Author: Badalian Vardan

A1plus
| 17:20:54 | 06-06-2005 | Social |
CAPTAIN ANDRANIK’S MONUMENT IN PARIS
In the central park of the town Plesi-Robenson near Paris Eduard Nalbandyan,
Armenian Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to France and the
French Parliament deputy Phillip Pemseque officially opened the monument of
Captain Andranik.
The monument was presented to the town Plesi-Robenson by the Arabkir
community.
Ambassador Eduard Nalbandyan has mentioned that the monument of National
Hero Captain Andranik is added to the hundreds of monuments in France
devoted to Armenia and the Armenian nation which symbolize the friendship
between Armenia and France.
The ceremony was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Ex-Minister Patrick Devejyan, political bodies of France, senators, deputies
and hundreds of representatives of the Armenian community were present at
it.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REVOLUTION WILL BE CARRIED OUT THIS YEAR
A1plus
| 20:57:31 | 02-06-2005 | Politics |
With these words leader of New Times party Aram Karapetyan addressed
the people, who gathered today at the monument to Vardan Mamikonyan.
According to the party members about 1080 people were present at
today’s rally. Aram Karapetyan promised to organize rallies every
10 days. “This is our revolutionary strategy- not to be afraid and
activated people. According to him the revolution will take place
when 50 000 people are engaged in the process. The nation must make
the authorities listen to it. And this will take place this year,
he stressed.
To note, when answering the question about the financial support of
the party Aram Karapetyan said, “Even the National Security Service
cannot find it out”.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
181-03-06-2005
Minister Vartan Oskanian received ODIHR director, Ambassador Christian
Shtrohal
On 2 June, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian received
Ambassador Christian Shtrohal, Director of OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights, who was on a one-day visit to Armenia.
The two exchanged views on efforts and tasks undertaken by Armenia
to reinforce democratic processes and human rights protection in
the country.
Minister Oskanian assessed very positively the role of the OSCE in
the promotion of democracy and human rights protection in Europe and
expressed his hope, that this prominent international organization
will continue supporting democratic processes in Armenia and creating
a democratic environment in the entire region. In this regard, they
reinforced ODIHR’s helpful role in providing expert assistance in
the process of Armenian legislation development. -0-

SWEDEN CLOSES ITS SECOND NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
AZG Armenian Daily #101, 03/06/2005
World
25 years ago the Swedes voted against the utilization of nuclear
power. On June 1, Sweden closed its second “Barsbak 2” nuclear power
plant. “Barsbak 1” was closed six years ago. The decision to close
the nuclear power plant was adopted as a result of a referendum in
1980, but today’s’ demands have changed already. The latest public
polls testified to the fact that the overwhelming majority of the
country’s population, 80% emphasizes the importance of utilization
of the nuclear power that helps to secure the energetic demands of
the country. Most of the Swedish people are concerned that in case of
energetic crisis, they will have to apply for help to the coal and gas
energy plants of Europe. It is already obvious that the energy prices
will sharply increase soon. The neighboring countries of Sweden are
less concerned about this issue; for instance, Denmark doesn’t use
the nuclear power as an energy source, while Finland will launch its
fifth nuclear power plant in 2009. The Swedish company that was the
owner of the closed nuclear power plant envisages building a wind
electric plant in the north of Europe, spending $1 billion.
By Ruzan Poghosian

IRAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA DISSUADES IRANIAN YOUTH FROM STUDYING IN ARMENIA
Pan Armenian News
02.06.2005 04:05
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Speaking at inaugural ceremony of a conference
held by Iranian and Armenian tradesmen, Iran’s Ambassador to Yerevan
Ali-Reza Haqiqian said that the number of Iranian students in Armenian
education institutions recently increased from 200 to 1400. During
the study period Iranian students encounter many social problems. The
Iranian Embassy in Armenia tries to support them, organizing cultural
programs, however it does not solve all their problems. Besides,
when graduated they have the problem of low evaluations of Armenian
diplomas. Thereupon Haqiqian stated, “Iranian families should not
send their children to continue studies in Armenia if possible.” He
reported that the commercial and economic relations between Iran and
Armenia are at a high level and these continue developing. The Iranian
Embassy in Armenia is ready to provide the necessary information about
the economy, legislation, culture and politics in Armenia to Iranian
businessmen. At that he noted that cases of not ailing competition were
registered among Iranian entrepreneurs in Armenia, which has a negative
impact upon the bilateral trade and economic relations, Irna reported.

The New York Times
May 29, 2005 Sunday
Late Edition – Final
There’s Democracy, and There’s an Oil Pipeline
By DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON
SAMUEL BODMAN, the new secretary of energy, led the United States
delegation to Azerbaijan last week to celebrate a huge moment in
America’s effort to diversify its sources of oil: The opening of a
pipeline that will carry Caspian oil to the West, on a route that
avoids Russia and Iran.
Mr. Bodman delivered a message from President Bush: ”As Azerbaijan
deepens its democratic and market economic reforms, this pipeline can
help generate balanced economic growth, and provide a foundation for
a prosperous and just society that advances the cause of freedom.”
Just a few days earlier, the Azerbaijani police beat pro-democracy
demonstrators with truncheons when opposition parties, yelling ”free
elections,” defied the government’s ban on protests against
President Ilham Aliyev. Mr. Aliyev is one of President Bush’s allies
in the war on terror, even though he won a highly suspect election to
succeed his father, a former Soviet strongman.
Every week, the White House seems to find itself in a balancing act
between promoting democracy, on one hand, and supporting friends in
combustible but strategically important parts of the world. In recent
days, the issue has been how hard to press for an international
inquiry into the massacre of civilians in Uzbekistan this month; or
how to press Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, into facing real
challengers in his country’s coming election; or how to challenge the
resurgence of central control in Russia and China while gaining their
cooperation to stop nuclear proliferation.
It all has shades of the cold war. From 1946 until the fall of the
Berlin Wall, American presidents embraced — sometimes unhappily,
sometimes enthusiastically — dictators from Latin America to the
Philippines to South Korea in the name of stopping Communism.
Now, even brutal leaders have discovered that if they cooperate in
the war on terror Washington is unlikely to squeeze them too hard, or
at least too publicly, on other issues. Pakistan has led in this
strategy. When President Pervez Musharraf decided late last year not
to relinquish his military posts, as he had once promised to do, no
one from the White House denounced him.
The president and his aides have never said it would be easy to
reconcile Mr. Bush’s clarion call for democratic change worldwide
with reality on the ground. But at least one past member of the
administration says they have made a basic mistake.
”Look, I was part of the incubation of this policy,” said Richard
N. Haass, who was head of policy planning in the State Department
from 2001 to 2003, referring to the decision to make democracy a
major theme of the Bush presidency. ”But I don’t think you can make
it the controlling issue. The administration has set itself up for
inconsistency.” In fact, Mr. Bush has started to talk about the need
for patience as Americans wait for democracy to take hold elsewhere.
His wife, Laura, took up the theme this month on a trip to the Middle
East. Asked about the difficulties of mounting any real challenge to
President Mubarak in Egypt, she said, ”To act like you can just go
from here to there overnight is naive.” Full democracy, she said, is
”not easy and we know that it’s, in many cases, not even possible.”
Mrs. Bush went further in that comment than most White House policy
makers will, at least in public.
But Stephen R. Sestanovich, who served as the Clinton
administration’s specialist on the former Soviet republics in the
1990’s, said it is becoming clear that not all revolutions are what
Americans would like them to be.
”Georgia and Ukraine were good examples of the model working as we
think it should: Popular outrage, the right result,” he said. ”But
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan show you something different, the prospect
of sheer chaos.” In the first, President Askar Akayev fled, leaving
competing groups to fight each other. In the second, Mr. Sestanovich
said, President Islam Karimov is dealing with ”the complete lack of
popular confidence” after his troops shot hundreds of civilians
after an armed uprising that he said was the work of Islamic
terrorists — his favorite choice of culprits.
Russia distanced itself from Mr. Karimov, and he seemed unlikely to
win another invitation to the White House, which he visited after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But he may not need the American welcome.
Last week in Beijing, the Chinese gave him a 21-gun salute and praise
for his steadfastness against ”the three forces of extremism,
terrorism and separatism.” By the time Mr. Karimov headed home, he
had a deal for a $600 million joint venture in oil.
That, in short, is the new Great Game Americans find themselves
playing in Central Asia: Competing with the Chinese for oil supplies;
with the Russians for influence in their backyard; and all the while
talking about spreading democracy.
Paul Goble, an expert on the former Soviet Union who used to work for
the State Department, summarized the conundrum in the region this
way: ”As soon as you get rid of the ex-Communist thugs, you will get
Muslim governments there.”
That is one reason Mr. Bush takes every chance to highlight the
success stories, even at the risk of offending Russia.
Mr. Bush’s aides describe him as deeply engaged in the strategy, down
to choosing exactly where he would go on his five-nation trip earlier
this month. On that trip, the president spoke from the square in
Tbilisi where Georgians staged demonstrations that ousted a leader in
2003. The warning he was sending to Vladimir V. Putin of Russia about
centralizing power in the Kremlin was clear, if never explicitly
stated.
But Mr. Goble remembers how thinly democracy was consolidated in the
region after the Berlin Wall fell, despite American wishes. ”Our
tendency is to declare victory and move on,” he said. ”It doesn’t
work that way.”
URL:
GRAPHIC: Photo: Cleanup Time — Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, left,
and leaders from Central Asia and the Caucasus after leaving
handprints during the opening in Azerbaijan of a new pipeline. (Photo
by European Pressphoto Agency)Chart/Map: ”U.S. Interests in a
Treacherous Neighborhood”GEORGIAPRESIDENT: Mikheil Saakashvili, who
was elected after nonviolent protests ousted Georgia’s first
president in 2003.U.S. INTEREST: The orderly flow of oil through the
Caucasus pipeline, and access to Azerbaijan.POLITICAL MINEFIELD:
Azerbaijani and Armenian minorities in three autonomous regions
promote secessionist movements, and President Saakashvili has lately
taken a harder nationalist line. During a visit by President Bush
this month, a grenade was found near a podium he was standing
on.KAZAKHSTANPRESIDENT: Nursultan Nazarbayev, in power since
1991.U.S. INTEREST: With oil and gas reserves and good relationships
with Western oil companies, Kazakhstan is by far Central Asia’s
largest country, although its population is thinly
dispersed.POLITICAL MINEFIELD: Some experts worry that corruption and
sycophancy in the Nazarbayev government could undermine this
strategically located country, where Russia and China are vying for
influence. President Nazarbayev may respond to turmoil in Uzbekistan
by becoming increasingly authoritarian.AZERBAIJANPRESIDENT: Ilham
Aliyev, who succeeded his father, a former K.G.B. general, in
2003.U.S. INTEREST: A new pipeline linking the Caspian Sea to the
Mediterranean to carry oil to the West through Azerbaijan, Georgia
and TurkeyPOLITICAL MINEFIELD Stability in the Caucasus could
collapse if war resumes between Azerbaijan and Armenia
chaos could invite Iranian interference. Azerbaijan is largely Shiite
Muslim
Armenia is largely Orthodox Christian, like Georgia. Ilham Aliyev is
considered more likely to keep the peace than the nationalistic
opposition, which claims to be more democratic.TURKMENISTANPRESIDENT:
Saparmurat Niyazov, in power since 1991.U.S. INTEREST: Gas reserves,
proximity to Afghanistan.POLITICAL MINEFIELD: President Niyazov is
aging, ill and, said Paul Goble, an expert on former Soviet
republics, a ”fragile totalitarian” whose rule could end suddenly.
He survived an assassination attempt in 2002. The State Department
says he governs in a ”Soviet-era authoritarian style”
since 2002, he has tightened his grip and acted bizarrely, declaring
diseases illegal and closing hospitals, said Martha Brill Olcott, a
senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace.UZBEKISTANPRESIDENT: Islam Karimov, in power since 1991.U.S.
INTEREST: A military base was important during the Afghan war in 2001
has some oil and gas. There is evidence that the U.S. has sent terror
suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogationPOLITICAL
MINEFIELD: The government, which blames Islamic terrorists for all
unrest, killed from 167 to 500 people, depending on the source, after
armed protesters freed prisoners this month. Experts say Uzbekistan
could collapse, risking civil war, which could spread to its
neighbors, and disrupt energy exports. Russia has cooled to President
Karimov, but he was welcomed warmly last week in
China.KYRGYZSTANPRESIDENT: Askar Akayev, in power since 1991, fled
the country and resigned after protests in April. New elections are
scheduled for July 10.U.S. INTEREST: A military base, useful for
operations in nearby Afghanistan.POLITICAL MINEFIELD: The outlook for
democracy and stability are unclear. The shape of the new government
will likely be decided more by political deal-making than by the
voters, says Dr. Olcott. ”There’s a job for everybody,” she said.
Meanwhile, Russia and China compete for influence.(Sources by Martha
Brill Olcott, Carnegie Endowment
Paul Goble, former State Department analyst.)Map of Asia and the
Middle East highlighting the aforementioned countries.

Delegation of Kansas National Guard, civilian leaders visits Armenia
.c The Associated Press
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – The head of the Kansas National Guard praised
Armenian military personnel Saturday, as nearly two dozen military and
civilians leaders from the U.S. state paid a five-day visit to the
tiny Caucasus nation.
Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the guard’s adjutant general, said he also
impressed with the Armenian military’s medical corps.
“Our impression is that Armenian military personnel are
professionally prepared,” Bunting told The Associated Press.
The delegation, which also includes state lawmakers, was meeting with
government authorities, as well as military, health and education
officials.
The delegation traveled to Armenia under the National Guard’s State
Partnership Program, which pairs U.S. states with different countries;
Armenia has asked the Kansas guard for assistance with improving its
peacekeeping and health and medical operations
The Caucasus nation has 49 bomb-disposal experts, drivers, medics and
officers currently serving in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led military
effort.
05/28/05 15:06 EDT
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

27-YEAR-OLD MEMBER OF “JEHOVA’S WITNESSES” COMMITS SUICIDE IN KAPAN
KAPAN, MAY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. On May 26, at about 15:30, the corpse of
Yeva Yuriki Avetisian, resident of the town of Kapan, born in 1978,
was taken out of Voghji river near the village of Syunik of Syunik
marz. According to the report spread by the Kapan Police Department,
no traces of violence were discovered on the corpse. According to the
preliminary version, the 27-year-old girl threw herself into the river
from Hunan Avetisian street’s bridge. According to Noyan Tapan’s data,
Y.Avetisian was a member of “Jehova’s Witnesses” organization.

Turkish university calls off seminar on genocide
Irish Times
May 28, 2005
Nicholas Birch in Istanbul

Turkey: Freedom of expression, or freedom only to express views
accepted by the state? The question was moot this week after a top
Turkish university called off a conference on the fate of the Ottoman
Empire’s Armenians following government criticism.
The three-day meeting would have been the first in the country’s
history open to academics sceptical of the officially sponsored claim
that it was inter-ethnic war, not a deliberate state policy of ethnic
cleansing, that led to the deaths of up to one million Armenians in
1915.
It was just the latest sign that the wall of silence surrounding the
country’s greatest taboo was beginning to crumble.
But after days of sniping, the project collapsed on Tuesday, when
Turkey’s justice minister told parliament it amounted to “stabbing the
Turkish people in the back”.
“The time has come to stop those who carry this country’s passports
from making propaganda against the country,” Cemil Cicek said, to
thunderous applause.
The rector of Istanbul’s Bosporus University promptly announced she
was postponing the conference to avoid “possible consequences.”
On Wednesday, university sources say, state prosecutors had demanded
copies of all the scheduled papers.
Traditionally cautious, Turkey’s media expressed outrage at the
minister’s meddling.
“Zero tolerance on liberties” ran the Thursday headline in the liberal
daily Radikal.
“If the minister thinks he is serving the country with these phrases
worthy of a military putsch, he is profoundly mistaken,” columnist
Semih Idiz wrote in the centrist daily Milliyet on Thursday.
The controversy already shows signs of extending beyond Turkey’s
borders.
Ankara has until October to persuade Brussels it is ready to start
accession proceedings with the European Union. Heavily criticised in
Europe since March for dumping reformism in favour of nationalist
populism, Turkey’s government is watching with increasing concern the
rise of conservative parties in France and Germany opposed to its
membership.
“Until now, anti-Turkish politicians in Europe have been hard pressed
to find convincing arguments against its accession,” said one EU
diplomat in Ankara. “Cicek has just handed them one free of charge.”
But it is within Turkey that his outburst is likely to resonate
furthest. Nationalism has been on the rise since the beginning of the
year, spurred by the growing realisation that the changes Turkey must
make for its EU bid are essentially non-negotiable,
Things turned ugly in March following an attempt by three youths to
desecrate the Turkish flag at Kurdish new year celebrations. “It’s the
people’s turn to speak,” said the country’s top general.
On April 6th inhabitants of the northern city of Trabzon took him at
his word, rounding on five left-wingers local TV falsely alleged were
Kurdish separatists. Only prompt intervention by the police saved them
from certain death.
Analysts fear Mr Cicek’s words could spark a repeat performance.
Bosporus University’s decision to cave in to the minister’s attack,
says political scientist Hasan Bulent Kahraman, “is the strongest
proof possible that threats get results in this country . . . The
lynch mob has once again been called into action.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse
24 mai 2005 mardi 1:53 PM GMT
Référendum: l’Arménie inquiète d’une perte d’influence de la France
EREVAN 24 mai 2005
L’Arménie, qui considère la France comme son principal avocat en
Europe, redoute que Paris ne perde son influence internationale si
les électeurs décidaient dimanche de rejeter le projet de
constitution européenne, a déclaré mardi à l’AFP le ministre des
Affaires étrangères Vardan Oskanian.
La perspective d’une victoire du non “provoque l’inquiétude de
l’Arménie, dans la mesure où nous serions témoins d’une diminution du
rôle et de l’influence de la France en Europe, qui a toujours été un
ardent défenseur de la coopération avec l’Arménie”, a dit M.
Oskanian.
M. Oskanian affirme comprendre l’inquiétude des Arméniens de France
qui, selon lui, menacent de voter “non” pour bloquer les perspectives
d’entrée de la Turquie dans l’Union européenne.
“Nous aussi sommes inquiets de voir que la Turquie ne répond pas aux
critères européens”, dit-il, “mais nous ne voyons pas de lien entre
le référendum sur la constitution et la candidature de la Turquie à
l’UE. Au contraire, nous estimant que l’adoption de la constitution
renforcera la position de la France sur la scène européenne, ce qui
est bon pour l’Arménie”.
Les Arméniens et les Turcs n’entretiennent pas de relations
diplomatiques, en raison du refus d’Ankara de reconnaître le génocide
des Arméniens perpétré par l’Empire ottoman entre 1915 et 1917.