Author: Mamian George

HRANT’S FRIENDS: ONCE AGAIN, WE LACK HOPE

Today’s Zaman
14 October 2008, Tuesday
Turkey

A group of people who identify themselves as "Friends of Hrant"
released a press statement yesterday, as the seventh hearing in the
murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink took place at
the Ä°stanbul Criminal Court.

"The one who pulled the trigger is being tried, but who are the real
owners of this gun? During the Ergenekon operations, we read about
a senior police officer saying, ‘This organization is the one who
killed Hrant Dink, but we cannot prove it.’ Should we keep hoping
that the truth will be revealed some day?" the group asked.

Some suspects in the Dink case have been linked to the Ergenekon gang,
a shadowy network believed to have been attempting to carry out a
number of high-profile assassinations.

The statement also talked about the testimony of Capt. Husamettin
Polat, who said at a separate hearing that Col. Ali Oz persistently
refused to deal with information about the murder plot. He also
claimed that Oz wanted the informant, CoÅ~_kun Igcı, to be warned to
"not talk about this incident" after the murder.

The lawyers of the Dink family said the cases were interrelated and
wanted them combined, a demand denied by the court. In addition, the
court did not allow for interrogation of the officers at Ä°stanbul
police headquarters.

Meanwhile, Yasin Hayal, a suspect in the Dink murder case, shouted a
slogan while the gendarmerie transferred him to the court’s holding
cell from the prison vehicle.

Dink was shot dead outside the offices of the Agos newspaper in
Ä°stanbul in January 2007. Police arrested the suspected gunman,
Ogun Samast, and his alleged associate, Hayal, within days. There
are a total of 20 suspects in the case, eight of whom are currently
under arrest.

In the last hearing, Hayal’s uncle, Igcı, stated that he worked
hard to dissuade Hayal from plotting and going through with the
assassination.

–Boundary_(ID_07s+jW5wFvDVlh1 oh9GOLg)–

ARAB MEDIA "DISCOVER" THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN MOSUL AS ANOTHER CHRISTIAN IS KILLED

AsiaNews.it
10/13/2008 13:53
Italy

Another store owner is killed. Pope’s words are echoed in Arab
newspapers as the city’s archbishop, Mgr Louis Sako, slams the
attacks. Some claim that Iraqi Christians are no more in danger than
the average Iraqis. Others insist that all Iraqis have a duty to
protect Christians.

Beirut (AsiaNews) – Mosul’s Christian community experienced another
attack yesterday. A store owner in this northern Iraqi city was
targeted in what seems to be a strategy to drive out the entire
community. Oarkis Alton, a records seller, was killed at work. His
cousin was also wounded in the attack which took place despite
an increased police presence around churches and in Christian
neighbourhoods. A corollary of all this is the increasing attention
paid by Arab media both within and without Iraq to the problem.

Today Arab media have in fact zeroed in on what is happening to
Christians in Mosul. Many newspapers have also reported the "alarm
and great suffering" expressed yesterday by Benedict XVI for the
persecution endured by Christians in the country.

"Attacks in the Iraqi city of Mosul have forced hundreds of Christian
families from their homes in just the past week," al-Jazeera reported,
quoting Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula, governor of the northern Ninawa
province.

The flight, the TV network noted, comes as Chaldean Archbishop Louis
Sako said Iraq’s Christians were facing a campaign of "liquidation"
like that in Baghdad, with its lot of abductions and murders.

A wave of religiously targeted killings has left at least 12 Christians
dead over the past two weeks.

Many other media outlets like the Middle East Times focused on the
commitment by Iraqi Prime Minister, who ordered an additional thousand
agents to the city, to "take immediate action to resolve the problems
and difficulties faced by Christians in Mosul."

"Maliki beefs up security in Mosul to protect Christians," was
TheDaily Star’s title, whereas al-Bawaba referred to "an upswing in
attacks against Christians in Mosul [that] has forced 500 families
to flee in the last week and seek shelter at churches, monasteries
and relatives’ homes."

Lebanese French-language daily L’Orient Le Jour reported that some
5,000 Christians have been forced to abandon their homes, noting
that an estimated 250,000 (out of 800,000) have already fled Iraq
altogether.

Under the pen of its chief editorial writer Tariq Alhomayed, pan-Arab
daily Asharq Alawsatt told its readers that "We Must Protect Iraq’s
Christians." For him "there seems to be an organized campaign targeting
the Christian population of Iraq". What is more, whilst "al-Qaeda
continues to torture Christians it is important to note that a Shiite
collation of MPs has already rejected a draft law which protects
the Christian minority," i.e. Article 50 which deals with minority
representation in provincial councils. "The new law," he wrote,
"was incomplete and disruptive giving only the minimum of political
rights to the Iraqi minorities, like the Chaldean Christians."

Ultimately he said that it "is the duty of all Iraqis and not just its
government, to protect Iraqi Christians from murder and displacement,
and all forms of oppression, particularly when taking into account
that they have always been patriots and have never been apart of any
alliance against their nation; moreover they have suffered more then
any other Christian group in the Middle East."

After citing Archbishop Sako , the Middle East Online tries to
contradict him saying that a "report by Iraq’s Ministry of Human
Rights that sets out the number of deaths in different ethnic
communities caused by direct or indirect attacks in Iraq between 2003
and the end of 2007 showed that only 172 fatalities were from Iraq’s
Christians: 107 Chaldeans, 33 Orthodox, 24 Catholics, four Assyrians,
three Anglicans and one Armenian," adding that for some observers
"Christians are no more threatened than average Iraqis."

Ukraine should recognize Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.10.2008 16:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ukraine should join the states which have already
recognized the Armenian Genocide, a historical fact, Ukrainian
politician Dmitry Vydrin said.

"It’s our moral duty to recognize this tragedy," he said,
Analitika.at.ua reports.

VTB BANK (ARMENIA) OFFERS NEW DEPOSIT TO CUSTOMERS

ARKA
Oct 13, 2008

YEREVAN, October 13. /ARKA/. The VTB Bank (Armenia) offers its
customers a new type of fixed deposit, Perspective, for up to 541 days.

The bank’s Public Relations Department reported that the annual
interest rate on AMD deposits is 11%.

The highest annual interest rate on USD deposits is 10%, and on Euro
deposits 9.5%. The bank will effect monthly interest payments.

All the branches of the bank will accept Perspective deposits from
October 13, 2008.

Valery Ovsyannikov, Director General and Chairman of the Directorate,
said that the new product is part of the bank’s retail service
development program.

The Perspective deposit is intended for a larger target audience –
individuals, residents and nonresidents.

In the context of the present-day market, it is a really competitive
and convenient product for depositors.

At present, the VTB Bank (Armenia) offers five types of fixed deposits
to its customers: Perspective, High-Interest, Comfortable, Target
and Social Support.

VTB Bank (Armenia) is fully owned by the VTB Bank OJSC (Russia).

The VTB Bank OJSC, the leading Russian banking group, renders banking
services in Russia, some of the CIS member-countries, as well as in
some West European, Asian and African countries.

The VTB Bank (Armenia) (Armsavingsbank CJSC until June 20, 2006)
joined the VTB Group in March 2005.

By June 30, 2008, the bank’s total assets had amounted to 113.15bln
AMD, authorized capital totaled 13.906bln AMD, equity capital 21.88bln
AMD (by September 1, 2008, it had reached 22.79bln AMD). The bank’s
loan portfolio had amounted to 60.26bln AMD, and funds attracted from
clients totaled 38.5bln AMD.

The bank is among Armenia’s top-ranked banks in terms of key
indicators, being the leader in the amount of assets.

The VTB Bank (Armenia) has 79 points of sale in all Armenian
regions. This July, the Fitch Ratings agency assigned the "B"
short-term issuer rating and "BB+" long-term issuer rating to the bank,
with the "Stable" outlook for the latter.

ARMEN JIGARKHANYAN FUND DIRECTOR LIFE ATTEMPTED

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.10.2008 14:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The life of Arsen Elbakian, Director General of
Armen Jigarkhanyan Fund, was attempted in Moscow yesterday, RIA
Novosti reports.

The criminal fired several shots at Elbakian, wounding him into his
back and arm. Elbakian was hospitalized but nothing is reported about
his health state.

A criminal case was initiated.

Armen Jigarkhanyan Fund is a philanthropic non-profit institution
engaged in organization of theatrical performances, concerts,
publication of books, etc.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SENDS MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCES TO KYRGYZ COUNTERPART IN CONNECTION WITH EARTHQUAKE IN KYRGYZSTAN

ARMENPRESS
Oct 7, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS: Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
sent a message of condolences to his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek
Bakiyev in connection with the earthquake which hit Kyrgyzstan.

Presidential press service said that the president expressed true
condolences on his and on behalf of the Armenian people to the Kyrgyz
people, relatives and friends of the victims.

A BRANCH OF FRANCE TELECOM HAS ALL GROUNDS TO WIN TENDER ON CHOICE OF CELLULAR OPERATOR IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-10-06 17:05:00

ArmInfo. The Orange SA company, which is a branch of France Telecom,
has all grounds to win the tender for the right to provide mobile
communication services in Armenia, Armenian Minister of Transport
and Communication Gourgen Sargsyan said at a briefing after opening
the packages of pricing facilities, Monday.

Gourgen Sargsyan said that Orange’s pricing facilities turned out
to be the highest – 51 mln 500 thsd EUR. He explained that the price
for the licence is the most important and crucial term of the tender.

Officially the winner’s name will be announced within 3 days, the
minister said. He pointed out that the winner will receive the licence
for providing mobile communication services in Armenia in mid December
2008. The minister noted that the new operator will start its activity
in Armenia within 6 months. At the final stage of the tender, along
with France Telecom, contending for the position of the third cellular
operator were CEO Blackrock Communications (Great Britain, Ireland),
which proposed 31mln 600 thsd EUR for the licence, and M&A Tele2 AB
(Sweden), whose pricing facilities made up 45 mln 600 thsd EUR.

According to the tender, the third operator must have relevant
experience and ability to invest at least 200 million in development
within 2 years.

The following codes will be provided to the third operator +374 (0)
55 and +374 (0) 95. If the operator fails to use the provided codes
by at least 60% by the end of the year, the PSRC has a right to take
back the unused numbers. The third operator will be provided with GSM
frequency and an opportunity to provide 3G services including voice
and data transmission.

The frequencies will be provided within the following limits: 880-890,
925-935, 1745-1765, 1840-1860, 1910-1915, 1950-1965, 2140-2155 MHz.

To recall, the specified three companies passed the pre-qualification
stage of the tender announced on July 19, 2008. To note, the mobile
operator and internet provider Orange SA has 90 mln subscribers and
provides services in 23 countries. At present GSM service providers
in Armenia are ArmenTel CJSC (100% subsidiary of Russian VimpelCom
OJSC with trademark Beeline) and K-Telecom with trademark VivaCell,
80% stake of the latter belong to Russian MTS operator. By the data
of the companies, the number of subscribers was up 45.5% over 2007
to 1,824,344. Both operators have about 1.8 mln subscribers, while
the whole population of the republic currently makes up 3.2 mln people.

ARMENIANS NOT HOPEFUL FOR RESTORATION OF TIES WITH TURKEY

Today’s Zaman
03 October 2008, Friday
Turkey

A poll released yesterday in Yerevan revealed that more than one-third
of the Armenian people believe that normalization of bilateral
relations between Armenia and Turkey is impossible.

Syuzanna Barsegyan of the Armenia Center for National and Strategic
Research announced at a press conference the results of the survey
concerning Armenia-Turkey relations.

According to the survey, 33 percent of Armenians believe it impossible
to have good relations with Turkey, while 43 percent said that they
doubted that there could be a good relationship between Armenia
and Turkey.

Barsegyan said that only 24 percent of Armenians believe that
normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey is possible.

"According to the results, 64 percent of people state that they
consider Turkey an enemy country, saying that there is a need to be
careful in any contact with this country," Barsegyan said.

While 11 percent of Armenians said they were against any kind of
cooperation with Turkey, 76 percent said relations with Turkey could
be normalized only after Armenia’s preconditions are accepted by
Turkey. Last month, a poll conducted in Turkey found that a brief
visit by President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan to attend a soccer match
between the Turkish and Armenian national teams, considered a landmark
step to thaw relations between the two countries, was welcomed by an
overwhelming majority of Turkish society.

According to the survey by the Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic &
Social Research Center, 69.6 percent of those polled found Gul’s
visit to Armenia successful, a figure suggesting that Turks are
hopeful the visit may be a turning point in the relations between
Turkey and Armenia. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan invited Gul to
watch a World Cup qualifying match between the Turkish and Armenian
national teams in Yerevan. Gul’s acceptance of the invitation raised
hopes for dialogue that could eventually restore relations between
the two estranged neighbors and help bury an almost century-old
hostility.

KARABAKH TALKS HELD IN NEW YORK

DeFacto Agency
2008-09-29 14:49:00
Armenia

YEREVAN, 29.09.08. DE FACTO. Karabakh process settlement was discussed
on September 26 in New York, in the course of a meeting of the RA
and AR FMs, with the participation of the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs,
as well as the OSCE CiO’s Personal Representative.

According to the RA MFA Press Office, the issue referring to the
negotiation process being held within the frames of the OSCE MG on the
basis of Madrid proposals was included in the agenda. In the course
of the meeting it was highlighted that the issue should be resolved
only via peace talks.

Then the RA and AR FMs held a tête-a-tête meeting. In the course
of the talks the interlocutors discussed the ways of rapprochement of
the parties’ stands concerning the conflict’s settlement, as well as
the possibility of organization of RA and AR Presidents’ new meeting.

On the same day RA FM Edvard Nalbandian met with Turkish FM Ali
Babacan. Heads of MFAs continued talks concerning normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations.

After that the meeting proceeded in a trilateral format with the
participation of Armenian, Azeri and Turkish FMs. Latest regional
developments and Turkish initiative on the establishment of Caucasian
platform were discussed at the meeting.

–Boundary_(ID_Lumyw0S3KaNIdG72fyKTFQ)–

"AS LONG AS THE TERRITORIES ARE NOT RETURNED, THE BORDERS WILL NOT BE OPENED"

AZG Armenian Daily
30/09/2008

Armenia-Turkey-Azerbaijan

"As long as Armenia doesn’t return the occupied territories,
opening of border with that country is out of the question",
announced Turkish President Abdullah Gul in New York at a meeting
with the representatives of Turkish organizations in the USA. Issues
of Karabakh conflict and Turkish-Armenian relations were discussed
during the meeting. Members of Azerbaijani Association in New York
also participated in it.

On behalf of the members of the Azerbaijani community, Chairman of
the Azerbaijani Association Zamina Mirkhadieva expressed concern over
probable opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, "Armenpress" reported.