Month: December 2008

COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC COMPETITION RECOGNIZES CLAIMS AGAINST ARMENTEL GROUNDLESS

ArmInfo
2008-12-24 15:58:00

Commission for Protection of Economic Competition stopped the
administrative proceedings on two claims by ‘Protection of Consumers’
Rights’ NGO against ArmenTel CJSC (brand Beeline). The first claim was
connected with problems of Hi Line service users because of traffic
limitation by other providers. The second claim was connected with
the mistake of the operator when providing data on GPRS service to
a user. The mistake was timely fixed by ArmenTel and did not result
in any financial problems for users. Earlier, in October 2008, the
Commission stopped the administrative proceedings on another claim
by the NGO against ArmenTel connected with provision of details of
telephone calls. Thus, the Commission recognized all the three claims
against ArmenTel groundless.

‘We are glad that are all the misunderstandings have been settled
and we’d like to express our readiness for dialogue with public and
clients. I hope in future consumers’ rights protection organizations
will discuss problems with us not resorting to such radical measures’,
said David Sandukhchyan, the head of ArmenTel Juridical Service.

ArmenTel CJSC (Beeline brand) is the subsidiary of VimpelCom
Group. The VimpelCom Group consists of telecommunications operators
providing voice and data services through a range of wireless, fixed
and broadband technologies. The Group includes companies operating
in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and
Armeniaas well as Vietnam and Cambodia, in territories with a total
population of about 340 million. The Group companies provide services
under the "Beeline" brand. VimpelCom was the first Russian company
to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE").

VimpelCom’s ADSs are listed on the NYSE under the symbol "VIP".

‘CONSUMER PROTECTION’ ORGANIZATION URGES VICTIMS OF ‘ARMENTEL’ AND ITS GPRS SERVICE NOT TO KEEP SILENCE

ArmInfo
2008-12-24 14:02:00

‘Consumer Protection’ organization urges victims of ‘ArmenTel’ and
its GPRS service not to keep silence.

As Head of the organization Abgar Yegoyan said at today’s
press-conference in "Pastarq" club, there was an advertising of
GPRS-roaming placed on the site of "ArmenTel" which misinformed
consumers. According to the advertising text, the cost of 0.01 MB
made up 60 drams. Moreover, some employees of "ArmenTel" service
centers have multiply confused 0.01 MB with 1 MB during the talk. This
resulted in the account of more than 1 mln drams received by some
citizen. On December 10, the Commission for Protection of Economic
Competition decreed to change the content of the advertising on the
site of "ArmenTel" and release the suffered citizen from paying the
debt for GPRS service. However, the Company has not yet fulfilled the
decision of the Commission: the cost of GPRS-roaming on the site was
indicated not of 1 MB-6000 drams but 10 KB – 60 drams that could also
mislead consumers.

Currently, the advertising of GPRS service has been completely removed
from the site of "ArmenTel". "We urge all the victims of unfair
advertising of "ArmenTel" Company to appeal to our organization for
consulting and assistance", Yegoyan said.

NO RECESSION BITES ARMENIA: MINISTER

ARKA
Dec 24, 2008
YEREVAN

Though there is no recession threat in Armenia, it is necessary to
maintain the current economic activity index, RA Minister of Economy
Nerses Yeritysan said today.

"The country is capable of undertaking steps to prevent possible
economic downturn," he added.

The government’s precautions do not demand any legislative reforms,
according to the minister. "Thanks to the acting law that focuses on
business liberalization, we are able to maintain economic activity,"
the minister said.

To the question which is the reason for the current setback, Yeritsyan
said the decline from 9.2% to 7.2% is a result of the downturn in
the construction sector and exports which respond to the global
market recession.

"Indexes of these sectors hit a record low this November," the minister
said, adding agricultural downturn had a seasonal character.

Armenia saw 9.2% year-on-year economic growth in January-October 2008
(7.2% between January and November 2008).

ARMENIAN ARMY’S SNIPER KILLS AZERBAIJANI CIVIL CITIZEN
S.Jaliloglu

Trend News Agency
Dec 24 2008
Azerbaijan

The Armenian Armed Forces’ sniper killed Azerbaijani civil citizen
at 11.00p.m. on Dec. 23, TrendNews regional correspondent reported.

Afig Mammadov, 54, died in the troops contact line as a result
of violation of ceasefire by Armenia in direction of Terter
region. Mammadov underwent a sniper’s bullet, when he pastured cattle
near Hasangaya village of Terter region.

His dead body was found early morning on Dec. 24.

TWO MISTAKES IN THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN GUL AND ARITMAN
By Fikret Bila

Turkish Press
Dec 24 2008

MILLIYET- Everyone is talking about a statement made by Canan Aritman,
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Izmir deputy, which implied that
President Abdullah Gul’s mother had Armenian roots. Citing his
family tree, President Gul said this argument was false. Gul stated
that he is Muslim and Turkish on both sides of his family, as 100
years of the tree proves. Gul said that he felt he had to set the
record straight in order to correct a tendentious lie which started
when he ran for president last year and has recently been openly and
deviously resurrected. He added that he wanted to establish the truth
for history’s sake.

Aritman’s statement implying that Gul’s mother has Armenian roots was
unfortunate. The path she took was wrong. Whether Gul’s mother has
Armenian roots or not shouldn’t be used for political fodder. Aritman’s
‘racial’ approach was widely criticized, including by the CHP, her own
party. This is another sign that what Aritman did was wrong. Aritman
offended Turkey’s Armenians with her suggestion about Gul. Her
approach, which paints being Armenian as a crime or deficiency, is
contrary to the Turkish Republic’s founding principles. Her words
ill suit a member of a party like the CHP (Turkey’s first party),
which established the founding principles of the republic. The Turkish
Republic isn’t based on an ethnic basis. Ataturk’s understanding of the
nation wasn’t racist. In an excellent formulation of his understanding
of the nation and nationalism, Ataturk said that the nation which
established the Turkish nation is called the Turkish nation. Whatever
one’s ethnic background, each and every citizen of the Turkish Republic
can undertake any post or duty. The president, Parliament speaker,
prime minister, chief of General Staff and government ministers may
have different ethnic roots. This is a requirement of the republic’s
founding principles.

Gul not only released his family tree, but also sued Aritman. The
president represents the entire nation, and he’s head of the
state. Thus his filing a lawsuit against claims that there are
Armenians in his family and allegations of discrimination might offend
our Armenian citizens. If being an Armenian or having a family with
Armenian roots is seen as something which has to be denied, this might
cause misunderstandings, particularly in terms of Gul’s responsibility
to represent the entire nation. Although he was trying to prevent
political exploitation, Gul shouldn’t have sued her, but instead,
out of consideration for our Armenian citizens, found it sufficient to
issue a statement. Looking at the situation in terms of the republic’s
founding principles, Gul filing a lawsuit against Aritman’s statements
amounts to compounding one mistake with yet another."

ARMENIAN VENTURE INTO IRANIAN GAS IN PIPELINE

Hurriyet
Dec 24 2008
Turkey

YEREVAN – Construction is to begin next year on a pipeline to deliver
petrol and diesel from Iran to Armenia, the Armenian Energy Minister
Armen Movsisian said Monday.

The 300 kilometer pipeline will run from the Iranian city of Tabriz
to the Armenian city of Eraskh, where a terminal is to be built,
Movsisian said at a press conference. "Armenia will receive petrol
and diesel fuel from the oil refinery located in the Iranian city of
Tabriz through the pipeline, construction of which starts next spring,"
he said.

Movsisian said the pipeline would take two years to complete and each
country would pay half the $200-240 million cost. He said the project
was part of efforts by Armenia to diversify its energy supplies, in
particular after the war in neighboring Georgia in August disrupted
Russian supplies to Armenia.

"In order to guarantee the country’s energy security we are moving
toward the diversification of energy supplies," he said.

Armenia and Iran last year inaugurated a 150-kilometer pipeline
intended to deliver 36 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Armenia
over 20 years. It has yet to start operations. Landlocked Armenia
suffers from an economic blockade imposed by neighbors Azerbaijan and
Turkey over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and its efforts to
gain recognition of Ottoman-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

ARMENIA-DIASPORA COOPERATION CONCEPT DISCUSSED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.12.2008 15:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A discussion on Armenia-Diaspora cooperation concept
was held in Yerevan today.

The concept was presented by the International Center for Human
Development (ICHD). The current stage will cover five provisions,
including the strategy of development, unused possibilities and
challenges Armenia and Diaspora face.

"We have been developing the concept since August, jointly with the
Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. Now, we to brought it up for discussion
of public and experts," Tevan Poghosyan, executive director of the
Armenian Atlantic Association, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"All ideas and suggestions will be submitted to the Ministry of
Diaspora Affairs for final discussion," he said.

CHP DEPUTY INSISTS ON DNA TESTS FOR PRESIDENT

Hurriyet
Dec 24 2008
Turkey

ANKARA – The dispute between a main opposition deputy and President
Abdullah Gul over the latter’s ethnic origin took on another dimension
with the request of a DNA test from Gul to prove his ethnic background.

Canan Arıtman, the Ä°zmir deputy of the Republican People’s
Party, or CHP, said Gul had Armenian roots, which is why he has
not openly rejected the apology campaign carried out by a group of
intellectuals. In a counter-statement Gul said his family was 100
percent Muslim and Turk and filed a lawsuit against Arıtman.

"Today, ethnic origin does not gain legal and scientific validity
through family trees, but through DNA tests," Arıtman said in her
written statement late Monday. "Birth records during the Ottomans were
based on declarations and while recording non-Muslims, the state used
to write a Muslim name as the father’s name. Thus, nobody can prove
their ethic identity through a family tree."

Arıtman said it was Gul’s prerogative to file a suit against
her and that she was not after anyone’s DNA results, but in the
event of a judicial process, she would have to produce documents
and witnesses. She also said she expected the president to say the
Turkish nation had not committed any crime of genocide. Many nations
owe an apology to our nation, but we do not owe an apology to anybody.

Constitutional duty "I do not think I have requested a difficult
thing. This is the president’s constitutional duty. If he does not
perform this task, he commits a crime against the Constitution and he
should resign," she said. In protest over Gul’s approach to an apology
campaign concerning World War I-era killings of Armenians at the hands
of the Ottoman Empire, Arıtman said Gul was a secret Armenian. Thus,
Gul filed a suit against Arıtman on the grounds her statements harm
the notion that the president stands an equal distance from his or
her citizens.

Arıtman has been harshly criticized by many, even members of her own
party, for attacking the president with a racist motive. The CHP has
warned Arıtman, but has not yet taken disciplinary action.

–Boundary_(ID_ZrNn7FhkvHfy08Gpa/9INQ)–

CHENNAI’S LAST ARMENIAN NOW AT HOME IN BANGALORE
Prashanth G N & Ajitha Karthikeyan

Times of India
hennais_last_Armenian_now_at_home_in_Bangalore/art icleshow/3881996.cms
Dec 24 2008
India

BANGALORE/CHENNAI: He is a priest and works in an international
call centre. He is the last Armenian who lived in Chennai and he
has now made Bangalore his home. Michael Stephen’s story is also
the fascinating story of the Armenian community in India which is
preparing to celebrate Christmas not on December 25, but on January 6.

Stephen, who lives and works in Bangalore along with three other
Armenian families, explains the unusual date of celebration: "We
Armenians are Eastern Orthodox Christians. We follow the old system of
celebrations. It was in 325 AD that December 25 was marked as the day
of Christmas. But our community goes much earlier than that date and we
used to celebrate Christmas on January 6 before 325 AD. We follow that
to this day. In fact, Orthodox Russians celebrate it on January 7."

Stephen plans to meet the other three Armenian families living in
Bangalore to exchange greetings for Christmas. "We will have our
cuisine which will be barbecued stuff along with non-fried food. In
all, we may be around 12 to 14 people in Bangalore fewer than the
Jewish community."

Stephen also plans to visit Chennai for Christmas to toll the bells in
the Armenian Church located in the northern part of the city. "I lived
there for 10 years and now I am here. I was a priest at the church
(Church of Virgin Mary) and I happened to be the last Armenian in
Chennai before I moved here. So it’s a sense of wanting to go back."

It will be a happy homecoming for Stephen as the 236-year-old church
is getting a facelift, thanks to an initiative by the small Armenian
community settled in Kolkata. A team of 60 artisans from West Bengal
had been sent by the Kolkata congregation to renovate the dilapidated
church without distorting its architecture.

The church stands under the shade of a huge mango tree near Parry’s
Corner. The silence is broken only on Sundays at 9.30 am when an
Anglo-Indian caretaker, T Alexander, tolls the church bells; the
regular service stopped decades ago.

About 350 Armenians, including Rev Haruthian Shmavonian who brought
out the world’s first Armenian journal that was published in the city
in 1794, have been laid to rest in the vicinity of the church.

Stephen says the first Armenians came to India in the seventh century
and permanent settlement began in 1586. They came by sea as traders
and merchants.

"Most of us settled in the coastal cities. You’ll find a lot of us in
Kolkata though we are down to just four in Mumbai. There were many in
Madras though none now. Interestingly many Armenians worked in Tipu
Sultan’s court in Mysore as interpreters for which they were allowed
to trade. There are just 120 Armenians in India."

Stephen’s greatgrandfather came in 1902. He was the only major general
in the Indian army he died in 1991. "A foundation stone that he laid
is still seen at the 515 Army base close to M G Road."

While Stephen lives here, many of his friends and community members
live in Kolkata. "We have an Armenian street in Kolkata and Chennai,
even in Singapore. There are 10 Armenians in Singapore. The Armenians
also owned the Grand Oberoi in Kolkata and about 20 buildings in
Chennai. Now we maintain schools which have Armenian and Iranian
students and our own churches in Kolkata and Chennai."

Stephen says most Armenians in Bangalore and other cities are over
45 years of age. "We are the third generation and not many young are
around. We’ve integrated with the communities here. I speak a bit of
Kannada, Tamil and, of course, Armenian. And I love idlis."

TURKISH PEACE ASSEMBLY SUPPORTS THE APOLOGY TO THE ARMENIANS CAMPAIGN

BIA
Dec 23 2008
Turkey

The Turkish Peace Assembly describes the campaign to apologize to the
Armenians as a right move in the direction of facing the past. They
claim that the citizens did what the state should have done and they
accuse the counter campaigns for making living together impossible.

The Turkish Peace Assembly sees "the campaign to apologize to my
Armenian brothers and sisters" as a "development that strengthens
the hopes and demands for peace."

The assembly announced that this campaign was part of the process of
facing the past and the campaigns that include racist and impatient
approaches make living together impossible.

"The citizens did what the state should have done" Calling upon the
authorities to take a step towards the social peace by facing the
history and the problems, the Peace Assembly characterized those who
participate in the campaigned as "the citizen who are doing what the
state should do."

Describing the announcements by the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff
and the heads of the political parties as "the counter campaign", The
Peace Assembly says, "The fact the President felt forced to reveal
his ethnic origin to the public shows what kind of danger a normal
citizen and the society are facing."

The number of the signatures is 20 thousand In the morning hours,
when this news was being written, the number of the signatures in
the campaign to apologize to the Armenians (ozurdiliyoruz.com) was
over 20 thousand.