Month: October 2006

YEREVAN QUESTIONS RUSSIAN VERDICT ON PLANE CRASH
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 25 2006

Armenia’s aviation authorities have expressed serious reservations
about Russian investigators’ preliminary conclusion that last May’s
crash of an Armenian airliner in southern Russia, which killed all
113 people aboard, was caused by pilot error.

Citing their findings , Russia’s Transport Minister Igor Levitin said
in July that the crew of the Armenian Airbus A-320 lost control of the
plane as they made a second attempt to land at the Black Sea city of
Sochi. This conclusion was endorsed by the Moscow-based Interstate
Aviation Committee (ICA) of the Commonwealth of Independent States
which also investigated the deadliest air disaster in Armenia’s
history.

The Armenian government’s Civil Aviation Department essentially
accepted this verdict at the time. At the same time, its director
Artyom Movsisian said that although the "human factor" apparently
played a role in the crash, Yerevan believes that there are still
some key unanswered questions about its causes.

It emerged on Wednesday that Movsisian’s department has presented the
ICA with a six-page document that questions some of the conclusions
drawn by the Russian investigators. In particular, the Armenian side
complained that the Russians failed to take note of Sochi airport’s
alleged failure to "detect dangerous weather conditions" that are
thought to have prevented the plane belonging to the national airline
Armavia from landing safely on first attempt.

Armavia’s owner Mikhail Baghdasarian insists that the A-320 would
have avoided the crash had it not received a last-minute order to
veer away from the airport’s runway and make a second approach.

Baghdasarov, who is a Russian citizen of Armenian descent, has rejected
the ICA verdict and demanded an "independent inquiry."

The Civil Aviation Department also took issue with the investigators’
implicit claims that Armavia had failed to properly train its pilots
and assess their professional level. It further urged them to drop
from their preliminary conclusions an assertion that moments before
the crash the A-320 crew found themselves in a "tense psycho-emotional
situation" due to unspecified "imperative demands to land at Sochi."

According to rumors cited by the Armenian press, those demands were
made by some wealthy and influential passengers of the doomed flight.

There have also been allegations that a gunfight may have broken out
between crime figures that were allegedly among the victims of the
crash. The Armenian government and Armavia have dismissed the claims.

Aviation Department spokeswoman Gayane Davtian could not say when the
ICA will release its final verdict or whether Yerevan will succeed
in influencing its content. "They may publish their final findings
at any moment," she told RFE/RL.

ARMENIAN OFFICIAL: "KARS-AKHALKALAK-TBILISI-BAKU FRUITLESS FOR REGION"

Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 25 2006

Construction of Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi-Baku railway line is aimed
at restrictive policy and is economically inefficient.

Yuri Petrosian, counselor of Armenia’s embassy in Georgia told APA
bureau he considers restoration of through-Abkhazia railway line
(joining Russia and Armenia) as a pragmatic project.

Petrosian said that Kars-Baku project is political project and planned
to discriminate Armenia and this factor is known to most international
organizations and leading countries.

"The existing Kars-Gumru-Tbilisi railway is not in use. Some
South Caucasian states aspire to construction of an inefficient,
discriminating and useless project. The funds can be used for more
actual projects," he said.

He said that restoration of the railway through Abkhazia to Russia
requires $150-200m and some two years and this project is beneficial
for all parties. This project can Georgia’s transportation expenses
by 30% and ensure Armenia’s way-out to Russia.

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UNDP AND HAYASTAN FOUNDATION SIGN MEMORANDUM ON COOPERATION IN ARMENIA

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 25 2006

YEREVAN, October 25. /ARKA/. The UNDP and the All-Armenian "Hayastan
Foundation" signed a memorandum on implementation of programs on
poverty reduction in rural areas.

The UN permanent coordinator in Armenia Consuello Vidal reported
that poverty reduction in Armenia’s rural areas is in the center
of special attention of not only the UN structures, but also the
Armenian authorities.

"We intend to join our efforts both with the Hayastan Foundation and
representatives of the Diaspora and local governmental structures to
achieve a more tangible result," she said and added that the fundament
for implementation of the programs aimed developing rural areas was
laid at the third Armenia-Diaspora Forum.

In her turn, Executive Director of the Hayastan Foundation Naira
Melkumyan pointed out that by cooperating with the UNO, implementation
of new governmental programs, aimed at developing rural, and especially
border-line areas of Armenia, will be possible.

The Hayastan Foundation was established in 1992 by the decree of
the Armenian president. It has implemented programs for a total
of $160mln. Projects with the total budget for $160mln have been
implemented. Over 220 km of roads, 130 km of water canals, 36
schools, 3 power substations, 210 residential houses, and 14 medical
institutions have been constructed.

The UNDP within the frameworks of the activity in Armenia, has
elaborated plans for development of 20 border-line villages of
Armenia. Works on provision of financial support for these programs
are being implemented. The third Armenia-Diaspora Forum was held in
Yerevan on September 18-20.

NAMES OF COMMISSIONERS FROM NEWEST EU STATES EMERGE
By Mark Beunderman

EUobserver.com, Belgium
Oct 25 2006

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The names of the two likely new members of
the European Commission have emerged, with Romania proposing liberal
senator Varujan Vosganian and Bulgaria likely to nominate EU affairs
minister Meglena Kuneva.

Romanian prime minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu officially announced
his country’s nomination on Wednesday (25 October), with EU accession
of Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January 2007 fast approaching.

"I strongly believe that the solid political experience and the
professional profile of Mr Varujan Vosganian recommends him for this
position," Mr Tariceanu said.

Mr Vosganian, a 48 year old economist and a liberal senator, is a
member of the Armenian minority of Romania. He is also a member of
the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, Europe’s human
rights watchdog.

The move came as a surprise after press reports on Wednesday morning
had suggested that Bucharest would pick justice minister Monica
Macovei as its member of the EU executive.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian officials on Wednesday could not give official
confirmation of their country’s commissioner-designate doing the
rounds – EU affairs minister Meglena Kuneva.

But government-linked news website eunews.bg referred to a report on
Bulgarian public radio saying Sofia will put forward Ms Kuneva, who
had already been frequently tipped for the post and who is well-known
on the Brussels scene.

The head of the Bulgarian centre-right observers group in the European
Parliament, Maria Cappone, told her colleagues in statement that
"the Bulgarian government has nominated the minister for European
integration, Mrs Meglena Kuneva."

The European Commission and EU member states still have to officially
agree to Mr Vosganian and Ms Kuneva as the two new commissioners,
with a commission spokeswoman saying today that commission chief
Jose Manuel Barroso will only issue a statement once consensus on
the issue is fully clear.

Recent "consultations" between Sofia, Bucharest, the commission and
EU capitals, suggest however that the two candidates emerging on
Wednesday will be endorsed by Mr Barroso and national governments.

Mr Barroso is thereafter solely responsible for the attribution of
the exact portfolios for the commissioners.

One EU official on Wednesday denied reports that Mr Barroso will split
the justice and home affairs portfolio and create a new commissioner
for immigration.

Another suggestion doing the rounds on the tasks of the new
commissioners is that the consumer protection and health portfolio
will be divided – resulting in a separate new commissioner for health.

Barroso tells parliament to shift date Meanwhile the European
Parliament will hear the two commissioners-designate in late November,
with the EU assembly still wrangling with the commission on when it
will vote on the new members of the Barroso team – either just before
or just after accession.

Parliamentary group chiefs have picked 4 January as an investiture
date for the new commissioners, in order to allow the Romanian and
Bulgarian MEPs – who until 1 January have "observer" status only –
to vote for their own commissioners as fully-fledged European deputies.

But in a letter to the parliament’s president Josep Borrell, commission
chief Barroso has written that this is legally impossible.

In the letter, dated 23 October, Mr Barroso writes that parliament has
to finish its procedure "before" 1 January in order to allow the new
commissioners to "take up their positions on 1 January," citing legal
reasons enshrined in the accession treaties of Romania and Bulgaria.

Political group leaders in the parliament are discussing the issue
in Strabourg this week, considering the alternative of shifting the
vote to December.

POOCHIGIAN SEEKS TO BE STATE’S TOP COP
State Senator Running For Attorney General

KCRA.com, CA
Oct 25 2006

FRESNO, Calif. — State Sen. Chuck Poochigian is one of the candidates
for state Attorney General.

His family runs three generations deep in the San Joaquin Valley.

Poochigian was born in Fresno, and while most of his family farmed,
he started a law practice.

He said he was never especially political until a fellow Armenian —
George Deukmejian — ran for attorney general in 1978.

"That first campaign that I was involved in with Deukemejian really
framed everything that followed for me, because I was then convinced
and absolutely today that George Deukmejian sought higher office out
of a sense of duty," Poochigian said.

It was also the beginning of Poochigian’s battles against the policies
of Jerry Brown. It turns out their contest for attorney general today
has been brewing for more than two decades.

"Those were the years when criminal justice was at the forefront. The
issues we faced then were very, very important — Jerry Brown was
governor, the crime rate was the highest it had ever been in the
history of California and ever since, and the then-governor Jerry
Brown had vetoed the death penalty. That was a bill carried by
Governor Deukmejian. I’m committed to retiring him. His career is
what it is. It’s time for him to move on and I hope to be the one to
make that happen," Poochigian said.

Poochigian’s political career began in the Deukmejian and Wilson
administrations.

One of his jobs was finding judges to nominate. What he asked of
those appointees then, he said he asks of himself now.

"Above all, fealty to the law, a commitment to do what’s right by way
of the law irrespective of personal views or attitudes or prejudices,"
Poochigian said.

His work in the state Assembly and Senate includes bringing down
costs in the Worker’s Compensation System, and public safety issues
ranging from identity theft to sexual predators.

His empathy for victims can be traced back to his own grandmother’s
experience in Armenia.

"She saw the most unspeakable acts committed against her mother
and her father, who was a priest. And all but one member of her
family, a sibling, in a very large family was tortured and killed,"
Poochigian said.

Today, Poochigian is a grandfather, which he said gives him another
reason to seek the job of the state’s top cop.

"For justice and for the safety of our children and our grandchildren,
our seniors and everyone, and I think the attorney general — the role
of attorney general — can have a profound impact on all of that,"
Poochigian said.

Although Poochigian is known today as a conservative Republican, he
said in his early days he was a Democrat and a big admirer of John F.
Kennedy. He said that since then, his politics have matured.

PARIS COURT POSTPONES GENOCIDE DENIAL CASE 2ND TIME
By Cihan News Agency

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 25 2006

A Paris court postponed a decision on a case which was prepared by
an Armenian group against Aydin Sezgin, Turkey’s ambassador to Paris.

The court postponed second time the controversial case, which was
prepared by Armenians against Turkish Ambassador Sezgin, for the
second time.

The group has accused Sezgin of spreading denial propaganda regarding
the so-called Armenian genocide during World War I, demanding that he
remove the text from the consulate’s website that denies an Armenian
genocide.

The Paris Court said the decision of the case would be declared on
Nov. 8. In beginning of October, the court had postponed its decision
on the issue after the first hearing due to an error in the court’s
computer system.

During the last hearing the prosecutor had argued that the case should
be rejected because of Sezgin’s diplomatic immunity.

Sezgin’s lawyers also had said that the court should reject the case,
adding that the ambassador was free to defend Turkey’s official stance
on the issue.

EDITORIAL: WIND OF CHANGE

Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Oct 25 2006

When the ruling centre-right Democratic Party (Diko) elected Marios
Karoyian as its third and youngest leader on Sunday with the support
of the old guard who set up the party three decades ago, a clear
message for change was sent out in all directions — modernise the
movement in time for the next presidential elections in February 2008.

The extraordinary conference was called after President Tassos
Papadopoulos stepped down as party chief in August forcing deputy
leader Nicos Cleanthous to challenge the seat as well.

But only half of the party’s 14,000 members showed up to vote for
their new leader which suggests a note of apathy among the party
rank-and-file.

The 45-year-old Armenian Cypriot who rose up the ranks of the party
founded by the late Spyros Kyprianou, won by a surprisingly wide
margin of 63% over Cleanthous who took the remaining 37%.

This was probably the start of a wind of change that wanted old-school
politicians replaced by dynamic young leaders.

The result shocked Cleanthous, who had deputised Papadopoulos ever
since the latter was elected president three years ago.

This could also explain the party faithful’s disappointment in a
leader who barely made it to the House in the parliamentary election
in May despite the party gaining new voters and new seats.

Karoyian, on the other hand, was elected to parliament as the most
popular of all the party’s candidates. He has since called for
unity and paid tribute to the legacy of Spyros Kyprianou and Tassos
Papadopoulos. "We will implement the political line of the coalition
and move forward united, through a modernised Democratic Party,"
he said.

Standing beside the new party leader was the founder’s son and European
Commissioner Markos Kyprianou together with his brother, Achilleas,
both members of the Diko executive council, while other newcomers
were clearly absent from the main panel.

Markos also threw his support behind the young leader and declared
that "times have changed from the days of individual leaders and we
are entering a new age of good managers and a need for collectiveness."

This could also suggest the start of a rift within the party that
has long wanted to abandon the three-way coalition with the powerful
communist Akel and the diminishing socialist Edek and opt for a
coalition of equals with Akel.

Kyprianou is now weighing his options as he is being touted as the
coalition candidate for the next presidential elections where the
party would have to decide between the young Commissioner or incumbent
president Papadopoulos.

Whatever the outcome, Karoyian’s leadership will be tested at the
next party congress in 2009, a year after the presidential elections
that will also be determined from the successful or not adoption of
the euro on January 1, 2008. He will have his hands full until then.

MEETINGS TO BE CONTINUED

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Oct 25 2006

FM of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on 23-24 October met at the Foreign
Ministry of France with his Armenian colleague Vardan Oskanian and
the co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group.

Minister Mammadyarov informed that during the meeting, discussed were
the details of the proposals made by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
at the Moscow meeting connected to peaceful settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Representatives of
Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the co-chairs expressed their
views on the discussed issues, agreed for continuation of talks.

As agreed, next meeting of the foreign ministers together with
co-chairs will be held 14 November in Brussels. Afterwards, the
ho-chairs will visit Yerevan and Baku.

The ministers and co-chairs have also discussed the forthcoming
meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

As is stated, possibility of this meeting will be discussed at one
of the next meetings after the Brussels consultations.

AZERBAIJANI DIASPORA IN TURKEY MADE STATEMENT AGAINST FRANCE

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 25 2006

Azerbaijani Diaspora organizations in Turkey made statement against
France, State Committee for Azerbaijanis Abroad told the APA.

Azerbaijani Diaspora organizations in Izmit, Izmir, Mughla, Antalya,
Balikesir, Ankara, Manisa, Edirne, Adana and Istanbul held press
conference and objected to France Parliament National Assembly
decision, which will punish those who deny false Armenian genocide.

Their statement says that Armenians occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan
territories and perpetrated genocide in Khojali in the result of which
hundreds of Azerbaijanis were killed, over thousand were missing and
became invalids and about one million became refugees.

They also said that the decision of France Parliament is groundless
and was not proved historically.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MURADOVA: WE WANT GORAN LENMARKER TO REMAIN NAGORNO GARABAGH RAPPORTEUR TO OSCE PA

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 25 2006

OSCE PA autumn session will be held in Malta on November 17-19, Bahar
Muradova, the head of Azerbaijani delegation to OSCE PA told the APA.

She said that there will be a meeting of OSCE PA standing committee
and conference of Mediterranean countries within the session.

Muradova also said that she will raise arson problem in occupied
Azerbaijan territories.

"We raised this problem in summer session. OSCE special commission
visited the region and it prepares report. We will discuss the problem
in Malta, too. We are waiting for the results of the report," she said.

Muradova also touched upon the substitution of Nagorno Garabagh
rapporteur to OSCE PA.

"We want Goran Lenmarker to remain Nagorno Garabagh rapporteur to
OSCE PA. He knows the problem and Azerbaijan’s position," she said.