Author: Nalbandian Eduard

AZERBAIJAN UNHAPPY WITH RUSSIAN WEAPONS STATIONING ON ARMENIAN BORDER

Azeri Press Agency
Dec 7 2006

Idzhevan, 7 December: [Russian] military hardware withdrawn from
Georgia, including armoured personnel carriers, part of the infantry
fighting vehicles, and small arms, have been deployed in military
units in the districts of Idzhevan, Tavush and Vardenis on Armenia’s
border with Azerbaijan, APA has learnt from military sources.

There is no information as to whether the hardware and small arms have
been handed over to the Armenian armed forces. Agreement is expected
to be reached soon to allow the Armenian military to use the hardware.

The head of the Defence Ministry press service, Col Ramiz Malikov, told
APA that they condemned this step by Russia. Malikov said that they are
aware of the stationing of the Russian weapons and part of the military
hardware on the territory of Armenia and the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, the conflict zone. He said that international organizations
have been informed about this: "This step is having a negative impact
on the negotiating process, making the military situation in the
South Caucasus tense and upsetting the military balance."

PROPER BODIES SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT EXPIRATION OF PAPER SUPPLIES IN COUNTRY EARLIER, JOURNALIST ORGANIZATIONS CONSIDER

Noyan Tapan
Dec 06 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN. A number of Armenian newspapers
have appeared in a complicated situation due to absence of paper
for printing: some newspapers will have to print the newspaper on
more expensive paper and anothers have not found any solution to
the problem yet. As Astghik Gevorgian, Chairwoman of the Union of
Journalists of Armenia, estimated, no one has the right to deprive
the public of the possibility of using press and every one should
demand from the authorities that they provide paper necessary for
printing the newspapers. At the discussion organized on December
6, A.Gevorgian emphasized that this situation is the result of the
fact that a monopoly exists in the sphere of importing paper to the
country, too: two or three companies are engaged in paper import. As
Nikol Pashinian, editor-in-chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak daily,
characterized, there are some people who consider themselves to be of
"first sort:" in this case he meant the Director of the Tigran Mets
publishing-house who informed them about the formed situation only
through the Hayastani Hanrapetutiun daily. In the words of Hakob
Avetikian, editor-in-chief of the Azg daily, as paper is strategic
goods, so the proper bodies should have thought about replenishment of
paper supplies earlier. At the same time, he said that this problem
will be solved no later than in 10 days. And before this the Azg
newspaper will be printed at Noyan Tapan publishing-house on more
expensive paper not intended for newspapers. H.Avetikian considers
the issue of organizations spreading newspapers as more important for
printed media. In his words, considerable part of these organizations
is indebted to newspapers and it is not excluded that they will be
declared bankrupts in the future. Nune Sargsian, Director of Yerevan
Office of Internews organization, proposed that newspapers be spread,
reported through TV companies. Meanwhile, she found it difficult to
say, for instance, what TV company will spread the Haykakan Zhamanak
newspaper.

ARMENIA DOES NOT WANT ANY COURT FOR GENOCIDE CLAIMS

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Dec 5 2006

ANKARA (JTW) Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated in an
interview with the Turkish daily New Anatolian that "each day Armenia
and Turkey miss a chance to establish bilateral relations".

In Oskanian words, "Turkey unfortunately does not want to establish
diplomatic relations equally with all three Caucasus nations and play
a more constructive role". He added "So that opportunity was missed.

The second opportunity has come out as closer cooperation with the
European Union. At the same time that Turkey is negotiating its EU
accession, today Turkey has the opportunity to play a role as a
bridge between the Caucasus and Europe. That opportunity is also
is being missed, but the biggest opportunity that we’re missing
is the interaction between our two peoples. Fifteen years have
passed (since Armenia declared its independence in 1991), and no
interaction is seen on the border. Our peoples do not know each other
well and old memories are being reinforced, our focus today is the
wrong focus. We have got to focus on new relations, open borders,
establishing diplomatic relations and that is what I mean by saying
missed opportunities". Turkey last year called Armenia to establish
a joint commission to discuss the historical disputes, yet Armenian
rejected the offer arguing "there is nothing to be discussed".

Commenting on the Turkish Government’s intention to bring an action
and the International Court on the issue of the Armenian Genocide,
the Armenian FM Oskanian said, "For us, there is no court case, we
will never talk about this, because we grew up with the real evidence,
our parents and our grandparents. That living evidence of this tragedy,
survival of Genocide, I am the son of one them. So for Armenians there
has never been an issue where we ourselves have to prove this by going
to court, that this Genocide happened. The question for us is to get a
political solution. Because the issue is neither historical nor legal,
it is political. And Turkey has politicized this by pursuing a policy
of denial at the state level."

However Turkish experts argue that the ‘genocide’ accusation is a
legal matter. Dr. Nilgun Gulcan for insatance argues that "Armenia
knows that they have no chance in legal area". She continued as:

"Genocide, like murder, a crime. It is a legal matter. You cannot
accuse anyone without any verdict. You have to go to a court if
there is a crime. But the Armenians have always gone to the political
institutions like the parliaments. Oskanian says that he grew up with
the real evidence. ‘Real evidence’ means just the stiories of his
grand mother and father. The old Armenians never spoke how many Turk
they killed. They just spoke about the suffereings. Anatolia was full
of sufferings at that time. Not only the Armenians but also the Turks
suffered a lot. More than half a million Muslims were slaughtered by
the armed Armenian groups. We also grew up with the real evidence. Our
grand parents also told us how the Armenian attacks were bad, how
many Turkish babies were murdered by the Armenians, how many Turkish
women were raped by the Armenian criminals etc. Of course there is a
need to go to a court. And I think Turkey fisrt should apply a court
for the Turkish and Kurdish genocide committed by the Armenians."

MOUSHAKAN VILLAGE "IS LOST" IN GARBAGE

A1+
[12:51 pm] 05 December, 2006

"We haven’t got sewerage systems, there are no rubbish bans in the
village, the irrigation water is polluted. Besides, we rarely have
drinking water", claimed one of the inhabitants of the village of
Moushakan while complaining of the living conditions.

"The garbage and waste thrown into the streams is a real source of
infection, the hygienic conditions are poor and very often violated
but nobody takes any measures in this respect".

Moushakan has been inhabited since 1950 and it is only two km drive
from Yerevan. But civilization couldn’t overcome this short distance
and penetrate into the village which has got over 500 families.

The village hasn’t got common sewerage. Some of the village residents
have built sewage systems on their initiative directing the pipes to
the nearby gulf.

Others, who couldn’t afford such expenses, connected the pipes with
the stream, the water of which is used for garden watering. By the way,
while representing the problems the village encounters, the inhabitants
refrained from mentioning their names fearing further consequences.

"People throw the garbage and waste into the stream and the water flows
into our homes", says one of the villagers and adds, "We have turned
to the village head several times but nothing has been changed so far".

"We are frequently deprived of running water, especially in summer when
it is so important. And whenever we are lucky to have running water
we turn on the taps for half an hour as the water is mixed with sand".

When we tried to clear up the situation from the local company,
they only promised to see to the problem as soon as possible.

Alongside with the water problem, the village inhabitants face other
problems today. "Children have nowhere to play. There aren’t any
grounds, sports schools, cultural centers in the village. The streets
are full of heaps of litter which is dangerous to the health of both
children and adults," claims one of the inhabitants who is worried
about her children’s future well-being.

The inhabitants have so many problems that they have already forgotten
about the issue of the telephone.

Many of them haven’t even got telephones at homes; their applications
have been turned down on the ground that the telephone station is
under repair.

TAX REVENUES GROW BY 19.8% IN JANUARY-OCTOBER 2006 ON SAME MONTHS OF LAST YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Dec 04 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-October 2006, tax
revenues of the RA state budget made more than 285 billion drams
(about 670 million USD), as a result of which the annual program on
collection of tax revenues was executed by 79%. According to the RA
Ministry of Finance and Economy, the revenues increased by 19.8% or
47 billion drams on the same period of 2005, with high growth rates
being registered with respect to all types of taxes as a result of
economic growth and improved administration, as no amendments to have
considerable impact on budgetary revenues have been made in the tax
legislation this year. In 2006, the tendency of growth in direct taxes
(profit tax, income tax) continued, thanks to which the structure of
tax revenues improved compared with the same period of last year. The
share of direct taxes (profit tax, income tax) in the tax revenues
grew by 4.3% – from 24.2% in January-October 2005 to 28.5%. At the
same time, the share of indirect taxes (VAT and excise tax) declined
from 60.4% to 56.5%.

SWEDISH PARLIAMENT DISCUSSING THE ISSUE OF THE COMMUNAL GRAVE FOUND IN TURKEY

ArmRadio.am
04.12.2006 15:02

Swedish leftist MP Hans Linde presented an inquiry to the legislative
body of the country connected with the communal grave found in Turkey
on October 17, which, according to Swedish historian David Gaunti, is
the grave of 270 Armenians and Assyrians murdered at the Instruction
of Young Turk leader Halil Edip.

"Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" newspaper reports that before December 6 the
Swedish Parliament will discuss the above-mentioned inquiry. According
to the source, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, who is due to
respond to the inquiry, has demanded reports from Swedish diplomatic
representations in Ankara and Istanbul. Commission formed of diplomatic
representatives of Sweden will visit Ksirabebaba village to investigate
the case.

No study of the case has been launched in Turkey so far. According to
the same source, Turkish army officers have instructed to close the
entrance of the cave where the grave was found. Turkish soldiers do
not allow journalists to enter the cave, and dwellers of the village
have been prohibited to show the way to the cavern. Recently, local
Police told mass media representatives that the grave has been covered
with soil.

NATURAL DRIFT TO NATO
by Victoria Panfilova
Translated by A. Ignatkin

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, December 1, 2006, p. 3
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
December 4, 2006 Monday

RUSSIA’S ZONE OF INFLUENCE WITH POST-SOVIET NEIGHBORS IS SHRINKING; The
Baltic states, Ukraine and Georgia are facing an essentially open door
into NATO; Azerbaijan will be in the same position soon. There will
be a cordon sanitaire around Russia, like the cordon the international
community formed around the Bolshevik state in the early 20th century.

Known as the Baku Corps, a crack unit of the Azeri regular army,
is shifting to NATO standards. The news took Moscow by surprise. For
years already Azerbaijan has promoted a well-balanced foreign policy,
advancing relations with NATO but knowing better than unduly advertise
them.

Moscow needs Azerbaijan – and therefore promotes relations with it
in all fields and spheres, including military-political contacts.

Whether it does or not, positions of Russia in Azerbaijan – and
throughout the region in general – seem to have weakened. Imperial
aspect of Russian presence in the southern part of the Caucasus is
history now. The attempts to restore influence with the region through
economic ties proved more disappointing than successful.

Baku appears to understand that membership of neighbor Georgia in
NATO is practically a foregone conclusion, that it is but a matter
of time now, and that everything will be decided by the United States
(the prime agent of NATO’s expansionist policy). Georgia’s membership
in NATO will mark the beginning of a spread of NATO’s influence with
this part of the Caucasus – and farther into the Central Asia. Once
the process is under way, Russia may forget about restoration of its
military-political influence.

The step Azerbaijan has done in NATO direction is quite natural and
reasonable from this standpoint. Once the Georgian issue is settled,
Baku will become in the region the principal claimant for advanced
relations with NATO and for full membership in it at some later date.

Hence the elite unit’s transition to NATO standards as an element
of preparations for this distant future. Along with everything else,
Azerbaijan is determined to master new types of weapons and develop
its defense industry and army. No wonder speculations on the necessity
of new military bases in the republic are so frequent in Azerbaijan
nowadays.

Moscow is not enthusiastic about this. Azerbaijan knows all too well,
however, that the Kremlin may also grumble but cannot actually do
anything to prevent it from happening. Sweetening the bitter pill,
Baku never misses a chance to emphasize its readiness to advance
and broaden economic contacts with Russia. Indeed, Russian companies
enjoy preferential treatment in Azerbaijan. These two vectors when
political bearing points are in the West and socioeconomic in the
North allow for a balanced policy in general.

It stands to reason to expect promotion of military ties with NATO and
economic with Russia will become a strong argument in Baku’s arsenals
in the future debates over the Nagorno-Karabakh status. On the other
hand, Armenia sees what is happening as well. It is already taking
measures. Its military-political strategic alliance with the Kremlin
retained, official Yerevan is advancing relations and contacts with
Brussels – slowly but surely.

The Baltic states, Ukraine and Georgia are facing an essentially open
door into NATO; Azerbaijan will be in the same position soon. There
will be a cordon sanitaire around Russia, like the cordon the
international community formed around the Bolshevik state in the
early 20th century.

OSCE MISSION REGISTERED A GUNSHOT FROM AZERI POSITIONS

ArmRadio.am
04.12.2006 16:00

According to an earlier agreement with NKR authorities, the OSCE
Mission carried out the recurrent monitoring at the contact line of
the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, to the East from
Seysulan settlement of Martakert region.

Press Service of NKR MFA told ArmInfo that from the positions of the
NKR Defense Army the monitoring was carried out by field assistants
of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-In-Office Peter
Kii (Great Britain), Miroslav Vimetal (Czech Republic) and Jaslin
Nurtazin (Kazakhstan). The monitoring was held in compliance with the
predetermined schedule. However, like the previous times the Azeri
side did not lead the OSCE observers to its front positions. Besides,
a few minutes before the end of the monitoring the participants of the
monitoring registered a gunshot from the right wing of the positions
of Azerbaijani armed forces. There are no victims.

>From the Karabakh side the OSCE Mission was accompanied by
representatives of NKR Foreign and Defense Ministries.

Panorama.am

15:51 30/11/06

INTERNEWS SUBMITS A CONCEPT PAPER ON TV AND RADIO LEGAL REGULATION

In a regular event of Internews today the organizers
had to submit a concept paper on TV and radio
broadcast legal regulation to TV station company
heads. Only two companies were present at the event,
Shant and Yerkir Media. It seems that the company
heads must have been interested in the concept paper
which Internews developed after winning a grant. `May
be they are not very interested in the issue,’ David
Sandukhchyan, Internews legal department head, said.

`All TV companies must be treated equally,’
Sandukhchyan said presenting the concept paper. He
also said national committee on TV and radio must be
independent both financially and in terms of
management up to the maximum.

The two TV company heads, present at the event, were
concerned with the provision in the concept paper
which says no limits must be imposed on the number of
companies that may emerge. `We serve a bad lesson to
the Armenian TV broadcast by that. Times have passed
when TV companies may operate based solely on video
recordings. Year by year their number must be reduced
by imposing requirements on them,’ Yerkir Media
company head says.

The head of Shant TV company, Arthur Yezekyan, said no
limitations must be put on advertising. He was
interestingly amazed why some people want to restrict
the promotion of alcohol. `There was never alcohol
dependency in Armenia,’ he said. It’s interesting if
he ever knows the level of influence TV has on
people’s minds.

The concept paper will be submitted to government
after it is discussed with other interested TV
companies. /Panorama.am/

Church Times, UK
Dec 1 2006

UK plan for Bethlehem boost
by Helen Saxbee and Gerald Butt, Middle East Correspondent

THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury is to take part in a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land in the week before Christmas. Dr Williams will join the
other presidents of Churches Together in England: Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O’Connor; the Free Churches Moderator, the Revd David Coffey;
and the Primate of the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Rt Revd Nathan
Novhannisian. The group is to visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem between
20 and 23 December.

The four are to meet patriarchs in Jerusalem at the beginning of the
visit, but are also planning to spend time with local people,
including young people and children, to show solidarity with the
churches in Israel and Palestine. It is hoped that the trip will
include an ecumenical service in the Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem.

When the four church leaders reach the Holy Land, they can expect an
enthusiastic response from the Christian community, which shares the
exhaustion and despair of the Palestinian community as a whole. The
difficulties of daily life – made worse for many by the barrier built
by Israel along the edge of the West Bank – have been compounded in
the minds of many Christians by the continuing political success of
Islamic groups in Palestine and elsewhere in the region. As a result,
the exodus of Christians from the Middle East is continuing.

Dr Mitri Raheb, at the International Centre of Bethlehem, a
Lutheran-based ecumenical institution, said he hoped that the
pastoral visit by British and Irish church leaders would focus the
minds of Christians worldwide on the difficulties faced by the
congregations in the Holy Land. Dr Raheb said that their presence
would `give a signal to many Christians, from the United Kingdom and
beyond, that it is essential, and also possible, to embark on a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land and meet with the living stones’.

In Dr Raheb’s view, the media coverage of the pastoral visit might
help to shed light on the realities of life in the Holy Land:
`Bethlehem is now surrounded by a wall and turned into a big prison.
The future of the city is at stake.’

In a reference to divisions within Christianity, which also affect
Palestinian Christians, Dr Raheb said he hoped that the visit would
`send out a message in support of stronger ecumenical collaboration’.

Method acting The Nativity Story (above), released today and
premièred last Sunday at the Vatican, stars a 16-year-old girl as the
Virgin Mary, writes Rachel Harden. Reports this week say she is
pregnant.

The part-Maori actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was nominated for an
Oscar for her role in the 2002 film Whale Rider, did not attend the
première; nor did the Pope. A Vatican spokesman said that the Pope
had never intended to be present, as he was preparing for his trip
this week to Turkey.

The actress (left in picture, with Hiam Abbass, who plays Anna) is
believed to be expecting her first child in the spring. Mgr Melchor
Sánchez de Toca y Alameda, deputy to Cardinal Paul Poupard at the
Pontifical Council for Culture, which hosted the première, told The
Times that Ms Castle-Hughes was not expected to be a saint herself,
only to do her work as an actress properly.

According to its website, the film, made in the village of Matera in
Italy, has been checked by theologians and historians for
authenticity.