AVETIK GRIGORIAN AND SAMVEL TER-SAHAKIAN IN GROUP OF LEADERS IN WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
Noyan Tapan
Nov 27 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Among Armenian chess players Avetik
Grigorian (18 years old) has received 7 out of 9 possible points and
shares the 2-5th places, and Samvel Ter-Sahakian (14 years old) the
3-7th places with the same number of points in the meetings of the
ninth stage held in November 26 in the World Chess Youth Championship
in the city of Kemer, Turkey.
POLLING STATION TO BE OPENED AT THE GEORGIAN EMBASSY IN YEREVAN ON JANUARY 5
armradio.am
28.11.2007 16:24
A polling station will be opened in Yerevan to provide the opportunity
to Georgian citizens in Armenia to participate in the presidential
elections.
Georgian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia
Revaz Gachechiladze told Armenpress that on January 5th a polling
station will be opened at the Georgian Embassy in Yerevan.
The Ambassador will provide further information to Georgian citizens
in Armenia through mass media.
According to Revaz Gachechiladze, 350 to 500 Georgian citizens are
residing in Armenia, but only 350 of them are officially registered
at the Embassy.
"We will not oblige anyone to participate in the election. The
presidential candidates are 22, the choice is big, let them come and
vote," the Ambassador said.
PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS OF GYUMRI DEMAND TO SPEED UP SOLUTION OF PROBLEM OF PROVIDING HOMELESS PEOPLE WITH APARTMENTS
Noyan Tapan
Nov 29, 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The participants of the public
discussion, convened by a number of public organizations on November
27 at the journalists’ club "Asparez", decided to send a message
to the authorities of the country till the 19th anniversary of the
December 7, 1988 earthquake, with which they will demand to implement
capital construction in the earthquake zone and to provide the homeless
people with apartments by 2-3-year allocations of the state budget. The
message will include suggestions on stimulating the business with tax,
customs and bank privileges in the earthquake zone as well as working
out prospective state program of development of Shirak.
According to data of "Asparez", Anushavan Papikian, the Head of
Department of Registration and Distribution of Apartments of the
Gyumri Mayor’s Office, said during the discussion that 3972 homeless
families are registered in the city as of November 27, 2007. According
to Albert Margarian, Head of Urban Development Department of the
Shirak Regional Administration, due to program of Certificates of
Purchasing Apartments (CPA) implemented 4-5 years ago by the Urban
Institute and with the funds of the USAID, 4091 homeless families
bought apartments in the city of Gyumri, and 4838 families in the
whole region. Within the framework of the CPA program implemented
with the funds of the 2006 state budget, 240 homeless families or
73% of those registered in the program bought apartments. During
11 months of 2007, 389 families applied to regional administration
for using the CPA program, 193 ones out of which have already bought
apartments. A. Margarian mentioned that the nominal prices of CPA are
reconsidered once every three months according to the data given by
the State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre.
According to the discussion participants, the funds given by the CPA
are always smaller that the market prices of apartments. It comes that
the purchaser-homeless people are obliged to add money for buying an
apartment, and very often, just the former homeless people who bought
apartments, not having enough means for living, sell their apartments,
then emigrate or return to cottages.
According to A. Margarian, 815 million drams (nearly 2.7 million USD)
from the means of the 2008 state budget is envisaged for the CPA
program, 100 million drams out of which for the homeless families
of Spitak.
In the opinion of most of the participants of the discussion, the
solution of the problem of providing the homeless people of Gyumri
with apartments through the CPA program is not realistic as 10-15
years will be needed for providing 3972 families with apartments
with the current rates. It was suggested to end the construction of
unfinished buildings remaining still from the USSR times, to involve
the means of international grant and the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.
"ELIMINATION MATCHES WILL BE HELD IN ARMENIA"
A1+
[02:14 pm] 30 November, 2007
Elimination matches of the European Under-19 Championship will be held
in Armenia. Vardan Minassian and Armen Melik-Bekian participated at the
sortition, and the decision was made in their presence," chief coach of
the Armenian football team under 19 Armen Giulbudaghiants informed A1+.
Armenia is involved in Group 7 and is to compete with Spain, Turkey
and Ukraine. "Our contenders are very strong and experienced. The
Spanish team under 19 has twice become the champion of Europe over
the past two years. In 1988 the Turkish team became the European
under-17 champion," the coach said.
To note, try-outs under 19 will be held in Yerevan for the first time.
OSKANYAN – MAMEDIAROV USUAL MEETING TOOK PLACE
Panorama.am
20:48 29/11/2007
Today the meeting of Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar Mamediarov, the
ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan took place
in Madrid. OSCE Minsk Group three chairmen took part in the meeting
also. According to the Azeri press agencies Sergey Lavrov, RF Minister
of Foreign Affairs, and Nicholas Burns, the deputy of the USA state
secretary on international questions.
According to the sources NK problems were discussed during the
meeting. Detailed information is not provided.
ARMENIAN NGOs HAVE PROBLEM OF FINANCIAL STABILITY
Noyan Tapan
Nov 30, 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The November 30 round table
organized by the Professionals for the Sake of Civil Society NGO was
dedicated to the problem of civil society in Armenia, mostly to the
problem of financial stability of NGOs’ sector.
According to Karen Sargsian, a member of Board of the Professionals
for the Sake of Civil Society NGO, a specialist of protection of
interests, local NGOs functioning with financing of international
organizations in Armenia, not being sponsored by these structures
in the future, appear in a hard financial position and are not able
to fulfil their goals and tasks any longer. Study of experience of
coming out of such situations and of experience contributing to NGOs’
financial rehabilitation abroad showed that the law of "one percent"
was used there: that is, a tax-payer just transfers 1 percent of
tax paid by him to this or that organization. NGOs have considerably
developed and become independent in countries where that law has been
adopted and used.
According to K. Sargsian, the adoption of the law of "one percent" in
RA will have positive manifestations: distribution of financial means
will become more democratic, the people will take a direct part in it,
the law will induce the public to make charity, and the organizations,
which have no possibilities of receiving grants, will become a source
of stable financing.
Karen Sargsian also said that the organization has already conducted
a number of studies in this direction and the bill of "one percent"
has been given out to the National Assembly’s Zharangutiun (Heritage),
Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia), and Republican factions.
YEZDI AND JEWISH COMMUNITIES TO SUPPORT SERZH SARGSYAN
Panorama.am
16:56 30/11/2007
"During the upcoming presidential elections our community will support
the candidacy of Serzh Sargsyan," Aziz Tamoyan, chairman of World Yezdi
Community, told a meeting with reporters today. He said Sargsyan has
paid a lot of attention to Yezdi community and has solved several
problems. In his words, there are 60,000 Yezdies living in Armenia
today and they will all support Serzh Sargsyan.
The leader of the Jewish community, Rima Varjapetyan, did not speak on
behalf of the community. Expressing her own point of view, Varjapetyan
said that the country has developed under the rule of the current
authorities and that fact cannot be neglected. She said she is going
to support Serzh Sargsyan in the presidential elections since the
minority issues have always been in the focus of his attention.
KIDNAPPED PRIEST FREED IN TURKEY
by Peter Lamprecht
Journal Chretien
e4072
Nov 30 2007
France
Motive for abduction of Syrian Orthodox clergyman remains uncertain.
A Syrian Orthodox priest kidnapped in southeastern Turkey Wednesday
(November 28) walked free from his captors this afternoon, a church
source said.
Father Edip Daniel Savci, 42, was released around noon in the city
of Batman , 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Midyat, where he was
kidnapped.
"He called us himself and gave us the news," Yuhannan Gulten of Syrian
Orthodox Mor Gabriel Monastery south of Midyat told Compass.
"We immediately called the police, and they went to get him."
Gulten said that the priest’s captors had set him free without outside
intervention. He was unable to answer questions about Savci’s health,
the identity of his kidnappers or whether a ransom was paid.
"All we know is that the security forces are accompanying him here,
and we expect him within half and hour," Gulten said.
Conservative Haber7.com news website claimed that Savci’s captors
had also been captured but did not give further details.
The kidnappers had demanded 300,000 euros (US$443,720) in exchange
for the priest’s release when they contacted a fellow clergyman from
Savci’s mobile telephone soon after the abduction.
Batman Gov. Vekili Aziz Mercan said that Savci had been released in
the city center and telephoned Mor Gabriel monastery from a business
in Batman’s Sirinevler neighborhood, according to CNN Turk website.
The website reported that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
telephoned Mor Gabriel Monastery to congratulate the monks on the
priest’s release.
It remains unclear why unidentified assailants first abducted and
then released the hard-working priest, who took care of 12 children
at his monastery and doubled as the village repairman.
Though the incident appears to have been done for money, the current
anti- Chris tian atmosphere in Turkey may have influenced the
kidnappers, columnist Murat Belge wrote today.
"At least society will look at it as a ‘partial good work’ [if I
kidnap a Chris tian] – that’s an advantage," the writer for daily
Radikal said, in an attempt to simulate the kidnapper’s reasoning.
He commented that the words, "be smart" which reportedly preceded
the captor’s demand for ransom in a text message sent on November 28,
were an indication of an anti- Chris tian motive.
The phrase alludes to Yasin Hayal, one of the men charged with planning
the death of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January. As Hayal was
brought to an Istanbul courtroom in January, he shouted an apparent
threat to Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, "Orhan Pamuk, be smart ! Be
smart!"
Violent attacks against Chris tians in Turkey have been on the rise
in recent years.
In February 2006, a young Turkish teenager shot and killed a Catholic
priest in the northern port city of Trabzon . Last week saw the opening
hearing of the trial of five young men who tortured and murdered
three Protestants at a Chris tian publishing house in Malatya in April.
Finnish ambassador to OSCE: Finland to make all efforts to settle the
Karabakh conflict during presidency in OSCE in 2008
2007-12-01 09:42:00
ArmInfo. Finland will make all the efforts to settle the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict during presidency in OSCE in 2008, Finnish Ambassador
to OSCE said at the briefing of OSCE’s Three in Madrid, ArmInfo’s
correspondent reports. He said that success of the process depends not
only on Finland but on the conflicting parties and on display of the
political will. The ambassador added that they support the process and
the events within the frames of the mediatory mission. The OSCE MG
carries out a valuable work for the process advancement. He also
expressed hope that the Finnish foreign minister will be able to visit
the South Caucasus region in early, 2008.
RUSSIAN DUMA ELECTIONS WERE NOT FAIR
A1+
[02:50 am] 03 December, 2007
Russian Duma elections ‘not held on a level playing field’, say
parliamentary observers.
The State Duma elections in the Russian Federation on 2 December
2007 were not fair and failed to meet many OSCE and Council of Europe
commitments and standards for democratic elections, according to an
observation mission of parliamentarians from these two bodies.
The observation, bringing together over 70 parliamentarians from 28
countries, was a joint effort of delegations from the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Luc van den Brande,
and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA), led by Goran Lennmarker. The Nordic
Council also joins these two bodies in this statement. A broader
participation of international observers would have been preferable
and could have contributed to greater transparency.
In general, the elections were well organised and observers noticed
significant technical improvements.
However, they took place in an atmosphere which seriously limited
political competition and with frequent abuse of administrative
resources, media coverage strongly in favour of the ruling party,
and an election code whose cumulative effect hindered political
pluralism. There was not a level political playing field in Russia
in 2007. In particular, the following major areas raised concern:
* The merging of the state and a political party is an abuse of power
and a clear violation of international commitments and standards.
* The media showed strong bias in favour of President Putin and the
ruling United Russia party.
* The new election code makes it extremely difficult for new and
smaller parties to develop and compete effectively.
* There were widespread reports of harassment of opposition
parties. The Copenhagen Commitments (5.4), agreed by all OSCE
participating states, specifically state that there should be "a clear
separation between the State and political parties; in particular,
political parties will not be merged with the State".
The Council of Europe’s Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters
(I.2.3) lays down that state authorities must have "a neutral
attitude" to the election campaign, media coverage and party and
campaign funding.
The extensive use of administrative resources – such as state
infrastructure and personnel on the public payroll – on behalf
of United Russia is a clear violation of these commitments and
standards. Most appointed governors are included on United Russia
lists, which is misleading to voters as these senior officials
are unlikely to abandon high public office to take up seats in the
Duma. The active role of the head of state on behalf of United Russia,
in spite of not being a member of that party, turned a parliamentary
election into a referendum on the President.
Broadcast media, particularly television, is under almost total state
control. President Putin and United Russia dominated the airwaves
during the election campaign with overwhelmingly positive coverage.
According to monitoring reports, the state-funded media failed in
their public mandate to offer balanced and objective coverage and
this made it very difficult for the voters to get an accurate and
unbiased picture of the political parties and the issues.
The print media have been more dynamic and there have been examples
of balanced coverage in several newspapers. However, the print
media, in particular the more independent papers, do not reach a
wide audience. The new election law creates a pure proportional list
system in which only established political parties can seek election,
eliminating the possibility for local and independent candidates to
run for office.
The total effect of the new election code makes it extremely difficult
for new and small parties to develop and compete effectively. The
registration procedure is complicated and requires either a substantial
fee or a high number of signatures. The code also contains significant
financial disincentives for smaller parties to participate in the
campaign.
The seven percent threshold and the ban on parties forming electoral
blocs discourage the development of new political parties and more
pluralistic parliamentary representation.
The pre-election campaign was marked by the authorities’ clampdowns
on opposition rallies and demonstrations. Voters were denied an open
campaign, as United Russia chose not to participate in political
debates, making it more difficult for voters to directly compare the
platforms of the various political parties.
There were persistent reports of harassment of opposition candidates,
detentions, confiscation of election material, threats against voters
and allegations of the potential misuse of absentee certificates. NGOs
have faced restrictions on their work, and some also reported they were
not allowed to observe the voting at polling stations on election day.
On election day, polling stations seemed well-run, although they
were at times crowded. The voting took place in a mostly calm and
friendly atmosphere.
Election officials were generally welcoming, although the observers
experienced some over-zealous policemen.
Domestic observers representing various political parties were present
in many polling stations.
Observers noticed that people who were not registered and without
absentee certificates were allowed to vote. Voting arrangements, such
as the use of electronic boxes and voting booths that did not provide
adequate privacy, failed to protect the secrecy of the vote. The seals
on some ballot-boxes were inadequate. Some international observers
faced obstructions to their work – including, in isolated cases,
refusal of access.