"I'm not a racist. I simply use the word "Genocide" which is a reality. I want my identity of an Armenian to be respected", announced Turkish-Armenian writer and journalist Hrant Dink in a press conference in Yerevan.

On January 10 US President George Bush re-nominated Richard Hoagland as US Ambassador to Armenia. However, for the second time Senator Robert Menendez placed a "hold" on his appointment to be US ambassador in Yerevan.

The Armenian economy has expanded at a double-digit rate for a sixth consecutive year, Trade and Economic Development Minister of Armenia Karen Chshmaritian said on Tuesday.

A conference titled "Orhan Pamuk and Literature" was held Sabanci University, Istanbul, December 21. It had been the first meeting of Orhan Pamuk with Turkish readers since he received the Nobel Prize, Milliyet reports.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) led a four-day training course on "Terrorism and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction" in Yerevan December 4-7.

US composer Laura Kaminsky, Armenian composer-pianist Artur Avanesov, and Armenian pianist Margarit Sargsyan are presenting three concerts in Armenia in cooperation with Komitas State Conservatory of Music.

By the end of 2006 the number of tourists visiting Armenia will reach 380 thousand, Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Ara Petrosyan said in a press conference today. More tourists are expected to travel to Armenia.

The minibuses of Stepanakert are a rolling introduction to the cozy capital of Nagorno Karabakh. For 50 drams (about 15 cents), a visiting passenger learns the town of about 50,000 in no more than the 15 minutes it takes to cross it. She learns, too, the city residents, in bits of conversations caught between stops.

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian spoke of 'some little progress' made at the Armenian-Azeri ministerial talks in Brussels earlier this week, but said the "moderate expectations" from the meeting with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov were not fully met.

A world-known hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group announced its intentions to add Yerevan, Armenia to its family of luxury properties.

November 14 the 7th sitting of the Armenia-EU Cooperation Council was held in Brussels. The Action Plan of Armenia and the European Union was ratified and came into force during the sitting.