Month: March 2007

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
March 23 2007

RA DEFENSE MINISTER QUESTIONS POSSIBILITY TO COORDINATE KARABAKH
SETTLEMENT’S PRINCIPLES IN 2007

RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsian questioned the possibility to
coordinate the Karabakh settlement’s principles in 2007.
`’Neither international mediators, nor various countries’
representatives, nor we have ever stated the issue may be settled in
2007. The matter concerns principles”, the Minister said yesterday
in the course of a meeting with the families of servicemen.
In his words, even in case the principles are coordinated, it will
take years to resolve the problem.
`’I have some doubts of the possibility to coordinate the principles
in 2007. I am optimistic about the problem’s resolution by peaceful
way, however, I do not think it is the issue of today or tomorrow”,
Serge Sargsian noted, Novosti-Armenia reports.

Malvern Gazette, UK
March 23 2007

Renowned academic dies, 82

By Lindsay Holder

A RENOWNED writer and academic who travelled the world before
settling in Malvern has died aged 82.

Retired university professor Jack Sislian died at Worcestershire
Royal hospital on Thursday, March 8.

Prof Sislian enjoyed an illustrious career, teaching in far-flung
locations, including America, Nepal, Botswana and the Middle East. A
specialist in comparative education, he wrote several papers on 20th
Century education pioneer Sir Michael Sadler.

Think African, his study of African beliefs, values and traditions,
was published in 2000.

Born in Cairo of Armenian parents, he was educated at the English
Missionary College, then the American University of Cairo. He came to
Malvern in the 1950s, where he taught at the former Malvern Link
School, near the railway station. Despite his worldwide travels, he
decided to return to Malvern Link to retire.

His neighbour of 12 years, Ruth Griffin, said he was a well-known
face around the town many people would be saddened by his death.

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
March 23 2007

The EU and Isolating Armenia
Fatma Yilmaz

Friday , 23 March 2007

Through which way the European Union (EU) and Armenian relations has
recently proceeded is the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). If
requires to remind, the ENP signifies a newly-established approach of
the EU which differs from the existing foreign relations of the
Union. Instead, including the neighboring countries on the Eastern
and Southern encompassing borders of new expanding the EU, the policy
goes beyond the present relations with the intention of sharing the
benefits of the EU enlargement with the interested neighbors by means
of increase in security, stability and interests. In this sense, the
ENP sets objectives based on commitments to shared values and
effective implementation of political, economic and institutional
reforms. The implementation of the ENP is to be supported with
financial and technical assistance. For the benefited side, the
prospect of this policy seems to create incentives for the promotion
of comprehensive economic and political reforms.

However, the ENP is not just completely new approach of the EU in
terms of financial and technical assistance so as to encourage the
reforms in the neighboring countries. And Armenia is therefore the
country which the EU has made contribution to its economic and
democratic transformation in terms of the Caucasus policy for a long
time. Since the beginning of 1990s, the EU has been trying to shape
the transformation going on within the Caucasus republics through
technical and financial aids. Programs such as TACIS, FEOGA, ECHO
forms the main tools of this policy. TACIS, among them, is the
well-known one due to its big budget. Under TACIS, the EU gave start
to two different programs following the EU’s strategic interests on
the religion. These are TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus
Asia) and INOGATE (Interstate Oil and Gas Transport to Europe)
programs. Including 13 countries, TRCECA is considered a project of
Europe-Caucasus-Asia corridor aiming at regenerating the ancient Silk
Road. The aim of the mentioned corridor, which forms the shortest,
the fastest and the cheapest road route, was actually to break up
Russian monopoly. Whereas on one hand the project is to reinforce
both political and economic independence of the Caucasus republics,
on the other hand it would enable the EU to access the Far East
without being dependent to Russia. Therefore, it is possible for the
project to be seemed as an infrastructure program which could
possibly have contributed to the Armenian development in theory. But
what about the practice?

Having contributed the reconstruction of Armenia, then, what is the
problem with the EU policies towards Armenia? In fact, firstly what
is the problem? Isolation, needless to say… One of the clear examples
of this isolation is the TRACECA project. Although Armenia is
mentioned within the project on the paper, it could not benefit from
the project in practice. This is mainly because of the Azeri
abstention to the project for Armenia. This therefore made Armenia to
remain outside the EU project. Naturally, the long-lasting
Nagorno-Karabakh issue lies behind the Azeri obstacle. In this sense,
Azerbaijan seems to be so decisive not to allow Armenia to
participate in this EU project. The EU has no way to deter Azerbaijan
to take back its objection since it needs the project whether with or
without Armenia for the benefit of its interests. It seems so that
Armenia causes its isolation with its own policies. How the EU has
contributed indirectly to Armenia’s isolation is that the EU does not
make any pressure on Armenia in terms of a possible solution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue to be reached a solution. Similarly, the EU
does not also put pressure on Armenia about the so-called Armenian
genocide issue lasting for long years between Turkey and Armenia as
it does about the Cyprus issue towards Turkey. In result, the
inertness of the EU on the Armenian politics in the region makes this
country believe their policies right to be pursued. Then, such
situation encourages Armenia to insist on the present policies which
actually damage the Armenian both economic and political power in the
region. As long as Armenia believes it could stand just with its own
power in the region, it on the contrary contributes its own isolation
gradually whereas the countries around it have steadily shown
considerable increase in economic terms.

Moreover, although Armenia was the most convenient route for the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Yerevan unfortunately remained outside
of the project. Armenia was not only excluded from the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project but also there are many projects
on the way in which Armenia can not be included. For instance,
Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey natural gas pipeline which is about to be
completed is one of them. Additionally, although there is an
already-established railway via Armenia, Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway
line will bypass Armenia once more. New projects are also on the way,
and it seems that Armenia will be outside in these coming regional
co-operation projects.

What is more, the US, thanks to the strong Armenian diaspora lobbies
in the Congress, has given generous aids to Armenia, yet the foreign
aid creates not strong Armenian economy, but artificial growth and
more dependency on foreign sources. Meanwhile, we should note that
the US has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters in the
regional cooperation projects which isolated Armenia.

If also estimated the Armenian domestic issues, as Armenia’s power
relatively decreases, the extremists in the country gain the power
reversely and it is possible to claim that Armenia has gradually lost
its independence. Therefore, there is an Armenia in the region which
is gradually isolated itself without having realized the failure of
its own policies towards the neighboring countries. And there is also
an EU let Armenians to feel sufficient to carry out all problems
themselves unnecessarily. In this circumstance, Armenia should be
aware of its potential with its so small population and territory and
of its small-scale economy. It therefore needs to be active in the
region in collaboration with other actors in the region to survive.
Needless to say that it takes great support of the Armenians in
diaspora but to be an effective actor in the region necessitates its
own power.

In such manner, it actually requires to appreciate the policies of
the EU with the motivation of economic and technical aim to its
neighboring countries including Armenia. There is no doubt that the
EU has made key contributions to the transformation of Armenia. As
mentioned above, the EU aid money is mostly channeled through the
TACIS. Since 1994 Armenia has enjoyed consecutive economic growth,
with a considerable high economic growth rate in 2002-2003 (13.2% and
13.9%), which was preserved in 2004 (10.1%). However, this is partly
dependent on considerable flows of international aid and remittances
from the Diaspora.

Furthermore, the European Union alone, during the period 1991-2002,
has provided Armenia with national grants that amount to 318.36
million Euros and loans totaling 86 million Euros. In addition, EU
Member States’ total contributions during the same period were 282
million Euro, bringing total EU assistance to Armenia to
approximately 686,3 million Euro.[1] Nevertheless, this would not
prevent Armenia to play an aggressive role in its external relations
which force it to be isolated. As it does in the US case, the EU aids
mostly through the TACIS program made Armenian growth to be
artificial. The foreign aids to Armenia could not make structural
contribution; in contrast, it makes Armenian economy to be dependent
on foreign investments.

In such an environment, what the EU might to do against the gradual
isolation could be to encourage Armenia to pursue more moderate and
collaborationist role in terms of the solution of its problems with
neighbors. The EU might use its conditional aids as a trigger to
persuade Armenia to agree with the parties of the problems as it does
for the benefit of economic and political reforms in the country.
Otherwise, Armenia would be obliged to withdraw its own shell with
the risk of isolation gradually.

Fatma YILMAZ
ISRO Center for the European Union Studies

—————————————– —————————-

[1] European Union Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, retrieved from:
;parent =EU%20Armenia%20Relationship&link=EU%20Armenia %20Relationship
, 22 March 2007.

MRT online, Macedonia –
March 23 2007

Rice: We shouldn’t get involved in Turkey-Armenian dispute
Friday, 23 March 2007
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the U.S.
should not get involved in a dispute between Turkey and Armenia over
whether the killing of Armenians almost a century ago constituted
genocide. Under questioning from the sponsor of a House resolution
that would recognize that Turkey’s Ottoman predecessor state
committed a "genocide," Rice avoided answering whether she believed
there was any basis for historical debate on the matter.

"What we’ve encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have
joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts
to examine their past, and in examining their past to get over it,"
she told the House Appropriations Subcommittee.

"I don’t think it helps that process of reconciliation for the United
States to enter this debate at that level."

A resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide was also introduced
in the U.S Senate last week. The resolution was drawn up by Democrat
Richard Durbin and Republican John Essington. Senators John Kerry,
Edward Kennedy and Joe Lieberman also signed onto it. However some
traditional supporters of the claims, including presidential hopefuls
Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and Joseph Biden, have not signed the
resolution this time. A total of 21 out of 100 senators have declared
their support for the resolution.

Turkish Daily News , Turkey
March 23 2007

Akdamar contributes to dispute settlement
Friday, March 23, 2007

General Rapporteur on cultural heritage from the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly Eddie O’Hara welcomed the restoration efforts
for the Akdamar Armenian church, which will be inaugurated on March
29, in the eastern city of Van, qualifying the move as a contribution
to the peaceful settlement of disputes in the region, reported the
Anatolia news agency yesterday.

Daily Georgian Times, Georgia
March 23 2007

Armenian, Georgian presidents discuss cooperation

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who arrived in Armenia, has
held a private tête-à-tête negotiations with his Armenian counterpart
Robert Kocharian.

The Armenian Presidents press secretary, Victor Soghomonian, reported
that ‘the two leaders met in the Armenian ski resort of Tsaghkadzor
in the afternoon’.

The news agencies also reported that Soghomonian had declined to give
any detailed data on the agenda of the presidents’ meeting.

Toronto Star, Canada
March 23 2007

Globalizing the Canadian way

Mar 23, 2007 04:30 AM
Carol Goar

One of the most liberating discoveries immigrants make when they come
to Canada is that old enmities don’t matter here.

They can talk to people they shunned in their homeland. They can work
and socialize with people their forebears spurned. They can reach
across ethnic, racial and religious divides that once seemed
unbridgeable.

Vahan Kololian, one of Toronto’s most successful financiers, has
lived that story. He has seen it happen on university campuses, in
corporate boardrooms and in community groups. He has come to think of
it as the Canadian way.

For years, the founder and managing partner of Terra Nova Partners, a
private equity firm, wanted to find a way to replicate the formula
internationally. If an Armenian like himself could get along with
Turks in Canada, maybe they could help facilitate a dialogue in their
ancestral lands. If Christians and Muslims could be friends here,
maybe they could pass on what they’d learned.

Kololian joined international development groups, sponsored
conferences and reached out to members of other diasporas. Everyone
liked the idea. Plans were hatched and papers written. But the
momentum always seemed to peter out.

A permanent focal point was needed, Kololian decided. But he didn’t
have the expertise to set up or run a think-tank.

Last fall, he met someone who did. Alidad Mafinezam had just returned
to Canada after earning a PhD in public policy at Rutgers University
in New Jersey. His specialty was think-tanks. His passion was
applying the Canadian approach to diversity to deeply rooted
ethnocultural conflicts. Like Kololian, he was an immigrant. But his
roots were in Iran and he was a Muslim, whereas Kololian was
Christian.

"This is perfect," Kololian said.

The two became partners. They created the Mosaic Institute. Kololian
is the chair. Mafinezam is the research director.

The institute won’t have its official launch until the fall, but its
website, , is up and running.

Kololian is not looking for money. He intends to bankroll the
think-tank himself until it is firmly established, has strong links
with Canada’s expatriate communities and is considered a credible
voice on international issues.

"You don’t take people’s money until you know what you’re going to do
with it," Kololian said.

For the moment, the institute is housed in Terra Nova’s corporate
headquarters on the top floor of an upscale office tower at Yonge and
Bloor. That is where Kololian and Mafinezam spent an hour recently
discussing their vision and plans.

"This is an emerging field of academic research," Mafinezam said.
"The scholarship has exploded in the past year or two.

"We want to put it into practice. And we think Canada is uniquely
positioned to do that. While other countries are built on
immigration, Canada doesn’t require newcomers to shed their first
identity. That gives them a sense of cultural freedom. It allows them
to develop a positive notion of diversity.

"I see this place as a model to the world."

Kololian picked up the thread. "We have more than 100 ethnic
communities in Toronto. Our aim is to bring together Canadians from
lands in conflict – be it civil or cross-border – with us as
facilitators. We get their input, we publish it and we hope our work
finds its way into official and non-official channels. If we earn
enough respect, it may filter into Canadian foreign policy.

"We’re not out to build a large institution. We’ll use existing
networks to the largest possible extent. We’ll use other think-tanks
as partners. Our aim is to bring people together."

In time, Kololian hopes, Canadians from different sides of
international conflicts will approach the Mosaic Institute, seeking a
place to share their knowledge. "That will happen when they know we
have no agenda, other than to gather and disseminate insight."

Individuals and groups with axes to grind will not be welcome. Both
Kololian and Mafinezam know expatriates bent on fighting old battles
and consider them an impediment to progress.

Nor are they interested in brilliant academic research with no
practical application. They want to solve problems, not study them.

Both partners reject the notion that Canada is too small to make a
difference in the world. "We don’t recognize our capacity," Kololian
said. "We underdeliver."

"Not having too much power actually helps you," Mafinezam added.

They’re not promising headlines or dramatic breakthroughs. They just
want to show that the Canadian way – making room for differences –
can turn deadlock into dialogue.

/195199

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 23 2007

Azerbaijan is Counting of EU Support for Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Settlement

Belgium, Brussels / corr. Trend R.Emilli / The Deputy Foreign
Minister of Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov, said at the press conference in
Brussels that Azerbaijan should become closer to a new stage of
relations with EU as partners and as partners integrated as a whole,
Trend Special Correspondent reports.

` Azerbaijan and other partner nations could build up mutually
effective and beneficial relations, probably serving the goal of
development and progress in the South Caucasus,’ he said. According
to him, within his visit to Brussels, he also reported on the
policies of Azerbaijan, regional concerns and risks. `We have
concluded a memorandum on energy partnership between the EU and
Azerbaijan in November last year. Today we are implementing this
memorandum which will take Azerbaijan to a better place in terms of
development of internal infrastructures as well as energy saving
policies and the search for alternative energy sources as well as to
develop democratic majors in energy market inside,’ Azimov said.

`Relations with neighboring countries and that is to be said that we
are concerned with the developments on the south. And we hope that
issues will be solved peacefully. We are concerned with the situation
in our conflict zone and we hope that we can count on the support of
the EU and for which I was pledged by the way, in terms of political
settlement. A settlement that will bring Azerbaijan and Armenia
together as one region of Karabakh within the territorially
integrally Azerbaijan provided with self rule states and making
outreach economically and culturally to international community.
Guarantees for that will be provided by international community
jointly including by EU. Azerbaijan is ready to contribute. There is
no war solution to the conflict. But probably Azerbaijan will
continue to stand of the principled position. Any territorial
secession will not be accepted. There is only one chance to build
peace. That is within the territorial framework of Azerbaijan. That
should clearly be explained and understood by the Armenian side. I
hope that there shall be pluralism in Armenia about solutions of the
conflict and I hope that at least a few people there will speak in
favour of peace with Azerbaijan and in favour of a settlement on the
basis of principles,’ Azimov said.

Mediamax Agency, Armenia
March 23 2007

`Most likely, we will be providing mobile services in Armenia under
`Beeline’ brand’, Vice-President of `VimpelCom’ stated

Yerevan, March 22 /Mediamax/. The Vice-President of `VimpelCom’ OJSC
Sergey Avdeev stated in Tsakhkadzor today that `we will quickly
conclude the process of purchasing the 10% shares of the `ArmenTel’
Company from the Armenian government’.

Mediamax reports that today in Tsakhkadzor there took place the
conference of the Top-Managers of the `VimpelCom’ OJSC and the
General Directors of the Companies, which enter the `VimpelCom’
group: `ArmenTel’ (Armenia), `CaR-Tel’ (Kazakhstan), `Ukrainian
RadioSystems’ (Ukraine), `UNITEL’ (Uzbekistan), `TACOM’ (Tajikistan),
`MOBITEL’ (Georgia).

Sergey Avdeev reminded that the condition for selling the 10% share
of `ArmenTel’ was the renunciation of the new owner of the company
from monopoly rights.

`We renounced monopoly and hope to quite soon conclude the process of
purchasing the shares. We are glad that the Armenian government made
today the corresponding decision’, the Vice-President of `VimpelCom’
stated.

The `VimpelCom’ OJSC, which functions under the `Beeline’ brand,
purchased in November 2006 the 90% of the shares of `ArmenTel’ from
the Greek OTE for 341,9mln euro, and also took upon itself the 40mln
euros’ debts of the company.

Sergey Avdeev said that `sooner or later, we will start providing
mobile services in Armenia under the `Beeline’ brand’.

What concerns the fixed net; Sergey Avdeev and the CEO of `ArmenTel’
Oleg Bliznyuk consider it expedient to preserve the former brand.

`ArmenTel’ is not an ordinary company for us, as it provides both
fixed and mobile communication. We need some time to finally
understand how to put in order the work’, Sergey Avdeev stated.

According to the Vice-President of `VimpelCom’, `we know that
`ArmenTel’ does not have a very good image’. `We want to
de-monopolize the market, to establish a competitive environment, in
which the operators would hunt subscribers and not vice versa’, he
noted.

Answering Mediamax’s question, Sergey Avdeev confirmed that
`VimpelCom’ is examining the prospects of establishing in Armenia a
convergent product by means of combining the services of the mobile
and fixed nets.

`The idea is that being at home, you are talking by your ordinary
home telephone, and going out, using the same number on your mobile
phone’, the Vice-President of `VimpelCom’ stated.

At the same time, Sergey Avdeev admitted that `this is a future
service; it does not have a mass character yet’. `I even cannot name
large-scale convergent projects, which would be completed’, the
Vice-President of `VimpelCom’ stated.

`In `ArmenTel’ we have the possibility to try this service, as we
have an exceptionally felicitous combination of fixed and mobile
services in the hands of one operator. We are potentially close to
the point to realize the given service at least in a testing regime’,
Sergey Avdeev stated.

`It is very important for us to enlarge the set of products, which
would be realized in the fixed nets. In the nearest future for the
first time in Armenia the service of high-speed transfer of data
based on DSL technology will be implemented’, the Vice-President of
`VimpelCom’ OJSC stated.

Mediamax Agency, Armenia
March 23 2007

`ArmenTel’ to launch GPRS service in the course of the nearest month

Yerevan, March 22 /Mediamax/. The General Director of `ArmenTel’ Oleg
Bliznyuk stated today that the company has launched in test mode the
service of mobile internet /GPRS/, the commercial launching of which
will take place in the course of the nearest month.

Mediamax reports that Oleg Bliznyuk said this during the break of the
conference of the Top-Managers of `VimpelCom’ OJSC and the General
Directors of companies, making part of the `VimpelCom’ Group, which
took place in Tsakhkadzor today.

The General Director of `ArmenTel’ informed that closer to summer the
company will increase the strength of its mobile net and will
implement a new billing system.

`The billing system, which will be implemented in Armenia, will allow
estimating with precise exactness not only the cost of the talks, but
also all the additional services, which have not been provided in
Armenia before’, Oleg Bliznyuk stated.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress