Category: News

ArmenPress
Jan 17 2005
ARMENIA SENDS TROOPS TO IRAQ ON JANUARY 18
YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS: A 46-member unit of Armenian
non-combat troops are leaving for Iraq on January 18 to join US-led
multinational force there. Seyran Shahsuvarian, a spokesman for the
defense ministry, told Armenpress that Armenia will dispatch three
doctors, three officers, ten demining experts and 30 military truck
drivers. The decision was sanctioned by the Armenian parliament late
last month, despite strong protests by Armenia’s opposition forces.
An opinion poll released earlier in December revealed also that the
overwhelming majority of Armenians were likewise against the
deployment.
The Armenian troops will be placed under the command of Polish
contingent and all relevant expenses, including Armenian personnel’s
salaries will be paid by the US and Poland.
Armenian servicemen will wear blue berets to underline that their
mission is of “humanitarian” nature. Armenian defense minister said
earlier that the contingent will not take part in combat operations.

ArmenPress
Jan 17 2005
PUTIN AND BUSH TO DISCUSS KARABAGH IN FEBRUARY
YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS: A senior US diplomat was quoted
by RFE/RL as saying that the US president George W. Bush is concerned
that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s does not exert strong enough
pressure for resolution of post-Soviet conflicts in Transdniester,
South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno Karabagh.
Elizabeth Jones, a US State Department Undersecretary, who is
going to resign soon, said Bush would discuss these conflicts with
Putin during a meeting in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava scheduled to
take place on February 24. “It is in the interest of Russia that
these four regions be stable, clean of corruption and their corrupt
separatist authorities removed,” she said.

ArmenPress
Jan 17 2005
GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT MEMBER SKEPTICAL ABOUT KARS-TBILISI RAILWAY
TBILISI, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS: An ethnic Armenian member of the
Georgian government said last Saturday prospects for materialization
of a Georgian-Azeri and Turkish agreement on construction of a
railway between Turkish city of Kars and Georgian capital Tbilisi
were bleak.
Deputy economic development minister Henrik Muradian was quoted by
A-Info news agency as saying no one has any idea about how to secure
some $350 million which experts say are needed to build the road.
Muradian said the agreement may remain on paper for 20 or even 30
years. He stressed, at the same time, the importance of construction
of a highway between Akhalkalaki, the administrative center of the
Armenian populated region of Georgia and the Turkish Kars. The
Turkish portion of the road is built, Georgia plans to start
construction of its portion this year.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Jan 17 2005
WB KEEN IN DEVELOPMENT OF COOPERATION WITH AZERBAIJAN
[January 17, 2005, 21:32:50]
Visiting Baku for preparation of the `Poverty Reduction Support
Credit’ program, head of the World Bank delegation Christian Peterson
on January 17 has met members of the MM economic policy standing
commission.
Chairman of the Commission Sattar Safarov updated on the
accomplishments as a result of the economic reforms in the country,
on the heavy sequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh
conflict. He said the government of Azerbaijan every year renders to
the refugees and IDPs assistance at amount $300 million,
approximately. Occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan territories,
existence of over one million of refugees has deep impact on life of
people. Reduction of international assistance has hardened the
situation. The Republic does a lot for poverty reduction and
elimination of unemployment. We closely cooperate with the
international financial structures, including the World Bank, he
said. We are certain that current visit of the WB delegation will
have positive influence on quick realization of the `Poverty
Reduction Support Credit’ program.
Head of the delegation Christian Peterson has said the `Poverty
Reduction Support Credit’ program aims at poverty reduction, opening
of new working places and development of the non-oil sector in
Azerbaijan. We want all layers of population benefited of the
economic development. We know well the problem of refugees of
Azerbaijan and have prepared a humanitarian assistance program on
this purpose.
The World Bank is also interested in attraction of Azerbaijan in the
European new neighboring policy and a relevant project has been
worked out. This will also help rapprochement of the South Caucasus
republics among themselves and with the European Union.
Two other questions are connected to accedence of Azerbaijan to the
global trade system. And in this field there has been done a lot in
Azerbaijan. These are significant steps made in the direction of
opening of new workplaces and poverty reduction. Opening of new
workplaces and attraction of the foreign investors to the non-oil
sector need a perfect legislative base. The existing legislation
should be brought in conformity with the European standards, the
principles of the World Trade Organization. The World Bank can make
recommendations and assist and in this field.
Sattar Safarov also informed the guest on protection of investments,
on the adopted laws, emphasizing that the country stands ready to
cooperate with the World Bank in the mentioned sphere.

RIA Novosti, Russia
Jan 17 2005
ARMENIA’S MILITARY CONTINGENT TO BE SENT TO IRAQ
YEREVAN, January 17 (RIA Novosti) – On Tuesday an Armenian military
contingent will go to Iraq, press officer of the Armenian defense
ministry, Colonel Seiran Shakhsuvaryan, said on Monday.
After eight-hour, closed-doors discussion on December 24, 2004, the
Armenian parliament ratified the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding
on the sending of a contingent of the Armenian armed forces to Iraq.
In line with the memorandum, Armenia will participate in the
humanitarian mission as part of the Polish contingent and will send
46 specialists -ten sappers, 30 drivers, three medics and three
commanders, including one signals specialist.
91 deputies voted for ratification, 23 against it with one
abstention.
Those voting against said that the sending of the Armenian contingent
to Iraq is against the national interests of Armenia, its state
security and poses a threat to the 25,000-strong Armenian community
in Iraq, as well as Armenians residing in Muslim countries.

RIA Novosti, Russia
Jan 17 2005
ON THE WORK OF PACE’S JANUARY SESSION
MOSCOW, January 17 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine will be in the center of
attention of the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe) January session, the head of the State Duma international
committee, Konstantin Kosachev, said on Monday.
He explained that the head of the observers’ mission would deliver
the report on the situation in Ukraine from the Council of Europe.
The invitation to the PACE session was also sent to newly-elected
Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko.
At the same time Mr. Kosachev pointed out that Mr. Yushchenko could
take the floor at that session only before an inauguration ceremony
of the elected present would be held in Ukraine.
Currently, the Supreme Court of Ukraine is considering the complaint
filed by the headquarters of former presidential candidate Viktor
Yanukovich concerning the violations during the December 26
presidential elections.
The PACE January session will also discuss the situation in Georgia;
in particular, the constitutional reforms which, in the opinion of
the PACE, give too many broad powers to the President. The session
will also focus on the practice of judicial agreements when a person,
accused of economic crimes, can give a ransom to the state, as well
as an excessive infringement by Georgia, according to PACE, of
Adzharia’s autonomy.
Apart from that, the European diplomats intend to discuss the
situation in Nagorny Karabakh, an Armenian enclave in the territory
of Azerbaijan that has proclaimed its independence, as well as the
situation in the autonomous province of Kosovo.
Mr. Kosachev also said that the PACE January session will discuss the
situation concerning the Yukos case.
The parliamentarian pointed out that during the preparation of the
report, the Russian side presented all the necessary materials on
this score. However, they have not been fully reflected in the final
variant of the document.
There are only references to the lawyers and non-governmental
organizations, Mr. Kosachev said.
He pointed out that “the content of the report has disappointed us,
because we expected a more balanced assessment of the Yukos case.”
Thus, the Russian delegation will express its own opinion of the
given report. Mr. Kosachev said that the Russian delegation resorted
to this right earlier when PACE discussed the situation in Chechnya.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zaman, Turkey
Jan 17 2005
Peace Summit for Karabag
By Anadolu News Agency (aa)
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart
Robert Kocharyan will reportedly meet this summer to negotiate the
region of Upper Karabag, which has been under Armenian occupation.
According to Azeri APA news agency, Russia has promised to help the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk
Group with mediation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Euractiv, Belgium
Jan 17 2005
Turkey-Russia relations
In Short:
Given their dynamically growing economic co-operation, the leaders of
Turkey and Russia are now working for closer political dialogue to
match.
Background:
For centuries, Turkey and Russia have been rivals for regional
supremacy. Recently, the two countries have realised that friendly
relations are in the interest of them both. Accordingly, co-operation
rather than rivalry appears to dominate their ties. This development
has been welcome by the EU, which sees these countries as the two
largest imponderables on the European horizon.
The general understanding is that Russia is a European country while
Turkey belongs to Asia, despite the fact that the two vast countries
both span the continents of Europe and Asia (although they no longer
share a border). The reason for the above distinction is that in both
countries the majority of the population as well as the capital city
are located on the continent where they are respectively assigned.
Issues:
In December 2004, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a
visit to Moscow before Russian President Vladimir Putin reciprocated
with a trip to Ankara in January 2005. This sequence of top-level
visits has brought several important bilateral issues to the
forefront.
Trade
In 2004, trade between Turkey and Russia was worth some $10 billion.
This figure is now expected by both Moscow and Ankara to reach $25
billion by 2007. Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner
after Germany, while Turkey is Russia’s 14th trade partner. Russia
exports to Turkey fuel and energy products (72% of total), as well as
metals (16%) and chemical goods (4%). Turkey, in turn, sells textiles
(30%), machinery and vehicles (23%), chemical goods (15%) and food
products (15%) to Russia.
Turkish companies are present in significant numbers in Russia’s
construction, retail and brewing industries. Russia’s investment in
Turkey is worth $350 million while Turkey’s investment in Russia
totals $1.5 billion.
The two countries consider it their strategic goal to achieve
“multidimensional co-operation”, especially in the fields of energy,
transport and the military. Specifically, Russia aims to invest in
Turkey’s fuel and energy industries, and it also expects to
participate in tenders for the modernisation of Turkey’s military.
In the strategic energy sector, the two countries are in agreement to
implement large-scale projects, some of which compare with the Blue
Stream gas pipeline. Among other developments, Russia will increase
gas supplies to Turkey and will allow Russian companies to engage in
gas distribution in Turkish territory. Talks are also underway on
ways to increase Russian electricity deliveries to Turkey.
European Union
Moscow’s initial reaction to Turkey drawing closer to the EU was
lukewarm. “If you enter the EU we cannot meet frequently,” Putin was
reported as telling his host, Prime Minister Erdogan, during the
former’s visit to Ankara in late 2004. However, at the two leaders’
next meeting in Moscow in January 2005, Putin already said that
Russia was in favour of Turkey’s EU membership, primarily since it
promised to open up new trading channels for Russia. ”We welcome
Turkey’s success at the EU Brussels summit,” Putin said in Moscow.
”I hope that Turkey’s integration in the European Union will open up
a new horizon for Russian-Turkish business cooperation.”
Cyprus
Regarding the outstanding issue of Cyprus (which is tied closely to
Turkey’s EU membership bid), Russia has declared support for the plan
put forward by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. ”We will support any
resolution that comes out of the implementation of UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan’s plan,” said Putin. He added that the economic
embargo on northern Cyprus was “unjust”. In April 2004, Russia used
its veto to block a resolution that sought to outline new UN security
arrangements in Cyprus.
World Trade Organisation
In return, Turkey’s Erdogan has pledged to “fully support” Russia’s
quest for membership of the World Trade Organisation. “Many barriers
in the way of trade and economic co-operation between our countries
may undoubtedly be removed after completion of Russian-Turkish
negotiations on Russia’s WTO entry on acceptable terms,” reacted
Putin. The EU concluded a deal with Russia on the latter’s accession
to the WTO in May 2004. Russia may become a full member of the WTO in
2005.
Chechnya / the Kurd issue
The conflict in Chechnya remains high on the two countries’ bilateral
agendas. Several Turks trace their ancestry to the Caucasus,
including Chechnya, and they have always been sympathetic towards the
Muslim militants in the war-torn Russian region. Earlier, Russia
issued calls for Turkey to crack down on Turkish `philanthropic
organisations’ that allegedly channelled money and arms to rebel
groups in Chechnya. In turn, Turkey accused Russia of backing Kurdish
rebel groups who have been fighting for autonomy in Turkey’s
southeastern regions since the early 1980s. The recent rapprochement
promises to bring both countries closer to negotiated solutions.
Caucasus
The Caucasus remains a moot point between the two countries. Turkey’s
main ally in the Caucasus region is Azerbaijan, whereas Russia’s ally
is its rival, Armenia, which continues to insist that Turkey
committed ‘genocide’ against its people during World War One. ”We
are all aware about the historical problems between Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Russia will contribute to the peace process,” Putin said.
“We do not want negative relations with any of our neighbours,
including Armenia,” Erdogan responded.

FUNERAL LITURGY SERVED IN MOTHER SEE OF HOLY ETCHMIADZIN ON THOSE WHO
DIED OF TSUNAMI
ETCHMIADZIN, January 17 (Noyan Tapan). A funeral liturgy was served
on those who died of the December 26 tsunami in South Asia under the
leadership of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II in the Mother See
of Holy Etchmiadzin on January 16. According to the Information System
of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, RA Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Armen Barkhudarian, the foreign ambassadors and diplomats
acrredited to Armenia, art workers and numerous believers participated
in the liturgy.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Toronto Star, Canada
Jan 17 2005
Leapfrogging the technology gap
Wireless, computers and other innovations are quietly eliminating
huge barriers to development in poor parts of the world.
ALEXANDRA SAMUEL
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
In Robib, Cambodia, villagers are getting medical advice from the
world’s best doctors. Schoolchildren are seeing their country’s most
famous landmarks for the first time. And the village economy is
taking off, fueled by the sale of its handmade silk scarves on the
global market.
All these benefits are coming via motorcycle – Internet-enabled
motorcycles.
A wireless network links computers in the village to computer chips
on each of five motorcycles a fleet. Each vehicle has a transmitter
that allows it to upload and download e-mail and data via Wi-Fi, as
it passes by village computers. At the end of the day the bikes
return to a hub where they upload the information received. The next
morning they download e-mail and data from the hub and take it out to
the villages for transmission.
Villages like Robib have been described as “leapfroggers:”
communities or even whole countries in the developing world, that are
using information and communication technologies to leapfrog directly
from being an agricultural to an information economy. It’s a
phenomenon that combines technology high and low in innovative ways,
and is generating not only economic benefits but a new world of
educational, social and political opportunities.
In highly developed countries like Canada, the information economy
has emerged from long evolution – farm economies made room for
craftsmen and artisans, who gave way to industrial production, and
manufacturing has yielded to the rise of an information and
service-based economy.
Economists and development experts wonder whether the developing
world can – or should – follow the same path. Widespread industrial
development would still leave much of Africa, Asia or Latin America a
generation behind Europe and North America.
Of greater concern is the potential environmental impact of
widespread industrialization: large-scale factory production in the
developing world could greatly increase global energy consumption and
pollution levels, particularly if factories use cheaper and dirtier
production methods.
Information and communications technologies provide an alternative to
this environmental and economic nightmare. The hardware, software and
networks that have propelled developed economies out of the
industrial era and into the information age are now promising to take
the developing world directly from agrarian to post-industrial
development.
The same satellite networks that link remote villages to urban
markets can bring classroom education to communities too small or
poor to support secondary schools. The cellphone systems that power
community businesses can connect patients or doctors, or disparate
family members. The Internet kiosks that access a global marketplace
can also be used to access political information or organize
grassroots campaigns in emerging democracies.
These opportunities have been opened by a growing understanding of
the role of infrastructure in driving economic growth. “Until quite
recently, it wasn’t clear whether infrastructure generally was a
result of economic growth or the other way around,” notes Edgardo
Sepulveda, a telecommunications economist with McCarthy Tetrault, a
Toronto law firm. “There was a correlation but there wasn’t agreement
on causation. But now there’s been sufficient evidence that most
people would support the hypothesis that you can go from information
and communications technology sector growth to general economic
growth.”
That realization has led development workers, governments, and
businesses to embrace technology-enabled leapfrogging as a tremendous
opportunity for the developing world. But successful leapfrogging
depends on a carefully calibrated set of choices about which
technologies to use, which projects to pursue, and which communities
to engage.
According to Richard Fuchs, director of the information and
communication technologies for development program at Canada’s
International Research and Development Centre, leapfrogging success
depends on a combination of “ingenuity, perseverance, hard work and
luck.” By luck, he’s talking about a constellation of historical
circumstances that position a country for information and
communications technology-led growth.
———————————————————————
`IT is not about rich countries getting richer. It’s about countries
at every stage of development using technology in a way that is
appropriate to their needs”
Richard Simpson, the Director of E-Commerce for Industry Canada
———————————————————————
Societies that place a high value on education, like Vietnam, are at
an advantage, because a highly educated population is ready for work
in a knowledge-based economy. A history of emigration, as in Ireland,
can help – because an expatriate “boomerang” can bring a wealth of
knowledge, skills and capital back into a developing economy. Even a
language barrier can work in a country’s favour. Uruguay exports
millions in software to other Latin American countries, because the
online dominance of English created a market opportunity for creating
Spanish-language tools.
Bangalore, India, is the best-case scenario. Recognized as the
Silicon Valley of the developing world, Bangalore has parlayed
India’s wealth of well-educated, tech-savvy, English-speaking
programmers into a massive hive of interlocking programming shops,
call centres, and tech companies.
Dell opened a Bangalore-based call centre in 2001, though with mixed
results. Microsoft has just announced that it will open a
Bangalore-based research centre this January. These international
companies recognize that Indian programmers can be had for a fraction
of the cost of their American colleagues – while still paying
programmers many times the average Indian income. And India’s economy
derives a further benefit thanks to the many locally-owned companies
that have emerged to partner or compete with the influx of
international technology companies.
While Bangalore’s technological, educational and linguistic
advantages have given it a head start on leapfrogging, regions that
lack those advantages stand to gain even more from the creative use
of technology. Indeed, the countries that stand to benefit most from
a leapfrogging strategy are those with limited IT infrastructure,
limited education access, and limited literacy rates.
As a result, international agencies have had to get creative in the
kinds of information and communications technology they use in
developing countries. Where Canadian entrepreneurs often focus on the
opportunities offered by the very latest technological innovations,
the savviest leaders in Africa or Asia recognize that bells and
whistles don’t necessarily translate into economic results. The
technologies that have the greatest impact are often relatively
simple – and thus widely accessible.
Radio has been rediscovered as a tool that can be effectively paired
with the Internet – or used on its own in new and creative ways. In
Zambia, a radio-based training system is now delivering primary
education to out-of-school children, about a third of whom are
orphans; radio programs cover not only traditional skills like
reading and math but also life skills like hygiene and nutrition. In
Bolivia, a rural radio station uses the Internet to answer questions
from listeners – like the farmer who wanted help dealing with a worm
that was devouring his crops. Working online, the station found a
Swedish expert who identified the worm, and broadcast the information
on pest control to the entire community.
Cellphones have emerged as a leading leapfrog technology. Many
developing countries have very limited landline penetration, in part
due to the economic incentives for digging up copper wire and selling
it. These same countries are now experiencing a cellphone explosion,
due in part to the way that cellphones become what Fuchs describes as
a “common property resource:” a resource that can be shared among an
entire community or village.
The best-known example is Bangladesh’s GrameenPhone, which has
established a network of pay-per-use cellphones throughout the
country. A similar network in South Africa has created a network of
over 1,800 entrepreneurs, operating “phone shops” in over 4,400
locations across the country. Information gathered by cellphone lets
farmers in Senegal double the price they get for their crops, and
herders in Angola track their cattle via GPS.
Video compact disks, a technology not in wide use in North America
but a popular entertainment medium in southeast Asia, have become
crucial educational tools. A project in the Mekong region of Thailand
and Laos has used VCDs to educate young women and girls on
immigration issues, employment alternatives, and health services.
It’s a way of helping a group that is often only semi-literate, and
particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and sexual
exploitation.
And yes, the Internet has a role, too. In the post-Soviet country of
Armenia, development teams are using the Internet for everything from
teacher training to employment counseling.
Says Nancy White, an information and communications technology
consultant who has worked on a number of Armenia’s online development
projects, “These projects are demonstrating, to people that live on a
mountain top that is inaccessible in the winter, `I can connect with
other people who share my interests and needs.'”
Despite this technological eclecticism, access to hardware and
software remains a core challenge. The United Nations’ World Summit
on the Information Society, which will culminate in a meeting later
this year, has devoted a great deal of attention to the challenge of
bridging the digital divide between the rich and poor nations.
While the U. N. summit has become a magnet for information and
communications technology (ICT) champions from governments,
businesses and civil society organizations around the world, its U.N.
sponsors explicitly describe ICT access as a means rather than an
end.
This focus is embodied by the U.N.’s Millennium Declaration, a 2000
agreement that contains commitments to halve, by the year 2015, “the
proportion of the world’s population living on less than one U.S.
dollar per day, suffering from hunger or having no access to drinking
water,” the summit’s Web site declares. “ICTs can help in achieving
all of these goals.”
That orientation is mirrored by the approach that Canada has taken in
supporting information and communications technology projects in the
developing world.
“The development community has placed a great emphasis on being able
to meet basic development objectives,” says Richard Simpson, the
Director of E-Commerce for Industry Canada. “IT is not about rich
countries getting richer. It’s not even about emerging economies.
It’s about countries at every stage of development using technology
in a way that is appropriate to their needs.”
Needs like those of Nallavadu village in Pondicherry, India. A region
in which many people live on incomes of less than $1 a day,
Pondicherry’s information and communications technology development
strategy traces back to a 1998 project that brought Internet-linked
telecentres to the region’s villages. Today, villagers routinely use
the Internet to access information that helps them sell their crops
at the latest commodity prices, obtain medical advice, and track
regional weather and transport.
How does that kind of technology affect daily life?
Just look at what happened in the village of Nallavadu. Vijayakumar
Gunasekaran, the son of a Nallavadu fisherman, learned of December’s
earthquake and tsunami from his current home in Singapore. When
Gunasekaran called home to warn his family, they passed along the
warning to fellow villagers – who used the village’s telecentre to
broadcast a community alarm.
Thanks to that alarm, the village was evacuated, ensuring that all
3,600 villagers survived.
If information and communications-technology-enabled leapfrogging
could hold the key to economic opportunity for the developing world,
are the citizens of advanced industrial nations – like Canada – ready
for what that means?
“The information economy is heading to Asia,” notes Fuchs. “India and
China are the next information technopols. If wealth, income,
profitability and productivity rest in part on ICTs, then India’s
economy is increasingly more competitive than ours.”
Alexandra Samuel is a Vancouver-based technology writer and
strategist with Angus Reid Consultants