Month: October 2006

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Oct 26 2006

RA GENERAL PROSECUTOR AND U.S. FBI ATTACHE DISCUSS ISSUES OF
COOPERATION BETWEEN LAWFUL BODIES OF ARMENIA AND USA

YEREVAN, October 26. /ARKA/. General Prosecutor of Armenia Aghvan
Hovsepyan and the U.S. FBI Attache Mark Kirby discussed issues of
cooperation between the lawful bodies of Armenia and the USA.
On Thursday Press-Secretary of the RA General Prosecutor’s Office
Sona Truzyan informed ARKA News Agency that during the meeting Kirby
had expressed gratitude to Hovsepyan for the rendered assistance in
disclosing crimes.
Kirby handed in to Hovsepyan an official letter of the FBI Director
Robert Muller, in which FBI expresses gratefulness to the RA General
Prosecutor’s Office for its special assistance to the U.S. Embassy in
Armenia and FBI Legal Affairs Office.
The letter says that we have to follow the spirit of cooperation,
demonstrated in the course of the preliminary investigation of the
criminal case of Arthur Khanzadyan. It also says that the fact that
the national security service revealed the place where Khanzadyan
hided and arrested himà, as well as the investigation pursued by the
Armenian collaborators in a short period of time, shows that
criminals can evade the justice neither in USA nor in Armenia.
In that connection Kirby read gratifying diplomas of Muller for the
effective support rendered by the Armenian officers in investigation
of the criminal case of Arthur Khanzadyan. The diplomas are addressed
to the Heads of the International Legal Affairs Department of the RA
State General Prosecutor’s Office Nelli Harutyunyan, as well as to
other two representatives of the Office Bagrat Petrosyan and Gevorg
Yeremyan.
On August 25, 2006, a citizen of Armenia Arthur Khanzadyan was
sentenced by an Armenian court to 10-year imprisonment for murdering
his girlfriend – citizen of USA of Armenian origin, in USA in
September 2005.
In 2006, he was found in Armenia and arrested by officers of the
National Security Service. S.P. –0–

World Screen News, NY
Oct 26 2006

Globo Hails Successful MIPCOM

RIO DE JANEIRO, October 26: Globo TV International has announced the
highlights of its MIPCOM stint, including a slate of new deals as
well as securing an International Emmy nod in the dramatic series
category for its telenovela Little Missy.

The first novela ever nominated in this International Emmy category,
the show recently wrapped its Brazilian run with a 60 percent
audience share.

On the sales end, Soico TV in Mozambique, which has already broadcast
more than 30 Globo TV International productions, has signed up for
Belíssima and the JK mini-series.

Romania’s Acasa TV renewed an agreement to broadcast more than 350
hours of Globo telenovelas in 2007. The selected titles include
Belíssima and America.

Armenia TV, currently broadcasting two telenovelas – Taste of Passion
and America – has signed an agreement to air Belíssima and Soul Mate,
plus the historical miniseries Mad Maria and JK. Belíssima was also
sold to Imedi Television in Georgia.

Finally, City of Men was purchased by Fox Italy and Swiss TV. The
acclaimed series has been licensed into some 50 markets, including
the U.S., with Sundance, the U.K., with BBC Four, and France, with
France 5.

The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 26 2006

Iranian energy comes to the rescue again
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Tiko Giorgadze)

In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) at the
Prague Energy Forum Irakli Ghvaladze, deputy minister of
Environmental Protection and Natural Resources claimed, "Our
government is prepared. We have alternative energy sources; we’ve
installed new power-generating units in our electricity plants. So
we’re more or less ready for this winter."

Despite these confident words, the Georgian government is still
scrambling to prepare for a possible energy crisis this winter not
only because it has fresh memories of Russia’s actions last winter
against Georgia and the Ukraine, but even colder relations with
Russia this year demands that Georgia line up alternative energy.

Energy Minister Nika Gilauri and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gela
Bezhuashvili just returned from a visit to Iran where they conducted
negotiations about supplying Georgia with electricity and natural
gas. It was agreed that Iran would transfer 50 megawatts of
electricity via Armenia to Gerogia beginning in late November and
expressed hope that the capacity of energy exchange will increase to
300 megawatts soon after that.

An agreement over natural gas has not been reached-the price is still
under negotiation.

Some experts are concerned that cooperation with Iran could create
some tension in Georgia’s relations with some of its western
partners. The newspaper Akhali Versia reports economist Gia
Khukhashvili as saying that cooperation with Iran may only be
palatable to the West if Georgia receives natural gas only in cases
of force majeure from Russia.

Other analysts are looking at the issue fiscally. In 2006, the price
of the natural gas imported from Iran was twice as expensive as
Russian natural gas. Iran’s natural gas cost USD 230 per 1000 cm
compared to Russia’s cost of USD 110, however, Georgia’s contract
with Gazprom expires at the end of this year, and it remains to be
seen what price they will name for next year’s supplies.

San Mateo Daily Journal, CA
Oct 26 2006

Anna Eshoo has come a long way in Congress
By Keith Kreitman

There is no question U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Atherton, 63, is a
people person. I still recall the first time I interviewed her six
years ago. That interview is still relevant to this day.

After speaking at a legislative luncheon, she started in my direction
but was cut off again and again by friends, fans and well wishers.
There were hugs and short intense verbal exchanges and then, another
move in my direction, only to be interrupted again by hugs and more
intense verbal exchanges.

Meanwhile I was leaning against a post contemplating my `lead’ for
the story.

Should it be, `Another lady disproves the myth that women cannot be
hard-nosed, effective legislators?’

Or, should it be, `The lady has guts,’ for her vote in favor of the
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) despite the opposition of
some of her most ardent constituent supporters?

This reflects the dichotomy legislators must face when they are sent
to represent a local district and are asked to vote on issues of
broader national scope.

Some quiver, quake and vote only their own local interests.

Others rise above that and vote their consciences for what they
perceive to be the greater national good. These are the ones who make
history and leave their mark on the national consciousness.

Finally, she reached me and we headed for a stairway and away from
this madding crowd.

No luck! Another fan was mounting the stairs. Another hug and another
short intense exchange and finally we were able to make it across the
lobby to some soft chairs in a secluded corner of an adjoining room.

Our staff photographer, was circling about us with his cameras like a
stalking panther.

`Matt!’ I growled. `Take her photo from any angle. There’s no way
that you could ever make this lady look bad.’

Another friend walked across the room. Another intense exchange. Does
she know and make contact with everyone in the world?

Finally, she leaned forward to speak. Intense. Passionate. Infused
with the juices of life. To me, it was deja vu, like the old days in
ethnic Chicago where people freely communicated their emotions as
well as their intellect. Like the others before me that morning, to
Anna Eshoo, at this moment, I was the only other person in the world.

Facts: Born in New Britain, Conn. Armenian-Assyrian. (Looks with
disdain upon those who change their names to disguise origin for
career purposes.) Father: jeweler and watchmaker. Mother: housewife.
Speaks lovingly about her greatest accomplishments, her teacher
daughter and then college student son who, after serving in the Peace
Corps, is now a humanitarian and economic aide in Laos.

Came to California in 1962. Served for 10 years on the San Mateo
County Board of Supervisors before winning a seat in Congress in
1993. Sixty-three years old.

She speaks passionately about her commitment to her constituents,
expanded health care, environmental protection, abuse-protection for
women and children and other humane areas of legislation.

Then, I framed the next question as delicately and sensitively as
possible: `How in the hell did you, the first Democrat in decades and
the first woman ever, become elected with a 20 percent majority in
such a heavily Republican district?’

She sat back shyly and modestly presents me with a practiced litany
about how she had learned to be a loser in her first run in 1988 and
how her 1,200 volunteers had put her over the top and …

I broke in: `Baloney! C’est toi! C’est toi! It’s you! It’s you! You
did it. You touched some nerve and revived some confidence in the
disenchanted electorate to gain a margin of victory that would have
been a shock even in Mayor Daley’s Chicago.

`Nobody can tell me that a Congressional member who is a favorite of
both the president and vice president of the United States, has been
elected repeatedly to leadership positions so early in her national
career and who has won the ungrudging support of the hard-nosed CEOs
of Silicon Valley is a shrinking violet. You’ve got something, Lady!

Well, she has never gone off that course. Same issues. Same concerns,
except expanded, big time. Now, she sits on the House Intelligence
Committee, where she is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on
Technical and Tactical Intelligence; the House Energy and Commerce
Committee; Subcommittee on Telecommunication and the Internet;
Subcommittee on Health; the House Medical Technology Caucus and the
21st Century Health Care Caucus.

And, although she opposed our involvement in Iraq, she is unfailingly
a big-time supporter of our troops wherever they are, as well as
returning veterans.

Are there any committees more important in the 21st century than
these where Eshoo can exercise her experience as a legislator and
strong influence?

As we used to say back in the 1960s, `You’ve come a long way, lady!’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 26 2006

SERGE SARGSYAN: `’IF HOSTILITIES ARE RESUMED ARMENIA WILL SCORE
ADVANTAGE AGAIN”

`’The Karabakh conflict should be settled in an amicable way via
mutual compromises”, stated RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan in an
interview with Janes Research Center.
However, according to RA Defense Minister, Azerbaijan’s policy does
not contribute to the issue’s settlement. `’Today the Azeri officials
again speak of the war’s resumption. Current year they have increased
military expenditure”, Serge Sargsyan noted having added that
according to the independent experts Azerbaijan is still unable to
resolve the problem by force of arms. `’If hostilities are resumed,
Armenia will again score advantage. However, irrespective of the
outcomes, the war will inflict a blow on both parties”, RA Defense
Minister stated.
Speaking about Azerbaijan’s oil profits, which official Baku is
attempting to use to solve the Karabakh issue in its favor, Serge
Sargsyan reminded in early nineties Azerbaijan had also been superior
in numbers and armaments to the Armenian party.
`’In 1992 they encircled the Karabakh Armenians, and one could hardly
believe we will manage to climb to success”, Serge Sargsyan said. He
expressed hope that Azerbaijan’s leadership would abandon the
military option of the Karabakh issue’s settlement sooner or later,
Freedom Radio Station reports.

Philadelphia Daily News, PA
Oct 26 2006

Here’s the book on the Opera Company production

By TOM DI NARDO
For the Daily News
MIMI DIES, AND everyone cries.

Since its debut in Turin, Italy, 110 years ago, Giacomo Puccini’s "La
Boheme" has gripped audiences emotionally like no other opera.

Everyone can relate to youthful friendships, first love and
heartbreak. And the music stirs our imaginations and our heartstrings
every time.

Using stories from Henri Murger’s four-volume work, "Scenes from the
Bohemian Life," published in the mid-1800s, librettists Luigi Illica
and Giuseppe Giacosa fashioned the tale of four poor friends who
share a shabby Parisian apartment, and the contrasting loves of the
writer and painter.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia is staging this masterpiece, one of
the most performed operas in the repertoire, for the first time since
1998. It opens tonight at the Academy of Music. The Academy of Vocal
Arts did it last year, too.

In 1996, inspired by the opera and by the deaths of some close
friends, Jonathan Larson created the rock musical "Rent," resetting
the moving story from Paris to the AIDS-infected world of New York’s
Alphabet City.

Mimi survives in "Rent," but Larson did not. In a tragedy worthy of a
Puccini opera, he died of an aortic aneurysm immediately after the
show’s first full staging and never saw it become a hit, moving to
Broadway and film.

"La Boheme" also was a smash on Broadway in Baz Luhrmann’s updated,
2002 staging.

As long as there are operatic stages, "La Boheme" will draw audiences
into the lives of these beloved and universal characters, and few
eyes will be dry as the curtain falls.

The story

Act I: Rodolfo the writer and Marcello the painter are bemoaning the
bitter cold in their Parisian apartment, when Colline and Schaunard
finally arrive with supplies.

After Benoit the landlord is tricked and sent away without the rent
he has come to collect, the friends decide to celebrate Christmas Eve
at the Cafe Momus. Rodolfo stays alone to finish his work. Answering
a knock on the door, he meets a young woman named Mimi, whose candle
has gone out.

They sing about their lives in ravishing arias and a duet and swiftly
fall in love. Mimi insists they join the friends at the cafe.

Act II: At the Cafe Momus, Musetta arrives with a rich patron,
Alcindoro, exciting her old flame, Marcello. She flirts and sings her
famous aria, finally sending Alcindoro on a phony errand so she can
reunite with Marcello, and they all leave together. Alcindoro returns
and is presented with the tab.

Act III: Months later, Mimi arrives at the outskirts of Paris to see
Marcello, who consoles her about her breakup with Rodolfo. Mimi hides
when Rodolfo appears. He first tells Marcello that Mimi was
unfaithful but finally admits that he left because she is sick and
may be dying.

He realizes Mimi has heard the truth, and they pledge to reunite
until the spring. Meanwhile, Marcello and Musetta fight in the
background.

Act IV: The four friends clown, dance and pretend to duel in their
apartment until Musetta suddenly breaks in with Mimi, who is very
ill. Musetta leaves to hock her jewelry, and Colline sings an aria to
his beloved coat before leaving to sell it – all for money to pay a
doctor.

Rodolfo and Mimi recall their meeting in a reprise of their first
music. Mimi’s life ebbs away without Rodolfo realizing it,
heightening the opera’s heartwrenching finale.

About this production

The company’s music director, Corrado Rovaris, conducts, with its
general director, Robert Driver, handling the directing chores.

Lighting is by Ruth Hutson, still finding new effects in her sixth
"Boheme." Costumes were designed by the always imaginative Richard
St. Clair.

Opera Company production center director Boyd Ostroff designed and
built the sets for the 1998 staging. They’ve been loaned out to other
companies six times since then. (The company’s sets for "Die
Fledermaus" hold the record – 19 loans.)

The cast

The stunning Armenian soprano Ermonela Jaho (who sang magnificently
at rehearsal) makes her company debut as the consumptive Mimi. Tenor
Roger Honeywell, who had a role in last year’s "Margaret Garner,"
sings his first Rodolfo, and baritone Troy Cook makes his company
debut as the painter Marcello.

Soprano Sari Gruber returns after scoring here in "Don Pasquale" two
seasons ago to sing the flirty Musetta. The other bohemians are
portrayed by company favorite baritone Richard Bernstein (Colline),
who played Figaro in the Mozart classic last season, and
Curtis-trained baritone Alex Tall as Schaunard.

Kevin Glavin, a master of the comic repertoire, plays both the
landlord Benoit and Musetta’s sugar daddy, Alcindoro.

National Assembly of Armenia
Oct 27 2006

Silencers at work in the marketplace of ideas
BY: JEFF JACOBY, Special to the CJN

Did the Ottoman Turks commit genocide against the Armenians in 1915?

Careful – in some places you can be arrested if you give the wrong
answer to that question.

Under Article 305 of the Turkish Penal Code, for example, those who
promote recognition of `the genocide of the Armenians’ are subject to
prosecution, while Article 301 makes the denigration of `Turkishness’
a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.

Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for
Literature, is among those who have been charged under Article 301.
His offense was to tell a Swiss interviewer that ��,000
Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody
but me dares to talk about it.’ (The charges against Pamuk were
eventually dropped, but other prosecutions are ongoing.)

Yet if acknowledging the Armenian genocide is a crime in Turkey,
gainsaying it could soon be a crime in France. Two weeks ago, the
French National Assembly voted to approve a bill under which anyone
denying the 1915 genocide could be sentenced to a year’s imprisonment
and a 45,000-euro ($56,000) fine. That matches the penalty under
French law for denying the Nazi Holocaust.

The French legislation is meant to uphold the truth – the Armenian
genocide, like the Holocaust, is a fact of history – while the point
of the Turkish law is to debase it. Both, however, are intolerable
assaults on liberty. Beliefs should not be criminalized, no matter
how repugnant or absurd. As I wrote when David Irving was convicted
of Holocaust denial in Austria earlier this year, free societies do
not throw people in prison for giving offensive speeches or spouting
historical lies.

We Americans should know this better than anyone. The right to speak
one’s mind is supposed to be a core article of our civic faith. Yet
the would-be censors are busy here, too.

[parts omitted]
es/2006/10/27/community/letters_opinion/ajacoby102 7.txt

Hürriyet, Turkey
Oct 27 2006

Ankara disturbed by Romanian appointment to EU Commission

Ankara is reportedly uncomfortable over the decision by Romania,
which will officially become an EU members starting January 1, 2007,
to appoint an ethnically Armenian government member, Senator Varujan
Vosganian, to represent it on the EU Commission. Vosganian, who
belongs to the Romanian Liberal Party, played a critical role in his
country’s decision to declare April 24 "genocide remembrance day."

The 48 year old Vosganian, who presided over the Romanian Senate’s
Budget and Planning Commission, will began his job representing
Romania in Brussels on the first day of the new year.

Armenia Fund USA, Inc.
152 Madison Ave, S-803
New York, NY 10016, U.S.A.
T/1-212-689-5307
F/1-212-689-5317
www.armen iafundusa.org
[email protected]

Armenia Fund USA to Host Nagorno-Karabakh President
Arkady Ghoukassian in New York

NEW YORK, New York – Armenia Fund USA is pleased to announce that it will
host Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassian in New York on November
10, 2006 as part of his visit to the United States in connection with the
9th International Armenia Fund Telethon. President Ghoukassian will be
honored at a dinner reception at the Harvard Club featuring keynote speaker
attorney Mark Geragos who has built an international reputation for his
success defending celebrated cases. Mr. Geragos is a compassionate supporter
of Armenia and Armenian causes which he will highlight during the event.

Armenia Fund USA, with its international affiliates, has had an immense
impact on the development of Karabakh and Armenia since independence. The
organization remains the largest contributor to socio-economic
infrastructure projects there since 1992.

President Ghoukassian will meet with the supporters of the Fund and brief
them on recent political and economic developments in Karabakh. The Fund has
been heavily involved in reversing the impoverished conditions of a cluster
of 18 villages by establishing an Agricultural Development Association in
Mardakert, a region affected mostly by war. A groundbreaking change was also
accomplished with the opening of the Armine Pagoumian Polyclinic and Hrair
Hovnanian Diagnostic Center in Stepanakert. The project has fundamentally
changed the healthcare system in the region affecting lives of about 35% of
the population there.

Armenia Fund USA’s Regional Development Program, launched last year, is an
integrated approach to rural poverty eradication. It focuses on
sustainability and continuity of development combining local expertise and
need assessment of rural communities. The project encompasses all key
aspects of socio-economic development – access to education, proper
healthcare, and clean water, as well as sustainable infrastructure to
support irrigation water systems, roads and agricultural development.

ABOUT ARMENIA FUND USA founded in 1992, was one of the first of Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund’s 18 international affiliates and serves constituents in
all states east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit, non-governmental,
nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all Armenian constituents.
Armenia Fund USA is the largest contributor among the 19 international
affiliates – supporting strategic infrastructure projects in Armenia and
Karabakh. The Fund has adopted a policy to go "Beyond Bricks and Mortar" to
provide sustainability for projects it sponsors.

Business Wire (press release), CA
Oct 27 2006

Comstar-UTS Announces Acquisition of Armenian Telecommunications
Group CallNet/Cornet

MOSCOW–(BUSINESS WIRE)–JSC `COMSTAR – United TeleSystems’ (`Comstar
UTS’, LSE: CMST), the leading provider of integrated
telecommunication services in Russia and the CIS, today announced
that it has acquired majority shareholding in CallNet and its 100%
owned subsidiary Cornet (together the `Group’) in the Republic of
Armenia. Comstar has purchased 75% of the shares plus one share with
an option to acquire the remaining stake in the Group. The companies
together comprise the second largest alternative telecommunications
group in the Republic of Armenia: Callnet is a transit operator and
Cornet is an Internet Services Provider.

CallNet is one of the four telecom operators in the Republic of
Armenia, which have a license to provide transit of international
traffic across Armenia, a strong competitive advantage due to high
volume of incoming international voice traffic in Armenia. Cornet has
a fast growing customer base, including 76% of the banking sector in
Armenia. In 2005 the consolidated revenues of the Group doubled year-
on -year to US $4.3 million.

Eric Franke, CEO and President of Comstar – United TeleSystems,
commented: «Both companies have leading positions in the fast growing
telecom segments in the Republic of Armenia – data transmission and
Internet access- the same business model that Comstar has in Russia.
Cornet is a sole provider of WiMax services in Armenia, and we will
use their expertise in the deployment of WiMax services in Russia.
This acquisition clearly provides us with additional synergies within
Comstar-UTS Group».

The purchase of CallNet and Cornet is the second transaction by
Comstar UTS in the CIS, and it follows on the JV agreement signed in
June of 2006 to establish the subsidiary Comstar – Ukraine with the
local partner OOO Neotel.

`This is the first transaction in a pipeline of new acquisitions
which we announced in October 2006 to make use of IPO proceeds in
order to implement our investment program in the regions’, –
continued Eric Franke.

Comstar UTS is a leading provider of integrated communications
services in Moscow and the Moscow region in terms of revenues and
subscribers and also offers communications services in other regions
of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Comstar UTS had
3.6 million subscribers in its traditional segment of the business,
479.2 thousand subscribers in its alternative segment in Moscow and
91.1 thousand subscriber in its alternative segment in the regions at
June 30, 2006. Comstar UTS offers voice, data and Internet, pay-TV
and various value-added services to corporate, operator and
residential subscribers, using its alternative and traditional
fixed-line networks. Comstar UTS had consolidated operating revenues
of US$ 286.6 million for the second quarter of 2006 and Comstar UTS’
consolidated assets totalled US$ 2.7 billion at June 30, 2006.
Comstar UTS ordinary shares are listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange
and on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol `CMST’.

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections
or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the
future financial performance of Comstar UTS. You can identify forward
looking statements by terms such as `expect,’ `believe,’
`anticipate,’ `estimate,’ `intend,’ `will,’ `could,’ `may’ or
`might’, the negative of such terms or other similar expressions.
Comstar UTS wishes to caution you that these statements are only
predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially.
Comstar UTS does not intend to update these statements to reflect
events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could
cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in
projections or forward-looking statements of Comstar UTS, including,
among others, general economic conditions, the competitive
environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid
technological and market change in the industries Comstar UTS
operates in, as well as many other risks specifically related to
Comstar UTS and its operations.

Comstar UTS
Masha Eliseeva, +7 495 950 02 27
Mobile +7 495 997 08 52
[email protected]
or
Shared Value Limited
Larisa Kogut-Millings, +44 (0) 20 7321 5037
[email protected]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress