Azeri Speaker is Not Against of Armenian MPs Visit
BakuToday
05/10/2004
Azerbaijani Parliament speaker Murtuz Alasgarov told journalists on
Friday that he does not object to the Armenian parliament members’
participation in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly “Rose Roth” seminar
to be held in Baku on November 26-28.
AssA-Irada — He said that since the Armenian MPs are not military men
but civilians, he does not object to their participation. “Let them
visit, we will hold talks and learn their position,” Alasgarov said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said earlier that the issue of
Armenian MPs’ participation in the mentioned seminar in Baku depends
on the Azerbaijani parliament.

ALCATEL, ARMENTEL SIGN 2 MILLION EUROS CONTRACT
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1, ARMENPRESS: ALCATEL, the French giant
manufacturer of telecommunication equipment, signed September 28 in
Paris with Armenia’s fixed and mobile telephone operator ArmenTel a 2
million euros contract, envisaging modernization and expansion of
ArmenTel’s regional network.
Under the contract Alcatel will deliver modern digital switching
exchanges to be installed in Stepanavan and Gyumri. New technology
will speed up the process of creating a modern telecommunication
infrastructure system for around 235,000 people living in Armenia’s
northern regions. The project will also help ArmenTel to radically
increase the quality of its services. The project is expected to be
over in 2005 August.
“Building of a modern telecommunication infrastructure in Armenia
is of crucial importance for our company. We rely upon the high
quality and reliability of Alcatel equipment. We shall have to work
hard in order to provide high quality services to our clients and be
able to compete with other operators,” Vasileios Fetsis, the chief
executive manager of ArmenTel said.
Gerard Der Agobian, a regional vice-president of Alcatel said the
new contract opens a new era of cooperation with ArmenTel. “We are
happy to make our contribution to the development of Armenia’s
telecommunications market. We want a long-term cooperation with
Armenia,” he said.
ArmenTel shareholders are Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications
Organizations SA (OTE) with 90% and Armenia’s government with 10%.

10 ARMENIAN COMPANIES SUCCESSFULLY EXHIBITED THEIR PRODUCTS AT MOSCOW
INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS: Some ten companies in textile industry
and sewing successfully exhibited their products at Sept 21-24 Textile
Industry Fair – 2004 in Moscow, Armenian agriculture ministry business consultant in
textile and clothes manufacturing in Small and Middle Sized Enterprises Armine
Tadevosian told Armenpress, mentioning that in a pavilion of 104 square
meters Armenian products were exhibited under the sign “Made in Armenia.”
In Tadevosian’s words, all these companies have reached initial agreements
on partnership. Many companies from Russian, China, Middle East, Korea,
Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and others got interested in Armenian products.
It should be mentioned that Armenian agriculture ministry Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises is a program run by Development Alternatives Inc advisory
agency funded by US AID. The program has covered 60 percent of expenses for
participation of Armenian companies in the fair.

AFTEREFFECTS OF OPEN BORDER WITH TURKEY DISCUSSED
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS: A roundtable discussion convened by the
Political Dialogue and Development Center together with the US embassy in
Yerevan on September 29 to explore consequences of a possible opening of the land
border between Armenia and Turkey brought together local politicians and
economists, whose opinions differed significantly.
A parliament member Tatul Manaserian argued in favor of using the full
potential of Armenia’s relations with Georgia and Iran and only then try to
extend the expected experience to its relations with Turkey.
Seyran Avagian, a presidential adviser, put the blame for the sealed
border on Turkey, saying open borders would benefit both nations, as “Armenian
businessmen are familiar with Turkey’s market and Turkish consumers have
discovered the quality of Armenian goods.”
A senior transport and communication ministry official Vahagn Badalian
voiced concern over Turkish-Georgian plans to build a railway connecting Turkish
Kars with Akhalkalaki saying it would further aggravate the blockade imposed
on Armenia.
According to Ashot Yeghiazarian, a senior member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, fears that the Armenian market would be flooded with cheap
Turkish goods in the event of an open border must be thrown off. He added that
open borders would first of all benefit underdeveloped eastern regions of
Turkey, while Armenia would get a transit route across Turkey to Middle East
markets.
Gagik Melikian from the ruling Republican Party said open borders would
result in more exports and consequently more budget revenues.
According to official figures, Turkish-Armenian trade is estimated
annually between $40 – $60 million and is mainly carried out through neighboring
Georgia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FINLAND’S’ FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES IN YEREVAN TOMORROW
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Finland’s foreign affairs
ministerErki Tuommio arrives tomorrow in Yerevan for a one-day
visit. Armenian foreign ministry said he will meet with president
Kocharian, parliament chairman and foreign minister Oskanian.
The same day he will attend a ceremony for signing a bilateral
agreement on encouragement and protection of reciprocal
investments. He will also laya wreath at the Genocide Memorial.

FOUR ARMENIAN HOSPITALS TO BE INCLUDED IN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF
ITALIAN HOSPITALS
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign affairs ministry
said Armenian and Italian officials signed on September 27 in Rome a
cooperation agreement for 2004 whereby the Italian health ministry
will help Armenian hospitals to increase their information
opportunities.
The ministry said the Italian government has released to that end
30,560 euros, a sum that is enough for 4 Armenian hospitals to be
included in the international networks of Italian hospitals, ensuring
distance health consulting and diagnosis.
government has released to that end 30,560 euros, a sum that is enough
for 4 Armenian h.

NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER IN THE LIMELIGHT OF STATE AND INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS: Funded by US State Department ,
Community and Humanitarian Assistance Project Armenian Office of
Counterpart International has provided medical equipment and medicine
in the amount of 320,000 USD to Armenian National Oncology
Center. This is a donation of US National Oncology Coalition.
The center hosted representatives of the organization and the
project today. Counterpart International has committed itself to
continue dispatch of medical equipment to the center with the total
cost of assistance for the running year exceeding 1mln USD. Since
2001, the organization has supplied the center with medical items of
about 12 mln USD through its Community and Humanitarian Assistance
Project.
According to Sergei Khomchenko, a representative of the
organization and the project, Counterpart international assists the
most needy patients. He argued that prevention of oncology illnesses
is far more easier than their treatment. He said that smoking is
widespread in Armenia which is one of the major causes of the illness.
According to Hairapet Galstian, national oncology center head,
thanks to Counterpart International the center is equipped with modern
technology. He said that they are particularly in need of diagnoses
equipment which cost 1mln USD and are not affordable neither for the
state nor the center.
The center head said that government also earmarks funds for the
operation of the center.
US national oncology coalition supports medical program in some 10
countries throughout the world.

Mironov’s visit to Armenia is a new step in bilateral relations
03.10.2004, 23.41
YEREVAN, October 3 (Itar-Tass) — An official visit of Federation
Council Chairman Sergei Mironov to Armenia, which ended on Sunday, was
a new phase in Russian-Armenian relations, sources in the Russian
delegation and Armenia told Itar-Tass.
Russia and Armenia are political partners and allies, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan and Mironov said. The interlocutors
discussed the entire range of bilateral relations during the visit.
The sides think that economic cooperation is lagging behind political
dialog. They discussed negative consequences of the closure of the
Russian-Georgian border on the Armenian economy.
Cargo transit via Georgia is a concern of Armenia, which does not
border on Russia. The Verkhny Lars checkpoint is the only motorway
between Armenia and Russia. `We discussed possible solutions to the
problem, bearing inmind our partnership with Armenia,’ Mironov said.
A joint declaration signed by Mironov and Armenian Parliament Speaker
Artur Bagdasaryan provides for legislative steps in the anti-terrorist
fight.
`Not only Russia but also all countries of this unique land of plenty
need stability in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia,’ Mironov told
servicemen of a Russian regiment stationed in Yerevan. `You are one of
the outpostsof security on Russian southern boundaries,’ he said.

Equatorial Guinea waits for sir Mark to speak
Sapa-AFP
October 04 2004 at 02:20AM

Libreville – The trial in Equatorial Guinea of 19 people including 14
suspected mercenaries accused of plotting to overthrow President
Teodoro Obian Nguema will not resume on Monday as previously
announced, sources there said.
Eight South Africans, six Armenians and five Equato-Guineans,
including a former deputy minister, went on trial in Malabo in August
for allegedly plotting to oust Obiang, who has ruled the small central
African country since 1979.
The case was adjourned on August 31 at the request of the state’s
attorney general, Jose Olo Obono, to get “further information” after
the arrest of Mark Thatcher in South Africa.
The son of the former British prime minister is suspected by
Equatorial Guinea and South Africa of financing the alleged plot.
The lawyer for the South African defendants recently told AFP that the
trial would resume on October 4. No official confirmation was
available.
Olo Obono could not be reached in Malabo in recent days.
Thatcher was arrested in South Africa, where he lives, and the South
African government has given permission for questions to be put to him
on behalf of Equatorial Guinea’s prosecutor’s office.
That hearing had been set for September 22 but has been postponed
until November 26. – Sapa-AFP

Turkey in facts and figures
EUbusiness
03 October 2004
Turkey, which hopes to get the nod Wednesday from the European
Commission to obtain a date in December to launch membership talks
with the European Union, stands at the center of a strategic zone
between the Caucasus, the Middle East and the Balkans.
Following is a factsheet on Turkey, comparing some figures with those
of the European Union:
GEOGRAPHY: Covering an area of 779,452 square kilometres (311,781
square miles), Turkey borders Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran,
Iraq, Syria, Greece and Bulgaria, and is washed by the Mediterranean
to the south, the Aegean to the west and the Black Sea to the north,
and surrounds the Sea of Marmara. It is divided between two
continents, Europe and Asia. The area west of the Dardanelles and the
Bosphorus (the straits between Europe and Asia) accounts for five
percent of the total.
Comparatively, the total area of the EU countries is 3,691,214 sq km
(1,476,486 sq miles).
POPULATION: 70.7 million inhabitants (2003), including 13 to 19
million Kurds.
With Turkey joining, the EU’s population, which stood at 455 million
in January 2004, would pass the half-billion mark.
CAPITAL: Ankara, population 3.5 million.
Istanbul is the country’s largest city and industrial and commercial
hub with a population in excess of 10 million (Turkish State
Statistics Institute, 2000 – latest figures available).
OFFICAL LANGUAGE: Turkish.
The EU currently has 20 official, but only three working languages:
English, French and German.
RELIGION: Muslim (99 percent): 80 percent Sunni, 20 percent
Alevi. Armenians form the largest religious minority, with about
45,000 people, followed by some 35,000 Jews.
Turkey’s entry into the EU would bring the number of Muslims in the
European bloc to around 80 million.
RECENT HISTORY: Founded in 1923, the Republic of Turkey was created
after the collapse of the Ottoman empire at the end of World War
I. The republic became a modern secular state under its founder,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (“father of the Turks”), until his death in
1938. His successor, Ismet Inonu, ran the counry as a single-party
dictatorship until 1946, when he introduced a multi-party
system. Turkey was the scene of military coups, followed by periods of
repression, in 1960, 1971 and 1980.
>From 1984 to 1999, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) led an armed
rebellion in southeastern Turkey, which claimed more than 37,000
lives. The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey
and many other countries and international organisations, called a
unilateral truce after the capture in Kenya in 1999 of its founder and
leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who was tried and sentenced to death; his
sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
The PKK has changed names several times since, and its latest
incarnation, the Kurdistan People’s Congress (KONGRA-GEL), in June
announced the end of their truce, which the Turkish army had never
recognized.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS: Ahmet Necdet Sezer has been president since
May 5,
Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the Welfare Party, became Turkey’s first
Islamic prime minister on June 28, 1996, in a coalition with his
predecessor, Tansu Ciller, the country’s first woman premier.
He was pressured into resigning by the army in June 1997 and was
replaced by Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the Motherland Party, who headed a
left-right coalition.
The Yilmaz coalition fell from power in November 1998 amid allegations
of corruption and links to organised crime. It was replaced by another
left-right coalition led by Bulent Ecevit.
In general elections in November 2002, the Justice and Devlopment
Party (AKP), which has its roots in radical Islam but describes itself
as simply “conservative”, swept to power and obtained the absolute
majority of seats in Parliament. Its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
became prime minister in March
ECONOMY: The economy, which is based mainly on textiles, light
industry, tourism and agriculture, saw considerable growth until it
was hit by a severe crisis in the aftermath of the first Gulf War in
1991.
With 14 million foreign visitors generating 13.2 billion dollars of
income, tourism in 2003 was the country’s biggest earner. Long hit by
PKK terror attacks and the effects of the Gulf War, the sector boomed
in 2003 and 2004, with incoming tourist figures increasing by 43.5%
for the first six months of this year compared with the first six
months of 2003.
Turkey has been linked with the EU with an association accord signed
in 1963 and a customs agreement signed in 1996.
Turkey’s candidacy for EU membership was rejected in 1989, largely due
to its human rights record, but was accepted on December 10, 1999.
GNP PER CAPITA: 2.790 dollars.
By comparison, the highest per capita GNP in the EU belongs to
Luxembourg, with 38,830 dollars; the lowest, Latvia’s, is 3,480
dollars. The average per capita GNP of the EU is 19,775 dollars (World
Bank, 2003).
FOREIGN DEBT: 147.035 billion dollars (Turkish State Statistics
Institute,
ARMED FORCES: 514,850 men, of whom 402,000 are land forces, 52,750
naval forces and 60,100 air forces (IISS 2003/2004).
Turkey has been a NATO member since 1952.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress