ARMENIAN HARDLINERS ARE GETTING WHAT THEY WANT
Ilnur Cevik
New Anatolian, Turkey
May 10 2006
Turkey has recalled its ambassadors to Canada and France because of
the negative attitude in those countries towards Turkey’s denials
that Armenians living in Turkey early last century were subjected to
genocide …
The French not only acknowledge that there was a genocide but they’ve
also moved to legislate a ban on disputing such an event. That means
if a Turk makes statements in France denying that such a genocide
took place they could be sent to prison.
The Canadian prime minister, on the other hand, has acknowledged that
the Ottoman Turks were involved in genocide against Armenians living
in the eastern regions of their territory.
Turks have spent decades categorically denying such a genocide took
place. They stress that the Armenians collaborated with the invading
Russians in the First World War and the Ottoman administration
was forced to evacuate them by force to other parts of the empire,
especially to Ottoman territory in the Middle East. However Turks do
acknowledge that in the process Armenians perished due to illness and
attacks from bandits. But Turks also say that many Turks who lived
in the eastern provinces were also murdered by Armenian gunmen.
Turkey has offered several times to set up a joint commission of
impartial historians to study the Ottoman files and get to the bottom
of the issue. However the Armenians have rejected this. Armenian
hardliners, especially those in the diaspora, have been insistent on
trying to hurt Turkey as much as possible.
First they organized and financed a terrorist group the Armenian
Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) that killed Turkish
diplomats and their families. The Western powers didn’t touch them
until ASALA made the mistake of unleashing its terrorist activities
at Orly Airport’s Turkish Airlines counter killing French citizens as
well as other tourists. Western intelligence officials then clamped
down on ASALA …
But Armenian hardliners continued their quest against Turkey and the
Turks. They helped Kurdish separatists to harm Turkey, forgetting that
most of the hordes who murdered Armenian families as they were being
evacuated from the east were, in fact, comprised of Kurdish bandits.
The Armenians also used politicians in many Western countries against
Turkey, sponsoring anti-Turkish resolutions in their parliaments.
There are strong and influential Armenian groups all over Europe and
north America. Politicians seeking their votes try to appease them.
The Swiss have already decided that denying the so-called Armenian
genocide is a crime. The parliaments of other countries have already
acknowledged the genocide claims.
So each time a foreign country does something to please the Armenians
Turkey hits back with the weapon of threatening to severe ties with
them. But this is exactly what the Armenian hardliners want. Every
time we create a chill in our ties with France, Canada or the U.S.
the Armenians rejoice. We should protest and try to educate the
public in these countries through lobbies and good public relations
but we should not take these meaningless actions, that only hurt our
international relations and push us into isolation.

SYDOW: ROJ-TV WON’T BROADCAST IN SWEDEN
New Anatolian, Turkey
May 10 2006
Swedish Parliament Speaker Bjorn Von Sydow assured his Turkish
counterpart Bulent Arinc yesterday that his country won’t allow
broadcasts by pro-terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Roj-TV.
Sydow’s remarks came in response to reports that a private cable TV
company had decided to broadcast Danish-based Roj-TV.
“I learned about the matter during a meeting with Arinc,” explained
Sydow. “We’re investigating the case. But Roj-TV will definitely
not broadcast within Swedish borders,” CNN-Turk TV reported Sydow
as saying.
Press reports have indicated that Sweden has allowed the channel to
broadcast although it recently closed down a website belonging to
Chechen separatists following a complaint from Russia.
Turkey and Denmark are at odds over the Danish governments’ inability
to close Roj-TV, which broadcasts programs encouraging, supporting
and directing the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Although
Turkey has stepped-up pressure on Denmark to close down the channel,
Denmark insists on rejecting the Turkish requests and says that it
needs more evidence to shut it down.
Touching on the Armenian genocide claims, Sydow reportedly stated that
they have left the issue for evaluation by scholars. He said that his
Parliament is among those which haven’t recognized the controversial
incidents as “genocide.”
During his speech to the Swedish Parliament, Arinc also stressed
that Turkey will never recognize the Armenian genocide claims since,
according to history, such an event never happened. He reiterated
previous Turkish calls to open both Turkish and Armenian archives to
study the events.
Arinc: Turks’ religion never been obstacle to Western integration
Arinc stated that the religious beliefs of Turkish citizens has never
been an obstacle to secular Turkey being an indispensable part of
Europe or to its membership in Western-oriented organizations.
“Nobody questioned Turkish people’s religious beliefs when it joined
NATO in 1952 or when it was supported independence in Europe after
the Cold War,” Arinc added.
Lashing out at the EU’s double standards on Turkey’s accession
process, Arinc said, “Despite negative developments, we believe that
EU membership will be beneficial for Turkey. We don’t want privileges,
but we don’t want double standards either.”

PRIEST ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING GIRL
NBC30.com, CT
May 10 2006
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — A New Britain priest was arrested after he
allegedly sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl inside of a church.
Krikoris Keshishian, 53, allegedly assaulted the girl while he was
acting in his official capacity as the priest of St. Steven’s Armenian
Church on Tremont Street.
Keshishian was charged with 4th degree sexual assault and risk of
injury to, or impairing the morals of, children by sexual contact. He
was released on $5,000 bond.
video can be viewed at

THE LITTLE GUYS OF THE OIL BUSINESS
By Ian Bremmer
Slate
May 10 2006
With the stream of alarming news coming from Iran, Iraq, and Nigeria,
media reports of turmoil in places like Chad and Ecuador often go
unnoticed. But in an exceptionally tight energy market, political
uncertainty in some of the world’s largest energy-exporting states
gives new importance to the so-called marginal producers: countries
that produce between 100,000 and 1 million barrels of crude oil per
day. That’s why markets took note when Chad’s president, Idriss Deby,
threatened in April to shut down his country’s 180,000 bpd of oil
production, and when Ecuador’s parliament passed a law in March that
substantially increases the government’s share of oil profits at the
expense of the foreign firms operating there.
The world’s oil suppliers are still able to provide the 85 million
bpd that the world now consumes-but just barely. Spare capacity is
limited to about 1.5 million bpd from Saudi Arabia. So, an output
disruption in even a marginal producer affects global markets, and
some of these states are prepared to leverage their new market power
to political advantage.
Consider Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries. The World
Bank had conditioned financial support for Chad’s oil industry on a
government pledge to allow the bank to direct 85 percent of energy
income into badly needed poverty-reduction, health, and education
programs in the country. In January, when Chad’s parliament voted to
funnel more of the proceeds directly into the country’s treasury,
the bank froze the funds. Armed with new market influence provided
by global price increases, in April Deby threatened to shut down
all Chad’s production unless a consortium of foreign firms led by
ExxonMobil paid his government about $100 million in taxes.
Deby needs the money. On April 13, Chad’s military repelled a surprise
rebel attack on N’Djamena, the capital, that was intended to oust him
from power. Hundreds of rebel fighters were killed. But unless Chad’s
military receives an infusion of cash, its government cannot quell
the unrest produced by those who don’t share in the country’s natural
wealth or support Deby’s approach to the violence in neighboring Sudan.
The president’s threat produced results. Chad and the World Bank
reached an interim agreement on April 26 that increases the percentage
of oil income that will flow directly into Chad’s treasury from 15
percent to 30 percent. Whatever his promises to international lenders,
Deby will probably spend the extra cash on guns. Chad’s oil is more
valuable than ever, but the country’s underlying instability remains.
Ecuador’s government has also recognized its new leverage. The
hydrocarbon law its parliament approved in March sharply increases
the percentage of oil profits the government will claim and violates
the country’s production contracts with more than a dozen foreign
firms. Ecuador produces about 530,000 bpd, but the true measure of its
market power comes from the 190,000 bpd it exports directly to the
U.S. West Coast, making it the third-largest foreign crude supplier
to the Western United States after Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Even small cuts in these supplies would be hard for the Western states
to replace.
Ecuador is unlikely to follow Chad’s lead and threaten a production
shutdown, but the country’s frequent strikes and production
stoppages-including one in 2005 that interrupted crude supplies for
two weeks and helped drive up the price of New York-traded oil futures
by about $2 per barrel-pose substantial risks for U.S. markets.
Many more of these marginal producers pose risks for consumers.
Africa provides nearly 20 percent of U.S. oil imports, mostly from
the Gulf of Guinea region. Widespread piracy off Africa’s west coast
could affect U.S.-bound oil supplies from countries like Angola and
Equatorial Guinea, the second- and third-largest African exporters
of oil to the United States after Nigeria.
In the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf region, two marginal
producers in particular face domestic challenges that could undermine
their ability to maintain production levels. Yemen now produces
more than 400,000 bpd, but the country’s weak central government
will struggle to ease domestic social tensions and manage threats
from Islamic militants in the lead-up to September’s presidential
elections. Bahrain, which produces nearly 200,000 barrels of crude
per day, is a majority Shiite state ruled by a Sunni royal family.
Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq could fuel sectarian tensions there.
Another reason that political strife in Yemen or Bahrain could add
to global price fluctuations: Both states border major oil production
and transit points.
In the Caspian region, political conflict in Azerbaijan could disrupt
supplies. Despite his re-election last November, President Ilham
Aliyev’s ability to implement policy is limited by an emerging group
of oligarchs. In addition, tensions have re-emerged with Armenia over
the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, the site of a war between
the two countries in the early 1990s.
Some 400,000 bpd will flow through Azerbaijan toward the Mediterranean
by the end of this year via the newly opened Baku-Ceyhan pipeline;
as many as 1 million bpd are expected by 2009.
While another war over the enclave is unlikely, even low-level fighting
there could threaten the pipeline, which passes within 10 miles of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s northern border.
What’s more, the market power these states now enjoy may well breed
new political turmoil, as increased investment and inflows of cash
give competing domestic factions more lucrative spoils to fight over.
In the Republic of Congo, a country that produces a little over 240,000
bpd and is already plagued by ethnic unrest and threats of civil war,
high energy revenues have fueled rampant corruption. In recent years,
an estimated $500 million have changed hands there in black-market
oil trading. The state-owned oil company SNPC has sold hundreds of
millions of dollars’ worth of cut-price oil to private businesses with
ties to the government. The country faces threats from southern-based
rebel groups who hope to oust President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and win
a greater share of the new wealth. Rich offshore reserves have fueled
maritime disputes with some of the country’s neighbors.
Conflicts in some of these states also increase tensions between the
most powerful consumer nations. The United States is currently leading
efforts to impose international sanctions on Sudan in response to
government-supported violence in the country’s Darfur region. Sudan is
expected to produce about 500,000 barrels of crude per day by the end
of this year. More than half its oil exports flow directly to China,
which has blocked sanctions on Khartoum in the past and threatens to
do so again.
The tight oil market has given energy companies, particularly
smaller independents, new incentives to scramble for contracts in
less familiar states. To protect their market shares and to profit
from rising prices, these firms have little choice but to accept
the risks that marginal producers pose for their investments-and
for the industrialized economies that are increasingly dependent on
their product.
Oil production data from International Energy Agency annual figures
for 2005.
Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group, the global political risk
consultancy. His book The J Curve: A New Way To Understand Why Nations
Rise and Fall will be published in August 2006.
map at

PM’S GENOCIDE COMMENT STIRS UP A STORM
By Brian Adeba
Embassy Magazine, Canada
Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsweekly
May 10th, 2006
Even before Stephen Harper was elected prime minister, members of
the Armenian community met him in Toronto last October to press their
main issues of concern, top among which is the Armenian genocide. A
message posted on the website of the Armenian Prelacy of Canada says
Mr. Harper initiated the meeting.
The discussion didn’t turn heads until April 21, the annivesary of
the death of 1.5 million Armenians. That’s when Mr. Harper’s described
the situation as “genocide” ­ the first for a sitting Canadian prime
minister. The statement has sparked a diplomatic furore with Turkey,
which temporally recalled its ambassador to Canada in protest. Prior
to Mr. Harper’s public endorsement, a dedicated Armenian lobbying
effort, working quietly behind the scenes to get a high-ranking
member of Canada’s government to formally recognize the genocide,
had already been set in motion.
“We discussed the genocide, the importance of bringing the executive
branch to fully recognize the genocide and being consistent with
the legislative branch,” says Aris Babikian, Executive Director of
the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), which last month
formally opened an office in Ottawa. The ANCC now has chapters in 10
Canadian cities to serve the estimated 80,000 strong Armenian Diaspora
in Canada.
At the Toronto meeting with Mr. Harper, Mr. Babikian says the future
prime minister promised to “support any statement to recognise the
genocide.”
“He said for him, this is not a political issue, but an issue of
principle,” Mr. Babikian says.
On April 2004, Mr. Harper, then leader of the now defunct Canadian
Alliance party, was among the 153 MPs who voted in favour of a Bloc
Quebecois motion to recognize that Turkey committed genocide against
Armenians in 1915. The motion passed with 153 votes against 68.
Liberal backbenchers broke ranks with Prime Minister Paul Martin to
vote for the motion. Despite the considerable number of Liberal MPs
who supported the motion, Mr. Martin refrained from publicly endorsing
the genocide. In fact, on the day of the vote, Hansard records show
he was absent.
On March 23, 2006, an Armenian delegation including a high-ranking
religious leader from Lebanon met Mr. Harper at his office in Ottawa.
Mr. Babikian says the discussions touched on bilateral issues,
including the possibility of opening a Canadian embassy in Armenia,
and also the genocide.
“Once [Mr. Harper] became prime minister, we asked him to uphold
his position [on the genocide],” says Mr. Babikian. In April at the
opening of the offices of the ANCC, Conservative MP Jason Kenny, who
is Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, attended the event.
“He congratulated the community for finally taking this step [opening
the office],” says Mr. Babikian, who adds that the ANCC has known Mr.
Kenny since 2004, after the MP visited Rome during an occasion when an
Armenian priest killed during the genocide was named a saint by the
Pope. On May 1, during a debate on Darfur in the House of Commons,
Mr. Kenny commended Mr. Harper for having the “courage” to recognize
the “historical reality of the first genocide of the last century,
the Armenian genocide.”
But as the Armenian Diaspora’s lobbying effort seems to be growing
in influence with the new Tory government, the Turkish community in
Canada is up in arms, sounding alarm bells about being sidelined by
the Harper government.
“Our viewpoint is never considered,” says Kevser Taymaz, an executive
of the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations. After Mr. Harper
met an Armenian delegation in March, Ms. Taymaz says the Turkish
community wrote a letter to the prime minister requesting a similar
meeting, but were referred to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“I don’t know if [Mr. Harper] will meet us,” she says. “We are being
deliberately sidelined.”
“If [the Harper government is] talking about votes, there are 100,000
Canadians of Turkish origin in Canada,” Ms. Taymaz says. She also
condemns Canadian politicians for “listening to the views of the
Armenian lobby.”
“History cannot be decided upon by political lobbying,” she says.
“Here in Ottawa, we have people who lost their relatives to the
Armenian bandits [in 1915].”
Ms. Taymaz also says people of Turkish origin are not used to the idea
of lobbying governments because “we have come to terms with the past
[regarding the genocide].”
She added that Armenian children in Canada are being raised on a diet
of hatred towards Turks and Turkey, and that this does not bode well
for Canada as a whole.
“Now we know Canadian companies will be left out of bids,” she says of
a story circulating in Turkish media following the recall of Aydemir
Erman, Turkey’s Ambassador to Canada, last week.
Yonet Tezel, Counsellor at the Embassy of Turkey, says Mr. Erman was
called to Turkey for consultations, but could not say when the envoy
will be back in Ottawa.
“We are very concerned and worried that these claims of genocide are
finding reflection at that level in Canada,” says Mr. Tezel.
“It is very serious, it is an attack on us,” he says. Asked what kind
of reciprocal measures Turkey would take, Mr. Tezel says he is not
in position to divulge any information.
Kim Girtel, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Canada, says the
department was notified last Thursday that the Turkish ambassador is
being recalled for “consultations for a short time” in Ankara. “These
consultations are internal to the government of Turkey and we will
not speculate at this time,” she says.
Dmitri Kitsikis, an expert on Turkey and professor of international
relations at the University of Ottawa, says the diplomatic spat is
not likely to last long because it is a symbolic move designed to
appease the Turkish military, the real power brokers in the country.
Mr. Kitsikis says the Turkish military, who are the custodians of
the country’s secular politics has had an uneasy relationship with
the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who heads a
moderate Islamist party.
“The victim is Mr. Erdogan himself, the military could step in and
take power,” says Mr. Kitsikis, who adds that Mr. Harper’s comments
on the Armenian genocide do not help democracy in Turkey.
“Why did he say that except if he wants a coup in Turkey,” Mr. Kitsikis
says.
[email protected]
bassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_ path=/2006/may/10/genocide/
–Boundary_(ID_foVyk8 v8pUoNYI48/X7PXA)–

PARIS AMBASSDOR RECALLED
Milliyet
Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 10 2006
Press Review
Turkey which had recalled its ambassador in 2001 for 6 months as a
reaction against the approach of the France toward so-called Armenian
genocide, this time recalled Paris Ambassador Osman Koruturk for
consultations.
Before Koruturk, Aydemir Erman, Turkey’s Ambassador in Ottawa
was recalled to Ankara as Canadian Government used the expression
“genocide” on April 24th.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARINC: TURKEY WILL NEVER RECOGNIZE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BECAUSE SUCH A THING HAS NOT HAPPENED IN OUR HISTORY
Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 10 2006
STOCKHOLM – “Turkey will never recognize so-called Armenian genocide
because such a thing has not happened in our history,” Turkish
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on Tuesday.
Arinc, who is currently paying a state visit to Sweden, responded to
questions of Swedish MPs at the parliament.
Upon a question about so-called Armenian genocide, Arinc said, “this
issue has been discussed for a long time. It is a fact that tragic
events happened during the World War I. However, there is not any
court verdict that Turks committed genocide against Armenians. Also
Turks, Arabs and Kurds died during the World War I. Therefore, it is
a serious mistake to say that only Armenians were subject to genocide.”
“Armenians had always lived freely during the Ottoman Empire era.
Last year, we proposed Armenia to set a joint independent commission
of historians to research the issue. However, Armenia turned down
Turkey’s proposal. On the other hand, Turkey’s archives are kept open
for researchers,” he stressed.
When asked whether Turkish people were ready for EU membership,
Arinc said, “Turkish people have always wanted to become a member
of the EU. Although Turkey has fulfilled the necessary criteria,
the EU asked Turkey to fulfill additional criteria. We do not want
any privileges, the EU should not discriminate Turkey. Turkish people
regret such humiliation and discrimination.”
“The EU is a 40-year process for Turkey. Our relations with the EU
are based on international agreements and mutual interests,” he said.
Replying to another question, Arinc said, “Turkey is a secular and
democratic state. Our citizens worship freely.”

TURKEY PULLS OUT OF CANADIAN MILITARY EXERCISEPROTESTING PRIME MINISTER’S COMMENTS
By CP
Edmonton Sun, Canada
May 10 2006
TORONTO – The Turkish government has pulled out of an international
military air exercise in Canada to protest Prime Minister Stephen
Harper’s characterization of a mass killing of Armenians as a genocide,
the Globe and Mail reports.
Officials with the Turkish embassy confirmed Tuesday that a half-dozen
Turkish jet fighters and support aircraft, which were supposed to
take part in the exercise May 17 to June 24 at Canadian Forces Base
Cold Lake in Alberta, have been withdrawn.
The move comes after the Turkish ambassador to Canada, Aydemir Erman,
was recalled to Ankara for discussions on the situation.
When asked whether the decision to withdraw from the military exercise
stemmed from Harper’s comments, an official said, “I think one can
draw that conclusion at this point.”
“This seems to be related to the not-so-good period of relations we
are going through.”
Turkey’s anger comes from Harper’s recognition last month, on behalf
of the federal government, that Armenians had suffered a genocide at
the hands of Turkey during and after the First World War.
The issue is highly controversial in Turkey, where the government
says the deaths were caused by the war and civil strife.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor said the Turks
cancelled their participation on Friday.
“This is a Turkish decision,” said communications director Etienne
Allard.
“Exercise Maple Flag is a major training exercise which brings great
benefits to all participants. Turkey is an important NATO ally and
we hope that they will be able to participate in future exercises.”
The military exercises will involve about 40 aircraft and pilots from
nine countries – Canada, Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands,
Sweden, the United States, New Zealand and Singapore.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY WISHES FRANCE NOT TO APPROVE DRAFT LAW, TAN
Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 10 2006
ANKARA – “Turkey wishes the French legislators not to approve a draft
law which would make ‘the denial’ of the so-called Armenian genocide a
crime,” Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan said on Wednesday.
Responding to a question at a weekly news conference, Tan said French
administration was sensitive on this issue, stating that the issue
required a process in which calm reactions should be given.
“It should not be the desire of anybody to cause uneasiness in
a climate in which our rooted relations were being improved,”
he remarked.
-TURKEY’S REACTION TO CANADA-
Asked about Turkey’s reaction against the remarks of Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper describing baseless Armenian allegations
as “genocide”, Tan said, “there has been assessment process in our
ministry to determine the steps that would be taken on this issue. We
carry out necessary consultations with other related institutions.”

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY WINS AT THE WORLD BANK DEVELOPMENT MARKETPLACE
Source: Habitat for Humanity International
Reuters, UK
May 10 2006
BUDAPEST, Hungary (May 10) ? Habitat for Humanity Kyrgyzstan?s
innovative Cane Reed project is one of the thirty winners at
the prestigious World Bank Development Marketplace competition
in Washington DC. The winners were announced Tuesday and Nurlan
Moldosherip and Natalie Grant of Habitat for Humanity received the
award from World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.
Habitat had two programs at ?Innovations in Water, Sanitation and
Energy Services for Poor People? this week at the World Bank HQs in
Washington, D.C. Habitat is among 118 finalists, chosen from 2,500
applicants from 55 countries worldwide.
Habitat qualified for Armenia?s ?Harnessing the Sun: Energy for the
Armenian Poor?; and for Kyrgyzstan?s ?Cane Reed: 19th Century Idea,
21st Century Solution?. Habitat Kyrgyzstan will now receive US$116,389
from the World Bank to further fund the project.
?To place in this prestigious competition is quite an achievement for
these local initiatives, and for Kyrgzstan to win is fantastic. The
Armenian and Kyrgyz leadership and innovation of these sustainable,
innovative projects can only enhance our mission to provide simple,
decent, affordable homes for families in need,? said Don Haszczyn,
Area Vice President for Habitat for Humanity?s Europe and Central
Asia Regional Office.
In Kyrgyzstan, where 70% of the population lives in poverty,
innovative solutions to poverty housing are needed, so Habitat has
combed the past, and harnessed the cane reed and clay technology used
in the 19th century but forgotten in the 20th. These environmentally
friendly materials keep house costs down 40%, and also serve as better
insulators against harsh Kyrgyz winters. Habitat has coupled this
technology with an underfloor heating system, which keeps heating
costs down further, saving a family $60 per month in energy costs:
that equates to 490 loaves of bread, or 20 kilos of meat, or 160
liters of milk.
In Armenia, where 45% of the population lives in poverty, oftentimes,
unhealthy and dangerous forms of water heating are used, which can
lead to illness, indoor pollution and illness, accidents and fire. To
address these issues, Habitat for Humanity has harnessed the power
of Armenia?s average of 300 sunny days per year, and teamed up with
a local company to install solar panels for water heating. There is
potential to scale this project to 10,000 homes. Solar energy saves
a family approximately $252 per year, which could buy: 740 loaves of
bread, 222 kilos of tomatoes, or 55.5 kilos of meat.
Since being established in 1999, Habitat for Humanity Kyrgyzstan
has dedicated more than 130 homes for families in need. Habitat for
Humanity Armenia has housed more than 1,000 people in need since 2000.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and
not of Reuters. ]