Zaman Online, Turkey
June 16 2005

Bundestag Unanimously Approves Armenian Draft
By Anadolu News Agency (aa)
Published: Thursday 16, 2005
zaman.com

The German Federal Parliament, the Bundestag, has unanimously approved
a resolution draft anticipating the commemoration of the alleged
Armenian genocide issued by the Christian Democratic Party (CDP)
and Christian Socialist Party (CSP).

The draft with the title of “Commemorating 1915 Armenian Exchange
and Massacre – Germany should contribute to peace between Turks
and Armenians” has been prepared by the compromise of all political
parties including Social Democratic Party (SDP), CDU, CSU, Union 90/
Green Party and Free Democratic Party (FDP).

The draft approved by the Bundestag extends respect to the Armenian
victims and regret for the responsibility of the German state for
the incidents.

Euro-reporters.com, Belgium
June 16 2005

Democracy’s temperature
Written by David Ferguson in Brussels
Thursday, 16 June 2005

“This year’s ‘Nations in Transit’ study makes clear that citizens
in the former Soviet countries have what it takes to make their
countries democratic,” said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of
NGO Freedom House. The organization’s annual study on ‘freedom’ in
the world, presented yesterday in Brussels, bandies the prospect of
‘a new wave of democratic expansion in the post-Soviet environment’.

“Ukraine’s extraordinary return to the democratic path in 2004
confirmed the potential for the peaceful spread of liberal democracy
and free markets to former Soviet countries still suffering under
corrupt and authoritarian regimes,” said Windsor, head of the US
government-funded NGO. Bosnia-Herzegovina also notched up a ‘best
improvement’.

“The fate of Russian democracy has enormous implications, both for the
former Soviet region and globally,” continued Windsor. “The fact that
democracy has failed in so many countries of the former Soviet Union
is due in part to the increasingly authoritarian Russian example. The
US and Europe should press Moscow to play a constructive role in
supporting democratic practice both at home and abroad.”

Freedom House gave top marks to eight Central and Eastern Europe
countries that joined the European Union last year. The Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia
continued to show strongest overall performance in areas like electoral
process, civil society, independent media, governance, corruption,
and judicial framework and independence.

“With the stakes so high, the transatlantic community must renew
efforts to support good governance, independent media, civil society,
the rule of law, and free and fair elections in the former Soviet
states,” noted Jeannette Goehring, editor of this year’s study. “The
community also must devise new strategies to deal with governments
that are increasingly consolidating authoritarian rule and give
assistance to countries that previously may have been overlooked.”

According to the US-based NGO, Western Balkan countries Albania,
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Serbia-Montenegro
(including Kosovo) face “the most substantial challenges of democratic
consolidation in the Balkans”. At the presentation in Brussels,
Jasna Jelisiæ, journalist at Sarajevo-based weekly Dani, said Balkan
countries are “only halfway down the road to joining the European
community of democratic nations”.

“Although much remains to be done, the events of 2004 demonstrated
that the European integration process is having a major positive
impact on democratic consolidation and stability in the Western
Balkans and is giving hope to people for the future,” said Jelisiæ,
who also advised on the study.

Freedom House calls on US and EU governments to provide greater
incentives for countries like Moldova whose leaders have,
according to the NGO, “a desire for greater integration with Western
democracies”. Freedom House also wants new strategies to deal with
authoritarian regimes in Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Uzbekistan.

Largest declines in democracy were seen in Russia and Azerbaijan,
as well as ‘disturbing’ deterioration over the past two years
in Armenia. “In Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev’s efforts
led to declining ratings for electoral process, civil society,
independent media, and judicial framework and independence. Russia’s
more substantial declines occurred in the categories of electoral
process, civil society, independent media, and judicial framework
and independence,” noted Freedom House.

–Boundary_(ID_TY1+IglVlO1wnaAwib5ubw)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Urban Service criticizes ARSI for illegal purchasing of lands

The Messenger, Georgia
June 16 2005

Svobodnaya Gruzia reports Deputy Head of Urban Service and Planning
Levan Lominashvili as saying that the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office has
accused the managing directors of the building company ARSI of the
illegal purchase of municipal lands.

The area in question is a plot of land measuring 5,000 square meters
on Ketevan Tsamebuli Avenue between Avlabari metro station and the
Adamian State Armenian Dramatic Theater.

“A part of the square in front of Avlabari metro station comprising
both the road and footways are included in the purchase,” said
Lominashvili.

According to him, the company has already prepared a project to build
an 11-storey residential building, which will be located on part of
the square connected to the thoroughfare . “So as not to impede the
movement of transport, the project intends to build arches over the
road,” he stated.

Lominashvili said, however, that the implementation of this project
would create difficulties for the passage of vehicles. “Taking into
account the intensity of traffic in the square and on Ketevan Tsamebuli
Avenue, there will be serious traffic congestion on the Avenue itself
as well as in neighboring streets,” he stated.

Georgia positive on Abkhaz railway, says PM
By Keti Sikharulidze

The Messenger, Georgia
June 16 2005

Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli said on Tuesday that Georgia is
“now positive” regarding the reopening of the Sochi-Tbilisi railway
via Abkhazia.

Speaking with journalists before addressing 41st CIS Railway Council
taking place in Tbilisi, PM Noghaideli noted that Georgia had
previously been against reopening the line, but said that “the new
authorities have recently taken a more positive stance on this issue.”

Nevertheless, he said there were a number of problems connected with
the rail link’s reopening, including first and foremost “the safety
of IDPs in the Gali region, so we have to do a lot of work before
realizing the project.”

One important issue that will need to be discussed before an agreement
can be reached is who is to pay for reconstructing the Abkhaz-Georgian
section of the railway, which the Head of the Russian Railway Company
Genadi Fadeev said would cost at least USD 100 million.

Speaking in Tbilisi on Wednesday, Fadeev added that “this cost will
further increase if we include rehabilitation of [the portion of the
railway] over the Enguri river,” as quoted by civil.ge.

Assuming the sides agree to reopen the connection, “I think all
participating countries – Russia, Georgia, also Armenia and to a
certain extent Azerbaijan as well – should fund the implementation
of this project,” he stated, adding that Russia was prepared to do
all it could to speed up the process.

Chair of the Armenian Railway Department Ararat Khrimyan expressed
Armenia’s willingness to join the project to restore railway
communications, providing Russia and Georgia were able to reach
an agreement.

“If the project is real, we shall certainly consider it. The route
is necessary for everybody,” he stated.

Chair of Georgian Railways Davit Onoprishvili suggested that an
agreement would indeed be reached, and that “sooner or later” the
railway would be reopened.

“We are ready [to launch the rehabilitation process]. Today, groups
are meeting in Moscow to negotiate the technical issues. The fact is
that this railway should be reopened sooner or later and Georgia will
benefit,” he said, as quoted by civil.ge.

Indeed, as PM Noghaideli noted, a task force is currently meeting in
Moscow to discuss the issue within the framework of the June 15-16
talks on reopening the railway and the return of Georgian refugees
to Gali.

State Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava, who is
leading the Georgian delegation at the talks, said that the task
force has been set up to calculate the full costs of the project.

Back in Tbilisi at the 41st CIS Railway Council, representatives from
all twelve CIS countries as well as associate members Bulgaria, Latvia,
Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland discussed a number of railway issues
including the safety of carriages and a number of technical issues.

The most important issue for Georgia was the discussion of the
Poti-Kavkaz railway-ferry link between Georgia and Russia, which
operated only twice and then was terminated by the Russian party.

According to the agreement signed in January the Russian side undertook
obligations to operate the ferry regularly, but as Onoprishvili noted,
the service took place once in March and once in April before being
stopped.

“We think that this is unacceptable and the issue should be solved,”
he told journalists.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey Calls for Concrete Steps from US on PKK

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
June 16 2005

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was confident
over Armenian allegations as one million Ottoman documents studied
in the Turkish archives prove the claims are totaly wrong.

Erdogan also said that Ankara Turkey to see the US taking concrete
steps to halt the infiltration of members of the terrorist organisation
the PKK, which has bases in Northern Iraq, into Turkey.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Turkish television station
NTV, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the US, which has
troops on the ground in the region, needed to do more to combat the
terrorist group.

“If we are going to fight against terrorism jointly, we shall expect
concrete steps from our friends. The number of martyrs we have lost
in the last four months is in very clear,” Erdogan said.

When asked to asses his recent visit to the US, the Prime Minister
said he was content with the outcome.

“I never said that we got what we wanted, I was I was content. These
are two different things,” he said.

On the issue of relations with the US, Prime Minister denied there
were any problems, adding that Turkey and US were strategic partners.
Turkey was with US in NATO and in Afghanistan, Erdogan said,
rejecting suggestions that ties between the two countries had been
damaged by Ankara’s refusal to allow US forces to use Turkey as a
base to launch an invasion into Iraq. Coalition forces were getting
logistical support from Turkey, he added.

Ankara is expecting to see what steps will be taken by the US on the
Cyprus issue, the Prime Minister said, adding that it was pleasing
that members of the US Congress had visited the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus.

In respect to another concern in the Turkey-American relations,
Erdogan praised the Ankara’s betterment of relations with Syria,
saying this had not been achieved in the last 40 years. “A new era
has started with the rule of Esad,” he said. “We are also holding
talks on the issues of terrorism and human rights,” he said.

Turning to domestic issues, Erdogan stressed that the structure of
presidential election were set out by the constitution and said there
were laws covering the issue of what the wife of the president can be.

WEAK PARLIAMENTARY POSITION OF ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PREVENTS IT FROM
HOLDING REFERENDUM VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN PRES.KOCHARIAN: FREEDOM HOUSE

YEREVAN, JUNE 16. ARMINFO. Widespread corruption and weak governance
remained defining features of Armenia’s political system in 2004,
saYs Freedom House in its report on he democracy situation in the
post-Soviet states.

The reports says that little progress was made in reducing the powers
of the presidency, despite international pressure. The opposition
continued to press for a referendum vote of confidence in President
Robert Kocharian, but its weak parliamentary position and the general
public’s disillusionment with the political class prevented success.
A disturbing rise in the number of assaults on journalists results in
a deterioration of Armenia’s Nations in Transit rating for independent
media. The use of so-called administrative arrests, torture within
the police system, and a new Law on Demonstrations in 2004 results
in a lower rating in the category of judicial framework & independence.

BUNDESTAG UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTS DRAFT RESOLUTION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

YEREVAN, JUNE 16. ARMINFO. Today German Bundestag has unanimously
adopted the draft resolution “Commemoration Day of Armenians on
occasion of the 90th anniversary of the massacre of April 24 1915 –
Germany should contribute to reconciliation of Turks and Armenians”
elaborated by the faction of the bloc CDU/CSU.

Talking to ARMINFO, the co-author of the resolution, Chairman of the
German Caucasian Parliamentary Group of Bundestag Christoph Bergner
says that the resolution was unanimously adopted by all the parties
in the course of voting without any preliminary discussion.

The document does not characterize the events of 1915 as Genocide,
but it contains a passage saying that international historians call it
“Armenian Genocide.” Earlier Armenian Ambassador to Germany Karine
Ghazinyan said that a relevant decision of Bundestag was equal to
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Germany.

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OF ARMPOST TO BE APPROVED SHORTLY

YEREVAN, JUNE 16. ARMINFO. The Armenian Government is expected to
approve the development program of the CJSC ArmPost within the nearest
future, ArmPost Director for Investments and Development Alexander
Petrossyan informed ARMINFO today speaking on the fulfillment of a
governmental decision on transfer of the CJSC ArmPost’s shares to
trust of the company Converse Invest.

He says that his statement made at a press-conference yesterday on a
“theoretical possibility” of canceling the agreement with Converse
Invest if the government does not approve the program, was incorrectly
perceived by ARMINFO’s correspondent. Petrossyan added that within
the first months of the current year, the employees of Converse
Invest had carefully studied the activity of ArmPost together with
the specialists of the French La Poste. It was on the bases of the
study results that the program of the enterprise’s development for
the coming 5 years was elaborated.

Meanwhile Armenia’s Transport and Communication Minister Andranik
Manukyan says that the government approved the draft agreement on
transfer of the shares of CJSC ArmPost to Converse Invest for five
years Dec 23 2004. It says that Converse Invest will get 20% of
ArmPost profits, with 80% to be given to the state. Converse Invest
has also pledged to cover all the losses of ArmPost – some $300,000
owed to Aeroflot and almost as much to the state budget.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN CHESS PLAYER CONTINUES TO BE PART OF LEADING GROUP OF WOMAN’s
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

KISHINEV, JUNE 16. ARMINFO. An Armenian chess player Lilit Lazarian
continues to be a part of the leading group on the personal European
championship amongst women in Moldova.

16-years-old Ukrainian chess player Katya Lakhno leads the tournament.

TENFOLD INCREASE IN DRUG ADDICT NUMBER IN ARMENIA SINCE 1986

YEREVAN, JUNE 16. ARMINFO. The number of people addicted to drug and
alcohol has grown almost tenfold in Armenia since 1986, says the head
of the organization and methodology department of Armenia’s health
care ministry Seda Jamalyan.

In Armenia there are almost 5,000 real drug addicts against official
183 ones. 40% of them are people from 40-59 who tried drug for the
first time at the age of 14-15. The recovery course at a special clinic
lasts 24 days – 5,600 AMD per day while those wanting to be treated
openly enjoy free treatment. The clinic has also registered 3,544
alcoholics with 755 ones already treated. Most of the patients are men.

The clinic representative Gayane Vardazaryan says that only 5%-10% of
the patients are recovered with the rest taking to the booze or dope
again. She says that with heroin one can become an addict from the very
first time while other drugs take effect slower but as effectively. The
consequences are very serious – for a drug addict can do anything to
get dope and often drowning himself pulls many others. Society should
regard drug addiction as a chronic disease while parents should be
always on the alert with their children, says Vardazaryan.

“It has got into my blood and will go out of me only with my soul…
I am tired, goodbye and wish me health,” says an anonymous alcoholic
of 40-45 before entering the clinic for hope.

Reliable sources say that in Armenia one gram of heroin costs
$120-150. A daily doze for a heroin addict is 2.5 grams.