Author: Varosian Antranik

MP ASSEF HAJJIYEV: NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT DISCUSSED IN MOSCOW
Author: A. Ismayilova

TREND, Azerbaijan
Nov 14 2006

The Congress of Local and Regional Powers of the Congress of Europe has
discussed the Karabakh Conflict issue and considered it as a threat
to the whole the Black Sea region, Assef Hajjiyev, a Member of the
Azerbaijani Parliament (Milli Majlis), who gave a speech during the
above-mentioned event, told Trend.

Mr. Hajjiyev said that in his speech, he touched upon cooperation
both in the Black Sea region and existing problems, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. "I pointed out that this conflict had its
influence on many factors, on the development of the region, in
particular. He also touched upon project Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
and pointed out that the conflict is a real threat to this project as
well", the Azerbaijani MP stated. He stressed that the international
community ought to express its opinion on this issue. "This terrorism,
this separatism is a threat not only to Azerbaijan but also to all
the countries of the Balck Sea region", said Mr. Hajjiyev.

In his speech, Mr. Hajjiyev also touched upon the municipal elections
held in Azerbaijan on October 6, 2006, and informed participants of
the meeting about the official returns of the elections.

ARMENIA – NKR INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION COMMISSION’S CURRENT SITTING TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 20 – 21

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Nov 14 2006

The issues referring to the harmonization of the legislation in the
sphere of economy, the peculiarities of economic situation in the NKR
will be considered in the course of the sitting, the Chairman of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic National Assembly Permanent Commission for
Foreign Affairs Vahram Atanesian told DE FACTO Agency. Besides, the
Parliamentarians will share the experience of bringing the legislation
in line with the Constitution’s requirements.

Vahram Atanesian also said the consultations on the conflicts’
settlement and regional cooperation would be conducted. Within the
consultations’ frames the Karabakh deputies will familiarize themselves
with the experience of the RA Parliamentary delegation’s work at the
European structures.

NETHERLANDS AWARDS HRANT DINK

Zaman, Turkey
Nov 13 2006

A Dutch international aid organization, Oxfam Novib, announced that
Hrant Dink, the editor in chief of Istanbul-based Turkish-Armenian
newspaper Agos, has been awarded with this year’s "Pen Awards".

A statement from the organization reiterated that this award was
given to authors or artists under pressure and facing censorship in
different countries every year.

With this award, the organization wanted to support Hrant Dink
financially and morally in his work.

Dink has been in and out of Turkish courts in the past year for
spoken out on sensitive subjects like the Armenian genocide and ethnic
identity in Turkey.

ALGERIAN PREMIER URGES FRANCE TO ADMIT ITS COLONIAL "CRIMES"

Algerian Radio, Algiers,
12 Nov 2006

Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem was yesterday the guest of the
TV Forum during which he dealt with political, security and economic
issues in addition to Algerian relations with France and Morocco.

More details by [TV correspondent] Nacera Menane:

[Menane – recording] Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said the
implementation of the charter on peace and national reconciliation had
achieved positive results due to the return of security and stability
to every corner of the country. He denied that there were obstacles
in implementing the procedures of the charter on peace and national
reconciliation. Belkhadem said the security forces had eliminated some
17,000 terrorists since the beginning of terrorism in Algeria [1992].

Regarding responsibility towards the destitute families of the
terrorists, the prime minister said that social investigations had
numbered 10,346 and that the study 6,052 files was completed, of
which 3,769 were accepted.

With regard to the issue of the missing persons, the prime minister
said the unveiled cases of the missing persons had reached 6.601.

Regarding the situation of the [state-sponsored militia] self-defence
groups, Abdelaziz Belkhadem said Algeria would not abandon its sons,
particularly those who had confronted terrorism, whose sacrifices
need to be acknowledged.

On the possibility of some officials of the banned party [Islamic
Salvation Front, FIS] resuming political activities, the prime
minister reminded of the fact that the texts of the charter on peace
and national reconciliation were clear on the issue. Such texts do
not allow anyone who was behind the national tragedy to return to
the political scene.

With regard to the economy, Belkhadem said Algeria had recorded
positive economic and financial results between 2000 and 2006, through
a yearly-average growth rate estimated at five per cent and inflation
rate of less than two per cent.

On rural development, the prime minister said the government was
busy preparing a plan for establishing 950 rural municipalities in
coordination with the Ministries of Interior and Local Authorities
and Agriculture and Rural Development. He pointed out to two huge
projects to supply the entire country with electricity and gas.

On the Algerian-Moroccan relations, the prime minister reiterated
Algeria’s willingness to work with Morocco in a way to serve the
interests of our two countries. He also reiterated Algeria’s attachment
to the Arab Maghreb Union [AMU].

The prime minister also touched on relations between Algeria and France
as well as other issues relating to the constitution, corruption, the
phenomenon of kidnapping, racketeering and attacks on properties. [End
of recording].

Responding to journalists’ questions on the issue of national
reconciliation, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said national
reconciliation cannot be restricted to figures but it is a moral
issue which aims to lead the country towards security and the end of
the spiral of violence in a way to settle the issue radically.

Belkhadem provided full details on the outcome of the policy of
national reconciliation and he revealed the latest figure of the
missing persons. He also spoke about issues which had been settled
and other issues which continue to wait for a solution.

Terrorism and missing persons

[Belkhadem – recording] The law which was issued following the charter
on peace and national reconciliation had set deadlines. At the end
of these deadlines, cases of missing persons numbered 6.601.

By the end of August, the number of persons who had received a
court verdict, on this issue, was 3,610 cases. The number of minutes
surveyed and presented by the concerned authorities on the missing
persons is as follows: By the National Gendarmerie 3,630 and by the
national security [police] 1,336. The number of verdicts received by
the legal authorities was 3,041 cases and the number of cases settled
after all the conditions of the files were completed was 965 cases.

Still with regard to the missing persons, 297 cases were turned down.

[End of recording].

The prime minister also provided figures on the number of terrorists
eliminated during the Dark Decade [1990s], which resulted in
destitute families; an issue dealt with by the charter for peace
and national reconciliation and confirmed by Gendarmerie and police
investigations. The prime minister, once again:

[Belkhadem] With regard to terrorists, 16,903 had been killed. The
number of death certificates presented by the National Gendarmeries
was about 4,800 and by the police 4,460. The decree, however, refers
to destitute families of killed terrorists. This means that not all
families [of terrorists] will benefit, but only the destitute families
as was stated by the charter on peace and national reconciliation and
as was stated by the law. There are 10,346 social investigations to
find out whether these families are destitute or not. The outcome
of the final investigations at the end of August was 8,196. The
provincial committees dealt with 6,052 of these files and 3,769
were accepted. The investigation of 314 files was delayed in order
to complete fact-gathering process; while 1,900 files were turned
down. [End of recording].

Kidnapping and other crimes

On the spread of crimes, racketeering and kidnapping, the prime
minister said the security services are currently working in every
corner of the country – according to preventive directives – to
confront this phenomenon and to use the force of the law against those
who try to racketeer citizens and illegally seize their properties.

[Belkhadem] Kidnapping is followed by a demand for a ransom. This
is a new phenomenon as far as the Algerian society is concerned. In
recent months we have seen this phenomenon exacerbating in one of the
country’s regions. Now, the security services have taken measures to
confront this phenomenon, as is the case with other phenomena which
have been exacerbated such as physical attacks, theft, theft of mobile
phones and attacks on properties. At times there are even attacks on
banks both at night and in broad daylight. Our security services are
being trained to confront these diseases. [End of recording].

Relations with France

The recent tension in relations between Algeria and France, due to
the law glorifying French colonialism, was dealt with by the prime
minister in his interview. He said Algeria wanted equal and strong
relations with France; relations between two sovereign states.

Belkhadem urged French politicians to admit and not to overlook the
history of a colonialist period during which crimes were committed.

[Belkhadem] We want equal relations between two sovereign states
in the service of their common interests. Algeria and France share
common interests. Now, how are we going to deal with each other? Yes,
we do business with one another but without forgetting the past.

Nobody can forget his past. We tell our French partners that we are
fully ready to improve relations in the interests of the two peoples,
with conditions that you admit the crimes you had committed during
the colonial period. For instance, I have heard HE president of the
French Republic when he visited Turkey. He spoke to the Turks on the
Armenians. He told the Turks that a state becomes great when it admits
its actions. It is appropriate for the president of the French Republic
that France admits the crimes it had perpetrated. [End of recording].

Referendum

Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the National Liberation Front’s
[FLN] Executive Committee Abdelaziz Belkhadem revealed yesterday,
during a meeting of the leaders of the residential Coalition [FLN,
Democratic National Rally, RND, and Movement of Society for Peace,
MSP], that the referendum on constitutional amendment will be held
during the period when the RND chairs the Presidential Coalition,
which started yesterday and will end on 14 February of next year.

The three political parties have referred the decision on this issue
to the president of the republic in his capacity as the first judge
of the country.

Daily Star – Lebanon
Nov 11 2006

Beirut’s real-life version of ‘The Yacoubian Building’

By John Ehab
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, November 11, 2006

BEIRUT: Longtime residents of Beirut could be forgiven for reacting
to the popularity of "The Yacoubian Building" – the bestselling novel
written by Alaa al-Aswany and the blockbuster film adaptation
directed by Marwan Hamed – with some confusion. Aswany’s book and
Hamed’s movie concern the iconic status of a 70-year-old neoclassical
building on Talaat Harb Street in Downtown Cairo. Erected by
Armenian-Egyptian businessman Nichan Yacoubian in the 1930s, the
once-grand building fell on harder and harder times in the 1960s,
when it was left in the charge of numerous superintendends after a
wave of nationalizations under then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In
"The Yacoubian Building," the structure is the setting for an
unfolding drama narrating Egypt’s modern sociopolitical history.

There is, however, another Yacoubian Building, equally storied and
symbolic, spread across two blocs and located in the Caracas
neighborhood of Ras Beirut. Like it’s namesake in Cairo, Beirut’s
Yacoubian has been witness to turbulent times.

At the time Cairo’s Yacoubian was being built, a vacant plot of land
populated primarily by some fruits, cacti and vegetable bushes was
sold to an Armenian-Lebanese man named Yacoub Yacoubian. A fruit
seller named Umm Mahmoud once lived on those lands and remembers the
place before the huge buildings went up.

"We used to live on this land, tending the garden for the Mezhers,"
recalls Mahmoud. "After the Mezhers sold the land … we moved."

Not long after, Mahmoud adds, foundations were laid for an enormous
10-story, double-bloc building with 140 flats. Unlike the colonial
style of Cairo’s Yacoubian, Beirut’s counterpart came shaped like a
U-turn, copping the style of Le Corbusier.

Samia al-Assi moved into the Yacoubian in 1974 and never left. In the
days before Lebanon’s 1975-1990 Civil War, Assi recalls, the building
was famous for the artists who lived there. Singer Faiza Ahmad and
comedian Abdel-Salam al-Nabulsi were among the celebrity residents.
Back in the day, recalls Elie Qartabawi, who resides in the Yacoubian
still and has lived there longer than anyone else, "it was the
biggest, most famous, most expensive building in Lebanon."

The Yacoubian used to boast a famous nightclub – the Venus – situated
one floor below ground. A legend in its time, the Venus welcomed
Cabinet ministers, MPs and army commanders alike. It was also a
favored destination for wealthy tourists from the Gulf. Shortly after
the Civil War broke out, the Venus closed its doors.

In the years that followed, the internally displaced sought shelter
in the building. Among them was Mohammad Sweidan, otherwise known as
Abu Ali. During the war he became the Yacoubian’s natour, or
concierge.

"I [saw] terrifying days during that war, and often received death
threats," sighs Abu Ali.

All the local militias passed through the Yacoubian, and therefore
past his post.

Abu Ali says he was twice kidnapped by militiamen who were inquiring
after arms. With the Israeli invasion in 1982, he adds, an officer
pulled up to the building and called on all inside to surrender their
weapons.

Around 60 pistols came tumbling down into the courtyard, says Abu
Ali, who was ordered to collect them for the officer. The next day he
found one pistol left behind. He sold it to a banker for LL500.

"Like anything else in Lebanon," says Qartabawi, "the Yacoubian
declined during the war. One day a lady asked me: ‘Where is the
Yacoubian refugee camp?’"

These days, the Yacoubian is known as the home of Abu Elie, the bar
that occupies the lower back corner of the building.

"The people who come here are mostly intellectuals, mostly leftist
and always progressive," says Nina Jamal, a customer.

Posters of Che Guevara dominate the walls, along with pictures of
Marx, Lenin, Nasser, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Samir Kassir and George
Hawi.

Abu Elie himself once lived in the Yacoubian and ran a sandwich shop
in the neighborhood. In the early 1990s, he moved back to Bourj
Hammoud and opened the bar.

Still, confusion abounds. Since the "The Yacoubian Building" has been
screening in Beirut’s movie theaters, Assi says, "many people ask me
if they shot the film here."

sp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=7682 3

GEVORK KHERLOPIAN’S "GENOCIDE STUDIES" BOOK PUBLISHED IN BEIRUT

Noyan Tapan News Agency. Armenia
Nov 9 2006

BEIRUT, NOVEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Doctor, Professor
Gevork Kherlopian’s "Genocide Studies" book was published in Beirut.

Theological, political, historic, diplomatic, legal and
social-psycological sides of the Genocide were touched upon in
the book.

Maps of the times of widening and decomposition of the Ottaman Empire,
defeated Turkey and its allies, Armenian massacres and Wilson’s
Armenia are presented in the appendix of the book.

G.Kherlopian presented in the book the decisions made concerning
the Armenian Genocide during the recent one year by international
scientific institutions.

The book was published with 750 copies, under the patronage of Beirut
Armenian Armen Haroutiunian.

GAZPROM TO SUPPLY GAS TO ARMENIA IF NO CONTRACT WITH GEORGIA SIGNED
by Yelena Kargina, Maria Tatevosova

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
November 7, 2006 Tuesday 12:17 PM EST

Gas will be supplied only to Armenia if Russia signs no gas contract
with Georgia, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told a Tuesday
press briefing.

"I would not call that a disconnection. This is a normal market
mechanism used in case of the absence of a contract," he said.

"Georgia is able to pay for gas deliveries with assets."

"The Gazprom price policy fully meets the regional prices.

Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia should not experience any
discrimination or have any privileges," he said.

Medvedev explained gas prices for Armenia with a contract signed last
year and Gazprom’s acquisition of Armenian energy assets. "Bearing
in mind these terms, gas charges on Armenia are compatible with those
on other South Caucasian countries," he said.

All countries were offered to pay for gas with their energy assets,
but "we could accept only the terms offered by Armenia," he said.

Medvedev said he hopes to reach a similar agreement with Belarus.

"There will be no more preferential gas charges," he added.

SALARY OF ARMENIAN TEACHERS AND SCIENTISTS TO RISE IN 2007

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006

The draft budget for 2007 envisages 9.6 billion AMD for the education
sphere, i.e. by 12.5% more than in the previous year, Pavel Safaryan,
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy, said at hearings on the draft
budget, Tuesday.

He said 1.7 billion AMD are allocated to the sphere of general
education. Salary of teachers will rise from 58,000 to 76,000 AMD in
2007. 152 million drams will be spent on retraining of teachers of
secondary education schools, 500 million AMD for purchase of school
furniture, 14.5 million – for capital repair of schools. 813 million
AMD will be directed to the special education sphere, 400 million
to the secondary special education. Another 324 million AMD will
be spent on post-graduate education. The deputy minister said 365
secondary special education schools currently operate in Armenia,
and the number of students will rise to 45,000 in 2007.

Five billion drams will be allocated to the sphere of science, which
is by 10% more than in 2006. The basic salary of scientists will rise
to 50,000 AMD, that of the operating personnel to 25,000 AMD. 1.3
billion AMD will be allocated for topical financing of science and
73 billion AMD for target program financing. These funds will be used
to develop scientific programs in the defense sphere.

SERGE SARGSIAN: I WOULD LIKE ALL BUDGETS OF ARMENIA TO BE PRE-ELECTION

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 6 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The amount of allocations envisaged
by the 2007 draft state budget of the RA for the sphere of defence is
sufficient to keep the fighting efficiency of the Armenian army. The
RA Defence Minister Serge Sargsian told this to reporters after the
closed-door discussion of the 2007 state budget allocations for defence
at the joint sitting of the RA National Assembly standing committees
on November 6.

Comparing the military budgets of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the minister
said: "A billion dillars cannot certainly be compared with 300 million
dollars. But if 300 million is spent sparingly and purposefully,
I think it will be sufficient."

According to him, a growth in financing the RA Defence Ministry is
envisaged in 2007. The minister said that every year the amount of
allocations for the defence sphere makes up 3.5% of the country’s
GDP. In his words, the allocations for defence will be proportional
to the growth of the Armenian economy.

S. Sargsian said that in 2007, 48% of budget allocations for defence
will be aimed at increasing salaries, thanks to which the average
salary of officers will make 165 thousand drams (about 434 USD).

As for the accusation voiced against the government that the 2007
budget is pre-elction rather than social, S. Sargsian noted that even
if this is the case, it does not change anything as a pre-elction
budget should have a social orientation. "I would like all the budgets
of Armenia to be pre-election, that is, aimed at solving the social
problems," the defence minister stated.

"SERGE SARGSYAN IS A CORRUPT OFFICIAL"

A1+
[07:32 pm] 06 November, 2006

Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan uses his administrative and personal
means in order to reach his aims. According to Amalya Kostanyan,
Armenian representative of "Transparency International", this
is political corruption, as according to the definition of the
organization, "abuse of the state rank with the aim of personal
benefit is corruption".

According to the representative of "Transparency International",
the pre-election campaign which has already started non-officially is
also political corruption. The data of "Transparency International"
claim that the most corrupt field is that of political parties.

The political control over Mass Media, fabrications during the
elections, and voting of people who are not registered in the electoral
area is also corruption, Amalya Kostanyan announced in the National
Press Club.

According to the report of "Transparency International", the
Corruption Perceptions Index is 2.9 but our country is among those
where corruption is widespread, despite the fact that Armenia has
been realizing an anti-corruption strategic program for the last
three years. "The investigations carried out in Armenia once in every
three years since 1999 show that level corruption is rising", Amalya
Kostanyan said.

Nevertheless, the index of Armenia is lower than that of Georgia
(2.8), Azerbaijan (2.4) and Turkey (2.8).