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03/28/2006
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1) Armenia Ready to Suppress Attack by Azerbaijan
2) Oskanian Urges Diaspora to Continue Partnership with Armenia
3) Millennium Challenges Corporation Signs Five Year $235 Million Compact with
Armenia
4) Kurdish Protesters Attack Police in Turkey
5) Turkey to Buy 100 Combat Jets Worth $10 Billion
1) Armenia Ready to Suppress Attack by Azerbaijan
YEREVAN (Yerkir)Armenia’s Armed Forces are prepared to suppress a possible
attack by Azerbaijan or any other state, said Armenian Deputy Defense
Minister,
Lieutenant General Artur Aghabekian.
Commenting on the more frequent cease fire violations between the Armenian
and
Azeri Armed Forces recently, Aghabekian said that similar incidents have
occurred since the Karabagh cease fire was established in 1994.
Aghabekian said the violations have become more frequent lately for a number
of reasons, such as the restructuring of trenches near troop positions and
more
aggressive statements by Azeri officials.
“I can assure you that in case our positions are fired on, we will respond in
an adequate manner,” the lieutenant general said.
2) Oskanian Urges Diaspora to Continue Partnership with Armenia
YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Speaking at a Washington DC conference on Armenian
issues, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian discussed Monday Armenia’s
relations with the US, democracy in Armenia, Armenia-diaspora relations, and
the aid Armenia will receive from the US under the Millennium Challenge
Account
program.
US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Freid, USAID Armenia Mission Director
Robin Phillips, Congressmembers and various other officials attended the
conference organized by the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU), and Western and Eastern Dioceses of the
Armenian Church in America.
In his speech, Oskanian discussed cooperation between the US and Armenia in
the war on terror, non-proliferation, regional security, and in supporting
democratic and economic freedoms.
“Not only are we ideological partners, but we share the values that have made
America. We want those values to be not just aspirations for the citizens of
Armenia but solid realities.”
Referring to the development of democracy in Armenia, Oskanian said: “The
entire process of nation-building has been different for us [than the US],
since we had to undo an existing system and build a new one. That is why we
have welcomed the various US programs which have supported our institutional,
democratic and economic reforms.”
Speaking of the aid Armenia will receive through the Millennium Challenges
program, Oskanian said that, “the US government determined to contribute to
the
budgets of those countries that are themselves attempting to grow in the right
direction–to govern justly, to encourage economic openness and to invest in
people.”
“Armenia is a part of the MCC because not only is there plenty about our
society that needs to be put right, but because we are on a path that is
right,” he said.
Oskanian also spoke of the important role the diaspora plays in Armenia.
“If I think back, I don’t know where Armenia would have been without the
diaspora,” said Oskanian. “The Armenia-diaspora collaboration has been
invaluable in this decade and a half of upheaval, confusion and learning. The
value of the diaspora is in its ingenuity, non-conformity, its belief in a
dream, its access to networks, its ability to be international and national
all
at the same time, and its tremendous resources.”
“I am now going to ask you [the diaspora] to partner with Armenia–even more
deeply and broadly and seriously than you have already done–in addressing
Armenia’s domestic and international challenges,” said Oskanian.
He ended his speech by saying: “The Republic of Armenia exists, it is
independent, and it is ours. It still needs its diaspora, more than ever. We
must cooperate, not compete, in order to turn the Armenia of our dreams into
the Armenia of our future.”
3) Millennium Challenges Corporation Signs Five Year $235 Million Compact with
Armenia
(ARMENPRESS/RFE/RL)–The United States formally released on Monday $235
million
in economic assistance to Armenia, to be provided over the next five years
under the Bush administration’s Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) program.
Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),
Ambassador John Danilovich and Armenia’s Minister of Finance and Economy,
Vartan Khachatrian signed the compact, which is designed to reduce widespread
rural poverty by upgrading the country’s battered irrigation networks and
rural
roads.
MCC Chair Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice officiated and witnessed the
signing. She was joined by Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.
Rice said the assistance is a “testament to the hard work and dedication of
the Armenian people and their elected government.”
“I congratulate the people of Armenia for developing a results-focused and
transformational program that will improve the lives of the poor,” said
Danilovich. “MCC assistance will be used to rehabilitate roads needed for
Armenians living in rural areas to access social services such as healthcare
and markets to sell their products. The Compact also includes funding for
projects that will increase the productivity of farm households through
improved water supply, higher yields, higher-value crops, and a more
competitive agricultural sector.”
Ambassador Danilovich added, “Continued eligibility for Millennium Challenge
Account funds depends on adherence to our indicators measuring performance in
ruling justly, investing in people, and encouraging economic freedom. MCC will
continue to monitor Armenia’s policy performance in these three categories
throughout the life of the Compact.”
“Our partnership will help Armenia to fight poverty through sustainable
economic growth,” Rice said during the signing ceremony held at the State
Department. “To ensure that progress toward this end remains constant, Armenia
must continue to advance its democratic reforms.”
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who also spoke at the ceremony, assured
Washington that his government is “aware that we have the obligation to build
on the confidence that has been placed in our government and people.”
“We know that corruption must not be tolerated and that law must rule, that
the principles of democracy must be transformed to traditions of democracy in
our country,” he said.
The launch of the aid program came nearly two years after Armenia was
included
on the list of 16 developing nations eligible for MCA funding. The Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government agency administering the scheme,
approved the Armenian government’s detailed aid application late last year.
Most of the MCA funds, $146 million, will be spent on rebuilding and
expanding
the country’s battered irrigation networks. Another $67 million would go to
pay
for capital repairs of about 1,000 kilometers of rural roads that have fallen
into disrepair since the Soviet collapse. Officials say these projects will
directly benefit 75 percent of approximately one million Armenians living in
rural areas.
The MCA aid will be disbursed parallel to regular US assistance to Armenia
which has totaled $1.6 billion since 1992. Oskanian described it as
“invaluable.”
4) Kurdish Protesters Attack Police in Turkey
(AP)–Kurdish protesters hurled firebombs at armored police vehicles in
southeastern Turkey Tuesday after a funeral for some of the 14 Kurdish
guerrillas killed by troops last week.
Police launched tear gas canisters at the crowd of hundreds in return,
triggering street clashes which left at least five people injured and several
businesses and vehicles damaged in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the
Kurdish-dominated southeast, images broadcast by private NTV television
showed.
The clashes erupted after protesters chanted pro-Kurdish slogans and attacked
the police after the funeral of four of the dead guerrillas from the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern
Turkey since 1984.
NTV footage showed at least one armored police vehicle engulfed in flames
after being hit by a firebomb in Diyarbakir. The operator of the vehicle
immediately turned on the vehicle’s pressurized water canon in an attempt to
extinguish the fire.
Further west in Adana, some 3,000 Kurdish protesters attending the funeral of
another killed guerrilla clashed with police, prompting the police to detain
dozens.
Turkish troops had killed 14 Kurdish guerrillas in the province of Mus in a
two-day clash that ended on Saturday.
Tensions have been running high in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, where
violence has escalated recently.
The fight for autonomy has claimed the lives of more than 37,000 people. The
PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and
the
European Union, reports the AP.
5) Turkey to Buy 100 Combat Jets Worth $10 Billion
ANKARA (Reuters)–Turkey’s Air Force plans to buy 100 new generation combat
aircrafts worth $10 billion and will decide by the end of 2006 which ones to
purchase, a senior Turkish official said Tuesday.
NATO member Turkey will choose between the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
(JSF),
whose construction is being led by Lockheed Martin, and the Eurofighter
Typhoon, being built by a European consortium.
Ankara may also opt for a combination of the two planes.
Defense Industry Undersecretary Murad Bayar said that the new warplanes would
replace F-16 and F-4 aircraft currently used by the Turkish Air Force.
He was also quoted as saying Turkey wanted its own defense industry
facilities
to handle half of the warplane project.
Bayar, Turkey’s chief procurement official, was expected to hold talks with
Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon and US defense industry officials during a visit
to the United States.
The JSF, the Pentagon’s costliest weapons project at more than $250 billion,
is a US-led effort to develop a family of radar-evading, supersonic,
multi-role
warplanes with co-financing from eight other countries, including Turkey.
Other partners include Britain, Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands,
Denmark and Norway. But the project has been hit by a row over Washington’s
reluctance to share technology.
Turkey, whose largest arms supplier has traditionally been the United States,
has invested $175 million for the development phase of the JSF and is
hoping to
win contracts worth up to $5 billion for its domestic industry, reports the
Turkish media.
The Eurofighter, a supersonic, twin-engine aircraft, is being built by a
consortium including firms from Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany. EADS is the
major shareholder in the Eurofighter.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
