PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenia Suspended Gas Delivery to Georgia since May
01.12.2006 16:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Armenia has not exported energy to
Georgia since May 2006 over the rise in prices for
Russian gas,’ head of the department of tariff policy
at the commission for regulation of Armenian public
policies Armen Arshakyan said. In his words, as result
of double rise in prices for Russian gas in April 2006
(from $56 to $110 for 1 thousand cubic meters) the
energy processed at the Hrazdan and Yerevan heat power
plants cannot compete with Georgia’s inner tariffs.
The expert was earlier exercised by the International
Energy Corporation and ArmRosgazprom, reports newsarmenia.ru.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net

Photo Exhibition about Karabakh to Open in Washington
01.12.2006 17:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Shushi’s Teens With Cameras, a
Naregatsi Art Institute (NAI) children’s project,
based in Shushi, Karabakh, will have an exhibit
featuring photographs taken while traveling with the
Armenian American Health Association (AAHA) medical
mobile unit in the Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh
during August of 2006. The exhibit’s opening reception
will take place at the Health Association’s annual
Christmas event at the Armenian Embassy at 2225 R
Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C. on Saturday December
16th, 2006 at 7pm, reports MIRROR ON-LINE.

Armenpress

OSKANIAN SAYS NO IMPASSE IN KARABAKH TALKS

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: Foreign minister
Vartan Oskanian brushed aside today speculations that
the talks over the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict were at an impasse, describing the November
28 meeting of Armenian and Russian presidents in
Belarus as ‘positive and constructive."
Oskanian said the presidents, who met on the
sidelines of a CIS summit, centered on those issues
which are not yet solved. ‘Armenia would like the
presidents to reach a complete agreement on these
issues, but regretfully this is not the case yet and
there are disagreements both on basic principles and
details," Oskanian said.
He said the presidents will soon give clear
instructions and guidelines to their foreign ministers
to go on with the talks. Oskanian said there is a real
chance to break the impasse as the 2.5 page document
on the table is a rationale document which may offer a
fresh window of opportunity to resolve the conflict in
2007.
Oskanian then reiterated Armenia’s fundamental
position that the dispute must be settled only on the
basis of the principle of self-determination saying a
referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh could eliminate the
conflict between this and the other principle of
territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists must
be respected.
He also commented on Azerbaijani president Ilham
Aliyev’s remarks that the sides approached the final
stage of negotiations. "It is hard to say whether we
have indeed reached this point as there are still many
stumbling blocks, but if Mr. Aliyev thinks so then
Azerbaijan must agree to injecting the authorities of
Nagorno-Karabakh into the talks as the conflict cannot
be resolved without Karabakh participation in the
final stage," he said.

AZG Armenian Daily #231, 02/12/2006

Neighbors

EUROPEAN COMMISSION MAKES COURTESY TO TURKEY

European Commission Report Suggest Continuation of
Negotiations with Turkey

Recently Turkey has been involved in certain
international political processes of considerable
importance. After public insinuations as well as
violent protest demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara,
Izmir and other towns of Turkey, Pope Benedict XVI at
last arrives in Ankara on November 28. Prime Minister
of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having received the
Pope, hastily departs for Lithuania in order to take
part in NATO summit.

Meanwhile Turkey was refusing to dislocate its NATO
troops in Afghanistan and Prime Minister Erdogan was
having bilateral meetings with the heads of most
outstanding European states in Riga, The European
Commission made a decision of partial abeyance of the
negotiations with Turkey.

This decision will be considered by the EU Prime
Ministers Council on December 11, Brussels. Unless the
Prime Ministers come to consensus, the question of
EU-Turkey negotiations will be reconsidered on the
summit of December 14-15, 2006.

No details of the 8 articles of the European
Commission’s resolution are reported. Therefore it is
still unknown which spheres of negotiations will be
affected. Only one thing is certain – Prime Minister
of Finland Matti Vanhanen commenting on the resolution
said that he stands for continuing the negotiations on
Turkey’s EU membership. President of France Jacques
Chirac in connection with this issue said that the
partial abeyance of the talks was EU’s only choice.
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel expressed her
approval of the resolution and stressed that Turkey
must become a "privileged partner", but not member of
the European Union. Her opinion was supported by Prime
Minister of Denmark Anders Volk Rasmusen, while
British Prime Minister Tony Blare warned the public of
the possible negative consequences of halting the
negotiations with Turkey.

Certainly, Prime Minister Erdogan also responded to
the decision of the European Committee. Moreover,
according to the Turkish mass media sources, in the
end of the NATO Summit in Riga, Erdogan expressed
extreme indignation and anger about the decision and
stated that was unacceptable. While in the airport of
Ankara, Erdogan sharply changed his position.

According to the Turkish Public TV, Erdogan reminded
that the decision of the European Commission was no
obligatory, but a consultative one. He added: "I don’t
consider this decision may freeze the negotiations.
Only eight points were frozen. Moreover, it states
that no end of the negotiations was envisaged in none
of the 24 points of the decision. It means that no new
restrictions will be carried out and those implemented
will be annulled. The decision of the European
Commission is not negative. There is no need for harsh
response. We will consistently follow the path we have
picked up," Erdogan said.

Most likely, one should agree with Erdogan, in
particular, from the aspect of the November 8 report
on Turkey adopted by the European commission.
According to the report, till December 14-15 Summit,
Turkey has to open its airports and seaports to the
republic of Cyprus. At the same time, French Foreign
Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy stated that the EU
membership schedule will be reconsidered, if Turkey
doesn’t take any welcoming steps to the Republic of
Cyprus. On the contrary, the same decision taken by EU
is considered to be another version of continuing the
negotiations with Ankara within the framework of the
same structure. Thus, the report that sounded like an
ultimatum for turkey lost its force by the latest
decision taken by the European Commission.

How can we explain this contradiction? Certainly,
Turkey’s geographical position play’s quite an
important part in this issue. This factor makes EU
consider Turkey as a bridge for penetrating to the
Middle East and to Tran Caucasus and let it still
exist in the political arena. Perhaps, that’s why
Europe never treated Turkey as a stranger even before
the beginning of the negotiations for the membership
to the European Union. On the eve of the negotiations,
EU constantly creates preconditions for Turkey’s
membership, at the same time sparing no efforts to
preserve good relations with this country.

By Hakob Chakrian

A1+

«SOLUTION» TO THE KARABAKH CONFLICT HAS BEEN FOUND
[07:59 pm] 01 December, 2006

«THE CONFLICT CAN’T BE SETTLED WITHOUT THE
PARTICIPATION OF KARABAKH»

«The meeting has been constructive. The Presidents
have discussed issues which are by now not agreed
upon», said RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan about
the Minsk meeting of Kocharyan and Aliev.

Although the Minister did not speak about progress, he
mentioned, «The negotiations have not reached a dead
end. The Presidents will soon tell the Foreign
Ministers which issues to focus upon».

While the RA authorities kept silent, the Foreign
Minister of Azerbaijan gave an interview immediately
after the Minsk meeting and said that the position of
Azerbaijan has not been changed and they are ready to
give Karabakh the highest degree of sovereignty in
Azerbaijan. After the statement of the Azeri official
the optimism of Vardan Oskanyan was a bit troubling.

Referring to the statement of Elmar Mammadyarov that
there is only one issue left to agree upon, Mr.
Oskanyan said, «The position of the Armenian side has
not changed either. There is only one way to put
together the two contradicting principles – the
territorial integrity and right of self-determination
of nations. As the idea of a referendum has been
mentioned in this document, we think that the people
of Nagorno Karabakh can be given a chance to make
their choice – territorial integrity of Azerbaijan or
their self-determination. This is the only solution
and fortunately the elements of this solution have
been included in the document».

Mr. Oskanyan did not confirm the statement of Ilham
Aliev that the negotiations have entered the final
phase. «If we are in the final phase, then Karabakh
must join the negotiations. It is impossible to settle
the conflict without the participation of Karabakh».
The Foreign Minister claimed that the announcements by
Azerbaijan that a decision has been made to give the
seven liberated territories, do not correspond to
reality.

A1+

RUSSIA DOES NOT SPEAK ABOUT MURDERS OF ARMENIANS
OFFICIALLY
[04:54 pm] 01 December, 2006

According to official information of the RF, only
three Armenians have been killed in Russia – Vigen
Abrahamyants, Arthur Sardaryan and Narek Kocharyan.
Nevertheless, according to Simon Tsatouryan, the
President of the lawyers’ union «Lex», the real state
of things is different.

«I car crash took place in Moscow after which the
driver ran away. A dead body of an Armenian was found
in the boot of the car. Another case took place in a
bus where an Armenian asked not to kill him, but all
in vain… These kind of cases are not officially
recorded», said advocate Simon Tsatouryan.

He defends the rights of the successors of Narek
Kocharyan and Vigen Abrahamyants.

According to Simon Tsatouryan, those who killed them
are professional murderers who have been specially
trained, as the young people have been killed
professionally. `There are no ways to solve the
problem yet, but the phenomenon has a name –
nationalism. They are sick people, maniacs who aim at
intimidating people. One of them was a 17-year-old boy
who studied in the police college and whose father had
a high position in the Ministry of internal affairs.
The person who was to save the lives of people has
factually started to kill those very people’.

The advocate informed that the murderers kill people
not proceeding from their nationality. `They are
attracted by the complexion and traits of the person,
that is to say, those who are not Slavonic, be they
Azeris, Africans, Armenians, etc’, said Simon
Tsatouryan.

A1+

THE ISSUE OF MISSING PERSONS «HAS BECOME A TRADE»
[04:13 pm] 01 December, 2006

The country does nothing in order to clarify the
fates of the missing persons. Moreover, when their
families spare no effort in order to find their
relatives, the country hinders their work. This
statement was made Arthur Sakunts, the head of the
Helsinki Citizens Assembly of Vanadzor, during the
press conference titled `Issue of missing persons in
South Caucasus’.

`The families are given a piece of paper saying that
their son is missing in action. When they try to find
information, they fail. Finally they are forced to
turn to court in order to declare the person dead and
settle social problems’, the lawyer says.

According to the RA Defense Ministry, 213 soldiers are
missing in action after military operations. 130 of
them have already been declared dead by the court. «In
order to find the missing people we need to find out
where they were lost and how. Both Armenia and
Azerbaijan claim their missing soldiers are in the
other country», Arthur Sakunts noted. He thinks that
the two countries are «in a trade», as they assure
they will find the missing soldiers of the other as
soon as the other does the same.

In Georgia the number missing persons is 500, and in
Azerbaijan – 4998. «The Azeris were frank enough to
tell us that the number includes people who have not
participated in military operations but have died of
freezing, etc», Arthur Sakunts said.

On November 24-25 a regional conference has been held
in Vanadzor titled «Issues of missing persons in South
Caucasus». Representatives of Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Armenia and NKR participated in it. The participants
have worked out a joint statement to the heads of the
three countries and international organizations: the
UN, the EU, the OSCE, etc.

A1+

$5 MILLION LOAN FROM EBRD
[03:06 pm] 01 December, 2006

Micro and small enterprises in Armenia will benefit
from a $5 million loan the EBRD is providing to CJSC
Inecobank, a growing local bank with a strong business
focus.

In addition, the EBRD will also increase Inecobank’s
limit under the Trade Finance Programme to $1 million.

The EBRD loan will be used for on-lending to local
micro and small enterprises thus addressing a major
constraint for the growth of this segment of the
economy.

Inecobank and the EBRD have been partners since 2005
when the Armenian bank received a first $1 million
loan to expand its capacity to serve micro and small
enterprises. In the same year Inecobank also joined
the EBRD’s Trade Finance Programme which supports
trade to, from and within the Bank’s countries of
operations.

Panorama.am

20:05 01/12/06

PARTNERSHIP FOR OPEN SOCIETY INITIATIVE LAUNCHES DISCUSSION

About 60 public organizations and government
representatives participated in a discussion organized
by Partnership for Open Society imitative. All the
comparisons between Armenia and Europe brought to the
idea that Armenia is far from Europe.

The participants discussed seven topics, among them
human rights and basic freedoms; mass media and
freedom of speech, formation of information society;
combat against corruption; reforms in judicial system;
reforms in social system and comparison of the EU new
neighborhood plan with Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia.

Avet Ishkhanyan, head of Helsinki Committee of
Armenia, pointed out that violations of property
rights are among the basic violations of human rights
in Armenia. He pointed out that the law on alienation
of property for public and state needs has many errors
and does not comply with the international norms.

President of Yerevan Press Club, Boris Navasardyan,
complained about the composition of the National
Committee on TV and Radio. According to the
constitution, 50% of the committee is appointed by the
president of the republic and the remaining 50% is
appointed by the parliament where the issues are
solved by the ruling coalition. It turns out that all
political and public entities are not equally
represented in the committee. `This is against
European democratic norms,’ Navasardyan said.

Varujan Oktanyan, vice president of the Armenian
representation of Transparency International, said
Armenia ensures corresponding legal field but in real
life corruption risks are not down but go up.
/Panorama.am/

ABC News International
abcnews.go.com
Dec. 1, 2006

OPINION By MARK GERAGOS

After an initial foray into interfaith relations by inciting almost 2
billion Muslims with ill-advised references to the legacy of their prophet
Mohammed, Pope Benedict XVI leaves Turkey with the press hailing the visit a
success.

Much like the war in Iraq, however, defining the simple concept of "success"
has become increasingly like declaring "mission accomplished." Case in
point, the pope’s recent visit to Turkey.

Following the pontiff’s gaffe heard ’round the Muslim world, the fact that
larger protests and riots didn’t accompany his visit to Turkey must have
certainly elicited a collective sigh of relief from the Vatican and tempted
many prognosticators to proclaim the trip a success.

Perhaps prompted by a sense of relief and joy at not being embarrassed by a
rancorous reception upon his arrival to Turkey, the pontiff even took time
to don his political advisor cap and stump for Turkey’s admission into the
European Union.

Fortunately, the more discerning European nations see that issue in a
slightly different light and are waiting for Turkey to adopt something other
than medieval standards of justice before setting out the welcome mat.

Still, as the leading spiritual figure for Christians around the world, much
more is expected and required of the pope.

After all was said and done, and as the cameras rolled and the press
jockeyed to capture and transmit images of the pope being led on a tour of
Istanbul’s Blue Mosque by local Islamic and Christian leaders, the press
failed to capture the big, fat, noisy elephant parked squarely amidst this
assemblage – Turkey’s ongoing legacy of intolerance and oppression.

For too long, the various Christian and other minorities of Turkey have
silently suffered the suppression of their rights and the deliberate erosion
of their collective memories through the state sponsored destruction of
ancient churches and other historical monuments dating back almost two
millennia.

Mark Geragos is a lawyer who has represented former Rep. Gary Condit, former
first brother Roger Clinton, Academy award-winning actress Winona Ryder, pop
star Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson.

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