Author: Chalian Meline

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, US OFFICIALS DISCUSS KARABAKH, ARMENIAN-TURKISH TIES
Mediamax news agency
16 Mar 06
Yerevan, 16 March: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan received
US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel
Fried and US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Steven Mann in
Yerevan today.
The sides discussed issues of ensuring the energy security of the
region and Armenia, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry
told Mediamax. In this context, it was noted that the settlement of
conflicts in the South Caucasus will make it possible to fully use
the possibilities of the region in the future.
Vardan Oskanyan, Daniel Fried and Steven Mann discussed the Nagornyy
Karabakh peace process, exchanged opinions on possible steps towards
continuation of the [peace] talks within the framework of the Prague
process.
The sides also discussed Armenian-Turkish relations. In particular,
they touched upon issues of opening the borders and using
communications routes.
Strengthening democracy in Armenia was also discussed at the meeting.

PEOPLE SPEAKING OF AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY WISH TO RETURN SOVIET REALITY
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2006 19:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There are no controlled or occupied territories in
Karabakh. There is the NKR integrity within its present borders. As
for the statements on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, their
authors should clarify which Azerbaijan they are talking about,
lieutenant general Vitaliy Balasanyan stated in an interview with
Karabakh-online. In his words, history counts at least three periods
of the Azeri-Karabakh relations: pre-revolutionary, soviet and post
soviet. “During the first and third periods Karabakh was not a part
of Azerbaijan. It was during the short soviet period only. Thus,
the people speaking of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity wish to
return the soviet reality,” he noted.
At that he reminded that Azerbaijan twice waged war against Nagorno
Karabakh. “In 1988 when NK Autonomous Region was a part of Azerbaijani
SSR the Azeri authorities organized carnage in Sumgait, Baku and other
towns. They also carried out “Ring” punitive operation in Nagorno
Karabakh. It was a war against own citizens. After the collapse
of the USSR Azerbaijan levied war on independent Karabakh. The
war was conducted on Karabakh’s territory and we had to defend,”
Balasanyan said. He reminded that the NKR armed forces neutralized
weapon emplacements and took under control the territories called
Karabakh. “Today Azerbaijan is speaking of a third war while the
international community does nothing to stop the anti-Armenian
propaganda. I am convinced that first of all the international
community should give an assessment to the events that had taken
place. Those who press for the return of the Azeri refugees should
recognize that the refugee flows from both sides were caused by the
war imposed by Azerbaijan,” Vitaliy Balasanyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

30% DISCREPANCY BETWEEN GROWTH RATES OF CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING STONE EXTRACTION INDICATES EXISTENCE OF SHADOW IN BUILDING STONE EXTRACTION SECTOR
Noyan Tapan
Mar 09 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. About 300 licences have been
granted to the mineral extraction companies in Armenia, most of
which operate nonmetal or building material mines. Artur Ashughian,
Head of the Nature Use Economics and Mining Industry Department of
the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, said it at the
March 7 press conference. According to him, there is a “shadow”
sector in the building stone extraction, which is indicated by the
fact that in Armenia, the growth rate of construction exceeds that
of building stone production by 30%. Whereas the difference in the
volumes of cement production and exports and the volumes of cement
use in construction are almost the same. According to A. Ashughian,
only two companies are engaged in cement production in the country.

USA DOESN’T RECKON THAT COSOVO MODEL COULD BE APPLIED TO NK AND SOUTH OSSETIA
Prime News Agency, Georgia
March 9 2006
Tbilisi, March 09 (Prime-News) – The USA reckon that conflicts in
Nagorno Karabakh and South Ossetia have their differences and they
should be treated as separate issues.
Sean McCormack, official representative of the US Department of State,
stated about that commenting statement of Russian president about
conferring the status of independence to Cosovo could set a precedent
for resolution of post Soviet conflicts.
“Our position is that conflicts in Nagorno Karabakh and South Ossetia
have their peculiarities and they should be treated as separate ssues,”
McCormack noted.

JACKSON-VANIK AMENDMENT IS CANCELED NOT BECAUSE OF POLITICAL MOTIVES
Regnum, Russia
March 9 2006
The US Congress recommended to cancel Jackson-Vanik amendment towards
Ukraine. Official Kiev, along with other countries of ex-USSR has
been struggling for denunciation of Jackson-Vanik amendment since
their independence. Ukrainian President Yushchenko noted that during
last months, the US suppored Ukrainian reforms and already recognized
Ukraine as a country with market economy. Signature of bilateral
protocol between Ukraine and the US on condition of access to goods
and services market represents strategic partnership between the
two countries. The US will aid in stirring up trade relations and
new investments.
The question of abolishing the Jackson-Vanik amendment regarding Russia
has been discussed during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov in the US. American Ambassador in Russia William Burns stated
that the US administration would seek abolition of the Jackson-Vanik
amendment regarding Russia, but currently, it has practically no
effect on Russia.
Experts do not bound cancellation of the amendment with the change of
political regime in Ukraine, because it has been canceled to Georgia
in 2000, when no one heard about Mikhail Saakashvili, and with Armenia
Jackson-Vanik amendment was canceled on November 2004.
REGNUM Information: Jackson-Vanik requirements were introduced in
1974 in US Law on Trade regarding the USSR. It was an initiative of
the Jewish community, because the USSR hampered Jewish emigration.
The amendment bans official credits to the countries that limit
emigration of its citizens. It also presumes that goods imported in
the USA from countries with non-market economy are under the effect of
discriminative tariffs and taxes if the country hampers its citizens’
right to emigrate in any way. The Jackson-Vanik amendment is still
acting regarding Russia and many other CIS countries.

EXPERT NOTES DIFFERENCES OF OPINION BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND SEPARATIST LEADERS
Arminfo
8 Mar 06
Yerevan, 7 March: If Nagorny Karabakh President Arkadiy Gukasyan
continues to insist on Armenia leaving the peace talks, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan may face the lot of Eduard Shevardandze,
says an Armenian MP and political scientist, (?Hmayak Hovhanissyan).
Kocharyan’s advent into power was due the wish of the international
political centers to have one man representing Armenia and Nagornyy
Karabakh and thereby to weaken the position of the Armenian side. Now
the Armenian and Nagornyy Karabakh presidents are showing strong
differences over the future of the negotiating process and if Gukasyan
sticks to his position Kocharyan may prove no longer necessary for
international political centers.
Hovhannissyan says that the positive tendencies for giving priority
to the self-determination principle may serve Nagornyy Karabakh only
if Armenia can restore the membership of the Budapest Summit 1994.

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 10 2006
YEREVAN, TEGERAN TO SIGN MEMORANDUM AS PART OF ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR
ARMENIA
YEREVAN, March 10. /ARKA/. Armenian Government gave its approval
Thursday for signing a memorandum with Iranian Government as part of
development promotion programs for Armenia, Armenian Government’s
press service told ARKA News Agency. M.V. -0—

DISC OF SONGS IN HAMSHEN DIALECT OF ARMENIAN LANGUAGE RELEASED

KRASNODAR, MARCH 10, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A disc titled
“First of Hamshen” was released in Krasnodar. According to the
“Yerkramas” (country) newspaper of the Armenians in Russia, the most
popular music compositions in the dialect of Hamshen are gathered in
the disc for the first time. The compositions are recorded being
performed by the “Caravan” music group of the region of Tuapse,
Krasnodar, with the organization assistance of the “Hamshen” Armenian
scientific information-cultural center and financial aid of the local
benefactors.
There are other works as well in the 2006 programs of the “Hamshen”
center: working out of the form of the “Encyclopedia of Hamshen,”
urgent researches in the regions of inhabitation of Armenians of
Hamshen, publication of scientific reference books concerning problems
of Hamshen Armenians, creation of the site of the organization,
preparation of the idea and scenario of a documentary film,
publication of the “Library of Hamshen” serios of books, creation of
the Armenian folk theater, organization of the Hamshen cultural
festival, etc.
Armenians of Hamshen make the great part of the waterside region of
Krasnodar and few regions of Kuban and Adghe. They moved to Kuban from
the Hamshen province (at present in the territory of Turkey) of the
Western Armenia in the middle of the 19th century and early in the
20th century, after the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. According to
experts’ data, about 250 thousand Armenians of Hamshen live jointly in
Kuban, Adghe and Abkhazia, and according to data of different sources,
from 700 to 1.5 mln Armenians of Hamshen became Moslem live within the
borders of the traditional inhabitation in the territory of Turkey.

NBC4.TV, CA
March 10 2006
LA, Anaheim Raids Net 28 Alleged Gang Members
Most Of The Suspects Are Expected To Be Deported
POSTED: 12:57 pm PST March 10, 2006
LOS ANGELES — Raids in Los Angeles and Orange counties netted 28
suspected foreign-born gang members, most of whom will be deported,
authorities announced Friday.
The federal and local operation rounded up nine suspects in Los
Angeles and 19 in Anaheim, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials.
Among those arrested in the Los Angeles area was a 40-year-old member
of the Armenian Power street gang, whose criminal record includes
past convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse,
ICE reported.
Those arrested in Anaheim included a 20-year-old gang member
convicted of kidnapping for ranson and extortion. All 19 of the
Anaheim suspects are Mexican nationals.
Four of the gang members arrested during the Anaheim operation will
be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for re-entering the
United States after a deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20
years in prison.
Most of the suspects are expected to be deported, officials said.
“For years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with ICE, has
worked to take dangerous criminal aliens off the streets,” said U.S.
Attorney Debra Wong Yang. “Those who routinely flout American laws by
sneaking into the country and then committing crimes that often
impact members of their own ethnic group deserve to be punished.”
In San Diego County, Operation Community Shield rounded up 41
suspects, who also are to be deported.
The two-month enforcement effort that concluded yesterday was part of
Operation Community Shield, a joint operation involving ICE agents
and local law enforcement officers.
Operation Community Shield was launched nationwide in February 2005
after ICE officials targeted MS-13, one of the largest and most
violent street gangs in the country, and found that most of the gang
members were in the country illegally.
In May 2005, ICE expanded the operation to include all criminal
street gangs and prison gangs with foreign-born members, ICE
officials said.
The nationwide operation so far has netted 2,388 suspected street
gang members and associates, and the seizure of about 117 guns, the
federal agency reported.

COOPERATION WITH SOUTH CAUCASUS IS A PRIORITY OF NATO
YEREVAN, MARCH 11. ARMINFO. Cooperation with the South Caucasus region
is claimed a priority by NATO, said NATO representative Romualdas
Razuks during the “Starlink expert Roundtable and seminar”.
According to Mr. Razuks, NATO aims providing the security of the
region due to cooperation between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The
NATO programs in South Caucasus, the individual partnership program
particularly, are to satisfy the individual needs of the Southern
Caucasian states, provide assistance in integrating with Europe and
developing democratic institutions, as well as in destroying the old
Soviet weapon. NATO also takes part in settling the regional
conflicts. Mr. Razuks reminded that next year will be considered
Armenia’s achievements in the frameworks of cooperation with NATO. The
NATO official concluded that the partnership of South Caucasus states
will make all the security programs more effective.