Turkmenistan marks its 18th jubilee Tuesday.

ASHGABAT, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Turkmenistan marks the18th
anniversary of the proclamation of its independence. Sovereighty was
proclaimed on the strength of the results of a country-wide referendum
held in 1991 in the then Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan.

According to tradition, the president of the country and members of
the government are to lay flowers at the Independence Monument and then
the Head of State and Supreme Commander-in-Chief will review a parade.
Units of all services and horsemen riding Akhal Tekke horses will march
past.
Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, in a speech on
Monday at the ceremony marking the presentation of State awards in honour
of the Independence Day, said, "We shall continue to effect large-scale
economic reforms which will ensure successful implementation of the State
for the Individual slogam aimed at raising the living standards of the
Turkmen people".
The President presented orders and medals to Vice-Premiers, as well as
to the Parliament Speaker, and Defence Minister. High awards of
Turkmenistan were also presented by the President to three foreign
citizens, among them Professor Viktor Sarianidi, a Russian archeologist.
Among more than 100 awardees, there are people representing all
branches of the country's economy, scientists and art people.

.Falcon plane crashes near Minsk.

MOSCOW, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - There were five people on board the
Falcon plane that crashed near Minsk on Monday night while on a flight
from Russia. This has been confirmed by a spokesman for the Federal Air
Transport Agency (FATA).
The FATA spokesman said, "The fate of the five people is unknown so
far. An active search for them is under way". "There were three
crewmembers and two passengers on board," he added.
The business plane Falcon, belonging to the S-Air Company, took off
from Vnukovo-3 airport at 21:06, and disappeared from radar screens at
22:35 when approaching the international airport of Belarus, at a distance
of two kilometres from the airfield.
According to preliminary data, a source at the Rosaeronavigatsiya
(Federal air navigation authority) said, "There was probably the air
company's general director Marat Romashkin on board the plane".
"Visibility was over 3,000 metres, and there was no strong wind. The
plane was unable to land at the first go and went around, after which it
disappeared from radar screens," the source said.
The BAe-125 (Falcon) plane is designed to carry eight passengers and
has been developed for business aviation. Its fuselage is 14.33 metres
long; wing span is14.33 m; maximum takeoff weight is12.5 tonnes, maximum
speed of flight is 805 km/hr, and practical range of flight is 2,500 km.
Planes of this type have been manufactured since the beginning of 1960.
Over 700 such planes have been made. all in all.

.Rosaviatsiya to inspect S-Air co flying activity, safety state.

MOSCOW, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - The Rosaviatsiya (Federal Air
Transport Agency) (FATA) will carry out an extraordinary inspection of the
flying activity and the state of safety at the S-Air Company, a spokesman
for the Rosnavigatsdiya told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
The FATA spokesman said, "In connection with the crash of a Falcon
plane near Minsk, we shall urgently make an extraordinary inspection of
the air company, which owned the plane."
"Besides, a commission of the inter-state aviation committee has been
set up for a probe into the crash of the Falcon plane near Minsk.
"It is essential to ascertain the cause why the plane crashed, since
weather conditions were normal for the flight.
"The plane was found at a distance of three kilometres from the Minsk
airport. The five bodies of passengers and crewmembers were found at the
site," the FATA spokesman said.

.Annual conf on terrorism and e-media to open on Cyprus.

NICOSIA, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Journalists' work to cover terrorist
acts, media interaction with security organisations, and the problem of
informational terrorism are the main subjects to be discussed by
participants in the 5th international conference on the theme of
"Terrorism and Electronic Media", opening on Cyprus onTuesday.
The forum will begin with a speech to be made here by Dimitris
Christofias, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, before the delegates
to the conference at the House of Journalists.
The conference has been organised by the International Academy of
Television and Radio with the participation of the staff of the Russian
Federaiton Security Council, the Foreign Ministry, and the Federal Agency
for Print and Mass Media.
About 100 chiefs and journalists of Russian and foreign media,
expertsof the Council of Europe and UNESCO, diplomats and members of
security services from over 20 countries will take part in the conference.
Roundtable meetings will be organised during the conference to discuss
such subjects as "The Freedom of Speech and Responsibility of
Journalists", "Electronic Media and Threats of Cyberterrorism", "The
Creation of International Electronic Resource", etc.
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