Month: June 2005

Turkish Press
June 10 2005
Press Review
AKSAM
AKP DEPUTY ARRIVES IN ARMENIA
Turhan Comez, a deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP), yesterday went to Armenia with a delegation of 12 upon the
invitation of a number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and
parliamentarians from this country. Speaking before his departure,
Comez said that they aimed to help developing relations with Armenia.
Comez added that he would present a conference on `Turkish-Armenian
Relations from Turkish Deputies’ Point of View’ at Yerevan University
in Armenia and that he would also meet with Armenian Parliament
speaker and certain deputies. /Aksam/

Turkish Press
June 10 2005
Press Review
MILLIYET
BELGIAN SENATE REJECTS `GENOCIDE’ MEASURE
The Belgian Senate’s Justice Commission yesterday turned back a
proposal to criminalize denying claims of an Armenian genocide. The
bill was returned to the Federal Assembly. Belgian senators said that
it wasn’t Belgium’s job to judge historical contorversies and
stressed that the positive steps taken by Ankara concerning the issue
couldn’t be ignored. /Milliyet/

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Phone: 617-489-1610
Fax: 617-484-1759
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact: Marc A. Mamigonian
NAASR TO PRESENT LECTURE ON
ENERGY CRISIS IN ARMENIA

Robert Kalantari, a nuclear energy expert who has
participated in inspections of the Medzamor plant in Armenia, will speak
at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
Center in Belmont on Thursday evening, June 16, at 8 p.m., on “The
Energy Crisis in Armenia.”
Because reliable electricity generation is vital to
Armenia’s national security, its economic growth, and is essential to
basic needs of everyday life, the precarious state of the Republic’s
energy industry is an area of major concern, both in Armenia and in the
diaspora.
Important Role of Medzamor Nuclear Plant
Kalantari will analyze the energy needs of Armenia and its
current ability to generate sufficient power from various sources. His
presentation will focus on the role that Medzamor, the Armenian nuclear
power plant, plays in meeting Armenia’s requirements, and the risks
inherent in depending on this plant. He will also discuss the
challenges that Armenia faces now and will face in the near future in
maintaining its capacity to meet the nation’s growing energy needs. The
Republic of Armenia will face a dangerous situation if it does not begin
to replace its generation capacity now. The options for building new
power plants are few and will require billions of dollars. The nation
is running out of time.
Mr. Robert Kalantari has been involved with the nuclear
industry for a quarter of a century, during which he has served as the
Engineering Manager of a Boston-area consulting company and has been
responsible for many safety analysis projects for nuclear plants
throughout the world, particularly in Armenia and other former Soviet
republics. He recently participated in a mission with the International
Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the Medzamor nuclear plant in Armenia.
Special Exhibition of Photos of Genocide Memorials
In addition to the lecture, NAASR will continue to feature a special
exhibition of more than three dozen photographs of Armenian Genocide
memorials worldwide taken by renowned photographer Hrair “Hawk”
Khatcherian. The exhibit, which was featured last month at the UCLA
conference “After Nine Decades: The Enduring Legacy of the Armenian
Genocide” and subsequently at the California State House and elsewhere,
was mounted by Richard and Anne Elbrecht of Davis, CA. The Elbrechts
have loaned these impressive photographs to NAASR for a limited time
only.
Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR
Bookstore will open at 7:30 p.m. The NAASR Center and Headquarters is
located opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the U.S. Post
Office. Ample parking is available around the building and in adjacent
areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.
More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.

# # # # #
Belmont, Mass.
May 30, 2005

Kommersant, Russia
June 10 2005
OSCE to Fund Removal of Russian Military Bases from Georgia
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) may provide
extra funds to remove Russian military bases from Georgia, Russia’s
Ambassador-At-Large Igor Savolsky declared in Tbilisi.
`This laborious operation will take three years and a half,’ Russian
diplomat pointed out, adding the launch of the additional financial
backing within the OSCE has been agreed with the international
community and is targeted at accelerating the process and making it
more balanced.
Savolsky went to Tbilisi to draw up a special legal document out of
the political statement on Russian bases’ withdrawal, i.e. to legally
process the change in the status of Batumi and Akhalkalaky bases that
lose their target designation and shift to withdrawal schedule. Their
removal is to be finally completed in 2008, foreign ministers of
Russia and Georgia agreed in Moscow on May 30.
During the withdrawal operation that started June 1, 2005, Russia
will transfer the better part of its Georgian bases to its own
territory, though some of them will move to Armenia. Removal of 40
units of heavy armor, including tanks, from Akhalkalaky and Batumi
will complete by September 1, 2005.
3,000 soldiers and offices and about 2,500 units of military hardware
have been deployed in Georgia, some of them are in Armenia already.

The Standard, Hong Kong
June 10 2005
System of their own

Richard Cromelin
Weekend: June 11-12, 2005

>From left: Daron Malakian, John Dolmayan, Serj Tankian and Shavo
Odadjian – PHOTO BY AP
System of a Down’s singer Serj Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian
are as oddly matched as the components of their band’s epically
disjointed music.
With his Rasputin look and guru’s serenity, Tankian sits on a
dressing-room couch backstage at Los Angeles’ Gibson Amphitheatre and
contributes concise observations and epigrams.
Malakian, eight years younger at 29, is a prototype rock dude with a
sensitive streak, and seems full of nervous energy as he sits beside
his bandmate, talking in rushes punctuated by loud laughs.
“Daron is a true artist,” says Rick Rubin, who has produced or
co-produced all four of System’s albums, including the new Mezmerize,
for his American Recordings label. “He doesn’t really live in the
world. He lives in a bubble and the bubble is filled with music. All
he does is listen to music and play music all day, every day. He’s
got no interests or hobbies or social life or any of those things.
I’m not saying it’s healthy but it makes for good music.”
That’s a matter of taste, of course, but even critics who generally
avoid the harder stuff have developed a soft spot for the Los Angeles
band’s unlikely, unpredictable juxtapositions of heavy rock riffing
and mock-operatic declamation.
By turns surreal, absurd and pointedly political, System’s music is
what you might get if the Marx Brothers took possession of Metallica
and hired Frank Zappa as arranger.
As unconventional as it is, it has also become extremely popular. An
hour after the interview, Tankian and Malakian join drummer John
Dol-mayan and bassist Shavo Odadjian in front of a full house at the
6,000-seat amphitheater for their annual “Souls” concert, which
commemorates the Armenian genocide of the early 1900s.
All band members are of Armenian heritage.
When the band takes the stage and launches into its new radio hit
BYOB, the audience explodes. These fans have been waiting a long time
since System’s last formal album, Toxicity, came out in 2001.
Sparked by the hit singles Chop Suey, Toxicity and Aerials, the album
sold 3.5 million copies in the United States and established System
as a genre unto itself, with one foot in a form of heavy art-rock and
the other in traditional headbanging. So anticipation was at a high
pitch for its return to concerts and for last month’s release of
Mezmerize, which reached No 1 on the national chart.
It looks like business as usual for System of a Down, but behind the
statistics and below the surface, internal balances have shifted
significantly, and creative ambitions have risen.
“If you go back to the first discussion [the band] had about this
record, maybe years ago,” says Malakian, “it was about stretching
it, about not repeating ourselves, trying to do other things.”
As potent and provocative as the new album is, it’s only half the
story. As they recorded, they found themselves juggling too many
songs for one CD, and rather than release a double-disc set or two
separate albums at the same time, they assembled Mezmerize for
release now and set aside a second full album, Hypnotize, to come out
in the fall.
The album reflects an altered creative chemistry. Malakian has always
been the primary musical force, writing most of the music and
co-producing with Rubin, but on Mezmerize he asserts a much more
prominent presence as lyricist and singer.
“I was a little nervous at first because I felt that I needed to sing
a little bit more on these songs, but I wasn’t sure how that would
affect the band’s sound,” Malakian said.
“Till now Serj’s voice has been the main voice of System, and now I’m
coming in a little bit more. You try things, you’re not sure how
they’re gonna come out.”
Adds Tankian: “People look at us, they look at MTV or whatever: `This
guy does this, this guy does this.’ None of us are that isolated. We
do a lot of different things. It’s good for people to see that and
not have us in our little walls.”
“There’s an interesting balance in the band,” notes Rubin, “because
most of the musical ideas start with Daron, but then Serj brings a
kind of poet’s mentality to it. It’s that combination that really
pushes the envelope and makes it so extreme.”

Interfax
June 10 2005
Deputy says Turkey wants normal relations with Armenia
YEREVAN. June 10 (Interfax) – Turkey wants normal relations with
Armenia, Turkish parliamentary deputy Turhan Comez, who had come for
a private visit to Yerevan on an unofficial invitation, said on
Friday.
Comez, who was speaking at a meeting with students and lecturers at
Yerevan State University, insisted that as a first step, the two
countries should stop setting conditions for establishing relations.

LITHUANIA READY TO HELP ARMENIA IN EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. Lithuania is ready to help Armenia in
European integration, Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament Arturas
Paulauskas stated at his meeting with RA minister of Territorial
Administration Hovik Abrahamyan.According Paulauskas, Lithuanian
authorities are ready to share not only their successful experience,
but also faults, with Armenia, which will allow it to prevent them and
implement reforms more efficiently. In his turn, Minister Abramyan
reported that Armenia has executed 90% of its commitments tom the
CE. He proposed discussing Lithuania’s experience in European
integration at the expert level, pointing out that the signing of an
Armenian-Lithuanian intergovernmental agreement on trade and economic
cooperation may give an impetus to bilateral cooperation.
RA Premier Andranik Margaryan is scheduled to pay a visit to
Lithuania, and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus is scheduled to pay
a visit to Armenia.
P.T. -0–

“HERITAGE” ARMENIAN PARTY IS THE SUPPORTER OF CLOSE COOPERATION WITH
BOTH RUSSIA, AND OTHER CIS COUNTRIES
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. “Heritage” Armenian party is the supporter
of close cooperation with both Russia, and other CIS countries, stated
ex- RA Foreign Minister Raffi Hovhannisyan, leader of “Heritage”
national liberal party at today’s press conference. He also noted the
need for efficient cooperation with “contemporary partners” – USA,
China, India, neighbors in the region, Arab countries. Hovhannisyan
also noted that today’s actions of Armenia must be focused on
strengthening of military training in line with NATO standards. “Even
if the issue of closer relations with NATO is not on the agenda, it is
necessary to be ready for future developments, depending on Armenia’s
interests”, he said. L.V.-0–

4TH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION “MODERN OFFICE AND BANK” OPENED IN
ARMENIA
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. The 4th international exhibition “Modern
Office and Bank” has been opened in Yerevan. Anna Hakobyan, Director
of the “EXPOMEDIA” exhibition center, reported that it is a topical
event not only for local businessmen, but also for foreign investors,
which will have an opportunity to get acquainted with this sphere,
analyze the market. Hakobyan said that 26 organizations from Armenia,
CIS and Europe are taking part in the exhibition.
According to her, the goal of the exhibition is consolidating
commercially advantageous relations between trade and industrial
enterprises and banking infrastructures as well as forming effective
business environment for exchanging urgent business information and
experience. The exhibition also helps the participants to get all
necessary information on companies’ activities, new projects,
proposals and bank services.
The exhibition has been organized by the “EXPOMEDIA” exhibition
center, with the sponsorship of the RA Ministry of Finance and
Economy, RA Central Bank, Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Armenia
and of Yerevan, RA National Center of Small and Middle-Sized Business
Development, Union of Banks of Armenia.
P.T. -0–

RA PRESIDENT AND SPEAKER OF THE LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSS
POSSIBILITIES FOR EXPANDING COOPERATION
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian and Arthuras
Paulauskas, the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament discussed today
the possibilities for expanding cooperation between the two
countries. As the Press Service of RA President told ARKA News Agency,
Paulauskas said that the aim of his visit was to get acquainted with
the situation on the spot and incite Parliamentary cooperation. He
also said that the, Baltic countries had gathered a significant
Eurointegration experience and were going to share it with their
Armenian partners. Robert Kocharian emphasized the interest of Armenia
in expanding cooperation with Lithuania and expressed confidence that
the visit of the Lithuanian delegation would be an additional stimulus
for bilateral relations. He also noted the significant success of
Lithuania in Eurointegration and said that both countries have a lot
in common. The parties also discussed the possibilities for economic
cooperation development. At that, the parties attached importance to
intense communication and contacts, exchange of information and
deepening of business relations. L.V.-0–