Author: Torosian Aram

SERBIA EXCLUDES USE OF FORCE AGAINST KOSOVO

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.01.2008 13:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said on
Wednesday that Belgrade would not use military force to thwart Kosovo’s
drive for independence. Speaking in an interview with Dnevni Avaz, a
popular daily published in Sarajevo, Sutanovac said: "I have said many
times that the Kosovo problem cannot be resolved militarily." "When
we tried to resolve problems in the former Yugoslavia by deploying
the army, we encountered even greater problems."

Sutanovac said the Serb army could help international peacekeepers
in Kosovo should they ask for help. "The appearance of Serb troops
in Kosovo without invitation would be tantamount to declaring war on
KFOR forces and the entire international community," he commented.

He also said Belgrade should not become alienated from NATO, and should
seek ties under a Partnership for Peace program, although it should
not aspire to full membership in the alliance, RIA Novosti reports.

The UN Security Council is to discuss a report on Kosovo by UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on January 16.

Kosovo, technically still a Serbian province, has been run by the
United Nations since 1999 when a NATO bombing campaign drove out
Belgrade’s forces waging a brutal crackdown on independence-seeking
ethnic Albanians who make up 90 percent of the population.

Thaci’s government is expected to declare unilateral independence
early in 2008 following the collapse of international attempts to
reach a negotiated deal with Serbia.

The move is likely to be approved by the United States and a number
of European countries, but Serbia and its ally Russia say they will
oppose it.

European leaders have said they are ready to send a major police
mission to Kosovo to ease the transition from the UN administration
to independence. But Belgrade, backed by Moscow, says UN Security
Council approval is required, with a new resolution replacing the
previous one, 1244, that set up the UN administration.

EU officials believe 1244 gives the bloc the right to back the kind of
internationally-supervised independence which UN special envoy Martti
Ahtisaari has suggested. Ahtisaari’s plan was accepted by Kosovo
Albanian leaders and most Western countries, but Russia supports
Serbia, which says the province should be allowed wide autonomy,
but no more.

Russia has threatened to veto any UN backing for Kosovo independence.

ARMENIAN JUDO NATIONAL TEAM HOLDS TEACHING AND TRAINING GATHERING IN TOWN OF ABOVIAN

Noyan Tapan
Jan 10, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian judo national team
holds a teaching and training gathering on January 10-24 in the
town of Abovian. 22 sportsmen and 3 coaches are involved in the
trainings. The national team will leave for Tbilisi on January 25,
where it will take part in a big international rating tournament. At
present only Armen Nazarian (66 kg, Hrazdan) has received a permit
to take part in Beijing-2008 Olympic Games.

ARMENIA IN IRAN’S MINES?

Lragir
Jan 10 2008
Armenia

Armenian companies set up partnership with the Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps in the city of Ardebil, Iran, the so called South
Azerbaijan, Day.az reports referring to the head of the center for
information and research of the South Azerbaijan Party Sadig Isabeili.

For his part, Isabeili noted that Mollatafi, head of the Iranian
industrial and trade organization, told the Iranian media that the
Armenian companies are ready to explore the mines of nepheline in
Ardebil. According to Day.az, the decision on this was made during
the meeting of the experts of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
and the representatives of Metagroup and Maxgroup.

During the meeting agreement was reached to send the ore to Armenia
for tests and extend the information to the Iranian party. Besides,
during the meeting the Armenian party proposed to build a new factory
at the nepheline mine. The Armenian party is also said to have proposed
boosting the production of the cement factory of Ardebil.

The Iranian party has approved this proposal, Day.az reports.

VARTAN OSKANIAN "FOUND NOT A SINGLE NEW IDEA" IN THE FOREIGN POLICY SECTION OF LEVON TER-PETROSIANÂ~@~YS PRE-ELECTION PROGRAM

Mediamax
January 9, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated
in Yerevan today that "he found not a single new idea" in the foreign
policy section of the pre-election program of the Ex-President Levon
Ter-Petrosian.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan
today, Vartan Oskanian stated that he hoped to get familiar with
the new approaches of the first President, since the latter actively
criticized the foreign policy course of the present authorities in
the course of the recent months.

"However, I found no novelty", the Minister admitted.

Commenting on the statements of the Ex-President’s supporters,
according to which today the Armenian authorities hold talks on the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict basing on a model, similar to
the one, which was supported by Levon Ter-Petrosian in 1997, Vartan
Oskanian started:

"In the proposal, which was supported by Ter-Petrosian, there was not
a single hint on recognition of the right of the Nagorno-Karabakhi
people for self-determination. In the second variant, which we are
discussing today, this right is the central point and it is written
there in black and white".

Besides, Vartan Oskanian stated, "the people of Nagorno-Karabakh would
never accept the variant of the settlement, which was supported by
the Ex-President".

–Boundary_(ID_9GQGapJP3N4EsN DFhYt1ew)–

ARMENIAN FM APPEALS TO "SOME POLITICAL PARTIES" TO GIVE UP THE INTENTION TO DESTABILIZE THE SITUATION IN ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-01-09 18:22:00

ArmInfo. Everything should be done to prevent internal destabilization
in the country, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said at a
press-conference, Wednesday.

"This shouldn’t be a way to attain political goals", the minister said.

According to him, some political parties are intending to do
this. However, the minister didn’t specify the parties and appealed
to media to fight against such ambitions. "Forget the possibility of
destabilization. If you want to come to power, there is a democratic
way to do this", the minister advised. "Fair and transparent election
should be held", he stressed. Asked whether the opposition may rig
the votes, Oskanian replied that everybody can try to destabilize the
situation if there is such a desire, and there are various methods
for that. But this will harm the country’s authority, the minister
noted without going into details.

7.2% UNEMPLOYMENT RECORDED IN ARMENIA IN JAN-NOV 2007

ARKA News Agency
Jan 8 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, January 8. /ARKA/. Unemployment rate was 7.2% in Armenia in
January-November 2007, which is a 0.4pct reduction against the same
period of year before.

Armenia’s National Statistical Service reports that as per estimates
the number of economically active population averaged 1,165,600
people in Armenia as of the end of November 2007, with 1,082,200
people employed in economy and 83,400 people unemployed.

The number of people seeking jobs and officially registered by the
"State Service for Employment in Armenia" Agency was 91,000 people
at the end of November 2007 with 86.4% of them (78,600 people)
being without jobs (unoccupied). 96.6% of the overall number of the
unoccupied (75,900 people) received the status of unemployed.

In November 2007 women constituted 73.78% (56,000 people) of the
overall number of the officially unemployed.

By the end of November only 15,300 people were receiving monthly
benefits with its amount averaging 11,275 Drams (against 8,503 Drams
in November 2006).

According to statistical information, official demand for labor force
in Armenia was 872 people (90 unoccupied per vacancy).

TURKEY READY FOR FREE SPEECH REFORM: MINISTER

Agence France Presse — English
January 7, 2008 Monday 9:26 AM GMT

A bill amending a much-criticised article in the Turkish penal code
restricting freedom of speech will likely be submitted to parliament
this week, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said Monday.

"The work (on the draft) has been finalised. I believe the proposal
could be submitted to parliament this week," Sahin told reporters.

Article 301 of the penal code, which provides up to four years in jail
for "insulting Turkishness," has been criticised as a threat to freedom
of speech in both Turkey and the European Union Ankara hopes to join.

Sahin declined to say what the changes would consist of before they
are first discussed at a cabinet meeting later Monday.

Dozens of intellectuals, including 2006 Nobel literature laureate
Orhan Pamuk, have been tried under the provision and although some –
including ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was murdered in
January 2007 – were convicted, their sentences were suspended and no
one has been jailed so far.

The article has been used mainly against people contesting the
official line on the World War I massacres of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire, which, much to Turkey’s ire, many countries have
recognised as genocide.

Many activists have called for the abolition of Article 301, but
the government has insisted it should stay in the books, signalling
instead an intention to narrow its scope.

Sahin said the government was determined to speed up other reforms
aimed at boosting Turkey’s EU membership prospects following EU
criticism that Ankara slackened its reform drive in 2007.

"2008 will be a year in which very serious steps will be taken in
this field," he said, without elaborating.

Ankara had little time in 2007 to deal with EU reforms as a
presidential election in April sparked a severe political crisis and
prompted early general elections in July.

Turkey began accession negotiations in October 2005 in six of 35
policy chapters candidate countries must complete, but the EU froze
talks in eight chapters in response to Ankara’s refusal to grant
trade privileges to Cyprus, which Ankara does not recognise, under
a customs union pact with the bloc.

The accession talks have also been hampered by staunch French
opposition to Turkey’s membership.

SAMVEL SHAHINYAN ELECTED HEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE VAZGEN MANUKYAN’S CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS

arminfo
2008-01-08 18:58:00

ArmInfo. Samvel Shahinyan is elected the head of the campaign
headquarters of Vazgen Manukyan, presidential candidate, leader of
National Democratic Union party.

NDU party told ArmInfo the five political forces supporting V. Manukyan
made a relevant decision, Monday: National-Democratic Party, Bloc of
National Democrats, National State, National Democratic Union and Union
Constitutional Right. The head of the campaign headquarters will have
five assistants representing all the above parties. The parties also
established Political Council comprising their representatives. The
Political Council is open for other parties that will join V. Manukyan.

DASHNAKS MULL CAMPAIGN PLATFORM
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Jan 8 2008

The campaign team of deputy parliament speaker Vahan Hovannisian
discussed and approved on Tuesday the election manifesto of the
presidential candidate of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun).

The Hovannisian campaign declined to immediately release the
document. A Dashnaktsutyun spokesman, Spartak Seyranian, told RFE/RL
that it needs to be endorsed by the party’s governing Supreme Body
before being made public. The body was scheduled to meet later in
the day.

Seyranian said Hovannisian himself will unveil the manifesto "in a
few days time." He said it will contain about 10 pages and be "quite
accessible" to voters.

Hovannisian disclosed the main points of his platform as he effectively
kicked off his campaign on December 25. In what came as a novelty in
Armenian politics, he offered to sign "contracts" with individual
voters committing him to pursuing policies that would, lead among
other things, to free elections and social justice.

According to Seyranian, about 70,000 Armenians have already signed
such contracts carrying Hovannisian’s printed signature and titled
"I am with Vahan." He said Dashnaktsutyun expects tens of thousands
of others to do so before election day. "It is logical for 99 percent
of them to vote for Vahan Hovannisian," added Seyranian.

CABINET LEAVES 301 FOR LATER DESPITE EXPECTATIONS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 8 2008

Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Þahin said he would submit to the
Cabinet a bill amending Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK),
which has been used extensively by ultranationalists to curb free
speech, but the ministers did not take up the issue when they met
yesterday, according to a statement by government spokesperson Cemil
Cicek on Monday evening.

During a press conference after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting Cicek
said the ministers reviewed a regulation on individuals who invested
in Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKÝ) projects,
a new bill on banking confidentiality and another one on state secrets.

They also opened to signature another new bill that would significantly
ease voting for Turkish citizens who reside in foreign countries.

Minister Þahin had stated that the bill to amend Article 301 would
find its way to Parliament this week. Article 301, which criminalizes
— among other things — "denigrating or insulting Turkishness," is
undoubtedly the most famous penal code article in the world. It is
also believed by many to be the "real" murderer of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead outside his newspaper’s
office on Jan. 19 of last year. Prior to his death, charges were
brought against Dink under Article 301. The teenager who pulled the
trigger testified he had heard that Dink had "denigrated Turkishness."

Not only has the European Union, with which Turkey is having membership
talks, appealed for change or removal of Article 301 many times,
but international rights organizations as well, including Amnesty
International, have also protested the trials initiated under
301. Since it went into force on June 1, 2005 as part of a package
needed to start full membership talks with the European Union, charges
have been brought against writers, intellectuals and journalists in
more than 60 cases. A majority of them were opened by ultranationalist
lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz.

Among the high-profile 301 victims was Orhan Pamuk, who had to
appear before a court over allegations of an Armenian genocide he
had voiced to a foreign newspaper. Five journalists were charged in
February of last year with insulting state judicial institutions after
criticizing a court decision that banned a conference on Armenian
genocide allegations. They were all acquitted at the trial’s close.

Journalist Perihan Maden, the Turkish publisher of Noam Chomsky’s
"Manufacturing Consent," writer Elif Þafak, publisher Ragýp Zarakolu
are some of the more well-known individuals who have been tried over
301-related charges; none were convicted.

There have also been protests against Article 301 in various cities
around Turkey. Since the Dink assassination, the government has been
considering a change to the problematic article.

Proposed changes to the current text

Currently, Article 301 states the following: A person who publicly
denigrates Turkishness, the republic or the Turkish Parliament shall
be subject to imprisonment of between six months and three years.

A person who publicly denigrates the government of the Republic
of Turkey, the judicial institutions of the state, the military or
security organizations shall be subject to imprisonment of between
six months and two years.

In cases where denigration of Turkishness is committed by a Turkish
citizen in another country, the punishment shall be increased by
one-third.

Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute
a crime.

Under the proposed text the Cabinet will soon be reviewing, in order
for a trial process to start regarding 301-related charges an approval
from the Ministry of Justice will be needed. The word "Turkishness"
in the current article is being replaced with the phrase "the Turkish
nation," while the word "Republic" is being replaced with "the Republic
of Turkey." Also, the "intent" to "denigrate," the Turkish nation or
the Republic of Turkey will have to be present for a legal probe to
be launched under the new version of the article.

–Boundary_(ID_bdxFxtVjNoKxuIqsQ8qmvg)–