Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

BLOCK OF NATIONAL DEMOCRATS TO ORGANIZE TRAINING COURSES
Panorama.am
19:19 20/11/06
Block of National Democrats (BND) party intends to organize educational
courses for persons empowered to act for deputies, Stepan Stepanyan,
BND administration board member, told a press conference.
In his words, the courses will be conducted in Artashat in December
in the office of Orinats Yerkir.
Stepanyan said at the moment election committee members undergo
trainings and many have failed the tests. He said funds are needed
to organize the trainings. Party members are sure these trainings
are the first step towards free and fair parliamentary elections in
Armenia.

TURKEY RISKS TO LOSE LAST FRIENDS IN EUROPE
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.11.2006 13:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Suddeutsche Zeitung published comments on the
statements by commander of Turkish land forces Ilker Bashbug on
freezing military relations with France. “The statement of the Turkish
General is scandalous since he, being a commander, conducts as if
representing the interests of his country at diplomatic level. The
Turkish government officially shows interest in integration into
the European structures. However orientation on Europe supposes that
Turkish politicians should control the army and keep their generals
from doing what they wish. General Bashbug has reputation of a ‘hawk’.
Adherents to a tough position among the Turkish generals disliked
Erdogan’s restraint in condemning the French bill. Official Ankara
doesn’t deny the crimes against the Armenian people but refuses to
resign itself to the term ‘genocide’,” the newspaper says.
“On one hand the Turkish authorities fear that the heirs of the
victims will claim compensations. On the other hand the matter
concerns the reputation of the Turkish army which is considered to
be one of the traditional pillars of the society. Turkish military
wish to maintain their privileges, fashionable villas on the Bosporus
shores, defense budget and the troops in Cyprus. By the way, they
possess valuable realty in Cyprus and in case of withdrawal of the
military bases they will have to leave the realty for the Cypriot
Greeks. The occupation of the Northern Cyprus, the Armenian issue,
the war in Turkish Kurdistan… A number of urgent issues emerge
and the Turkish generals have to work at them, however the generals
refuse. If Turkey prefers free-will isolation it will lose not only
serious economic partners but also the last friends in Europe,”
the newspaper says, reports Deutsche Welle.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SOLVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH PRINCIPLE OF TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN, AHMET NECDET SEZER
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Nov 17 2006
Establishing peace and security as well as increasing cooperation
in Eurasia is Turkey’s foreign policy priority, Turkish President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer said today at the eighth Summit of the Heads of
Turkish-speaking States in Antalya, Turkey.
He noted the processes taking place in the region pose threat to
the regional security and create huge obstacles for development
of cooperation.
“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be solved as soon as possible
for the peace be established and cooperation enhanced in the
South Caucasus. We declare that we support peaceful solution to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the principle of
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and that we will further support
fraternal Azerbaijan in this dispute”.

ARMENIANS BREACH CEASEFIRE ON FRONTLINE
Author: S. Jaliloglu
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 18 2006
On November 17, 2006, the Armenian Armed Forces located in Talysh
Village of the occupied Azerbaijan region, Terter, fired machines
guns at the Azerbaijan National Army from 23:00 till the morning,
Trend Regional Correspondent reports.
The Azerbaijan National Army retaliated and no causalities were
reported.
On November 17, at 16:40 a blast was heard in the occupied Uzundere
Village of Agdam District. The local residents announced that it was
a result of military exercises held by armed divisions of the Armenian
armed forces.

RUSSIA WITHDRAWS MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM GEORGIAN CAPITAL
International Herald Tribune, France
The Associated Press
Nov 16 2006
TBILISI, Georgia: A convoy of Russian military hardware and other
equipment left the Georgian capital Thursday en route to a base in
Armenia, a Russian official said Thursday, in the latest pullout of
materiel from the Caucasus Mountains nation.
The convoy – the first from the Russian forces’ central military
garrison in Tbilisi – was pulled ahead of schedule, said a deputy
commander overseeing Russian forces in the country, who asked that
his name not be used since he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Nearly 390 personnel, more than 100 pieces of military vehicles and
some 350 tons of weapons and other equipment will be withdrawn by
year’s end, the official said.
After months of contentious negotiations, Georgia and Russia reached
agreement last year on pulling Russian forces out of two bases, which
both are scheduled to be fully closed by October 2008. Much of the
equipment was to be shipped to the Russian base at Gyumri, Armenia.
The closure affected some 3,000-4,000 Russian troops at the bases.
Relations between the two countries have plummeted in recent months
as Georgia accuses Russia of supporting separatists, and Russia fears
Georgia is moving further out of its shadow toward the West.
Interfax said the equipment was pulled out of the Tbilisi garrison
ahead of schedule due to the tense state of relations.

ARMENIA READY TO ENCOURAGE BUSINESSMEM FROM UAE IN IMPLEMENTATION OF JOINT INVESTMENT PROGRAMS IN ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The delegation headed by Shaikh
Abdullah ben Muhammad al-Tani, President of the airline Air Arabia –
national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, was received on November
16 by the RA Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanian.
Shaikh Abdullah ben Muhammad al-Tani arrived in Yerevan with the
aim of participating in the ceremony of opening the inaugural flight
Sharjah-Yerevan-Sharjah.
During the meeting, G. Gharibjanian said that Armenia welcomes the
entry of Air Arabia, the national carrier of Sharjah Emirate into
Armenia, which will be a positive incentive for the formation of a
healthy and competitive price policy in Armenia’s aviatransportation
sphere.
According to the deputy minister, Armenia welcomes the entry of the
emirate’s capital into Armenia and is ready to encourage businessmen
from there to engage in joint investment programs in agriculture,
tourism and real estate sectors of the country. Particularly,
he mentioned the agreement on financing the repairs of Haghartsin
church complex, which was reached during the visit of Sharjah’s Emir,
Shaikh Sultan ben Muhammad al-Qasimi to Armenia in September 2005.
According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, the sides
also discussed the opporunities of setting up joint ventures, companies
and production in Armenia and of exporting this production to Russia
and other CIS countries thanks to the geographical position of Armenia.

EU-AZERBAIJANI CO-OPERATION TO BE DISCUSSED IN BRUSSELS
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 14 2006
The 8th meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Co-operation Council will take
place on November 14 in Brussels. The meeting will be held in the
building of the Council of Ministers of the European Union, Trend
reports with reference to the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium.
The Azerbaijani delegation in the meeting is headed by the Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. The EU is represented at the meeting by
the Foreign Minister of Finland (EU President Country) Erkki Tuomioja,
EU High Commissioner for Foreign Policy and Security Javier Solana,
European Commission Commissioner for Foreign Relations Benita
Ferrero-Waldner, German State Minister Gunter Gloser, EU Envoy
for South Caucasus Peter Semneby and others. As a result of the
negotiations, an Action Plan will be adopted between EU and Azerbaijan
within the European Neighborhood Policy.
In the second half of the day, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister will
meet the Armenian Foreign Minister, Vardan Oskanyan and co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group.

“IF THE CHARACTER IS IMPORTANT, I COULD TRY SKIN SHOW” – TULIP JOSHI
Joginder Tuteja
IndiaGlitz, India
Nov 13 2006
Tulip Joshi, who made a dream debut in Yashraj films “Mere Yaar Ki
Shaadi Hai’ and followed it up with critically acclaimed performance
in ‘Matrubhumi’, will be making a comeback again in ‘Shunya’ opposite
Nasseruddin Shah. The film is written by Anurag Kashyap. Apart from
that, she would also be seen in a glamorous role in ‘Hostel’, which
is directed by Manish Gupta. Gupta was the writer of ‘Sarkar’ and ‘D’.
Tulip has been inundated with offers off late. She has recently signed
a multiple film deal with Sanjay Gupta ‘White Feather films’.
She would begin the first film with them in portraying an author backed
role in the short story ‘Dus Kahaniyan’ which will be on floor later
this month. This would be followed by another big project from the
production early next year.
Tulip seems quite confident of making a come back in Bollywood. Says
Tulip, “I have an unusual face because of my mixed origin (her father
is Gujarati & her mother is a Lebanese-Armenian), therefore I can carry
an Indian & a non-Indian look. At one end I have acted in a Yashraj
film ‘Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai’ and on the other end I have also done
a hard hitting film like ‘Matrubhumi’. I can adopt myself easily in
glamorous as well as non- glamorous role. And I want to cash on this!”
She adds, “The film industry is so addictive and gets you like a bug.
Once it’s in, it’s difficult to get out. And I’m so happy to be back
again and will be thoroughly focused in my career. Having said that,
I would also add that I don’t mind doing ‘item’ numbers since I’m
just happy being part of films. But I don’t believe in nudity and
won’t indulge in skin show just for the heck of it, though if the
character is important, I would try and figure it out”.
Besides being associated with Sanjay Gupta banner, Tulip has also been
in talks with big banner producers. She will be making an announcement
on another biggie soon!!
rticle/26825.html

Despite Defeat, Bush Administration Determined to Oppose Armenian Genocide
Bill
By Ali H. Aslan, Washington
Sunday, November 12, 2006
zaman.com
Matt Bryza, a top-level official from the U.S. State Department, asserted
that the George Bush Administration would strongly oppose any draft law on
the recognition of an Armenian genocide.
However, he added that given the complexity of the new political environment
since the midterm elections, it was hard for them to precisely foresee any
outcome.
Matt Bryza was speaking at the annual convention of the Assembly of
Turkish-American Associations (ATAA) and commented on the possibility of an
Armenian genocide bill introduced to the House of Representatives, where the
Democrats have recently gained control.
He described the new situation as a change in the political reality and said
that it was impossible for the administration to predict how the new
mechanism would operate with regards to the fate of any proposal for
recognition of the Armenian genocide.
Newly ensconced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, promised the
Armenian lobby to support any bill regarding the genocide.
Asked whether President Bush would call Pelosi to ensure that any such draft
would not be put on the agenda, Bryza said that he would make his own
suggestion but was unable to know how the president would proceed.
The Armenian lobby is expected to submit genocide bills to both wings of
Congress following its inauguration.
Meanwhile, in his address at the meeting, Bryza, drew attention to Russian
attempts at being the sole energy supplier to the region and underlined the
importance of Turkish-American strategic cooperation.

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 10 2006
President awards medals to community heads
10.11.2006 16:53
President Robert Kocharyan handed medals to a number of
representatives of the self-governance sphere. According to
President’s decree of 9 November, on the occasion of the 10th
anniversary of self-governance bodies of Armenia and for considerable
contribution to the development of communities Anania Shirakatsi
medals were awarded to Head of Kentron community of Yerevan Gagik
Beglaryan, Head of Erebuni community Mher Sedrakyan, Head of
Margahovit village Seyran Ananyan, Head of Merdzavan village Levon
Grigoryan, Mayor of Hrazdan Aram Danielyan, Head of Voskevan village
Emma Hakobyan, Mayor of Gyumri Gevorg Malkhasyan, Head of Agarak
village Razmik Martirosyan, Head of Malishka village Mher Movsisyan,
Mayor of Ashtarak Gagik Muradyan and Head of Aragats village Gagik
Poghosyan.
Handing the awards, the President congratulated on the occasion of
the 10th anniversary of self-governance bodies.
Robert Kocharyan expressed willingness to know the assessments of
community heads of the problems, development traits and process of
local self-governance.
Noting that the activity of communities will be more effective in
case all the community issues are resolved by communities themselves,
Robert Kocharyan said year by year the government delegates certain
liabilities to local self-governance bodies.
During the meeting discussions were launched on the territorial
policy, the further deeds of local self-governance bodies and
development of communities.