Author: Boshkezenian Garik

RZD WINS ARMENIAN RAILWAYS ADMINISTRATION TENDER

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.01.2008 18:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Russian Railways (RZD) has won the tender to
run the Armenian Railways during 30 years with a right of prolongation
for 20 more years.

Indian RITES has quitted the tender, thus making the RZD the only
participant.

The RZD is planning to invest $570 million, of which $230 million
will be invested during initial five years. The funds will be spent
on modernization, repair and purchase of carriages and infrastructure,
Lenta.ru reports.

The net profit of the Armenian Railways totaled $1 million in 2007.

CHARITABLE ACTION FOR ORPHANS AND CHILDREN FROM VULNERABLE FAMILIES TO
BE HELD ON JANUARY 13

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. With the assistance of the Armenian
president Robert Kocharian, the magazine "Armyanka" and Valery
Kocharian Charitable Fund will hold the charitable action "Kiddy, I
Wish to Give All Good Things to You" at the "Yerevan Circus" cultural
center on January 13. According to a press release submitted to NT by
the fund, the purpose of the event is to organize the celebration of
Old New Year for orphans and children from vulnerable families. On this
day the circus will host about 1,600 orphans and children from
vulnerable and refugee families from Yerevan and marzes.

LEVON TER-PETROSIAN STATED THAT HE IS "AGAINST THE EXTERNAL EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH DEMOCRACY IN ARMENIA" AND WILL NOT BE "ASKING FOR HELP" FROM RUSSIA OR THE USA

Mediamax
January 11, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Ex-President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian
stated in Yerevan today that he is "against the external efforts to
establish democracy".

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Levon Ter-Petrosian stated that he "will not turn either to Russia
or the USA or Europe for help".

"If, figuratively speaking, I am offered authority in Armenia on a
plate, I will not take it", the Ex-President assured, stating that "the
world will have to take into consideration the choice of my people".

Answering the question on what the actions of Levon Ter-Petrosian
will be if he fails to gain victory, and the international observers
recognize them corresponding to the international standards,
the Ex-President noted that "the conclusion of the international
observation mission is their opinion and not a universal truth".

Levon Ter-Petrosian stressed that in case he and his team have to
contest the results of the elections, it will take place in strict
correspondence with the legislation.

"We will carry out processions, rallies, pickets; we will turn to the
court. Don’t expect that I will be breaking walls, capturing buildings
or attacking the leaders of the parliament", Levon Ter-Petrosian
stated, turning to the actions of the supporters of the Leader of
National-Democratic Union Vazgen Manukian after the presidential
elections of 1996.

TURKISH CHRISTIANS MARKING 2000 YEARS SINCE BIRTH OF ST PAUL
Jonathan Luxmoore

Ecumenical News International
hp?id=1520
Jan 10 2008
Switzerland

Warsaw (ENI). Turkey’s small Roman Catholic community hopes to mark
the 2000th anniversary of the birth of St Paul by improving the
status of the country’s Christian minorities, as well as reopening
a church at the apostle’s birthplace in Tarsus in the south of the
Muslim-majority country.

"This anniversary is certain to attract large numbers of pilgrims,
who will obviously need a church where they can feel at home and
pray," Bishop Luigi Padovese, the Catholic Church’s apostolic vicar of
Anatolia told Ecumenical News International. "A government commission
is now formally considering our request. But senior officials have
agreed we should be able to worship here. After all, we’re not
missionaries – we are merely answering the needs of church members."

The Italian-born bishop was speaking on 8 January during preparations
for a pilgrimage to St Paul’s burial place in Rome to mark the
anniversary year, which formally begins on 28 June.

Padovese said a pastoral letter concerning the anniversary would be
read in all Catholic churches on 25 January, the anniversary of the
saint’s conversion to Christianity. Talks on ecumenical initiatives
are also underway with the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople and other denominations that make up Turkey’s 120
000-strong Christian minority.

However, the church counted on officials in Tarsus, nearly 920
kilometres (570 miles) south of Istanbul to make facilities available
for pilgrims from around the world, said Bishop Padovese. He said
the church had asked to be allowed to make regular use of the
Mediterranean town’s 12th Century St Paul’s Church, which is now a
state-owned museum.

"The local authorities are aware of their town’s significance for
Christians and proud that one of its citizens was once a key figure.

On the other hand, they aren’t prepared for an increase of religious
tourism with its special requirements," said the 60-year-old Franciscan
bishop who belongs to a seven-member bishops’ conference that includes
leaders of Turkey’s Armenian, Syriac and Chaldean Catholic communities.

Pope Benedict XVI has declared 2008 the "Year of St Paul" in honour
of the saint, who was raised as a Jew named Saul in Tarsus and who
took part in the persecution of Christians, but who later changed
his name to Paul after experiencing a vision on the road to Damascus.

Paul made three return journeys through Anatolia between the years AD
47 and 57, preaching the Gospel and writing letters to the Galatians
and Ephesians, before he was arrested in Jerusalem and beheaded in
Rome in AD 65 during the persecution of Emperor Nero.

Most of Turkey’s 71 million inhabitants are Sunni Muslims, and the
government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to
respect religious freedom, a precondition for its possible membership
of the European Union. However, the 32 000-member Roman Catholic
Church is still demanding juridical recognition, including the right
to own property and benefit from association status.

A 65-year-old Italian, Adriano Franchini, became the latest Catholic
priest to be attacked when he was stabbed in the stomach by a young
assailant a week before Christmas, while a Protestant pastor, Ramazan
Arkan, survived a similar knife wound at Antalya on 31 December.

ENI featured articles are taken from the full ENI Daily News Service.

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PKK ON THE RUN FROM US INTELLIGENCE-DRIVEN TURKISH AIR STRIKES

DEBKA file

Jan 7 2008
Israel

Due in Washington: Turkey’s Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin
Saygun

7 Jan. On Jan. 8, hours before he heads out on his Middle East tour,
President George W. Bush will receive Turkish president Abdullah
Gul in the White House with full honors as the first Turkish head of
state to visit since Suleyman Demirel in 1996.

The range of topics to be covered by the visit is indicated by the
size of the Turkish presidential party and his appointments.

Gul will be accompanied by his wife, foreign minister Ali Babacan,
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler and Economy
Ministers Mehmet Simsek, as well as Rear Adm. Alaattin Sever, head
of the General Staff’s Intelligence Department.

Before meeting Bush, Gul will have talks with Vice President Dick
Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as well as defense
security Robert Gates.

The warming of US-Turkish ties in recent weeks owes much to the
deepening intelligence relations between the two countries. It comes
in the form of the ongoing handover of US intelligence to Turkey on
the movements of the Kurdish Workers Party-PKK in northern Iraq.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources report that this is Washington’s
reward to Ankara for keeping its promise to Washington to refrain
from a large-scale invasion of northern Iraqi Kurdistan.

This arrangement is both restrictive and fragile.

The PKK’s northern Iraqi havens are not rooted out and its terrorists
are still able to operate inside Turkey, in Central Asia and in
Europe. A single devastating PKK terrorist attack emanating from any
of these places would force the Turks to hit northern Iraqi targets
really hard – and so put paid to US-Turkish intelligence cooperation.

For now, DEBKA-Net-Weekly reports, the US data flowing to Ankara
is extensive and diverse. It is not limited to static PKK sites,
such as bases and training facilities, but is specific enough for
the Turkish Air Force to pinpoint moving Kurdish targets, especially
of infiltrators approaching the border for terrorist operations or
smuggling suicide teams across.

This flow keeps Turkish airborne fighter-bombers and helicopters over
Iraqi Kurdistan fully abreast almost around the clock and ready to
hit a target instantly upon receipt of a US surveillance tip-off.

One Turkish intelligence source said that armed PKK bands stand no
chance of eluding American oversight wherever they move in northern
Iraq, unless they are disguised as unarmed civilians. Hundreds of
US sensors are scattered around the regions of the Kurdish hideouts
in the northern and eastern Iraqi Kurdistan. They beam up a stream
of data to US drones, which transfer them straight to the Turkish
airborne hunters.

This joint effort has reduced by more than 60 percent the level of
PKK terrorist attacks inside southern Turkey.

Ankara has mad its satisfaction known: A senior Turkish diplomat in
Washington said Wednesday, Jan. 2: "Obviously President Gul’s visit
to the White House will reconfirm the importance attached to our
bilateral ties. We are satisfied with the new intelligence-sharing
system and looking forward to deepening our cooperation."

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources report that Gul will be followed
by Turkey’s Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun later this
month. In addition to discussing the state of intelligence cooperation
between the two countries, he will co-chair the 21st annual bilateral
High-level Defense Group (HLDG) meeting, which takes place this year
in the US capital.

Despite the cordial words, our sources report that the Americans
have quietly advised Iraqi Kurdish leaders to abstain from aiding
the Turkish campaign against the PKK sanctuaries. Leave them be,
say US advisers; keep them as a card up your sleeve in case you need
one against the Turks.

Furthermore, the Turkish president’s talks in Washington will not
be all sweetness and light. He will ask the Bush administration
to continue its efforts to prevent the passage of a congressional
resolution recognizing Armenian claims of genocide under the
Ottoman Empire. In New York, Gul will meet representatives of Jewish
organizations including the Anti-Defamation League to complain aboutits
role in the resolution. Gul will also discuss with Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon UN-led efforts to reunited Cyprus.

The Kurdish separatists have meanwhile laid plans to escape outside
the range of US intelligence-backed Turkish air strikes.

Our sources have picked up rumors going round northern Iraq that PKK
leaders are acting on a decision they reached in November to move their
bases from the Qandil mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan to the predominantly
ethnic Armenian South Caucasian region of Nagorno-Karabakh, over
which Armenia and Azerbaijan are formally at war.

These rumors were supported by PKK defectors who turned themselves
in to Turkish forces. The PKK is reported to be eying Shusha, Fizuli
and Lachin for its new bases.

Reports of a possible creation of a Kurdish autonomous district in
the Armenian-inhabited Lachin and Kelbajar regions have been dismissed
as a pipe dream by some experts. Others say it is possible.

No transfer of Kurdish rebel bases has been confirmed as yet. A group
of PKK chiefs is reported to have visited a dozen Kurdish villages
in the Karabakh region to sound out chances of support. One of the
issues they reportedly checked out was whether they would be allowed
to strike against northern Turkey via Azerbaijan.

These reports have meanwhile raised a political furor in Baku, where
Azerbaijani members of parliament are demanding a clear statement from
the Ministry of National Security on their government’s intentions
with regard to PKK bases.

High-ranking state officials have been accused by several Azerbaijani
media of supporting PKK terrorism.

Glendale News Press, CA
Dec 29 2007

Loved ones mourn loss of Nataline

Family and friends gather at Armenian Apostolic church to remember a
life that ended too early after a long bout with leukemia.

By Ryan Vaillancourt

GLENDALE – A week and a day after Nataline Sarkisyan was taken off
life support, about 250 mourners gathered Friday at St. Mary’s
Armenian Apostolic Church and then Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills for
the 17-year-old Northridge resident’s funeral.

Thousands of roses and colored carnations molded into decorative
sculptures sat behind Nataline’s white coffin, which was flanked by
many of the same friends, family and well-wishers who protested
outside Cigna HealthCare’s Glendale office last week, urging the
company to reverse its decision to deny a doctor-recommended and
potentially life-saving liver transplant.

Minutes after the protest, the insurance company changed course and
promised to cover the transplant, but it was too late. Nataline’s
condition took a turn for the worse, and her family took her off life
support at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital hours after the protest.

A flower sculpture made to look like a clock – pink carnations were
situated as numerals around an otherwise white leafy circle – was set
at 5:50 p.m., the minute on Dec. 20 that the Sarkisyan family lost an
aspiring fashion designer, devoted Armenian activist, trained dancer
and budding chef.

And even as Nataline toiled through her bout with leukemia, going
back and forth from home to the doctor’s office for chemotherapy and
check-ups while battling recurrent sickness, she didn’t complain,
said Bedig Sarkisyan, 21, Nataline’s brother and only sibling.

`Her last year, she lived her life in a way she didn’t believe she
was sick,’ he said. `She went in and got her driver’s license and
never even got a chance to drive her car, but she still got it
anyways. Even when she was with her friends, they never looked at her
as sick. . . . They never saw what we saw, like,
when she was in the hospital. That was really bad.’

Sarkisyan underwent bone marrow transplant surgery on Nov. 21 to help
his ailing sister.

The transplant was successful, but complications from the surgery and
ensuing chemotherapy caused her liver and other organs to fail.

On Dec. 10, Nataline’s doctors sought to give her a liver transplant,
but Cigna denied the coverage, calling the surgery `experimental,’
given Nataline’s critical condition.

The day after Nataline died, the family’s attorney, Mark Geragos,
said he would file a civil suit against Cigna and push for criminal
charges.

The dozens of television news cameras that lined the back row of the
church Friday were signs that, while Nataline has passed, the
circumstances that surrounded her death are likely to keep the teen’s
name on the tongues of lawyers, lawmakers and media reporters well
into the future.

It’s a legacy that Nataline’s mother, Hilda Sarkisyan, plans to
invoke in years to come as she plans to become a devoted activist for
healthcare reform and urge everyone she meets to register as an organ
donor, she said.

`I’m going to focus on helping other kids and families not to go
through what I went through,’ she said. `I’m going to get the word
out. I’m going to save a life. We’re going to deliver her wishes.’

Russia & CIS General Newswire
December 28, 2007 Friday 4:49 PM MSK

PACE may resolve issue on ending monitoring in Armenia -Speaker
Torosian

Armenian National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosian hopes that the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will stop
monitoring in the country in the near future.

The decision to stop monitoring in Armenia and to start a post-
monitoring process might be taken either in fall 2008 or at a PACE
session in January 2009, he said in an interview with Interfax.

"This does not mean that problems will be over in the country. The
end of the process shows that there has been a significant change,
because monitoring is conducted when a country assumes obligations as
a Council of Europe member," he said.

Currently, there are two types of monitoring conducted in Armenia:
one by PACE and another one by the Council of Europe’s Committee of
Ministers, he said.

"It will be particularly important how the presidential election is
held if PACE is to end the monitoring of Armenia," Torosian said.
"Its full compliance with international standards will mean that such
elections in Armenia become a tradition," he said. This is essential
for raising the country’s international rating and for completing its
monitoring, he said.

"Another crucial factor facilitating the end of monitoring is to
ensure compliance of the law, although there is a lot of work to be
done in this direction," the speaker said.

"Armenia has every right to ask PACE to end monitoring, because it is
not inferior to other countries where the monitoring is already
over," Torosian said.

President Bush signs Omnibus Aid Bill allocating $58.5 Million to
Armenia

armradio.am
28.12.2007 11:23

President Bush signed the fiscal year (FY) 2008 overall appropriations
package this week, known as the omnibus bill, which included $58.5
million in economic assistance for Armenia and maintained Armenia and
Azerbaijan military aid parity, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

The Armenia economic aid figures are $17.5 million less than the FY
2007 figures but represent a clear increase over the Administration’s
request of $35 million. Congress also approved $3 million in foreign
military financing (FMF) assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan,
reversing the Administration’s latest bid to retreat from its 2001
pledge to maintain parity in military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"We are troubled by the reductions in aid to Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh, particularly in light on the ongoing economic costs of the
Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, as well as Baku’s increasingly
violent rhetoric about restarting its war against the Armenians," said
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We thank all of our friends in
the Congressional appropriations process who, working against
significant competing budgetary pressures ` were able to deliver
figures higher than the President’s request, and also to maintain
military aid parity."

In addition to the Armenia allocation, the omnibus aid bill also
includes $50.5 million for Georgia and $19 million for Azerbaijan.
Millennium Challenge Account funding is set for $1.5 billion, half of
President Bush’s request.

The final compromise aid legislation does not stipulate a specific
amount of aid to Karabakh, urging the State Department to be guided
instead by the individual Senate and House recommendations adopted
earlier this year, one of which did allocate $6 million in aid to
Karabakh.

On June 12th, the House Appropriations Committee adopted its version of
the FY08 foreign aid bill, allocating $68 million for Armenia, $6
million in direct assistance to Nagorno Karabakh, and maintaining
parity in the levels of U.S. military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Senate version, adopted by the Appropriations Committee on June
28th, called for only $39 million in aid to Armenia, $4 million above
the President’s request, but considerably less than the
previous year’s appropriation. Although the Senate called for direct
assistance to Nagorno Karabakh, it did not set a specific dollar
amount. In addition, the Senate did not address the issue of military
aid parity.

Other specific measures of interest in the omnibus bill include a
recommendation for funding of an Armenian Youth Federation (AYF)
exchange program with Armenia; Monmouth University sponsored
professional exchanges with Armenia, as well as activities of the
University of California, affiliated with the American University of
Armenia. Appropriations Committee member, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
announced last week, his efforts in support of an allocation of $47,000
for an after-school tutoring program sponsored by the Glendale "Ararat"
Chapter of Homenetmen.

TRADE GROWS BY 8.8%, SERVICES BY 20.8% IN ARMENIA IN JANUARY-NOVEMBER
2007 ON SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-November 2007, trade
turnover amounted to 1 trillion 204 billion 735.8 million drams in
current prices in Armenia, growing by 8.8% in comparable prices as
compared with the same period of 2006.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, retail trade made 764
bln 277.8 mln drams in current prices in January-November 2007, growing
by 8.9% in comparable prices on the same months of 2006.

Services provided in January-November 2007 made 485 bln 677.4 mln drams
in current prices, which is more by 20.8% in comparable prices on the
same period of last year.

Wall Street Journal
Dec 28 2007

Dubai World Increases MGM Mirage Stake

By DONNA KARDOS
December 28, 2007 7:06 a.m.

Dubai World increased its stake in casino operator MGM Mirage to 6.5%
after agreeing to buy five million shares from a foundation founded
by MGM controlling shareholder Kirk Kerkorian.

Dubai World, a holding company for the Persian Gulf state that
previously held a 5% stake in MGM, bought its additional shares from
the Lincy Foundation for $424 million, or $84.80 a share. The deal
was announced Friday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission.

In the filing, Dubai World said the purchase was for investment
purposes. The company manages the government of Dubai’s business
projects, includes the private-equity powerhouse Istithmar and a big
investment portfolio.

Mr. Kerkorian founded the Beverly Hills-based Lincy Foundation after
the devastating 1988 Armenian earthquake. He is of Armenian descent.

In the filing, Dubai World said it has no current plans, proposals or
agreements to acquire additional shares from significant
stockholders, but that they may purchase additional shares at any
time and from time to time in open market purchases, privately
negotiated purchases or otherwise. As per a stock purchase agreement,
Dubai World will not be able to acquire more than a 20% stake in MGM.

The move comes four months after MGM’s board approved a deal under
which Dubai World would pay $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in
CityCenter, a 76-acre development in Las Vegas of upscale hotels,
condos and retail slated to open by 2009. The agreement also called
for Dubai World to buy 14.2 million shares from MGM Mirage at a price
of $84 a share, or about $1.2 billion, and an additional 14.2 million
shares from public shareholders at about the same price. The
purchases would have given Dubai World a 9.5% stake in MGM.

But investors shunned Dubai World’s offer, as the offer price was
well below what holders could get on the open market. Just 348,903
shares were tendered by shareholders. Combined with the purchase from
MGM, Dubai World held a 5% stake.

MGM, Kerzner International Holdings Ltd. and Istithmar Hotels FZE
finalized joint-venture agreements in September to develop a
multibillion dollar Las Vegas resort that now includes participation
by Dubai’s investment arm. Dubai World is Istithmar’s parent.

Dubai World is getting into the gambling business without building
casinos in Dubai, where gambling is illegal.

Shares of MGM closed Thursday at $84.25. There was no pre-market
activity.