Author: Emil Lazarian

TALKS OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS START IN MINSK

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of Armenian and Azeri Presidents Robert
Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev within the process of settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict opened at the Russian Embassy in Minsk,
Spokesperson of the Russian President Victor Soghomonyan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. OSCE Chairman-in-Office Karel de Gucht,
OSCE MG co-chairs, Russian, Armenian and Azeri FMs Lavrov, Oskanian
and Mammadyarov are also present at the meeting. After the meeting
in wider composition, Kocharian and Aliyev will meet tete-a-tete.

THE SYSTEM MUST BE EREDICATED

A1+
[04:18 pm] 28 November, 2006

"None of the Armenian residents believes that the upcoming elections
will be free, fair and transparent as nothing has changed. The
situation is the same; no one has been punished; the confidence
towards the authorities was not regained", Vazgen Manoukyan, leader
of National Democratic Union, announced in Pastark Club today.

"When the authorities claim that the elections will be fair it means
that the election frauds will not be so much apparent. The authorities
have already proved that no one can win them.

The task of the Opposition must be the combat against the existing
system, against the Kocharyan-Sargsyan alliance, "the whole system
must be eradicated". Mr. Manoukyan finds his participation in
the forthcoming elections senseless if nothing changes. Certain
oppositional forces might have separate seats in the parliament but
this will bring no serious changes for the country.

"The Opposition was taught a good lesson during the fabricated
referendum a year ago", said Vazgen Manoukyan in answer to our question
whether the Opposition gained anything from the 2006 Constitution
referendum and in connection with the failure of the actions of
the Opposition.

Vazgen Manoukyan represented his opinion on this score. "Taking
into consideration the fact that 80 – 90 percent of the public were
inclined to boycott the referendum, it was useless going to marzes and
organizing rallies. They should have supported the boycott instead".

Vazgen Manoukyan claims that the Opposition lacks organisational
skills. Of course, they face financial problems as well but they
don’t treat the organizational work seriously.

Asked the question by A1+ why the Opposition doesn’t unite instead
of dividing their resources, Mr. Manoukyan noted that the power is a
huge pyramid, a state body, arranged by the current authorities and
it is very difficult to form a contradicting pyramid.

By the way, Mr. Manoukyan is ready the join other forces with the
same ideology in the foreign policy and the Karabakh issue.

As for the movement initiated by Raffi Hovannisian and Vazgen
Manoukyan, he claims that it is an alliance welcomes everyone
struggling for just, free and transparent elections. The alliance is
aimed at establishing the country of law, at protecting human rights
so that people might be able to change the power via elections.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRE-ELECTION YEAR PROMISES INCREASE OF FLATS

A1+
[01:14 pm] 28 November, 2006

Though the state budget will not allot money for the construction
of new flats in Gyumri in the forthcoming 1 – 2 years, a new
house-building program will be realised in Gyumri in 2007.

The city authorities see the investments of oversea businessmen and
the allocations of the local district as an alternative source to
solve the problem of homeless people.

"We intend to open a new fund. We have a lot of businessmen living
in Odessa. I shall assemble the well-off people of the city. Many
of them have already expressed their readiness to help," says Vardan
Ghukasyan, Mayor of Gyumri.

The new blocks of flats will be raised on the semi-built bases laid
in 1982 – 1992 in the districts of the city. Under the decision of
the RA Government, the above-mentioned buildings are currently at
the disposal of the city municipality.

There are over 847 half-built objects in the marz; 818 of them are
dwelling places and 29 – public buildings.

The construction of these buildings was halted because of the lack of
financial means. Besides, most of the construction material has been
taken away over the past years because of the public’s and authorities’
indifference. Thus, we can assume that great sums of money are needed
to raise the buildings.

Which of the homeless residents will have an opportunity to get a
flat? And which are the criteria of choosing the future dwellers? The
Mayor of Gyumri claims that first of all the multi-member families will
be provided with flats regardless of the fact they have the status of
homeless family or not. It is not known yet how many families will
become house owners. The sum required for the construction of new
blocks of flats is also obscure. All the financial means will be at
the disposal of the municipality and the future house owners will be
involved in the reconstruction works.

The construction will likely start in 2007 and the interior works will
be completed by the turn of the year. Let’s hope that the construction
plans of the authorities will be realized at least partially, taking
into consideration the forthcoming elections.

"Tsayg" TV Station, Gyumri.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ __________________
RFE/RL Balkan Report
Vol. 10, No. 11, 28 November 2006

A Weekly Review of Politics, Media, and Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty Broadcasts in the western Balkans

NOTE TO READERS: The next issue of "RFE/RL Balkan Report" will
appear on January 23, 2007.

******************************************* *****************
HEADLINES:
* CROATIAN PRESIDENT DISCUSSES BALKAN CONFLICT, KOSOVA STATUS
* KOSOVA ENTERS THE HOME STRETCH
****************************************** ******************

CROATIAN PRESIDENT DISCUSSES BALKAN CONFLICT, KOSOVA STATUS. Croatian
President Stjepan Mesic told RFE/RL’s South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service in Prague on November 14 that the destruction of
the Croatian Danube port town of Vukovar 15 years ago was part of
then Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s plans to establish a
Greater Serbia by force. The big losers in Milosevic’s wars,
Mesic argued, were nonetheless the Serbs themselves.
Mesic argued that Milosevic thought in 1991 that he could
"fool the world" into thinking he was determined to preserve the
Yugoslav state when, in reality, he was trying to expand Serbia’s
boundaries into neighboring Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. "His goal
was to establish a Greater Serbia," Mesic said.
In doing so, Milosevic tricked Serbian minorities outside
Serbia by telling them he would not leave them outside Serbia’s
frontiers, and he led some of them to believe they would have a
privileged status in his new state. In the end, however, all this
came to nothing. Even his former allies in Montenegro deserted him
and have now formed their own independent state.
Mesic said he is not sure the time is now ripe for him to
invite to Vukovar his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic, but added
that "it would be a good [idea]."
He stressed that what happened in Vukovar was "a big crime,
even a crime of genocide." To the extent that people recall what
happened in Vukovar and honor the victims, they have taken one more
step toward ensuring that something like the destruction of that town
"will never happen again," he said.
Mesic said the time has come to resolve the question of
Kosova’s status because the current "status quo cannot remain in
the long run." It also seems to Mesic unreasonable to expect the
issue to be resolved by direct talks between Prishtina and Belgrade,
since Kosova’s ethnic Albanian majority wants only independence,
to which the Serbs will never agree. Consequently, Mesic told RFE/RL,
"the international community has to help."
Like many observers, Mesic argues that the most likely
outcome is that Kosova will become independent, but on the condition
that it observes "those standards [of conduct] that apply in Europe."
He identifies these principles as respect for "civil rights,
multiparty political pluralism, protection of national minorities,
freedom of the media, functioning [state] institutions, the
separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial
branches, and protection for religious and historical monuments."
He added that the Kosovars will also probably be asked to
guarantee that they will not seek to form a "Greater Albania," which,
however, is not seriously sought by any leading Kosovar or Albanian
political party.
Mesic cautioned against hasty judgments regarding Zeljko
Komsic, the new Croatian representative on the Bosnian tripartite
Presidency. Mesic noted that many Croats have suggested that Komsic
might not "defend Croatian interests" because he does not belong to a
nationalist party — he is a social democrat — and because he fought
in the mainly Muslim Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina rather than in the
mainly Herzegovinian Croatian Defense Council (HVO) during the
1992-95 conflict.
"What do people expect?" Mesic asked rhetorically. "That he
should have served in the Army of the Republika Srpska? It is quite
normal that one should have fought for Bosnia-Herzegovina."
Mesic argued, moreover, that Bosnia’s problem is that it
needs to form a functioning state and get away from a tendency of its
two constituent entities to behave as though they were states.
"They’re not," he said starkly.
Mesic is one of the best-known figures on the political stage
of former Yugoslavia and has been prominent in Croatian politics for
most of the time since at least 1990, when he became prime minister.
It was the move in May 1991 by Milosevic and his allies in the
eight-member collective Yugoslav Presidency to block Mesic’s
assumption of the rotating chair of that body — a move that would
have been routine under normal circumstances — that triggered the
decisions of Croatia and Slovenia to declare independence in June.
Mesic returned to Croatia, where he was a member of President
Franjo Tudjman’s Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ). In 1994 he
broke with Tudjman and the HDZ over the conduct of the war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina and eventually found his political home in the
smaller Croatian People’s Party (HNS).
When Tudjman died in office at the end of 1999, most Croats
were clearly eager to break with a style of rule that was widely seen
as paternalistic, pompous, and rooted in the 1991-95 war. Mesic was
first elected to the presidency in early 2000 and quickly established
himself as Croatia’s most respected politician. He adopted a more
folksy style than that of his predecessor, whose stiffness was often
the butt of jokes.
Mesic also worked to break the power of the "Herzegovinian
lobby" in Croatian politics, and there is still little love lost
between him and the HDZ in Herzegovina. He has also been at odds with
organized war veterans groups, who regard him as insufficiently
nationalistic. Mesic and most Croatian political leaders since 2000
have made it clear that they want to put the war era behind them and
concentrate on raising the standard of living and on joining the EU
and NATO.
In the early years of his presidency, Mesic used the more
informal version of his first name, Stipe, although in recent years
he has usually gone by Stjepan. In a marked contrast with
Tudjman’s aloof style, Mesic traveled to the Dalmatian islands
with a regularly scheduled ferry rather than with a presidential
yacht and drank wine on the docks with fellow passengers.
Although critics have charged in recent years that he has
come to mimic the presidential style of the late Josip Broz Tito and
has drifted politically too far to the left, he has generally kept
the office free of the taint of corruption and nepotism that
blemished Tudjman’s rule (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," September
26, 2006). (Patrick Moore)

KOSOVA ENTERS THE HOME STRETCH. The international community has put
off settling Kosova’s final status until shortly after the
Serbian elections slated for January 21, 2007. But the delay seems
unlikely to affect the outcome, which will in all probability be a
conditional independence.
By late 2005, the leadership of the UN, at the recommendation
of special envoy Kai Eide, concluded that leaving Kosova’s
political status unresolved had become a major source of problems for
the province and the region as a whole. The continuing uncertainty
had already played a role in the triggering and spread of violence
among some of the ethnic Albanian majority in March 2004 and remained
a potential source of future unrest. The lack of clarity also
discouraged the investment necessary to deal with large-scale
unemployment and jump-start the economy among people who have often
displayed sharp business acumen when provided with a clear legal
framework, as Kosovars have done in countries like Croatia,
Switzerland, or Germany (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," December 17,
2004, and June 27, September 26 and October 24, 2006).
The decision on Kosova’s final status had been expected
by the end of 2006, and many Kosovars became apprehensive when the
postponement was announced recently. But the delay seems designed
only to minimize the effect of the issue on the Serbian vote and is
probably unlikely to impact on the substance of the UN’s final
statement on status. That would appear to be a form of independence
— which is the only outcome acceptable to the 90 percent Albanian
majority — albeit with a continuing foreign presence to ensure the
safety and rights of the minorities, particularly the Serbs, and
their cultural institutions. The EU will most likely replace the UN
at the heart of the foreign civilian presence, but is expected to
have a less powerful mandate than it currently does in
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
UN envoy for Kosova Martti Ahtisaari is expected to make his
announcement regarding the province’s status in February 2007.
Numerous media reports have suggested that U.S. and British diplomats
have recently reassured Kosovar Albanian leaders that just a little
more patience will pay dividends for them and warned them against any
hasty moves, such as issuing a widely rumored unilateral declaration
of independence if the decision on the final status continues to be
delayed. Those media reports indicate that the Kosovars have accepted
the assurances of Washington and London.
Lest anyone forget the stakes involved in finalizing
Kosova’s status, Prime Minister Agim Ceku wrote in "The Wall
Street Journal" of November 20 that "expectations in Kosova are
high…. It is ready for independence, and now is not the time to
stop the clock." He added that "we need to keep the process of
statehood on track. Kosova needs clarity to complete reforms and to
attract vital international investments, but also so that our own
people — and especially our Serb minority — can escape the
debilitating worries and uncertainty and start to build a future.
Their home and future are in Kosova."
Ceku argued that "the biggest problem in the western Balkans
is economic malaise…. Belgrade is not interested in investing in
the development of Kosova, and Kosova is not interested in a
political union with Serbia. But we are interested in developing a
productive bilateral partnership with Serbia, just as we’re doing
with our other neighbors." He believes that "social and economic
progress in the region will be the big losers if we don’t make
the bold step forward to independence. The entire western Balkan
region needs a kick start in order to catch the EU train and catch up
with the awesome economic growth of our EU-bound neighbors, Romania
and Bulgaria."
He noted that "we have a young population and a positive
birthrate. Given the shortages in the EU labor market due to negative
demographic trends, Kosova can help fill the void. To do so, we need
to retrain our work force. Hence we’re now investing in
education."
Ceku also reminded Brussels that it cannot afford to forget
its goal of "a Europe whole and free." He might have added that it is
the question of Euro-Atlantic integration, perhaps more so than even
the issue of Kosova’s final status, that will be the determining
factor for the peace and prosperity of the entire region. (Patrick
Moore)

NOTABLE QUOTATIONS. "The boys and girls of the [1998-99] war are
still alive, they are in Kosova. They are ready to protect the
freedom of Kosova. Nobody gave them weapons, they found them
themselves, they can find them again. Their blood remains the same."
— Azem Syla, former commander in chief of the Kosova Liberation Army
(UCK). Quoted in "Koha Ditore" of October 26.
"By defending Kosovo we are defending more than our own
interest and more that the issue of stability and piece in the
region. We are defending international law." — Serbian Prime
Minister Vojislav Kostunica on voter approval of the new Serbian
Constitution on October 29. Quoted by RFE/RL. The document explicitly
lays claim to Kosova, where Serbian writ has not run since June,
1999.
"Delay [in clarifying Kosova’s final status] offers no
advantages to any party. Negotiations should be concluded. Delay can
only frustrate the hopes of those who live in Kosovo and deny clarity
to Serbians as they think about their own future." — The U.S.
representative at the talks on Kosova, Frank Wisner, speaking on
October 31 at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.
Quoted by RFE/RL.

(Compiled by Patrick Moore)
******************************************* **************
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

The "RFE/RL Balkan Report" is prepared by Patrick Moore based on
sources including reporting by RFE/RL’s South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service. It is distributed monthly.

Direct content-related comments to Patrick Moore in Prague at
[email protected] or by phone at (+4202) 2112-3631.
For information on reprints, see:
p
Back issues are online at

Techn ical queries should be e-mailed to: [email protected]

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
Send an e-mail to [email protected]

HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE
Send an e-mail to [email protected]

NEWS BROADCASTS ONLINE
Listen to news for the South Slavic region daily at RFE/RL’s
24-Hour LIVE Broadcast Studio on the RFE/RL website:

____________ _______________________________________________
RA DIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FELICITATION MESSAGES DO NOT MAKE FRIENDSHIP AGREEMENTS
By Sabeur Blidi

Al-Arab online, UK
Nov 27 2006

It was planned to be concluded before 2005; now we are in the end
of 2006, and nothing looms on the horizon concerning the Friendship
Agreement between France and Algeria. In fact, there is no hope for
it, because the lauding that accompanied speaking about it on the
occasion of the rapprochement between the two countries since the
beginning of the 21st Century has forgotten, or feigned to forget,
the most important elements in the bilateral relations between Algeria
and Paris.

Then the vision of decision makers in both countries was not taken
into consideration. The Muradia (government headquarters in Algiers)
looked at the Agreement as a new key to relationships based on equality
and mutual respect, and an opportunity to invest French capital in
promoting the local economy. The Elysee however viewed it as promoting
influence, making use of the enticing financial advantages, and take
monopoly of the opportunities offered by the oil prosperity.

Accordingly, the discrepancy of views and the conflict in goals floated
to the surface with the first uncovering of the French intentions. That
was with the issue of the February 2005 Act that considered the role
of the French Army overseas, and in North Africa in particular, as
a positive act, and described the French colonisation of the region
as spread of civilisation. This act provoked official as well as
popular angry reactions that set France’s recognition of and apology
for its army’s violations committed in Algeria during the 1830-1962
colonisation period a basic condition for concluding the Friendship
Agreement between the two countries.

A Normal Message in an Abnormal Time Since the ice wall is thick,
everything has gone back to point zero.

The warmth formerly circulating in the Algiers-Paris axis, where
Bouteflika and Chirac nearly signed the said agreement, has turned
into coldness. Now the relationship is limited to the diplomacy
of felicitation messages on occasions and national days of the two
countries, the latest of which was Chirac’s message on the occasion
of celebrating the 52nd commemorations of the start of November
Liberation Revolution. Though its echo cannot be bigger than its
size, it may carry a sort of qualm felt by Paris because of losing
many interests in Algeria due to its colonial mentality and haughty
attitude toward the people of former colonies.

Despite the slogans raised in the world as one of the influential
powers in world decisions in addition to its leading role in Europe,
France still looks at the human values and the human history from
a multitude of angles. Such a position, in fact, translates the
state of ethical and civilised bankruptcy reached by France, and
the West in general. Though it boasts the French Revolution trinity,
France still classifies the war victims from a region to another. In
Armenia, they are victims of a human tragedy, and therefore France
punishes anyone denying the atrocities committed by the Turkish Army
against the Armenians during the WWI, using that as pressure and an
extortion card against Ankara, which is seeking entry into the EU. On
the other hand, it does not consider as a crime the killing of millions
of Algerians by its own army throughout the decades of colonisation;
and the same applies to the people of the African Continent.

A Mark of Disgrace Perhaps it is France’s misfortune to find itself in
a tight corner because of the coinciding of the law it lately issued
with the talk raised about the violations of the French Army during
Rwanda’s civil war in the 1990’s. Rwanda is holding public hearing
sessions about France’s role in the genocide of 800,000 people in 1994.

Jacques Bihozagara, a former leader of the National Front, gave his
testimony and said that France was seeking to preserve its influence in
Africa, for its leaders saw that a Francophile state had been attacked
by an Anglo-Saxon one – alluding to the rebellion bases in neighbouring
Uganda. Bihozagara, who had been Ambassador to Paris, also said that
France had sent in soldiers and arms, trained the murderers and set
roadblocks to facilitate their mission of exterminating the Tutsi. Then
it protected these murderers when it was heading the UN delegation
in the Turquoise operation. One of the most violent massacres was
the one that took place in Bisisiru village, in the west of Rwanda,
where 50,000 Tutsis were killed. The French soldiers are accused of
having misled the victims and made them leave their hiding places.

The accusations do not come from Rwanda alone, but from Paris too. A
former French soldier has accused his army of training the militias
responsible for the killing. Also, six Rwandans put a case to a French
court against Paris accusing it of participation in the genocides. A
French Parliamentary Committee had acquitted the Government from this
accusation in 1998, although it alluded to genocide by ‘strategic
mistakes’.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: "ATTACKS ON MEDIA HURT KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION"

Today, Azerbaijan
URL:
Nov 27 2006

The Azerbaijani government’s aggressive moves to silence independent
media and the leading opposition party last week not only raise
obvious human rights problems but will have a detrimental effect on
efforts to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

On 24 November, the authorities took the country’s first, biggest and
most professional independent TV and radio broadcaster, ANS, off the
air. The same day, police forcibly evicted the key opposition party,
the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, two opposition dailies Azadlig
and Bizim Yol and the Turan information agency from their Baku offices.

The hasty government actions were taken after proceedings that lacked
transparency and political neutrality. The parties were unable to
appeal before the decisions were implemented. Following a pattern
of harassment of Azerbaijan’s independent journalists since 2003,
Friday’s events once again put into question Azerbaijan’s commitment
to protecting freedom of speech and upholding the rule of law.

To facilitate the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the
International Crisis Group has called for the opening of a genuine
popular debate on the conflict. ANS has tended to take a hard line
on Nagorno-Karabakh, but it was open to a range of opinions and kept
popular opinion informed of developments related to the issue. The
closure of ANS will stifle the public discussion and information
sharing that is so essential to acceptance by Azerbaijani society of
any resolution to the conflict.

Azerbaijan’s international partners – the EU and its member states,
the U.S., the OSCE, the Council of Europe and others – should in
unequivocal terms call on the Government of President Ilham Aliev to
restore media freedoms protected in the Azerbaijani Constitution and
in commitments made as a member of the OSCE and the Council of Europe,
and as a recent signatory of an EU Neighborhood Action Plan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

U.S. TELLS GEORGIA TO AVOID LONG-TERM GAS DEALS WITH IRAN

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Nov 27 2006

The U.S. will not approve Georgia’s long-term energy-related
cooperation with Iran, but it seems it may turn a blind eye on
short-term Georgian-Iranian deals envisaging emergency gas supplies
during the winter period.

U.S. Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft said in an interview published
by the Georgian weekly Kviris Palitra on November 27 that a strategic
partnership between Georgia and Iran in energy issues is unacceptable
for the United States.

He said that the U.S. position is guided by the UN Security Council
resolution on Iran and the latter’s nuclear enrichment program.

The U.S. diplomat explained that Washington met Georgia’s short-term
deal with Iran in January 2006 with understanding after Georgia had
to import emergency gas supplies when Russian imports were cut off
by explosions on two pipelines in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic.

"I do not know what the U.S. Ambassador said. In respect of our
energy-related relations with Iran, naturally we will have energy
cooperation with this country. This year we will apparently buy gas
from Iran and we will probably exchange electricity with this country,"
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli told reporters on November 27.

"Moreover, we held talks with the U.S. officials, particularly with
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, who made it
clear that the United States, regardless of its relations with Iran,
can not tell Georgia to freeze in winter and not to buy gas from Iran,"
he added.

PM Nogaideli was referring to Bryza’s remarks made at a news conference
in Tbilisi on November 17, when he said: "while we are pursuing our
policy toward Iran, we certainly don’t want Georgia or Armenia or any
other country to be in a situation where it does not have energy for
the winter."

This statement was perceived by many in Georgia as Washington’s
approval of Georgia’s energy cooperation with Iran. But in the
interview with Kviris Palitra, U.S. Ambassador John Tefft said that
Bryza’s statement was misinterpreted.

Although PM Nogaideli said on November 27 that Georgia will "apparently
buy" Iranian gas, he did not specify details, including amount of
gas Georgia wants to import from Iran.

He said that Tbilisi is still in talks with Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan
and Turkey over gas supplies. "We will choose the best option for
our companies and consumers," PM Nogaideli added.

PM Nogaideli is expected to visit Iran by the end of December.

Meanwhile, the Georgian PM, accompanied by Energy Minister Nika
Gilauri, is expected to visit Baku later this week to negotiate with
the Azeri officials a possibility of buying by Georgia additional
amount of gas from the Shah-Deniz field.

Some officials in Tbilisi have already indicated that certain details
of negotiations and prospects of gas supplies may emerge only after
these talks in Baku.

Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers have demanded from the authorities
to speak publicly about prospects of gas supplies.

"President says that we will not by gas for USD 230 from Russia;
our friend – the U.S. – tells us not to buy Iranian gas; it is clear
that there is no enough gas within Shah-Deniz project to fully satisfy
Georgia’s demands. So we want to know what the government is planning
to do. It seems that negotiation which our government is holding is
just a myth," said MP Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of the Democratic Front
parliamentary faction, uniting MPs from the opposition Conservative
and Republican parties.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH CHRISTIAN POPULATION REMAINS STEADY
by Martin Barillas

Spero News
Nov 27 2006

Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, Vatican prefect of the Congregation for
Eastern Churches, spoke on Vatican Radio November 23rd and said that
the number of Christians living in Turkey is holding steady at 30,000.

Cardinal Daoud said that Catholic and other Christian communities
are diverse on the Anatolian peninsula. For example, there are two
Latin-rite bishops in Turkey, two Armenian Catholic prelates, as well
as patriarchal vicars for Syrian Catholics and Chaldean Catholics.

Catholics of the Maronite and Byzantine rites are also notable.

Turkey, Cardinal said, is the cradle of Christianity, having witnessed
early councils such as Nicea (in 325 AD and 787 AD), Ephesus (431 AD),
Chalcedon (451), and Constantinople (381 AD, 553 AD, 680 AD and 870
AD). It is "a privileged place for the implantation of Christianity",
said the cardinal, that saw "the flowering of theologies and of rites"
that gives its rich mosaic of Christianity today. At Ephesus is found
a small house where, according to tradition, lived the Virgin Mary
after the death and resurrection of Jesus that remains a place of
pilgrimage for Christians and Muslims.

Cardinal Daoud will join Pope Benedict XVI on the latter’s visit to
the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and to Turkey, along with
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, President of
the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity Cardinal Walter Kasper,
President of the Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinal Paul Poupard,
and retired Vatican diplomat Cardinal Roger Etchegary.

The cardinal said that he hopes that Turkey will remain a place of
"fraternal dialogue between religions and cultures." In addition,
the cardinal said "Turkey calls to mind in a special way the memory
of Our Lady and the Apostles."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DIVISIONS OF ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES BROKE THE CEASEFIRE REGULATION
Author: Sh.Jaliloglu

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 2006

The divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces broke the ceasefire
regulation on the frontline, Trend Regional Correspondent reports. On
November 26 at 22:00, the divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces,
located in the occupied Talish village of Tartar district of
Azerbaijan, shot at the opposite position of the Azerbaijani Armed
Forces for 15-20 minutes, with submachine guns and machine-guns. The
enemy was made silent with response fire. There is no lost.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN NOT KEEN ON RECEIVING FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FROM OUTSIDE, BUT TO DEVELOP NATIONAL ECONOMY INSIDE – SENIOR OFFICER OF FOREIGN MINISTRY
Author: A.Ismayilova

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 2006

Tahir Tagizade, the head of the Press and information Department
of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, informed Trend that the
amount indicated in the last report by the Research Center of the
U.S. Congress with respect to the U.S Department of State financial
assistance to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, is not objective.

The figure inquired in assistance for countries differ because every
time the Adminstration inquires little amount for Armenia, while the
pro-Armenian Congressmen increase this assistance, Tagizade said.

"They openly say that this assistance is one of the sources of
existence for Armenia. The figure for 2007 for Azerbaijan and Armenia
are close enough in absolute expression. There is no guarantee that
the pro-Armenian-spirited leadership of relevant committees won’t
increase the amount this time," head of the Department said.

In accordance with the last report by the Research Center of the U.S.
Congress, inquiry from the Department of State for Armenia comprises
$58.14mln, for Azerbaijan – $40.12mln and for Georgia – $75.84mln. In
2006 the assistance for Armenia was $81.7mln, for Azerbaijan –
$47.94mln and for Georgia – $86.01mln. The figure linked with Armenia
and Georgia also includes assistance within the framework of different
Foundations, including Millennium Challenges program.

Tagizade noted that it is necessary to take into consideration the
fact that the figures do not include assistance by the Defense
Ministry, which envisages financing of foreign armed forces and
international military education and training. These are programs
that caused disagreements in Armenia, which further demanded parity
in the delivery of military assistance.

The amount of governmental assistance to Azerbaijan until 1998, when 5
exclusions were confirmed to Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act,
were rather low than assistance rendered to Armenia and Georgia not
only from the per capita calculations, but also from the absolute
figure stand point. After the waiver of Section 907, the amount was
equalized a bit.

The head of the Department noted that financial assistance in terms
of aid is not so principle. "We are not keen on receiving financial
assistance, but develop the national economy. As political accents,
which comprise the financial assistance, it is linked with the
pro-Armenian congressmen activities and is inevitable. In difference
to Azerbaijan, their major argument stipulates that that Armenia
is a country which depends on assistance – either Diaspora or
U.S. Government," Tagizade said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress