ERDOGAN WELCOMED POPE IN PERSON

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in the Turkish capital
of Ankara on his first visit to a predominantly Muslim country amid
very tight security measures. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, whose party has Islamic origins, welcomed the Pontiff soon
after he disembarked the plane. Erdogan and Pope Benedict then entered
the VIP Hall at the airport and had a brief meeting.

Five archbishops and five cardinals will accompany Benedict XVI during
the papal visit. The four-day visit to Turkey is his first one to
a predominantly Muslim country as Pope. He arrived in Turkey at the
invitation of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Thousands of law-enforcers
and snipers are invited to secure the Pope during his visit. Besides,
the authorities intend to use a false motorcade, which will move
in the city without the Pope. Authorities say nothing will threaten
the Pontiff.

Benedict XVI will be the second Pope visiting a mosque. Besides,
the Pontiff will meet with Muslim and Judaic leaders, as well as
heads of Christian communities of Turkey, reports BBC Russian service.

MOST TURKS AGREE TO RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA UNDER "CERTAIN CONDITIONS"

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The overwhelming majority of Turks have a positive
stance towards establishment of relations with neighboring Armenia, in
case the latter meets "certain conditions," returns of a sociological
survey in Turkey indicate. 82% of respondents out of 8 thousand 714,
questioned by Association for Struggle against Ungrounded Statements
on Genocide have a positive stance over establishment of relations
with Armenia, in case the latter meets "certain conditions." These
include refusal from "statements" on the Genocide, "apologizing to
Turkey for these statements." 53% of respondents listed a whole range
of preconditions, including "Armenians should apologize to Turks for
pogroms during WWI," "demolish" memorial to victims of the Armenian
Genocide in Yerevan, withdraw from Nagorno Karabakh.

16% of those questioned considered "breaking off relations
with the Armenian communities of Europe and US and refusal from
statements on the Genocide" sufficient. 18% of interviewees do
not wish establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey at
all. Meanwhile, the percentage of those willing to establish relations
without preconditions is not mentioned, reports RFE/RL.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN AIR COMPANIES AND LINERS NOT ON ICAO AND EU BLACK-LIST

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian air companies and liners are not on
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and EU black-list,
reported the Press Secretary of the Central Board of Civil Aviation
(CBCA) Gayane Davtyan. According to the ICAO annual list, made public
lately, the condition of Armenian airplanes is satisfactory. The
EU annually publishes the black-list of air companies. According to
the CBCA, at the moment 18 air carriers operate in Armenia, having
registered exploitation certificate, reports IA Regnum.

TALKS OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS START IN MINSK

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of Armenian and Azeri Presidents Robert
Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev within the process of settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict opened at the Russian Embassy in Minsk,
Spokesperson of the Russian President Victor Soghomonyan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. OSCE Chairman-in-Office Karel de Gucht,
OSCE MG co-chairs, Russian, Armenian and Azeri FMs Lavrov, Oskanian
and Mammadyarov are also present at the meeting. After the meeting
in wider composition, Kocharian and Aliyev will meet tete-a-tete.

KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV MEETING WITHOUT COMMENT
By Aghavni Harutyunian in Minsk

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

As it was expected, RA President Robert Kocharian met yesterday his
Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev within the framework of the CIS
summit in Minsk. This was the third meeting this year. Kocharian
and Aliyev did not take part in the press conference following
the summit, as they were scheduled to meet at the Russian Embassy
to Belarus. The presidents together with their foreign ministers
Oskanian and Mamedyarov first met OSCE Minsk group co-chairs Yuri
Merzlyakov, Matthew Bryza and Bernard Fassier as well as OSCE
Chairman-in-Office and Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht and
his special representative Andrzej Kasprzyk. Afterwards, in accordance
with general meeting format, Kocharian and Aliyev behind-closed-doors
meeting lasting two and a half hours took place. Kocharian left
for Yerevan right after the meeting yesterday. In essence, it is
impossible to assess in any way the productivity of the presidents’
meeting, as the results of the negotiations remained as covered by
fog as was Minsk yesterday.

OSKANIAN TO VISIT BRUSSELS, STRASBURG, PARIS AND IRAN IN DECEMBER
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

Foreign Ministry’s Press Center informs that Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian will leave for Brussels to be present at the sitting of
the OSCE Foreign Ministers’ Council to be held on 4-5 Dec. It is
foreseen that he will meet EC General Secretary Terry Davis and other
EC high-ranking officials.

The Minister will be back to Brussels on 7th Dec. to meet the NATO
General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

The next day Oskanian will visit Paris and will participate in the
arrangements dedicated to the Armenian General Benevolent Union’s
100th anniversary.

The Minister’s December visit will be concluded by his Iranian visit
on 17th Dec.

82 OF 100 TURKS CONSIDER POSSIBLE STARTING RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

"82 of 100 Turks consider possible starting relations with Armenia"
– a headline by the Turkish "Milliet" newspaper announced about a
survey organized by the "Union Against Inconsistent Allegations of
Genocide" organization in Istanbul, Ankara and Erzrum. 8714 people
were questioned by the surveyors.

Thus, 16% of the questioned demanded Armenia to stop the relations
with the Armenian Diaspora of Europe and USA and cease demanding
recognition of the Genocide as a precondition for starting relations
with Armenia. 6% found that it would be enough if the Armenians
express their regret about the massacres of the Turkish people in the
Years of the World War I, 5% found necessary to destroy the memorial
of the Genocide in Yerevan and remove the claims of "Turkish people
and Turkish territories" from the Constitution of Armenia. Only 2%
of the questioned considered withdrawal of the Armenian military
forces from the "occupied lands of Karabakh" as a precondition. 568
Turkish citizens, which is 18% of the survey participants said that
no relations must be established with Armenia in any case.

Organizer of the survey, president of the aforementioned union
Dr. Savas Ezilmez concluded that most of the Turks are willing
to establish relations with Armenia under certain preconditions,
in despite of the massacres and terrorism acts perpetrated by the
Armenians. "The survey displayed the historical magnanimity of our
people," he said. "Milliet" also informs that the results of the survey
were represented to the presidents and diplomatic representations of
all countries by the initiative of Mr. Robert Kopcharian, President
of RA.

USA LEAVES GEORGIA TO DEPEND ON RUSSIAN GAS
By Aghavni Harutyunian

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

The strategic cooperation between Iran and Georgia around the
gas supply issues is not acceptable for Washington. John Tefft,
US Ambassador to Georgia, said this in the interview to "Kviris
Palitra" Georgian newspaper. According to him, already on November
17, the statement made by Matthew Bryza, US Co-Chair of the OSCE
Minsk group, was misinterpreted. In particular, Bryza said that "The
relations between USA and Georgia are so strong that such an issue
(meaning the Iranian gas supply issue)m may have no negative impact on
these relations. USA welcomes the efforts taken by Georgia to secure
diversity in its energy market."

According to Mr. Ambassador, the USA realized that last winter as
a result of the explosion on the gas pipeline, Georgia was left
without gas and the population of the country faced the danger of
being frozen. At the same time, he added that "long term strategic
cooperation between Georgia and Iran is not acceptable for USA. On one
hand, this position is conditioned by the UN formula, on the other
hand by Iran’s activities directed to creation of nuclear weapon,
the US Ambassador to Georgia, stated.

ON DECEMBER 7, UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO DISCUSS DRAFT ON ‘FROZEN CONFLICTS’

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

On December 7, the UN General Assembly is going to discuss the draft
resolution "on frozen conflicts," that also includes the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, the acting press-secretary of RA FM, Vladimir
Karapetian, informed about this. It’s worth mentioning that GUAM
(Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) has left the above-mentioned
issue discussion initiative in September, 2006. Earlier, V. Karapetian
stated that the Armenian side takes an active part in the elaboration
of the text of the bill "on frozen conflicts". He emphasized
that the Armenian side participates in all the draft resolutions,
related to the region, as well as in various issues of international
importance. He said that the Armenian side will naturally participate
in the discussions of "frozen" conflicts, initiated by the GUAM
member-countries. Besides, Mr. Karapetian reminded that the RA FM
considers this initiative of GUAM unacceptable and unjustified for
Armenia. He expressed confidence that the conflicts are different
and they are to be studied from the viewpoint of their specific
character. He also said that from this aspect, it is still unclear
for Armenia how can four different conflicts be united and considered
in one draft resolution.

THE SYSTEM MUST BE EREDICATED

A1+
[04:18 pm] 28 November, 2006

"None of the Armenian residents believes that the upcoming elections
will be free, fair and transparent as nothing has changed. The
situation is the same; no one has been punished; the confidence
towards the authorities was not regained", Vazgen Manoukyan, leader
of National Democratic Union, announced in Pastark Club today.

"When the authorities claim that the elections will be fair it means
that the election frauds will not be so much apparent. The authorities
have already proved that no one can win them.

The task of the Opposition must be the combat against the existing
system, against the Kocharyan-Sargsyan alliance, "the whole system
must be eradicated". Mr. Manoukyan finds his participation in
the forthcoming elections senseless if nothing changes. Certain
oppositional forces might have separate seats in the parliament but
this will bring no serious changes for the country.

"The Opposition was taught a good lesson during the fabricated
referendum a year ago", said Vazgen Manoukyan in answer to our question
whether the Opposition gained anything from the 2006 Constitution
referendum and in connection with the failure of the actions of
the Opposition.

Vazgen Manoukyan represented his opinion on this score. "Taking
into consideration the fact that 80 – 90 percent of the public were
inclined to boycott the referendum, it was useless going to marzes and
organizing rallies. They should have supported the boycott instead".

Vazgen Manoukyan claims that the Opposition lacks organisational
skills. Of course, they face financial problems as well but they
don’t treat the organizational work seriously.

Asked the question by A1+ why the Opposition doesn’t unite instead
of dividing their resources, Mr. Manoukyan noted that the power is a
huge pyramid, a state body, arranged by the current authorities and
it is very difficult to form a contradicting pyramid.

By the way, Mr. Manoukyan is ready the join other forces with the
same ideology in the foreign policy and the Karabakh issue.

As for the movement initiated by Raffi Hovannisian and Vazgen
Manoukyan, he claims that it is an alliance welcomes everyone
struggling for just, free and transparent elections. The alliance is
aimed at establishing the country of law, at protecting human rights
so that people might be able to change the power via elections.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress