MORE FOREIGNERS OBTAIN E-VISAS WHEN TRAVELING TO ARMENIA
ArmenPress
Nov 12 2004
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: A foreign ministry official told
Armenpress that a draft law on the legal status of foreigners in
Armenia that is being elaborated now is supposed to make Armenia’s
visa issuing policy more flexible. Hrach Hovhanesian, who heads the
visa department of the ministry, said Armenia is the second world
country that has developed and installed E-Visa system for issuance
of electronic visas (also Australia issues on-line visas).
He said some 2,000 foreigners applied last year for e-visas and the
majority of these applications were satisfied. He said the number
of foreigners wanting to obtain e-visas for traveling to Armenia
increases monthly.
Applications for e-Visas are submitted online, verified on line,
and in most cases, they are approved and issued on-line within two
business days. This e-visa is good for travelers arriving by air at
Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport only.

ARMENIAN MUSICIANS GIVEN WARM RECEPTION IN GERMANY
ArmenPress
Nov 12 2004
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: Makda Mkrtchian, a soloist of Yerevan
Opera and Ballet Theater and Levon Javadian, a professor of Yerevan
Conservatory are back home from a ten-day tour in Germany where they
performed for audience in Berlin, Potsdam and Halle.
Makda Mkrtchian is an award-winner of several international
contests. The four concerts in Germany’s most prestigious concert
halls were organized by a German Armenian Tadevos Jorkntsian, who
owns a concert agency.
“Before traveling to Germany we knew Tadevos Jorkntsian as a generous
benefactor who donated hefty sums of money to help students of
Yerevan Conservatory. He learned about Makda and me from our Internet
website. He also knew about Luciano Pavarotti’s and Placido Domingo’s
invitations sent to Makda,” professor Javadian told Armenpress.
Armenian musicians performed the works of Verdi, Luciano Berrio,
Komitas, Pagannini, List, Ravelle and Schumann. The works by Komitas
were welcomed by stormy applause.
The Armenian musicians are planning to organize in collaboration
with Tadevos Jorkntsian’s agency a festival in Germany and Armenia
dedicated to the 80-th anniversary of a prominent Armenian opera
singer Katy Berberian.

ARMENIAN CLERIC WARNS AGAINST RELIGIOUS SECTS
ArmenPress
Nov 12 2004
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: A senior Armenian cleric chided
the authorities for neglecting the penetration of alien ideologies
and especially of various religious sects into Armenian schools.
Bishop Sepuh Chuljian, who heads the Gugark Dioceses of the Armenian
Church, told Armenpress that religious sects are especially active
in schools in the regions, masked as charity organizations.
The bishop said the government must pay more attention to schools
since the children are more prone to the sects’ covert proselytizing.
He explained the drive of many Armenians towards the sects by their
social problems. Another part, according to him, joins the sects since
“they are protesters at the bottom of their heart.”
“The Armenian Church must fight for every Armenian to bring him or her
back to their true faith,” he said, adding also that the Evangelical
Armenian Church does not promote the spiritual unity of Armenians,
deluding, as a matter of fact, Armenians, claiming that its teachings
do not differ from those of the traditional Church.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY: IDEAS OF GENOCIDE STILL ON YEREVAN FOREIGN
POLICY AGENDA
Pan Armenian News
Nov 12 2004
ANKARA, 12.11.04. Turkey has not received any documents testifying
that the ideas of the Genocide were excluded from the agenda of
the Armenian foreign policy, consequently one cannot speak of any
changes in Yerevan`s policy on the Genocide issue, Turkish Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan stated during a press conference. As
Milliyet Turkish newspaper writes, he pointed out to the fact that
despite the information that appeared in the press, official Yerevan
has not changed its stand. To remind, when replying to the question
why the budget project for year 2005 does not include allocation of
funds for carrying out the policy of the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide Hamlet Gasparian, the Press sercretary of the Armenian Foreign
Ministry stated that Yerevan policy on the issue of the internnational
recognition of the Armenian Genocide has unregone no changes. Besides,
according to him, the issue of the international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide is still on the agenda of official Yerevan and
cannot be put in the budget or any fiscal document.

The Economist
November 13, 2004
U.S. Edition
Haunted by the past; Human rights in Turkey
Trouble over Turkish history
A human-rights commission embarrasses the government
“HAPPY is he who calls himself a Turk!” That breezy slogan, emblazoned
on mountainsides and offices from the Aegean to the Euphrates, was
devised by Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, as he set
about forging a fresh identity for his people. The idea was that former
subjects of the Ottoman empire—whose native language might be Arabic,
Albanian or Kurdish—would find a new togetherness as citizens of a
unitary republic. And in case people hesitated to embrace the joys
of Turkishness, there were harsh penalties for those who asserted
any other sort of identity.
For most of the past 80 years, these principles have been sacrosanct.
But if Turkey is to have any hope of joining the European Union,
some taboo topics of history, identity and language must be discussed
openly, without fear of prosecution. In a burst of zeal three years
ago, the government—led by former Islamists—set up a panel to take a
broad look at questions of human rights and identity, and to suggest
how things could be improved. But Turkey’s masters got more than they
expected. The board’s report, released this month, said things that
were almost unsayable, triggering a sharp backlash.
For example, the report implies that if the Lausanne treaty of
1923—the basis of the Turkish state and its foreign relations—had
been fully implemented, bloodshed between Turks and Kurds might have
been avoided. To justify this argument, which is explosive in Turkey,
however mild it might seem elsewhere, the report cites article 39
of the treaty, which allows Turkish nationals to use “any language
they wish in commerce, in public and private meetings and all types
of press and publication.”
It also says that articles which supposedly protect non-Muslim
minorities have been read too narrowly: as well as covering Jews,
Armenians and Greeks, these articles should have been applied, for
example, to Syrian Orthodox Christians. More controversially still,
it suggests replacing the term “Turk” with a more inclusive word to
cover all ethnicities and faiths, such as “Turkiyeli”—”of Turkey”.
It was more than some Turks could bear. Even as Ibrahim Kaboglu,
the jurist who heads the board, was reading the report at a press
conference, a fellow member snatched it and tore it into shreds. Both
Mr Kaboglu and Baskin Oran, a political scientist who wrote the
report, have been bombarded with threatening phone calls and mail.
“Fraternal blood will be spilled,” warned one. Another called for a
military coup. Prosecutors in Ankara are investigating claims that both
academics may have committed treason. Ilker Basbug, a top general,
has joined the fray, saying Turkey’s unity should not be tampered
with. The government, frightened by the reaction, has washed its
hands of the report and denied commissioning it.
It is possible, though unlikely, says Husnu Ondul, a human-rights
lawyer, that the two authors may be prosecuted under an article of
the new penal code approved in September, which provides for up to ten
years’ jail for those who engage in unspecified “activities” against
the “national interest”. What might such activities be? In a footnote,
the law deems “anti-national” anyone who advocates withdrawing Turkish
troops from Cyprus, or terming “genocide” the killing of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians in 1915. If the aim was to stifle discussion
of this second issue, it failed: at a conference in Venice last month,
historians from all countries involved took a broader, more cool-headed
look at the 1915 tragedy than would be possible in Turkey—now or,
it seems, any time soon. And what about the 100,000 Turkish-Cypriots
who voted (vainly) in April for a UN plan that would have removed
most Turkish troops from Cyprus: was that a crime?
–Boundary_(ID_VZwkJpQa7vSvPZqSzdaJYA)–

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 12, 2004, Friday
TAJIKISTAN AND ARMENIA DON’T PAY THEIR FULL SHARES FOR MAINTAINING
RUSSIAN BORDER GUARDS
The press service of the State Auditing Chamber circulated a
communique of the Chamber’s meeting last Friday, dedicated to
revision of results of using the federal property and federal budget
appropriations to upkeep the border groups in Tajikistan and Armenia.
(…)
The audit done by the Auditing Chamber has displayed that “issues
related to financing of border units by the states in which they are
deployed still persist.” Over January-June 2004, Tajikistan has
failed to transfer 263,730,000 rubles and Armenia – 3,186,000 rubles
to maintain the Russian border guards.
At the session it was decided to submit a statement into the Russian
Finance Ministry and the Russian Border Service of the FSB, as well
as an information letter into the government.
Source: Kommersant, November 10, 2004, p. 14

Dutch police close Kurdish PKK training centre, make 38 arrests
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
November 12, 2004, Friday
The Hague
Dutch police shut down a suspected training centre for the banned
Kurdish separatist organization the PKK near the southern city of
Eindhoven Friday, making 29 arrests.
The authorities said a further nine arrests had been made in other
parts of the country. All those arrested gave their nationality as
“Kurdish” but are being regarded as probably Turkish.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union.
In the raid on the centre, a campsite on a farm in the village of
Liempde, police found night-sight devices, training material and
passports.
Those detained were said to have undergone training for armed struggle
with the PKK.
“There are indications that the participants in the training would
have been sent to Armenia after their training to take part in fighting
for the PKK,” justice authorities said.
Two weeks ago, three men and a woman on their way to the Middle East
were arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. At least one of this
group had been trained at Liempde, a police spokesman said. dpa dt
rpm pmc

Schroeder to meet leaders from SE Europe, central Asia
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
November 12, 2004, Friday
Berlin
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will have talks next week with
leaders of seven southeast European and central Asian states at trade
conference in Berlin, the government said Friday in a statement.
Schroeder will address the November 17 to 18 German Chamber of Industry
and Commerce (DIHT) meeting, said the statement, adding that the
Chancellor will have separate meetings with the following leaders:
-Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano
-Armenian President Robert Kocharian
-Chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic
-Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader
-Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev
-Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic
-Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica dpa lm

New Arrangements for Import of Russian Diamonds to Armenia
RusData Dialine – BizEkon News
November 12, 2004 Friday
REGNUM
The government of Armenia approved a proposal with regard to
thesigning of a protocol on the supply of rough natural diamonds
toArmenia from Russia for a period from 2002 to 2006.
The government of Armenia approved a proposal with regard to the
signing of a protocol on the supply of rough natural diamonds to
Armenia from Russia for a period from 2002 to 2006.
Prices for the Russian diamonds became higher than those in the world
market following the liberalization of the Russian diamond industry.
As a result, Armenian companies were incapable of meeting the quota
on diamond imports. In 2003, Armenians imported only 130 thousand
carats of diamonds out of the total quota for 400 thousand carats of
diamonds set by the Russian party. Consequently, the Russian diamond
imports accounted for 35% of all diamond raw materials processed in
Armenia in the year 2003. A shortage of rough diamonds was corrected
by shipments from Israel and Belgium. In the meantime, in accordance
with the 2002 agreement, Armenia would import from Russia 2.1 million
carats of natural gem-quality diamonds and 3 million carats of
technical quality diamonds up to 2006.
The intergovernmental Armenian-Russian commission convened recently
in Moscow. The relations between Armenia and ALROSA were the focus of
negotiations. The Armenian party put forth a request for the right to
re- export a part of diamonds found unfit for further processing due
to technical specifications.

Russia’s Gazprom drops plans to bid for Iran gas field development
ITAR-TASS News Agency
November 12, 2004 Friday 2:49 AM Eastern Time
MOSCOW, November 12 — Russia’s company Gazprom has dropped plans to
take part in biddings for the construction of facilities at Iran’s
South Pars gas field.
A member of Gazprom’s law department, Sergei Kuznetsov, said “we
have held preliminary talks, have taken a look at the economy of the
project and have passed the decision not to send a binding bid for
the participation in the tender”.
He added that Gazrpom was interested in Armenia’s energy projects.
In particular Gazprom is considering a possibility of taking part
in the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran to Armenia and in
privatisation of Georgia’s stretches of gas pipelines linking Russia
and Armenia.
If terms of denationalisation in Georgia suit Gazprom, the company
will find it promising to take part in privatisation of a mains gas
pipeline and gas distribution companies, Kuznets said.
This is “important for Gazprom, as these gas pipelines link Russia
with Armenia”, PRIME-TASS quoted him as saying.