Arka News Agency, Armenia
Dec 16 2006

COMPOSITE INDEX OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY 86.7% IN ARMENIA IN 4TH QUARTER
2006

YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA/. The composite index of economic
activity made 86.7% in Armenia in the 4th quarter of 2006 – a 13.3%
fall compared to the 3rd quarter.
The CBA press service reports that in the 4th quarter of 2006 the
economic activity index was 64.5 on a 100-mark scale, 74.5 in the 3rd
quarter, 65.9 in the 2nd and 70.5 in the 1st. According to the CBA,
the economic activity index was 72.2 in the 2nd quarter of 2005, 71
in the 3rd quarter and 53.6 I the 4th quarter.
>From early 2005, the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) started conducting
quarterly interviews of financial, nonfinancial organizations and
households. The goal of the interviews is to assess the changes in
and economic expectations of the organizations and households
involved, calculate and publish the composite economic indices.
About 800 organizations engaged in the industrial, construction and
service sectors and 2,621 households in Yerevan and in Armenia’s
regions were involved. The results serve as a basis for calculations
of the economic activity, business environment and consumer
confidence indices on a 100-mark scale. Over 50 marks mean high
activity, 50 unchanged situation and below 50 low activity. P.T. -0–

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Dec 16 2006

FORBES: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, DEFENSE MINISTER, MINISTER OF TRANSPORT
IN RICHEST TEN IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA-Novosti-Armenia/. Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan, Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan, as well as
Minister of Transport and Communication Andranik Manugyan are among
the ten richest people in Armenia, says an Armenian version of the
"Forbes" magazine presented in Yerevan on Friday.
The aforementioned people rank 7th, 8th and 9th in the list topped by
the President of the Multy Group concern, member of the Armenian
Parliament and Chairman of the "Prosperous Armenia" party Gagik
Tsarukyan. Chief of the RA Customs Committee Armen Avetisyan ranks
2nd, President of MIKA Armenia Trading Miklhail Bagdasarov 3rd, Hrant
Vardanyan (Grand Tobacco) 4th, the Sukiasyan family (SIL concern)
5th, Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharyan 6th . RA Minister of Justice
David Harutyunyan ranks 10th I the list.
The Forbes asked experts to compare Armenia’s richest people with the
world’s tycoons. Opinions differ. Some think that the local ones are
rich according to local criteria. One of the experts stressed that
the financial potential of all the ten cannot compete with that of
the wife of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Other experts say that the
first two can at least compete with the world’s magnates. P.T. -0–

Mehr News Agency, Iran
Dec 16 2006

Iran to start exporting gas to Armenia in Jan.

TEHRAN, Dec. 16 (MNA) – Iran will start piping gas to Armenia
starting January 2007 according to a contract previously signed
between the two states, the project commissioner of Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline said here on Saturday.
Based on the contract signed, Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project
should have been finished by September 2007, however, based on a
later protocol inked by Iranian and Armenian high-ranking officials,
the time was reduced to 650 days from 930 days, Mohammad-Reza
Lorzadeh elaborated.

Under the protocol, Iran will start transferring gas to Armenia in
January, he added.

He noted that the pipeline passes both through land and river (Aras
River). In land part, pipe-laying has been implemented at 113 km from
Tabriz, northwestern Iran, to Nurduz region just before Iran-Armenia
border line. Some part of the pipeline passes through mountainous
areas.

Furthermore, preliminary work for pipe-laying under the river has
been carried out, he stated, putting total progress at 96 percent.

`The pilot transfer is underway and any probable fault will be
reformed,’ he noted, adding, Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is to be fed
by gas fields in Assaluyeh, Bidboland, and Kangan.

Also, Mohammad-Reza Akbari, the managing director of Payandan Company
said that the contract on Iranian gas export to Armenia is on the
EPCM (engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance) basis.

For the first time, Iran has installed gas pipe at 2800 meters height
in the hard-to-pass areas, he explained.

He added that nearly 26,500 tons of pipes have been used for the
pipeline, which have been purchased from Turkey and conveyed to
operation site.

Based on the agreement, Iran will transfer one million cubic meters
of natural gas per day to Armenia at the beginning. This will
increase to 3 million cu. m per day later on, he added.

Payandan is the contractor assigned for Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
project.

Payvand, Iran
Dec 16 2006

Iran to start gas transfers to Armenia in Jan 2007

Tehran, Dec 16, IRNA-Iran is to begin piping gas to Armenia in
January 2007, the executor of the gas pipeline project of Iran’s Gas
Engineering and Development Company, Mohammad-Reza Lorzadeh, said on
Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, he said the pipeline will be inaugurated in
January 2007, putting into effect an agreement already reached
between Iranian and Armenian officials to reduce time needed for
implementation of the project from 930 days to 650 days.

He added that although the 650-day deadline has still to be reached,
the project is nearly 96 percent implemented.

He said the first shipment of the pipes imported for the project
arrived in Iran in September 2005.

The official placed the total value of the project at Rls 550-600
billion.

The pipeline agreement, signed between Armenia and the Iranian
company `Payandan’, stipulated that the project was to be implemented
on an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) basis, he said.

The agreement further stipulated that the gas pipeline was to be
implemented through two projects in Iran — the first requiring
construction of a pipeline from the northwestern city of Tabriz to
Aras River on the border of Iran and Armenia and the second
construction of a pipeline beneath the Aras River coastline.

He further said the pipeline would have a total length of 115
kilometers.

Completion of the project will enable Iran to export three million
cubic meters of gas to Armenia per day.

Lorzadeh said the project was aimed at opening a gateway for export
of Iranian gas to Europe.

Zaman, Turkey
Dec 16 2006

American Historian, Known for his Work on Ottomans, Dies
By Anadolu News Agency (AA), Ankara
Saturday, December 16, 2006
zaman.com

Known for his works on the field of Ottoman history, Prof. Stanford
Shaw died yesterday.

A statement made by the Turkish Academy of Science said that Shaw,
who was made an honorary member of the academy on Dec. 16, 2005, and
who was granted the `Medal and Certificate of Service’ in September
along with Prof. Halil Inalcik due to his contributions to Turkish
history passed away at the age of 76.

Shaw, the first historian to benefit from the Ottoman archives,
demonstrated that the Ottoman state granted the Jews who had been
oppressed in both Western and Eastern Europe the right to take refuge
in the Ottoman lands.

As a result, the Jews, who escaped the tyranny in Europe, helped the
Ottoman economy to develop and made contributions to the diplomatic
and cultural life of the Ottoman Empire.

In his 2000-page work on the Turkish War of Independence, Shaw talked
about how the Turks were able to get rid of the European exploitation
and economic hegemony partly due to Ataturk’s charismatic leadership
and partly because of the weakness of the Allies.

Shaw also underlines in the work that the Ottoman administrative
reforms of 1839 fell short of reaching success because it almost
completely imitated the Western institutions and when the reforms
were adapted to the Ottoman realities of the day, the modernization
efforts turned out to have long-lasting effects.

Professor Shaw, whose house was bombed in 1977 when he was working
for the University of California, had also proved the Armenian claims
of an alleged genocide wrong by presenting various documents from the
period.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Dec 16 2006

OIC SPOKESMAN CONDEMNS `REFERENDUM’ IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH
[December 16, 2006, 18:29:56]

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) does not recognize
results of the recent so-called constitutional referendum in
Nagorno-Karabakh, said the Organization’s spokesman, Ambassador Atta
El-Manane.

He noted the so-called `referendum’ gravely violates relevant norms
and principles of international law, and interferes with an ongoing
peace process.

`The Organization of the Islamic Conference once again strongly
condemns the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and urge
immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian
occupying forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan’, Atta
El-Manane said.

The spokesman stressed the OIC is well aware of the occupation and
ethnic cleansing carried out by the Armenian armed forces against
peaceful Azerbaijan population in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
other occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Atta El-Manane also said the OIC fully recognizes sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Iranian Students News Agency, ISNA, Iran
Dec 16 2006

Iran ready to export gas to Armenia by Feb. 2007 Service: Energy
ISNA – Tehran
Service: Energy

TEHRAN, Dec.16 (ISNA)-Iran is ready to export gas to Armenia in
January and February 2007 based on the 23 billion and 800 million
dollars worth Iran-Armenia gas pipeline construction contract.

"Although the domestic contract deadline between Iran’s national gas
company and the supervisor of the project was marked September 2007,
but after the protocol between Iranian and Armenian officials was
signed, the project period decreased from 930 to 650 days," stated
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline construction executive, Mohammad Reza
Lorzadeh.

"We have succeeded with an effort to decrease the project time up to
300 days and we shall have the experimental installation of gas
pipeline by January," he added while noting the conclusions of the
referred protocol.

He also informed that the gas export transfer would take place
through both land and water. Lorzadeh acknowledged that presently 113
km of the pipeline construction project from Tabriz to Nordouz
(before Iran-Armenia borderline) was covered through mountain
regions. He also said that constructing the pipeline under the Aras
River and stabilizing the borderline was another part of the project.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Dec 16 2006

AZERBAIJAN’S AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH CANADIAN MPS
[December 16, 2006, 16:33:11]

Fakhraddin Gurbanov, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Canada, has had
separate meetings with three members of the Canadian parliament.

At the meetings, ambassador told of the Azerbaijan’s active foreign
policy, participation in the global and regional organizations,
stressing the country’s policy is oriented towards building
democratic and legal society and developing the market economy. He
also touched upon the ongoing reforms, conditions created for
investments, economic projects, and development of the non-energy
sector.

Ambassador stressed that Azerbaijan is the world’s fastest growing
economy, and added that Azerbaijan’s geopolitical position and
opening its embassy in Canada will play a key role in developing
bilateral relations.

He updated Canadian parliamentarians on the fact that Armenia
occupied 20 percent of the country’s lands, history of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, its causes, stressing there are over a
million refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan.
Ambassador revealed Azerbaijan’s stance towards conflict resolution
process and briefed them on the process of talks.

Ambassador called on the Canadian MPs to join a newly formed
Canada-Azerbaijan interparliamentary friendship group.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 16 2006

Shahoglan Mirzayev, killed and wounded Armenians, to be pardoned

[ 16 Dec. 2006 15:09 ]

Shahoglan Mirzayev, 64, who is serving his sentence in the Prison #1,
has many times appealed to the President for a pardon.

The prisoner told an APA reporter that he was sentenced to 14 years
in jail for having killed two Armenians and wounded two.
He said he was attacked by Armenian nationals outside his house in
Novan settlement in 1993, and opened fire on them by his
fowling-piece.
He served ten years in Gobustan Jail, but sentenced additional three
years for prison riot. He has been served four years in Prison #1.
Now he is worried about his only daughter.
Mirzayev thinks his appeal didn’t reach the President.
`I would have been granted a presidential pardon, if my appeal had
been delivered to him. I was in prison or having killed
enemy-Armenians,’ he complained. /APA/

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 16 2006

Elmar Mammadyarov: Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity not discussed
as international community recognizes it

[ 16 Dec. 2006 13:03 ]

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev also reaffirmed that territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan is not a subject for discussion in the
settlement process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict as the international
community recognizes the territorial wholeness of Azerbaijan,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said, APA reports.

Commenting on Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan’s statement `Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity is not a subject for discussion’, Elmar
Mammadyarov said Nagorno Karabakh conflict can only be settled on the
basis of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
`That’s why Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is not a subject
matter for discussion in this process,’ underlined Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister.
Mr. Mammadyarov said the OSCE MG co-chairs informed Miguel Angel
Moratinos, Foreign Minister of new OSCE-chair Spain, of the ongoing
negotiations on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
He said the new OSCE Chairman-in-Office will pay a visit to
Azerbaijan next year.
`The exact date of the visit has not been fixed yet. Spanish embassy
will be opened in Azerbaijan during the visit,’ he underscored. /APA/