Author: Mamian George

PanARMENIAN.Net

White House year by year tries to break parity in military aid to Yerevan
and Baku
09.02.2007 17:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. administration is going to reduce financial
assistance to the post-soviet states and reconsider the Act on Fundamental
Freedoms, RA Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian told a news
conference in Yerevan. He reminded that Armenia received $1.2 billion aid
from the United States since independence.

`The attempt to break the parity in military assistance to Armenia and
Azerbaijan is made every year. The White House knows that the Armenian
Diaspora will insist on parity and will succeed,’ Kirakossian said.

At that he remarked that Armenia is engaged in the Millennium Challenge
program that provides for allocation of $283 million for the development of
agriculture. `We were included in the list of 16 states eligible for the
assistance. But I should stress that the further implementation directly
depends on the parliamentary election. If we fail to hold in accord with
international standards the program may be stopped,’ said Arman Kirakossian.

ARMENIAN WRESTLERS REJECT TO PARTICIPATE IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN BAKU

Today, Azerbaijan
Feb 7 2007

Armenian wrestlers refuse to participate in world championship to be
held in Baku.

Armenian Wrestling Federation presented a letter to International
Wrestling Federation (FILA) that they don’t want to participate in
the rating championship, because of political conflicts.

AWF officials requested FILA to give them a chance to participate in
other rating tournaments to 2008 Beijing Olympics, but FILA leadership
didn’t accept Armenians’ arguments.

Armenian Wrestling Federation secretary general Lyova Vardanyan stated
that by not replying federation’s letter FILA bans the participation
of Armenian athletes in European championships and rating tournaments,
APA-Sport reports.

URL:

AKP MP COMEZ: THE PKK IS MOVING INTO KIRKUK

Hurriyet, Turkey
Feb 6 2007

Outspoken AKP Balikesir MP Turan Comez has said that PKK terrorists,
using identity cards given to them by the Kurdistan Democratic Party,
are moving into the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, and bringing heavy
weapons with them.

Comez, who left yesterday on a trip to the US in order to raise
awareness and support for Ankara’s position on what is occuring in
Kirkuk, told the Hurriyet "According to reports by the Turkmenis in
Kirkuk, PKK terrorists are arriving in the city with official identity
cards issued to them by the IKDP and the KYB. Settling into the PKK’s
civilian and political offices in Kirkuk, they are actively preparing
for provocative terror acts." Comez also claimed that PKK operatives
in France and Switzerland were receiving Iraqi passports from the
embassies in those countries, and warned "If these PKK terrorists
can enter Turkey freely, or can enter Iraq with no problem, then the
situation is very dangerous. Turkey must take immediate action against
this. I am warning both our Interior and our Foreign Ministries."

Comez told reporters yesterday at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport that he
would be meeting with civilian organizations in the US, as well as
participating in conferences at various US universities. Comez said
he would also be meeting with members of the Armenian community in
the US, as well as trying to "explain what is going on in Iraq" to
US citizens. Said Comez "We will especially focus on Kirkuk and the
likely developments there. We hope to raise support for the Turkmeni
situation there."

MANAGEMENT OF ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA CALLS FOR END TO U.S. COMPLICITY IN TURKEY’S DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Yerevan, February 6. ArmInfo. The management of the Armenian National
Committee of America has addressed the USA Senate with a call a end
to U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. The
ANCA’s written testimony was submitted as part of the inaugural
hearing of the newly created Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human
Rights and Law, titled "Genocide and the Rule of Law", which included
remarks by Canadian Senator Romeo Dallaire, Deputy Assistant Attorney
General Sigal Mandelker, actor and activist Don Cheadle, and American
University College of Law Professor Diane F. Orentlicher. "Today,
as we witness the genocide unfolding in Darfur, it has become
increasingly clear that the failure of the international community,
over the course of the past century, to confront and punish genocide
has created an environment of impunity in which the brutal cycle of
genocide continues," began ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian,
in his testimony.

RA ENERGY MINISTER: SERIOUS WORK LAUNCHED IN ARMENIA FOR SEARCH OF URANIUM DEPOSITS

Yerevan, February 6. ArmInfo. A serious work has been launched in
Armenia for the search of uranium deposits, RA Energy Minister,
Armen Movsisyan, said in the National Assembly.

According to him, the uranium is necessary for the Republic to provide
the Armenian NPP with a required volume of fuel. It is necessary
to annually acquire about 150 tons of nuclear fuel for the needs
of ANPP. Presently, there are all the necessary backgrounds in the
country to solve not only this problem but the problem of the uranium
export as well. Implementation of this project will allow to reduce
the dependence of the Armenian energy on supplies of this kind of
fuel several times. As Movsisyan noted, today Russia experiences a
deficit of uranium of about 6,000 tons, the other states have also
faced this problem. Armenia, the Minister stressed, is one of the
few countries of the world which have an excess of uranium. At that,
he said, it is not a question of the uranium processing in Armenia. It
will be sent for processing to the states with a relevant experience.

The implementation of this project will create a necessity of
building a new NPP in Armenia, meeting all the world standards by
its parameters.

ACCORDING TO CBA CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN BANKS’ INTEREST IN ARMENIAN BANKING SYSTEM INCREASES

Noyan Tapan
Feb 05 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The Chairan of the Central Bank
of Arenia (CBA) Tigran Sargsian considered the entry of Credit
Agricole Bank (France) into the Armenian market through acqusition
of ACBA Bank’s share as the most remarkable event of 2006. During
the February 5 press conference, T. Sargsian said that "this step
of ACBA Bank prompted other Armenian commercal banks to take steps
aimed at attracting institutonal investors."

Accordng to him, a number of Armenian banks are now conducting
negotatons in this direction with the International Financial
Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD). Two German fianancial bodies are expected to
enter the Armenian market of banking services.

In T. Sargsian’s opinion, the interest shown by foreign banks to this
market was conducive to a sharp increase of crediting in the country
by the Armenian branch of HSCB Bank (Great Britain). He added that
in 2007, HSBC Armenia will open several branches.

Minneapolis Star Tribune , MN
Jan 3 2007

Ghosts of Turkey’s past

FICTIONA Turkish girl with no father and an American-Armenian girl
with no past begin a complicated friendship in Istanbul.
By John Freeman, Special to the Star Tribune
Last update: February 02, 2007 – 4:32 PM

It is unfortunate that the first thing readers might know about this
bold and raggedly beautiful new novel is that writing it nearly cost
Elif Shafak her freedom. Like fellow countryman and Nobel laureate
Orhan Pamuk, Shafak was charged under Article 301 of the Turkish
criminal code for "public denigration" of Turkishness, the punishment
for which is up to three years in prison. (A Turkish journalist
guilty of the same "crime" recently paid with his life.) Shafak was
acquitted, however, and now U.S. readers can pick up this still
vibrating book with newfound appreciation.
As with Pamuk, Shafak’s true crime wasn’t insulting Turkishness, but
rather daring to speak about what is known ultra-euphemistically as
the "Armenian question." In many other corners of the world, it is
referred to as the Armenian genocide — the forced evacuation and
deaths of more than 1 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917, the
waning years of the Ottoman Empire. While the Turkish government
argues that these deaths resulted from the chaos of World War I,
there is mounting evidence that it was a state-sponsored plan of
ethnic cleansing. The novel filters the anguish of this event through
the lives of an Armenian family in San Francisco and Arizona, and a
Turkish family in Istanbul. Following them over the course of a year,
it meditates on the power of memory and the way time tends to bend
the rules about killing. What happens when grief and suffering are
denied? Do historical grudges grow more powerful when one leaves a
country, or do they wash away?

Not surprisingly, rain is one of the recurring metaphors Shafak
employs effectively. It sluices through the action, whisking scenes
away. In the opening pages, Zeliha, one of four headstrong Turkish
sisters (known as the Kazanci women), walks to an abortion clinic in
a downpour. "Rain, for us, isn’t necessarily about getting wet,"
Shafak writes. "It’s not about getting dirty even. If anything, it’s
about getting angry. It’s mud and chaos and rage."

Zeliha doesn’t go through with the abortion, and the result is Asya,
the bastard of the book’s title. Asya has three aunts: Feride, a
hypochondriac who collects arcane knowledge about the ozone layer and
medicine; Banu, who believes she is a clairvoyant, and Cevriye, a
widowed high-school teacher. The one Kazanci man, Mustafa, has moved
to Arizona and lives with a woman named Rose. A daughter from Rose’s
previous marriage to an Armenian man, Amanoush, splits her time
between San Francisco and Tucson, until she decides she needs to
explore her Turkishness. So she’s off to Istanbul, where she
eventually encounters and befriends Asya.

This development sets up a certain bit of ambiguity to the book’s
title. Is the real bastard of Istanbul Asya, the girl with no father?
Or is it Amanoush, the girl with no past? Round and round we go, with
Shafak pushing the action along with a variety of devices. Each
chapter is titled after an ingredient, from sugar to cinnamon and
dried figs.

Throughout the story, Shafak gives the reader a guided tour of her
native city. "March is most unbalanced in Instanbul," she writes,
"both psychologically and physically. March might decide she belongs
to the spring season … only to change her mind the very next day."

Although this book is crowded with characters, its most vivid one is
not one of the Kazanci matriarchs but Istanbul itself. It is a city
plagued by ghosts, talkative and thronged to the extreme but notable
for what it is silent about. As Shafak sketches it, Istanbul also is
a bastard city. The past has abandoned it — or it has abandoned the
past. So, like all bastards, Istanbul lives slightly adrift under the
pretense that only the present matters when in truth history is its
mother and father — something it will have to confront when the past
comes to claim it again.

John Freeman, president of National Book Critics Circle, lives in New
York City.

THE BASTARD OF ISTANBUL

By: Elif Shafak.

Publisher: Viking, 360 pages, $24.95.

Review: Shafak boldly and beautifully explores sensitive issues of
Turkish identity and history — at the risk of her own freedom.

Event: Because of recent events in Turkey, the author is not
traveling, and an event scheduled for Thursday at Minneapolis Public
Library has been cancelled.

Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait
Feb 2 2007

Turkish security fires four policemen within journalist”s murder probe

ISTANBUL, Feb 2 (KUNA) — Turkish security authority fired Friday
four security personnel in light of the latest developments in the
investigation of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink last month in Istanbul.

Turkish Security Department said in a statement that four Samsun City
policemen were fired after a Turkish television broadcasted footages
showing the policemen treating the alleged killer, Ogn Samast, as
national hero.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his
government was dedicated to unveil all facts of the murder of Dink.

In short statement to reporters in Istanbul, Erdogan said he assigned
some officials to investigate the sources of the footage showing the
alleged killer, Samast, standing near a flag.

Turkish police detained six people in this case including 17-year-old
Samast who admitted killing the journalist.

Dink was calling for the Turkish government to admit the genocides
committed against Armenian population in Turkey during 1915-1917.
Nonetheless, he criticized a French law criminalizing the denial of
the genocides and advocated understanding and tolerance between Turks
and Armenians. (end) ta.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Jan 31 2007

Joint statement adopted at the end of Azerbaijani President’s visit
to France

[ 31 Jan. 2007 19:30 ]

The Joint Statement on results of state visit of the Azerbaijan
President Ilham Aliyev to France was adopted, APA Europe bureau
reports.

The statement says that Azerbaijan and France adhere to the
principles and goals mentioned in the `Agreement on friendship,
mutual understanding and cooperation between the Republic of
Azerbaijan and the Republic of France.
In this framework, France stated once again its support for
independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Both countries
stressed importance of the development of bilateral relations and
necessity of continuation of the active and deeper political dialogue
at all levels. The parties stated their keenness in development of
their relations in the frame of respect for universal values as human
rights and democracy, legal state and market economy.
The parties have specified the questions of mutual cooperation,
noting `Azerbaijan and France mark their satisfaction with the level
of cooperation in energy field and participation of the French
companies in Azerbaijan’s economy’. Both sides welcomed positive
tendency in the trade between two countries and approved their
readiness for deepening the economic ties and expressed wish to make
further efforts to boost the French investments in Azerbaijan. Both
countries noted their adherence to deepening of existent cooperation
in the field of culture, health and social security, as well as
organizing of mutual days of culture.
The Statement also contains the issues related to global threats and
the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict: `Azerbaijan and
France confirmed their readiness for bilateral and multilateral
cooperation in further combat against global threats as international
terrorism, illegal drug circulation and narco-trafficking and their
realization, proliferation of mass destruction weapons, transnational
organized crimes, illegal arm and human trade. Both countries with
pleasure have noted rapprochement of their positions in coordination
of the basic principles for settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs from
Russia, USA and France. The necessity of making more active efforts
for peaceful resolution to the conflict was stressed. The parties
have welcomed signing of the plan of action between EU and Azerbaijan
in the fame of New Neighborhood Policy, stressing that Caspian region
plays great role in energy supply of Europe. They expressed their
support for necessity of inter-cultural and inter-religion dialogue,
as well as expansion of these relations and deepening of
understanding to create reliable environment for peace, freedom and
social justice.
The parties have agreed for continuation of mutual visits at all
levels. President of France is going to visit Azerbaijan in the first
half of 2007. /APA/

IV INTERNATIONAL SPECIALIZED EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN IN APRIL

Yerevan, February 1. ArmInfo. The fourth international specialized
exhibition "Construction and Repair EXPO 2007 " will be held in the
Yerevan Sport Complex "Dinamo" on April 13-16, 2007.

As the LOGOS Expo Center told ArmInfo, this exhibition is the main in
Armenia oriented at the investors and professionals in construction
and repair.

According to the source, the supposed number of participants exceeds 6
companies, which takes the leading positions in the market. The
exhibition purpose is to find new sale markets, to demonstrate the
country’s economic potential and attract foreign investments in the
Armenia’s economy.