Month: March 2007

Los Angeles Times, CA
March 25 2007

Alert issued on Armenian mineral water
>From a Times Staff Writer
March 25, 2007

Federal officials reissued a warning Saturday against drinking an
Armenian brand of mineral water laced with arsenic that was
distributed by companies in Los Angeles County.

Government tests of the imported Jermuk bottled water showed levels
of arsenic up to 67 times federal safety standards.

At that concentration, arsenic can cause nausea, abdominal pain and
vomiting but is unlikely to cause more serious illness, the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration said in a statement.

No illnesses caused by drinking the water have been reported to the
FDA.

Five brands of the bottled water have been recalled, all with Jermuk
in the name. They were distributed by Arnaz & Nelli Co. of North
Hollywood, Zetlian Bakery Inc. of Pico Rivera, Importers Direct
Wholesale Co. of Los Angeles and Kradjian Importing Co. of Glendale.

The FDA is still investigating whether other brands are similarly
tainted.

People’s Daily Online, China
March 25 2007

FDA recalls Armenian mineral water

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday recalled five
brands of imported Armenian mineral water which allegedly contains
excessive arsenic.

FDA officials said a bottled water has measured up to 674 times the
permissible level of arsenic.

FDA said it sampled half-liter bottles of the various brands and
discovered they exceeded by far the maximum allowable arsenic level
of 10 micrograms per liter.

FDA found arsenic levels ranging between 454-674 micrograms per liter
of arsenic in the Armenian water. The five brands are distributed by
a company in Los Angeles.

Although the water contains up to 674 times the federal maximum
levels of arsenic, the FDA said that it does not expect people to be
killed by poison in their mineral water.

FDA officials said they are worried that long-term exposure to
arsenic is a known cause of increased cancers among humans who
consume non-lethal doses of the element.

The agency said persons suffering from arsenic poisoning would
experience nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting before the arsenic
level increased to fatal levels in their blood. No such illnesses
have been reported yet, the FDA said.

"There is little chance that someone would become seriously ill after
consuming the recalled products over a brief period of time ( days to
weeks)," said a FDA statement.

The water is marketed under several labels, including:

— "Jermuk Natural Mineral Water Fortified with Gas From The Spring";

— "Jermuk 1951 Natural Mineral Water";

— "Jermuk Sodium Calcium Bicarbonate and Sulphate Mineral Water ";
and

— "Jermuk, Natural Mineral Water Sparkling."

The suspect water has been bottled by several companies, including
Kradjian Importing of Glendale, Importers Direct Wholesale Company of
Los Angeles, Zetlian Bakery of Pico Rivera, and Arnaz & Nelli Inc. of
North Hollywood.

The FDA said all of those brands are imported and distributed by
Andreas Andreasen, the North Hollywood firm that first began
recalling its own product last week.

Source: Xinhua

Armenian defence minister cancels China trip after premier’s death

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
25 Mar 07

The Armenian defence minister has cancelled his trip to China in connection
with the death of the prime minister, Armenian Public TV reported on 25
March.
Serzh Sargsyan was seen off to Beijing on the morning of 25 March but decided
to return to Armenia upon hearing the news about Andranik Margaryan’s death,
the TV said.
Sargsyan is also the chairman of the council of the Republican Party of
Armenia, the chairman of which was Margaryan.
Margaryan died of a heart attack on 25 March.

Armenian TV changes programming after premier’s death

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
25 Mar 07

Armenian Public TV was observed on 25 March to interrupt normal
programming in connection with the death of Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan. At 1035 gmt a pop concert was interrupted, giving way to a
classical music quartet. At 1048 gmt the TV carried a four-minute
unscheduled news bulletin announcing the death of Margaryan.

The television said that President Robert Kocharyan had called an
emergency sitting of the government in connection with the death of
the prime minister.

The TV went on to show a Soviet-era historical feature film.

Armenian president calls emergency meeting after premier’s death

A1+, Yerevan
25 Mar 07

25 March: In connection with the sudden death of Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan, [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan has called
an emergency meeting with the country’s high-ranking officials in
attendance.

Royal gives backing to Ankara’s EU bid
By Delphine Strauss in Paris

FT
March 25 2007 19:31

Ségolène Royal has declared her support for Turkey’s bid
to join the European Union, becoming the only main contender in
France’s forthcoming presidential election to endorse an enlargement
deeply unpopular with voters.

`In the end, Turkey has a vocation to join Europe, provided that it
satisfies the membership criteria, which are not just economic and
financial but also democratic,’ the Socialist party candidate said in
a new book, extracts of which were published by Le Monde on Sunday.

Her support offers a glimmer of hope to Turkey’s troubled bid for EU
membership which, even if it clears all technical hurdles, depends on
the outcome of a French referendum promised by President Jacques
Chirac in 2004 as a condition for opening negotiations.

Ms Royal added strong qualifications, saying Europe first needed a
pause to stabilise its borders and `prove its concrete utility in the
daily life of those it already unites’.

Yet her position is sharply at odds with all other leading
presidential contenders. Nicolas Sarkozy, candidate of the
centre-right UMP and front-runner in the opinion polls, has repeatedly
insisted that `Turkey’s place is not in the EU’. François
Bayrou, the europhile centrist, has echoed that opposition, arguing
that Ankara’s membership would end the dream of EU political unity.

`We should not make an argument of geography against Turkey: Europe is
not a territory…but a political project,’ Ms Royal
said. She argued Europe would gain from a show of unity between
civilisations, while the prospect of EU entry would assist Turkish
democrats in enacting reforms and `also help them in their combat
against this state negationism that is the refusal to recognise the
Armenian genocide’.

Ms Royal has previously been pilloried for refusing to state an
opinion on Turkey, saying her position would be `that of the French
people’. But now she appears to be taking risks in departing from her
noncommittal stance.

Opinion polls show a majority of French voters oppose Turkish
membership. Many feel previous enlargements of the EU have reduced
Paris’s influence and economic edge in Europe, and there is also
widespread distrust of Turkey’s record on human rights, fuelled by
France’s wealthy, 450,000-strong Armenian community

The French National Assembly enraged Ankara last year by voting for
legislation that, if enacted, would make it a crime to deny that
Armenians were the victims of genocide in the last years of the
Ottoman Empire. Armenians say as many as 1.5m people died in
1915-1918, while Turkey says that hundreds of thousands of both
Armenians and Turks died, largely as a result of civil war and famine.

Ms Royal, who wants to revive French enthusiasm for Europe by pressing
for minimum social standards, said her reasons for delaying Turkish
membership related `not to Turkey but to Europe’. In a clear jibe at
the UK’s sponsorship of Turkish membership, she said: `Who today are
the warmest supporters of maximum enlargement? Those who reduce Europe
to a big market with the least regulation possible…’

A1+

ASSYRIANS TO VOTE FOR ASHUR
[01:06 pm] 23 March, 2007

Arsen Mikhayelov, chairman of the Assyrian Association `Atour’, noted
that they worship only one god – Ashur and will vote for him during
the May 12 parliamentary elections.

The chairman claims it is already 15 years 6000-7000 Assyrians have
been trying to nominate their candidate but all the endeavors have
failed. The Assyrians have put forward three candidates but none of
them has been elected. `The reason is apparent. Why should we second
anyone else?’ ‘, he says.

A few months ago, Arsen Mikhayelov told A1+ that he wished their
community were engaged in the ticket of any political power. They
requested ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Orinats Erkir Party, Republicans to
involve them in their party ticket but none met them halfway. This
year they were going to request the oppositional forces but then
changed their minds, `They all pursue their goals’. It is noteworthy
that part of the community members disagree with the chairman in this
respect.

Two election manuals to be presented

Armradio.am
23.03.2007 11:00

On March 26 two election publications: `Guide for Precinct Election
Commission Members’ and `Manual on Election Legislation and
Administration’, which will be presented in Yerevan.

The publications have been prepared by Democracy NGO in co-operation
with the Central Electoral Commission with financial support from the
OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Italian Government.

The manuals aim at raising public awareness and educating the
electoral process participants about the election legislation and its
practical application.

Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Mr.
Garegin Azaryan, Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, a
representative from the Italian Embassy and one of the authors
Mr. Hrair Tovmasyan will present the publications.

US urges Turkey to seek alternative to Iranian gas

23 March 2007 [13:44] – Today.Az

Seeking to hit Iran’s oil and natural gas revenues, the United States
said on Wednesday that it was encouraging its allies and friendly
nations, including Turkey, to find alternatives to Tehran’s resources,
but admitted that the process to switch to new schemes was difficult
in a region dependent on energy.

At a hearing of the U.S. Senate’s Banking Committee on Iran,
Undersecretary of State Nick Burns talked about potential financial
sanctions against the Islamic Republic for its refusal to stop its
nuclear program despite international pressure.

At a point Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, asked
Burns if Turkey was "still" continuing buying gas directly from Iran,
and Burns said he believed so.Reed then asked if the United States was
involved in an effort to persuade "our NATO ally not to do that."

"A number of our allies – Turkey’s a prominent one – a partner like
India is another – have long term oil and gas relationships [with
Iran] and we’re trying to suggest that there are alternatives for the
future," Burns said.

"For instance, with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, the alternative
to Iranian gas would be Kazakhstan," he said.

At the committee hearing Burns did not mention any alternatives for
Turkey, but the United States is known to be promoting the purchase of
Azerbaijan’s gas through a pipeline via Georgia.

Concerned over Russia’s alleged efforts to create a natural gas
monopoly in its region and in Europe, Washington is also against a
potential additional purchase of Russian gas by Turkey, which is
already seen as over-dependent on Moscow.

But Burns acknowledged the problems about urging nations in Iran’s
region to seek alternative energy resources.

"We’re trying to produce a movement towards a systemic shift away from
reliance on Iranian energy," he said. "It’s very difficult obviously
in a neighborhood wherecountries are energy dependent."

The United States, other permanent members of the U.N. Security
Council and Germany are presently working on a new set of economic
sanctions on Iran.U.S. President George W. Bush says that he wants a
diplomatic solution to the diplomatic row over Iran’s nuclear program,
but that "all options are on the table." Turkish Daily News

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey/Israel pipeline could shift Middle East power balance

22 March 2007 [23:40] – Today.Az

Although regional pipelines rarely are recognized as progenitors of
global power balance, the prospective agreement between Turkey and
Israel to construct such a strategic connection may accomplish a
seismic economic shift.

Since Russia, the world’s leading oil producer and global runner up
energy exporter to Saudi Arabia, is asserting its energy muscle, this
circumvention of Russia’s monopoly also carries geopolitical
overtones.

With Russia in the process of exerting an energy stranglehold over
much of the trans-Caucasian and Eastern European areas, a new pipeline
could become a counterweight to Moscow’s increasing expansionism.

This pipeline now is being considered for extension from oil center
Azerbaijan’s Baku on the Caspian Sea through Georgia to Turkey’s
Mediterranean seaport of Ceyhan, all of which avoid impinging on any
Russian territory.

Although oil and natural gas flowing through these pipelines
originally was targeted for large tankers headed for Europe and
elsewhere, such shiploads coming out of the Black Sea and through the
Turkish Dardanelles already are overloaded.

Such a glut of tanker volume rapidly has become a gigantic bottleneck,
delaying badly needed deliveries for increasingly longer time periods.

Now comes news that Turkey and Israel have reached a memo of
understanding calling for a $4 billion pipeline linking the Turkish
port of Ceyhan and Israel’s Ashkelon seaport, also on the
Mediterranean coast. From there, oil and even badly needed water and
electric power for Israel could be piped to Elath, Israel’s port on
the Gulf of Aqaba leading to the Red Sea.

Continuing on, such varied utilities and others flowing through this
multi-task pipeline could be transshipped to Asian markets.

With a $40 million feasibility study already under way to determine
how best to implement such a titanic project in the shortest time
possible, what is most remarkable is that this giant project
represents a realignment of geopolitical power as well as a
circumvention of Russian hegemony.

Emanating from the oil-rich Caspian Sea, this contemplated
multinational pipeline avoids encroaching on Russian territory,
thereby eliminating any attempted Moscow interference with its free
flow. With energy drawn from the Caspian Seas’s Azerbaijan-controlled
sector, Russia’s influence and interference effectively is withheld.

It also reinforces the long-standing Turkish-Israel military and
economic alliance, which seemed to weaken under the current
pro-Islamist Ankara regime. Although never verbalized, this
Turkish-Israeli joint venture is sure to resolidify the two nations’
political and economic ties.

It also could influence internal Turkish politics, which is split
between pro-Islamist prime minister Erdogan and the secular president
and Army chief of staff.

The successful implementation of the multifaceted pipeline also would
represent a victory for American policy, which favors a strengthening
of the Turkish-Israeli alliance, while breaking the Russian monopoly
over energy suppliers from the Caspian Sea. That source potentially
could generate oil and natural gas volume reducing the overwhelming
dependence of energy from the militarily vulnerable Persian Gulf area.

The successful completion of such a gigantic undertaking also could
add Turkey’s considerable power as a bulwark against the rapid spread
of radical Islam.

By Morris R. Beschloss

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