Author: admin

ARKA News Agency
Oct 8 2004

Foreign Minister of Norway Jan Petersen to arrive in Armenia on Oct
10

4th year cadet of RA Military Institute plans to break his own record
of the exercise with rising and overturning on a horizontal bar

Armenian opposition field is totally free – Leader of Republican
Party of Armenia

RA President conducts working meeting with representatives of several
ministries

An office of medical cryonics operates in Yerevan

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FOREIGN MINISTER OF NORWAY JAN PETERSEN TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA ON OCT
10

YEREVAN, October 8. /ARKA/. Foreign Minister of Norway Jan Petersen
will arrive in Armenia on Oct 10, RA MFA told ARKA. His visit
envisages meetings with RA President Robert Kocharian, RA NA Chairman
Arthur Baghdasarian, RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, Catholicos
of All Armenian Garegin II and representatives of political parties
and NGOs. L.D. –0

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4th YEAR CADET OF RA MILITARY INSTITUTE PLANS TO BREAK HIS OWN RECORD
OF THE EXERCISE WITH RISING AND OVERTURNING ON A HORIZONTAL BAR

YEREVAN, October 8. /ARKA/. The cadet of 4th year of RA Military
Institute after Vazgen Sargsyan of RA Ministry of Defence,
20-year-old Zarzand Mkhitaryan plans to break his own record of the
exercise with rising and overturning on a horizontal bar and to be
registered in the Book of Guinness, according to Seyran
Shakhsuvaryan, the Press Secretary of the RA Defence Minister. He
also said that the ceremony of re-registration will be held in the
Military Institute on October 9.
To mention, Zarzand Mkhitaryan, the resident of Pshatavan Armenian
village in Armavir region of Armenia made 1050 overturns within 2
hours and 48 minutes broke the previous record of a Russian pupil
whose record was 1013 overturns. L.V.-0–

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ARMENIAN OPPOSITION FIELD IS TOTALLY FREE – LEADER OF REPUBLICAN
PARTY OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, October 8. /ARKA/. Armenian opposition field is totally
free, the Leader of Republican Party of Armenia Galust Sahakian
stated today at National Press Club. According to him, nevertheless
during discussion of fulfillment of Armenian commitments in PACE on
Oct 7, Armenian delegation joined its efforts. “I am indifferent to
the fact whether it would affect internal political situation in the
country, because I think that there is no Armenian opposition and new
one has not appeared yet”, he said. L.D. –0–

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RA PRESIDENT CONDUCTS WORKING MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF SEVERAL
MINISTRIES

YEREVAN, October 8. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian conducted
working meeting with representatives of several ministries
considering conduction of activities of all national importance in
2005, RA President’s press office told ARKA. The President met with
Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Minister of Trade and Economic
Development, Health, Education and Science, Culture and Youth
Affairs, and with other officials. He said that it became a tradition
to discuss Armenia-Diaspora relations for oncoming year and added
that last year “quite serious activities” were planned and
successfully realized.
According to the President at the given stage it is necessary to
concretize the list of All Armenian activities for the next year that
must include small and large programs in different spheres. “In
Nov-Dec we must have steps for the next year”, he said. L.D. –0–

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AN OFFICE OF MEDICAL CRYONICS OPERATES IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 8. /ARKA/. An office of medical cryonics operates in
Yerevan. According to the cryologist, the Candidate of Medical
Sciences Elmira Vardanyan, the office activity profile is
othorinolaringology-cryotherapy and othorinolaringology- cryo-therapy
and cryo-gynecology. According to her, the medical center opened in
May 2004 applies painless, bloodless and ambulatory method of
treatment of gynecology diseases, chronicle rhinitis, chronicle
pharyngitis, acute and chronicle sinusitis, antritis, and frontitis.
At that, according to Vardanyan, the treatment of antritis and
frontitis is done by means of a special Yamik Sinus Catheter with the
use of preparations, the affect of which on micro-organisms is high.
She noted that the basis of cryotherapy method is freezing, i.e. the
treatment by liquid nitrogen at -196°Ñ temperature, affecting the
pathology cells, as a result of which local immunity is created,
causing the pathology cells die, and the polipuses completely
resolve. According to Vardanyan, the chronicle tonsillitis treatment
method is the same (without the removal of tonsil) as well as that of
snore caused by both pathology and anathomical abnormalities. She
informed that within 4 months the office received 54 patients and
operated them by the cryotherapy methods. She added that the
treatments costs from $100 to $200. According to her, these prices
are much lower than in many European countries, so not only citizens
of Armenia, but also patients from CIS and Europe apply to them for
help. Nevertheless, according to Vardanyan, the office now has a
negative profit. She added that the office is receives financial aid
from sponsors from Europe. Also, she added that the office is
equipped by the most modern medical equipment and in future a center
for cryonics is planned to be opened in Armenia. A.H.–0–

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Commentary: Kerry wins in world vote
By CLAUDE SALHANI

United Press International
October 12, 2004 Tuesday 9:21 AM Eastern Time

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Oct. 12 (UPI) — Given that the United
States is a world super power, and that actions and policies taken
by the American president can – and often do – affect the rest of
the world, imagine if the rest of the world had its say in who was
to be elected to the Oval Office.

Imagine if the entire planet could vote in the upcoming November
presidential elections. How different would the outcome be?

Of course that will never happen (just as a foreign-born citizen
can never become president). But what if it did happen? What if all
citizens of the world were eligible to vote in the U.S. elections?
How different would the outcome be if President George W. Bush and
Sen. John Kerry had to contend for the support of the international
community? What would be the implications? How different would the
campaign be run? And more important, who would be the likely winner?

Well, although this is an exercise in futility given that
traditionally, even overseas ballots cast by expatriate Americans
voting by proxy have never really counted for much in an election,
votes by foreign nationals will count for even less.

Yet regardless of where real politics stands on the issue of
presidential elections, one ingenious Internet Web site has taken it
upon itself to turn political fantasy into virtual reality. No matter
where you live or what passport you hold, now you too can vote for
the candidate of your choice in the November election. Of course
your vote will not count for much, other than self-gratification,
and the opportunity to let the rest of the world know how you stand
on the issue, in the process giving your candidate some mental support.

BetaVote.com, the brainstorm of Daniel Young and Kevin Frost,
an information technology consultant, have set up a site allowing
citizens of the world to partake in what is expected to be a very
close election.

Current polls in the United States show Bush and Kerry running
neck-to-neck, with Kerry making some headway, particularly after the
two presidential debates.

A Zogby Interactive poll conducted last Thursday after the second
debate placed Kerry ahead of President Bush in 13 of the 16 closely
contested states.

Kerry took ground in two states — Ohio and Nevada — and increased
his lead in seven others. Bush’s lead, meanwhile, narrowed in the
three states — Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia — placing him
ahead of Kerry in those states.

If the numbers projected by the Zogby poll this week were mirrored
on Election Day, Kerry would be the winner and the next president of
the United States.

But the elections are still about three weeks away, and much can happen
between now and then. The race for the presidency remains very tight
and very close.

However, the numbers from the rest of the world as shown on
BetaVote.com project a very different view, where votes have been cast
from 239 countries — from Afghanistan (where Kerry leads 51 percent to
Bush’s 48 percent) to Zimbabwe (Kerry, 86 percent, Bush 31, percent)
passing through Andorra, in Southwestern Europe, between France and
Spain , one of the few countries where Bush leads with 53 percent
(Kerry, 46 percent), Uzbekistan, (Kerry 87, Bush 12).

As of Tuesday, Oct. 12, a grand total of 295,712 votes have already
been cast, of which an overwhelming 88 percent voted for Kerry,
leaving Bush trailing behind with 11 percent.

A number of countries stand out for leaning heavily in favor of
Kerry: Angola and Armenia, both give Kerry 75 percent and Bush 24
percent. Austria, the country from where a future Republican president
might emerge if the Constitution is amended to allow California
Governor Arnold

Schwarzenegger to run the highest office, voted heavily in favor of
Kerry (94 percent), giving Bush only 4 percent.

>>From tiny Belgium more than 29,000 votes were cast, also heavily
in favor of Kerry (91 percent), Bush (8 percent). Brazil (Kerry,
95 percent) and Bulgaria (Kerry, 92 percent) also heavily favored
the Democratic candidate.

Oh, Canada: More than 15,000 votes were cast by the neighbor to the
north, with most going to Kerry (95 percent) leaving Bush with a
meager 4 percent.

Among the highest to favor Kerry was Croatia with 96 percent voting
for the Massachusetts senator, France and Greece each giving Kerry
95 percent of the vote. Germany gave Kerry 94 percent and Italy
88 percent.

The most votes came from Finland, casting 32,885 ballots, of which
92 percent went to Kerry.

Bush does have his supporters, however; Azerbaijan, Congo (Bush, 54
percent), Libya (Bush, 59 percent), Myanmar (Bush, 57 percent) and
Nauru, (Bush, 61 percent). The African country of Niger favored Bush
with an astounding 94 percent, as did the French territory of St.
Pierre et Miquelon, off the east coast of Canada, allocating 62
percent of the 24 ballots cast to President Bush.

It just goes to show that nothing is ever certain in politics.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

France’s parliament to debate Turkish candidacy for EU

Associated Press Worldstream
October 11, 2004 Monday

PARIS — Under pressure from its own lawmakers, France’s government
said Monday that a parliamentary debate on Turkey’s hopes of joining
the European Union would be held this week.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin asked that the National Assembly’s
agenda be amended to allow the debate to take place Thursday afternoon
and evening, the government said in a brief statement.

Lawmakers from President Jacques Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement
(UMP) and from other parties have been pushing for a debate on Turkey’s
EU aspirations before Dec. 17. That is when EU leaders are to finalize
an initial approval of membership talks.

The government statement did not say that parliament will get to vote
on the issue after its debate – as many lawmakers want.

UMP lawmaker Dominique Paille said Monday that about 100 of the
governing party’s legislators want a vote. The centrist UDF has also
called for a vote.

Chirac, however, indicated Sunday that he is opposed.

France’s constitution empowers presidents to negotiate and ratify
international treaties, and Chirac said a parliamentary consultation
on Turkey must conform “to the spirit and to the letter of our
constitution.”

Chirac’s support of membership talks for Turkey places him at odds
with many lawmakers and French opinion.

Three-quarters of 893 people interviewed for a Louis Harris poll
released Monday said they oppose Turkey joining the bloc, which
currently has 25 member nations. The poll was conducted by telephone
Oct. 8-9. In another poll of 957 people, two-thirds said they want
a referendum on membership talks for Turkey before the Dec. 17 EU
summit. The CSA agency conducted the poll by phone on Oct. 6-7. The
margin error for both was plus or minus 3 percent.

Turkey’s ambassador to France said in an interview published Monday
that his country would have “no problem” joining the EU if it were
Christian and that its Muslim heritage is the real issue behind the
current debate.

“The real motive for this reticence, especially in France, is
religion,” Uluc Ozulker told the daily Le Parisien. “If Turkey were
Christian, there would be no problem. But, voila, we are a Muslim
country.”

Ozulker said Europe “is not a Christian enclave” and Turkey joining
the EU “will not denature Europe” despite its population of some
70 million.

“We share the same democratic values as the 25,” he said, adding that
Turkey is already part of the customs union.

Turkey has carried out some needed reforms such as abolishing the
death penalty and cutting back the power of the military in politics.

Asked if Turkey would recognize the Armenian genocide, the ambassador
said that it has yet to be proven. Armenia accuses Turkey of the
genocide of up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919, when
Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey rejects the claim and
says Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the collapse of
the empire.

“It’s up to international and impartial historians to meet and
decide,”Ozulker said. “We will accept the results of their work.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Figaro Économie, France
11 octobre 2004

Gymkhana pour Ankara

par Baudouin BOLLAERT

Dans les conclusions du rapport de la Commission européenne sur la
candidature turque, une petite phrase à première vue anodine n’en est
pas moins importante. Elle précise en effet que les négociations avec
Ankara ne déboucheront pas forcément sur un succès. Une fois le «
processus ouvert », souligne la Commission, « le résultat ne peut
être garanti à l’avance ».

Cela paraît couler de source. Pourtant, voici quelques semaines
encore, certains s’opposaient à cette mention. Notamment en
Allemagne, pays du commissaire à l’Élargissement Günther Verheugen,
social-démocrate notoirement turcophile. « Une négociation est
toujours un processus ouvert », faisait-on remarquer dans l’entourage
de Günther Verheugen, à Bruxelles, comme dans celui du chancelier
Schröder, à Berlin.

Le gouvernement SPD-Verts redoutait, en réalité, qu’une telle
précision ne fasse la part trop belle aux objections à la candidature
turque émises par l’opposition chrétienne-démocrate. La France, au
contraire, même si Jacques Chirac n’a jamais caché ses sympathies
pour Ankara, n’y voyait aucun inconvénient. Elle a même poussé à la
roue. Le collège des commissaires a donc repris à son compte cette
formule qui, sans injurier l’avenir, ne le dicte pas.

Le premier ministre du Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, souligne lui
aussi que « le résultat ne saurait être connu à l’avance ». Comme
quoi il n’est jamais inutile de rappeler une évidence… Il refuse «
l’idée que l’adhésion de la Turquie puisse se faire au galop ». Pour
ce fin connaisseur des arcanes communautaires, « elle devra être
préparée de façon minutieuse afin que ni l’Union européenne ni la
Turquie ne souffrent des conséquences d’une adhésion mal conçue ».

Jusqu’à présent, certes, toutes les négociations d’adhésion se sont
achevées positivement. Même pour la Norvège. Si elle n’a pas rejoint
l’Union, c’est parce que son peuple l’a décidé par référendum. Mais,
cette fois, l’ampleur des adaptations nécessaires, la poursuite et la
mise en oeuvre indispensables des réformes, dans l’UE comme en
Turquie, s’opposent à l’irréversibilité du succès final.

La Commission a également prévu dans son rapport une clause de
suspension des négociations. Elle s’est appuyée sur ce que l’on
pourrait appeler la « jurisprudence Jörg Haider ». On se souvient que
les Quinze avaient mis en quarantaine l’Autriche, du 4 février au 12
septembre 2000, après l’entrée dans la coalition gouvernementale du
parti dirigé par le leader populiste de Carinthie. Et ce, en vertu
des articles 6 et 7 sur la protection des droits de l’homme du traité
d’Amsterdam. La même quarantaine pourrait donc s’appliquer à la
Turquie si, demain, durant les négociations, elle manquait à certains
de ses engagements…

Enfin, il faut rappeler que les négociations d’adhésion ne sont rien
d’autre qu’une Conférence intergouvernementale où l’unanimité est
requise. Ces négociations seront menées par la Commission pour le
compte des vingt-cinq Etats membres, mais à tout moment un pays
pourra dire stop. A une autre époque et dans d’autres circonstances
le 14 janvier 1963 puis le 27 novembre 1967 , le général de Gaulle
avait opposé son veto à la poursuite des discussions pour l’entrée de
la Grande-Bretagne dans ce qu’on appelait alors le Marché commun.
Rien n’empêcherait un Etat membre, demain, d’utiliser son droit de
veto à l’encontre de la Turquie ou de tout autre pays candidat à
l’Union s’il le jugeait nécessaire…

Dans le dernier élargissement aux pays d’Europe centrale et
orientale, il fut beaucoup question des « critères de Copenhague ».
C’est encore le cas avec la Turquie. Même davantage. Définis le 22
juin 1993 dans la capitale nordique par le Conseil européen
c’est-à-dire le sommet des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement , ces
critères concernent à la fois les pays candidats (1) et l’Union (2).

1. « L’adhésion requiert de la part du pays candidat qu’il ait des
institutions stables garantissant la démocratie, la primauté du
droit, les droits de l’homme, le respect des minorités et leur
protection, l’existence d’une économie de marché viable ainsi que la
capacité de faire face à la pression concurrentielle et aux forces du
marché à l’intérieur de l’Union. L’adhésion présuppose la capacité du
pays candidat à en assumer les obligations, et notamment de souscrire
aux objectifs de l’union politique, économique et monétaire. »

2. « La capacité de l’Union à assimiler de nouveaux membres tout en
maintenant l’élan de l’intégration européenne constitue également un
élément important répondant à l’intérêt général aussi bien de l’Union
que des pays candidats. »

Après avoir reconnu officiellement à la Turquie, en 1999, la qualité
de pays candidat, les Quinze avaient fixé, fin 2002, le calendrier
suivant : « Si, en décembre 2004, le Conseil européen décide, sur la
base d’un rapport et d’une recommandation de la Commission, que la
Turquie satisfait aux critères de Copenhague, l’UE ouvrira sans délai
des négociations d’adhésion avec ce pays. » Nous y sommes puisque les
chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement devraient donner leur feu vert le 17
décembre prochain à Bruxelles.

Mais ils se sont entourés, on l’a vu, de nombreux garde-fous. La
route sera longue pour Ankara. Un véritable gymkhana ! Plus de dix
ans de négociations, voire quinze… Que se passera-t-il d’ici là ?
La Turquie reconnaîtra-t-elle sa responsabilité dans le génocide
arménien ? Chypre sera-t-elle enfin réunifiée selon des modalités
acceptées par tous les habitants de l’île ? Les droits de la femme
auront-ils été consolidés ? Le rôle des militaires se sera-t-il
clarifié ? Et, du côté de l’Union européenne, les difficultés
budgétaires et institutionnelles auront-elles été résolues ?

Le 1er novembre 2006, le Traité constitutionnel devrait entrer en
vigueur et, le 1er janvier 2007, la Bulgarie, la Roumanie et
éventuellement la Croatie pourraient adhérer à l’Union. Mais
qu’adviendra-t-il si le Traité constitutionnel n’est pas ratifié ?
Pourra-t-on se contenter d’en revenir au traité de Nice et de
poursuivre les négociations d’adhésion avec la Turquie comme si rien
n’était arrivé ? L’Europe des incertitudes n’a pas fini
d’intriguer…

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijani police detain anti-Armenian protesters

AP Worldstream
Oct 12, 2004

Azerbaijani police on Tuesday briefly detained five activists of the
Popular Front of United Azerbaijan who tried to hold an unsanctioned
rally outside parliament to protest Armenian legislators’ planned
participation in a NATO-sponsored seminar next month.

About 30 protesters gathered in the Alley of Martyrs, where Azerbaijani
soldiers killed during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh are buried. They
then marched toward parliament, carrying party flags and banners
reading “Down with the Armenian Occupiers!” Police cut them off and
confiscation their flags, banners and leaflets.

Police told The Associated Press that all five protesters had been
released.

The Popular Front plans further protests this month outside the
U.S. Embassy and the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. On Nov. 2, the
front will rally outside the Turkish Embassy.

The Armenian legislators are due to take part in a Nov. 26-28 NATO
Parliamentary Assembly seminar in Baku called Rose Route.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan that has been under
control of ethnic Armenian forces for more than a decade. A cease-fire
was signed in 1994 after Azerbaijani forces were driven out in a
six-year war that killed some 30,000 people and drove a million from
their homes, but the enclave’s final status has not been resolved and
shooting still breaks out sporadically along the “line of control”
that separates the enclave from the rest of Azerbaijan.

Talks under the auspices of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe have not made visible progress in recent years,
although hopes had risen in 2001 that a settlement was near.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BORDERLINE VILLAGES CONNECTED BY NEWLY BUILT ROADS

Azg/am
13 Oct 04

The house of Sveta Markosian, dweller of Tavush region’s Voskevan
village, is built on the crossroad of the road connecting Voskevan,
Koti and Barekamavan villages. For many months she has been watching
the reconstruction works of the road stretching 18118 meters. She
said that the dwellers of the village were always glad to invite
the builders to their houses and talk to them, as many workers from
neighboring villages were involved in the reconstruction works.

“You can’t fancy in what state was the road before the reconstruction.
Sometimes we were stuck on the road in winter,” Sveta Markosian says.

On October 9, RA President Robert Kocharian was present at the opening
ceremony of Voskevan-Koti-Barekamavan road. The reconstruction works
cost $986 thousand in total.

“In several weeks you will get accustomed to the road and you will
think of reconstructing the club, the school and the water supply
system of the village,” Robert Kocharian stated in his speech.

In the course of his visit to Tavush region President Kocharian
get familiarized with the reconstruction works of Paravakar-Tovuz
road. 1 billion 360 million AMD were allocated from RA state budget
for reconstructing this part of the road stretching 19,5 km. The
reconstruction works will be completed by late October. 143 million AMD
were saved. This sum will help begin reconstruction works of Aygehovit
village’s road. About 400 people are involved in the reconstruction
works. Artsrun Ghulamian, MP of RA National Assembly, director of
“Ijevantchanshin” organization, said that each worker received $100-120
of salary. Khachik Grigorian is from Tsaghkavan village and he works
at reconstruction of the roads. He hasn’t received any salary yet
and he even doesn’t know how much he will receive money,” Khachik
Grigorian says and adds that it is more important to have a job.

Robert Kocharian is satisfied with the reconstruction works in the
region and assures that in the course of coming two-three years the
road stretching to Berd will be renovated, too.

“Our economy will not develop if we have no good roads. In this
respect, the contiguous villages should have no problems with
communication. Roads, schools, water supply system and communications
are the problems that need urgent solution,” RA President stated.

Cognac factory has opened a branch in Berd and now a stone plant is
being built in the region. On October 9 Robert Kocharian also visited
the newly opened branch of “HayGyughPokhBank”. The leadership of
the bank has already made investment amounting to $800.000 in the
region. It is determined to double this sum in coming years.

By Arevik Badalian

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Calcutta Telegraph, India
Oct 13 2004

Ray of inspiration in blocks of stone
A STAFF REPORTER

Tokmajyam at work in his studio. Picture by Pabitra Das

He finds the sun and inspiration in the galis of Calcutta. In his
eyes, sari-clad Bengali women look like Greek goddesses. He speaks no
English but breaks easily into the tune of Mera joota hai Japani.

With magnificent works displayed all over the world — Greece to
Toronto — Armenian sculptor Levon Tokmajyam, on his first visit to
India, is in Calcutta to add his own touch to the city’s diverse art
palette.

The sculptor has been holed up in a makeshift studio on Mirza Ghalib
Street, where at the request of the Armenian government, he has been
busy sculpting a marble bust of Arutyun Shmavonyan, the founder of
the first Armenian language press in India.

Dressed casually in shorts and faded T-shirt, the 67-year-old’s face
breaks into a wrinkled smile that reaches out beyond language
barriers, as he speaks through interpreter Henrik about the charm
that Calcutta holds for him.

Inside the white-washed studio, fashioned out of a garage at the
Armenian College on Mirza Ghalib Street, Tokmajyam is in his
elements. While the huge piece of sculpture lies on the ground, the
diminutive artist picks up chunks of marble and smiles gleefully at
visitors, trying to tell them how he would like to shape the block of
stone. “When I looked at the scraps left from the huge marble block
used for the bust, I saw the Calcutta sun in them and felt inspired,”
says Tokmajyam.

“I love the natural ways of life. The Calcutta just outside my studio
has shown me enough of the happiness and pain that lie within the
intrinsic fabric of simple life,” adds the sculptor. And his exhibits
are proof of this inspiration — sculptures of a rickshaw-puller (down
to the beads of sweat trickling down his face), to a worn-out face of
Mother Teresa and Indian women in saris.

“I have met many artists all over the globe. But nowhere else in the
world have I come across such helpful sculptors like the ones in
Calcutta. Tapas Sarkar, for one, has become like a brother to me over
the past few days,” says Tokmajyam. He is scheduled to be back to the
city in December for the inauguration of his work.

Sarkar, a sculptor himself, realised how the city would be missing
the Armenian’s work on seeing Tokmajyam work on the bust. “When I
thought of this exhibition, he readily made over 15 exclusive pieces
based on his experiences in the city,” said Sarkar.

Now that the work is almost over, Tokmajyam is “feeling relaxed” and
looking for people to take him out to “feel the real throbbing heart
of the city and usher in new inspiration”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HOMELESS PEOPLE GATHERED IN ANGRY PROTEST OUTSIDE YEREVAN CITY HALL

A1 Plus | 16:31:20 | 12-10-2004 | Social |

Yerevan mayor Yervand Zakaryan promised the people driven from their
homes because of construction of Northern Avenue in Armenia’s capital
to think over the problem and make compromising decisions by Monday.

Monday passed with no sign of imminent progress. On Tuesday, homeless
citizens once again gathered outside City Hall, demanding bigger
compensation. They said 50 families evicted from their homes had
signed a contract on a paltry compensation. The demonstrators say
they signed the contract under “red berets” pressure and were forced
to leave their homes.

The protesters are now waiting to be received by the municipality. No
response is got so far.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Oct 11 2004

A new gang problem

Russian-Armenian organized crime ‘like the 1930s New York mob’

By Jason Kandel
Staff Writer

GLENDALE — It wasn’t the price of cucumbers but murder that Eddy
Gyulnazaryan and his pals were talking about that day back in March
2001 in the backroom of his Atlas Pick pickle factory.

Rival Russian-Armenian gangs were at war and Gyulnazaryan, a beefy
40-year-old family man with the gift of gab, wanted some people
killed.

As he fired off several rounds into a stack of phone books,
Gyulnazaryan made an offer that couldn’t be refused — a $5,000
contract to “eliminate” a man who had gotten under his skin.

What Gyulnazaryan didn’t know was that one of the pals was wired. He
had turned and become a confidential informant working with an
organized crime task force that was able to use this information to
win convictions of the ringleader and five others on charges of
solicitation of murder.

At least 14 murders, 100 attempted killings and seven kidnappings
have been blamed on Russian-Armenian gangsters operating across the
San Fernando Valley region since 2000. The groups are fueled by
lucrative white collar frauds — including credit card, immigration,
auto insurance, cigarette tax evasion, identity theft, welfare and
health care.

“They’re very much organized criminals. They’re very violent. They’re
dangerous,” said Glendale police Sgt. Steve Davey, who heads the
Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, comprising federal, state and
local authorities. “They’re not afraid of using violence to solve
their disputes. They shoot up homes and cars. It’s like the 1930s New
York mob.”

According to court documents and interviews, Gyulnazaryan wanted to
hire hit men to kill four unidentified men, two from Long Beach.
There also was a plan to hire jailed Latino gang members to kill two
of his rivals, Emil Airapetian 25, and Armen Sharopetrosian, 26, who
were also in jail.

Authorities said “there have been many documented shootings” between
the rival Russian-Armenian gangs in recent years.

Police said in court documents that they believed Gyulnazaryan’s
group was “heavily involved in credit card fraud, MediCal and
Medicare fraud, check fraud, drug trafficking, extortion and numerous
shootings, assaults and other violent crimes … and have access to
large sums of money obtained through their various criminal
enterprises.”

A break in the case The FBI got their break when Gyulnazaryan asked
one of his closest allies, with whom he had previously worked on auto
insurance fraud scams, if he would carry out a hit.

That man, who was not identified, had been an informant for the FBI
before. From then on, he agreed to wear a wire and secretly record
conversations among the group.

Offers of up to $20,000 were made to “eliminate” members of rival
criminal organizations. But the jailhouse killings proved too
complicated to carry out.

In March 2003, police raided the homes of Gyulnazaryan and his
associates Gayk Tadevosyan, 40; Gagik Galoyan, 55; Anthony Armenta,
25; Andranik Safaryan, 24; and Edgar Hatamian, 23. Gyulnazaryan
pleaded no contest Thursday to solicitation of murder charges and was
sentenced to 15 years in prison. The others pleaded no contest to
solicitation of murder charges and were sentenced to prison terms
ranging from three to nine years. Galoyan received a nine-year
suspended prison sentence and five years’ probation.

Galoyan had grown up with Gyulnazaryan in Armenia and went into
business with him at the pickle factory, which closed down two years
ago.

“These guys have come from Armenia. They have known each other for
years. They have grown up with each other,” said Galoyan’s attorney,
Fred Minassian. “My client is known in the Armenian community as an
elder statesman. In no way is he a mobster.”

Gyulnazaryan’s attorney, Michael Levin, said his client is not
violent and did not head up an organized crime ring.

“My client has got a big mouth. He likes to talk. But what the
(police) got on tape makes him sound like Tony Soprano,” he said.
“He’s a hard-working family man.”

Russian mob history Authorities said Russian mobs became more and
more prevalent in the United States in the 1990s as people from
former Soviet bloc countries began emigrating here. They settled in
New York, Brighton Beach, Fla., and Los Angeles. Up to 6,000 people
are connected with 15 loosely organized crime groups in the United
States that include Ukrainians, Lithuanians and, locally, Armenians.

In Glendale, where about a third of the 204,000 residents are
Armenian, police estimate that there are about 500 Armenian criminals
connected to organized crime.

Police have been challenged in trying to crack the rings because of a
lack of resources, a lack of familiarity with the culture and victims
too afraid to report the crimes.

Sukharenko Alexander, a senior fellow of the Organized Crime Study
Center of the Far East State University, said Russian-Armenian
syndicates are part of large international crime networks. They have
seemingly infinite resources and escape routes to countries with no
extradition treaties.

“This allows them to launder huge amounts of money, smuggle drugs and
stolen vehicles, and import criminals to carry out contract murders
and fraud,” Alexander said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s Detective Alex Gilinets, who works the
Major Crimes Bureau, said the groups are not always bound by strict
rules or regulations like the old-time mobs and can be more violent.

“It’s, who can I make my next big buck with?” Gilinets said.

Sara Vinson, a criminal intelligence analyst with the state Justice
Department’s Eurasian Organized Crime unit, said victims are too
scared to come forward.

“Their fear of organized crime groups is bigger than their fear of
our criminal justice system,” Vinson said. “A lot of them have family
back home that they can’t protect, and they have that hanging over
their head.”

LAPD Detective Martin Pinner is having a hard time getting witnesses
to come forward from a murder in North Hollywood. Karapet
Ksadzhikyan, 50, was ambushed by two men in a suspected mob hit as he
walked to his bread delivery truck outside his home in the 13000
block of Archwood Street on Nov. 24.

“No one cooperates,” he said. “No one’s saying anything. No one knows
anything.”

Glendale police and city officials, including Mayor Bob Yousefian,
himself an Iranian-Armenian-American, has been pushing for more cops,
especially Armenian-speaking officers, to fight the scourge.

But they face an uphill battle. Many deny there is an organized crime
problem.

“We don’t have the manpower to dedicate officers to task forces,”
Yousefian said.

“We’re getting to the point that we have this huge elephant standing
in the middle of the room, and we all have closed our eyes. Everybody
is saying there is no elephant there. We have an issue. We need to
deal with it.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

We have to solve our problems on our own

Editorial
Yerkir/am
October 08, 2004

If you can remember any instances when the Azeri, Georgian or Turkish
media used publications in the Armenian press, statements made by
the Armani politicians or research works of the Armenian analysts in
order to criticize their countriesâ^À^Ù policies or leadership then
you can stop reading this article.

We want to speak about those Armenian â^À^Üanalystsâ^À^Ý, politicians,
journalists and media that suffer from excessive inclination towards
foreign sources, those who like referring to such sources in order to
ground their â^À^Üanalysisâ^À^Ý of the political processes in Armenia.

Not all the countries can boast that any hostile statements
(hostile and not critical) about the country and its politics can
immediately appear in the media of that country that are so obsessed
with freedom of speech. It is really absurd to see that Armenian
media refer to Azeri newspapers in their articles on the Armenian
opposition. Naturally, journalists who write such articles had to
address a Georgianâ^À^Ùs statement on the legitimacy of the Armenian
president.

We say this is natural because some of our political leaders tend
to use the foreign analystsâ^À^Ù opinions to back up their own
assessments of the political situation in the country. They are simply
not able to understand one reality that is clear for any person who
has self-respect and dignity â^À^Ó whether our state, our political
leadership or our opposition are good or bad, this is our job and
the foreigners are not in a position to teach us on this issue. If
democracy in Armenia is not on an adequate level, Azerbaijani Mili
Mejlis deputy is not the proper person to improve the situation.

And before agreeing with him, the Armenian National Assembly deputy
should realize that Armeniaâ^À^Ùs democratization is hardly the main
concern for Azerbaijan, doubtlessly an â^À^Üexemplarâ^À^Ý democratic
country. With the same logic, legitimacy in our country is not the
main concern of our other neighbor.

Let us repeat â^À^Ó this does not mean that everything in Armenia is
going smoothly in terms of democracy or that there are no reasons
for criticism. But this is our job, these are our problems and our
drawbacks, and we have to solve them ourselves.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress