Author: Badalian Vardan

PRESS OFFICE
Department of Communications
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Media Relations Specialist
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 160; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

June 6, 2007
___________________

RELIGIOUS LEADERS MEET WITH STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TO DISCUSS
ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN PEACE

Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocesan legate and ecumenical officer, took
part in a meeting between a group of 10 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
leaders and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns at
the State Department in Washington, D.C. on May 17.

The group, part of the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for
Peace in the Middle East, discussed the on-going situation between the
Israeli and Palestinian people. The goal was to work towards bringing peace
to Jerusalem.

"It is very important because the city of Jerusalem belongs to three
monotheistic religions," Archbishop Aykazian said. "So our participation is
very important. We, the religious leaders, are the peace makers — not only
with Palestine and Israel, but in every part of the world."

The National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace was founded in
2003 as a collaborative effort to mobilize broad public support for active,
fair, and firm U.S. leadership in pursuit of Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Archbishop Vicken is on the group’s executive committee.

During an extensive conversation with Undersecretary Burns, the religious
leaders said they were deeply troubled by the deteriorating situation on the
ground, the continuing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and the Israeli
military counter attacks. The religious leaders called for a more active
U.S. policy in order to take steps to build peace between the two parties.
They also urged the American government to urge direct talks between Syria
and Israel.

"Undersecretary Burns appreciated our efforts and asked us to continue our
efforts towards peace," Archbishop Aykazian said. "He believes the
participation of religious leaders will bring a better solution for the
people in the region. He encouraged us to travel to the region to work on
efforts to bring peace, saying that would be very important."

Archbishop Aykazian said the religious delegation expressed support for
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent pledge to travel to region
regularly to meet with leaders as a personal commitment to pursue a two
state solution.

"Religious leaders must take part in solving problems in many parts of the
world," Archbishop Aykazian said. "They are a pioneering voice for a future
of peace in every part of the world where there is conflict and problems and
wars. And we, as Armenians, we know the importance of peace better than any
other people because of our suffering in the past."

He also noted that the Armenian people have long had a strong presence in
the Holy Land, since the 5th century, and have played an important role as a
bridge between the three religions that intersect in the region.

— 6/6/07

WITHDRAWAL OF MILITARY BASES FROM GEORGIA WILL NOT WEAKEN RUSSIAN FORCES IN THE CAUCASUS

Source: RIA Novosti, June 01, 2007
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 4, 2007 Monday

On Friday, Commander of the Ground Forces General of the Army, Alexei
Maslov, stated that the withdrawal of military bases from Georgia would
not weaken the Russian forces in the Caucasus. Maslov explained:
"These bases, with an aggregate strength of 1,800 servicemen,
were actually blocked from all sides by the unfriendly attitude
of the Georgian authorities and that is why they could not fulfill
their tasks." According to the general, it would be impossible to
reinforce the bases with personnel and supply them with materiel if
necessary. Maslov concluded that heavy armament and hardware of the
62nd military base in Akhalkalaki was evacuated to Russia and to the
102nd base in Gyumri (Armenia).

PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE STATEMENT SAYS GULYAN DIED FROM FALLING DOWN

Panorama.am
18:19 01/06/2007

Medical expertise of L. Gulyan’s body states that "death was
conditioned by body injuries incompatible with life caused by open
encephalon, close and blunt chest and spinal column injuries."

The medical testing was carried out on May 19 at the presence of
experts from Denmark and Germany, who were invited under the mediation
of the victim’s legal followers and OSCE Yerevan Office Head. The
European experts have not issued their conclusion, yet.

A statement released by prosecutor’s office says the place of incident
was investigated, several witnesses interviewed and a number of tests
were taken.

On May 13, 2007 a judicial medical test was taken at judicial
medical-applied science center prosectorium affiliated with the
Armenian ministry of health at the presence of Gulyan’s relatives
and his advocate.

The committee issued its conclusion saying the injuries discovered on
L. Gulyan’s body after judicial medical testing "characterize falling
from height (about 7 meters), clashing against different barriers
during falling and from a crash at a blunt surface, including asphalt."

Reminder: Levon Gulyan was invited by the Armenian police investigation
services on May 12 and died at the place. Gulyan’s relatives assert
he was cruelly beaten and thrown out of the window.

"PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTY" AND "REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA" SPENT MUCH MORE

A1+
[08:32 pm] 31 May, 2007

"The Central Electoral Commission does not observe activities
carried our before the official campaign launch as camping
activities. This certifies the deficiency of the Electoral Code,
which does not define what a campaign is", this was registered by the
Center for Regional Development/ Transparency International Armenia
NGO. The Organization carried out a monitoring on pre-election period
financing and administrative resource abuse during 2007 parliamentary
elections. The program was implemented in Yerevan, Gjumri and Vanadzor
cities in Armenia.

According to the Organization, another defect of the law is the
financing the activities of this or that political figure or a party
which is not controlled by the law. A bright example of this is
"Prosperous Armenia Party" whose activities are financed by the
charity foundation of Gagik Tsarukian, Head of the mentioned party.

Amalya Kostanyan, Head of the NGO, estimated the amendments to the
Electoral Code positive but not sufficient. She also noted that until
no program punishing the riggers existed, one should not hope for
progress in electoral system.

The parties should spend no more that 60 million drams during the
campaigns, while the "Prosperous Armenia Party" and the "Republican
Party of Armenia" exceeded this limit. According to the monitoring,
the "RPA" spent 79.1 million drams during the campaign, whereas, the
"Prosperous Armenia Party" – 129.6 million drams.

In Amalya Kostanyan’s opinion, concealed advertisements or using
administrative resources are serious violations.

"We used as a basis only official information and counted by the
lowest tariffs for preparing the report. We believed the singers who
announced that they supported a party free of charge. We also believed
some parties which assured that transport expenses, payments of some
employees of temporary party headquarters were on humanitarian basis",
says Amalya Kostanyan.

KARABAKH ISSUE NOT URGENT FOR LEBANON’S FOREIGN POLICY

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.06.2007 15:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Nagorno Karabakh settlement issue is not urgent
for Lebanon’s foreign policy, Lebanese former Ambassador to Armenia
Gebrael Geara told a news conference in Yerevan. "Our country always
takes a neutral stance during discussions on Karabakh conflict in
international organizations," he said, Novosti Armenia reports.

WFP WELCOMES US$ 2 MILLION DONATION FROM RUSSIA TO ARMENIA

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
May 30 2007

YEREVAN – The United Nations World Food Programme today warmly
welcomed the delivery of 3,375 metric tons of wheat flour and 195
metric tons of vegetable oil, valued at US$2 million, donated by the
Russian Federation to support WFP’s operation to assist some 110,000
beneficiaries in Armenia.

"This donation to Armenia is very timely and has enabled us to continue
assisting the poorest communities," said WFP Armenia Country Director
Muzaffar Choudhery. "We are extremely grateful for Russia’s ongoing
commitment to our efforts to help those in need," he added.

Currently, WFP’s operation includes relief food distributions,
food-for-work, food-for-training and food-for-education in the
provinces of Gegharkunik, Lori, Shirak and Tavoush, as well as the
capital city of Yerevan.

The food donated by Russia has already arrived in Armenia and will
be immediately distributed in all four of WFP’s programme activities.

Food rations absorb the bulk of WFP assistance and reach beneficiaries
who are targeted through the Government’s vulnerability assessment
system, PAROS.

"In the current phase of WFP’s assistance to Armenia, such donor
support makes us feel confident that we will be able to continue
and conclude our mission in this country in a responsible manner,"
said Choudhery.

The country still faces major challenges in reducing poverty,
redistributing gains from economic development as well as ending
corruption and improving corporate governance. High unemployment,
occasional informal jobs and self-employment characterize the present
situation.

WFP has been providing food aid to Armenia since 1994, first to
the refugees from Azerbaijan and later to Armenia’s own vulnerable
population. To date, WFP’s food assistance totals US$79 million.

Donors to the WFP operation in Armenia between 2004 and 2007
include Russia (US$2 million), Switzerland (US$1.8 million),
Sweden (US$1.6 million), the United States (US$1.3 million), Japan
(US$402,000), Greece (US$512,000), Canada (US$51,000) and private
donors (US$214,000). A further US$3.5 million was received in
multilateral donations.

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give
food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional
needs, including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the
world’s poorest countries. WFP — We Feed People..

WFP now provides RSS feeds to help journalists keep up with the
latest press releases, videos and photos as they are published on
WFP.org. For more details see:

WFP now has a dedicated ISDN line in Italy for quality two-way
interviews with WFP officials.

For more information please contact (email address:
[email protected]):

Liana Kharatian, WFP/Armenia, Tel: +374-10- 580538, 564904 ext. 2024,
Mob. +374-91-407834

Tatyana Chubrikova, WFP/Moscow, Tel. +7-095-2323011, Mob. +74
9591610 65774

Mia Turner, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +20-2-5281730, Mob. +20-122455769

ARG TO BUILD KAJARAN-ARARAT GAS PIPELINE

ARMENPRESS
May 31 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS: The joint Russian-Armenian Armrosgazprom
(ARG) natural gas operator will spend 33 billion Armenian Drams this
year on construction of a new gas pipeline that will stretch from the
town of Kajaran in the southern province of Syunik to the province
of Ararat through the towns of Sisian and Jermuk.

The pipeline will bring Iranian gas to thermal power stations in
central Armenia.

The overall cost of this project is estimated at about 52 billion
Drams. The new pipeline will have 720 mm diameter and will stretch
197 km.

Shushan Sardarian, a spokeswoman for ARG, said ARG chairman Karen
Karapetian traveled lately across the pipeline’s route to see the
pace of the work on the ground.

The construction is commissioned by the ARG and is being carried out
by its Transgazshin firm and five other sub-contractors.

KOSOVO PARLIAMENT ANNOUNCED CONTEST FOR FLAG AND NATIONAL SYMBOLS

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.05.2007 17:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kosovo leaders on Tuesday announced a design
competition for the flag and national symbols of the Republic of
Kosovo, despite continued uncertainty over the Serbian province’s
bid for independence.

Parliament should formally call the tender on June 4, and the
competition would close two weeks later.

New passports would also be prepared in anticipation of a United
Nations resolution that the West hopes will set Kosovo on the road
to statehood after eight years of UN administration.

"We agreed the travel documents should carry Republic of Kosovo, but
without a crest, which can be incorporated later," political leader
Veton Surroi told reporters.

Kosovo, where 90 percent of the 2 million people are ethnic Albanians,
had hoped to declare independence from Serbia by now, but their
Western backers have been frustrated by opposition from Russia,
Serbia’s main ally and a UN veto holder.

Kosovo Albanians can now get passports issued by the UN mission in
Kosovo, but many also carry Yugoslav passports.

The Albanian national flag — the black-on-red double-headed eagle —
has served as Kosovo’s own since 1999, when NATO bombs wrested control
of the territory from Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbia.

But under a blueprint drafted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, Kosovo
must have new symbols reflecting the multi-ethnic character of a
province that is also home to 100,000 Serbs as well as Roma and
Turkish minorities, Reuters reports.

850 EVENTS HELD IN FRANCE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF TEH YEAR OF ARMENIA

armradio.am
29.05.2007 15:02

850 events instead of 100 envisaged were held in 160 French cities in
the framework of the Year of Armenia in France . All the arrangements
were highly assessed by the French society.

Armenian Ambassador to France Edward Nalbandian told ArmInfo
correspondent that events of this scale were never held in any of
the European countries.

These arrangements allow to present the history and culture of the
Armenian people not only in France, but also all over Europe. "4
thousand articles have been dedicated to the Year of Armenia in France
in French media," noted the Ambassador, adding that the trip of 165
journalists and tour operators to Armenia also played a positive role
in the dissemination of information about the Armenian culture. The
Ambassador stressed the importance of holding the economic forum in
the Chamber of Trade and Commerce of Paris from the perspective of
development of Armenian-French trade-economic relations. The forum
featured more than 200 French entrepreneurs and representatives of
the executive power. The conference on decentralized cooperation
held in the French Senate and National Assembly also attracted great
attention. Representatives of 25 Armenian and French sister cities
participated in the event. For the first time Armenia participate
din the agricultural exhibition in Paris as an honoured guest.

THE ELECTIONS AND THE FATE OF LIBERATED TERRITORIES
Naira Hayrumyan

KarabakhOpen
23-05-2007 10:03:18

The Armenian parliamentary election ended: lots of speeches, lots
of opinions. One of those opinions interested me – some analysts
and oppositionists say the international observers gave a positive
evaluation of the election because a recognized legitimate government
is needed in Armenia to be able to implement the resolution on
Karabakh, which has been arranged already. And the resolution is that
Armenia agrees to withdraw force from the territories around the former
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, international force is deployed
there, Azerbaijani refugees return (therefore only the Azerbaijani
refugees are considered), and the issue of the status of NKAR is put
off. In 15 years, either the donkey will die or its master. Moreover,
they say 15 years was not chosen at random: by that time all of the
oil of Baku will have been pumped.

We can not only guess but also maintain this because the talks over
Karabakh have stopped being confidential. Before the meeting with
the parties the mediators are not shy to tell the details. Now two
co-chairs of the Minsk Group are visiting the region, and apparently
they will be discussing this question. And the Armenian government
does not deny having agreed to make compromises.

The election in Karabakh is drawing nearer. It is true that the world’s
" rulers of destinies" leave the greater role in resolving the problem
up to Karabakh. Although it is possible that soon a "concession" will
be made to Karabakh; namely, some post, something like "Karabakh’s
special representative to the CoE". Karabakh may even be granted a
status, such as an associate member of international organizations,
and some retired official will be appointed there. But only in case
Karabakh "behaves" himself. It is already clear what "behaving" is –
agreeing to pull out force from the liberated territories.

Are there any Armenian political leaders and forces able to give
a sensible explanation to the people living in Karabakh why the
territories should be returned? Many say let us give it to them,
maybe they will calm down. But will they?

I will not resort to historical, legal arguments, because those are
blurred and have no importance in politics. I am speaking about
the reality – what may make people who guaranteed their security
and a normal life to give up this real guarantee for security and
rights? Only political amenability, foolishness and personal interests.

Yesterday I watched Nahapet, a program on the public channel of
Artsakh. The host Norek Gasparyan said lots of nice things one cannot
deny. He also said the external policy of Karabakh will depend on the
internal, therefore it is necessary to become stronger and develop. We
wish we lived in a country where the internal policy determines the
foreign policy. Unfortunately, however, our situation is such that
we are too dependent on foreign policy, what is more, on the other
country’s foreign policy rather than ours.

Why do we need to pretend living in an invisible island in the middle
of the ocean, and that we can decide on our own at what time to get
up and what to do in the morning? Unfortunately, there are too many
eyes on our "island" or "enclave". Everyone thinks they can handle
our island the way they want – someone for our benefit, another in our
detriment. More in our detriment, more for their benefit. Someone is
thinking about creating an offshore zone here, the other is considering
disposing of nuclear wastes, the third considers a military base. They
have already decided how we should live. They have decided that former
NKAR and the small corridor, plus a special representative to the
CoE and some few million dollars is enough for us to be happy. Is it
really enough? Let us view in real light, which cannot be disputed
(like patriotic or historical points of view) – what will happen if
the territories are returned? It would be excellent if in Karabakh
they did not come together around one candidate or another, did not
divide people, but expressed a opinion on proposals on the settlement
of the conflict. Offended excuses "we do not take part in the talks,
so we will not say anything" won’t do. Tomorrow we may have to face
up to the fact. This is where we need unity, because the point is
not the first step towards resolution – "the pull-out of force". No
other step may follow the first. This is the "resolution" we avoided
in 1988, 1994, 1996, 1998. Do we want such a resolution?