Author: Toneyan Mark

5 THOUSAND PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED IN INDUSTRIES

KarabakhOpen
26-10-2007 17:34:25

The average number of people employed in industries is 5081, which
is up by 267 or 5.5 percent compared with the past year.

In the first three quarters of 2007 production totaled 16.289 billion
drams which is up by about 1.866 billion drams or 12.9 percent compared
with the past year.

Production of the state-run industries is 19.3 percent, the private
sector 89.7 percent. Compared with the first three quarters of 2006,
production of state-run industries went up by 7.4 percent, private
sector by 14.3 percent.

In the same period 2333.7 metric tons of meat and poultry, 23695.1
metric tons of milk and 10 169 300 eggs was produced.

Burgeoning market plays it safe

Variety.com
October 24, 2007

By TOM BIRCHENOUGH

In Russia’s rapidly growing distribution market, top-level indie films
— with the right distributor and release strategy — surpass or match
Hollywood studio fare. The middle ground is sparser; more determined
arthouse films look increasingly desperate for screen space and audience
interest, leaving would-be distribs disgruntled at rising asking prices
for specialty films. That’s increasingly pushed many indie players
toward distributing local fare and expanding into exhibition. With
screen space still at a premium, though, many distribs will be looking
only for DVD and ancillary rights at AFM.

Central Partnership (CP)
Topper: Ruben Dishdishyan
B.O.: $66.8 million
Top pic: `Wolfhound’ ($20 million)
In brief: Founded in 1996, CP is the major player on the Russian indie
front. It is well-capitalized and aligned with parent company
Prof-Media, which is also investing in multiplexes. Strong domestic film
and TV production slate dominates over acquisitions. Foreign purchases
aimed at top indie product (released via main CP label) as well as at
arthouse fare (via CP Digital). The main Russian player at AFM, CP also
is the main seller of Russian product at markets: AFM screenings include
costumers such as Vladimir Khotinenko’s `1612’as well as contempo
actioners `Paragraph 78′ and `Revenge.’

Paradise
Topper: Gevorg Nersisyan
B.O.: $36.7 million
Top pic: `Resident Evil 3′ ($9.1 million)
In brief: Shingle, launched in 1992, favors predominantly European niche
acquisitions, prebuying projects by auteurs such as Emir Kusturica. Its
ownership of around 30 miniplex screens in and around Moscow (via its
Five Stars brand and flagship two-screener Rolan) has made Paradise a
leading player locally. Entered into domestic production with last
year’s boffo WWII kid drama `Scum.’

West
Topper: Tigran Dokhalov
B.O.: $19.4 million
Top pic: `1408′ ($3.4 million)
In brief: West’s slate highlights more English-language indie fare than
others, currently most dominantly repped by Weinstein Co. product. No
sign of support for local production just yet, but West, founded in
1994, controls at least three Moscow screens, including its flagship
Orbita venue.

Cascade Film
Topper: Stepan Pojenyan
B.O.: $15.3 million
Top pic: `Servant of the Sovereign’ ($5.3 million)
In brief: When Sony and Disney set up direct distribution in territory,
Cascade opted to remain an independent player. It has sought out local
product to distribute, with company’s top results this year being
costumer `Servant of the Sovereign’ (repped at AFM by CP). Outfit
co-distributed some international product this year with Paradise.

Pyramid
Topper: Sergei Sendyk
B.O.: $7.2 million
Top pic: `Hostel 2′ ($1.5 million)
In brief: Grown out of a TV, DVD and ancillary sales rights company,
Pyramid is now active in the theatrical market and runs a number of
Moscow cinemas. Acquisitions are broadly focused on English-language
product. Distrib has an extensive library.

Kino Bez Granits (Cinema Without Borders) (CWB)
Topper: Sam Klebanov
B.O.: $684,000
Top pic: `Reincarnation’ ($84,000)
In brief: Shingle has remained Russia’s main arthouse player, though
founder Klebanov is the first to admit it’s a precarious role. The
Russian-born, now Swedish citizen runs a tight ship through a
Gothenburg-based affiliate company. Focus is on Euro festival fare, with
a greater emphasis on Asian product than most others in the field. CWB
also handles limited releases of local arthouse pics.

Intercinema
Topper: Raisa Fomina
B.O.: n/a
Top pic: n/a
In brief: Kept indie fare alive in territory through the lean 1990s, as
well as repping local quality product at international markets for more
than a decade. Ambitions seem to have been pulled back somewhat with
more selective acquisitions. Outfit continues to work with local
filmmakers such as Andrei Zvagintsev (2003’s `The Return’ and 2007
Cannes actor winner `The Banishment’).

Note: For CWB and Paradise, 2007 B.O. through Oct. 1; for others, B.O.
Dec. 1, 2006-Oct 14, 2007

Source: Russian Film Business Today

Read the full article at:

ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN’S SUSPENDED PRE-TERM RELEASE TO BE DELAYED

Noyan Tapan
Oct 24, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. A "reprimand" has been announced to
Zhirayr Sefilian, the Coordinator of the In Defence of Liberated
Territories civil initiative for disrespectful attitude to
the management of the Vardashen penitentiary institution and
refusal to carry out the employees’ legal demands. Noyan Tapan was
informed about it by Arsen Babayan, the penitentiary institution’s
Spokesperson. Therefore, he refutes the assertions of the support
committee to Z. Sefilian and Vardan Malkhasian, a member of the
Homeland and Honor party’s Political Board, according to which
Z. Sefilian incurred a penalty deliberately so that he will not be
introduced for a suspended pre-term release.

According to the report presented by an employee of the institution
on the occasion of the incident, Z. Sefilian, who was moved to
the Vardashen penitentiary institution on October 17, showed a
disrespectful attitude to institution’s staff during the reception. In
response to the demand of Justice Colonel Samvel Petrosian, the Deputy
Head of the institution, to show a respectful attitude to the staff,
the convict continued the same conduct, insulted the employees and
did not fulfil their demands."

Explanations were taken from the institution’s employees by the
instruction of the institution’s head, for the purpose of clearing
up the details of the incident. Convict Sefilian refused to give
explanations mentioning in the protocol: "If some examinations will
be carried out towards me, I consider it absurd and preceive it as
continuation of the political persecution."

JAILED OPPOSITIONIST DENIED PAROLE FOR ‘OFFENDING STATE’
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Oct 24 2007

Zhirayr Sefilian, a prominent Nagorno-Karabakh war veteran and
opposition figure controversially jailed last year, will not be
released on parole because of his harsh criticism of Armenia’s
government, law-enforcement officials confirmed on Wednesday.

Under Armenian law, convicts who have completed at least one third of
their prison sentences can be rewarded for their good behavior with
parole. Sefilian was arrested last December and subsequently sentenced
to 18 months, meaning that he can already file a relevant application
to a special commission formed by President Robert Kocharian.

The administration of Yerevan’s Vartashen prison has made Sefilian’s
pre-term release all but impossible by formally sanctioning him
over his October 17 verbal spat with the deputy prison chief, Samvel
Petrosian. In a conversation with Petrosian, Sefilian reportedly called
the criminal case against him politically motivated and said Armenia
is run by a "criminal" government and lacks an independent judiciary.

Speaking to RFE/RL, Petrosian confirmed reports that he found
the claims "disrespectful of the state and the courts" and took
disciplinary action against the jailed leader of a pressure group
opposed to any Armenian territorial concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. He said Sefilian is therefore not eligible for parole.

"By law, the commission can not consider a parole application from
a sanctioned prisoner," said Petrosian.

Sefilian’s supporters say the October 17 incident was a government
provocation aimed at making sure that the Lebanese national of Armenian
descent remains in jail May 2008.

In an interview with RFE/RL at the Vartashen prison, Sefilian declined
to comment on this and reiterated instead his view that the case
against him and another jailed leader of his organization, Vartan
Malkhasian, was "fabricated" for political aims. "We were jailed for
exercising our right to free speech," he said.

The hardline nationalist also said that he will not stop slamming
the Armenian authorities for the sake of his early release from prison.

"The authorities are doing their job and we will keep doing our job,"
he said.

Sefilian and Malkhasian were arrested in December 2006 and charged
with calling for a violent overthrow of the government. A Yerevan
court of first instance found Malkhasian guilty on that count and
sentenced him to two years in prison in August.

The court cleared Sefilian of the charge but still jailed him for 18
months for illegally possessing a pistol which he had received as a
gift from a former commander of the Karabakh Armenian army. Armenia’s
Court of Appeals confirmed the sentences last month.

Both men claim that they were imprisoned for their pledge to
fight against fraud in the May 2007 parliamentary elections and a
presidential ballot due early next year.

UNITED STATES HAS DOUBLE STANDARD AT HOME AND ABROAD
by Ivan Eland

Media Monitors Network, CA
888
Oct 23 2007

"If the United States is going to criticize other countries’ behavior,
both historical and current, it should eliminate the double standard
at home and abroad, and clean up its own act first."

The Bush administration is attempting to soothe the Turkish
government’s apoplectic reaction to the House Foreign Affairs
Committee’s label of "genocide" on Turkey’s slaughter of 1.5 million
Armenians, which occurred almost a century ago. The administration
fears that an enraged Turkish ally, already threatening to invade
northern Iraq in order to suppress armed Turkish Kurd rebels seeking
refuge there, will also cut off U.S. access to Turkish air bases
and roads used to re-supply U.S. forces in Iraq. The administration
essentially wants to allow the Turks to continue to deny a historical
fact that preceded even the existence of the current Turkish system
of government.

Similarly, the United States has never been too enthusiastic about
criticizing Japan’s denial of having used Chinese and South Korean
women as sex slaves (so-called "comfort women") during World War II.

More generally, the United States never really says too much when the
current Japanese government regularly tries to whitewash in school
textbooks the atrocious conduct of the Imperial Japanese regime before
and during World War II. Again, a principal ally who does not face
up to important historical facts is not reproved.

Yet the administration is still repeatedly bringing up Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s December, 2005 denial of the historical
fact of the Jewish holocaust at the hands of the Nazis.

That’s because the U.S. government chooses to get along a lot less with
the Iranian government (than it does with the governments of Turkey
and Japan); because Israel, Iran’s nemesis, is a U.S. ally; and because
the administration can win points with its domestic Israeli lobby.

In the same vein, the administration is supposed to be supporting the
expansion of democracy overseas–that’s why the United States invaded
Iraq, right?–but does so only in less friendly countries, not close
allies. The United States has pressured weaker Arab countries near
Israel to hold elections and make democratic reforms, for example,
among the Palestinians and Lebanese, but it has not pressured Israel
to remove the second-class citizenship of the Arab population living
within its borders. The administration has aided opposition forces in
Iran, even though the groups don’t want the support, while making only
half-hearted attempts to democratize its autocratic allies in Pakistan,
Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Of course, the United States doesn’t really
need to coddle despotic regimes just to win their lukewarm support
for the "war on terror," their promise not to attack Israel, or their
agreement to pump oil which their own economic interest would cause
them to sell on the world market anyway. But neither does it need to
meddle in the internal affairs of adversaries, such as Syria and Iran.

But if the United States were to have the same standard for all
countries-both friend and foe-and join the international community in
identifying and strongly condemning all documented cases of genocide,
other war crimes, and repressive behavior by all countries, then
perhaps there would be a chance that history might not be repeated.

First though, the United States needs to clean up its own act. Other
countries may have acted terribly in the past, but U.S. citizens should
not be blinded to the sins of their own government. Since World War
II, in terms of numbers of military adventures, the United States
has been the most aggressive country in the world. And many such
interventions cannot be blamed on the need to combat international
communism. Even after the United States’ major foe-the Soviet
Union-collapsed, the U.S. expanded its informal empire and stepped
up military activities across the globe. The United States bombed
Serbia and Kosovo; invaded Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq (twice);
and intervened in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia. Furthermore, the United
States has kidnapped people and illegally rendered them to secret
prisons in countries where torture is perpetrated, or simply had the
CIA or U.S. military do the honors. These prisoners have been denied
both the rights of prisoners of war and the rights of the accused
that the U.S. Constitution guarantees–for example, their right to
challenge detention using a writ of Habeas Corpus. It’s likely that
a substantial portion of these inmates are innocent.

If the United States is going to criticize other countries’ behavior,
both historical and current, it should eliminate the double standard
at home and abroad, and clean up its own act first.

STABILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST: AMERICAN HYPOCRISY, TURKISH PATIENCE
By Christopher Vasillopulos, Ph.D.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 23 2007

Displaying a breathtaking combination of arrogance and ignorance,
the US has warned Turkey not to take unilateral action against Kurdish
terrorists in northern Iraq.

The US claims to be concerned that Turkish military incursions would
destabilize the region. I grant that the Bush administration has turned
destabilization into an art form and that it has destabilized the
lives of millions of people in the Middle East. The policies of the
US have resulted in the division and subdivision of one state after
another in the region. This has reached the logical conclusion of
retribalizing sections of Iraq in an effort to defeat al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Let us define our terms. For American policy makers, regional
stability means that all Middle Eastern states must support US
policies, especially its alliance with Israel. Stability means that
Middle Eastern states must follow the US when it ignores two of
the most destabilizing factors in the region: Israel’s oppression
of Palestine and Israel’s monopoly of nuclear weapons. Instability
has many meanings in the vocabulary of US foreign policy: any act
which either the US or Israel disapproves of; any effort of the
Arab world to unify in the pursuit of long-term regional economic,
social and political development; any act which links Palestine to the
broader problems of the region; any effort by Iran to influence its
neighbors, including the healing of its wounds with Iraq; any effort
by Turkey to have good relations with its neighbors, especially its
former Ottoman peoples; any action which does not subordinate Turkish
interests and sensibilities to American objectives in the region; the
Turkish rejection of the label of "genocide," notwithstanding Turkish
admissions of needless deaths of Armenians perpetrated by the Ottoman
Empire during World War I; any Turkish military action which secures
its borders and protects its people against the predations of Kurdish
terrorists supported by the de facto Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

As the world’s only superpower, the US apparently believes it can
define terms, like stability and instability, as it pleases. In
the process the US is demonstrating that the abuse of language and
the abuse of power are blood brothers — or, as in George Orwell’s
classic, "1984," big brothers. And it is necessary, after all, to
love big brother.

Let us consider what stability in the Middle East really means,
what the region requires if it is to have the opportunity to deal
with its many problems. First of all, let me mention a factor which
virtually all Western commentators ignore or misperceive: Stability
means encouraging and reinforcing the tradition of Islamic liberalism.

Islam from its beginnings has been an anti-tribal and progressive
force. As the region’s leading secular, democratic Muslim state and
as the non-Arab nation with the deepest experience in the Arab world,
Turkey must play a positive and independent role in the region. This
cannot be done if Turkey is seen as a subordinate of the US.

Stability in the region will require several developments. First of
all, it will necessitate an end to the Israeli oppression of Palestine
as well as an end to Israel’s monopoly on nuclear weapons in the
region, either by unilateral disarmament or by nuclear guarantees to
other powers. The US issued such guarantees in Europe and in Asia,
to protect Germany and Japan. Does anyone believe that the US would
threaten to retaliate against any Israeli nuclear attack? Next,
stability will require the use of oil revenue to repair and unify
Iraq and to develop the region. It will also call for the generous use
of American aid — far less than the 12 billion a month now expended
on combat — to secure the compliance of those factions essential to
the reunification of Iraq. Stability means the respect of all Middle
Eastern electorates, not only those who meet the approval of the
US. Finally, stability entails a respect for the high civilizations
and vibrant contemporary cultures which have found their home in the
Middle East. Even if one excludes the Greeks, whose Middle Eastern
connections were profound, what other region can boast of Persia,
Egypt, Mesopotamia or Assyria?

In the current climate this list may seem daunting, unrealistic or
utopian. Given the damage which has been done and which is continuing,
perhaps it is. It should be remembered, however, that before World War
II, the US generally supported the policies for stability outlined
here. What is more, the region concurred with the efforts of the
US. Of course, the US did not have pure motives.

Nevertheless, it believed a stable and modernizing Middle East was
in line with US interests. I am not urging purity of motive, only
the end of hypocrisy. Unfortunately, while there seems to be no end
to American hypocrisy, the end of Turkish patience may be at hand.

*Christopher Vasillopulos is a professor of International Relations
at Eastern Connecticut State University.

HENCEFORTH FOUR COUNTRIES AND WINNER OF PREVIOUS CONTEST TO ALWAYS TAKE PART IN FINAL OF EUROVISION

Noyan Tapan
Oct 23, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The European Braodcasting Union has
reconsidered the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest. According
to the information provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondent by
Diana Mantsakanian, the Head of International Relations at ARMTV,
henceforth, two semi-finals will be held. 10 countries will be elected
in each semi-final, 9 out of which by telephone calls and messages
of television watchers, and the other one by the jury. Besides
the 20 countries, which passed those stages, and the winner of the
previous contest, since 2008 four countries: England, France, Spain,
and Germany, which pay the greatest sums for the participation in
the Eurovision Song Contest, will always take part in the final of
the contests.

It was mentioned that both of the semi-finals will be broadcast on
the same day, that will be a live broadcast, however, Armenians will
watch only that semi-final, in which the representative of Armenia
will take part.

Diana Mnatsakanian stated that they have already started to accept
participation applications for the Eurovision-2008 and that it will
continue until the end of December. Public hearings will be held by
"H1" (Public TV) in February 2008, and the singer, who will represent
Armenia in the contest will be decided on the bases of the messages
sent by television watchers.

It was also mentioned that according to the rules developed by
"H1", henceforth singers are to present the works of only Armenian
composers. "We do not want to present the works of foreign composers
of songs in the authoritative contest. We aim at presenting the
songs written by Armenian composers in the contest. Thus, both famous
composers, as well as beginners have an opportunity to present their
works to society," Diana Mnatsakanian mentioned.

IRAN’S AHMADINEJAD PRAISES GROWING TIES WITH NEIGHBOUR ARMENIA

Agence France Presse
Oct 22 2007

YEREVAN (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday praised
growing economic and political cooperation with Armenia, shoring up
closer ties with the ex-Soviet republic on Iran’s northern border.

"We consider our neighbourly relations with Armenia to be very
important and a means of strengthening security and stability" in
the region, Ahmadinejad said after meeting his Armenian counterpart,
Robert Kocharian, on the first day of a two-day visit here.

The presidents announced the opening of a new highway linking the
two countries and plans to build a cross-border railroad. They also
said they had discussed joint projects to build an oil refinery,
a hydroelectric power plant and wind power stations along the border.

"We will decisively and quickly realize joint programmes on the
establishment of major infrastructure projects," Ahmadinejad said.

"This is in the interest of our two countries and the region as
a whole."

Kocharian said the new railway was in the planning stages and praised
new transportation links as a chance to "increase the flow of goods
between our two countries."

Landlocked Armenia has sought closer links with Iran because of an
economic blockade imposed by neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey over
the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region, as well as Armenia’s efforts
to gain international recognition of Ottoman-era mass killings of
Armenians as genocide.

Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenians seized control of Nagorny Karabakh
during a bloody war in the early 1990s that left thousands dead and
forced nearly a million people on both sides to flee their homes.

In March, Kocharian and Ahmadinejad inaugurated a 150-kilometre
(93-mile) pipeline that will deliver 36 billion cubic metres (1.27
trillion cubic feet) of gas from Iran to Armenia over 20 years.

Armenia will pay for the gas with electricity it produces at a
Soviet-era nuclear plant.

The United States has raised concerns about Armenia’s growing ties
with Iran, with the top US diplomat in Yerevan saying in June that
the country should participate in international sanctions aimed at
convincing Iran to halt its nuclear programme.

Ahmadinejad, who has caused outrage by saying the Holocaust is a
"myth," was scheduled on Tuesday to visit a memorial to victims of
the Ottoman massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

A pending US Congressional vote on a resolution labelling the
massacres as genocide has angered Turkey, which says 250,000 to
500,000 Armenians were killed during civil strife and rejects the
notion that it was genocide.

Ahmadinejad was also scheduled Tuesday to visit Yerevan’s Blue Mosque
and to meet with members of the Iranian community here.

KOCHARYAN-SARGSYAN COMPETITION

Lragir
Oct 22 2007
Armenia

Although Robert Kocharyan and Serge Sargsyan are competing over
dividing power, they nevertheless have no major controversy and they
will reach agreement on dividing power, stated the leader of the SIM
Party Hrant Khachatryan who was hosted at the Friday Club on October
22. According to Hrant Khachatryan, Robert Kocharyan would like to
be prime minister if the president were not Serge Sargsyan to share
little part of his power.

"Meanwhile, he will have to share with Serge Sargsyan much more in
ruling the country. Besides, Serge Sargsyan would like to have his
prime minister be a more modest activist," Hrant Khachatryan says.

According to him, these wishes do not mean, however, that they may
have major controversies.

"Considering that they may have to share power with someone else,
they both may be reluctant to share with others. This is important.

We can see competition in the elite but we are giving it more
importance than the competition has, which is in parts visible and
explicable," Hrant Khachatryan says. According to him, this competition
will last until the presidential election.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 20 2007

No Threat of Vahhabism in Azerbaijan: Deputy Interior Minister

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend I. Alizade / Criminal situation is
under control in Azerbaijan and there is no threat of Vahhabism in
the country, Deputy minister of Internal Affairs, General Vilayat
Eyvazovm said during the talks with journlists on 19 October.

According to Deputy Intreior Minister, generally 20,000 crimes are
comitted in Azerbaijan a year. It means that every 100,000 people
commit from 200 to 220 crimes. This indicator is higher in
neighbouring countries. Thus, every 100,000 people perpetrates 300
crimes in Armenia and Georgia. It exceeds 600 In Ukraine and 2,000 in
Russia.

There is no tension and threat to the statehood in Azerbaijan,
Eyvazov stated. `A criminal showed armed resistance to police in
Gusar during the arrest and ran away. Necessary measures were taken
for his arrest, posts were organized in this area, and the Interior
Ministry and other law enforcement agencies are in search of the
criminal,’ he said.

According to Eyvazov, the measures were outlined in Zakatala District
in advance and carried out in accordance with the minister’s
instruction. `In accordance with the minister’s instructions,
training is being conducted in the regions. During the training the
arrest of armed criminals and security in the roads are studied.

According to the deputy minister, an armed attack was made today [19
October] on the ABU Petrol filling station. No one injured, but
criminals stole some $1,500 from the cash desk of the filling
station. `We already have information about them and measures are
taken for their arrest’.

On 19 October five mask-worn men committed an armed attack on ABU
Petrol filling station, which is located in Mushfig village of
Absheron region.