Author: Antonian Lara

ALIYEV: CHANCES FOR PEACE REMAIN DESPITE ARMENIA’S STANCE
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 28 2006
Baku, March 27, AssA-Irada
President Ilham Aliyev has said the potential for peace has not
been exhausted despite Armenia’s non-constructive position on the
long-standing Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
“At the same time, Armenia has not be aware that Azerbaijan can
re-gain its territories through military action any time,” Aliyev
told the opening ceremony of the Heydar Aliyev history museum at the
National Security Ministry’s academy.
“I believe the potential for peace has not run out yet. But we have
to be prepared for any alternative. The Garabagh conflict resolution
will be stipulated both by diplomatic and political-economic, as well
as military factors. They have to know that Azerbaijan is ready to
restore its territorial integrity any time.”
The latest discussions held by the Azeri and Armenian leaders in
France in February turned out fruitless, as the parties failed to
iron out issues of principle.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WARNS ARMENIA OVER DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT AZERI SITES
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 28 2006
Baku, March 27, AssA-Irada
The European Parliament has warned Armenia not to destroy Azerbaijani
historic and cultural sites, officials say.
“The demand was laid out in a letter sent by the foreign relations
committee chairman Elmar Brok to the Azeri representation in the EU,”
an official from Azerbaijan’s embassy in Belgium, Huseyn Huseynov,
told local ANS TV channel.
With regard to the recent resolution of the European Parliament
concerning the alleged destruction of ancient Armenian graves in
Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan, which drew fire from Azeri
officials, the letter said this does not mean the legislative body
adheres to a position against Azerbaijan. The document unequivocally
stated that the adoption of the resolution was a result of the Armenian
Diaspora’s activity, Huseynov said.
“The overall environment suggests that the resolution does not
reflect the European Parliament’s stance and is strictly a position
of staunch Christians.”
The diplomat said the committee chairman also pledged that the European
Parliament will not pass any one-sided decisions any more.
The Azeri government should step up its activity to prevent this from
happening in the future, he added.

EX INTERIOR MINISTER OF ARMENIA WANTED BY INTERPOL MAY RETURN ONLY
WHEN THE SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY CHANGES
YEREVAN, MARCH 25. ARMINFO. Ex minister of the interior of Armenia,
Vano Siradeghyan, pins hopes for return to Armenia with a change of
the situation in Armenia. To recap, the ex minister is wanted by
International Police.
In an interview to the newspaper “Hakakan Zhamanak” (March 25 issue),
V. Siradeghyan says he would return to the country if the trial
against him is in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure of
Armenia, but “the authorities will not allow it.” The ex minister says
it is his second “forced exile,” the first time he returned and
underwent a trial for 6 months. However, “those who initiated all this
were not interested in the logic competition of the trial as they
wanted to hold me from participation in presidential and parliamentary
elections. It was not accidentally that I was chosen as a
target. Thus, the most vulnerable political figure in all the
countries of the post-Soviet area is the interior minister. And in all
the three countries of the South Caucasus, the first ministers of the
interior were subjected to persecutions,” Vano Siradeghyan believes.

Tree Planting of Unity started in Yerevan

ArmRadio.am
25.03.2006 13:16
The Tree planting of Unity to be held all over the territory of Armenia
continued today in Yerevan. About 300 thousand trees were planted in
Kanaker-Zeitun community of Yerevan.

President of the `Nig Aparan’ Patriotic Union, Prosecutor General Aghvan
Vardanyan, Mayor of Yerevan Yervand Zakharyan and Head of Community Arayik
Kotanjyan participated in the tree planting.
The tree planting started from the `Victory’ Park. A wreath of flowers was
laid at the memorial to the Unknown Soldier.

A1+
AN OFFER TO ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN
12:54 pm 22 March, 2006
`The approaches of the RA NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan towards the
organization of the Constitutional Referendum and the evaluation of
the results are dangerous’, the Public Committee controlling the
lawfulness of the referendum warns.
The announcement of the NA Speaker that the Prosecutor’s Office has
initiated four cases about the law violations during the Referendum
became the reason for the Committee to make offers. The letter to
Arthur Baghdasaryan says:
«On purpose or not, you try to forget the following violations
(crimes) which had an enormous impact on the results of the
Referendum:
– Not the draft amendments, but the amended draft Constitution was put
to Referendum;
– The court system did not discuss any complaints about the idleness
of the Referendum Central Committee;
– The Referendum Central Committee did not establish any order to
realize agitation;
– The RA President violated the principle of secrecy of vote and
carried out an open vote;
– The Referendum Central Committee summed up the results of the
Referendum without taking into account the complaints which were in
the courts».
Public Committee controlling the lawfulness of the referendum also
reminds that the RA Foreign Minister mislead the international
community not representing the real image of the Referendum.
`The NA carries out formal amendments to the Electoral Code without
referring to the law violations in the courts today about the
Referendum processes’, the letter says offering to discuss these
issues.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 23 2006
Representatives of int’l group on Garabagh to visit the region: reports
Baku, March 22, AssA-Irada
The co-chairs of the international Dortmund Conference dealing with
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict are due to
the visit the region soon.
Harold Sonders and Vitali Naumkin are expected to hold meetings in
Baku on March 27-28 and leave for the Armenian capital Yerevan the
next day. They are also scheduled to visit Upper Garabagh, Armenian
media reported.
The Armenian Democratic Party executive Aram Sarkisian said the visit
program has yet to be specified. `But the co-chairs are scheduled to
hold high-level meetings in Baku, Yerevan and Khankandi [the center
of the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic],’ he claimed.*

Armenia poll show army more popular than government
Azg, Yerevan
21 Mar 06 p1

The National Statistics Service of Armenia has conducted a poll in 216
villages and 43 towns and Yerevan that showed a high level of trust in
the armed forces and church but not in the government, the Armenian
newspaper Azg reported on 21 March.
Quoting the results of the poll, the newspaper hailed the fact that 87
per cent of the respondents trust the army as “very important taking
into account the regional factor and threats issued by our
neighbours”.
The survey showed that 58 per cent of the respondents trust the
central government and 39 per cent do not; 63 per cent of the
respondents trust local authorities and 33.5 per cent do not. Azg
added that the popularity of the government has declined because of
the difficult socio-economic situation in the country.
Forty one per cent of those surveyed do not trust the justice system
as opposed to 52 per cent who do; 35,6 per cent do not trust the
police as opposed to 59 per cent who do. The newspaper said it had
expected a larger number of people to express their distrust of the
“justice and police systems that are considered the most corrupt and
discredited ones”.
Azg said that the mass media seem to be more popular than the
journalists: 75 per cent of those surveyed trust the mass media and 22
per cent do not.

4 ACTIONS WERE SUITED OVER ELECTORAL FRAUD
Lragir/am
20 March 06
Four actions were suited over electoral fraud during the constitutional
referendum on November 27, 2005, based on the information Speaker
Arthur Baghdasaryan had provided to the Office of Public Prosecutor,
stated Arthur Baghdasaryan on March 20. The Public Prosecutor gave
this information to the speaker of the National Assembly. There
has already been a ruling. The guilty was sentenced to 6 years of
imprisonment. The speaker vowed to inform the members of parliament
about further facts from the Office of Public Prosecutor.

NO AD-HOC COMMITTEE WILL BE CREATED
A1+
01:58 pm 20 March, 2006
During today’s NA session 114 deputies were registered. After the NA
Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan represented the agenda of the four-day
session, secretary of the Justice bloc fraction Viktor Dallakyan
offered to create a NA Ad-hoc committee to investigate the results
of the 2005 November 27 Referendum. He announced that the fact that
the Government has given a negative evaluation to their offer is in
itself a negative fact.
Arthur Baghdasaryan informed that he has applied to the Prosecutor’s
office and according to his information 4 criminal cases have been
aroused, so he doesn’t find it necessary to create an ad-hoc committee.
Viktor Dallakyan offer was put to voting and rejected with 20 votes
for, none against, while 27 deputies abstained from voting. Dallakyan
announced that this was a proof of the participation of the majority
in the electoral frauds. “We demand the Attorney General to come and
explain to us how the results could be summed up in 20 minutes in
an electoral area which has 2000 electors. You are participants of
the law violations”, he told the deputies. Aram Sargsyan noted that
unpunished crimes carry the danger of being repeated.
And deputy Hmayak Hovhannisyan added that the creation of the committee
would show the will of the political powers towards free elections.

Corned beef keeps Levonians in the ‘green’
By: Kathryn Caggianelli, The Record 03/17/2006
Troy Record, NY
March 17 2006
TROY – In early January, the curing process begins. By St. Patrick’s
Day, more than one million pounds of beef brisket will have been
shipped to consumers throughout the Northeast.
Corned beef is a family tradition at Levonian Brothers. The third
generation family-owned business at 27 River St. has been around
since 1947. Corned beef is their specialty.
“St. Patrick’s Day is our Christmas,” President Rob Nazarian said.
Fifty to 60 percent of Levonian’s total corned beef sales for the year
are made by St. Patrick’s Day. That translates into innumerable three-
to four-pound uncooked briskets, ranging in price from $10 to $20,
depending on the grade and cut of beef. They’re sold to area Price
Chopper and Hannaford stores, local independent markets and Big Y
grocery stores throughout New England. Prepared corned beef roasts
are sold to a number of delis, Nazarian said.
“We sell an Angus beef version to Price Chopper. It’s the
highest quality you can get and will run between $15 to $20 for a
three-to-four-pound brisket,” he said.
Other products prepared by Levonian Brothers include roast beef,
pastrami, hot dogs and smoked ham. The company buys meat and poultry
for distribution from midwest manufacturers that include National Beef,
Cargill and Tyson.
In the early 1970s the company expanded its distribution services and
started producing meat products. The move was a marketing strategy
that paid off, Nazarian said.
“We did it to create our own brand. We became more than just the
middle man,” Nazarian said.
Though he wasn’t willing to disclose how profitable the business is,
or how expansion affected the profit margin, Nazarian did admit that
the business is thriving.
So why specialize in corned beef? Doing so required little in terms
of start-up costs. All that was needed was a packaging machine and
injector. The curing solution is a relatively inexpensive mixture of
water, salt and seasonings. All-beef rounds are used, he said.
Corned beef certainly wasn’t a tradition for the Armenian family before
that time. For that matter, corned beef isn’t even a true Irish dish,
Nazarian said.
“It’s a tradition here in the states. In the old days people had
meat and vegetables sitting in cure in their basements. In the spring
they’d clean out their basements and cook up everything that was left
over from the fall harvest,” he said.
The meal later somehow became associated with St. Patrick’s Day,
Nazarian said.
There are some who might not agree with his theory, however.
“According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, originally corned
beef and cabbage was a traditional dish served for Easter Sunday
dinner in rural Ireland. The beef, because there was no refrigeration
at the time, was salted or brined during the winter to preserve it.
It was then eaten after the long, meatless Lenten fast,” write chefs
Stephen Block and Stephen Holloway, authors of “The History and Irish
Tradition of Corned Beef,” for The Kitchen Project, an online resource
found at
The same article questions the validity of that claim, however,
because beef was said to be a delicacy that only the rich could afford.
Regardless of its origins, corned beef remains a top seller for
Levonian Brothers.
When brothers Elia Y. and Levon Y. Levonian, and their nephews Elia
M. and Levon M. Levonian, started the distribution business more than
five decades ago when they targeted small, independent markets in
the area. Today the company boasts a staff of 75 and a two-building
facility of approximately 60,000 square feet. Two other nephews,
Gregory L. Nazarian and Ralph Darian worked for their uncles during
college vacations and eventually went on to become managing directors
in 1957 and corporate officers in the 1970s, according to Nazarian.
After graduating from Siena College in 1990 Rob Nazarian, Gregory’s
son, came on board. He went on to become president in 1997.
Rob’s two sisters had no interest in running the business so the job
seemed like the logical path for him to follow, he said.
“We’d like to keep it in the family for years to come but I don’t
have any children yet,” Nazarian said.