Author: Vanyan Gary

TURKEY WARNS U.S. ARMENIA GENOCIDE BILL WILL HARM TIES

Radio Free Europe
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Oct 7 2007

October 7, 2007 — The head of Turkey’s Parliament has warned the
United States against passing an Armenian genocide bill, saying that
the move would harm bilateral ties. parliament

Speaker Koksal Toptan said in a letter to House of Representative’s
Speaker Nancy Pelosi that it might take decades to heal the negative
effects of the bill.

The genocide bill declares the killings of more than 1.5 million
Armenians between 1915 and 1917 a systematic genocide by the Ottoman
Turks — something which Ankara denies.

Kuwait
"Arab Times"
Sept 30 2007

Mideast addicted to politics
By Boghos Mardirossian
Author, political and economical analyst

It is anyone’s guess why people in the Middle East are so concerned
about politics and talk about it every day. They criticize various
issues, analyze them and in the end somehow get themselves
involved. Every one in the Middle East seems to understand politics
and people argue with each other aggressively over various issues. Why
is it that there is more interest in politics in the region and not as
much of it in countries like the United States or any other Western
state in general? I lived for five years each in Europe and the United
States and I never felt bored of politics unlike here in the Middle
East. A citizen from a Middle East state regularly reads, listens,
watches and argues about politics more than a regular Western
person. Is it that the media in this part of the world is more active
or attractive than the media in the West? Is it only the media in the
Middle East which is responsible for this addiction to politics?
Frankly speaking I do not think so, it may be – to some extent –
responsible for creating this interest among average citizens.

One of the reasons may be because TV satellite channels such as
Al-Jazeera, Mustaqela, Hurra, Alam, Manar and Mustaqbal have suddenly
mushroomed in the Middle East. What is more interesting is that the
Germans and the Russians – following in the footsteps of the Americans
– have started Arabic language political news channels such as `Russia
Today’ and `TV Arabia’. BBC and Monte Carlo have had such radio
channels for a long time. Why are all these international media
tycoons suddenly interested in Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern people?
There is something in this part of the world. I majored in politics
but I have discovered I really don’t understand politics as much as my
carpenter, my store man, my apartment caretaker, my wife and my
neighbors. Everybody knows something and they can even predict the
future of the Middle East politics. Well I really felt lost.

In this part of the world I am surrounded by thousands of political
wizards and it is a must for every one to read newspapers and watch
political programs and even tune in to political news on their car
radios. I know now why in the Middle East I have not been able to find
a job in politics since 1992 with my US degree. Thank God I took my
mother’s advice, God bless her soul. She told me before she died `Son
do any work to survive and to be successful but don’t go into
politics.’ She was right but it was too late for me because I had
already spent five years studying politics in UCLA.Sometimes I wonder
if we really need the services of Middle Eastern political experts in
the region.

Thank God we have many around us but nothing works for us. Everyday
we panic, we are concerned and we become angry because the pressure
builds in us when we listen, watch and read politics. For God’s sake
can politics leave us alone for only one hour here in the Middle East?
Look what is happening in Iraq and Lebanon. I am tired of watching
political debates everyday while innocent people are dying in
Iraq. Who will come to our rescue and solve our political problems? As
soon as we do away with one political problem another crops
up. Lebanon is a typical scenario. People in Lebanon are fed up of
political turmoil but they can’t get rid of the `professional’
political masters who feed them a political breakfast every
morning. Most of the people in the Middle East are living below the
standard compared to the people in the West. Economic prosperity in
the Middle East is far behind even among developing countries.

What is happening to us? Don’t we deserve a better living, less
political debates, crimes, bombs and killings? `Yes’ for politics but
`No’ for political addiction. `Yes’ for orderly politics, stability,
prosperity and democracy and a big `No’ for politics of enmity between
neighbors. `Yes’ for politics of brotherhood and respect between
religions and sects but a very big `No’ for killings and insults in
the name of religion. Politics as science has been developed to
provide a better, safe, stable and prosperous life to the ordinary
people. Politics is concerned with the life of people who are living
in cities. Politics is a professional tool to organize the power
struggle in the society. Democracy is one of the products of political
thinking. In the past and present politics was used incorrectly by
many people especially by the so-called `Grand Master of politics’
Machiavelli. Politics and any other science must be used for the
betterment of human beings and not to torture them.

The Author Boghos Mardirossian is one of the most active Armenian
origin Lebanese political and economical intellectuals who is living
in Kuwait since 1974. He was born in Aleppo Syria.Has his elementary
studies in Kuwait Armenian school and in 1983 to 1987 has attended
Moorat -Raphael Armenian College in Venice, Italy.

Boghos graduated from UCLA, USA magioring in Political Science
‘International Relation" section in 1992. Since 1992 to present is
living in Kuwait and actively participating in local cultural and
economical forums. He is the author of the book "Armenia-Kuwait Common
destiny of small States in International relations”. Boghos is the
pioneer writer on Gulf Arab States and South Caucasus States
relations. he has been invited many times to give seminars and
lectures on this subject.His interviews on Gulf security matters has
been published in many kuwaiti local arabic and english language
newspapers. He is member of kuwait and international Journalists
Associations. He wrote many articles also on International commodity
market items such as Gold , silver, Copper, alamunium and oil. He is
presently the executive manager of International Financial Brokerage
Group.Mr Boghos is also actively invoved in local Armenian church and
community affairs. This year he has been elected member of higher
Armenian Temagan Council and Hay Tad Committee.

NOMINATION OF LEVON TER-PETROSIAN DEPENDS ON SERGE SARGSIAN?
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily
05/10/2007

‘Levon Ter-Petrosian’s nomination as a candidate for presidency
depends on Prime Minister Serge Sargsian", announced the leader of
the National Unity Party Artashes Geghamian in "Hayeli"("Mirror")
club on September 3. "It depends on the forthcoming official visits
of the Prime Minister. After it, the agiotage "to announce or not to
announce" will come to an end", he added.

To the question of the journalists if the nomination of the first
president depends on the foreign guarantees, Artashes Geghamian
answered: "I don’t speak of guarantees. It’s already 13-14 years that
the negotiation process continues in Armenia, and the most active
sides of the negotiation process are USA, Russia and France. If the
negotiation process hasn’t yet changed into a war, it means that the
sides have adopted the status quo of the Karabakh issue. It means
that the same EU that parallel with Armenia admitted Azerbaijan, also
adopted the status quo. Now, in the created situation there could be
serious geopolitical changes. It’s hard to speak of the interests
of the above-mentioned countries, as there are serious series of
issues there. Anyhow, everything will be clear after October 25",
underlined Artashes Geghamian.

"The most important thing today is that Levon Ter-Petrosian, Serge
Sargsian, Aram Karapetian, Paruyr Hayrikian, Vazgen Manukian, and
everybody unite for a common issue – to reach a consensus on Karabakh
issue", said the leader of NU party.

He is sure that the discussion of Karabakh issue will be a pivotal
in the electoral campaign of the presidential elections.

"He, who wants to come to power, must think of consensus", underlined
Artashes Geghamian. He is sure that cooperation with the authorities
is a matter of urgency, and the meeting of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation and Levon Ter-Petrosian confirms it.

What about the nomination of National Unity Party candidate for the
presidency, Artashes Geghamian still thinks of its appropriateness. If
NU finds inappropriate the nomination of personal candidate, then
Mr. Geghamian will support the candidate whose programs are close to
his anti-crisis program.

ONLY "BANANTS" MADE PROGRESS

A1+
[01:29 pm] 04 October, 2007

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS)
released the list of the World Rating 305 clubs, which included three
Armenian teams.

"Mika" team of Ashtarak was on the highest place, it appeared in
275 places. The club was not playing successfully during the latest
meetings of the Armenian championships and its retreat was anticipated.

The Armenian champion "Pyunik" appeared in 281 place, which is also
according to the poor performances of the team during the Armenian
championships. "Banants" appeared in 343 place, which is a step
forward as compared with the mentioned Armenian teams.

Spanish "Sevilla" team tops the World Ranking list.

"Colo Colo" of Chilly and "Santos" of Brazil follow
"Sevilla". "Shakhtyor" team of Donetsk is in the 17-th
place. Azerbaijani clubs are not included in the list, whereas "Dinamo"
and "Amerine" of Tbilisi are included.

GUL VOWS REFORMS WILL GO ON,WARNS AGAINST DIVISION OF IRAQ

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 4 2007

The new Turkish president told Europe’s top human rights watchdog
Wednesday that his country’s government was committed to improving
its rights record – an issue that has stymied Turkey’s effort to join
the EU.

President Abdullah Gul, elected in August, said Turkey was more
tolerant and democratic today than five years ago, when the country
launched widespread social and judicial reforms.

"All forms of discrimination are banned. Legal and constitutional
guarantees on the right to association and assembly are reinforced.

Cultural and religious rights have been upgraded," Gul said in
his first speech as Turkey’s president to the Council of Europe’s
Parliamentary Assembly. Gul has been a member of the council for
nine years.

Later speaking to journalists Gul there were problems with a
contentious law that makes it a crime to insult Turkish identity and
it needed to be changed.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk and slain ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink were prosecuted under the law, which the EU wants
Turkey to scrap. Article 301 has been used to prosecute journalists,
writers and academics.

"We know there are problems with regard to Article 301. There’s
still room for improvement and there are changes to be enacted in
the period ahead," Gul told journalists at the Council of Europe. "I
support the idea of Article 301 to change."

Gul said there prevailed an "unfair perception" that people were
jailed because of the contentious law. He said the section of the
penal code was being used for propaganda against Turkey.

Turkey, which aspires to join the European Union, has come under
pressure to amend the law. Gul has previously said the law was damaging
Turkey’s image by portraying it as a country where intellectuals are
jailed for speaking their opinions.

At the Council of Europe, he said there prevailed an "unfair
perception" that people were jailed because of Article 301, and
insisted there is freedom of speech in Turkey.

"No one is going to prison for expressing their view freely," he said
in a question-and-answer session with parliamentarians from the human
rights watchdog’s 47 member states. Also in the speech Wednesday,
Gul warned against any territorial division of Iraq, saying it would
further complicate the volatile situation in the region.

"One should not fall into illusion that the current problems can be
overcome by the partition of Iraq. This would be the worst scenario
for the people of Iraq and the whole region," Gul said.

A U.S. Senate proposal has called for a limited centralized Iraqi
government with the bulk of the power given to the country’s ethnically
divided regions.

Without specifically criticizing the proposal to devolve Iraqi power
to the regions, Gul said that "nobody should look for solutions
alternative to respecting territorial and political unity of Iraq."

The nonbinding resolution adopted by the U.S. Senate calls for Iraq
to be divided into federal regions – controlled by Kurds, Shiites and
Sunnis – which would govern by a power-sharing agreement similar to
that used in postwar Bosnia.

The proposal has been harshly criticized by Iraq’s major political
parties.

Meanwhile, Turkey has been pressuring the United States and Iraq to
wipe out the PKK terrrorist bases in northern Iraq.

Turkey has warned it would carry out a cross-border offensive to
eliminate the rebel bases if necessary.

RENE VAN DER LINDEN: ISOLATION OF ARMENIA MAY BE NEGATIVE FOR THE COUNTRY’S FUTURE

ArmRadio – Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 4 2007

The Karabakh issue was among the topics discussed during yesterday’s
meeting between the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Oktay Asadov
and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) Rene van der Linden.

Azerbaijani Turan agency reports that following the meeting PACE
President said that the lack of progress in the Karabakh conflict
settlement process "exerts a negative influence on the development of
the region, as a whole." He reminded that when joining the Council of
Europe, Armenia and Azerbaijan assumed the commitment to solve the
issue in a peaceful way. Armenia has no contact with its neighbors
along 2/3 of its borders. It can negatively influence the future
generations of the country.

The Azeri Parliament Speaker, in turn, called on the Council of Europe
and other international organizations to be resolute in their decisions
on the Karabakh conflict. The international community must make
Armenia an object of censure for its "aggressive" policy," Asadov said.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVED IN THE FIRST READING THE DRAFT LAW "ON SECURITIES MARKET"

Mediamax, Armenia
Oct 3 2007

Yerevan, October 3 /Mediamax/. Armenian parliament approved in the
first reading the draft law "On Securities Market".

Mediamax reports that, speaking on October 2 during the session
of the parliament, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Tigran
Sarkisian stated that the approval of the new law aims at securing
the development of the securities market in Armenia in accordance
with the European standards.

During the elaboration of the document, the Estonian and Slovenian
models of the legislation in the given sphere, which are closer to
the realities of the Armenian market, were taken into account.

The draft law is elaborated by the Central Bank of Armenia jointly
with AEPLAC. Tigran Sarkisian noted that in accordance with the
Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), signed with the EU, the
Armenian side committed itself to making its legislation in the sphere
of financial services closer to the legislation of the European Union.

"The present law "On regulation of the securities market" cannot
fully regulate the legal relations in that sphere, given the many
shortcomings and inner contradictions", Head of CB stated.

The reformation of the legislation of the Armenian securities market
also issues from the provisions of the memorandum, signed between
the Armenian government and the Swedish OMX Group.

The new draft law, in particular, makes the conditions for the entry
of investment companies to the securities market stricter. They should
beforehand undergo registration and licensing from the CB.

GRANT THORNTON AMYOT COMPANY TO AUDIT ARMENIAN CB’S FINANCIAL REPORT FOR 2006

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 3 2007

YEREVAN, October 3. /ARKA/. The auditing company Grant Thornton Amyot
is to make an audit of the 2006 financial report of the Central Bank
of Armenia (CBA).

The CBA press service reports that the CBA Board made a relevant
decision.

In 1995-1997, the CBA’s financial reports were audited by the
international auditing company KPMG, and in 2001 KPMG-Armenia. In
1998-2000, the Amyot Exco made the CBA’s financial audit. In 2002-2005,
the auditing and consulting company Grant Thornton made the CBA’s
financial audit, and in 2006 the KPGM-Armenia.

GEGHAMIAN VAGUE ON PRESIDENTIAL BID
By Anna Saghabalian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 3 2007

Opposition leader Artashes Geghamian pointedly declined on Wednesday
to announce his participation in next year’s presidential election
and said he is ready to endorse another candidate.

Geghamian indicated that he will stand in the election if he feels that
he stands a real chance of winning it. He said he and his National
Unity Party (AMK) have yet to decide whether it would make sense
to contest the vote simply to "express our views on pivotal issues"
facing Armenia.

Geghamian was until recently one of the country’s most popular
opposition figures, finishing third in the last presidential election
held in 2003. His popularity has since declined significantly,
as evidenced by the AMK’s poor showing in the May parliamentary
elections. According to official vote results, the party won less
than 4 percent of the vote and failed to gain a single parliament seat.

Geghamian underlined the reversal of fortunes with his vague remarks.

Significantly, he did not rule out the possibility of throwing his
weight behind another presidential hopeful who would embrace his
"anti-crisis" economic program.

Geghamian also replaced his customary harsh criticism of the Armenian
government with calls for the consolidation of the country’s political
elite for the sake of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
other issues relating to the "salvation of Armenian statehood." "It
is imperative for [former President] Levon Ter-Petrosian, Vazgen
Manukian, Artashes Geghamian, Paruyr Hayrikian, Robert Kocharian,
Serzh Sarkisian, Aram Karapetian and our other colleagues … to
sit down at the table and reach a common denominator on at least one
issue," he told reporters, referring to Karabakh.

Geghamian also revealed that he met with Ter-Petrosian two weeks
ago to discuss "threats to Armenian statehood." He said they reached
no concrete agreements because of their differences on a number of
unspecified issues.

The meeting was part of Ter-Petrosian’s ongoing consultations with
various opposition forces which are aimed at building broad-based
political support for his possible presidential bid. Speaking at a
weekend AMK conference, Geghamian indicated that he is unlikely to
endorse the ex-president.

SEPT INFLATION IN ARMENIA REACHES 0.7%, 3.8% FOR 9 MTHS

Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
October 1, 2007 Monday 5:40 PM MSK

Inflation in Armenia came to 0.7% for September and 3.8% for
January-September 2007, the national statistics service told Interfax.

Prices on foodstuffs, including alcoholic beverages and tobacco,
increased 0.9% while prices for non-food items went down 0.4%.

Service sector costs also grew 0.9% in September.