Author: Jalatian Sonya

JOSEPH PENNINGTON HOPES THAT STORY OF HOAGLAND WILL NOT BE REPEATED IN ISSUE OF APPROVING CANDIDATURE OF NEW U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Dec 17 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Joseph Pennington, Charge d’Affaires
of the United States, supposes that soon the White House will mention
the name of the new candidate to the post of the U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia. He stated this at the December 17 press conference. "The
U.S. is absolutely convinced that the Armenian government will realize
the necessity to have an ambassador and the story of the previous
year will not be repeated."

It should be mentioned that in 2006 the White House stated about
nomination of Richard Hoagland to the post of the U.S. Ambassador
to Armenia. However, the procedure of approval of his candidature in
Senate dragged out for a year. And in summer of the current year the
White House made a decision to withdraw R. Hoagland’s candidature.

CATHOLIC PRIEST ASSAULTED IN TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.12.2007 14:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Catholic priest of de Saint Antuan church was
stabbed in Turkey on Sunday, police said.

Father Adriano Francini was stabbed in the stomach in the attack in
the Saint Antoine Church in the western city of Izmir, but his life
is not in danger, a police official, requesting anonymity, said.

The 19-year-old assailant, identified only by his initials R.B.,
was caught shortly afterwards with the knife he used in the attack.

Last year, Turkish ultranationalists killed Catholic priest Andrea
Santoro in Trabzon.

In April 2007, in Malatia, ultra-right organization members raided
into a Christian publishing house, killing 3 people, including a
German citizen. The prosecutor’s office demands life sentence to
three culprits accused of the crime, NTV reports.

CAUCASUS RAILWAY COULD SPUR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Associated Content, CO
Dec 15 2007

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR), an independent
organization that provides conflict analysis services in the context
of international relations, has published a new report titled "The
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway: The First Step in a Long Process." The
report, authored by Stefan Bocioaca and published December 13, is
available on the PINR web site.

Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, or BTK, railway got under way
in Marabda, South Georgia late last month, marking the beginning of
a rail linkage between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia. The project,
which consists of 18 miles of track in Georgia and 47 miles of rail
in Turkey, is projected to be finished in the next 1-2 years. PINR
notes that both Europe and China are interested in the railway because
Chinese goods could be transported to Europe more quickly than is
currently possible with along the trans-Siberian route. China is
also pursuing an effort to connect with Europe through a new network
utilizing multiple modes of transportation, including road, rail,
air, and sea. The report also notes that the railway could be expanded
to include Europe after the completion of a tunnel project under the
Istanbul strait.

Armenia, PINR notes, wanted to be included in any rail project in
order to prevent further isolation and dependence on Georgia.

However, two of the major players, Azerbaijan and Turkey, wanted
Armenia to remove its military forces from Azerbaijan in order to
participate in the railway endeavor. And as the report says, there
is not much likelihood of that happening any time soon.

According to the report, Azerbaijan hopes that the new railway project
will help further regional integration, along with trade and foreign
direct investment. Additionally, the report says, the new project will
allow the nations of Central Asia and the Caucasus to bypass Russia
while still connecting themselves with Europe. Regional integration is
becoming more evident, as the report notes, with Azerbaijan’s State
Oil Company opening a port terminal in Georgia and investing in a
petrochemical company in Turkey. Additionally, the report notes,
Turkey is increasing its level of investment in Azerbaijan and is
Georgia’s largest trading partner.

The report closes by noting that the new railway project is an
essential element in a developing transcontinental passageway that
could serve as an example for other states. Regional problems still
exist, however, and disputes over the Caspian Sea, along with ethnic
and religious conflicts, will present serious challenges, PINR notes.

Source: The Power and Interest News Report web site

633/caucasus_railway_could_spur_regional.html

MUNICIPALITY AGAINST GALA TV COMPANY FOUNDER "CHAP" COMPANY CASE STARTS IN GYUMRI

Noyan Tapan
Dec 13, 2007

GYUMRI, DECEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. It is already the second day in the
Gyumri residence of the Economic Court of the Republic of Armenia the
hearing of the case filed against the "ChAP" Limited Liability Company,
the founder of the "GALA" TV Company of Gyumri, according to the claim
of the municipality of Gyumri, with which the latter demands to free
the TV tower belonging to the city from the broadcasting equipments
of the "GALA" TV Company, has been continuing.

Before the case was filed to court the Mayor of Gyumri, in response
to the call of Levon Barseghian, the Chairman of the Board of the
"Asparez" Journalists’ Club of Gyumri, for settling the problem
through negotiations instead of turning to court, said that the
municipality is ready to conduct lease negotiations with the given
LLC on condition that the TV company will pay for using the tower
for the past 2.5 years as well. Vahan Khachatrian, the Head of the
TV company, regarded this suggestion as inadmissible, claming that if
the municipality registered the property right of the TV tower in the
land-survey only on November 5, 2007 and did not manage the TV tower
during the period predecing it, if it did not have a lease contract
with the TV company and had not informed it in any way about the fact
the TV tower belongs to the municipality with the property right,
the claim of the municipality, according to which the TV company is
to make a payment for the past 2.5 years, is groundless.

On the very first day of the lawsuit lawyer Karen Tumanian, a
member of the RA Chamber of Advocates and the representative of
the respondent side, introduced a draft conciliation agreement to
the court and offered to allow to conduct negotiations around the
conciliation conditions. According to the draft conciliation agreement,
the respondent side proposed to give on lease the TV tower to the
"ChAP" LLC for the forthcoming six months on condition that they will
continue the contract in future. The representative of the plaitiff
refused the conciliation suggestion. The court made a decision to
also refute the counterclaim of the respondent side.

Karen Tumanian, the representative of the respondent side, came
up with a new petition and objected to the candidature of the
judge. The rejection was introduced to the judge in the written
form. The court closed the court session until the next day after
receiving the rejection. On December 11 judge Ed. Nahapetian declared
that the rejection has been dismissed in the higher instance and the
court will continue to hear the case with the same staff. Respondent
side representative Karen Tumanian made a petition, with which he
introduced the fact that he has protested against the decision of
judge Ed. Nahapetian on not taking the counterclaim presented by him
on the previous day into examination in the Court of Appeal, asking
to eliminate the decision of the judge on not taking the counterclaim
of the respondent side into examination. The respondent side made
a petition to break off the lawsuit until he receives the answer of
his appeal. The judge declared that his petition is dismissed.

Respondent side representative Karen Tumanian made a new petition
and made a rejection to the judge for the second time. The rejection,
in particular, runs as follows: "This argument is not so much of legal
character as it has been made political and personal. The founders and
the management of the "ChAP" Limited Liability Company does not have
confidence towards the impartiality of Ed. Nahapetian, the judge of
the Gyumri residence. In the given case the close relations between
Vardan Ghukasian, the Mayor of Gyumri, and the presiding judge give
rise to doubt with regard to the impartiality of the judge."

The court closed the court session until December 13 after the second
rejection made to itself.

DECEMBER 14, THE ARMENIANS WILL SAY NOT TO THIS TURKEY IN EUROPE
Jean Eckian

KarabakhOpen
13-12-2007 09:55:00

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece,
Italy, Lituania, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
and Switzerland.

To follow the Armenians’s demonstration to Brussels, in front of the
Council of Europe: Listen live on AYP FM on Internet with these links:

with Real Player plugin

or

http: //www.ayp fm.com/

Schedule in your country:

from: USA december 14

California 01:00 AM

New York, Washington, Miami 04:00 AM

Mexico 3:00 AM (Mexico city)

Canada 4:00 AM

Venezuela 5:00 AM

Argentina 6:00 AM (Buenos-Aires)

Uruguay 7:00 AM Brazil (Sao-Paulo)

United Kingdom 9:00 AM

Belgium, Europa 10:00 AM

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey 11:00 AM

Kuwait, Russia (Moscow) 12:00 AM

Iran 12:30 PM

Armenia, United Arab Emirates 13:00 PM

Australia (Sydney) 8:00 PM

Because of the presence of several nationalities, the speakers will
express themselves, that is to say, in their maternal language,
or English and in Armenian.

ARMENIAN UNDER-20 HOCKET TEAM TO HOLD QUALIFIERS JANUARY 16-24

armradio.am
13.12.2007 13:24

The under-20 national hockey team of Armenia is included in the same
qualification group with Serbia, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey
in the 2008 World Cup. The Championship will take place in Belgrade,
Serbia January 16-24.

January 16 the Armenian youth team will play with South Africa,
January 17 it will meet with the team of Turkey, January 20 – with
New Zealand and January 21 – with Serbia.

TURKISH FACTOR ACTIVATING IN MIDDLE EAST

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.12.2007 16:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Activation of the Turkish factor is being observed
in Middle East, editor-in-chief of Beirut-based Azdak newspaper Shahan
Kankhadaryan said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Turkish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister visited Lebanon
lately. Let’s not forget that Turkey has offered participation in
the UN peacekeeping mission.

The current government has recently appealed to Turkey for mediation
to bring the country out of crisis," he said. "Turkish FM Ali Babacan
personally attended the opening ceremony of Lebanese school and met
with representatives of various political trends. This move should
be eyed as Turkey’s aspiration to secure an influential position in
the region."

2008 PROGRAM OF INTERDEPARTMENTAL CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRIES SIGNED

Noyan Tapan
Dec 5, 2007

MOSCOW, DECEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian, who is on a working visit to Moscow, met with the Russian
foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on December 5. During the meeting,
the interlocutors stated that the sides’ positions on many issues on
the foreign political agenda coincide, and there are a lot of specific
issues that make it necessary to expand the dialog.

The sides positively assessed the cooperation of Armenia and Russia in
international organizations, particularly, some bilateral initiatives
within the framework of the UN. The interlocutors also discussed
some processes underway in international organizations, addressing
the consequences of discontinuing Russia’s membership of the Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, the OSCE reforms and the
settlement of the Kosovo problem.

The ministers underlined the importance of further cooperation of
the two countries within the framework of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization in terms of ensuring peace in the region. They
also spoke about the plans of Armenia as a country to assume the
chairmanship of this organization in 2008.

The sides discussed problems of regional security, including bilateral
Armenian-Russian relations in the context of latest developments
regarding the relations between Russia and Georgia. They also addressed
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, exchanged ideas about the possible ways
of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the
framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

NT was informed by the RA MFA Press and Information Department that
following the meeting, V. Oskanian and S. Lavrov signed the 2008
program of interdepartmental consultations between the Armenian and
Russian foreign ministries.

A1+

SERZH SARKISIAN MEETS WITH EU AMBASSADORS
[05:57 pm] 05 December, 2007

December 5 RA Prime Minister Serzh Sarkissian met with the
Ambassadors of EU member states accredited in Armenia at the Embassy
of France in Armenia.

During a working dinner the interlocutors discussed issues related to
the forthcoming presidential elections in Armenia, the domestic
situation and regional question.

RA FM: WE DON’T SEEK FOR PRECEDENTS IN KARABKAH ISSUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.12.2007 15:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Irrespective of our wish, precedents have certain
weight in international relations. With the lapse of time, their
repetition transforms into norms of international law. However, we
do not seek for precedents in the Karabakh issue," Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian said when asked whether Kosovo model can
become a precedent for the Karabakh problem.

"Our approach to conflict settlement is unchangeable: all conflicts
are unique and each resolution can have its specific form. The more so
because the talks on Karabakh are held in the framework of Karabakhi
people’s right to self-determination. History can’t be turned back. If
the Kosovo problem is not a precedent, so we would not admit logic
opposite to the precedent.

In other words, if the international community wants to bring
to the notion of Karabakhi population that Kosovo’s independence
doesn’t imply independence of Karabakh, it should also explain to
Azerbaijan that Nagorno Karabakh can exercise the right of nations
to self-determination. Consequently, proceeding from peculiarities
and logic of the talks each conflict should receive an individual
solution," the Minister told Kommersant daily.