Month: November 2006

15-YEAR-OLD ARMENIAN BRUTALLY KILLED IN PODMOSKOVYE
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.11.2006 12:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ November 11 a 15-year-old Armenian Narek Kocharian
was killed on a railway platform of the settlement of Ivanteyevka
(Moscow oblast). As reported by the police, the boy was brought to
hospital with knife wounds and died some time later.
According to the source, operative and search measures are being
carried out.
The Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) says that Narek Kocharian,
an attendee of a hairdressing course, went out for a walk with his
Russian friends that evening.
At about 6 or 7 p.m. aggressive young men assaulted Narek. His friends
escaped while he was brutally beaten and knifed. The assassins also
tried to smother or hand their victim. A scarf with an image of a skull
and bones was found next to the killed boy thus clearly pointing to
the affiliation of the assassins to a fascist grouping.
According to the source Narek Kocharian (1991 year of birth) resided
in the town of Ivanteyevka and was going to receive the passport of
a Russian citizen in the near future. The body of the killed boy will
be conveyed to Armenia. The UAR says a criminal case in compliance of
Article 111.4 of the Russian Criminal Code (causation of grave physical
injuries that resulted in death over carelessness) was initiated.
The UAR staff adds, “Our guards of order consider that the boy
was killed ‘over carelessness’. But he was beaten, smothers and
knifed. Moreover these deeds were dictated by national hatred. Isn’t
this a reason for threatening frequency of such crimes?” reports
IA Regnum.

AUSTRIA ASKS FOR PAUSE IN TURKEY’S EU NEGOTIATIONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.11.2006 13:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Austria, whose public is largely against Turkey’s
possible membership to the European Union, has asked for a pause in
Turkey’s EU entry talks. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik
spoke to press on Monday prior to the EU Foreign Ministers meeting in
Brussels. “If there is no important move between now and December,
it might be wise to agree on a time-out to reduce tensions,” she
said. Plassnik was largely alone in this opinion as other EU Foreign
Ministers did not support such a move. The French and German ministers
admitted that it would of no use to give a time-out in Turkey’s
EU negotiations and even Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiorgos
Lillikas said that even they did not want a pause in negotiations with
Turkey. Maltese Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said there would be a
“major crisis” if Turkey did not fulfill its commitments on giving
access to Cypriot shipping but also added that he was against a full
suspension of negotiations, reports Zaman.

EU TO CLOSELY WATCH UPCOMING ELECTION IN ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.11.2006 13:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ European Commissioner for External Relations Benita
Ferrero-Waldner described the singing of the EU Action Plans with
the South Caucasian states as ‘a new stage’. “We are launching a new
stage. We want to convey our values – human rights, democracy and rule
of law – to these states. We also consider their wishes. It’s important
for us to encourage regional cooperation,” she told RFE/RL. For his
part, EU Envoy for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby also commented on
the Armenia-EU Action Plan. “The European Neighborhood Policy will
allocate finances and these funds should be used for reformation of
Armenia and Azerbaijani in order to bring them closer to European
standards,” he said. The EU will also closely watch the forthcoming
parliamentary and presidential election in Armenia and Azerbaijan
which will become an important exam for the republics.

EU NOT PASSIVE IN CONFLICT SETTLEMENT IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.11.2006 13:06 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “I cannot say that the EU is passive in the conflict
settlement in the South Caucasus. The EU has done a great deal of
work,” EU High Commissioner Javier Solana stated. In his words,
the conflicts are rooted in the problems the whole region faces. “I
would like to stress the importance of talks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. The EU supports the mediating endeavors of the OSCE Minsk
Group and I hope that the meeting of the Foreign Ministers in November
14 will promote the process,” he said.
When touching upon Georgia’s internal conflicts Solana said the EU
considers the resolution of the conflicts to be vitally important
for the region. “EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus
Peter Semneby helps Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to reconsider the
economic and political reforms and press for the further development
of the region making contribution to the peaceful settlement of
conflicts and encouraging cooperation between the countries,” he said,
reported Trend.

ANKARA AIMS TO AMEND ARTICLE 301 BEFORE SUMMIT
Gulf Times, Qatar
Nov 16 2006
ANKARA: Turkey plans to amend a controversial law condemned by the
European Union for curbing freedom of expression in time for an EU
summit in mid-December, officials said yesterday.
Article 301 makes it a crime to insult “Turkishness” or state
institutions. Nationalist lawyers have used it to prosecute writers
and intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, although
most cases have ended in acquittal.
In its annual report on Turkey’s reforms last week, the European
Commission repeated its criticism of the article and urged the
government to amend or repeal it.
“This amendment has to be made and benefit is seen in making it as
soon as possible. We aim to pass the amendment through parliament
in the first week of December,” an official from the ruling AK Party
told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
EU leaders will discuss the fate of Turkey’s EU candidacy at a December
14-15 summit after concern over a slowdown in reforms and a row over
Cyprus, whose government Ankara does not recognise. Turkey began EU
entry talks a year ago.
Political analysts say Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who faces
elections next year, hopes that by amending article 301 he can gain
credit in Brussels and make the EU less willing to punish Turkey over
its Cyprus policy.
AK Party sources said they and the Justice Ministry were exploring
new forms of wording that would make it more difficult for politically
motivated lawyers to bring cases to court.
The aim of the amendment will be to protect people’s legitimate right
to criticise while discouraging insults that upset Turkish public
opinion, AK Party officials said.
Non-governmental organisations, including business groups and trade
unions, are also drawing up joint proposals for changes they plan to
submit to the government by tomorrow.
The head of the Turkish Doctors’ Union, one of the NGOs involved, said
his group favoured complete abolition of the article but added: “The
government is not planning change of that magnitude at this point.”
Speaking in Stockholm yesterday, Turkey’s EU chief negotiator Ali
Babacan noted the strength of opposition to change inside parliament,
despite the AK Party’s big majority, and said the support of the NGOs
would be crucial.
“If a serious, concrete demand comes from civil society it will be
easier for us to look into this situation,” he said.
Pamuk was charged under article 301 over comments he made about the
alleged genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I.
Pamuk’s case collapsed on a technicality.
Turkey strongly denies the genocide claims. It says large numbers
of Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in a partisan conflict
accompanying the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KOCHARIAN AND ALIYEV TO MEET IN MINSK NOVEMBER 28
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.11.2006 12:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The recurrent meeting of Armenian President Robert
Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will be held in Minsk
November 28 within the framework of the CIS summit. The agreement
was achieved at the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs with
the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Brussels, head of the department
of press and information policy at the Azeri MFA Tahir Taghizade
told reporters. The talks of the Foreign Ministers were hard but
constructive, he said. The Ministers discussed the details that had
not been coordinated before. Taghizade described the discussion
of the components and elements of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement process as positive. November 21-23 the OSCE MG Co-chairs
are expected to visit the region, said the Azeri MFA official,
reports Trend news agency.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN AMERICANS PLAYED VITAL ROLE IN NOVEMBER ELECTION
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.11.2006 12:55 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “We are tremendously proud of the vital and
energetic role that Armenian Americans played this election season –
a watershed transition of Congressional power that holds great meaning
for our community’s legislative agenda,” ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
“On the House side, we certainly welcome the fall from power of Dennis
Hastert – who, as Speaker, prevented a bipartisan majority of his
colleagues from voting for U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide –
and his expected replacement by Nancy Pelosi, who has a strong record
in support of Armenian American issues. On the Senate side, even as
we await the final outcome, we are very gratified by the victory in
New Jersey of Senator Bob Menendez – our top electoral priority this
election season. Inspired by his principled stand against the Hoagland
nomination, Armenian Americans throughout the Garden State – led by
the ANC of New Jersey – truly came through for the Menendez campaign,
delivering volunteers, campaign contributions, and, most importantly,
tens of thousands of votes in support of his electoral victory,”
added Hamparian.

TURKEY FROZE MILITARY RELATIONS WITH FRANCE OVER GENOCIDE BILL
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.11.2006 13:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey has frozen military relations with France,
reports CNN-Turk with a reference to the Commander of the Turkish
land forces. At a reception dedicated to the 23rd anniversary of
proclamation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Army
General Ilker Bashbug said that military visits at the high level
between Turkey and France have also been cancelled. The decision of
the Turkish Defense Ministry is a response to the bill criminalizing
the Armenian Genocide denial adopted by the French National Assembly
in October. The bill which rates negation of the Genocide perpetrated
in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1917 as a crime aroused extremely
sharp reaction of Ankara. Turkish officials threatened Paris with
sanctions. Turkish businessmen threatened with boycott of French
goods. The commodity circulation between the two states makes about
$10 billion.
To come into force the law should be approved by the Senate and
then signed by the President. The European Commission has already
subjected the bill to criticism and said the document ‘undermines
friendly relations.’ “If the law is passed it can complicate the
dialogue essential for coordination of positions of the European Union
and Turkey,” a European Commission member said, reports RIA Novosti.

OVER 16 TRUCKS OF “BELAZ” TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA
A1+
[12:24 pm] 16 November, 2006
“AGRC” IS AWARE OF DIGGING AND “BELAZ”-OF TRANSPOSTING
Over 16 lorries are to be transported to Armenia by the end of 2007
under the agreement signed between “AGRC”, Ararat gold extracting
plant, and Belarusian “BelAZ”, one of the leading world’s manufacturer
of haul trucks and specialized equipment.
The first four trucks will be transported at the end of
November. 130-ton vehicles will replace 45-55-ton trucks used in the
gold mines of Vardenis for already 20 years.
Trucks of “BelAZ” will be transported to Armenia for the first time.
To note: “BelAZ” supplies dump trucks, graders, automotive spare
parts and tires to a lot of companies all over the world.
The treaty between “AGRC” and “BelAZ” cost over 30 million
USD. Mr. Sharman, executive director of “AGRC”, informed “A1+” that
“BelAZ” will also provide the gold mines of Ararat with all necessary
spares.
He also assured that 30 million USD allotted to “AGRC” is only
the first investment in the company and they intend to reach it to
100 million USD. “AGRC” is to pay 12 million USD according to the
preliminary arrangement. “Thus, we initiate our technical armament”,
said Mr. Sharman.
The representatives of “BelAZ” also attached great significance to the
treaty. “We have worked fruitfully with three countries; Armenia, India
and Belarus. The treaty will contribute to the further co-operation. I
assume that our trucks are of great demand all over the world. “AGRC”
is well aware of digging and we are well aware of transporting”,
announced Vladimir Loyken, executive director of “BelAZ.”
“BelAZ” also co-operates with other Armenian enterprises, namely with
the Kajaran, Zangezour and Agarak copper molybdenum enterprises.
By the way, Mr. Sharman says that the rumors that Indians are going
to sell “AGRC” do not correspond to the reality.
“We have great projects to implement in Armenia”, says Mr. Sharman. We
work in Armenia and we are obliged to meet the country’s laws. A
new plant will be built in Ararat. We are currently working on the
project. After the project is affirmed, we shall start construction
works. “AGRC” employs over 964 people. Provided the new plant works,
their number will be added by 300″, added Mr. Sharman.
He also assured that soon all the employees of “AGRC” will get
equal wages.

THE “BUS” NEEDS DRIVERS
A1+
[01:21 pm] 16 November, 2006
Today eight new “Bogdan” buses will start working in Avan-Kayaran
route.
According to “Omnibus” Ltd of the Yerevan Municipality, the buses
are quite new and they have lately been exported to Armenia from
Kiev. Over 63 new buses will soon serve various routes of the capital.
By the way, the buses are anticipated to work by two shifts. So far
this is only but a wish as “Omnibus” Ltd needs drivers.
The buses are currently parked. Meanwhile, taxis rush along the city
roads overcrowded with passengers.