Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

YUNUSOV: I DO NOT EXPECT ANY “ORANGE” REVOLUTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN THIS YEAR
Pan Armenian News
06.09.2005 05:07
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Parliamentary election in Azerbaijan may fully result
in change of domestic political atmosphere in Azerbaijan. Although main
events will start in Azerbaijan closer to 2008, when the recurrent
presidential election will take place, head of the Department of
Conflictology and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy
Arif Yunusov stated in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. “Before
that time the situation in Azerbaijan will follow the course of
increase. During the present parliamentary election 25-30 places
(out of 125) will be occupied by opposition and it will be a certain
factor of change of the situation in the country,” the political
scientist noted. In his words, the authorities hope for the arrival
of oil dollars in the country to notably improve the economic record,
which will allow mitigating the tension in the society. However,
the population will not evidently benefit from these oil dollars and
these will settle down in pockets of a small group. “A serious gap
between groups of population has outlined already now and the growth
of discontent is obvious. However, the process has just started. I
do not expect any “orange” revolutions this year,” Yunusov summed up.

RUSSIAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION STAGES LARGE-SCALE EXERCISE
RIA news agency
6 Sep 05
Moscow, 6 September: A scheduled comprehensive anti-emergency exercise
started at the Kola nuclear power station today, RIA-Novosti learnt
at the Rosenergoatom concern. Taking part in the exercise is a group
for providing urgent help to nuclear power stations.
The main aim of the exercise is to improve cooperation and exchange
of information in case of an emergency at a nuclear power station,
to check how the personnel, special equipment and communications are
working in an emergency mode.
Under the scenario for the exercise, “there has been a hypothetical
major accident [Russ: zaproyektnaya avariya] involving the breakage
of the collector of the 3rd steam generator at the reactor of the 4th
power unit of the Kola nuclear power station, followed by a release
of radioactive material into the atmosphere”. A state of emergency
has been announced at the nuclear power station and the evacuation
of the personnel has been organized.
At the moment experts from Rosenergoatom and the group for providing
urgent help to nuclear power stations and representatives of research
and design institutes of Rosatom [the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy]
and the Russian Academy of Sciences are holding consultations with
the participants in the exercise through a video conference call.
International experts from the USA, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Armenia and Ukraine are watching the exercise.
In addition to special-purpose groups, representatives of insurance
companies have also arrived at the Kola nuclear power station to
assess the damage to the station and the population.
“Insurance against such accidents provides for liability to third
countries, the Scandinavian countries in particular,” Rosenergoatom’s
Deputy Director-General Viktor Cherkasov [as received, should be
Nikolay Sorokin] has said.
Rosenergoatom’s technical director has said the exercise at the
Kola nuclear power station costs R25m, “including R22m for technical
equipment and R3m for the exercises of the group for providing urgent
help to nuclear power stations”.
One thousand and sixty-nine people and 94 pieces of technical equipment
are taking part in the exercise.
“In the exercise, we envisage events which in real life are not
possible at a nuclear power station,” Sorokin stressed. He said
for instance that as part of the exercise at the Kola nuclear power
station “20 per cent of the fuel in the active zone has been damaged,
which is impossible in real life”.
Sorokin also said that the next exercise would be held at the
Novovoronezhskaya nuclear power station in 2006.

EU MUST HONOUR ITS PROMISE TO TURKEY
FT
September 5 2005 03:00
Amid predictable jostle and dissent, the European Union still looks
likely to agree to start accession negotiations with Turkey in a
month’s time. Even though the EU is now paralysed by the French and
Dutch rejection of the constitutional treaty this summer, most member
states appear to understand that to welch on the commitment made to
Turkey at last December’s summit would further damage the Union.
That commitment is conditional on Turkey meeting the Copenhagen
criteria on human, democratic and minority rights reforms – a charter
that has already gone far to transform Turkish political and civic
life. But this exercise is about a great deal more than carrying out
a sort of moral inventory on a prospective new family member.
France, Germany, Austria and Cyprus have all raised objections to
Turkish entry, some of which they could turn into roadblocks.
For some, especially Christian Democrat politicians in the heart
of what was once the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Turks are, as it
were, still at the gates of Vienna. Beyond the challenges of the EU
embracing a poor and populous country, for them the point is that
Turkey is Muslim and not really European. That is the nub of German
and Austrian objections.
In France, Dominique de Villepin, prime minister, has said it is
inconceivable that the EU can start talks with Turkey until Ankara
recognises Cyprus – the Greek Cypriot state granted entry to the
Union last year despite rejecting a United Nations compromise over
the divided island that Turkish Cypriots endorsed.
But things are not quite as bad as they look. Mr de Villepin’s
opportunist remarks are aimed at stealing a march on his rival,
the openly rejectionist Nicolas Sarkozy. But the man they both want
to succeed, Jacques Chirac, the president, looks set to assent to
accession talks. Germany, which will be in the process of forming a
new government, will probably follow suit, and Austria, still intent
on offering a “privileged partnership” rather than membership to
Turkey, would probably hold fire if the EU put Croatia on the path
to membership. The Greek Cypriots are unpredictable but may not want
to risk isolation. The real battles over Turkey, in other words,
will take place down the long road of negotiations that could last
more than a decade.
But by then, Turkey will need to have demonstrated not just that
it can implement the EU’s economic legislation. It must show it has
overcome its authoritarian political instincts.
It is, to say the least, unfortunate that in the run-up to this
historic decision Istanbul prosecutors have brought charges of
denigrating the Turkish state against Orhan Pamuk, the world-renowned
novelist. His “crime” was to complain about the conspiracy of silence
about the mass murder of the Ottoman empire’s Armenians during and
after the first world war.
In the real world, it is inconceivable that Turkey will ever enter
the EU if it cannot face up to this blood-sodden chapter of its
history. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the neo-Islamist prime minister,
has gone further than his predecessors in calling on international
scholars to establish the facts, and offering them access to the
Ottoman archives. Yet a conference to discuss the issue was cancelled
this spring after pressure from the justice ministry.
It is not just that Turkey must eventually settle this account with
history. There could hardly be anything more basic to EU rules than
free speech.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HEAD OF ARMENIAN MOD LEAVING FOR LATVIA ON OFFICIAL CALL
Pan Armenian News
05.09.2005 02:39
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Secretary of the Security Council at the
Armenian President, Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan is leaving for
Latvia on an official call, Minister’s Press Secretary, colonel
Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net. In the course of the visit
S. Sargsyan is scheduled to meet with the PM, MOD head, General Staff
chief, as well as head of the Parliamentary Committee on Security and
Defense. Within the visit framework a Treaty on Military Cooperation
between the MOD of Armenia and MOD of Latvia will be signed. September
7-9 the official visit of the Armenian delegation will continue in
Estonia. Here similar meetings are planned. Upon the completion of the
visit a Memorandum on Mutual Understanding in Military Cooperation
between the Armenian MOD and the Estonian MOD is expected to be
signed. The documents being arranged for the signing are sent for
creation of the necessary legal framework, which will provide for
military cooperation between the countries mentioned and Armenia.

Not the right road for status
By ANI AMIRKHANIAN
Glendale News-Press
Sept 3 2005
WRITING THE RIGHT
Three teenage Armenian girls pulled up to a local gas station on a
recent evening in a sleek, newer-model BMW and got out of the car,
chatting and laughing at what appeared to be an amusing story one of
them had been sharing.
The driver headed to the window to pay for the gas and returned to
the car and continued to chit chat with her friends. She headed for
the gas tank looking for a way to open the gas cap door.
After some fiddling, she managed to find the lever inside the car
that opened the gas cap door. Then the real task at hand awaited as
she questioned which type of fuel to use.
“Which one is it?” she asked, referring to the unleaded, super unleaded
and diesel options awaiting her. Her friends stood and pondered the
choices and offered seemingly uneducated opinions and blank stares.
The driver then reached for the diesel fuel. I quickly walked over
to the car after having purchased gas, and suggested she use the
unleaded fuel instead.
As I helped her adjust the nozzle, she sighed, relieved someone came
to her rescue.
They drove away from the gas station and continued their jovial
conversation. .
I drove off thinking to myself that what I witnessed is so common
among Armenian youth, or any teens for that matter.
It certainly isn’t uncommon to see inexperienced drivers, teens in
particular, driving $40,000 cars in the Armenian community.
There is no shortage of BMWs, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus or other luxury cars
being driven by Armenian teens. And it is not only about a desire to
exert one’s independence by driving. Driving, especially an automobile
with an expensive price tag, also creates the illusion of status.
To put it simply, a car is a status symbol for a younger generation
of Armenians.
Now, that is not to say that some parents don’t look at cars the
same way.
Often, they lend their luxury cars to their teens or even buy a luxury
car for their children.
Aside from one’s ethnicity and culture, it is beyond my comprehension
why a parent would hand over a Mercedes-Benz key to their 17-year-old
son or daughter.
Some parents, I suppose, proclaim that driving is an initiation into
adulthood and should be rewarded, while others simply want their
children to be part of a social circle that demands the display of
wealth and status.
Yet it also seems that many parents have no fear when their children
get behind the wheel; or perhaps they mask the fear by offering them
a car in exchange for the promise of safe and skillful driving.
I, for one, attempt to stay off particular roads, during certain
hours of the day, that these young drivers tend to frequent. Not only
do I have a concern for safety, but I also have no desire to view an
entourage of luxury vehicles that appear and reappear on the streets
for show and spectacle.
I think I will stick to my trusty Toyota and find alternative routes
to make my way through the city.

UEFA.com
Sept 3 2005
Armenia 1 – 3 Netherlands
Dutch do their job
by Khachik Chakhoyan
Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored twice and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie added another
goal as the Netherlands kept up their good position in UEFA European
Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 1 in Armenia.
Huntelaar double
The visitors were in control for most of the 90 minutes, but it was
not their fine passing game that yielded the first goal. Huntelaar
showed a moment of personal brilliance on 29 minutes when he received
a pass and sent the ball into the top corner of Armenian goal from
25 metres. With 12 minutes to go before the break, the Dutch doubled
their lead. Artur Stepanyan fouled Dwight Tiendalli in Armenia’s
penalty area, and Huntelaar was on hand to convert the penalty.
Victory sealed
However, after the break the first dangerous attack by Armenia resulted
in a goal. Vahe Tadevosyan’s corner came to Tigran Karabagtsyan,
who rose over the Dutch defence to power a header into the net. But
the Netherlands quickly replied, as their main playmaker Daniel De
Ridder spotted substitute Owusu-Abeyie on 76 minutes, and the striker
calmly finished. De Ridder and Eldridge Royer also hit the woodwork
in the first and second halves respectively.
October deciders
The Netherlands’ main challengers, Romania and the Czech Republic,
meet later. Whatever the result, victory for the Dutch in the Czech
Republic on 7 October and at home to F.Y.R. Macedonia four days
later would take them through to the play-offs. Armenia, in fifth,
end their fixtures on Tuesday in the Czech Republic.

GEORGIA’S EXPERTS SAY ARMENIANS NOT BARRIER BAKU-TBILISI-KARS RAILROAD PROJECT
[September 02, 2005, 16:19:59]
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2005
The Georgian economic experts said the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad
project will not suffer from Armenians, reports AzerTAj’s Tbilisi-based
correspondent.
Georgi Khukhashvili, the expert for economic issues, noted that nobody
is don’t intends to ask Armenians about the project’s allowability. The
Armenian side is always against to carry out regional projects
and they want to prevent its because the railroad is bypass the
Armenian territory. But they must to understand that the Armenians
participation in the regional projects impossible while they do not
regulated relations with Azerbaijan, said the expert.
According to another economic expert – Demur Giorkhelidze, though
it’s well known the Armenia’s position on this question, but it’s not
political issue. Maybe, whenever relationships between Azerbaijan
and Armenia will be settled. It is very necessary the cooperation
of the South Caucasus countries in politic and economic spheres. But
the Armenia’s confrontation in regards of various projects is cause
of damage for this country, said the expert.
Bondo Zarnadze, the economic expert has said that after realization
of the project Georgia will became as transit country and to have a
big revenues. But official Yerevan will meet with serious problems
in connection with problem over Nagorno-Karabakh. It’s a cause of
Armenian’s anxiety, said the Georgian expert.

MINISTER VOWS TO FOIL PLANS TO BUILD NEW RAILWAY BYPASSING ARMENIA
Mediamax news agency
30 Aug 05
Yerevan, 30 August: “Georgia and Azerbaijan have no moral right to
invest in the construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway,”
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in Yerevan today.
The Armenian foreign minister substantiated official Yerevan’s position
on this project with the fact that “there is the Kars-Gyumri railway,
and we consider it pointless to invest limited international and
domestic financial resources in the construction of a new railway”.
Oskanyan recalled that the Kars-Gyumri railway “has not been operating
solely because of Turkey’s wrong policy”. “I would like to recall that
Armenia has expressed its readiness not to use the Kars-Gyumri railway
at the initial stage but use it only to transport goods between Turkey,
Georgia and Azerbaijan,” Oskanyan said.
The foreign minister said Armenia would oppose the construction of
the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway by substantiating its approach
to the project’s international donors, in particular, the European
Union and the USA. “We have already said that it is impossible to
threaten us with this and other regional projects,” Oskanyan said.
“Even if the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway is built, Armenia will
not disappear from the map. On the contrary, we shall continue our
progressive development,” the Armenian foreign minister said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSKANIAN SPEAKS AGAINST NEW RAILROAD
Armenpress
Aug 31, 2005
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian spoke harshly against plans of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan
to build a new railroad from Turkish Kars to Tbilisi and from there
to Baku, saying his government will be fighting to thwart these plans.
Speaking at an August 30 news conference Oskanian argued that neither
Georgia nor Azerbaijan has the moral right to release money from their
budgets (which are supplemented by foreign aid) to build a railroad
that would bypass the existing Kars-Gyumri railway that is connected
also with Tbilisi. Oskanian said Armenia is developing steadily and
its neighbors’ actions must be in tune with the logic of regional
development, as after all conflicts in the region will be resolved
and the borders open to show that the money invested in construction
of a new railroad was a waste.
He said Armenia is even ready not to use the Kars-Gyumri- Tbilisi
railroad at the first stage should it resume. “We are saying to
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey; use the existing road to trade,”
he said.
Oskanian also indicated that Armenia may not endorse Kazakhstan as a
candidate for OSCE chairmanship in 2009 because of its biased position
on the Karabakh conflict, though leaders of CIS decided during an
August 26 summit in Kazan to support Kazakhstan’s bid.

Georgia’s continuing quest for international investment
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
Aug 30 2005
In recent weeks the existing investment climate in Georgia has become
a topic of heated discussion. The authorities’ declarations that
the country is attracting large amounts of foreign investment are
contrasted by the contentions of opposition forces and independent
experts that the investment climate has deteriorated.
The issue of foreign investments in Georgia will by high on the agenda
at two upcoming business conferences dedicated to Georgia. The first,
the America-Georgia Business Council’s 8th annual conference in Chicago
this October is headlined, “Georgia: Potential for Growth.” The second,
the Georgia Business and Investment Summit in Tbilisi this November,
is being organized by the European Finance Convention together with
the Federation of Georgian Businessmen and AmCham Georgia. A major
question facing participants is whether the investment environment
is improving in Georgia and what can be done for future improvement
of the investment environment.
One indicator is the Index of Economic Freedom published by the
conservative U.S. think tank the Heritage Foundation that drops
Georgia’s rank in the list of nations from 91st place to 100th
since last year. The report ranks 161 countries and lower scores are
considered better; this year Georgia scored 3.34, 0.15 points worse
than in 2004.
A statement made by the Heritage Foundation explains that the most
negative aspects of Georgia’s economy are the country’s investment
climate and the recent increase in the informal market. “Based on
increasing evidence of informal barriers to foreign investment,
Georgia’s capital flows and foreign investment is 1 point worse
this year,” the country report on Georgia states. It is noteworthy
that the report, basically a survey of surveys, does not taken into
consideration new legislation on taxes, financial amnesty and the
even more recent reform of licenses and permits.
Another way of measuring the pros and cons of the local investment
climate has been to observe the dynamics of investment over the
years and compare them to those of neighboring countries. Foreign
investments in Georgia have shown a tendency for growth since 2001.
That year USD 109 million entered the country in foreign investments.
In 2002, this indicator totaled USD 176 million; 2003 – 339 million;
2004 -500 million and in the first six months of this year – USD
245 million.
However, the influx of foreign investment into Georgia cannot hope
to compete with that of neighboring Azerbaijan. In 2002 two billion
dollars in investment entered that country; 2003 – 3 billion and 2004 –
4.192 billion. Obviously, the vast majority of this sum was directed
toward the petroleum and gas business.
It is precisely Azerbaijani oil that is responsible for much of the
foreign investment in Georgia as well. For example, in the first six
months of 2004, 81 percent of foreign investments in Georgia came
from BP, the oil company operating the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
project. After the completion of construction on this project, now
the natural gas pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum – which will transport
Azerbaijani gas through Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean Sea –
takes on key importance.
Construction on the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum pipeline, the Kulev energy
terminal and the Tbilisi International Airport are the projects that
will bring in the bulk of foreign investment this year and in 2006.
As far as Armenia is concerned, clearly the “Azerbaijani projects”
will not influence investment into this country. Key players in
foreign investment there are Russia and the vast Armenian Diaspora.
Foreign investment is overall on the rise, not counting a sharp
drop-off in 2001, though the total amount of investment is lower
than that of Georgia. The statistics look as follows: 2000 – USD 124
million; 2001 – 76 million; 2002 – 152 million, 2003 – 152 million
and 2004 – USD 183 million.
Finally, another way to look at foreign investments, their growth
or decline, is to look at activity on the ground. It is undeniable
that this year has seen several prominent international companies take
interest in Georgia. The U.S. insurer AIG opened its first office here,
the Russian bank Vneshtorgbank bought a large share in United Georgian
Bank and the Kazakh BankTuranAlem bought a large stake in the Silk
Road Group. Many others have taken an interest in privatization and
government tenders.
Still there is much to be done to improve the investment climate and
promote business activity – both foreign and domestic – in Georgia
and it is encouraging that this is a stated goal of the current
government. The big question is how the government will follow through
on this goal.