FRANCE INTERESTED IN CONCESSION MANAGEMENT OF ARMENIAN RAILWAYS
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.11.2006 16:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ France can participate in the tender on concession
management of the Armenian Railways, French Minister of Transport
Dominique Perben said during an Armenian-French business forum held
in the Parisian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reported the press
office of the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development. The
business forum was initiated by the Parisian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry and the Armenian Embassy in Paris with a purpose to represent
the Armenian economic line and attraction of French capital. The
Armenian delegation was lead by RA Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development Karen Chshmarityan.

12 ETHNIC TURKS RUN FOR DUTCH PARLIAMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.11.2006 16:46 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Twelve candidates of Turkish origin from
seven different parties will run in the upcoming elections in the
Netherlands, where three Turkish candidates were expelled from their
parties due to their refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Approximately 12 million Dutch will vote for 150 members of the chamber
of deputies on Wednesday. None of the 26 parties is expected to win
the majority of the votes. The struggle is anticipated to be between
the rightist Christian Democrats (CDA) and the main opposition Labor
Party (PvdA). Only three of the 12 Turks can directly be elected and
the possibility of election for the other candidates is up to the
number of the votes. The previous expulsion of Turkish candidates
leads to presumptions that most of the Turkish origin people living
in the EU member country will cast their votes for Fatma Koser who is
running from D’66. She might even become a minister if the predicted
happens. More than 250,000 of the Turkish citizens in the country
have double citizenship and approximately two thirds can vote. There
are still several Turkish MPs in the Dutch parliament, reports Cihan
News Agency.

REPORT ON COMMONWEALTH REFORMATION SENT TO CIS LEADERS
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.11.2006 17:22 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The report on the Commonwealth reformation organized
by the High Level Group (HLG) was sent to the leaders of the CIS member
states, first deputy of the chairman of the CIS Executive Committee
Vladimir Garkun told a news conference November 22. In his words, the
HLG dedicated 6 meetings in Minsk and 1 in Moscow to the elaboration
of the document. The information is closed for journalists although
it’s not marked as secret. The report will be discussed during the
CIS summit in Minsk after a preliminary consideration by the Council
of Foreign Ministers. Garkun also informed that some 1000 officials
will arrive in Minsk November 24-28 and voiced assurance that the
CIS leaders are wise enough to maintain and develop the Commonwealth,
reported IA Regnum.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE HELPED TURKEY TO BECOME A STATE
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.11.2006 14:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey became a state after the Armenian Genocide
and that is why in case of its acknowledgement this state will stop
existing, ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Office Director Kiro
Manoian said in Yerevan today. In his words, with ‘cleaning’ Anatolia
from Armenians Turks managed to form a state and now are trying to
gain a foothold.
“Over this very reason – but not out of fear of moral and material
compensations Armenia can claim – Turkey does not recognize the
Genocide,” he remarked.
Manoian also said that recent proposal of the Turkish MFA to appeal to
international court will yield no result. “Turkey is going to appeal
not to the International Tribunal but to the International Court of
Justice that gives a historical assessment of the events. Thus, the
Turkish Foreign Ministry wished to reduce the Armenian Genocide issue
to historical assessment,” he underscored. At that he remarked that not
all Turkish diplomats share the opinion of Abdullah Gul. “Ambassadors
in European states call to restraint while diplomats supporting
Gunduz Aktan urge to appeal not to the Court of Justice but to the
International Tribunal,” Manoian said.
As for the position of the Armenian side, Manoian considers that
Armenia should not appeal to international instances for confirmation
of the fact of Genocide of 1915. “Court in not needed for talking
about history. If Armenia turns to court it will mean that it agrees
with the Turkish viewpoint,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY RESISTS EU DEMAND CONCERNING CYPRUS
By Hakob Chakrian
AZG Armenian Daily
23/11/2006
Finland, country in chair of EU, demands that Turkey should open
its seaports and airports to the Republic of Cyprus till December 6,
2006. The leading European mass media consider the requirement as an
ultimatum, Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign
minister Abdullah Gul responded to the above demand with resistance
promises.
The Turkish Public TV informed that Gul and Erdogan discussed the issue
at the parliament with state minister and negotiator Ali Babajan. In
the beginning of the discussion, Erdogan stated in response to the
journalists’ questions that their position is clear.
“When the requirements are unacceptable, we will not meet them,”
he said.
Gul added that such issues shouldn’t be settled by means of deadlines
and blackmail.
“Turkey met the commitments of the EU and its high time for EU to keep
the promise given to the Turks of Cyprus. Thus, the issues in this
direction are still being elaborated and we still have much time,”
he underscored.

ISRAELI THROW STONES ON UN COMMISSIONER
By Hakob Chakrian
AZG Armenian Daily
23/11/2006
The Israelis attacked Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, in Sderot city on borderline of Gaza, Palestine. Arbour arrived
in Sderot to study on the ground the harm made by the rockets shot
from Palestine. The local residents met her with acts of protest and
threw stones on her car.
Informing about this in its November 22 issue, the Turkish “Yeni
Saraf” newspaper added that the day before in the course of her visit
to Beyt Hanun city, in Gaza, Palestine, she assured the citizens of
the city who lost 20 civilians as a result of the Israeli attack that
“the world will not abandon them.”

AZERI LEADER AGREES TO MEET ARMENIAN COUNTERPART IN BELARUS
Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 22 2006
Baku, 22 November: At today’s meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev consented to a meeting
with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on the fringes of a CIS summit
[in Minsk], an informed diplomatic source has told Turan. The meeting
will take place on 28 November.
The Armenian president has also agreed to meet Aliyev, Armenian
sources said today.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WE NEED TO APPROACH KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV MEETING WITH CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
By Marietta Khachatrian
AZG Armenian Daily
23/11/2006
Parliament Speaker of Nagorno Karabakh Thinks
On October 21, a sitting of Armenia-NKR interparliamentary commission
took place at the National Assembly, after which speakers Tigran
Torosian and Ashot Ghulian said that the discussions during the
sitting were useful and productive. The next sitting is due to
take place in Stepanakert in spring. The most urgent issue on the
agenda of the Yerevan sitting was regulation of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Discussion of this issue was held behind the closed doors
thus exciting journalists’ curiosity.
Asked whether the principles on the table of negotiations are
acceptable and what’s Mr. Ghulian’s attitude to statements that the
Armenian side is ready to hand over 6 liberated territories and keep
negotiating over Lachin. In Ashot Ghulian’s words, there was no such
statement; the principals include all issues that suggest an all-round
solution but it’s hard to say more about the any of the principles
as the process is under the wraps.
Speaking about expectations from the upcoming Kocharian-Aliyev meeting,
Mr. Ghulian said that every meeting of the presidents was preceded by
both optimistic and pessimistic forecasts. In this sense there is hope
in the upcoming meeting, too, but in view of the recent developments
one needs to approach Kocharian-Aliyev meeting with cautious optimism.
Tigran Torosian, on his part, does not have great expectations
as many factors display Azerbaijan’s real stance in conflict
regulation. “If a country keeps on preaching hatred and does not give
up military rhetoric, I don’t think that it is ready for conflict
regulation. Besides, we have witnessed that behind the closed doors
the Azeris give their consent to different approaches but as soon as
the process gradually becomes public they reject these approaches.
Given this situation, even a tiny progress can be considered a
success. But I am sure there will be no final clarification.”
Asked by daily Azg when the time will ripe for Nagorno Karabakh to
join the talks process, Ashot Ghulian said: “When Azerbaijan really
becomes mature enough for settlement not only in terms of political
will and not mere desire, will Nagorno Karabakh join the talks.
Karabakh’s participation cannot be an end in itself.
That is we should not simply take part in the talks to say that
Karabakh is also a side in the negotiations…
Today’s situation stems from Azerbaijan’s pretensions.
Karabakh will surely become a side in the talks at some point in time,
and that will show that the talks process have entered a practical
stage of regulation.”

NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING ARMENIA TO INCREASE BY 20% AMOUNTING TO 380,000 BY END, 2006
By Ara Martirosian
AZG Armenian Daily
23/11/2006
The number of tourists, visiting Armenia per year, will increase by
18-20% and amount to 370,000-380,000 by the end, 2006, as compared
with the data of the same period in 2005, Ara Petrosian, RA deputy
minister of trade and economic development, said at a press conference.
He said that 272,000 tourists have visited the country for Jan-Sep,
2006, against 230,000 for the same period in 2005. Petrosian
noted the inflow of tourists within the next 4-5 years will grow by
20-25%. Meanwhile, according to Petrosian forecasts, 500,000 tourists
will visit Armenia in already 2-3 years. He said that activation
of the inner tourism for the last years is conditioned by several
factors, in particular, the development of tourism infrastructures,
increase of the level of services, rendered to the tourists. From
this viewpoint, Petrosian noted that if there were 2 hotels with
international standards in the country 7-8 years ago, this indicator
grew to 20, at present.
Besdies, he informed that 5 new hotel objects have opened in
Armenia within this year, in particular, in Yerevan, as well as in
such towns as Goris, Tsakhkadzor and Sevan. Moreover, Information
Center for Tourism functions in Dilijan since November 14 within
the framework of the USAID program “Competitive Armenian Private
Sector”. A. Petrosian underlined that correct presentation of the
country’s tourist potential in the international market by means of
participation in tourist exhibitions, advertising also contributes
to the development of Armenia’s home tourism. He emphasized that
the American CNN is broadcasting the country’s tourism by means of
2 advertising spots since September 2006.

DISABILITY WAS A “SHAME” IN THE REGIONS
A1+
[05:57 pm] 22 November, 2006
According to statistics, Tavoush region has the highest number of
disabled people in Armenia.
Nevertheless, the results were concluded in 2002; and there have been
no investigations since.
The reasons of disability are health problems, especially those caused
during birth. “The girls of this generation were born during the war
years which has had its influence. There are many cases of Cesarean
section. The residents of Ijevan have the problem of malnutrition of
future mothers too.
Besides, there are few qualified doctors”, says Marine Khakhanyan,
psychologist-pedagogue of the Ijevan special school.
There are special schools in four centers of the region – Berd,
Noyemberyan, Dilijan and Ijevan. More than 300 children with special
needs attend those schools. The centers were founded by NGO “Bridge
of Hope”.
First the centers had difficulty in finding disabled children, as
many parents were ashamed even to walk in the yard with their disables
children. “Often the neighbors did not know that there is a disabled
child living next door. It was difficult to persuade the parents
to bring their children to the school. Today we have many pupils
who become more unrestrained and reveal their talents. During the
past three years about 150 pupils started to attend common schools”,
says Artashes Amiryan, manager of the Ijevan regional department of
“Bridge of Hope”.
The Ijevan special school is located in a kindergarten building. The
municipality has given the building to the NGO free of charge for 99
years. 3-25-year-old about 85 children with special needs come to
the center five days a week. They play, draw, sing and participate
in the meetings of the debate club. They also participate in courses
of rhetoric. Alongside with the conditions created for the disabled
children, the center has one problem – that of heating. The center
is heated with gas stoves which are not enough for the building,
not to mention the dangers they cause.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress