Panorama.am
14:17 03/11/2007
AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS
By program ”Millennium Goals” it is expected to unveil 70 percent of
tuberculosis and cure at least 5 percent, Nara Merjumyan, tuberculosis
national program official, told Panorama.am.
A national program of Fight against Tuberculosis is developed for the
year 2007-2015. The program envisages increasing state support to
fight against tuberculoses. Merjumyan said that the program also
underscores awareness element.
Source: Panorama.am
IRAN TO BEGIN GAS EXPORT TO ARMENIA
PRESS TV
Oct 24 2007
Iran
Iran’s Caretaker Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari says the country’s
gas exports to Armenia will begin in the next two or three months.
Iran has completed the part of the pipeline which is in Iran, Nozari
told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar in Tehran on Wednesday.
"Armenian officials say the construction of the Armenia part of the
pipeline will be completed in the next two or three months," he added.
Nozari said Tehran has further reached an agreement with Yerevan to
import electricity from Armenia during the summer.
In response to a question about the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas
pipeline, Nozari said it would take some time before the deal is
signed, expressing hope that India and Pakistan would resolve the
differences over transit fees.
Youngstown Vindicator, OHIO
Oct 18-24 2007
Wrong time for a resolution on century-old genocide
In a perfect world, there would be no genocide. In a less perfect
world, at least people would be able to recognize genocide for what
it was.
Alas, we live in a far-from-perfect world. And because we do, it
would be foolhardy, perhaps even reckless, for the United States
Congress to pass a resolution that would label as genocide the
killing of Armenians nearly a century ago by Ottoman Turks.
It appears that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is coming to see that
support for the resolution is evaporating. "Whether it will come up
or not, or what the action will be, remains to be seen," Pelosi told
reporters.
This is not a particularly proud moment for Congress. Certainly
members of Congress should be able to debate the merits of this
resolution, or any other, and vote their conscience on it – in a
nearly perfect world.
Safety issue
But Congress, sitting safely in Washington, far from the battlefield,
does not have the luxury of taking the moral high ground on this
issue if its doing so makes it more difficult for American troops to
do the job they’ve been given in Iraq.
Turkey quite literally holds the key to resupplying and protecting
our troops in Iraq. About 70 percent of U.S. military cargo flowing
into Iraq goes through Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. Turkey has made
it clear that those shipments will be blocked if the resolution were
to pass.
The resolution states that "the Armenian genocide was conceived and
carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923." An estimated
1.5 million Armenians died, the resolution states, while 500,000 were
expelled, resulting in "the elimination of the over 2,500-year
presence of Armenians in their historic homeland."
Turkey claims that the death toll has been inflated and that those
who died did so as a result of civil unrest, not genocide.
Political reality
The merits of these two points of view have been debated for decades
and from time to time have driven congressional politics. The
Associated Press reported that Democrat Adam B. Schiff, whose
Southern California district contains one of the nation’s largest
ethnic Armenian populations, won his seat in 2000 after then-House
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., pulled an Armenia genocide bill
from the House floor, dooming the re-election chances of Schiff’s
Republican predecessor. Schiff is a co-author of this year’s
resolution.
But there are worse things for a congressman to have to do than
explain to a powerful constituency why he wasn’t able to deliver on a
political promise. It’s more important in this case to deliver
materiel to the troops than promises to the voters.
In letting this resolution die, Congress can take comfort in knowing
that all eight living former secretaries of state and three former
defense secretaries are on record as saying the resolution would
endanger national security in the Middle East.
If Armenian lives were being lost today, it would be a different
question. But this is an issue that has been debated for ages, and
that debate can be picked up again on another day – when vital
American interests are not so clearly at stake.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Wrong time for a resolution on century-old genocide
In a perfect world, there would be no genocide. In a less perfect
world, at least people would be able to recognize genocide for what
it was.
Alas, we live in a far-from-perfect world. And because we do, it
would be foolhardy, perhaps even reckless, for the United States
Congress to pass a resolution that would label as genocide the
killing of Armenians nearly a century ago by Ottoman Turks.
It appears that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is coming to see that
support for the resolution is evaporating. "Whether it will come up
or not, or what the action will be, remains to be seen," Pelosi told
reporters.
This is not a particularly proud moment for Congress. Certainly
members of Congress should be able to debate the merits of this
resolution, or any other, and vote their conscience on it – in a
nearly perfect world.
Safety issue
But Congress, sitting safely in Washington, far from the battlefield,
does not have the luxury of taking the moral high ground on this
issue if its doing so makes it more difficult for American troops to
do the job they’ve been given in Iraq.
Turkey quite literally holds the key to resupplying and protecting
our troops in Iraq. About 70 percent of U.S. military cargo flowing
into Iraq goes through Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. Turkey has made
it clear that those shipments will be blocked if the resolution were
to pass.
The resolution states that "the Armenian genocide was conceived and
carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923." An estimated
1.5 million Armenians died, the resolution states, while 500,000 were
expelled, resulting in "the elimination of the over 2,500-year
presence of Armenians in their historic homeland."
Turkey claims that the death toll has been inflated and that those
who died did so as a result of civil unrest, not genocide.
Political reality
The merits of these two points of view have been debated for decades
and from time to time have driven congressional politics. The
Associated Press reported that Democrat Adam B. Schiff, whose
Southern California district contains one of the nation’s largest
ethnic Armenian populations, won his seat in 2000 after then-House
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., pulled an Armenia genocide bill
from the House floor, dooming the re-election chances of Schiff’s
Republican predecessor. Schiff is a co-author of this year’s
resolution.
But there are worse things for a congressman to have to do than
explain to a powerful constituency why he wasn’t able to deliver on a
political promise. It’s more important in this case to deliver
materiel to the troops than promises to the voters.
In letting this resolution die, Congress can take comfort in knowing
that all eight living former secretaries of state and three former
defense secretaries are on record as saying the resolution would
endanger national security in the Middle East.
If Armenian lives were being lost today, it would be a different
question. But this is an issue that has been debated for ages, and
that debate can be picked up again on another day – when vital
American interests are not so clearly at stake.
/297243910079776.php
DEBKA, Israel
Oct 14 2007
Despite the crisis in US-Turkish relations over Armenia vote, Ankara
has not ordered the Turkish army to push into northern Iraq
October 13, 2007, 11:16 AM (GMT+02:00)
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Reluctant to give military its head
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that small Turkish armored and
reconnaissance units have been operating inside Iraqi Kurdistan for
some time, marking out targets and routes, especially in the Bamerni
and Zakho districts. Two Turkish armed divisions have also been
poised for months ready to invade at short notice and attack Kurdish
PKK separatists in the Iraqi hideouts, from which they have stepped
up hit-and-run strikes into southeast Turkey. Turkish generals say it
would take 48-72 hours to drive 40 km inside Iraqi Kurdistan.
Concerned at the crisis in relations with a close NATO ally and the
anti-American mood in the Turkish street, the Bush administration has
sent two officials to smooth ruffled feathers in Ankara over the US
congressional committee’ majority vote to condemn the mass killing of
Armenians in World War I by Ottoman Turks. They are ex-ambassador
Eric Edelman and Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried.
Yet, while Turkey and its people are furious about the vote and US
criticism of Turkish cross-border raids against PKK rebels, prime
minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not ordering the army to march into
Iraqi Kurdistan.
DEBKAfile’s sources point to powerful conflicting currents under
which the Turkish government is laboring.
The US resolution on Armenia has nothing directly to do with the
Kurdish question, yet they combine to make Erdogan look to his people
a irresolute and weak leader on the diplomatic and military fronts
alike.
Yet he is avoiding decisive action on both. He hopes to ride out both
crises while avoiding a large-scale military operation if the
Armenian question does not reach the US Congress floor and if no more
Turks die at the hands of the PKK terrorists.
The prime minister and many other Turkish politicians are far from
sure that an invasion would actually wipe out Kurdish strongholds in
Iraq. It was tried in the mid-1990s and failed.
They also suspect chief of staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and his future
successor, the ground forces commander Gen. Ilker Basbug, of planning
to exploit an invasion to crush Iraqi Kurdish autonomy and seize the
oil fields of Kirkuk.
Gen. Basbug said on Sept 29: `The time for North Iraq’s independence
draws nearer every day and all we do is try to deal with the PKK. We
don’t attach enough importance to the issue. Yet the independence of
northern Iraq could divide Turkey.’
Finally, the Turkish economy is too fragile to stand up to a
full-scale conflict in northern Iraq in defiance of the United
States.
Turkey’s trade deficit rose by 6.1 percent to $28 billion (20.4
billion euros) in the first half of 2007 compared with the same
period last year, the national statistics institute said. Imports
increased by 16.8 percent to $77.4 billion between January and June,
while exports were up by only 23.9 percent to $49.5 billion.
To help the Erdogan government weather the storm without further
ructions, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
asking her to refrain from allowing the Armenian genocide resolution
reach the House floor for a vote.
She explained it would harm American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,
affect their supply lines and also damage Washington’s efforts to
promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.
0
RECURRENT REPORT ON TURKEY INCLUDES NO REFERENCE TO THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
armradio.am
17.09.2007 16:56
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament will adopt the
package of amendments on the recurrent report on Turkey’s accession to
the European Union by September 18. The voting date will be determined
only after the discussion of the amendments. The package of suggestions
is not publicized to avoid extra disputes.
It’s worth mentioning that the recurrent report on Turkey includes no
reference to the Armenian Issue. During the first discussion of the
draft on September 13 a number of members of the Committee pointed to
the faultiness of the report. In particular, Belgian MP Philip Claeys
noted: "The recurrent report on the process of Turkey’s accession to
the European Union must certainly refer to the Armenian Genocide."
Suggestions were presented also by the European Armenian Federation.
MINISTRY REPORTS MORE ENVIRONMENTAL BREACHES
Panorama.am
17:11 24/07/2007
In the first quarter of the running year, the state budget has received
928 million Armenian drams from environmental fees. Inspection services
have also transferred another 47,3 million drams to the state budget
as environmental fines.
Press Secretary of Nature Protection Ministry Artsrun Pepanyan
says inspection services have detected 750 environmental breaches
in 970 economic entities against 500 last years. Most breaches were
reported in air pollution. The environmental inspection services have
also unveiled 211 water resource mismanagement cases. Seventy-one
cases were detected as violations of animal world with subsequent
administrative and monetary compensation penalties made.
‘GOLDEN APRICOT’ IS A NEW EXPERIENCE ON INTERNATIONAL ARENA
Yerkir.am
July 20, 2007
"The ‘Golden Apricot’ festival is to be saluted because it showed
that Armenians too have to be seen on the international arena,"
Armenian actor Murad Janibekian has told a news conference.
He found it hard to say how the festival would go. "It sometimes takes
decades to reach a success, and because we are a small country with
little resources, we can’t say for sure what is going to happen,"
he said.
He could not say a lot about the future of the Armenian cinematography
since he has not been shot in an Armenian movie. He has been living
for years in Russia, working with Russian actors and studios.
When asked what has the Armenian cinematography to do to reach the
European standards, he said, "They tried to copy American films, mostly
in the genre of thriller, to get into the market and acquire European
standards. If your resources are too small you should not produce
your own movies because they represent you on the international arena."
GERMAN MP: IRAN ENTITLED TO PRODUCE NUCLEAR ENERGY
Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA, Iran
June 27 2007
A German MP said on Wednesday that Iran has the right to produce
nuclear energy.
The visiting Deputy Head of Green Party Faction in Germany’s parliament
Jurgen Trittin made the remarks in a meeting with a number of
representatives of religious minorities in Iranian parliament (Majlis).
"All countries signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are
entitled to use civilian nuclear energy," Trittin noted.
Pointing to the importance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the
region, he expressed hope the international community will expand
cooperation with the country in security issues.
Iranian member of parliament Gevork Vartan said, for his part,
that Iranian statesmen make efforts to remove problems faced by
religious minorities, adding Iran does not allow interference of
foreign countries in its national affairs.
Vartan, who represents Armenians in Iran, referred to the satisfactory
coexistence among religious minorities and Muslims in the country,
saying the minorities enjoy good conditions in different socio-cultural
and religious areas.
He further underlined the need for expansion of cultural and social
cooperation between Iran and Germany.
AZERBAIJANIS FAIL TO PREVENT PRESENTATION OF THE NKR PAVILION AT INTERNATIONAL TOURISM EXHIBITION IN MOSCOW
armradio.am
18.05.2007 18:02
Azerbaijan did not manage to prevent the presentation of the
pavilion of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the International
Tourism Exhibition that opened in Moscow on May 17, Director of the
NKR Tourism Development Agency Sergey Shahverdyan told Mediamax that.
In his words, a group of Azerbaijanis demanded from the organizers
of the exhibition to ban the presentation of the NKR pavilion and
close it, but this "provocation" failed.
Sergey Shahverdyan noted that the group of Azerbaijanis comprised of
4-6 people tried to surround the pavilion of Nagorno Karabakh with
Azeri flags, but despite that the pavilion continues functioning
normally.
HANRAPETUTIUN WILL TAKE PART IN ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN WITH PSYCHOLOGY OF WINNER, SUREN SURENIANTS STATES
Noyan Tapan
Apr 09 2007
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The Hanrapetutiun (Republic) Party has
not reconsidered its approaches and continues considering removal of
the current regime as its first and foremost task. Suren Sureniants,
member of Party’s Political Board, stated this at the April 9 press
conference. And the forthcoming parliamentary electoral campaign,
in his words, is the plane that will show the people who are the
real oppositionists.
The Hanrapetutiun Party will take part in the preelectoral campaign
with the motto "Let’s vote for the sake of the republic." S. Sureniants
said that party’s preelectoral headquarters was formed a week ago. It
is headed by member of Political Board Smbat Ayvazian. It was mentioned
that the party has no illusions that the elections will be fair
and will do its best to make the public active and to prevent the
scenarioes of the authorities and the falsifications planned by them.
In the words of S. Sureniants, they are already preparing these
falsifications. According to information received from the regions,
through the regional governors and prefects all administrative
resources are used in favor of the Republican Party of Armenia and the
Bargavach Hayastan Party. And the electoral bribe, as S. Sureniants
mentioned, is given by the very two parties.
Irrespective of all this, in his words, Hanrapetutiun will take part
in the electoral campaign with the psychology of winner.
It was also mentioned that the party representatives will have meetings
with electors in all regions and all communities of Yerevan within
the framework of electoral struggle. The first meeting will be held
on April 12 in Yerevan’s Shengavit community.