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03/17/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) EU-Armenia Parliamentary Commission Reaffirms Necessity of Nuclear Plant Closure 2) Regulation without Karabagh Impossible Says Ghukasian 3) Spain's New Prime Minister Thanks ARF Bureau 4) Oskanian to Meet with Guliyev in Prague 5) Soprano Arpine Pehlivanian Passes Away 6) Georgian President To Meet Rebel Region Leader 1) EU-Armenia Parliamentary Commission Reaffirms Necessity of Nuclear Plant Closure YEREVAN (Armenpress)--The 6th session of the European Union-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Commission held in Yerevan, March 15-16, discussed the shutting down of Armenia's nuclear power plant. The sides agreed that in its current state, the plant poses serious dangers. On the other hand, its closure would require that an reliable alternative energy source exist to guarantee engery security for Armenia. The commission reafirmmed that the nuclear power plant be shut down, but that an alternative reliable, secure energy source replace it. "There are many ways to do this, but the future will show which way is the most optimal for Armenia," stated commission chair Armen Rustamian. 2) Regulation without Karabagh Impossible Says Ghukasian YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR) President Arkady Ghukasian called on OSCE's visiting chairman-in-office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy to create an opportunity for direct dialogue between MKR and Azerbaijan, stressing the necessity of MKR's involvement in the negotiating process and willingness to enter negotiations without preconditions. The meeting took place in Yerevan on Wednesday, where MKR Foreign Minister Ashot Ghulian and MKR permanent representative in Armenia Arman Melikian were also part of the discussion. Passy said that the quick and uniterrupted restoration of dialogue between the sides is crucial and that he will exert all efforts toward that goal. Ghukasian said that dicussions included not only the political process to a resolution, but also a potential legal one. "I am confident that a legal package would promote political regulation. I believe the OSCE acting chairman agreed, but it is clear the OSCE is complicated mechanism: all 55 member countries have the right to exercise a veto. . . In any case, we must work and we are ready to work and are confident that our position is very constructive." Asked by reporters about MKR's role in the regulation process, Ghukasian said Karabagh is a full-fledged participant in the conflict, as confirmed by the 1994 Budapest Summit. "The president of Azerbaijan also participated in Budapest sessions and agreed with this. This is no longer a topic for discussion. . . I assure that Mountainous Karabagh will be involved in the process of talks as a full-fledged participant," stressed Ghukasian "Without Karabagh, the issue will not be regulated." 3) Spain's New Prime Minister Thanks ARF Bureau YEREVAN (YERKIR)-- Spain's newly elected prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in a letter thanked Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau representative Hrant Margarian, both for the party's condolences and congratulations, reported the ARF press service. In a March 12 letter, the ARF Bureau conveyed condolences and offered support after the Madrid bombings, and on March 15, congratulated Zapatero for his party's victory in the parliamentary election. Zapatero said that his wish is that his party's victory will serve to benefit the international community. "Now more than ever, we need to restore dialogue and multilateral cooperation in order to change cultural and economic inequality, which gave rise to terrorist attacks," Zapatero's letter concludes. Zapatero is the Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, which has established close ties with the ARF, since the latter became a member of the Socialist International recently. Zapatero, who became the youngest member of Spanish parliament in 1986, is considered moderate, adhering to a more social democratic ideology than socialist. His right-hand-man is the Galician member of parliament, Jose Blanco. 4) Oskanian to Meet with Guliyev in Prague YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian announced on Wednesday that he will meet with his Azeri counterpart later this month for talks, which should finally clarify whether Baku is ready to revive agreements on Karabagh reached three years ago. Oskanian said the meeting will take place in Prague on March 29 in the presence of the American, French, and Russian mediators leading the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He said he hopes Azeri Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev will officially state "from which point Azerbaijan is ready to continue negotiations." Guliyev said last month that Baku reserves the right to restart the peace process "from scratch," again denying any major understandings reached by the Armenian and Azeri presidents in Paris and the Florida island of Key West in 2001. The statement came after Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's remarked that he is not in a hurry to embrace a compromise deal because he believes the Armenians are more interested in a quick solution to the Karabagh dispute than his oil-rich nation. Oskanian again warned that Aliyev will have to negotiate only with the Karabagh Armenians if he finally decides to walk away from the agreements reached by his late father and predecessor Heydar and Armenia's president Robert Kocharian. The announcement of the Prague meeting came at a news conference that followed Oskanian's talks with the OSCE's visiting chairman-in-office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy. Passy also met with Kocharian and Prime Minister Andranik Margarian as, well as the president of Mountainous Karabagh Republic Arkady Ghukasian. The Karabagh conflict was a major topic of the discussions during which the sides reportedly agreed that "there is no alternative but a peaceful settlement" Speaking in Baku on Tuesday, Passy said that the OSCE will continue the active mediation but added that the responsibility is on Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the dispute "with mutual compromises." "The OSCE is not capable of miracles and can't impose a ready solution," he said. "History teaches us that with conflicts time always works against us. The later a solution is found, the more painful it may be for the people of the region." 5) Soprano Arpine Pehlivanian Passes Away On March 16, Diasporan soprano Arpine Pehlivanian, passed away after struggling a long term illness. Her dedication to the world of music and her contribution to the preservation of Armenian musical heritage are part of the legacy she leaves behind. She performed in over 800 concerts in Europe, the United States, Canada, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, and Africa. Her Carnegie Hall debut was in 1974. She has performed in most of the internationally known concert halls, including the Parisian Salle Pleyel, the Salle Gaveau and the Spendiarian Opera House in Yerevan, Armenia. Her recordings include The Artistry of Arpine Pehlivanian, (1982 Arzach Productions) Armenian Sacred Music, (1986 BLM Studios) Armenian Romance Songs, (1997 Hamazkayin) and Armenian Art Songs and Live Concert. The lyrico-coloratura soprano earned the highest honors in her field including advanced diplomas in voice and (Summa Cum Laude) from the Lebanese National Conservatory of Piano. She studied piano under the tutelage of Michel Cheskinoff, St. Petersburg, American composer Anis Fuleihan, and voice with Alvarez Boulos, London. Four years of additional study with La Scala soprano Antonia Perazzi prepared her for the Chigiana Academy in Siena, Italy, where she earned Diplomas di Merito in Opera Interpretation under Gino Bechi, Vocal Chamber music under Giorgio Favaretto and Opera Direction under Bruno Rigacci. The National Symphony of Lebanon appointed Pehlivanian official soloist, a position she held for 18 years along with academic duties at the Lebanese Conservatory of Music where she was both a Professor of Voice and Piano and the Director of Opera Interpretation Studies. During that period she was awarded the Cilician Great Cross with the rank of Knight, the Lebanese National Said-Akl Cultural Award, and the Syrian Educational Ministry's Gold Medal. Pehlivanian, who consistently championed professionalism and artistic interpretation in the rendition of the Armenian Art Song, was the first singer from the Diaspora to be invited to perform leading roles with the Spendiarov Opera House in Yerevan, receiving rave reviews. Called the Ambassadress of Armenian Song, she premiered the works of many Middle Eastern and Armenian composers including the American, British, and Middle Eastern premieres of Khatchaturian's Agh Tamar. As concert artist and teacher, she was awarded the Bronze Halo Award (1983) from the Southern California Motion Picture Council for her contribution to the arts, and the Music Teacher's Association of California Service Award (1987), for her contributions to the American Community. She was also a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. In 1999, the Armenian community in Los Angeles joined together to pay tribute to the Nightingale of the Armenian Diaspora for her forty years of service in both the artistic and the academic domains. At her Fortieth Jubilee the late Karekin I, Catholicos of all Armenians, bestowed on her the most coveted Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Medal of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, Armenia. Catholicos Aram I of the House of Cilicia honored the singer with the first ever Dame of Cilicia Medal, to be given to women of distinction. Funeral services will take place on Saturday, March 20, 10:30 am, at the Holy Cross Church of Montebello. 6) Georgian President To Meet Rebel Region Leader BATUMI (Reuters)--The leaders of Georgia and its rebellious Ajaria region agreed on Wednesday to meet to defuse a crisis, which has strained ties with Georgia's giant neighbor Russia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who swept to power in a popular revolution last year, has been locked in conflict with the leader of autonomous Ajaria Aslan Abashidze, accusing him of hindering free parliamentary elections due in 11 days. Saakashvili and Abashidze are due to meet on Thursday in the regional capital Batumi, a Black Sea port near Turkey, the Ajarian leader told reporters, after seven hours of talks with Georgian parliamentary speaker Nino Burdzhanadze. Georgia's location on Russia's southern border and work on a key Western oil pipeline running through it has focused the attention of both Moscow and Washington on the country. Forces loyal to Abashidze prevented Saakashvili from entering Ajaria over the weekend. The president responded by slapping economic sanctions on the region, cutting rail and road access to Ajaria, closing its airspace, and blocking its port. For his meeting on Thursday, Saakashvili will cross the same road checkpoint where Abashidze's troops fired a warning shot at his convoy on Sunday, a presidential spokesman said. "I am a supporter of the idea that all issues should be solved not by using force but in a human fashion," Abashidze told reporters in Batumi, where soldiers and masked armed loyalists patrolled the streets and waterfront. BLOCKADE SOON OVER? "We have to do everything to make sure tomorrow's meeting is meaningful," said Burdzhanadze, a Saakashvili ally, adding that the blockade might "no longer be an issue" after the talks. The blockade has stopped oil shipments from a 200,000 barrel per day terminal at Batumi. Burdzhanadze previously played a key role in persuading pro-Russian Abashidze to allow presidential elections in Ajaria in January that resulted in a landslide victory for Saakashvili, a 36-year-old nationalist backed by the United States. Ex-Soviet Georgia has had uneasy relations with its old colonial master, Russia, for most of the 12 years since the Soviet Union collapsed--often arising from Georgian suspicions that Moscow was trying to profit from autonomous movements. In an unannounced exercise, a Russian military base near Batumi fired rounds of tank shells into the sea on Tuesday where the Georgian coastguard was patrolling. Russia has urged Saakashvili to find a peaceful way out of the current crisis. But its tacit sympathy for Ajaria became clear when Moscow's flamboyant mayor Yuri Luzhkov--a powerful politician at home--flew in on Tuesday to show solidarity with Abashidze, causing consternation among Georgian officials. Luzhkov, who has business interests in the construction industry, is a close associate of Abashidze and Moscow building firms have picked up many lucrative contracts in Ajaria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov showed some unease over Luzhkov, dodging a direct question on his exact mission. He said Luzhkov was there in an "inter-regional" context, adding: "Given this, Luzhkov's efforts have the support of the Russian leadership." He said indications that Saakashvili would meet Luzhkov offered hope for a solution. The parliamentary elections on March 28 are a rerun of a poll last November when veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze was still in power. That vote was widely seen as rigged. Allies of Saakashvili are expected to do well and to support his efforts to cut corruption, unite the divided Caucasus nation of around 4.5 million people, and press for Russia to withdraw from two military bases. Georgia has two openly separatist regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where Tbilisi no longer exerts any control. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.