DEFENSE MINISTER MEETS WITH HEAD OF NATO’S COOPERATION
AND REGIONAL SECURITY DIVISION
[September 20, 2006, 13:25:01]
AzerTag
September 20, 2006
Defense Minister, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev met September 19
with Head of the NATO’s Cooperation and Regional Security Division,
Vice-Admiral Deniz Kutluk and his accompanying delegation.
Mr. Kutluk praised the level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and
NATO, adding he believes these relations will further strengthen.
Safar Abiyev said Azerbaijan has been cooperating with NATO since
1994 under the Partnership for Peace program, adding since 2004 this
cooperation has continued under the NATO’s Individual Partnership
Action Plan.
The Minister also spoke of the military and political situation in the
region including the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Deniz Kutluk stressed the importance of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy
in settlement of this dispute.

PROSECUTOR GENERAL MEETS WITH TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL’S REGIONAL
DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
AzerTag
September 20, 2006
[September 20, 2006, 15:25:22]
Prosecutor General of the Azerbaijan Republic Zakir Garalov has met
with the visiting Transparency International’s Regional Director for
Europe and Central Asia Miklos Marschall.
Zakir Garalov expressed gratitude for the attention shown by
the organization Transparency International, the world’s largest
anti-corruption organization, informed the visitor in detail on the
measures taken in this sphere under the leadership of Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev.
The Prosecutor General noted that Azerbaijan has acceded to a
number of Conventions of the Council of Europe in the mentioned
sphere, especially underlining the “State Program on Combat Against
Corruption”.
Having noted, that special value in combat against this dangerous
phenomenon is given to establishment of close contacts with public
organizations and nongovernmental structures, the Prosecutor General
has emphasized importance of cooperation with the organization
functioning in the country “International Transparency- Azerbaijan”.
Having noted, that the international organizations highly value
strengthening anti-corruption measures in Azerbaijan, Miklos Marschall
emphasized the necessity for further steps in this direction.
The guest expressed hope that Azerbaijan, though encountering problems
caused by occupant policy of Armenia, would become a developed country
soon. The international organizations will assist the country in this,
Mr. Marschall stressed.
Secretary of the Commission on combat against corruption under the
Public Service Administration Council Inam Kerimov and Executive
Director of “International Transparency” Azerbaijan Section Rena
Safaraliyeva took part in action.

Epam Systems acquires Vested Development Inc
Ovum, UK
ovum.com
Cornelia Wels-Maug
Yesterday, Epam Systems, the US-headquartered software engineering
outsourcing provider, announced its merger with Russian software
company Vested Development Inc. (VDI). The new entity will have more
than 2,200 staff spread across eight countries and will operate under
the Epam Systems name, with combined revenues of around $70m. Arkadiy
Dobkin, Epam’s CEO and co-founder, will continue in his role; Anatoly
Gaverdovsky, VDI’s CEO, will be heading Epam’s Russian operation.
Comment: Epam, founded in 1993 in Princeton, NJ, by Belarusian
Arkadiy Dobkin, heads the “Global Services 100” list of the top-five IT
outsourcing providers in Central and Eastern Europe for the second time
in a row this year. Though headquartered in the US, it has offshore
development facilities in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Hungary.
Epam is very much aware of the strong competition from India, and
it has responded by establishing presence in the geographies where
the majority of its clients are based (95% of its clients are in
North America and Western Europe). These sites host sales teams
as well as software engineers, but the majority of its development
facilities are offshore in Eastern Europe. Recognising the growing
demand for outsourcing services from Western Europe, particularly
the UK, Germany (which generated 17% of 2005 revenues) and France,
it responded by setting up offices in the UK in 2005 and in Germany in
January 2006. To strengthen its delivery capabilities, Epam invested
further in its offshore development centres and established the “first
of several engineering centres of excellence” in Ukraine at the end
of 2005. Though starting off with around 40 staff, Epam intends to
raise headcount here to 200 by the end of this year.
However, Dobkin is acutely aware that Epam’s 1,700 or so employees
do not give it the needed size and scalability and has openly hinted
at more acquisitions. The last one in 2004, of Hungarian Fathom
Technologies, has worked out successfully.
Its recent acquisition of VDI, which has 500 staff, seems a good
fit in terms of business compatibility. VDI, established in 1993,
is a global onsite and offshore software development provider with
offices in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and the US. Their combined product
portfolios are complimentary and will enhance both companies’ sales
and marketing activities as well as their development capabilities.

Turkish writer in court for book controversy
by Dorian Jones in Istanbul
Radio Netherlands
20-09-2006
Turkey is once again sending a controversial message to Europe about
its views on human rights. In the past year many of the country’s
leading writers and journalists have been prosecuted because of
speeches and writings that “denigrate Turkishness”. But next week,
for the first time, an author is on trial not for what she wrote,
but rather for the words spoken by a fictional character in her latest
novel. The author, Elif Safak, faces six months in jail if convicted.
In a cafe in central Istanbul Elif Safak receives words of support
from customers. She is one of the most well-known of Turkey’s new
generation of writers, who have led the way in challenging the
country’s social taboos.
Character
Her latest book is a heady combination of sexual abuse and memories
of an historical tragedy. But now she is facing a possible jail
sentence. Safak is being prosecuted for a speech made by a character
in her latest book – a speech that accuses Turks of committing genocide
against the Armenians 90 years ago.
Prosecutors believe the novel violates Article 301 of the country’s
penal code, which criminalises insults against Turkishness. Safak
says the case is another worrying step in the silencing of expression
in Turkey.
“I think it is so absurd, it is so surreal, because we are talking
about a work of fiction, we are talking about a novel. Until today
Article 301 has been used as a weapon to silence many people, but in
another sense my case is very unusual because it is fiction.”
“If Article 301 is going to be interpreted like this, we cannot
write novels in this country anymore, you cannot do movies in this
country anymore.”
Article 301
Nationalists tried to attack writer Perihan Magdan while she attended
her court case earlier this year.
Magdan, like Safak, was prosecuted for her writings.
In the last year, Article 301 has been used in 80 cases filed against
writers and journalists. In all the cases they were filed not by the
state but by individual nationalist lawyers.
Most of the cases have ended in acquittal and no one has been
jailed. But the prosecutions have led to growing criticism by the
European Union – making it a sensitive issue because Turkey is seeking
to join the EU.
Earlier this month a European Parliament report sharply criticised
Turkey. Joost Lagendijk (see photo) the head of the European
Parliamentary committee on Turkey and a Dutch MEP says the country
has to change its ways.
“The best thing would be for the government to take an initiative and
bring forward the change in the penal code to parliament and delete
the whole article. But they say, look at the end result, there is
an acquittal in most cases, so there is an ongoing debate. But I am
trying to convince them. There are a still a lot of cases and new
cases are opened.”
Recall
Later this month the Turkish parliament is due to be recalled early
from summer recess to pass EU reforms.
But changing Article 301 is not a priority, according to EU membership
minister Ali Babacan. He says Brussels should be patient.
“We strongly believe that this will be resolved in time but it is not
easy, because the political reforms are easier to do on paper. It is
sometimes easier to just pass the law through the parliament, do the
constitutional amendments. But also it is a reform in the mentality,
it is cultural change that we have to go through which is naturally
taking time.”
But Elif Safak doesn’t have time on her side. She has to stand
trial. In a sad twist of fate, she is due to give birth on the very
day she’s due in court. But she says if she can, she will attend
the hearing.
Tough day
Safak is now bracing herself for what she expects to be a tough day.
“The worst thing about this trial is not the actual trial itself but
the jingoist, the nationalist discourse surrounding it. As you walk
inside the courtroom, people are waiting outside chanting slogans,
using verbal and physical violence. Those things are very unnerving
and those are things that makes one feel lonely and vulnerable and
that is the part that hurts most.”
The prosecution of Safak will be another blow to Turkey’s record on
human rights. There is growing concern in Brussels that Ankara has
lost its appetite for reform. With every new prosecution questions
are likely to continue to grow over whether EU membership talks can
continue with Turkey.

Pope Benedict’s historic reference is to enlighten Muslims than enraging them
KurdishMedia, UK
Updated: 9/18/2006 5:29:01 AM GMT
9/20/2006 KurdishMedia.com – By Khasraw Saleh Koyi
For 14 centuries, Muslims’ way of thinking and believing has been
controlled by a number of unsubstantiated religious taboos, which
if broken the perpetrator gets punished for, including by cutting
off the limbs and beheading. These taboos are the product of mere
interpretations of various Quranic verses and prophet Muhammad’s
sayings ‘over a long time span’ by Islamic religious authorities of
different sects and motivations’.
Depicting prophet Muhammad and describing his character qualities
have been viewed as critical parts of these taboos. Last year’s
Danish cartoon episode, and the recent reference of Pope Benedict
that Muhammad condoned violent means to spread Islam religion are
solid evidence that even non-Muslims are expected to abide by Islamic
rules of not daring such taboos.
It is unfortunate that even at these highly modern times when human’s
free will, independent intellectual thinking, and liberal imagination
are proven to be responsible for all the scientific, technological
and artistic wonderful achievements that serve all humanity, there
are those who in the name of Muhammad and Allah continue to abide by
some obsolete and inhuman mentality which has and continues to cost
mankind huge numbers of lives and tremendous sufferings.
The Armenian genocide on the hands of Muslim Turks during the latest
years of the Ottoman Empire (which later on prompted the Jewish
holocaust by the Nazis); Muslim Arab campaign of ‘Quranic’ Anfal by
Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq in the late 1980s to genocide the
Kurds; The tragic event of 9/11 in the US as planned and executed by
Al-Qaeda; Continued suicide bombings and revenge killings that has
been consuming thousands of innocent lives and causing huge levels
of property devastations ‘every month’ in Iraq and Afghanistan are
all committed by fellow Muslims, in the name of Islam and its idols
such as Allah and prophet Mohammad. By any stretch of imagination of
any human being with minimum capacity for logical thinking and human
compassion, these acts are all considered to be hideously criminal
and anti any peaceful and viable spirituality.
It must be quite difficult for non-Muslims not to believe that such
violent acts by some Muslim groups does not receive the tacit approval
from the main stream of the Muslim world, especially in the absence of
any known condemnation by the Muslim masses, anywhere in the Islamic
countries. If the exercise of violence in the name of Islam is not part
of the religious conviction of the Muslims and it is exercised only by
a small percentage of fanatics who don’t represent the Islamic faith,
then why the majority of the Muslims accept to stand by and let such
fanatics discredit them and their religion?
Many simpleminded Muslims may interpret Pope Benedict’s expressed
intent as anti Islam. But the truth may be quite the opposite. Like
many logical individuals who are concerned about the latest tide of
Islamic violence and brutality in the name of their prophet and Allah,
the pope may have decided to point to a potential misgiving which can
only be understood and averted if it gets a worthwhile attention. He
may have intended to generate an inter-religious debate both to reveal
the good and the ugly in Islam religion.
Being a devoted Christian with a wealth of knowledge about spirituality
in historic and realistic terms, he is a man of goodwill and
determination to do mankind the best he can. He must be full aware
of the extent of the damage the rigid nature of the Islamic faith
has on the intellectual state of the average Muslims.
Being for tolerance and compassion to bring mankind closer together
in cooperation and understanding, it is in the core of the spiritual
faith of the Pope to identify and speak about the ills of mankind,
with violence of any nature being one of them.
Thanks to the reasonable and necessary levels of tolerance and
open-mindedness, the quality of human life in the Christian world is
much better than that of the Muslim world. While peace, acceptance,
fairness, kindness, cooperation and understanding form some of the core
virtues and disciplines in the lives of Christian societies, violence,
repression, vengeance, controlling of others lives and properties by
force, are the types of virtues and disciplines that are nurtured by
state and religious authorities in the Muslim countries with Turkey,
Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia being just a few notorious examples.
To those moderate Muslims who have earned their individual pride
from their logical and free thinking and analysis, it is time that
they use their words and pens to speak out of the truth as it can be
substantiated by rational thinking and behaviour than by primitive
religious moulding of their spirituality and believes.
There is just no way for false and fake believes to stand against the
might of the sum of mankind’s independent intellectual thinking and
reasoning. The sooner for the Muslims to recognise the weaknesses of
their religion, the better is the chance of their survival in harmony
with others and in pride and dignity. A religion is only as good as
being able to enlighten mankind to lead a peaceful, fulfilling and a
happy life. If not dealt with effectively, let there be no doubt that
the existing strain of primitive taboos in Islam religion continues
to rob off Muslims from exercising their humanity fully and honourably.

Vedomosti: The imperial tradition of self-affirmation through territory enlargement may lead to destabilization in Russia
puls.md, Moldova
20.09.2006
The notorious international Russian daily “Vedomosti” characterizes
the policy of extending Russia’s territory through the annexation
of the separatist regions of Transdniester and Southern Osetia as
backward for the XXIst century.
“Instead of supporting the aspirations to “gather territories”,
Russian politicians should rather explain that the annexation of the
autonomies without the agreement of Georgia and Moldova is a violation
of international law and, respectively, of the Russian Constitution”,
stated the newspaper.
According to the newspaper, any unilateral action from the side of
Russia can attract a chain reaction in the Caucasian region. “After
South Osetia comes Abkhazia, the situation in Adjaria and in
Georgian villages inhabited by Armenians will get tenser”, warns the
international daily newspaper Vedomosti in its column dedicated to
Russian policy in Transdniester.

Turkey steps up EU offensive
EUPolitix.com, Belgium
Wed, 20 Sep 2006
Turkey will step up efforts to win over MEPs a decision to delay
publication of the European commission’s progress report on the pace
of Ankara’s reforms.
EU officials have delayed a highly sensitive assessment of Turkey’s
EU entry negotiations until November 8, the report was originally
due for publication on October 24.
European parliament political fixers are also looking for delay,
say sources, to head off a Strasbourg plenary vote attacking Turkey’s
record.
Sources close to negotiations indicate that the commission’s delay
will give Ankara more time to lobby over a critical report on Turkey
from Dutch MEP Camiel Eurlings.
“The Eurlings report is the most critical parliamentary report yet. It
contains 80 paragraphs and about 75 are critical,” a parliament
official told this website.
“And it looks like it would get backed. Eurlings has supporters within
the centre-right and the socialists.”
But moves are afoot within the parliament’s corridors of power to
kill a September 27 vote on the Eurlings findings.
Socialist MEPs – the centre-left is the parliament’s second biggest
bloc – will use a Thursday meeting of political group and committee
leaders to push for delay.
“The Eurlings report is a mess. It has been very heavily amended and
is too negative,” said a source.
The Dutch right winger’s report says Turkey must recognise the Armenian
genocide as a precondition for EU entry.
His report laments a “slowdown in democratic reforms” and calls
on Ankara to remove or amend articles that allowed judges to limit
freedom of expression as well as normalise relations with Cyprus.
A delegation of MPs from Turkey recently branded the European
parliament’s findings as “nasty and negative”.
The commission says its decision to delay its progress report on Turkey
is not a political one, and was motivated purely by administrative
constraints.
Reports on Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro,
Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will also now
be published on November 8.

Adventist Press Service APD, Switzerland
Adventist Pastors of Euro-Asia Region Meet In
First-Ever Theological Pastoral Congress
Zaokski, Tula Region, Russia, 20.09.2006 / ANN/APD
Headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Euro-Asia Division in
Moscow/Russia An estimated 1,500 Seventh-day Adventist pastors from all
over the church’s Euro-Asia region gathered for a four-day congress in
Zaokski – about two hours outside of Moscow – where they were educated
and challenged, church leaders say. It is believed to be the first time
that such an event has been held for field pastors, many of whom are
serving in remote locations across a region that spans 11 time zones.
“This wasn’t only fellowship, but we all gained a lot of insight,”
said Pastor Ted N.C. Wilson, a general vice president of the world
church who was among a number of speakers at the event.
“I was overjoyed to see the maturing and nurturing that is taking
place in this [region],” Wilson, who was president of the Euro-Asia
Adventist Church region from 1992 to 1996, remarked.
Added Pastor James A. Cress, world church ministerial association
secretary, “this region of the Adventist church has really come
into its own. They have addressed the professional growth, spiritual
development and motivational encouragement of the local pastors with
these meetings.”
Cress added, “It augurs well for the local church because their
leaders have been given hands-on training to develop local leaders,
prayer ministries and to reach out to families in need.”
Congress presenters and pastors Ted N.C. Wilson, Artur Stele, and
D. Ronald Watts receive memorial gifts. Photo: Valery Ivanov During
the five-day session, Adventist pastors from all over the territory
of the former Soviet Union shared experiences, met old friends,
listened to a number of seminars, held roundtable discussions, and
began preparations for a 2007 satellite program, which will take
place in March 2007 in Kiev, Ukraine. Peter Kulakov, senior pastor
of Lakeview Seventh-day Adventist church in Atlanta, Georgia (USA),
will be the speaker for that evangelistic programm.
One goal in the church region for the next five years is to help
launch 10,000 small Bible study groups with an aim toward introducing
50,000 people to Jesus Christ, and the pastors in attendance shared
their insights and observations about the program during days that,
according to Wilson, were filled with activity. Every evening, two
church areas, as well as attached “fields,” gave reports on Adventist
work in their areas.
Some pastors travelled as many as six days to reach the event and
were thus highly motivated to utilize the seminar information.
Pastor D. Ronald Watts, president of the church’s Southern Asia region,
gave three seminars and shared experiences from Adventism’s fastest
growing area.
Pastor Mark Finley, a general vice president of the world church,
revealed his vision of evangelism and called all those present to
unite their efforts in soul winning and prepare for the upcoming
satellite series.
While listening to the reports from various church areas, Finley said:
“Seeing you and listening to you, it remind[s] me again and again
that we are part of [a] world church, we are brothers and sisters,
united by one church.”
Also participating in the events were Adventist pastors Lucial
Cristesku, ministerial secretary and evangelism coordinator of the
Adventist Church in Romania; Paul I. Khiminets, church growth and
development leader for Adventists in North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany;
and Michael P. Kulakov, the first president of the Adventist church
in Euro-Asia.
An estimated 144,500 Seventh-day Adventist members worship in nearly
2,000 churches in the Euro-Asia region, including the states of
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova,
Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. [Editors:
Valery Ivanov, Mark A. Kellner and Christian B. Schaffler for ANN/APD]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmeniaNow.com-September 8, 2006
HERITAGE GATE?: POLITICAL PARTY DEMANDS PRESIDENT BE QUESTIONED
Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
The Heritage political party held a press conference this week in which
it demanded that the Prosecutor General of Armenia question President
Robert Kocharyan, concerning allegations of a “mini-Watergate”.
Party founder and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Raffi
Hovannisian, made reference to the famous US scandal that ended the
presidency of Richard Nixon. He equated it to actions taken against
the Heritage party. The party alleges that information has been stolen,
and that the President’s office knew about it.
The background:
On March 4, Heritage party’s offices were shut down by the government,
which claimed the party no longer had a right to operate from space
provided at the Paronian Theater.
The party offices were sealed until May 29, while the party filed
action that eventually led to getting the offices back.
Upon regaining its facilities, Heritage staff learned that one of its
computers had been tampered with, during the period that the office
was supposed to have remained sealed. It filed a complaint with the
Kentron Division of Yerevan Police, demanding an investigation.
On August 30, the police returned a decision saying there was no
grounds for an investigation.
A lawyer for the party, Zaruhi Postanjyan, however, says experts at the
National Bureau of Examination at the National Academy of Sciences,
has shown the computer had been switched on for 22-24 minutes during
the night of March 8. The examination also found that a different
monitor and a memory device had been connected during that time.
“This is a mini-Watergate scandal being repeated in Armenia,” said
the party’s fiery founder. “In a country with a declared rule of law
they close one’s office in the night without any court decision, they
penetrate into the office in the night four days after the closing,
switch on the computer there and get the secret information about
the party and its activists.”
Hovannisian, among the strongest and most persistent of Kocharyan
adversaries, says the Office of the President is aware of the spying
on his party and that theft has been committed.
Attorney Postanjyan alleges that the police were negligent.
“The results of the examination are enough to bring a case into
action,” she says. “However, ignoring the law and justice, law
enforcers refuse to hold a relevant investigation referring instead
to the lack of the corpus delicti,” says Postanjyan.
Hovannisian believes that, in addition to other documents, a list
of party activists was stolen, with the intention to intimidate
sympathizers.
“I hope the national Security Service has no connection to all of this,
because the information was so badly stolen, that I wouldn’t like
to learn the Service operates so poorly,” Hovannisian sarcastically
stated. “I am confident the incident was a response to our recent
civil activity taking place in an atmosphere of fear.”
The leader of the party complained that appeals by the party have
been denied at every level of the justice system.
During the press conference, he also commented on Wednesday’s murder
of the head of Armenia’s “tax police”.
“It reflects the illness of our authorities, our state and our
society,” Hovannisian said. “We can keep speaking about law and
democracy, but unless everyone – whether a President or an ordinary
citizen – is equal before the law in this country, this kind of things
will continue to happen.”

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 27.00.03, 27.16.00 (temporary)
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46 (temporary)
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:
September 21, 2006
THE HERITAGE PARTY’S INDEPENDENCE DAY GREETING: ON THE ROAD TO TRUTH
AND RIGHT
The fifteen-year anniversary of Armenia’s independence is a fitting
occasion to reassess the watershed significance of sovereign
statehood. This opens before our nation vast horizons to live and
create in freedom and without shackles, to make the Republic prosper,
and to build a bright future for the generations next in line.
Armenia’s independence has other implications and lessons as well. This
liberty was achieved after a long-lasting intermission in statehood,
and the sacrifice of thousands of patriots, thus further underscoring
its historic mission and modern meaning. Real sovereignty and
democracy, respect for human rights, and other universally accepted
values–which we certainly shall attain through our united and devoted
work–will turn Armenia into a cradle of civil freedoms and equal
protection, rule of law and due process, and a country liberated
from the parochial arbitrariness of ruling cliques and extralegal
permissiveness for the privileged.
The duty of building a new and strong Armenia has fallen to our
generation.
We must place its cornerstone with a firmness of will, a trueness
of conscience, and a nobility of commitment so that the preeminence
of right, the letter and spirit of legal and ethical benchmarks,
and the expectation and conduct of a dignified life may long endure.
Let us once again become the masters of our rich history and
civilizational heritage, adding our contemporary share to them and
faithfully passing them on to those yet to come. This is the paramount
order of the day.
On the occasion of this glorious anniversary for Armenia and the
entire Armenian nation, we extend our hearty best wishes to all
members and supporters of the Heritage Party and, more importantly,
to the children of Armenia the world over, whose might and mind, in
our deep conviction, will continue to open ever-new avenues toward
the Homeland of our dreams.
Raffi K. Hovannisian Founder
Vardan Khachatrian Chairman
September 21, 2006 Yerevan