Author: Nahapetian Lilit

GOD BLESS THE OPENING OF THE RAILWAY LINE

Panorama
11:40 12/10/05

The opening of the Georgian-Abkhazian railway line is creating real
perspectives for Armenian economics. Anyhow the minister of defense
Serge Sargsyan told the journalists that Georgia has already given his
agreement for the opening of the railway line. Presently Russians are
implementing reconstructing works at the place. “I hope with God help
the railway line will work after these works”, said S. Serge Sargsyan.

Meanwhile it is interesting Andranik Manukyan’s (the minister of
transportation and communication) behavior concerning this topic. As
during the press conference he said nothing about the possible opening
of the Georgian-Abkhazian railway line. /Panorama.am/

CARGO TRANSPORTATION IN ARMENIA INCREASED 8.5%

Pan Armenian
10.10.2005 15:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The average volume of cargo transportation (without
pipelines) within the CIS member-countries (excluding Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan, whose statistical services did not present information)
made 104% against the last year data. According to the CIS statistical
committee, the volume of cargo transportation in Armenia increased
8.5%, in Belarus – 8.3%, in Georgia – 7.8%, in Kazakhstan -2.9%,
Tajikistan – 2.9% and in Russia – 6.3%. Decrease of cargo
transportation volume was observed in Ukraine, Kyrghyzstan and Moldova.

Wisman without experienced duo
Wednesday, 5 October 2005
by Khachik Chakhoyan

Armenia coach Henk Wisman has named a 21-man squad for the final FIFA
World Cup Group 1 qualifier against Andorra. The notable absentees are
suspended defender Sargis Hovsepyan and Harutyun Vardanyan, who has
retired from the national team after being omitted from the starting
lineup against the Netherlands last month.

Armenia squad

Goalkeepers: Roman Berezovsky (FC Dinamo Moskva), Gevorg Kasparov (FC
Pyunik), Armando Hambartsumyan (PFC Slavia Sofia).

Defenders: Valeri Aleksanyan (FC Pyunik), Robert Arzumanyan (FC
Pyunik), Aleksandr Tadevosyan (FC Pyunik), Karen Dokhoyan (FC Krylya
Sovetov Samara), Egishe Melikyan (FC Metalurh Donetsk), Artashes
Baghdasaryan (FC Kilikia).

Midfielders: Agvan Lazarian (FC Pyunik), Romik Khachatryan (OFI Crete
FC), Karen Aleksanyan (CSF Zimbru Chisinau), Hamlet Mkhitaryan (FC
MTZ-RIPO Minsk), Armen Tigranyan (FC Pyunik), Samvel Melkonyan (FC
Banants), Artur Voskanyan (FC Pyunik), Artavazd Karamyan (AFC Rapid
Bucuresti).

Forwards: Edgar Manucharyan (AFC Ajax), Ara Hakobyan (FC Stal
Alchevsk), Aram Hakobyan (FC Banants), Aram Voskanyan (FC Yesil
Bogatyr Petropavlovsk), Galust Petrosyan (CSF Zimbru Chisinau).

Armenpress

KOCHARIAN SAYS REVISED CONSTITUTION A SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS: Addressing an international conference
on constitutional issues in Yerevan today President Robert Kocharian said
the main objective of the constitutional reform process is ‘to make the
constitution a living reality,” adding also it should become accessible to
every citizen. He said law and the right have to become the axis of the
social life based on liberal values.
He praised the acting constitution saying it played a significant role in
building a sovereign Armenia and was instrumental in Armenia’s drive to
become a Council of Europe member, but added its application has revealed a
number of serious shortcomings and contradictions which hamper the country’s
further democratic advancement. Kocharian also praised the Venice Commission
of the Council of Europe that has provided a substantial support in drafting
the finalized text that will be put to a referendum at the end of November.
Kocharian said the revised constitution provides a much better balance
between the powers of the President and the Parliament, it also provides for
better recognition and protection of human rights, and a more independent
judiciary and a stronger local self-government are among other major
improvements. “This is a significant step forward in all respects,” he said.
The conference has brought constitution experts from 25 countries. On its
sidelines experts of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission and
representatives from other international organizations held a round table
with representatives of Armenian political parties, media and civil society
on constitutional reform to discuss the proposed constitution.
The Venice Commission’s assessed positively the draft constitution, which
is shared by the European Union and the OSCE. Among the Armenian
participants were representatives of civil society and a large spectrum of
political groups, including those who oppose the referendum and who are not
represented in the National Assembly.

NATIONAL INTEREST ISSUES UNDER DISCUSSION IN THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON FOREIGN POLICY

Macedonian Press Agency, Greece
Athens, 29 September 2005 (13:16 UTC+2)

Issues of national interest and the latest developments in Turkey’s EU
accession course will be discussed in detail in the National Council
on Foreign Policy that meets today under the presidency of Foreign
Minister Petros Molyviatis.

Yesterday, the European Parliament plenary session sent a strong
message to Turkey just a few days before the opening of Turkey’s EU
accession negotiations.

In a resolution adopted by the European Parliament it is mentioned
that a precondition for Turkey to become a member of the EU will be
to recognize the Armenian Genocide committed in 1915, while Turkey
is also called to recognize the Republic of Cyprus as soon as possible.

It is underlined that in case this does not happen, the consequences
on the negotiation process will be serious and could lead even to
its interruption.

It is stressed that the opening of negotiations will be the starting
point of a long process which by nature is open-ended and does not
lead in advance and automatically to accession.

A special reference is made to the serious and persistent violation
(in Turkey) of the principles of democracy, freedom, human rights,
fundamental freedoms, minority rights and the state of law.

Specifically, a reference is made to the problems in the freedom of
expression faced by author Orhan Pamuk. Regarding a very sensitive
issue for Greece, concern is being expressed for the operation of
religious minorities. The law on properties that belong to religious
institutions (=Vakoufia) is mentioned as a characteristic example.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
postponed the vote for the expansion of Turkey’s customs union with
the European Union.

The postponement decision was reached by the European
Parliament plenary session after a proposal by the leader of the
Christian-Democrats according to which, Turkey is not committed that
it will not proceed with the signing of the statement on the non
recognition of Cyprus during the ratification of the Ankara Protocol
by the Turkish National Assembly.

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian
28 Sep 05

ARMENIAN MILITARY SPENDING TO INCREASE BY 30M DOLLARS IN 2006

Yerevan, 28 September: The Armenian government will allocate another
13bn drams (about 30m dollars) for military spending in 2006.

Deputy Finance and Economy Minister Pavel Safaryan said this in
Yerevan today while speaking about the draft state budget of 2006
approved by the Armenian government today. Spending on health will
grow by 6.7bn drams [15m dollars] and education by 8bn [18m dollars].

The minimum salary in 2006 will total 15,000 drams [33 dollars]
instead of 13,000 [28 dollars]. The amount of compulsory social
payments will total 7,000 drams [15 dollars] instead of the current
5,000 drams [11 dollars].

Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
Sept 28 2005

EU warns Turkey on penal code ahead of entry talks

STRASBOURG, France – The European Commission told Turkey on Wednesday
it would have to change its reformed penal code again if hardline
prosecutors can still try a top novelist for his views on the 1915
killing of Armenians.

European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn made the remark in
a heated debate in the European Parliament five days before Ankara is
due to open membership talks with the EU.

Leading conservative lawmakers used the debate to vent deep
misgivings about the prospect of admitting Turkey to the 25-nation
bloc, citing its record on human rights and religious freedom and its
refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus.

Some also questioned the EU’s ability to absorb the poor, populous,
mainly Muslim country financially and institutionally.

Greens party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit caused uproar by accusing some
right-wing critics of Turkey of `surfing on a wave of racism’.

A non-binding resolution backed by all the major political groups
endorsed the EU’s decision to open accession talks next Monday but
demanded strict monitoring of Turkey’s performance.

`The case of author Orhan Pamuk is emblematic of the difficulties to
ensure effective and uniform implementation of these reforms, and
also of the struggle between reformers and conservatives in Turkey,’
Rehn told parliament.

An Istanbul judge is prosecuting the writer for `denigrating Turkish
identity’ on accusations he endorsed allegations that Armenians
suffered genocide at Ottoman Turkish hands in 1915.

Pamuk faces up to three years in jail if convicted. Turkey denies the
mass killings were genocide and the issue is acutely politically
sensitive.

Rehn said Brussels’ assessment of the new penal code, adopted to meet
EU criteria, would depend on how such provisions were implemented,
citing also recent cases of journalists being prosecuted for
expressing peaceful opinions.

Strategic case

`If this is indeed the direction by the judiciary in Turkey, then the
Turkish penal code will have to be amended in such a way that freedom
of expression is not subject to the very particular beliefs of some
autistic judge any more, but simply follows European standards as we
know them on the basis of the European Convention of Human Rights,’
he said.

However, the commissioner said that on balance, Turkey had made
sufficient progress on human rights to justify opening talks, saying
the negotiations would give the EU crucial leverage over the
direction of Turkish reforms.

He said the talks would give a boost to Turkish reformers and that
the EU’s negotiating mandate, still to be finally agreed by member
states, was the most rigorous ever adopted for talks with a candidate
country.

Austria wants to include the prospect of a `privileged partnership’
falling short of membership but Ankara reaffirmed on Wednesday it
would only accept full membership as the goal.

`Any deviation from full membership is completely unacceptable,’ a
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

British Europe Minister Douglas Alexander, speaking on behalf of the
EU presidency, underscored the strategic case for Turkey’s accession.

It could boost Europe’s security, stability and prosperity and show
the world there was no contradiction between Islam and democracy, he
argued.

Opinion polls show a majority of EU citizens, especially in France,
Germany and Austria, oppose Turkish membership.

Reflecting those divisions, the largest faction in the EU
legislature, the conservative European People’s Party, gave its
members a free vote and they spoke on both sides of the debate.

EPP leader Hans-Gert Poettering said if Turkey did not improve its
human rights record within a certain period after starting talks,
`then we should be prepared to suspend the negotiations’.

ANOTHER CHAMPION

A1+
| 17:38:56 | 26-09-2005 | Sports |

In Serbia the Chess European Youth Championship in which 23 Armenian young
chess-players participated, has been over. The most successful of all was
16-year-old Zaven Andreasyan who won 7 points from 7 possible and became
Champion of Europe.

Another medal was won in the 12-year-old age group where Hayk Tamazyan took
the third place winning a bronze medal.

A1+

| 13:09:02 | 25-09-2005 | Politics |

ELECTIONS

Today the elections of local governing bodies are organized in 7 communities
of Yerevan. In Kentron and Arabkir the citizens are electing community heads
and aldermen, and in Avan, Ajapnyak, Davtashen, Malatia-Sebastia and
Shengavit – only alderman.

The citizens of the Kentron Community are to make their choice between the
present head of the community Gagik Beglaryan and the member of the People’s
Party Rouzan Khachatryan, and the citizens of Arabkir – between Hovhannes
Shahinyan and member of the United Labor Party David Gyuloumyan.

In the Kentron Community there are 26 candidates for the posts of aldermen,
in Ajapnyak there are 43.

According to the information provided by the Central Electoral Community,
22311 citizens have fulfilled their civic duty. Among them are the RA
President Robert Kocharyan and the Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan.

Hürriyetim
25.09.2005

Gul: Turkish people are at peace with their history
Istanbul

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul sent a message to the opening session of the
Armenian conference on Saturday:”The Turkish people are at peace with
themselves and with our history,” he added that, ”the approaches of our
government and our people towards our past, including Turkish-Armenian
relations, constitute an indication of our confidence in ourselves and our
future.”
In his message, Gul said, ”the last era of the Ottoman Empire is subject to
discussion and research in academic circles, with increased interest. Nearly
every day new documents from the era emerge and new books, articles and
research papers are published. Yet, it is not possible to say that all data
and documents related to those times have been properly analyzed. With an
aim to help redress this shortcoming, our government is in the process of
taking important steps to enable the Ottoman Archives to serve researchers,
in modern conditions. Our Archives have begun to serve scientists through
documents converted to a digital medium since 2003. Within this context,
many researchers, coming from 75 different countries have completed their
research on the Ottoman Archives. These activities are ongoing.”

”We want not only our own archives but at the same time all other archives
that will shed light on the history of the day to be opened in an organized
fashion, that will serve all researchers. We believe that deeper research
into that era will bring new historical facts to light and serve an
improvement in relations between countries and peoples. Thus, we have
proposed to the Government of Armenia to establish a historical commission
between our two countries, which will research the joint Turkish-American
history and which will make its findings public. We hope to reach a
conclusion on this subject,” indicated Gul.

Gul also said, ”The history of Turkish-Armenian relations is one of
co-existence and common life of almost 1,000 years. During the course of
this period, the Turkish and Armenian peoples have contributed to each
other’s culture, prosperity and security. We should not ignore this reality
when we examine the tragic period when the Ottoman Empire was crumbling and
the Turks and Armenians were deeply suffering, like all other peoples of the
Empire.”

”It is a fact that in some chapters of history, or even today, some
societies cannot tolerate one other’s language, religion, identity or even
very existence. It is an unfortunate reality that such intolerance can turn
into a deep-rooted and destructive ideology, which gets ingrained in the
social subconscious. Some serious and very dangerous trends, from xenophobia
to racism and from anti-Semitism to attitudes against Muslims are present
and are on the rise today, even in societies which represent the highest
level of contemporary civilization,” underlined Gul.

Gul stressed, ”it is a source of pleasure that such a psychology does not
exist between the Turks and Armenians. This also constitutes a major
advantage for the future of relations between the two peoples.”

”Another issue I want to draw your attention to is that, many studies so
far held on the theme of the Conference, particularly outside Turkey, have
been conducted with political motivations, in a manner inconsistent with
scientific ethics and objectivity. Regretfully, humanitarian issues have
been sacrificed to political designs, and double standards have been applied
in determining and presenting human suffering. There were attempts to impose
subjective, non-legal and artificial claims upon Turkey and the Turkish
people, with political motivations. Furthermore, there have been situations
in which some foreign circles could not even tolerate scientific
skepticism,” said Gul.

Gul concluded, ”young generations from all nations must know and draw
lessons from the facts that during the last era of the Ottoman Empire the
imperialist-colonial powers ruthlessly exploited peoples’ ethno-religious
sensitivities for their own gains and that some elements, knowingly or
unknowingly, became instruments to these provocations. I hope that your
Conference will be a contribution to raise awareness on this issue. The
Turkish people is at peace with itself and with its history. The approaches
of our government and our people towards our past, including
Turkish-Armenian relations, constitute an indication of our confidence in
ourselves and our future. I convey my best wishes to all participants and
hope that the Conference will be a success.”