Author: Karapetian Hovik

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 22, 2006

CONTACT: Christine Kojoian

E-mail: [email protected]

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY WELCOMES ENACTMENT OF BILL BLOCKING FUNDS FOR
RAILROAD BYPASS

President Bush Signs Export-Import Bill into Law

Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly today hailed the enactment
of legislation prohibiting funding for a railroad linking Turkey,
Azerbaijan and Georgia while bypassing Armenia. The bill was signed
into law this week as part of a comprehensive measure known as the
Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2006.

The legislation included an amendment by Senators Robert Menendez
(D-NJ) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) ensuring that no Export-Import funding
is used for a rail line which seeks to isolate Armenia from economic
and regional transportation corridors. The provision mirrors the South
Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act, which was introduced in
both Houses with the support of the Armenian Assembly.

In a statement to the Assembly, the Co-Chairs of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues welcomed the adoption of the Export-Import
bill.

"We are pleased that this important amendment was included in the final
overall legislation," said Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI). "U.S. policy in the South Caucasus seeks to foster
regional cooperation and normalization of relations, not isolation. We
urge Turkey to review its policy of alienating Armenia, end its 13
year blockade and take steps to cooperate with its neighbors."

Enactment of this provision is part of the Armenian Assembly’s
anti-isolation campaign and resulted in a successful outcome with
final passage in the waning days of the 109th Congress.

"This Assembly initiative to combat Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s attempts
to isolate Armenia is just one of the many ways in which we are working
to ensure a secure and prosperous homeland," said Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny. "We very much appreciate the leadership of House and
Senate Members for bringing this important initiative to fruition."

"I also want to thank those organizations and individuals who joined
us in this community-wide effort," he added.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

NR#2006-108

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 22 2006

Armenian Speaker accuses Georgia

[ 22 Dec. 2006 15:08 ]

"Armenian delegations to the international forums must act in the
interests of their own state," Armenian Parliament Speaker Tigran
Torosian said while commenting on the statements by Nino Burjanadze who
accused the Armenian parliamentary delegation of foiling the conclusion
of the resulting communique of the South Caucasus Parliamentary
Initiative winter session, APA reports.

He said that it would not be bad if the interests of Armenia and
Georgia coincided.

"But Georgian side wishes decisions beneficial to them were adopted
each time. And this case they do not take into consideration whether
their position corresponds to Armenia’s interests," the speaker stated.

It should be noted that, Final Communique was not adopted in the last
meeting of South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative. Georgia blames
Armenia for this, Georgian parliament’s speaker Nino Burjanadze said.

The meetings of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative are held
twice a year. Though Georgia offered the clause concerning the increase
of xenophobia tendencies against Georgians and the representatives
of other Caucasian nations in Russia, Armenia did not agree to
it. Armenian parliamentarians offered to substitute the word "Russia"
by "in a number of countries" in the suggested clause. But Georgia did
not accept Armenians’ offer, so the final document was not signed. Nino
Burjanadze estimated Armenia’s position as an unpleasant fact form the
point of view of formation of unique principles of the region. /APA/

CREATING SECURITY CONDITIONS FOR CHILDREN IN GAVAR SPECIAL SCHOOL

ArmRadio.am
20.12.2006 10:38

On December 20, 2006 at 14:00 the official opening of the fence
of Gavar Special School #1 will take place. The school’s fence
was constructed through the US Embassy and USAID-funded Community
Self-Help Fund (CSHF) program, which is implemented by Save the
Children. Representatives of the US Embassy, USAID, Save the Children,
Gegharkunik Marzpetaran, and the Gavar community will participate in
the event.

The Special School in Gavar is the only school for mentally and
physically handicapped children in Gegharkunik marz. Founded in 1976,
it has 45 children in residence and 47 more children attend the
school on a daily basis from a greater Gavar. All of the children
suffer from a mental deficiency – Down Syndrome, mental retardation,
and Alcohol Syndrome.

Approximately 25% of these children also have physical
disabilities. Given that out of the 650 children with special needs
among the marz population 80% have little or no access to special
education, the school administration works to improve the school
conditions and involve more disabled children. With an increasing
school population, security and safety of the children had become
a vital issue for the school. In particular, there was an urgent
need to construct a courtyard wall for the safety of the children,
for what the school administration applied to Save the Children for
a Community Self-Help Fund program grant.

As a result of the project a new fence made of tufa stone and metal
bar stretching of 385 meters was constructed. It allows the 92
school children to safely spend time outside the building and not
feel isolated.

The total cost of the project was USD 18,756 of which USD 15,658
was provided by the Community Self-Help Fund, while USD 3,098 (16.5%
of the project cost) was contributed by the Gavar community in form
of labor and construction materials.

TURKMENBASHI DIED

A1+
[01:03 pm] 21 December, 2006

Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov was the President of Turkmenistan, from
1990 until his death. It was under his leadership that Turkmenistan
declared its freedom from the former Soviet Union. His official title
is "His Excellency Saparmurat Niyazov "Turkmenbashi," President
of Turkmenistan and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers". His
title Turkmenbashi, "Leader of all Ethnic Turkmen" referred to his
position of the founder and president of the Association of Turkmen
of the World.

The State TV Station of Turkmenistan has officially confirmed the
news about Turkmenbashi’s death. .

"At about 1:10 a.m., Saparmurat Niyazov’s heart stopped
beating. President of Turkmenistan died at the age of 67", says the
official report broadcast via all media. According to non-official
sources, "the cause of the death could be the diabetes".

Security Council of Turkmenistan has already convened plenary
sitting. The key issues of the discussion were the country’s stability
and maintenance of discipline.

DRAM REVALUATION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON LIVING STANDARDS

A1+
[02:52 pm] 19 December, 2006

No matter how hard economists try to prove that the recent revaluation
of the dram has had its positive influence from many points of view,
in practice we see the vice versa; RA citizens have suffered greatly
from the dram appreciation.

"A1+" offered it readers to answer the following question, "Does the
dram appreciation influence on the mode of life?"

On the whole, over 359 people participated in the polling. Most of
them (53%) assume that the dram revaluation has its negative impact
on the life standards. Others gave the following answers;

Yes, it influences positively (25 %)

Slightly (4%)

Greatly (11 %)

It doesn’t influence at all (4%)

I cannot give a definite answer (3%)

This week "A1+" has initiated polling to find out the level of
corruption in Armenia". Therefore, we urge our readers to participate
in the polling actively and to answer the question, "Did you have to
give bribes over the passing year?"

CYPRIOT FM: WE MAY STILL VETO EU-TURKEY TALKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.12.2006 17:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas
said on Sunday that the Greek Cypriot administration may still veto
opening of chapters with Turkey in its EU accession talks. ‘We cannot
close our eyes to the behavior of Turkey vetoing our membership
to the international organizations. Under these conditions nobody
should expect opening of any chapter in Turkey’s accession talks,"
Lillikas said. The Greek Cypriot foreign minister was referring to
Ankara’s veto of Greek Cypriot membership to several international
organizations and activities including the Organization of Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) and participation in strategic
EU-NATO discussions. The Greek Cypriot administration claims
sovereignty on the whole island including the Turkish north, while
Turkey only recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,
reports The New Anatolian.

AMBASSADOR RUBEN KARAPETIAN HANDS HIS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT OF SUDAN

KHARTOUM, DECEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 12, Ruben Karapetian,
who is also RA Ambassador in Egypt, handed his credentials to
President of Republic of Sudan, Omar Hasan el-Bashir. During the
tete-a-tete talk that followed the ceremony, the President of Sudan
highly estimated the historic relations of peoples of Armenia and
Sudan and as a bright evidence emphasized the existence of the small
Armenian community having high features. The President of Sudan and
the Ambassador of Armenia exchanged opinions on issues of development
of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, in particular, in spheres
of agriculture, high technologies, science, education and culture.
According to the report submitted to Noyan Tapan from RA Foreign
Ministry Press and Information Department, on December 11, Ambassador
Karapetian handed the copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister of
Sudan Lam Akol. The interlocutors spoke about development prospects of
bilateral relations attaching importance to necessity of development
of trade and economic cooperation. Ambassador Karapetian also touched
upon historic and modern relations of Armenia and Arab-Mohammedan
world, as well as the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. The same day the Ambassador visited the Armenian
church of Sudan and met with representatives of the Armenian
community.

ARMENIA HAS BEST FOREIGN DEBT PORTFOLIO IN REGION

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Dec 14 2006

YEREVAN, December 13. /ARKA/. Armenia has the best foreign debt
portfolio in the region.

Head of Department for Foreign Debt Management, RA Ministry of Finance
and Economy, Arshaluys Margaryan said that the portfolio is formed
of loans with a zero interest rate, a 30-40-year-long repayment term
and a 10-year grace period. "The grace period of the first loans has
expired, that of the others will expire in two years’ time. We are
currently repaying loans and paying loan service costs," he said.

Margaryan pointed out that repayment amounts do not seriously affect
the country’s budget.

According to international standards, Armenia is among the countries
with light debt burden, Margaryan said.

Armenia’s foreign debt had totaled $1168.1mlb by September 30, 2006,
with a 21% share in GDP against 22% in 2005.

DENIS BRIBOSIA: "NAGORNO KARABAKH REFERENDUM IS NON-PROGRESSIVE STEP IN THE SETTLEMENT OF CONFLICT"

Today, Azerbaijan
Dec 13 2006

"The referendum held in Nagorno Karabakh is a non-progressive step
in the settlement of the conflict," EU Secretary General’s special
representative in Azerbaijan Denis Bribosia told.

He said that this referendum may hamper the process of the settlement
of the conflict, APA reports.

Touching upon the restoration of ANS’s broadcasting Denis Bribosia
called November 24 "the saddest day for the Azerbaijani press".

"I mean suspense of ANS’s broadcasting, the removal of the Azadliq
newspaper, Turan Information Agency and other newspapers from their
offices," he said.

Denis Bribosia said international organizations are satisfied with
the restoration of ANS broadcasting.

"This fact shows that better steps may be taken in the sphere
of freedom of press in Azerbaijan in future. The restoration of
ANS broadcasting is good news not only for me and international
organizations, but also for the Azerbaijani people. Now they can hear
pluralistic news," Mr. Bribosia said.

URL:

JUSTICE MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND GEORGIA TO SIGN MEMORANDUM OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 12 2006

On December 11, Justice Ministers of Georgia and Armenia Gia Kavtaradze
and David Arutunyan respectively will sign a memorandum of mutual
understanding. The signing ceremony would be held in the building of
the ministry at 16.30.

A delegation from the Justice Ministry of Armenia headed by Arutunyan
came to Georgia on December 11 on a two day official visit invited
by Kavtaradze.