Author: Madatian Greg

PanARMENIAN.Net

Oskanian, Bordyuzha discuss cooperation within CSTO
05.12.2007 14:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Currently in Moscow, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian met with CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha to
discuss agreements concluded in 2007 and forthcoming meetings of CSTO
executive bodies in Yerevan.

The parties noted Armenia’s activity within the organization and
voiced confidence that appointment of new representative to CSTO will
promote cooperation. Besides, they referred to Rubezh 2008 exercise
due in Armenia.

Cooperation of the CSTO member states within international and
regional organizations was also discussed, the RA MFA press office
said.

PanARMENIAN.Net

American Intelligence Agency cancels the war with Iran

The Bush Administration should take example from Reagan, who tried to
keep better relations with the Soviet Union.
04.12.2007 GMT+04:00

The day before the report of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was
published in the USA. It is explicitly mentioned in the report that
Iran hasn’t been working at any nuclear program since 2003. Meanwhile
the authors of the document emphasize that the Islamic Republic of
Iran continues uranium enrichment, so it can enquire nuclear weapon
from 2010 to 2015. These conclusions differ from those reached two
years ago, when the American special services believed that Tehran was
rather determined about its nuclear program and continued its
realization.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Now, as the representative of the US CIA mentions,
it may be thought that the diplomatic pressure had a certain effect on
Iranian authorities. In the information provided, there is a
conclusion which attracts particular attention. According to it
`Tehran’s decision to quite the works on nuclear program proves that
the country is less willing to manufacture nuclear weapon, than we
thought in 2005.’

According to the U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs Stephen Hadley, the annual report of the National Intelligence
contains good news. The report gives grounds for hopes that the
problem may be solved in a diplomatic way, without any force, which is
what the Administration has been trying to achieve,’ said National
Security Advisor.

Overestimation of the danger of Iran’s nuclear power is given by the
National Intelligence Estimate (NIE); the annual report of the
National Intelligence, where the idea of the CIA and other 15
intelligence bodies coordinated by the United States Director of
National Intelligence Mike McConnell is prevailing. Sometimes these
estimations are not exact, just like the report about the weapon of
mass destruction of Saddam Hussein, which became nothing but a simple
excuse for the war in Iraq. Usually these kind of reports are kept
secret, but McConnell decided to make the report concerning Tehran
public, to delude the public opinion, taking into account the fact
that the content of this report is different from the information
provided by the pervious one.

As the Italian newspaper La Repubblica writes, in the previous report
of 2005 the American reconnaissance assured `with great certainty’
that Iran intended to acquire nuclear weapon in spite of the
international liability and pressure from the outside. According to
this information, the White House was at the head of the international
offensive to isolate and punish Tehran through its
sanctions. Yesterday’s document is completely different from the one
which was submitted two years ago. In the new report it is confirmed
that by the middle of the year of 2007 Iran didn’t recommence programs
on nuclear weapon, but continued uranium enrichment process with big
difficulties. It is mentioned in the document that the turning of 2003
was connected with the diplomatic pressure and a stricter control from
the world community. Regarding future it is said in the report that
the decision about nuclear weapon manufacturing is made on the basis
of analysis of expenses and benefits, without being influenced by
political, economic or military interests.

But how can we explain the sudden change in the National
Intelligence’s viewpoint? `The information received over the last
several months made us reconsider the whole problem,’ explained one of
the officials. The difference between the reports of 2005 and 2007
gives rise to many questions regarding the authenticity of the
information and the works carried out by the agents, as well as
mysterious games of the authorities in the institutions in
Washington. On the other hand it is not clear yet what the
consequences of the new report would be for the coming European
negotiations with Tehran and the negotiations in the UNO’, writes the
newspaper.

At the same time the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Manouchehr
Mottaki approved the report of the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency. `We naturally welcome the fact that the countries which used
to have doubts and uncertainties regarding this issue have decided to
reconsider their views. The character of peaceful use of Iran’s
nuclear weapon becomes clear to the entire world,’ said the
Minister. The US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed his hopes
that the White House will take all the necessary measures to mend its
contacts with Iran.

`I hope that this Administration will carefully read the report and
will respectively correct its policy in regards Iran. The Bush
Administration should take example from Reagan, who tried to keep
better relations with the Soviet Union,’ said Reid. Such a reaction of
the Democrats shows how serious consequences the publication of the
report may have and this should undoubtedly worry the American
military leadership. «PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department

CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM

KarabakhOpen
05-12-2007 11:07:26

Issues on the development of tourism in Artsakh were discussed in
yesterday’s conference held by the Tourism Development Agency. The
director of the agency Sergey Shahverdyan presented the results of the
monitoring according to which 2 new hotels were opened in Karabakh
in 2007, the Armenia Hotel in Stepanakert and the Tsovi Kar in the
village of Vank, the aqua park was opened near the village of Togh in
Hadrut, and the ethnic quarters in the village of Ghshlagh in Askeran.

"Currently the capacity of hotels in Karabakh is 422 which is up by
20 percent from the previous year. However, hotel load is hardly 10
percent," Sergey Shahverdyan said. The participants of the conference
said it is due to expensive prices.

According to Aslan Grigoryan, director of Aslan Travel, there are
prospects for development of tourism in Karabakh but they are not
used. He said the development of tourism is hindered by the lack of
travel agencies, as well as advertising.

The participants said it is necessary to create an agency which would
coordinate the sphere of tourism and to publish tour guides. It was
proposed to focus on improvement of roads to cultural and historical
sights, as well as to develop museums.

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE WANTS MORE TRANSPARENCY

KarabakhOpen
05-12-2007 11:08:11

The minister of justice Arthur Mosiyan stated yesterday that the
second notary office opened in Stepanakert next to the first one. He
said the citizens can both show up at the office or telephone.

Arthur Mosiyan did not deny drawbacks exist which are often due to
unawareness. "The workers of justice will be seconded to Yerevan in
2008 to improve their qualification," said the minister of justice
adding that agreement was reached during the recent visit of the
delegation of the Armenian ministry of justice to Karabakh.

For more transparency, the minister of justice promised that the
telephone numbers of the mass media will be pinned up on the walls
of the notary offices.

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 4 2007

FIRST YEREVAN-STEPANAKERT AND STEPANAKERT-YEREVAN FLIGHTS WILL BE
LAUNCHED

The airport of Stepanakert will be re-operated by autumn 2008, NKR
President Bako Sahakyan said in yesterday’s news conference,
Karabakh-Open.com reports. `Most people we met confessed they do not
visit Karabakh often because no planes fly there.’ He said he has
invited specialists from the Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia
and they have already made a conclusion.

The NKR president said as of today the airport of Stepanakert can
receive only helicopters. He said soon the available equipment will
be installed. The rest of equipment will be brought from Gyumri where
the airport has been modernized recently for international flights.
New equipment costs millions of dollars, therefore old equipment will
be installed in the airport Stepanakert of Stepanakert.

There will be no international flights for the time being because the
permission of Azerbaijan is required for that. `For the time being,
we will launch Stepanakert-Yerevan and Yerevan-Stepanakert flights.
Air travel will help revive not only tourism but also life in the
country,’ NKR President Sahakyan said.

ADELMAN, STROM WIN LEADERSHIP FOR CHANGE AWARDS

Providence Business News, RI
Nov 27 2007

PROVIDENCE – Two local educators will be honored tomorrow evening
with the Pembroke Center Associates’ Leadership for Change through
Education Award.

~U H. Terri Adelman, executive director of Volunteers in Public
Schools, a local nonprofit that aims to ensure that all students
in the city’s pubic schools have an equal chance of success. Under
Adelman’s leadership, ViPS has grown to provide educational support
services and individualized assistance, both during and after school,
to 10,000 students per year.

~U Margot Stern Strom, founder and executive director of Facing History
and Ourselves, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to
teachers around the world to help them lead students in a critical
examination of history. The group’s efforts have included providing
the tools to teach students the history of the Armenian genocide
and providing digital storytelling technology and training to Boston
public schools.

Strom and Adelman will be honored in a special ceremony tomorrow at
7 p.m. in the List Art Center Auditorium, 64 College St., where brief
comments by each recipient will be followed by a reception. The event
is free and open to the public.

TURKEY: LAWYERS SLAM INVESTIGATION OF MALATYA MURDERS

Compass Direct News
lead&lang=en&length=long&idelement=512 4
Nov 28 2007
CA

Widows of slain Christians speak out at opening day of trial.

MALATYA, Turkey, November 27 (Compass Direct News) – At the opening
day trial of three Christians tortured and killed here in April,
attorneys for the bereft families accused prosecutors of "sloppy"
investigations that focused on the religious activities of the victims
rather than on the crime itself.

The 20 lawyers, most of them working pro bono on behalf of the victims’
families and Turkish Protestant churches, spelled out detailed
criticisms of the prosecutors’ "irresponsible" investigations at the
hearing on Friday (November 23).

The plaintiffs’ attorneys objected to the tone of the indictment
and investigation, declaring that 16 of the 31 files focused on
the religious activities of the Christian victims rather than on
the murderers, who tied up, stabbed and slit the throats of Turkish
converts Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German Christian Tilmann
Geske.

According to one lawyer quoted by Milliyet newspaper on November
20, this "irrelevant" information looked like an indirect effort by
the chief prosecutor "to reduce the charges by making the victims’
attempts to spread their religion look like ‘provocation.’"

"If a prosecutor sees missionary activities as criminal, then it
is not difficult to understand how some people can become crazy and
kill these missionaries!" wrote plaintiff lawyer Orhan Kemal Cengiz,
legal representative of the Alliance of Turkish Protestant Churches,
in a November 22 column in the Turkish Daily News.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys also presented a surprise demand to broaden
the prosecution from an isolated case of terrorism to the criminal
code statutes against religious "genocide."

It was the first time the five confessed murderers, all 19 to 20
years of age, had appeared outside prison since their arrest. Two
other young men who have not been detained are also being tried,
accused of involvement in the crime. No photography was permitted of
the defendants, and they were flanked in the courtroom by more than a
dozen armed guards who shielded them from the view of court observers.

Prosecutors’ Irregularities

During the four-hour court proceedings, the plaintiff team protested
a number of irregularities on the part of Malatya public prosecutors
Mehmet Badem and Omer Tetik, who had conducted the six-month criminal
investigation and prepared the written indictment submitted October 5.

In a series of four lengthy statements submitted to the court, the
plaintiff team demanded that evidence and interrogations that were
blatantly missing in the prosecutors’ investigation be obtained and
included in the court trial.

Only after the indictment was filed were plaintiff and defense lawyers
allowed access to the 31 investigation files, with even the victims’
autopsies officially kept "confidential" under Turkish anti-terrorism
laws. Nevertheless, large portions of the murderers’ interrogations
have been leaked to the Turkish press throughout the investigation.

Cengiz accused prosecutors of failing to properly investigate the
organizations and individuals named by the murderers during their
interrogations. No inquiries were made into inflammatory local media
reports, which he said trumpeted the killers’ slanderous accusations
of immorality and political intrigue against the three victims killed
at their Zirve Publishing House workplace.

Orhan Kemal Cengiz According to an article on the Turkish Bianet
(Independent News Net) website posted yesterday, the tone of the
criminal investigation and biased reporting in the Turkish media
marks "a dangerous shift of focus from the presumed perpetrators of
a crime to conspiracy theories linking Christian missionaries and PKK
[the separatist Kurdish Workers’ Party] activities."

Bianet fingered the Ihlas News Agency as one major culprit trying
to deflect blame from the killers by targeting some of the joint
team of well-known Turkish attorneys for their defense of various
Kurdish defendants accused of PKK links. Other lawyers were targeted
for representing the family of murdered Armenian Christian journalist
Hrant Dink or Necati Aydin, who had been falsely accused in 2000 of
distributing Christian materials by force.

Two days after the Malatya hearing, the plaintiff lawyers announced
they were filing an official complaint over repeated surveillance and
interference with their e-mail and telephone communications in the
days leading up to the opening of the trial on Friday (November 23).

"When we tried to open our e-mails, we had a message claiming, ‘Blocked
by court order,’" attorney Cengiz told Milliyet newspaper on Sunday
(November 25). "But if this had been a court order, we couldn’t have
accessed them a day later."

The lawyer noted that details of private telephone conversations within
the lawyers’ group were appearing in the press during the days just
preceding the trial, including their discussions on applying "genocide"
laws in the case. "Our complete defense strategy was known beforehand,"
he said.

Widows’ Remarks

The hearing over the ritual slaughter of three Christians in eastern
Turkey last April 18 grabbed national attention in last weekend’s
Turkish media, with the spotlight focused on the court appearance of
two widows of the murdered men.

News clip footage and reports from the hearing led a number of national
TV and radio station broadcasts that evening, followed the next day by
prominently headlined reports in nearly all national newspapers. The
most prominent coverage focused on the two widows who attended the
hearing and briefly addressed the court as official plaintiffs in
the case.

Turkey’s largest circulation newspaper, the daily Hurriyet, featured
the wife and children of Necati Aydin in its front-page banner headline
the day after the opening day hearing.

"Mommy, when will they kill us?" read the headline, flanked by a
photograph of widow Semse Aydin with her 6-year-old daughter Esther
in her arms during the murdered pastor’s funeral seven months ago.

"My children are missing their father, and I cannot comfort them,"
the widow told the court. "They are asking me if they will also be
killed because they are Christians."

Susanne Geske, wife of Tilmann Geske, told the court that after
living in Turkey for 10 years, "As a Christian, I view this nation
as my own. I have established my whole life here." She noted that her
neighbors and even the local Muslim imam had come to her home to pay
condolence visits to her and her three children after the murders.

"Turkey is a secular country, and I believe a correct decision for
justice will be made," Geske concluded.

Uncover the Instigators

As the wife of a former Muslim who had converted to Christianity,
Aydin said that while she also left the prosecution of justice to
the Turkish state, she expected the court to uncover the instigators
behind the young murderers who so viciously tortured and killed her
pastor husband, along with Yuksel, also a former Muslim, and Geske.

"I want the murder mentality of these youths uncovered," Aydin
declared. "And I want not only punishment of these five youths,
but those who were behind them in this mentality."

Before and during the high-profile trial, Turkish police enforced a
heavy security clampdown around the Malatya Criminal Court building
as well as hotels where out-of-town lawyers, diplomatic observers,
journalists and some relatives of the victims were staying.

International observers admitted into the courtroom included official
representatives from the German and U.S. embassies and the European
Commission’s delegation to Turkey, as well as two foreign journalists.

More than 20 Turkish Protestant church leaders gathered at the
courthouse for the trial, although due to the limited space in the
courtroom, only five were allowed to observe the proceedings.

During initial proceedings of the hearing, the plaintiff lawyers
protested the presence of several observers expected to be called to
testify in the case. The judge subsequently ordered three individuals
removed from the courtroom, including the fathers of two of the
killers.

At the hearing, plaintiffs’ attorney Cengiz complained that making some
investigation files public had released private contact information,
allowing Islamic extremists to target many Protestant Christians
throughout Turkey as well as everyone the victims had contacted in
the Malatya region since 2005.

"The prosecutor failed to make a thorough investigation, and he has
also put many other lives in danger," Cengiz said.

The bench of three judges refused the plaintiff lawyers’ request
to withdraw these files from the trial. Nor did the judges agree to
allow video or audio recordings of the court proceedings, although
the court stated it would consider plaintiff demands to interrogate
the defendants regarding possible commission of religious genocide
or a hate crime.

Another Death Threat

Three weeks before the trial opened, a Zirve Publishing employee
who had moved his family into Malatya several months ago received an
e-mail message threatening in ugly terms to "take away your right to
live … in a very short time."

"You will go to join your three friends. You will die the very same
way they did," ended the message, which Zirve staff members turned
over to the police.

A week later, Ihlas News Agency reported on November 15 that police
had arrested and jailed the perpetrator of the death threats, who
had a previous criminal record as a computer hacker.

At the request of the murderers’ defense team of lawyers, who declared
they had not had sufficient time to examine the prosecution files
and prepare the accused suspects to testify, the court adjourned the
hearing until January 14.

Prior to that, the court declared that the status of the defendants’
prison detention would be reviewed on December 18.

Commenting on religious freedom in a Turkey 2007 Progress Report
released by the European Commission (EC) earlier this month in
Brussels, the EC noted a national deterioration in attitudes and acts
of violence against non-Muslims.

"Attacks against clergy and places of worship of non-Muslim communities
have been reported," the report stated. "Missionaries have been
portrayed in the media or by authorities as a threat to the integrity
of the country and non-Muslim minorities as not being an integral
part of Turkish society. To date, use of language that might incite
hatred against non-Muslim minorities has been left unpunished."

Underlining the Malatya slayings, the November 6 report concluded:
"The killing took place against the background of statements and press
reports which are not conducive to the establishment of an atmosphere
of tolerance in the country."

European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was quoted recently
as saying, "The new momentum [of Turkish government reforms] should
now be used to re-launch the reforms to improve fundamental freedoms,
particularly the freedom of expression and religious freedom, so that
they prevail in all corners of the country and in all walks of life."

END

*** Photographs taken outside Malatya’s Third Criminal Court on the
opening day hearing are available electronically. Contact Compass
Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

NKR PRESIDENT ADVISOR GOING TO RUN FOR RA PRESIDENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2007 15:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Arman Melikian, NKR President’s advisor on external
relations, has decided to run for the post of President of Armenia. "I
have already handed in my resignation. Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s approach
to the Karabakh problem and Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan’s stance
on struggle against corruption are inadmissible for me," Melikian
told a news conference in Yerevan.

"Levon Ter-Petrosyan still stands for return of 6 regions forming
NKR’s security belt. Presently, there is no political interest in
surrender of territories.

I think that NKR should become a full-fledged party to talks while
Armenia should deal with resolving the problem of refugees and,
finally, annul the edict of the Armenian SSR on annexation of NKAO
to Armenia," he emphasized adding that the burden of the Karabakh
conflict moved to Yerevan, what is fundamentally wrong.

DENO GOLD MINING COMPANY TO INVEST $20 MLN IN EXPLORATION OF KAPAN MINE, ARMENIA

ARKA News Agency
Nov 28 2007
Armenia

YEREVAN, November 28. /ARKA/. The Deno Gold Mining Company intends
to invest $20mln in the exploration of the Kapan mine, Armenia,
President of the Dundee Precious Metals Company Jonathan Goodman
stated at his meeting with RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan.

Attending the meeting were also big businessmen from Canada James
Smolin and Azat Vardanyan.

The Press and Public Relations Department, RA Government, reports
that Deno Gold Mining Company has launched activities in the metal
mining industry in Syunik and plans to invest $20mln in addition to
the $30mln previously invested in the exploration of the Kapan mine.

According to Goodman, the mine is expected to contain large ore
reserves, which will justify the investments.

Premier Sargsyan welcomed the businessmen’s intention and pointed
out that the Armenian Government is interested in highly rated,
experienced companies’ entering Armenia. By running profitable
business, they contribute to Armenia’s economic development, making
investments in various economic sectors.

The RA Premier gave assurances that all necessary conditions for
business development have been and are being created in Armenia.

Speaking of the metal mining industry as one of the most important
industries of Armenia, Sargsyan pointed out that the Government is
ready to render assistance in the implementation of programs.

He pointed out the importance of efficient use of Armenia’s limited
natural resources, with attention to be focused on environmental tasks.

He offered the representatives of the Canadian company to inform the
public of its programs and of the work carried out until now. In this
context, Goodman said that they plan a meeting with journalists today.

The Canadian businessmen expressed their gratitude to the Armenian
Government for its willingness for cooperation. They stressed the
paramount importance of this willingness for any foreign investor,
and the meeting with the RA Premier is another impetus to the expansion
of its programs in Armenia.

Dundee Precious Metals is represented by the Deno Gold Mining Company
in Armenia. The latter operates the Shahumyan polymetallic mine and
the copper and pyrite mine of the Kapan ore mining and processing
enterprise.

COUNCIL OF OSCE FOREIGN MINISTERS STARTS WORK IN MADRID

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Nov 29 2007

MADRID, November 29 (Itar-Tass) – The 15th annual meeting of the
Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe started its deliberations at the Madrid Palace of
Congresses. The foreign ministers will examine OSCE operation during
the two days and pinpoint ways of raising its efficiency on the basis
of a consensus. Spain transfers chairmanship in the organisation
to Finland.

The work of the forum is attended by 45 foreign ministers and
representatives of foreign ministries from 56 countries of Europe,
Central Asia and North America. The Russian delegation is led by
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The American – by Under-Secretary
of State Nicholas Burns. Condoleezza Rice has not attended a single
meeting of the Council in contrast to her predecessor Colin Powell,
Itar-Tass learnt at the forum’s organising committee.

Spain experienced a difficult load of responsibility during its
chairmanship in the OSCE in the current year for "lending an impetus to
the organisation, in cooperation with all member countries, to raise
its effectiveness in countering challenges of the 21st century and
opening new vistas for prosperity and security of our countries",
stressed Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in his
greeting speech.

According to the foreign minister, forum participants have a chance
to express their different opinions, to share and bring to the
attention of interested countries their concerns so as "to reach a
new consensus through a dialogue and concentration of efforts". "I’m
deeply convinced that constructivism, responsibility and accord will
be guiding principles of our work in Madrid," the minister concluded.

Lavrov will discuss on Thursday with his OSCE colleagues problems
of Kosovo, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and
the air defence system. No less important topics are questions of
reforming the OSCE, development and agreement of the operation rules
of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
in the sphere of monitoring election processes.

Spain reported that the forum gives attention to the situation in
Kosovo, a settlement of "frozen" conflicts in the Dniester area,
Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh as well as an application of Kazakhstan
for chairmanship in the OSCE in 2009. Spain which chaired in the OSCE
this year, is worried over the level of efficiency of the organisation,
the fate of its mission in Kosovo and the situation in Afghanistan.

The Council performs the role of the main ruling and executive body
of the organisation at intervals between summits of the OSCE heads of
state and government. It serves to orchestrate decisions of summits
of the OSCE with its everyday activities. The Council was established
in Paris in 1990 and was granted broader powers in 1992 in the sphere
of preventing conflicts and settling crises.