Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

ARMENIAN MINISTER OF CULTURE TO BE INVITED TO OPENING OF AGHTAMAR CHURCH

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Aug 21 2006

ANKARA, AUGUST 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Atilla Goc, the
Minister of Culture of Turkey spoke on the previous day in Anakara
about those cultural surprises that the Government of Turkey has
prepared for this autumn. The main one among them is considered
to be re-opening of the Armenian Aghtamar church in the Lake Van,
after a long and expensive reconstruction work. As "Marmara" states
quoting the Turkish "Radical" newspaper, the Minister of Culture of
Armenia will also be invited to the opening ceremony of this Armenian
historic church. Prime Minister Recep Tyyip Erdogan will fulfil the
solemn opening. Representatives from countries like France, which
has adopted the law concerning the Armenian Genocide, will also be
invited to the event. "The Aghtamar church will be opened in front
of the whole world, we invite tourists of all over the world for they
come and see that we spent 4 billions on reconstruction of Aghtamar,"
the Minister of Culture of Turkey said.

Aronian Beats Swidler

ArmRadio.am
18.08.2006 13:37

Armenian grand master Levon Aronian beat his Russian rival Pyoter
Swidler in two rounds of the "Chess 960" World Championship conducted
in German town of Mainz, Armenpress reported.

Chess 960 (originally called Fischer Random Chess) is a chess variant
created by grandmaster Bobby Fischer (who was world chess champion
from 1972 until 1975). It was originally announced on June 19, 1996,
in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fischer’s goal was to create a chess
variant in which chess creativity and talent would be more important
than memorization and analysis of opening moves.

His approach was to create a randomized initial chess position,
which would thus make memorizing chess opening move sequences far
less helpful. The championship consists of 8 rounds, the next two
ones will be conducted today.

Regnum, Russia
Aug. 11, 2006

Canadian Dundee Precious Metals buys 80% of shares of Armenian Deno
Gold Mining Company

Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) Company from Canada has bought 80% of
shares of Deno Gold Mining Company (DGMC), an Armenian company set up
in 2004. The only shareholder of the Armenian enterprise was a
British investment company.
The sale contract was signed in Yerevan on August 10. The cost and
the terms of the deal will be made known shortly. The new owner of
DGMC is going to make long-term investments in the development of
mines in Kapan. Particularly, DPM will shortly invest $10mln in
DGMC’s assets for prospecting and other capital activities.

DGMC develops the Shamkhor and Central Kapan mines. The Canadian
company is going to raise the annual output to 1,000,000 tons from
present 300,000 tons.

CANADIAN PRESS
August 10, 2006 Thursday

Tories step up courting of ethnic voters

by Jennifer Ditchburn, canadian press

These days, you’re just as likely to see Conservative politicians
pressing the flesh at a Sikh temple or a Greek food festival as you
are at a corn roast or backyard barbecue.

Top Tories, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, have
substantially increased their visibility in Canada’s ethnic
communities.

Harper has also made at least a half-dozen policy moves or important
statements about various cultural groups – the most aggressive action
the party has taken yet to score a breakthrough with ethnic voters.

This week, Harper made the symbolic gesture of appointing a Liberal
MP, Muslim-Canadian Wajid Khan, as his adviser on the Middle East and
South Asia. The announcement comes as the Conservative Mideast policy
threatens to alienate the Lebanese and Arab communities.

List of announcements

Other announcements over the past six months include:

þ An apology and redress for the Chinese head tax.

þ An inquiry into the Air India tragedy.

þ A statement recognizing the Armenian genocide.

þ A promise last weekend to address the turning away of hundreds of
Indian passengers aboard the Kamagata Maru in 1914.

Harper also issued a statement congratulating Italian Canadians on
the victory of the Italian soccer team in the World Cup.

Conservatives say they’re challenging the conventional wisdom that
the Liberals are the party for immigrants by showing that they’re
actually putting money where their mouth is.

"The bar is higher for us," said Goldy Hyder, a Tory strategist and
longtime advocate of outreach to cultural communities.

"Whereas Liberals can get away with lip service, Conservatives have
to actually deliver . . . in order to say we just didn’t talk about
it. That builds credibility in the constituencies."

The outreach is also part of an effort to shake the intolerance label
that the Liberals successfully attached to the Conservatives and
their predecessors in past elections.

Sometimes it was the candidates and MPs who provided the fodder.
There was Canadian Alliance candidate Betty Granger’s comment about
an "Asian invasion" during the 2000 election. And Calgary incumbent
Eric Lowther once suggested the country could hold a referendum on
immigration.

Visibility is key to the new strategy, and so there are emissaries.

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose speaks Portuguese and often attends
that community’s events. MP Barry Devolin speaks Korean and does his
part. Health Minister Tony Clement, whose father was a Greek Cypriot,
will be at the Taste of the Danforth Greek food festival this
weekend.

Busy weekends

Then there’s the king of the cultural event, Alberta MP Jason Kenney,
a parliamentary secretary to the prime minister charged with
outreach.

One particular weekend, Kenney attended a dozen events, including
gatherings of Afghans, Tamils, Sikhs, Armenians, Hindus and the
Jewish community.

On a non-partisan level, Kenney said the various communities are
simply appreciative of having a federal government representative at
their events.

On a political level, he said the party is shaking loose some of the
support that’s traditionally gone to the Liberals with a combination
of targeted announcements, but also by promoting tax cuts, a tough
law-and-order policy and respect for the "family unit."

"These are universal aspirations, and they just respect a government
that is accountable, that keeps its promises, that gives more freedom
to individuals economically and respects the family unit."

Rattan Mall, editor of The Indo-Canadian Voice newspaper in British
Columbia, said the party’s gestures are making a difference.

"Despite the suspicions against the former Reform party and the
traditional backing for the federal Liberal party, there is a shift –
it’s taking place very gingerly, people are just testing the waters,
but people are very impressed with what Harper is doing," he said.

But he noted that immigration is often at the heart of the
community’s concerns, and Harper will be watched closely for what he
does on that file.

Victor Wong of the Chinese Canadian National Council said the Chinese
head tax in particular has had a "restorative" impact on that
community, but Chinese Canadians won’t necessarily support a party
based on a single issue.

"I think for some, there will be more checkmarks in the Conservative
column," said Wong. "But they’ll still have to see the whole
package."

And there are still Conservatives who oppose Canada’s immigration
policy.

GRAPHIC: Prime Minister Stephen Harper gives the "thumbs up" with a
group of Indian dancers as they have their picture taken in Surrey,
B.C., last Sunday.

"EU WILL SOON WANT TO JOIN ARMENIA": BUSINESS IS TRYING TO FIND POSITIVE THINGS IN DOLLAR EXCHANGE FALL

Regnum, Russia
Aug. 9, 2006

The process of impetuous US dollar devaluation in Armenia has
negatively affected business of local manufacturers. For the last
ten days, US dollar lost about 20 points in Armenia and by August
9 it can be sold for 390 dram and bought for 400 dram at Yerevan
currency exchanges.

Talking to a REGNUM correspondent, MP, head of MAP Company (agriculture
produce processing) Alik Petrosyan noted that dollar devaluation,
first of all, affects negatively cost of the goods. "We buy grapes
at the national currency and export our brandy for dollars, so we
have been suffering significant losses," the businessman says noting
he sees no way out of the situation. "We cannot stop production and
continue buying raw stuff. In case, dollar exchange rate reaches
the supposed 350 dram, the company will have to raise the price,
but our produce will become noncompetitive. We are facing a dilemma:
either we continue production or stop functioning.

I even do not know what to do," he notes.

According to an expert who preferred to stay anonymous, Armenia’s
Central Bank is unable of influencing the situation, as it has no
tools for it. "Armenia’s Central Bank has been pursuing a wrong policy
in many cases, but it would be incorrect to put the full blame on
it in this situation. The Central Bank should pursue a policy of
targeting inflation, but not imitating it," he said. It is worth
mentioning, the Armenian Central Bank pursues a policy of floating
dollar exchange rate. According to many experts, strengthening of
Armenian dram is caused by huge dollar flows into Armenia, which is
particularly connected with large amounts of construction as well as
with the tourist season.

According to economist Eduard Agadzhanov, for the first half of
2006 US dollar has devaluated almost by 10%, and for the last three
years by 40%. "Strengthening of the national currency has resulted
in forcing out domestic manufacturers from the domestic market,"
the economist notes adding that each year the foreign trade deficit
has been increasing. In the first quarter 2006 only the showing was
over $0.5 billion.

Talking to the REGNUM correspondent, one of Armenia’s prominent
businessmen, who preferred to keep incognito, probably, because of
the original nature of his comment, said that the "dollar-dram story"
will end in "leveling of the national currency exchange rate to the
US dollar, one to one." "In this case, it will turn out that salary
of 150,000 dram ($350-400) will automatically grow to $150,000, and
Armenia will become the best country in the world. If it happens,
we shall meet the most important standards for entering the European
Union. Or, to be more precise, the EU will want to join us," the
businessman notes.

ARMENIA’S GROSS AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT GROWS BY 7.2% IN FIRST HALF OF 2006

YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-June 2006, the gross
agricultural output made 118.9 bln drams (about 267.8 mln USD) in
Armenia, exceeding by 7.2% the respective index of 2005. According
to the RA National Statistical Service, the gross plant cultication
output amounted to 36 bln 818.2 mln drams, exceeding by 12.6% the
index of the same period of 2005. The gross cattle-breeding output
made 82 bln 132.4 mln drams, exceeding by 5% the respective index of
2005. As of June 1, 2006, the gross grain and groat crops grew by 1.4
thousand tons or about 5.7fold compared with the same index of last
year, truck crops – by 9.7 thousand tons or 43.3%, potato crops – by
6.3 thousand tons or 22.7%, fruit and vegetables – by 6.3 thousand
tons or 17.3%, fodder crops – by 28.1 thousand tons or 55.9%. In
January-June 2006, production of main cattle-breeding foodstuffs,
except eggs, increased on the same period of 2005.

The meat and poultry production exceeded by 4.7 thousand tons or
12.3% the index of the same period of 2005, milk production – by 26.7
thousand tons or 8.8%. Fish catching index made 569.8 mln drams in
January-June 2006, exceeding the respective index of 2005 by 11.9%.

YEREVAN LAKE TO BECOME RESTING ZONE IN COMING ONE-TWO YEARS

YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Yerevan Lake will be so clean in
one-two years that people will rest near that lake instead of going
to Sevan. Vrezh Gabrielian, the Deputy Chief of the Rescue Service
of the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration stated about it at
the August 7 press-conference.

According to him, the territory near the lake will also be in good
order.

V.Gabrielian mentioned that Lake Yerevan must become safe in
the sense of both ecology and emergency situations. According to
him, planning-estimate works of 17 mln drams (about 41.5 thousand
U.S. dollars) were ordered for cleaning the lake, moving and burying
mud in a safe territory.

PRESIDENT DESCRIBES BELARUS AS MAIN DRIVING FORCE OF EURASIAN INTEGRATION

Belarusian television, Minsk
8 Aug 06

[Presenter] Belarus is the most consistent and active driving force of
Eurasian integration, [President] Alyaksandr Lukashenka said today at a conference
with newly appointed representative of Belarus to interstate bodies.

Priority tasks include the activation of our country’s role in integration processes
in the post-Soviet space.

[Correspondent] The most important directions of Belarus’s foreign policy
have been defined already at a recent conference with the diplomatic corps.

Integration processes in the post-Soviet space were described as a priority. The
discussion of the integration issue continued today on the practical and
specific level. The president met those who are expected to promote and defend
Belarus’s interests in interstate bodies. These are bodies of the
[Russian-Belarusian] union state, the EAEC [the Eurasian Economic Community of Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan] and the CSTO [the
Collective Security Treaty Organization of Belarus, Russia, Armenia,
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan]. Belarus is the most consistent and active
driving force of Eurasian integration, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said and the results
of recent summits testify to this. But the integration effect should be even
bigger.

[Lukashenka] I would like you to remember all the time that you are
representative of Belarus to interstate bodies, above all. I would not like you to
become international officials, as they say, and forget that you represent the
country. And the most important thing is that you should deal with the most
specific issues, any issues that would facilitate the prosperity and revival of
our country’s economy and the improvement of people’s life.

[Correspondent] The newly appointed ambassador to Russia, Vasil Dalhalyow,
has been tasked with coordinating the activities by Belarus’s representative to
interstate bodies. The main priority has been and remains the creation of a
full-fledged union state, the president pointed out. It is necessary to press
for the timely and proper implementation of the decisions and agreements
needed here. The creation of a full-scale customs union is the main direction of
activities within the EAEC framework, the head of state stressed. Active
work aimed at increasing the efficiency of foreign political coordination should
be carried out within the CSTO framework. The main thing is to see our
country and its interests behind each line and letter, the president is convinced.

[At 1021 gmt today, the Belarusian news agency Belapan quoted Lukashenka as
saying that the EAEC member states’ economic, energy and human potential can
turn the EAEC into a major player in the international economic and political
arena and that it would be impossible without the establishment of a
full-scale customs union within the organization.]

ARMENIAN RAILWAYS AMONG DOMINANT ENTITIES

Panorama.am
15:02 07/08/06

State Customs Committee sources say 16471 cars were imported to
Armenia in 2005, 5524 of which by economic entities and 10947 –
by individuals. However, comparative analyses of the information
received from State Customs Committee and the economic entities
indicates that economic entities imported only 552 new foreign cars
to Armenia in 2005.

The Economic Competition Protection State Committee (ECPSC) considered
doubtful these facts thinking that economic entities may have ordered
individuals to import cars for them.

ECPSC has registered Armenia Lada, Karkomavto and the Armenian Railways
among the entities with dominant positions. /Panorama.am/

ANOTHER ARMENIAN KILLED IN MOSCOW

ArmRadio.am
07.08.2006 20:19

A certain Armen Osipyan, Armenian by origin, was attacked approximately
at 5:40pm in the Year 1905 street, Russian mass media report.

An unknown fired at Osipyan at the moment when the latter was getting
on his "Mercedes". The man was taken to hospital with numerous
wounds, wherein he died soon after. The motives of the crime and the
professional activity of the killed are currently found out. It is
also not known if Osipyan was a citizen of Russia or Armenia.

The unknown escaped throwing the machinegun in the place, Arminfo
reported.