Author: Chatinian Lara

EP PUTS DEMANDS BEFORE TURKEY
AZG Armenian Daily
27/09/2006
On September 25, a regular sitting of the European Parliament discussed
the report of its External Relations Committee on Turkey that harshly
criticizes Turkish authorities. The report also labeled unsatisfactory
all reforms carried out in regards to freedom of speech, religious and
ethnic minority rights and improvement of relations with Cyprus. EP
representatives have also called on Turkey in the report to open its
border with Armenia and to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

NIS INTERSTATE COMMITTEE HOLDS XX SESSION ON EMERGENCY
Panorama.am
13:13 26/09/06
XX session of the interstate committee of Newly Independent States
(NIS) on nature-caused or man-caused emergency situations kicked off
in Yerevan today.
Andranik Margaryan, Armenian prime minister, addressed the guests
saying the committee has successfully accomplished its tasks in
the field. “Different man-caused and nature-caused disasters cause
considerable harm, including among developed countries,” he said.
Margaryan informed the guests that Armenian rescue services comprise
4000 employees against 700 ten years ago. He also mentioned that the
law on rescue service is adopted in Armenia and a State Academy for
Emergency Administration is established. The prime expressed belief
that the XX session will be another step forward to cooperation among
rescue services in NIS.

PROSECUTORS TO INDICT ARMENIAN JOURNALIST FOR “INSULTING TURKISHNESS”
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
25 Sep 06
Istanbul, 25 September: Istanbul’s Sisli Prosecutor’s Office
prepared an indictment against Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of Agos
newspaper, and two other administrators of the newspaper on charges of
“insulting Turkishness”.
In the indictment, the Prosecutor’s Office referred to Hrant Dink’s
interview with a foreign news agency, and recalled that the Agos
newspaper wrote a story about Dink’s remarks.
Hrant Dink is accused of saying: “Of course, I am saying that this
is a genocide because it can be seen from the outcome. We see that
people, who lived in these lands for about 4,000 years, disappeared
after the incidents.”
The prosecutor asks for prison terms up to three years for not only
Hrant Dink but also Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan, under Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
September 25, 2006
___________________
AVAKS START FALL SEASON WITH SEVERAL PLANNED EVENTS
By Florence Avakian
The St. Vartan Cathedral Avaks senior citizens group began its fall 2006
season recently with a myriad of activities planned for the next few months.
Already on the menu is a three-day trip — from September 26 to 28 — to the
Diocese’s Ararat Center in picturesque upstate New York. Participants on
the trip will enjoy comfortable sleeping quarters, three delicious meals
daily, worship services, Bible study, films, excursions to nearby locations
such as apple orchards, and fellowship.
Meetings take place every Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Avaks
first attend a one-hour Bible study with St. Vartan Cathedral Dn. Sebuh
Oscherician. A delicious lunch is served at 12:30 p.m., followed by an
interesting program is presented. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean of St. Vartan
Cathedral, directs the group.
Highlights of the spring season included a five week Lenten study session,
starting with a supper appropriate to Lent, a service in St. Vartan
Cathedral conducted by Fr. Chevian, and Bible reading and discussion.
During the Feast of Ascension (Paregentan), Diramayr Shakeh Kahdejian
organized festivities which included the vijag ceremony, where fortunes are
told.
The spring 2006 season was filled with a number of films, videos from
Armenia and Jerusalem, as well as interesting lectures and trips. Featured
musical performers and speakers included St. Vartan Cathedral choir director
Khoren Mekanejian, singer Maro Partamian, Diocesan Zohrab Resource Center
Director Aram Arkun, Diocesan Armenian Studies Coordinator Gilda
Buchakjian-Kupelian, and journalist Florence Avakian.
In June, more than 90 people attended an outdoor picnic which took place
under sunny skies on the Cathedral plaza. It was followed by dancing to the
music of John Vartan and his band, and special prizes to the lucky ticket
holders.
The much-anticipated climax to the season’s activities took place from June
20 to 22, as 30 Avak members and guests journeyed in two large vans to the
Diocesan Ararat Center in upstate New York. Stopping first at the St. Peter
Church in Watervliet, NY, they were given a tour of the sanctuary by the
pastor, Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian, after which they enjoyed Armenian
refreshments in the church hall.
During their two days at the Ararat Center, nestled among the magnificent
hills of the Catskills, the Avaks attended daily morning services conducted
by Fr. Chevian, and Bible study classes taught by Dn. Oscherician. A
shopping trip to a nearby mall was also undertaken. In the evenings, films
were shown, followed by music and singing, and always accompanied with a
special snack of wine and fruits.
For Ara and Rosemary Akian, the trip was “beyond expectations, a very
spiritual experience, with well organized programs in very inviting
premises.”
For long-time Avak member Araxie Chirishian, “everything was perfect, the
best. It couldn’t have been better.”
And Sarkis Matossian called the institution of the Ararat Center by the
Diocese of the Armenian Church “a great accomplishment, in not only training
Armenian youngsters to serve the Church, but also as a wonderful meeting
place for all Armenian groups to come together in a place of superb mountain
scenery.”
— 9/25/06
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News and
Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Members of the St. Vartan Cathedral Avaks senior
citizens group enjoy the annual picnic on the cathedral plaza in June 2006.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): Members of the St. Vartan Cathedral Avaks senior
citizens group take part in a program on staying physically fit during one
of the group’s spring 2006 sessions.

YURI CHAYKA: DIRECTIONS FOR COOPERATION OUTLINED
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.09.2006 14:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with
Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chayka, reported the RA leader’s
press office. During the meeting they discussed the reformation
process and pointed out to the necessity of development of bilateral
cooperation. Robert Kocharian remarked that the successful experience
of collaboration between the police and special services of the two
states proves the possibility of efficient cooperation within the
Offices of Prosecutor General. For his part Yuri Chayka said that
during the visit to Armenia important agreements were achieved and
exact directions of cooperation outlined.

BULGARIA AND ROMANIA INCLUDED IN TRANSATLANTIC SURVEY
Polina Slavcheva
Sofia Echo, Bulgaria
Issue 37: Sep. 15-21 2006
LOVE-HATE: Bulgarians generally hold oppinions consistent with those
of EU countries and 37 per cent of people in the EU consider US
leadership in the world undesirable.
Five years after September 11 2001, the image of the United States
has not recovered from its steep decline after the war in Iraq,
the Transatlantic Trends 2006 survey said.
Decline was steepest in Germany, which showed 43 per cent of support,
down from 68 per cent in 2002.
The US-Germany cooling became even clearer on September 13 when
the head of the German investigation said that US policy in Iraq
had increased the terrorist threat around the world. German support
for NATO has fallen as well, as has support for the North Atlantic
alliance in Europe in general.
Italy, Poland and Turkey, countries traditionally perceived as
strong supporters of NATO, also show reduced figures of support. This
probably explains a certain isolationist trend among Americans that
the study identified.
The biggest twist, however, comes from Turkey. The EU candidate has
been cooling toward Europe and the US and warming toward Iran since
2004. On a 100-point thermometer scale, Turkish warmth toward the
US declined from 28 degrees in 2002 to 20 in 2006, and toward the
EU from 52 degrees to 45. Elif Shafak, the Turkish writer accused of
insulting Turkish national identity in a book about Turkish genocide
against Armenians, warned about that trend as well. On September 13,
she said that the case against her and other cases like hers could
actually stop Turkey’s negotiations with the EU.
And deepen Turkish orientation toward the Muslim world that the
study identified as well. Since 2004, Turkish warmth toward Iran
rose from 34 degrees to 43. As many as 56 per cent of Turkish people,
when asked if they minded Iran’s nuclear programme, said no.
“If I was asked to do that a month ago, I would not have been able to
predict such a result,” said the director of the Centre for Liberal
Studies in Bulgaria, Ivan Krustev.
For the first time, this year Bulgaria and Romania were included in
the Transatlantic survey as well.
The surprise coming from the Bulgarians, at least to Krustev, is that
Bulgarians generally hold opinions consistent with the line of EU
foreign policy, he said. At the same time, however, Bulgarians tend
to support Euro-isolationist views in the line of “the world should
leave the EU at peace”, rather than “the EU should try to fix the
world”, Krustev said.
Bulgarians see EU membership more as a way to escape the problems of
the world than a chance to solve them, he said.
In that, their opinions are closer to those of Slovakia than those
of other new and future EU members like Poland and Romania. The
new and future EU members are not a coherent block anyway, even if
their overall views on the EU and the United States do not differ
significantly from EU averages, the study said.
Seventy per cent of Romanians and 66 per cent of Poles support EU
global leadership and in that are closer to the 76 per cent EU average
than are Bulgaria and Slovakia. Only 56 per cent of Bulgarians and 50
per cent of Slovakians support strong EU leadership, and thus move away
from the EU trend to seek larger involvement in world affairs. European
support for a new EU foreign minister – one of the key reforms put
forth in the proposed constitutional treaty – is at a high 65 per
cent despite the French and Dutch EU “No” to the constitution.
And, contrary to public concerns about enlargement fatigue, Europeans
also see positive benefits from enlargement, which they connect
with the importance of encouraging democracy – a trend that will
increasingly find Europeans on the more active side, as opposed to
US citizens, researchers said.
When it comes to support for the policies of George W Bush, Bulgaria
and Slovakia are closer to the eight per cent EU average with their
20 and two per cent, respectively, of support than are Poland and
Romania, which score 40 and 42 per cent. Poles and Romanians, in fact,
show the greatest support of the US of all 13 surveyed countries.
Another peculiarity of Bulgarians is that they seem to be more
interested in what will be happening to Bulgaria in an EU context,
rather than what their and their country’s position in the world
should be, Krustev said.
For example, Bulgarians know little about the Bulgarian contingents in
Iraq and Afghanistan, and a lot about the case against the Bulgarian
nurses in Libya. This means that Bulgarian opinions on foreign policy
are still a reflex rather than a consciously taken position, he said.
Bulgarians also seem unable to form opinions as to whether Turkey’s
membership in the EU would be a good or a bad thing, Krustev said.
Most Bulgarians do not see Iraq as a threat, and evidence of that is
the marginalisation of the issue in Bulgarian media, Krustev said.
What is most striking, however, is the huge percentage of I-don’t-know
and I-can’t-answer responses.
Thirty-one per cent of Bulgarians could not answer if the US and
the EU have improved relations, even if that was a matter of general
knowledge, Krustev said.
This means that a third of Bulgarians have not thought on the issue
at all.
Transatlantic Trends is among the most influential public opinion
polls. It has been conducted since 2002 and is a project of the German
Marshall Fund of the United States and the Compagnia di San Paolo.
Additional support comes from the Fundacao Luso-American, Fundacion
BBVA, and the Tipping Point Foundation (Bulgarian).

Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian
15 Sep 06
RACE RIOTS BREAK OUT IN RUSSIA’S VOLGA AREA
[Presenter] Events similar to those in Kondopoga are probably
occurring in another Russian region. Clashes have taken place in the
town of Volsk, Saratov Region. Our correspondent Andrey Triatskiy has
the details.
[Correspondent] The conflict happened in the local club Galaktika on
the night of Sunday [10 September]. Two young men, who were there
with their wives, picked a fight with local Armenians. The dispute
turned into a mass brawl. As a result, one person was killed and
three people suffered stab wounds. The killed person was a
25-year-old local resident, a former paratrooper who served in
Chechnya. One person was injured among the Armenians.
On Monday [11 September] the conflict escalated. Local young people
broke into a bridge and dam technical school. The youths attacked
local Armenians. One student received a stab wound. The riots in
Volsk did not stop with this incident. Our correspondents and locals
say that town residents carried out so-called sweep operations at
night. People from neighbouring districts also took part in the
disturbances. It is unknown whether there have been casualties.
[Presenter] The police in Volsk have been put on alert. The police
are patrolling the town round the clock. I want to stress that
officially the information about the unrest has not been confirmed so
far.
[In a later report at 0614 gmt on 15 September, Ekho Moskvy news
agency said that the local administration had ordered all people from
Russia’s southern republics to leave town markets to avoid acts of
provocation]

Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian
13 Sep 06
ARMENIAN PREMIER AGAINST SENDING PEACEKEEPERS TO LEBANON
Yerevan, 13 September: Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan
believes it is not expedient to send Armenian peacekeepers to
Lebanon. Markaryan said this in a conversation with journalists
today.
We should note that the Armenian parliamentary opposition is
insisting that a contingent of Armenian peacekeepers be sent to
Lebanon.

IRAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TO ARMENIA AND KYRGYZSTAN SERVICE: ISLAMIC PARLIAMENT
ISNA, Iran
Iranian Students’ News Agency
Sept 11 2006
TEHRAN, Sep. 11 (ISNA)-Iran’s Parliament Speaker today left Iran for
a 4 day trip to Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
“Preserving and strengthening cooperation and ties with Caucasus and
Central Asia has constantly been among the top agendas of the Islamic
Republic of Iran,” said Gholam Ali Hadadeadel before departing Iran.
“This trip is in answer to the invitation of these countries Parliament
Speakers. Strengthening economic, political and cultural ties and
relations are among the top issues which we plan to discuss,” he added.

ARRIVAL SECTION OF NEW TERMINAL AT ZVARTNOTS AIRPORT TO BECOME EFFECTIVE IN TWO DAYS
Armenpress
Sept 12 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: Argentina’s Aeropuertos Argentina
that was granted the right to lease Armenia’s main airport Zvartnots
in 2001 for several decades took today a group of local journalists
to the airport to show the arrival section of its new international
terminal.. The arrival terminal will handle the first flight that
will arrive from the southern Russian Mineralny Vodi on September 14.
Juan Pablo Gechigjian, the chief manager of the airport, told
journalists that out of $63 million investment earmarked for the
construction of the new terminal $35 million were spent on building
the arrival section, which he said is furnished with the most advanced
equipment. He said the departure section will be ready to process
passengers only in 2007 May.
The state-of-the art terminal makes Zvartnots airport number one
airport in the South Caucasus.
Juan Pablo Gechigjian said the arrival section is capable to process
around 1000 passengers an hour, twice more than the old one. According
to him, when accomplished the new terminal will be able to handle
some 2 million passengers a year, significantly up from 1,1 million
now. He said the new terminal has an advanced security system.