Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

ARMENIA GOING TO ENLARGE PEACEKEEPING CONTINGENT IN KOSOVO

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.09.2007 18:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "During the meeting with NATO Secretary General we
discussed reorganization of the armed forces, specifically increase
of number of civilians at military posts and final establishment of
civilian government in Armenia," RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
told a news conference in Yerevan.

"The NATO-Armenia Individual Partnership Action Plan is of great
importance for our country. Civil control over the army is growing,"
he noted.

Touching upon Armenia’s peacekeeping missions, the RA FM said that the
contingent in Kosovo will be doubled and will reach 100 people. "The
issue will by finally resolved by the yearend," he said.

GROUPS BACKING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

ng/104032.html
Published: 09/06/2007

An Armenian American group has lined up an array of Jewish groups to
back a congressional resolution recognizing the Ottoman-era genocide.

The Armenian National Committee of America had garnered the support of
at least 12 groups by Thursday including the Union of Reform Judaism,
Americans for Peace Now, the Zionist Organization of America and the
Progressive Jewish Alliance.

The effort comes in the wake of the Anti-Defamation League backing
down last month and recognizing the 1915-16 massacres as "tantamount
to genocide" after a number of Massachusetts towns threatened to cut
off the ADL because it refused to recognize the genocide.

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a Jewish
congressman with a substantial Armenian American community, has
majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives but has yet to
come to a vote.

A number of Jewish groups including the ADL had quietly opposed its
passage, saying it could harm Turkey-Israel relations and jeopardize
the Jewish community in Turkey.

HAYPOST SUSPECTS THAT MINISTRY SUPPORTS NAMAKANISH COMPANY’S ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

Noyan Tapan
Sep 5, 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The Haypost company has spread a
statement, according to which, during several past days it has been
found out that 2083 out of 2311 persons using the corporative package
of that company’s mobile communication are not company’s employees. As
a result, so far, the company has incurred a loss of nearly 21m
drams (nearly 68 thousand USD) in the form of forced payments to the
VivaCell company. Haypost is declaring that it has applied to the
law enforcement bodies with the request to examine the case.

The statement also read that as a result of illegal release of postage
stamps Haypost has incurred a loss of nearly 300m drams. "There is
a proof that the RA Ministry of Transport and Communication supports
Namakanish company’s illegal activity," the statement read. Haypost
has applied to the Ministry with the request to give additional
explanations.

At present Haypost is managed by the Dutch HaytPost Trust Management
B.V. company. The agreement about that was signed with the RA
government on November 30, 2006.

ORDER OF KEEPING AND REPAIRING BUILDINGS’ FACADES IN YEREVAN COMES INTO FORCE

Noyan Tapan
Sep 3, 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The order of keeping and repairing
buildings’ facades in Yerevan has been approved and already come into
force by the Yerevan Mayor’s decision. Samvel Danielian, Yerevan’s
Principal Architect, at the September 3 press conference, said that
any change of the appearance, color or form of residential houses’
facades of Yerevan should be coordinated with the Mayor’s Office.

Asked whether that order will extend to already changed form and
color of buildings’ facades, S. Danielian said that those changes
have been made on the basis of a proper permission.

AZERBAIJAN PROTESTS RUSSIAN COMPANY’S VENTURE INTO NAGORNO-KARABAKH

The Messenger
Aug 31 2007
Georgia

The Russian company Alrosa is ready to mine gold in Armenia, reports
the news agency Regnum, after Russian President Vladimir Putin paved
the way for the company by meeting with his Armenian counterpart.

Azerbaijan has not greeted the news warmly. Baku is worried the
Russian company will mine in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh, over which
Armenian and Azerbaijan fought a protracted and bloody war.

According to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources,
30 countries have invested more than USD 35 million in projects in
Nagorno-Karabakh, where there are 155 mines, including five gold
mines and two copper mines.

THIS YEAR ASSISTANCE WILL BE PROVIDED TO ALLOWANCE RECEIVING FAMILIES HAVING THREE AND MORE CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE WITHIN FRAMEWORKS OF "WHEN SEPTEMBER COMES" PROGRAM

Noyan Tapan
Aug 30 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 30, NOYAN TAPAN. It is already six years since the
RA Ministry of Labour and Social Issues has been implementing "When
September comes" program. According to the information provided to
a Noyan Tapan correspondent by Martin Mkhitarian, the Head of the
Coordination Department for the Charitable Programs of the personnel
of the Ministry, this program aims at supporting families having three
and more children of school age by providing each of the children with
writing materials and school accessories free of charge. According to
him, it is envisaged to provide each of the children of school age
with writing materials and school accessories of 5000 drams (about
15 U.S. dollars) on the average within the framework of this program
this year.

Martin Mkhitarian mentioned that 59 616 children will receive
assistance this year within the framework of the program. Allowance
receiving families having five and more children of school age,
the total number of whom makes 4289, have already been provided
with assistance.

OVERCOMING OF POVERTY IN ARMENIA IS SEEEMING AND CONTRADICTS REALITY, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEPUTY LARISA ALAVERDIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Aug 28 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The reduction of an estimated rather
than real property has been done for 4 years under the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Larisa Aleverdian, member of the
National Assembly faction "Heritage", who at the time participated in
this program’s development, expressed this opinion at the August 28
press conference. According to her, she was against adoption of the
current version of the PRSP. She said that the preliminary version
envisaged overcoming rather than reduction of poverty. In her words,
until now no one knows what the expectations from this program are
and how the existing problems will be solved. L. Alaverdian noted
that overcoming of poverty in Armenia is seeming and contradicts
the reality.

Member of the National Assembly ARF faction Artsvik Minasian said
that the PRSP should not be only a governmental document because
its objectives are aimed at creating a social, democratic and legal
state. Therefore, it should include all bodies of power, including the
legislative one. Whereas, in the opinion of A. Minasian, legislative
power has participated neither in the development of this document
nor in its implementation.

ECLOF-ISSUED CREDITING AMD 880 MLN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 28 2007

YEREVAN, August 28. /ARKA/. The volume of crediting by the Ecumenical
Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) in Armenia is currently AMD 880mln (about
$2.6mln),Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Tigran Sargsyan
stated in his interview to the Public Television of Armenia.

"Thousands of families have received credits from ECLOF. Over 1,500
credit portfolios have been formed," Sargsyan said.

He pointed out the necessity for doubling crediting in a short period.

A 5-day ECLOF conference of national committees of countries of Europe,
Asia and the Pacific region was opened in Tsakhkadzor on Sunday.

The Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) is a non-profit ecumenical
organization. It was incorporated in 1946 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Initially, ECLOF granted loans to rebuild churches in central and
Western Europe after World War 2.

At present, ECLOF has 34 National Committees with its secretariat
in Geneva. The Fund has allocated funds for implementing programs of
micro financing. The Fund finances about 500,000 people, considering
that its mechanism of reducing poverty is rather effective.

The Fund’s office was established in Armenia in 1999 on the initiative
and by the invitation of the Armenian Apostolic Church and cooperation
with other churches, the World Council of Churches, UNDP, UMCOR,
French organization AFDI, Izmirlyan Fund, Armenian-American joint
enterprise Alfa Plus Consulting, Mission Armenia NGO. The organization
had conducted activities in nine regions of Armenia by 2007.

Hindustan Times, India
August 24, 2007 Friday 3:38 PM EST

Iranian fears persecution, challenges deportation

Bhadra Sinha Hindustan Times

NEW DELHI, India

NEW DELHI, India, Aug. 24 — An Armenian Christian who was prosecuted
for overstaying beyond his visa by the West Bengal police has
approached the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court
order of deporting him to Iran. Fred Babakhanian, who married an
Indian girl under the Indian Christian Marriage Act, has expressed
apprehensions about returning to his native country Iran on the
ground that Armenian Christians are being persecuted there.

Babakhanian, whose visa expired in 2001, does not have a valid
passport. He has urged the Supreme Court to decide whether a
foreigner can be deprived of protection under Article 21 of the
Indian Constitution that entitles right to life to every person. He
has challenged the high court order of deporting him on the ground
that the competent authority, that is the Union of India, has not
passed any deportation order against Babakhanian even though he has
been in jail since 2001 despite serving his two-year sentence under
the Foreigners Act.

Although the bench of Justice SH Kapadia and Justice Markandeya Katju
ordered Babkhanian’s release on parole and asked the West Bengal
government to return his expired passport, on Friday it expressed
reservations of passing a judicial order to declare Babakhanian a
refugee. The bench said as India had not signed the refugee
convention, it cannot grant refugee status to Babakhanian. However,
the court said it would definitely explore the possibility of whether
the petitioner’s life is in danger in Iran and if he can get
protection under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

The bench said it would like to take the assistance of UNHCR and the
Union of India on Babkhanian’s status. Meanwhile, the petitioner has
been asked to apply to his embassy in Delhi for an extension of his
passport. Babakhanian had come to India in 1996 to study in Armenian
College in West Bengal. In 2001, the State police prosecuted him for
overstaying. Although the two-year sentence ended in 2003, Babkhanian
continued to be incarcerated.

The Hindustan Times is provided through HT Syndication, New Delhi.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 24 2007

Draft on geographical names to be debated in autumn session of
Azerbaijani Parliament

[ 24 Aug 2007 19:49 ]

Draft on geographical names will be debated in the second reading of
autumn session of Azerbaijani Parliament, head of Working Group of
draft, parliamentarian Fazail Ibrahimli told the APA.
MP said that all the initiated references and proposals were examined
while debating draft in the first reading and all the shortcomings
were eliminated and the document was prepared for the second reading.

Ibrahimli said that geographical names have their own catalogue in
the world, and special department dealing with these issues function
in the UN.
`Those catalogues are being taken into consideration while carrying
out international documentation. It is also called immortalization of
names,’ he said.
MP said that there was a time when a lot of geographical Azerbaijani
names were changed in Georgia and Armenia.
He said that adoption of law on geographical names will prevent
changing geographical names after it. /APA/