Month: October 2006

FAREWELL VISIT OF AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Oct 24 2006

On October 23 the President of the National Assembly of the Republic
of Armenia received the Ambassador of France in Armenia Mr. Henry
Cuny on the occasion of the end of his ambassadorial mission.

"Thanking you for the efficient joint work I would like to express
in your person the pledge of friendship towards the Armenian people,"
said Mr. Cuny and assured that the departure from Armenia does not mean
a farewell to Armenia. Later on Mr. Cuny will officiate in Slovakia,
but he intends to contribute to the continuation of educational
programs as much as it is possible. About his five-year tenure in
Armenia Mr. Cuny said, that they have been interesting and important
working years, he has also obtained dozens of friends. Mr. Cuny
stressed the importance of the development of Francophonie in
Armenia, as the European values are on the basis of it, and the way
of integration to Europe becomes shorter with the development of
Francophonie values. The Ambassador of France in Armenia also touched
upon the forthcoming general elections, stressing the importance
of 2007 parliamentary elections in the context of 2008 presidential
elections. The Ambassador noted that the coming elections will be an
examination for Armenia on its way to democracy, and from the view of
the development of the country it is very important to successfully
pass this examination.

Mr. Tigran Torosyan thanked Mr. Cuny noting that the years of his
mission have been a decisive period of the irreversibility of returning
to European family, and expressed willingness to support him from
now on. Thanks to the Ambassador’s efforts the French culture and
language really got more disseminated in our country. The President
of the National Assembly noted that Mr. Cuny leaves a good, but at
the same time complicated inheritance for his successor, because
the new Ambassador will have to maintain and continue what already
exists. For the success of the forthcoming general elections the NA
President highlighted the importance of consolidation of political
forces. He noted that the successful examination of democracy depends
not only on the adoption of laws, but also on their enforcement in real
life. It is time not to provide objective explanations for mistakes,
but find ways of eliminating them.

During the meeting the parties spoke also about the draft law
of condemning the denial of the Armenian Genocide adopted by the
National Assembly of France. At the Ambassador’s request the President
of the National Assembly shared his impression about the adoption
of the draft law and the reaction that followed it. Quoting words
by Jacques Chirac said on another occasion: "They lost their best
possibility to stay silent," Mr. Torosyan described the behaviour of
those organizations that have condemned the decision of the National
Assembly of France. And the reactions of Turkey and Azerbaijan are not
absolutely within the limits of logic and common sense. Mr. Torosyan
noted that the draft law does not aim to arrest anybody, but calls for
vigilance, for not putting up moral issues to a political auction,
because those who try to teach France democracy, find themselves in
a ridiculous situation.

IGOR MURADYAN: NAGORNO KARABAKH FACED WITH POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHOICE

Regnum, Russia
Oct 24 2006

"Ice is broken" in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The considerably
long period of relatively peaceful existence has refined the interests
of different social groups and sections and has put quite fundamental
questions to the society: What kind of statehood should NK have? What
principles and values should it be based on? What role and place
should NKR have in the Armenian reality? What social priorities
should it have? Having pinned so many hopes on the "restless status"
of the Karabakh idea, the Karabakh society have suddenly found out
that, from now on, they will have to live and assert their rights "on
common ground." They have found out that, besides foreign challenges,
there are no less dangerous internal threats. Limited in quantity and
space, the civil society of NKR feel a steadily growing collective
responsibility for the fate of their country. The negative innovations
they see in the capital of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, look to
them as a major threat to traditional society. Of course, formerly,
they could hardly think about such problems – in the pre-Gukasyan
period NKR had little room for any social dynamics. Arkady Gukasyan has
brought tolerance and non-violence in the political life and has laid
the foundations of civil society. However, the parliamentary elections
2005 revealed some democracy and law problems, and responsible for them
was not only the president – but all those groups who sought power.

In fact, they in NKR are already preparing for a new political and
social situation. After a long and unproductive period of stupor and
confusion, they are finally forming an opposition. This is not the
"opposition" of the traditional parties who have lost the game and
have dropped off the political arena, but quite a new and interesting
construction of politically active groups. It is almost known who are
those people seeking the presidency, but the most interesting point
is that they represent not only the opposition as such but also the
opposition inside the current administration.

Local politicians from different parties are actively "turning their
coats." It is quite noteworthy that already today there are some
ambitious people in Yerevan and Moscow who say they seek presidency
in NKR and, probably, have legal grounds for so doing. Of course,
this may disorganize the political processes, but, at least, this
will bring some diversity and a chance of wider choice.

Unfortunately, what we see now is recruitment and re-recruitment of
functionaries and basic forces, especially, in the province, but in
Stepanakert, too, we can see the surplus of choice: various groups
are actively consulting, the ruling regime is fermenting as Gukasyan
is no longer able to control his own functionaries.

In any case, those functionaries seem to be more interested in the
presidential than parliamentary elections – though both may prove
to be early. This inspires little enthusiasm as this proves that the
ambitious "politicians" do not see the tasks NKR is facing.

Meanwhile, one of the urgent state-building tasks in Karabakh today
is to restore the republic and to strengthen the political role of
the parliament through restriction of the president’s authority. This
must be done, first of all, because NKR is an unrecognized state,
and it is absolutely clear that its "sovereignization" will take
place in several stages in line with the general revision of the
international law. The analysis of this problem shows that for the
concerned part of the international community the parliament of an
unrecognized state is more adequate than its president. Of course, much
depends on the personality of the president, but NKR, just like all the
unrecognized post-Soviet states, has no advantage here. Furthermore,
the Karabakh society do not have enough self-control and political
and social culture for ignoring collegiality institutions.

Besides, wide parliamentary powers promote political culture and, most
importantly, imply collective responsibility for crucial decisions. The
political practice has shown that the NKR Parliament should have the
authority to carry out foreign political functions.

The NKR authorities and politicians also realize that, but it was
exactly the lack of foreign policy as such that has resulted in the
present political crisis.

The NKR authorities are presently considering draft Constitution and
are, seemingly, tailoring it to specific situational goals. They
act typically for "transitional" societies. In any case, they
must revise the Constitution – they will hardly avoid this loss of
time. It seems that they in Stepanakert will get big money soon,
and the post-traditional society may fall under it charm – though
new politicians seem to be rather well-educated people, who realize
their responsibility and tasks. What is more important is that the
new elite must draw appropriate conclusions from the past NKR history.

Otherwise, the Karabakh society will not wait so long this time.

Undoubtedly, the political processes in NKR will not develop in vacuum
but will be "adjusted" to Yerevan – something certain politicians in
Stepanakert really hope for. However, in Yerevan, too, the situation
is changing quickly. Most probably, the Armenian authorities will
prefer not interfering in the developments in NKR and just accepting
the reality they will face in their historical homeland. That would
be quite an acceptable scenario as the Karabakh resource can be
effective only if given more freedom. However, this situation is far
from strong-willed decisions or varying moods and ambitions. Simply,
the political processes in Yerevan and Stepanakert are becoming
increasingly autonomous from each other. Whose merit and whose idea
it is, does not matter much – though it must be given its worth. What
really matters is that it is becoming a reality.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT RUSSIA

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Oct 24 2006

YEREVAN, October 24. /ARKA/. On October 30-31, 2006, Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan will be on a visit to Russia.

The Armenian state leader’s regular visit is supposed to raise the
level of Armenian-Russian partnership, reports the press service of
the RF Embassy in Armenia.

The year 2005 was marked as a Year of Russia in Armenia, and 2006 is
a Year of Armenia in Russia.

Successful implementation of large-scale projects facilitated the
intensification of public and business initiatives, expansion of
economic, scientific, technical, information and cultural cooperation

During his visit, the Armenian President is to hold discussions
the most topical issues of bilateral cooperation, implementation
of top-level agreements on further development of Russian-Armenian
cooperation, particularly in the fuel, energy and transport spheres, as
well as in direct economic ties between Russian and Armenian regions.

The sides are also to exchange views on the development of cooperation
within the CSTO, further consolidation of the organization to meet new
challenges. The CIS problems will be an important item on the agenda.

The sides will focus their attention on the coordinating efforts toward
improving the situation in the Caucasus, creation of an atmosphere of
confidence for establishing of cooperation in the region and settling
conflicts on this basis.

Special emphasis will be laid on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

"Welcoming the Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue at different levels, first
of all between the two countries’ Presidents, Russia believes that
the conflicting parties’ themselves must find a mutually acceptable
settlement of the conflict," states the RF Embassy. Russia is ready
to render active assistance both at the bilateral level and as OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chairman, as well as be a guarantor of the agreement.

Armenian-Russian relations are an alliance and are marked by positive
dynamics in their development. Effective multipronged bilateral
cooperation has a solid legal basis – an Agreement on friendship,
cooperation and mutual assistance, Declaration of allied cooperation
in the 21st century.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE PLANTING OF IDEAS
By Carolyn Mugar and Jeff Masarjian

Boston Globe, MA
Oct 24 2006

"THE PLANTING of trees is the planting of ideas," says Dr. Wangari
Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and environmentalist. But what
does she mean?

Hosted by Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition, she will address this
question at Faneuil Hall today.

In a world faced with such weighty problems as global warming,
dwindling fossil fuels, and the gap between rich and poor nations
— the planting of trees may seem of little importance. Yet, as the
founder of the Green Belt Movement, Maathai has taught us that tree
planting is a critical step toward helping to protect the environment
and fight poverty.

A Kenyan, Maathai has dedicated herself to fighting two of her
country’s starkest problems: poverty and deforestation. With less
than 2 percent forest coverage, Kenya is well below the UN recommended
minimum of 10 percent. Maathai’s movement has held fast against these
daunting challenges, forging an ingenious path forward — one that
simultaneously addresses both crises. It is an approach built upon
education and direct engagement with local communities.

Led by Maathai, the Green Belt Movement organizes poor rural women in
Kenya to plant trees. Each new tree yields multiple benefits in their
lives — reversing the tide of deforestation, restoring Kenyan’s main
source of cooking fuel, and strengthening the community.

The Green Belt Movement has incorporated education on women’s rights
into its environmental programs, empowering disenfranchised Kenyans
to fight for a sustainable and viable economic future. All these
actions make clear what Mathaai means by comparing the planting of
trees with the planting of ideas.

And she is not alone in that view. All around the world, NGOs and
other concerned parties are taking comparable steps to protect the
environment and combat poverty. In Armenia today, estimated forest
cover is less than 8 percent; a dramatic decrease from a healthy 25
percent at the turn of the last century. Moreover, its environment,
one of the world’s most ecologically diverse with seven different
climate zones, is in grave jeopardy.

Currently, due to lack of alternative energy sources, the 40 percent
of Armenians living below the poverty line are overreliant on wood
for fuel. If the trend of poverty-driven deforestation continues,
much of Armenia will become a desert in just 20 years. Like Kenya,
deforestation threatens to rob Armenia of its natural beauty and
resources.

That’s why, similar to the Green Belt Movement’s efforts, an
organization called the Armenia Tree Project offers public education
programs. We recently developed a new interactive environmental
curriculum, "Plant an Idea, Plant a Tree," which offers instruction on
how the health of Armenia’s ecosystem is closely tied to its economic
future. We have introduced this curriculum in all 1,400 of Armenia’s
public schools. In rural villages, our staff trains and works with
subsistence farmers on planting and forestation techniques. At our
large-scale nursery and environmental educational center, we instruct
college students and professionals on environmental stewardship. In
our 12 years, Armenia Tree Project has made enormous strides, planting
and restoring more than 1,250,000 trees and creating hundreds of jobs
in our backyard nursery micro-enterprises for Armenia’s rural poor.

In the 30 years of the Green Belt Movement’s existence, an astonishing
30 million trees have been planted and 30,000 Kenyan women trained
in forestry, food processing, bee keeping, and other trades. Their
example inspires our work.

Such accomplishments suggest that in a world overwhelmed by seemingly
large and unsolvable issues, the long-term solutions may well lie in
simple but practical actions, taken on the local level.

Carolyn Mugar is the founder and Jeff Masarjian the executive director
of Armenia Tree Project.
From: Baghdasarian

IRAN OFFERS ENERGY COOPERATION, CONFLICT MEDIATION
By Ekaterina Basilaia

The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 24 2006

Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili meets his Iranian
counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki

Georgia, needing all the friends it can get, is intent on stepping
up economic and political cooperation with Iran.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gela Bezhuashvili, and Minister of Energy,
Nika Gilauri, paid a two-day official visit to the Iranian capital
Tehran. The Georgian delegation met with the Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Oil Minister.

Speaking at a briefing after the talks, Iranian foreign minister
Manouchehr Mottaki stressed Iran’s intention to expand economic
cooperation between the countries, especially in energy and transport,
though he also said that political cooperation was also high on the
agenda, Iranian Fars News agency reported.

"Given the position of Iran as a member of North-South Corridor and
that of Georgia as member of East-West Corridor, the two countries
are in a position to enter into complementary cooperation with each
other in economic fields," Mottaki stated.

Boosting ties with Iran has become a number-one priority for Georgia,
especially after last winter’s energy crisis, during which almost
the whole country was left without gas and electricity for ten days,
when two Russian pipelines in North Ossetia mysteriously exploded,
and high-voltage power lines failed.

Broadening cooperation in the energy sector, specifically the
transfer of electricity and gas to Georgia, was top of the agenda at
the meeting.

During Energy Minister Gilauri’s visit to Armenia last month Georgia
signed a trilateral agreement with Armenia and Iran, which legally
entitles Georgia to import electricity. "We will be able to import
at least 50 megawatts of electricity. We will continue talks over
increasing this amount," Gilauri stated then.

He said that this will be a barter deal, so Georgia will not pay
cash. Instead, Georgia will send the same amount of electricity back
to Iran and Armenia during the summer period, when Georgia usually
generates extra electricity.

He also said that a similar deal has already been reached with Turkey.

"If necessary, Georgia will import 100 megawatts of electricity
from Turkey and return the same amount during the summer period. So,
we will not have to pay cash," the Energy Minister said.

Along with economic issues the discussion of Georgian – Russian row
was on agenda of the two diplomats, where Mottaki offered Iran’s help
to help ease the tensions between the two countries.

"Iran hopes that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
Resolution 1716 will be taken into consideration and that both
sides are invited to be self-restrained and take confidence building
measures," he declared.

Mottaki noted that the crisis between the two sides will undermine the
capacities and potentials of both sides on the national and regional
level, hoping that it will be solved through the balanced approach
of the heads of the two states.

PUNISHING THE DENIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: BRUSSELS CRITICISES THE FRENCH VOTE
By Anne-Marie Mouradian in Brussels
Translated by Geraldine Ring

Caucaz.com, Georgia
Oct 24 2006

Approved by France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly,
on October 12, the bill would make it a crime for French citizens to
deny that the Armenian genocide occurred. Such a decision is being
made in a country home to 500,000 descendants of survivors of the
Armenian massacres and where earlier this year Turkish organisations
held demonstrations denying the genocide. The law, which foresees
the same penalties as those instituted in 1990 by the Gayssot Law on
the denial of the holocaust, still has to go to the upper house, the
Senate, for another vote. If the law comes into force, it will appear
as an ultimatum and "have serious consequences for relations between
the European Union and Turkey", said Olli Rehn, EU Commissioner for
Enlargement, who is leading membership negotiations with Ankara.

The Commissioner is convinced that the law would have a negative impact
and an "effect contrary to the objective sought." "We have always
told Turkey that it must reconcile with Armenia on issues related to
the past, as well as current difficulties such as the reopening of
the border. This law would prohibit debate efforts and the necessary
dialogue," said Krisztina Nagy, spokesperson for Commissioner Rehn. She
added that, "Certainly, progress on the subject is still minimal, but
a conference held last year by historians and Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call to set up a commission of historians to
shed light on these events are encouraging signs."

Brussels, which is also critical of the Turkish deadlock on the
issue of Cyprus and the slowness of reforms, does not want to get too
involved with an issue that is not part of the membership criteria
defined in Copenhagen in 1993. The European Commission has always
avoided clashing head on with Ankara on this hypersensitive issue and
explains that it is not its role to make statements on the nature of
the "painful events" of 1915.

The European Parliament, on the other hand, clearly requested Turkey
to recognise the Armenian genocide in 1987. Without making it a
precondition, it reaffirmed on September 27 that it is "crucial that
a country on the road to membership confront and recognise its past."

However, some Euro-MPs have criticised the National Assembly’s vote.

The president of the European Parliament’s EU-South Caucasus
delegation, France’s Marie-Anne Isler Beguin (Green Party), believes
that such a law "would fuel the arguments of those against Turkey’s
entry to the EU" and would also be "paradoxically counterproductive
for Armenians in Armenia."

"It is not at all a question of denying a genocide that the French
state has officially recognised since 2001, and even less a question
of imagining the EU integration of a Turkey which itself has not
recognised this genocide. The recognition of a historical reality
should not lead to the criminalization of matter which calls this
reality into question, not the least because this would touch upon
one of our democracies’ most fundamental rights, the freedom of
expression," said Mme Isler Beguin.

Does that mean the Gayssot Law which applies to the denial of the Shoah
should be abolished? Or is there "genocide and genocide"? In Belgium,
where talks of a similar law seem to have come to a standstill and
where those who deny the Armenian genocide hold seats in community
councils, the Coordinating Committee of Belgian Jewish Organizations
(CCOJB) and the Secular Jewish Community Centre are asking for the
crime of denying the Shoah to be extended to the Armenian and Tutsi
genocides. A similar wish has been expressed by the Belgian Movement
Against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia, presided over by Radouane
Bouhlal, who applauded the French National Assembly’s vote.

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THE ANATOMY OF ECONOMIC MIGRATION
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Diana Dundua)

The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 24 2006

A study by the International Association for the Study of Forced
Migration (IASFM) says currently some 350 000-450 000 Georgians are
working outside the country. This is 11-15 percent of the working
population in Georgia. The average monthly income for each Georgian
immigrant is USD 775, most migrants work abroad in order to support
their family at home.

The newspaper Akhali Taoba reports an IASFM a poll of approximately
1132 Georgians who had at least one family member living abroad.

The study revealed that 48 percent of the immigrants were unemployed
before going abroad.

80 percent of those living abroad used Western Union to send money
home. 14 percent are young Georgians studying abroad who did not
send money.

On average, each immigrant sends USD 180 per month to their family back
home. The largest individual monthly sums are sent from immigrants
living in the US and Greece while the smallest monthly amounts come
from Turkey and Armenia. For 56 percent of the Georgians with family
abroad, the main source of their income was from their relatives
working in other countries.

The study also reports that of those immigrants who returned to Georgia
after working abroad, only 19 percent of them were able to establish
successful businesses in Georgia. Four percent used the money they
had earned to pay for university expenses and 40 percent paid off
their debts (Most people borrowed money to fund their trip abroad).

37 percent of the immigrants from the study are unemployed again and
nine percent are working in jobs for which they are over qualified.

Despite everything, 65 percent of the immigrants stated they were
content working abroad.

SUMMER MISSIONS PROGRAMS MAKE WAVES WORLDWIDE
By Katelyn Foster

Baylor University The Lariat Online, Texas
Oct 24 2006

Mission trips to Kenya, Armenia and Honduras next summer will continue
the progress made by Baylor students in recent years.

Each trip includes teams of students divided into the students’
academic concentrations. Discipline-specific teams are able to use
their classroom knowledge and expertise to focus in on particular
problems affecting the country.

"The purpose of going is to take Baylor students within their
disciplines," Christy Correll-Hughes, graduate assistant for University
Ministries missions, said. "It gives them a chance to use the skills
they’ve learned to discover a sense of calling."

Kenya

"Kenya is a very good gateway to Africa," Ryan Richardson, associate
director for worship and media, said.

Richardson has been the leader of the general ministries team for the
past two years. He said Kenya is a "good first experience in Africa"
because it is westernized enough to be safe, but students can still
experience the culture shock in the slums.

Most teams stay in the Nairobi area and work in the Kibera slum. He
said Kibera impacts students and "looks like what you see on TV."

According to the African Medical and Research Foundation, Kibera
is the second-largest slum in the world and is home to nearly 1
million people.

In the last two years, the engineering team built bridges across
bodies of water. Kenyans travel 20 miles around water to get to a
market, but bridges cut the trip down to one mile.

The general ministry team worked in a slum with a school with about
200 students ages 4 to 18. The school had two functional rooms and
was in very poor condition.

"I mean mud walls and a metal top," Richardson said. "It had no
seating, no curriculum and only four teachers."

The team taught high school students to set goals while other Baylor
students worked with children by singing songs, jumping rope and
playing games.

A team from George W. Truett Theological Seminary worked with Living
Water, an organization that builds wells in Third World countries.

The team also partnered with the Olympic Vocational Center in Kibera.

The team played soccer with Kenyans at a school but also helped train
them in beauty school. Richardson said the goal was to help them
"envision a successful life."

The progress made two years ago allowed for 10 students to stay on
an extended trip this past summer. Different disciplines comprised
the extended team and stayed an extra two weeks.

The group did in-home visits with victims of HIV and AIDS and worked
with Beacon of Hope, an organization that shares Christ with women
living with or affected by AIDS/HIV in poor communities.

In the future, Richardson said, he hopes to branch out of Kenya.

"Ten years from now I hope we’re going to six or seven African
countries," he said.

He sees the possibility of 2,000 students going on mission trips
every year.

"Kenya needs you, but you really need Kenya," he said.

Armenia

This summer will mark the second mission trip Baylor has taken
to Armenia.

Kelli McMahan, outdoor adventure coordinator and a leader of an outdoor
advancement team in Armenia, said the purpose of the Project Armenia
mission trip is "to develop small and large business ideas related
to tourism." This helps create jobs for the locals, she said.

"The people there don’t really have a mind set for developing business
ideas and how to be competitive," McMahan said.

Armenia is a country of natural beauty with historic monasteries
and has potential to attract tourism potential from Iran, the United
States and Western Europe, she said.

"The potential to really impact the economy in this country is huge,"
Correll-Hughes said.

Project Armenia partners with Gospel Armenia Mission based out of
California, Armenia Forest NGO, and Gospel Armenia Outreach.

This year, the environmental studies team will be working with the
water quality and creating a map of trails to walk from one monastery
to another. The team will also create a hut system along these trails,
McMahan said.

The outdoor adventure team will make routes within the mountains for
easier passages.

The team plans to work with Armenian college students and teach
them to be white-water river guides. They will also work to build
Styrofoam houses.

"I think Armenia is developed enough that they’re ready for the ideas
we have," McMahan said.

She said Armenia is filled with "bright young people that love their
country and want to make it better."

Honduras

Deaf people in Honduras are shunned and not allowed to go to school,
said Lori Wrzesinski, a senior lecturer and director of the American
Sign Language Program.

Baylor will take its third trip to Honduras this summer to help the
deaf community.

Baylor students work with deaf children while teachers from
Tegucigalpa, Olancho, La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula are trained at
Manos Felices, a school located in Tegucigalpa. The teams work with
New Life Deaf Ministries, a ministry in Honduras dedicated to helping
the deaf and spreading the gospel.

This year will be the third and final stage of the teacher-training
program at the school for students in pre-school to second grade. A
new grade has been added every year.

Wrzesinski said the best part is hearing what the parents of the deaf
children have to say.

She told the story of a dad who thought it was the end for his son
because he was born deaf.

He now works as a bus driver for the school to pay for his son’s
tuition.

He’s learning sign language and doesn’t miss a class, she said.

The work in Honduras is far from over.

"The vision is to have land, build a school, have a small store and
a restaurant, and to have work available," Wrzesinski said.

She said the mission group will be taking books in hope of building
a library this year.

ARMENIAN GUESTS END VISIT TO TOPEKA
Story by Liz Dodds

49abcnews.com, KS
Oct 23 2006

Topeka is saying goodbye to one special group of visitors. Members
of the Department of Armenian Ministry of Defense are finishing up
their visit to the Capitol City. The two met with Kansas Adjutant
General Tod Bunting Monday morning.

The group came to familiarize the Armenian Ministry of Defense with
the U.S. military’s wartime and peacetime methods. But the Adjutant
General says the learning went both ways.

"Like us, they have a country that has a lot of severe weather and
emergencies, so they keep their public informed on what to do and what
they’re going to be doing in an event of an emergency. So we learned
from them you don’t have to be high-tech and fancy, you just need to
keep people informed and tell them what’s going on and what to do,
says Adjutant General Tod Bunting.

Kansas became a partner with the Republic of Armenia in 2003.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH REJECTS TURKEY’S ACCESSION TO EU

Angus Reid Global Scan, Canada
Oct 24 2006

– Many adults in France believe the European Union (EU) should
not welcome Turkey as a member, according to a poll by Louis-Harris
released by RMC. 58 per cent of respondents reject Turkey’s accession
into the continental group.

In October 2005, the EU officially began accession talks with Turkey.

On Oct. 16, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn discussed the
current state of affairs, saying, "We have some tensions in EU-Turkey
relations, but we can’t solve problems by dramatizing them. Instead,
we have to work prudently and with full determination in order to
find solutions."

Cyprus joined the EU in 2004. Relations between the Greek majority
and the Turkish minority in Cyprus have been frayed since 1974, when
a Greek-sponsored attempt to seize the government was met by military
intervention from Turkey. In the skirmish, the Turks gained control
of almost two-fifths of the island, which in 1983 declared itself
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

On Oct. 9, French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy discussed his
conditions for Turkey’s EU accession, declaring, "The first is that
there is a bilateral commission between Armenia and Turkey which has
equal representation, so that these two countries can conduct the
work of acknowledging history. The second condition is that Turkey
reopen its borders with Armenia. And the third condition is that
Turkey gives up its penal law which forbids people speaking of the
genocide in Turkey."

Polling Data

Do you think the European Union (EU) should accept Turkey as a member?

Yes 28%

No 58%

Not sure 14%

Source: Louis-Harris / RMC Methodology: Interviews with 1,003 French
adults, conducted on Oct.

13 and Oct. 14, 2006. No margin of error was provided.

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