Author: Dabaghian Diana

TAJIKISTAN TO HOST INTERPOL, CIS INTERIOR MINISTERS SESSION

Avesta website, Dushanbe
12 Apr 06

Dushanbe, 12 April: Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble is
expected to arrive in Dushanbe in the middle of next week, a source
in the Tajik Interior Ministry told Avesta.

The main purpose of the Interpol secretary-general’s visit is to
participate in a regular session of the CIS Council of Interior
Ministers which will take place in Dushanbe on 21 to 22 April.

The conducting of anti-terror drills with participation of special
police units from Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan and Armenian is planned
within the session’s framework.

The previous session of the CIS Council of Interior Ministers took
place in Yerevan [Armenia] in September last year, where issues
relating to combating crime in various spheres were discussed.

During the visit, Ronald Noble also intends to meet the leadership
of the Interpol’s office in Tajikistan.

[Passage omitted: Tajikistan joined the Interpol in 2004]

UN BODY CONSIDERS DRAFT AGREEMENT ON TRANS-ASIAN RAIL PROJECT

Asia Pulse;
Apr 13, 2006

TASHKENT, April 13 Asia Pulse – A draft agreement on cooperation
for the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) project was presented in a
ministerial-level roundtable dialogue being held in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The move was part of the six-day 62nd Session of the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

UNESCAP Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su said in his remarks that
through various technical and knowledge advices, the UN body was
helping member states to develop efficient regional and international
transportation network, improve infrastructure and promote sustainable
tourism development in national, sub-regional and regional levels.

The draft of the TAR cooperation agreement, which was being discussed
in the meeting, was the final one and the signing of the agreement
was expected to be conducted in November 2006.

One of UNESCAP’s important agendas was to help modernize avenues and
railways in Asia under the Program of Transportation Infrastructure
Development in Asian Mainland.

The Trans-Asian Railway was first initiated in the 1960s and expected
to link up a total distance of 14,000km, from Singapore to Istanbul
(Turkey), and could be continued to Europe and Africa later.

However, the programme has faced a number of problems such as
regional conflicts which affected economic policy in implementing
the TAR programme.

A study was conducted in 1995 to look at a railway network connecting
China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, and Korean Peninsula. A year
later, the study continued to Southeast Asia covering Indonesia,
Cambodia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Southern corridor of the Trans-Asian Railway, which will connect
Thailand and China’s Yunnan Province with Turkey, and will pass
Myanmar, Bangladesh, India Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Iran, was studied
in 1999.

In 2001, a study was conducted to look at the final corridor, which
will connect northern Europe and the Persian Gulf, and will pass
Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Finland, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Negotiations and finalization of the draft cooperation agreement on
the Trans-Asian Railway Network was carried out from 1997 to 2005.

CHURCH LEADERS IN JERUSALEM OPPOSE PALESTINIAN BOYCOTT

Catholic World News
April 12 2006

Jerusalem, Apr. 12 (AsiaNews) – In a joint Easter message, the 13
patriarchs and heads of Christian Churches in Jerusalem have made
a powerful appeal for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine,
the AsiaNews service reports. The Christian leaders also called on
the international community not to boycott the Palestinian people by
stopping aid.

The leaders of the Christian communities in the Holy Land– Orthodox,
Armenian, Latin Catholic, Copt, Syriac, Anglican, and Lutheran–
call on their faithful to practice a “clear challenging love to all
with whom we come in contact.” In a message directed to Israeli and
Palestinian political leaders, they say: “If a sincere will exists,
there will be capacity and power to overcome all obstacles, in order
to reach security, peace and justice to all, Palestinians and Israelis
alike.”

In their appeal to the international community, the Christian leaders
argue that “it is not permitted to boycott a people on whom oppressions
and injustices were and are imposed.” Rather than withdrawing aid
to the Palestinian people, the Church officials ask world leaders to
“try seriously to put an end to the suffering of our land and of all
its inhabitants.”

PACE REPRESENTATIVES REVIEWED THE BOOK ‘SERIES OF TRUE FACTS ABOUT KARABAKH’ AT THE INITIATIVE OF THE AZERBAIJANI MP
Author: R. Abdullayev

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 11 2006

‘Series of true facts about Karabakh ‘books have been distributed by
the MP, Ganira Pashayeva on April 11 at Strasbourg spring session of
PACE at the initiative of the Azerbaijani delegation.

The books published by the Heydar Aliyev foundation, have been
distributed both among the CE members and representatives of the
mass media.

Those way members of the Azerbaijani delegation of PACE keep the world
community aware about the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by
Armenia, the MP said.

“The book is based upon the true story and it retells about the
Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict and in particular about the conditions
thousands of refuges are living in,” she concluded.

GENOCIDE DEBATE CASES DISMISSED AGAINST 4 OF 5 TURKISH JOURNALISTS

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
April 11, 2006, Tuesday
12:12:03 Central European Time

A court in Istanbul on Tuesday dismissed charges laid against four
prominent journalists who had criticised another court’s decision
to ban a conference on the politically-sensitive Armenian question,
the Anadolu news agency reported.

The court was to continue hearing a case against a fifth journalist,
it said.

The five journalists were charged with “trying to influence judicial
process” and “insulting the judiciary” over comments they made after
a court had ordered a halt to a conference on the controversial issue
of the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during and after World
War I.

The conference was later held after lawyers found a loophole in the
original banning decision.

The court on Tuesday found that complaints lodged against four of
the journalists by a group of nationalist lawyers, and later taken
up by prosecutors, were lodged outside of a two-month time limit.

The court decided, however, to continue to hear the case against the
fifth journalist, Murat Belge, as the complaint in his case was made
within the two-month period. If found guilty, Belge faces up to 10
years imprisonment.

The journalists were charged under controversial Article 301 of the
Turkish penal code – the article under which world-renowned author
Orhan Pamuk had been charged.

Those charges, in which Pamuk was accused of “insulting Turkishness”
for his comments on the massacres of Armenians, were later dropped.

The massacres of Armenians are still an extremely sensitive subject
in Turkey.

Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, instead claiming
the deaths occurred after Armenians joined invading Russian forces
during World War I. It also claims that the numbers of people who
died were much lower than the 1.5 million figure often cited.

FRENCH CO-CHAIRMAN OF OSCE MINSK GROUP TO HOLD TALKS IN BAKU
by Viktor Shulman

ITAR-TASS News Agency
April 11, 2006 Tuesday 01:24 AM EST

French co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier will
discuss with the Azerbaijani leadership on Tuesday issues of settling
the Karabakh conflict. According to diplomatic sources, Fassier will
hold consultations in Baku with Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev,
Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov and special representative of the
head of state for the Karabakh conflict settlement Araz Azimov.

The sides are expected to discuss possibilities for the intensification
of negotiations within the Prague process. It was launched by the
foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Prague two years ago
with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno Karabakh in
which the United States is a co-chair along with France and Russia.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, issues related to the
Karabakh problem settlement will be high on the agenda of consultations
of the American co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Steven Mann in Baku on
April 18. Mann is expected to discuss with the Azerbaijani leadership
certain proposals of the American side on the conflict settlement.

“These proposals are very interesting. Official Baku will study them
and express its view during Mann’s visit,” the Azerbaijani foreign
minister said in an interview to the AzerTaj state news agency. In his
view, the Karabakh conflict is the “largest obstacle to the political
and economic development of Azerbaijan and it is necessary to intensify
efforts in this sphere.”

DEFENSE MINISTER DEFENDS DEAL WITH GAZPROM

Armenpress
Apr 11 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS: Defense minister Serzh Sarkisian
joined today the country’s leadership to defend the government’s
decision to sell the incomplete fifth unit of the Hrazdan power plant
to Russia’s Gazprom in return for temporarily reducing the price of
Russian natural gas.

Talking to reporters Sarkisian said the government could not invest
$180 million to complete the construction of the fifth unit. “The
fifth unit of the plant can be compared with a house whose basement
was built only,’ Sarkisian said. The defense minister shrugged off
critics of the government who accuse it of selling out the country’s
major assets to a foreign country.

He argued that if Armenia had found money to make the unit operational
it would have felt the returns only in 2017. He said no one could
predict what the price of natural gas would be in a decade.

ARMENIA RECEIVES GRANTS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT

RenewableEnergyAccess.com, NH
April 5 2006

Orangeville, Ontario [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Grants and credits
totaling US$50 million will assist the Armenian government to increase
privately owned and operated power generation using renewable energy
and to reduce greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) emissions by overcoming
barriers to the development of renewable energy.

The Renewable Energy Project will provide assistance to remove the
existing barriers and debt financing, as well as technical, legal,
managerial and business support to a selected number of renewable
projects. The World Bank approved a Renewable Energy Project for
Armenia totaling US$25 million, including a US$5 million International
Development Association (IDA) credit, and a US$3 million grant from the
Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project will also be supported
by co-financing of US$7 million from EBRD, US$3 million from the
Cafesjian Family Foundation, and US$7 million from the government
and local financial institutions.

Armenia has achieved remarkable results in reforming the power sector
and improving its financial performance in this energy crisis. The
remaining challenge for the sector is to ensure sustainable
and reliable power supply by shifting reliance from costly and
polluting sources of energy to lower cost and environmentally
friendly alternatives; and increasing the energy diversification
for a higher degree of energy security through indigenous renewable
energy resources.

While the overall legal and regulatory framework in Armenia is
supportive to the development of renewable resources, private
investments in renewable projects are impeded by a number of legal,
regulatory, informational, financial and institutional barriers. The
Renewable Energy Project will provide assistance to remove the existing
barriers and debt financing, as well as technical, legal, managerial
and business support to a selected number of renewable projects.

By the time of completion, the project is expected to contribute to the
development of about 80 MW of additional renewable energy generation
capacity, adding 200 gigawatt hour (GWh) annual renewable generation to
the electricity generation mix. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions
are expected to be lowered by around 130,000 tons annually.

The Credit will be made to Armenia on standard IDA terms, including
40 years maturity and a 10-year grace period. Since joining the
World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments to Armenia total
approximately US$921 million for 42 operations, stated the release.

ARMENIA AGREES TO GIVE RUSSIA’S GAZPROM CONTROL OF PART OF PIPELINE, ELECTRICITY UNIT

AP Worldstream
Apr 06, 2006

Armenia has agreed to give Russia’s Gazprom control of part of an
Armenian-Iranian pipeline and a power generating unit at an electric
plant, the natural gas giant said Thursday.

The 25-year agreement also obliges Yerevan to give Gazprom’s
Armenian joint venture ownership rights to the yet-to-be-constructed,
197-kilometer (122-mile) stretch of the pipeline to Iran, as well as
the right to export electricity produced at the Razdan-5 power plant.

The agreement sets a price for Armenia of US$110 (A90) per thousand
cubic meters of gas up to Jan. 1, 2009, according to a Gazprom
statement.

The deal was certain to draw fire from Armenia’s opposition, which
has expressed concern over Russia’s already heavy control over the
small country’s energy infrastructure.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, asked whether Armenia had
essentially swapped more control of energy infrastructure in exchange
for Russia easing its increase of gas prices, said: “The goal is to
soften the impact of the price increases on the population, to make
it happen gradually.”

On a visit to Moscow, he also told The Associated Press that the
Russian-Armenian joint venture involved in the project was 40 percent
controlled by Armenia _ a fact he asserted would allow Yerevan to
keep some influence over its energy sector.

Gazprom has sharply raised prices recently for Ukraine, Georgia and
Moldova, arguing that it is merely ending subsidies to ex-Soviet
republics and bringing the rates closer to market prices but drawing
fire from critics who say the Kremlin is using Russia’s energy wealth
as a political weapon.

Armenia is Russia’s chief ally in the strategic Caucasus Mountain
region, partly thanks to its acceptance of a Russian military base on
its territory. Russia already largely controls the Razdan-5 plant, the
country’s main electricity producer, and Armenia is wholly dependent
on Moscow for gas supplies.

600 EMPLOYEES OF MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS OF ARMENIA TO UNDERGO RE-TRAINING WITHIN WB CREDIT PROGRAM

Noyan Tapan
Apr 04 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. 100 employees of the RA Ministry of
Helth Care, Yerevan Mayor’s Office and Health Care Departments of
marzes as well as 600 employees of state hospitals’ administration
will undergo re-training within the framework of the “Modernization
of Health Care System” credit program of the World Bank. As Sergey
Khachatrian, the Director of the “Health Care PIA” state institution
of the Ministry mentioned at the April 4 event dedicated to the start
of the program, the goal of the program is to support reforms of
heading and managing structures of hospitals. S.Khachatrian mentioned
that within the framework of the credit program, Oxford Poiicy Group
and Pi Associates international advisory organizations have alreday
implemented estimation of educational needs of heads of hospitals. At
the same time, international experts, joint with the Health Care
Management and Organization Department of the Health Care National
Institute, worked out educational programs for heads of upper, middle
and lower circles of management. It was mentioned that re-training
courses started on March 28. Directors and deputy directors of the
Yerevan Mayor’s Office’s, RA Health Care Ministry’s and experimental
hospital pyramids are involved in the first stage.