Author: Ekmekjian Janet

ALBANIAN NATIONAL ARMY PREPARING FOR WAR?

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.01.2008 17:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Fighters of the so-called Albanian National
Army labeled by the UN as a terrorist organization have launched
preparations for mass disorders in northern Kosovo in case the province
proclaims independence.

The report was posted on Balkaninside web site with a reference to
ANA leader Arberi. According to him, the ANA focuses on Mitrovitsa
mostly inhabited by Serbs.

"Our concern is that Serbs can resort to violence against the Albanian
population when Pristina proclaims independence. We should lend a
helping hand to our compatriots," Arberi said.

"During ethnic disorders in Kosovo in March 2004, the KFOR under NATO
command preferred to stay in barracks when armed Albanians and Serbs
collided," he added, RIA Novosti reports.

H. Res. 106 may be put on a vote in mid-January

armradio.am
05.01.2008 15:57

The Armenian Genocide Resolution (H. Res. 106) may be put on a vote in
the plenary session of the US House of Representatives in January 2008,
Democrat Bred Sherman declared after the meeting with House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi.

`The bill will be brought to a vote, when we have the support of the
necessary number of Congressmen. Possibly, the voting will take place
in January 2008,’ Bred Sherman declared.

Let us remind that Nancy Pelosi had recently reconsidered her decision
to put the bill on a vote before November 22. Most probably, the
Speaker’s doubts connected with the success of the vote are connected
with the fact that several members of House of Representatives withdrew
their support.

The Turkish press associates Mrs. Pelosi’s doubts with the pressure
from Israel.
Israeli President Shimon Peres called Speaker Pelosi and Chairman of
eth Foreign Relations Committee Tom Lantos to say that the passage of
the resolution would cause serious damage to the United States and
Israel.

Reporters Without Borders
Paris, 2 January 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(more detailed figures in the PDF enclosed)

PRESS FREEDOM IN 2007 :

– 86 journalists killed in 2007 – up 244% over five years
– Iraq, Somalia and Pakistan the most deadly countries
– At least two journalists arrested each day in 2007
– More than 2,600 websites and blogs shut down in a year

In 2007:

86 journalists and 20 media assistants were killed
887 arrested
1,511 physically attacked or threatened
67 journalists kidnapped
528 media outlets censored

Online:

37 bloggers were arrested
21 physically attacked
2,676 websites shut down or suspended

In 2006
– 85 journalists and 32 media assistants were killed
– 871 arrested
– 1,472 physically attacked or threatened
– 56 journalists kidnapped
– 912 media outlets censored

The number of journalists killed has risen 244% in five years

At least 86 journalists were killed around the world in 2007. The figure
has risen steadily since 2002 – from 25 to 86 (+ 244%) – and is the
highest since 1994, when 103 journalists were killed, nearly half of
them in the Rwanda genocide, about 20 in Algeria’s civil war and a dozen
in the former Yugoslavia.

More than half those killed in 2007 died in Iraq.

Response of Reporters Without Borders :

"No country has ever seen more journalists killed than Iraq, with at
least 207 media workers dying there since the March 2003 US invasion –
more than in the Vietnam War, the fighting in ex-Yugoslavia, the
massacres in Algeria or the Rwanda genocide.

"The Iraqi and US authorities – themselves guilty of serious violence
against journalists – must take firm steps to end these attacks. Iraqi
journalists are deliberately targeted by armed groups and are not simply
the victims of stray bullets. The Iraqi government cannot immediately
stop the violence but it can send a strong signal to the killers by
doing all it can to seek them out and punish them.

"Somalia and Pakistan saw more journalists killed than they have for
several years. Somalia is still very much a country of outlaws where the
strongest rule and the media are easy targets. Journalists in Pakistan
are caught in the crossfire between the army, Islamist militants and
criminal gangs. The only good news of the past year is that for the
first time in 15 years no journalists were killed in Colombia because of
their work."

All 47 journalists killed in Iraq were, except for a Russian reporter,
Iraqis who mostly worked for the local media and were deliberately
targeted. The motive was often hard to pinpoint but was always linked to
their work or the media outlet that employed them. Armed groups targeted
journalists sympathising with their religious rivals and those working
for organs connected with foreign media or funded by foreigners. The
government displayed alarming inertia and has not yet found a way to
stop the violence, except for allowing journalists to carry arms to
defend themselves.

Eight journalists were killed in Somalia in a wave of attacks in one of
the country’s deadliest years in a decade, when Islamist militants
fought transitional government troops and their ally Ethiopia. Foreign
media mostly avoid Somalia and local journalists are thus in the front
line facing violence and anarchy.

Four of the eight killed in 2007 were murdered by hitmen and three of
the four were major media figures, including the co-founder of Radio
HornAfrik, a well-known commentator and the head of the Shabelle Media
press group. Most independent media figures have since fled the country
and journalists in Mogadishu fear the city will soon be known as "Little
Baghdad."

Six journalists were killed in Pakistan, where suicide attacks and heavy
fighting between the army and Islamist militants partly accounted for
2007’s higher toll. Muhammad Arif, of TV station Ary One World, was
among 133 people killed in the suicide attack on opposition leader
Benazir Bhutto’s motorcade in Karachi in October. Another such attack
aimed at a government minister in April killed 28 people, including
young freelance photographer Mehboob Khan.

Noor Hakim, of the Urdu daily Pakistan and vice-president of the Tribal
Union of Journalists (TUJ), was killed in June in the northwestern
Bajaur Agency tribal area. Javed Khan, a cameraman with DM Digital TV,
was killed while covering an attack in July on Islamabad’s Red Mosque by
security forces.

Three journalists were killed in Sri Lanka, where fighting increased
between security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels. Troops and paramilitary
forces waged a dirty war on Tamil journalists, especially in Jaffna. The
daily paper Uthayan was once again a special target in 2007, with a
young journalist murdered and a sub-editor kidnapped. Two other
journalists were killed in government-controlled areas.

Two journalists were killed in Eritrea, which is at the very bottom of
the current Reporters Without Borders worldwide press freedom index. One
was Fessehaye Yohannes ("Joshua"), one of the country’s leading
intellectuals, who died in prison at the beginning of the year, probably
because of very harsh prison conditions. A few months later, another
journalist, Paulos Kidane, died of exhaustion a few kilometres from the
Sudanese border while trying to flee the country. He had been imprisoned
and tortured a year earlier.

Fewer media assistants (fixers, drivers, interpreters, technicians,
security staff) were killed in 2007 (20) than in 2006 (32).

Unlike other organisations, Reporters Without Borders only counts media
workers it is sure have been killed because of their work. Several
deaths have not been included, either because they are still being
investigated or because they were not connected with press freedom (such
as accidents or other circumstances).

Two key trials in 2008

About 90% of murders of journalists go entirely or partly unpunished.
Governments often play for time and count on fading public memory to
protect the killers. Reporters Without Borders is fighting against such
impunity year after year with constant campaigns focusing on old cases.

In 2007, the organisation condemned the authorities in Burkina Faso,
nine years after the murder of journalist Norbert Zongo, for abandoning
the investigation of his death while there was clear evidence involving
members of the presidential guard. It also strongly condemned obstacles
put in the way of the enquiry into the December 2004 murder in Gambia of
journalist Deyda Hydara, its correspondent there, whose death has also
been linked to the president.

Reporters Without Borders also called for the mandate of the future
international tribunal for Lebanon to be expanded to cover all the
killings in the country since 2004, including those of journalists
Gebran Tueni and Samir Kassir, who were murdered in 2005.

Response of Reporters Without Borders :

"The battle to punish those who kill journalists is vital and two key
trials will be held in 2008 – of the suspected killers of Hrant Dink in
Turkey and Anna Politkovskaya in Russia. The two murders, committed on
the fringes of Europe, must be conducted in an exemplary manner and both
the hitmen and those who ordered the crime must be severely punished.
The outcome of these trials will partly affect the future of not just
Turkish and Russian journalists but also all those who make sensitive
investigations in dangerous countries."

Hrant Dink, editor of the Turkish-Armenian magazine Agos, was killed on
19 January 2007 in the street in Istanbul. His killers were probably
Turkish ultra-nationalists and the trial of the presumed hitmen which
will resume on 11 February 2008 may identify all those responsible and
expose their suspected links with the security forces.

The trial of those who murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya is
also expected and the government must end the failure to punish the
killers of a long list of journalists. Eighteen have been murdered since
President Vladimir Putin was elected in 2000 and Politkovskaya was the
most recent one. Only one of the 18 cases has been solved and those
responsible put on trial..

At least two journalists arrested each day in 2007

135 journalists were in prison around the world on 1 January 2008 and
the figure has hardly shrunk for several years. Those freed are
immediately replaced by new journalist prisoners. At least 887 were
arrested in 2007, mostly in Pakistan (195), Cuba (55) and Iran (54).

Response of Reporters Without Borders

"About 30 governments continue to imprison journalists they dislike and
rulers who belong to a past era still see this as the only answer to
media criticism. We call for the immediate release of the 135
journalists in prison around the world.

"Kidnappings of journalists also increased in 2007 and became very
common in Iraq and Afghanistan, where several victims were executed by
their captors. Governments must fight these crimes by trying those
responsible."

China (with 33 in jail) and Cuba (24) have been the world’s two biggest
prisons for journalists over the past four years. Their governments free
one every now and then, at the end of their sentences, but others
replace them immediately.

Seven more journalists were arrested in Azerbaijan in 2007, to make a
total of eight in prison, showing how far press freedom has been eroded
there and how the regime has cracked down on the most critical
journalists.

65 cyber-dissidents are also in prison for speaking out on the Internet,
with China the main culprit (50 imprisoned). Eight are in jail in
Vietnam, and in Egypt, young Internet user Kareem Amer was given a
four-year prison sentence for criticising President Hosni Mubarak on his
blog and criticising the hold of Islamists on the country’s
universities.

Imprisonment is not the only way to gag a journalist and at least 67
media workers were kidnapped in 15 countries in 2007. The worst place to
be was still Iraq, where 25 were seized. Ten were executed by their
kidnappers. In Afghanistan, two assistants of Italian journalist Daniele
Mastrogiacomo, who was kidnapped in March, were killed by their captors.
Five journalists were kidnapped in Pakistan, some by security forces,
but were later freed unharmed.

At least 14 journalists are still being held as hostages, all of them in
Iraq.

More than 2,600 websites and blogs shut down

The governments of China, Burma and Syria are trying to turn the
Internet into an Intranet – a network limited to traffic inside the
country between people authorised to participate. At least 2,676
websites were shut down or suspended around the world in 2007, most of
them discussion forums.

The fiercest censorship was in China before and during the 17th
Communist Party congress when about 2,500 websites, blogs and forums
were closed in the space of a few weeks. Syria also blocked access to
more than 100 sites and online services at the end of 2007, including
the social networking site Facebook, Hotmail and the telephone service
Skype, all of them accused by the government of being infiltrated by the
Israeli secret police.

During the October 2007 demonstrations by Buddhist monks in Burma, the
country’s military rulers tried to block the flow of news being e-mailed
out of the country by cutting off Internet access. Censorship ranged
>From anti-government sites to all means of communication, including film
cameras, ordinary cameras and mobile phones.

Response of Reporters Without Borders :

"Some countries censor the Internet as much as they do the traditional
media and China is the world champion here. Its cyber-police have been
very active before every major political occasion, notably in the months
before the 2007 Communist Party congress when about 2,500 websites and
blogs, many of them political, were blocked.

Tensions mount by the shores of the Black Sea
The struggle between East and West is set to envelop the entire region
during the coming year

DOUG SAUNDERS
January 2, 2008

If, in the coming year, you find yourself relaxing on the beach in the
Bulgarian resort of Bourgas on Europe’s little-noticed east coast, you
may soon realize that you are in the centre of one of the world’s most
lavish and portentous conflicts, one that involves a dozen countries
and the nuclear powers of the Cold War and is likely to produce
explosions in 2008.
Look up the coast, just to the north, and you will see U.S. bombers
and surveillance planes taking off in increasing numbers from
Bulgarian and Romanian seaside bases as the U.S. and NATO militaries
shift their major installations
From Germany to locations along the formerly communist Black Sea
coast. In 2008, a year after the European Union added Bulgaria and
Romania, two former Warsaw Pact nations, to its membership, NATO will
make its most aggressive bids to win over the rest of the region. The
North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s annual conference will be held
near the sea in Romania, and the most explosive item on the agenda
will be the proposed membership of Georgia – a Black Sea country that,
if it joins, will expand the territory of this Cold War military
alliance to the deep interior of the former Soviet Union.
Moscow is already reacting with anger to the expanding presence of
NATO on these shores, which had previously been entirely within
Russia’s sphere of influence (only Turkey has traditionally been a
NATO member). Half a dozen "frozen conflicts" in Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova appear ready to erupt into full-scale secession
wars in the coming year; in every case, the militant movements appear
to have Russian backing.
For the 100 million people who live around the shores of the Black
Sea, 2008 may well feel like a return to the Cold War. This time,
though, it’s not clear which side any nation, any region or any people
are on: Like South America or Southeast Asia during that previous
Washington-Moscow standoff, the Black Sea region has become an
endlessly contested ground, subject to shifting influences as money
and weapons are dumped into unsuspecting populations.
In recent years, that conflict has played itself out most visibly in
Ukraine, whose elections have been dramatic showdowns between
Russian-supported forces and Western-backed democracy movements. This
year ended with pro-Western Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who took
office on Dec. 18, accusing Moscow of actively funding the
opposition’s parties.
The struggle between East and West is about to envelop the entire
Black Sea region during the coming year, often with military
implications.
The sparring is likely to begin as early as Saturday, when Georgia’s
five million citizens go to the polls in a presidential election and a
referendum on the country’s proposed NATO membership. The vote was
called after weeks of violent mass demonstrations in November against
pro-American president Mikheil Saakashvili. The demonstrations, which
Mr. Saakashvili and a number of outside organizations say were backed
by Russia, were met with brutal police repression. Georgia, like
Ukraine, appears to be divided in half between voters who support the
European Union and NATO and those who prefer a return to Moscow’s
influence.
But there are even deeper divisions in Georgia, and in a number of its
Black Sea neighbours. Breakaway regions, which hope to form their own
nations – usually because their people are more loyal to Russia – have
seen low-level conflicts fraught with occasional bombings and acts of
violence for years. In 2008, any one of them could become full-scale
war.
Georgia’s troubled regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have become
increasingly violent in recent months, their independence movements
staging bolder attacks against government facilities. Neighbouring
Azerbaijan has had growing frictions in its region of
Nagorno-Karabakh. And on the other side of the Black Sea, the Moldovan
breakaway region of Transnistria, which is loyal to Russia, has seen
increasing tensions.
These landlocked slivers of Black Sea real estate could well become
conflict zones this year, for reasons rooted in another landlocked
country that lies closer to the Adriatic Sea. In late January or early
February, the Serbian province of Kosovo is likely to declare
independence, an act that is backed by the European Union and the
United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that if Serbia, a
Slavic-speaking country, loses its disputed Albanian-majority province
to Western influences, it will have a hard time guaranteeing the
integrity of Georgia and Moldova. Many observers see this as a thinly
veiled threat: If Kosovo goes, then so goes Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria. Some observers already say that
arms are flowing into these breakaway regions.
"The chance of some kind of armed flare-up in at least one of those
conflict zones in the coming year is disturbingly high," says Thomas
de Waal, an expert on the Caucasus at the Institute for War and Peace
Reporting. "The consequences could be catastrophic."
Why are Brussels, Washington and Moscow devoting so much time, money
and armaments to a stretch of shoreline that has previously languished
in uneasy obscurity? Some of it has to do with geography: Georgia,
Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan sit near the border of Iran, and there
is a strong desire to have a Western-loyal buffer of nations and
defence installations surrounding this constant site of conflict.
Another reason might become visible if you sit long enough on the
beach in Bourgas.
Further out to sea, you might spot Russian ships laying an enormous
undersea pipeline, known as South Stream, that will carry billions of
cubic metres of natural gas from Russia, across the 900-kilometre
width of the Black Sea to Bulgaria, and on to energy-hungry Western
Europe.
And just behind you, running up the Bulgarian shore, will be the tail
end of South Stream’s Western-funded competitor, known as Nabucco,
which carries equally enormous amounts of gas from Iran and Central
Asia through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey before it
supplies Europe. These pipelines, carrying Europe’s Russian fuel
supply and its hard-fought Iranian alternative, provide the economic
backdrop for this set of emerging conflicts.
Europe is enormously reliant on Russian gas and oil to heat its homes
– some countries, such as Germany and Italy, are so completely
dependent that they would face an immediate crisis if the pipelines
from Russia were curtailed. (This occurred briefly in 2006, during a
dispute between Russia and Belarus over pipeline rights, and caused a
sizable shock.) As a result, the supplies of petroleum and gas from
the Adriatic Sea through Azerbaijan and from Iran are considered
vital. (This is an important reason why the EU has been reluctant to
participate fully in sanctions against Iran over alleged nuclear
weapons activity.)
So much of this dispute – though not all of it, as some would suggest
– is rooted in the West’s need for energy security. If non-Russian
sources of fuel are to be securely provided, then the loyalty of the
countries to the east, south and west of the Black Sea is vital. From
Moscow’s perspective, if its continued dominance is to be maintained
(and good prices upheld for its supplies), then pipelines will need to
pass through the west, north and east of the Black Sea.
Some countries, notably Bulgaria and Romania, stand to benefit either
way: Both Adriatic-Iranian oil pipelines and Russia’s new pipes will
enter Europe through their impoverished territory.
As you relax on the beige sands of Bourgas – an increasingly popular
vacation getaway for both Central Europeans and for Russians – these
rising tensions might be visible along the shoreline and across the
water. But they’re likely to seem especially bizarre when you return
to your hotel, which is almost certain to have EU flags flying on its
awning – and to be owned by Russian tycoons.
*****
The push for independence
Autonomous aspirations of these three Black Sea regions threaten to
flare up in the coming year. TRANSNISTRIA, MOLDOVA A sliver of land on
the Nistria River, Transnistria broke away from Moldova in September
of 1990. A brief war killed hundreds before Russian troops
intervened. The region of 550,000 people is dominated by
Russian-speaking Slavs, who pressed for independence fearing Moldova’s
Romanian-speaking majority would one day join Romania to the
south. Around 1,200 Russian troops remain. Transnistria covers
one-eighth of Moldovan territory but is home to the bulk of Moldova’s
industrial base.
ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA, GEORGIA Home to 200,000 people, Abkhazia
is sandwiched between the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains and was
once a renowned tourist destination. It fought a 1992-93 war against
Georgia and effectively rules itself. It was isolated for years after
the war but has since forged closer ties with Russia, which has given
Abkhaz residents passports and pensions. South Ossetia fought to throw
off Georgian rule in the early 1990s. A ceasefire was signed but the
violence has threatened to reignite. Russia has peacekeepers in both
regions.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH,
AZERBAIJAN
Sporadic clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh between Azeri and local ethnic
Armenian irregulars began in 1998, escalating by 1992 into full-scale
hostilities between Azeri forces and troops from Armenia. About 35,000
people died and hundreds of thousands fled before a ceasefire was
signed in 1994. The territory remains part of Azerbaijan but is
controlled by Armenian forces. A major BP-led pipeline linking
Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea oil fields to world markets passes a few
kilometres from the conflict zone.
Source: Reuters News Agency

VARDAN OSKANIAN: ARMENIA IS OBLIGED TO CARRY ON COMPLEMENTARY POLICY

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, NOYAN TAPAN. No fundamental changes have been
made in Armenia’s foreign policy since independence: balanced policy
was carried on formerly, while the accents were changed after the 1998
power shift and Armenia passed to the complementary policy. Vardan
Oskanian, the RA Foreign Minister, stated this on December 25, in his
interview to the Shant TV company.

The Minister considers that the geopolitical situation does not give
Armenia a possibility to choose between many variants of conducting
foreign policy, and the limitations are so many that any one who will
assume RA President’s, Foreign Minister’s post, "involuntarily will be
obliged to approach" the policy conducted at present. According to V.
Oskanian, Armenia can continue conducting complementary policy as long
as the international situation gives a possibility to carry it on.
Armenia also has to conduct such a policy for objective reasons
connected with its neighbor countries. According to the Minister, the
complementarianism is the result of today’s geopolitical situation, but
it would be wrong if for changing that situation Armenia makes such
sacrifices, which will endanger the general national interests. "Here
we should be able to find a right balance of our national interests and
wishes we have. They are: to have normal relations with all our
neighbors when settling the Nagorno Karabakh problem," V. Oskanian said.

He also mentioned that at present Armenia has direct problems with two
out of four its neighbors, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Armenia has
"excellent bilateral relations" with Georgia and Iran, but these
countries have problems "with important countries, which are Armenia’s
friends, and rather a hard situation is formed for Armenia."

V. Oskanian mentioned that Armenia should be guided by several
fundamental principles to efficiently conduct the complementary policy.
First, the national interest is inseparable: there is no narrow
national interest in one direction, there is one great general national
interest. Second, Armenia should "measure the results of its foreign
policy not in the short-term, but in the long-term respect." Finally,
when pursuing its own interests in the region Armenia should show
delicacy to the interests of countries of much importance for it,
Russia, the United States, EU, and its immediate neighbor countries.
"To show delicacy does not mean to be under their subordination," V.
Oskanian assured.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkish General Staff: 150 – 175 Kurdish rebels killed

26.12.2007 14:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish military says between 150 and 175
Kurdish guerrillas have been killed in a large-scale air offensive on
December 16 that targeted rebel camps in northern Iraq, the first in a
series of cross-border attacks.

Turkey launched the offensive, involving some 50 war planes, against
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bases after receiving intelligence and
clearance from the United States.

NATO-member Turkey says it has the right to use force to combat the
PKK, which uses the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq as
a launch pad to mount attacks in which they have killed dozens of
Turkish troops in recent months.

The Turkish General Staff said in a statement more than 200 targets
were hit on December 16, including three command centers, two
communications centers, two training camps, nine logistical areas, 182
living quarters and 14 arsenals.

"All targets that were taken under fire were hit with full success in
the air operation, in which most developed target detection and strike
control systems were used," the statement said.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the United States,
Turkey and the European Union, has denied any of its members were
killed in the strikes.

The General Staff said many wounded PKK members were brought to
hospitals in northern Iraqi cities after the air strikes. It added
that the 150 – 175 figure of killed guerrillas did not include those
killed when their camps – many in caves – collapsed.

The military provided black and white video and still images of laser
guided missiles hitting targets as well as destroyed buildings, but
offered no images of casualties or close-ups of the camps destroyed.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people since the
group began its armed rebellion for a separate homeland in south-east
Turkey in 1984.

Turkey says some 3,000 PKK members are based in the mountains of
northern Iraq.

The Turkish Government authorized the military to launch cross-border
operations following what it said were insufficient steps by Iraqi
authorities to crack down on the PKK, Reuters reports.

From: Sebouh Z Tashjian <[email protected]>
Subject: Arthur Baghdasarian offers fresh flowers

A1+

ARTHUR BAGHDASARIAN OFFERS FRESH FLOWERS
[04:39 pm] 26 December, 2007

The leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party (OYP) Arthur
Baghdasarian runs in the presidential elections with
the motto, `Nobody likes withered flowers.’

`New ideas, innovations and audacity are required to
lead the society and to take the path of new
developments. We have already taken the path and call
on our patriots to join us,’ Baghdasarian says. .

The OYP is participating at the presidential election
with a civil movement which is organized for the sake
of democracy, a politically and economically strong
and competitive state. The movement has already got 10
thousand supporters. `This movement will mark the
start of a new period. We suggest turning on the clock
of the new start from 2008, which will put an end to
cynicism and arbitrariness,’ the OYP leader says.

At the request of reporters he commented on the civil
movement. `The civil support groups include people
independent of their party affiliation and belongings
because these are not elections to parties. The
election to the president of Armenia refers to every
compatriot and each family. We consider civil activity
highly important at the presidential election,’ he
said.

Today Arthur Baghdasarian voiced support for all
forces who are interested in free and fair elections.
`According to him, `the country needs a legitimate and
national President, who enjoys the love of the
people,’ Arthur Baghdasarian says.

The OYP will launch a chain of rallies from January
2008. `We start rallies from January. The timetable is
under consideration. Rallies are part of our arsenal,
as well as meetings, both in Yerevan and in regions,’
Arthur Baghdasarian says.

He noted that these rallies will not be partisan. `We
are not running in partisan elections. We shall hold
meetings and rallies with people throughout the
country. Our pre-election arsenal will include
rallies,’ he says.

The OYP leader welcomed all people who dare to attend
rallies. `The atmosphere of fear reigning in the
country already disperses though the authorities take
every effort to prevent people’s participation at the
rallies.’

The leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party says they will
address people through rallies to overcome the fear
they have. `Live like free people. Vote for the
candidate you want but vote because you want and not
because they pay or inflict pressure on you.’

By the way, the OYP leader thinks that money will not
have a crucial role at the upcoming presidential
election.

In this connection the reporters reminded the OYP
leader that Levon Ter-Petrossian had made a similar
call. The former president stated that his supporters
had undergone pressure. Thus, why didn’t the OYP join
at least the call? `I am a presidential candidate. We
have a distinct number of supporters. This is an
election of persons not parties. I do not think if
Ter-Petrossian or Vahan Hovanissian say one thing,
others should join by all means.

Arthur Baghdasarian stated that if the elections are
tampered, the Orinats Yerkir Party will fight through
by all means. `We have sufficient human resources to
observe the elections in all the 2000 election
districts. We are ready to cooperate with anyone who
will struggle against machinations. In other words,
there are opposition candidates who wish to hold on to
their votes through healthy cooperation,’ Baghdasarian
says.

The Financial, Georgia
Dec 26 2007

Azerbaijani President: Armenians will never achieve separation of
Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan

26/12/2007 11:21

The FINANCIAL — According to APA, we receive full political support
of the world community in the solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict,
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in the interview to Channel-4
of Moldova, APA reports quoting AzerTaj State Agency.

President said that the world community, as well as the European
Union and OSCE Minsk Group supports settlement of this conflict in
the framework of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

`The entire world community, as well as UN recognizes territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan and this issue is not the theme of our
negotiations. EU gives us political and moral support and it has been
reflected in the document we signed with EU on New Neighborhood
Policy. This is another issue that this support has not yet resulted
in the elimination of the results of the ethnic cleansing carried out
by Armenia against Azerbaijan, return of refugees and IDPs to their
native lands and practical implementation of measures on the
settlement of the conflict. Political and diplomatic statements are
not enough here,’ he said.

The head of the state said that Armenia ignores the challenges of the
world community.

`Unfortunately, aggressive state Armenia still ignores the challenges
of the world community to behave as in the 21st century, not as in
the Middle Ages. Armenians’ approach to the issue is characteristic
of the Middle Ages. This way leads to uncertainty. Aggressive Armenia
will never achieve separation of Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan,
world community will never recognize Nagorno Karabakh as an
independent state and Azerbaijan will never agree to it. The ways of
the solution are visible and these ways are the same for all
countries, as well as Moldova. The problems we face are aggressive
separatism. The roots, causes and unfortunately the results of the
problems of Nagorno Karabakh, Transdnestria, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia are the same. That is why they should be solved in the
framework of the international legal principles. I hope that healthy
thinking will prevail in Armenia and Armenians will understand the
current situation, realities of the international practice and change
in the balance of forces in the region,’ he said.

Economic News
December 26, 2007 Wednesday

Alrosa Company to Export USD 30 mln Worth of Rough Diamonds to
Armenia

Yerevan. "OREANDA-NEWS . December 25, 2007. On December 21, a press
conference of the Minister of Trade and Economic Development Nerses
Yeritsyan and the President of ALROSA Mr Sergey Vybornov was held at
the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development of Armenia. Russian
ALROSA diamond exploration and cutting company plans to export
$28-$30 Mln rough diamonds to Armenia, the press office of Armenian
Ministry of Trade and Economic Development reports.

ALROSA Vice-President Sergey Ulin reported that the company plans to
hold another meeting to discuss the results of the first six months
of its cooperation with Armenia and determine the parameters of
cooperation with possible corrections toward larger supplies not only
for the end of next year, but also for 2009, he said.

Minister of Trade and Economic Development, Nerses Yeritsyan
expressed hope that the ALROSA Company will put its plans into
practice within the next few years.

"We have much to do to specify the policy and prospects for
development to amplify the opportunities for business expansion in
Armenia by such a large company as ALROSA, and not only in diamond
processing," the Minister said.

The Chairman of the International Association of Armenian Jewellers,
owner of the DCA diamond-cutting enterprise, member of the RA
Parliament Gagik Abramyan said that experts of the ALROSA Company are
expected to pay a regular visit to Armenia next July to conduct
inspections at the country.s diamond-cutting enterprises.

"The issue of increasing the number of Armenian diamond-cutting
companies meeting the ALROSA-set terms will be considered," he said.

Abramyan pointed out that cooperation in two directions will be
carried out next year.

"At a meeting with President Robert Kocharyan we talked about the
purchase of rough diamonds as well as about the supply of diamonds
for further processing and re-export," he said.

This October, ALROSA experts conducted inspections and made
assessments of 23 Armenian diamond-cutting companies.

Thereafter, they selected four Armenian enterprises that will process
rough diamonds worth $1mln supplied by ALROSA – Daymotek Company,
Arevakn, SCA and Ukos.

On August 6, 2007, in Yerevan, the RA Government and the ALROSA
Company signed an agreement on cooperation in jewellery and
diamond-cutting industries. The agreement envisages the supply of
rough diamonds to Armenia for processing and re-export. Under the
agreement, Armenian diamond-cutting enterprises are to process rough
diamonds 0.30 to 1.5 carats, which process is economically unsound in
Russia.

Russia is one of the largest suppliers of rough diamonds – 1/3% of
the world diamond output. Armenia, in turn, has many professional
diamond-cutters capable of processing up to 1mln carats yearly.

The ALROSA Company is of the world.s largest diamond-extracting
company, its share in the world output being 25%. In 2006, the ALROSA
Group sold products worth $2.86bln, with the sale of cut diamonds
totaling $141.1Mln. ALROSA’s stockholders are Rosimuschestvo (Russian
Property) (37%), the Ministry of State property Management of Yakutia
(32%), individuals and legal entities (23%). Eight Yakut uluses hold
8% of the ALROSA shares.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

LEBANESE PM FOUAD SINIORA SENDS A LETTER
TO HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora sent a letter to His Holiness Aram I
on the occasion of the New Year. The PM expresses his "great esteem" for
Catholicos Aram I and his constant efforts for "strengthening the internal
unity of Lebanon and coexistence between all the Lebanese."

The PM also praises the Pontiff’s "persistent work on local, regional and
international levels and in various areas", adding that it "gives us great
pride." The PM writes: "Especially in these difficult and sensitive
circumstances through which our beloved motherland is passing, we praise
your work in favor of Lebanon’s freedom, sovereignty, welfare and for the
security and peace of all its children."

The PM ends his letter by warm wishes on the occasion of the holiday season.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.