Author: Badalian Vardan

RUSSIAN SENATOR PROTESTS INNOCENCE AFTER BRIBE VIDEO
Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow
5 Jun 06
Russian Federation Council member Levon Chakhmakhchyan (also referred
to in some reports as Chakhmakhchan) has denied any wrongdoing after
appearing in a video described by Russian Channel One TV on 4 June as
a sting carried out two days earlier by the Federal Security Service
(FSB). In comments heard on Ekho Moskvy radio on 5 June, Chakhmakhchyan
said FSB officials had confronted him after he had visited Aleksandr
Pleshakov, the board chairman of the airline Transaero. The ethnic
Armenian senator said Pleshakov had asked him for help in getting
elected vice-president of the Association of Russian-Armenian Business
Cooperation.
“Knowing that the honorary president of the association is the
president of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, he [Pleshakov]
was attempting to join the association and asked me to nominate him
to its board as vice-president,” said Chakhmakhchyan.
“In Pleshakov’s office, in token of my friendly disposition, I gave
him a small souvenir, a teaspoon. In return, Pleshakov gave me two
models of aeroplanes, one small in a plastic bag, the other big in
a box. When we were leaving, Pleshakov indicated a briefcase to my
associate. In my view, my associate reckoned that the briefcase held
one of the souvenirs.
“Once the two of us were out of Pleshakov’s office, we were detained
by FSB officials. The reasons for the detention were not given to me.
My demands for release and arguments that I am a member of the
Federation Council were ignored. The agents behaved rudely and
cynically, used physical violence, treated me with contempt, including
by permitting themselves comments of nationalistic nature.
Only two-and-half hours later was I released,” Chakhmakhchyan said.
Ekho Moskvy said it had no immediate comment from Transaero.

KILLING ON A COMMUTER TRAIN
by Rustam Taktashev
RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
May 31, 2006 Wednesday
Armenian youngster killed in another racist attack
A group of young men yelling “Glory to Russia” stabbed an Armenian
teenager to death last week on a crowded commuter train, prosecutors
and the lawyer of the victim’s family said Tuesday. Prosecutors are
classifying the fatal attack as a hate crime.
Artur Sardaryan, 19, was on the train at about 11 p.m. Thursday when
he was approached by the assailants and repeatedly stabbed in the
chest with a knife, said Yelena Rossokhina, a spokeswoman for the
Moscow region prosecutor’s office. There were thought to be about
20 people on the train, heading from Moscow to the city of Pushkino,
at the time of the attack.
No suspects had been detained as of Tuesday.
“According to witnesses, the killers were yelling, ‘Glory to Russia’
and ‘Long live Russia,'” said Simon Tsaturyan, the Sardaryan family’s
lawyer. Tsaturyan said the attackers pulled the train’s emergency
lever after stabbing Sardaryan and fled the scene. Sardaryan died
on the spot, Tsaturyan said. The lawyer added he did not know why it
took the authorities five days before issuing any public statements
about the stabbing. Rossokhina did not comment on the time lag.
Sardaryan was a Russian citizen.
The killing came one month after a 17-year-old ethnic Armenian was
stabbed to death on the platform of the Pushkinksaya metro station
in central Moscow. There have been numerous hate crimes across the
country in recent months, with victims including Africans, Central
Asians and other dark-skinned people. President Vladimir Putin,
in his Victory Day speech earlier this month, linked skinheads and
other violent extremists with the fascists of the previous century.

ARMENIAN CHESS TEAM REINFORCES ITS LEADING POSITION
ArmRadio.am
01.06.2006 12:32
In the 10th round of the World Olympic Games held in Turin men’s chess
team of Armenia scored 2.5:0.5 against the Chinese team. Grand Master
Vladimir Hakobyan won Van Vonn. The three other gamed ended a draw.
Gaining 29 points the Armenian team reinforced its leading position
even more. The team of China is the second with 27 points. Teams of
Russia and Czech Republic share the 3rd-4th places with 26.5 points. In
the 11th round our team will meet the Czechs.
The 11th round will be held on June 2. The tournament will come to
an end on June 4.

THIRD ECHELON LOADED WITH MILITARY EQUIPMENT WITHDRAWN FROM RUSSIAN BASE IN GEORGIA ARRIVES IN AZERBAIJAN AT 7P.M
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 30 2006
Third echelon loaded with military equipment withdrawn from the
Russia’s 62nd military base in Akhalkalak, Georgia, set off in Salka
railway station today.
The troop train going to Russia through Azerbaijan has been loaded
with 15 self-propelled artillery facilities.
The next troop train loaded with weapons and military equipment will
set out to Armenia from Akhalkalak tomorrow. Withdrawal of weapons
and military equipment of Russian 12th base in Batumi, Georgia, will
be launched from 1 June Azerbaijan’s State Railway told APA that the
echelon set out from Akhalkalak arrived at the Boyuk Kasik station
of Azerbaijan at 7p.m today. The train will be delivered to Russia
at Yalama station at 11.00 tomorrow.
The loaded echelon is protected by the railway military security
group and the commandant. The echelon will pass through Azerbaijan
without a stop.

ONE DEAD AS A RESULT OF THE BREACH OF THE CEASE-FIRE BY THE AZERI SIDE
ArmRadio.am
29.05.2006 10:36
At 21.30 May 27 breach of the cease-fire by the Azeri side was
registered.
Soldier Levon Adamyan born in 1985 was wounded and died on the way to
hospital in the result of the fire in the direction of the military
positions of Noyemberyan.

Times of Oman, Oman
May 28 2006
HM greets presidents of Ethiopia, Armenia, Azerbaijan

MUSCAT – His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of
greetings to Girma Woldegiorgis, president of the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia, on the occasion of his country’s National Day.
His Majesty wished the president good health and happiness and his
people further progress and prosperity.
HIS Majesty the Sultan has also sent a similar cable to Robert
Kocharian, president of the Republic of Armenia, on the occasion of
his country’s National Day. His Majesty expressed his best wishes to
the president and his people.
HIS Majesty the Sultan has sent a cable of greetings to Ilham
Haydar Aliyev, president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the
occasion of his country’s National Day. His Majesty wished him good
health and his people further progress and prosperity. – ONA

Tulsa World (Oklahoma)
May 26, 2006 Friday
Final Home Edition
Let’s stop the shouting and solve the problem
by TAD BARTIMUS
The Los Angeles cabbie who’d passed us by 10 minutes earlier rolled
up to the curb: “You tired ladies get in. I’ll take you where you
want to go.”
During the ride to our hotel, Mr. A, as he asked us to call him, told
of emigrating from Armenia and becoming a naturalized American
citizen. What did he think of the growing illegal-alien crisis in his
adopted country?
“It has to be fair to everyone. I don’t want to see people sent back
to Mexico. Most of them work hard, spend money, are good people. They
do jobs nobody else will do. But they should earn the right to be
here like I did.
“I had to go through the process,” said Mr. A, now in his 50s.
Speaking in accented English he learned during a six-month paid
language course, he said the three years of citizenship paperwork
that cost him $5,000 “without a lawyer” were worth it.
“I earned the right to be here legally, to vote and pay taxes and
serve on a jury,” he said, navigating through traffic in his
independently owned taxi. “First, I got a visa in Armenia. When I
came to America, I got a white card, then a green card so I could
earn enough money to live. I learned about the Constitution. My kids
went to public school, made good grades.
“Tomorrow,” he said proudly, “my daughter graduates from law school.”
The words on the Statue of Liberty say, “Give me your tired, your
poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” They don’t say,
“Keep a knockin’ but you can’t come in.” What makes us strong is our
willingness to accept others, mix our ideas with theirs and celebrate
our differences.
We can’t say no to Mexico any more than we can say no to hurricanes
and earthquakes. Perhaps if we’d been a better friend to that
developing nation, its most hopeless people wouldn’t be so desperate
to migrate.
Some say that if we help Mexico develop its petrochemical industry,
there will be plenty of work for everyone. Certainly that would be
better than offering nothing, which is what we’ve done for 200 years.
NAFTA notwithstanding, we can do much more to stimulate the growth of
the Mexican economy. A more prosperous, egalitarian neighbor to the
south means less pressure on us and much more hope for them.
Before we voice an opinion about immigration, we should turn down the
volume on talk radio, pull the plug on TV pundits and educate
ourselves instead of depending on Lou Dobbs, Minuteman vigilantes,
campaigning congressmen and special-interest lobbyists who spoon-feed
us biased, inaccurate information.
Once we’ve researched firsthand the big picture — illegal
immigration’s impact on social-welfare programs (in many states
overwhelmed), our national economy (billions of dollars contributed),
crime statistics (fluctuates regionally) and the lunatic fringe on
both sides of the debate — we should seek out naturalized citizens
and illegal immigrants willing to share their stories.
“Illegal immigrants are everywhere,” said my retired friend Andy, who
volunteers as an English teacher at a Los Angeles nonprofit learning
center. He said many of the adult students are increasingly
terrified.
“Everything already is a hassle because they’re flying under the
radar,” he said. “Now they’re scared to death they’ll lose their
children if they’re caught and deported.”
Andy said his illegal-immigrant students “study so hard and are so
eager to learn, yet many of them are afraid to apply their skills to
get better jobs because that raises their profile and brings them
more attention.”
It’s implausible to think the U.S. government can force millions of
undocumented workers back to Mexico permanently.
Before he drove away to prepare for his daughter’s law-school
graduation party, Mr. A said, “We can solve this immigration problem
if everybody would stop shouting, calm down and be fair.”
Spoken like a true American.
Newspaper Enterprise Association

SECOND DEPUTIES’ GROUP CREATED AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

YEREVAN, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The second deputies’
group called “Gortsarar” (Business) was created at the RA National
Assembly. It involves 10 of the 11 deputies having recently left the
“Orinats Yerkir” (Country of Law) faction. The head of the group is
Grigor Margarian who is more known as the owner of the “Bellagio”
restorant complex, the group Secretary is Mekhak Mkhitarian. NA Deputy
Speaker Tigran Torosian made public the application on creating the
group at the May 25 plenary sitting of the Parliament.
According to it, group members mention that they form the
above-mentioned group “having common imaginations concerning the
country’s development, to use own possibilities more productively to
participate in development of the country’s political life, free
economic relations and strengthening of democratic values more
actively and well organized.”

ENERGY INSECURITY, FROZEN CONFLICTS PREOCCUPY GUAM SUMMIT
By Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
May 25 2006
The GUAM summit in Kyiv on May 23 called international attention
to the challenges and threats posed to the four member countries by
energy insecurity and secessionist conflicts. Furthermore, Moldova
and Georgia are the targets of politically motivated Russian embargoes
on agricultural products and wine, their main exports.
The founding Declaration of the new GUAM Organization for Democracy and
Economic Development asserts that economic pressures and monopolization
of energy markets are unacceptable. The document commits the member
countries to work together to promote the security of energy supplies.
In their speeches at the summit, Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili
and Vladimir Voronin cited Azerbaijan’s and Ukraine’s emergency
deliveries of gas to Georgia and Moldova, respectively, when Russia
stopped supplies in January of this year. Although the emergency
deliveries were small, they were vital at that time and a mark of
political solidarity (Channel 5 TV [Kyiv], May 23). However, GUAM
Organization member countries have yet to begin discussions toward a
common energy-security policy. Voronin’s chief adviser, Mark Tkachuk,
told the media during the summit that such a policy would require a
two-fold focus: attracting investments to create alternative routes
of supply and concluding agreements on the free flow of supplies
through member countries’ territories (Kommersant, May 23).
For his part, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko urged the president
of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to consider the possibility of setting
up a network of gasoline and fuel supply stations in Ukraine.
Yushchenko would order a Ukrainian working group to deal with this
issue “within three days,” he stated. Furthermore, he sought Azeri
commitments to: supply crude oil to the Odessa-Brody pipeline in the
northward direction; co-invest in expanding the terminal capacity at
Odessa to take Azeri and Kazakh oil; co-invest in building a refinery
in Brody to refine that oil; and support extending the pipeline
to Gdansk — a project that the European Union may help finance
(Interfax-Ukraine, 1 + 1 TV [Kyiv], Interfax-Ukraine, May 23).
Kyiv has submitted such proposals to Baku repeatedly during the
last year and Yushchenko has aired them internationally. They seem
unrealistic, because the great bulk of Azerbaijan’s crude oil output
is pre-committed to the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. Building a refinery
at Brody seems incompatible with extending the pipeline to Gdansk,
inasmuch as the Odessa-Brody line’s annual throughput (projected at 8
million tons, potentially up to 14 million) can hardly sustain both the
refinery and the extension. In any case, the Odessa-Brody pipeline’s
future depends almost entirely on the availability of Kazakh oil,
but Russia stands in the way.
The summit’s Declaration expresses a shared concern in pointing out,
“Occupation of a country’s territory through military force or threats
of force is unacceptable. Territorial annexations and the creation of
enclaves can never become legal. No country may intervene into another
country’s affairs through military, political, or economic pressures.”
Yushchenko referenced the controversial plan that carries his name
regarding settlement in Transnistria, which he claimed was “supported
by both the Moldovan and the Transnistrian side.” Moreover, he advised,
“A plan along the same lines should be developed for Karabakh and one
along the same lines for Abkhazia.” But he seemed to change thought
immediately: “The solution to each conflict, however, requires an
individual plan and there can be no recipe on resolving the Karabakh
problem along with the problem of Transnistria or Abkhazia. It takes
an individual approach” (Interfax-Ukraine, May 23). Voronin chose
to focus on the positive side, expressing gratitude for Ukraine’s
recent cooperation with Moldova and the EU in curbing Transnistria’s
contraband trade.
Aliyev and Voronin called for better coordination among GUAM member
countries in international organizations regarding the secessionist
conflicts and foreign troops (Moldpres, 1 + 1 TV [Kyiv], May 23). The
unspoken reason behind that call is that Ukrainian representatives
have stopped subscribing to joint GUAM positions on those issues in
some meetings of the OSCE’s Permanent Council and Joint Consultative
Group in recent months.
That joint stand was GUAM’s primordial raison d’etre. The group emerged
during debates at the OSCE in 1996 on the Treaty on Conventional Forces
in Europe in order to seek Russian compliance with force limitations,
specifically on GUAM countries’ territories.
The four countries’ joint stand, authorizing one of them to speak for
the four, had become its hallmark in international organizations and
one of the few tangible manifestations of GUAM’s viability. Kyiv’s
recent tendency to stand aside from the GUAM position at the OSCE
has become a matter of concern to some NATO diplomats as well. This
situation might now be corrected after the presidents’ private
discussions at the Kyiv summit.

SIXTH INTERNATIONAL TOURIST FAIR “CTS’2006” TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON 26-27 MAY
Yerevan, May 24. ArmInfo. The 6th International Tourist Fair “CTS’2006”
will be held at Moscow Cinema in Yerevan on 25-27 May.
The “CTS’2006” press center informs ArmInfo the event organizers
are Armenian Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, American
Society of Tourist Agents (ASTA) and Armenian Tourism Agency. The
opening ceremony is scheduled to be held at 1:30pm at Moscow Cinema
on 25 May. Yerevan Brandy Company is the chief sponsor of the event,
other sponsors are Golden Tulip Yerevan Hotel, Czech Airlines, and
Congress Hotel. Information sponsors are “Spyur” News Agency, Radio
“Ardzagank,” and “Tourinfo” monthly. Over 30 companies from Adzharia,
Belarus, Georgia, Nagorny Karabakh and Armenia, including from the
regions of Armenia, participate in the Fair. The Fair has become a
traditional event in the sphere of tourism, the source reports.