Author: Hunanian Jack

WILL ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI DELEGATION MEET IN STRASBOURG?

ArmRadio.am
11.01.2007 12:49

It’s not ruled out that Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations will
meet in the framework of the winter session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, member of the Azeri delegation to
PACE Gyultekin Hajieva told " Trend" agency.

"In a resolution adopted in 2005 PACE has instructed the delegations
of Armenia and Azerbaijan to hold a meeting. In January it will be
clear whether the delegations will meet in the framework of the winter
session or not," she said.

PACE winter session will take place January 22-28 in Strasbourg.

ARAZ AZIMOV: EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON POLITICAL WILL

ArmRadio.am
11.01.2007 14:48

"Azerbaijan has demonstrated necessary constructiveness and political
will for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, and now Armenia
should demonstrate a similar position," Deputy Foreign Minister of
Azerbaijan Araz Azimov told ANS TV Channel, Day.az reports.

According to the Azeri diplomat, the all the questions of the
forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers are already known, and
"constructive ways are searched for to bring positions closer." "For
its part Azerbaijan has undertaken all necessary measures to reach
this constructiveness. Now the ball is in the Armenian side, since
we have made our presence felt," he declared.

Azimov called on mediator countries to scrupulously develop the
principles of settlement and put these on a paper for further
accomplishment. "The whole work can be done within a month,
it’s possible, however, that it will not be completed in five
years. Everything depends on political will. The President of
Azerbaijan has already demonstrated such will. Now it s the turn of
the opposite side," he stressed.

TEHRAN SAYS ARMENIA IS NOT READY TO RECEIVE GAS FROM IRAN

Regnum, Russia
Jan 8 2007

Iran is ready to start gas delivery to Armenia at any time, but the
Armenian side is not ready to receive the gas. Spokesman for the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project Mohammed Reza said the Iranian side
accomplished all necessary works and installed necessary equipment.

"The Armenian side asked for a meeting in late March to discuss
the project and issues of energy supply from Armenia to Iran,"
the Iranian spokesman said, assuring that Iran fulfilled all its
obligations on construction of the pipeline and is ready to start
gas supply to Armenia at any time, Radio Liberty informs.

Contractor of the pipeline construction, Armenian High-Voltage
Electric Networks Company, announced earlier that the completion of
the construction works in the Armenian section of the gas pipeline
was scheduled for December 20, 2006, after that the gas was supposed
to come to Armenia, however, after Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan visited Iran on December 17, the Armenian and Iranian parties
announced that the time of commissioning the pipeline was postponed
till spring 2007.

The gas pipeline that connects Iran and Armenia has a diameter of
700 mm, its planned annual capacity is 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas.

Initially, amount of the gas sent to Armenia will be 1.1 billion cubic
meters, since 2019 it will reach 2.3 billion cubic meters. The contract
was signed for 20 years. To reach the planned amount, the Armenian side
is planned to lay some more 197 km of the pipe. For each cubic meter of
the Iranian gas Armenia is supposed to return 3 kwh of electric energy.

SANA – Syrian Arab News Agency, Syria
Jan 6 2006

Grand Mufti, State and Party Officials in Aleppo Congratulate
Armenian Orthodox and Protestants on Christmas

Saturday, January 06, 2007 – 08:50 PM

Aleppo, north Syria, Jan. 06 (SANA)-

Secretary of Aleppo Branch of al-Baath Arab Socialist Party in Aleppo
Abdul Qader al-Massri, Secretary of Aleppo University Branch of
al-Baath Party Dr. Mohammad Youssuf al-Hashem and Aleppo Governor Dr.
Tamer al-Hajjeh on Saturday visited the churches of Armenian Orthodox
and protestants, extending heartfelt congratulations on the glorious
occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prophet of peace and
amity. The Grand Mufti of the Republic Dr. Ahmad Badruddin Hassoun
and Aleppo city Mayor Dr. Ma’an al-Shibli also congratulated the
Armenian Orthodox and Protestant sects on this occasion. Friendly
speeches were exchanged during theses visits, reflecting deep
fraternity, amity and the firm national unity among all Syrian
citizens.In Syria, the Christian sects who follow the Orient
Calendar, have celebrated the birth of the Prophet of peace and
amity. Archbishop Shahan Sarkisian of the Armenian Orthodox and
Archbishop of the Armenian Protestants Hartion Salmian talked about
the great meanings of the Christmas.They also prayed to God the
Almighty that He may protect the nation and President Bashra
al-Assad.

Ahmad F. ZAHRA

Turks anxious about Stallone’s intension to shoot a film based on the `40
Days of Musa Dagh’

ArmRadio.am
29.12.2006 14:45

Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone’s statement on shooting a film
based on the 40 Days of Musa Dagh’ novel by Austrian writer Franz
Werfel coincided with the day when Turkish press informed about the
death of the musical impresario Ahmid Ertegan. It is characteristic
that in 1930s Ertegan’s father served as Turkish Ambassador in the US
and managed to prevent the attempts to shoot a film on `Musa Dagh.’

The Armenian Genocide Forum told `Armenpress’ that Turkish
organizations have raised a `great hysteria’ and are sending letters
of protest to Stallone. Chairman of the Turkish `Against the Armenian
Genocide’ Association noted that `very often cinema is used for
propaganda purposes, and this time also Armenians intend to use this
opportunity.’ Stallone has declared that the film will be a whole
epic workabout the destruction of a whole civilization. `It will tell
about a sensitive topic, which they have been killing for many
years. Unfortunately, it will not have a happy end,’ he noted.

Arka News Agency, Armenia.
Dec 29 2006

TOROSYAN: ATTITUDE OF COE AND ARMENIA TOWARDS REGIONAL ISSUES COINCIDE

YEREVAN, December 29. /ARKA/. The attitude of the Council of Europe
(CoE) and Armenia towards regional issues coincided with each other,
Speaker of the RA National Assembly Tigran Torosyan said.
He said that the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoF was an important
structure for Armenia from the viewpoint of the international
cooperation. "Political and democratic constituent of Armenia’s the
eurointegration was being formed in the scope of the PACE", he
pointed out.
In that connection Torosyan emphasized that in 2006 the PACE had
approved two important resolutions. "In April I adopted a resolution
on the state of refugees in South Caucasus, according to which the
situation in Armenia was incomparably better that in Georgia and
Azerbaijan", he said.
Torosyan pointed out that the number of Azerbaijani refugees,
totaling 83ths people, was fixed in the report, and the number of
displaced people from regions, bordering Nagorno-Karabakh, slightly
topped 500 thsd.
"After this many high-ranking officials and representatives of
international organizations began indicating it", he informed and
added that those figures were also noted in the PACE report on
Stability Pact for the South Caucasus.
Torosyan finds that it’s a rather important step to break the
stereotype that the Azerbaijani side tried to thrust on the
international community regarding this issue.

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Dec 29 2006

2006 SIGNIFICANT YEAR FOR ARMENIA IN TERMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION
AND DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT

YEREVAN, December 28. /ARKA/. 2006 was significant for Armenia in
terms of human rights protection and democratic development, the New
Year greeting message of Speaker of the Armenian parliament Tigran
Torosyan says.
He said that in 2006, due to constitutional reforms every citizen and
the parliamentary opposition received an effective mechanism for
protection of their rights at the Constitutional Court.
Speaker pointed out that the current year was important from the
viewpoint of the Nagorno-Karabakh’s conflict resolution. "After the
PACE adopted the resolution on rights for self-determination of
nations, it was included in the principles of the Karabakh conflict
settlement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. It was also reflected
in the approaches of all of the European organizations," Torosyan
said.
The Speaker also pointed out that the economic growth of the previous
several years has strengthened economy and provided a fundament that
the growth of state revenues would be first of all aimed at
supporting education, science and culture, and ensure fair and
proportional allocation of the revenues to contribute to a tangible
increase in the citizens’ welfare. R.O. -0–

RA DEFENSE MINISTER: I HAVE RIGHT TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT AND I WON’T ABDICATE FROM IT

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.12.2006 18:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan considers
he is entitled to run for President. As he told the RA Public
Television, the Constitution provides him with the possibility to
become a presidential contender. "I have the right and I will not
abdicate from it," Sargsyan stated adding that the final decision on
his participation in the presidential election in 2008 he will take
after the parliamentary election in May 2007. The Minister also said
that the presidential office is not an end in itself for him and this
fact distinguishes him from the other contenders.

At the same time Serge Sargsyan voiced assurance that internal
political situation in Armenia will remain calm. In his words, the
parliamentary election will animate the political field however it
will arouse no tension.

INVESTMENTS IN REAL ECONOMIC SECTOR OF ARMENIA TO EXCEED $400MLN

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Dec 26 2006

YEREVAN. December 26. /ARKA/. According to the results of 2006,
investments in the real economic sector of Armenia, excluding the
loans received by public administration authorities and the banking
sector, will exceed $400mln.

Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Chshmarityan told
reporters that a 20-25% growth of investments compared to 2005 is
expected.

He said that over nine months of 2006 this indicator has totaled
$297.4mln, 31.8% increase compared to the corresponding period of
2005. The direct investments in this amount totaled $149mln, 8%
increase compared to 2005.

Chshmarityan pointed out that three basic trends for especially
heavy investments appeared in the country this year: in the sector
of transport, telecommunications, and also metal and mining industry.

"Heavy investments were made particularly by Armenia International
Airports, VivaCell Company, ArmenTel, Unicomp, Synopsis, ArmenAl
plant, Zangezur copper and molybdenum factory, and Viaspher
Technoparkom.

RA MINISTER OF TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: VOLUME OF TOTAL FOREIGN INVESTMENTS TO ARMENIAN ECONOMY IN 2006 TO GROW BY 20-25%

Yerevan, December 26. ArmInfo. The volume of total foreign investments
to Armenia’s economy in 2006 to grow by 20- 25% as compared with 2005
($504,5 mln in 2005), RA Minister of Trade and Economic Development,
Karen Chshmarityan, said at today’s press-conference.

According to him, the big investments in 2006 were attracted for
upgrading of the Yerevan "Zvartnots" airport, for telecommunications,
the metal mining industry and metallurgy, the information technologies
and electronics. He added it is expected to continue the investment
programs in 2007 for upgrading for "Zvartnots" airport, in the area of
telecommunications and the metal mining industry. It is also envisaged
to attract new investments to the "Nairit" plant. The minister reminded
that the volume of total foreign investments for 9 months, 2006,
made up $297,4 mln, $149 mln of which are direct foreign investments.