Author: Nadirian Emma

ARMENIAN "CONVERSEBANK" TO START ACCEPTING "HOLIDAY" DEPOSIT FROM NOV 15

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006

YEREVAN, November 7. /ARKA/. The Armenian "Conversebank" will start
accepting "holiday" deposit from November 15, 1006. The bank’s
Marketing Department reports that the deposit will take effect from
January 31, 2007. The deposit will be accepted in terms of both AMD
and USD fro 6-24 months. The annual interest rates are 9% for AMD
deposits and 8% for USD deposits. The interests can be paid every
month or at the end of the term.

In signing a deposit contract, the depositor will be afforded
an opportunity for making use of a credit line up to 100% of his
deposit, a safe at a 50-100 per cent discount depending on the deposit
amount. The depositor will also receive a free plastic card: VISA
ELECTRON if the deposit is AMD 300,000-AMD 5,000,000 or USD equivalent;
VISA CLASSIC if the deposit is AMD 5mln-AMD 15mln or USD equivalent;
VISA GOLD if the deposit exceeds AMD 15mln.

The "Conversebank" CJSC was incorporated on December 23, 1993. By
September 30, 2006, the bank’s assets had amounted to AMD 31.4bln,
total capital AMD 9.5bln, net profit AMD 1.3bln (in January-September
2006), and balance profit AMD 5.3bln (on September 30, 2006).

ANNUAL DEFENSE EXPENSES TO MAKE UP 3.5% OF ARMENIA’S GDP

Regnum News Agency, Russia
Nov 6 2006

"The budgetary allocations for defense are enough to keep our army
efficient," Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan told journalists
after the Nov 6 budgetary hearings in the parliament. The annual
defense expenses will make up 3.5% of the GDP, i.e. the defense
expenses will directly depend on the economic growth.

Sargsyan said that 48% of the defense allocations will be spent on
the wages. He said that next year the average salary of an Armenian
officer will be 165,000 AMD (almost $450).

Commenting on the Azerbaijani authorities’ statement that Azerbaijan’s
defense budget is much bigger than Armenia’s one, Sargsyan said that
$1bln cannot be compared with $300mln, "but if we spend the money
effectively, we will attain a lot." Sargsyan said that next year the
Government will buy new equipment for the army.

To note, the draft budget 2007 allocates over 100.4bln AMD for defense,
of which 97bln AMD for military needs. 27mln AMD will be spent on
the organization of the alternative service.

Several Bilateral Documents to Be Signed during RA President’s Visit to Kazakhstan

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.11.2006 16:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ November 6 Armenian President Robert Kocharian will
pay a formal call to Kazakhstan on the invitation of Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev, reported the RA leader’s press office. The
Presidents will hold a tete-a-tete meeting to be followed by talks in
expanded composition. In the Kazakh capital city Robert Kocharian will
meet with entrepreneurs and representatives of the Armenian community.

NKR DELEGATION VISITED FRANCE

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Nov 2 2006

On October 25 and 26 the NKR minister of education, culture and sport
Kamo Atayan and the rector of Artsakh State University Hamlet Grigorian
visited France. On October 25 the delegation visited the vocation
college of the city of Meudon training specialists for industries
and hotel business. On the same day Kamo Atayan and Hamlet Grigorian
visited one of the Armenian schools of the region of Paris, met with
the students and teachers, got acquainted with the teaching methods
used in this Armenian school. On October 26 the representatives
of Nagorno Karabakh participated in the forum of the France-based
Armenian societies aiding Artsakh, during which the development of the
new vocational college in Stepanakert was discussed. After the forum
the guests took part in the ceremony devoted to the 15th anniversary
of the independence of Artsakh.

French members of parliament, mayors, heads of French organizations
and famous representatives of the Armenian community in France were
present.

RA NAS CHAIRMANSHIP AFFIRMS CANDIDATURES FOR DIRECTORS OF 4 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS

Noyan Tapan
Nov 02 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Candidatures for directors of 4
scientific research organizations were affirmed at the November
1 sitting of the chairmanship of the RA National Academy of
Sciences. Aram Papoyan was affirmed on the post of the RA NAS Physical
Researches Institute Director, Arsen Hakhumian – on the post of the
Radiophysics and Electronics Institute Director, Artak Mkrtchian – on
the Director’s post of the Institute of Applied Problems of Physics,
Hayk Haroutiunian was appointed on the post of the V.Hambardzumian
Byurakan Observatory Director. To recap, 23 directors of the RA NAS
scientific research organizations were discharged on the occasion
of their becoming 65. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA NAS
Information Services, candidatures for directors of other institutes
will be discussed at the NAS chairmanship soon.

THE BASTARD OF ISTANBUL

Kirkus Reviews
November 1, 2006

An astonishingly rich and lively story of an Istanbul family whose
mixed up heritage mirrors the complexity of Turkish society.

Shafak (The Gaze, 2006), whom the Turkish government has put on trial
for "denigrating Turkishness," writes here about the 1915 massacre of
Armenians. The four Kazanci sisters live together with their mother
and paternal grandmother in Istanbul, their bother Mustafa having
been sent to Arizona as a young man to avoid the Kazanci curse: The
men of the family tend to die by age 41. When the youngest sister,
rebellious Zeliha, has a daughter out of wedlock, she refuses to
name the father. Calling Zeliha auntie although she knows their
relationship, Aysa grows up in this household of women.

Zeliha runs a tattoo parlor; her sisters include a devout Muslim
seer, a nationalistic history teacher and a batty feminist. To escape
her doting aunts and grandmothers, Aysa hangs out with coffeehouse
intellectuals, including a cartoonist indicted by the government
for cartoons mocking the prime minister. Defensive about her lack
of a father, Aysa takes an existential view of life that denies the
importance of the past. Meanwhile in America, Armanoush is born to
an Armenian father and American mother. After her parents divorce,
Armanoush’s mother marries Mustafa, who barely acknowledges his Turkish
roots. Armanoush spends large chunks of her childhood with her father’s
loving Armenian family, which clings to history and long simmering
bitterness against the Turks. Increasingly drawn to her Armenian
roots, Armanoush travels to Istanbul (without telling her parents)
to learn more of her family history. She stays with the Kazancis, who
are astounded when she tells them what Turks did to Armenians. As Asya
and Armanoush become friends, myths — ethnic, familial and personal
— explode. Despite a misstep into melodrama concerning Mustafa,
Shafak handles her large cast of characters and plotting with finesse.

A hugely ambitious exploration of complex historical realities handled
with an enchantingly light touch.

Publication Date: 1/22/2007 0:00:00 Publisher: Viking Stage: Adult
Star: 1 ISBN: 0-670-03834-2 Price: $24.95 Author: Shafak, Elif

LAVROV AND BEZHUASHVILI TO MEET SOON
By Nana Petrosian

AZG Armenian Daily
02/11/2006

Russian Embassy to Armenia informed that according to Denisov, deputy
foreign minister of Russia, it is envisaged that the foreign ministers
of Russia and Georgia are going to meet within the framework of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization sitting in Moscow on
November 1-2. The Georgian side also confirms the information about
the coming meeting.

Denisov stated that no preparations were made for the coming
meeting. At the same time, he added that the bilateral relations have
never been stopped. He stated that the officials of the Georgian and
Russian foreign ministries met on October 16 in the course of the
Ministerial Council of the CIS States in Minsk.

ARMENIAN LIFERS PROTEST AGAINST TOUGHER PRISON REGIME
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 1 2006

Two dozen men serving life sentences in Armenia’s largest prison went
on a brief hunger strike Wednesday in protest at what they claim is a
deterioration of their conditions under the new prison administration.

Representatives of the 24 inmates said the new chief of Yerevan’s
Nubarashen jail, Vahan Markarian, has toughened the prison regime,
making it much more difficult for their relatives to visit and pass
parcels on to them. They also alleged a worsening of the quality of
food and healthcare provided to them.

"The system has totally changed," one of the protesting prisoners,
Manuk Semerjian, told RFE/RL by phone from the prison. "They force
relatives of lifers to wait for seven or eight hours, and have
restricted visits."

"People catch diseases from food. We also can’t get medicines from
outside," added Semerjian, who has spent 16 years at Nubarashen.

The head of an Armenian Justice Ministry department running the
country’s prisons, Ashot Martirosian, rejected the claims, saying
that unlike his more lenient predecessor, the new Nubarashen chief
is simply enforcing the rules set by the law.

"We are not going to meet any illegal demand by those serving life
sentences," Martirosian told RFE/RL. "Let them remain on hunger strike
as long as they want," he said.

The official insisted that the prisoners are well fed. "Sometimes they
don’t eat meat every day, but they always get the required minimum
amount of calories," he said.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement later on Wednesday that
the lifers ended the hunger strike but did not elaborate. It was not
immediately clear if the prison administration made any concessions
to the protesters.

The protest was apparently triggered by the death of another lifer,
Anushavan Ghazarian, in a Yerevan hospital on Tuesday. Martirosian
rejected suggestions that the 25-year-man died because of harsh prison
conditions, saying that he had long been suffering from an unspecified
chronic illness and had been hospitalized several months ago.

Conditions in Armenian prisons are thought to have improved since they
were transferred from the police to the Justice Ministry jurisdiction
under pressure from the Council of Europe in 2002. But according to
a team of civil society representatives that regularly inspects the
penitentiary institutions, they still leave much to be desired.

In an annual report released last month, the representatives of a dozen
non-governmental organizations and the Armenian Apostolic Church said
the country’s four largest jails do not meet international standards
and must be relocated to new buildings. They also concluded that
most Armenian prisoners are poorly fed and lack access to adequate
healthcare.

GEORGIA HOLDING BORDER DEMARCATION TALKS WITH ALL NEIGHBORS

ArmRadio.am
31.10.2006 14:01

Georgia is holding talks on border demarcation with all its neighbors
from the former USSR, said First Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia
Valeri Chechelashvili, RIA Novosti reports.

"We are holding talks with all our neighbors. The progress in the talks
with diferent countries difers. As of today, we have achieved greater
success in the negotiations with Armenia. The progress is more modest
in the talks with Azerbaijan. We are negotiating also with Russia,"
Chechelashvili said.

As for the border demarcation with Turkey, the Georgian Deputy
Foreign Minister noted: "We have no problems with our neighbor Turkey,
since the dematcation with that country was carried out still during
USSR era."

KARABAKH FM SAYS STEPANAKERT WANTS SOONEST SOLUTION TO THE CONFLICT

Armenpress
Oct 31 2006

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS; Nagorno-Karabakh foreign minister
Georgy Petrosian refused to make forecasts about a possible date of
a solution to the conflict with Azerbaijan saying his government’s
approaches concerning the future of Karabakh did not change.

Petrosian refused also to comment on speculations and forecasts that
the conflict could be settled only after 2008 or 2009 when Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh will have had national elections,
saying Stepanakert wants a soonest resolution of the dispute and
establishment of good neighborly relations with Azerbaijan.

Speaking to Armenpress Georgy Petrosian said this kind of relations
between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan would become a steady guarantee
of regional peace and stability. "Only long-lasting peace is able to
ensure security, freedom and dignity for the people of the region,"
he said.