NUMBER OF TOURISTS TO ARMENIA GROWS BY 19.6% IN 2006
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. 381,136 tourists visited Armenia in
2006 against 318,563 tourists in 2005: the growth made 19.6%. According
to the RA National Statistical Service, in 2006, 329,347 tourists, or
by 22.6% more, left Armenia to travel abroad against 268,664 ones in
2005.
Alexan Harutyunyan appointed member of the Council of Public TV and Radio
Company
ArmRadio.am
01.02.2007 17:07
According to President Robert Kocharyan’s decree dated February 1
Alexan Harutyunyan was appointed member of the Council of Public TV
and Radio Company of Armenia for the term of six years, President’s
Press Office informed ` Radiolur.’
GPS – GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM TO BE INTRODUCED IN ARMENIA THIS YEAR
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, NOYAN TAPAN. A GPS – Global Positioning System,
which can be also used via mobile phones, will be introduced in
Armenia this year, the RA Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic
Development Tigran Davtian stated. According to him, the basis for
GPS-used Yerevan’s map has already been developed. The bases for
regional maps are being developed too.
"If I am not mistaken, so far no GPS has been introduced in a CIS
country. The introduction of this system will encourage tourism and
help increase the business attractiveness of our country," T. Davtian
said.
Turkey/Ankara – Prime Minister ErdoÄ=9Fan among those offended by
`We are all Armenians’ slogan of hundreds of thousands.
Sendika.org
Labornet Turkey
January 27, 2007
_ _no=3D9479_
( hp?yazi_no=3D9479)
Showing solidarity with the Armenian minority who were able to survive
from the 1915 genocide and condemning the murder of an Armenian
journalist by a Turkish nationalist, hundreds of thousands had marched
last week shouting`We are all Armenians.’ This brotherly demonstration
has shocked the Turkish nationalists who claim either the genocide was
justified, never happened or that Armenians are a `loyal’ minority who
should accept Turkishsuperiority. Some even went so far as warning all
oppositionists to Turkish superiority would face the same fate the
Armenian journalist received.
Turkish prime minister Erdogan found the funeral march for the
slain Armenian journalist Hrant Dink remarkable, yet, he found the
solidarity slogan shouted by hundreds of thousands, `We are all Hrant
Dink, We are All Armenians’ offensive. He spoke against the slogan
aimed at bringing two different religious groups of Turkish citizens
together, saying, `This type of slogan, indicating we are all
Armenians may spark off a reactionary event. We needto prevent such
reactions. That is why that slogan is wrong.’
The words used by the prime minister were exactly the same ones used
by the racist nationalist front who have been screaming that `they
were being provoked’ by such slogans.
The right wing press has been targeting the solidarity slogan last
week. The right wing Tercuman’s headline was, `If you can’t say you
are a Turk, then get the hell out!’ Cumhuriyet, on the other hand, a
pro-military nationalist daily wrote, `Due to this slogan, Turks, the
real owners of this land, have fallen to the level of minorities in
their own land.’ This approach demonstrates the mentality of the
nationalists, pretending to be leftists,which places the Greek,
Armenian and Kurdish nationals in Turkey as only being guests and not
equal citizens of Turkey.
The Fotospor daily paper wrote in support of the Turkish soccer
player, Emre Bebeloglu , who is on trial for racism in England, on
its headline the day after the funeral, `We are all Turkish, we are
all Emre,’ showing the open racist, nationalist mentality.
These were followed by the collective attack on the slogan by the
right wing. The head of the fascist-nazi party, BBP, Yazıcıoglu, who
is involved in the assassination, joined forces with the other
fascist-nazi party MHP’s leader Bahçeli and others, saying, `Where we
are from is very obvious,’ rejecting the solidarity call of `We are
all Armenians.’
It was reported that those who attacked the brotherhood of both
nations claiming to be the `real Turks’ are the ones who have soiled
the Turkish identity the most.
The New Anatolian
via ABHaber, Belgium
Jan 30 2007
Cam: Funeral protestors formed anti-discrimination front
By chanting, "We’re all Armenians" at last week’s funeral for slain
journalist Hrant Dink, protestors formed a front against
discrimination and extreme nationalism, said a prominent labor leader
yesterday.
Musa Cam, general secretary of the Confederation of Revolutionary
Workers’ Unions (DISK), yesterday told a press conference
co-organized by Istanbul Trade Association Coordination member Tayfun
Mater and the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) deputy leader Hakan
Tahmaz that critics of the slogans chanted at the funeral had
misinterpret them.
"Some people having difficulty understanding the spirit of the slogan
object to us with a discriminatory ideology," said Cam. "Dink’s
murder was caused by extreme nationalism. In order to protest
discrimination, we shared the hardships and pains witnessed by all
minorities living in our country."
Tahmaz stated that before they chanted slogans such as "We’re all
Palestinians" or "We’re all Lebanese" in antiwar activities.
Speaking on behalf of the Hrant Dink Farewell Committee, Tahmaz said
that no one suggested opening or carrying a flag while planning the
funeral.
Tension in Trabzon spills onto pitch
Following the recall to Ankara of Trabzon Governor Huseyin Yavuzdemir
and Police Chief Resat Altay, escalating tension in Trabzon spilled
over into a Trabzon-Kayserispor soccer match Sunday.
Approximately 15,000 Trabzonspor fans, claiming that Trabzon was
unfairly accused because Dink’s confessed assassin comes from the
city, chanted slogans and held banners during the match saying "We’re
all Turks, we’re all from Trabzon, we’re all Mustafa Kemal" and
"We’ll sooner die than say that we’re all Armenians."
Was ‘big brother’ an informer?
Turkish dailies reported on unconfirmed rumors yesterday that Erhan
Tuncel, who has been arrested as the instigator behind Dink’s
assassination, was actually a police informer and he warned Trabzon
police office before the murder.
So-called "Big Brother" Tuncel is said to have been giving the police
information since 2004, when a McDonald’s was bombed by Yasin Hayal,
also implicated in the murder of Dink, Tuncel is said to have warned
the police that Dink would be murdered in the near future. In 2004
then Trabzon Police Chief Ramazan Akyurek also reportedly persuaded
Tuncel to give them information about the group by saying that he’s
not a "bum" like the others as he went to university and if he gave
information he’d be get favorable treatment. Afterwards Tuncel
frequently visited the police and gave them information about the
group and his last tip was on the assassination of Dink, say the
reports.
Tuncel’s claim was reportedly ignored by the police, as he couldn’t
give any concrete evidence.
Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu didn’t reply to questions yesterday
regarding the claims.
KurdishInfo.com
Nationalists Surface After Dink’s Funeral
Date: Monday, January 29 @ 15:02:46 CST
Topic: toplum-yaþam
es.php?name=3DNews&file=3Darticle&sid=3D58 20
Bianet-Thousands marched in assassinated Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant
Dink’s funeral. Nationalist and racist reaction rise following chanted
slogans "We’re all Armenians". Debate on article 301 continues as five
suspects get arrested on the case.
Repercussions of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant
Dink and his funeral, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered
to condemn the killing, continue.
Dink was gunned down in front of the offices of his newspaper Agos on
January 19.
The killing suspect was caught the following day and several people
who were claimed to solicit the murder have been taken under custody.
Governor removed from office
The Black Sea port of Trabzon, the hometown of Dink killing suspect
Ogun Samast continues to dominate the headlines last week.
Samast and four others were arrested on three different charges,
including manslaughter, affiliation to an armed group and breach of
armed weapons act last Thursday.
The prosecution didn’t classify the murder as a terror act, which
would result in heavier penalties for the convicts.
The government removed chief of police and the governor of the city
for their lack of control over the rising politically motivated crimes
by nationalists.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also commissioned two inspectors to
interrogate on administrative failures to prevent such crimes in the
city.
An Italian priest was murdered in 2005 in Trabzon and members a
leftist group, Solidarity Association of Prisoners’ Families (TAYAD)
faced public lynching several times in 2006 during street protests.
Nationalist reaction to Dink’s funeral
The slogans voiced at Dink’s funeral on January 23, "We’re all Hrant,
we’re all Armenians" caused a stir in nationalist circles.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) vice chair Mehmet Sandýr described
the funeral as "an insult to the Turkish people and a daring challenge
to the Turkish state". "We’re all Turks and this is Turkey", he
added.
Daily Tercuman’s headliner read "We’re all Turks" the day following.
Hurriyet newspaper conducted a survey regarding on its website where
463 thousand people participated and 47 percent voted to favor the
slogan and 52 percent objected.
36 year old Nihat Acar kidnapped a ferry that run on the Dardanelles
for three hours on Saturday night, in protest for the slogan "We’re
all Armenians". He was arrested as he gave in waving a Turkish flag.
During a first division football game played yesterday between
Trabzonspor and Kayserispor, supporters chanted nationalist and racist
slogans.
Threats continue
Nationalist and racist reactions are most evident and harsh on the
Internet.
Agos newspaper received a bomb threat by e-mail, signed as Turkish
Revenge Brigade (TÝT), a notorious clandestine group responsible for
several killings of leftist militants during 1980’s.
Dink murder suspect Samast’s friend and alleged sollicitor of the
killing Yasin Hayal threathened writer Orhan Pamuk as he was taken
under custody.
Article 301 debates
On another account, NGO’s and activists continue to voice their
requests for the abolition of the article 301 of the Penal Code, which
defines a charge of "insulting Turkishness", punishable by prison
sentences.
Lastly, a local journalist from Sinop filed a complaint on article 301
for those who attended Dink’s funeral.
Hrant Dink was condemned to a deferred 6 months prison sentence in
relation to this article. Numerous journalists and writers -including
2006 Nobel Literature laureate Orhan Pamuk- also stood trial on this
article.
The government hinted a possible reform on the article but
commentators say it’s not likely to realize given the general
elections in November this year.
Such a change would harm nationalist votes, they claim as the main
opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) stands by the existing
article.
CHP leader Deniz Baykal as well as popular columnists like Emin
Colasan say that the removal of the article would excuse treasonous
comments and insulting the Turkish state.
29.01.2007
PanARMENIAN.Net
Vartan Oskanian to brief on RA political and economic
development in Netherlands
29.01.2007 15:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ January 29-31, 2007, the Armenian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Mr. Vartan Oskanian will pay a call to the
Netherlands. As a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter came to know from the
Federation of the Armenian Organizations of the Netherlands, during
his working visit Minister Oskanian will meet the Foreign Minister of
the Netherlands Mr. Ben Bot. He will also have a meeting in Dutch
Parliament with the members of the Permanent Commission for Foreign
Affairs of the Parliament. In the Netherlands Institute of
International Relations Clingendael in Hague Mr. Oskanian will
deliver a speech entitled "Diplomacy of Small States". In his lecture,
Minister Oskanian will address the developments in Armenia, both
political as well as on a socio-economic level, in relation to the
European Union and within the context of the region.
On Tuesday, January 30, Vartan Oskanian will participate in the
conclusion of the cooperation agreement between the Rotterdam
International Film Festival and the Yerevan International Film
Festival Golden Apricot. He will also meet the representatives of the
Armenian community of the Netherlands.
LACK OF MONEY IS NOT OBSTACLE TO STUDY OF TURKISH ARCHIVES
Yerevan, January 29. ArmInfo. The director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum Hayk Demoyan calls a provocation the report of Zaman newspaper
(Turkey) that for lack of funds Armenia has rejected Turkey’s proposal
for jointly studying the historical archives concerning the Armenian
Genocide .
Zaman says that Armenia and Turkey has never jointly studied the issue
so far, however, 92 countries have already recognized the Genocide
under the pressure of the Armenian lobby.
It should be noted that Armenia’s official position is that the
Armenian Genocide is historical reality and is not subject to any
discussion. The 6-mln Armenian Diaspora is the best proof that the
Genocide did take place.
To remind, in his response to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan’s
proposal for holding joint studies of the issue, Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan said that it is for the governments to develop
bilateral relations and they should not shift the responsiblity onto
historians. He suggested setting up an inter-governmental commission
for discussing the problem and finding appropriate solution.
EurasiaNet, NY
Jan 28 2007
GEORGIA: URANIUM CASE UNDERSCORES NUKE SAFETY FEARS
Claire Bigg 1/28/07
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
Moscow and Tbilisi have traded harsh words after Georgia revealed it
had arrested a Russian man last year trying to sell weapons-grade
uranium.
The incident marks a new low in already strained Russian-Georgian
relations and raises fresh fears worldwide that some of Russia’s huge
nuclear stockpiles could fall into terrorist hands.
Last February in Tbilisi, a Georgian undercover agent, aided by the
CIA, posed as a rich foreign buyer interested in purchasing
weapons-grade uranium for a Muslim man from "a serious organization."
The mission: seize Oleg Khinsagov, a Russian man trying to sell a
small amount of highly enriched uranium, and confiscate his
merchandise.
The operation was a success and Khinsagov was sentenced to 8 and 1/2
years in prison.
Although the purity of the uranium seized is ideal for making nuclear
weapons, the quantity is too small. A nuclear bomb requires at least
15 kilograms of highly enriched uranium.
Both the trial and the incident itself were kept secret until
Thursday (January 26), when Georgian Interior Minister Vano
Merabishvili, who was visiting Washington this week, revealed the
case in comments published by U.S. media.
Reasons For Disclosure
So why is Tbilisi making the incident public now, almost one year
after it occurred?
Nikoloz Rurua, the deputy chairman of the Georgian parliament’s
Committee for Defense and Security, told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service
that there had been "a request by our American colleagues — not to
publicize this information due to certain considerations related to
the operation."
"I cannot say more about this. It was their request, and we complied
with it. This applied to a particular period of time, which has now
passed, and we — the country on whose soil this legal violation took
place — naturally made this information public," Rurua said.
Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, however, had a
different story. He said he was revealing the case out of frustration
with Russia’s lack of cooperation in the investigation that followed
the arrest.
According to him, Russia hampered Georgia’s attempts to determine
whether Khinsagov had access to larger quantities of uranium, as he
had boasted prior to his detention.
New Russia-Georgia Spat
Russian authorities confirmed the arrest, but struck back by saying
Georgia prevented Russia from identifying the substance’s country of
origin by presenting a sample too small to work with. He accused
Georgia of failing to provide a larger sample despite repeated
requests.
The Khinsagov case has also revived tensions over Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, the two Georgian separatist republics backed by Moscow.
Merabishvili said the Russian smuggler came to Georgia’s attention
during an investigation into what he called extensive smuggling
networks in and around the breakaway border regions.
The incident has once again prompted calls in Georgia for
international observer missions in both regions, a proposal that
Tbilisi has been pushing in past months.
"Any uncontrolled territory represents dangers not only for the
country within which this territory lies, but for the international
community as a whole,” deputy Rurua said. "We believe this is a
crucial reason for the international community to take the resolution
of problems in the Tskhinvali region and in Abkhazia seriously."
Nuclear Safety Fears
The international community, however, seems more concerned about how
100 grams of nuclear-bomb grade uranium fell into the hands of a
50-year-old Russian trader, who specialized in fish and sausages.
Speaking today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Muhammad el-Baradei
reiterated the urgency of joining forces in preventing rogue states
from obtaining material for nuclear weapons.
The incident is reminiscent of a similar case in 2003, when Georgian
border guards caught an Armenian man with about 170 grams of highly
enriched uranium. According to Georgia, the man said the uranium came
from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, home to a major nuclear
complex.
A number of experts say Khinsagov, too, is likely to have obtained
uranium in Russia, where a nuclear black market emerged from the
chaos that followed the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Efforts To Be Safe
But Ivan Safranchuk, who heads the Moscow office of the U.S.-based
Center for Defense Information, says getting hold of highly enriched
uranium in Russia is not that easy.
"Over the past nine years, serious efforts have been made to improve
the system of physical protection and security of nuclear facilities,
both military and civilian. So in my opinion, obtaining nuclear
substances in Russia is extremely difficult. Today, if I were a
terrorist seeking nuclear substances, I would go to Pakistan, not
Russia," Safranchuk says.
Former Soviet countries have indeed taken steps towards boosting
nuclear security, often financed by the West.
Russia, in particular, says it is actively cooperating with other
nations, including the United States, to combat nuclear
proliferation.
But Vladimir Chuprov, the chief nuclear expert at Greenpeace’s
Russian office, says security at Russian nuclear facilities remains
deplorable.
"In Russia, the physical defense and security of radioactive material
doesn’t meet the required standards. In 2002, a group of Greenpeace
activists, together with journalists and a State Duma deputy, entered
without difficulties the territory of the national stockpile of
wasted nuclear fuel, climbed on the roof of the stockpile’s building
complex, shot photographs and videos, and quietly left. Nine months
later, the Federal Security Service repeated the same experience.
Nothing had changed," Chuprov says.
According to Chuprov, poor working conditions and rampant corruption
in Russia’s post-Soviet nuclear sector continue to provide a fertile
breeding ground for nuclear contraband.
The Khinsagov case is likely to put the state of Russia’s sprawling
nuclear stockpiles back into the spotlight once again.
Kuwait Times, Kuwait
Jan 28 2007
Kuwait to buy Lebanon
Fouad Al-Hashem (Al-Watan, Jan 27) came up with a "genius" proposal
in relation to Lebanon chronic crises. Al-Hashem suggests that Kuwait
buy Lebanon for a hundred billion dollar and call it the 7th borough.
The money should be distributed among all Lebanese. The Christians
could migrate to America and Canada. The Druze should go to Syria,
the Armenians to Armenia, the Shiites to Iran and Iraq and the Sunnis
to the Arab Gulf. Those Lebanese who want to stay, will get an
identity card without naming faith and ethnicity. If Syria tries to
invade Lebanon, the American retired General, Schwarzkopf would be
called to oust the Syrians.
My comment: The "genius" proposal has one big snag. The Kuwaitis
would replicate Kuwait in Lebanon. The Kuwaitis would import "Asians"
to do the job. They would sit idle and demand salary raise and
writing off private debts. The Islamists would have all the say and
Talebanise Lebanon. Waleed Al-Tabtabae would be appointed as head of
the new Kuwaiti province.
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