Author: Harutyunian Christine

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 11 2006

Armenian delegation will participate in NATO Parliamentary Assembly
session
11.11.2006 11:20

November 13-17 in Quebec (Canada) the Armenian delegation headed by
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense, Interior Affairs
and National Security Aramayis Grigoryan will participate in the
session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Mediamax agency reports.
British parliamentarian Frank Cook’s report on the South Caucasus
will be discussed during the session.
Aramayis Grigoryan informed that the Armenian side has already
presented a number of remarks and suggestions, which will allow `to
bring the report close to objective reality.’
Aramayis Grigoryan noted that `we definitely stand for further
deepening of ties between Armenia and NATO.
`We fully cooperate with NATO and our cooperation is a long-term
one,’ the parliamentarian declared. He noted that the NATO
Information Center established in Yerevan proves Armenia’s interest
in expanding and deepening relations with the Alliance.

Panorama.am

17:51 10/11/06

STATE UNIVERSITY DISCUSSES SECURITY STRATEGIC PLAN

Yerevan State University (YSU) scientific board
discussed today national security strategic plan. `We
hold discussions to consider expert opinion,’ Serzh
Sargsyan, defense minister and YSU management board
chairman, told reporters today.

Some experts believe the plan is too descriptive.
Others think, `It is a result of hard work.’ There was
an opinion that Armenia should concentrate its
diplomatic efforts on Russia, USA, Iran and France.
Speaking about Armenian budget on military, Sargsyan
said he is against of taking money away from oligarchs
and giving to military. He believes shadow e economy
must be eliminated but this does not mean that only
oligarchs must pay taxes.

Speaking about US Defense Minister Donald Ramsfeld’s
resignation, Sargsyan said, `It is an administration
issue of USA and Mr. Ramsfeld personally,’ also saying
this issue has nothing to do with the security
strategic plan of Armenia.

The plan will be approved next year. However, not the
parliament but the government will approve it.
Sargsyan said the strategy is `the political program
of authorities.’ /Panorama.am/

2006 NOBEL PRIZE-WINNER ORHAN PAMUK TO RECEIVE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY’S INAUGURAL DISTINGUISHED HUMANIST MEDAL NOV. 27

News from Washington University in St. Louis, Washington
Nov 9 2006

Part of Center for the Humanities’ fifth annual "Celebrating Our
Books" colloquium

Nov. 9, 2006 — Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel
Prize in Literature, will receive Washington University’s inaugural
Distinguished Humanist Medal as part of "Celebrating Our Books,
Recognizing Our Authors," the university’s fifth annual faculty
book colloquium.

Jerry Bauer Orhan Pamuk. High-res image available upon request.

The award – which includes a cash prize of $15,000 – is supported
by the Center for the Humanities and the Office of International and
Area Studies, both in Arts & Sciences. It will be given biannually to
a distinguished scholar, writer or artist whose career merits special
recognition for excellence and courage.

Pamuk will receive the Distinguished Humanist Medal and make a
formal address during the colloquium, which honors the work of
scholars from across the arts and sciences disciplines. The speech
will subsequently be published in the university’s literary journal,
Belles Lettres. Pamuk also will conduct a question-and-answer session
before a select audience at Hurst Lounge earlier on the afternoon
of his visit. This interview will be published in 2007 in the new
graduate student on-line publication, Arch.

In addition to Pamuk’s talk, "Celebrating Our Books" will include
presentations by two Washington University faculty members: John R.

Bowen, Ph.D., the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences,
most recently author of Why the French don’t Like Headscarves (2006);
and Lingchei Letty Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of modern Chinese
language & literature, author of Writing Chinese: Reshaping Chinese
Cultural Identity (2006).

Gerald Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and
director of the Center for the Humanities, noted that, "We bring Orhan
Pamuk here not only to honor him for his achievements. but to show
how much regard we have for Washington University faculty authors
by having them share the stage with a writer of such international
eminence. We very much want to showcase our writers and scholars."

The colloquium begins at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27, in the university’s
Graham Chapel. The event is free and open to the public but seating
is limited and RSVPs are strongly encouraged. A reception and book
signing will immediately follow in Holmes Lounge. The reception will
include a display of all faculty books published in the last five
years. In addition, the Campus Bookstore will display books by all
three speakers, all of which will be available for purchase.

Graham Chapel is located immediately north of the Mallinckrodt Student
Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. Holmes Lounge is located in Duncker Hall,
a short walk east of Graham Chapel.

For more information, call (314) 935-5576 or email
[email protected].

Born in 1952, Pamuk graduated from American Robert College in
Istanbul and studied architecture at Istanbul Technical University
before completing a degree in journalism from Istanbul University. At
the age of 23 he decided to become a novelist and published his first
book, Cevdet Bey and His Sons, seven years later. Now one of Turkey’s
most prominent writers, his books have been translated into more than
40 languages.

Pamuk made international headlines in 2005 when criminal charges were
brought against him following a public statement he’d made about the
Armenian Genocide of 1915 and the massacre of 30,000 Kurds. (It is
a crime in Turkey to publicly mention the Genocide.) Authors from
around the world – including Salman Rushdie and John Updike – spoke
out on Pamuk’s behalf and charges were dropped in January 2006.

In addition to Cevdet Bey, Pamuk is the author of The Silent House
(1983), The White Castle (1985), The Black Book (1990) and The New
Life (1994). The latter, about university students influenced by
a mysterious book, is one of the most widely read novels in Turkish
literature. His most recent books include My Name Is Red (1998), about
Ottoman and Persian artists – his most popular work in English – as
well as the political novel Snow (2002) and the memoir Istanbul (2005).

"Pamuk was chosen for the award late last spring in consultation with
other faculty, well before he won the Nobel Prize," Early points out.

"James Wertsch and David Lawton were especially helpful as they
both know Pamuk’s books very well. It was felt that Pamuk was not
only a brilliant writer whose works provide us with fresh, important
perspectives on the divide between east and west, but that his support
of free speech in Turkey was a notable act. He was an ideal selection
for the prize and he was happy to accept."

Bowen’s research focuses on the role of cultural forms in processes
of social change. His first three books – Muslims Through Discourse:
Religion and Ritual in Gayo Society (1993), Critical Comparisons in
Politics and Culture (1999) and Islam, Law and Equality in Indonesia:
An Anthropology of Public Reasoning (2003) – examine issues of
religion, culture and politics in Indonesia. In Why the French don’t
Like Headscarves, he explores the French government’s 2004 decision to
ban Islamic headscarves and other religious signs from public schools.

Chen’s Writing Chinese addresses complex issues surrounding the
claim of "Chinese-ness" in our increasingly borderless world. Cutting
across geographical boundaries, she challenging current discussions
of hybridity and nationalism by examining the politics of Chinese
cultural identity facing writers in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and
the United States. In the end, Writing Chinese proposes that the
aesthetics of hybridization are key to developing a more open,
creative and individualized notion of Chinese cultural identity.

Editor’s Note: A high-res photograph of Pamuk is available upon
request.

Calendar Summary

WHO: Washington University in St. Louis

WHAT: "Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors," the fifth
annual faculty book colloquium; featuring presentations by Orhan Pamuk,
2006 Nobel Prize winner in Literature and recipient of Washington
University’s inaugural Distinguished Humanist Medal; John R. Bowen,
author of Why the French don’t Like Headscarves; and Lingchei Letty
Chen, author of Writing Chinese: Reshaping Chinese Cultural Identity

WHEN: 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27

WHERE: Graham Chapel, located immediately north of the Mallinckrodt
Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd.

COST: Free and open to the public, but seating is limited. RSVPs
suggested.

SPONSOR: Center for the Humanities and Office of International and
Area Studies, both in Arts & Sciences

INFORMATION: (314) 935-5576 or [email protected]

u/news/page/normal/8229.html

ANOTHER ISSUE OF ARKA NEWS AGENCY’S "ARMENIAN CREDIT ORGANIZATIONS" BULLETIN RELEASED

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Nov 6 2006

YEREVAN, November 6. /ARKA/. ARKA News Agency has released another
issue of its regular financial-economic bulletin "Armenian Credit
Organizations" for the third quarter of 2006. The bulletin is based
on credit organizations’ reports published in the press.

The bulletin consists of about 25 pages with tables on them
and contains 12 key sections: 1. General description of credit
organizations; 2. Assets; 3. Liabilities; 4. Capital; 5. Profit/Losses;
6. Information about cash flows; 7. Normative indices of credit
organizations’ activities; 8. Capitalization indices; 9. Profitability
indicators; 10. Aggregate indicators of credit organizations’
activities; 11. Aggregate indicators of credit organizations’
effectiveness; 12. Services provided by credit organizations.

The information shows the current state of credit organizations and
contains figures for comparative analysis of their activities.

The product also contains technical and methodological comments on
the tables.

ARKA News Agency started functioning on May 1, 1996. The news agency
focuses on financial, economic and political information. From 1999
ARKA issues quarterly bulletin "Financial Indicators of Armenian
Banks", from 2005 -quarterly bulletin "Armenian Credit Organizations"
and from May 2006 "Banks’ Financial Indices" based on annual
independent audits.

EU TRIES TO DEFUSE LOOMING CRISIS WITH TURKEY
By Paul Taylor, European Affairs Editor

Reuters, UK
Nov 6 2006

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union sought on Monday to defuse a
looming crisis with Turkey over Cyprus and lagging reforms, welcoming
a pledge to amend a key law on freedom of expression in line with
EU standards.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced the policy shift on Sunday,
three days before a European Commission report expected to sharply
criticise Turkey, saying he was ready to change a law used to prosecute
writers for "insulting Turkishness".

"The stated intention by Prime Minister (Tayyip) Erdogan to bring
Turkish legislation on freedom of expression into line with European
standards is a welcome initiative," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli
Rehn said in a statement.

"It shows that the Turkish prime minister is personally committed to
free speech and EU accession," Rehn said.

The EU executive is to issue a progress report on Wednesday criticising
a slowdown in reforms in the year since Turkey began EU membership
talks and noting Ankara’s failure to meet a requirement to open its
ports to shipping from Cyprus.

Diplomats say the negative findings could prompt EU leaders to suspend,
at least partially, accession negotiations with Turkey when they hold
a summit on enlargement in mid-December.

But German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country
takes over the EU’s rotating presidency in January, warned against
any premature move to break off the talks.

"I would strongly urge that in our interests and in the interests of
Turkey, we not be overly hasty in our conclusions. We ought to leave
scope … for a political compromise between Turkish interests and
the interests of the Cypriots," he told a conference of the Party of
European Socialists in Berlin.

That appeared to contradict Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said in
an interview with Monday’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily that Turkey’s
EU accession talks would be in serious trouble unless Ankara lifted
trade restrictions against Cyprus.

"CONCRETE DEEDS" SOUGHT

The Commission has repeatedly urged Turkey to amend article 301 of
the penal code used to prosecute journalists and intellectuals such
as Nobel literature prizewinner Orhan Pamuk over comments on the
killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.

Only last week, Erdogan appeared to rule out any change, with an eye
on nationalist voters ahead of elections next year.

But in a timely move to show goodwill, he said on Sunday: "We are
ready for proposals to make the article 301 more concrete if there
are problems stemming from it being vague."

"We are studying several options for how we can handle article 301
in harmony with the spirit of the (EU-oriented) reforms," he said,
without elaborating.

Rehn sounded a note of caution, saying Brussels wanted to see
practical action.

"We expect this stated intention to be followed by concrete deeds
and we are thus waiting for concrete decisions," he said.

Rehn said pressure for a change in the penal code also reflected
the growing strength of Turkish civil society, which was a welcome
development.

The Commission is also expected to criticise shortcomings in the
rights of religious and ethnic minorities, civilian control over the
military and persistent instances of torture.

It will praise economic reforms, the training of more judges and the
creation of an ombudsman to probe citizens’ complaints.

Mustafa Alper, general secretary of Turkey’s International Investors’
Association, said financial markets were quite relaxed about the
possibility of a crisis with the EU.

"I do not think the (Commission) report will greatly spoil Turkish
morale … Cyprus will come to the agenda again, but I do not think
the report will create a lot of problems or tensions," he told Reuters
in an interview in Istanbul.

"I see the likelihood of Turkey’s negotiations being suspended as
rather remote," Alper said.

(Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul and Louis
Charbonneau in Berlin)

WESTERN WATCHDOG FINDS NO CHANGE IN ARMENIA’S CORRUPTION LEVEL
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 6 2006

An international anti-corruption watchdog has ranked Armenia 93rd
among 163 nations by its level of corruption, which is neither progress
nor regress against last year’s study results.

In the rankings released on Monday Transparency International cited
its annual Corruption Perceptions Index study in which Armenia has
the index score of 2.9 along with Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
Eritrea, Syria and Tanzania.

The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as
seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between zero,
which is highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean.

Amalia Kostanian, head of the Armenian branch of Transparency
International, says the findings reflect only the opinions of
entrepreneurs and experts.

"Our studies evaluating public opinion depict a grimmer picture. We
have received much more negative data and will publish it soon,"
she told RFE/RL.

Kostanian describes the work of the anti-corruption commission in 2006
as ineffective and says that it met only once in the last ten months.

"Even though Armenia passed several related laws, acceded to different
conventions and has several anti-corruption structures, the fight
against corruption still remains an imitation and bears a formal
nature in the country," Kostanian charged.

"Not a single senior official has been punished for corruption
practices and, more importantly, authorities do not bear any
responsibility for their failure in the anti-corruption struggle
before elections."

Transparency International has found that corruption looms large among
political parties and registered an early start of election campaigns,
some six months ahead of its official kickoff.

About a dozen countries, including the United States, have registered
a decline according to their corruption index.

Armenia’s neighbor Turkey, for example, registered an improvement,
like Latvia and Turkmenistan from among former Soviet republics.

Only Moldova is ahead of Armenia among CIS countries. All other CIS
countries, according to the study, have a higher level of corruption,
with Uzbekistan having the worst record (151st).

According to Transparency International, the highest level of
corruption is in Haiti (index score 1.8) and the lowest is in Finland,
Iceland and New Zealand (9.6).

CROSSROAD CHALLENGES

A1+
[05:22 pm] 06 November, 2006

Which are the problems and possibilities of the region at the crossroad
of East and West? What lessons has the 15-year independence taught
us? What is the economic policy the Governments should pursuit? These
and other questions will be answered by the international conference
to be organized in Yerevan.

On November 6-9 the conference of the famous British organization
"Wilton Park" titled "South Caucasus; perception of the region and
the challenges" will be held in Yerevan. This is the first time the
conference is held in South Caucasus.

The themes of the conference are political, security, economic,
environmental, terror, social and informational issues. Another
peculiarity of the conferences organized by the "Wilton Park" is that
the discussions are not shot in order to promote sincerity.

The participants of the conference are people of different
nationalities and professions.

RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan will deliver a speech during the
opening ceremony of the conference.

Special envoy of the UK to South Caucasus, sir Brian Fall,
deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia Georgi Manchgaladze, personal
representative of the OSCE CiO, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, former
special representative of EU to South Caucasus, Ambassador Heikki
Talvitie and others will make speech in the conference.

MISS ARMENIA 2006 WILL WORK AS A MODEL AND DO Ph.D

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 3 2006

Miss Armenia 2006, Marina Vardanyan, 22 participated in Miss Europe
2006 in Kiev. Marina Vardanyan was among 12 beauties. And the
director of the Miss Armenia Agency Karen Aristakesyan says Miss
Belarus deserved to be the winner, but Miss France became Miss
Europe. Nevertheless, Marina got offers from model agencies. Besides,
Marina has an opportunity to take part in different fashion and
beauty contests. Marina Vardanyan graduated from the Department of
Russian Philology of Yerevan State University and is going to take a
post-graduate course.

PARTICIPATION IS ALREADY SUCCESS

A1+
[06:16 pm] 03 November, 2006

Miss Armenia 2006, 22-year old Marina Vardanyan was included into
the top 12 during the competition "Miss Europe 2006". Manager of
the national agency "Miss Armenia" Karen Aristakesyan considers this
success taking into account the fact that Armenia was one of the 33
countries which participated in the competition.

Mr. Aristakesyan is displeased with the Armenian Mass Media which
did not share this success. Marina Vardanyan herself told a news
conference today that she would like to be included into the top 5,
but she is not displeased with her present result.

Marina has graduated from the Yerevan State University, faculty
of Russian language and literature and is going to continue her
post-graduate education.

She is also going to engage in fashion. She has not yet had offers
from European fashion houses but she hopes that there will be offers.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 4 2006

Rajab Tayyip Erdogan: I openly send a challenge to Kocharyan; if he
is courageous enough let him make archives available

[ 04 Nov. 2006 12:36 ]

"If Kocharyan is courageous enough let him make Armenian archives
available. Let the specialists analyze them and find out truth.

Turkey makes available his archives to anyone, but Armenia refuses
to do it," Rajab Tayyip Erdogan answered the question of Armenian
journalist Greghan Manukyan in the News Xchange-2006 conference, APA
Turkey bureau reports. 155 media groups and over 500 journalists from
55 countries took part in the conference. Armenian journalist said that
Armenian s played a great role in the formation of Istanbul culture,
but thousands of our compatriots were killed there in 1914.

His statement made the minister angry.

"I openly send a challenge to Kocharyan. If he is self-confident, let
him open Armenian archives to anyone. I have copies of Ottoman pashas’
aids to Armenian hospitals in my office. Armenians living in Turkey
have no problem; the only problem is Armenian Diaspora," he said.

The minister also answered the questions about the meeting with Pope
Benedict XVI Erdogan said that he will be in the meeting of NATO
member states’ ministers in Poland at that time.

"Our President and Re3ligious Affairs Minister will meet the Pope,"
the minister said. /APA/