Author: Toneyan Mark

SALARIES AND PENSIONS TO RISE IN NKR

ArmRadio.am
28.12.2006 13:48

Starting January 1, 2007 the minimal salary in NKR will rise,
reaching 20,000 drams insteaad of the current 15,000. According to
the information of the NKR Ministry of Finance and Economy, it is
envisaged to raise the average monthly salary of teachers to 71,000
AMD instead of the current 56,000.

Salaries of the healthcare sysem workers will rise with 10 %, that
of the culture and sport workers will increase with 19 %. The amount
of the average pension will rise with 18 %, reaching 14.352 drams.

Unemployment fees are also expected to rise next year, amounting
12,000 drams instead of 9,000.

HISTORIAN: ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE CLAIMS BOGUS

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Dec 27 2006

Turkey is now being haunted by claims of an Assyrian genocide in 1915
during the country’s relocations.

Bulent Ozdemir, head of the Turkish Historical Society’s (TTK)
Assyrian Studies Section, responded yesterday to a draft report by
Dutch Christian Democrat parliamentarian Camiel Eurlings, in which
she asserted that Turkey should accept Pontic Greek and Assyrian
genocide claims, in addition to those by Armenians.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Ozdemir said that claims
regarding an Assyrian genocide during World War I are groundless and
branded them "bogus" along with the Armenian claims.

Ozdemir said that they had prepared a book on the issue and during
its preparation process they mostly used foreign archive documents
rather than the Ottoman archives to make it more reliable and exact.

"After four months of research at the British National Archives from
November 2004, we made a detailed study at the U.S. National Archives
in May last year," he said. "The results of our meticulous research
show that neither the Ottoman Empire nor today’s Turkish Republic can
be accused of genocide during World War I. Foreign archive documents
strengthen the arguments of Turkey on this issue. Compared to the
Armenian genocide claims these untrue statements about Assyrians can
not trouble Turkey."

Pointing out that Assyrians declared war on the Ottoman Empire at the
beginning of the conflict and fought against the Ottomans along with
Russian and the British soldiers, Ozdemir said that these statements
were expressed in a petition presented by Assyrians at the Paris
Peace Conference.

"They chose a side in the war and combat occurred under the rules
of war. At this point the title of Wigram’s book clearly expresses
the situation: ‘Our Smallest Ally’," Ozdemir said. "At the end of
the Ottoman reign, Assyrians were considered a ‘Trojan horse’ by
Russia, France and the Britain. It’s obvious that they were used by
some nations."

Ozdemir underlined assertions by some historians that the real culprit
for the pain and suffering the Assyrians faced during World War I
were the policies of Russia and the Allies in the region, and their
not fulfilling promises given to Assyrians.

"Today accusations regarding an Assyrian genocide are addressed just
for the sake of politic interests and these accusations twist the
truth," Ozdemir said. "Migrating to the U.S., Australia and Western
European countries after the war for various reasons, Assyrians are
organized and they have formed a diaspora. They use genocide claims
as a means of identity."

Attending a conference on the so-called Assyrian genocide held at
Erciyes University’s History and Culture Club, Ozdemir answered
questions from students.

The assertion that Turkey should accept the so called Pontic Greek
Genocide in addition to the so-called Armenian genocide was in
Eurlings’ draft Turkey Report, which was presented to the European
Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs.

IRANIAN CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS IN IRAN
Soudabeh Sadigh

Cultural Heritage News, Iran
Dec 25 2006

Iranian churches are filled with Christians joining to celebrate
Christmas – Picture Courtesy of Fars News Agency Iranian Christians
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in a somewhat similar fashion as
it is celebrated around the world.

Tehran, 25 December 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) — Decorated Christmas
trees might not be seen in every corner of Iran these days, but the
occasion is celebrated by Iranian Christians every year. This year,
the Iranian Christians have once again prepared themselves to celebrate
the birth of Christ in their homeland by decorating Christmas trees,
exchanging gifts, and attending services.

According to Albert Kochoei, chairman of Assyrian Association of
Tehran or Motva d’ Tehran, considering that Jesus Christ was the
messenger of peace and love, this year Iranian Christians will pray
for the peace and happiness to prevail in the world.

A number of Christian denominations still live in Iran today and
include Assyrians, Armenians, Catholics, Protestants and Evangelical
Christians. Although a minority religious group in Iran, Christians of
Iran are free to practice their religion and perform their religious
rituals.

Christianity arrived in Iran during the Parthian dynastic period
(248 BC- 224 AD). Parthian kings showed great tolerance toward other
religions and Christianity gradually spread in various parts of the
Persian Empire.

The celebration of Christmas on the 25th of December is said to have
originated in ancient Persia and Mithraism and has its roots in the
Mithraist festival of Yalda, the celebration of the birth of Sun God,
Mithra, on the eve of the first day of the winter which falls on 21st
of December.

Over the centuries Mithraism spread to Greece and Ancient Rome via
Asia Minor, gaining popularity within the ranks of the Roman army. In
the 4th century AD as a result of errors made in calculating leap
years and dates, the birthday of Mithra was transferred to 25th of
December. Until then, Christ’s birthday had been celebrated on January
6th by all branches of the Christian Church. However, with the cult
of Mithra still popular in Roman Europe, the Christian Church adopted
many of the Mithraic rituals and proclaimed 25th of December as the
official birthday of Christ. Today the Armenian and Eastern Orthodox
Churches continue to celebrate January 6th, as Christ’s birthday.

"Except for Armenian Christians, other Christian groups in Iran
celebrate 25th of December as the birthday of Jesus. Holding mass
prayers is another ritual that is performed on Christmas Eve in most
Iranian churches," said Kochoei.

According to Dr. Ahmad Nourizadeh who has done a lot of research on
the history of Christians, particularly Armenians in Iran, although
Iranian Armenians who make up the majority of the country’s Christian
population take January 6th as the birth of Christ, large numbers
of Iranian Christians also celebrate the 25th of December along with
other Christians in the world.

Sending an open message to the Christians of the world on the eve
of the auspicious occasion of Christmas, Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad congratulated them on the birthday of "messenger of love
and friendship."

Also to mark the arrival of the Christian New Year, different programs
are organized to be held in the museum of Tehran’s Sa’ad Abad Palace
from 2-4 of January 2007.

Merry Christmas!

ALIYEV’S STATEMENTS WERE BEYOND LIMITS OF CORRECTNESS, RA PRESIDENT’S
SPOKESPERSON DECLARES

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. "We feel pity that the Azerbaijani
President inheriting his father’s post did not inherit his father’s
sense. Logomachy is not an occupation proper to presidents. RA
President’s Spokesperson Viktor Soghomonian said this commenting upon
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s December 21 speech. Ilham Aliyev
had said that in consideration of the current situation in Armenia,
"the Armenian leadership’s last statements are very interesting and
ridiculous: sometimes they are instigating and false." He emphasized
that Karabakh will not receive independence adding that "it is
not late yet to take into consideration Armenian interests "in our
proposals." In his words, "Nagorno Karabakh can be given autonomy,
but in the future it can be deprived even of this." "We have already
got accustomed that Azerbaijani President’s speeches on Nagorno
Karabakh conflict distinguish themselves by aggressive nature. In
all probability, this is a unique way of enhancing one’s own value
and overcoming one’s own timidity. In addition to this, Aliyev’s
statements made in Nakhichevan were beyond limits of correctness,"
the comment said.

GEORGIA REPAIRS PIPELINE, RESTORES RUSSIAN GAS SUPPLY TO ARMENIA

RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 20 2006

TBILISI, December 19 (RIA Novosti) – Georgia said Wednesday it has
restored Russian natural gas supplies to Armenia amid fears the latter
could face gas shortages this winter.

The Georgian Oil & Gas Corporation (GOGC) said it has repaired a
section of the pipeline pumping Russian gas to Georgia and Armenia,
which was damaged by an avalanche in the early hours of December 18.

"The damaged section has been repaired and is undergoing tests,"
company director Alexander Khetaguri said.

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday that Armenia’s underground
gas storage facilities may be empty this winter if Georgia fails to
restore its pipeline pumping Russian gas on time.

"If repair work continues for a long time, Armenia may have no more
gas in its underground storage facilities this winter," the official
spokesman for the state-run natural gas monopoly, Sergei Kupriyanov,
said.

Kupriyanov said the Georgian Gas Transportation Company, a GOGC’s
asset, promised to repair the pipeline Monday but later said it will
take several days.

A reserve branch pumping 1.2 million cubic meters of gas per day is
currently being used to ensure supplies to Armenia, which in the past
received around 10 million cubic meters per day in winter.

FORTY TYPES OF IMPORTED FOODSTUFF MUST HAVE ARMENIAN LANGUAGE MARKING

Armenpress
Dec 20 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS: Robert Dayan, head of
standardization, measurement and compliance certification department
of the trade and economic development ministry, reiterated today that
beginning from January 1, 2007 forty types of imported foodstuff must
have mandatory Armenian language marking.

He said subject to mandatory Armenian language marking are chicken
meat, eggs, meat products, sausages, meat cans, dairy products,
confectionaries, teas and coffees, chocolates, vegetables, jams
and others.

The list of these products was approved by the government in April,
2006. Other imported foodstuffs, not included in this list, will be
subjected to obligatory marking as of June 1, 2007.

Dayan said the marking must indicate the name of the product, its
origin country, city, the name of the manufacturing company, when it
is made and the expiry date, as well as its ingredients. He said the
ministry and customs committee had done a great deal of job to inform
Armenian importers about new regulations.

He said foodstuff with no Armenian language marking will not be
allowed into the country.

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Dec 16 2006

FORBES: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, DEFENSE MINISTER, MINISTER OF TRANSPORT
IN RICHEST TEN IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA-Novosti-Armenia/. Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan, Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan, as well as
Minister of Transport and Communication Andranik Manugyan are among
the ten richest people in Armenia, says an Armenian version of the
"Forbes" magazine presented in Yerevan on Friday.
The aforementioned people rank 7th, 8th and 9th in the list topped by
the President of the Multy Group concern, member of the Armenian
Parliament and Chairman of the "Prosperous Armenia" party Gagik
Tsarukyan. Chief of the RA Customs Committee Armen Avetisyan ranks
2nd, President of MIKA Armenia Trading Miklhail Bagdasarov 3rd, Hrant
Vardanyan (Grand Tobacco) 4th, the Sukiasyan family (SIL concern)
5th, Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharyan 6th . RA Minister of Justice
David Harutyunyan ranks 10th I the list.
The Forbes asked experts to compare Armenia’s richest people with the
world’s tycoons. Opinions differ. Some think that the local ones are
rich according to local criteria. One of the experts stressed that
the financial potential of all the ten cannot compete with that of
the wife of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Other experts say that the
first two can at least compete with the world’s magnates. P.T. -0–

PanARMENIAN.Net

Kofi Annan Offered to Turn to OSCE for Comments on Referendum in Karabakh
15.12.2006 18:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The issue of Nagorno Karabakh is coordinated with
the OSCE, UN former Secretary General Kofi Annan said. According to
him, the UN is an observer in the conflict settlement. `As for the
recent referendum, the UN by no means interferes into the issue and it
would be better to turn to the OSCE for comments,’ Kofi Annan
emphasized, reports Trend news agency.

RA REPRESENTATIVE TO CE CHRISTIAN TER-STEPANIAN APPOINTED HEAD OF AD
HOC REFLECTION GROUP ON RELIGIOUS DIMENSION OF INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE

STRASBOURG, DECEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Ambassador Christian
Ter-Stepanian, RA Resident Representative to the Council of Europe,
was appointed as heas of the Ad hoc reflection group responsible for
considering the objectives of a possible Council of Europe action
concerning the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue. The
group was created on December 14 by the decision of the Council of
Europe Ministerial Committee being based on the priorities stipulated
during the 2005 summit of CE member-states’ leaders. As Noyan Tapan
was informed from RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, over the past two years, being the head of the reporters’
group of CE Ministerial Committee on Cultural and Educational Affairs,
RA Ambassador supported the activity promoted in the sphere of
development of intercultural and interreligious dialogue by CE. The
results of the group’s work will be presented during the CE
Ministerial session to be held in 2007 May.

RUSSIA RANKS SIXTH AMONG THE CIS COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF INDUSTRIAL GROWTH

Agency WPS
Banking and Stock Exchange, Finance, Economics (Russia)
December 13, 2006 Wednesday

Reference: "News", Nezavisimaya Gazeta, December 8, 2006,
p.4. According to the CIS Statistical Committee, Azerbaijan and
Belarus are the leaders in terms of industrial growth from January
till October 2006. Their industrial production increased 38% and
12.2%, respectively, compared with the same period of 2005. Industrial
production in Kazakhstan went up 6.7%, in Tajikistan – 6%, in Ukraine –
5.3%, and in Russia – 4.3%. Industrial production decreased by 12.1% in
Kirghizia, by 7% in Moldavia, and by 0.9% in Armenia. On the average,
the CIS countries increased industrial output by 5.4% from January
till October, 2006 compared with the same period of 2005.