BRUSSELS (Reuters)–Turkey has made progress in political and economic reforms as it seeks to start talks on European Union membership–but it still has a long way to go–the European Commission says.
"Turkey has begun to address the priorities defined by the revised Accession Partnership," the report said. "Overall–progress has been made–but substantial efforts are still necessary [...]

BEVERLY HILLS–Works by Jansem will be exhibited for the first time in the West Coast at Christie’s Beverly Hills for a limited time–November 20 through November 21–with a private reception on November 19. The solo exhibition will include 40 of Jansem’s most important works.
Jansem is a prolific artist with thousands of works in museums–significant private [...]

ANCA-WR TO HONOR CONGRESSMAN AT IT ANNUAL BANQUET
LOS ANGELES–Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) will be the recipient of the "ANC Freedom Award" to be awarded at the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region’s (ANCA-WR) Annual Banquet. The ANCA-WR Banquet is the most prestigious Armenian-American grassroots public affairs event held in the Western United States. [...]

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The Armenian government will adopt and unveil next week its long-awaited plan to combat rampant corruption–Prime Minister Antranig Markarian announced on Friday.
The announcement followed a meeting of the government’s anti-corruption task force that approved the final version of the document amended in recent weeks at the insistence of the government’s coalition partners–notably the Armenian [...]

(AFP)– Armenian President Robert Kocharian held talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday–as the two countries signed an agreement to boost information technology cooperation–a foreign ministry spokesman’said.
The Indian premier also announced a grant of five million dollars for various joint projects with Armenia–spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters.
Kocharian–who is accompanied by a high-level [...]

YEREVAN (YERKIR)–The Armenian Revolutionary Federation became a full-fledged member of Socialist International (SI) on October 29–becoming the sole political party in the Commonwealth of Independent States with membership. The SI’s 22nd Congress held in San Paolo–Brazil October 27-29 granted the status to the ARF.
Addressing the October 29 session of the Congress–"Regional Integration: The New Architecture," [...]

ISTANBUL (Reuters)–The head of a US-based human rights group on Tuesday praised Turkish efforts to meet European Union political criteria but said Ankara had failed to implement urgent reforms needed to win entry talks with the bloc.
Muslim Turkey’s poor human rights record has made it the only EU candidate not negotiating its entry. Ankara passed [...]

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The planned dispatch of a small Armenian army contingent to the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo on Yerevan’s first-ever peace-keeping mission abroad has been scheduled for next January–Deputy Defense Minister Artur Aghabekian said on Thursday.
The announcement came at the end of a visit to Armenia by Aghabekian’s Greek counterpart Lazaros Lotidis whose government has [...]

LOS ANGELES–The Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America -Western Region (ANCA-WR) recently met with US Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota and urged him to back a resolution (Senate Resolution 164) marking the 15th anniversary of the US implementation of the Genocide Convention. The Senate resolution specifically cites the Armenian Genocide as well [...]

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The Executive Director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Naira Melkoumyan appealed to Armenian business leaders for their active participation in the Fund’s November 27 Telethon to be held in the US and Armenia. In a letter–Melkoumyan explained that funds collected via the telethon will be allocated for the construction of the North-South highway [...]

WARSAW/GENEVA (Reuters)–One-third of the election observers who represented the OSCE human rights watchdog during a presidential poll in Azerbaijan earlier this month have accused the body of ignoring widespread vote-rigging.
Some of the observers donned dark glasses and held white canes in front of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) office in Warsaw [...]

STEPANAKERT–Some six months ago–the ARF Student Organization of Artsakh (Karabagh) was able to locate–in the Askeran region of the Mountainous Karabagh Republic–on the road to the Gandzasar monastery–the birthplace and the still-intact family home of Nikol Douman (or Nigol Touman)–a leading revolutionary figure in the Armenian national-liberation movement of the late 19th/early 20th century. The [...]

GLENDALE–The Armenia Fund announced on Tuesday that internationally celebrated painter Martiros Manoukian has donated $50,000 in support of the Armenia Fund’s Thanksgiving Day Telethon to be held on November 27. The artist’s donation is the greatest so far this year in the days leading up to the Telethon.
Manoukian–now living in the United States–is one of [...]

YEREVAN (YERKIR)–On behalf of her government–UK Ambassador to Armenia Thorda Abbott-Watt–awarded American Armenian Harutiun Shilkhanian two medals for his long service in the British Royal Air Force.
Shilkhanian joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 as ground and air photographer in the Middle East; he was also a photo analyst for the army.
The retired Royal Air [...]