IMF: IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD COMPLETES THIRD REVIEW UNDER PRGF ARRANGEMENT FOR ARMENIA AND APPROVES US$4.9 MILLION DISBURSEMENT
International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Nov 23 2006
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has
completed the third review of the Republic of Armenia’s economic
performance under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)
arrangement.
The completion of the review enables Armenia to draw an amount
equivalent to SDR 3.28 million (about US$4.9 million), which will
bring total disbursements under the arrangement to the equivalent of
SDR 13.12 million (about US$19.5 million).
The Executive Board approved the three-year arrangement on May 25,
2005 (see Press Release No. 05/123) for a total amount equivalent to
SDR 23 million (about US$34.3 million) to support the government’s
economic program through 2008.
Following the Executive Board discussion, Mr. Takatoshi Kato, Deputy
Managing Director and Acting Chair, said:
“Armenia’s economy continues to perform well under its PRGF-supported
program. Prudent fiscal and monetary policies, large external inflows,
and ongoing structural reforms have contributed to double-digit
growth in a low inflation environment and to a sustained reduction
in poverty and unemployment. There has been impressive progress in
the areas of fiscal and financial sector reforms, including through
improved tax administration, strengthened prudential regulations and
oversight of the financial sector, and improved corporate governance
of banks. Looking ahead, the focus of the authorities’ policy will
be to manage the macroeconomic impact of continued large capital
inflows, and to boost tax revenue to finance expenditure increases
in infrastructure and social services.
“The authorities’ economic program for the remainder of 2006 and 2007
focuses on limiting inflationary pressures, maintaining a flexible
exchange rate arrangement, and improving tax revenue performance. The
draft 2007 budget is compatible with macroeconomic stability and
envisages a significant increase in tax revenues, which will be needed
to finance priority expenditures in infrastructure and social services.
“Continued fiscal and financial sector reforms remain key to sustaining
growth and reducing poverty. In the fiscal area, the authorities’
reform efforts will focus on broadening the tax base by reducing
exemptions and loopholes and on improving the predictability and
efficiency of tax administration. In the financial sector, reforms
in the period ahead will focus on improving corporate governance,
strengthening regulation and supervision, and deepening financial
intermediation, including through the development of the nonbank
financial sector,” Mr. Kato said.
Contact: -MF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT Public Affairs Media
Relations Phone: 202-623-7300 Phone: 202-623-7100 Fax: 202-623-6278
Fax: 202-623-6772

ITO REPROACHES FRENCH DEPUTIES OVER ARMENIAN BILL
Turkish Press
Nov 23 2006
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) Executive Board Chairman Murat
Yalcintas said yesterday that the French Parliament’s recent passage
of a bill criminalizing denial of the so-called Armenian genocide was
regrettable. The ITO organized a meeting bringing together the heads
of French firms in Turkey and members of the chamber with the aim
of developing ties between the two countries. French Ambassador Paul
Poudade also attended the gathering. Stressing that the recent move
had badly affected both political and business relations, Yalcintas
condemned France, saying that the country favored daily concerns over
deeply rooted historical ties. He added that the French Parliament’s
decision had disappointed the Turkish people, and called on French
allies to stop the bill. The French ambassador, for his part, said
that the bill would not go into force.

EXPERT FLIES INTO A ROW OVER DEATHS
Michael Blackley
Scotsman, United Kingdom
Nov 23 2006
A TURKISH professor has made a 3500-mile round-trip to Edinburgh
to criticise the city council for getting involved in a historical
argument concerning his home country.
Last year, the city council passed a motion regarding the deaths
of up to 1.5 million Armenians during the First World War that said
“it was indeed genocide”.
But the topic has been the subject of international debate and the
Turkish prime minister recently called for an impartial inquiry into
the deaths.
Now Turkkaya Ataov, a professor of international relations at the
University of Ankara in Turkey, has travelled to Edinburgh for a
10-minute appearance at the City Chambers to tell councillors they
were wrong to pass the motion.
If you have a view on this or any other subject, let us know. Tel:
0131 620 8747 Email: [email protected] Professor Ataov,
a recipient of the golden honorary medal from Austria-based peace
group the International Progress Organization last year, said:
“If a representative political body passes judgements on the basis
of one-sided and perpetrated Armenian arguments, not only is such a
pursuit beyond its expertise, but also such prejudiced arguments may
well be unsustainable in the light of objective scholarship.
“The only appropriate alternative is to leave the matter to the free
discussion of academics, who possess adequate expertise in related
disciplines.”
Around 25 people connected to the British Citizens Proclamation of
Turkish Rights (CPTR) group were expected to pack the City Chambers
public gallery this morning to hear Prof Ataov’s speech.
Last August, the council passed a motion put forward by then city
leader Donald Anderson recognising that the Turkish campaign against
the Armenians in 1915 “was indeed genocide”.
But the decision resulted in more than 1500 protest e-mails from
Turkish people in Edinburgh and all around the world who were angry
at the decision.
A new motion, presented by the city’s licensing leader Councillor Phil
Attridge, says that the council should instead support the views of
the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who wants an international
commission set up to carry out an independent investigation into the
alleged genocide.
If approved, it would in effect reverse last year’s decision to class
the historical incident as genocide.
Councillor Attridge, a member of the ruling Labour group, said:
“I opposed it at the time because we shouldn’t have anything to do
with something like that. We’re weren’t competent enough on that to
make a decision – we’re only a town council and this was 100 years
ago. It was out of order.”
Cemal Ozturk, a member of the CPTR, said: “This issue has got nothing
to do with a city council. Why are they wasting taxpayers money
debating issues that are none of their business?
“It’s like Ankara’s council talking about the McDonalds and Campbells.”
~U The Armenian Genocide – also known as the Armenian Holocaust or
the Great Calamity – refers to the forced mass evacuation of Armenians
from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917.
Between 500,000 and 1.5 million people died during the campaign by
the Young Turks government, although Turkey and many countries –
including the UK – today reject the label genocide.
Turkish historians claim the deaths were a result of inter-ethnic
strife, disease and famine, triggered by the First World War.
However, 21 governments recognise the massacres as the first
state-sponsored.

AN UNWANTED VISIT?
By Semih Idiz
Anatolian Times, Turkey
Nov 23 2006
MILLIYET- It seems that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Turkey will be
troubled, and the government is experiencing uneasy days due to this
visit. Some people say that it comes from the Justice and Development
Party’s (AKP) unhappiness with this visit. According to the latest
news, negative interpretations in the West of this situation caused
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to belatedly schedule a meeting
with him during the visit. But it’s not certain if this will happen
or not. We can see the visit is worrying the government as well. The
main reason for this is the pope’s visit to Patriarch Bartholomeos.
If the state could, it would block the visit. But it can’t. The reason
is very clear: The whole world will pay attention to this visit. Ankara
knows that such an action would damage Turkey’s international image and
so would be more serious than the drawbacks of the pope-Bartholomeos
meeting. So why is the visit being paid?
Firstly, let me remind you of something. The pope was supposed to come
to Turkey last year at Bartholomeos’ invitation for St. Andreas day,
the holiest day of the Orthodox church. As the head of the Catholic
world, his aim was to meet with ‘ecumenical’ leaders of the Greek
Orthodox world and continue the process of rapprochement between the
Eastern and Western churches.
Meanwhile, although we say the opposite, the world considers Patriarch
Bartholomeos to be the ecumenical leader of the Greek Orthodox
Church. Ankara, which was disturbed that Bartholomeos invited the
pope, sent a state invitation on behalf of Turkey to the pope. As he
wouldn’t be able to reject the state’s invitation, the pope accepted
it but postponed his meeting with Bartholomeos. In other words,
Ankara faced a visit that it never wanted. Meanwhile, new dynamics
emerged and this visit started to gain new meanings. The pope opened
his mouth and enraged the Muslim world. Erdogan himself made some
of the harshest criticisms. So the pope’s visit to Turkey took on
a meaning of ‘creating consensus between civilizations.’ However,
for that the pope shouldn’t be meeting with President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer, but Erdogan, who is considered the ‘leading Muslim politician
in Europe,’ so that it would be meaningful. If Turkey had been a
normal country, the pope would have been received at the Presidential
Palace in Cankaya, and Erdogan, the Religious Affairs Directorate
head, the Greek and Armenian patriarchs and the Jewish chief rabbi
would have been invited to the banquet given in his honor. This way
Turkey’s secular character would have been emphasized and it would
have promoted interfaith tolerance. But since this didn’t happen, now I
can only hope Ankara will come through this visit without any problems.

GIVING INDEPENDENCE STATUS TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH IS IMPOSSIBLE – AZERI PRESIDENT
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 23 2006
Giving independence status to Nagorno-Karabakh is impossible, the
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated in an interview with the
Abu Dhabi television,Trend reports.
“Armenia wants independence for Nagorno-Karabakh. It is impossible.
Azerbaijan will never accept it. We may present autonomy status to
them,” the President said.
Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan tries to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict peacefully. “If the Armenians want to achieve the solution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and live in safe environment, then
they should fulfill 4 Resolutions of the U.N. Security Council,”
Aliyev said.
We support the peaceful solution of the conflict, Aliyev said, adding
that at the same time, “Azerbaijan established strong economy, army
and should be ready to release the occupied lands. It is our legal
right”, Mr. President Said.

AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN LEADERS AGREE TO BILATERAL MEETING TO DISCUSS KARABAKH PROBLEM
The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
Nov 23 2006
BAKU, Azerbaijan: The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed
to hold a bilateral meeting aimed at resolving the simmering conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, officials said Thursday.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region in Azerbaijan that has been
under the control of Armenian and ethnic-Armenian Karabakh forces
since a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year separatist war that killed
about 30,000 people and drove about 1 million from their homes.
The region’s final status remains unresolved, and years of talks
under the auspices of international mediators have brought few
visible results.
President Ilham Aliev’s press service said Thursday he has agreed to
meet with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian on the sidelines
of a Tuesday summit of ex-Soviet republics in Minsk, Belarus.
Earlier this week, Russian officials involved in mediating the conflict
said Kocharian had also agreed to meet.
Both leaders last held bilateral talks in June and the meeting failed
to produced a breakthrough.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FUNDING FOCUS – CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION
Young People Now
November 22, 2006
What’s it all about? The UK branch of this major Anglo-Portuguese
Trust, now entering its 51st year, has announced its four themes for
2007. Calouste Gulbenkian, by the way, was an Armenian Turk who made
money in the oil industry, before retiring to Portugal in the 1940s.
What does it fund? In 2007, the four priority areas are arts,
education, social change and welfare and Anglo-Portuguese cultural
relations. Under the education theme, there will be specific support
for youth organisations wishing to initiate projects aimed at fostering
better relations between young people from different cultures and
faiths. Other priorities include citizenship work in secondary schools,
by schools or partner bodies, that promotes understanding and empathy
between students of different cultural backgrounds. The arts programme
is mainly for professional artists or organisations doing innovative
and experimental work in public spaces. The social welfare programme
will support ‘radical, experimental but well thought through’
projects promoting financial inclusion, environmental awareness
among disadvantaged groups and supporting older people in their
communities. Check the ‘advice to applicants’ leaflet – there is a
long list of things the foundation won’t support, including building
work, drug or alcohol work, sport, conferences or religious activities.
Who can apply? Generally, it funds proposals from ‘charities or
otherwise tax-exempt’ groups. As a rule, the foundation supports
projects that are original in their field and favours those outside
London.
How much is available? There is a notional limit of pounds 15,000.
Application process: Trustees meet to consider proposals three times
a year in March, July and November. Grant proposals will need to be
submitted at least two months in advance of each meeting. There is
no standard application form so apply in writing – ‘succinctness is
welcomed’ – to Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch, 98 Portland
Place, WIB 1ET. Full details of eligibility and application procedures
are available on

ISTANBUL TRADE CHAMBER, FRENCH ENVOY MEET TO BOOST TIES
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 20 2006
Istanbul, 20 November: A consultation meeting on boosting relations
between Turkey and France was held by Istanbul Chamber of Trade (ITO)
on Monday [20 November].
French Ambassador to Turkey Paul Poudade, representatives of French
companies in Turkey and ITO members attended the meeting.
ITO Executive Board Chairman Murat Yalcintas said: “We feel sad over
the decision of French National Assembly on the bill criminalizing
denial of so-called Armenian genocide. Not politicians, but historians
should write the history.”
Stating that this bill harmed relations between Turkey and France,
Yalcintas noted that they held this meeting to boost economic,
cultural and friendly relations between the two countries.
On the other hand, Poudade noted that there were deep-rooted and
significant relations between Turkey and France.
Recalling that Turkish and French authorities aimed to increase
trade volume to 15bn euros in three years, Poudade underlined that
commercial relations and mutual investment should be continued.
Poudade stressed that the mentioned bill would not be approved, because
the (French) parliament would recess till the presidential election.
Stating that Turkey’s EU accession negotiations should continue,
Poudade noted that Europe could establish dialogue with Islam countries
through Turkey.
Poudade stressed that if Turkey joined the EU, problems in the Middle
East would be minimized.

RUSSIAN BUSINESSMEN TO FUND ELECTION CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA
by Tagui Tovmasyan
Iravunk, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
“Russian businessmen will give money to the RPA”
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has recently received a delegation
of 20 Russian businessmen of Armenian origin. The official press
release did not say why they came to Armenia, but it “smells” of
preparation for the forthcoming [parliamentary] election.
In fact, they were invited to Armenia by Samvel Karapetyan, a
well-known businessman in Russia. His brother Karen Karapetyan is
the leader of the People’s Deputy [parliamentary] group. Let us
recall that the leader of the faction said in April that if they
decide to set up a party, about 50 businessmen in CIS [Commonwealth
of Independent States] countries will support them.
But since Karen Karapetyan is a member of the Republican Party of
Armenia, it is not hard to guess that those businessmen will lend at
least partial support to the RPA. Incidentally the businessmen also
had a separate meeting with Serzh Sarkisyan, the defence minister
and chairman of the RPA board. According to some reports, the “super
minister” had to find a pretext to organize the meeting.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS OSCE MEDIATORS
Mediamax, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
Yerevan, 21 November: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan met the
Russian and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagornyy
Karabakh in Yerevan today.
The mediators are not going to hold a news conference on the result
of their visit to Yerevan, Mediamax reports.
The mediators will meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku
on 22 November.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress