TRANSIT OF IRANIAN GAS THROUGH ARMENIA REMAINS ISSUE ON AGENDA
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Nov 2 2006
YEREVAN, November 2. /ARKA/. The transit of Iranian gas through Armenia
remains an issue on agenda, Director General of the “ArmRosgasprom”
CJSC Karen Karapetyan told a press conference.
“In theory, Armenia can become a transit country. This is also possible
if the seller and the purchaser agree on terms and the advisability
of the transportation way running through Armenia is substantiated,”
he said.
Karapetyan explained that if the Iran-Armenia gas main had been
designed as a transit gas main its capacity would be four times as
high and the design cost three times as high. However, the financing
burden would be laid on consumers.
“In this aspect, Armenia is a unique country, because it assumed
the burden to ensure the repayment of the funds. Armenia has made
an unprecedented, but right, step by constructing an alternative gas
main in cooperation with Iran,” Karapetyan said.
In this context, Karapetyan stressed that Armenia’s domestic market
is extremely small, and no other small country in the world is known
to have constructed a gas main for its own needs.
He also reported that after the Iran-Armenia gas main has been put
into operation in December 2006 Armenia will receive 300 to 400mln
cubic meters of gas at the initial stage, with this amount to be
increased up to 2.3bln cubic meters.
Armenia currently exports natural gas only from Russia – 1.7-1.8bln
cubic meters annually.

STATE MINISTER BABACAN ON TURKEY’S E.U. ACCESSION
Anatolian Times, Turkey
Nov 2 2006
DUBLIN – “Turkey has always worked to achieve its goal of being
integrated into modern world,” Turkish State Minister & Chief
Negotiator for EU talks Ali Babacan said on Thursday.
Addressing the National Forum on Europe comprised of parliamentarians
and representatives of nongovernmental organizations in Dublin, Babacan
stressed, “there are deep-rooted relations between Turkey and EU.”
Babacan indicated that the integration process of Turkey which has
been continued for more than 50 years was based on freedom, democracy,
basic rights and supremacy of law.
“The start of membership talks between Turkey and the EU was also a
historical step for the Union. Turkey’s membership negotiations will
be long, difficult and challenging,” he underlined.
Stating that Turkey’s EU accession would strengthen the EU which
played a significant role in global world, Babacan noted, “Turkey
will also assist the EU in regard to settlement of stability in the
Middle East and improvement of prosperity in Central Asia, Middle
East and Caucasus.”
“Turkey’s full membership will also assist EU in regard to its foreign
policy and security,” he noted.
Babacan said, “Turkey which acts as a bridge between Europe and Asia
will serve as a natural line between Europe and regional countries.”
Stating that Turkey contributed to the EU with its young population,
he indicated, “Turkey will work hard for its EU accession process.”
“We fulfilled reforms to upgrade living standards of Turkish people.
There has been a great progress in Turkish economy as well,”
he underlined.
Noting that there has been increase in the trade volume between Turkey
and the EU countries, Babacan stated that foreign investors attached
great attention to Turkish economy.
“Turkey will catch Maastricht criteria before it becomes a full member
of the EU as a result of sound budgetary and monetary policies in
the country,” he noted.
Upon questions about the Cyprus issue, Babacan said, “the Cyprus issue
has been continuing for nearly 40 years. Several attempts to find
a solution to the Cyprus issue failed to yield results. The latest
attempt was made by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in
2004. Consequently, Turkish Cypriot people supported the plan in
the referenda while Greek Cypriots rejected it. On the other hand,
the EU failed to fulfil its promises to lift embargoes and isolation
imposed on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).”
When asked whether Turkey would open its ports and airports to the
Greek Cypriot traffic, Babacan said, “this is an practice envisaged in
the Customs Union. Some EU-member countries such as Belgium, Austria
and Italy apply the same practice against Turkish trucks on the
pretext that their quotas were full. The issue of opening of Turkish
ports and airports to the Greek Cypriot traffic should be brought onto
agenda at the same time with lifting of embargoes imposed on the TRNC.”
Referring to the reform process in Turkey, Babacan said, “Turkish
parliament has displayed an extraordinary performance since the
beginning of the process, and adopted a number of legal amendments.
On the other hand, we need a mentality change to put those reforms
into practice. This mentality change takes time. We may not be perfect,
but we have taken quite important steps.”
Upon a question about the Article 301 of the Penal Code on freedom
of expression, Babacan said, “Turkish government cannot intervene
in jurisdiction. But the article can be changed in the course of
the time.”
Replying to another question about honor killings, Babacan said,
“those events have nothing to do with religious beliefs. They stem
from traditions.”
Upon a question on problems faced in southeastern part of Turkey,
Babacan said, “Turkish state has never made a discrimination among
its citizens as Turkish or Kurdish. Also our state has made great
investments in the region. However, private sector’s investment is
essential for economic development of the region. The private sector
refrains from investing in the region due to instability and security
problems stemming from PKK terrorism.”
Referring to recent developments in Iraq, Babacan said, “we have beer
advocating Iraq’s territorial integrity and political unity from the
very beginning. Also, we believe that Iraq’s natural resources should
be shared equally by all segments of Iraqi people.”
Upon another question about role of radical Islam in Turkey, Babacan
said, “our understanding of secularism envisages separation of state
and religious affairs and enable our people to live their religious
beliefs freely. There is not much support to radicalism in Turkey.”
“The Justice & Development Party (AKP) is not an Islamic political
party. It is rather a conservative party which protects its values
and traditions,” he said.
Replying to another question about so-called Armenian genocide,
Babacan said, “only historians should deal with the past events.
Prime Minister Erdogan sent a letter to the Armenian prime minister
and proposed him to set up a joint commission to carry out research.
However, Armenia did not respond to our proposal in the affirmative.
Also, Turkey is ready to open its archives. But Armenians prefer to
carry out lobby activities instead of conducting scientific works.”

WHS’S NEW ORCHESTRA LEADER IS A MUSICAL RENA
By Marisa Kendall/ Townsman Correspondent
Wellesley Townsman, MA
Nov 2 2006
Wellesley High School’s new orchestra teacher arrived with a resume
packed with both professional and teaching experience.
Jeffrey Howard conducts Wellesley High’s orchestra during the morning
and holds private violin lessons after school. In between, Howard also
teaches classes in violin, music appreciation and music education at
Bridgewater State and Westfield state colleges.
Currently in his first year at WHS, Howard came to Wellesley from
a teaching position at the University of Texas in Arlington. “I’m
enjoying working here very much,” he said.
Howard is impressed by the “tradition” of education visible in
Wellesley, he said, and by the fact that the school’s orchestra
students “really want to be there.” Their dedication and energy
create an inspiring atmosphere, he said, because “they all sincerely
love music.”
Howard can also attribute this atmosphere to his own love of music,
both as a teacher and a professional musician. He has substituted
in the Boston Symphony, been Concord Orchestra concert master and
preformed all over the world, in places including Prague, Budapest and
Vienna. Currently Howard plays violin in the “Kassian-Howard Duo” with
his wife, Anna Soukiassian, who accompanies him on the piano. Because
Soukiassian is Armenian, the duet incorporates Armenian music into
its classical and chamber music repertoire, Howard said. Soukiassian
is also a music teacher, and teaches at Philips Academy and gives
private lessons. The duet performs regularly across the U.S., and
has a recital scheduled for Nov. 12 in Montreal.
Though the Kassian-Howard Duo has been performing together for nine
years, “there’s always a certain amount of nerves in anticipation
of doing your best,” Howard said. The stress eases with practice, he
added, but a portion will still be there. “The challenge of performing
in front of people [is the] ultimate challenge of realizing your
musical potential,” Howard said.
Howard practices with his wife for two hours a day on top of a busy
teaching schedule, but he said the two obligations complement each
other more than they conflict. “The more I teach, the better my solo
playing gets,” he said. His students make him aware of the way he does
things, Howard said, which helps him determine how he can improve
his technique and, ultimately, his playing. Helping students find
their musical voice has, in turn, helped him find his own, Howard
said. Performing has also helped to build his musical skill and make
him a better teacher, he said.
Howard has always wanted to teach and perform simultaneously, and
neither interest ever outweighed the other, he said. His father was an
elementary school teacher for 42 years, Howard said, and teaching was
in the family. Following this tradition, Howard first started teaching
music lessons during high school, and he has now been teaching full
time for 15 years. Music was an early interest as well, and as a
child he also took piano lessons. Now he plays some viola on top of
the violin.
The worlds of teaching and performing connect for Howard most
noticeably in his students, who are also some of his biggest fans. He
has a “devoted group of students” who attend all his local concerts,
he said. “[They] love seeing their teacher perform.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GERMAN-OWNED MINING GIANT REMAINS ARMENIA’S TOP TAXPAYER
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 2 2006
A German-owned company mining copper and molybdenum remains Armenia’s
largest corporate taxpayer, having contributed 22.7 billion drams
($60 million) to the state treasury during the first nine months of
this year, official statistics show.
The Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine continues to be followed
by two other foreign-owned companies, the ArmenTel telecommunications
operator and the ArmRosGazprom natural gas distributor. According
to the figures provided to RFE/RL by Armenian tax authorities, they
have paid 13 billion drams and 8.3 billion drams respectively during
the same period.
Also high on the official list of the country’s 300 largest taxpayers
are two fuel importing companies, two tobacco firms, the national power
utility, a mobile phone operator, the Metsamor nuclear power plant,
the Zvartnots international airport, a brandy distillery and even a
car dealership. But the amount of various taxes and customs duties
paid by each of them pales in comparison with Zangezur’s contribution
to Armenia’s national budget.
The mining giant is based in the southeastern town of Kajaran and
employs thousands of people. It was privatized in December 2004 for
$132 million by a consortium of local and foreign investors led by
the German metals group Cronimet. The latter owns 75 percent of the
company, both directly and through its Yerevan-based Makur Yerkat
smelter.
The Armenian government is on track to increase its still modest tax
and customs revenues by 20 percent to 375 billion drams (almost $1
billion) this year. It will need to achieve a similar increase next
year in order to successfully implement its 2008 budget projected to
be worth about $1.5 billion.
At the urging of the World Bank and other Western donors, the
government began publicizing two years ago the list of the top
taxpayers as part of its declared crackdown on endemic tax evasion.
It was hoped that the “name-and-shame” policy will embarrass the
country’s wealthiest citizens that are believed to grossly underreport
their earnings. Government officials and some donors say that this
measure alone has forced them to pay more taxes.
The head of the State Tax Service (STS), Felix Tsolakian, insisted
this week that no Armenian company is now off limits to tax
inspectors. “Today tax inspectors have no trouble entering one or
another business,” Tsolakian told RFE/RL in an interview.
Still, the latest rankings released by his agency show that many of
Armenia’s government-connected tycoons continue to post modest profits
contrasting with their conspicuous wealth. Gagik Tsarukian, arguably
the most influential and ambitious of the so-called “oligarchs,” is
a case in point. The biggest of the companies that are known to be
owned by him, Multi-Leon, occupies a lowly 76 place in the STS list,
with only 411 million drams ($1.1 million) in taxes and other duties
paid from January through August.
Another Tsarukian-controlled business, a big cement factory located
in the southern town of Ararat, paid 248 million drams, or even less
than Yerevan State University. The factory is thought to be operating
at full capacity thanks to Armenia’s construction boom and growing
cement exports to neighboring Iran and Georgia.
The modest taxes sharply contrast with sums spent by Tsarukian on
the ongoing massive distribution of wheat, potato seeds and other
agricultural aid to thousands of farmers across the country reeling
from last summer’s severe drought. The aid, heavily advertised by
Tsarukian-funded media, is being handed out under the aegis of his
Prosperous Armenia party that intends to do well in next year’s
parliamentary elections. Some leaders of Armenia’s mainstream
opposition parties have already denounced it as a large-scale vote
buying operation.

FREED GEORGIAN-ARMENIAN ACTIVIST SHOWS CAUTION
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 2 2006
An Armenian nationalist activist from Georgia’s restive Javakheti
region was on Tuesday careful not to attack Armenia’s government for
prosecuting and keeping him under arrest for two weeks on what his
supporters see as politically motivated charges.
Vahagn Chakhalian, a leader of the United Javakhk organization
campaigning for the Armenian-populated region’s greater autonomy,
was taken to custody and later charged with illegally entering
Armenia on October 11 just hours after being assaulted by a large
group of unknown men. Chakhalian, his parents, brother and another
United Javakhk activist, were reportedly stopped and beaten up by
the assailants as they arrived in Yerevan in a car.
The violence and the ensuing arrest have been strongly condemned by
United Javakhk and 16 members of Armenia’s parliament. In a joint
October 19 statement, the mostly opposition lawmakers accused the
authorities in Yerevan of trying to please the Georgian government
which has been accused by United Javakhk of rigging local elections
held in Javakheti earlier this month.
A Yerevan court released Chakhalian from custody on Monday with
the consent of prosecutors investigating the case. Although the
controversial accusations leveled against the 24-year-old activist
have not been dropped, his lawyers hope that he will avoid trial.
Chakhalian on Thursday rejected the accusations as “slander” but
refused to comment on details of the case, saying the investigation is
not yet over. He also avoided any criticism of the Armenian government,
while indicating that the latter is failing to live up to the Javakheti
Armenians’ “expectations.” “The Armenian authorities are doing what
they think is right,” he told a news conference.
Official Yerevan has long been striving to get Armenian nationalist
groups in Javakheti to show restraint in demanding a status of autonomy
for the impoverished region that borders Armenia and Turkey.
One of those groups, Virk, teamed up with Georgia’s governing National
Movement Party to contest the October 5 elections.
Official results of the vote, which showed the party sweeping to a
landslide victory in Javakheti and Georgia as a whole, were rejected
as fraudulent by United Javakhk. The latter rallied hundreds of
supporters in the regional town of Akhalkalaki. The demonstration
turned violent, with the protesters seizing the local government
building before being dispersed by police.

LAST ISSUE OF ‘ACCORD’ JOURNAL DEVOTED TO AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA
Today, Azerbaijan
Nov 2 2006
The 17th issue of the ‘Accord’ journal of Great Britain Armistice
Resources Organization devoted to Azerbaijan and Armenia was translated
into the Azerbaijani and Armenian languages.
In the collection “Limits of leadership chances: the role of
elite and societies in Nagorno Karabakh peace process” there are
articles of authors representing conflict sides, as well as of
Azerbaijan and Armenian Foreign Ministers, journalists, scientists
and refugees. In his article under the title “Azerbaijan’s Peace way
through reintegration and cooperation in Nagorno Karabakh” Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stressed the Armenian occupation
of Azerbaijan territories.
“We are ready to continue negotiations with Armenia to remove the
results of Armenian aggression of Azerbaijani territories. The status
of Nagorno Karabakh can be determined legally and democratically
only by equal participation of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities,”
he writes.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan in his article “Old and new
states: changing paradigms and hard way leading to the peace in Nagorno
Karabakh” stressed that Azerbaijan is the victim of its own aggression.
“In order to solve the problem Nagorno Karabakh should have
geographical relation with Armenia and Azerbaijan should not have
any vertical relation with Nagorno Karabakh,” the Minister writes.
The separatist regime is presented as “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”
in the journal, APA reports.
URL:

OSCE MONITORING DUE TO TAKE PLACE ON AZERI-ARMENIAN FRONT-LINE
Author: E. Javadova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 2 2006
The next OSCE monitoring will be held in the contact line of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces along Fizuli-Horadiz road on
November 3, 2006, the Defense Ministry announced.
Miroslav Vimetal and Peter Key, Field Assistants to the Special Envoy
of the OSCE Chairman-in-office, will carry out the monitoring in the
Azerbaijani side of the frontline.
Imre Palatinus and Gunter Folk, Special Envoy Fields Assistants, are
responsible for monitoring on the Armenian side of the contact line.

ANALYSIS: TURKEY’S DEMOCRATIC REFORMS GET POOR GRADES
By Stefan Nicola – UPI Germany Correspondent
World Peace Herald, DC
Nov 2 2006
BERLIN — A new European Union report is set to give Turkey low grades
on its democratic reforms and further delay the country’s EU accession,
a process already under scrutiny by most of Europe.
An unnamed EU official told the Financial Times Germany newspaper
he was surprised that Turkey was so significantly behind in its
democratization process.
“We would have hoped that Turkey would have delivered a lot more during
the past 18 months, certainly since the beginning of negotiations in
October last year,” the official said. “If Turkey had been moving
more, if there was greater freedom of expression, if there wasn’t
any torture, things would be a lot more promising.”
The official report, which the newspaper said it has seen, will be
presented next week. It said “prosecutions and convictions for the
expression of non-violent opinion … are a cause for serious concern,”
although on the weekend, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said he has no plans to change the penal code for such cases, the
newspaper reported.
Such bad grades for Turkey are by no means a surprise, experts say.
“Since the beginning of the accession negotiations, Turkey and the EU
have constantly distanced themselves from each other,” Heinz Kramer,
Turkey expert at the German Institute for International and Security
Affairs, a Berlin-based think tank, told United Press International.
“That’s also because the accession process within the EU has not much
or only half-hearted backing.”
Public support for Turkey’s EU membership is at an all time low,
with less than one in three Europeans supporting it.
“Large parts of the population and — mostly conservative — political
elites feel that Turkey does not belong to Europe,” Kramer said.
A country with unsolved regional conflicts and roughly 70 million
citizens, nearly all of them Muslims, Turkey is seen by many European
governments as a burden, rather than an asset to the EU.
France, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Slovakia are among
the most outspoken opponents, with Paris speaking loudest. In
what observers say was a bid to bank on anti-Turkey sentiments,
France earlier this month adopted a bill that makes it a crime to
deny that an Armenian genocide occurred in Turkey during World War
I, a move that was criticized in most of Europe. France is home to
roughly 500,000 people whose families came from Armenia, many of them
descendants of families that experienced the 1915-1923 violence that
killed some 1.5 million people. Turkey denies that genocide took place.
The Cyprus problem
Another unresolved issue involves the Republic of Cyprus.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently said that if Turkey wants
to be accepted into the EU, Ankara would have to open its ports to
Cypriots and recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member.
Cyprus, a popular Mediterranean tourist destination, has been
divided into a Republic of Cyprus — the Greek Cypriot south —
and a Turkish-occupied north since a 1974 Turkish invasion.
Merkel has been critical of Turkey’s EU accession and favors the
model of a “privileged partnership” instead, although her coalition
government officially endorses the accession process.
Finland, which currently holds the rotating the EU presidency, has
been beefing up efforts to prevent a possible escalation of the Cyprus
crisis, wanted by “neither the EU nor Turkey,” Kramer said.
Within the EU, the supporters of a Turkey membership, including Spain
and Britain, argue Turkey could serve as a bridge to the Islamic world,
and fuel democratization efforts in the region. Most EU governments,
however, feel the enlargement process, with Croatia becoming a
member soon, has reached its limits, and pointing to Turkey’s reform
shortcomings is an easy way out of a quick accession.
But the EU, with its half-hearted support of the Turkish accession
process, is also to blame for the lack of reforms in Turkey, Kramer
said.
“In Ankara, politicians think: ‘Why should we make all these efforts
if in the end, nothing comes out of it,'” he told UPI. “From how it
looks now, it may only be a question of time until the whole process
becomes deadlocked.”

WILL JAVAKHETI REPEAT THE FATE OF KARABAKH?
Regnum, Russia
Nov 2 2006
Leader of the United Javakh Alliance Vahagn Chakhalian does not rule
out a possibility of an armed clash in the Armenian-populated area
in Georgia, Samtskhe-Javakheti, taking into consideration similarity
of the situation in the area with the one in Nagorno Karabakh in the
Soviet time. Chakhalian made the announcement at a news conference
in Yerevan on November 2. At the same time he noted that up to date
the question is not vital.
As for cooperation with the Georgian authorities concerning realization
of projects, as Chakhalian noted, “such cooperation is equal to
cooperation with Turks in the beginning of the last century.” He
outlined priority issues for United Javakh: inadmissibility of
construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi, status of the Armenian
Apostolic Church in Georgia, teaching Armenian and history in schools,
foundation of the Georgian-Armenian University. Chakhalian denied
statements that the events in Javakh are related to the exacerbation
of the Russian0Georgian relations.
“It is rather weird that everything that happens in the area, Armenian
media connect with the crisis in the Russian-Georgian relations,”
Vahagn Chakhalian said.
In his turn, MP Hamayak Hovhannissyan also noted that not the discord
in the Georgian-Russian relations, but construction of the “monstrous”
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway caused the high interest of Armenia
in Javakh. According to him, despite the fact that European community
and the USA are negative in their assessments of the construction,
Turkey and Azerbaijan under Georgia’s consent have been implementing
the project; so, it is a question of months.
Besides, he expressed indignation at the intention to populate the
traditionally Armenian territory alongside the railway: 12 villages
with a population of 1,000 people. He also reminded that Armenia’s
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan speaking at a session of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation Organization leaders also raised the issue
of inadmissibility of constructing the railway and called for Georgia
to abandon the project.

OQANESYAN: TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN PREPARED PROGRAM CONSIDERING ARMENIA’S ISOLATION
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 2 2006
“Turkey and Azerbaijan prepared a program considering the isolation
of Armenia,” Amayak Ovannisyan, Armenian parliamentarian and the
chief of Armenian Political Scientists Union said, APA reports.
He said that Azerbaijan and Turkey intend to build 12 villages
along the part of Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway in Chavakhetiya
for placing Ahiska Turks, pretexting that they ensure the security
of Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway. Ovannisyan said that it is
unacceptable for Armenia, because it means the isolation from the
world.