Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

AZERBAIJANIS TAKE SIDES IN ISRAELI-LEBANESE WAR
By Fariz Ismailzade
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC –
Aug. 14, 2006
The ongoing military operations between Israel and Lebanon have
sparked popular protests and heated debates in Azerbaijan. Although
a predominantly Muslim country, Azerbaijan prides itself on being
a secular country and having strong ties with Israel and the United
States. Nevertheless, the high rate of poverty and the influence of
foreign radical Islamic groups have resulted in the establishment
and gradual growth of Islamic groups in the country.
Right after the launch of the war in Lebanon, the Azerbaijani Islamic
Organization for the Freedom of Religion attempted to stage protest
marches in front of the Israeli and U.S. Embassies in Baku. Similar
action was taken in front of the UN office in Baku. Local police
managed to disperse the crowd of about 200 people, yet this did not
discourage the group’s members from attempting a second rally. This
time, several people were arrested.
The group is headed by Ilgar Ibrahimli, a well-known Shia imam from the
Juma mosque, who made news three years ago for advocating on behalf of
the opposition candidate in the presidential election and subsequently
being evicted from the mosque for using religion in politics. Since
then, Ibrahimli has been a loud critic of the Azerbaijani authorities
and on several occasion has organized mass rallies to protest the
Danish cartoons against the prophet Mohammad, U.S. anti-terror
operations, and the presence of Azerbaijani military personnel in Iraq.
On another occasion, the residents of Nardaran, a village about 19
miles northwest of Baku, staged a protest meeting in the village’s
central square to criticize Israeli policy in the Middle East.
Protestors used slogans such as “Stop aggression! Bush and Israel are
full of blood!” Nardaran is one of the most conservative areas in the
country, where all women cover their heads and the street signs are
in Arabic. Clashes erupted between police forces and the residents of
the village in 2002, and since then Nardaran has remained an Islamic
stronghold on the outskirts of Baku.
Not all voices in the country, however, offer such emotional shows
of support for Muslim solidarity with Lebanon. Several Azerbaijani
newspapers, such as Azadliq, Echo, and Zerkalo, have questioned the
need to support Lebanon due to the close links between Azerbaijan’s
archrival Armenia and official Beirut. In fact, Lebanon has recognized
the 1915 Armenian genocide thanks to the lobbying efforts of the
Armenian diaspora in Lebanon, while Israel has refused to acknowledge
the event for many decades.
“How can ASALA [the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia,
which targets Turkish diplomats and citizens] and Hezbollah co-exist
in one town?” exclaims the popular news portal Day.az, referring to
the fact that ASALA is headquartered in Beirut and gets a significant
amount of funding from Lebanon.
Similarly, some political experts and analysts believe that Azerbaijan
should not take an open stance in the Israeli-Lebanese war due to
the strategic importance of Israel to Azerbaijan. Both nations have
a long history of warm relations, and there are some 8,900 Jews in
Azerbaijan. Israel can serve as a vitally needed voice for Azerbaijan
in the United States and Europe by explaining Azerbaijani national
interests to foreign policy leaders. Israel’s military and economic
expertise could also be very useful for Azerbaijan’s rapidly growing
economy.
For these very reasons the Azerbaijani ruling elite has taken a very
cautious approach toward the latest conflict. The Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry has issued a very mild statement about the Israeli-Lebanese
war and President Ilham Aliyev decided not to travel to Malaysia to
participate in the August 3 emergency session of the heads of state
of members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Instead, the
lower profile prime minister, Arthur Rasizadeh, was sent to the event.
Similarly, Sheikh Allahshukur Pashazade, head of Muslim clergy in
the country, has been criticizing Arab unity since his return from a
conference in Tehran, and has reminded the Azerbaijani public that
not all Islamic nations have supported Azerbaijan in the ongoing
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
Instead of loud diplomatic statements and openly taking sides,
Azerbaijan has so far preferred to send humanitarian assistance to
the suffering people of Lebanon. With images of victims, especially
children, broadcast on television daily, the people of Azerbaijan are
not likely to remain indifferent. Yet the more pragmatic analysts in
Azerbaijan believe that Israel is more important to secular Azerbaijan
than is Lebanon.
icle_id=2371379

CONSTRUCTION OF KAPAN-TSAV-SHVANIDZOR-MEGHRI ROAD TO BE FINISHED BY THE END OF THE YEAR
Armenpress
Aug 14 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, ARMENPRESS: Construction of
Kapan-Tsav-Shvanidzor-Meghri inter-state road is expected to be
finished by the end of the year. The road, which is of strategic
importance, will serve as an alternative to the Kapan-Kajaran-Meghri
inter-state highway and will be 94 km long.
Armenian Transport and Communication Ministry public relations
department official informed Armenpress that the reconstruction
launched in 2005 and is being carried out by 4 contractor companies.
Overall, 230 km-long roads of inter-state, republic and
provincial importance will be reconstructed, 36 road sectors, 25
bridges. Martuni-Vardenis 38 km road is also going to be repaired.
The Armenian government has released 14.3 billion drams from the 2006
state budget for the restoration and development of the country’s
road network.

DGMC and Dundee Precious Metals signed an agreement on a new $10mln
investment program

ArmRadio.am
11.08.2006 16:58
Armenian `Deno Gold Mining Company’ (DGMC) and
Canadian Dundee Precious Metals signed an agreement on new $10mln
investment program in Kapan ore-dressing plant in Yerevan, Mediamax
reported.
As the DGMC Public Relations Officer Vahe Mkhitaryan stated at the
press conference today, the investment program will create the
necessary prerequisites for the large-scale examination of the Kapan
mine area reserves.
The investment package envisages a transfer of 80% shares of Dundee
Precious Metals to DGMC, the exclusive owner of which is the
`Vatrin Investment’ company.
As the President and the General Director of Dundee Precious Metals
Jonattan Goodman stated, the company took upon itself the
responsibility to gain crediting of the Kapan ore-dressing plant by
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the
increase of the production of the plant to 1mln tons a year. At
present the annual volume of the production makes 300 000 tons of
production.

NBC4.TV, CA
Aug. 11, 2006
Girl Wants To Be The Next Oprah

LOS ANGELES — Her friends refer to her as the young Oprah. She is an
11-year-old Burbank resident and already has her own talk show on
local cable. NBC4’s Kelly Mack spoke with the girl who said she is
planning on much, much more.
Video
Following is a verbatim script from the on-air report.

KELLY MACK: Narineh Sarokhanian carefully applies pink lip-gloss
before taping her weekly television show.
Meanwhile, technicians work on their computers and switchers in the
small control room at High Vision studio, which sits atop an
upholstery shop in Glendale.
With her primping done, the 11-year-old sixth grader enters the
studio and sits down behind the microphone like an old pro with her
folder of notes close at hand.
Narineh has been the host of ‘Kid’s Vision’ on Charter Cable channel
30 for the past two years.
NARINEH SAROKHANIAN, TELEVISION HOST: I was nine years old, and I
said ‘Mom, can we try to have my own TV show for kids, because I am a
kid?’
MACK: Narineh’s mother thought, ‘Well, why not?’ So she took her
daughter’s idea to the president of the local Armenian TV station.
FLORA GHARIBIAN, NARINEH’S MOTHER: He said, ‘Great! We don’t have any
kids program, so let’s do it.’
MACK: Narineh’s first guest on Friday is nine-year-old Sam, who
checks his coif in the TV monitor. The show’s star gives Sam some
professional tips before the cameras roll.
SAROKHANIAN (TO SAM): You’re not going to laugh and you’re going to
stay still. Okay?
MACK: And with that the show begins.
SAROKHANIAN: Hello, everyone! You’re watching the best show on earth,
‘Kids Vision’!
MACK: Narineh starts with commentary on Internet safety while her
mother observes with obvious pride.
GHARIBIAN: This is what she wants, so I’m going to help her to get
there, no matter what.
MACK: The show features local children with talent like Sam, who can
play Beethoven on piano without notes.
Another guest, 11-year-old Shawn, practices the flute out in the
hallway before he is cued to go on.
Narineh told NBC4 that she has always dreamed of being on TV as
either a journalist or a talk show host. One person she admires?
GHARIBIAN: Maybe Oprah Winfrey. Maybe if I grow up I want to be like
her to know that I can make a difference.
MACK: And she loves the idea of breaking news, like covering a brush
fire.
GHARIBIAN: You never know what’s going to happen when you’re sitting
right there or when you’re talking. You don’t know if the fire is
getting bigger or if it’s coming toward you.
MACK: ‘Kids Vision’ airs on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to noon. Narineh
chooses her guests and the topics of discussion for each show.
There’s a ‘Kids Vision’ book club where Narineh reviews good reads.
She and invited friends also sing happy birthday to specific viewers.
I asked if it was difficult producing and hosting a TV show while
still an elementary school student?
GHARIBIAN: Not really, but I think that sixth grade will be harder,
so it might be more difficult.
MACK: The clock ticks toward noon, and this week’s show is almost
done. But for one ambitious young TV host, however, things are just
getting started.

BIG NIGHT OUT FOR INVERURIE YOUNGSTERS
by: Laura Grant
Aberdeen Press and Journal, UK
August 8, 2006 Tuesday
Inverurie youngsters will put a new spin on an old classic when they
take to the stage for a working of Twelfth Night with a difference
in Aberdeen tonight.
The Mitchell School of Drama will explore feelings of confusion,
love, passion and revenge – mixed through with songs from the 1930s
and 40s during the lively performance at the Lemon Tree from 7.30pm.
Elsewhere, a lively celebration of all things Celtic will set the
audience’s toes tapping at the Beach Ballroom, also from 7.30pm.
Included will be performances by the North Shore Celtic Ensemble and
the award-winning Emerald Isle Irish Dancers.
Funky contemporary folk band La Mission d’Arthur le Dur, from
Aberdeen’s twin city of Clermont Ferrand in France, will join singer
Kathryn Sawers and north-east band Seasons for the Festival Club at
the Lemon Tree from 9pm.
There will be an international song recital at Queen’s Cross Church,
featuring members of the cast of this year’s opera production, The
Turn of the Screw. Curtain up at 7.30pm.
A free Listen at Lunch event featuring Zahra Yusifi and Mustapha
Ashurov will also take place at the art gallery from 12.30pm.
Meanwhile, as part of the festival’s touring programme, performers will
be at a number of venues across the north-east from 7.30pm tonight.
Young Armenian musicians the Yerevan Youth Chamber Orchestra will be
at the Melvin Hall, Tarves; Norwegian dance troupe Happy Feet will be
treading the boards at Inglis Memorial Hall, Edzell, and Sri Lankan
dancers Sankanjalee will feature at the Victoria Hall at Ballater.
Performers will also be taking part in the festivities at Fraserburgh
Gala.
For more information about the festival log on to

ARMENIA 79TH ON “STATE OF WORLD LIBERTY” FREEDOM RATING
Yerevan, August 7. ArmInfo. Armenia is 79th on the State of World
Liberty’s 159-country “Freedom Map”: freedom index from personal
to economic freedoms, based on surveys by The Heritage Foundation,
Wall Street Journal, Frasier, Cato, Freedom House and Reporters
Sans Frontieres.
The freest region of the world is Europe – 70.49 points. Half of the
top ten countries are from Europe. The freest country is Estonia –
85.25 points.
Lithuania is 16th, Latvia is 21st. The other CIS countries are
outside top 50: Georgia is 58th, Armenia 79th, Ukraine 87th and
Moldova 93rd. Russia is 124th with 42.07 points near Central African
Republic and Egypt. The least free countries of the CIS are Uzbekistan,
Belarus and Turkmenistan – 152nd, 153rd and 154th.
Many exerts are skeptical about the rating and do not consider it as
professional as few people know anything about State of World Liberty,
reports Delfi.

CHAIRMAN OF COURT OF CASSATION SAYS JUDGES AND COURTS ARE PROTECTED AND INDEPENDENT
Armenpress
YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS: The chairman of the Armenian Court of
Cassation Hovhannes Manukian told today at a press conference that
there is no more protected and independent official in Armenian than
a judge is.
“Today the judges and courts are more independent than ever,” he said
adding that it is nonsense to think that the judicial system depends on
prosecutor’s office or on an executive power. “If a judge has certain
principles, established system of values and finally, he/she is brave
it will be difficult to exert influence on him/her,” Manukian said at
the same time noting that not all the judges have relevant principles.
According to him, there are many gaps in the judicial system and it
is necessary to undertake urgent steps for their elimination.
“The judicial system, state and the public must not tolerate the judges
who do not justify their title. In any case of the violation of the
judge’s ethics the society must respond and apply to the relevant
body,” the chairman of the Court of Cassation said.

Journal Times Online, WI
Aug 5, 2006
At Armenian Fest, food is the attraction
By Scott Anderson
RACINE – Armenian Fest will once again grace the Festival Park
grounds Sunday with an array of games, music, dance, art and a church
service.
“We pack a lot of things into one day,” festival chair Perry
Paragamian said.
But above all, Paragamian postulates, there’s one thing that really
brings people to Armenian Fest – the food.
“The weather is going to be nice and the aroma from the grill will
bring you in from the street,” he said.
Armenian Fest will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Festival
Park, beginning at 10 a.m. with English Divine Liturgy services in
the Green Room of Festival Hall.
The festival, known as one of the largest Armenian Festivals in the
Midwest, is sponsored by St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church.
The festival will feature Armenian foods such as shish kebab, pilaf
and cheese boeregs, plus numerous Armenian pastries and breads, all
of which are Armenian family recipes that the general public just
can’t find anywhere else.
Members of St. Mesrob’s Womens’ Guild organizes and performs all the
food preparation and cooking, and have been busy over the last week
preparing for the festival.
On Friday, they were preparing scores of sarma – a grape leaf roll
stuffed with rice, parsley, tomatoes, onions, lemon juice and oil.
It’s so good, Womens’ Guild chair Alice Garoukian said, that people
ask to buy sarma and the enamel container in which they were cooked.
“There are people who like it so much, they are addicted to it,” she
said. “I know it sounds crazy, but that’s the way it is.”
The sarma is homemade through-and-through, right down to the grape
leaves that are picked by hand from a special breed of grape plant
that characteristically does not bear fruit.
“Everything we do is labor intensive,” Garoukian said of the Womens’
Guild efforts in preparing the festival’s food.
Humble beginnings Paragamian said the festival got its start between
75-80 years ago as a picnic for parishioners that at one time was
held at
Johnson Park.
Over the years, he said, the picnic grew as the Armenian parishioners
intermarried, introducing more and more people to Armenian cultures
and traditions.
When Festival Park opened in the late 1980s, Armenian Fest moved in
and has played host to the yearly celebration ever since.
“This is the one time a year joining communities come to Racine to
see friends they haven’t seen for some time,” Paragamian said.
“Normally, when an Armenian goes out of town, they look for another
`ian’ in the phone book. That’s how close we are.”
There is no admission fee to the festival, however, a freewill
offering will be accepted. Proceeds will go to orphanages in Armenia
and to the Racine Northside Food Pantry.

ARMENIA SEEKS UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM ASSISTANCE TO EASE CONSEQUENCES OF DROUGHT
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 3, 2006
YEREVAN, August 3. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan,
at his meeting with UN World Food Program Executive Director James
Maurice on Wednesday, asked the program to provide assistance to
Armenia to ease consequences of drought, governmental press service
reports.
Margaryan described current problems caused by this year drought
and expressed gratitude for WFP assistance sent in 2000for the same
purposes. The PM said the assistance had brought considerable relief
to drought-stricken regions of Armenia.
WFP delegation visited Armenia on Aug 2-3 as part of its regional tour.
This summer drought has struck hard at many farmers. Armenian
government has decided to allocate AMD 1bln 18mln for 8 provinces –
Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk, Sunik, Shirak and Vayots Dzor –
to compensate the damage inflicted by drought. ($1- AMD 412.54).

“BLUE SHIELD” COMMITTEE CONCERNED ABOUT FATE OF CULTURAL-HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN NEAR EAST
AZG Armenian Daily #145, 03/08/2006
Middle East
“Blue Shield” International Committee grieves about the victims,
the distractions and hardship that took place in Israel, Lebanon and
Palestine. According to the organization’s statement sent to ArmInfo,
Joan Van Albada, chairman of the organization, expresses concern that
in case the military conflict spreads, the rich historical-cultural
heritage of Israel and Lebanon may be in danger. “Blue Shield” turns
to all sides in conflict with the claim to spare no efforts to spare
the historical monuments of the region from distraction. The committee
reminds that the international law forbids to use the sightseeing
places for military goals. “The Hague convention on defence of the
cultural values in the military conflicts” adopted in 1954, as well as
the convention on the defence of cultural heritage and nature demand
from the sides in conflict to avert direct and indirect damaging the
cultural values in their territory,” Joan Albada stated, adding that
both Israel and Lebanon have signed both of the conventions.