Author: Badalian Vardan

AGREEMENT ON PENSION AND SOCIAL INSURANCE SPHERES TO BE SIGNED BETWEEN ARMENIA AND RF

Noyan Tapan
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Joint consultation of heads of
RA Social Insurance State Fund and RF Pension Fund took place on
December 5-6 in Moscow. As Vazgen Khachikian, RA Social Insurance
State Fund Chairman, said at the December 12 press conference, during
the consultation they discussed issues relating to compulsory pension
insurance of two countries’ citizens promoting working activity in
these two countries, as well as of labor migrants, as well as reforms
in pension sphere, perfection of the funds’ activity.

V.Khachikian said that currently more than 100 thousand RA citizens
work and make social payments in Russia. In his words, a number
of problems emerge when setting a pension to them: in particular,
which country should set it and which country should pay for this
period. V.Khachikian said that it is planned to sign the respective
agreement in 2007 for the purpose of regulating these issues. In his
words, this will enable to protect RA citizens’ interests connected
with realization of labor and pension rights. According to the draft
agreement, each state will pay on the part of years a citizen worked
in its territory. It was mentioned that Russia has such an agreement
with Belarus, Spain, Israel.

V.Khachikian said that soon it is planned to clarify the precise
number of RA citizens working and receiving pension in RF.

ARMENIA ARRESTS LEBANESE NATIONAL OVER PLANNED COUP

MOSNEWS, Russia
Dec 11 2006

Armenian authorities detained the head of a public organization
accusing him of plotting a coup attempt, the Reuters news reports.

Lebanon citizen Zhirair Sefilian, who heads For Protection of Liberated
Territories organization, was detained on charges of plotting to
overthrow the government of Armenia and sentenced to deportation,
said Armen Agaian, a leading member of Sefilian’s group.

Agaian has refuted the charges.

An anonymous official at the Armenian National Security Service
confirmed that Sefilian had been arrested but refused to elaborate
on the charges against him.

Sefilian is a veteran of the 1988-94 war in the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended when Armenia-backed separatists drove
out Azerbaijan’s government forces.

DATE OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMS MEETING NOT DETERMINED YET

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.12.2006 17:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The RA Foreign Ministry holds consultations to
exact the date of the meeting of the Armenian and Azeri Foreign
Ministers late January, RA MFA Acting Spokesman Vladimir Karapetian
told PanARMENIAN.Net. "We cannot confirm the date, since it has not
been determined yet," he said.

Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov stated that the recurrent ministerial
meeting will be held late January.

CBA TO PUT INTO CIRCULATION SILVER COINS WITH THE NOMINAL VALUE OF 100 DRAMS

ArmRadio.am
08.12.2006 15:39

Starting December 11 the Central Bank of Armenia will put into
circulation a silver coin with the nominal value of 100 drams.

The Central Bank informs that cat of arms of the Republic of Armenia
will be depicted on the face of the coin. Below the coat of arms will
be mentioned the nominal value of the coin in Armenian and English,
and the year of issue will be mentioned at the top.

The reverse side of the coin will depict Fridtjof Nansen’s portrait. On
the right of the portrait is written "INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR."

GERMAN EXPERT: TURKEY TIES TO SPLIT EU

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.12.2006 17:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s proposal on opening a port and an airport
for Cyprus is a ‘successful move’ that aims at splitting the European
Union and prevent it from deciding to freeze talks with Ankara,
said Elmar Brock, the head of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs
Committee. "Anyway there won’t be a unanimous decision on Turkey and
it means that nothing will happen. Turkey has won," he said.

At least UK stands against breaking accession talks with
Turkey. Earlier the European Commission offered the EU Foreign
Ministers to consider the possibility of freezing talks with Turkey
on 8 out of 35 subjects, reports Deutsche Welle.

COMPETITION TO DEVELOP AND BROADCAST TV PROGRAMS ON CORRUPTION ISSUES

ArmRadio.am
08.12.2006 16:15

Within the framework of its activities to support the fight
against corruption in Armenia, and in the context of UNDP’s project
"Strengthening Awareness and Response in Exposure of Corruption in
Armenia", UNDP is launching a project component, which utilizing
the capacity of the media, aims at contributing to the fight against
corruption in Armenia.

To this effect, UNDP announces a competition to develop and broadcast
TV Programs on corruption issues. Attached please find a full package
of competition documents that contain the necessary information for
interested parties.

The objective of the competition is to develop and broadcast television
programs (talk shows, debates, discussions, PSAs, street polls,
documentaries etc.) that center on corruption issues, in particular
the fight against corruption, in Armenia.

Those eligible to enter the competition are TV stations registered
according to the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, and individual
journalists or groups of journalists with experience of working in
Armenia not less than one year.

ESTONIAN, TURKISH MINISTERS VIEW EU DECISION TO SUSPEND TALKS

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Dec 6 2006

Tallinn, 6 December: "Decision of the EU Commission to partially
suspend talks with Turkey under eight chapter headings is excessive.

Only three of them are related to Customs Union," said Estonian
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet on Wednesday [6 December].

The Turkish state minister and chief negotiator for EU talks,
Ali Babacan, and Estonian Foreign Minister Paet held a joint news
conference following their meeting in Tallinn.

Replying to a question, Paet said Estonia advocated Turkey’s EU
membership bid and indicated that "commission’s decision to link
provisional closing of other negotiating chapters to Cyprus is not
right. This will have a negative impact on relations with Turkey."

Indicating that EU’s enlargement should include Turkey, Paet
underscored that "this will add a cultural richness to us".

On the other hand, Babacan emphasized that Estonia supported Turkey’s
membership to the EU and indicated that Turkey and NATO member Estonia
were allies.

Responding to a question about Cyprus, Babacan said Cyprus question
should not hinder Turkish-EU relations. He said although Turkish
Cypriot party accepted the UN plan, it was again the Turkish Cypriot
party that is punished.

Babacan underscored that the EU did not fulfil its commitment to end
the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot party, adding that unilateral step
would not be taken on resolution of the Cyprus question. He said Turkey
could accept opening of ports in parallel to removal of the blockade.

[Passage omitted]

Asked about the so-called Armenian genocide, Babacan said it was the
duty of the historians to investigate the matter, indicating that
Turkey was ready for any research that would be carried out.

"Turkey has asked Armenian administration to establish a
joint commission to investigate the so-called Armenian genocide
allegations. Researchers that will be assigned by the UN and the EU
could also take place in this research," he noted.

ARMENIA FORMS NATIONAL SECURITY SYSTEM AS CSTO MEMBER

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Dec 5 2006

YEREVAN, December 4. /ARKA/. Armenia is a member of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and forms its national security
system within the CSTO, RA Prime-Minister Andranik Margaryan stated
in his interview to the "Komersant" newspaper.

He pointed out that Armenia considers the relations with NATO an
important component of its policy of European integration.

"Interests of regional security imply cooperation with NATO, and
Armenia will continue implementing joint projects. We intend to
radically improve our cooperation with NATO," Margaryan said.

According to him, Armenia consistently supports the development of
regional cooperation under the "Partnership for peace" program and
NATO’s related steps.

The Individual Partnership Program has played the key role in the
NATO-Armenia relations since 2004. The Program covers all possible
cooperation spheres and is an effective mechanism for further
development of the cooperation, Margaryan said.

As to the possibility of NATO establishing a foothold in the South
Caucasus, Margaryan pointed out that it is up to any sovereign state
to join an international organization. "In the context, we understand
Georgia’s desire to join NATO. It is important to prevent the formation
of new dividing lines in our restless region with quite a number of
unsettled problems," Margaryan said.

AZERI MINISTRY CONDEMNS KARABAKH’S PLAN TO HOLD REFERENDUM

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 2 2006

Baku, 2 December: The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry released today a
statement on the Karabakh separatists’ plan to hold a "constitutional
referendum" in the Armenian-occupied Nagornyy Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan on 10 December.

These actions are violating the Azerbaijani Constitution and
international legal norms and creating obstacles to the peace
process. The so-called "referendum" will have no legal consequences
and its organizers will not be able to mislead the international
community, the document said.

The adoption of any constitutional document about self-determination
of Nagornyy Karabakh region’s population is possible through the
peace process with the full, equal and direct participation of the
region’s Armenian and Azerbaijani populations in it.

Azerbaijan will never recognize such illegal acts based on the wrong
practice of "a fait accompli" which contradicts the efforts to achieve
lasting peace and stability in the region, the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry said in its statement.

IF TURKEY RECOGNISES THE VENDEE GENOCIDE IN FRANCE

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Dec 2 2006

* France Warned Turks Could Scrutinize their History

France, which is preparing to pass a law to penalize those who deny
the alleged Armenian genocide, received a historical warning from its
own public that it should not history like Stalin’s USSR, Hitler’s
Germany, and Mao’s China and leave history to historians.

Historian Henri Amouroux, a member of the prestigious Institut de
France spoke out against the political move to penalize the denial
of the alleged Armenian genocide and mentioned the 1792-1794 Vendee
massacres.

In his article in Le Figaro, Amouroux asked what would happen if the
Turks recognized the Vendee genocide. He said that the French would
certainly respond that this was none of their business and they should
first look at their own past.

Stating this would be a "reasonable" decision, the French historian
wrote it was unacceptable for the Turks to attempt to ban a denied
but apologized for historical issue freely discussed in France.

Amouroux later recalled the terrible massacres in Vendee conducted
by the Republican Army and said no law in France bans discussing or
denying the Vendee genocide.

"The task of the politicians is not to impose their own realities,
let us leave history to time," Amouroux said. The French historian
reiterated the historical manipulations in Stalin’s USSR, Hitler’s
Germany and Mao’s China and warned French politicians not to make
the same mistake.

Amouroux said he thinks his country’s legislators "do not intend to
imitate the shame of those making up an official history."

The 1792-1794 Vendee incidents are one of the taboo issues of France’s
history.

People working on farms in several regions in Western France revolted
against the Republican government’s practices to defend their freedom,
church, and king.

Angry at the revolt, Paris initiated a terrible massacre in Vendee.

About 380,000 of the 900,000 people living in Vendee were murdered
in the 1790s, General Hoche informed.

The methods of the Republican army, which including strangling,
burning, and drowning, still spark reactions.

Several French historians regard the incidents as genocide whereas
the state rejects it.

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