Author: Zaminian Bedik

CSTO AND NATO COOPERATION CAN STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY SYSTEM

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.12.2006 14:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and
NATO are not antagonists and they must collaborate. The cooperation
can strengthen the International Security System, says CSTO Secretary
General Nikolai Bordyuzha . In his opinion, especially it would be
important to establish an anti-drug belt around Afghanistan, strengthen
the Tajik-Afghan border, and in future – to cooperate in peacekeeping,
liquidate the results of emergency states of man-caused and natural
character, reports Golos Rossii. CSTO consists of Russia, Belarus,
Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

TWO REGIONAL GOVERNORS RESIGNED

A1+
[04:37 pm] 07 December, 2006

Governor of Lori region Henrik Kochinyan and Governor of Armavir
region Albert Heroyan have been resigned today from their posts
according to the Government decision.

By the way, early in the morning Henrik Kochinyan left for Spitak
together with his administration in order to pay a visit to the
monument to the victims of the earthquake. As for Albert Heroyan,
according to our information, he gathered his co-workers and said
good-bye to them.

It is noteworthy that both of them are members of the Republican party.

The Government gives no information about the causes of the decision.

ONE DISASTER AND LOTS OF ADVICE
By Orhan Bursali

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Dec 8 2006

CUMHURIYET- EU policy has come to a halt. Both conservative EU
states and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have halted
relations. The EU is following a long-term strategy to block Turkey’s
EU membership. The first county they used for this purpose was Greece,
followed by the Greek Cypriots. The strategy was determined by letting
the Greek Cypriots into the EU ranks despite their problems. The
strategy was clear: Turkey would be forced to give into every request
by Greece and the Greek Cypriots. This wasn’t enough, because other
issues were waiting after Turkey gives up its rights in the Aegean
Sea and leaves Cyprus: the Kurdish and Armenian questions, etc. This
strategy bore fruit in the first obstacle: You’re not implementing the
additional protocol? Then you’ll pay. So it’s clear what next week’s EU
summit will bring. The US and some EU countries are trying to prevent
this recommendation from going in effect, but nothing will change. When
could they change? When the EU starts to believe that it can’t continue
without Turkey. There’s no prospect of this on the horizon.

And why has the AKP cooled its relations? It thought it could get
EU support for its cause of wearing headscarves in public places and
fundamentalism under the guise of human rights. But it didn’t happen.

What did the AKP not do? It didn’t immediately appoint a chief
negotiator. State Minister Ali Babacan was appointed to his chief
EU negotiator post six months late. And lastly, the EU only made
a declaration that it would lift the embargo against the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus, but never applied it.

One disaster has created a common ground for a discussion on what to
do. Not for EU membership, but for developments without the EU.

AZERBAIJAN’S FM: STICKING POINTS REMAIN ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

International Herald Tribune, France
The Associated Press
Dec 5 2006

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
said Tuesday a number of sticking points remain for the conflict in
the Nagorno-Karabakh region to be resolved.

Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed on the basic
principles of the status of the mountainous region in Azerbaijan that
has been under control of Armenian and ethnic Armenian Karabakh forces
since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but differences remained over
the speed of the pullout of Armenian troops from the province.

"Displaced people cannot go back when Armenian forces are still there,"
Mammadyarov said on the margins of a security meeting. About 30,000
people were killed in the 1994 war and 1 million displaced from
their homes.

Mammadyarov added that the two sides have agreed on the need for
the presence of international peacekeepers and quick rebuilding of
infrastructure in the region.

But he condemned Armenian plans for a constitutional referendum in
Nagorno-Karabakh on Dec. 10, saying Azerbaijan is still not convinced
Armenia is sincere about its determination to resolve the conflict.

The draft constitution says that Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, also
called the Republic of Artsakh, is a sovereign democratic nation.

On Monday, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oksanian told the
conference of foreign ministers from the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe’s member states that hopes are high for a
lasting solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Oksanian said last week’s meeting of presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan "gives hope that agreement is possible even on the most
problematic issues on which we don’t see eye to eye."

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said there is a "clear
engagement to come to an agreement in the course of next year."

EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS IN UKRAINE OPENS IN KIEV

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Dec 04 2006

KIEV, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. An exhibition entitled
"Monuments of Armenian Architecture and Culture in Ukraine" opened
in the building of the Paiters’ Union of Ukraine on November 30,
under the patronage of the Embassy of Armenia to Ukraine. As Noyan
Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information
Department, the exhibition was organized by the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism of Ukraine, State Committee on Nations and Migration
Issues, "Druzhba" (frienship) cultural-enlightenment center, Union of
Armenians of Ukraine and "Nairi" Armenian cultural center. Greeting
those present, Armen Khachatrian, the Ambassador of Armenia to Ukraine,
presented the centuries-old history of the Armenian-Ukrainian ties,
attaching importance to the two peoples’ cultural ties. The First
Deputy Chairman of the Painters’ Union of Ukraine, the Director of
the "Druzhba" cultural-enlightenment center, the Director of the
"Nairi" Armenian cultural center, etc. addressed greeting speeches
to participants of the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

Works of Armenian and Ukrainian painters picturing churches,
monasteries, other monuments spread in Ukraine are presented at
the exhibition.

SAIDABAD SAINT MARY CHURCH TO RE-OPEN ON DECEMBER 5

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Dec 04 2006

CALCUTTA, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The consecration
and anointment order of the newly built church tower cross of the
Saidabad Saint Mary Armenian church was implemented on November 30 at
the Calcutta Saint Gregory the Illuminator church. As Noyan Tapan was
informed by the Calcutta Armenian Philanthropic Academy, the Saidabad
Saint Mary Armenian church was built in 1758 with personal financial
resources of Khoja Petros, the head of the Calcutta Armenian community
of that time, famous merchant from Jugha, benefactor, in the memory
to his late parents. It is envisaged to officially hold ceremony of
re-opening of the restored church on December 5.

A1+

WHITE TENT AS SYMBOL OF THE US DEMOCRACY
[12:39 pm] 01 December, 2006

The US Government has a symbol which is shown to all
the tourisms in order to prove the democracy of the
Americans. It is the white tent located several meters
away from the White House, the Residence of the US
President. The tent, together with its two residents,
is that very symbol.

Every tourist is told that the tent has been there for
the last 25 years, since 1981. And no one, not the US
police, not the special services, and not even the
President’s security service have tried to remove the
tent: not even the President has that right in the
USA.

As for the residents of the tent, they demand peace
for the whole world, regardless of the fact who is the
President at the moment. «Peace Now», one of the
posters says. Another one demonstrates war scenes, and
a third one says that each of us can be there one day.

VISIT ‘A GREAT BOOST’ FOR MARGINALISED CHRISTIANS

The Irish Times
November 30, 2006 Thursday

TURKEY: Patsy McGarry meets an Irish priest in Istanbul who will
concelebrate Mass with the pope

Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey will help bring about "renewed respect"
between Muslims and Christians, Irish Dominican priest Fr Paul Lawlor
said in Istanbul yesterday.

Fr Lawlor, who will concelebrate Mass with the pope in the Cathedral
of the Holy Spirit tomorrow, has been based in the Turkish metropolis
since November last year.

A native of Tralee, Co Kerry, he served with the Dominicans in Tehran
from 1974 until all foreign clergy were expelled in 1980.

The pope’s visit, he said, would also be "a great boost for Christians
of this area of Turkey, who could feel marginalised".

He pointed out that the Catholic Church was not recognised in Turkey,
which created ownership problems when it came to property and meant
Catholic clergy could not wear clerical dress in public.

Other Christian churches, such as the Armenian and Orthodox churches,
were recognised and so could wear clerical dress, for instance, but
recognition also meant coming under the state’s religious affairs
directorate, which maintained tight control over all recognised
religions in Turkey.

However, the other churches had other problems too in that, for
instance, all Orthodox seminaries had been closed by the state some
decades ago.

In theory there was complete religious freedom in Turkey, he said,
and it was true that a Muslim there who converted to Christianity
was not made to suffer repercussions, unlike the case in Iran, for
instance, where such a person could face execution.

But Muslims in Turkey had become "very defensive and sensitive" where
their religion was concerned and feared the rise of Islamophobia in
the West. Particular areas of Istanbul had become strongly Islamic
in culture and were places where Christians would feel "very excluded".

On the other hand, there were Christians among the Greek Orthodox
and Armenians who did not consider themselves Turkish and would not
allow any part of their liturgy to be in Turkish, he said.

There are an estimated 100,000-plus Christians in Turkey and Istanbul,
approximately 32,000 of whom are Roman Catholic. "The Christian
community is very scattered into so many little groups," Fr Lawlor
said. Among them are Chaldeans, Armenians, Greek and Turk Orthodox.

All had felt some repercussions since the Muhammad cartoons controversy
last year and again following the pope’s Regensburg address last
September, he said. Both had generated "resentment" towards Christians
in Turkey.

That Regensburg address may also have been the reason why a meeting
by President Mohammad Khatami of Iran with the pope was cancelled by
Iran’s supreme leader, he felt. Fr Lawlor was to accompany Mr Khatami
on the visit, as he speaks Farsi.

A newer group of Christians in Istanbul were the "thousands" of
Chaldeans who had fled Baghdad and Mosul since the war began in Iraq.

Some of their priests had been killed and their churches bombed. Fr
Lawlor described their situation as "tragic", with parents accompanying
children to schools set up by the Catholic charity Caritas in Istanbul
"because their houses are so cold and they cannot heat them".

He and other priests in the Dominican community say Mass for them,
at least part of which is in Aramaic.

In their own Church of St Peter and Paul in the Galata Gate area
of Istanbul, they have upwards of 50 at Mass every Sunday, with a
far larger number tending to treat the church and its grounds as the
centre of their community. It is in the Genoese quarter of Istanbul,
where the Dominicans have been since the 12th century.

Currently there are five priests in the community, including Fr
Lawlor. Two are doing further study at Istanbul university while also
trying to restore the community’s library.

Another member, Fr Giuseppe, was organist at the pope’s Mass in
Ephesus yesterday and regularly gives concerts in the Church of St
Peter and St Paul. The community superior, Fr Lorenzo, is also vicar
of the diocese and has been in Turkey for 32 years, 23 of them at
the St Peter and Paul community, where all live in frugal comfort.

Fr Lawlor has regular contact with another Irish priest in Istanbul,
Rev Ian Sherwood from Wicklow, who is of the Anglican tradition.

Fr Lawlor described him as "an amazing character". Rev Sherwood is
based at the nearby Crimean Memorial Church, which he had restored
completely.

PRESENT NATIONAL ANTHEM TO STAY AS LONG AS A NEW ANTHEM IS FOUND

Panorama.am
18:21 29/11/06

The parliament adopted by the first reading a draft on the national
anthem of Armenia. Sixty-four deputies voted for, 6- against and 4
– abstained. Three of the deputies who voted against were from the
United Working Party (UWP).

Hasmik Poghosyan, minister of culture and youth affairs, said all the
suggestions were considered in the draft. Every Monday, the national
anthem will be played at schools before the classes. The government
proposed to keep the present national anthem as long as a new one is
found.

TRANSPORT IN GEORGIA: PROBLEMS FACE POTI-KAVKAZ FERRY SERVICE

source: The Messenger
Railway Market Magazine, Poland
Nov 30 2006

General Director of Georgian Railway Ltd., Irakli Ezugbaia, says that
discussion of the renewal of the ferry service renewal Poti in Georgia
and Russia’s Port of Kavkaz has not been placed on the agenda yet.

He denied information released by the North Caucasus Railway press
department, which claimed rehabilitation of the ferry was moving at
an accelerated pace, and that the service will resume by February 2007.

"Kavkaz Port reconstruction has not been completed yet, therefore,
it is impossible to begin ferry transportation," said Ezugbaia,
reports the newspaper Akhali Versia.

According to him, renewal of the ferry service faces additional
problems as well. For example ferry transportation is not very
profitable because the ferry consists of only a few decks and
cannot carry large loads. The Poti-Kavkaz ferry is the only way
to transport railroad cars from Russia to Armenia via Georgia. The
transportation costs often exceed the amount of the income received
for their transportation.

Russia cut transport links with Georgia in October and so the route
will be changed to add the Turkish port Samsun. This has means that
cargo that would have been transported directly from Kavkaz to Poti
port will now first have to go through Samsun and then on to Poti.

This route will be more expensive for Armenia.