MOSCOW REPORTEDLY AGAINST ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER BECOMING PRESIDENT
Iravunk, Armenia
Nov 7 2006
“Will Robert Kocharyan become the CIS secretary?”
According to our Russian source, during [Armenian President Robert]
Kocharyan’s visit to Moscow [on 30-31 October], [Russian President]
Vladimir Putin suggested that Kocharyan occupy the post of CIS
secretary until “the level of control is sufficient in the country”.
The source did not specify what Kocharyan replied but said that
Kocharyan’s visit to Moscow could not be considered as successful
since his suggestion that [Armenian Defence Minister] Serzh Sarkisyan
take over from him as president was turned down.
According to the same source, in Moscow Robert Kocharyan attended
the wedding party of the Armenian ambassador to Russia, Armen Smbatyan.

ARMENIAN LEADER, US OFFICIAL DISCUSS COOPERATION
Public TV, Armenia
Nov 8 2006
President Robert Kocharyan has received the co-chairman of the working
group on the Armenian-US economic cooperation, Coordinator for US
Assistance to Europe and Eurasia Thomas Adams and the US deputy
ambassador to Armenia, Anthony Godfrey.
President Kocharyan expressed gratitude for US assistance to Armenia
in carrying out effective reforms.
The sides discussed a wide range of issues concerning Armenian-US
cooperation. President Kocharyan pointed out the important role of
the working group on the Armenian-US economic cooperation and said
that the group’s activity had became well-organized and the results
more pleasing.
The sides also discussed the issues of organization and conduct of
fair and just elections. The USA will continue to assist Armenia in
strengthening democracy.

TURKEY MOVES TO IMPROVE RIGHTS OF NON-MUSLIM MINORITIES
Agence France Presse — English
November 9, 2006 Thursday 5:48 PM GMT
The Turkish parliament passed Thursday a law to improve the property
rights of the country’s tiny Christian and Jewish communities, a key
European Union demand, and faced criticism that the bill falls short
of expectations.
The legislation, which needs the president’s approval to take effect,
paves the way for mainly Greek, Armenian and Jewish foundations to
recover properties seized by the state since 1974 under a controversial
court ruling.
Community representatives have slammed the bill for failing to provide
a remedy for the return of or compensation for properties the state
had since sold to third parties, warning that Turkey risks hefty
compensation cases at the European Court of Human Rights.
They have also denounced a provision that limits the period for
applications for the return of properties to 18 months.
In a report on Ankara’s progress towards membership, the European
Commission said Wednesday that “non-Muslim religious communities have
no access to legal personality and continue to face restricted property
rights,” even though freedom of worship is “generally respected”
in the country.
The bill, an overhaul of the Foundations Law, loosens the tight state
control over all foundations and broadens their rights on property
and administration.
In another move to address EU criticism, it allows foundations to
operate abroad and receive foreign funds, but only on the condition
that international activities are mentioned in their statutes,
a restriction which, critics say, effectively excludes non-Muslim
institutions.
The bill, on parliament’s agenda since September, faced harsh
objections by the main opposition, which accused the government of
compromising Turkey’s interests under EU pressure.
Non-Muslims in Turkey are mostly Greeks and Armenians, often viewed
with suspicion because of deep mistrust towards Greece, a historical
rival, and Armenia, which accuses Ottoman Turks of having committed
genocide against its ancestors during World War I.
In September, legislators also broadened the rights of minority
schools, but scrapped a proposal that would have allowed them to enrol
foreign students, in a move to avoid laying ground for the reopening
of a Greek Orthodox theology school, another EU demand.
The 1971 closure of the century-old seminary, on the island of Halki
off Istanbul, deprived the Eastern Orthodox Church, seated in Istanbul
since Byzantine times when the city was called Constantinople, of a
facility to train clergy.
The issue of Christian minority rights is also likely to figure high on
the agenda of Pope Benedict XVI when he visits Turkey in late November.

RUSSIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS TO MEET FOR FOURTH TIME THIS YEAR
By Judith Ingram, Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Worldstream
November 9, 2006 Thursday 2:05 PM GMT
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev
on Thursday hailed their countries’ burgeoning economic ties, amid
signs of concern from Moscow about its southern neighbor’s improving
relations with the West.
“Our bilateral relationship has reached the highest level since we
got independence,” Aliev said at the start of the two leaders’ fourth
meeting this year. “It is necessary to continue cooperation … It
will help not only to strengthen ties between Russia and Azerbaijan,
but also stabilize the situation in the region as a whole.”
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, is the starting-point for a
newly-completed U.S.-backed pipeline that transports Caspian oil to
Western markets bypassing Russia. It also sent troops to serve in
the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
Aliev arrived in Moscow after a trip to Brussels, where he and NATO
leaders discussed energy security. Earlier this year, he got a warm
White House welcome from U.S. President George W. Bush.
Russia’s Kommersant daily said Moscow was worried that Azerbaijan would
be making more military purchases in NATO countries as it builds up
its armed forces and ultimately building a “strategic relationship”
with the Western alliance and even allowing NATO and the United States
to use its military bases.
Kommersant, citing unnamed sources close to the Kremlin, said Putin
would offer Aliev a deeper strategic relationship with Russia by
allowing it to purchase cheaper Russian weapons something that had
been blocked earlier by Moscow’s desire to keep Azerbaijan from
strengthening its military at the expense of Russia’s main ally in
the Caucasus, Armenia.
“Evidently the creation of a united front … against Georgia is more
important for Russia: The main topic of negotiations is supposed to
be Azerbaijan’s participation in an energy blockade against Georgia
in winter 2006-2007,” Kommersant wrote.
Russia’s Gazprom natural gas monopoly said last week that it was
seeking to double the price Georgia pays for gas; Georgia accused
Moscow of “political blackmail” and said it would look for alternate
suppliers, including Azerbaijan.
Kommersant said Putin would also offer investments in Azerbaijan by
the Russian aluminum giant OAO Rusal and RAO Unified Energy Systems.
Putin said that Russian-Azerbaijani trade had grown by half already
this year over the same period in 2005, and he predicted it would
double within a year or two.
“We have very extensive bilateral relationships (with Azerbaijan)
in the political field, international affairs and the economy,”
Putin said.
Putin and Aliev were expected to discuss developments in the
Caucasus Mountains region, including the prolonged dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh, the Kremlin said ahead of the meeting.
The disputed territory in Azerbaijan 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
has not been worked out, and years of talks under the auspices of
international mediators have brought few visible results.

JO-2008: FRANCK PICCARD POURRAIT DEFENDRE LES COULEURS DE L’ARMENIE EN VOILE
Agence France Presse
9 novembre 2006 jeudi 6:37 PM GMT
GRENOBLE 9 nov 2006
Le champion olympique de ski savoyard Franck Piccard a annonce jeudi
qu’il pourrait defendre les couleurs de l’Armenie dans les competitions
de voile de 470 aux jeux Olympiques de Pekin en 2008.
“J’ai decouvert la voile avec mon ami le skipper Jean-Philippe
Delapierre et il m’a propose de me lancer dans l’aventure sous
les couleurs de l’Armenie, pays qui est invite d’honneur des jeux
Olympiques de Pekin, et dont les equipes ne sont pas obligees de passer
par les epreuves de selection”, a-t-il declare a l’AFP confirmant
ainsi l’information parue a la une de l’hebdomadaire l’Essor Savoyard
de vendredi 10 novembre.
“Nous avons deja dispute des courses de l’Euro Cat a Carnac et nous
avons bien marche. On va participer a des courses l’annee prochaine
sur la Côte d’Azur et surtout aux Championnats du monde de l’ete 2007
au Portugal”, a-t-il dit.
Le champion de 45 ans, pour qui la voile est devenue sa “nouvelle
passion”, estime qu’il y a de “nombreux points commun entre le ski
et la voile, qui sont des sports de glisse.”
Son ami Delapierre et lui meme n’ont pas d’origine armenienne “mais
beaucoup de sympathie pour ce petit pays.”
–Boundary_(ID_2aODBCQvrcTYFfTybesI9g )–

COMUNITA’ ARMENA SOTTO CHOC, TURCO ROVINA MOSTRA SU GENOCIDIO ; ROVINATI ANCHE I PANNELLI DELL’ESPOSIZIONE DEDICATI AI PAPI ROMA
ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano
November 5, 2006
(ANSA) – ROMA, 5 NOV – La comunita armena italiana e sotto choc. Un
giovane turco stamattina ha fatto irruzione nel teatro di Varallo
Sesia (Vercelli), dove era in corso l inaugurazione di una mostra
sul genocidio armeno seminando il panico.
Ad un certo punto e piombato in sala un energumeno che urlava come
un ossesso in turco, prendendo a calci i pannelli della mostra,
rovesciando i libri sul genocidio armeno, spintonando persino delle
signore ha raccontato Pietro Kuciukian, curatore dell esposizione
dedicata allo sterminio che agli inizi del secolo scorso costo la
vita ad un milione e mezzo di armeni cristiani.
Tra i pannelli che il giovane turco ha distrutto ce ne sono due che
riguardano i papi: uno dedicato a Benedetto XV, il primo capo di
Stato che nel 1915 cerco di fermare il massacro appellandosi all
imperatore ottomano dell epoca e l altro al viaggio che fece Papa
Wojtyla in Armenia nel 2002.
La polizia fortunatamente e subito intervenuta e lo ha portato via. Piu
tardi il sindaco mi ha detto che il ragazzo di nazionalita turca vive
a Varallo Sesia da un paio d anni, ha sposato una italiana e gestisce
un negozio di doner kebab ha affermato Kuciukian, sottolineando che
episodi del genere, cosi gravi, non sono mai accaduti in Italia. In
Francia si , tanto che e proprio per questo che il parlamento francese
ha varato una legge per punire i negazionisti che non riconoscono il
genocidio. In diverse citta francesi gruppi di giovani Lupi Grigi
hanno imbrattato monumenti e cose del genere. Cio che e capitato
a Varallo Sesia non e un bel segnale. Non so se e un fatto isolato
oppure, se questo ragazzo e stato istigato da qualcuno. Il dubbio
resta . La mostra di Kuciukian sta girando varie citta italiane e
dovrebbe a breve essere portata a Roma.
Ora il teatro e presidiato dalla polizia. (ANSA).

MOSTRA SU ARMENI DEVASTATA, REGIONE PIEMONTE LA ACQUISISCE ; ASSESSORE CULTURA OLIVA, GIRERA’ SCUOLE PER RICORDARE GENOCIDIO
ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano
November 6, 2006
TORINO
(ANSA) – TORINO, 6 NOV – La Regione Piemonte acquisisce la mostra sul
genocidio armeno che durante l’inaugurazione ieri a Varallo Sesia
(Vercelli) e’ stata danneggiata da un giovane turco che ha preso a
calci i pannelli e rovesciato a terra preziosi volumi storici. Lo
annuncia l’assessore alla Cultura Gianni Oliva, sottolineando che
l’iniziativa sara’ accompagnata dall’organizzazione di un incontro
con lo scrittore turco Orhan Pamuk, premio Nobel 2006, che lo scorso
anno venne incriminato nel suo paese per avere espresso parole di
condanna del genocidio armeno.
“La Regione – ha detto Oliva – si impegna ad acquisire la mostra
e a farla girare nelle province e soprattutto nelle scuole di
tutto il Piemonte, perche nessuno dimentichi questo triste pezzo
di storia. Insieme alla diffusione della mostra – ha aggiunto –
organizzeremo una iniziativa pubblica con Orhan Pamuk, incriminato
in Turchia per le sue dichiarazioni sul genocidio degli Armeni, e
con lo scrittore Guenter Lewy, che da pochi mesi ha pubblicato per
Einaudi un significativo libro dal titolo ‘Il massacro degli Armeni,
un genocidio controverso'”.
La mostra di Varallo Sesia, ora presidiata dalla polizia, raccoglie
fotografie di Armin Wegner ed e’ curata da Pietro Kuciukian, armeno
figlio di uno scampato al genocidio del 1915, autore di vari libri
sul tema. Tra i pannelli semidistrutti dal giovane turco (che e’
sposato con un’italiana e vive a Varallo Sesia da circa due anni),
ne figurano due che riguardano i Papi.
Uno e’ dedicato a Benedetto XV, che per primo nel 1915 cerco’ di
fermare il massacro appellandosi al sultano ottomano del tempo.
Un altro ricorda il viaggio che fece Papa Wojtyla in Armenia nel
2002.(ANSA).

KARABAKH TO SPEND 91,000 DOLLARS ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM
Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Nov 9 2006
Yerevan, 9 November: The government of the Nagornyy-Karabakh republic
[NKR] has allocated 40m drams [91,000 dollars] for the preparations
for and holding of a constitutional referendum on 10 December.
About 280 polling stations will open in the republic, the chairman
of the NKR Central Electoral Commission, Sergey Nasibyan, has
told Mediamax. One polling station will be set up at the permanent
representative office of the NKR in Yerevan.
At present lists of voters are being drawn up. The final lists will be
made available at the polling stations two days before the referendum.

BRIAN FALL: UK READY TO ASSIST OSCE MG IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.11.2006 14:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Secretary of the Security Council at the RA
President, Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan received Wednesday the
British delegation led by Sir Brian Fall, the UK Special Representative
for the South Caucasus, Col. Seyran Shahsuvaryan, RA Defense Minister’s
Spokesman, told PanARMENIAN.Net. UK Ambassador to Armenia Anthony
Cantor was also present at the meeting. Welcoming Armenia’s policy
on peaceful settlement of conflicts Sir Brian Fall said the UK is
ready to assist the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. Pointing out to the usefulness of mutual contacts
in order to maintain ceasefire in the conflict zone the interlocutors
touched upon the recent meeting of the RA and Azeri Defense Ministers
at the Ijevan-Ghazakh sector of the Armenian and Azerbaijani border.
When commenting on the conference organized by Wilton Park in Yerevan
Sir Brian Fall emphasized that it’s the first-ever conference held
in a South Caucasian state. When touching upon the current stage
of the Armenian-British military cooperation the sides noted the
importance of extending the program of English language courses for
Armenian servicemen.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DEMOCRATS’ VICTORY IN HOUSE TO PROMOTE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.11.2006 15:32 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The balance of power shifted in Washington yesterday
as Democrats took control over the House of Representatives, paving
the way for Armenian Caucus Member Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to become
the first female Speaker of the House. Pelosi’s anticipated rise,
coupled with the likelihood of numerous Caucus Democrats picking up
important leadership positions, will expand the scope and influence
of this important body in the next congressional session. As part
of that power shift, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) will
pass the Speaker’s gavel to Pelosi, making her the first Armenian
Caucus Member to hold that position. Pelosi has a strong record of
support on Armenian-American issues and has regularly called on the
Administration to properly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. She
is currently a cosponsor of H. Res. 316 – a bill that affirms the
attempted annihilation of the Armenian people as genocide, reports
the Armenian Assembly of America.