VICE SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT, MEMBER OF ARFD BUREAU VAHAN
HOVHANNISSYAN COMMENTS ON REPORT BY DAVID ATKINSON ON KARABAKH

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7. ARMINFO. Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE,
Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Tigran Torosyan was to inform
political forces of the preliminary version of British Rapporteur David
Atkinson’s report on Karabakh yet before the session of PACE Political
Committee. Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, the member of
ARFD Bureau Vahan Hovhannissyan said at a press-conference, Tuesday.

In his words, if informed of the report, the Armenian MPs would
be able to elaborate a single position in this issue and to more
effectively come out at a session of the Committee. Hovhannissyan
stated that yet before the draft report of Atkinson was made public,
ARFD was warning that the report would not be within the interests
of the Armenian party, as Great Britain and Azerbaijan were linked
with petroleum ties. Unfortunately, we proved to be right, the report
by David Atkinson is even worse than that prepared by Terry Davis,
Hovhannissyan said.

AZERI CONSUL GENERAL TO KARS ON POSSIBLE OPENING OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7. ARMINFO. There actually are forces in Turkey
that want the Armenian-Turkish border to be opened, says Azeri Consul
General to Kars (Turkey) Gasan Zeynalov.

It was due to these forces that the 2nd congress in Kars discussed the
border opening issue. On the second day one could already feel that
the organizers were pushing the audience towards the discussion. The
topic of the congress was peace in the Caucasus and the region’s
economic development but being the leading state of the region
Azerbaijan was not even mentioned – the whole economic development
of the region was presented as heavily depending on the opening of
the Armenian-Turkish border.

In his report the cochairman of the Turkish-Armenian business council
Kaan Soyak said that Kars is closed for the world and the only way for
the region’s further development is the opening of the Armenian-turkish
border which is the demand of th Armenian lobby and the Armenians in
Georgia and Armenia.

Zeynalov is not very much concerned as “the above plans are made by
NGOs while the Turkish and Azeri states are true brothers.” The recent
visits of Turkish state ministers to Azerbaijan and their statements
on the subject have shown that the border will not be opened until
Ankara’s requirements are fulfilled.

Zeynalov is against the Jan 2005 tour of friendship by a
non-governmental delegation of Kars to Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Nakhichevan. Soyak is planning to be in this delegation consisting
mostly of border opening advocates. “Influential international
organizations are settling the Armenian-Azeri conflict. No NGO can
solve it,” says Zeynalov noting that one of the key obstacles to the
border opening is the Armenian Genocide issue and territorial claims
against Turkey.

TODAY IS 16TH ANNIVERSARY OF SPITAK EARTHQUAKE

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7. ARMINFO. Today is the 16th anniversary of the
Spitak Earthquake, a devastating quake that shook Northern Armenia
Dec 1998 claiming some 25,000 lives and leaving almost half a million
people homeless.

Spitak was razed to the ground, the second and third cities of Armenia
Gumri and Vanadzor were almost totally destroyed.

Today after 16 years of active recovery work by the Armenian Government
strongly supported by the Armenian Diaspora particularly by the Lincy
Foundation the only things reminding of the tragedy are monuments
and obelisks commemorating those killed in it.

Every fourth person maybe mentally ill in Armenia – web site

A1+ web site
6 Dec 04

“There are 30,000 mentally ill people in Armenia. Every fourth healthy
person may have a mental disorder. A lot of [mentally] ill people
are on the streets, but not all of them are registered,” the chief
psychiatrist of the Armenian Health Ministry, Samvel Torosyan, told a
roundtable on “Problems of the mental health policy in Armenia” today.

Forty-five Armenian public organizations set up a coalition “For
mental health” and are fighting for the health of the mentally
retarded. Statistics show that poverty is to blame for mental
disorders.

Armenia doesn’t have a law on mental health yet. “The main spheres
of preserving mental health are funding, purchasing and distributing
medicines, laws, human rights and organizing services,” the chairman
of the Mental Health Foundation, Arman Vardanyan, said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Christian Post, CA
Dec 7 2004

Gunmen Attack Armenian, Chaldean Churches in Iraq

Gunmen attacked two churches in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul
Tuesday in the latest violence against Iraq’s minority Christian
community

Pic: Workers remove a damaged gate at an Armenian church after gunmen
attacked two churches in the latest violence directed against one of
Iraq ‘s several religious and ethnic groups, witnesses said in the
tense northern Iraqi city of Mosul December 7, 2004. (Photo: REUTERS
/ Namir Noor-Eldeen)

Gunmen attacked two churches in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul
Tuesday in the latest violence against Iraq’s minority Christian
community, witnesses said. Members of the churches, one Armenian, the
other Chaldean, said gunmen burst in, forced people to leave and set
off explosions inside the buildings, damaging them but hurting no
one.

“Gunmen entered the church at about 4:30 pm (1330 GMT),” said Father
Raghid Aziz Kara at the Chaldean church. “They gathered those present
in one room and planted explosive charges in different parts of the
building,”

Aziz told AFP, “We were then taken outside and the armed men set off
the devices. We heard three blasts.”

At that same moment, gunmen attacked the Armenian Church, forcing out
a security guard and two other people inside the building. The guard
told AFP that he had heard two explosions.

The attacks are the latest in a string of increasing violence
directed at Iraq’s Christian minority that has led to the destruction
of places of worship and the building exodus of its 800,000 or so
members.

In a recent report by the Religion News Service, the agency reported
that an estimated one of every 10 Iraqi Christians has fled the
country, most of them to neighboring Syria.

“After decades of living in relative harmony with the country’s
Muslim majority, Iraq’s Christian minority says it is under threat as
never before,” RNS reported.

Sister Beninia Hermes Shoukwana, a Christian nun and headmistress of
a public school in Baghdad, told RNS that she was unable to hide her
distress over the fate of her country and fellow Christians, most of
them Chaldeans.

“For years Christians and Muslims lived like brothers and sisters,”
Shoukwana told RNS.

“Today the extremists are trying to separate us.”

Last month, masked men detonated a bomb near an Orthodox Church in
southern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 34. In October,
five Baghdad churches were attacked, causing damage but no
casualties. In August, similar attacks killed at least 10 and wounded
nearly 50 Iraqi Christians.

The attacks follow an outbreak of insurgent violence across Iraq as
the country nears its first democratic elections, slated for January.

British consul promises more boost to Armenian economy

Mediamax news agency
7 Dec 04

Yerevan, 7 December: The United Kingdom will continue to contribute to
the economic growth in Armenia both on a bilateral level and within the
framework of European Union projects, the British consul in Yerevan,
Richard Hyde, said, as he was addressing the ceremony to open an
exhibition of British companies operating in Armenia.

The business circles of the two countries have enough potential to
expand bilateral cooperation, boost trade and rejuvenate investment
policies, he said.

The main obstacles in the development of business in Armenia are
still the lack of transparency in the financial sector, corruption
and protectionism, Hyde said. At the same time, he noted, the Armenian
government is taking measures to tackle these problems.

The total volume of British investment in the Armenian economy is
around 50m dollars now, with 21 enterprises working with British
capital.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DAY OF CULTURE DEDICATED TO HAMSHEN IN FRANKFURT ON MEIN

Azg/arm
8 Dec 04

For the first time in history a conference dedicated to Hamshen
Armenians (around 1 million living in Turkey the rest in South Russia
and Abkhazia) launched in Frankfurt on Mein, Germany. Prof. Wolfgang
Vodestein specialized in languages and culture of South Caucasus with
the help of his colleague, historian Aliye-Alis Alti (Hamshen Armenian)
and Khachkar international organization lectured at Goethe University
in Frankfurt. Prof. Voerstein, Dr. Akhim Shibol and Hamshen Armenians
Nurettin Gyurman and Alt were also among the lecturers.

Discussions followed after the lectures unearthed undeniable historic
facts. Firstly, the Armenians of Hamshen have inhabited the region of
Hamshen (Northeast Turkey) for centuries and were always objected to
violence, forcible conversion to Islam but even the converted Armenians
still preserved their mother tongue and traditions up to the days of
the Armenian genocide in 1915. Secondly, Prof. Voerstein who visited
the Hamshen Armenians in Georgia and Turkey thinks 20.000 Armenians
living in their historic birthplace speak in their native dialect,
the others speak the language of Lazs or Turkish.

Thirdly, the Lazs call Hamshen Armenians “somekhs” (Armenians),
and Turks know very well the identity of Muslim Hamshen Armenians
especially in present case when there are many of them occupying high
positions in the country.

Fourthly, while the Hamshen Armenians of Russia and Abkhazia had
freedom in the spheres of education, culture and created “Baghramian”
armed squad, Hamshen Armenians of Turkey were kept under political
pressure and were not allowed to communicate with their brothers and
sisters in other countries. An old Hamshen Armenian put it right once
saying “weâ~@~Yll again turn into gyavurs (faithless)”.

The only thing Armenian historians and ethnologists can do today is
to organize workshops on Hamshen Armenians to search for the ways of
salvation for the biggest Armenian ethnic group.

By Hamo Moskofian in Frankfurt on Mein

–Boundary_(ID_/49v0E56T45Q8F0qPfZ+HA)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VAHAN HOVHANNISIAN: TURKISH AUTHORITIES IMPLEMENT PROGRAM OF DISGUISING THEIR
REAL RELATIONS WITH ARMENIANS

YEREVAN, December 7 (Noyan Tapan). The Turkish authorities have a
certain actions program meant to disguise their real relations with
Armenia and the Armenian people. Vahan Hovhannisian, Vice Chairman of
the RA NA and member of the ARF faction, stated this at the December 7
press conference when answering the question about the statements made
by Turkey’s Prime Minister at the opening of the museum of the Armenian
Saint Saviour hospital in Istanbul. Acording to the NA Vice Chairman,
some measures implemented within the framework of this program may even
seem to be pro-Armenian to various individuals and political forces.

DR. GYULKASSYAN’S GROUP IMPLEMENTS USDA-CARES -ICAR-CAC PROJECT

ArmenPress
Dec 7 2004

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: In May 2004, the Laboratory of
Plant Genetic Resources at the Armenian Agricultural Academy (AAA)
was provided with a grant from USDA CSREES International Cooperation
for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Central Asia and the Caucasus
(CAC) Project ()
to implement its research proposal on “Conservation and utilization
in breeding of wild relatives of cereals in Armenia”.

According to Michael Gyulkhasyan, head of the group, the main goal of
the project is to conserve genetic resources of wild cereal relatives
and save the unique plant gene pool in Armenia. Wild wheat samples were
collected during the expeditions in Ararat and Vayots Dzor marzes, and
Erebuni reservation in Yerevan. Usage of these wild cereal species as
initial breeding materials and crossing them with cultivated varieties
will create new hybrids with economically important features, such
as resistance to diseases, pests, and drought.

The AAA group collaborates with Kansas State University within the
project. According to Dr. Gyulkhasyan, USDA CSREES ICAR provides an
excellent opportunity for Armenian agrarian research institutions to
achieve breeding improvements and introduce these achievements into
breeding practice. Professor Gyulkhasyan’s project was one of the
three winners from the 125 project proposals. The project started with
a visit by USDA CSREES ICAR, Washington State University and CYMMIT
representatives. It’s a two-year project and will continue next year.

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part B (Russia)
December 6, 2004, Monday

DUAL-PURPOSE VISIT

SOURCE: Kommersant, December 6, 2004, p. 9

by Boris Volkhonskii

President Putin tried to end his official visit to India (the third
in the past four years) in a major key. In New Delhi on Saturday, he
denied media reports that Russia allegedly supports India’s aim to
join the UN Security Council but opposes granting veto power to
India. President Putin noted that the veto power should either be
extended to all members of the UN Security Council, or invalidated
for all members. Putin said that the latter would decrease the UN’s
influence.

After that, Putin visited India’s “Silicon Valley” – the city of
Bangalore. This is the center of India’s advanced technologies. When
in Bangalore, Putin proposed to covert part of India’s debt into
joint ventures.

Putin did not forget that military technology cooperation is the main
aspect of cooperation between Russia and India. He observed flights
of planes and helicopters built by Hindustan Aeronautics and examined
the Sukhoi fighter assembled by the Indian enterprise under license
from Russia.

Russia and India reached an agreement to conduct a joint exercise for
their paratrooper units in 2005. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said
that the Indian Airborne Troops are equipped with Russian weapons and
military hardware.

President Putin arrived in Ankara after his visit to India. Relations
with Turkey are not as optimistic as cooperation with India. Before
the Russian leaders visited Turkey 32 years ago.

In the meantime, the current state of bilateral relations between
Moscow and Ankara reached the level when a political visit by the
Russian leader became very topical. It should be noted that trade
turnover between Russia and Turkey reached $4.6 billion in the first
half of 2004. It is intended that economic cooperation with Ankara
will amount to $10 billion at the end of the year (to compare: trade
turnover with India, other than military technology cooperation,
reached only $1.7 billion in 2003).

At the same time, the state of political relations leaves much to be
desired. Mutual reproached for supporting the separatist movements
aggravate relations between Moscow and Ankara. Some economic issues
have political aspects. First and foremost, this concerns energy and
energy resources. Moscow does not hide its negative attitude to the
plan to build pipelines from the Caspian region to Turkish ports
bypassing Russian territory.

Moscow and Ankara often dispute over tanker routes in the straits
between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

These problems shed light on the goals of Putin’s visit. He intends
to sign the declaration on friendship and partnership in Ankara. In
addition, the Russian leader will sign a range of intergovernmental
documents and agreements. The anti-terrorist effort will become a
very important aspect of negotiations. Russia deleted the term
“international terrorism” and references to Chechnya from the text of
the joint declaration. However, it’s obvious that the Chechen issue
will be raised during negotiations. However, it’s hardly likely that
the parties will approve juridical documents: Turkey has grievances
against Russia regarding the presence of Kurdish separatists on
Russian territory.

In addition, Russia insists on the necessity of improving the
performance of the intergovernmental commission for cooperation in
the military technology sector. In particular, Russia will try to
convince Turkey to take Russian military hardware as repayment of its
debt ($350 million). Moscow also seeks to use the potential of the
Blackseafor group and create a counterweight to NATO in the Black Sea
on its basis.

The situation in the Trans-Caucasus region will also be raised. In
particular, President Putin will try to convince his Turkish
counterparts to give up plans to isolate Armenia by building the
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railroad bypassing Armenia.

The problems which Putin is trying to address in New Delhi and Ankara
have a very important aspect. This is an attempt to give an
“asymmetric response” to the hegemony of the US. Putin’s statements
in New Delhi concerned “dictatorship in international affairs” and
“attempts to restructure the God-given diversity of modern
civilization along the army barracks principles of a unipolar world.”

In addition, Putin announced the need for activating trilateral
cooperation between Russia, India and China. The Asian Age newspaper
states that a trilateral Russian-Indian-Chinese summit will be held
next year.

Attempts to build a certain center of forces in South-East Asia are
not new. At the same time, it’s a new phenomenon for Russia to
consider Turkey, which is a member nation of NATO, as an ally in the
new geopolitical layout. Russia has weighty reasons to do this. The
point is that Turkey is at a historical crossroads due to external
and internal factors. The issue of negotiations regarding Turkey’s
intention to join the EU has not been settled yet. In addition,
anti-American attidutes have become stronger in Turkey. All this
gives Russia a unique chance to play on this field.

In this regard, the visit to New Delhi and Ankara could become a
successful finale to 2004. At any rate, two joint declarations might
succeed in drowning out the echo of real foreign policy failures:
Ukraine, Abkhazia, the European Union and the CIS.

Translated by Alexander Dubovoi