COURIC SLIPS TO THIRD PLACE
By Jacques Steinberg
The New York Times
Published: September 13, 2006
On the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
more evening news viewers chose to watch “NBC Nightly News With
Brian Williams” than the broadcasts of his two main competitors,
Charles Gibson on ABC and Katie Couric on CBS, according to
preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research released yesterday
by the networks. Mr. Williams’s program drew an estimated 8.3 million
viewers, more than the estimated 7.9 million who watched “World News”
with Mr. Gibson, and the estimated 7.5 million who saw Ms. Couric,
on her fifth night. All three programs were pre-empted in some parts
of the West Coast on Monday by President Bush’s address, and yet
Mr. Williams’s audience was still bigger than the average number
he drew last week (about 7.1 million a night), as was Mr. Gibson’s
(6.9 million a night). Ms. Couric, who easily won the ratings race
last week with an average of 10.2 million viewers a night, was down
substantially on Monday.
JACQUES STEINBERG
Stolen Munch Paintings to Be Displayed Soon
Stolen and recovered, the Edvard Munch paintings “The Scream” and
“Madonna” will go on view once more at the Munch Museum in Oslo in
the fall even before they are restored, Agence France-Presse reported
yesterday.
Because of enormous interest in the paintings, “the museum will
display them, in their current state, to the public and the media,
for a short period,” a statement said. Both paintings were damaged
but “are in better shape than expected,” said Jorun Christoffersen, a
museum spokeswoman, who added, “They will need some major restoration
work.” A photograph, above, released by the museum on its Web site,
, showed that the lower left corner of “The
Scream” was crumpled, and that “Madonna” had a scratch and a tear
in the canvas. The paintings, stolen in 2004 in broad daylight,
were recovered two weeks ago. The police have not said how they
retrieved them. Before they were recovered, three men were convicted
of complicity in the theft.
Ratings Ride Coattails
President Bush’s 17-minute address on Monday night fell smack in
the middle of the second part of ABC’s contentious “Path to 9/11”
mini-series, with Harvey Keitel. But the thematic synchronicity, which
also extended to a 9/11 “Primetime” afterward, may have helped lift
ABC to No. 1 for the night, averaging about 12 million viewers over
all, according to Nielsen’s estimates. CBS inserted the president’s
9 p.m. speech into a lineup of repeats: “How I Met Your Mother” (5.9
million) at 8, “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (5.5 million)
at 8:30, and “Two and a Half Men” (7.6 million) after the speech. A
repeat of “CSI: Miami” (8.3 million) followed, propelling CBS to No. 2
for the night. On Fox, the interruption may account for some of the
drop-off for “Vanished” (5.9 million), which paled in comparison
with the solid audience at 8 for the serial drama “Prison Break”
(8.8 million).
That episode, which included the bloody death of the escapee Abruzzi
(Peter Stormare), led over all for the hour among adults 18 to
49. NBC’s “Dateline” (6.1 million) from 8 to 10, which paused for
Mr. Bush’s speech, could not compensate for a “Medium” repeat at 10
(4.8 million), which drove the network to a subdued last place for
the night. BENJAMIN TOFF
Turkish Novelist Faces Trial
A prominent Turkish novelist who faces trial next week for “insulting
Turkishness” says the case is the first to pivot on words uttered by
fictional characters, Reuters reported. The novelist, Elif Shafak,
above, a feminist who writes in English and Turkish, has been charged
in connection with her new novel, “The Bastard of Istanbul.” The case
is being followed closely by the European Union, which says Turkey
must foster more freedom of expression as a condition of membership.
Ms. Shafak, 34, is scheduled to give birth during the week the trial,
set for Sept. 21, is to begin. She has been charged under a provision
of Turkey’s penal code that has been used against several journalists
and authors. Ms. Shafak said that to date the article “has never been
used against fictional characters.” “In that sense this is a new step,”
she said, “and it’s quite surprising and upsetting, because if they
keep doing this, no one can write novels in this country anymore;
no one can make movies, even.” In her novel, Armenian characters
make disparaging comments about Turks and refer to the genocide of
Armenians during the Ottoman Empire, a massacre denied by Turkey.
Bush ‘Assassination’ Film Acquired for Wide Release
Newmarket Films, the company that handled Mel Gibson’s “Passion of
the Christ,” has acquired the distribution rights to “Death of a
President,” the provocative Gabriel Range pseudodocumentary that
depicts the assassination of President Bush, Reuters reported.
Newmarket is expected to give the film a wide release in the next
few months. It was seen recently at the Toronto International Film
Festival and is to be shown next month on Channel 4 in Britain. “We
portrayed the horror of assassination,” said Mr. Range, who said he
had received five or six death threats as a result of his movie,
which has evoked protests from some conservatives. “I don’t think
anyone would get the idea of assassinating Bush from this film.”
Accolades
Britain will pay tribute to the Beatles in January when it issues a set
of six stamps featuring album covers from their most famous recordings,
above, the BBC reported. The collection includes “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band,” “Abbey Road,” “Help!,” “Revolver,” “Let It Be”
and “With the Beatles.” …
The European Film Academy will honor Roman Polanski, 73, with
its lifetime achievement award at ceremonies in December in
Warsaw. Mr. Polanski’s films include “Chinatown” and “The Pianist,”
winner of the 2002 Academy Award for best director. Mr. Polanski fled
the United States in 1977 after pleading guilty to having sex with
a 13-year-old girl. … Shi-Yeon Sung, a 31-year-old South Korean,
has become the first woman to win the Sir Georg Solti International
Conductors’ Competition, held every two years in Frankfurt,
Agence France-Presse reported. In the finale of the competition,
which attracted 500 applications from 72 countries, Ms. Sung led the
Frankfurt Opera’s Museumsorchester in Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet”
fantasy overture; after being named the winner of the $19,000 first
prize, she conducted Beethoven’s “Egmont” Overture.
Footnotes
The opening concert of the New York Philharmonic’s 165th season will
be telecast live tonight to a large screen suspended in Josie Robertson
Plaza at Lincoln Center, where the performances of Beethoven’s “Egmont”
Overture, Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos in E flat and Beethoven’s
“Eroica” Symphony may be seen and heard free of charge. The concert,
led by Lorin Maazel and featuring the pianists Emanuel Ax and
Yefim Bronfman, will be broadcast nationally on “Live From Lincoln
Center.” … A Yiddish-language version of the Neil Simon comedy
“The Sunshine Boys,” in a staged reading starring Theodore Bikel and
Fyvush Finkel, will be presented by the National Yiddish Theater –
Folksbiene for a single performance at 4 p.m. Jan. 7 at Symphony
Space. Directed by Isaiah Sheffer, the translation by Miriam Hoffman,
which had its premiere in Tel Aviv in 2001, will be presented with
English and Russian supertitles. … The London-based organization
Lost Musicals will present what is billed as the first New York
revival of the original, full 1929 Broadway book and score of the
Cole Porter musical “Fifty Million Frenchmen” for four performances
at Florence Gould Hall beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. It will also
be performed on Sept. 24, Sept. 29 and Oct. 8.

SO LONG, FAREWELL
By: Barbara & Scott Siegel
TheaterMania
Sep 13, 2006
Charles Aznavour
(© Jean-Baptiste Mondino)
When Charles Aznavour sings “Yesterday When I Was Young” at Radio City
Music Hall on September 18 and 19 in the last two concerts he will ever
give in New York City, the audience will likely be weeping. Aznavour,
who has nurtured a passionate fan base all over the world, is 82 years
old — and though he is ready to say goodbye, those fans don’t want
him to go.
Armenian by birth and French by attitude, this iconoclastic
songwriter/singer never succumbed to the entreaties of American record
executives who urged him to write simpler pop songs. His lyrics are
rich and colorful, and his music is vibrant, no matter if the song in
question is a melancholy ballad or a driving, up-tempo declaration of
life. The composer of nearly 1,000 songs, Aznavour will be hard-pressed
to choose among them for his final New York concerts; the audience
will want to hear so many more than he could possibly perform.
We recently called Aznavour in Paris and spoke with him about his
farewell tour. He was open and candid about what is sure to be a
memorable experience.
THEATERMANIA: How will you design your song list? Will it be different
than other shows because this is your farewell concert?
CHARLES AZNAVOUR: It’s going to be what you call “The Best Of.” I’m
going to sing what the public wants to hear. Why sing new songs? People
sing new songs when they have something to promote. I’m not promoting
anything. I’m just coming to say, “That’s it.”
TM: Are you still writing new songs?
CA: Yes, but I don’t think the public wants to hear something new
when I’m coming for the last time.
TM: Do you realize the impact you’ve had on people’s lives?
CA: It touches me very much. I’m very moved by that.
But the impact comes from the songs. The entertainer in me is less
happy than the writer in me.
TM: When you were last in New York, you spoke on stage about a musical
you were writing. Whatever became of that?
CA: Right now the producer is trying to find the money to present it
in Canada. It played in Germany and in Hungary. It has been translated
into English but it hasn’t been done in France — not yet. Meanwhile,
there’s an American producer working on a show about the songs I’ve
done. The same thing is happening in other countries. I have the
funny feeling that I’m beginning to be “recognized.” “Known” and
“recognized” are two different words. “Known” is people come to see
you as an entertainer; “recognized” comes from what I have written
and what I have done.
TM: Are you retiring because of your health?
CA: I feel well, but I don’t know what condition I will be in in a
few years. I’m 82 and it’s time to retire slowly but surely. What
I prefer to do is to write. I write every day of my life. I will
never be bored. When I end my performing career, I will write plays
and musicals.
TM: What happens after your New York concerts?
CA: I will go to a few more cities in America; then I will start my
farewell tour in Spanish. I will also go to Armenia and Japan. The
last shot will be in French.
A good farewell concert Tour should take four years, at least.
TM: Since the final concerts will be in French, will you come back
to North America to perform in Quebec?
CA: Yes, I will go back to the French part of Canada for the French
part of the tour. But I will not come back in English. English is
not the easiest for me.
TM: Edith Piaf sang “Non, je ne regrette rien.” Do you have any
regrets?
CA: I have no regrets. I did more than what I ever dreamed I would do
in my life. I had a very difficult beginning — very difficult. But
once I got going, I never went down after that. I’ve been blessed.
–Boundary_(ID_rQaRDqNQVAX4Jux8rM0uKw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE CURSE OF RADICAL ISLAM AS A POLITICAL RELIGION
AINA
Assyrian International News Agency.
Posted GMT 9-13-2006 14:33:17
“Muslims must . . . educate their children to Jihad.
This is the greatest benefit of the situation: educating the children
to Jihad and to hatred of the Jews, the Christians, and the infidels;
educating the children to Jihad and to revival of the embers of Jihad
in their souls. This is what is needed now . . .” –Sheikh Muhammad
Saleh al-Munajjid, an imam in Saudi Arabia.
“Islam makes it incumbent on all adult males, provided they are not
disabled or incapacitated, to prepare themselves for the conquest of
[other] countries so that the writ of Islam is obeyed in every country
in the world . . .” –Ayatollah Khomeni (1902-1989), religious leader
of Iran
“The leader who needs religion to govern his people is weak . . . We
have to rid ourselves of superstition.
Anybody is free to believe in anything, but we need freedom of
thought.” –Ataturk (1881-1938), founder of modern Turkey.
Some readers have told me that I do not write enough about the
political side of Islam, especially as it relates to the mixing of
religion and politics and to the fringe element of radical Islam which
is supportive of international terrorism. As a matter of fact, I have
written extensively on the question, but in French (see my 2001 book
“L’Heure juste”). Here, then, is my position on this topic.
All proselytist religions tend to mix politics and religion
because one of their objectives is to control how people think and
behave. On this score, I would say Islam (“submission” or “surrender”
in Arabic) doesn’t fare well, because it tends to institutionalize
a symbiosis between politics and religion. It is a religion that
tends theoretically to concentrate temporal and spiritual authority
in a single entity. Structurally, in Islam, the Caliph and the Sheik
are supposed to be the same person, wielding spiritual and political
powers over the people. Mind you, something approaching the same result
prevailed in Christianity after the 4th century, when the Church and
the Throne formed close alliances, the clergy confirming the power of
kings and emperors, and the rich and powerful aristocracy protecting
the equally rich and powerful religious hierarchy. It is only with
the advent of the Renaissance that Christian Europe began talking
about democracy as the most humanist form of government.
The more progressive and modern Muslim countries that have advanced
the most economically, socially and politically, such as Turkey,
Malaysia or Indonesia, are those that have rejected the unhealthy,
near complete mixing of religion and politics that is called for by
fundamentalist Islam. In other Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia
and Qatar, a more extreme brand of Islam prevails. This movement in
Sunni Islam, (the dominant form of Islam), is called Wannabism or
“Salafism,” and it distinguishes itself by not only refusing Western
values and ideologies, such as nationalism, socialism and capitalism,
but also by rejecting the Western concepts of freedom, liberty,
economics, constitutions, political parties, revolution, social
justice and the very idea of a rationalist, secular culture. The other
minority branch of Islam, Shia Islam can also be considered extremist,
especially in contemporary Iran, in the sense that it reserves to the
clergy a dominant political role in an Islamic country. It is mainly
concentrated in Iran, although Shiites also live in Iraq, Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
It can be argued that before Islam, which appeared in the early part of
the 7th Century, Arab civilization was more advanced and more peaceful
than after the imposition of the new faith through violence. It had
participated fully in the rich Greek, Assyrian, Persian, Chaldean and
Babylonian civilizations, to which we owe mathematical breakthroughs,
such as the concept of zero found in the Greek and Hindu decimal
systems and the Pythagorean Theorem in Babylonian mathematics.
Regarding Islamic respect for science, it has to be said that one
of Muhammad’s successors, the Caliph Omar of Damascus, distinguished
himself by having centuries-old literary treasures destroyed, besides
setting afire the large Egyptian library of Alexandria, a wonder
of the Ancient World. Caliph Omar is reported to have justified his
order to destroy the books in the library of Alexandria by saying that
“they will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy,
or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous.”
Since many religions have theologies that stress so-called divine
revelation over human reason, it is not surprising that religious
extremists can be opposed to human intellectual progress, especially
if such progress is perceived as a threat to their political power. Not
surprisingly also, such a bias against the human intellect and against
scientific achievements is bound to have a detrimental influence
on the economic, social and political development of countries that
embrace such an attitude. Indeed, the absence of intellectual freedom
and censorship are the two biggest enemies of human progress.
During the 9th and 10th centuries, Islamic civilization redeemed itself
somewhat by having many ancient scientific and philosophical tracts
translated from ancient languages, especially Greek, into Arabic.
It is these translations which were imported into Europe and which
played such a central role in bringing about the European Renaissance,
from which Western civilization still draws most of its inspiration.
Islam was born in war and grew the same way. From the time of Muhammad
(c. 570–632), in the 7th century, the means of Muslim expansion
was always the sword and military conquest. Islam, at least at the
beginning, was not a “religion of peace,” to mimic the expression
used often by President George W. Bush. It was fundamentally a
military movement that used forced conversion to Islam to expand
its dominion. Muhammad began the first violent movement in Medina,
after a declaration of a Jihad against so-called ‘infidels’.
There, for example, the Jews who refused to convert to Islam were
driven from the land or beheaded.
Approximately 15 years later he marched on Mecca with an army of
about 20,000, and later against the Assyrians, the Armenians and the
Coptics in Egypt.
Those who converted to Islam were spared. Those who refused to convert
were beheaded. So much for a compassionate Islam.
It has been argued convincingly that the imposition of Islam upon
the Arabs was a regressive development.
With Islam, the Arab civilization lost much of the scientific
accomplishments and the tradition of intellectual vitality that it
had inherited from the Greek and Assyrian civilizations.
The fundamental question of the religious foundation of violence and
terrorism needs attention. It is the most pressing, because the world
is not going to tolerate very long being subjected to blackmail and
having its prosperity and freedom threatened this way.
It is no surprise that terrorist leaders use the mask of religion to
diabolize their enemies and to cloak their cruelties and atrocities
in a pious justification. The cover of religion to justify terrorism,
especially suicide terrorism, and the killing of innocent people
also has the advantage of making it easier to recruit so-called
martyrs and fanatics, if not utterly deranged people, who would not
be as easily mobilized for a purely political cause. That may be one
reason why today’s religious-based terrorism is more deadly than the
nationalist-based terrorism of 40 or 50 years ago.
Extremists in any religion can find passages in their ‘holy books’
that condone violence against others.
Suffice it to say that they overlook the book’s other teachings about
“peace,” “justice,” “kindness,” “courtesy,” and “compassion” toward
others, to concentrate on the admonitions which call for intolerance
and aggression against so-called “infidels.”
Some religious ideologues can reinforce the violent tendencies of
the most exalted people by emphasizing the most violent religious
teachings. For instance, an Egyptian scholar, Sayied Qutb, argued
in the 1950s, in his book of Quranic interpretation, entitled
“Fe-zelal-al-Qur’an,” that a state of permanent war is normal between
Muslims and non-Muslims, ignoring that the Qur’an (Koran) dictates
that its teachings be understood in full, not in bits and pieces
(Surah 20:114), as it relates mainly to individual morality, not to
politics. The religious-based Al Qaeda terrorist movement takes its
violent inspirations from such impractical subversive teachings. It
is part of the Jihadist ideology of hatred and destruction.
Faced with the threat of Islamist terrorism, the important task for
the rest of the world is to avoid antagonizing the moderate Muslims
who are largely in the majority in their countries. Both for reasons of
domestic support and for acceptance by the Muslim masses, governments
anxious to fight and contain international terrorism should, now more
than ever, retain the moral high ground and not be the aggressors. They
should reject the negative, misleading and self-fulfilling propaganda
rhetoric of “Islamo-Fascism,” “war of civilizations” or even worse,
of “war of religions,” and concentrate on concretely assisting Muslim
countries in acceding to modernity and prosperity, while supporting
their efforts in combating anti-modernity religious-based terrorism.
Therefore, to pursue a policy of openness, assistance and fairness
toward Muslim countries would seem to be the most just and the most
constructive approach, while simultaneously maintaining a firm attitude
against gratuitous international terrorism. Sad to say, this is not
the kind of rational and sophisticated policy being followed by the
current American administration, which seems bent on glorifying and
multiplying the most extremist Islamist organizations, while alienating
and silencing the most reform-minded people in the Muslim world.
On this score, the best thing the Bush-Cheney administration could
do in fighting international Islamist terrorism would be to announce
a phase out of its military occupation of Iraq, while persuading
its close ally, Israel, to end its own military occupation of
Palestine, and take concrete steps to solve once and for all the
rotten Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On the other hand, the worst thing the Bush-Cheney team could do would
be to start bombing Iran. The latter would be a most counter-productive
move and would feed both extremism and terrorism.
By Rodrigue Tremblay Online Journal Guest Writer
Rodrigue Tremblay is professor emeritus of economics at the University
of Montreal and can be reached at rodrigue.tremblay@ yahoo.com. He
is the author of the book ‘The New American Empire’. Visit his blog
site at

JAPAN HUNTS FOR ENERGY
Ohmy News
Published 2006-09-13 15:26 (KST)
[Commentary] Resource-poor nation builds links with Central Asia
Resource-poor Japan is pumping no small amount of public funds into
its energy drive to secure foreign oil, gas and other resources, in a
desperate bid to ensure its energy security amid spikes in oil prices.
Ensuring stability of supply is a matter of life or death for the
world’s second-largest economy. The country imports virtually all of
its oil, with nearly 90 percent of that coming from the volatile Middle
East. Japan also buys almost all of its natural gas from abroad, making
it the world’s largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Public
financial support in the form of investment, loans, loan guarantees
and investment insurance is designed to encourage conservatively-minded
domestic firms to venture into high-risk projects abroad.
Alarmed by stubbornly high global oil prices and the global rush for
energy — led by China and India — Tokyo released in late May a new
strategy intended to ensure the country’s long term future. The New
National Energy Strategy calls for, among other things, strengthening
relations with resource-rich countries through measures such as
official development assistance (ODA) and free trade agreements (FTAs).
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a whirlwind tour of Central
Asia recently, becoming the first Japanese premier to do so. The
historic visit has highlighted how passionately energy-strapped
Japan is wooing the region, which is rich in oil, gas, uranium and
other resources. Although no deals were signed on specific commercial
energy projects, Koizumi’s tour has laid the groundwork for increased
cooperation in energy and other areas.
In Kazakhstan, Koizumi and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed
to expand political dialogue, personnel exchanges and cooperation on
the joint development of uranium mines and other natural resources
such as oil in the Central Asian country. In Uzbekistan, Koizumi
and Uzbek President Islam Karimov agreed to accelerate information
exchanges among both public and private sectors in the two countries
in jointly developing uranium resources in the Central Asian country.
Koizumi’s visit to Central Asia was one of his last overseas before
he steps down later this month, when his current three-year term as
president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) expires. To
ensure its energy security, Japan is desperate to diversify its
hydrocarbon sources in order to reduce its heavy reliance on the Middle
East for oil imports. As such, an obvious choice for the country is
to turn to the Central Asian and Caucasian nations.
One of the most important pillars of the New National Energy Strategy
is the fostering of more powerful domestic energy companies with
the ultimate goal of boosting the ratio of “Hinomaru oil,” or oil
developed and imported by domestic producers, from the current 15
percent to 40 percent of all oil imports by 2030.
To achieve this goal, the new strategy stresses the importance of
“drastically strengthening the supply of risk money” related to the
exploration and development of overseas oil and natural gas reserves
by domestic development companies. As such, the scheme emphasizes
the place for the government-affiliated Japan Oil, Natural Gas and
Metals Corporation (JOGMEC), among others, to supply cash for this end.
About three months after the release of the new strategy, the
government has begun to translate it into specific action. New public
funds have begun to flow into the energy development sector.
The government plans to increase the percentage of investments by
JOGMEC in combined Japanese investments, including those by private
firms, in high-risk oil, gas and other energy projects to 70 percent
from the current 50 percent, if necessary. At present, the first target
project is a project for an East Siberian oilfield. The subsidy plan
is designed to enable Japan to secure concessions linked to these
fields, near Lake Baikal, countering Chinese attempts to persuade
Russia to send Siberian oil to China.
Japan and China have lobbied for alternative routes for the East
Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline.
Although major Japanese oil explorer Inpex Corp. and a handful of
trading houses have considered joining the East Siberian oilfield
project, they are waiting for a guarantee from the Russian government
that the pipeline will be built to the Pacific coast, from where oil
can be tankered to Japan. Tokyo has asked the Russian government to
sign an intergovernmental agreement pledging that it will build the
entire 4,188-km pipeline from Taishet to a location near Nakhodka,
a port city on the Pacific.
However, Moscow has rejected the Japanese request and instead
has talked only of the importance of exploring and developing the
untapped reserves of East Siberia in order to provide the oil to
fill the pipe. The suspicion exists that the ESPO may only reach
so far as Skovorodino, the midpoint, which is near the Chinese
border. Russian state-run pipeline monopoly Transneft started building
the Taishet-Skovorodino phase in late April. It expects to finish
this in 2008. No decision has been taken as to when construction on
the second half will take place, however.
Government-funded Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI)
decided recently to underwrite Japanese companies’ insurance in
13 high-risk countries. This list, which became effective as of
mid-August, includes Libya, Angola, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville),
Cameroon, Gabon, Dominican Republic, Armenia, Macedonia, Senegal,
Tanzania, Tajikistan, Niger and the Central African Republic.
Meanwhile, Inpex Holdings — Japan’s largest oil and gas exploration
company, which includes both Inpex Corp. and Teikoku Oil — has said
it is in talks with NEXI on the possibility of an insurance scheme
to cover the risks associated with the massive Azadegan oilfield
development project in Iran, should economic sanctions against the
Islamic state arise over its nuclear program. Iran is already on
NEXI’s list of countries eligible for underwriting.
Oil and gas are not the only resources that whet Japan’s
appetite. Japan is also stepping up its drive to secure uranium
abroad as global demand for nuclear power rises amid spikes in oil and
gas prices and growing environmental concerns. Nuclear power plants
generate much less carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas widely
blamed for global warming, than fossil fuel-fired facilities. Japan
is already the world’s third-largest nuclear power nation in terms
of the number of civilian nuclear reactors in operation.
The government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation
(JBIC) recently signed a loan agreement with APPAK, a subsidiary of
Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom.
This is the first time that JBIC has provided loans for an overseas
uranium project. Kazakhstan has the world’s second-largest uranium
resources and Kazatomprom is the world’s fourth-largest uranium
producer. Sumitomo Corp. and Kansai Electric Power Co.
have stakes in APPAK of 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively. NEXI
has also underwritten insurance for the uranium project. JBIC also
recently signed separate agreements with Kazatomprom and Uzbekistan’s
Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade on
forging a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The Japanese government’s strong backing for domestic energy
companies engaged in foreign exploration and production of oil and
gas marks a clear policy reversal. JOGMEC was established in early
2004 as a successor to state-owned Japan National Oil Corporation
(JNOC), which was set up in the 1960s to pioneer Japan’s drive to
boost energy security. JNOC was disbanded, however, after piling up
an immense amount of debt through loans and investments — worth a
total of about 2 trillion yen (US$17 billion) — to help domestic
firms participate in wasteful exploration projects abroad.
There are some concerns that JOGMEC might fall into the same trap
as JNOC. Hopefully, Tokyo will have learned its lesson from the
failure of JNOC. The government will never be allowed to throw its
money around as carelessly as it once did. It must select target
projects for financial support. Also, Japanese firms should take
steps to hedge risks themselves — such as joining forces with each
other and with foreign firms — when investing in high-risk projects,
instead of simply replying on public funds.
JOGMEC faces a delicate balancing act of pumping risk money into
promising Japanese energy projects abroad actively and effectively
while pulling the plug on them without delay if they prove to be
unprofitable, in order to minimize losses.

PRIVATISATION OF THE ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR TURKEY
Fevzi Saffet Bora
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
2006-09-12 16:57:54
Turkey has a geopolitical location on the intersection point of Asia,
Europe and Africa. Turkey is linked to the oceans through the Black,
Marmara and Mediterranean seas. It has been the center of trade
and migration routes throughout time. The Black Sea is linked to the
world via the Bosporus and Dardaneles Straits and shipping routes pass
through the Marmara Sea to reach the Mediterranean. Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Iran on the east, Bulgaria and Greece on the west,
and Iraq and Syria on the south are Turkey’s neighbors.
Turkey is a member of international organizations such as the UN,
the Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, WTO, the Organization of Islamic Conference
(OIC), the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO). Turkey is now a candidate for full EU
membership and considered as one of the nine most important countries
which the British Government wants to establish and increase commercial
relations with.
Turkey since 1983, has been trying to undertake serious macro economic
structural reform together with its transition to deeper democracy. In
this respect, the energy sector constitutes one of the most important
areas in which structural reform takes place and serious foreign
direct investment is expected in order to inject permanent cash into
the economic system.
In this respect market liberalization activities have taken bold steps
in the last five years. As a part and complementary to these steps
privatization is viewed as the turning point in the sustainability
of the new regime in energy.
The Privatization of the electricity distribution business in Turkey is
the hot issue in the agenda right now. 20 new distribution companies
have been established from within the body of TEDAS (the Turkish
Electricity Distribution Company owned by the state) as it had been
restructured in 2004. based on geographical proximity, managerial
structure, energy demand and other technical/financial factors.
These joint-stock companies engaged in the distribution and retail
sale of electricity and provision of retail services to final customers
has approximately 28 million customers, 93 billion kWh of electricity
sales and 98% market share in electricity distribution across Turkey
according to very recent figures.
A total of 21 distribution companies are now active in electricity
distribution operations with the Kayseri and Its Surroundings
Electricity Distribution Company (already private). TEDAS is also
legally present as a holder of the network entities as well.
There are some principles which were declared to be adhered to, during
the process of the privatization of the electricity distribution
business, which were agreed upon by the relevant authorities to make
this aim worthwhile for Turkey. These are:
– The privatization will be performed by the Privatization
Administration within the framework of Law no. 4046, – Income
maximization will not be the sole aim.
– Increases in electricity prices after privatization will not be on
a permanent basis.
– Strong companies to achieve the principles of the program will be
encouraged in the privatization process, The mandatory investments
and maintenance activities will be performed independently from the
privatization process, A competitive generation structure will be
established through appropriately grouping generation assets prior to
their privatization. Seventeen hydropower plants, which total 7.055
MW of capacity will remain in government ownership, The privatization
approach will take into account existing public liabilities and will
not lead to additional state guarantees, The transmission system
and market operator, TEIAS, will remain in state ownership, Only
distribution companies are allowed to supply non-eligible consumers.
Before the starting of the tender process for distribution
privatization, there were some issues to be tackled with;
The distribution companies’ tariffs for the wire and retail businesses
were to be set through the finalization of transition contracts
between the distribution companies and the generation groups, or
transition contracts between the distribution companies and TETAS
(Electricity Wholesale Company owned by the state), and transition
contracts between the EUAS (Electricity Generation Company owned by
the state) hydro generation and TETAS.
The generation of the hydro power plants which will remain to be state
owned and under the possession of EUAS shall continue to be sold to
TETAS as long as it is deemed necessary to achieve an average TETAS
sales price that reflects the expected market price. TETAS¸ can buy
electricity at a low price from these plants to compensate for the
additional burden caused by electricity purchases at prices exceeding
the market price from the BOO (Build, Operate, Own) and BOT (Build,
Operate, transfer) schemes.
The energy purchased by TETAS through existing contracts and EUAS
generation, will be allocated among the Distribution Companies through
purchase agreements to be signed between TETAS and distribution
companies.
In case TETAS is unable to recover adequate revenues to cover its
liabilities arising from long term contracts, these excess liabilities
will be recovered through a surcharge to be added on the transmission
use of system charges.
Sales Contracts between Portfolio Generation Companies and Distribution
Companies should be put in place before distribution companies are
privatized to give the generation company groups a track record
prior to their privatization. The contracts should continue after
the privatization to assure a predictable stream of revenues in
the early years. The transitional contracts in the last two groups
will initially cover about 85% of total demand of captive consumers
in each distribution region. The rest 15% should be supplied from
private sources and the distributions companies have no more a limit
on the amount of their own generation which will be an incentive for
the investors.
The transitional balancing and settlement mechanism for the wholesale
market is forecasted to be operational in order not to prevent the
development of wholesale market.
The following corporations have been established prior to privatization
within the context of the High Planning Council Decision dated
17.03.2004 and Decree No:2004/3.
CORPORATIONS PROVINCES Akdeniz Elektrik A.Þ. Antalya, Burdur, Isparta
Ýl sýnýrlarý Aras Elektrik A.Þ. Erzurum, Aðrý, Ardahan, Bayburt,
Erzincan, Iðdýr,Kars Coruh Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Trabzon, Artvin,
Giresun, Gumuþhane, Rize Dicle Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Diyarbakýr,
Þanlýurfa, Mardin, Batman, Siirt Þýrnak Fýrat Elektrik Daðýtým
A.Þ. Elazýð, Bingol, Malatya, Tunceli Gediz Elektrik Daðýtým
A.Þ. Ýzmir, Manisa Goksu Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Kahramanmaraþ,
Adýyaman Camlýbel Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Sivas, Tokat, Yozgat Menderes
Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ Aydýn, Denizli, Muðla Osmangazi Elektrik Daðýtým
A.Þ. Eskiþehir, Afyon, Bilecik, Kutahya, Uþak Toroslar Elektrik Daðýtým
A.Þ. Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Mersin, Osmaniye, Kilis Uludað Elektrik
Daðýtým A.Þ. Balýkesir, Bursa, Canakkale, Yalova Van golu Elektrik
Daðýtým A.Þ Bitlis, Hakkari, Muþ, Van Yeþilýrmak Elektrik Daðýtým
A.Þ. Samsun, Amasya, Corum, Ordu, Sinop Baþkent Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ.
Ankara,Kýrýkkale,Zonguldak,Ba rtýn, Karabuk,Cankýrý, Kastamonu.
Boðazici Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ Ýstanbul ili Rumeli Yakasý.
Ýstanbul Anadolu Yakasý Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Ýstanbul ili Anadolu
Yakasý.
Meram Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Kýrþehir, Nevþehir, Niðde, Aksaray,
Konya,Karaman.
Sakarya Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Sakarya, Bolu, Duzce, Kocaeli.
Trakya Elektrik Daðýtým A.Þ. Edirne, Kýrklareli, Tekirdað.
The above mentioned companies and their tariff structures and licenses
have been approved very recently by the Energy Market Regulatory Board,
the transitional balancing and settlement mechanism for the wholesale
market and also the market management system of TEIAÞ are said to be
in place which finally provided them the possibility for readiness
for privatization by the Privatization Administration (oib.gov.tr).
The Privatization Administration has started the privatization process
with the simultaneous tender of 3 companies
a. Baskent Elektrik Dagitim A.S. (“BASKENT” Region 9) b. Istanbul
Anadolu Yakasi Elektrik Dagitim A.S.
(“AYEDAS” Region 14) c. Sakarya Elektrik Dagitim A.S. (“SEDAS”
Region 15)
Privatization of distribution companies is planned to be executed
using a Transfer of Operating Rights (“TOR”) backed Share Sale
model (“TSS model”). In this model, the investor will be the owner
of the shares of the company who will hold the licensee for the
distribution of electricity in the relevant region but it will not
hold the ownership of the network assets in the same region. They will
remain with TEDAS. The investor will be granted the right to operate
the distribution assets stemming from a Transfer of Operating Rights
Agreement (“TOR Agreement”) with TEDAS. Under this market structure,
privatized electricity distribution companies will act as regional
monopolies with distribution licenses to be obtained from Energy
Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA).
The main purpose of this system is to achieve lower tariffs by
increasing overall system efficiency. In this respect, the tariffs
are calculated on a “cost-reflective” basis with predetermined
operating and loss/theft betterment objectives. The first tariff
implementation period (or transition period), set between 2006 and
2010, will serve as a transitory period to a fully cost based tariff
structure after 2010. EMRA recently approved the end user tariffs and
revenue requirements of each distribution company for the transition
period. Revenue requirements cover the forseen expenses for providing
distribution and retail services and leave room for financial gains
for the target level of technical and non-technical losses.
The end-user tariffs for the period after 2010 will be determined by
the distribution companies in accordance with the Electricity Market
Tariffs Communique and the related regulations and will be subject
to EMRA’s approval. The first period is aimed at having a smooth and
gradual transition from existing tariff structure to a lean and simple
tariff structure. The tariff structure is determined in compliance with
the Electricity Market Law, the Electricity Market Tariffs Communique
and other related regulations. The four basic tariff components are
(1) retail sales, (2) distribution, (3) retail services and (4)
transmission; which are regulated in an unbundled fashion. Retail
sales tariff has a “price cap” which is set as the average price
of the energy purchased by the distribution company. Distribution
and retail services have “revenue caps” which cover operating
expenses and investment requirements related to distribution and
retail services. Transmission tariff is a complete pass-through of
transmission costs as charged by TEÝAÞ.
When we decompose the end-user tariffs, we come across with the
following items in the basket:
Customers:
~U Residential ~U Commercial ~U Industrial ~U Agricultural irrigation
~U Street lightening
Retail Tariffs:
Reference Price (Energy price ) Operating margin Lost/theft component
Distribution System Usage Tariff:
Taxes and other deductions Transmission tariff Retail services tariff
Distribution OPEX component Investments, amortization and cost of
capital component TOR value component Dual-term tariffs: capacity
charge, penalty for overload and reactive energy fee
Distribution Company
Pass-through of energy costs (TETAÞ) Pass-through of transmission costs
(TEÝAÞ)
: Total end-user electricity tariff
The consumer price of electricity is subject to some levies: (1) 1%
for the Energy Fund Share; (2) 2% for Turkish Radio and Television
Corporation surcharge; (3) the aggregated amount of the two preceding
levies is then subject to the Municipality Consumption Tax (5% for
households and 1% for industrial users); and (4) 18% VAT.
Tariffs for captive customers and for wholesale by TETAS are
regulated. Under the Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation and the
related communiques, tariffs must be cost-reflective; costs not
directly related with market operations should be left out of the
equation. Direct refunds may be granted to consumers in need without
compromising the overall cost-based principle of the tariff structure
in accordance with the Electricity Market law. Once determined by
companies, regulated tariffs are subject to review and approval by
the EMRA. All tariffs are published in the Official Gazette and on
the regulator’s website to ensure transparency.
The primary benefits expected from electricity sector reform
and privatization have been determined as follows: Decreasing
of costs through effective and efficient operation of electricity
generation and distribution assets, Increasing the supply quality and
supply security in the electricity sector, Decreasing the technical
losses in distribution sub-sector to the level in OECD countries and
prevention of theft (non-technical losses), Ensuring that the required
rehabilitation and expansion investments are performed by the private
sector without creating any liabilities on the public institutions, and
Transferring to consumers the benefits obtained through competition in
generation, trade of electricity, and regulation of quality of service.
Steps that are required for creating confidence in local and
international investors shall be taken immediately by the government,
while efforts will be made to minimize the cost of transition to
liberal market model on the public institutions currently operating
in the market.
In order to ensure that there are no supply constraints during
the transition period, temporary measures shall be taken to obtain
adequate additional capacity. Such measures will be complemented with
other programs, such as imports and rehabilitation of existing plants.
The main principle will be the implementation of cost reflective
prices in the regulated electricity sectors, whereas the national
tariff practice will be operational for the first tariff implementation
period through establishment of a tariff equalization mechanism that
will prevent price differences for non-eligible consumer tariffs.
In addition to the distribution business, generation assets
that belonged to the state are going to be restructured and
privatized through grouping. In this respect the energy generation
parts (sections) of all hydroelectric power plants constructed,
commissioned or to be commissioned by State Hydraulic Works (DSI)
and the inseparable immovables of these will be transferred to EUAS
on the basis of their actual costs without paying any charges to DSI.
The generation facilities to be privatized will be identified
and grouped on the basis of two main criteria: (i) prevention of
creating market power; and (ii) financial viability. The liberal
market structure to be implemented in Turkey is based on bilateral
contracting between buyers and sellers, together with a balancing and
settlement regime. To achieve the objectives and principles of this
strategy it is essential that the balancing and settlement regime
acts as a market where uncontracted generation can be bought and
sold. This will enhance security of supply because it facilitates
participation of independent and relatively small generators.
The priorly transitionary contracts will be set at regulated
prices and will last for a maximum of 5 years, except for TETAS
contracts. As they run out such contracts will be replaced by market
priced bilateral contracts and thus, will ensure a smooth transition
to liberal market. The balancing and settlement mechanism will be
in compliance with the objective of creating a spot market and will
include price signals to attract new investments.
In accordance with the introductory themes of liberalization,
privatization and FDI; the Government of Turkey enacted a ‘Decree
on Improving the Investment Environment in Turkey” on December 11,
2001 as a part of a national strategy to increase the overall level
of income and productivity and to raise the level of competitiveness
of firms operating in Turkey.
The mentioned decree established a coordinating body called as the
‘Coordination Council for the Improvement of the Investment Environment
(CCIIE)”, with the mandate to identify and remove regulatory and
administrative barriers to private investment. This is a good step in
the right direction to attract new FDI into the country rather than
hot injections of foreign currency that do more instabilization in
the Turkish economy than good as it is mainly used for arbitrage and
stock market manipulations. FDI comes into the country for good and
for more employment and better quality of life and services.
The entrance of FDI to Turkey is the most strategic of assets to
act as a powerful card for Turkey’s international relations. There
are talks of In this age of complex interdependence, the more new
and fresh FDI enter into Turkey, there will be more actors to help
Turkey defend its positions in international platforms and in the
face of international conflicts.
The privatization of the electricity distribution business is an
opportunity worth 10 to 15 Billion Dollars that must be performed
with due respect and attention to detail.
–Boundary_(ID_d4WyAVLYzzxHRg3BUSe/7w)–

The Guardian Online
Current Issue: September 13, 2006
Putting the herb in suburb
Letter to the editor
Nikki Ferrell
Issue date: 9/13/06
A dope-slinging mom deals with Armenian drug lords
threatening her business, her 17-year-old son getting
his girlfriend pregnant, and her lazy live-in
brother-in-law taking her 11-year-old son to a
prostitute. Sound like South Central?
Try a few miles farther from L.A.
The gated community of Agrestic, California may seem
like a ritzy small-town suburb, but a closer look at
Showtime’s ground-breaking series “Weeds” reveals
big-city drama.
Mary-Louise Parker won a Golden Globe for her
portrayal of Nancy Botwin, a suburban mom. After her
husband drops dead while jogging with their son, Nancy
is left to keep the family together alone. She has no
experience and few job skills, and, as a last resort,
she starts selling marijuana to make ends meet.
Soon she finds herself with a prospering business,
complete with a staff of four pot-smoking slackers, a
husband in the D.E.A., and a ‘grow house’ in a
neighborhood that she monopolizes.
Though everything is going well on the business side,
her home life seems to be falling apart. Without her
husband to do some of the parenting, she is not able
to watch her kids as closely as she wants. Her older
son is obviously deeply troubled by his father’s
death, as his borderline-stalker relationship with his
girlfriend displays, and her younger son cannot seem
to make friends at school. However, Nancy has not
seemed to recognize her kids’ issues.
She makes it worse with the way she handles her own
life. She tries to hide her dealing from her kids, but
when her older son finds out she is selling weed he
stops seeing her as a mom and treats her as an equal,
even calling her by her first name. She secretly
marries a D.E.A. agent (so that he cannot testify
against her), who then uses his power to protect her
‘business.’
Meanwhile, her suburban friends are starting to
wonder: where is her Nancy’s money coming from? Why is
Nancy passing on soccer mom duties by skipping PTA
meetings and refusing to work on her friend’s campaign
for city council? What is she doing with her time?
Tune in to Showtime Monday nights at 10 to find out
when everything will fall apart (and it will). Only in
beginning episodes of the second season, “Weeds” is
already getting hot, and seems like the pot (or bong)
could boil over any second.

ARMEN ASHOTIAN ASSURES THERE ARE NO CRIMINALS IN HIS REPUBLICAN PARTY
Armenpress
Sept 13 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: The youngest member of the Armenian
parliament from the Republican Party of prime minister Andranik
Margarian argued today the opposition has no right to criticize the
government and its policy and also pro-government forces’ ideologies
unless it is able to present an alternative development program,
alternative ideologies and ideas.
Armen Ashotian from the Republican Party, was speculating during
a news conference that ‘if the current government is so bad, as it
is portrayed by the opposition, why then the people do not give the
opposition a much more greater support.”
Ashotian downplayed the opposition’s allegations that criminal
elements are increasingly playing a bigger role in Armenia’s politics
and economy, saying criminal elements exist in Armenia as elsewhere,
but added, “I can assure anyone that there are no such elements in
the Republican Party or in the ruling coalition”.

ARMENIA AND BULGARIA SIGNED STATEMENT ON FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF MILITARY COOPERATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.09.2006 16:10 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Since September 11 Armenian Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan is in Bulgaria on an official visit. During his meeting with
his Bulgarian counterpart Vesselin Bliznakov matters of strengthening
bilateral military cooperation were discussed. The Ministers
agreed to work jointly in democratic control over the armed forces,
working out the military budget and ensuring transparency of defense
planning. Sargsyan and Bliznakov also agreed to create conditions for
exchange of experience and retraining of personnel in higher military
education institutions of Bulgaria. The MOD heads signed a joint
statement on further development of bilateral military cooperation.
S. Sargsyan also met with Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov,
visited the People’s Council, where he met with its Deputy Chair
Peter Beron and members of the Standing Parliamentary Commission
on Defense. The Armenian MOD head is also scheduled to visit the
National Military University and the military base of Graf Ignatievo
near Plovdiv. Meetings of working groups on Defense Planning and
Logistics were held in Sofia within the cooperation program of the
Defense Ministries of Armenia and Bulgaria, reports the Press Service
of the Armenian MFA.

ARMENIA PINS HOPES ON FRENCH PRESIDENT VISIT
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.09.2006 16:23 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The French party will soon made public the program
of French President Jacques Chirac’s visit, Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian
told RFE/RL. “The visit is already being arrange and we pin hopes with
it,” he remarked. In his words, along with Jacques Chirac a rather
large delegation, including entrepreneurs, ministers, art figures,
journalists, will arrive in Armenia.

MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES KOCHARIAN ON ARMENIA’S INDEPENDENCE 15TH ANNIVERSARY
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.09.2006 17:24 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has sent a
telegram to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, congratulating on the
Independence Day of the country. The message says, “Let me frankly and
sincerely congratulate you on the national holiday – the Independence
Day of the Republic of Armenia. I am sure that traditional relations
of friendship and mutually favorable cooperation between our countries
will further strengthen and dynamically develop for the interest and
favor of the people of Moldova and Armenia.”
The Moldovan President wished health and good luck in realizing all
strivings to Kocharian. He wished peace, prosperity and welfare to
the Armenian people, reports RIA Novosti.