Author: Jalatian Sonya

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 24 2006

ARMENIA HAS TO CLARIFY ITSELF IN WHAT REGION TO LIVE: LEADER OF
"HERITAGE" OPPOSITIONAL PARTY RAFFI HOVANNISIAN

"Geopolitical and regional challenges, set to Armenia, can be
generally called a challenge of the region transformation that is
actual for all the Caucasian countries", a secret leader of the
"Heritage" non-parliamentary oppositional party, the first Foreign
Minster of Armenia, Raffi Hovannisian, said in an interview to
ArmInfo.

According to him, the interest of power centers of the world to the
South-Caucasian region continuously increases. In particular, the EU
gets more and more interested in a stability, steady development and
security of states, covered by the policy of the new European
neighborhood. The USA, Russia, Iran and Turkey are interested in the
problem of keeping the maximum extension of its influence in the
region. "In this situation, our neighbors learn unique lessons.
Georgia thinks over a vast change of its foreign policy vector,
reorientation of the own political system. Both Georgia and
Azerbaijan, having made use of the growing interest of superstates in
the region, try to involve them, as serious players, in a context of
their own conflicts and, thus, to change the status-quo to the
detriment of the opposite side", R. Hovannisian said.

Hovannisian believes that the political support provided to
Azerbaijan in this context has already become obvious: the economic
capacities of our neighbors are growing and Armenia’s key task at
present is to successfully rival with them.

Asked about the challenges Armenia is facing under present
geo-political and regional conditions, Hovannisian said: "Armenia is
faced with a number of serious questions. First: how to reform its
political system and the structures involved in state and democracy
building lest our vital interests might be affected by sharp or
gradual geopolitical changes? Second: what will the breach of the
status quo bring to – war or stable peace? Third: how to revise the
policy on the Karabakh problem and what steps to take to this end?
Fourth: what and to what an extent should be emphasized in Armenia’s
foreign policy? Fifth: how to prevent the gradual isolation of the
country from the regional programs, the last example of which is the
plan to build Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railroad? Sixth: what national
security strategy to adopt and how to respond to new and old
challenges to self-identity and security, particularly, to the
problems of Turkish-Armenian relation and Javakhq?"

Hovannisian believes that Armenia must clearly decide in what region
it wants to live or it will have to put up with existence imposed in
the framework of a sub-system formed by other states.

Panorama.am

17:33 23/11/06

GOVERNMENT ORDER DECIDES ON GRAVE ALLOCATIONS

The first crematorium ever in Armenia will be built in
Achapniak community next year, Karlen Gevorgyan,
deputy minister of city building told reporters after
a government session. The government approved 8 orders
on funerals and graves today. Two other documents will
be submitted by the ministry of health.

The deputy minister mentioned that 12 square meters
will be provided to families free of charge for
graves. A citizen may purchase another 10 square
meters upon paying certain fees. /Panorama.am/

Armenpress

ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS AGREE TO ANOTHER MEETING
ON NOVEMBER 28

BAKU, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS: The French embassy
in Azerbaijan said international peace brokers from
the OSCE Minsk Group announced in a statement that
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to
meet again on the sidelines of a CIS heads summit in
Belarus capital city Minsk on November 28.
The Minsk Group cochairmen’s announcement came
after their visits to Yerevan and Baku where they
negotiated with the presidents and foreign ministers
of both countries. The statement said the meetings of
foreign ministers Vartan Oskanian of Armenia and Elmar
Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in October and November in
Moscow, Paris and Brussels were productive in terms of
registering progress in the negotiation process.
"The cochairmen hope that the meeting of Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents in Minsk will mark a step
forward towards resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict based on the principles which were approved
by the leaders of G-8 when they met in the Russian
Saint Petersburg last summer," the statement said.

AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER, MINSK GROUP MEDIATORS DISCUSS KARABAKH

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 22 2006

Baku, 22 November: Two of the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier, today had consultations
with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. They discussed
the possibility of organizing a meeting between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents on the sidelines of the CIS summit in Minsk.

After the meeting, the co-chairs refused to comment on the outcome
of the talks for reporters. Asked whether a meeting between Aliyev
and Kocharyan will take place, Yuriy Merzlyakov said that it would be
clear after a meeting between President Ilham Aliyev and the co-chairs.

After the meeting at the Foreign Ministry, Bernard Fassier and Yuriy
Merzlyakov immediately headed for a meeting with the Azerbaijani
president promising to issue a communique on the outcome of the visit.

The US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, did not arrive
in the region because of his "workload".

TURKEY RESISTS EU DEMAND CONCERNING CYPRUS
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
23/11/2006

Finland, country in chair of EU, demands that Turkey should open
its seaports and airports to the Republic of Cyprus till December 6,
2006. The leading European mass media consider the requirement as an
ultimatum, Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign
minister Abdullah Gul responded to the above demand with resistance
promises.

The Turkish Public TV informed that Gul and Erdogan discussed the issue
at the parliament with state minister and negotiator Ali Babajan. In
the beginning of the discussion, Erdogan stated in response to the
journalists’ questions that their position is clear.

"When the requirements are unacceptable, we will not meet them,"
he said.

Gul added that such issues shouldn’t be settled by means of deadlines
and blackmail.

"Turkey met the commitments of the EU and its high time for EU to keep
the promise given to the Turks of Cyprus. Thus, the issues in this
direction are still being elaborated and we still have much time,"
he underscored.

EXPERT FLIES INTO A ROW OVER DEATHS
Michael Blackley

Scotsman, United Kingdom
Nov 23 2006

A TURKISH professor has made a 3500-mile round-trip to Edinburgh
to criticise the city council for getting involved in a historical
argument concerning his home country.

Last year, the city council passed a motion regarding the deaths
of up to 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War that said
"it was indeed genocide".

But the topic has been the subject of international debate and the
Turkish prime minister recently called for an impartial inquiry into
the deaths.

Now Turkkaya Ataov, a professor of international relations at the
University of Ankara in Turkey, has travelled to Edinburgh for a
10-minute appearance at the City Chambers to tell councillors they
were wrong to pass the motion.

If you have a view on this or any other subject, let us know. Tel:
0131 620 8747 Email: [email protected] Professor Ataov,
a recipient of the golden honorary medal from Austria-based peace
group the International Progress Organization last year, said:
"If a representative political body passes judgements on the basis
of one-sided and perpetrated Armenian arguments, not only is such a
pursuit beyond its expertise, but also such prejudiced arguments may
well be unsustainable in the light of objective scholarship.

"The only appropriate alternative is to leave the matter to the free
discussion of academics, who possess adequate expertise in related
disciplines."

Around 25 people connected to the British Citizens Proclamation of
Turkish Rights (CPTR) group were expected to pack the City Chambers
public gallery this morning to hear Prof Ataov’s speech.

Last August, the council passed a motion put forward by then city
leader Donald Anderson recognising that the Turkish campaign against
the Armenians in 1915 "was indeed genocide".

But the decision resulted in more than 1500 protest e-mails from
Turkish people in Edinburgh and all around the world who were angry
at the decision.

A new motion, presented by the city’s licensing leader Councillor Phil
Attridge, says that the council should instead support the views of
the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who wants an international
commission set up to carry out an independent investigation into the
alleged genocide.

If approved, it would in effect reverse last year’s decision to class
the historical incident as genocide.

Councillor Attridge, a member of the ruling Labour group, said:
"I opposed it at the time because we shouldn’t have anything to do
with something like that. We’re weren’t competent enough on that to
make a decision – we’re only a town council and this was 100 years
ago. It was out of order."

Cemal Ozturk, a member of the CPTR, said: "This issue has got nothing
to do with a city council. Why are they wasting taxpayers money
debating issues that are none of their business?

"It’s like Ankara’s council talking about the McDonalds and Campbells."

~U The Armenian Genocide – also known as the Armenian Holocaust or
the Great Calamity – refers to the forced mass evacuation of Armenians
from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917.

Between 500,000 and 1.5 million people died during the campaign by
the Young Turks government, although Turkey and many countries –
including the UK – today reject the label genocide.

Turkish historians claim the deaths were a result of inter-ethnic
strife, disease and famine, triggered by the First World War.

However, 21 governments recognise the massacres as the first
state-sponsored.

MORE PEOPLE LEAVE KARABAKH THAN ARRIVE

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 21 2006

We have learned from the NKR National Statistics Service that 1578
children were born in Karabakh in the first three quarters of 2006,
which has increased by 53 or 3.5 percent compared with the first
three quarters of 2005. The death rate was 933 and has decreased by
44 or 4.5 percent. The rate of the natural growth of the population
totaled 645, and has increased by 17.7 percent or 97 compared with
the same period in 2005.

653 people were officially reported to arrive in Karabakh and 899
people to leave it. The rate of mechanical decline totaled 246. By the
way, over the past few years this is the first time when mechanical
decline is reported.

In the first three quarters of 2006 124 families with 444 members
of family, including 197 children moved from Armenia and other CIS
countries to NKR.

The rate of marriage totaled 594, which has increased by 8.4 percent
compared with the first three quarters of 2005, whereas the rate of
divorce was 89, declining by 7.3 percent. The ratio of marriage to
divorce was 100 to 15.

ORINATS YERKIR YOUTH WING COLLECTS SIGNATURES FOR HOUSING TO YOUNG

Panorama.am
17:53 21/11/06

Youth wing of Orinats Yerkir (OY) party collected more than 20,000
signatures in 1 week supporting provision of housing to young
families. Earlier youth wing of OY suggested to release 8 billion
Armenian drams from the state budget for provision of housing to
newly married families. Samvel Farmanyan, leader of the wing, said the
signatures will be submitted to the Armenian government and later to
the parliament if the government fails to approve it. In his words,
the initiative is also dictated by demographic needs. The mortality
rates of Azerbaijan may bring to a situation when investors will be
more attracted by that country only because of higher consumer demand,
he said.

Narek Malyan, chairman of New Times party, said it is not clear why
the government put fees on marriage registration. "It makes up some
14,000 – 17,000 drams (or $45) which is not a little sum," he said.

THE ART OF LEVITATION; THE CAUCASUS

The Economist
U.S. Edition
November 18, 2006

How Armenia copes with its isolation in the combustible Caucasus

NOWHERE is living next to big countries trickier than in the
Caucasus. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan were for centuries swallowed
by rival empires; when the last of them, the Soviet Union, collapsed,
three territorial wars broke out, all of which may yet re-erupt. Now
Georgia is in a cold war with Russia.

Next-door Armenia’s geographical plight might seem the worst in the
Caucasus-or anywhere. It is landlocked and poor; of its four borders,
those with Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed following its bloody
but successful struggle for Nagorno-Karabakh, a province of Soviet
Azerbaijan mostly populated by Armenians. Its other neighbours are
Georgia (under an economic blockade by Russia) and Iran. Yet despite
the war, the economic collapse that went with it and a terrible
earthquake that preceded it, Armenia seems to have levitated out
of trouble.

It benefits from an indulgence not afforded to pro-Western Georgia.

Per person, Armenia is one of the biggest recipients of American aid
(thanks to the powerful diaspora there, which remembers vividly the
massacres of 1915). Yet that American help does not trouble Russia,
which has a military base in Armenia. GDP is growing-though still
pitifully low: monthly wages are around $150. Towns and villages in
the beautiful, barren countryside are still poor and dilapidated,
but Yerevan is full of construction cranes and posh cafes.

But levitation has its limits. After some progress in the late 1990s,
reforms have stalled. The famed cognac aside, exports are puny.

Armenia relies on foreign aid and remittances from the huge diaspora;
emigration (see box) has put the population well below the official
2.9m figure. The international balance is also precarious. Some in
Russia want the Armenians to take sides against the Georgians, perhaps
by stirring up the Armenian minority there. "We refuse to choose,"
says Vartan Oskanian, the foreign minister. Indeed: alienating Georgia
would be suicidal.

But the Kremlin’s leverage is growing. Russian firms already control
the energy sector and want a greater stake elsewhere. Mr Oskanian says
"our needs today are too dire" to worry about future risks.

Azerbaijan’s hydrocarbons windfall makes it sound confident, even
bellicose, stoking Armenian reliance on Russia.

American interest in the pipelines that link the Caspian to the
Mediterranean, doglegging round Armenia, mean that renewed fighting
would echo far beyond the Caucasus. Internationally sponsored talks
about Karabakh limp on-Mr Oskanian met his Azerbaijani counterpart
this week-and Western diplomats try to sound upbeat. But a deal,
or even a fudge that would at least allow normal trade relations,
looks all but impossible. Sporadic shooting continues.

One reason is that bad governments in both countries bang the
nationalist drum for want of wider legitimacy. Armenia’s Robert
Kocharian has emulated his sponsors in the Kremlin, squeezing the
media and rigging elections. Corruption flourishes. It is hard to
find an Armenian politician who does not want to succeed Mr Kocharian
when his presidential term expires in 2008; it is harder still to find
one who thinks the vote will be fair. Like Ilham Aliev, who inherited
power in Azerbaijan from his father, Mr Kocharian promises just enough
change to pacify America. Unsurprisingly, considering their history,
most Armenians are too cynical to expect much better from their rulers.

Like acrobats in a human pyramid, the Caucasus countries are inevitably
affected by their neighbours’ behaviour. Russia’s closure of its border
with Georgia, for example, hurts Armenian traders. Such outsiders’
jostling would be much easier to bear if the three (relative) tiddlers
had a common line. But they are all, as Raffi Hovannisian, a former
Armenian foreign minister, says of his country, "long on civilisation,
short on statecraft."

TEYMOURIAN ENJOYING TIME AT BOLTON

Persian League, Iran
Nov 19 2006

GOAL – Iranian midfielder Andranik Teymourian may have had minimal
time on the pitch since joining Premier League outfit Bolton Wanderers
but the 23 year-old is enjoying his time in England and aiming for
the Champions League.

"I am satisfied with my current situation at Bolton," he was quoted
as saying by Iran Sports Press.

"I have not played much, but to establish myself in a league that is
the fastest paced in the world, I need time."

The Armenian-born star accepts the fact that competition for places
is fierce in the upper reaches of the Premier League.

"The player playing in my position, Ivan Campo, has played very well
and has scored some crucial goals. It is in the nature of football that
a manager does not change a winning team. We have had good results
and we are consequently in 4th place and our goal is to play in the
Champions League next year."

The former Abu Moslem player is not the only one showing patience,
the Bolton boss is helping him adapt.

"Sam Allardyce told me that he is optimistic about my future. He
also told me how at the start of Thierry Henry’s career in England,
he did not do well in his first few months, but, with time, he was
able to find his best ever form.

"Allardyce told me to be hopeful for the future and I will give my
best effort so that I can perform well for Bolton. I have a contract
here for two years and have no intention of leaving this club."

The powerful midfielder also reflected in the differences between
professional football in Iran and England.

"Things are so organized here that I cannot even talk about the
differences between here and Iran. When a meeting here is set for
12:01, the meeting starts at exactly that time."