Category: News

Jordan Times
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Mosul – northern link to insurgency
MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) – Mosul, scene of a major US-led offensive on Tuesday
against Iraqi rebels after a spate of deadly clashes, is an ancient and
ethnically diverse city that has become a new front in the insurgency.
Car bombings and fighting have become all too frequent in Mosul and
surrounding areas, which have gradually fallen into the sway of hardline
Islamic groups since Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled in April 2003.
US troops were swarming into restive pockets on Tuesday to secure police
stations and restore order, with bridges straddling the Tigris River closed
and a night-time curfew in place.
Rebels overran a number of police stations last week, triggering clashes
that left several dozen people dead, mostly insurgents.
US military commanders say the events in predominantly Sunni Muslim Mosul
and other parts of the country may be a spillover from the massive assault
launched last week on the rebel hub of Fallujah. But they insist they are
still in control of the capital of Nineveh province, 370 kilometres north of
Baghdad, at the tip of the so-called Sunni Triangle and scene of the worst
violence since Saddam fell.
Mosul, whose name in Arabic means the link, is one of the most ethnically
diverse cities in Iraq with Arabs, Syriac people, Armenians, Kurds, Turkmen,
Jews, Christians, Muslims and Yazedis all calling the city home.
The area has been inhabited since 6000BC and was chosen by the ancient
Assyrians to build their glorious capitals of Ashur, Nimrud and Nineveh,
whose ruins still dot the city and surrounding areas.
The city fell into the hands of the Persians, Romans and the Arabs and then
Ottomans for almost seven centuries.
Its Nabi Yunis Mosque is said to be the burial place of the reluctant
prophet Jonah, who according to the Bible fled to sea after turning down
God’s request to preach in Nineveh and was swallowed by a whale.
The area had been one of the most loyal pro-Saddam strongholds and it was a
local tribal leader who sheltered his two feared sons Uday and Qusay in his
Mosul mansion when they fled Baghdad. But the same man, Nawaf Mohammad Al
Zaidan, is believed to have tipped off the Americans on the whereabouts of
the brothers, pocketing a $30 million US bounty that had been placed on both
of their heads.
The two were killed in a fierce battle with US troops in July last year – an
incident which left a strong impact on the local Sunni population – once
Iraq’s elite and now feeling increasingly marginalised since Saddam’s fall.
Widespread looting and intercommunal fighting and killing swept through the
city in April 2003 after thousands of Kurdish peshmerga fighters and special
US forces seized the city during the US-led invasion of Iraq.
In recent months it seen a rash of suicide car bombings and ambushes against
US and Iraqi military convoys, Kurds, judges, government officials including
the Nineveh provincial governor – anyone regarded by the insurgents as
collaborating with US forces or the US-backed government.
Several Turkish truck drivers supplying goods to US military bases have been
attacked or kidnapped in the area. The north-south roads running through
Mosul have become so treacherous that many truckers have stopped coming to
Iraq altogether or travel only in US protected convoys. Iraq’s Defence
Minister Hazem Shaalan has charged that Mosul and surrounding areas are safe
havens for militants from Syria, which is about 180 kilometres to the west.
Sunni Muslims in Mosul, together with the minority Turkmen community, fear
Kurdish calls for an expanded autonomous region in districts immediately
bordering the northern metropolis, a city of about 1.5 million people.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
11/17/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) France's Sarkozy Calls for EU 'Partnership' with Turkey 2) Abkhaz Government Undermined, as Interior Ministry Defies 3) Karabagh Parties Discuss Election Code 4) Construction of Armenia, Iran Pipeline Set for November 5) Armenia Rattles Romania 1) France's Sarkozy Calls for EU 'Partnership' with Turkey BRUSSELS (AFP)--French finance minister and future ruling party chief Nicolas Sarkozy, has repeated his opposition to Turkish membership to the EU, saying a decision next month from heads of government should focus instead on 'partnership.' Sarkozy, who steps down as minister later this month to head French president Jacques Chirac's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), said he opposes Turkish entry, 'not because it is a Muslim country, but because Europe must concentrate on the enlargement which has already taken place.' "On December 17, the perspective of partnership must feature in the decision of the council of ministers," he told French journalists in Brussels. Sarkozy's opposition to Turkish EU membership has put him at odds with Chirac, who has said the country's eventual accession is inevitable. 2) Abkhaz Government Undermined, as Interior Ministry Defies (Civil Georgia)--Reports say 2,000 employees of the Abkhaz Interior Minister announced its defiance to Prime Minister of breakaway region Nodar Khashba following the statement of the Chairman of the Abkhaz Parliamentary Chairman Nugzar Ashuba, who recognized opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh as the President-elect. Vice-President of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia Valery Arshba, said on November 17 that employees of the Interior Ministry announced their defiance to the Prime Minister, accusing the Abkhaz government of destabilizing the situation in the breakaway region. "Over 2000 employees of the Interior Ministry, [everyone] except the Minister and one deputy announced their defiance to the present government, claiming that it pursues an anti-constitutional policy," both Georgian and Russian media reported quoting Valeri Arshba. While speaking to reporters in Sokhumi, head of the Abkhazian Parliament Nugzar Ashuba commented over the recent crisis in the region by saying that the Abkhazian people "have already decided who will be the next President--Sergey Bagapsh," reported the Regnum News agency. "It is widely known," continued Ashuba, "that the elections passed without any serious disturbances." He also said that Russia is a major guarantor of Abkhazia's security, "but Russia can not decide who has to be Abkhazia's President." The Abkhaz opposition movements Amtsakhara, Aitaira, and United Abkhazia accused Prime Minister Nodar Khashba in urging Russia to send troops to Abkhazia "for restoring order in the region." But in an interview with Russian news agency Itar-Tass Abkhaz de facto Prime Minister Nodar Khashba denied these accusations. 3) Karabagh Parties Discuss Election Code YEREVAN (Yerkir)--A roundtable discussion in Karabagh on Tuesday detailed the agreement between the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of Artsakh and the Democratic Artsakh party concerning the republic's election code. On November 8, the two majority parties in Mountainous Karabagh Republic's parliament agreed that two-thirds of parliament members be elected under a party-list system, and one-third from single-mandate constituencies. Most of the participants of the ARF-sponsored talks accepted the concept. Other issues, including the method of forming constituencies, were also discussed. 4) Construction of Armenia, Iran Pipeline Set for November YEREVAN (RIA Novosti)--The construction of the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline will start in late November 2004, the head of the Armenian Energy Ministry's technical development and foreign relations department Levon Vardanyan revealed to journalists on Wednesday. The construction of the 42-km section of that pipeline will begin at the Meghri-Kajaran site. In compliance with existing agreements, the Iranian side will finance the construction of this section; the remaining portion between Yerevan and Ararat will be completed later. In May of this year, Armenia and Iran agreed to construct the pipeline which will provide 36 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Armenia over 20 years. Armenia will receive 1.1 billion cubic meters of Iran's natural gas annually and pay for these supplies with its electric energy. The construction of the 141-km long pipeline (41 km on Armenian territory and 100 km in Iran) will be completed at the end of 2006. According to preliminary calculations, Armenian and Iranian investments in the project will total $90 and $120 million correspondingly. The gas pipeline will link Tehran and Yerevan via the Meghri section of the Armenian-Iranian border. 5) Armenia Rattles Romania By Khachik Chakhoyan A depleted Romanian side kept up their challenge in FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 1 but were denied victory in Armenia after Karen Dokhoyan's second-half equalizer earned his nation their first point in the pool. With 16 players missing from Anghel Iordanescu's visiting squad, Romania nevertheless began brightly, with hopes pinned on speedy forward Ciprian Marica, who scored twice in this stadium for FC Shakhtar Donetsk in their 3-1 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round win against FC Pyunik. And the 19-year-old duly found the net, running on to Sorin Paraschiv's incisive pass and coolly converting a one-on-one past goalkeeper Edel Bete. Marica continued to threaten, especially down the flanks, and after one of his crosses Bete did well to save from Adrian Neaga. But at the other end Aram Voskanyan, making his first competitive appearance for Armenia, was also proving dangerous and on 33 minutes captain Harutyun Vardanyan found Edgar Manucharyan, who fed the striker, but his shot was blocked by defender Cristian Dancia. Seven minutes before the break Voskanyan went close again, sent free by Armen Shahgeldyan but shooting straight at Romania goalkeeper Bogdan Stelea. But after the interval, Armenia--who had lost their opening four fixtures--continued to press and on 62 minutes leveled the scores when defender Dokhoyan eluded his markers at a corner. The final stages proved open, but Armenia had the better chances as Rafael Nazaryan shot wide, as did Edgar Manucharyan in added time. But a draw nevertheless gives them increased confidence for their next fixture on 26 March when they welcome Andorra. Romania play the Netherlands the same day. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

Survival strategies against catastrophe and disaster
The future is now
International humanitarian organisations are in urgent need of reform.
They have to improve their capacity to advance strategic thought and
planning, even if in so doing they risk having to challenge directly
those who at present fund their work.
Le Monde diplomatique
November 2004
By Agnès Callamard and Randolf Kent
“The greatest long-term threat”, suggests the political scientist Anatol
Lieven, “is one that our media hardly ever discuss, since it is too
long-term and insufficiently fashionable: the growing shortage of water,
due to a combination of over-population, inefficient use and
conservation, and the effect of global warming on the Himalayan
glaciers. If present trends continue, it is virtually certain that in 50
years’ time, much of Pakistan will be as dry as the Sahara – but a
Sahara with a population of hundreds of millions of human beings. The
same will be true of northern India” (1).
The melting of Himalayan glaciers, probably irreversibly, is due to
climate changes that directly result from human activities over the past
century. Only during this brief period in the 10,000-year history of
modern human beings have they actually become a major factor in
determining the course of nature. They have become “planetary
engineers”, says Professor Albert Harrison of the University of
California: “We have already transformed our own planet. We have changed
Earth’s landscape through enormous pit mines and through agriculture; we
have rerouted waterways through systems of dams, locks and canals; and
we have released tons of hydrocarbons and other chemicals into the
atmosphere, creating global warming and cutting holes into the ozone
layer” (2).
Human beings are now nature’s greatest hazard. Disasters and emergencies
are not peripheral events but reflections of the ways that we live our
normal lives, structure our societies and allocate our resources. Trends
in “natural disasters” underscore this. Deforestation and destruction of
wetlands, migration from unproductive rural areas to cities that cannot
afford to provide support infrastructures or livelihoods, and relative
governmental indifference to global warming all relate to the fact that
losses from natural disasters during the 1990s were three times those in
the 1980s and 15 times those of the 1950s.
Existing data dispels the myth that the economic and social consequences
of such disasters are limited to the areas where they struck. This was
the central issue at a conference – Crowding the Rim – at Stanford
University, California, in 2001. Geologists and disaster mitigation and
relief experts assessed the possible effects of disasters, including
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, on the Pacific Rim, from Lima
through to Los Angeles, Seattle, Anchorage, Tokyo and Taipei (3).
As one noted, “The linkages that we have built to connect the US west
coast and Asia are all vulnerable to echo disruptions, and much larger
and devastating earthquakes are in prospect for Seattle and San
Francisco” (4). The 1999 earthquake in Taiwan was costly there in life
and property, and also disrupted economies as distant as that of San
Jose, California, where electronic industries were halted because of a
lack of essential components usually supplied by Taiwanese companies.
The earthquake revealed a disturbing, if not totally unforeseen,
dimension of globalisation: the economic vulnerability – in large-scale
lay-offs – of Californian workers to an event thousands of miles away.
Returning to Lieven’s concern about the immediate consequences of the
melting Himalayas, hundreds of millions of South Asians will be deprived
of water and livelihood at the same time as a combination of global
warming, inadequate conservation and overpopulation cause effects
elsewhere. We need to anticipate the migratory impact that hundreds of
millions of desperate people searching for survival will have on the
urban areas of South Asia and the security and stability of states in
the region. We need to consider how such potential insecurity and
instability (in the form of globally transmitted diseases, disruptive
migration patterns, regional conflicts) might expose our large-scale
human vulnerability worldwide. Disasters and emergencies are not the
monopoly of the developing world. The current global level of insecurity
resulting from 9/11, the “war on terror” and intervention in Iraq all
dramatically remind us that we can no longer hold on to the idea of
peripheral and geographically-contained humanitarian crises. We are all
unwilling participants in a global pandemic brought upon us by human
actions, whether guided by ruthless self-interest, messianic zeal or
perceived economic survival.
Not all such trends are inevitable, but we need to change how we view
disasters and emergencies, their causes, locations and effects. The
future is now. Professor Martin Rees of Cambridge University says
categorically that by ” 2020 an instance of bio-error or bio-terror will
have killed a million people” (5). Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon suggests
that humanity has already created the conditions for major global
catastrophes. He foresees “the synchronous failure of global, social,
economic and biophysical systems arising from diverse yet interacting
stresses” (6).
Yet the structures responsible for anticipating ways to mitigate,
prevent or prepare to respond to large-scale human vulnerability seem
incapable of doing so. The organisations deemed “humanitarian” –
governmental, non-governmental or inter-governmental – are stuck with
perceptions and processes that have more to do with institutional
survival and familiar routines.
Still, we have to recognise the problems of any organisation in
attempting to anticipate the future. Professor Rees notes that in 1937
the United States National Academy of Sciences organised a study to
predict breakthroughs: “Its report makes salutary reading for
technological forecasters today. It came up with some wise assessments
about agriculture, about synthetic gasoline, and synthetic rubber. But
what is more remarkable is the things it missed. No nuclear energy, no
antibiotics, no jet aircraft, no rocketry nor any use of space, no
computers; certainly no transistors. The committee overlooked the
technologies that actually dominated the second half of the 20th
century. Still less could they predict the social and political
transformations that occurred during that time” (7).
The issue for humanitarian organisations is less that of forecasting,
more the capacity to monitor, analyse and adapt to a global environment
marked by rapid change and complexity. The institutions required to
address effectively rapid technological and political changes and
anticipate potential humanitarian crises are those that are able to cope
with rapid change and complexity.
They are adaptive organisations with the capacity to monitor compelling
trends and the willingness to invest time and energy in understanding
their consequences. Their structures are designed to integrate a
relatively wide range of expertise and they most likely have
accommodated the different languages of the scientist, the political
strategist, the policy planner, the ethicist, and the decision-maker.
They have the courage to unpack power, confront their weaknesses in
accountability and work in partnership.
And organisations, even well-prepared, future-oriented, technically
savvy ones, cannot assume the responsibility to respond to current and
future crisis unilaterally: those affected directly or indirectly must
be genuinely involved in shaping the response if the response is to be
legitimate and effective (8). Above all, adaptive organisations are
externally oriented, more focused upon understanding the environment in
which they operate, than self-referential and self-absorbed non-adaptive
organisations.
The “humanitarian community” of today does not meet these requirements.
It is inherently reactive, more often than not unable to develop
strategies to anticipate, let alone respond, to looming crises. Only at
the beginning of the past decade did humanitarian organisations begin to
anticipate the human consequences of state collapse: the idea of
“complex emergencies” was a belated recognition. Yet a range of
large-scale crises was clearly inevitable, given states’ inability or
unwillingness to provide protection and welfare for their citizens.
Decline of livelihoods, uncontrolled violence and the collapse of
infrastructures presaged mass displacement, starvation and uncontrolled
disease. The warning signs had been visible since the 1970s (East
Pakistan) and were increasingly evident in the 1980s (Sudan), but it was
only when multiple crises (former Yugoslavia, the Horn of Africa) could
no longer be explained away using the conventional language of agencies
that a new perspective emerged.
These organisations also continue to perpetuate the divide between
“natural” and “man-made emergencies”, despite their obvious interactive
dynamics. Even now most organisations responsible for disasters and
emergencies do not focus on the links between natural disasters
(droughts and decline in livelihoods) and their potential political
impact upon the stability of affected societies. That natural disasters
and political emergencies are intertwined is an idea that eludes the
response mechanisms and often the perceptual frames of reference of most
humanitarian organisations.
Another telling example has to do with the relationship between
crisis-threatened communities and humanitarian organisations. Some in
the humanitarian sector have over the past 10 years addressed questions
of their accountability and unequal relationships with crisis-affected
populations (9). At the centre of this is the realisation that relief
workers do exercise power over the lives of such individuals and
communities and that humanitarian power can be abused or mismanaged.
Some agencies insist that the humanitarian ethos should take its moral
cue from those who suffer and survive crises rather than be defined only
through and by the well-intentioned intervener (10). The search for
accountability mechanisms is one of the most important ethical
developments. Yet these developments have failed to permeate mainstream
humanitarian thinking and practices. The security and political
challenges arising from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have
sidelined the search for greater accountability.
Failure to anticipate the sources of humanitarian crises, to be
strategic in efforts to mitigate as well as to respond to disasters and
emergencies can be explained in several ways. First there is the
organisational culture of much of the humanitarian community; the
community’s underlying ethos, like that of firemen, is to respond to the
most acute immediate challenge. Then there is the competitive aid
environment in which NGOs and United Nations agencies operate. Four
recent independent studies have concluded that increased funds for
humanitarian assistance have led to an unseemly rush for donor
resources, often at the expense of the needs of both the disaster
victims and of the organisations’ integrity (11).
Humanitarian organisations are often guided by the interests of their
donors, who put national interests first when allocating funds (12).
There are no institutional rewards for those organisations that think
strategically about future vulnerabilities. This encourages agencies to
perpetuate the belief that disasters and emergencies are aberrant
phenomena that cannot be anticipated. Organisations, and those that fund
them, are reluctant to invest energy, let alone funds, in activities
thought speculative and theoretical. The perceived inability to forecast
provides everyone with an organisational excuse not to try to think more
strategically.
Organisations supposed to be on the front line of emergency prevention
and response are averse to taking risks. If they did, they might have to
embark on advocacy (warning against the sources of growing
vulnerability) and prescription (bold measures to offset disaster and
emergency agents). Both risk pitting them against funders who ensure
their organisational survival. According to Jean-François Rischard,
World Bank vice-president for Europe, there are at least 20 global
issues that must be resolved quickly if the world is to survive, from
global warming to global regulation of biotechnology. But there is no
pilot in the cockpit. Our present methods of dealing with global
problems are inadequate (13); consider the persistent attempts of the
governments of the US, and other countries, to ignore the threat of
climate change and derail global treaties to reduce the rate of change (14).
NOTES
(1) Anatol Lieven, “Preserver and Destroyer,” London Review of Books, 23
January 2003.
(2) Albert Harrison, Spacefaring: the Human Dimension, University of
California Press, Berkeley, 2001.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Donald Kennedy, “Science Terrorism and Natural Disasters”,
Science,18 January 2002
(5) Martin Rees, Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the 21st
Century, William Heinemann, London, 2003.
(6) Lecture note by T Homer-Dixon, “The Real Danger of the 21st
Century”, part of a series on security sponsored by the US Congress
bipartisan study group, 1 December 2003.
(7) Martin Rees, op cit.
(8) See arguments by Amy Bartholomew and Jennifer Breakspear against
Ignatieff’s position on the war in Iraq: “Human Rights as Swords of
Empire”, in Socialist Register 2004, Leo Panitch and Colin Leys, eds,
Merlin Press, 2003.
(9) See the work of Sphere <;, Humanitarian Accountability Partnership () and the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action <;. (10) See Hugo Slim, "Doing the Right Thing" in Studies on Emergencies and Disaster Relief, no 6, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1997. (11) Development Initiatives, Global Humanitarian Assistance Flows 2003, May 2003; Larry Minear and Ian Smillie, The Quality of Money: donor behaviour in humanitarian financing, Humanitarianism and War Project, Feinstein Famine Centre, Tufts University, April 2003; James Darcy, "Measuring humanitarian need: A critical review of needs assessment practice", Overseas Development Institute, Humanitarian Policy Group, Feb 2003. (12) Minear and Smillie, op cit. (13) Jean-François Rischard, High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them, Basic Books, New York, 2002. (14) So far 124 states, not including the US, have ratified, acceded to or accepted the Kyoto protocol on climate change. Original text in English

A1 Plus | 18:27:54 | 17-11-2004 | Social |
GOVERNMENT TARGET MONEY FOR LOW INCOME FAMILIES
Labour and social security minister Aghvan Vardanyan, speaking Wednesday
in National Assembly, said the ministry would be given 46,2 billion
drams from the 2005 state budget for the implementation of 26 programs,
the biggest of which is the Family Benefits Program focused on 135
thousand families.
These low-income families are to be paid12,000 drams while retirees’
pensions will rise slightly and won’t exceed 9,000 drams.
This controversy generated discord of MPs. Lawmakers say this won’t
promote poverty reduction.
The legislators also called into question the eligibility of the
families included in the list for receiving poverty benefits.
Labour and social security minister Aghvan Vardanyan said criteria
themselves are good enough, but they are being applied by people.
The ministry’s figures show 20 percent of the people included in the
list should not receive state benefits while 5 percent of those families
living in poverty remained out of the program.

Agence France Presse
17 novembre 2004 mercredi 5:02 PM GMT
Mondial-2006/qualifications – Arménie et Roumanie 1 à 1
EREVAN 17 nov
L’Arménie et la Roumanie ont fait match nul 1 à 1 (mi-temps: 0-1) en
qualifications de la zone Europe (groupe 1) au Mondial-2006 de
football, mercredi à Erevan.
Buts:
Arménie: Dokhoyan (63)
Roumanie: Marica (29)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse
17 novembre 2004 mercredi 12:08 PM GMT
Adhésion Turquie à l’UE: des députés vont manifester devant
l’Assemblée
PARIS
Un “groupe de réflexion” regroupant quelque 80 parlementaires
hostiles à l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’Union européenne appelle à
se joindre, ce mercredi, à un rassemblement devant l’Assemblée à
l’initiative de plusieurs organisations arméniennes, a annoncé un des
fondateurs de ce groupe, le député Philippe Pemezec (UMP,
Hauts-de-Seine).
Ce groupe, formé en septembre, réunit pour l’essentiel des députés
UMP, ainsi que 4 députés UDF et un sénateur UMP.
Dans un communiqué, M. Pemezec souligne que les parlementaires de ce
groupe sont d’abord appelés à se réunir à 17h00 dans une salle de
l’Assemblée, avant de se joindre à 18h00 au rassemblement devant le
Palais Bourbon.
Organisée un mois avant le sommet européen qui doit se prononcer sur
l’ouverture de négociations avec Ankara, cette manifestation a pour
but de protester contre le refus du gouvernement d’organiser au
Parlement un débat avec vote sur ce dossier.
Les organisateurs de ce rassemblement précisent, dans un communiqué,
qu’ils mettront une urne à la disposition des députés pour qu’ils
votent sur cette question “puisqu’on les en empêche dans
l’hémicycle”.
De son côté, le groupe PS a indiqué, dans un communiqué, qu’il sera
représenté à ce rassemblement par René Rouquet (Val-de-Marne).
Le président du groupe Jean-Marc Ayrault, M. Rouquet et Nathalie
Gautier (Rhône) ont en outre reçu mercredi matin une délégation du
Comité de défense de la cause arménienne (CDCA). A cette occasion, le
groupe PS a demandé l'”inscription prioritaire à l’ordre du jour de
l’Assemblée” de sa proposition de loi visant à réprimer la négation
du génocide arménien.
M. Pemezec est également l’auteur d’une proposition de loi similaire.

Le Monde, France
17 novembre 2004
JUSTICE : Aydin Sezgin a été relaxé pour des propos remettant en
cause l’existence d’un génocide arménien.;
Dépêche
Le consul général de Turquie à Paris, Aydin Sezgin, a été relaxé,
lundi 15 novembre, par le tribunal correctionnel de Paris, des
poursuites engagées contre lui par le Comité de défense de la cause
arménienne (CDCA) pour des propos remettant en cause, sur le site
Internet du consulat, l’existence d’un génocide arménien.

A1 Plus | 16:35:16 | 16-11-2004 | Social |
STUDENTS FIGHTING AGAINST CORRUPTION
During September-October of 2004 ARF `Nikol Aghbalyan’ Student Union
held a survey on `Corruption in Institutes of Higher Education of
Armenia’ among the 1100 students of 11 state institutes of higher
education of Armenia.
‘The aim of the survey was to find out what students thought about
corruption in their colleges, which reasons of college corruption they
stress, which of the phases in education process they consider more
corrupted, which of structures they underline for fighting against
college corruption and what their personal willingness is to struggle
against the fallacious phenomenon’, Karen Antashyan, member of `Nikol
Aghbalyan’ Student Union said.
Under the survey, 47% of the persons surveyed are pessimistic and think
corruption has always been in colleges and will be.
Students cited low wages of lecturers, draft evasion by students and
patronage of IHE leadership as the reasons for college corruption.
43% of the surveyed students expressed willingness to partake in any
initiative for fighting with corruption, 25% finds actions must be taken
against college corruption but excluded own participation in the
process, and 32% thinks all the initiatives for that purpose will fail.
Only in Armenian State Institute of Physical Training 5 lecturers have
been dismissed for corruption. No lecturer has been discharged from
other colleges – maybe there is no corruption there?
Members of ARF `Nikol Aghbalyan’ Student Union think the rest of youth
unions will join them and will fight more actively against corruption.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Envoy vows to implement “serious” projects in Georgia’s Armenian-populated
area
A-Info news agency
15 Nov 04

Akhalkalaki, 5 November: The Georgian president’s representative in
Samtskhe-Javakhetia [Georgia’s Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti
Region], Nikoloz Nikolozishvili, has said that from now on he will
meet journalists every weekend and brief them on weekly events in the
region.
A number of important events will be organized in the region, he said.
The presidential representative pledged to brief the media and the
local community on a regular basis on relations between the company BP
and local residents. He also promised to focus on the developments in
the customs and transport spheres.
Nikolozishvili intends to implement serious projects and relies on the
media for the coverage of his activities.

Armenian government won’t raise salaries of public servants in 2005
Mediamax news agency
15 Nov 04
YEREVAN
The government of Armenia has taken a “political decision” not to
raise in 2005 the salaries of public servants, including the people
occupying political posts.
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan said this at hearings on
the draft budget in the National Assembly today. The prime minister
said that “the saved sum of money will be, thus, channelled into the
reduction of social polarization in society”.
It was planned to raise salaries of the public servants in line with
the programme of medium-term expenditures for 2005-2007, Markaryan
said.
[Passage omitted: 2005 budget details]