Author: Chatinian Lara

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 24 2005
RV Investment to Propose Development of New Gold Mine to Azeri
Government
24/08/2005 08:40
RV Investment Services Grou? LLC is currently preparing proposals to
the Azerbaijani government on the development of a new gold mine
`Chovdar’ in Dashkasan, west Azerbaijan.
The company told Trend RV Investment was interested in the
development of gold-mine fields. Experts of the company visited the
field and estimate its perspective. In the near future the company
intends to come out with a concrete proposal to the government.
Last year appraisal work was carried out in the gold mine in
Dashkasan, and reserves of the field were included in the balance. As
a result of the appraisal reserves of the Chovdar field turned out
equal to all gold mines opened in Azerbaijan.
At present Azerbaijan has one contract with RV Investment on the
development of gold mines. In compliance with the contract, signed on
21 August 1997 between Azergizil State Concern (currently liquidated)
and R.V. Investment Group Services LLS (Azerbaijan holds 51% stake
and the United States – 49%), it is planned to develop 9 gold mines
of Azerbaijan with the initial reserves of 400 tons of gold, 2500
tons of silvers and 1.5 million tons of cooper. However, 3 fields are
currently under occupation of Armenia (Gizilbulag, Soyudlu and
Vejneli) in Zangilan and Kalbajar districts.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Finally Armenian Officials Free Duke Scolar
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Aug 19 2005
YERVAN – A Turkish scholar who was arrested in Armenia two months
ago was ordered freed after receiving a 2-year suspended sentence for
attempting to take old books out of the country. Yektan Turkyilmaz,
a doctoral student at Duke University whose plight had prompted
protests from intellectuals and former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, was
convicted Tuesday of two counts of smuggling. Turkyilmaz visited
Armenia to make research on Armenian and Turkish history. Mr.
Turkyilmaz bought used books from ordinary second hand book shops, yet
the Armenian custom officers arrested him for attempting smuggling
antique books. Turkish and American academics condemned Yerevan
Government for the case. Dr. Nilgun Gulcan, Turkish researcher,
argued that no Turkish historian or IR expert could visit Armenia
after this case. “All Turkish academicians know that the real reason
is different. Buying used books could cost your life in Yerevan if you
are Turkish. Armenian archives are open but just to the pro-Government
Armenians. Neither Tashnak nor Armenia archives can be visited by
bipartisan researchers” she added.
At the request of prosecutors, the sentence was suspended. Authorities
said Turkyilmaz can leave Armenia after the verdict takes effect
Aug. 31. He has been held for almost two months in a former KGB
facility in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital.
Though the accusation was just book smuggling, the Armenian government
has not yet returned the computer disks on which he had stored months
of research from the Armenian national archives. Officials have said
the research material will be returned to Turkyilmaz when he leaves
the country.
Armenia argues that the 1915 Events were genocide and does not allow
Turkish historians to use Armenian documents. Turkish Ankara and
Istanbul archives are open to all researchers.

First autopsies show at least six people were alive when Cypriot
airliner crashed in Greece
AP Worldstream; Aug 16, 2005
PATRICK QUINN
At least half a dozen people aboard a Cypriot plane were alive when
the jetliner carrying 121 people slammed into a hillside north of
Athens, Athens’ chief coroner said Monday after conducting the first
autopsies from the crash.
But Fillipos Koutsaftis could not rule out that the six people were
unconscious when the Helios Airways Boeing 737-300, with six crew
and 115 passengers, plunged 10,400 meters (34,000 feet) Sunday
into a mountainous area near the village of Grammatiko, 25 miles
(40 kilometers) north of Athens. There were no survivors.
“We have performed autopsies on six people. Our conclusion is they had
circulation and were breathing at the time of death,” Koutsaftis said,
but stressed: “I cannot rule out that they were unconscious.”
Investigators, to be joined by U.S. experts, were sending the plane’s
data and cockpit voice recorders to France for expert examinations
that could shed light on what happened.
But the head of the Greek airline safety committee, Akrivos Tsolakis,
said the voice recorder was damaged. “It’s in a bad state and,
possibly, it won’t give us the information we need,” he said.
In Cyprus, police raided the offices of Helios Airways in the coastal
city of Larnaca, near the international airport.
A search warrant was issued “to secure … documents and other evidence
which could be useful for the investigation into possible criminal
acts,” Cyprus’ deputy presidential spokesman Marios Karoyian said.
Investigators also were trying to determine why the pilot was not in
his seat shortly before the crash.
The pilots of two Greek air force F-16 fighter planes scrambled to
intercept the plane after it lost contact with air traffic control
shortly after entering Greek airspace said they saw the co-pilot
slumped over the controls. The pilot did not appear to be in the
cockpit, and oxygen masks were seen dangling in the cabin.
The fighter jet pilots also saw two people possibly trying to take
control of the plane; it was unclear if they were crew members or
passengers.
The plane might have run out of fuel after flying on autopilot,
air force officials said, asking not to be named in line with Greek
practice.
After the crash, authorities said it appeared to have been caused by
a technical failure _ resulting in high-altitude decompression. A
Cypriot transport official had said Sunday the passengers and crew
may have been dead before the plane crashed.
“They had circulation and were breathing _ so they were alive _ but
of course that only concerns the people that have been examined. The
others, according to a preliminary observation, show the same signs,
but the autopsies must be carried out to confirm this,” Koutsaftis
said late Monday outside Athens’ main morgue.
He added that there were “80 passengers who cannot be recognized and
that we are not examining at the moment. We are only talking about
a certain number of people at this point. The tissue examinations
on those who cannot be recognized will help us draw more clear
conclusions.”
Koutsaftis also dismissed reports that those aboard may have frozen
to death.
In a related development, police in northern Greece arrested a
man who claimed to have received a telephone text message from a
passenger. The man _ identified as Nektarios-Sotirios Voutas, 32 _
told Greek television stations that his cousin on board the plane
sent him a cell-phone text message minutes before the crash saying:
“Farewell, cousin, here we’re frozen.”
But authorities determined he was lying, and arrested him on charges
of dissemination of false information.
The airliner’s pilots had reported air conditioning system problems
to Cyprus air traffic control about a half-hour after takeoff.
Searchers were still looking for three bodies, including the plane’s
German pilot, fire officials said. Cypriot authorities identified
him as Marten Hans Jurgen, 50, from Berlin.
A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition
of anonymity in line with German practice, identified one of the
pilots as a 58-year-old German but would not give his full name. It
was unclear why there was a discrepancy in his age. Greek and Cypriot
authorities often list surnames before given names, and Hans-Juergen
would likely be the pilot’s first name.
In Berlin, police were guarding the house at the address where
the Cypriot government said the pilot lived _ a gray stucco house
surrounded by a tidy, tree-filled garden in a quiet Berlin neighborhood
near the Schoenefeld airport.
The name on the mailbox said Merten. Neighbors confirmed his first
name was Hans-Juergen and said he was a pilot in his 50s, but refused
to provide any other details.
There were other unanswered questions about the pilot, including how
long he had worked for Helios.
“I don’t remember the exact date of his employment,” Helios General
Manager Andreas Drakos said when asked at a news conference.
A passenger list showed there had been 20 children under the age of
16 on board. At least 10 families with children were among the dead.
The passengers and crew included at least 12 Greeks and the German
pilot, and a four-member family of Armenian origin. The rest were
Cypriot.
The body of the Cypriot co-pilot, Pambos Haralambous, was found in
the cockpit.
The airliner’s pilots had reported air conditioning system problems
to Cyprus air traffic control about a half-hour after takeoff, and
Greek state TV quoted Cyprus’ transport minister as saying the plane
had decompression problems in the past.
But a Helios representative said the plane had “no problems and was
serviced just last week.”
Helios said the Boeing 737-300 was manufactured in 1998 and was
previously operated by Deutsche BA. It entered the Helios fleet in
April 2004, the company said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GEORGIAN OFFICIAL VISITS AKHALKALAK TO INTRODUCE PROGRAM ON RESETTLEMENT OF MESKHETIAN TURKS
Armenpress
AKHALKALAK, AUGUST 15, ARMENPRESS: Georgian state minister for
conflict resolution and the head of the Georgian president-affiliated
state commission on Meskhetian Turks re-settlement Georgi Khaindrava
visited August 14 Akhalkalaki in southern Georgia with predominantly
Armenian population to introduce the state program for re-settlement
of Meskhetian Turks to Georgia.
A-INFO news agency reported that during the meeting with
representatives of Javakhq NGOs G. Khaindrava noted that Georgia
has assumed a commitment on the implementation of the program for
re-settlement of the Meskhetian Turks and added that after becoming
Georgian citizens they may live in any part of Georgia.
Representatives of the Javakhq NGOs noted that Turks did not live in
today’s Armenian populated regions of Georgia – Akhalkalak, Ninotsminda
and Akhaltskha. They said no Javakhq resident will allow a Turk to
appear in there territory. If the country has assumed commitment to
re-settle the Turks they may settle them on the territory where they
used to live.

ARKA News Network
Aug 8 2005
ARMENIA ATTACHES SPECIAL IMPORTANCE TO DEVELOPMENT OF TIES WITH CHINA
YEREVAN, August 8. /ARKA/. Armenia attaches special importance to
deepening its friendly ties with China, Head of the RA Presidential
Administration, Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Chinese Intergovernmental
Commission Artashes Tumanyan stated at his meeting with Special
Representative of the Chinese Government, Chinese Deputy Foreign
Minister Chao Zhunkhuai. The sides pointed out that since the
establishment of diplomatic relations Armenian-Chinese cooperation
based on a high-level political dialogue has been dynamically
developing.
The sides also pointed out the key role of RA President Robert
Kocharyan’s visit to China in 2004. Expressing the confidence that
the bilateral relations are greatly promising, the sides pointed out
the importance of the activities of the bilateral intergovernmental
commission, which is to hold its regular meeting in Beijing this
autumn. The sides also expressed satisfaction over successful joint
program in some economic sectors. P.T. -0–

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 8, 2005, Monday
SECURITY ZONE CAN BECOME A BATTLEFIELD
SOURCE: Voenno-Promyshlennyi Kurier, 1, 28, August 3-9, 2005, p. 3
by: Samvel Martirosyan
ABOUT AN APPROACHING BREAK-THROUGH IN KARABAKH CONFLICT REGULATION
AND WESTERN INTERESTS IN CONFLICT ZONE
The Karabakh conflict regulation seems to come on another level.
Though the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan is
carried out in a closed regime, there were several leaks that caused
discussions last month.
On July 11, the Armenian service of the radio station Svoboda
informed, alluding to an anonymous senior source in diplomatic
circles, that the parties concerned nearly reached a consensus.
According to the data of the source, at the time of the negotiations
the parties agreed upon many questions, the parties work at “solving
several lasting contradictions in the text of the agreement”, and by
the end of this year or by the beginning of next year the conflict
could be solved.
The diplomat noted that, in accord with preliminary agreements, in
10-15 years there’ll be a referendum in Nagorny Karabakh. Based on
it, the status of the Nagorny Karabakh republic will be determined;
either joining Armenia, or becoming an independent state, or joining
Azerbaijan. “The variant of the referendum was suggested several
months ago, but then it was spoken of in Azerbaijan and in Nagorny
Karabakh, and now the matter concerns the referendum, which will take
place not only in Nagorny Karabakh, the radio station Svoboda cites
the words of the diplomatic source. And Azerbaijan admits the status
of Nagorny Karabakh, that is its right for self-determination. Lachin
(the region connecting the Nagorny Karabakh republic with Armenia. –
author’s commentary) stays under the control of Karabakh. As for
Azerbaijan lands, situated under the control of Armenia, they will be
returned instead of an agreement on referendum”.
Speaking about security guarantees, the interlocutor of Svoboda noted
that it is suggested there should be peacekeeping forces stationed in
the conflict zone. The countries that will be presented for the
peacekeeping mission are not known yet. There’s only one condition:
peacekeepers mustn’t represent countries that are members of the
Minsk group of the OSCE in the Karabakh conflict. According to
Svoboda, this condition satisfies Armenia and Azerbaijan, Yerevan
comes out against participation of Turkey, and Baku is against
Russian participation. The diplomat also informed that the new format
of regulation includes Armenian-Turkish relationships, including
opening of the Armenian-Turkish frontier. From the moment of signing
the treaty Turkey will open the frontier with Armenia, and Azerbaijan
will deploy communication routes.
Already on July 15, from the Azerbaijan party concerned, a not
indicated diplomat came out, informing that between the parties the
question of the security zone had been solved, 7 regions around the
Nagorny Karabakh republic, which are controlled by the Karabakh army.
According to the resource, the Armenian troops will be withdrawn
first from the territory of five regions; Gubdalinsk, Zangilansk,
Fizulin, Djebrail and Agdaman. After, these territories will be
passed over to the control of Azerbaijan; the parties concerned will
sign a peace treaty. Then the Armenian troops will leave Kelbadjir
and later Lach regions (they are situated between the Nagorny
Karabakh republic and Armenia). Moreover, if after signing the treaty
the withdrawal of troops is not carried out “in accord with the
plan”, then the document will lose its force.
At the same time, not less sensational statements were made by
co-chairpersons of the Minsk group of the OSCE of the Karabakh
conflict regulation, and representatives of other mediator
organizations. So unusual speeches were made at the 14th session of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, which took place in
Washington from July 1-5. Here they discussed the report of Goran
Lenmarker, special representative of the chairman of the OSCE in the
Karabakh conflict. Mr. Lenmarker prepared a resolution concerning the
Karabakh conflict, in which there’s a strange clause. The
Parliamentary assembly “recommends Azerbaijan and Armenia follow the
way of forming a situation of “victory-victory”, on the basis of
available suggestions, supported by European structures”. It’s clear
that it is impossible to achieve such a situation in the Karabakh
question: any decision will lead to defeat of one of the parties
concerned. Every Armenian and Azerbaijanian knows this, and special
representatives of the Karabakh question are obliged to know it.
Moreover, Gorlan Lenmarker called upon creation of the commission
“Justice and Reconciliation”, which is to find the historical truth.
Creation of such a commission can knock out the negotiation process.
For all these years the mediators have been trying to take the
question out of the historical justice plane (since the number of
historical arguments from both the parties concerned goes amounts to
infinity), turning it to the sphere of real lawful and political
aspects.
But this resolution was not passed. The OSCE also rejected the
project, presented by Azerbaijan. However, during presentation of his
report Mr.Lenkmarker made a rather unexpected declaration. In his
opinion, the best way to secure safety in Nagorny Karabakh can be its
joining Armenia. In fact, the special representative repeated the
thesis of US ambassador in Armenia John Avans, who created a furor
not long ago. We’ll remind that at the end of February, at the
meeting with the Armenian diaspora in San-Francisco the ambassador
said, “Everybody admits that it is impossible to return Nagorny
Karabakh to Azerbaijan”. However, after that Mr. Avans said that it
was his personal opinion, but the stone was thrown and the circles
can be seen up till now.
It’s necessary to pay attention to the interview of Goran Lenkmarker
to Azerbaijanian agency AzerTAdj. The special representative of the
OSCE said in it that Armenian forces must free the so-called security
zone, seven Azerbaijan regions around Karabakh, which are under the
control of the Karabakh army. So the position of international
structures is in division of questions on the status of Karabakh and
withdrawal of the Armenian army from the security zone. This approach
has long-run aims. On the one hand, the status of Karabakh will not
be determined for many years and will stay a factor of political
wrangling for the parties concerned. On the other hand, it is
possible to solve the question of creation of the security zone.
Moreover, this envisages bringing in peacekeeping troops to the zone.
>From the part of NATO, Europe and even Ukraine there are suggestions
concerning the matter.
Co-chairpersons of Minsk group of the OSCE were also very enigmatical
at the time of the visit to the region. On July 13, in Stepanakert,
when during the break between negotiations with the Nagorny Karabakh
republic, President Arkady Gukasyan met with journalists and made a
rather pessimistic forecast. “As for the agreement on the Karabakh
conflict regulation, the parties are very far from this”, said
Russian co-chairperson Yuri Merzlyakov. His American colleague Steven
Mann added that in many questions the parties hadn’t reached consent.
But on July 15, in Yerevan the co-representatives were changed. Here
Yuri Merzlyakov said, “The parties have really made a compromise, and
there’s a real possibility for promotion in the process of
regulation”. Moreover, Steven Mann almost repeated the thesis of an
anonymous Armenian diplomat, and said to Svoboda, “During the last
year a serious break-through has been made in the negotiation
process. There are serious grounds for hope that by the end of this
year, we’ll be able to reach this, but there are no guarantees that
this will be accomplished… But there’s a process and a great
possibility in the conflict regulation by the end of this year”. A
bit later, on July 18, Araz Azimov, deputy of the Foreign Affairs
Minister of Azerbaijan, claimed that the chances to regulate the
conflict are very good.
How much is the possibility of the statements of anonymous sources
about the possibility of referendum in the Nagorny Karabakh republic?
And is withdrawal of Karabakh forces from the buffer zone real?
The referendum was first spoken about in December 2004, on the pages
of the French periodical “Le Figaro” by Pierre Lelush, head of the
Parliament Assembly of NATO, and Ana Palacio, former Foreign Affairs
Minister of Spain. Their suggestion is, “Europeans, Americans and
Russians are to find a compromise together, in accord with which
Armenia would get temporary control over Karabakh, further the status
of Karabakh would be determined in the course of a referendum, in
five or six or ten years. The Minsk group of the OSCE, working under
control of the USA, Russia and France, could guarantee achievement of
a compromise and help to carrying out the policy of economical
help… Finally instead of collaboration with Azerbaijan in this
conflict the West must have close partner relationships with this
country”.
However, it is not quite clear what kind of referendum is meant. If
in Azerbaijan, then it is clear that the question will be solved in
favor of Baku. And if the matter concerns a referendum only on the
territory of Nagorny Karabakh, the answer will be predetermined. Even
if mediators achieve return of the Azerbaijan population to the
Nagorny Karabakh Republic, the Armenians will prevail. The exact
population of Nagorny Karabakh today is unknown. It’s rather possible
that it is the idea of a referendum, made the authorities of the
republic hold the first since the time of declaration of
independence, a population census from October 18-27 this year.
According to the latest population census, which took place in
January 1989, the population of the Nagorny Karabakh autonomous
region was 189,085 people, 145,450 (76.9%) of them are Armenians and
40,632 (21.5%) are Azerbaijanian.
In any case holding a referendum will let the West bring in
peacekeeping troops to the region, providing its military presence on
the pretext of defense of peaceful agreements of the Karabakh
question. In addition, as for withdrawal of Karabakh forces from the
buffer zone, the Armenian generals and most political forces
negatively treat such a turn of events. Withdrawal is only possible
on condition of the Nagorny Karabakh Republic’s presenting of
concrete international status. Moreover, Arkady Gukasyan also claimed
that Lachin can’t be an object of negotiations. “This is a road
connecting us with the outer world, and we have serious arguments why
Lachin can’t be discussed in the context of compromises. There won’t
be any opportunistic changes in this question from our part”, the
president of the Nagorny Karabakh Republic is sure.
It’s also clear that until Nagorny Karabakh becomes a party of
negotiations, not a single decision, even if it is passed by Yerevan
and Baku, will be realized. This is the opinion of official
Stepanakert. In this situation, it is difficult for the parties
concerned to really reach a final compromise or even approach it.
However, it is not excluded that Western mediators simply try to
suppress Yerevan and Baku, achieving maximal compromises.
For the last year and a half, Europe and the USA, coming out in the
person of the European Community, the Council of Europe, PACE, OSCE,
NATO and other structures, have been carrying out a rather remarkable
policy of taking out the Karabakh conflict regulation from only the
Minsk group. That is they aim at decreasing the role of Russia.
In spite of constant assurances of mediators in the approaching
break-through in the conflict regulation, it is clear that in the
near future we shouldn’t wait for any progress on this question. In
November, in Azerbaijan, parliamentary elections are expected, they
can seriously destabilize the situation in the country. Here they
often speak about a possible “colored” revolution. In autumn in
Armenia, it is planned to hold a referendum on Constitution reform.
This means that international mediators, who represent the interests
of the West, try to maximally disorient the Armenian and Azerbaijan
public, by suggesting new things that are often contradictory. Such a
decision allows strengthening of the Western impact in the region,
playing on constant changes of social stress. Everybody knows that
the question has become the main one for Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Karabakh. Political elites are closely connected with this problem,
that’s why they can’t make serious deviations from the general line
that is rooted in public opinion. And the constant changes of formats
for determining the situation of Karabakh, reconsideration of
approaches from the part of international structures hold the
authorities of the struggling republics in a state of tension, making
them vulnerable for reports and resolutions. But will they be more
compliant because of this?
ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN

Azeri official criticizes Russia for moving hardware from Georgia to Armenia
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
4 Aug 05
[Presenter] Moscow today started transferring part of its military
hardware from Georgia to its Gyumri military base in Armenia.
[Azerbaijani] Deputy Foreign Minister Xalaf Xalafov has said that this
is a threat to the region and that Russia is disrupting stability in
the region with its step. Xalafov also criticized the OSCE’s loyal
attitude to steps that pose a threat to the region.
[Correspondent, over video of Xalafov] The deployment of military
hardware and ammunition withdrawn from Georgia at the Gyumri base
in Armenia is a threat to stability in the region. Having said this,
Xalafov said that Russia’s step should worry not only Baku, but also
all regional states.
[Xalafov] Of course, the deployment of military bases in an aggressive
country like Armenia does not serve security and stability in the
region. It does not strengthen stability, on the contrary, makes these
issues even more tense and complicated. We have already expressed our
opinion about this and will express it in the future. I think it is an
issue that concerns not only Azerbaijani-Armenian-Russian relations,
but also all regional relations.
[Correspondent] The deputy minister also said that the Kremlin had
informed Azerbaijan that military hardware, weapons and munitions
will be sent to Armenia. They even guaranteed that these weapons will
never be used against our country.
[Xalafov] The Russian side has officially told us at various levels
that these weapons, hardware, equipment and forces will be sent to
Russian military bases in Armenia. This does not mean that these
forces will be handed over to Armenia. They told us about this and
confirmed this. They gave us guarantees that this will be the case.
[Correspondent] At the same time, Xalafov thinks that the issue
of deploying bases in Armenia should be solved both by Russia and
Azerbaijan and by OSCE member states. Otherwise, this organization,
which ensures regional supervision, will have to bear responsibility
for the security of the region.
[Xalafov] There is an OSCE agreement on the balance of weapons in
this region and there are agreements on applying it. Of course,
we should look at these issues in this context and the balance
should not disrupted. The balance has been disrupted anyway. The
balance has been disrupted to such an extent that one country of
the region has invaded another country and keeps 20 per cent of its
territory under occupation. The OSCE should deal with this issue in
the future. The OSCE bears direct responsibility for solving this
issue in a peaceful way.
[Correspondent] The deputy minister said that instead of preventing
these factors in regional security issues, the OSCE is creating
conditions for this.
[Passage omitted: Details of Russian military hardware sent to Armenia]

ARCHBISHOP VAZGEN MIRZAKHANYAN SANCTIFIES CHURCH OF HOLY BLESSED
VIRGIN OF GREAT SAMSAR, AKHALKALAK
ARKA News Agency
Aug 3 2005
YEREVAN, August 3. /ARKA/. Head of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan re-sanctified the
Church of the Holy Blessed Virgin in the village of of Great Samsar,
Akhalkalak region, Georgia. The member of the Georgian Parliament
Hamlet Movsisyan, Mayor of Akhalkalak Nairi Iritsyan, Leader of
the popular movement “Javakhk” Norik Karapetyan and Co-Chair of the
Forum of Javakhk Intellectuals David Rstakyan were present at the
sanctifying ceremony.
After the ceremony Archbishop Mirzakhanyan blessed the flock,
congratulated them on this occasion, and called on them to keep
devotion to the Armenian Apostolic Church and to the traditions of
their fathers. He appreciated the charity of Samvel Barseghyan, a
native of this village, who sponsored the reconstruction of the church.
The village of Great Samsar was founded in 1848 by the clergyman
Barsegh (a grandfather of Samvel Barseghyan). According to some
historical data, the village was founded on the site of the ancient
settlement of Samsar, and many people think that it was Samosat. The
Church of the Holy Blessed Virgin was constructed in 1850 and was
destroyed by the 1899 earthquake. After that, the population of the
Great Samsar reconstructed it in 1902. A.A. -0–

PRESS RELEASE
Fund for Armenian Relief’s Fellowship Alumni Association
29 Rubinyants Street,
Yerevan, Armenia
Contact: Armine Gasparyan,
Program Assistant
Tel: (3741) 249677, 249675
E-mail: [email protected],
[email protected]
Web:
OMI/FARFAA SATELLITE SYMPOSIUM
“ANESTHESIOLOGY”
Yerevan, July 25-26, 2005
FARFAA – Salzburg Medical Seminars Program, the Open Medical Institute (OMI)
program of the American Austrian Foundation, as well as the Armenian Society of
Anesthesiology and Intensive Care and Armenia Pain Control and Palliative Care
Association organized a Satellite Symposium on “ANESTHESIOLOGY”. The symposium
was sponsored by the American Austrian Foundation and of FAR (Fund for Armenian
Relief).
It took place on July 25-26, in Yerevan. About 150 anesthesiologists, from
different hospitals of Armenia both from the capital and province attended.
The chairmen of the symposium was Professor Gagik Mkhoyan, the head of the
Armenian Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care .The symposium was lead
by Dr. Sudhir Diwan and Dr. Aarti Sharma from Weill Medical College of Cornell
University, New York, USA..
Some of the lectures during the symposium were “Opioids and Chronic Pain”,
“Neuropathic Pain: Current Concepts”, “Interventional Pain Management” (by Dr.
Sudhir Diwan), “Overview of Neonatal Physiology and Anesthesia”, “Pediatric
Airway Interventional Pain Management”, “Management of Congenital Cardiac
Problem for Non-cardiac Surgery”, “” (by Dr. Aarti Sharma ). Several case
presentations were demonstrated on “Case of Missed Aspiration”, “Iatrogenic
Injury of Trachea” (by St G. Lusavorich MC), “Rare Complication of Difficult
Airways Management”, “Presentations of Clinical Cases” (by EMC),
“Intra-operative Extubation” (by Khojalu MH), “Fatal Complication after General
Anesthesia” (by St Nerses Mets MC). .
The goal of the symposium was to present the latest information on the
experience and the knowledge of the international faculty members to Armenian
doctors.
Participants positively evaluated the symposium and organizing committee thanks
to the high level of presentations, interesting discussions and established
connections.
On July 25-26, the guest lecturers paid visits to Yerevan hospitals.
We hope that this program will continue in the future and will help to enhance
the practice of local specialists through the gained theoretical knowledge and
discussions.
Dr. Gevorg Yaghjyan, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Plastic Reconstructive Microsurgery, Heratsi
Yerevan State Medical University ()
Local Seminars Coordinator, FARFAA-Salzburg ()
Chair, Educational Committee, Armenian Medical Association ()
58 Abovyan street, 375025 Yerevan, ARMENIA
Phone. (374-10) 56-0636
Fax. (374-10) 54-2898
Email: [email protected]

Alcatel Serges on Triple Play
By Ray Le Maistre
Unstrung.com
07.28.05
Alcatel (NYSE: ALA – message board; Paris: CGEP:PA) delivered better
than expected second-quarter numbers this morning, with CEO Serge
Tchuruk saying that the second half of the year was shaping up to be
even better as revenues from triple-play deployments help the vendor’s
wireline division reclaim some lost ground (see Alcatel Up in Q2).
Revenues of [email protected] billion (US$3.8 billion) were “way above forecast,”
said Tchuruk, and the earnings per share of $0.17 exceeded analyst
expectations of $0.15. Those numbers, increased guidance for the year
— annual revenue growth of between 5 and 8 percent, instead of the low
single digits — and bullish talk about prospects for the second half,
all helped to send the vendor’s share price up by [email protected], 5 percent,
to [email protected] ($12.31) on the Paris bourse.
And analysts are positive, too. Richard Windsor at Nomura Holdings Inc.
says he has “little difficulty in keeping Alcatel as our favourite
stock in the sector.” In a research note issued today he stated this
was “a solid set of results which, combined with the increase in
guidance, should be well received by the market.”
In amongst the welter of statistics and numbers were some interesting
snippets about broadband spending trends, Alcatel’s ongoing success in
the mobile infrastructure market, and its growing presence in the IP
routing market with its 7750 service router, courtesy of the Timetra
acquisition (see Alcatel & TiMetra Seal the Deal).
And, of course, there was the usual tour de force from Tchuruk,
who loves to comment on every question asked, whether it’s asked of
him or not. And he likes to tell it like it is. When asked about the
potential for M&A among the sector’s major equipment firms he stated,
“Everyone wants to see consolidation, but everyone wants someone else
to pay for cleaning up the industry and having the pain of a major
acquisition. I’m not pursuing a massive consolidation for Alcatel as a
way forward,” he added, putting to rest any lingering questions about
a merger with Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU – message board).
Fixed-line recovery in H2
While the CEO was the main speaker on today’s call, Mike Quigley,
the vendor’s president and COO, and the perceived heir to Tchuruk’s
throne, was given far more airtime than usual, and he took on many
of the questions related to the fixed-line equipment division, which
saw its revenues fall to [email protected] billion ($1.5 billion) compared with
[email protected] billion ($1.6 billion) a year earlier.
The dip had been expected, said Tchuruk, but a recovery is expected
in the second half of the year as Alcatel “sees the benefits of the
wireline upgrades” being undertaken by large carriers such as SBC
Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC – message board), BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:
BLS – message board), and China Telecommunications Corp. (NYSE: CHA –
message board).
Quigley noted that deployments of next-generation access equipment
based on triple-play service strategies had “accelerated in the
first half of the year and will gather momentum in the second half
of the year. We hardly have a wireline customer that isn’t talking
about triple play, and we see IMS architectures being built on top
of network infrastructures built for video.”
He added: “It’s not just about access equipment. This is about optical
equipment, too, and one reason we acquired Native Networks was because
we wanted Ethernet capabilities in our OMSN [optical multiservice node]
range.” (See Alcatel to Buy Native for $55M.)
Both Quigley and Tchuruk talked up the company’s growing IP router
business. “The 7750 is very popular, and we now have more than 60
references, including SBC, China Telecom, France Telecom, and BT’s
21CN. The revenues from IP routing will be significant this year,
about ~@200 million [$243 million),” said the CEO, noting that BT’s
21CN project wasn’t yet delivering any revenues.
Quigley added that Alcatel had “shipped 200 7750 routers to France
Telecom in the first half of the year,” which were being used as the
IP edge routers for the carrier’s IPTV service rollout.
Tchuruk said this deal was won late in 2004 but that FT, which one
analyst on the call described as a “Cisco shop,” hadn’t wanted it
publicized, and that Alcatel was the only IP edge router vendor
involved in the rollout. “We are the only one — there is no Cisco,”
the CEO intoned.
In the DSLAM market, Quigley said the latest quarter had been slow
in North America, but, despite that, the company had shipped a record
5.9 million lines worldwide in the second quarter. “We expect to see a
pickup in DSL sales in North America in the second half of the year,
and the third quarter will be much stronger there in terms of net
line additions.”
He said Alcatel was set to ship a total 22.5 million DSL lines in 2005,
of which 3 million would be IP DSLAM lines. That would increase to
an estimated 6 million IP DSLAM lines in 2006, about 20 percent of
the total.
And Quigley shot down the misconception that IP DSLAMS were cheaper
than traditional ATM-based units. “There are continual price and cost
reductions in the DSL market — it’s a very tough market and we’re
battling order by order. But while Ethernet-based DSLAMs provide a
lot of benefits to carriers, they’re not cheaper.”
Mobile: growth and NGN hopes
While Alcatel’s wireline business wilted in the second quarter, its
mobile infrastructure division increased its revenues nearly 35 percent
year-on-year to ~@958 million ($1.16 billion). Tchuruk said the sales
showed ongoing demand for the company’s hybrid 2G/3G infrastructure,
with new contracts in Brazil, Nigeria, Russia, France, and China.
The CEO was more excited about the future prospects for the technology
gained from the Spatial Wireless acquisition (see Alcatel in M&A
Frenzy). “The mobile NGN core has possibly even greater potential
than wireline NGN. We have 20 trials, and two deals, of our IMS-based
mobile NGN, and great expectations for this technology. The bottom
line may be negative from this business at the moment because of the
costs involved in working with customers, but we expect this will
change by the end of this year and into 2006.”
– Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading
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