Author: Jilavian Emma

ARMENIA BEATS IODINE DEFICIENCY

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 17 2006

A coalition of four organizations working together to address
iodine deficiency disorders throughout the world, has recognized
the elimination of iodine deficiency in Armenia through universal
salt iodization.

In a ceremony held today to mark this achievement, the UNICEF
Representative in Armenia, Sheldon Yett, presented a plaque to the
Ministry of Health of Armenia, which recognizes the Government
of Armenia’s success in its long standing campaign to eliminate
iodine deficiency disorders as a public health problem. The plaque
was presented on behalf of the Network for Sustained Elimination of
Iodine Deficiency, the International Council for Control of Iodine
Deficiency Disorders, UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

"Elimination of iodine deficiency in Armenia is a remarkable
achievement and represents a significant contribution to the protection
and improvement of health and well-being of children in this country,"
the UNICEF Representative in Armenia emphasized. He added that "some
20 million children in developing countries are affected by iodine
deficiency each year and every single case can be prevented with the
use of iodized salt."

Iodine deficiency is the world’s leading cause of preventable
mental retardation among children. While the worst cases of iodine
deficiency can cause severe mental retardation, such as cretinism,
even mild iodine deficiency can result in a significant loss in
learning ability. Other effects include increased risk of stillbirth,
miscarriage, and goiter for women and learning difficulties for
children. Salt iodization is the most effective and sustainable way
to prevent iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) because salt is widely
consumed and iodization is safe and inexpensive. Eliminating IDD
through the promotion of the use of iodized salt is a key component
of UNICEF’s mission to ensure that every child has the opportunity
to survive, develop and achieve his/her developmental potential.

In 1995, the Ministry of Health jointly with UNICEF, conducted a
study which indicated that over 50% of pregnant women were suffering
from iodine deficiency. Since 1997 UNICEF, the Ministry of Health,
and the Avan Salt Factory have been working together to eliminate
iodine deficiency in Armenia through universal salt iodization. The
efforts were funded in part through contributions from the US Agency
for International Development (USAID).

"Ministry of Health attaches great importance to the issue of iodine
deficiency in Armenia and is taking steps to ensure the sustainability
of the Universal Salt Iodization in Armenia," Minister of Health
Norayr Davidyan said.

A nationally representative survey of school children carried out last
year by UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and the International Council
for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) found that
the proportion of households consuming adequately iodized salt has
increased to 97% from 70% in 1998. The 2005 survey also found that
urinary concentrations of iodine were sufficiently high.

"The achievement of universal salt iodization means that 40,000
children born in Armenia each year are now being protected from the
consequences of iodine deficiency," the UNICEF Representative said.

As the survey noted, strengthened monitoring and regulatory systems are
now required to sustain this achievement," the Representative added.

RA PRESIDENT TO SPEAK AT THE BERTELSMANN FUND

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 16 2006

November 15 in Berlin RA President Robert Kocharyan attended the
festive ceremony of opening of the new Armenian Embassy building in
Berlin, which is located in one of the most celebrated districts of
the city.

Today Robert Kocharyan will have meetings with the Mayor of Berlin
Klaus Voverayt and Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
Angela Merkel.

RA President will deliver a speech at Bertelsmann – the most
influential political fund of Germany.

NATO UNAFFECTED BY TURKEY-FRANCE MILITARY ROW: OFFICIALS

Agence France Presse — English
November 16, 2006 Thursday

NATO’s operations will not be affected by a decision by the Turkish
army to suspend its military relations with France, officials at the
defence alliance said Thursday.

Turkish army chief General Ilker Basbug made the announcement late
Wednesday in retaliation to a French parliamentary bill which would
make it a crime to deny that the World War I massacre of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks constituted genocide.

"It’s a bilateral issue. It won’t affect their relations at NATO,"
an official in Brussels said.

Both French and Turkish troops were operating in Kabul, he added.

"They’re there today," he stressed.

French and Turkish troops operate side-by-side in the Afghan capital,
under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF),
combatting a fierce insurgency by Taliban rebels.

However, General Basbug told reporters in Ankara that high-level
visits between the two countries had stopped, according to the Turkey’s
semi-official Anatolia news agency.

Turkey has warned that bilateral ties will suffer a great blow if
France adopts the bill, which foresees one year in jail for anyone
who denies that Armenians were the victims of genocide by Ottoman
Turks between 1915-17.

The bill was approved by the lower house of the French parliament last
month but still needs the approval of the Senate and the president
to take effect.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered
in orchestrated killings during the last years of the Ottoman Empire,
modern Turkey’s predecessor.

But Turkey rejects the use of the term "genocide", saying some 300,000
Armenians died when the Ottoman Empire fell apart, but at least as
many Turks did too.

"This doesn’t concern NATO," a diplomat at the military organisation
agreed. "We don’t foresee any difficulties in the NATO sphere. There
won’t be any impact on the functioning of the Alliance".

Top military officers from NATO and Partner nations were completing
two days of talks in Brussels Thursday, two weeks ahead of a NATO
Summit in Riga, to shape and inform military advice for the North
Atlantic Council.

PRESS RELEASE

MISSION EAST – Values in Action
Saryan 6, apt. 4
Yerevan, 375002, Armenia
Tel.:(374 10) 52.15.34, 566718
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Raffi Doudaklian

November 17, 2006
For Immediate Release

Mission East Welcomes New Country Director to Armenia

Armenia – Mission East hosted a reception on November 16, 2006, in
honor of Dr. Kim Hartzner, new Country Director of its Armenia office.

More than 120 guests from local and international organizations
attended the event to welcome the new Director and get acquainted
with Mission East.

Hartzner, the organization’s Managing Director in Denmark, recently
moved to Armenia with his wife and three sons for a year, to lead
the local office’s programs.

Kim Hartzner is a medical doctor who co-founded Mission East with
his father in 1991. Since 1999, he has served as Managing Director,
overseeing the organization’s country programs, which have since
expanded to include other countries of Eastern Europe and Asia.

"You don’t know what is happening in a country until you live there
for a long time. By living here, you have the ability to understand
the problems on all levels," Hartzner said.

Mission East, a Danish international relief and development
organization, has been active in Armenia since 1992, when it
established a hospital. It subsequently provided relief aid,
distributing thousands of tons of food to poor communities in the
Syunik region and beyond during some of the country’s most difficult
years. In 1998, Mission East began to focus on children’s institutions,
with the purpose of improving education for children with learning
difficulties.

"Thanks to Mission East and its local partner organization Bridge of
Hope, we have systematically and consistently been able to provide
equal opportunities for children with learning difficulties, both
to raise the level of their education and facilitate access to the
educational system," stated Bagrat Yessayan, Deputy Minister of
Education and Science. He praised Mission East for the work done
in the special education sector, specifically the leading role that
Mission East and its partner organizations played in the adoption of
the Special Education Law and the national special education curricula.

Recently, Mission East also initiated a health project to promote
the rights of disabled children in Armenia, seeking to help change
social attitudes and healthcare practices.

For further information on Mission East and its programs, please
contact us at the coordinates below.

For additional information, please visit our website at

Mission East is a Danish international relief and development
organization that works to help the vulnerable through humanitarian
relief aid and development assistance, as well as support for
increasing the capacity of communities to organize and assist
themselves.

ARMENIA TO DEPLOY MORE SOLDIERS TO KOSOVO

Serbianna.com, Michigan
Nov 15 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia-Armenia held farewell ceremonies Tuesday for 34
peacekeepers deploying to Kosovo as part the U.N. mission there.

The troops depart Wednesday as part of the sixth rotation of Armenian
peacekeepers to the Balkan region, where they have served since 2004
alongside a Greek battalion.

Lt. Gen. Artur Agabekian said Armenia planned to have a fully
functioning peacekeeping brigade by 2010, and would begin forming a
second battalion early next year.

Some 17,000 NATO-led peacekeepers are deployed to Kosovo, which has
been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when a U.S.-led
air war put an end to attacks by Serb forces against the province’s
ethnic Albanian majority.

Armenia also has deployed nearly 50 troops to Iraq to serve as part
of the U.S.-led coalition.

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CONSTRUCTION MORE CONTROLLED, MAYOR ADVISER SAYS

Panorama.am
13:47 13/11/06

"There is more supervision on city building in Yerevan," Hrach
Muradyan, chief adviser to Yerevan mayor on city building, told a
briefing today. The official assured there is no large-scale illegal
construction going on in the capital. "But it does not mean that
there are no illegal construction sites," he admits.

In his words, the mayor personally supervises the construction of sites
on Tbilisy alley, Isakov avenue and other big streets. City authorities
try not to go away from the chief plan. Muradyan said working groups
are established to control construction in communities.

ARKADY GHUKASIAN: AZERBAIJAN’S MILITANT THREATS WON’T SCARE THE PEOPLE OF ARTSAKH
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily
15/11/2006

At a meeting with US congressman Joe Knollenberg, president of Nagorno
Karabakh, Arkady Ghukasian, discussed issues connected with regulation
of Nagorno Karabakh issue and the region’s socio-economic state.

Ghukasian congratulated the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues on being reelected to the Congress, and the latter
told NK leader that he is ready to engage in Karabakh issue as well.

NK president’s press center informs that Arkady Ghukasian also met the
Armenian community of Detroit and urged them to support in developing
infrastructures of Karabakh’s economy stressing the need of creating
necessary conditions for living in border regions.

"Azerbaijan’s militant threats won’t scare the people of Artsakh,"
Ghukasian stated adding that the Army of Defense and the Artsakhi
people are ready to repulse any attempt on Karabakh’s freedom and
independence.

Earlier, on November 11, Arkady Ghukasian visited Boston and met with
Armenian benefactors. NK leader also met Board of Trustees President
of the Armenian Assembly of America, Carolyn Mugar, and talked about
the prospects of implementing humanitarian and investment projects
in Artsakh. President Ghukasian called on the Armenian community
representatives to get actively involved in the November 23 US telethon
for Artsakh’s revival.

Arkady Ghukasian’s next destination is Los Angeles.

EVERYONE MUST RECOGNISE THE INDEPENDENCE OF NKR

A1+
[06:21 pm] 14 November, 2006

Arman Melikyan, the NKR President’s Foreign Policy Advisor, is not
delighted by the announcements on the existing open windows and doors
in connection with the Karabakh conflict settlement.

The conflict cannot be settled in the close future because of the
contradictions among the negotiating parties.

Taking into consideration the announcements of the NKR authorities
that hardly any decision can be made without their participation, the
journalists tried to find out whether there are not any contradictions
between the official Yerevan and Stepanakert.

"We had better stay aside from contradictions as Stepanakert also
agreed to participate in the negotiations. We must be concerned about
the fact that the negotiations haven’t given positive results yet.

We must say, that the negotiations aren’t sufficient on this score,"
said the advisor to the president.

By the way, according to the draft constitution of the NKR (the
referendum of which will be held on December 10) NKR is proclaimed
as sovereign country, whereas the Karabakh conflict is far from being
settled in the nearest future. "I see no problems in this respect as
the negotiations of the conflict may last for 150 years and even more."

We mustn’t wait for Azerbaijan to recognise Karabakh’s
independence. Karabakh has already proclaimed its independence and
the Constitution referendum tesstifies to this.

Everybody, including Armenia, should realize that NKR is an independent
country. "

Mr. Melikyan assures that after gaining such status the NKR authorities
will be able to ensure the security of their residents better.

He also tried to compare the 1998 negotiations with the current ones,
"Provided the conflict was finally settled, we could speak of obvious
success".

FIBA-EUROPE DELEGATION TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 13 2006

The official delegation of FIBA-Europe headed by President of the
European Basketball Federation Georgios Vasiliakopolos will arrive
in Armenia on a three-day official visit tomorrow. Members of the
delegation will meet with President of RA National Olympic Committee
Gagik Tsarukyan and President of RA Basketball Federation Hrachya
Rostomyan. They will visit places of interest of Armenia, as well as
sport and cultural structures. They will learn about the current state
and prospects of basketball in Armenia and will meet with members of
the Executive Committee of RA Basketball Federation.

WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO BESIDES BEGGING?
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 9 2006

The International Monetary Fund expressed worry on November 7 about
the share of the government in the oil and gas sector in Russia. The
worry is clear considering that the Russian government is presently
conducting a policy of reducing foreign ownership in the oil and gas
sector and keep the sector under the control of the Kremlin. This wish
is natural, and the reaction of the IMF is natural, which represents
the interests of the Western companies and governments, which are
reluctant to let the Russian oil and gas wealth go.

In the long run, in the geopolitical context and with regard to Armenia
this question has an indirect relation. But there are nuances in this
story, which are directly related to Armenia. The same International
Monetary Fund does not express worry about the reality that the energy
sector of Armenia is taken over by the Russian government. Not an
IMF official, let alone its representatives to Armenia expressed
worry about the actions of our government. If the IMF is so worried
about the growing government share in the energy sector of Russia,
how about an almost 100 percent share of the same Russian government
in the energy sector of another country, even though this country is
referred to as a strategic partner.

On the other hand, there is nothing surprising that no Western
organization pays attention to this reality in Armenia. Simply
they think that this attention is unnecessary because the Armenian
government officials state that there is nothing dangerous about the
dominance of another country in the energy sector. For instance, the
minister of defense stated that the worries that are still expressed
in Armenia are the result of anti-Russian ideas. For the government
officials of Armenia it is difficult to imagine that these worries may
stem from objective judgment. And this judgment prompts that handing
the energy capacities of the country to Russia is the same as giving
the switch of Armenia to Russia, and deprive the country of choice.

The Armenian government might be right when it relates the country’s
security to Russia. It might be right when it considers Russia as
our only friend. But when we give our energy sector to the Russians,
it means we do not want to have other possibilities of security and
other friends, or interests. Serge Sargsyan says there is no case
when Russia used its influence for political pressure. Serge Sargsyan
may be right. But can he guarantee that if tomorrow the interests
of Armenia suddenly require something that is against the will of
Russia, the Russians will not use their energy levers. Can anyone in
Armenia in charge of the country’s security guarantee this? Simply
there has been no necessity so far because the Armenian government is
begging Putin to report to him. Why should Russia use its levers? Why
should it do if the minister of energy of Armenia states that even
if the Russians wish to give up the management of the nuclear plant
earlier, the Armenian side will ask them to stay. And what else can
the Armenians do besides begging the Russians to stay? Otherwise,
the Russians will stay by force, and will not invite to Moscow for a
report but somewhere in the region of Krasnodar, especially that the
president and the government officials of Armenia have considerable
experience of work with the governors of Russia.