Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

VARDAN OSKANIAN APPRECIATES ROLE OF IRANIAN-ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN STRENGTHENING IRANIAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Aug 10 2007

TEGERAN, AUGUST 10, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. "The
Iranian-Armenian community plays a great role in strengthening
Armenian-Iranian relations. We hope that the representatives of the
Armenian community will go on with their fruitful activities in the
interest of the welfare and progress of the two countries within the
framework of the newly-created "Iran-Armenia" union," Vardan Oskanian,
the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared in his interview with
the "Huys" ("Hope") newspaper, which is published in Iran once in
two weeks.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Press
and Information Department of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs referred to the practical measures
taken in the direction of implementing projects of mutual importance
in the previous years.

Particularly, he mentioned the fact of the Iranian-Armenian gass
pipeline opening with the participation of Robert Kocharian, the
President of the Republic of Armenia, and Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad,
the President of Iran, on March 19, 2007, as well as the signing
of the agreement on "Cooperation in the sphere of building and
operating hydroelectric power stations on the river Araks between
the RA government and that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Besides
the energy cooperation, the Armenian-Iranian cooperation, no doubt,
covers a wide range of issues, such as the spheres of transport, trade,
agriculture, science, education, and culture. The intergovernmental
commission on coordinating Armenian-Iranian relations has also
promoted productive activities in the direction of strengthening
bilateral relations.

The seventh regular sitting of the above-mentioned commission was
recently held in Yerevan," Vardan Oskanian said.

Touching upon the issue of adoption of dual citizenship by Armenia,
Vardan Oskanian called it an unequivocally positive and praiseworthy
step as the Armenians spread all over the world thus gain an
opportunity to be always connected with their homeland.

"At the same time, in this new stage of the independence of Armenia,
the latter should make use of the flexibility, which makes part of its
national peculiarities, in order to find and create new resources for
preserving its positions. Part of these new resources will come from
Armenia, and the rest from the Diaspora," the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Armenia mentioned.

FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS STILL VIOLATED IN ARMENIA

arminfo
2007-08-08 17:30:00

State Veterinary and Food Safety Inspectorate, Ministry of Agriculture
of Armenia, exposed a number of violations.

Head of the Public Organization for Protection of Consumer’ Rights
Abgar Yeghoyan said at a press conference that only 6 of 500
inspections did not expose violations. Thus, 400 cases of expired
foodstuffs, 300 violations of temperature control, and 200 violations
of food certificate were exposed.

The above public organization also conducted similar inspections and
exposed some 400 violations of food safety standards. In addition, the
Health Ministry of Armenia has recently registered 2 cases of peracute
food poisoning in 28 people in Ashtarak and 5 in Yerevan. World health
Organizations reports on some 1,5 billion food poisonings in children
worldwide every year, including 3 million lethal outcomes.

Often street food trading becomes the reason of poising, Yeghoyan
said. The problem is still acute in Armenia, he said. For this purpose,
the Public Organization for Protection of Consumers’ Rights proposed
the Armenian Prime Minister to form a relevant inter-department
commission. However, no response has been received so far, Yeghoyan
said.

HUNCHAK READY TO SUPPORT EX-LEADER’S PRESIDENTIAL BID
By Anna Saghabalian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 7 2007

Armenia’s oldest traditional party has signaled its readiness to
support the possible attempt of Armenia’s ex-leader to return to
power in next year’s presidential election.

Lyudmila Sarkisian, the leader of the Social-Democratic Hunchak Party,
did not exclude on Tuesday that first president Levon Ter-Petrosian
may win their support as the opposition’s single candidate if he
"shows his will for victory".

But above all, she said, it is essential that the country’s opposition
should make an effort to rally around a single candidate ahead of
next year’s presidential election.

"I wasn’t among Ter-Petrosian’s supporters at that time, but in
today’s situation I see in his person a man capable of engaging in
the struggle," the leader of the small opposition party told reporters.

Sarkisian admitted that the people may well remember the problems that
dogged Armenia’s first post-Soviet government and Ter-Petrosian’s
administration, but added: "I think Ter-Petrosian has also learned
lessons from the mistakes. And today he can appear in a new image."

However, she did not insist on Ter-Petrosian’s being the only single
candidate that they would consider supporting.

"The principle and the need for unity are essential," Sarkisian
reiterated.

"If the opposition is unable to draw conclusions after the
parliamentary elections and is unable to unite, we all have nothing
else to do in politics," she explained.

Ter-Petrosian and his office have so far remained tightlipped on
their plans for the 2008 presidential election.

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY URGES OPPOSITION GROUPS TO RALLY AROUND SINGLE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

ARMENPRESS
Aug 07 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS: Chairwoman of the Armenian Henchakian
(Social Democratic) party Ludmilla Sarkisian urged today leaders
of major opposition groups to rally around a single candidate for
challenging the pro-government contestant in 2008 presidential
election.

Speaking to a news conference Ms. Ludmila Sarkisian mentioned, among
others, ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian as one of a potential single
opposition candidate.

"I have never been an advocate of ex-president, but today I see him as
a man able to join the race, but in case he is able to persuade us he
is the sole candidate who may display will to win the polls," she said.

In response to a question whether she thinks ordinary Armenians have
forgotten the ordeals they experiences during Ter-Petrosian’s rule,
Ms. Sarkisian said they certainly did not. "But I think Ter-Petrosian
has also drawn conclusions and today he can come out with a new
emerge," she said. "If the opposition groups prove incapable of
learning a lesson from their defeat in May 12 parliamentary elections,
incapable of joining around a single candidate that would mean they
have nothing to do in politics,’ she said.

INFORMATION LEAKAGE
Bella Lalaian

Azat Artsakh Tert, Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Aug 6 2007

Vine fields of Martouni region considerably broadened last years.

Today the region has about 1000 hectare vine fields, 75-80 per cent
of which is fruitful. This year good crop yield of vine is expected.

As in other regions of the republic, in Martouni region people is also
engaged in wheat harvesting. According to the head of the region board
of administration Rudik Azarian, in comparison with previous year,
in 2007 above 2300 hectare sowing has been done. In comparison with
previous year this year crop yield is lower. In region last years the
sowing areas were about 15104 hectare. The head of the region board
of administartion has pointed, that for stating good crop yield the
problem of taking care of agrotechnics is important.

SENTENCE ON CASE AGAINST ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN TO BE MADE PUBLIC ON AUGUST 6

Noyan Tapan
Aug 1, 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, NOYAN TAPAN. At the August 31 court sitting on
the case of the coordinator of "Defence of Liberated Territories"
social civil initiative Zhirayr Sefilian, the defence lawyers Vahe
Grigorian, Ara Zakarian and Mushegh Shushanian filed a petition to
the court to bring in a verdict of "not guilty".

According to V. Grigorian, at the meeting of the Union of Armenian
Volunteers on December 2, 2006, the accused just exercised his right
to express an opinion which is stipulated by the Constitution and the
European Convention of Human Rights. M. Shushanian, defence lawyer
of the member of the "Homeland and Honor" party’s political board
Vardan Malkhasian, pointed out that although some content-related
distortions were found as a result of examining the recorded speech of
V. Malkhasian, they were not corrected in the speech of the prosecutor
Artur Mkrtchian. According to the defence lawyer, the speech of his
client contained some subjective opinions about the situation in the
country but not calls to overthrow the state power by violence.

In his statement Z. Sefilian said that there is no corpus delicti
in the case: this is a "trumped-up case", which was opened as
a result of a political order and aims to teach a lesson to the
public. V. Malkhasian also stressed the absence of his guilt and corpus
delicti, saying: "My thoughts were about those who ruin our country,
criminal dregs of society."

The former freedom fighter Vahan Aroyan in his turn said that the
weapons found at his home have no relation to Z. Sefilian. "I’d
never use the gun taken from Azeris against my own people," the
accused stated.

The court went to the consultation room. The sentence will be made
public on August 6.

NEIGHBORHOODS DEMAND PRIVATIZATION OF HOUSES

Panorama.am
17:10 01/08/2007

Thirteen thousand residents of eleven Yerevan neighborhoods are
still unable to privatize their houses. The municipal authorities
have turned down their applications with different justifications.

Residents of Miasnikian, Charbakh, Kozern, Aigestan and other
communities gathered in front of Government House today. Samvel
Lazarian, chairman of Right and Community NGO, said an inter-agency
commission has been set up at the assignment of the Armenian prime
minister to record measurements and inventory in the areas. Residents
say the commission makes delays while the municipality says nothing
about the progress of work. The residents demand that representatives
of the neighborhoods also join the commission.

Deputy Mayor Kamo Areyan came to a meeting with the demonstrators. He
assured that measurements are recorded at Miasnikyan Avenue, Old
Nork, Kentron and Nork Marash communities. Areyan said two more
working groups will be set up due to large scope of work. The deputy
mayor calmed the demonstrators down saying "we will go through all
neighborhoods and record the inventory." Areyan also assured the
representatives from the neighborhoods will be in the working groups.

SALUTING A CENTURY OF VERY GOOD SCOUTS
By Ben Farmer

Daily Telegraph/UK
02/08/2007

For the past five days, it has been an extraordinary international
celebration of youth and goodwill.

A rainbow of uniforms and flags has come together in a tented city
as thousands of Scouts from more than 160 nations have marked the
centenary of their movement.

A 100 years after Lt Gen Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouts with
an experimental camp of just 20 boys, 40,000 of their successors have
descended on his native country for a two-week jamboree remembering
him and his organisation.

Yesterday, exactly 100 years on from that first meeting, Scouts
travelled back to the original campsite at Brownsea Island in Poole
Harbour, Dorset, and renewed the promise that binds them together,
to build a tolerant and peaceful society.

The moment was witnessed simultaneously by many of their 28 million
colleagues – a third of whom are girls – around the world via
satellite link.

The movement was born in 1907 when Baden-Powell, hero of the Siege
of Mafeking, decided to use his Army experience to set up a trial
camp for 20 boys from different social backgrounds. He went on to
write his ideas in a book called Scouting For Boys and a worldwide
phenomenon was born.

A century later, the World Scout Jamboree that has filled Hylands
Park in Chelmsford, Essex, is testament to his vision that Scouting
could transcend race, religion and country. Scouting, however, has
changed somewhat.

The 1907 Scouts caught rabbits, cooked them on an open fire, and
listened to Baden-Powell’s tales of training boys to help hold Mafeking
during the Boer War.

Scouts at the centenary events have been learning to juggle, canoe
and have discussed slavery, women’s rights, Aids and environmental
problems.

Their camp fires have also been banned on Brownsea Island, which is
owned the National Trust, because they threaten plantlife and wildlife.

However, Chief Scout Peter Duncan, the former Blue Peter presenter,
said the original aims of friendship, good deeds and living in harmony
with nature made Scouting more relevant than ever.

"Scouts were probably the original environmentalists," he said. "The
idea that Scouting imposes its will on young people, it’s just
the opposite. We encourage young people and empower them to do
things." Yesterday, Scouts ranging from Armenia to Australia and from
Trinidad to Taiwan bore witness to that. As the sun rose over Essex,
Mr Duncan opened the ceremony with three blasts on the same kudu horn
as Baden-Powell had opened his first camp.

The gathered Scouts, two from each country, then recited their Scout
promise in their own languages before bursting into spontaneous
singing and dancing.

Alastair Frankl, a 16-year-old from the 401st Manchester Scouts,
said: "I have had an awesome time. I’m going to have international
friendships which are going to last me for my whole life. It’s not
dib dib dob dob any more.

Even the uniforms are quite cool now."

Overseeing the celebrations at Brownsea, the Hon Michael Baden-Powell,
grandson of the founder, imagined what his grandfather would have
said if asked to report on the centenary to his seniors – "100 years
not out. Team batting well. Declaration not on the agenda."

â~@¢ Hundreds of scouts took part in a giant exercise class in Glasgow
yesterday as the 100-day countdown to the Commonwealth Games bid
announcement began.

Several sporting heroes joined scouts as they braved the rainy weather
at a workout session, which also celebrated 100 years of the Scout
movement, in the city’s George Square. By Ben Farmer

Ten things you never knew…

â~@¢ Twenty-six of the first 29 astronauts were former Scouts

â~@¢ The only countries without Scouts are China, Cuba, North Korea,
Burma, Laos and Andorra

â~@¢ Famous former Scouts include David Beckham, Paul McCartney and
Steven Spielberg

â~@¢ The motto Be Prepared derives from founder Baden-Powell’s initials

â~@¢ Girls were first allowed to become Scouts in 1991

â~@¢ Dolly Parton, the country singer, became a Scout this year,
at the age of 60

â~@¢ Woggles, used to tie Scouts’ neckerchiefs together, were first
used in the US and were made from bone, wood or rope

â~@¢ There are more than 70 different proficiency badges

â~@¢ Last year the most popular badge was for information technology
with 48,069 given out

â~@¢ Each day 100,000 people in Britain take part in Scouting events

–Boundary_(ID_wh7ArWgyDa/pzhxO4ZWZaQ)–

HSBC LOOKS BACK TO ITS ROOTS IN ASIA. BRITAIN’S BIGGEST BANK HAS HAD A TURBULENT TIME WITH ITS US BUSINESS, BUT IT NOW SEES EMERGING MARKETS AS LEADING ITS GROWTH.
By Sean Farrell

The Independent/UK
Published: 31 July 2007

It is a cruel irony that as the world has woken up to the huge
potential of emerging markets in Asia, HSBC – whose roots in Asia go
back to the 19th Century – has been trying to shore up its reputation
against problems in the US, the world’s most advanced economy.

HSBC tried yesterday to draw a line under the most turbulent period in
its recent history by ramming home the message that emerging markets
are leading the bank’s growth. Britain’s biggest bank announced
record pre-tax profit, up 13 per cent to $14.2bn (£7.0bn) for the
first half of 2007, beating analysts’ estimates, despite a $1.3bn
profit drop in North America.

The bulk of the profit rise came from Hong Kong and elsewhere in
the Asia-Pacific region, where HSBC opened its first branches in
1865. "Our roots lie in emerging markets… We will invest organically
and by acquisition in developing markets," says its chief executive
Mike Geoghegan.

HSBC started life in 1865 as Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
and was based in Hong Kong until 1992, when it bought Midland Bank in
the UK as part of a diversification spree that helped turn it into
the world’s third-biggest bank. After Midland, HSBC bought banks
in Germany, France and the US to increase its exposure to developed
economies.

HSBC is trying to reclaim its crown as investors’ favourite bank
for Asian and emerging markets, which have been overshadowed by its
expansion into the racy market for US customers with poor credit
records. This move paid off at first but the bank was hit by bad
debts last year as defaults on mortgages rose with interest rates

The $14.8bn purchase in 2003 of the US sub-prime lender Household
International by its former chairman Sir John Bond made the bank
evenly balanced between Asia, Europe and the Americas, but HSBC
has lost some of its traditional premium to the UK bank sector as
Household’s problems have grown and investors have questioned whether
HSBC is still a play on Asia’s booming growth.

"I think they have missed out on some opportunities to grow organically
or through acquisition in Asia," says Oriel Securities analyst Mike
Trippitt.

"It’s not just that they have not made enough investment in Asia,
but they have switched that investment into the US. They are trying
to restore that balance and make it clear that they are not going to
ignore the heart of the business."

The explosion in Household’s bad debts came at a bad time for HSBC,
just months after the new leadership of Mr Geoghegan and chairman
Stephen Green took over after Sir John’s departure in May 2006.

After HSBC issued its first ever profit warning, alerting the market
to the scale of Household’s problems, Michael Taylor, the retiring
head of equities at Threadneedle Investments, spoke for many when
he asked why HSBC was involved with "trailer park" loans when it had
opportunities for growth in Asia.

Analysts say some of HSBC’s emerging markets premium has disappeared
to its long-time smaller UK rival Standard Chartered, which makes
almost all its profit in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Standard
Chartered beat HSBC to buy South Korea’s Korea First Bank in 2005.

"HSBC were a bit too conservative," Mr Trippitt says. "Standard
Chartered’s recent results in Korea haven’t been outstanding but it
was a missed opportunity."

Mr Green points to growth in China, India and Indonesia as examples
of the bank’s continuing investment in emerging markets. HSBC is the
biggest international bank in China, where profit grew 69 per cent
in the first half to $473m. The bank plans to open more than 30 new
branches by the end of the year to capitalise on China’s liberalisation
of retail financial services.

Mr Green also highlights the bank’s Latin American operation, which
has grown from about 10 branches a decade ago to 4,000 today after the
bank spent $5bn on acquisitions. Mr Green says HSBC is not interested
in joining the battle between Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays to
buy Dutch bank ABN Amro but he indicated HSBC would be interested in
"the jewel in the crown", ABN’s Latin American business, though he
said it was unlikely to become available.

Mr Green and Mr Geoghegan talk about "joining up" HSBC to offer
services between markets and finance increasing trade flows between
emerging markets.

"This is not just a PR thing; it is about the power of the franchise,"
Mr Green says.

In addition to Asian and Latin American markets, the bank singled out
Poland, the Czech Republic, Armenia, Kazakhstan and a new operation
in Georgia for investment.

HSBC fired the management of Household in February and installed its
own man at the top of the business, with Mr Geoghegan taking personal
responsibility for sorting out the mess. He says that as a result
of reducing the bank’s exposure to risky mortgage loans bought from
other banks, the US impairment allowances were unchanged at $2.1bn
in the first half.

Mr Geoghegan also says the bank faces a challenging environment
in Britain due to competition and regulatory issues. The bank paid
out $236m in the first half to UK customers reclaiming unauthorised
overdraft fees. With pressures in its two biggest western markets,
it is no wonder HSBC is now playing up its emerging markets potential.

"The opportunities are certainly there," says Collins Stewart analyst
Alex Potter. "Through all the turmoil of Household, the parts of the
business that have consistently outperformed expectations have been
in Asia. As other elements are under pressure, it is in management’s
interest to focus investors on these businesses."

–Boundary_(ID_OQpne4z80IKkxFwp HBL88w)–

This Turkey’s been overstuffed

It’s shocking, ambitious and nearly put its author in jail. What a
shame, then, that Elif Shafak’s The Bastard of Istanbul is so hard to
read, says Geraldine Bedell

Sunday July 29, 2007
The Observer

The Bastard of Istanbul
by Elif Shafak
Viking £16.99, pp357

The bastard of Istanbul arrives already weighed down by baggage.
Written in English, the novel was published first in Turkey, in
translation, where it rapidly became a bestseller. Its author, Elif
Shafak, was accused by the Turkish government of ‘insulting
Turkishness’ and could have been the first writer to be jailed in
Turkey for fictitious words spoken by an invented person. In the event,
the charges were thrown out but Shafak’s first pregnancy was
overshadowed by the possibility of a three-year prison term. The
incident generated international concern.

So much for the brouhaha; what of the book? This is a cluttered
carpetbag of a novel, crammed with characters and themes, not unlike
Istanbul itself. But what might be invigorating in a city can, in a
novel, be a bit bewildering. Towards the end I found myself drawing a
family tree of the characters in an attempt to get the convoluted
relationships straight in my head. (Shafak and her publishers can’t
provide this service themselves because the revelation of these
relationships is the meat of the novel.)
In the first five chapters, rather like Robert Altman in Short Cuts,
Shafak presents a series of disconnected scenes and characters that
may, possibly, we hope, eventually cohere. This may work better in film
than in a novel: by page 80 or so I was starting to feel frustrated at
having to gird myself for the fifth change of focus. Did the young
woman in Istanbul who failed to have an abortion have anything to do
with the American housewife? Why had we jumped 19 years? Were any of
these characters going to step forward and require some sustained
emotional input?

Fortunately, around one-third of the way through, the two central
figures, 19-year-old cousins Asya and Armanoush, one Turkish, one
Armenian-American, finally meet in Istanbul and start talking about
memory, identity, the wilful ignorance of the Turks of the massacres of
Armenians in 1915, and whether the past can be shaken off, which are
evidently the issues that Shafak really wants her readers to think
about.

The trouble is that these poor girls are often overwhelmed by the
book’s political intent. Asya and Armanoush talk unlike any normal 19
year olds; even clever girls surely don’t sound quite so relentlessly
like an essay. The other characters are typically distinguished by a
couple of salient features – sensible history teacher, miniskirted
tattooist – as if they are there for a higher purpose, and a sketch
will have to do.

Sometimes Shafak caves in completely under the need for symbolic
weight, and refers to her characters simply by what they stand for –
the Closeted Gay Columnist, the Non-nationalist Scenarist of
Ultranationalist Movies (which feels a bit like being beaten round the
head: we’ve already spotted that in Istanbul people often have to
conceal their true identities). Most troubling of all, Mustapha, Asya’s
uncle and Armanoush’s stepfather, whose actions are central to the
plot, remains an enigma.

The magical realist descriptions of Istanbul and Asya’s home are
powerful: these are places where djinns comfortably coexist with the
Turkish version of The Apprentice. And the passages about the
deportations and massacres of Armenians are shocking, as Armanoush
finds a city and a country in denial about the genocide, and attempts
to make her cousins understand how much the past conditions the
present.There’s plenty of plot, too, even if it does mostly come in the
final third. And there’s no doubt that the book is clever, thick with
ideas and themes and politics. Clogged, even: there were times when I
could have done with fewer characters and rather less whimsical
description.

The book is important for having drawn attention to the massacres and
to the Turks’ ambivalence about them, and for what it has exposed about
freedom of speech. It’s unquestionably an ambitious book, exuberant and
teeming. But, perhaps because of the sometimes florid writing, reading
it feels like holding a sack from which 20 very angry cats are fighting
to escape.