ANKARA: Friendship wins from time to time

Turkish Daily News
Dec 24 2006

The Corridor
Sunday, December 24, 2006

Friendship wins from time to time:

Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk has been at the center of the Armenian
issue in Turkey for some time. Pamuk is being exploited in politics
to gain support. Columnists are clashing on newspaper pages to make
a point. Well, isn’t there anything nice happening on the issue?

This week, Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koc said they would
be renovating the Armenian Akdamar Church in the Ani region of Kars
with cooperation of the Armenian Church. He said Armenian consultants
and experts were involved in the planning stages of the project.

According to Koc the opening ceremony of the renovated church will
happen on April 24 in the presence of leading artists, scholars
and historians. This is seen as a cultural and religious message
of conciliation.

"I was happy about Orhan Pamuk winning the Nobel Prize. The culture
and tourism minister can only be proud of a person who has dedicated
his life to literature and won a Nobel Prize. I am proud of Pamuk."

The friendly initiative launched by Turkey against the incitement by
the Armenian diaspora shows there are nice things happening from time
to time despite the animosity.

RA Deputy Foreign Minister Presents In Minsk Army Political Situatio

RA DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER PRESENTS IN MINSK ARMY POLITICAL SITUATION
IN SOUTH CAUCASIAN REGION

MINSK, DECEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The army political situation in the
responsibility zone of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO) was discussed at the meeting of the 2006 intersession sitting
of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers in Minsk on December 22. The
head of the Armenian delegation, RA Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosian presented the situation in the South Caucasian region,
particularly the process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement
and problems related to Armenia’s relations with the neighboring
countries. According to the RA NFA Press and Information Department,
at the sitting’s extended meeting, Arman Kirakosian addressed
the problems related to cooperation of the CSTO members states in
international organizations. The CSTO Secretary General was instructed
to coordinate and sign "The Memorandum on Mutual Understanding
between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Secretariat and the
SCTO Secretariat". Financial and economic issues were discussed, and
the 2007 CSTO budget was signed. Within the framework of the sitting,
a protocol decision on the situation in Afghanistan and activization
of efforts for post-conflict restoration of Afghanistan was adopted.

Western Prelacy News in Brief

December 22, 2006

PRESS RELEASE

Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

PRELATE TO PRESIDE OVER MASS AT HOLY CROSS CATHEDRAL

In accordance with our Church calendar, Monday, December 25, is the
Feast of St. Stephen the Proto-Martyr, a day when we commemorate the
life of St. Stephen, one of the first seven deacons and the first
martyr of Christendom. On this day, we also honor our deacons.

On this occasion, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate,
will preside over Mass and deliver the sermon at Holy Cross Cathedral
in Montebello.

ST. MARY’S CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL NEW YEAR AND CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

On Sunday, December 24, St. Mary’s Sunday School students will present
their New Year’s and Christmas program at 10:30 a.m. at the church
hall in Glendale. Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian will represent the
Prelate and convey his message.

The Forty Martyrs Church in Orange County and Holy Cross Cathedral
in Montebello will also have New Year’s celebrations, organized by
their respective Board of Trustees.

www.westernprelacy.org

Pipeline Break Cuts Russian Gas Supply To Armenia

PIPELINE BREAK CUTS RUSSIAN GAS SUPPLY TO ARMENIA
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 20 2006

Armenia was receiving a fraction of its regular gas supplies from
Russia for a third consecutive day on Wednesday due to the reported
rupture at a vital pipeline running through neighboring Georgia.

Georgian officials say a section of the pipeline was ruptured by an
avalanche on Sunday. Armenia has since been importing Russian gas
through a much smaller reserve pipeline.

"Both yesterday and today, the volume of the imported gas met only one
third of our domestic demand," a spokeswoman for the ArmRosGazprom
(ARG) national gas operator, Shushan Sardarian, told RFE/RL. "At
the moment, intensive repairs are underway at the site of the
accident. Specialists from Armenia are also there."

"According to our Georgian colleagues, consequences of the accident
may be eliminated as early as this evening," Sardarian said.

In the meantime, she added, ARG is offsetting the shortfall by pumping
gas from its massive underground storage facility north of Yerevan. The
facility already allowed Armenia to avoid gas and electricity shortages
during last winter’s mysterious blasts on Russian sections of both
pipelines which fully disrupted Russian gas deliveries to both South
Caucasus states for nearly one month.

Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, claimed on Tuesday that the latest
pipeline break is fraught with severe consequences for Armenia. "We
don’t know what caused the rupture at the Georgian pipeline," Gazprom
spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said in a statement. "But it is obvious
that if repair works drag on for long, Armenia could be left without
gas in the storage in winter. It is a very worrying situation."

Russian gas is used for generating about 40 percent of Armenia’s
electricity. It is also the principal source of winter heating.

Days Of Armenian Literature In Moscow

DAYS OF ARMENIAN LITERATURE IN MOSCOW

ArmRadio.am
20.12.2006 17:11

Days of Armenian Literature opened in Moscow today. President of
the Writers’ Union Levon Ananyan told the journalists today that the
delegation of the Writers’ Union is participating in the event. These
days contemporary Armenia prose and poetry will sound in Moscow.

In the framework of the arrangement the Russian translation of the
" Contemporary Armenian Novel" collection will be presented in the
Moscow House of Nationalities. It has been published on financing of
the Russian side.

Armenian writers are due to meet with creative unions of Moscow and
representatives of the sphere of literature of Yaroslavl city. The
Days of Armenian literature will come to an end on December 24.

Armenian Serviceman Dies From Azerbaijani Sniper’s Shot In Ijevan Mi

ARMENIAN SERVICEMAN DIES FROM AZERBAIJANI SNIPER’S SHOT IN IJEVAN MILITARY UNIT’S MARTIAL POSITIONS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 19 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. 39-year-old contract serviceman,
junior sergeant Ruben Tamrazian received fire-arms injury in the
tract of his heart from fire shot by Azerbaijani sniper and died on
the spot in martial positions of Ijevan military unit on December 18,
at about 18:00. Noyan Tapan was informed about it from RA Defence
Ministry Press Service.

Armavia Airline Opens New Regular Flight Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan

ARMAVIA AIRLINE OPENS NEW REGULAR FLIGHT YEREVAN-TBILISI-YEREVAN

Yerevan, December 18. ArmInfo. The national carrier of Armenia,
Armavia airline, has opened a new flight Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan. The
flight was suspended after the collapse of the former USSR, Armavia
press-service reports.

According to the source, YAK-42 will fly to Tbilisi and back twice
in a week. The cost of a one-way ticket starts from $50, airport
duties exclusive. The flight lasts 35-40 minutes. The new flight was
necessitated by the high demand for air communication between the
two states due to development of business contacts. This flight will
become a transshipment way for passenger transportation between Russia
and Georgia as Russia has suspended the direct transport communication
with Georgia.

One Man’s Fairy Tale Is Another Man’s Political Technology

ONE MAN’S FAIRY TALE IS ANOTHER MAN’S POLITICAL TECHNOLOGY
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 14 2006

Attorney General Aghvan Hovsepyan was right when he stated that
there is no need to push him into politics. But the society would
not give up. Although we should understand him too because unlike
Aghvan Hovsepyan the society did not know that the government was
pushing Aghvan Hovsepyan out of politics. It is natural that finally
the government would prevail independent from Aghvan Hovsepyan’s wish.

Most people may wonder what made the Attorney General set up the
Unification for Armenia Party, which is declining, as it became
clear from the news conference of Vahram Baghdasaryan, one of the
initiators of the political party, who has now got down with the
Attorney General to setting up another union, this time that of
unions of compatriots. But why was this political party created,
which died before it would be born? This question will remain without
an answer like the question why the New Country Party died before it
was born. In addition, it is notable that both parties were backed by
representatives of the government, an attorney general and the head of
the president administration. It is notable that both are appointed
by the president. It appears that they are not so ingenuous to set
up a political party without the approval of their superior.

Consequently, either they were cheated, or they tried to cheat their
superior, which was not forgiven.

But before these two suggestions, which have got a lot of contemplation
among the society and experts, it is worthwhile to pay attention
to another significant thing. In Armenia besides these two political
parties the third was set up as well – the Bargavach Hayastan Party. In
other words, to sum up, in "the father had three sons…" fairy tales
one of the sons is not smart but in the end he is fortunate. But the
charm of the fairy tale is that the luckiness of one is emhasized
again the misfortune of the other two. In addition, if one is lucky
though he is not smart, the other two are unlucky even though they
are smart. Moral: brains is not a deciding factor in life.

There is a reason why the fairy tale teaches this moral, and the
peculiarities of the environment and time when these fairy tales
were created are to be taken into account. However, by watching TV
channels which televise the events of the day every evening one may
become convinced that in modern Armenia everything is done on the
level of state propaganda to reduce the importance of the factor
of mind for success in life, and the impression is that charity and
lotteries are the only things that happen during the day in Armenia.

In other words, one needs to get something from someone else or
win something somewhere to live on. Of course, a society with such
mentality will not make any steps to gain control of the situation in
the country. It is not a secret for anyone, even the society, which
surrenders to this game even though it realizes everything, because
charity follows charity, and one lottery follows the other. There is no
beginning and end in this song. And once the game started, it must be
carried on at full. There cannot be a sphere which defies this logic.

It is quite natural that the Attorney General and the former
head of the administration, even though they were educated and
intelligent, would not be successful to evaluate the success of the
"third son" against this background, as the logic of the fairy tail
suggests. But it is also natural that the two failures should first
start something. Did they know the ultimate goal of their real mission?

This question should be sought on the pages of childhood of Aghvan
Hovsepyan and Artashes Tumanyan. If they have read Russian fairy tales,
they should have known. Maybe they have read, and thought that they
and their superior are no longer children. And in this sense they
were quite right. But they did not realize an important thing: they
read tales in childhood to bring them into being at a mature age not
to waste time on reading.

BAKU: OSCE MG Co-Chairs And Ingoing Chairman Miguel Angel Moratinos

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS AND INGOING CHAIRMAN MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS MEET IN MADRID

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 13 2006

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Matthew Bryza (the US), Yuri Merzlyakov
(Russia) and Bernard Fassier (France) met with Spanish Foreign
Minister, OSCE ingoing chairman Miguel Angel Moratinos in Madrid,
OSCE MG co-chair Matthew Bryza’s office told the APA.

The co-chairs made a report to the OSCE chairman on the details
of the meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents held in
Minsk. The parties exchanged views on the current situation of the
process of settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The meeting in Madrid aimed at introducing the co-chairs to the OSCE
ongoing chairman.

Winners Of The Literary Contest Of Anti-Corruption Works Known

WINNERS OF THE LITERARY CONTEST OF ANTI-CORRUPTION WORKS KNOWN

ArmRadio.am
08.12.2006 15:19

Five authors have been named the winners of the literary contest of
anti-corruption works. 46 compositions were presented in the contest
initiated by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and RA Writers’ Union.

IN the prose genre the winner was Amrikyan, while the author of the
best poem was Manvel Mikoyan of Vanadzor.

Dramatist Samvel Kosyan was named the winner in the theatric
genre. Hrachya Matevosyan and Margo Ghukasyan were the best in the
genre of publicism.

Nikita Zarubyan was awarded a special prize for periodically
highlighting corruption phenomena.

During the awarding ceremony today Head of the OSCE Office in
Yerevan Vladimir Pryakhin said that this contest comprises part of
the anti-corruption program of the Office. According to him, this
widely spread phenomenon hinders the economic development in Armenia
and a number of other post-Soviet states.

Therefore, the struggle against it should be carried out not only by
the government, but also the society. Vladimir Pryakhin noted also that
the increase of tax revenues of the state budget evidences that the
fight against corruption in the country is yielding certain results.