economy has done well in recent years although it is overdependent on raw materials construction and diamondtrading plus remittances from the large armenian diaspora it is also the diaspora that bangs the drum most loudly against a diplomatic settlement of karabakh or any improvement of relations with turkey yet mr sargsyan is being bolder than his predecessorturnedcritic robert kocharian both men come from nagornokarabakh so they are hardly likely to let go of the armenianpopulated enclave but mr sargsyan is readier to negotiate and to give back most armeniancontrolled territory in azerbaijan outside nagornokarabakh even that may not be enough to settle the dispute for this would require azerbaijan to accept the de facto independence of karabakh the other two reasons for mild hope concern turkey mr sargsyan bravely invited the turkish president abdullah gul to a football match in early september talks between the two foreign ministers took place in new york three weeks later the aim as edward nalbandian the armenian foreign minister puts it is to achieve total normalisation of relations with turkey on the armenian side that means dropping all preconditions including demands that turkey accept that there was an armenian genocide in 1915 mr sargsyan has gingerly expressed support instead for a turkish idea that the subject should be looked at by a joint historical commission the push to reopen the border with turkey is clearly driven in part by georgia s war with russia but there is a long way to go before inhabitants of yerevan can cross the border to their sacred mount ararat as always some businessmen benefit from its closure moreover karabakh will be a continuing sore on the armenian side some may prefer stasis on karabakh to normal relations with turkey while the azerbaijanis who have great influence in turkey will do their utmost to upset friendlier links between turkey and armenia a western opportunity to outsiders the caucasus often seems a hotbed of devilish intrigue power games and insoluble ethnic conflict the war in georgia confirmed the worst suspicions of many yet both in georgia and in its two neighbours it could also have created an opportunity for change for all his bravado mr saakashvili was clearly shaken he should now be more amenable to the line that the best way to promote georgia s integrity is to foster a genuinely liberal democracy so that one day the enclaves might choose to return a similar argument could carry some force in azerbaijan and armenia as they look for friends beyond russia if the west is to be consistent however it should support these countries only in so far as they take steps however slowly in the same democratic direction as georgia two keys could help to unlock this process the first is to dangle the prospect however distant that all three countries might one day qualify as members of the eu as experience in eastern europe has shown this is the best way to lure countries towards reform the eu may offer a better route than nato membership which is both more problematic and further off after georgia s war the second key is to work with turkey which as the only nato country in the region is wellplaced to offset russia s influence shortly after the war turkey launched a proposed caucasus stability and cooperation platform which even the russians applauded turkish companies are active in the region conspicuously so in georgia and azerbaijan and in disguise even in armenia if the turks can improve relations with armenia including opening the border they could play a more constructive role in the caucasus than the russians have ever done but both turkey and the three caucasus countries will need encouragement that could start with a firm eu decision to back the nabucco gas pipeline it would also help if the caucasus countries were less nationalist and better at working together paradoxically georgia s war with russia may enhance the chances of peaceful progress in the whole region  ', 0),
(210, 'node', ' report iyc s monitoring mission of the local government elections in kentron nornork norkmarash avan davitashen and shengavit communities of yerevan iyc s monitors observed the local government elections in 206 precincts on september 28 as a result of monitoring the first phase of local government elections in some communities of yerevan on september 7 the iyc published its findings concerning the violations and shortcomings of the electoral processes such as illegal voting and intimidation there were even frustrating cases such as tension and violence in some precincts despite the fact that the iyc has condemned the repressive methods of solving the electoral disputes and petitioned the parties involved in electoral processes to keep the process of elections in the framework of legality and act in an environment of tolerance there were cases of illegal voting and violence during these local government elections as well iyc is specifically concerned of such cases during the local government elections in kentron community in some polling stations neighborhood authorities have actively interfered with the electoral processes and pec representatives who did not prevent those violations either due to ignorance of the law or on purpose it is worth mentioning that the voter turnout was quite low and they were not active which means that they were not interested in those two candidates the iyc has observed the following violations during the local government elections illegal voting there was a case of open voting in 1003 precinct of norkmarash the commission members noticed the violation but failed to prevent it ballot stuffing was observed in kentron community as presented below in 1003 precinct of kentron community the loyalists of candidate gagik beglaryan stuffed ballots which caused a conflict and scuffle with proxies and pec members the proxies demanded that the commission register the violation in the protocol but the pec head failed to do so there were cases of ballot stuffing in 1011 1053 and 1012 precincts in 1051 gagik beglaryan s loyalists stuffed ballots the head of this commission was there and ignored that violation in 1053 precinct a young man and a woman brought marked ballots with them in order to stuff before they would cast those ballots into the ballot box the pec chair approached them to check who they had voted for when they found out that among the ballots marked for beglaryan there were also ballots marked for zurabyan they made a noise and conflict in the precinct the representative of the heritage party in the pec realized that all their efforts were useless and decided to boycot and left the precinct without participating in the vote count ararat zurabyan s proxy left the precinct as well there have been such violations in other precincts as well in consideration of the hard situation our organization does not believe that boycotting the work of the electoral commission on part of pec members or proxies and leaving polling stations is the best way to express their opinion about the elections in a fixedrun taxi 33 parked not far from the student dorms of 2nd massive of nornork of yerevan some people cut deals with voters specifically on the voting day citizens approached that vehicle showed their passports and took some white papers and directly went to the nearest 218 precinct in 22 precinct of nornork community of yerevan at 6 pm the legal state party representative in the pec frida martirosyan discovered and prevented cases of illegal voting voting instead of other people when three citizens were going to cast their ballots into the ballot box it turned out that those voters were registered in another district which means that they had signed and were going to vote instead of other people this violation was registered in the protocol the voting process proceeded in a tense environment in 1005 precinct there were even conflicts risen between proxies and pec members in this precinct the pec gave a ballot to a voter without a passport and based on a photocopy of the voter s passport which is a violation of clause 3 of article 55 of the electoral code of ra in the same precinct 1005 the pec members allowed a group of people to vote without any documents and they made a separate voter list for them in 1019 precinct a citizen argued that he was the only person registered at his address at teryan 19 apt 8 and there were other people registered at the same address in the voter lists in 1005 precinct some voters found signatures next to the names of people that they know are not in the country resident of vardanants st 10 building gevorg margaryan found anther signature next to his name when he went to his precinct to vote in 1007 precinct there was a conflict and scuffle between ararat zurabyan s proxies and pec members when a voter asked a pec member to show the name of his candidate on the ballot the conflict which was risen in the presence of police officers and media representatives was stopped only after new group of police security officers arrived at the precinct many cases of open voting and multiple voting were observed in 1054 precinct cases of double and multiple voting were observed in 1051 precinct in precinct 1052 a proxy alleged that the pec chair had put a stack of ballots into his pocket after which they invited people from the cec and prosecutor s office those people arrived after an hour delay and did not find anything with the pec chair as a result of it there was a conflict and scuffle in the polling station in precinct 1019 at 130 pm two people voted at the same voting screen at a time the monitor said that it was against the law and the pec chairman responded that they were a married couple even if they are a couple it is still violation of the law violations of the electoral procedure in 22 21 23 219 24 and 238 precincts of nornork community despite the requirement of clause 3 of article 53 of the electoral code the pec member in charge of the ballot box and envelope stamping was not provided with the addresses of the voters included in the voter list thus the pec members could not check whether the addresses recited by the voters were true or not even the pec members did not know about this law requirement in 1007 precinct the pec made a break and the vote count started after an hour delay the vote counting process was interrupted in 1048 and 1038 precincts in 1044 precinct two people introduced themselves as the head of the pec despite the fact that the elected pec head was armen harutyunyan another person named arman tchagharyan was controlling the situation at the precinct as a matter of fact this person was the secretary of pec 1044 and he publicly announced that he wanted to see david copperfield s tricks after closing the precinct at 8pm when he allegedly said that the results would be changed influence on voters free will the iyc monitors have observed that in many precincts of nornork community different people entered the polling stations to escort people who allegedly were not able to vote this was widespread in many precincts of the mentioned community and was done for the purpose of campaigning among voters and controlling their votes after the first part of the voting day the voter turnout became very active when people were bussed to polling stations around 57 pm eg precinct 241 other unauthorized people were escorting those voters in the polling station and controlling their votes to the extent of marking the ballots instead of them some of the 1048 pec members openly instructed voters who to vote for the same pec failed to carry out their duties in a duly manner often there was chaos in the precinct and the vote count proceeded with procedural violations as well not far from the 1048 precinct a group of people was campaigning among voters on their way to the precinct in the 1049 precinct some neighborhood authorities interfered in the process of elections campaigned near the precincts escorted voters to the precinct and voter screens and controlled their vote unauthorized people were controlling the votes in the 1054 polling station as well where there was chaos and the situation was out of control abuse of proxy and monitor rights in the 1011 and 1012 precincts proxies and monitors were not allowed to freely move inside the precinct and monitor the voting process in precinct 1014 the pec chair refused to sign the copy of the final protocol to be handed to the iyc s monitor the latter also said that he was the boss there and that he could do anything he wanted and made arbitrary decisions in the 1038 precinct the pec chair did not allow the proxies to video record the vote count in precinct 1051 the proxies tried to prevent ballot stuffing but the pec chair got angry with them and threatened to make them leave the precinct and said that he wouldn t let them monitor the vote count process in precinct 1051 the pec members were influencing on the iyc monitor by checking his report and creating artificial difficulties for him in precinct 1044 the pec did not let the proxies and monitors approach them and observe their activities by saying that they are interrupting their work in precinct 1021 the proxies and monitors tried to monitor the voter lists and observe the ballot box but the pec told them that they were interfering with their work and did not let them observe and observe the ids of voters inconveniences of polling stations in the 22 21 23 219 24 224 216 217 28 245 polling stations of nornork community and the 1016 1021 polling stations of kentron community the voting screens were furnished in a manner that one could see the results of votes it is a violation of article 485 of the electoral code even though it was possible to furnish the voting screen in a manner to provide voting secrecy those voting screens were not furnished in a duly manner and there were no ribbon barriers used september 30 2008 it s your choice is a nonpartisan ngo and the largest domestic election monitor in armenia with 4000 volunteers and offices and chapters in all 10 marzes and communities of yerevan iyc s mission is to promote transparent elections and democratic processes in armenia establish true selfgovernance and accountability within the government encourage citizen participation in community governance and provide objective reliable and timely information to armenian voters about electoral processes since 1999 iyc has been involved in monitoring activities in different levels of elections iyc has monitored two parliamentary two presidential elections in 2003 and 2008 three local government elections the presidential elections of 2003 and the constitutional referendum of november 27 2005 after the elections iyc made reports and developed recommendations to the ra electoral code  ', 0),
(211, 'node', ' expremier world financial crisis contains risks for armenian economy the world financial crisis creates a number of risks for armenian economy expremier of armenia hrant bagratyan said he pointed out that the crisis effects on armenia s economy are not so visible due to economic isolation of the country yet some effects could be expected he said according to bagratyan the first risk is connected with reduction in transfers from the usa and russia to armenia the second risk is with the banking sector due to liquidity problems experienced by foreign banks largescale construction is also placing a threat to armenian economy as it is carried out through loans extended by armenia s commercial banks bagratyan said he also stressed that prices for molybdenum and cooper are going down due to the crisis thus leading to reduced income from export the fifth risk according to bagratyan is connected with bonds and the government should develop appropriate measures in this respect  ', 0),
(212, 'node', ' serious tendency of real estate prices correction in armenia real estate prices have started falling at the end of summer in yerevan according to the monthly report of cadastre real estate committee the average price for 1 sq m of an apartment in yerevan has fallen by 18 in august the number of the real estate bargains also reduced in august by 15 if compared with july and by 22 if compared with august 2007 as director of armenian real estate market artem pribylsky said prices falling tendency has been preserved and they fell by 13 in september and at the beginning of october he also added that the world economic crisis has affected the situation at the armenian real estate market armenians of the diaspora and the local residents which receive transfers are the main buyers of the primary accommodation for this reason because of worsening of the economic situation in the transferdonor states russia and the usa inflow of cash reduces as a result of which buying ability is also reducing pribilsky also said no rush sale of real estate has been noticed at the market because of real estate proces falling but this does not rule out rush at the mortgage market where the real estate prices will fall much but the mortgage bank rate will grow because of liquidity falling according to the data of arminfo analysts armenian banks have made the conditions of the mortgage credits giving more severe of the last months the world liquidity crisis has not yet touched on the banking system of the country since there are no big volumes of the sums attracted from abroad in the liabilities but the danger of its possible affecting armenia make the banks to increase liquidity pillow thus certain reduction of the mortgage crediting volumes in the country is reducing real estate demand level in some sense and is no more able to keep prices moreover one should take into account that the real estate sector the locomative of the armenian economy which almost fully depends on foreign money inflow still remains the weakest and the most affected by foreign crisis tendencies the domino effect may work in other sectors of economy as well in case of stagnation nevertheless as analysts say today the longawaited correction of prices has been notices of the real estate market which have risen up to the inadequate level thanks to foreign money inflow over the last years  ', 0),
(213, 'node', ' armenia s monopolists get 100 percent profit in 2007 the average profit of armenia s monopolists from the sale of imported products exceeded 100 percent according to the official data a total of 88000 tons of sugar were imported to armenia the minimum selling prices of 1kg at shops was 210 amd whereas the company owned by the parliament member samvel alexanyan imported sugar at 108 amd for 1kg similarly the import of one liter of vegetable oil cost 320 amd whereas the selling price in armenia reaches 8001000 amd thus the profit reached 120 percent  ', 0),
(214, 'node', ' wef corruption low level of tax administration regulation of exchange rates and unsatisfactory work of state machine are main obstacles for armenia s economy armenia holds the 97th position out of 134 in the global competitiveness report 20082009 published by the world economic forum wednesday armenia has dropped by 4 positions as compared with the previous ranking the united states tops the overall ranking switzerland is in the second position followed by denmark and sweden azerbaijan holds the 69th position and georgia the 90th position according to the ranking the main obstacles for armenia s economy are corruption low level of tax administration regulation of exchange rates and unsatisfactory work of the state machine by the efficiency of public structures armenia holds the 96th place the most unfavorable situation is fixed in the sphere of intellectual property protection 106th place public confidence in politicians 104 independence of judicial system 123 ethic behavior of firms 115 and protection of interests of minority shareholders 124 by the general state of infrastructure armenia is in the 90th place in the ranking by the efficiency of motor highways railroads as well as electric power supply armenia holds the 79th 83rd and 89th positions respectively by the quality of telephone lines armenia holds the 65th place the country has comparatively higher indices in the group of macroeconomic stability criteria 83 by inflation rate the republic holds the 61st place and the government debt rate is qualified as armenia s competitive advantage 26 the rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the executive opinion survey a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the world economic forum together with its network of partner institutes leading research institutes and business organizations in the countries covered by the report in 2008 about 12 thsd businessmen from 134 countries took part in the survey  ', 0),
(215, 'node', ' armenia sargsyan government weathers march storms monday october 6 2008 event the monitoring committee of the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe considered developments in armenia on october 3 significance president serzh sargsyan has weathered the international and national storm triggered by the heavyhanded suppression of opposition protests following the february 2008 elections the government is showing increasing confidence in making political appointments which could eventually lead to the return of former president robert kocharian to power analysis the february elections weakened the ruling regime which is epitomised by the tandem of president serzh sargsyan and his predecessor robert kocharian by september it had to a large degree consolidated its power though the violent suppression of opposition protests in march damaged armenia s international image the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe pace issued a resolution blaming key state institutions for failing to comply with democratic standards the rule of law and human rights however a subsequent pace resolution was milder and postponed suspending armenia s voting rights until january opposition momentum the smooth transfer of power between kocharian and sargsyan a former prime minister was called into question when levon terpetrosian the first president of independent armenia surprised the ruling elite with his decision to run for the presidency in an election campaign marked by mutual accusations over past ills and the virtual absence of serious debate on the country s future terpetrosian managed to rally significant support from those discontented with persistent corruption the tainted political process inequitable economic transformation and government s lack of accountability and transparency following elections marked by numerous violations the opposition organised ten days of protests the degree of mobilisation surprised the ruling elite this ended on march 12 when violent clashes between the police and thousands of supporters left at least ten dead the government imposed a 20day emergency banned rallies and curtailed media freedoms see armenia regime will use force to retain power march 27 2008 several hundred opposition supporters were detained of whom 76 were still in detention at the end of september the opposition was in effect denied the right of assembly until september 15 when the yerevan mayor s office authorised a rally in his address terpetrosian pointed to internal tensions within the coalition on policy towards turkey and personnel changes he also said that the russiangeorgian war in august had shown that armenia was as vulnerable as ever to external pressures yet the number attending the rally was lower than generally expected suggesting that the opposition is losing momentum it was also defeated in several districts in the september municipal elections parliamentary leadership on september 29 the national assembly elected as speaker hovik abrahamian the chief of the presidential staff and a close ally of kocharian and sargsyan he replaced tigran torosian parliamentary speaker since 2006 former speaker torosian had dismissed rumours of his replacement in recent months and was said to have repeatedly refused to step down voluntarily despite being offered senior government positions he finally tendered his resignation on september 16 citing insurmountable differences with the parliament majority on domestic issues and behindthescene intrigues torosian was seen as a relatively independent lawmaker untainted by connections to oligarchs new speaker abrahamian has served in the government since 2000 recently heading the ministry of territorial administration and infrastructure which carries out some of the functions performed elsewhere by the interior ministry he managed the ruling republican party hhk campaign for the 2007 parliamentary elections and sargsyan s campaign in february 2008 leading to suspicions about the use of administrative resources abrahamian s move to the highest parliamentary post was planned well in advance he won a parliamentary byelection in august in a singlemandate constituency in artashat where his family owns several businesses he also owns several residential buildings in the centre of yerevan and property in the resort town of tsakhkadzor commission of inquiry the government has set up a parliamentary inquiry into the march 12 events there are serious doubts about the credibility of the commission and its yettobepublished findings the opposition has refused to take part concerned lest participation would be used to legitimise proregime findings commission chairman samvel nikoyan a senior hhk member has criticised the police for not cooperating with and even hindering the probe the chief of police publicly objected to suggestions that officers involved should be investigated and possibly prosecuted for the use of lethal force foreign policy the conflict in georgia in august complicated the economic and political situation and exposed armenia s relative isolation over 70 of armenia s foreign trade is conducted via georgia and any disruption is very costly should the economy suffer the government may become under additional pressure from the population at the same time the west s weak reaction demonstrated to the armenian leadership that it may resort to increasingly open authoritarian measures without fear as the west continues to focus on developments in georgia in order to mitigate the fallout armenia embarked on an unprecedented course of improving relations with turkey see armenia turkey opportunity opens for rapprochement september 9 2008 the russiangeorgian war shifted the political landscape in the caucasus and is prompting turkey armenia and azerbaijan three countries with longstanding disputes to try to settle their differences with georgia s energy transit credentials threatened armenia is being considered more actively as an alternative energy route for turkey as well as for potentially bringing iran s gas to europe the leadership believes its policy of complementarity has paid off armenia will continue its strategic cooperation with russia goodneighbourly relations with georgia cooperation with the eu and partnership with the united states and nato the frozen conflict with azerbaijan over nagornokarabakh will continue armenia will block any change in the mediation format preventing turkey from acquiring a more important role outlook having weathered the worst wave of protests the government now feels confident enough to appoint into the highest posts figures who clearly do not enjoy the confidence of the opposition it continues to detain opposition supporters and keep close control of the media at the same time it has allowed some opposition rallies these steps are designed to soften international criticism and preclude the country s political isolation throughout the president has relied on russia s support and cis states silent acquiescence in its handling of the opposition the regime is now likely to continue consolidating its power assisted by the opposition s loss of momentum and the relatively weak international reaction to the march crackdown it has had ample time to correct some of its more authoritarian behaviour by releasing political prisoners so far it has chosen not to do so georgia has absorbed a large share of the limited diplomatic resources assigned to the region and the government may have scored some foreign policy successes such as normalising relations with turkey the process may end with the return of kocharian in early september rumours started circulating that the current government which includes some members with no strong political affiliations see armenia new government sets ambitious targets may 6 2008 may be a caretaker administration to be replaced by a more strongly prohhk government headed by the former president kocharian recently said he had not decided to return to politics at this point leaving open the possibility of deciding otherwise in the future conclusion with the opposition losing momentum the government looks stronger despite signs of internal incoherence and a lack of public support it has not displayed the political will to implement the farreaching reforms outlined in its programme  ', 0),
(216, 'node', ' sarkisian vows drastic steps against corruption president serzh sarkisian pledged to take drastic steps to eradicate government corruption in armenia as he presented his administration s priorities to the national assembly on thursday in a 40minute speech sarkisian said he will strive to turn armenia into a rulelaw country with a competitive economy independent courts and equal opportunities for all citizens he stressed the importance of public support for this endeavor but made no mention of the lingering political crisis triggered by last february s disputed presidential election his sole reference to the tense domestic political situation was an appeal to progovernment and opposition parties and media to stop offending each other in public contrary to some expectations fuelled by his own loyalists sarkisian did not announce a general amnesty for dozens of supporters of opposition leader levon terpetrosian who were arrested in the wake of the vote and remain in prison nor did he comment on chances of a dialogue with the armenian opposition the president instead told the mainly progovernment lawmakers to help him build a society of resourceful and competitive individuals where there is no place for corruption where corruption is simply not beneficial and illogical the fight against corruption will change its face he said we will switch to tougher and more uncompromising methods and a system of international standards we will criminalize any manifestation of corruption we will create a culture of absolute public intolerance towards corruption the level of identifying and prosecuting abuse of power will rise irreversibly he said promising highprofile prosecutions of corrupt officials sarkisian admitted recently that the lack of such prosecutions undermined public trust in the armenian government s previous antigraft campaigns that put the emphasis on legislative changes sarkisian argued that the existence of an independent judiciary is also vital for strengthening the rule of law we must be able to put in place an independent judiciary based on the supremacy of law he said the pledge will ring hollow to opposition representatives and civil rights activists who have condemned as a travesty of justice the ongoing trials of opposition activists arrested in the wake of the presidential ballot virtually all of them have been found guilty by armenian courts economic development was another focus of the first presidential speech in the parliament with sarkisian promising to make the armenian economy more competitive and ensure fair business competition he said the economic situation in the country will also improve as a result of largescale projects such as the construction of a gas pipeline from iran and an armenianiranian railway he said that the government will also start constructing in the coming months a new nuclear plant in place of the aging sovietera facility at metsamor  ', 0),
(217, 'node', ' armenia pace monitoring committee remains concerned about the limited progress with regard to the implementation of resolutions 1609 and 1620 strasbourg 2102008 the monitoring committee of the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe pace has received the report from the human rights commissioner regarding his visit to yerevan from 13 to 15 july 2008 and is extremely alarmed about its findings and conclusions that show that only limited progress has been achieved regarding key demands of the assembly the committee therefore invited the human rights commissioner to return to yerevan and report back to the committee at its meeting in paris on 17 december 2008 while noting the positive steps made regarding establishment of an independent and credible inquiry the monitoring committee remains extremely concerned regarding persons deprived of their liberty in relation to the events on 1 and 2 march 2008 in resolution 1620 2008 the assembly made it clear that the cases still under investigation should be closed or promptly brought before the courts a verdict based solely on police testimony without corroborating evidence cannot be acceptable and that the cases under articles 300 and 225 of the criminal code should be dropped unless there is strong evidence that the accused have personally committed acts of violence or ordered abetted or assisted to commit them in that respect the committee took note that while the investigations regarding persons in preventive detention have now closed the cases against seven all charged under articles 300 and 225 have not yet been brought before the courts as a result of the excessive length of the investigation in addition the committee is deeply concerned that the investigations regarding the responsibility for the ten deaths on 1 and 2 march have not yet been or are not yet on the point of being concluded serious questions remain regarding the nature of the charges brought against people arrested in relation to the events on 1 and 2 march as well as regarding the court proceedings of several cases including with regard to the principle of a fair trial in addition and contrary to assembly demands 19 persons have been convicted on the basis of police testimony only the committee is therefore seriously concerned that people may have been detained and even convicted based on political beliefs and nonviolent activities which is unacceptable to the assembly the committee regrets that the armenian authorities did not consider the possibility of amnesty pardons or any other legal means available to them to resolve the situation regarding persons deprived of their liberty in relation to the events on 1 and 2 march 2008 it strongly urges the authorities to consider such options which would result in major progress towards meeting the requirements of the assembly the committee noted the positive steps regarding the establishment of an independent and credible inquiry as outlined in the report by the commissioner the committee expresses its full support for the proposals made by the commissioner it welcomes the constructive dialogue between the armenian authorities and commissioner on this issue and hopes that the remaining outstanding issues will be resolved soon in order for the expert group to start and finalise its work as soon as possible the committee is of the view that armenia is on a threshold regarding the implementation of resolutions 1609 2008 and 1620 2008 now is the time for the armenian authorities to show the political will to resolve this problem the committee places its full trust in and gives its full support for the work of the human rights commissioner in this respect therefore it would invite the commissioner to make a followup visit to yerevan and to report back to the committee at its meeting on 17 december 2008 on the progress made regarding the independent and credible inquiry and release of persons deprived of their liberty in relation to the events on 1 and 2 march in december on the basis of that report the committee will make its decision on the actions and possible sanctions it will recommend to the plenary of the assembly in january 2009 parliamentary assembly communication unit tel 33 3 88 41 31 93 fax 33 3 90 21 41 34 pacecom coeint wwwcoeint press ', 0);
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(218, 'node', ' russianazerbaijan relations time for a grand bargain  the georgianrussian conflict in early august brought negative economic and humanitarian consequences for the south caucasus carefully built eastwest transport and energy corridors have come under question recognition of abkhazia and south ossetia by russia presents another diplomatic difficulty for the countries of the region yet in the aftermath of the conflict azerbaijan georgia s neighbor and closest ally finds itself in a unique position for an opportunity to advance relations with russia the ultimate prize would be the kremlin s support in the karabakh conflict there is no doubt in baku among both the public and politicians that the key to the resolution of the armeniaazerbaijan conflict lies in moscow as russia was and remains armenia s closest military political and economic ally despite azerbaijan s persistent efforts to please moscow and secure the return of the occupied territories no success has been achieved yet the current situation however presents a rare moment of opportunity for baku to make russia an offer it cannot refuse the ingredients for the grand bargain have been piling up steadily over the past year early in the summer russian president medvedev during a trip to baku offered to buy all of azerbaijan s gas at the world market price the kremlin is obviously not interested in having an alternative gas exporter in its borders the purchase of azerbaijani gas would not only enable moscow to remain the main energy provider to eu but would also help gazprom fulfill its contractual obligations on the other hand the negative image that russia created during the georgian war is prompting kremlin strategists to seek more cordial and friendly relations with another south caucasus country azerbaijan in order to demonstrate to the rest of the world that russia is not a threat and aggressor to the former soviet republics and does not intend to restore the soviet empire thus azerbaijan with its prowestern integration plans presents the only chance for russia to do this armenia is already heavily dependant on russia and moscow does not consider it necessary to win over yerevan gentler and more pragmatic relations with azerbaijan would not only help russia repair its image abroad but would also derail azerbaijan s pronato and proeu course it is no coincidence that president medvedev called his azerbaijani counterpart ilham aliyev a few weeks ago to discuss bilateral relations the latter also traveled to moscow to meet both medvedev and prime minister putin to advance the interests of both countries in the region finally speculation has arisen in baku that moscow is pushing azerbaijan s political leadership to open a transit corridor through its territory to armenia the kremlin s sole remaining partner in the south caucasus is significantly suffering from the war in georgia as transport from russia to armenia remains clogged in the closed borders armenia also has closed borders with azerbaijan and turkey thus putting its economy under a real threat under the grand bargain azerbaijan could play a transit role allowing russia to ship cargo through its territory to armenia it seems that not only russia understands the increased value of azerbaijan geopolitical rivalry over this country has heated up in recent weeks with us vice president dick cheney visiting baku and making statements about the united states intention to remain an active player in the region a look at the map of the south caucasus shows that with georgia falling out of the russian orbit azerbaijan remains the last battlefield between the west and russia the situation for the grand bargain seems ripe especially considering the new dialogue between turkey and armenia and the general willingness among armenian leaders to normalize relations with its neighbors the traditional belief that russia should do its best to preserve the conflict between azerbaijan and armenia in order to keep its influence over them is not working any more russia will always be able to exert pressure and influence over these countries long after the conflict is resolved the resolution of the conflict however will bring a number of dividends to russia including a safer periphery and effective prevention of radical islam emerging in the region compromises on the issue of karabakh and the restoration of the territorial integrity of azerbaijan would pave the way for a much firmer and more solid partnership between moscow and baku moscow can and should push armenia for more compromises on this issue in order to achieve a longlasting peace otherwise azerbaijan losing its hope to gain support from kremlin will continue to drift away toward the west  ', 0),
(219, 'node', ' armenia slides in global corruption rankings the situation with government corruption in armenia has continued to slowly but steadily deteriorate in the past year according to the latest global survey released by a respected antigraft watchdog on tuesday every year the berlinbased transparency international ti rates countries of the world on a 10point scale with zero indicating an extremely high degree of corruption as perceived by entrepreneurs and experts armenia along with argentina moldova and four other states ranked 109th out of 180 nations covered by transparency international s 2008 corruption perceptions index cpi it was assigned a score of 29 faring slightly worse than it did in the previous cpi released one year ago armenia s score is based on seven corruptionrelated surveys conducted by other organizations including the world bank it had already dropped by 1 point to 30 last year dragging the country down to 99th place in ti s 2007 rankings by contrast ti found a further significant drop in perceived corruption in neighboring georgia giving the latter 39 points and putting it in 67th place georgia was 79th in last year s cpi as always the armenian government and its supporters will draw comfort from the fact that all other nonbaltic former soviet states were again judged to be more corrupt than armenia in particular its archfoe azerbaijan regressed to 158th place in ti s latest rankings ti s armenian affiliate the center for regional development crd portrayed the survey as a further indication of the systemic character of bribery and other corrupt practices that have long plagued the country unfortunately there are very few areas unaffected by corruption the crd chairwoman amalia kostanian told a news conference if corruption is systemic you can not eradicate it in one particular area the administration of former president robert kocharian pledged to combat corruption throughout its decadelong rule that came to an end last spring it launched in 2003 a westernbacked anticorruption program consisting of mainly legislative measures there is little evidence that they have reduced the scale of graft however kocharian s successor and longtime close associate serzh sarkisian admitted in july that the virtual absence of prosecutions of corrupt government officials has undermined public trust in the declared crackdowns on corruption people must see that we are not only talking but also acting sarkisian said in a speech if we talk about corruption all day long and don t show persons engaged in it then our actions will not only produce zero results but will further aggravate the situation his prime minister tigran sarkisian no relation has been even more vocal in acknowledging the seriousness of the problem sarkisian has described graft as the number one problem facing armenia opposition politicians and other government critics dismiss the significance of such statements saying that corruption is one of the pillars of armenia s political system that has allowed kocharian sarkisian and other top officials to stay in power they also say that armenian lawenforcement agencies are themselves too corrupt to tackle the problem in earnest  ', 0),
(220, 'node', ' armenia turkey opportunity opens for rapprochement event at armenia s invitation turkish president abdullah gul attended an armenianturkish football match in yerevan on september 6 significance the first visit by turkey s highest official to armenia is a clear step in a process that could eventually lead to establishing diplomatic relations and opening borders this would signify a major geopolitical shift whose importance goes beyond the south caucasus analysis armenia s invitation to turkish president abdullah gul and even more surprising his acceptance came at a time when the balance of power in the wider region around the south caucasus is shifting and a window of opportunity is opening that may allow the armenian and turkish leaderships to break with a difficult past both parties are now more likely to seek compromise albeit for different reasons armenia the armenian leadership is under strong internal and external pressures recalcitrant opposition the government is still seeking an exit from the impasse following the disputed presidential election and violent clashes with demonstrators that left at least ten dead the opposition led by the first president of independent armenia levon terpetrosian will only talk to the government if it releases more than 70 people detained after march 1 so far there are no signs of compromise economic reform the ruling republican party and its coalition partners the armenian revolutionary federation dashnaktsutiun hhd rule of law and prosperous armenia have pledged reforms to sustain rapid economic growth however armenian society is deeply polarised over whether the pledges are genuine or only window dressing to take the heat out of the standoff with the opposition and win the support of ordinary armenians georgia crisis the russiangeorgian conflict put the armenian government under additional pressure over 70 of armenian trade passes through georgia which is armenia s single most important trade outlet armenia cannot afford to alienate it the economy suffered disruptions in rail and ferry traffic from the fighting which according to one official estimate cost armenia 680 million dollars onequarter of the 2008 state budget should the situation in georgia not be conducive to trade and transport across its territory armenia s sustained economic growth would not materialise this could lead to popular discontent allowing the opposition to claim power to prevent this the armenian government is seeking to diversify its trade routes iran armenia is fostering economic links with iran having built a gas pipeline whose capacity is to be enhanced so that it may import 2025 billion cubic metres of iranian gas annually equalling armenia s imports of russian gas turkey it may now be ready to take serious steps towards a rapprochement with turkey ultimately this would culminate in the establishment of full diplomatic relations paving the way for reopening the border to trade armenia wants to relaunch the giumrikars rail link connecting western armenia with turkey overall armenia will continue its foreign policy of complementarity seeking friendly relations with both russia and the west but this is a facade covering increasing dependence on russia russia the recent crisis strained armenia s difficult balancing act a close ally of russia it has ruled out formal recognition of abkhazia and south ossetia while supporting their right to selfdetermination the military alliance with russia remains the backbone of armenia s defence doctrine diaspora among armenians in armenia there is a strong feeling that opening the border with turkey is more important than ankara s recognition of ottoman genocide see armenia turkey genocide claims keep relations stalled may 10 2006 the hhd is the only political force set on recognition as a precondition to restoring relations with turkey the strongest political force in the diaspora the hhd is relatively weak in armenia itself winning only 6 in the last elections although the relationship with the diaspora is important to the regime the combination of unprecedented internal and external pressures on the armenian leadership may induce it to take bold steps that it would not have been ready for in a less charged situation turkey after the justice and development party akp came to power in 2002 ankara reevaluated its foreign policy hitherto strongly focused on the eu and united states it started to give more prominence to relations with its neighbours and positioning itself as a regional power with multiple identities a muslimmajority secular and increasingly democratic nation neighbours it has improved diplomatic relations with several neighbours most notably syria georgia bulgaria and iran increasing its trade with them from 6 of total foreign turnover by volume in 2000 to 35 in 2007 iranian gas the government has signed an agreement with iran to transport iranian natural gas to turkey and europe and develop the iranian natural gas industry by investing 35 billion dollars in the south pars field ankara increasingly realises that closing the border with armenia in 1993 during the armenianazerbaijani war over nagornokarabakh is not now to its benefit but changing its policy requires sensitive handling southeastern stability war in iraq has highlighted the need for turkey to stabilise its kurdish southeast border closures have deprived the area of economic development opportunities vital for a solution to the kurdish problem eu conditionality since the eu has made improving relations with armenia a key condition for accession the government fears that any concessions may make the akp vulnerable to opposition charges that the government is selling out new armenian leadership robert kocharian s handover of power to serzh sargsyan has opened up new possibilities changing public mood the public reaction to the january 2007 assassination of prominent ethnic armenian journalist and writer hrant dink revealed that turkish society was more ready for a rapprochement with armenia than expected akp strength akp s electoral success in july 2007 when it was reelected with 47 of the vote has given it more room for manoeuvre ankara can justify its gradual change of position on armenia internally by pointing to successes in relations with other neighbours improving relations with armenia would be the logical continuation of that policy of constructive engagement and strengthening its role as a regional power regional player following the russiangeorgian war turkey unveiled plans for a regional stability pact encompassing armenia azerbaijan georgia russia and turkey see turkey caucasus ankara seeks regional stability pact september 4 2008 the plan may not come to fruition but it shows turkey becoming a regional player seizing the initiative from the united states and possibly russia too russian position moscow may welcome improved relations between armenia and turkey russia owns most of armenia s energy and communications infrastructure including its railway it is interested in using armenia as a platform to engage with turkey economically which would in turn weaken us influence over turkey if armenia became stronger economically it could free russia to meddle in georgia conclusion how far armenia and turkey are ready to go in their search for compromise is unclear armenia could drop its demand that turkey recognise the deaths of armenians in the first world war as genocide and accept an official apology turkey could drop its demand that armenia normalise relations with azerbaijan as a precondition for establishing full diplomatic relations certainly gul s armenian trip implies a shift in turkey s relations with azerbaijan  ', 0),
(221, 'node', ' yerevan after gul half way there he began by saying yesterday was a very important and historic day for us at some point in his speech he said half the journey is taking the first step the presidents have come half way having reached the halfway point they instructed their ministers to accomplish the rest of the journey armenian s foreign minister edvard nalbantyan invited us to lunch in the foreign ministry one of the splendid buildings surrounding republic square in yerevan we sat in his office and talked about abdullah gul s historic visit and we lunched together sitting at the table and translating for us was arsen avakyan who had translated for gul and sarkisyan during their meeting by us i mean myself hasan cemal ali bayramoglu and mustafa karaalioglu also at this deskcumdiningtable sat ministry spokesman tigran balayan and armenia s representative for the keib black sea economic cooperation union in istanbul in order to emphasize just how seriously turkisharmenian relations were normalizing nalbantyan said time and time again that both presidents had the will to do this and that this will would with foreign minister ali babacan s resolve speed itself along another two stopping points on this road are the establishment of diplomatic relations between turkey and armenia and the opening of borders neither of these points can exist without the other we witnessed just how seriously this business was being treated after our soccer team beat the armenian team 20 we went up to the highest part of the spectators box we joined a small party held in the back in honour of abdullah gul and the turkish delegation suddenly before us appeared armenia s president serj sarkisyan and our president abdullah gul abdullah gul introduced each one of us in turn sarksiyan launched into the subject right away the final score was not important for him the event was a means of rapprochement his mood was one of a relived childhood he said he would be coming to turkey on 14 october not neglecting to add laughingly but not for a grudge match nalbantyan told us at yesterday s lunch that the visit would be on the date on which another turkisharmenian soccer match would be played and would be just as historic both countries foreign ministers have immediately started work on what needs to be done between historic saturday in yerevan and 14 october in order to complete the other half of the journey after the party gul and sarkisyan left the hrazdan stadium for gul s trip back to turkey sarkisyan s senior adviser who was at these high level talks was left to take us back to our hotel he gave us a lift in his car on the way he said that both presidents had agreed to the principles and that both ministers would begin working to bring those principles to life and to provide logistics we arrived at the hotel and set up our hq in the cafe in front we chatted about the historic day and the soccer match at 215 local ali babacan and his entourage left the foreign ministry building directly opposite us nalbantyan told us yesterday what happened that evening after the match after the match babacan and i spoke for twoandahalf hours we are going to meet up again in new york in two weeks time after that there will be no more pauses to date there have been too many halts and at each one we have waited a long time that is not going to be the case from now on in the days ahead we are going to talk about concrete stuff now armenia has the intention and the desire for this we saw that same intention on the part of turkey there are no countries in the world that have closed borders while having diplomatic relations you can find in nalbantyan s words an indicator of the rapprochement created between turkey and armenia we also spoke about the turkish initiative caucasus stability and cooperation platform armenia accepts this 100 per cent and considers it important although nobody wants to make any promises or take responsibility it would not come as a surprise looking at the mood in yerevan to hear that diplomatic relations between turkey and armenia have been resumed and that the borders have been opened before 14 october however in the spirit of once bitten twice shy we still have reservations we shall believe it when we see it having arrived in yerevan before abdullah gul and stayed after he returned we were in a position to measure the outcome of this soccer diplomacy and the climate both before and after this historic visit we can say that the silent protests along gul s trip from the airport to the city the dashnak placards that were opened and immediately closed again during the soccer match plus the whistles that were heard when our national anthem was played are too insignificant to overshadow the spring climate that has been created between turkey and armenia as fall sets in one dashnak official wanting to stress that they were not opposed to abdullah gul s visit said not to take the protests too seriously adding in a semijokingly fashion had we not done that much we may just as well have dissolved our dashnak party like i said before this first visit by abdullah gul needs to create concrete results that really can be considered historic this means establishing diplomatic relations between turkey and armenia and opening the borders edvard nalbantyan told us yesterday we are half way there the rest of the journey has already begun as of yesterday and in a mood of optimism  ', 0),
(223, 'node', '   ', 0),
(225, 'node', ' garo yegnukian senior fellow garo yegnukian is the ceo and corporate counsel of yegnukian realty corp a real estate development and management company and was past president of erebuni corp an automotive parts and accessories manufacturing and marketing company he holds a ba in business administration and marketing from pace university new york and a jd juris doctor of law from st john s law school new york born in armenia to repatriate parents from bulgaria emigrated to us in 1973 and repatriated back to armenia in 2009 had a life long interest and activism for the independence of armenia present interest is in human rights civil society international relations and politics of armenia  ', 0),
(226, 'node', ' pfa senior fellow spoke about corruption at a new jersey seminar on january 27 2012 pfa senior fellow garo yegnukian spoke about corruption and its impact on investment climate in armenia at a seminar organized by the armenian community of new jersey the event that drew over 300 participants was cosponsored in addition to policy forum armenia by the armenian engineers and scientists association aesa ny nj armenian human rights advocates armenian national committee anc of new jersey armenian society of columbia university knights of vartan new york armenian students association asa rutgers armenian club tekeyan cultural foundation and tufenkian foundation  ', 0),
(228, 'node', ' pfa s cofounder spoke at carnegie endowment on november 29 2011 pfa s cofounder dr david grigorian spoke at a twoday conference entitled the south caucasus 20 years after independence  sponsored by the carnegie endowment for international peace and the open society foundation the speakers at the 2day event experts academics journalists and civil society activists examined the lessons learned from twenty years of independence in armenia azerbaijan and georgia and offered some predictions for the region s future a summary of dr grigorian s comments can be found on pfa blog   ', 0),
(230, 'node', ' pfa s cofounder spoke at an event on artsakh s development on october 9 2011 pfa cofounder dr vladimir shekoyan spoke at a conference on artsakh in today s world organized by the artsakh development group a losangelesbased nonprofit the event held at the glendale public library hosted three panels on history and politics economy and culture in his remarks titled  economic prosperity as cornerstone of independent artsakh  dr shekoyan specifically noted that during the last 20 years artsakh was able to create an economy that was able to meet the basic needs of its population key sectors of its economy are agriculture construction mining light industry and energy generation according to the data published by the state statistical committee during the first three quarters of 2011 artsak s total industrial output exceeded 80 million of which nearly half or 46 percent was produced by the mining sector during the second quarter of 2011 artsakh s per capita gdp crossed the 1000 mark going forward dr shekoyan noted that the key issues requiring attention of policymakers and the society as a whole are governance and anticorruption government s role in economic development as a partner in supporting businesses developing and retaining human capital creating conditions for attracting foreign diaspora investments securing inflow of physical capital and limiting its outflow instituting a simple tax regime administration and a manageable tax burden promoting direct economic and trade linkages with outside world adressing the transportation bottlenecks via improving the connection with armenia proper  ', 0),
(231, 'node', ' pfa issues its 20092010 annual report on july 14 2011 policy forum armenia released its annual report covering fiscal years 20092010  being the second one since the organization s inception the report offers a detailed account of pfa s activities and outputs produced during the period under review it also offers an analysis of operational and institutional issues and challenges facing pfa in the near term and beyond please share your thoughts and feedback on the report with us at forum pfarmeniaorg  ', 0),
(232, 'node', ' statement regarding raffi hovannisian s hunger strike press release march 16 2011 subject raffi hovannisian s hunger strike policy forum armenia supports raffi hovannisian s hunger strike as a way of demanding urgent political change in armenia the usurpation of power and largescale mismanagement of the country s present and future can no longer be reversed by political due process and requires unconventional methods we salute mr hovannisian for his courage and determination and wish him the best of health and perseverance to help him cope with the challenges of building a stronger armenia in the future once the shortterm barriers to its progress are dismantled see the press release in english and armenian here   ', 0),
(236, 'node', ' tamar gasparian fellow tamar gasparian has 13 years of experience in journalism fundraising and public relations in armenia and new york tamar was a freelance journalist and television reporter for seven years in yerevan before moving to new york in 2006 since then she has worked for several arts and humanitarian organizations where she focused on fundraising development and communications most recently she served as communications officer for fund for armenian relief her interests include management and development of nonprofits that work in the areas of human rights urban development and social services tamar holds master s degrees in urban affairs from city university of new york and art history from yerevan state academy of fine arts  ', 0),
(237, 'node', ' gassia assadourian fellow gassia assadourian is a recent graduate of the london school of economics where she earned a master s degree in international political economy her areas of interest encompass economic development globalization and global financial regulation she is also a passionate human rights advocate and has been involved in raising awareness of women s rights issues in armenia specifically on maternal health and domestic violence gassia holds a ba summa cum laude in economics and political science from rutgers universitynewark  ', 0),
(239, 'node', ' pfa diaspora report presented at a uc berkeley symposium pfa s diaspora report was a subject of the keynote presentation at a uc berkeley symposium on the armenian diaspora and its relations with the armenian state held on november 13 2010 it was organized by professor stephan astourian the executive director of the armenian studies program at berkeley in addition to presentations by professor astourian and pfa s david grigorian the symposium also featured dr aida boudjikanian amic montreal and dr antranig kasbarian tufenkian foundation and arf the capacity audience included academics prominent businessmen community leaders and students from berkeley and stanford a lively questionandanswer session followed the presentations during which the participants expressed their appreciation for pfa s effort toward assessing the state of affairs between diaspora and the homeland in the past 20 years and for taking a stance against factors that undermine the relationship  ', 0),
(241, 'node', ' pfa issues a statement following the death of lt artak nazaryan policy forum armenia pfa 1250 i eye street nw suite 710 washington dc 20005 email  forum pfarmeniaorg  web  http wwwpfarmeniaorg  august 3 2010 mismanagement and corruption that have taken roots in the armenian army in recent years have claimed yet another life lieutenant artak nazaryan commander of a riffle platoon based in the tavush region on the border with azerbaijan was found dead on july 27 2010 with a bullet shot through his mouth although the medical examiner found indications of lifethreatening injuries inflicted on lt nazaryan s body hours prior to his death the official verdict is suicide policy forum armenia mourns the loss of lt nazaryan s life and places the responsibility for this unnecessary tragedy on armenia s ministry of defense for allowing an atmosphere in the army units which has been conducive to this and other suspicious deaths unless this behavior is stamped out in clear and certain terms and the rule of law and disciplinary measures reinstated to prevent such losses these episodes will continue to shake the already dented reputation of armenia s army within armenian society army is the ultimate protector of country s security those concerned about armenia s ability to defend itself against external threats in a state where demographic trends and corruption are already making it very difficult must condemn what took place in tavush and demand a proper investigation of lt nazaryan s death as well as all similar incidents in recent years we urge the ministry of defense to carry out a credible investigation into these attacks on the life and dignity of the armenian soldier note as this statement was being prepared news arrived of another incident which claimed the lives of six servicemen in an army unit located in artsakh time to unite against the sources of such occurrences is now given the threats of war looming over the country there may not be another chance  see the statement in armenian ', 0),
(242, 'node', ' i am happy with the general direction armenia is heading neither agree nor disagree   votes disagree 100 6 votes agree   votes total votes 6  ', 0),
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(247, 'node', ' nice 4 ', 0),
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(253, 'node', ' hosting members of sardarapat movement on the occasion of the first republic s independence on may 28 2011 pfa hosted members of sardarapat movement  photo gallery  ', 0),
(254, 'node', ' tigran khzmalyan and greg aftandilian ', 0),
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(265, 'node', ' hrach kalsahakian fellow hrach kalsahakian is marketing manager at cyprus tourism organisation s middle east office in dubai united arab emirates since 2005 with a degree in economy and management from greece hrach specializes in tourism management after working several years in travel agenices in patras and athens he moved to the united arab emirates in 1998 where he worked at sheraton abu dhabi from 2000 to 2005 he was employed at the embassy of greece in abu dhabi as a translator and administrative assistant before joining the cyprus tourism organization in 2003 hrach founded azadhyenet website the first middle east pan armenian website in english and arabic languages since then he has covered numerous regional and pan armenian topics he is a member of arab writers union and has translated and authored several books in arabic language on armenian topics having lived and travelled extensively in middle eastern countries hrach is in the unique position of bridging between middle eastern armenian communities and the broader armenian world he is familiar with the structure of traditional armenian communities and tries to contribute to the modernization process of the diaspora structures he has recently completed his dissertation on human resource management for master s degree with liverpool university  ', 0),
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(270, 'node', '                         ', 0),
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(272, 'node', ' evening in memory of vigen babayan on saturday march 5 2011 policy forum armenia held an evening honoring the memory of a prominent sovietera dissident a member of the 7 patriots vigen babayan the event s featured guests were  azat gasparyan  renown actor and narrator evening s moderator  paruyr hayrikyan  prominent sovietera dissident and the leader of the national selfdetermination union aim  shahen harutyunyan  a founder of the sovietera underground united national party amk jailed in early1960s for underground activities aimed at proclaiming independent armenia and recognizing the genocide the 7 patriots as the group became known in armenia following their trial and imprisonment laid the foundations for independence and prodemocracy movement in armenia and elsewhere in the ussr years spent in siberian gulags and countless kgb interrogations could not break vigen babayan s iron will and lessen his commitment to what he stood for the volumes of poetry that he left behind are live testaments of his sufferings but also of limitless love for his motherland and freedom to the young generation of armenians who fought for country s independence and for the freedom of artsakh vigen babayan is known as the voice behind the voice of america armenian service reporting during the late1980s and early1990s celebrating the legacy of vigen babayan and others who put their lives on the line for free and independent armenia at times when there seemed no hope on the horizon is of particular importance now given the events unfolding in armenia this epic story is as much about the past as it is about today and tomorrow the event was held at the cosmos club in washington dc and was cosponsored by members of the washington s armenian community pictures from the event are available from the  photo gallery   ', 0),
(273, 'node', '                                                              ', 0),
(274, 'node', ' pfa s 2nd annual forum on armeniadiaspora relations sunday february 28 2010 800 to tuesday march 2 2010 1230 washington district of columbia united states agenda of the forum     bios of speakers   photo gallery   keynote speech by raffi hovannisian    video  sponsors of the forum despite the official rhetoric on both sides armeniadiaspora relations remain strained after 20 years since independence to provide an opportunity for academics policy practitioners and the public to discuss perspectives on and approaches to the presentday challenges facing the armenian nation policy forum armenia organized its 2 nd annual forum in washington dc on february 28march 2 2010 day 1 of the forum february 28 was held at the cosmos club washington s premier venue for social and policy events and featured the presentation of pfa s report on armeniadiaspora relations 20 years since independence day 2 of the forum march 1 was held at georgetown university this part of the forum was open to the public mr raffi hovannisian armenia s first foreign minister delivered the keynote luncheon address the program for day 3 march 2 was designed for young professionals and included thematic meetings with to continue the discussion on armeniadiaspora relations and offer young professionals opportunities to network in washington below are some presentation made during the forum keynote opening address dr daniel kufmann senior fellow global economy and development brookings institute   young professionals session i jennifer de mucci fordham university pouring salt on old wounds psychological reactions to the protocols  tamar palandjian george mason university interestbased analysis of the protocolrelated armeniadiaspora rift  henry dumanian the city university of new york diaspora and democracy the diaspora s response to national movements in armenia   young professionals session ii dzovinar derderian georgetown university democracy in armenia and diasporaarmenia relations  ted tourian burgh balian bergstein llp the accountability of diaspora organizations to armenians the reason why the creation of more diaspora organizations are necessar   keynote luncheon address raffi k hovannisian heritage party   senior professionals session ii artsvik minasyan member of parliament arf faction the ways to overcome the socialeconomic and publicpolitical issues in armenia  ', 0),
(276, 'node', ' evening in memory of vigen babayan saturday march 5 2011 1221 united states on march 5 2011 policy forum armenia held an evening honoring the memory of a prominent sovietera dissident a member of the 7 patriots vigen babayan the event s featured guests were azat gasparyan renown actor and narrator evening s moderator paruyr hayrikyan prominent sovietera dissident and the leader of the national selfdetermination union aim and shahen harutyunyan a founder of the sovietera underground united national party amk jailed in early1960s for underground activities aimed at proclaiming independent armenia and recognizing the genocide the 7 patriots as the group became known in armenia following their trial and imprisonment laid the foundations for independence and prodemocracy movement in armenia and elsewhere in the ussr years spent in siberian gulags and countless kgb interrogations could not break vigen babayan s iron will and lessen his commitment to what he stood for the volumes of poetry that he left behind are live testaments of his sufferings but also of limitless love for his motherland and freedom to the young generation of armenians who fought for country s independence and for the freedom of artsakh vigen babayan is known as the voice behind the voice of america armenian service reporting during the late1980s and early1990s celebrating the legacy of vigen babayan and others who put their lives on the line for free and independent armenia at times when there seemed no hope on the horizon is of particular importance now given the events unfolding in armenia this epic story is as much about the past as it is about today and tomorrow said a member of the community who attended the event the event was held at the cosmos club   and was cosponsored by members of the washington s armenian community additional pictures from the event are available in  photo gallery   ', 0),
(277, 'node', ' high level economic forum in yerevan monday may 25 2009 all day armenia left to right former prime ministers of armenia aram sargsyan khosrov harutyunyan gagik harutyunyan hrant bagratyan vazgen manukyan and former minister of finance levon barkhudaryan at pfa s first annual forum on economic crisis yerevan may 2009  forum s agenda   guest speakers   photo gallery weathering the global storm forum in armenia brings together current and former economic policymakers a highlevel economic forum held in armenian capital yerevan on monday brought together former and current economy policy makers to discuss the implications of the continuing global economic crisis for armenia and help devise policy prescriptions to mitigate them armenia weathering the global storm an event held by independent think tank policy forum armenia was attended by representatives of international organizations major policymakers from regional economic powerhouses and an unprecedented lineup of armenia s key economic policymakers since independence with the deepening effects of the global financial and economic crisis already fully felt in armenia the country s government is seeking new ways to stop and reverse the continuing economic decline but some analysts say government action is belated and others believe the measures being taken are still insufficient these and other evaluations were heard at the forum in yerevan held for the purpose of outlining actions to alleviate the negative impact of the crisis in his opening remarks abel aghanbegian an academician from the russian federation predicted that the crisis would last for another three or 3 ½ years and stressed that it was important to come out of this crisis with increased strength the crisis holds out a number of opportunities such as a decreased inflation cheap money opportunities for developing small and mediumsized enterprises when imports fall in conditions of the crisis a country like armenia should diversify its exports since in conditions of the depreciating national currency favorable conditions are created for producers the academician said meanwhile former chairman of the central bank bagrat asatryan sees an opportunity for a slow increase in exports only in 20102011 whereas in 2009 according to the economist exports will be falling in parallel to imports moreover a decline in cash remittances and losses of jobs that have started in russia this spring and are likely to continue for the next few years will lead to an 11 percent economic decline in armenia in 2009 said asatryan explaining that indices posted by the central bank have been used for the purpose of making this forecast asatryan as well as many other participants in the forum stressed in their speeches that system changes were required for meeting the challenges of the current crisis former first deputy chairman of the russian central bank sergey aleksashenko presenting the current situation in russia underlined the importance of institutional reforms including for armenia it is incumbent on the government to fight corruption and monopolistic practices so that small and mediumsized businesses can develop even in conditions of the crisis said aleksashenko david grigorian the cofounder of policy forum armenia and an economist at the international monetary fund imf in washington told armenianow that the purpose of the event was to combine together armenian and outside experience the purpose of this forum is to bring together the expertise not only that has been accumulated in armenia since independence in terms of economic policy making but also distinguished guests from outside that have very relevant experience in terms of crisis management from that point of view we have achieved something already it remains to be seen whether any of the findings or deliberations of the forum will reach its intended audience of which the government is a part grigorian said it is difficult to say whether or not the government is tuned to this and will be listening to this but we certainly hope so however it is an unprecedented occasion to have current and former economic policy makers together discussing issues of importance by sara khojoyan armenianow    ', 0),
(278, 'node', ' armenia weathering the global storm to discuss the implications of the crisis for armenia and help devise policy prescriptions to mitigate them policy forum armenia will hold a high level economic forum that will bring together representatives of international organizations major policymakers from regional economic powerhouses and an unprecedented lineup of armenia s key economic policymakers since independence  ', 0),
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(284, 'node', ' roundtable on karabakh at the carnegie endowment friday april 30 2010 all day united states on april 30 2010 policy forum armenia held a roundtable discussion on karabakh hosted by the carnegie endowment for international peace in washington dc the speakers were igor muradyan an independent analyst and one of the main initiators of independence movement in karabakh in 1980s who is visiting washington at the invitation of pfa and thomas de waal senior associate in the russia and eurasia program at the carnegie endowment moderator dr david grigorian thanked the carnegie endowment for hosting the discussion the panelists for agreeing to share their views and the attendees for joining the following is the summary of the points made by speakers  thomas de waal minsk group negotiations process is almost dead but there appears to be no alternative to it the confidential nature of negotiations where only a few people know the details is not helping this results in asymmetry between the true content of the talks and what is shared with the public and creates room for manipulations karabakh is excluded from the negotiations and ends up playing an obstructionist role in the process the madrid formula appears to be mutually beneficial bellicose rhetoric present on both sides albeit in different degrees is not conducive to normalization and progress in talks path for resolution armenia should declare that it has no claims on territories beyond the borders of former nkr which should then trigger baku s granting karakakh a very high level of autonomy with some attributes of independence igor muradyan the august 2008 operation in ossetia expedited the karabakh talks on a bilateral basis russiaturkish rapprochement too contributed to the process and created a fertile ground for football diplomacy the value of armeniaturkey protocols is not in the establishment of diplomatic relations or the potential economic gains but in creating security in the region this has failed however as the environment is much more tense now than it was before the start of the football diplomacy events that unfolded recently have on the balance reduced the interest of parties in the resolution of the karabakh problem war on the karabakh front remains unlikely as long as azerbaijan is on its own but triggers for a new war on that front could come from turkey the negotiating sides should keep in mind that had the armenian side lost the war in 1994 there would have not been any international pressures on azerbaijan to allow for the return of the armenian refugees or to make any territorial concessions for that matter it is unlikely that politicians in baku will ever forget that turkey went behind their backs to negotiate with armenia on border opening turkey s backtracking in the recent weeks was a result of formidable pressures from azerbaijan a lively discussion followed after the presentations that touched upon the costs and benefits of any concessions on the armenian side the ability of official yerevan to handle complex negotiations on multiple fronts the economic and developmental dimension of the conflict as well as incentives or lack thereof of world powers in achieving normalization in the region the roundtable ended on a note that no political solution of conflicts in the modern history has ever changed the prevailing military outcome additional pictures are available in  photo gallery   ', 0);
