Author: Nalbandian Albert

SEMNEBY MEETS ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN

A1+
[12:30 pm] 21 December, 2006

Arthur Baghdasaryan has met with Peter Semneby, EU Special
Representative for the South Caucasus.

According to the press service of OYP, the parties considered the
issues connected with the upcoming State elections. Arthur Baghdasaryan
and Peter Semneby highlighted the significance of holding the elections
in full compliance with the European standards, the provision of
equal bases for the ruling elite and the opposition, the importance
of having Electoral Code meeting CoE standards and other issues of
bilateral interest.

EXHIBITION ON ARMENIAN KHACHKARS WILL BE HELD IN ALL EUROPEAN CAPITALS

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.12.2006 15:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The exhibition devoted to the Armenian cemetery in
Old Djugha (Nakhichevan) will be exhibited in all European capitals,
said Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian in Yerevan. He also
added that PACE Monitoring Group on protection of cultural values
will visit our region in 2007.

"Azerbaijan put forward conditions: if the group wants to visit
Nakhichevan it must also visit Nagorno Karabakh, since, as Baku says,
there are cultural monuments in Karabakh, which have been destroyed
by the Armenians. But the neighboring country evades the fact that
distractions in Nagorno Karabakh are the result of war. At the same
time the distraction of the Armenian cemetery in Nakhichevan is the
policy of Azeri authorities," Oskanian stressed.

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 15 2006

ROBERT KOCHARYAN MAY RESIGN AFTER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

If the scenario of the election 2007 written by the government is
performed, it is possible that Robert Kocharyan will resign after the
election, become prime minister and hold a presidential election.
This forecast was made by Member of Parliament Manuk Gasparyan who
shared it with reporters on December 15 at the Pastark Club. The
member of parliament stated that no other electoral process is
expected until May 2007 because the government does not need it.
Manuk Gasparyan says presently the government has a higher popular
rating than the opposition, even his rating is low, and Gasparyan
says he will not be surprised if the government will not need ballot
stuffing to win the election.

`I am saying now that my rating is lower now that last year, or two
years ago,’ Manuk Gasparyan says. He says his rating dropped because
TV channels and the media in general are closed to the opposition.
Even some opposition newspapers are blackening the opposition, says
the member of parliament. According to him, if this situation
continues, the opposition will have to come together and rely on
direct contact with people.

But controversy in Manuk Gasparyan’s words is evident, because he
thinks that the situation may change in 2 or 3 months, and the
government’s rating may drop. The point is that Gasparyan had
announced earlier that the government does not need to launch an
early process, because the situation is favorable for it. Meanwhile,
if Manuk Gasparyan announced that the situation may change in 2 or 3
months, it will be logical if the government initiates an early
election as long as it has a higher rating than the opposition.

Manuk Gasparyan says, however, that there is confusion in the
political sphere and the political forces do not know what they are
going to do. The public is also confused, says the member of
parliament and advises people not to vote for the present
parliamentary forces because they did not fulfill their pledges. As
to the political forces and figures who have launched election
campaign for the presidential election and are carrying on with
`black PR’, Manuk Gasparyan says it is a false start and soon it may
disappoint people. The member of paliament says, for instance, that
after water pipelines Serge Sargsyan went on with sport schools,
whereas this is what the sport committee should attend to.

RUSSIA COMPLETES WITHDRAWAL OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM GEORGIAN CAPITAL

The Associated Press
December 14, 2006 Thursday 7:24 PM GMT

Russia completed the withdrawal of all its military equipment from
its Tbilisi garrison Thursday, Russian officials said.

The last of 340 Russian military personnel are to leave the garrison
next week, leaving the Georgian capital free of Russia’s regional
military headquarters for the first time in more than 200 years.

A train convoy carrying more than 300 tons of equipment and cargo set
off for a Russian base in Gyumri, Armenia the fourth and last convoy
carrying materiel from the Tbilisi garrison, the Russian regional
military command said.

Fifteen officers will remain until the closure of two Russian bases,
one in the southern town of Akhalkalaki and the other in the Black Sea
port of Batumi. Georgia and Russia agreed last year, after months of
contentious negotiations, that Russian forces would pull out of the
two bases, which are scheduled to be closed by October 2008.

Relations between the two countries have plummeted in recent months
as Georgia has accused Russia of supporting separatists, and Russia
fears Georgia is moving closer to the West.

Georgian authorities briefly detained four Russian military officers
on spying charges in September, and Moscow retaliated with a transport
and postal blockade and a crackdown on Georgian migrants in Russia.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said that the decision
to speed up the withdrawal of the Tbilisi base was made because of
tensions with Georgia.

ARMENIAN PATRIARCH WRITES TO THE EU LEADERS

AB Haber, Belgium
EU-Turkey News Network
Dec 13 2006

His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey,
wrote a letter, dated 12 December 2006, to the Queens and Kings,
Presidents and Prime Ministers, and the Foreign Ministers, wherever
applicable, of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom concerning his views on the
accession process of the Republic of Turkey to the European Union.

The content of the Patriarch’s letter is as follows:

"In view of the upcoming European Council, as the religious minority
leader of the Armenian Orthodox community, I wish to bring to your
kind attention some of my thoughts and concerns on Turkey’s accession
process.

The European Union is going to take a decision on 14 December which
will have crucial significance in terms of Turkey-EU relations.

Certainly, the impact of this decision will be felt in a much wider
context.

My primary concern, in this regard, is that the current impasse
seriously puts at risk Turkey’s accession process and Turkey-EU
relations at large. I think that this critical period should be
handled with a sense of utmost responsibility.

Turkey’s accession process is first and foremost important for the
Turkish people. The commitment of Turkey to be a member of the EU has
encouraged the political and economic reforms in our country. The
comprehensive reforms which were carried out in the last years are
also named as a silent revolution by outside observers. These have
tremendously improved the fundamental rights of all Turkish citizens,
including the religious minorities, and will certainly continue to
do so.

I also believe that Turkey’s accession process is significant for
the future of Europe. One of the major consequences of the accession
process will be a modern and economically prosperous Turkey which is
to the well-being of the EU and a wider geography.

It was the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,
of blessed memory, who, in the 1920’s, decidedly turned the face of
Turkey to Europe. Turkish people made their choice long ago to follow
the path of political and economic modernization. We are at a time
where we should highlight our shared values. That’s the only way to
realize that our diversities are nothing but a source of wealth for
all of us.

In this respect, it is so important that the EU should not
take decisions that would derail the negotiation process through
pressuring Turkey to fulfill unilateral conditions, while ignoring
other obligations.

Your Excellency, your leadership at this moment will be important in
preventing a negative decision to be taken by the European Council.

It is my sincere hope that your strategic vision will be instrumental
to put the process back on the right track.

Prayerfully, MESROB II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul & All Turkey"

.asp?id=15092

COLONIALISM AND THE COMPLICATIONS OF BEING ‘CYPRIOT’
By Lauren O’Hara

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
Dec 12 2006

LAST Thursday saw the launch at Intercollege of the book Britain
in Cyprus 1878-2006, a collection of essays aimed at assessing the
complex relationship between Cyprus and its former colonial ruler.

Nicos Peristianis, one of the editors, rightly stated that colonialism
is always a case of checks and balances, like a pair of scales,
the credits and debits open to interpretation and debate.

History is always hindsight. The speculation of "what if?" is the
lifeblood of analysts, and in many ways such recent history is still
in the making, the final outcomes waiting to be reassessed by future
generations. What is true is that Cyprus’ relations with Britain have
helped make her wealthy. This is an island whose prosperity has been
drawn from its offshore status and tourism.

The 82-year colonial rule set the course for Cyprus to become one of
the most favoured destinations for sun-seeking post-war Brits. There
is an atmospheric poster in a bookshop in Nicosia, from I guess the
fifties, of a glamourous women in a deckchair, smoking a cigarette,
raising her bottle of Keo, encouraging Britain to holiday in "our
Mediterranean Isle".

Property development, hotels, package tourism have been a linchpin
of Cypriot wealth. That tie with Britain still continues to fuel the
second home market. For better or worse, a certain type of Brit has
always preferred to holiday somewhere faraway but familiar. Where the
cars drive on the left and the shopkeepers speak English, and where
you can get Premiership football down the local. What if Britain had
not been here? Well, maybe those tourists would be Turkish; maybe
the island would have been as slow to develop as Corsica, Sardinia
and Sicily. Maybe it would have had the poverty of some of the Greek
islands. Maybe it would be united and independent, or, just maybe,
it would be part of Turkey.

The truth is many people have benefited financially and educationally;
and, some would argue, the country inherited from its British masters
a sound civil service, legal system and financial base that helped
encourage investment and growth. So what is the debit? What pulls
the seesaw down?

Well for me it is the lack of identity. I am still not sure what
it means to be "Cypriot". Many Cypriots tell me they are Greek,
others Armenian or British and Australian, and this labelling, still
reinforced by the ridiculous conscription laws that are inclusive
only of those born Greek Orthodox and exclusive of other religious or
ethnic groups, means that the Republic still does not have a cohesive
sense of itself.

Nationalism here does not mean being Cypriot it means being Greek
Cypriot. And for this the British must take the blame. It was our
policies that hindered union with Greece, which may well have been
the best option for the island, but it didn’t happen, it won’t
happen. Greece has moved on and it is doubtful, even if it were
possible, that they would now want union with Cyprus. So it is no
longer "What if?" but "What now?"

It is time for all Cypriots to cast off this victim mentality of
colonialism, and recognise the fact that some of the unhappiness
on the island is of their own making. I have been told by academics
at the University of Cyprus that as many Greek Cypriots were killed
by Greek Cypriots in 1974 as by Turks. If this is true, then there
must be a lot of people who feel guilt, who betrayed neighbours and
colleagues. Civil wars are always painful; they leave psychological
scars that take a long time to heal. But they will not heal without
the hard, honest stare of self-scrutiny.

Colonialism was both good and bad for the island; in port-colonial
Cyprus, the mistakes of the past that divided communities and
reinforced differences should not be repeated. It is too late to vote
‘yes’ in the Annan plan and, unless Turkey joins the EU, unification
is just a dream. But it is not too late to create an inclusive,
fair society that treats all its members equally. Otherwise, the
noose of nationalism with its nepotism that favours one ethnic group
over another, gives jobs to its own, and uses networks to do business
simply becomes a neo-colonialism that replicates the inequalities of
the past. While blue and white flags dominate: the reality of being
"Cypriot" will never happen.

WE HAVE PREOCCUPATIONS ABOUT HOLDING OF FAIR ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA, ANTHONY GODFREY SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. "We have preoccupations in
connection with holding of fair elections in Armenia, but at the same
time, we try to be optimistic." Charge d’Affaires of U.S. Embassy
in Armenia Anthony Godfrey declared this on December 12. Meanwhile
he said that for holding fair elections RA government has assumed
public commitment: "We expect RA citizens to help the government
in fulfilling this commitment." A.Godfrey said that international
observers will be invited to the elections to be held in 2007-2008 in
Armenia. He reminded that RA President has also declared that he is
going to invite OSCE observers. In A.Godrey’s words, there are some
spheres where Armenia’s achievements are at a high level. However,
in his words, there is some preoccupation in connection with two
spheres – civil freedoms and political rights.

A.Godfrey said that the U.S. government provides significant assistance
in holding of 2007-2008 elections in Armenia.

CHRISTMAS PARTY FOLLOWS ARMENIAN CHURCH SERVICE

The Press Enterprise (Riverside, CA.)
December 6, 2006, Wednesday

The Armenian Apostolic Church of Riverside will hold its monthly
service of the Holy Badarak, Divine Liturgy at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at
All Saints Episcopal Church, 3847 Terracina Drive, Riverside.

A Christmas party is scheduled after the service and will include
gifts for every child.

Reservations for the party are requested and may be made by calling
949-786-3906.

The congregation serves Armenians in Riverside and San Bernardino
counties.

-Bettye Wells Miller

EU SHOULD URGE TURKEY TO MEET COMMITMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.12.2006 13:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union should urge Turkey to meet
the commitments set as regards the Cypriot issue, EU Enlargement
Commissioner Gunter Verheugen told Deutschlandfunk. The Turkish
government should fulfill the obligations it has undertaken and
open its ports and harbors for Cypriot vessels. Mr Verheugen made
the statement before the meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers, who
will consider partial suspension of accession talks over Ankara’s
unwillingness to comply the EU’s demands. Turkey has agreed to open
one airport for Cyprus so far, reports Deutsche Welle.

HEAD OF PUBLIC-PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATION "IN DEFENSE OF LIBERATED TERRITORIES", ZHIRAIR SEFILYAN, ARRESTED

Yerevan, December 11. ArmInfo. The Head of the public-patriotic
organization "In Defense of Liberated Territories ", Zhirair Sefilyan,
has been arrested in Yerevan.

According to ArmInfo information, Zh. Sefilyan was arrested December
10 night in a restaurant, where he had been with his wife. The arrest
has been carried out by a special group of RA National Security
Service. Five associates of Sefilyan were also arrested that night.

Zh. Sefilyan is incriminated calls to subversion of the constitutional
system in the country.

To remind, one of the heroes of operations of Karabakh conflict,
Zhirair Sefilyan, has been living in Armenia for the recent
years, unsuccessfully trying to get RA citizenship from Armenian
authorities. Lately, his adherents and him have been multiply appeared
with sharp claims in address of Armenian authorities, threatening by
"actions of disobedience in case of transfer of territories, controlled
by Karabakh Armed Forces, to Azerbaijan".