Author: Maghakian Mike

SHORTAGE OF SPECIALISTS IN ARMENIA
Lragir.am
21 June 06
On June 21 at the National Press Club Manvel Badalyan, chair of the
Council of Civil Service, questioned the statements that there are a
great number of specialists in Armenia. He announced that 431 contests
held by the Council of Civil Service did not have a winner.
Hence, Manvel Badalyan asks where the specialists “the excess of which
is so often considered” are. Manvel Badalyan answers his question:
“They are in the private sector where they are paid better.” The chair
of the Council of Civil Service explains the complaints that people
who are not aware of the sphere win contests for civil service posts
are explained by the lack of specialists.
According to Manvel Badalyan, if the examinations were unfair, and
higher marks were mediated, 431 contests would not remain without
winners. “One of these people would have found a mutual friend or
acquaintance,” says Manvel Badalyan. However, despite the lack of
qualified specialists, the number of participants of contests for
vacant posts of civil servants grows, the age becomes younger.

A WEEK OF IMPROVISATIONS IN YEREVAN
A1+
[07:49 pm] 19 June, 2006
Cultural center “Psalm” which was founded in 2000 will hold a festival
titled “Week of Surprises” in about three cultural houses since June
20. The slogan of the festival will be “Friends for friends”.
According to Anna Mayilyan, the head of the center, “This festival
will give us a chance to gather together with our friends and rejoice
at our meeting.
Our days are so clod and boring”. Photographers, composers and
musicians from France, Germany and Armenia will participate in the
creative events.
Within the framework of the festival two films will be shown in French
translated into Armenian. The first is a 15-minute documental called
“Karskaya” which tells about the life of painted Ida Karskaya. The
second is an animation film by French Armenian famous actor Serge
Avetiqyan called “The Price of Life” which tells about German
concentration camps.
Anna Mayilyan also promised that there will be a number of
improvisations, and the cultural evenings will not have a clear-cut
scenario. “It will be more interesting”, she added.

BATUMI WELCOMES FIRST DIRECT TRAIN FROM YEREVAN
by Tengiz Pachkoria
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 18, 2006 Sunday 12:10 PM EST
The first direct train from Yerevan was welcomed at the Batumi railroad
terminal on Sunday. The train brought representatives of the Armenian
and Georgian railroad companies, who attended the train seeing-off
ceremony in Yerevan on Saturday.
The six-car train will be a quicker and cheaper way of transportation
than buses, the officials said.
Plenty of Armenian tourists have been visiting Georgian Black Sea
resorts, and bilateral and economic contacts between Armenia and
Georgia have broadened in the recent years. Georgian and Armenian
trains will be making the shuttle trips.
There was no direct railroad line between Yerevan and Batumi not
only in the 1990s but also in the Soviet period – two cars were first
brought to Tbilisi and then attached to a Tbilisi-Batumi train.

ARMENIANS DROP TAXES FOR GEORGIAN CARGO CARRIERS
The Messenger, Georgia
June 19 2006
Press Scanner
According to Rezonansi, MPs of the Armenian parliament ratified the
Georgian-Armenian agreement on international auto transport. Both
sides signed an agreement on April 25 in Tbilisi. According to Armenian
Minister of Transport and Communication, Andranik Manukian, the aim of
this agreement is putting contract law in order between the two states.
According to the agreement, carriers from both countries are
released from transport and customs taxes, taxes on certain vehicles
will remain, however, Currently, owners of cars pay 10.000 dram
(approximately USD 20); owners of buses pay between 20 000 – 60 000
dram (USD 40-120) depending on the number of passengers; and owners of
trucks pay from 15 000 to 150 000 dram (approximately USD 36 to 360),
depending on size of the truck and cargo.
Manukian stated that these taxes would be abolished and this makes
it possible to intensify bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
Georgia stopped taxing Armenian transport two years ago, while Armenia
had been continuing to collect taxes from Georgia. The paper noted
that neither Georgia nor Armenia have collected traffic taxes.

“RECORD BOXES” REVEALED ALL THE SECRETS
A1+
[12:58 pm] 19 June, 2006
Today the International Aviation Committee officially announced that
the deciphering of the record boxes of the Armenian plane A-320 which
crashed in the Black Sea on May 3 has been concluded. The records of
the plane and those of the airport have also been compared.
One of the record boxes contains information about the last eight
flights if the plane made from April 30 to May 3. The total duration
of the record is about 26 hours. The duration of the lat record is
1 hour and 26 minutes.
The deciphering revealed that the plane did not deconstruct in the
water and the engines worked till the very last moment when the
plane crashed with the water. It was also confirmed that the plane
had enough fuel. Agency “Itar-Tass informed that the autopilot system
was switched off.
At present the Committee analyses the records. At the end of the
investigation a conclusion will be made about the reason of the
crash. The International Aviation Committee does not give any details
about the conclusion.

TOBACCO TYCOON THREATENS TO CLOSE SHOP IN ARMENIA
By Atom Markarian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 15 2006
Hrant Vartanian, a wealthy businessman who owns Armenia’s two main
tobacco companies, warned on Thursday that he will close down his
factories and move them abroad if the Armenian dram continues to
appreciate against the dollar.
“We are now making plans to move some of our manufacturing operations
to Georgia and Russia in order to produce things there and import
them to Armenia,” he told RFE/RL. “If the dollar continues to fall
at this pace, we will resort to that step in the next four or five
months in order to save our business.”
The dram has gained more than 30 percent in value against the dollar
in the last two and a half years, significantly raising production
costs of local firms dependent on exports. Vartanian’s Grand Tobacco
and International Masis Tobacco firms not only account for much
of cigarette sales in Armenia but also sell a large part of their
products, notably fermented tobacco leafs, abroad. They employ more
than a thousand people and but raw tobacco from hundreds of Armenian
farmers.
Vartanian, who already co-owns a cigarette plant in Georgia, agreed
with the widely held belief that the dram’s strengthening has benefited
a handful of large-scale importers of fuel and foodstuffs that have
close ties with Armenia’s leadership. “For local manufactures the
effects [of the dram appreciation] will be very negative, while for
importers it is a source of huge profits,” he said.
“Those companies that are mainly involved in exports and generate the
bulk of their revenues in hard currency are experiencing difficulties
and failing to meet their profit targets,” agreed Tigran Khachatrian,
commercial director of the ACP copper giant, one of Armenia’s largest
exporters.
Khachatrian complained that ACP is not only unable to raise its
workers’ wages but is increasingly having trouble paying them. “Even
if there are no pay increases, our expenditures on wages are constantly
going up,” he said.
The Armenian Central Bank, which sets the dram’s exchange rate, argues
that its main mission is to suppress inflation, rather than protect
local exporters and jobs. It has said all along that the dram’s
appreciation, which resumed last month, is a natural phenomenon
stemming from an increased influx of dollars, most of them cash
remittances from Armenians working abroad.
Opposition leaders and other government critics insist, however,
the Armenian authorities have artificially boosted the national
currency’s value in order to further enrich “oligarchs” involved
in lucrative imports. The Central Bank, backed by the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank, has repeatedly dismissed such claims.

INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP FOR SEARCH OF MISSING TO VISIT NKR JUNE 18-20
DeFacto, Armenia
June 14 2006
June 18-20 the International Working Group /IWG/ for Search of Missing,
Captives and Release of POWs is arriving in the Nagorno Karabakh.
In the course of the visit the Working Group members are expected to
consider the possibilities of activating the search of the missing
and burial places, as well as work at the inquiries by the NKR, RA
and AR State Committees for Missing and Captives, the IWG Coordinator
in Nagorno Karabakh Albert Voskanyan told DE FACTO Agency.
The IWG representatives are to hold meetings at the NKR State Committee
for Missing and Captives, Stepanakert office of the International
Committee of the Red Cross and meet with the former POWs.

ARMENIANS OF JAVAKHK AGAINST KARS-AKHALKALAKI RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.06.2006 14:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Kars-Akhalkalaki railway is the result of the
Georgian-Turkish relations. It’s good for Javakhk, since the project
promises work places and consequently the way out of the deadlock,”
chairman of “Javakhk” friendly association Shirak Torosian stated in
Yerevan. “However we are against the construction of this railway,
since it conflicts with the interests of Armenia,” he underscored.
According to Torosian, the absence of investments in the economy of
the region is conditioned by the breaks in power supply and complete
absence of infrastructure. “No single serious businessman will invest
in an unprofitable region. Business in Javakhk is divided between
clans. The Georgian authorities make use of the situation and incite
them against each other. This policy lets Tbilisi assure that there
is no political tension in the region but only internal clannish
struggle,” he remarked.

US NUKES AT INCIRLIK QUESTIONED
Tolga KORKUT
BÝA, Turkey
June 12 2006
Opposition CHP deputy Elekdag prepares to table nuclear bombs issue
at Parliament: “We don’t need them, let’s send them back”. Global
BAK’s Mater: “Secret decree is still kept secret. Agreement may have
been automatically extended”.
BÝA (Istanbul) – The presence of 90 American nuclear bombs at the
Incirlik Air Base in the Southeast Turkish province of Adana is being
brought before parliament by the country’s main opposition Republic
Peoples Party (CHP) deputy and former Turkish ambassador to the United
States, Sukru Elekdag.
In an exclusive interview with bianet last week, Elekdag said no
justification could be made by civilian or military authorities to
retain these weapons after the Cold War and that, in his view, their
presence delivered a blow to the regional political prestige of Turkey.
Elekdag is calling on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to
explain if there is any valid military purpose in still allowing these
weapons to be held in Turkish soil despite the end of the Cold War.
“In 1991 father Bush made a historical statement and said ‘there is no
such threat. We are withdrawing all of our land tactical missiles in
Europe.’ Then they said ‘air to surface bombs will stay for a while
and we will liquidate them’. But these were all forgotten. It is only
now that it’s revealed what these weapons really are.
Previously it was impossible to prove this. Authorities were neither
saying yes or no,” Elakdag explained.
Noting that Turkey itself was not under any threat, Elekdag said
“These weapons that are under USA control are not necessary. If there
is a reason, let us know. If there is not, they should be taken out
of the country”.
Elekdag added, “Middle East countries are concerned over the existence
of these weapons. The new strategy of the USA is a pre-emptive
strategy. In other words, to strike the source of a danger it sees
without waiting. This, as in Iraq, leads to disaster”.
“We do not want to Iran to be nuclear armed. This issue has three
actors, the USA, Israel and Iran. There is only one way out in solving
this tension,” he said. “The Middle East should become a nuclear free
zone. Turkey should revitalise this draft”.
He said, however, that “it cannot support this with nuclear weapons.
Being the secretary of the Islamic Conference Organisation, Turkey
could take the responsibility of such a project at the level of the
United Nations on a legal platform. It is difficult, but this is the
only way out”.
Elekdag said that for his part, he now planned to bring the United
Nations Convention to Prevent the Spread of Nuclear Weapons on the
agenda of the Turkish Parliament.
“I will reveal the arbitrary way the USA is enforcing this
convention. If we do not want the 21st century to b the century of
disaster, we have to enforce this convention fastidiously. Otherwise,
other countries will revive the nuclear armament projects that they
had shelved”.
Asked whether he would work together with non-governmental
organisations already active on the issue, Elekdag said “I need to
consider this. I do not know what their agenda is. I need to find
this out. I am not against necessary defence measures being taken.
Whatever required should be done. But I do think that there is no
defence justification related to nuclear bombs”.
Mater: Agreement between Pentagon and Chief of Staff
Tayfun Mater, spokesman for the Global Peace and Justice Coalition
(Kuresel BAK) that has been involved in a prolonged struggle for the
closure of Incirlik air base and for the Council of Ministers to
disclose a secret decree pertaining to its use, regards Elekdag’s
upcoming initiative as a positive development but warns “these
agreements are in reality between the Pentagon and the [Turkish]
Chief of General Staff office. I do not think that they will openly
be brought to Parliament”.
Mater told bianet that despite this, they would continue to do
everything within their capacity to force Ankara to disclose the
secret decrees under which Incirlik is controlled and used.
He explained that despite going through the Right to Obtain Information
and even filing cases, they could not learn of the Council of
Ministers secret decree on Incirlik. “We never received a reply to
our application for Information. The Council of State rejected our
case for the decree to be annulled. And because this case was secret,
we were not shown the decree” Mater explained.
He added that the agreement related to the base should have been
extended to June 5, 2006 “but no information was leaked out. It might
be that the text says somewhere that if there is no objection, the
agreement is automatically extended. The original text of the decree
has still not been disclosed.”
Gerger: We’ll live with nuclear bombs without rooted changes
Renown Turkish writer and one of the founding member of the Turkish
Human Rights Association, Dr. Haluk Gerger said that the presence
of nuclear weapons in Turkey has been an open secret since the 1950s
and added “but in Turkey, as long as the situation doesn’t change in
the Chief of General Staff determining policies, there will both be
nuclear bombs and CIA torture planes”.
Gerger explained to bianet that US nuclear weapons were deployed to
Turkey in the second half of the 1950s both under NATO agreements
and bilateral agreements with the United States.
“These bombs are owned by the US. They can only be used under the
ratification of the President of the USA. If Turkey does not want
these weapons, it needs to review the NATO agreements and bilateral
agreements with the USA. Not all NATO members accept nuclear weapons
on their soil” he said.
Gerger argued, however, that Turkey did not have the political
willpower to review these texts.
“The USA deployed nuclear weapons to the Middle East region first
through Turkey. Then by aiding Israel and turning a blind eye. The
third entry was with Iran under the Shah” Gerger said.
“The peace movement and socialist movement have always voiced their
objections. But a meaningful objection never turned out. Opposition
parties might have used the issue occasionally but when they came to
power, they continued to support nuclear bombs. Today there is still
not a serious objection. The CHP does not have a program that says
‘I’ll get the nuclear bombs out of the country if I come to power’.”
Gerger concluded that unless there were rooted changes in Turkey,
the continue would continue to host nuclear bombs. “Unless there is a
true democracy in Turkey, neither social opposition nor governments
can influence this kind of strategic military issues. The Chief of
General Staff will decide”.
Bombs “only just” on political agenda
More than a year has passed since the American National Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) organisation disclosed in its February 9, 2005
dates report that there were 90 nuclear weapons at Adana’s Incirlik
air base and a total of 480 throughout Europe. The original report
was published by bianet on February 10.
Yet months before this, on December 9, 2004, CHP Adana deputy Tacidar
Seyhanhad submitted a motion to Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul in
parliament related to the presence of nuclear and chemical weapons
at Incirlik base.
In his short reply to the motion on January 13, 2005, Gonul said
“the answers contain information classified secret. Because of this
a a response cannot be given”
Information pertaining to the bombs came to the media and political
agenda only after a May 17 press statement on the issue by Greenpeace
General Director Dr. Gerd Leipold.
Many NGOs including Kuresel BAK, Human Rights Association and
Greenpeace have staged a number of activities in Turkey for information
on the nuclear weapons in Incirlik to be disclosed and to have access
to the Secret Incirlik Decree under which the base is operated.
Close to many of the world’s potential trouble spots and only a jump
away from Iraq, Armenia and Iran, Incirlik Air Base is an important
base in NATO’s Southern Region. As a prime staging location, Incirlik
offers extensive runway facilities and aircraft shelters. It also
serves as a regional storage center for war reserve materials. The
heavily guarded base hosts hundreds of US personnel, US and Turkish
civilian employees and contractors.
/news80433.htm
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NEXT OSKANYAN-MAMMADYAROV MEETING TO BE HELD IN PARIS
ArmRadio.am
12.06.2006 12:45
June 13 RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan will leave for Paris
to meet his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, RA Foreign
Minister told the journalists today.
Informing that the meeting will be held at the initiative of the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Vardan Oskanyan noted he does not know
the exact format of the coming meeting, it will be clear only in
Paris. He mentioned that the last meeting of Presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan in Bucharest did not yield any certain results. However,
the Presidents arranged they would agree to allow the meeting of
Foreign Ministers in case the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs considered
it is necessary. Vardan Oskanyan assumes that in Paris they will make
attempts to find edges of cooperation for the successful maintenance
of negotiations. They will try to bring the positions of the parties
closer and prepare the ground for the meeting of Presidents. Minister
Oskanyan could not say whether this will succeed in Paris.