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07/21/2006
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1. Karabakh: Agreement on General Principles Possible in 2006 2. ARS Central Executive Issues Appeal on Lebanon Crisis 3. ARS of Western USA Elects New Executive Members 4. Kocharian Cancels Moscow Trip 'Due To Illness' 5. Georgian Leader Stays away from CIS Summit in Protest 1. Karabakh: Agreement on General Principles Possible in 2006 YEREVAN (YERKIR)--The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process is very different in 2006 than in 1997, before the resignation of then president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, said Giro Manoyan, political director of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau, during a press conference Friday. "I believe that the first President meant that Armenia will not have to choose. In 2006 some form of an agreement on general principles is possible at best. However, the inadequate conduct of Azerbaijan will bring to naught all efforts of the mediators and the international community," Manoyan said. The ARF leader underscored that in case an agreement reached by Armenian and Azeri presidents regarding the security of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic did not serve the interests of the Armenia people, the ARF will appeal to the state leaders for explanations "in accordance with the law." Speaking about the idea of changing the format of the talks, which issues from Azerbaijan, Manoyan stressed, that it was merely a desire of official Baku, which is not a decisive one in this issue. "The format of the OSCE Minsk Group for the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains the same. At least for the near future," he remarked. Deputy Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Masis Mayilian met Thursday with the Field Assistant of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Gunter Folk. The Karabakh Foreign Ministry press service told Armenpress that during the meeting Folk presented a report of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on skirmishes, which took place in the border areas. As was announced earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed to the Office of the OSCE Personal Representative Chairman-in-Office with a request to conduct a monitoring in border region in order to provide a proper assessment of the situation and to address Azeri accusations regarding wildfires in the areas. The OSCE mission conducted a series of visits in the border region, as a result of which a corresponding report was prepared, which concluded that the Azeri side was to blame for the arsons. At present the document is being studied at the Karabakh foreign ministry. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs from Russia, the US and France, who are the only international body spearheading efforts to end the Karabakh conflict, are scheduled to meet in Paris in early August to decide on their next steps, Russian cochairman, Yury Merzlyakov, was quoted by Trend news agency as saying in an exclusive interview. He said the objective of the meeting is to hold consultations on the results of a tour to the region conducted by the recently appointed US cochairman Matthew Bryza. Merzlyakov said for the time being it was not clear whether they would adopt a resolution after meeting in Paris or whether they would discuss organization of the next round of meetings between the conflict sides. "We will resolve this issue as soon as we meet. I don't know what kind of conclusions the US co-chairman may have arrived at. Before our meeting in Paris he will have had more contacts, he will talk to both presidents and in all likelihood he will have some conclusions," he said. According to some reports, Bryza will pay a two-day visit to Nagorno-Karabakh on 29th of July from Yerevan and then he is to leave for Baku for talks from July 31 to August 1. 2. ARS Central Executive Issues Appeal on Lebanon Crisis WATERTOWN--The Armenian Relief Society Central Executive Board issued an announcement Thursday urging its members and the community to support the Armenian community of Lebanon through contribution as the Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue. Below is the text of the announcement: While the precarious situation of the Iraqi-Armenian community still remains a source of concern and worry, the Diaspora has come face to face with a new calamity which threatens one of the solid pillars of Armenian presence in the Middle East. The Armenian community of Lebanon -- whose odyssey during the long and devastating Civil War is still fresh in our minds -- again, faces an immediate threat of disruption and decimation. The on-going brutal assault on Lebanese cities and population, perpetrated in plain view of the international community, has stunned the world with its disproportionate scope and multiplicity of targets, causing countless civilian casual-ties. Leaders of world opinion have already condemned the indiscriminate destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure and demand an immediate cessation of all military action, while the conflict continues with no sign of remission. Fellow Armenians, today, the school buildings and athletic fields of our community in Bourj Hammoud are full of Lebanese refugees fleeing the zones of armed conflict, while the ARS Boulghurjian Socio-Medical Center in Beirut is treating hundreds of people who are casualties of this deadly conflict. As in the past, this time also, the Armenian Relief Society calls on our sup-porters and all caring Armenians to render the necessary humanitarian assistance to our beleaguered people in the conflict zone. You can do this by sending your tax-exempt donations for the "ARS Lebanese Relief" to your local ARS affiliate's office. In these catastrophic days for the hospitable Lebanese people, let us show the world that we are cognizant of our commitments towards all those whose generous hospitality, 91 years ago, granted new life and prosperity to our homeless multitudes, decimated, starved and brutalized by the 1st genocide of the past century.. ARS, Inc. Central Executive Board 3. ARS of Western USA Elects New Executive Members The Armenian Relief Society of Western USA's 86th Regional Convention took place at the Radisson Hotel in Whittier, California from July 13 to 16. The Convention elected the following member for a two-year term on the Regional Executive: Sonia Peltekian, Seda Khojayan, Sona Bostanian and Nvart Mooradian. The Regional Executive members whose two-year term ended were: Angela Savoian, Rita Hintlian, Nanik Kupelian and Maral Nashalian-Arsenian.The Regional Executive members who will continue to serve for another year are: Karine Barikian-Setian, Rose Altounian, Kristine Keshishian, Hourig Aintablian and Adrine Postoyan. 4. Kocharian Cancels Moscow Trip 'Due To Illness' YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--President Robert Kocharian abruptly canceled his participation in an unofficial summit of former Soviet republics in Moscow on Friday because of what his office described as a respiratory illness. A statement by the presidential press service said he was diagnosed with an "acute viral disease of respiratory tract" and could therefore not fly to the Russian capital. No other details were reported. The statement was issued less than 24 hours after an official confirmation of Kocharian's participation in a two-day meeting of the presidents of the Commonwealth of Independent States which was due to start later on Friday. He was also scheduled to hold a separate meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit. Kocharian, 51, is known as a sporty person who likes swimming, skiing and playing other sports on weekends and holidays. Incidentally, the presidential administration announced on Monday that he went on a "brief vacation" which it said will be spent in an unnamed Armenian resort. It is not clear if he caught the reported disease there. The Armenian leader was previously reported ill in February 2002 when he underwent surgery in a Yerevan hospital after suffering from acute appendicitis. 5. Georgian Leader Stays away from CIS Summit in Protest MOSCOW (AP)--Leaders of several former Soviet republics were due in Moscow on 21-22 July for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, but the planned talks were overshadowed when Georgia's president abruptly canceled plans to attend. President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia had wanted to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a private meeting on the sidelines of the gathering to discuss rising tensions over Russia's perceived support for separatists in his nation. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, another leader who has sought to lessen Russian influence and turn his country toward the West, also decided not to attend the two-day meeting. A Georgian Foreign Ministry official who was organizing Saakashvili's visit said he would not go because the busy summit schedule would not allow for a substantive meeting with Putin. The Kremlin never confirmed that Putin would hold separate talks with the Georgian president. Talks with Putin were "the main reason for the president's trip" to Moscow, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze told Georgia's Rustavi-2 television. He said Russian and Georgian officials had agreed a visit would be planned in the near future. Georgia's parliament recently passed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers whose presence in two separatist Georgian regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, is one of a host of irritants between the two nations. The parliament resolution was widely seen as a bid to strengthen Saakashvili's position in talks with Putin. Russian authorities, who accuse Georgia of planning provocations as a pretext for a forceful takeover of South Ossetia, warned this week that Moscow would use all means at its disposal to protect its peacekeepers and citizens in the separatist provinces - where most residents have Russian passports. Created amid the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the 12-nation, Russian-dominated CIS has been criticized by its own members as ineffective and torn in recent years by the rise of Westward-leaning leaders in Georgia and Ukraine and Moldova's reorientation toward the West. Russia, meanwhile, has shored up ties with authoritarian Central Asian nations. Yushchenko's spokeswoman, Iryna Gerashchenko, said he would not attend because of his country's political situation. Ukraine has been embroiled in political crisis since Yushchenko's Russian-backed rival for the presidency in 2004, Viktor Yanukovych, came out ahead in March parliamentary elections, and the president has been deliberating about how to respond to parliament's effort to make Yanukovych prime minister. Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov was to stay away from the summit, as he has repeatedly in the past, and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov's plans were uncertain. The informal summit was expected to include dinner at a waterside restaurant in an upscale Moscow suburb and a visit to the track for a horse race dubbed the Russian President's Cup. 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) 2006 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.