Latvia to promote defense reform in Armenia

LATVIA TO PROMOTE DEFENSE REFORM IN ARMENIA

Pan Armenian News
03.09.2005 04:36

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A delegation of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of
Armenia headed by Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan will be in Latvia
on a working visit September 5-7, reported the Latvian MOD. Latvian
Defense Minister Einars Repse (New Era Party) and Serge Sargsyan plan
to discuss defense cooperation opportunities and sign a respective
agreement. To promote defense reform in Armenia and its compatibility
with the NATO, Einars Repse is going to indicate Latvia’s readiness
to share experience of participation in peacekeeping operations and
provide practical assistance in military training. According to the
data of the Latvian MOD, having become a NATO member, the republic
has seriously assisted the South Caucasian region in security reform:
the Ministry has already arranged close cooperation with Georgia this
year and now the Latvian department works over its development with
other countries of the South Caucasus. Latvia considers the signing
of an agreement on defense cooperation in the course of the Armenian
delegation’s visit an important move to that end, reported IA Regnum.

Hanrapetutyun Party Condoles

HANRAPETUTYUN PARTY CONDOLES

A1+

| 16:43:01 | 01-09-2005 | Official |

Hanrapetutyun Party expressed condolences to U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
John Evans in view of the numerous damages and victims caused by the
hurricane Katrina.

“During these hard days all the civilized society is praying for the
repose of the souls of the innocent victims”, the statements signed
by party chairman Aram Sargsyan says.

France and Belgium publish list of air carriers banned from theirter

FRANCE AND BELGIUM PUBLISH LIST OF AIR CARRIERS BANNED FROM THEIR TERRITORY
SOPHIE NICHOLSON

AP Worldstream; Aug 29, 2005

France and Belgium have issued blacklists of airlines prohibited from
using their airports, in an attempt to allay public fears about flying
after a recent series of deadly crashes.

The French list comprises six companies from the U.S. Virgin Islands,
Thailand, North Korea, Mozambique and Liberia. Belgium’s list released
Monday includes nine airlines from Egypt, Armenia, Congo, Libya,
Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Ukraine and the Central African Republic.

Swiss civil aviation officials said they planned to release a similar
list Thursday.

Proposals for a European blacklist were still working their way
through lawmaking institutions, prompting individual countries to
take action in the meantime.

Starting Sept. 8, different European Union member states will meet in
Brussels to work on harmonizing rules to ban or suspend a company’s
flights, EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said Monday.

Maxime Coffin, test director at the French civil aviation authority,
DGAC, said he hoped the French list would speed up Europe’s
efforts. Though all the airlines had been banned in recent years,
France had never before made a blacklist public.

“We also hope this list will persuade foreign companies who want to
come to France to be more rigorous,” Coffin told a news conference.

Thailand’s Phuket Airways, one of the airlines banned in France,
demanded to know what criteria France used to judge it.

“I really don’t understand what is the meaning of unsafe. Unsafe
for what? Unsafe for operations or unsafe for what? Because we have
never had a serious incident or accident, so I would like to ask back
to the authorities what is the meaning of unsafe?” Captain Chawanit
Chiamcharoenvut, executive vice president of Phuket Air, said at the
company office in Bangkok.

Safety specialists said, however, that because air accidents are
relatively rare, airline records failed to tell the whole story.

In France, many questioned the reliability of the blacklists.

“Publishing lists is completely ineffective,” said Marc Chernet,
president of an association for victims of a Flash Airlines plane
crash in the Red Sea in June 2004. The plane, heading to Paris,
crashed after taking off from Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, killing 148
people, mostly French tourists.

He suggested the French blacklist be replaced with a system of
“security grades” to rank airlines on their overall safety.

“A company that is unable to fly can easily make an agreement to fly
in another company’s name,” he told Europe-1 radio.

Other European countries have rejected national blacklists. The
Netherlands, for example, says such a move should be the result of
a joint effort by the 25 EU countries.

“France and Belgium have announced their decision to publish a
blacklist of unsafe airlines on the Internet. The Netherlands doesn’t
support that,” the Dutch Transport Ministry said in a statement
Monday. Instead, “it wants the European Commission to come up with
a list of airlines that would be banned from the EU air space.”

The French and Belgian measures were announced after a series of five
aviation accidents in the past few months, including one involving a
Colombian-registered charter that crashed in Venezuela, killing 152
French citizens from the Caribbean island of Martinique.

On Saturday, a charter flight from Turkish company Fly Air was
grounded at Paris’ Roissy airport with tire problems and a small fuel
leak. Passengers were either reimbursed or flown out on a different
plane Monday. That company was not on France’s blacklist.

France’s list of banned airlines is: Air Koryo of North Korea; Air
St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands; International Air Services of
Liberia; Thailand’s Phuket Airlines; and Linhas Aereas de Mocambique
and Transairways, both from Mozambique.

On the Belgian list were Africa Lines of the Central African Republic;
Air Memphis from Egypt; Air Van Airlines of Armenia; Central Air
Express from Congo; Libya’s ICTTPW; International Air Tours Limited
from Nigeria; Johnsons Air Limited of Ghana; Silverback Cargo
Freighters from Rwanda; and South Airlines of Ukraine.

The U.S. has a slightly different system that focuses on countries
rather than airlines, and uses aviation safety standards set by
the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations
agency headquartered in Montreal. Twenty-six of the 100 countries
that have been assessed do not meet ICAO standards, most in Africa,
South America and the Caribbean.

Azeri military spending increases

UPI United Press International
August 26, 2005 Friday 2:25 PM EST

Azeri military spending increases

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s Assa-Irada news agency reported that President Ilham
Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s military spending will continue to rise.

During remarks to a ceremony marking the 86th anniversary of
Azerbaijan’s frontier guard troops Aliyev said that in 2005
Azerbaijan’s military expenses rose 76 percent to $300 million,
adding, “I have issued instructions to ensure the growth will
continue next year.

Increasing military potential will affect the conflict settlement.
The Armenian leadership should understand that we will not yield our
land.”

The Azeri government is carefully reviewing its military expenditures
to bring them in line with the overall budget of Armenia. Aliyev
noted that Armenia is not able to compete with Azerbaijan in the
political, economic or military fields and the difference “will be
even greater in the future.” Referring to the country’s booming oil
revenues Aliyev said that Azerbaijan’s surging economic development
will allow it to achieve a peaceful settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper Garabagh conflict, for which strengthening
Azerbaijan’s armed forces will be crucial.

During his address Aliyev emphasized that Azerbaijan is pursuing an
“open-door” policy, as its borders are “a key condition for the
independence of the state. Those trying to enter the country with bad
intentions should know that our state borders are strongly
protected.”

A surprising “yes” to a surprising invitation

A surprising “yes” to a surprising invitation

Hurriyet
Last updated 23:14
24.08.2005

A conference dealing with the question of the Armenian genocide will take
place at Bosphorus University in late September. The conference, entitled
“Ottoman Armenians During the Collapse of the Empire,” will be held
September 23-25, and will feature opening remarks by Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul. The FM has reportedly been invited to open the conference by
Bosphorus University Rector Ayse Soysal.

The “Ottoman Armenians” conference had been originally scheduled for May
2005, but was cancelled due to an overwhelmingly negative reaction in the
Turkish press and among significant political figures. Its postponement led
to much controversy among pundits and in public opinion.

The decision by Gul to speak at the conference had apparently been held
secret by the university as well as conference participants.

Gul himself spoke to Hurriyet, saying “The Rector did call and ask me to
speak. I said that I would, and that there was nothing for us to be afraid
of on this subject…At the time when the first conference was delayed, I
had said that it wasn’t a good thing. There was no need to postpone it. We
could have comfortably discussed this all as a society.”

Erdogan spoke out against the postponement

In a speech proceeding the postponement of the “Ottoman Armenians”
conference in May, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek spoke in Parliament, saying
of the conference “This is stabbing the Turkish people in the back. I wish
that, in becoming Justice Minister, I had not forfeited my right to open a
court case against them.” PM Erdogan later said criticized the postponement
of the conference, saying “It makes no sense that the conference would be
postponed due to the words of the Justice Minister.”

,,sid~381@nvid~621710,00.asp

http://www.hurriyetim.com.tr/haber/0

Boxing: Warning for world champ

FOX SPORTS, Australia
Aug 24 2005

Warning for world champ
By Grantlee Kieza
August 24, 2005

AUSSIE Olympian Hussein Hussein has sparred more rounds with world
champ Vic Darchinyan than any other boxer and says discretion will be
the better part of valour in tonight’s title fight at the
Entertainment Centre.

Darchinyan defends his IBF flyweight crown against Colombia’s pocket
rocket Jair Jimenez and Hussein says his great mate will have to be
careful in the early rounds.

“Jimenez is a dangerous guy,” Hussein said. “He’s a solid puncher and
he throws combinations non-stop.

“Vic is incredibly confident ahead of all his bouts but I’m telling
him not to get careless.

“I just watched Jimenez on tape losing a points decision to a Mexican
named Gerson Guererro and Jimenez had the guy out on his feet in the
opening round. On his night Jimenez can beat anyone in the world.”

Darchinyan, who represented Armenia at the Sydney Olympics, has a
perfect professional record of 23-0, with 18 KOs. Jimenez, a huge
underdog, is 22-4-1, with 16 wins inside the distance.

His trainer Roberto Quesada has coached 11 world champs from his base
in Miami, including Edwin Rosario, Wilfredo Vasquez and Carlos
Maussa, and is confident of making it an even dozen tonight.

“We expect to win,” Quesada said. “Darchinyan is a good world champ
and he beat a good fighter from Colombia, Irene Pacheco, for the
championship.

“We give Darchinyan full respect but Jimenez is a better boxer and
will surprise a lot of people in Australia.”

Hussein, for a long time the WBC’s top-ranked flyweight, faces the
most important moment of his career in Las Vegas on October 8 when he
battles Mexican hero Jorge Arce before an estimated crowd of 15,000.
The pair battled through 10 torturous rounds in Vegas in March with
Arce recovering from an early pounding to take the title by TKO.

“I know what it takes to beat Arce,” Hussein said. “Sparring Vic is
the perfect preparation and if I listen to my corner I can win the
WBC interim title on October 8.”

Hussein’s brother, Nedal “Skinny” Hussein, a world-ranked
super-bantamweight, faces tough Queenslander Mick Shaw at the Auburn
RSL on Friday night.

TV: Darchinyan v Jimenez, Sky Channel, Main Event 7.30pm. TAB
Sportsbet: Darchinyan $1.10, Jimenez $6

European group leader says elections will test Azerbaijan democracy

European group leader says elections will test Azerbaijan’s democracy

AP Worldstream; Aug 23, 2005

The president of a European organization said Tuesday that November
parliamentary elections would test democracy in Azerbaijan, while an
opposition leader accused authorities of seeking to undermine his
campaign by running candidates with the same name.

“The upcoming elections are a test case for your country,” Rene van
der Linden, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, told a news conference at the end of a two-day visit to the
politically tense Caucasus Mountain nation.

Referring to the Nov. 6 elections in Azerbaijan and a constitutional
referendum in neighboring Armenia, he said that “for both countries
it’s a real opportunity to show the international community that you
are willing and able to fulfill the commitments of free and fair
elections.”

Van der Linden also urged Azerbaijan’s opposition to act responsibly
and “approach the elections in the constructive spirit of democracy,”
and called on law enforcement organizations to solve the March slaying
of opposition magazine editor Elmar Huseinov.

Tensions are high before the vote, with opposition groups fearing
fraud on the part of the government.

A leader of the opposition alliance Yeni Siyaset, Eldar Namazov, said
two candidates who shared his name have been nominated to run in his
district _ one a businessman and the other a prison guard _ in what he
called a bid to draw votes away from him by confusing voters.

Accusations of vote-rigging after the October 2003 presidential
election erupted into violence in the oil-rich former Soviet
republic’s capital, Baku.

Vivacel Provides Communication in Vardenis

VIVACEL PROVIDES COMMUNICATION IN VARDENIS
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 23. ARMINFO. The new operator of cellular service in
Armenia, the company VivaCell already provided communication in town
of Vardenis of Gegharkunik region of Armenia, ARMINFO was informed in
the company.

According to the resource, the management of the company understands
the problem to provide a high-quality service in the remote populated
areas of the country.

It should be noted that recently the company started providing its
services in Gegharkunik region of the republic. According to General
Director of VivaCell Ralph Yerikian, the company intends to cover the
whole territory of Armenia with cellular connection till the end of
Oct of 2005.

Armenia, Georgia presidents speak to media after “informal meeting”

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
22 Aug 05

[Presenter] At a businesslike meeting without neckties on Lake Sevan,
the Georgian and Armenian presidents [Mikheil Saakashvili and Robert
Kocharyan] today discussed new prospects for partnership and economic
cooperation. [Passage omitted]

[Correspondent] Among the issues discussed were railways, tourism and
construction projects. There were no major surprises at the talks but
they nevertheless marked a new phase in bilateral relations.

[Kocharyan, speaking to journalists in Russian, with Saakashvili by
his side] I think the range of issues is well known. We did not invent
anything new. In principle, I believe that neighbours should always
find a pretext to meet regularly, at least several times a year, both
formally and informally.

[Saakashvili, in Georgian] The more transport links there are, the
better. For example, we want to have daily flights between Yerevan and
Batumi next summer.

Why have Armenians started to visit Georgia? Because there are no
longer traffic police on the roads to stop them. It means more money
for the Georgian economy and many new opportunities.

Let’s take the food processing industry. Armenia already does this
well, while Georgia is just starting to do it. Here, there are also
many banking structures that operate well. Or take, for example, the
construction industry. At present, far more residential houses are
being built in Yerevan than in Tbilisi. A construction boom is yet to
start in Tbilisi.

We have a lot of potential, a lot of potential that can be used very
well. So, there is a lot here to see, how they do things. There are
many things we can do very well. We must work on all these issues.

[Correspondent] There was one subject the two presidents treated with
caution. How will the Russian president react to their meeting?
Kocharyan was rather diplomatic in his answer to this question from
our journalist.

[Question] Friendship between the presidents of Georgia and Armenia is
essential for peace in the region. Do you think this is also the
opinion of Mr Putin, the president of Russia?

[Kocharyan] I agree that personal relations and friendship between
presidents is an important prerequisite for establishing fruitful
bilateral relations. I understand that President Putin also attaches a
lot of importance to personal relations and contacts. He and I have
developed good, friendly relations.

When I say contacts, I mean tourism, trips, friendship, business and
common interests. All this has to be built. As a rule, all this cannot
be built in a day or two. Although all this can be ruined in a day or
two. [Kocharyan and Saakashvili laugh]

[Correspondent] The informal meeting ended without too much pomp and
ceremony. The [Georgian] president and defence minister left the
residence in the second half of the day.

[Passage omitted]

Turkish researcher sentenced in Armenia for smuggling

Turkish researcher sentenced in Armenia for smuggling

Agence France Presse — English
August 16, 2005 Tuesday 5:32 PM GMT

YEREVAN Aug 16 — An Armenian court on Tuesday handed down a two-year
suspended sentence to a Turkish researcher studying at a US university
for trying to smuggle ancient books out of Armenia.

Yektan Turkyilmaz, from Istanbul, studied ancient local texts at
Yerevan libraries for two weeks but was arrested in mid-June at the
capital’s airport when several 17th-century books, some carrying
library stamps, were discovered in his luggage.

The books’ value was estimated at several million dollars (euros).

The 33-year-old had been facing a maximum five-year prison sentence
or a fine of up to 2,300 dollars.

He left the courthouse a free man after a two-month detention, saying
“I have been and I still am a friend of Armenia”.

He said he would return to the United States to pursue his studies
in anthropology.