Month: November 2006

RA GOVERNMENT TO APPROVE ARMENTEL’S PURCHASE BY VYMPELCOM
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2006 13:27 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian government will approve the bargain
sealed by Greek OTE and Russian VympelCom on the sale of 90%
stocks of ArmenTel telecommunication company, Secretary of the
Security Council at the RA President, Defense Minister, Co-chair
of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Economic Committee Serge
Sargsyan said November 6. “We should get acquainted with the terms
of the bargain and the price,” he remarked. When commenting on the
opinion that the number of companies conveyed to Russia is increasing
Minister Sargsyan emphasized that the growth of Russian capital in
the Armenian strategic strictures is not dangerous because Russia
has never abused the economic instruments, reports IA Regnum.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION PROCESS GAINING STRENGTH IN EUROPE AND U.S.
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2006 13:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Diaspora of the U.S. anchors big
hopes with the off-year election, the ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter in Washington. “The number
of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues can reach 196. Turkey
has reason for worrying, since the Armenian Genocide recognition
process is gaining force not only in Europe but also in the United
States. In case the democrats take majority of seats in the House of
Representatives and in the Senate the situation may turn favorable
for Armenians. The ANCA does not oppose democrats to republicans. The
Genocide issue should be on the agenda after the re-election as well.
Congressman Adam Schiff will submit the issue to the Committee on
Foreign Relations,” the ANCA Executive Director said.

AZERI-TURKS OPEN FIRE ON PEACEFUL RESIDENT
Panorama.am
13:35 04/11/06
Azerbaijan has rudely violated the cease-fire regime yesterday
shooting a peaceful resident of a borderline village. Colonel
S. Shahsuvaryan, press secretary of the Armenian defense ministry,
said Maxim Poghosyan, 28, was shot by an Azeri sniper on November 3
at 13:50 on Aigepar Movses road. Poghosyan is transported to medical
unit of Berd.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SAHAKYAN SAYS HIS SON TO COOPERATE WITH COMMUNITY HEAD
Panorama.am
13:43 04/11/06
Galust Sahakyan, lead of Armenian Republican Party (HHK) block, told
Panorama.am that the elections for the head of Ajapaniak community
were a precedent for “cleaner and more legal elections.”
Sahakyan assures they aim to change the atmosphere in the community. He
said his son, Arman Sahakyan, will cooperate with the newly elected
community head, Ruben Hovsepyan.
Speaking about low turn out at the elections, 25%, Sahakyan said,
“some may have had lost hope, others may have had low level of
belief.”

ORGANIZERS SAY CoE FILM SCREENING NOT A VIOLATION OF LAW
Panorama.am
15:18 04/11/06
Film campaign launched by Council of Europe kicked off today at
the National Gallery aimed to prevent trafficking, violence against
children and racism. The selected 16 films which won the competition
will be shown every Saturday and Sunday. The entrance is free.
The audience was shown a Spanish film “Forgotten” which is about
violence against children. As reported, the films are in original
languages with English subtitles. So, if someone does not know at
least English, the campaign has no meaning for him/her.
The Armenian Law on Language says that Armenian translations must be
provided during mass events.
However, Melik Karapetyan, manager of film project, believes there
was not violation of law. He said they would be very limited films,
if Armenian translations were provided for all.

EUROPEAN UNION URGES TURKEY TO OPEN ITS BORDER WITH ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2006 17:17 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Its upcoming progress report on Turkey, the European
Union urges Turkey to open its border with Armenia, stressing that
this would be an important step forward in the establishment of good
neighborly relations between the two countries and would boost trade
relations.
According to the draft progress report obtained by The New Anatolian
before the text is released by the EU next Wednesday, while urging
Turkey to open its border with Armenia, the EU cites the lack of
significant developments in relations between Turkey and Armenia since
the official exchange of letters between Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian in April 2005.
However the EU notes a closer alignment of Turkey’s official position
with EU positions in relation with the Southern Caucasus and Central
Asia. “Turkey has reiterated its support for the European Neighborhood
Policy. Turkey participates in the regional initiative GUAM (Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) with observer status. Turkey followed
closely the elections in Azerbaijan. It aligned itself with the EU
Presidency statement on the elections in Azerbaijan on 10 November
2005,” said the report, reported ABHABER.

MASS BURIAL OF POSSIBLE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS DISCOVERED IN TURKEY
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2006 16:18 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Gendarmerie has instructed local villagers of
a southeastern region to keep silence about a mass grave, discovered
on October 17, that might contain remains of Armenian Genocide
victims. According to a Kurdish newspaper published in Turkish
Ulkede Ozgur Gundem, villagers from Xirabebaba (Kuru) were digging
a grave for one of their relatives when they came across to a cave
full of skulls and bones of reportedly 40 people. The Xirabebaba
residents assumed they had uncovered a mass grave of 300 Armenian
villagers massacred during the Genocide of 1915. They informed Akarsu
Gendarmerie headquarters, the local military unit, about the discovered
remains. Turkish army officers, according to the Kurdish newspaper,
instructed the villagers to block the cave entrance and make no mention
of the remains buried in it. The officers said an investigation would
take place. The newspaper reported on the developments and the Turkish
military’s attempt to hide the news. Journalists, who had arrived to
obtain more information, were denied access to the cave.
As the mass burial made news, local Gendarmerie made another visit
to the villagers. The latter were pressed to report the name of
the person who leaked the mass burial discovery to the press. The
villagers were warned not to show anyone directions to the cave.
The victims of the mass grave, according to Sodertorn University
History Professor David Gaunt, are most likely the 150 Armenian and
120 Assyrian males from the nearby town of Dara (now Oguz) killed on
June 14, 1915, reports Asbarez.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH POLICY TRIED TO ARREST ARMENIAN MP FOR STATEMENTS ON GENOCIDE
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2006 15:24 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of Newsxchange international forum
opened in Istanbul November 2.
Responsible for Haylur information program of the Public TV Company
of Armenia Harut Harutyunyan and Information Department Head
of Yerkir-Media TV channel, MP, ARF Dashnaktsutyun member Gegham
Manukyan took part in it. Turkish PM Erdogan addressing the meeting
reaffirmed Turkish official stand that there was no Genocide. In
response to Erdogan’s statement that owing to the war Armenians of
border regions of the Ottoman Empire were merely deported, Gegham
Manukyan asked a question how it could happen that Ottoman MP Grigor
Zohrap was arrested and killed. He also stated that Istanbul is a
city, symbolizing the beginning of the Armenian Genocide by arrests
of Armenian intelligentsia on April 24, 1915. Gegham Manukyan urged
the Turkish society and especially journalists to study these dark
pages of their history and recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide.
During his speech he raised a poster, on which it was written in
English, “Turkey should find courage to recognize the Armenian
Genocide.” Then Gegham Manukyan was surrounded by policemen, who
wanted to take him out of the hall. However, journalists prevented
this by asking Manukyan for a news conference. Manukyan repeated his
urge in English and Turkish. The organizers of the session stated
that if Manukyan is arrested, they will join him, reports the Yerkir.

RF CB CHAIRMAN: CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA ACHIEVES GREAT SUCCESS IN INFLATION CONTROL
Noyan Tapan
Nov 04 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues related to inflation control
in Armenia and Russia, the appreciation of the Armenian dram and the
Russian ruble, response of the real sector, particularly exporters to
this appreciation, etc. were discussed during the meeting of Chairman
of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Tigran Sargsian and Chairman
of the RF Central Bank Sergei Ignatyev in Yerevan on November 3. The
chairmen of the central banks of the two countries stated this at a
joint press conference on the same day. In S. Ignatyev’s opinion,
the CBA “has achieved great success” in controlling inflation,
as Armenia’s “microeconomic indices are very high, while the
inflation is quite low – much lower than in Russia.” In his words,
under conditions when the nominal and real values of the national
currency strengthen, non-tradable sectors (e.g. construction) grow
at a higher rate and difficulties arise with the development of
the processing industry. “This problem is inevitable: the indicated
processes should be watched closely, with some corrections being made
in the macroeconomic policy. Nevertheless, the real sectors of the
economies of Armenia and Russia adapt to this process quite rapidly and
effectivel,” S. Ignatyev said. In his words, in a few years Russia will
be ready to transfer to inflation targeting and a floating exchange
rate of the ruble, which Armenia did in 2006. S. Ignatyev noted that
Russia cannot now use the inflation targeting policy because of the
considerable impact of oil prices on the inflation.

RUSSIAN VIMPELCOM BECAME OWNER OF ARMENTEL COMPANY
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2006 13:47 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ VimpelCom Public Corporation announced November 3
the signing of an agreement with the Greek Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization SA (OTE) on purchase of 90% of ArmenTel CJSC shares,
which is communication services operator of Armenia.
The 90% of ArmenTel shares make EUR 341.9 million plus some EUR
40 million as the company pure debt and obligations. The deal is
planned to be formalized before the end of 2006, VimpelCom Press
Office reported.
ArmenTel is the major telecommunication company of Armenia of which
the Government has 10%. OTE Greek company, which holds 90% of its
shares, announced a tender on selling these this year. 16 companies
took part in it. Russian VimpelCom and MTC, as well as ETISALAT
(Emirates Telecommunications Corporation/Istithmar ETV -Emergent
Telecom Ventures) è VTEL Holdings/Knightsbridge Associates passed to
the second round of the tender, the results of which are not announced
yet. The OTE had bought ArmenTel at USD 142.47 million. Before
November 4, 2004 ArmenTel was the monopolist at the cellular market
of Armenia. In November 2004, in exchange for deprival of monopoly
rights for GSM services, ArmenTel got a prerogative for IP-telephone
services. Thus, K-Telecom came to Armenia with a trademark of VivaCell
– a branch structure of Nagorno Karabakh communication operator.
Armenian PM Manukyan had stated that the purchaser of ArmenTel should
refuse monopoly to a number of activities and the pretenders to the
buying of the shares agreed to that condition, reports IA Regnum.
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