Author: Tumanian Talar

ARMENIA, IRAN TO BUILD FUEL PIPELINE – MINISTER

EasyBourse.com
Dec 22 2008
France

YEREVAN, Armenia (AFP)–Construction will begin next year on a pipeline
to deliver gasoline and diesel fuel from Iran to ex-Soviet Armenia,
Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said Monday.

The 300-kilometer (186-mile) pipeline will run from the Iranian city
of Tabriz to the Armenian city of Eraskh, where a receiving terminal
is also to be built, Movsisian said at a press conference.

"Armenia will receive petrol and diesel fuel from the oil refinery
located in the Iranian city of Tabriz through the pipeline,
construction of which starts next spring," he said.

Movsisian said the pipeline would take two years to complete, would
cost $200 million-$240 million and would be jointly financed, with
each country covering half the cost.

He said the project was part of efforts by Armenia to diversify its
energy supplies, in particular after the war in neighboring Georgia
in August disrupted Russian supplies to Armenia.

"In order to guarantee the country’s energy security we are moving
toward the diversification of energy supplies," he said.

Armenia and Iran last year inaugurated a 150-kilometer (93-mile)
pipeline that was supposed to deliver 36 billion cubic metres (1.27
trillion cubic feet) of gas from Iran to Armenia over 20 years. But
it has yet to start operations.

Landlocked Armenia has sought closer links with Iran in recent years.

It suffers from an economic blockade imposed by neighbors Azerbaijan
and Turkey over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region and its efforts to
gain recognition of Ottoman-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

WELCOME TO IWPR’S CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 474, December 23, 2008

THIS IS THE LAST CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE OF 2008. WE WISH ALL OUR READERS A
HAPPY AND PEACEFUL FESTIVE SEASON

COMMENT: THE CAUCASUS: A BROKEN REGION Short-term interests continue to impede
hopes of a broad transformation of this dysfunctional region. By Thomas de
Waal
in London

UNEASY CALM ON SOUTH OSSETIAN BORDER Georgian villagers begin to rebuild as a
fortified frontier is erected. By Dmitry Avaliani in Gori

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COMMENT: THE CAUCASUS: A BROKEN REGION

Short-term interests continue to impede hopes of a broad transformation of
this
dysfunctional region.

By Thomas de Waal in London

The Caucasus region is a small and troubled place. It should be a common
endeavour for its small and diverse nationalities in Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan as well as the Russian North Caucasus to work together to build
an
integrated region.

Unfortunately, no sense of common purpose is discernible: the sad reality is,
that with its tangle of closed borders and ceasefire lines, the Caucasus more
resembles a suicide pact.

Nowhere in the world can there be so many roadblocks. The two long borders
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Russia and Georgia are almost permanently
closed. Only two neighbours – Azerbaijan and Georgia – can be said to have
a
genuinely close relationship and even that is based primarily on energy politics
rather than common values and does not translate into many tangible benefits for
ordinary people.

Yet, given the chance, the ordinary folk of the Caucasus eagerly take the
opportunity to do business with one another. A tale of two markets confirms
this. The first was the one at Ergneti where, right on the administrative border
with South Ossetia, the busiest wholesale market in the Caucasus used to
flourish. The Ossetians brought untaxed goods from Russia – from cigarettes to
cars – to sell. The Georgians mainly sold agricultural produce. Because it
was
unregulated, the new Georgian government of President Mikheil Saakashvili argued
that the market was knocking a big hole in the state budget and had to be shut
down, which they duly did in June 2004.

The closure of the market was a justifiable step on legal grounds, except in
the words of former Georgian conflict resolution minister Giorgy Khaindrava,
"If Ergneti didn’t exist it would have to be invented." Ergneti
was possibly the widest "confidence-building measure" in the entire
Caucasus region, with people of all nationalities doing business. Arguably
the
day it closed was the day the countdown to war in South Ossetia began.

On the Georgian-Armenian border, the Georgian village of Sadakhlo used to be
home to another astonishing spectacle: a mass Armenian-Azerbaijani market on
Georgian territory with virtually no Georgians in sight. Azerbaijanis bought
Armenian produce, Armenians Azerbaijani goods that flooded the shops of Yerevan.
Again, governmental pressures have curtailed the market, although it has not
shut down entirely. Again, a magnificent example of inter-ethnic cooperation has
been suppressed.

What politics drives apart, common economic and security interests should drive
together. The South Caucasus is a delicate mechanism in which the malfunctioning
of one part affects what is going in the others.

That became obvious during this August’s war in Georgia. Azerbaijan’s
prime revenue-earners, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa pipelines, were
shut down. When the Grakali railway bridge in central Georgia on August 16
was
blown up, it also shut the only railway line linking Armenia to the Black Sea
coast, thereby cutting Armenia’s entire imports for a week and costing it at
least half a billion dollars in revenue.

This sad state of affairs is partly everyone’s fault.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have adopted intransigent positions which mean they
have
failed to resolve the biggest obstacle to peace and prosperity in the Caucasus,
the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. Georgia has generally ignored its neighbours and
Russia in its push towards Euro-Atlantic integration. In the words of Georgian
analyst Archil Gegeshidze, one reason for Georgia’s problems is that the
Saakashvili government unwisely "put all its eggs in the basket of
mobilising western support" and did not pay sufficient attention to its
neighbours.

Europeans and Americans, though often paying lip service to the idea of
regional integration in the Caucasus, have generally pursued narrower goals.
Europe’s grand TRASECA project, a communication and transport project
linking the Caucasus to Europe and billed as a new "Silk Road", has
received less than 200 million euro of investment since it was inaugurated
in
1993 and its effects are negligible.

Instead, projects such as NATO expansion, energy security and the claims of
Armenian diasporas have all tended to divide Caucasian policy into different
segments. In Washington, it seems at times that the Congress, the Pentagon
and
State Department all have different policies, with a primary focus on,
respectively, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Moreover, several Washington strategists have suggested that Russia could be
"contained" in the Caucasus, overlooking the fact that the region has
figured in Russian minds and plans for two centuries and that much of the
Russian elite has family or childhood ties to places that westerners barely
know.

For good or ill, Russia still has a special role in the Caucasus. Its own
policies have done it no favours. Russia continues to see the region in colonial
terms, seeking to intimidate or control resources rather than use the soft
power
of trade or – its biggest asset in the region but a diminishing one – the
Russian language, to help form a new and friendly neighbourhood.

People-to-people ties are still in place, often despite the best efforts of
governments. Russians and Georgians are tied together by innumerable ties of
history, culture and business. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians continue
to
work in Russia, despite the August conflict. "[Russian and Georgians]
leaders have tried to wreck a good relationship between two peoples," said
analyst Ivlian Khaindrava.

Previous Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze – who after all ran the foreign
ministry in Moscow in the perestroika years – understood this, even if he was
frequently unable to appease the harder-line elements of the Russian elite
when
he had returned to Georgia as president.

In an interview with IWPR on December 3 in his residence outside Tbilisi,
Shevardnadze said – in a rebuke to his successor – that he had always paid
the
Russians maximum respect. For example, Shevardnadze said, when the decision was
made in 2002 to invite American troops to Georgia as part of the ground-breaking
"Train and Equip" programme, he had been careful to inform President
Vladimir Putin in advance. Putin went on the record to say that an American
troop presence was "no tragedy" for Russia.

"I always tried to emphasise that Russia for us is not a secondary
country, that it is a great neighbour with big military and economic
potential," said Shevardnadze.

Conflict gives birth to black-and-white thinking, the view that if your
opponent is suffering that is a good thinking. In the current crisis, says
Ivlian Khaindrava, "many in Georgia are just keeping quiet and waiting for
the situation in Russia to deteriorate, the oil price to go down, tensions
in
the North Caucasus to escalate."

That approach, he believes, could be a disaster for Georgia, as an economic
downturn in Russia will hurt Georgian migrants and the families back home they
send remittances to, while new violence in the North Caucasus could spill over
into Georgia.

This kind of zero-sum thinking is most acute between Armenians and
Azerbaijanis, many of whom seem content to see their country suffer so long as
the other side in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict is feeling pain too.

It is hard for locals to transcend these divisions. It is up to outsiders to
give the big picture and the broad vision of how the Caucasus could begin to
function more harmoniously, as a political and economic entity rather than
merely a dysfunctional geographical region.

Ultimately, it seems likely that only one big international organisation –
the
European Union – has the transformative power to treat these countries as a
single region and promise them benefits that make it worthwhile for them to
overcome bad habits. The Balkans provides good proof of it.

Sadly, the signs are that the EU is still too distant and too inward-looking to
care sufficiently about the Caucasus. A positive development is that European
monitors are now on the ground in Georgia. But the reason that they are there is
a tragic one and let us hope they become the advance guard of a much broader
engagement – not just confirmation for Europeans that this beautiful mountainous
region is a permanent headache that can never be cured.

Thomas de Waal is IWPR’s outgoing Caucasus Editor. This is the last edition
of Caucasus Reporting Service he has edited, after almost seven years with
IWPR.
The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of IWPR.

UNEASY CALM ON SOUTH OSSETIAN BORDER

Georgian villagers begin to rebuild as a fortified frontier is erected.

By Dmitry Avaliani in Gori

The wounds Georgia has suffered as a result of its August war with Russia are
slowly beginning to heal. Georgians left homeless by the conflict are being
moved into new houses that the government has built for them. But having a
place
to live is less important to these people than a guarantee that they will live
in peace – something no one has given them yet.

Since fighting ended in August, the landscape on both sides of the Tbilisi-Gori
highway has changed considerably. There is a huge new "refugee town"
near the village of Tserovani, and as you travel further towards Gori, more
settlements, smaller in size, come into view. Almost finished now is an entire
refugee town near Gori, on one side of the road that leads to the South Ossetian
capital Tskhinvali. Workers are busy fitting out the small houses with modern
conveniences such as gas heaters and bathrooms.

IWPR happened to chance upon refugees moving into Berbuki – one of the
newly-built encampments, on another road leading from Gori to the village of
Mejvriskhevi on the border with South Ossetia. The Okropiridze family, who
are
refugees from the village of Disevi in South Ossetia, had been living in a
kindergarten in Gori since the conflict. As other members of the family were
unloading their belongings from the bus that had brought them here, Revaz
Okropiridze said that each house in the settlement was fit to accommodate four
people, which meant that his family of six would occupy two houses.

Asked if he liked his new living quarters, Revaz said, "I don’t have
any choice, do I? This is not our fault, nor the government’s. We all know
well who is to blame."

And asked if he had any hope of going back home, he said, "Of course, we
have to hope. We trust the government. If not this year, we will return there in
a couple of years, that’s for sure."

The family’s home village, Disevi, lies just beyond Georgia-controlled
territory. Shalva Okropiridze, head of the family, said some of his fellow
villagers were still creeping into the village, now occupied by Russian and
Ossetian militaries, to see how things were going there. But his own family
could not get close to their own house. "Our apple trees are groaning with
fruit, I wish we could harvest the crop," complained Tanya Okropiridze.

Russian and Ossetian soldiers now have control of all the heights around
Mejvriskhevi. Local farmer Zakro Ginturi shows us a tent pitched on a nearby
hillside and trenches dug around it. A flag is fluttering above the tent, though
we could not tell whether it was a Russian or Ossetian flag.

Ginturi says the villagers have avoided grazing their cattle in pastures and
going out to the woods after the war, for fear of bumping into Ossetian
militiamen.

The population, except for most of the old villagers, left Mejvriskhevi on
the
morning of December 10 and started to come back only after the Russians had
withdrawn from the buffer zones.

There are no visible traces of the war in the village – all the houses are
as
they were before the conflict, having been spared both burning and looting.

Except for a stolen flock of sheep, the village suffered no damage. Zakro was
even able to keep his cows. That Mejvriskhevi suffered less than other villages
during the war was, he said, due to the good relations with residents of the
neighbouring Ossetian village of Gromi.

"We’ve always had good relations with the Ossetians," said
Ginturi. "On Sundays, they would cross over to trade at our market, some
still manage to come here. I’ve been to every family in Gromi. I am a vet
and residents of that village would often ask me for help. They still call
me
now and then, asking for advice, but I don’t go there any more."

He said he avoided crossing over to the Ossetian-controlled territory not
because of the people living there, but for fear of meeting "fighters from
Tskhinvali", from whom he said he could "feel the aggression".

"In 1991, we stopped Georgian militias from entering Gromi," said
Ginturi. "This time, I think, [Gromi residents] intervened on our
behalf."

In Tkviavi, local workers were busy digging a foundation pit for a cottage.
This is going to be a small house with an area of only six square metres, but at
the least the family that will live in it will not winter under the open sky.

The construction of temporary houses is being funded by the government. People,
whose houses were destroyed during the war, are receiving financial compensation
as well.

A total of around 60 houses were burnt down in Tkviavi. The construction of the
cottages that will temporarily replace them was due to be finished by December
20.

The village of Ergneti is right on the border with South Ossetia overlooking
Tskhinvali. Almost all of its houses were burnt. There were few people about.

The Tsereteli family are building a new house themselves, using money and
building materials provided by the government.

"We are building a cottage in our own field, not in the yard, so that we
don’t have to look at the burnt wreckage of our house every day," said
head of the family Akaki Tsereteli. He said he had not been given compensation
yet, but he is not happy with the sum he is likely to receive. "Even fifty
thousand will not be enough to rebuild my house."

The Georgian side of the Ergneti checkpoint is being fortified with a crane
busy lowering breeze-blocks onto the road. A few metres ahead is another post,
also fortified, but sprouting Russian and Ossetian flags. Beyond that is
Tskhinvali.

Ambulance and Red Cross vehicles stand on the new "border", waiting
to take a patient from Tskhinvali for treatment in Gori hospital. A Georgian
officer said that since the war, there have been several cases of people
crossing over from Tskhinvali for medical treatment.

The villagers of Mejvriskhevi and Ergneti, living right on the edge of South
Ossetia, harbour no great hopes that what happened in August will not be
repeated in the future. Some people in Ergneti have even refrained from
repairing their burnt houses or building new ones. "Who knows what awaits
us," one said, complaining that shots are still fired from the direction of
Tskhinvali now and then.

The locals have not taken much encouragement either from the presence amongst
them of European Union and OSCE observers.

"Thanks to international aid, people were able to work their lands in the
autumn," said Mejvriskhevi, a resident Zakro Ginturi. "But we have a
joke here – what if the Russians, as they watch us from their heights, are
saying, ‘You sow, and we will reap’."

Dmitry Avaliani is a journalist with 24 Hours newspaper in Tbilisi.

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CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE provides the international community with a unique
insiders’ perspective on events in the North and South Caucasus. Using our
network of local journalists, the service publishes news and analysis from
across the region every week.

The opinions expressed in IWPR’s Caucasus Reporting Service are those of
the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publication or of
IWPR.

The service forms part of IWPR’s Caucasus programme, which supports local
media development while encouraging better local and international understanding
of the region.

IWPR’s Caucasus programme is supported by the British government, the
Norwegian government, the European Commission and the Finnish government. The
service is currently available online in English and in Russian.

CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE: Editor-in-Chief: Anthony Borden; Managing Editor:
Yigal Chazan; Senior Editor: John MacLeod; Editor Caroline Tosh; Caucasus
Editor: Tom de Waal; Associate Editors: Sofo Bukia in Tbilisi, Shahin Rzayev in
Baku and Seda Muradian in Yerevan.

IWPR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT: Executive Director: Anthony Borden;
Strategy & Assessment Director: Alan Davis; Chief Programme Officer: Mike
Day

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IWPR builds democracy at the frontlines of conflict and change through the
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ISSN: 1477-7959 Copyright (c) 2008 The Institute for War & Peace Reporting

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STAR NETWORK OF SUPERMARKETS ANNOUNCES 10-25% NEW YEAR SALE

ArmInfo
2008-12-22 15:01:00

STAR network of supermarkets has announced 10-25% New Year sale of
a big assortment of products in demand for holidays. STAR Executive
Officer Vahan Kerobyan told ArmInfo in particular, there is sale of
turkey, bacon, strong and other drinks, confectionery. We glad to
offer our ‘consumers all necessary products for fair and accessible
prices. Due to this action, our suppliers have to reduce tariffs
as well. As a result, everyone gains, especially our clients’,
V. Kerobyan said. He said sales volume was up 5 times over the last
week and totaled 200-250 tons of goods daily. All the necessary
measures are taken to timely supply the necessary products.

Logistic center of the network operates 24-hour and the number of
daily visitors of STAR supermarkets reaches 30,000 people. ‘It has
once more proved that STAR reserves its leading positions constantly
improving the service quality’, he said. Kerobyan highlighted that
STAR has renewed the assortment of own products i.e. salads, meat,
bakery, which will be mostly in demand on 29-31 December. He is sure
that the cycle of New Year sale will continue till 4 January. On 5
January a new cycle of Christmas sale will be announced.

There are 12 STAR supermarkets, including one in the regional center
of Hrazdan. In 2009 STAR leadership plans to open another 6-7 big
retail trade points in 2009.

State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
December 19, 2008 Friday

ARMENIAN DIASPORA EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT STRENGTHENING OF AZERBAIJANI
DIASPORA`S POSITION

Baku 19 December

Armenian Diaspora expresses concern about strengthening of Azerbaijani
Diaspora`s position throughout the world, Head of State Committee on
Work with Diaspora Nazim Ibrahimov said at the meeting Azerbaijan –
the East`s Gateway to the World.

According to Ibrahimov, the Azerbaijani Diaspora operates based on
ideological tactics across the world.

Our Diaspora is very sensible on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The
fact that the Diaspora`s position has strengthened will contribute to
the dispute`s settlement, said Nazim Ibrahimov.

TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER MAY OPEN IN 2009
By Hasan Kanbolat

Today’s Zaman
Dec 18 2008
Turkey

The Arpacay River in Anı forms the border between Armenia (R) and
Turkey, closed since 1993 as a consequence of Armenia’s unresolved
conflict with Turkish ally Azerbaijan.

Positive steps followed the rapprochement process between Turkey
and Armenia initiated by President Abdullah Gul, who paid a visit to
Yerevan on Sept. 6 to watch a soccer game.

Secret meetings are being held between the parties in Europe. Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, who arrived in Ä°stanbul on
Nov. 24 as the term president of the Organization of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (BSEC), announced that Armenian President Serzh
Sarksyan will pay a visit to Turkey in October 2009. Nalbandian added
that they were supportive of the normalization of relations without
any preconditions and that they were asking for the opening of the
border on the same terms.

The total length of the Turkish-Armenian border is 325
kilometers. There are two closed gates along this line: the Alican
land border gate and the Akyaka Railway border gate. The first is
located in the village of Alican in Igdır province, while the latter
is in Akyaka in Kars. The former name of Akyaka is Kızılcakcak;
for this reason, the former name of the Akyaka Railway border gate
is the Kızılcakcak gate. This gate, 66 kilometers from Kars,
is publicly known as Dogu Kapı, whereas Armenians call it Ahuryan
gate. In addition to a railway, the gate also includes a byroad.

In the aftermath of the Azeri-Armenian war, which lasted until 1994,
40,000 people had to leave Nagorno-Karabakh and 700,000 left seven
other provinces of Azerbaijan because of the Armenian invasion. As a
result, 13 percent of Azerbaijani people had to survive as migrants
within their own country, 20 percent of which was occupied by Armenian
forces. Thus, Turkey closed its border with Armenia in April 1993
and its air space in 1994. However, it is not accurate to attribute
these moves to Armenian aggression alone. Armenia asserts that the
1920 Treaty of Alexandropol and 1921 Treaty of Kars, which set the
borderline between Armenia and Turkey, are no longer valid. Armenian
also defined Turkey’s eastern territories as western Armenia in its
declaration of independence proclaimed on Aug. 23, 1990. In addition,
the official coat of arms of the Armenian state, as thoroughly
depicted in the second paragraph of Article 13 of the Armenian
constitution, includes Mount Ararat, a part of Turkey. Yerevan also
avoids recognition of Turkey’s territorial integrity.

Why were bold steps taken as late as September 2008 to normalize the
bilateral relations between the two countries despite these thorny
issues? Could the primary reason for this be the European attempt to
relieve Georgia, which has been alienated in the Southern Caucasus
in the aftermath of the war in August? Is it because the West wanted
to take Armenia on its side? The Euro-Atlantic world is resolute
in improving its relations with Armenia, a predominantly Christian
country, after Georgia. Armenian intellectuals also want their country
to be integrated into the West. They ask for a smooth transition
from the system inherited from the Soviet era to a Western-style
parliamentary democracy and institutionalization of a democratic
order where human rights and a free market economy are the dominant
factors. Armenian intellectuals are particularly uneasy about the
ownership of Armenian industries by Russian capital and the heavy
presence of Russian military in the country.

According to the Euro-Atlantic world and Armenian intellectuals,
Armenia’s integration with the West and the democratic world will
be possible if it establishes normal relations with Turkey, which
is ruled by democracy. In addition, according to unofficial figures,
the foreign trade volume between the two countries has increased from
$30 million in 1997 to $250 million in 2008. Considering the current
foreign trade volume of Turkey with Azerbaijan and Georgia and the
current state of Armenian economy, it is obvious that the existing
figures with respect to foreign trade volume between Armenia and Turkey
will not become any better even if the borders are opened. For these
reasons, opening the border gates is a political rather than economic
issue. It is a project that will enable Armenia’s democratization
and its integration with the West.

Armenia will maintain term presidency in BSEC for six months. If
Yerevan is able to take bold steps vis-a-vis Turkey during this period,
Turkey may proceed with opening the closed border gates in 2009. And
if Armenia offers a plausible plan of withdrawal from occupied
Azerbaijani territories and declares that it recognizes Turkey’s
territorial integrity, Turkey will be ready to take reciprocal
steps and moves. Initiation of border trade and establishment of
low-level diplomatic relations may follow the opening of the border
gates. However, if Moscow takes action and pursues new policies
vis-a-vis Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Euro-Atlantic world may be
disappointed. Moreover, considering the rapprochement between Turkey
and Armenia, the Baku administration may take action to mobilize
actors of Turkish domestic politics in an attempt to disrupt Turkey’s
improved relations with Armenia.

In conclusion, it is not logical or meaningful for the Turkish,
Armenian and Azerbaijani people, who have been living together
for thousands of years, to disrupt their common future because
of the relatively insignificant issues that have emerged in recent
decades. The Southern Caucasus needs permanent stability; and peoples
there need peace and welfare.

–Boundary_(ID_sk9QoyIbNNbeFSU95VsBAA)–

USAID TO HELP ARMENIA TRANSLATE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS INTO ARMENIAN

ARKA
Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, December 19. /ARKA/. Armenia will collaborate with USAID in
translating official financial counting standards into Armenian.

RA Deputy Minister of Finance Suren Karayan and Chief of the USAID
Armenia Financial Sector Deepening Project signed a relevant memorandum
today, the RA Ministry of Finance reports.

The document provides for Armenia’s adoption of standards set by IASCF
(International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation).

AZERBAIJANI OIL LOSES ITS IMPORTANCE, A WELL-KNOWN ENERGY EXPERT, PETROS TERZYAN, STATES
by Anna Israelyan

Aravot
Dec 10 2008
Armenia

The Civilitas Foundation held its first event in a Yerevan hotel
yesterday [9 December].The chairman of the Petrostrategy international
consulting company (Paris), Petros Terzyan, lectured on the topic
"Oil – an economic and political factor in the Caucasus".

While introducing him, the founder of the Civilitas foundation, former
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said that Terzyan was an unofficial
aide of the Armenian foreign ministry during his [Oskanyan’s] term
in office. This information gave ground to uncertain doubts, whether
it was not on the basis of information provided by him [Terzyan] that
Armenian top officials had stated that Azerbaijani oil reserves were
extremely exaggerated, and those reserves will deplete soon and so on.

During the lecture, Terzyan said that Kazakhstan’s oil reserves and
exports exceed Azerbaijan’s indications. Then he said that no new
oil deposits had been discovered in Azerbaijan since the collapse
of the Soviet Union. According to Terzyan, the oil extraction in
Azerbaijan will remain at its height up to 2015-20 at best, then a
gradual decrease will start, as it happens in all countries: "At the
moment, when Azerbaijan reached its golden age in the sense of oil
– the prices went down. This is interesting – currently Azerbaijan
is less important for the global oil market both in an economic and
political sense than six months ago.

"That is – the world needed the Azerbaijani oil at the beginning of
this year more [than now], it needed it two years ago; the world could
not go without Azerbaijani oil in 2005, as there was no other resource
– they needed every drop of it. However now, as the consumption
has decreased while the abundance of oil in the world continues to
increase – there will be no panic in the world if Azerbaijan stops
producing oil."

While answering a question whether we [Armenia] can become a transit
country with the construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, Mr
Terzyan said, first of all, that this structure is one of Armenia’s
biggest victories, as we finally have a second source of gas supplies
[beside the Russian gas]. He said, however, that he does not believe
that we will become a transit country: "There are big political issues
to solve so that Armenia becomes a transit country. Especially, that
we will have conflicts and differences of interests with Russia in
that case. The Russian Federation understood very well the importance
for Armenia to have a gas link with Iran. However, if tomorrow the
Iranian gas is directed to regions, where the Russian gas is supplied –
this issue will not be in mind anymore." Besides, he believes it is
open to question for whom Armenia should become a transit country
as Georgia already has "at least two sources [of gas supplies] –
Azerbaijan and Russia".

Hollywood Shooting Kills Father, Daughter

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — An investigation is under way into the killings of a
43-year-old man and his 8-year-old daughter, both found shot in the head in
their Hollywood apartment.
The killings did not appear to be a murder-suicide, said Officer Jason Lee
of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The Coroner’s office released the victims’ names: Khachik Safaryan, 43, and
his daughter Lusine Safaryan, 8.
The bodies were found in the 1200 block of Tamarind Avenue near Hollywood
Boulevard about 3:15 Thursday afternoon by the man’s 15-year-old daughter,
Lee said.
The child’s body was on a sofa, while her father was found in another room.
There was no evidence of forced entry, according to KCAL9.
Police discovered that the family’s car, a white 2008 Infiniti with
California license plate 6DQV763, had been moved a few blocks from the
residence, Lee said.
It was unclear who moved the vehicle, but Lee said it would be part of the
investigation.

CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

SYNOPSIS TO START NEW EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM IN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

Panorama.am
19:14 12/12/2008

Today the students and the professors’ staff of Polytechnic Institute
of Armenia had a meeting with the representatives of "Synopsis Armenia"
CSJC. During the meeting the cooperation between the institute and
the company has been discussed, as well as some education questions
for starting new educational program 2009-2010, reported the public
relations department of the Institute to Panorama.am.

"Institute-Production model is an effective one which stimulates
the preparation of specialists corresponding to the IT demands of
Armenia. Being a leader of IT in the world, "Synopsis" signifies
the implementation of university programs and does investments
in the educational system of Armenia for its development and
modernization. Implementation of this education program in Polytechnic
Institute is one step of the company to help the local government
to develop the quality of IT specialists," said Hovik Musayelyan,
the executive director of "Synopsis Armenia" company.

AZERBAIJAN SHOULD RESOLUTELY DEMAND CONCRETE RESULTS FROM MINSK GROUP: FIRST VICE-SPEAKER

Trend
Dec 12 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 12 /TrendNews, J.Babayeva/ Azerbaijan should
resolutely demand concrete results from the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group.

"We should continue work of the OSCE Minsk Group and demand concrete
results in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from them,"
Ziyafat Asgarov, the first vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament,
told journalists on Dec. 12.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988, due to the Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven neighbouring
districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement
which ended the active hostilities. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding the peaceful
negotiations.

Activity of the Minsk Group was not efficient within several years,
Asgarov said. "The Minsk Group states that the conflict sides should
find common language and they can only put forward their proposals. If
we can find a common language with Armenia, then why we need the OSCE
Minsk Group. The Minsk Group should react to Armenia’s non-fulfillment
of the U.N resolution and non-liberation of the Azerbaijani occupied
lands," the vice-speaker said.