Month: November 2006

Panorama.am

15:24 24/11/06

HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT TRY BOLOGNA CONCEPTS

Levon Lazarian, minister of education and science,
will leave for Strasburg soon to report on the process
our higher educational establishments have in
implementing the provision of Bologna Declaration.
Armenia has for the first time included in the
monitoring network of declaration member states. The
minister told a press conference today that rectors
and prorectors have set up boards, working groups and
representative bodies comprising members of their
establishments.

The groups discuss issues on qualification system,
credit accumulation, financial management, quality
education, introduction of three level system. Three
level system supposes PHD program which is not yet
developed here, Lazarian said. /Panorama.am/

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Panorama.am

19:22 24/11/06

ARMENIA NEEDS MORE FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN JEWELRY

For the first 10 months of 2006, the volume of
production in jewelry and gold in Armenia made up 74.4
billion Armenian drams and the volume of sale made up
75 billion Armenian drams. These indicators diminished
by 19.7% and 17.6% as compared with the reporting
period in 2005. Also, 300 less people are employed in
the sector, Gagik Lazarian, head of jewelry
department at the ministry of trade and economic
development, told a press conference today. In his
words, the decline is conditioned, first of all, with
the crises in the international jewelry market which
continues for 2 years. It is also connected with
devaluations of the American dollar.

Lazarian believes jewelry company need better
management and higher technologies. `New foreign
companies must be attracted to the field,’ he said.
/Panorama.am/

Panorama.am

18:34 24/11/06

Council of Europe launches European campaign to stop
violence against women in the home

Domestic violence must be criminalised, victims
protected and perpetrators punished across Europe,
says the Council of Europe.The call comes as Europe
marks the UN’s International Day for the Elimination
of Violence against Women. It is also the prelude to a
major conference on the subject in Madrid, Spain,
where the 46 member Council will launch a campaign
aimed at stopping a major human rights abuse. (Monday
27 Madrid, in the Spanish Senate)

The launch ceremony will include Spanish Prime
Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Senate
President Francisco Javier Rojo García and, from the
Council of Europe, Secretary General Terry Davis,
Committee of Ministers Chair Fiorenzo Stolfi,
Parliamentary Assembly President René van der Linden
and Ian Micallef, President of the Chamber of Local
Authorities of the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities.

The campaign will run until 2008 and was devised when
the Council’s 2005 Warsaw summit demanded immediate
action in the face of widespread violence to women in
Europe. It will work through governments, parliaments
and regional and local authorities, creating
partnerships with leading NGOs to ensure wide-ranging
action. The Campaign aims to make the public aware of
the extent of violence to women and to encourage new
laws and practices to stop violence.

Figures gathered by the Council show that violence
happens in every European country. Although statistics
are difficult to compare from country to country
because of the different research methods, studies for
individual countries show:

* across countries one fifth to one quarter of all
women have experienced physical violence at least once
during their lives, and more than one-tenth have
suffered sexual violence

* Figures for all forms of violence, including
stalking, are as high as 45%. * Most violent acts
against women are carried out by men in the immediate
social environment, most often partners and
ex-partners.

* It is estimated that about 12% to 15% of all women
have been in a relationship of domestic abuse after
the age of 16. * The cost to society of domestic
violence is enormous. Studies in individual countries
have ranged from 2.4 billion euros per year in Spain,
to 34 billion euros in the UK.

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TELEPHONE TARIFFS WON’T CHANGE
[03:04 pm] 24 November, 2006

The State Committee regulating public services
discussed the application of `ArmenTel’ demanding to
change telephone tariffs. The company offered to raise
the monthly tariffs to 3000 AMD (instead of 1100 AMD).

`ArmenTel’ also offered to reduce the number of free
conversation minutes from 360 to 280. The cost of a
minute of telephone conversation was also to be raised
to 6 AMD per minute.

The Committee found the offers groundless and gave
«ArmenTel» time until March 1 of the coming year in
order to revise them.

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AZERI `ANS’ CLOSED DOWN
[07:31 pm] 24 November, 2006

Today at 03:00 p.m. the work of Azeri TV Company `ANS’
was halted. The decision of depriving the TV Company
which has existed for years and has a high reputation
of the broadcasting license has been made by the
National Committee of Television and Radio. The
Committee has not given clear-cut grounding of the
decision.

`I’m shocked by the news. My feelings are not forming
into words’, said Head of the Journalists’ Union
Elchin Shihlinski to day.az. Representatives of
different parties and NGOs make statements condemning
the decision and activities of the party.

Almost all the statements coincide with the opinion of
Leila Yunus, the head of the Peace and Democracy
Institute, `The closure of ANS testifies to the fact
that the authorities of Azerbaijan hastily combat
freedom of speech closing all the independent Mass
Media. I am convinced that the decision has been made
by the Government’.

OSCE OFFICE CONDEMNS CLOSURE OF PRIVATE TV BROADCASTER
IN AZERBAIJAN

BAKU, 24 November 2006 – The OSCE Office in Baku today
expressed concern and surprise at the closure of
Azerbaijan’s first private TV and radio broadcaster,
ANS.

The National TV and Radio Council (NTRC) of Azerbaijan
today adopted a decision not to extend the licence for
ANS TV and ANS Ch.M radio.

Ambassador Maurizio Pavesi, Head of the OSCE Office in
Baku said: "We are deeply concerned about the closure
of a private television and radio broadcaster, which
has always been considered by international observers
as the most objective in the country – as has clearly
been indicated also in the OSCE Election Observation
Reports.

"I’m perplexed as to why the decision, which was
issued in the absence of any definitive reasoning,
should come into force immediately. The usual recourse
to appeal seems to have been overlooked," he added.

The Council said it based its decision on "the regular
violation of the provisions of the legislation,
disregarding regular official warnings and fine
sanctions made by the TV and Radio Council and
demonstrating an insincere attitude towards comments
and warnings given by the Council about infractions."

ANS TV and ANS Ch.M radio stopped broadcasting at 3
p.m. (1100GMT) today. The NTRC, in its decision, also
terminated the company’s satellite transmissions. ANS
TV and Radio had been waiting for the renewal of its
licence since 2003.

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POISONED WITH GAS
[12:59 pm] 24 November, 2006

On November 23 at about 12:25 p.m. residents of
Yerevan Jrvezh district 22/22 Aramayis Araqelyan (b.
1924) and Levon Araqelyan (b. 1948) died of gas
poisoning.

Liana Araqelyan (b. 1990) who has also been poisoned
by gas has been taken to medical center «Grigor
Lousavorich», Emergency Administration informs.
Doctors claim the situation of the patient is grave.

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WINTER WILL BE WARM
[01:40 pm] 24 November, 2006

Head of the Russian Hydro meteorological service Roman
Vilfand predicts a warm winter this year. According to
him, the frosts of last year were an exception from
the tendency of warming, as during the last three
years the average temperature in winter has been
rising for 0.9-3 degrees per year. Vilfand mentioned
that this winter the temperature will be higher than
the average, `Gazeta GTZ.ru’ reports.

So, the Russian specialist refutes the investigations
of British and Russian scientists that in a few
decades the climate in Europe will become colder
conditioned by the change of the direction of the
Atlantic ocean streams. The supporters of this view
have revealed that the warm streams of Golfstream are
getting weaker; thus `we should prepare for reduction
in temperature and not warming’. By the way, the
scientists have investigated the Atlantic ocean for 50
years in order to process the theory.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

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YOUNG MAN KILLED IN GAVAR
[04:15 pm] 24 November, 2006

On November 23 the Gavar department of the Police
received information from the hospital that the dead
body of Hrachik Hoveyan (b. 1976) has been taken to
hospital.

Hoveyan’s wife told the group of policemen that at
about 09:50 p.m. the same day several strangers called
him out. A few minutes later she heard shots and went
out to find her husband with head injuries.

The case is being investigated by the Prosecutor’s
Office of Gegharqounik region.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: OSCE MG Puts Strong Pressure on
Armenian and Azeri Presidents
23.11.2006 16:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Many analysts believe that if
mediators (the OSCE MG) manage to make Armenian and
Azeri Presidents sit down at the bargaining table, it
will signal that a certain common mode of conflict
settlement was already found by two FMs,’ the
Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. `A ready and specific
document is on the bargaining table now, the newspaper
writes. According to a source in diplomatic circles,
the basic items of the framework agreement provide for
the following steps: Armenia withdraws troops from
Azeri territories under its control, refugees return
to the places of their permanent residence, diplomatic
and economic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
normalize, peacekeeping forces are stations in the
conflict region, international economic assistance is
provided to Nagorno Karabakh and a referendum is held
over the NK status,’ says the article. `The Armenian
party is expected to withdraw troops from 7 occupied
regions of Azerbaijan. In exchange Baku will provide a
40-km corridor, joining NK with Armenia that will be
controlled by the peacekeeping forces. The Presidents,
upon whom the OSCE MG co-chairs put strong pressure,
will answer whether this option suits Yerevan and
Baku,’ writes the NG.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
November 23, 2006 Thursday 6:18 PM GMT
Christan Turks stand trial for insulting Islam, Turkish nation
ISTANBUL, Nov 23 2006
Two Christian Turks went on trial here Thursday and risk two to nine
years in jail for allegedly denigrating Islam and the Turkish nation
while doing missionary work, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The defendants, from the Turkish Protestant Church in Istanbul, are
accused under provisions that penalize acts inciting hatred among
people, insulting “Turkishness” and keeping records of people’s
personal information, the agency said.
Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal were charged after prosecutors received
complaints over their missionary activities among school children in
the Istanbul suburb of Silivri.
The indictment accused them of saying that “Islam is a primitive
religion and a fabrication, a source of terrorism,” and that “the
Turks, who committed many massacres of Christians in history, are a
cursed tribe and will not rid themselves of barbarism as long as they
stick to Islam.”
The defendants rejected the charges, saying they only sought to
spread the message of the Bible, Anatolia reported.
The judge adjourned the trial.
Missionary activities are not illegal in Turkey, a a predominantly
Muslim but strictly secular country, but are usually greeted with
suspicion and hostility.
“Missionaries, hands off our schools and our children,” read a banner
a group of protestors brandished outside the Silivri courthouse,
Anatolia said.
The religious freedoms of Turkey’s tiny Christian communities, mostly
Orthodox Greeks and Armenians, are likely to be on the agenda of Pope
Benedict XVI when he visits Turkey next week.
The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, is also pressing
Ankara to improve the rights of non-Muslim minorities.