PRESS OFFICE
Office of the Legate
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
Website:
November 1, 2006
___________________
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY TO BUILD “CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II WORK PROJECT” IN
ARMENIA
BY FLORENCE AVAKIAN
For the first time in its six year program in Armenia, Habitat for
Humanity and the Armenian Apostolic Church will join together to
combat the severe housing shortage for families in need in Armenia.
This latest agreement solidifies the already growing relationship
between the Armenian Church and Habitat for Humanity (HFH).
In this latest project, HFH will build the “Karekin II Work Project”
with the blessings of the Catholicos of All Armenians. The work which
was recently completed, resulted in 37 homes being built in Gavar near
Lake Sevan. The 106 volunteers who gave their devoted services, were
mostly priests and seminarians from Armenia, but they also included
several volunteers from the United States. The Diocese of the Armenian
Church in America had sent teams from different parishes.
Bishop Vicken Aykazian who is currently the President-Elect of
the National Council of Churches, and Executive Director of the
Ecumenical Office of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church,
played an important role in this latest program, convincing Dr. Bob
Edgar, President of the National Council of Churches of the crucial
importance of this latest work.
During the ten day program which ran from September 1 to 10, the work
focused mainly on the completion of the construction. Both Catholicos
Karekin II of All Armenians, and Bishop Vicken Aykazian played
important roles, joining the group in the painting of the buildings.
Before this final phase, the volunteers had performed the initial
part of the project.
“Through this partnership, we are “putting our faith into action,”
said Bishop Vicken, in an interview at the Diocesan headquarters in
New York. “Spiritually, we share the same values with Habitat for
Humanity. We are especially enthusiastic about sharing this important
program for our people in Armenia.”
The disastrous Armenian earthquake in 1988 which left half a million
homeless, resulted in hundreds of thousands living in unfinished
basements which were basically holes in the ground with makeshift
roofs, or in metal containers called domiks. Many families called
these domiks which were excruciatingly hot in summer and frigidly
cold in winter, home for more than a decade.
Since 2000, Habitat for Humanity Armenia has centered its activities
on eliminating poverty housing. Hundreds of devoted volunteers, have
devoted their time and expertise to this monumental task during the
past six years, providing homes for more than 1000 poverty-stricken
people, using the riches of Armenia’s locally-mined tufa stone in
the construction.
In 2005, Catholicos Karekin II participated in the Carter Work Project
(named for President Jimmy Carter) in Michigan. A simultaneous project
was instituted in Armenia by Habitat for Humanity, led by the Very
Rev. Fr. Torkom Tonikyan, Vicar of the Araratian Dicoese.
Habitat for Humanity International which was founded in 1976, is a
non-denominational Christian, non-governmental, non-profit housing
organization that has been instrumental in assisting more than one
million people all over the world to have a decent and affordable
place to live.
— 11/1/06
PHOTO CAPTION (1): A family in Armenia works on its new home.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, with Bishop Vicken Aykazian
and other dignitaries at the Habitat for Humanity worksite.
# # #

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PRESS RELEASE +++ PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: November 1, 2006
Contact: Lerna Kayserian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
ANCA-WR Meets with California State Assembly Speaker Nuñez
Los Angeles, CA – Members of the Armenian National Committee of America –
Western Region (ANCA-WR) Board of Directors met with the California State
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-46th district) earlier this month to
discuss various issues of concern to the Armenian American Community.
The ANCA-WR discussed Senate Bill 1524, the Genocide Assets and Recovery
Bill which was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger on September 25,
2006. The new law provides that Armenian Genocide victims, or their heirs
or beneficiaries who reside in the State of California, can have claims
arising out of a financial institution’s failure to pay or turn over
deposited assets or looted assets from the Genocide era. This will allow
cases that bring an action or continue a pending action on these matters in
California’s courts.
In addition, the ANCA-WR Board members briefed the Speaker on the progress
of the California Armenia Trade Office (CATO), which was opened in Yerevan
earlier this year with the financial assistance of the California Armenian
American community. CATO was created to facilitate commerce between
California and Armenia. Speaker Nuñez expressed support for the California
Armenia Trade Office and pledged to examine possible state funding for the
successful endeavor during the next Assembly term.
Also on the agenda was the racist campaign attack against the Armenian
community during the 43rd Assembly District’s democratic primary last June,
during which Candidate Paul Krekorian prevailed against Glendale City
Councilman Frank Quintero. An independent expenditure committee, known as
the California Latino Leadership Fund, had sponsored racist anti-Armenian
mailers against Krekorian in support of Frank Quintero’s campaign. The
Speaker condemned these tactics and stated that the Latino Caucus in the
Assembly was firmly against this sort of dirty campaigning.
Finally, the ANCA discussed the need for greater participation of Armenian
Americans within state government through appointments and other
opportunities for involvement. Speaker Nuñez expressed great interest in
considering qualified Armenian American candidates for such positions and
expressed a desire to work with the ANCA-WR in this area.
Speaker Nunez was first elected to the Assembly in 2002 and was sworn in as
Speaker in 2004. If re-elected in the November elections, he will be
serving his final term through 2008 due to term-limits.
The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots
political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of
the Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues.
–Boundary_(ID_RSOGln1B8K4O7gb+l2XL8A)–

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE EASTERN PRELACY OF THE UNITED STATES PARTICIPATES IN THE WCC
MEETING IN NEW YORK
Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Ecumenical Officer in the Prelacy of
the United States of America, participated in the meeting of the
World Council of Churches’ (WCC) American branch held in New York on
October 26-27.
The delegates discussed the effects of the change in the WCC agenda
on the mission and witness of American Churches. They examined the
role of new advisory committees in helping to overcome the challenges
facing the development of the Ecumenical movement.
The participants highlighted the important role of the Council’s
American branch and the need to use mainstream media to make WCC an
everyday presence in the lives of American Churches.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
Ecumenical activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I MEETS WITH THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF THE ARMENIAN
CATHOLIC
AND ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL CHURCHES
His Holiness Aram I met with the spiritual leaders of the Armenian Catholic
and Evangelical Churches in two separate meetings on October 30. V. Rev. Fr.
Norayr Ashekian, V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian and Mr. Tsolag Tutelian from
the Central Executive Council of the Catholicosate accompanied His Holiness.
The meeting with Patriarch Nerses Bedros Tarmouni XIX was held in the
presence of several Armenian Catholic Bishops and priests. His Holiness then
met Rev. Meguerditch Karageozian, President of Armenian Evangelical Churches
in the Near East. The President of Haigazian University, Rev. Dr. Paul
Haidostian as well as several Evangelical pastors and community leaders also
attended.
The main focus of the talks was the relationship between Armenia and the
Diaspora particularly in light of the Third Armenia-Diaspora conference held
this summer in Yerevan. The three spiritual leaders also discussed the
importance of strengthening the Diaspora and reviving Armenian schools in
particular. They reiterated the crucial importance of preserving the
internal unity of the Armenian community of Lebanon.
On these and other issues, all three highlighted the role of close
cooperation between the Armenian Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Churches
and the adoption of united stands towards issues of national concern.
Following these two meetings, His Holiness made the following statement:
“The main purpose of our meetings was the reinforcement of our internal
national unity. There might be difference in our approaches and evaluations,
but we consider that a natural phenomenon in the life of any nation.
However, it is essential that our communities, our nation become united in
basic issues affecting our life. Today more than ever, it is imperative that
we gather around pan-national projects and visions.”
“The Armenian community of Lebanon should concretely prove that it has a
unique role and place in the life of our nation in general and the Diaspora
in particular. Therefore, the energizing of our institutions and in this
context the revival of the Armenian school, the backbone of the Armenian
community of Lebanon, should become a priority for all of us. The stronger
an Armenian school becomes, the stronger an Armenian community becomes.”
“The Catholicosate of Cilicia and We personally in cooperation with the
“Gulbenkian”, “Lincy” and “Khatchig Babikian” Foundations, are striving to
keep the Armenian school strong in its educational mission. Financial
assistance alone, however, is not enough. It is our expectation that
Armenian parents send their children to Armenian schools. An Armenian school
becomes truly an Armenian School when it is filled with Armenian students;
when it conveys the Armenian language, religion and history as a spirit,
faith and commitment to Armenian students, making them the pillar of
Christian Armenian formation. Therefore, Christian education and Armenian
education for us, are closely interconnected; they are two dimensions of one
process”, said His Holiness Aram I.
The Pontiff concluded by calling on the Lebanese Armenian Members of
Parliament, parties and community leaders to work together for safeguarding
the rights of the Lebanese Armenian community and for preserving the
integrity and independence of Lebanon.
##
View photos here:
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS MEETS EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF
His Holiness Aram I met with Xavier Solana, the European Union High
Commissioner for foreign and security policy, on his return from Geneva. The
meeting, which lasted about half an hour, was held in the VIP hall at the
Beirut airport.
His Holiness Aram I and the EU official discussed the Middle East crisis and
particularly the international efforts to end the conflict in Lebanon. Aram
I expressed his views on the peaceful ways of solving the conflict.
Catholicos Aram I had held several ecumenical meetings in Geneva, in the
past couple of days.
##
View the photo here: 2
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

Armenian National Committee of Canada
130 Albert St., Suite 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel. (613) 235-2622 Fax (613) 238-2622
E-mail:[email protected]
Fo r Immediate Release
November 1, 2006
Contact: Kevork Mangeulian
Tel. (613) 235-2622
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Withdraws its Sponsorship of
Turkish Conference
Ottawa-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)
has withdrawn its sponsorship of “Turkey in the World: Implications
for Canada” one-day conference organized by the Turkish Canadian
Advocacy Group and sponsored by DFAIT and the Turkish Embassy. The
conference will take place on November 3 in Ottawa.
One of the most disturbing aspects of the conference is a “special
lecture” titled “History as a Present Day Problem: the Ottoman Armenian
Question” to be delivered by Prof. Guenter Lewy, a well-known Armenian
Genocide denier engaged in Turkish propaganda rather than in scholarly
research.
Prof. Lewy’s participation in a DFAIT sponsored conference is in
conflict with the policies of the Canadian government and public
pronouncements of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign
Affairs.
Moreover, the conference included discussions on Middle Eastern,
Mediterranean and Caucuses issues without representation from those
regions.
Rather than make the conference an open and pluralistic forum conducted
by academic, diplomatic and expert participation, organizers had
hand-picked panelists who are guaranteed to deliver the message the
organizers wanted to hear.
The withdrawal of DFAIT from the conference followed an October
23 letter by the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) to
Minister MacKay and a presentation to DFAIT of the concerns of the
Canadian-Armenian community.
The ANCC considers such a sponsorship morally and ethically
unacceptable and at odds with Canadian values and what Canada stands
for. “The conference and Prof. Lewy’s “headline” participation is
an insult to the Canadian government, to the House of Commons and to
Senate Members, to Quebec, Ontario and to British Columbia–the three
provinces which recognize the Armenian Genocide as a historic fact,”
said Aris Babikian, executive director of ANCC.
“The ANCC would like to take this opportunity to thank DFAIT and other
political authorities for their understanding and valuable input in
upholding the government’s principled stand on such important human
rights issues as the Armenian Genocide,” said Babikian.
#
The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances
the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range
of issues.
Regional Chapters
Montreal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge – St.
Catharines – Windsor – Vancouver

Talking turkey about Armenian history
By Christopher Atamian
dition_ID=10&article_ID=76503&categ_id=5
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Few issues in recent memory have incited as much fervor, debate,
applause and concomitant outrage as the recent bill passed by the
French Lower House, which proposes making denial of the Armenian
genocide punishable by law. Not surprisingly, Armenians around the
world have supported the initiative almost unconditionally, while
most Turks have opposed it on historical grounds – i.e. they still
refuse to label the massacres of 1915-1923 as genocide. A few Turkish
scholars accept the genocide label, but along with many in the West,
oppose the bill as an encroachment on free speech. Should the bill
pass and become law – an unlikely event given political realities
such as Turkey’s EU bid – it would mirror the existing Loi Gayssot,
which criminalizes the public denial of the Jewish Holocaust.
Ordinarily, the right to free speech should be protected with only
limited constraints and exceptions. For example, if an American citizen
wants to insult the United States, it is his or her right to do so,
as it is his or her right to desecrate the American flag. The first
amendment is clear on these and other issues of free expression. In
certain instances, however – for example, when national security
is endangered – it is acceptable for the state, after the proper
consultations and votes, to step in to (hopefully momentarily) curtail
certain rights. The fact that George W. Bush has now shamelessly
abused this right on more than one occasion should not mean that
the French government should not, conversely, use its full powers to
protect its Armenian citizens from continued insults and affronts –
by Turks or anyone else. Similarly, the French state ought to protect
its Turkish citizens from anti-Turkish or anti-Muslim attacks as well.
The French bill, as already mentioned, follows legal precedent,
namely the existing Loi Gayssot. Le Monde and other publications have
claimed that the two laws are different because the latter essentially
serves as a bulwark against existing and future anti-semitism. Yet the
Armenian genocide law, nay-sayers to the contrary, would function in
exactly the same way, given the existing racism and discrimination
against Armenians in France. Armenian genocide monuments in the
country have recently been desecrated, while Armenians have been
subject to all sorts of vile abuse – physical and otherwise –
including violent attacks by French Turks at a recent Armenian
genocide commemoration. The question then becomes: Do Armenian
citizens of France (and other countries who have passed similar
anti-Holocaust denial laws) not deserve the same protections as their
Jewish compatriots? Is the suffering of one people to be placed above
that of another? When push comes to shove, what applies to one group
should also apply to the other. Furthermore, the French quite rightly
consider historic memory to be a basic human right, and thus denial of
historic events that incite or abet racism a violation of that right.
The positive human rights reforms that have occurred within Turkey
in recent years (discussion of the Armenian genocide in newspapers
and certain intellectual circles, the opening of a Kurdish-language
television station etc.) have been cosmetic at best: anti-semitism and
anti-Armenianism are in fact rampant in the land of the Moon and Stars,
and Islamic fundamentalism on the rise. And although Elif Shafak, the
noted Turkish novelist, and Armenian journalist Hrant Dink have been
acquitted of charges of “insulting Turkishness” under the nefarious
Article 301 of the Turkish criminal code, they have both been harassed
to a degree beyond the norms of any civilized country. Dink has now
been accused five times by the Turkish state, each time under the
same ludicrous law that smacks of the worst in state fascism. His
life has been threatened and he has become persona non grata almost
everywhere he goes – within Turkey where nationalists want his head,
as well as within the Armenian diaspora, where he is alternately
seen as an accommodationist or a traitor for his views on the issue
at hand and the Armenian genocide in general.
The problem, then, is not just that Turks deny the Armenian genocide
within Turkey, but that they have exported this denial to European
countries. To deny the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians, as well
as another 1.5 million Christian Pontic Greeks and Assyrians, is
malevolent and in and of itself a denial of Armenians’ basic human
dignity. France has every right to tell Turks: “You can spew your
venom in Turkey, but leave your denialism at home.” The degree to
which France acknowledges its own colonialist past in Algeria is
beside the point, although one would hope that it does so as well.
Turkey has threatened to “retaliate” against the French by passing
laws about the “Algerian genocide,” further polluting the historical
debate. Algeria may have been many things – colonialist, insulting,
invasive – and French dominion there may in fact have visited
wide-scale killings on a foreign population of differing religion and
language, but genocide it was not, according to accepted definitions.
Armenians endured the loss of lands, property and self-respect during
the Armenian genocide. From 1915 to 1923, they watched their men
slaughtered outright, and their children and women raped, tortured
and sent to their deaths in the most inhumane ways, including the
torching of sulfur caves and churches, where practitioners seeking
refuge were burned alive. Mass drownings in the Black Sea, hangings
and crucifixions were commonplace. Billions of dollars of goods,
property and lands were expropriated.
Unlike the Germans vis-Ë~F-vis the Jews, the Turks have not only
failed to apologize or compensate Armenians, but they continue
their vile campaign of denial, which they now export all over the
globe. As Elie Wiesel has accurately pointed out, denial is the last
stage of genocide and a symbolic re-enactment of the crime itself. In
this case, the French have said: Enough! You cannot kill the victims
again, at least not within our borders. It is disingenuous to suggest
that because of a French law, Turks will now have an added excuse to
continue what they have been doing for 90 years – i.e. finishing off
the complete annihilation of its native Christian populations. The
correct response from Turks should be shame and an acknowledgment that
yes indeed, these sad events took place, rather than the bombastic
nationalism that has kept the country on the margins of the civilized
world for the better part of the 20th and 21st centuries.
As Jacques Chirac rather pompously declared in his recent speech in
Yerevan: Vive la France! Vive L’ArmŽnie!
Christopher Atamian is a New York-based writer and journalist of
Lebanese origin who writes frequently on culture and politics for
the The New York Times, Gourmet, New York Press and more. He wrote
this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.
–Boundary_(ID_wFQx3yp3Ds9Hd9+vHRbvDQ)–

November 2, 2006
PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
DURING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF ST. GREGORY CHURCH COME,
TOGETHER LET US BRIGHTEN THE ALTAR OF LIGHT DECLARED THE PRELATE
On Friday, October 27, 2006, H. E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian,
Prelate, departed for San Francisco to join the parish community in
celebrating the 40th anniversary of St. Gregory Church.
The Prelate landed in San Francisco on Friday evening, upon which he
was greeted by Rev. Avedis Torossian, Board of Trustees Chair Mr.
Nerses Teshoian, and Prelacy Executive Council member Mr. Garbis
Bezjian. Later that evening, the celebrations began with a family
night at Saroyan Hall. In his remarks, the Prelate congratulated the
parish community and commended their hard work. The evening came to
a close with the Prelate’s benediction.
On the evening of Saturday, October 28, the parish Ladies Auxiliary
had organized a banquet as the main event of the 40th anniversary
celebrations, under the auspices of and presided over by the Prelate.
By special invitation, representatives from all local Armenian
organizations participated in the event. The emcee of the evening
was Ladies Auxiliary Chair Mrs. Arax Sarian, who invited the Prelate
to bless the tables. Following the emcee’s welcoming remarks, the
artistic program began. The emcee then invited the Board Chair,
Executive Council representative, Rev. Avedis Torossian, Rev. James
Kizirian, Mr. Noubar Demirjian, and others to convey their messages,
followed by the cutting of the 40th anniversary cake by the Prelate,
Pastor, and Board Chairman. In his concluding remarks, the Prelate
once again congratulated the parish community, stressing that on
this blessed occasion “we must reexamine ourselves and renew our
responsibilities and commitment to the church and community”. The event
concluded with the “Bahbanich” prayer and the collective singing of
“Giligia”.
On Sunday, October 29, Archbishop Mardirossian conducted Holy Mass
at St. Gregory Church, where joining the parishioners in celebrating
Mass were Homenetmen scouts from the Walnut Creek and San Francisco
chapters. During his sermon, the Prelate urged the parishioners
to come together to keep the light of the church shining bright.
He then spoke on the feast of the Discovery of the Holy Cross, which
was also celebrated on that day, reminding the faithful that just
as Queen Heghine sought and found the Holy Cross, so did this parish
community when it was inspired forty years ago to build St. Gregory
Church. The Prelate then urged the faithful to serve the church
with faith in the example of the founders. During requiem service,
special prayers were offered for the souls of the founding members,
clergymen, benefactors, and volunteers. Services concluded with the
collective singing of “Giligia”.
On the morning of Monday, October 30, the Prelate visited
Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan School where the students had organized a
performance to honor the Armenian culture and language on the occasion
of Armenian Culture month. In his closing remarks, the Prelate had a
dialogue with the students, during which he instilled in them a love of
the Armenian language. He concluded with the benediction. The Prelate
was then escorted to the newly built playground, which he blessed.
Subsequently, the Prelate enjoyed lunch with the school administration,
after which they bid him farewell and a safe return to Los Angeles.

CONSUMER PRICES GROW BY 2.5% IN ARMENIA IN OCTOBER 2006 ON DECEMBER 2005
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The consumer price index made 102.5%
in Armenia in October 2006 on December of 2005, including the index of
food commodity prices (including alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) –
101.5%, of non-food commodity prices – 102% and the index of service
tariffs – 104.5%. According to the RA National Statistical Service,
a 0.2% inflation was registered in the Armenian consumer market
in October on September 2006, mainly due to seasonal fluctuations
in the prices of some food commodities. A 0.4% growth in prices
of food commodities (including alcoholic drinks and cigarettes)
was registered in Armenia in October on September 2006. In the
indicated period, prices of non-food commodities declined by 0.4%,
while service tariffs grew by 0.1%. The average monthly growth in
consumer prices made 0.25% in January-October 2006 against a 0.35%
decline of the same index last year. The consumer price index made 106%
in October 2006 on October 2005, including that of food commodities
(including alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) – 106.6%, of non-food
commodities – 102.3%, of service tariffs – 104.6%; the same indices
for January-October 2006 on January-October 2005 made: 102.4%, 102.3%,
103.3% and 103.7% respectively. The consumer price index in October
2006 on 2005 made 102.6%, including that of food commodities (including
alcoholic drinks and cigarettes) – 100.8%, of non-food commodities –
104%, and of service tariffs – 105%.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RAISES ISSUE OF KARS-TBILISI RAILWAY AT MEETING OF BSEC FOREIGN MINISTERS
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian raised the issue of Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway during
the 15th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC). “The BSEC intends
to implement a serious program – to create a transport link in the
region. In this context, an issue was raised and brought to everybody’s
attention: there is a railway section that is not used for political
reasons and an attempt is made to replace it. Given the cooperation
spirit of the organization, we believe that the organization should
itself raise this issue before Turkey so that more serious approach
can be shown,” V. Oskanian told Radio Liberty.