Author: Torosian Aram

U.S. VISA APPLICATIONS TO BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY

A1+
[11:59 am] 26 September, 2006

The United States Embassy in Yerevan is making the transition from
hand-written visa applications to computerized visa applications. This
will mean that applicants will not have to wait as long for their
interviews once they submit their applications, because the consular
staff will not have to spend time entering their data into the
computers.

Starting immediately, applicants who submit the Electronic Visa
Application Form (EVAF) for U.S. nonimmigrant visas will be given
preference for appointments. And beginning November 1, 2006 the EVAF
will be required for ALL U.S. nonimmigrant visa applications.

The electronic form (EVAF) requires the same information as the
current, printed form, which is called the DS-156. The EVAF is
available on the Internet at at no cost.

The form must be filled out on-line. Then the completed form must
be printed and brought to the consular section at the time of the
visa interview.

Applicants using the EVAF must fill out the form before scheduling
a visa appointment, because they must give the EVAF barcode number
when scheduling.

When applicants use the EVAF, they help our consular posts improve
the visa services we provide our customers. The EVAF, which has been
online for more than three years, allows for quicker and more accurate
data entry. Our customers do not have to wait for us to enter the data,
and therefore can have their interviews more quickly.

Information must be typed into the EVAF in English.

However, instructions in Armenian and Russian are available on the
consular web site at There are many locations
where you can use a computer to access the Internet to fill out and
print the form. These include Internet cafes, schools, universities
and public-library computer centers, and the American Corners currently
located in Yerevan and Gyumri.

Beginning Nov. 1, 2006, only applications prepared using the EVAF
system will be accepted by the consular section in Yerevan.

TRADE INDUSTRIAL CHAMBER OF ARMENIA PLAYS IMPORTANT PART IN EFFORTS
TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH DIASPORA

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Sept 22 2006

YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Trade Industrial Chamber of Armenia
plays an important role in strategic efforts to strengthen ties with
Diaspora, Martin Sargsyan, the chamber president, said Wednesday at
the second Armenia-Diaspora forum in Yerevan.

He also pointed out that PanArmenien EXPO 2006 exhibition is a
large-scale event.

"The exhibition will be covered in on-line regime and this will enable
all those wanting to be in touch with the event to see what is going
on", he said.

Trade Industrial Chamber of Armenia has organized exhibitions in
Russia, Netherlands, Iran and Belarus followed by dozens cooperation
contracts signing. The contracts cost over $50 million.

PanArmenien EXPO 2006 is to open on September 22 in Yerevan. M.V.-0-

PACE RAPPORTEURS ARE COMING TO YEREVAN

A1+
[07:26 pm] 22 September, 2006

In the PACE 2007 January session a report will be represented about
honoring of obligations and commitments by the Republic of Armenia.

On September 25-29 rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee
Mikko Elo, George Columbier and Secretary Despina Chatsivasilu will
be in Yerevan.

The members of the PACE Monitoring Committee will meet the Ambassadors
of the CoE countries and representatives of NGOs, high RA officials
including the Defense Minister, the Public Prosecutor, and the
Foreign Minister.

On September 28 the members of the Committee will have meetings in
the National Assembly. They will meet the NA Speaker, the members
of the NA delegation to the PACE, heads of NA standing committees,
and heads of NA oppositional parties. The same day the Committee
members will be received by RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and
RA President Robert Kocharyan.

HEADS OF HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS PASS TRAINING COURSES

Armenpress

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS: As part of events directed towards
the development of the tourism sphere in Armenia 23 senior officials
of hotels and restaurants in Yerevan and Armenian provinces passed a
6-day training courses within the framework of a program on teaching
international standards to people working in the service sector.

The training program has been organized by the USAID’s Development
of Human and Institutional Potential program in close cooperation
with "Competitive Private Sector in Armenia" and with the financing
of USAID.

Anoush Yedigarian, the director of the Academy for Educational
Development (AED) Yerevan Office, which is carrying out the program,
said that for increasing the quality of services in hotels and
restaurants first of all it is necessary to establish an effective
control, that is to say, to create a body which will carry out the
control. According to her, it will be possible to make the work of
these bodies more effective by conducting discussions over "You
as a Leader," "Team Work," "Improvement of Work of an Official,"
"Improvement of Communication," "Time Management" etc. as well as
by holding practical studies.

For the implementation of the program a competition was announced
the winner of which has become the Educational Institute of American
Hotels and Hospitality Association. The institute is carrying out
trainings and is conducting qualifying exams around the world giving
the participants who pass them successfully special certificate of
"Qualified Leader of Hospitality".

Alexan Ter-Minasian, the director of "Berlin Guests’ House" hotel
in Gyumri and participant of the program, said during the 5 days
of training they managed to learn important elements of effective
management which are simple and at the same time very useful.

An expert from the Educational Institute of American Hotels and
Hospitality Association Jennifer Calhun said that after the training
the participants will be more prepared. "It is also important for the
participants to assess what they know and what they think they know,"
said she, adding that the level of their preparedness and the results
of the training will be clear after the exams.

Eurlings: Turkey Cannot Become EU Member without Armenian Genocide Recognition

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2006 13:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The report on Turkey prepared by Dutch rapporteur
Camiel Eurlings will be discussed and voted on in the European
Parliament (EP) General Assembly next week. The draft report on
Turkey’s progress towards accession to the EU and the reforms is to
be discussed in the European parliament on Tuesday.

The report includes a provision, according to which the recognition of
the Armenian, Pontus Greek and Syrian genocides becomes a precondition
for Turkey’s EU membership.

The report will be discussed on Tuesday afternoon and the European
Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn will attend the meeting. The
voting of the report is to take place on Wednesday. Earlier this
month, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee approved
Camiel Eurlings’ report on Turkey. The report called on Turkey to
recognize the killings of Armenians during WWI as Genocide and to
open its ports to Greek Cypriot traffic.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the report, saying that it lacked
common sense and smacked of political bias. The draft report insists
that there are persistent shortcomings in areas such as freedom
of expression, religious, minority and women’s rights in Turkey,
said cinannews.

COUNCIL OF CIS PRIME MINISTERS TO CREATE SYSTEM OF LEGAL INFORMATION EXCHANGES

Gazeta.KZ, Kazakhstan
22.09.2006

Kazakhstan today

MINSK. A draft agreement on the interstate system of legal information
exchanges in the established order will be reviewed at a meeting of
the Council of CIS Prime Ministers. Such decision was adopted at a
meeting of the expert group that took place September 21 in the CIS
Executive Committee in Minsk, Kazakhstan Today reports citing the
CIS Executive Committee.

The issue of the interstate system of legal information exchanges was
brought in compliance with the introduced remarks and propositions
at the meeting.

Authorised representatives and experts from Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
as well as representatives of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly,
the CIS Economic Court, the CIS Executive Committee. The Ukrainian
delegation participated as an observer.

TURK WRITER SAYS SHE LOOKS FORWARD TO START OF TRIAL
by Susanne Fowler

The International Herald Tribune
September 19, 2006 Tuesday

Elif Shafak, the Turkish author, is awaiting clearance from a doctor
to attend her trial that starts in Istanbul this week. She is being
prosecuted on charges she insulted "Turkishness" because characters in
her book, "The Bastard of Istanbul," refer to the deaths of Armenians
in 1915 as genocide.

"Of course the court will not be postponing this trial," Shafak said
Monday by telephone from the Istanbul hospital where she gave birth to
a daughter by Caesarean section on Saturday. "I am planning to attend,
hoping to attend."

Shafak said a decision would be made Tuesday.

The case is seen as a test of Turkey’s commitment to freedom of
expression as it negotiates to join the European Union.

"It’s no longer an Elif Shafak case, not a private case," said the
French-born Shafak, 34. "It should be turned into a trial against
Article 301," the section of the Turkish Criminal Code under which
she is being prosecuted.

The nationalists who sued her are rallying their supporters by
circulating statements urging a strong turnout.

Among those planning to appear in support of Shafak are envoys from
International PEN, the worldwide association of writers that is based
in London. Eugene Schoulgin, a PEN board member in Istanbul, said
Monday: "What will most likely happen in Shafak’s case is that there
will be one or two hearings and the case will either be dismissed or
she will be acquitted. But what is unacceptable is that Turkey opens
these kinds of trials in the first place."

Meanwhile, Shafak and her husband, Eyup Can, were welcoming their
daughter, Shehrazade Zelda, named for the storyteller of "The 1,001
Arabian Nights" and the wife of another novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

ARTHUR ABRAHAM: "THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS ‘SMURFS’ BOXER"

EastsideBoxing.com
18 Sept 2006

18.09.06 – IBF middleweight world champion Arthur Abraham has been
dealing with countless issues just days before his mandatory defense
against Edison Miranda, the Columbian knockout artist at the Rittal
arena in Wetzlar, Germany (10:20 PM, live in Germany at "das Erste"
– ARD). First of all, Abraham received his German passport at the
district office in Berlin-Charlottenburg. However, the passport
contained his Armenian name "Avetik Abraham," not his stage name
"Arthur Abraham," a name that he uses for boxing..

After much wrangling, Abraham was allowed to use his stage name for
his passport. However, he was no longer allowed to use the moniker
"Smurf’s boxer," a nickname that has made Abraham widely known in
Germany, a country where the cartoon "The Smurfs" is still wildly
popular. In addition, Abraham can no longer use the Smurf’s hat or use
the song as his walk in music before fights, as both are protected by
copy rights by the "Studio Peyo S.A., which holds the rights and use
for the Smurf’s figure," Sauerland’s managing director Chris Meyer
has learned.

"For that reason, Arthur Abraham, will now be competing under the
stage name "The artist formally known as ‘Smurf’s boxer,’ following in
the example of the singer ‘Prince.’ All of Abraham’s photos with him
wearing the Smurf hat, had to be deleted at the Sauerland’s website
boxen.com. "It’s a great pity, Abraham said later. "Back then,
when my Manager, Mr. Sauerland, had the idea about the Smurf’s,
I was sceptical, too. But, in the meantime, the Smurf’s brought me
so much luck, and the fans liked that, too."

Besides Abraham’s powerful punching style, his walking in before fights
wearing the Smurf’s hat, while Father Abraham sang the Smurf’s song,
has been Abraham’s trademark. Now things will be slightly different,
as "Arthur has thought up something really special," Manager Wilfried
Sauerland reveals. "He’s a world champion; he’s undefeated, and has
the Middleweight’s hardest punch worldwide. Plus, he’s the king of
his weight class; He’s King Arthur!"

"King Arthur" is going to be making his first appearance with his new
King’s outfit when he fights challenger Edison Miranda on Saturday
night in Germany. Certainly, Miranda will understand this message
better than the funny Smurf’s cap.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 14, 2006 Thursday

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CONTINUES NEGOTIATIONS WITH GEORGIAN PARTY
REGARDING DETENTION OF ARMENIAN CITIZENS

The Foreign Ministry of Armenia continues negotiating with the
Georgian party regarding detention of Armenian citizens, Arman
Kirakosyan, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, told journalists,
Thursday.

"These are very serious negotiations as they concern a great number
of Armenian citizens," A. Kirakosyan said.

Earlier, "Azg" Armenian newspaper wrote that about 100 citizens of
Armenia are kept in prisons in Georgia. Article 334.2 of the Georgian
Criminal Code stipulates a 2,000 USD fine for violation of the
Georgian-Russian border. A repeated violation of the border leads to
5 years of imprisonment. The newspaper reported that the above
citizens of Armenia are sentenced to imprisonment for violation of
the above article. The newspaper explains that a visit to Abkhazia or
South Ossetia from the territory of Russia is considered a violation
of the Georgian border.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 14, 2006 Thursday

TRANSFER OF KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS FROM OSCE TO OTHER FORUMS IS
CATEGORICALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR ARMENIA: ARMENIAN FM ACTING SPOKESMAN

Armenia accepts and respects the right of each country to present a
question or an agenda item at the UN, acting spokesman of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Karapetyan says to ArmenPress news
agency in response to the question: How does Armenia assess
yesterday’s initiative by GUAM, and the vote that followed, to place
protracted conflicts on the agenda of the UN General Assembly?

Karapetyan says: Although this particular item has reached the
General Assembly Agenda according to UN procedures, however the fact
that the UN General Committee rejected this initiative and that the
item passed into the General Assembly with a mere 16 in favor, 15
against, clearly indicates the mood of the international community.

The initiative has been presented by GUAM, of which Azerbaijan is a
part. The fact that Azerbaijan has presented such an initiative in
such a forum is evidence again that Azerbaijan is backing down from
the right of self-determination identified in the last version of the
negotiating document that the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have
put on the table, as well as from discussions surrounding the right
of Nagorno Karabakh to determine its status through a referendum.

On the other hand, if Azerbaijan’s purpose is to delay and postpone
the settlement process within the OSCE framework with the intention
of later transferring that process to other forums, that is
categorically unacceptable for Armenia. In that case, Azerbaijan must
sit around the negotiating table with Nagorno Karabakh.