Author: Chmshkian Vicken

ARMENIA EYES INCREASE IN MILITARY AND SOCIAL SPENDING
By Ruzanna Khachatrian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 6 2006

Armenia is set to increase its military spending by almost 39 percent
next year, officials said after closed discussions of the 2007 draft
budget in parliament on Monday.

Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian said the allocation of some $285
million to the defense sphere could not be compared to neighboring
Azerbaijan’s $1 billion military spending, but "is enough if managed
well and expended purposefully."

In an RFE/RL interview First Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance
Pavel Safarian called next year’s budget socially oriented despite
the drastic increase in military spending. "It is not the year-to-year
spending increase in a separate sphere that characterizes the nature
of the budget, but the share this sphere has in the overall budget,"
the deputy minister said.

A total of 198 billion drams (around $555 million) in the $1.48 billion
budget are envisaged for all social spheres, including education,
public health and pensions, against 102 billion drams (around $285
million) to be spent for the Armenian military and law-enforcement
agencies.

According to Safarian, a total of some 20 percent increase is planned
in social spending, with the largest share of this increase to fall
on healthcare.

Last week Freedom House urged the U.S. administration to withhold
promised economic assistance to Armenia which it believes has failed
to meet "reasonable standards" for democracy and civil liberties.

The New York-based leading human rights organization charged that
the Armenian government has been "backsliding on promised reforms".

The Corporation is set to approve the list of nations eligible for
that aid on Wednesday.

Armenia’s Minister of Economy and Finance Vartan Khachatrian, who on
behalf of the Armenian government signed a $235.6 million MCA compact
with the scheme managing Millennium Challenge Corporation last March,
downplays the impact of the Freedom House findings and hopes the
Corporation will not suspend the program.

"I think we don’t have problems. Freedom House studies only two
indexes in one of the three blocks of questions. The decision to be
made will not be based on Freedom House evaluations only, opinions
of other NGOs will be compared and a final decision will be made,"
the minister told RFE/RL.

The promised U.S. aid would be used for upgrading Armenia’s battered
irrigation networks and rural roads. Officials say the vast majority
of approximately one million Armenians dependent on farming would
directly benefit from that.

Khachatrian says at least $12 million of the expected allocations
have been considered in the 2007 budget expenditure pattern.

Freedom House (press release), DC
Nov 3 2006

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Amanda Abrams

Millennium Challenge Corporation Should Hold Countries to Higher
Standards of Democratic Governance

Washington, D.C.,November 2, 2006

The American government should withhold foreign assistance under the
Millennium Challenge Account from countries which fail to meet
reasonable standards of political rights and civil liberties, Freedom
House said today.

On November 8, the MCC Board of Directors will select governments
eligible to apply for assistance in fiscal year 2007. Freedom House
urges the MCC to bypass those countries with low scores on political
rights and civil liberties that otherwise meet the eligibility
criteria – namely Armenia, Bhutan, Egypt, Jordan, Maldives, Tunisia
and Vietnam – during this year’s selection process.

Additionally, Freedom House urges the MCC to rigorously follow up
with those countries, like Armenia, that have been awarded compacts
but have not met promised benchmarks in the area of democratic
governance. Armenia is an important test case of MCC policy, as it
signed a compact with the MCC earlier this year but has been
backsliding on promised reforms since the agreement was signed.

"Freedom House strongly supports the MCC’s efforts to reduce poverty
by rewarding sound policies," said Jennifer Windsor, Executive
Director of Freedom House. "However, because democratic governance
plays such a key role in enabling broader social and economic
development, it is vital–if the fund is to be truly effective–that
only those governments that have demonstrated commitment to democracy
and human rights be eligible to receive MCC funds," she added.

Currently, countries qualify for MCC funding based on their
performance on three baskets of indicators that measure "ruling
justly," "investing in people," and "economic freedom." At a minimum,
a country needs to perform above average in half of the indicators in
each of these three categories to qualify for the funds. However,
because the agency views corruption as such a serious obstacle to
development, a score below average in corruption automatically
eliminates a country from consideration for the pool of eligible
countries.

Freedom House encourages the MCC to consider officially amending the
eligibility process to automatically disqualify any country that
falls below the equivalent of a 4 (out of a worst possible 7) on
Freedom House’s index of civil liberties and political rights, which
is used by the MCC to determine a country’s level of democratic
governance.

"Democratic governance is fundamental to development and can have an
enormous effect on a country’s future growth. Like anti-corruption
efforts, therefore, it should be treated as a priority among
priorities by the MCC," said Christopher Walker, Director of Studies
at Freedom House. "On occasion, the MCC Board has exercised
discretion to eliminate from consideration some of the worst
democratic underachievers, and Freedom House would like to see this
prioritization formalized as an official standard," he added.

Based on the published MCC scorecards for 2007, Armenia, Bhutan,
Egypt, Jordan, Maldives, Tunisia and Vietnam officially pass the MCC
criteria even though they fall below the equivalent of a 4 on Freedom
House’s index of political rights and civil liberties.

Armenia
Armenia has failed in its pledge made to the MCC to improve its
institutional commitment to democracy and tolerance of opposition.
Allegations of fraud in the November 2005 constitutional referendum
have not been investigated, as called for by Ambassador Danilovich,
Chief Executive Officer of the MCC. Implementation of the
referendum’s tepid reforms stalled in 2006, and the opposition
expects upcoming parliamentary elections to once again be marred by
fraud. Multiple anti-democratic methods are used to maintain a hold
on power, including the following:

Election fraud characterized both the presidential and parliamentary
elections of 2003 and the constitutional referendum of 2005.
Harassment of opposition supporters, ballot box stuffing, and
inflated turnout figures were among the methods used, and the
elections were denounced by European observers.
The judicial branch remains subject to political pressure from the
executive branch and suffers from considerable corruption, while
proposed reforms have not been implemented.
While new legislation to improve media independence was passed, the
Armenian media climate has not improved and violent attacks on
journalists continue.

Freedom in the World 2006: Armenia
age=22&year06&country=6912

Countries at the Crossroads 2006: Armenia
age=140&edition=7&ccrpage=31&ccrcountr y=109

For other countries, click on the link
=70&release=435

BY PROGNOSIS OF Jane’s RESEARCH CENTER, KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
TO 2009 IS "VERY UNLIKELY"

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia Nov 3 2006

By prognosis of the authoritative Jane’s Research Center, the
Karabakh conflict settlement to 2009 is "very unlikely, "Svoboda"
Radio Station reports.

According to the source, in the opinion of the Center’s experts, the
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia will hardly reach a consensus,
despite some encouraging signs, even if they meet again this year.

According to experts, "since no side wishes to make concessions in
such a delicate issue in electoral years, reaching of consensus
till 2009 is very unlikely ". In their opinion, the probability
of Armenian-Azerbaijan war, which is not so great at present, may
increase with time.

ARMENIAN POLLS SHOW VARYING PUBLIC OPINION TO PRESSING ISSUES

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Nov 3 2006

The results of an opinion poll carried out by the Baltic Surveys/
The Gallup Organization among 1,200 Armenian residents from 31 July
to 10 August on order of the US International Republican Institute
(IRI) were made public this week, Mediamax has said. The first opinion
poll was carried out by the Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization
in Armenia in May 2006. The aim of the opinion pools were to compare
their findings and determine differences in public opinion regarding
to foreign policy issues and the Karabakh conflict. The following is
an excerpt from report entitled "Foreign policy preferences of the
Armenian residents" in Russian, published by Armenian news agency
Mediamax; subheadings as published:

Nagornyy Karabakh conflict

A total of 75 per cent of Armenians polled in August and 75 per cent
in May said they considered the swift settlement of the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem "very important". This stability shows that despite
statements made in Armenia from time to time that the preservation
of the existing status-quo is in favour of Armenia, the overwhelming
majority of the country’s residents believe that the non-settlement
of the conflict dissembles a myriad of threats. Anyway, like in May,
only two per cent of the respondents said that a quick settlement of
the Karabakh problem was "not very important".

There were no significant changes in the views of Armenia’s residents
on ways of settling the conflict. A total of 39 per cent of those
polled in August consider that Nagornyy Karabakh should be an ordinary
region of Armenia without the right to an autonomy. In May, 41 per
cent of those polled supported this opinion. Some 27 per cent of the
respondents of the second survey said that Nagornyy Karabakh should
become an autonomy under Armenia. In spring, 31 per cent of the polled
supported this option.

Thirty-three per cent of respondents polled in August consider that
Nagornyy Karabakh should become an independent state. In May, 27 per
cent supported this idea.

None of the respondents in the both surveys supported the idea of
Nagornyy Karabakh being part of Azerbaijan.

The overwhelming majority of Armenian residents believe that the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict should be resolved peacefully. In August,
82 per cent of the polled supported a peaceful settlement to the
conflict, in May, this totalled 85 per cent.

Relations with Russia

Over 90 per cent of the respondents in both opinion polls answered
positively to the question of "Do you think Russia is a reliable ally
of Armenia?". In August, 46 per cent of the polled answered "yes"
to this question, in May 45 per cent. A total of 44 per cent of the
polled in August answered "probably, yes". This was 42 per cent in May.

Answers of Armenia’s residents to the question of "Does the presence
of Russian military bases in Armenia have a positive or negative
influence on Armenia’s independence and stability in the country?"

was interesting.

Sixty-seven per cent of the polled in August consider this influence
positive, but this figure was 66 per cent in May. Two per cent of
those polled gave a negative assessment. Not least significance were
answers of those who found it difficult to give definite answers.

Some 15 per cent of those polled in August consider that the presence
of the Russian military bases in Armenia has neither positive nor
negative influence on Armenia’s independence (16 per cent in May),
and 12 per cent consider that the military bases have both positive
and negative influence (11 per cent in May)

Relations with NATO and European Union

The number of supporters of Armenia’s joining NATO have increased
by two per cent as compared to the survey carried out in May,
and amounted to 42 per cent. If in May, the number of supporters of
Armenia’s membership of NATO was 10 per cent of the polled, in August,
this number dropped and totalled 7 per cent. Instead, the number of
respondents who do not rule out the possibility of Armenia’s membership
of NATO in future increased from 30 to 35 per cent.

It is interesting that the number of strong opponents of Armenia’s
membership of the North Atlantic Alliance dropped considerably. In
May this number was 17 per cent but in August this number decreased
almost twice, and amounted to 9 per cent.

The number of supporters of Armenia’s joining the EU grow steadily.

In May 80 per cent of the polled were in favour of Armenia’s joining
the EU, in August, this number reached 84 per cent.

Iran’s nuclear programme

In May, 56 per cent of the polled in Armenia supported efforts of the
USA, the EU and Russia to prevent Iran from its aspiration to possess
nuclear weapons. In August, the number of those polled increased
by 65 per cent. In May, 11 per cent of the polled were against the
international efforts concerning Iran, in August, this number fell
7 per cent.

Moscow Nationalists to Rally in spite of Ban

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.11.2006 14:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ November 2 the whole day Moscow officials were
discussing the firm intention of organizers of Russian March to hold
that measure in the Moscow metro in spite of the ban. As a result the
authorities said they will take steps not to admit the nationalist
action. However, neither the organizers, nor the participants of the
future rally were intimidated and kept open discussion on where and
how to gather. Moreover, it appeared that there may be at least two
"nationalist events" in the capital. Worried by the attention of
authorities to the Russian march, fascist and skinhead groupings
decided to do it in a different way.

Tuesday Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov prohibited the holding of the
Russian March in Moscow November 4.

Thus, the organizers – the Movement against Illegal Migration
(MAIM) decided to gather in one of the metro largest stations –
Komsomolskaya-Koltsevaya instead of the street, as "the authorities
cannot close it and working on the platform would be difficult to
law-enforcers." After a certain number of participants arrive, the
organizers intend to announce the destination for holding the march,
stated MAIM leader Alexander Belov.

Owing to the stir a number of nationalist organizations refused from
participation n the event.

Lately members of those groups discussed their plans for November 4 in
Internet forums. Fascists decided not to go to the metro in order not
to appear on tracing cameras. They will probably visit an authorized
meeting of liberals on the Bolotnaya Square. The organizers of "the
alternative measure" urge their brothers-in-arms to go and "explain
to liberals why they are wrong."

At that long-standing national patriots urged their colleagues to be
careful, as well as to come to the rally not in "organized crowds,"
not to shout slogans and dress in a simple manner to avoid militia
suspicion, reports Vremya Novostey.

ACCORDING TO PANORAMA.AM, ARMENTEL SOLD TO RUSSIAN COMPANY VYMPELCOM

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the website panorama.am,
ArmenTel company has been sold to the Russian company Vympelcom. The
website informs its visitors that Vympelcom was the first Russian
company whose shares were listed on the New York stock exchange (since
1997). Most of its shares are owned by the Norwegian company Telenor,
one of the world’s telecommunication leaders. Besides, shares are owned
by the following companes: Egerton Capital Ltd, Charlemagne Capital,
Fidelity Internation, DWS Invest Bric Plus, Fidelity Fundseur, Deutsche
Bank AG, Jp Morgan Chase & Go, Brinson Partners, Merill Lynch Invest,
Axa, Pictet Asset Managem, Capital International, Thames River Capital,
Baring Eastern Europe, Raiffeisenosteuropa, Barclays Clobal Inve,
Credit Suisse Asset, and the Russian companies: Telenor East Inv,
Eco Telecom, Tehspetsmonthazh, Rapit LLC, Mitsar LLC, Veltex LLC,
Varkedge LTD, Occidental MGMT, Karino Trading L, Ravenscroft Hold,
Songo LLC and Express Times Ltd.

There have been no official reports to confirm this information. To
recap, a few weeks ago there were reports in the press that ArmenTel
was sold to an Arab company but this information was later refuted.

OQANESYAN: TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN PREPARED PROGRAM CONSIDERING ARMENIA’S ISOLATION

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 2 2006

"Turkey and Azerbaijan prepared a program considering the isolation
of Armenia," Amayak Ovannisyan, Armenian parliamentarian and the
chief of Armenian Political Scientists Union said, APA reports.

He said that Azerbaijan and Turkey intend to build 12 villages
along the part of Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway in Chavakhetiya
for placing Ahiska Turks, pretexting that they ensure the security
of Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway. Ovannisyan said that it is
unacceptable for Armenia, because it means the isolation from the
world.

PETROSIAN VS THE ELITE
by Ray Keene and Julian Simpole, Batsford, 299 pages, £15.99.

British Chess Magazine, UK
Nov 2 2006

BCM Chess Book Reviews : November 2006

Now that we have a manoeuvring, positional player in place as the
undisputed world champion and Garry Kasparov has retired, one wonders
whether fashion will change and there will be shift of focus by
students of the game towards the great technical players of the past.

Kramnik has often been compared to Petrosian, and it seems like a very
opportune moment to review the career of the Armenian world champion
of the 1960s. One of the reviewer’s personal regrets is that I was
too prone to hero-worship the likes of Fischer in my youth.

Like many, I was carried along by the zeitgeist, but I now feel I would
have learnt far more about practical chess technique by studying the
games of Petrosian. Too late for me, but younger readers might do well
to buy this book and study the 71 victories of Iron Tigran contained
within it. Julian Simpole is acknowledged as providing the bulk of
the text. He has not relied on computer analysis, and the contents do
not overlap to any significant degree with Peter Clarke’s collection
of Petrosian games nor Kasparov’s chapter on Petrosian in My Great
Predecessors. This looks like a most enjoyable read. JS.

[for other books on chess, go to
ml ]

–Boundary_(ID_FI1EwKLu0N8yAPw723C3AQ)–

TURKISH SCHOLAR WHO MOCKED HEAD SCARVES IS ACQUITTED

New York Times, NY
Nov 2 2006

ISTANBUL, Nov. 1 – In the latest case challenging freedom of expression
in Turkey, an Istanbul court on Wednesday acquitted a 92-year-old
academic of inciting religious hatred by putting the head scarf
in ancient history in a sexual context and by criticizing abusive
religious marriages.

In one of her published letters, Muazzez Ilmiye Cig, an expert on
Sumerian civilization, asserted that 5,000 years ago, the head scarf
was a symbol to distinguish the temple priestess who had ritual sex
with young men to celebrate fertility. As such, her satirical letter
argued, the wearing of a head scarf should not indicate a woman’s
morality or religious devotion in today’s world.

This comparison and other satires appeared in her book "My Reactions
as a Citizen" and prompted Yusuf Akin, an Islamic-oriented lawyer
based in Izmir, to file a complaint against Ms. Cig and her publisher,
Ismet Ogutcu.

More than 50 people chanted slogans supporting Ms. Cig and applauded
as she left the courthouse after a hearing of only half an hour. She
and Mr. Ogutcu each faced up to a year and a half in jail if convicted.

So far, most of the cases challenging freedom of expression in Turkey
have concerned references to the mass killings of Armenians in the
1910s, partly because it is illegal to insult the Turkish state or
identity. Intellectuals like the Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and the
novelist Elif Shafak have been tried in that regard. Ms. Cig’s case,
however, falls under a separate law.

Charges of insulting the Turkish identity brought against Mr. Pamuk
were dropped, and Ms. Shafak was acquitted. But the laws under which
the cases have been brought cause contention within the European Union,
which Turkey wants to join. The recent cases are likely to generate
scorn when the union reports next on Turkey, next Wednesday.

Ms. Cig, a devotee of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic,
and his secular principles, said her case was not a blot on Turkey’s
progress in human rights or freedom of expression. Instead, she said:
"My trial acted as a tool to display the strength of the secular
tradition in Turkey against the fundamentalists. This will encourage
people like me to think more, act more courageously and voice their
opposition more openly."

In Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, head scarves are common in
public life but banned from government offices, including universities,
to protect the secular character of the state. Head scarves were an
electoral issue in 2002 when the current government came to power
with promises to remove the ban. The secular establishment, however,
backed by strong institutions like the military, upholds the ban.

Ms. Cig has also criticized Emine Erdogan, the wife of Turkey’s prime
minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for wearing a head scarf that excludes
her from state functions, and asked her to give up her covered looks
to prevent a misrepresentation of modern Turkish women.

AZERBAIJANIANS-NATIVES OF ARMENIA DEMAND AUTONOMY STATUS IN THEIR "HISTORICAL MOTHERLAND"

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 31 2006

The unity "Return to Western Azerbaijan (Armenia)" has held a
conference the day before, during which it clarified its position
for some issues.

As the Baku "Zerkalo" newspaper reports, one of the Organization’s
demands is "return to their historical Motherland ", i.e. to Armenia.

"Why a 60-70-thousand Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh can
be given autonomy but half-million Azerbaijanians in Armenia –
no? We think that the issue of autonomy is to be considered in
parallel, that is, status of NKR Armenians must be such as we shall
have here, in Armenia", the Head of Organization, Rizvan Takhirov
said. However, the Organization’s demands are not limited to the claims
to RA authorities. The leaders of the "Return" have problems with
Azerbaijan authorities as well, which refuse to officially register
the Organization. The Organization members suppose that giving a
status of a "legal" structure will help them to fulfill the main
task, that is, assistance to the compatriots in their return to the
"historical Motherland". Moreover, the "returners" propose to create
funds to accumulate the means from Caspian gas recovery, mining of
copper and natural resources and to distribute these means between
Azerbaijan’s citizens at the end of each year.