PRESS REVIEW, OCTOBER 5, 2002

Armenia°s recently appointed ambassador to Russian Federation Armen Smbatian is quoted by the daily Azg as saying that the two superpowers, USA and Russia, should give up competition for the Caucasus, "as it might only aggravate the conflicts in Central Asia and the Caucasus." "Though the major restraint for furthering Armenian-Russian economic problem is absence of cheap and reliable communication, Russia remains Armenia°s biggest economic partner," he says. Azg daily also carries an extensive interview by Armenian foreign Vartan Oskanian to columnist Yervand Azadian in Detroit, USA, in which the minister says, in a reference to political impact of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, that its nature will very much depend on Azerbaijan°s attitude during the construction period and afterwards, once the oil begins to flow through that pipeline. "If Azerbaijan tries to use oil as an instrument of power to pressure Armenia to make unilateral concessions, then the political fallout will be very negative on the region° s stability," he says. With the 2003, February 19 presidential polls looming ahead, the daily Haykakan Zhamanak claims that a significant segment of political forces may change their decisions to support this or that contender if ex-president Ter-Petrosian decides to challenge Kocharian. The daily also quotes a press secretary for Ter-Petrosian as saying that whether Ter-Petrosian will decide or not to run, will be known in the span between November 21 and December 7, a time period in which nomination can be made. But the daily saysm quoting some unnamed sources, that Ter-Petrosian may announce about his decision earlier, at the end of October. The daily Haykakan Zhamanak also says that the alliance of 16 opposition parties have planned their first mass rally for October 18. It quotes a parliament member from Communist party as saying that they expect some 30,000 people to rally. Chairman of a parliament committee on state and legal issues Victor Dalakian tells the daily Aravot that he still insists that closer the date of October 20 municipal elections, the more chances are for fightings and even shootouts among candidates and their proxies. "The climate that has been in the country for years provides me with grounds to insist on it," he says, citing a senior member of pro-government Dashnaktsutyun party as accusing some governors of meddling into the activity of local election commissions. He also cites head of Orinats Yerkir party as saying that there are numerous inaccuracies in voter lists. Deputy parliament speaker Tigran Torosian tells the daily Hayots Ashkhar that virtually all political parties lack people with capabilities to start and finish work. He though does not put the blame on parties, saying there were dozens of unfavorable years for political parties development. "We have chosen the path of democratic development and no one should have hopes that country can be governed by group of separate people pursuing their own interests," he says. The semi-official Hayastani Hanrapetutyun daily says a senior French government official was very optimistic about prospects for resolving the stalled Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. The daily quotes French secretary of state for foreign affairs Renauld Muselier as saying that France, a co-chairing country in the Minsk group, and its president welcome the renewed dialogue between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In an editorial titled "First Teacher and Then Teaching," the daily Orran recalls that today is the Teacher°s Day, but accuses all of overlooking this segment of population, the majority of which are women, who often do not have enough money to buy a new pair of shoes with their average $25 monthly wages. "If we want our country to progress in all areas, we have first of all to change our attitude towards teachers,° the daily says. The bi-weekly Golos Armenii publishes results of a major public opinion survey on corruption which has found that the overwhelming majority of those polled believe that corruption remains a serious problem in the country. Survey results demonstrated that 95 per cent of households, 97 per cent of businesses and 93 per cent of public officials thought that corruption in Armenia was mainly caused by the state authorities.