Government baulks at ArmenTel price hike plan
TeleGeography, D.C.
Armenia
Thursday, 21 September 2006
Senior government officials in Armenia have opposed plans put forward
by the country’s national operator ArmenTel to significantly raise
the cost of fixed line services in the country. The monopoly operator
submitted its proposal to the regulator in August, despite the fact
that its Greek parent the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation
(OTE) was pressing ahead with plans to sell its 90% stake in the telco
to another foreign investor. OTE has short-listed four foreign firms
for the stake, but has yet to announce the winner. Prime Minister
Andranik Markarian has now voiced his opposition to the hike, arguing
that it would significantly push up the cost of dial-up internet
access to the detriment of the development of IT in Armenia.

CIS officials to discuss information security in Tashkent
UzReport.com, Uzbekistan
21.09.2006 14:54:18
The fourth session of Commission on Regional Commonwealth in
communication sphere will be held in Tashkent on 28-29 September. The
commission will focus on information security during its Tashkent
meeting.
The session will consider draft programme on ensuring information
security and proposals on its implementation, draft plan on development
of regulative documents in information security, current state and
problems in information security in CIS countries.
The commission will discuss issue son introduction of e-signature in
state bodies within the CIS area.
The commission on information security carries out work on development
of recommendations on interaction of participants of Coordination
council in information security on analysis of international
experience, modern technical means and information technologies,
development of proposals on legal basis.
The commission also assists to exchange experience in
creation of system and means of information security in
information-telecommunication systems and networks. The commission
considers issues on state of protection of interstate ICT systems,
networks, resources, technologies, means and develop recommendations
on improvement of their work.
It is expected that representatives of informatization administration
of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldavia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine will attend the meeting.

Turkish Press, MI
Press review
Published: 9/21/2006
EURLINGS: “STATEMENTS ON GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS SHOULD
BE STRICKEN FROM THE EP REPORT”
Dutch MEP Camiel Eurlings, the European Parliament Committee on
Foreign Affairs rapporteur who recently prepared a report on Turkey,
yesterday said, “Recognizing the [so-called] Armenian genocide
can’t be a precondition. These statements should be stricken from
the text.” Speaking about next week’s vote on the report, Eurlings
said that he didn’t like the current state of the report and he was
working to change it. “If the report is issued as is, it will be
a problem for Turkey’s accession,” said Eurlings. In related news,
Eurlings’ report, which contains exaggerations, is now encountering
opposition from EP groups. Recognizing the so-called Armenian
genocide as a precondition for membership is at the focal point of
the debates. Socialists and Greens are planning to vote against the
report if it’s not changed. /Milliyet/

Tacy, Israel
INDIA PLANS TO CAPTURE 10% OF THE US$6-7 BILLION CIS
JEWELRY MARKET
21 September 2006
India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) recently
led an 8-member delegation representing leading manufacturers from
different sectors such as diamond, colored gemstones, silver and
jewelry to CIS Nations including Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
The key objective of the visit was to strengthen bilateral trade
between the gem and jewelry industry in India and those countries. The
delegation explored the potential of the gem and jewelry market in
the CIS nations, analyzed the possibility of sourcing raw materials,
supplying cut and polished diamonds as well as gold jewelry, and also
discussed cross participation in jewelry exhibitions.
“The gem and jewelry delegation visit to CIS nations was a very first
sector specific delegation and the initiative was very successful. The
total market size across the CIS countries along with Russia is
estimated at US$6 to US$7 billion with Ukraine providing the maximum
growth potential. GJEPC plans to capture 10 percent of this market in
the next 2-3 years through various aggressive initiatives,” explains
Sanjay Kothari, Convener-PMBD, GJEPC.
As for future courses of action, the GJEPC will promote the import
of polished Russian diamonds through the CIS countries, and intends
to focus on the supply of loose diamonds and colored gemstones in
the CIS nations having a good market.
In order to enjoy more duty benefits while importing jewelry to Russia,
GJEPC plans to encourage exporters to export semi-finished jewelry
to the CIS countries and set up small manufacturing units in CIS
countries where the semi-finished jewelry can then be converted to
finished jewelry. Indian jewelry manufacturers also plan to undertake
an exchange program of jewelry designers in order to understand the
trends prevalent in the CIS nations.
Investment in the mining sector for colored gemstones and silver is
being contemplated as a means to alleviate India’s sourcing problems.

Russia, Kyrgyzstan set to conduct antiterrorism exercise
RIA Novosti
Russia
13:38 | 21/ 09/ 2006
BISHKEK, September 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and Kyrgyzstan will hold
a joint antiterrorism exercise in the Central Asian republic in early
October, the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry said Thursday.
Kyrgyz police said in August that radical Islamic groups banned in
many countries across the globe, including Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of
Liberation), have stepped up their activities in the country.
Russia and Kyrgyzstan are both members of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet security grouping, which
also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security body in Central
Asia that includes China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
The ministry said the exercise will begin October 2 and end October
5 with the firing of live ammunition at the Osh training grounds,
in the south of the country.
The main aim of the exercise is to plan and practice the coordination
of combat units in a joint antiterrorism operation, and to improve the
combat skills of military personnel during operations in mountainous
areas, it said.
The defense ministers of the two countries, foreign military attaches
and media are scheduled to attend the final phase of the exercise.
Russia maintains the Kant airbase, located about 20 miles west of the
Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The base was established in October 2003 to
enable Russian combat aircraft to provide close air support for the
ground units of CSTO member states.
So far, Russia has provided military equipment worth 15 million rubles
($554,006) to the Central Asian nation as part of their military
cooperation agreements.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Monsters and Critics.com, UK
The Almanac: Today is Thursday, Sept. 21
On This Date in History:
In 1792, the Legislative Assembly of revolutionary
France voted to abolish the monarchy and establish the
First Republic, stripping King Louis XVI of most of
his power.
In 1893, the first successful U.S.-made,
gasoline-operated motorcar appeared on the streets of
Springfield, Mass. It was designed and built by
Charles and Frank Duryea.
In 1921, following the sex scandal caused by the
arrest of comedian Fatty Arbuckle, Universal announced
it would require its actors to sign a ‘morality
clause’ in their contracts.
In 1938, an estimated 600 people were killed by a
hurricane that battered the coast of New England.
In 1985, Western intelligence estimates said the
Iran-Iraq war in five years had cost nearly 1 million
lives.
In 1991, Armenia became the 12th Soviet republic to
declare independence.
In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspended the
parliament and announced parliamentary elections would
be in December.
In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law
the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to
disregard same sex marriages that might be official in
other places.
And in 1996, John F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the late
U.S. president and described by tabloids as the
world`s most eligible bachelor, wed Carolyn Bessette.
In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton`s videotaped
grand jury testimony, during which he admitted to an
inappropriate relationship with former White House
intern Monica Lewinsky, was shown on television. It
ran more than four hours.
Also in 1998, Hurricane Georges began its deadly
rampage through the Caribbean, killing more than 600
people.
In 1999, at least 2,300 people were killed when an
earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck
Taiwan.
In 2001, a telecast by top movie stars and musicians
raised more than $500 million for survivors of the
victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
reportedly told the Bush administration Israel would
strike back if attacked by Iraq.
In 2003, the spacecraft Galileo approached the fringes
of Jupiter`s atmosphere and then was directed to
destroy itself in a high-speed plunge.
In 2004, two U.S. hostages were reported executed by
suspected Iraqi insurgents within a day of each other.
Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, contractors working
for a United Arab Emirates firm, were kidnapped from
their Baghdad home.
In 2005, Texas coastal residents were ordered to
evacuate, creating a mass exodus from the Houston and
Galveston area as Hurricane Rita became the third-most
intense hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin. Top
sustained winds were near 165 mph over the Gulf of
Mexico.

As Elif Safak trial begins, Erdogan warns police
Hurriyet, Turkey
September 21, 2006
As internationally-known Turkish author Elif Safak goes to court today
to face charges brought against her that she “insulted Turkishness”
in one of her most recent novels, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has reportedly given orders to the Istanbul police headquarters that
street demonstrations in support of convicting Safak by nationalist
citizens are not to be tolerated.
The case against Safak was brought about by well-known nationalist
lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, who heads up a conservative group of lawyers
based in Istanbul.
Kerincsiz, who gained notoriety for his attempts to stop the Armenian
conferences held earlier this year in Istanbul, has based his case
against Safak on the 301st article of the Turkish Penal Code, which
calls for prison terms for people convicted by the court of insulting
“Turkishness, the Turkish Republic, or the Turkish Parliament.”
In preparation for the Safak hearing, lawyer Kerincsiz has reportedly
sent an announcement entitled “National Duty” to supporters and members
of his legal group, telling them to come and demonstrate in front of
the Beyoglu courthouse where the trial is to take place.
In the group’s web site, a passage reading “Elif Safak is the
newly crowned princess of the neo-liberals, the ethnic minorities,
the separationists, the EU and US supporters, and the so-called
intellectuals” has been up all week.
Prime Minister Erdogan told Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah
yesterday “I do not want to see the Kerincsiz supporters on the
street.” Previous trials of famous authors such as Orhan Pamuk and
Perihan Magden have put Turkey in an uncomfortable international
spotlight, just as the Elif Safak trial, before it has even begun,
has managed to do. Whether or not the Turkish Parliament in Ankara
is going to move to alter the 301st article of the penal code is a
question many are now asking throughout Turkey and abroad.

Uzbekistan ratifies 31 EurAsEC accords
UzReport.com, Uzbekistan
21.09.2006 14:59:33
Uzbekistan has ratified 31 out of 74 Eurasian Economic Community
(EurAsEC) agreements, EurAsEC Secretary General Grigory Rapota told
Interfax in Astana on Thursday.
“Uzbekistan has signed 31 EurAsEC accords, and there are still 43
documents to be ratified,” he said.
The resolution of the EurAsEC Interstate Council dated 25 January
“affirmed Uzbekistan’s full-scale political membership in the
community,” Rapota said.
“It may de facto become a fully-fledged member of the organization by
the end of the year, if all EurAsEC agreements are ratified,” he said.
EurAsEC was established on 10 October 2000, and comprises Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan entered
the organization on 25 January 2006. Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia
hold observer status at the organization.

Number of U.S. Politicians Stand Against Hoagland’s Nomination
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.09.2006 14:35 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
thinks that Senator Robert Menendez’s position will be endorsed by
the other Senate members, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, not only the Senate
but also other U.S. politicians stand against Hoagland’s nomination
for U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.
“Although it’s the President who takes the decision, he cannot appoint
a new Ambassador without the Senate’s approval. If the Senators
determine to freeze the process of appointment several questions will
arouse. The first and the most important question is whether President
Bush intends to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to what extent the
candidate is appropriate for the post. Richard Hoagland himself should
voice his position on the Armenian Genocide and finally, the President
Administration should comment on the concern of the Turkish government
and its role in the Genocide recognition issue and appointment of
Ambassador to Armenia,” the ANCA Executive Director underscored.

Trend
Today 21.09.2006
Venice Commission to discuss law “On freedom of assembly” in Azerbaijan on 13-14 October
Source: Trend
Author: A.Ismaylova
21.09.2006
68th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission will be held on October
13-14, Trend reports with reference to the statement of the Venice
Commission.
The next session of the Venice Commission is expected to discuss the
issue of upgrading the law “On freedom of assembly in Azerbaijan”. Such
decision was made on September 19 in Baku at the conference held with
the participation of the representatives of Azerbaijan government,
experts of OSCE and Venice Commission, and discussions were held
on the implementation mechanism of the law “On freedom of assembly
in Azerbaijan”.
In addition, during the conference it was decided to create a working
group consisting of the representatives of the Azerbaijani government,
experts of OSCE Baku and Venice Commission, which will begin its
activities after the next session of the Venice Commission. The
working group will prepare its proposals regarding improvement of
the same legislation in Azerbaijan.
The previous 67th session of the Venice Commission was held on June
9-10, 2006. During the session, a joint statement of the Venice
Commission and OSCE regarding the electoral legislation in Armenia,
Georgia and Macedonia was heard.
69th session of the Venice Commission will be held on December 15-16.