Author: Babken Chilingarian

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN SCHOOL OPENED IN SOCHI
Pan Armenian News
06.09.2005 04:32
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In Chereshnya village of Adler region of Sochi
a ceremony of opening a new school was held, reported the Yerkramas
newspaper of Armenians of Russia. The school is a national one and has
bilingual instruction – in Russian and Armenian. The school building,
designed for 550 pupils, was built in the course of 3 years. Head of
the resort town Victor Kolodyazhny took part in the opening ceremony of
the Russian-Armenian school. He noted in his speech that “the opening
of the school should make the village residents believe in tomorrow,
the deserving future of their children and their village.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR PRESIDENT MEETS WITH OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 5 2005
YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. President of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) Arkady Ghukasyan has held a meeting with OSACE
Chairman-in-Office Dimitry Rupel, Acting Press Secretary to the
NKR President Eduard Atanesyan told ARKA. During his visit the NKR
President is to hold meetings with Armenia’s officials as well. P.T.
-0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KARABAKH ISSUE PROTRACTED
A1+
| 13:12:10 | 03-09-2005 | Politics |
Taking into consideration the absence of any formal information board
member of the Armenian National Movement Vahagn Hovhannisyan gives
the following assessment to the current stage of the Karabakh conflict.
During recent 7 years no progress was fixed in the Karabakh conflict
settlement process. The incumbent leadership of Armenia and Azerbaija
are protracting the settlement in order to hold the power.
-In you opinion what are the Presidents of both states doing during
their meetings?
-They are just trying to show they are not inactive.
-Do you think they succeed? Don~Rt the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
notice anything?
-One should not anchor big hopes with the Co-Chairs. They all have
different positions on the Karabakh issue.
-Rumors over the Karabakh conflict have become greater lately. How
do you explain that?
-The Co-Chairs themselves said that no document is ready yet. As
a matter of fact there is nobody now involved in the settlement
process. The conflict will be resolved only in case the Armenian and
Azerbaijani authorities are legal. Presently the Presidents of both
states are concerned over their own problems.
-Does it means that you bound the Karabakh settlement with Armenia
and Azerbaijan only? Doesn~Rt Karabakh have any role in this process?
-Since 1988, thanks to the incumbent, any role of Karabakh in the
process has been excluded. Levon Ter-Petrosyan once said that he will
signed the document only in case Karabakh approves it. The policy of
the incumbent leadership is quite opposite. Today Karabakh is a mere
observer. However it should be engaged the negotiations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SCHRIFTSTELLER SOLL WEGEN KRITIK ZU ARMENIER-FRAGE IN GEFäNGNIS
SwissInfo
1 sept. 2005
ISTANBUL – Der turkische Schriftsteller Orhan Pamuk soll wegen seiner
in der Schweiz veroffentlichten Kritik an der Armenier-Politik
der Turkei ins Gefangnis. Er muss sich ab Dezember auf Antrag der
Staatsanwaltschaft vor Gericht verantworten.
Dies sagte eine Sprecherin von Pamuks turkischem Verlag Iletisim
Yayincilik in der turkischen Metropole. Bei einer Veurteilung drohen
Pamuk sechs Monate bis drei Jahre Gefangnis.
In einem Interview Pamuks im Magazin des “Tages-Anzeiger”, das Ende
Februar erschienen war, hatte Pamuk unter anderem gesagt, in der
Turkei seien 30 000 Kurden und eine Million Armenier ermordet worden.
Niemand ausser ihm wage es, daruber zu sprechen.
Damit habe sich Pamuk nach Meinung der Staatsanwaltschaft im Istanbuler
Stadtteil Sisli der offentlichen Beleidigung des “Turkentums” nach
Paragraf 301 des turkischen Strafgesetzbuches schuldig gemacht,
teilte Pamuks Verlag mit.
Die offizielle Turkei steht auf dem Standpunkt, dass bei Massakern
und Todesmarschen in Anatolien im Ersten Weltkrieg zwar mehrere
hunderttausend Armenier ums Leben kamen, dies aber nicht das Ergebnis
eines gezielten Volkermordes gewesen sei. Vielmehr habe es sich um
eine kriegsbedingte Tragodie gehandelt.
Wegen der Armenier-Frage ist es in der Vergangenheit verschiedentlich
zu Spannungen zwischen der Schweiz und der Turkei gekommen.
So laufen momentan zwei Verfahren gegen den Politiker Dogu Perincek
und den Historiker Yusuf Halacoglu wegen Genozid-Leugnung. Zudem
wurde in der Folge ein fur September geplanter Besuch von Bundesrat
Joseph Deiss in der Turkei von der Regierung in Ankara kurzfristig
verschoben, wie es offiziell hiess.
–Boundary_(ID_zoDvZb88K9eRP9ggbrK2WQ)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TIGRAN YEGANYAN TO FILL PLACE OF DECEASED DEPUTY ARTAK ARAKELYAN
YEREVAN, AUGUST 22. ARMINFO. The place of the deceased deputy of
Armenia’s National Assembly Artak Arakelyan will be filled by his
colleague on “Orinats Yerkir” party Tigran Yeganyan. Such a decision
was made today by Armenia’s Central Electoral Committee starting its
sitting with the silence minute in memory of Artak Arakelyan.
The Committee also approved the order of divisional election
committees’s activities, as well as the order of the queue of poll
when simultaneously conducting both elections and all-national
referendums in the country.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UEFA

Aug 18 2005
Football Europe: Pyunik poised for final furlong
Champions FC Pyunik are on course to retain their title after ending
the first stage of the Armenian season five points clear at the
summit.
New format
Pyunik have progressed relatively unhindered and are unbeaten in their
16 games, apparently unaffected by the turmoil that has gripped the
league. FC Lernayin Artsakh were excluded from the Premier League by
the Football Federation of Armenia last month and under a new format,
the division now splits with the top six sides contesting league
honours and European berths.
Healthy lead
Meanwhile, FC Shirak and FC Ararat Yerevan face a relegation play-off,
with the loser going down automatically and the winner having to
overcome the First Division runners-up to stay up. Points taken against
Shirak and Ararat now count for nothing for the top six, increasing
Pyunik’s advantage over second-placed FC MIKA from three to five.
Banants threat
It would have been more, had the champions not been held by
fourth-placed FC Kotayk in their last fixture before the one-month
break that separates the first and second stages. That will give MIKA
time to prepare for the run-in but they will also be aware that FC
Banants could threaten their hold on second spot, as they lurk just
a point behind.
Kotayk hope
Banants play Kotayk when the league resumes on 28 August and the
match may offer a clue as to Kotayk’s top-three credentials. The
sextet is completed by FC Kilikia and FC Dinamo-Zenit Yerevan and,
although they are out of the title running, these two could have an
impact on the final standings.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Swiss minister may not travel to Turkey
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Aug 2 2005
Source: Hurriyet
A Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday that Turkey may block the visit
of Switzerland’s economics minister. This is the latest episode in
a long running diplomatic dispute between the two countries. The
Turkish ambassador to Switzerland, Alev Kilic, told the Swiss daily
NZZ Sonntag that he couldn’t completely rule out the cancellation of
Joseph Deiss’ planned September trip.
The long-running dispute is due to the Swiss government – along
with others in Europe – accusing Turkey of committing a genocide
of Armenians around the time of World War I, a claim that Turkey
emphatically denies, but is however ready to investigate by forming
a joint panel of world renown historians. Ankara has clearly stated
that Turkey would be happy to work with Yereven over the issue.
The last scuffle between the Swiss and Turkish governments was less
than two weeks ago, when visiting Turkish politician, Dogu Perincek,
was detained for stating that the genocide hadn’t happened. Under
anti-racism laws in Switzerland, denying genocide is a crime.
Kilic told the daily NZZ Sonntag, “The investigation was an attempt
to squelch free speech and sent a clear message to Turks living in
Switzerland to keep their mouth shut.”
This is not the first of such incidents to have happened this year.
Earlier in June 2005, a Turkish cabinet minister postponed a visit
to Switzerland to protest an investigation of a Turkish historian
who denied the accusations of genocide.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

«NKR IS INFLEXIBLE IN ITS POSITION»
A1+
15-07-2005
Today in Stepanakert the NKR President Arkadi Ghoukasyan rendered a
press conference in which he appreciated the intentions to restore
the transport communication between Armenia and Azerbaijan as positive.
As for the opening of the highway Aghdam-Shoushi-Lachin-Ijevan he
hinted that it is not the most important issue in today’s discussion,
and referring to the most important issue he mentioned, «The problem N1
for us is that of the status, and today the Azeri authorities discuss
it both with the mediators and the Armenian authorities. And I think
this is progress», said the NKR President.
As for compromise, the President mentioned, «Lachin cannot be subject
to compromise, as it connects Karabakh to the outer world. We will
not go a step back from the position of our people». By the way, the
NKR President considered the attempts of the Azeri political bodies
to equal the rights and duties of the Armenian and Azeri communities
of Karabakh «fruitless».
By the way, according to Arkadi Ghoukasyan, the reason for the
soothing of the Azeri position can be the pressure of the international
community.
–Boundary_(ID_7ivqdGvLBH2rQ2lx84hTUA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IN PARIS ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMs FAIL TO ACHIEVE RESULT ON SOME
DEFINITE ISSUE
YEREVAN, JUNE 20. ARMINFO. In Paris the Armenian and Azeri FMs failed
to achieve result on some definine issue.
Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan says that he and Elmar Mamedyarov failed
to bring their discussions to some definite issue but some aspects are
already visible. In case of additional political will the sides will
reach agreement on the issue and will be able to move on to other
important problems. Oskanyan refuses to specify which issue he means.
He says that the Paris meeting was positive on the whole. The sides
agreed to continue their meetings. The OSCE MG will visit the region
before the next meeting – probably in mid July. All the elements of
the issue are on agenda – from the status of Karabakh to the issues of
refugees and security. For Armenia the key issue is the political
status of Karabakh, says Oskanyan.
He urges the mass media not to try to find out the details of the
peace talks – it is not time for this yet. Any specifications may lead
to unnecessary speculations.
Oskanyan refuses to comment on the possibility of a “flower”
revolution in Azerbaijan. He just hopes that the peace talks will not
suffer and the sides will be able to continue this process and to
achieve results on each stage. Oskanyan also refuses to say if the
Paris agreements were put to paper.
He says that there is some connection between the launching of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the intensification of the
Karabakh peace process.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UNION OF ARMENIANS OF RUSSIA MARKS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
Pan Armenian News
16.06.2005 06:24
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) today marks
a jubilee. Founded five years ago the Union replaced several hundreds
of small national organizations, which engaged in preserving the
national Armenian culture in Russia to the best of their abilities
and as far as possible. As UAR President Ara Abrahamyan said, “from
the moment of the creation of an all-Russian national NGO a new phase
referring to the strengthening of centuries-old traditions opened
in the life of Armenian Russians.” In his words, the Union “has the
complicated task to promote integration of hundreds of thousand of
new migrant Armenians from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia into the
linguistic, social, economic and cultural environment of Russia.”
“Simultaneously our goal is further strengthening of the relations
between Russia and Armenia,” Ara Abrahamyan emphasized. The summit of
the program of celebration of the jubilee will be today’s concert of
Armenian song and dance ensemble at the International House of Music
in Moscow, the Trud newspaper reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress