Category: News

Associated Press
Dec 24 2004
Israel prepares to welcome Christians
Officials hope relaxed Palestinian-Israeli tensions will encourage
visits to Bethlehem.
Visitors touch a column in the Church of the Nativity, traditionally
believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem.
Enric Marti / the Associated Press
By Peter Enav
Associated Press
Jerusalem — Israel is taking special steps to ensure a merry
Christmas in Bethlehem, a military official said Thursday, raising
hopes for a gentler holiday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus
after four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
International attention focuses on the West Bank town on Christmas
Eve, so Israeli officials see an improved Christmas atmosphere there
as a boon to Israel’s troubled image.
“The importance of Bethlehem to the Christian world is clear to us,”
said Lt. Col. Aviv Feigel, head of the army’s Bethlehem district
liaison office. “We in the army are preparing ourselves for this
momentous occasion.”
The main difference with previous years is the perception of lessened
tensions since the Nov. 11 death of Yasser Arafat. Israel accused him
of involvement in Palestinian violence and is hoping for a more
pragmatic, nonviolent leadership to replace him.
Briefing reporters on preparations for Bethlehem, Feigel said Israel
would transfer security control there to Palestinian forces between
Christmas Eve and the Armenian Christmas on Jan. 19. He said Israeli
soldiers manning Bethlehem area checkpoints also would be given
detailed instructions on how to deal with Christian visitors.
Shortly after the latest Palestinian uprising began four years ago,
Israel took control of main West Bank towns and roads, setting up
dozens of roadblocks. Bethlehem is surrounded by posts controlling
entry and exit, and the barrier that Israel is building in the West
Bank cuts through the town.
Within that framework, the military said it would allow Israeli and
Gaza Christians to visit Bethlehem and would not restrict the numbers
of West Bank Palestinians arriving there.
“Every soldier at the checkpoints will receive a detailed sheet of
information about the importance of Bethlehem to Christians, so they
will know how to behave,” Feigel said.
A town of 40,000 people 4 miles south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem was
once a magnet for foreign visitors during the Christmas season, with
tens of thousands crowding Manger Square during the annual midnight
Mass on Christmas Eve.
But the numbers dropped precipitously after violence resumed in
September 2000, falling to only 2,000 last year. This year Israeli
officials are expecting about 4,000 visitors, because of the recent
reduction in violence and the more relaxed atmosphere.
–Boundary_(ID_lKf1cjUn+zmbdTyyzxTdHA)–

USA TO PROVIDE EQUAL AID PACKAGE TO AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA
BAKU, DECEMBER 23. ARMINFO. The US Congress intends to provide equal
military assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia next year, the US
ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish said. Considering Azerbaijan’s
active involvement in the anti-terror coalition, the US President has
proposed to set the military assistance to Azerbaijan in 2005 at $8
million, he said. However, the US Congress exercised its authority
and set the figure at $2 million, the same package to be allocated to
Armenia. But the law on foreign allocations is not the only source
to be used in providing military aid to Azerbaijan, the ambassador
said. “We highly appreciate cooperation with Azerbaijan in the area
of security and fighting global terror,” said Harnish, adding that the
US administration plans to continue this collaboration in the future.

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Monday, December 20, 2004
In this issue:
Armenia’s top mining company sold for $132 million
Online chess and e-visas amid Armenia IT expansion
Azerbaijan wages worldwide anti-Armenian campaign
TOP MINING COMPANY SOLD IN MAJOR PRIVATIZATION DEAL
The Armenian government finalized last week the privatization of
the country’s largest mining enterprise. Germany’s Chronimet and
subsidiaries bought the Zangezur copper-molybdenum complex for $132
million, in what is the second biggest privatization deal for Armenia
since the $142 million takeover of Armentel by the Greek Hellenic
Telecommunications Organization (OTE) in 1998.
The privatization will be financed by German credit institutions,
including the Deutche Bank, with Chronimet pledging to invest at least
$250 million by 2012 and boost production by over 50 percent. Armenia’s
Industry Minister Karen Chshmaritian said that the government picked
Chronimet over the U.S. Comsup Commodities and Russia’s Soyuz Metal,
with Chronimet also pledging to process the molybdenum ore at its
Yerevan smelter.
The government further decided to allocate $32 million from the
proceeds to the town of Kajaran, where the mining complex is located,
with $25 million going to cover the 2005 budget deficit and the
remaining $75 million to the government’s special privatization
account.
Foreign investments in Armenia amounted to over $175 million in the
first three quarters of 2004 (without the Zangezur privatization),
up five percent year-on-year. Most of the investments came from
Greece ($61 million), Russia ($28 million), Argentina ($26 million)
and the United States ($19 million). Armenia’s rapid privatization
process, while frequently criticized domestically, has been praised
internationally.
Speaking in Tbilisi last month, the U.S. Undersecretary of Treasury
John B. Taylor urged Georgia to step up privatization to reduce
the size of government and encourage growth. Taylor noted that the
private sector in Armenia accounts for 75 percent of total employment,
compared to 40 percent in Georgia. Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) grew by 10 to 14 percent in 2001-3 and by another 10 percent
in the eleven months of 2004. (Sources: Armenia This Week 11-8;
U.S. Dept. of Treasury 11-22; Arminfo 11-30, 12-16, 20; RFE/RL
Arm. Report 12-14; Interfax 12-17)
ONLINE CHESS COMPETITION SEEN AS REFLECTION OF ARMENIA’S BURGEONING IT
SECTOR
Armenia is this week playing host for the world’s first-ever online team
chess tournament. Top players from Armenia, China, France and Russia are
competing for the $55,000 prize fund. The tournament is part of
year-long events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the birth of
Tigran Petrosian, a past chess world champion. The tournament organizers
hope to promote Armenia as a center for information technology, as well
as chess.
Two years ago, Armenia became only the second country in the world
(after Australia) to introduce an electronic visa system for foreign
visitors. In its first year, the new program saw over 2,200 applicants
and the number of e-visa users has grown monthly since. The overall
number of tourists visiting Armenia grew by 27 percent in 2003 and by a
further 30 percent in the first three quarters of this year.
Armenia’s breakthroughs in online chess and consular services are a
reflection of the growing size of the country’s information technology
sector. In recent months, Armenia saw the arrival of the U.S.-based
Synopsys, Inc. and expansion of the Netherlands-based Lycos-Europe, two
leaders in their respective fields of semiconductor design software and
provision of online portals. Lycos, which took over the Armenia branch
of then U.S.-based Brience Inc. in 2002 has since invested over $8
million in Armenia operations and plans another $7 million in
investments next year. Synopsis, which took over Armenia-based LEDA
Design last October, plans tens of millions of dollars in Armenia
investments. (Sources: ;
; ; ; Arminfo
10-27, 11-30; Noyan Tapan 12-2; RIA-Novosti 12-18)
AZERI LEADER DECLARES “COLD WAR” ON ARMENIANS
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev told his subordinates earlier
this month that he is waging a “cold war” against Armenia and
the ongoing negotiations were only a way to achieve unilateral
Armenian concessions on the Karabakh issue. Armenia and Azerbaijan
are currently engaged in what is typically referred to as a “peace
process.” Aliyev said that as part of this “war” he would continue to
boost Azerbaijan’s military spending and tighten the ongoing economic
blockade against Armenia. Speaking last week at London’s Royal
Institute for International Affairs, Aliyev said that he would not
engage in any confidence-building measures and that he had “no desire”
to tone down his country’s war-mongering and anti-Armenian propaganda.
As part of the campaign Azeri propagandists use rhetoric reminiscent to
the ‘traditional’ anti-Semitic discourse, arguing that all ethnic
Armenians should be treated “not as a nation, but as an organization,”
which is aggressive and dangerous, yet weak. At its core, this
disinformation campaign includes falsification of the nature and history
of the Karabakh conflict, as well as exaggeration of the size of the
territories that came under Armenian control as a result of the war and
the number of Azeri displaced and imprisoned.
This disinformation campaign also spreads into areas of global concern,
such as baseless accusations of support for Islamic terrorism, weapons
proliferation and drug trafficking, and into more “exotic” claims that
Armenians are behind everything from crop failures to unexplained
natural phenomena. (As strange as they are, some of these claims are
picked up by uninformed and/or unscrupulous foreign officials and
commentators.) Azeri officials’ claims that Armenia is a weak and a
‘dying’ country are contradicted by concurrent claims that the world
Armenian ‘cabal’ is behind all international criticism of Azeri
corruption and human rights abuses.
Last month, Azeri officials revealed for the first time that it was
their policy not to allow ethnic Armenians, no matter their citizenship
or political background, into Azerbaijan (although a few exceptions have
been made for state officials under pressure from foreign governments),
since their ‘security could not be guaranteed’ and since they themselves
pose unspecified security risks. The statement came after Baku airport
officials barred the entrance for a Bulgarian sports journalist of
Armenian origin, who arrived to cover the Bulgaria-Azerbaijan soccer
match. Azeri parliamentarians have this week called for a law that would
also bar all ‘pro-Armenian’ foreign citizens from visiting Azerbaijan.
(Sources: 525-ci Gazet 4-1-03; Armenia This Week 11-1, 15; Azad
Azarbaycan 11-18; Interfax 12-8; Azertag 12-16; Ekho 12-21)
Note to Readers: Armenia This Week will not be issued in the next two
weeks. It will resume publication on January 10. Happy Holidays!
A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434 FAX (202) 638-4904
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OPPOSITION MUST ANALYZE DOMESTIC POLITICAL AND GEO-POLITICAL PROCESSES
ATTENTIVELY TO CHOSE RIGHT MOMENT TO CHANGE POWER THROUGH PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT:
V.DALLAKYAN
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23. ARMINFO. The current ruling regime in Armenia
is paralyzed, and in the present situation a change of power and
extraordinary presidential election is inevitable, Secretary of the
opposition bloc Justice Victor Dallakyan says in his interview with
ARMINFO speaking of the opposition’s plans for 2005.
He mentioned three possible versions of changing the power: palace
revolution, as it was in 1998; change of power due to external forces;
change of power through people’s movement. He called palace revolution
unacceptable for Justice bloc as a method to get rid of the present
ruling regime, as “it will only change decorations with the same
actors.” The second version would bring to power a group of marionettes
executing the will of those who brought them to power, Dallakyan says.
The most acceptable for the Armenian opposition is the change of power
through a people’s movement. The tactics of the Armenian opposition
is as follows: to analyze the domestic political and geo-political
processes attentively and chose the right moment to change the power
through people’s movement. That is, the strategy of parliamentary
opposition in the struggle against the authorities has not changed. The
forces which accuse the Justice bloc and the National Unity party
of passivity and propose other ways of struggle against authorities,
let them act at their own discretion, he states.
Forecasting the political developments in Armenia in 2005, Dallakyan
states that they will be around three major problems: falsification
of the presidential election of 2003, the situation around Karabakh
conflict and terrorist act in the Armenian parliament in 1999. If the
Armenian opposition, the Justice bloc and the National unity party,
was so united in the course of the second round of the presidential
election in 2003, as it is now, it would achieve cancellation of
the election results at worst, and a victory of a single candidate
at the best. The only mistake of the opposition was that it did not
take into account the real essence of the present ruling regime,
the fact that the authorities are able to apply force. However,
we shall take into account this fact in future, Dallakyan states.

Irano-Azeri DMs met for defense cooperation
IranMania, Iran
Dec 23 2004
LONDON, Dec 23 (IranMania) – Defense Ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan
met and conferred on Wednesday evening about regional armies`
cooperation to boost joint security in Caucasus region.
Islamic Republic of Iran`s Defense Minister Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani
referred to the two nations` shared historical, religious and cultural
backgrounds during the meeting, considering them the “huge capital
that can serve to boost bilateral ties.”
He referred to the deep bilateral understanding and mutual trust,
as well as comprehensive defense and security consultations, as main
prerequisites for establishment of a comprehensive bilateral defense
cooperation. Shamkhani added, “Joint efforts aimed at boosting
regional peace and stability is the main axis for Iran-Azerbaijan
comprehensive cooperation.”
The Iranian Defense Minister said, “Presently terrorism, narcotic
drugs and arms smuggling, organized crime, and vast presence of foreign
forces are biggest threats against regional security and such threats
cannot be eliminated, except through effective regional cooperation
and constant consultative interactions.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, stressing that the Islamic Republic of
Iran considers the Caspian Sea the “sea of peace and friendship”,
Shamkhani added, “This region`s security is in need of collective
cooperation and mutual trust.” Elaborating on Iran`s stand about
Karabakh conflict, Rear Admiral Shamkhani said, “Iran favors
peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict and is ready to continue
its mediation efforts in that regard.”
He referred to President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami`s state visit of
Azerbaijan and President Elham Aliev`s upcoming state visit to Tehran
as beset signs of both countries` officials` strong determination to
take advantage of all opportunities at service of boosting ties.”
The Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiev, too, appreciated his country`s
ever-improving ties and cooperation with Iran and considered the
Iranian Defense Minister`s visit of Baku “a very effective move in
further strengthening bilateral ties.”
He emphasized, “Late Azeri President Geidar Aliev`s 2002 state visit of
Iran opened a new chapter in Tehran-Baku relations, agreeing with his
Iranian counterpart on the point that shared historical and cultural
backgrounds of the two nations serve as an excellent foundation for
boosting comprehensive ties.”
Abiev added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran was among the first
countries in the world to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan
Republic and the Azeri nation will never forget that.”
The Azerbaijan Republic is situated in eastern Transcaucasia, on
the western coast of the Caspian Sea. To the South it borders Iran,
to the West Armenia, to the North-West Georgia, and to the North the
Republic of Dagestan, in Russia.
The Nakhichevan autonomous Republic is a part of Azerbaijan, although
it is separated form the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenian territory.
Azerbaijan also includes the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast,
which is largely populated by the Armenians, but does not legally
constitute a part of Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Nagorno-Karabakh gets new foreign minister
The Moscow Times
Interfax. Friday, Dec. 24, 2004, 12:50 PM Moscow Time
STEPANAKERT. Dec 24 (Interfax) – Arkady Gukasian, the leader of the
self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, promoted the republic’s
Permanent Representative in Armenia Arman Melikian to the post of
foreign minister on Friday.
Melikian’s predecessor Ashot Gulian was appointed education and
culture minister.
As he presented Melikian to the foreign ministry’s personnel, Gukasian
said that Melikian’s appointment had been dictated by the need to
step up Nagorno-Karabakh’s foreign policy activities in response to
recent international developments.

Georgian television starts broadcasts in Armenian
Arminfo, Yerevan
23 Dec 04
Akhalkalaki, 23 December: The broadcasting of programmes in Armenian
started on Georgian state television today.
The programmes in Armenian will be broadcast for 30 minutes on
Georgian state television every Wednesday beginning from today,
A-Info new agency reports. According the source, the broadcasting
of the programmes in Armenian on Georgian state television was one
of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s election promises.

French mediator change not to affect Karabakh talks – Armenian spokesman
Arminfo
23 Dec 04
Yerevan, 22 December: The replacement of the co-chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group will in no way affect a settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict, the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry,
Gamlet Gasparyan, told Arminfo, commenting on the appointment of a new
co-chairman of the Minsk Group from France. Bernard Fassier replaced
Henry Jacolin in this post.
The appointment of the new Russian and US co-chairmen earlier did not
influence the resolution of the Karabakh problem, he said [Passage
omitted: background information].

DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSIT AIR TRAFFIC IN ARMENIA IS MAIN COMPONENT OF ARMAVIA’S
STRATEGY
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23. ARMINFO. Timetable of the flights of Armavia
is now formed counting on the development of transit traffic and
involvement of air flows between Europe and Asia, the south and
the north. Commercial Director of the company Mushegh Sayadian told
ARMINFO.
Sayadian mentioned that at favorable concatenation of circumstances
before the completion of the new terminal of Zvartnots airport
Armavia plans to set stables transit flows in these directions. “Of
course in this plan it’s early yet to compete with Dubai or Istanbul,
but Yerevan has big opportunities to become the main air-transport
centre of the TransCaucasus”, the interlocutor mentioned. Besides,
Armavia connects its future just with the development of transit.
In 2005 the national transporter plans to be engaged in the development
of Gyumri airport, as 20-25% of the passenger flow of Armenia are
residents of Shirak region and the southern regions of Georgia.
It should be noted that during nine months of 2004 the national
transporter of Armenia – the company Armavia has transported over
316,000 passengers and 1,100 tons of post and cargo. The passenger
turnover of the air company totaled 557/7 mln p/km, and the cargo
turnover 2.3 mln tons km. The company today serves 20 routes and has
interline-agreements with over 40 air companies of the world.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AND DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA MEET
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23. ARMINFO. Thursday, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan and Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Razov and
Assistance to the President for Education and Science Jakhan Poliyeva
discussed issues of reforms of CIS. The decision on the reforms was
made in September, 2004 in the course of CIS Summit in Astana, the
press-service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry informs ARMINFO. In
conformity with the decision, CIS signatories were instructed to
submit their notifications to Chairman of the CIS Council of FMs.
To fulfill the instructions, the Armenian Foreign Ministry directed
a package of the proposals presented by Kazakhstan to the Armenian
Government requesting introduction with the opinion of the ministries
interested, In the course of the inter-department discussion at the
Armenian Foreign Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Ministry for
Finance and Economy, Defense Ministry, National Security Service
and the National Statistical Committee agreed with the proposals
of Kazakhstan. Armenian Police came out against the above proposals
pointing out that dissolution of the Council of CIS Interior Ministers
will considerab ly complicate the struggle against organized crime
in the CIS area. Permanent Plenipotentiary Representative of Armenia
in the legislative and other bodies of CIS, Armenian Ambassador to
Belarus Suren Haroutiunyan also expressed his opinion on the proposals
of Kazakhstan. The project of notifications of Armenia on the proposals
of Kazakhstan has been submitted to Armenian President.
In his turn, Armenian President instructed that the points related
to the insitution of permanent representatives in the CIS Economic
Court and Economic Council be amended. Then, notifications of
Armenia regarding Kazakhstan’s proposals were submitted to Chairman
of CIS Council of Foreign Ministers, Foreign Minister of Russia
Sergey Lavrov. In January of 2005, the Russian party will sum up
the opinions of the states and will present relevant information
to CIS signatory-states. In the course of his visit to CIS, Sergey
Razov will propose forming a task group on reforms of CIS, which
will include in it experts working under leadership of CIS Deputy
Foreign Ministers. Should need arise, the group will convene several
sessions in order that a final document be submitted to the session
of CIS Foreign Ministers planned for March of 2005 in Minsk, which,
in its turn, will submit a draft of the relevant document to the
session of CIS Leaders in August, 2005 in Kazan.