Author: Hunanian Jack

TURKEY THREATENS ARGENTINA

A1+
[12:34 pm] 18 December, 2006

Official Ankara has started threatening Argentina. The Foreign
Ministry of Turkey has made a statement condemning the decision of
the Argentinean Senate connected with the Armenian Genocide.

Let us remind you that on December 13 the Senate has decided to declare
April 24 as "day of mutual respect and tolerance between nations",
and make it a non-working day for Armenian students and officials.

The statement mentions that "Turkey condemns and rejects the
accusations about the Genocide which is groundless from the historical
point of view".

According to agency "Trend", Turkey has informed Argentina that the
decision will have a negative impact on the relations between the
two countries and has voiced hope that the President of Argentina
will not ratify the Senate decision.

THE HEART OF DARKNESS

Beaver County Times, PA
Dec 17 2006

Holocaust deniers conference reveals depths of anti-Semitism

The intellectual dishonesty and moral bankruptcy of anti-Semitism
were on full display at the conference of Holocaust deniers last week
in Iran.

The Associated Press reported the Tehran conference was touted by
participants and organizers as an exercise in academic freedom and a
chance to openly consider whether 6 million Jews really died in the
Holocaust, away from Western taboos and the restrictions imposed on
scholars in Europe, where some countries have made it a crime to deny
the Nazi genocide during World War II.

The conference gathered 67 writers and researchers from 30 countries,
most of whom argue that either the Holocaust did not happen or that
it was vastly exaggerated. Many have been jailed or fined in France,
Germany or Austria, where it is illegal to deny the Holocaust. (See
the following editorial on the European laws.)

Try as they might, though, they couldn’t prevent the real purpose of
the meeting from showing through – hatred of Jews.

To begin with, Jews weren’t the only ones targeted by the Nazis.

Although Jews made up the overwhelming majority of victims killed
and persecuted between 1933 and 1945, gypsies, homosexuals and other
Nazi-designated socially undesirables were targeted. Holocaust deniers
can’t deny their tragic fates because they’re intertwined, albeit
on a much smaller scale, with the mindset behind Nazi atrocities
against Jews.

Doing Adolf Hitler proud, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told
attendees that the "Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same
way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom."

In the past, Ahmadinejad has referred to the Holocaust as a "myth"
used to impose the state of Israel on the Arab world.

Not to be outdone, David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader who
received almost 40 percent of the popular vote in a 1991 runoff
election to become governor of Louisiana, told the AP the "Holocaust
is the device used as the pillar of Zionist imperialism, Zionist
aggression, Zionist terror and Zionist murder."

In an amazing display of chutzpah, Ahmadinejad announced the
conference would set up a "fact-finding commission" to determine
whether the Holocaust happened or not. The commission will "help end
a 60-year-old dispute,"

In the minds of all but the most mindless, the so-called dispute
was resolved more than 60 years ago when allied forces entered Nazi
death camps.

In addition to being dishonest and bankrupt, Arabic and Iranian
anti-Semites are being hypocritical because they are ignoring genocide
that took place in their backyard.

However, because it involves their co-religionists, the Turks, and
the victims were Armenian Christians, they pretend it never happened.

The Washington Post reports an estimated 1.5 million Armenian civilians
were killed in eastern Turkey from 1915 to 1920. The paper reported
Armenians call it the 20th century’s first genocide, "a view that
has gained acceptance among Western scholars and governments."

What took place last week in Iran was a look into the heart of darkness
of anti-Semitism. It’s a lesson none of us should forget.

CYPRUS’ MILITARY BALANCE: GREEK AND TURKISH FORCES IN COMPARISON
By Ioannis Michaletos

Balkanalysis, AZ
Dec 17 2006

After the end of the Cold War in 1989, only a small corner in
Europe remained divided along an "iron curtain" with its own divided
capital. Cyprus, a beautiful island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea,
is the only state in Europe that has part of its territory (37 percent)
occupied and its capital, Nicosia, divided, along the infamous "Green
Line." Despite the Turkish self-declared Republic of Northern Cyprus,
created after the 1974 invasion, there is only one Cyprus recognized by
international law and that is the 73 percent Greek-inhabited Cypriot
Republic. Even though the Turkish Army stands firm on the rest of the
territory; the so called "Republic of Northern Cyprus" has not been
recognized by any state in the world and there have been plenty of
UN condemnations calling for a withdrawal of the Turkish forces from
the island.

In April 2004, the two sides were close to an agreement based on
the principles of the "Annan plan." The referendum, held by the
Greek Cypriot side, rejected the proposals by a 76 percent majority,
thus reflecting the strong mood in the country for a solution based
more on justice rather than on compromise. Currently Turkey is being
pressed by the EU to accept the Cypriot democracy as a state entity
and at the same time to lift the bans that keep Cypriot airplanes and
ships out of Turkish territorial waters and air. Since the acceptance
of the Republic of Cyprus into the European Union, time is ticking
away for the Turks to balance their regional aspirations and their
desired status quo in the Eastern Mediterranean with their ambition
to becoming a member state in the enlarged European family. Turkey’s
failure to open its ports to Cypriot vessels led to a predictably
harsh report card from the EU in November 2006, and there is not
currently much reason for optimism in the near future.

Wary of the Turkish armed presence, the Cypriot Republic has greatly
increased its military capabilities over the past decade by acquiring
state-of-the-art Russian weaponry and at the same time expanding its
diplomatic capabilities beyond its traditional fraternal friendship
with Greece. Already Cypriot officers attend four military Study
Groups in Brussels and regularly train alongside officers from other
member states regarding issues such as naval strategic transport,
threats from nuclear proliferation and the use of UAV-type aircraft.

Moreover Coast Guard exercises are being held in Cyprus with the
assistance of other EU members, with the main aim of curbing illegal
immigration from the Middle East. Lastly, Cyprus is a part of the
Battle Group composed of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. It is supposed
to become operational by October 2007.

The Turkish Cypriot population relies heavily on the annual economic
assistance of Turkey, as well as on the formidable Turkish-stationed in
their part of the island. The Turkish Army often upgrades its systems
and holds military exercises on a regular basis. Turkey has stated many
times that it will never recognize Cyprus as an independent state and
it seems that it is not in their interest to do so unless it is pressed
significantly to do so by the world powers, namely the USA and EU.

The old thinking in the Turkish military remains in vogue today
regarding Cyprus. It hypothesizes that a united Cyprus would soon
fell under Greek domination, thus allowing the Greek to encircle
the Turkish periphery from Eastern Thrace to the Aegean shores and
down to the Alexandrine Gulf. Adding the perilous conditions on the
southeastern borders of Turkey, where Kurdish guerilla groups are
regaining strength, bolstered by their brethren across the hills in
Iraq, as well as the old enmities with Armenia and Syria and the
unknown factor of America’s plans for far eastern neighbor Iran,
it seems likely that Turkey will continue to manifest the symptoms
of the "Sevres syndrome," an outlook "mirrored by the narrow notion
of security – limited to the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of the state – that characterizes Turkish politics."

On the military level now, Turkey’s forces are generally superior in
numbers, whilst the Greek Cypriots have at their disposal high-quality
armaments and the conviction that they will fight hard and make a
"last stand" in case of a war to defend their homeland.

The geographical terrain of Cyprus is less than 9,250 sqkm –
excluding the British Bases – and it is unlikely that any conflict
will result in a kind of warfare that will involve large numbers of
tanks and troop movements. Special Forces, along with artillery and
missiles, would play the decisive role for a quick victory one either
side. Furthermore a potential conflict would draw Greece and Turkey
into the war, thus enlarging the skirmishes on a much wider front,
so as to encompass most of the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. In any
such conflict, the interests of the United States and the EU would be
to control the situation as soon as possible and act in order to stop
a wider war. Again, the side that would be able to move faster and
more dynamically in the first couple of days would probably create the
‘facts on the ground’ and emerge the winner.

The Cyprus issue has achieved global importance due to the geopolitical
placement of the country, just opposite from Israel and the Middle
East, and just a few miles north of the Suez Canal.

Recently, France signed a defense contract with Cyprus, because of
its involvement in Lebanon’s peacekeeping force, and Germany also has
agreed to use military installation in Cyprus in order to support
its operations in Beirut. The UK now holds its own two sovereign
bases that have a surface area of up to 3 percent of the island,
and it seems unquestionable that Britain will retain its historic
geo-strategic position here for decades to come.

For their part, Greece and Turkey now have their own national troops
based on the island, even though the former are vastly outnumbered by
the latter. Both countries also have continuously vowed to support
their own side in case of any conflict. Other players in the area
include the USA, Russia (which has cultivated strong ties with the
Greeks over the past 15 years as well) and Israel, which views Cyprus
as its safe haven in case of a major Arab offensive in the future.

Cyprus also is vital for the humanitarian relief of Lebanon, and
recently more than 100,000 Lebanese citizens were transferred via
Cyprus to safety in various locations worldwide.

The Cypriot government helped evacuate, house and repatriate 13,500
Americans during the Israeli war against Lebanon this past July. On
October 25, as if to give a final sending-off gift to a tourism season
disrupted by the war, an American Naval vessel, the USS Eisenhower,
pulled in to Cyprus for four days. "This routine port visit offers a
shore leave opportunity for the more than 5,000 crew members and is
a way for America to thank Cyprus for its support during the Lebanon
crisis," announced a US embassy statement.

On overall assessment, the Cyprus issue in inexorably connected
with all of the other chronic problems in the Eastern Mediterranean
and Middle East area. The Israeli-Arab conflict, the Greek-Turkish
brinkmanship and the ambitious of the Great Powers will dominate the
Cypriot future, since this island is a naval fortress adrift in the
most vital and sensitive area for world security nowadays. It is also
a hub of global commerce with a well established banking industry
which processes billions in legal and not-so-legal funds, making it
again a place of great importance and interest for powerful people
around the world.

Equipment and personnel breakdown of military balance in Cyprus

Land Armies

Republic of Cyprus National Guard (plus Greek national forces)

Tanks: 41 (T-80U type), 82 (M48MOLD type), 113 (AMX-30 type)-Russian,
US and French types respectively.

Armored vehicles: 43 (BMP-3 Type), 124 (Cascavel Type), 27 (Jararaca
Type), 150 (Leonidas II type), 131 ( VAB VCI Type).- Russian,
Brazilian, Greek and French types respectively.

Artillery: 8 (M110A2 Type), 12 (M107 Type), 12 (Zuzana Type), 12 (Mk3F
Type), 12 (TR-FI Type), 12 (M114 Type), 72 (M56 Type), 20 (M-1944)-
USA, Slovakian and Russian types. 100mm, 105mm, 155 mm, 175 mm, 203 mm.

Rocket launchers: 4 (BM-21 Grad type), 24 (M-63 Plamen type)- All
Russian types: 40×122mm, 32×128mm, respectively.

Antiaircraft systems: 6 (Tor-M1 type), 12 (Skyguard type) – Russian
and Italian types

Antiaircraft systems: 12 (Atlas-Mistral type), 18 (Mistral type),
100 (9K32M-Strela type)- French and Russian types.

Antiaircraft machine guns: 24 (GDF Type), 50 (M-55 Type)- 2×35mm,
and 3×20 mm respectively.

Antitank weapons: 50 (Milan type), 1,000 (Apilas type), 1,000
(RPG-7V type), and unknown number of M72A2 Law type.- 112mm, 85 mm,
66 mm respectively

Other weapons: 150 (M40A1-106mm), 114(MO-RT61-120 mm), 26 (M2/M60-107
mm), 180 (E-44-81 mm), 50 (M19- 60 mm)

Turkish Cypriot Army (plus Turkish national forces)

Tanks: 386 (M48A5 type) US origin

Armored vehicles: 200 (AIFV type), 200 (M-113 type)- US and Turkish
respectively

Artillery: 12 (M115 type), 24 (M44T type), 35 (M52T type), 12 (M110
type), 36 (M114 type), 90 (M101 type)- US origin: 203 mm, 155 mm,
155 mm, 203 mm, 155 mm and 105 mm respectively.

Rocket launchers: 18 (T-122)- Turkish origin, 40×122 mm.

Antiaircraft systems: 170 (Stinger missiles), 18 (Igla missiles),
US and Russian respectively

Antiaircraft machine guns: 84 (M1 type)- US origin, 40 mm.

Antitank systems: 36 (TOW type), 12 (Konkurs-M type), 48 (MILAN type)-
USA, Russian and French types respectively

Other weapons: 170 (M40A1-106 mm), 30 (HY-12DI-120 mm), 100 (M2/M30-107
mm), 175 (M1/M29-81 mm)

Navy and Air Force

Republic of Cyprus Navy and Air Force (plus Greek national forces)

Combat helicopters: 11 (Mi-35P type), 4 (Gazelle type)- Russian and
French types respectively

Transport and General Use helicopters: 4 (Bell type)- US origin

Aircraft: 1 (BN-2T type), 1 (BN-Maritime type), 1 (PC-9 type)

Patrol boats: 15 of different Greek, Israeli and Italian types. Most
of them speed boats with heavy equipment

Surface-to-sea missiles: 24 (Exocet MM40 Type)- French origin

Turkish Cypriot Navy and Air Force (plus Turkish national forces)

General Purpose helicopters: 4 (UH-1H type)- US origin

Aircraft: 3 (T-41D type), 1 (An-2 Colt type)

Patrol boats: 2 speed light weight speed boats

Manpower

Republic of Cyprus National Guard (plus Greek national forces)

13,000 active-duty, plus 65,000 reserves

Turkish Cypriot armed forces (plus Turkish national forces)

40,000 active-duty, plus 25,000 reserves

NOTE: To the above military balance one has to take into consideration
the general balance of powers between Greece and Turkey. Also weapons
such as electronic warfare, special operations vehicles, training
equipment, support vehicles, ammunition, rifles-machine guns, mines,
bombs, jeeps, trucks and radars were not accounted for in this survey.

prus%E2%80%99-military-balance-greek-and-turkish-f orces-in-comparison/

–Boundary_(ID_sviZdaKCh7+di t5or5RqzA)–

Kommersant, Russia
Dec 15 2006

Tbilisi Free of Russian Military

The Group of Russian Forces in the Transcaucasus dispatched the last
of its property and equipment from Tbilisi suburb of Vaziani to the
102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, Armenia, yesterday. There
remain only 13 Russian officers in Georgia now, who are overseeing
the closure of the bases at Batumi and Akhalkalaki. Commander of the
North Caucasus Military District Army Gen. Alexander Baranov told
journalists that eight closed car and 16 open train cars containing
arms and equipment have been dispatched to Armenian.
Today and on December 19, two convoys containing 12 pieces of
equipment each will be sent by road. The personnel of the Tbilisi
garrison will leave next week. The military operational staff of the
Group of Forces will leave Tbilisi on December 25. `There will not be
a single Russian serviceman left in the Tbilisi garrison by the end
of the year,’ Baranov stated. An exception will be the guards at the
Russian embassy in Tbilisi, which was vacated by Russian diplomats
after the October spying incident. The Group of Forces school, where
both Russian children and Georgian children studied, has also been
closed.

The decision on early withdrawal of the Tbilisi garrison from Georgia
was made by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov in October during
the scandal over the arrest of several Russian officers in Tbilisi
and Batumi on espionage charges. The Tbilisi garrison had previously
been slated for withdrawal by the end of 2008. The base in Batumi
will be closed by the end of next year and the base in Akhalkalaki by
the end of 2008.

Mamuka Panchulidze, a spokesman for the Georgian Ministry of Economic
Development told Kommersant that the large Group of Russian Forces’
building and its grounds in the most exclusive neighborhood in
Tbilisi would be turned over to that ministry and the government
would decide how to put them to use. He said that the facilities may
then be auctioned off. `It could be turned into a five-star hotel,’
he observed. Several construction firms have also expressed interest
i n tearing the building down and putting up new elite housing in its
place.

A1+

«IT’S A MATTER OF TASTE»
[08:27 pm] 15 December, 2006

«No individual can pose serious threat to the RA», said
Secretary of the Security Council adjunct to the RA President Serge
Sargsyan answering the question if leader of the «Union of Armenian
Volunteers» Zhirayr Sefilyan was a dangerous person that he was
arrested.

«Have you read in the announcements of the national security that
Zhirayr Sefilyan is seriously dangerous for the RA? There are
3000-4000 citizens of Armenia in prison at present and separately none
of them is dangerous for the country. Some of them can be dangerous
for the society, others – for other individuals», said Serge
Sargsyan.

Asked by «A1+» what he personally thinks about Karabakh hero
Zhirayr Sefilyan, Serge Sargsyan answered, «Sefilyan was one of the
thousands who fought in Karabakh, but if you think you can compare him
with Monte Melqonyan or with other commanders, it’s a matter of
taste».

THEY WILL PAY 1.3 MILLION LESS
James Hakobyan

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 14 2006

The Millennium Challenge program has set off in Armenia. Of course,
it is difficult to call the first tranche of the MCA as a start,
considering that Armenia had expected to get more in 2006 than the
Americans gave. When the Armenian officials signed the agreement and
spent 15 minutes in the office of Condoleezza Rice, after returning to
Yerevan the minister of finance and economy Vardan Khachatryan stated
that Armenia hopes to get the first tranche of 6 million dollars out of
235 million this year. Meanwhile, the Americans gave only 800 thousand
dollars, though another 500 thousand is expected by the end of this
year. In other words, Armenia will get 1.3 million this year. This
is less than the second expectation of the minister of finance who
stated about two weeks ago at the parliament that Armenia expects 2
million dollars. What Armenia got is even less than the sum mentioned
by the prime minister at the parliament. He said 1.5 million dollars.

Hence, the so-called start of the MCC program resembles a formality
rather. And the statements by the American officials in charge of the
program suggest that the program may be suspended rather than have
an effective continuation. But even if by miracle or by unsoberness
of the government Armenia complies with the political benchmarks
essential to the continuation of the MCC program, its effectiveness
is highly doubted. And the reason must be clear to everyone. It is
the revaluation of the dram. When Armenia worked out the action plan,
estimated the costs and submitted the request with the MCC, the rate of
exchange of the dollar was different than now. And this correlation
has changed in favor of the dram. It means that in December 2006
the value of this 1.3 million will be lower than in spring 2006 when
Armenia signed the agreement. Moreover, in January and February 2007
1.3 million dollars is going to have a lower value when it is spent.

Meanwhile, the program is 235 million dollars, and the dram will keep
revaluating and the dollar will keep depreciating before this money
comes to Armenia. Moreover, building materials are becoming more
expensive, which are going to be the main cost of the program. It
allows supposing that the program will undergo significant changes
because the estimates will become unrealistic, and 1 USD will be
losing its value every month. In this case, the Americans will have
to give more money, or the government of Armenia will have to cover
the missing part, or the program should be curtailed. Yet, finally,
a policy of a fixed exchange rate should be conducted. It is clear,
however, that the government will not stop the double or triple
lucrative fluctuations of the exchange rate. For the Americans
and the government is much more favorable to curtail the program,
because it is not harmful for their pockets. Besides, the Millennium
Challenge program is an investment program for the Armenian farmers
only, since for the governments of Armenia and the United States it
is only a political project. Thereby the United States is trying to
gain additional control of the actions of the Armenian government,
and the Armenian government expects to use it as election bribe in
the form of implemented programs under the slogan of salvation of the
village, and in this case it makes not difference if it is 6 million
or 1.3 million, it is important that they give, for they will spend
less during the election.

ARMENIAN YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS INITIATE MOVEMENT FOR RELEASE OF ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN AND VARDAN MALKHASIAN

Noyan Tapan
Dec 14 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Over ten youth organizations of
Armenia have issued a statement, in which they demand releasing the
coordinator of the public initiative "Liberated Territories Protection"
Zhirayr Sefilian and member of the political board of the Homeland
and Honor Party Vardan Malkhasian.

Considreing as absurd the accusation that these persons tried to
carry out a military coup in Armenia, the statement authours note
that these men, who are well-known to the Armenian public, have
repeatedly presented in the press their real programs, the main
goal of which is the protection and resettlement of the liberated
territories. "Being aware of the role of the youth in prevention of
such steps by the authorities, we start a public initiative, whose main
objective is the release of Zhirayr Sefilian and Vardan Malkhasian,"
the statement reads.

JACK KEVORKIAN TO BE PAROLED

Armenpress
Dec 14 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS: After more than eight years
behind bars for murder, an ailing Jack Kevorkian, a son of Armenian
immigrants, will be paroled in June on a promise not to help anyone
else commit suicide, U.S. news agencies reported.

The parole board took the 78-year-old Kevorkian’s declining health
into consideration, along with the question of whether the former
pathologist would be a danger to society. Kevorkian, once the nation’s
most vocal advocate of assisted suicide, is serving a 10- to 25-year
sentence. It would be a much quieter existence for the 78-year-old
retired pathologist than the one he led before being convicted in
1998 of second-degree murder in the assisted suicide of a Michigan man.

Kevorkian, who waged a defiant campaign for nearly a decade to help
other people kill themselves, will be released June 1 – the first day
he is eligible for parole. By the time he was convicted of murder,
he proudly claimed to have assisted in at least 130 deaths.

Now, after sitting in prison for eight years and suffering various
health ailments, that defiant tone has changed. Kevorkian vows he will
never again commit a crime. After being released in June, Kevorkian
will be on probation for two years, during which time he can’t leave
the state or change his residence without written permission.

MONITORING WAS CANCELLED BECAUSE OF AZERBAIJAN

A1+
[08:14 pm] 13 December, 2006

On December 13, according to a previous agreement between the
authorities of the two counties, the OSCE mission was to carry out
monitoring in the contact line of the Karabakh and Azeri armed forcer,
near Fizouli.

According to the press service of the NKR Foreign Ministry, the
monitoring mission left for the site, accompanied by representatives
of the Foreign and Defense Ministries, but taking into account the
fact that the Azeri side did not take the observers to the point
agreed upon, the mission decided to cancel the monitoring due to
security reasons.

TRANS-DNIESTER DELEGATION FIXES CONFORMITY OF NKR REFERENDUM WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 13 2006

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. NKR President Arkady
Ghukasian received on December 11 Miroslav Ribyakin and Claudia
Treskova, delegation members of the Trans-Dniester Moldovian Republic,
parliamentarians who were in the NKR to take part with the observation
mission in the NKR constitutional referendum of the previous day. As
Noyan Tapan was informed by the Information Department General
attached to the NKR President, the guests fixed correspondence of
the constitutional referendum taken place in the NKR to the adopted
international standards and mentioned that they are impressed with
the success of Artsakh fixed during the recent years in the state
building, social-economic and political spheres. Arkadi Ghukasian
addressed his greetings and congratulations to President Igor Smirnov
and PMR people on the occasion of successfully holding the president’s
elections and expressed confidence that relations between the Artsakh
and Trans-Dniester peoples will be built on bases of friendship and
mutual understanding from now on as well.