Author: Chatinian Lara

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 14, 2005, Tuesday
IN THE CONTEXT OF REGIONAL SECURITY PROBLEMS
SOURCE: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No. 20, June 8-14, 2005, p. 10
by Sergei Minasyan – director of the Regional Security & South
Caucasus Integration Studies Center at the Russian-Armenian (Slavic)
State University
The process of military integration between CIS states has gradually
spread onto three levels: in the framework of the CIS, in the CST
format and on the bilateral basis. Since the very beginning Armenia
and Russia have been the most active and consistent adherents to the
military-political cooperation between CIS states. It turned out by
the late 1990s, that given ultimately opposite goals and tasks in the
security sphere of various CIS states, their military-political
cooperation proved to be inefficient. Simultaneously, certainty was
growing in Russia (…) that the future of this system could only be
in the framework of the CST and bilateral military-political contacts
between Russia and CST member countries.
Decisions passed at the Collective Security Council summit in Yerevan
(May 2001) proved to be a milestone event in the development of
military integration inside the CST, including consolidation of
Armenian-Russian military-political contacts. Attained was an
agreement on forming a regional bilateral group of forces in the
Caucasian direction. This combined group was supposed to include
units of the 102nd Russian Base in Armenia and units of the 5th Corps
of the Armenian Army. (…)
Summing up results of the present-day state and prospects of the
Armenian-Russian cooperation for development of military-political
integration in the post-Soviet defense area, it should be noted that
joint staff command and field exercises are held annually, which
unite all CSTO states and are conducted on a bilateral basis, for
instance the annual Russian-Armenian exercises at the Armavir
training ground.
A great deal of intergovernmental or interdepartmental treaties and
agreements concluded in 1992, makes the basis for the bilateral
Russian-Armenian military-political cooperation. The major part of
those treaties concerned division of military property of the former
Soviet Army units, stationed in Armenia, as well as the status of the
Russian Armed Forces in the republic. Under these agreements, Armenia
received the arms and military equipment of the 164th Mechanized
Infantry Division (MID) and the 15th MID, formerly parts of the 7th
Guard Army of the former Trans-Caucasian Military District, stationed
in Armenia; the 3rd division of the 7th Guard Army – the 127th MID
stationed in Pomri remained under control of Russia and was
transformed into the 102nd Military Base of the Russian Group of
Forces in the Caucasus (GRVZ) in 1995. Units of the former
Trans-Caucasian Border District in Armenia entered the Armenia group
of troops of the Russian Federal Border Service. At the same time,
the sides jointly finance the Russian border guards who protect the
Armenian border on Iran and Turkey. A number of bilateral agreements
reached in 1992-1995, including the Treaty on the Russian military
base in Armenia signed in Moscow on March 16, 1995, set the legal
basis for restructuring Russia’s military presence in Armenia.
However, the so-called “Big Treaty” – the Treaty on friendship,
cooperation and reciprocal defense, concluded on August 27, 1997,
became the major document regulating the bilateral military-political
cooperation.
Thus, the Russian forces stationed in Armenia now (in Gyumri,
Yerevan, and the Erebuni military airfield) include: the Combat
Management Group of the Russian Forces in Armenia, the 102nd Military
Base, the 426th Aviation Group and the 520th Aviation Command. The
Armenia group of the Russian border troops consists of four border
units. Overall, the Russian forces have 74 T-72 tanks, 17 BTR
vehicles, 129 infantry fighting vehicles, 84 artillery systems, 18
MiG-29 fighters, 2 batteries of S-300V antiaircraft missile systems,
a battery of Kub antiaircraft missile systems. Personnel strength
exceeds 3,500.
Military-technical cooperation is the most significant aspect of the
bilateral strategic partnership. In the division of Soviet military
munitions in 1992-1996, Russia handed over a certain amount of arms
and military equipment to Armenia.
No official reports on deliveries of Russia-made weapons to Armenia
have appeared since the second half of the 1990s. As is widely known,
the Russian-Armenian military-technical cooperation (MTC) mainly
includes supplies of spare parts by defense enterprises of both
states, rather than supplies of the finished military products. The
Russian-Armenian MTC has been underway since 1993, and is now being
carried out in the framework of the Interstate Military-Economic
Cooperation Commission between CIS States. The MTC with the Republic
of Armenia was suspended under Russian president’s Decree No. 623-rps
of September 9, 1993, in compliance with the UN Security Council
Resolution No. 853 on Nagorny Karabakh. Armenia wasn’t included into
the list of states to which deliveries of Russia-made military
products were permitted. In this connection, military supplies to
Armenia could solely be performed on the basis of Russian president’s
decisions. Putin signed the decree on terms of resuming supplies of
spare parts for the Russian military industrial complex from
Armenia’s defense enterprises, primarily equipment for the nuclear
powered submarines and S-300 antiaircraft missile systems, only in
December 2000. Only during his latest visit to Armenia in May 2004,
Russian defense minister declared the purchase of two Il-76 military
transports by Armenia and Russia’s assistance in upgrading the
available and purchasing new antiaircraft systems for the Armenian
army.
Cooperation in the sphere of air defense is a prior sphere of
Russian-Armenian MTC. This proceeds from availability of a serious
threat posed by the Turkish Air Force, to which the limited air
defense system of Armenia cannot resist at its present level without
the aid of Russia. The Air Defense Forces of Armenia have a certain
number of antiaircraft missile systems requiring upgrade, which
cannot be done without the aid of Russia. Besides, confined territory
of Armenia doesn’t allow space for a training ground. Therefore,
involvement in the joint air defense exercises is important for
Armenia. Unlike in other forces, the majority of Armenian air defense
officers are trained at Russian institutions of higher education.
Significant has been integration of automated control systems and
command posts of the Armenian Air & Air Defense Forces with similar
Russian systems, in particular those of the North Caucasian Military
District (SKVO). The joint combat duty of the air and air defense
forces began on April 15, 1999. In case of tension in the region,
this group could be replenished at the expense of the Russian Air
Defense Forces and deployment as extra air defense units of Armenia.
The latest S-300V air defense systems affiliated with the 102nd Base
of Russia joined combat duty in October 2001. This enabled raising
efficiency of control in the airspace above Armenia.
Creation of a joint Russian-Armenian group of forces is a significant
element in the bilateral cooperation. Its creation, the annual joint
exercises conducted at the Armavir training ground and have no
analogs in the post-Soviet area (by their regularity and number of
participants they were the biggest in the former Soviet area until
the start of 2000), and the general level of military cooperation
indicate that at the moment Russia has no as close military-political
cooperation as to Armenia (even with Belarus).
(…) The role of Russia’s military presence in the cause of ensuring
Armenia’s security goes beyond the presence of Russian military bases
on its territory. Comparison of quantitative parameters shows that
even the combined Russian-Armenian forces in Armenia yield
considerably to the armed forces in the neighboring states.
Article 2 of the Protocol on forming and functioning of the forces
and means of the Collective Security System of CSTO member states
says that in case of aggression against any of the sides collective
security groups of a certain region could be involved in repulsing an
aggression in another collective security region at request of a
single or several sides, under articles 4 and 6 of the CST. This
enables a suggestion that in case of an imminent threat of aggression
into Armenia, which is a CSTO member country, Russia will take all
the measures required to strengthen its troops to give the necessary
aid its ally needs to retaliate an aggression.
It is not a secret though that none of the CIS states, but for
Russia, is able to repulse threats autonomously in case of a
large-scale aggression. In similar circumstances the problem of
so-called “nuclear guarantees” on behalf of Russia for ensuring their
national security is of crucial significance for all CSTO member
countries. The main conceptual documents of Russia indicate Russia
resigns to itself the right for use of nuclear weapons in case of
aggression against Russia and its allies. The clauses of Russia’s
military doctrine which concern Russia’s readiness to use nuclear
weapons against the states which don’t have nuclear weapons, “in case
they attack the Russian Federation, the Russian Armed Forces or other
troops, its allies or a state with which it has security commitments,
maintained or supported by such a state, which doesn’t possess
nuclear weapons, jointly or in the availability of alliance
commitments to a state which possesses nuclear weapons,” becomes of
prior significance for CSTO member states, including Armenia.
It should be noted that along with active development of geopolitical
processes in the post-Soviet territory, experts both in Russia and
Armenia are casting doubt on the efficiency and conformity of the
military-political cooperation to their national interests. Russian
military experts maintain that in the context of potential withdrawal
of the Russian military bases from Georgia, the Russian group of
forces in Armenia might be disconnected from Russia operationally and
in the communications sphere, which would create serious problems for
its fighting efficiency and even normal functioning. A recent story
involving the ban for A-50 AWACS planes to fly above the territory of
Georgia to Armenia, which has affected the interaction of the Russian
and Armenian air defense forces, has been an evident example of this.
Moscow is quite cautious for Armenia’s more active attempt of
integration in the EU and NATO, expanding military cooperation
between Armenia and NATO, especially the USA, and is unwilling to
regard these actions as an objective necessity, which is to a great
extent caused by reduced influence of Russia in the region and
Yerevan’s wish to avert jeopardy to its national interests.
On the other hand, opinions are expressed in Armenia that the
Armenia-Russian military cooperation is no more a sufficient
guarantee for the country’s security and alternative security sources
must be sought in the West. Besides, Yerevan is confident that taking
actions in the region, as well as relations with Azerbaijan, Turkey,
and Iran, Moscow doesn’t fully account for economic and political
concerns of its major ally in the South Caucasus. In particular,
Armenia has serious fears regarding the plans of Russia on
large-scale supplies of arms and military equipment to Azerbaijan,
which is perceived by Yerevan as unwillingness of Moscow to account
for threats to security of its CSTO ally.
In spite of these problems, both Armenia and Russia realize that the
achieved level of bilateral military-political cooperation, which has
no analogs in the CIS and envisages quite real leverage for aiding in
crucial situations, is the only solution for both states in the
medium-term outlook. According to many experts, (…) active
Russian-Armenian partnership in the framework of CSTO defense
structures and their bilateral military partnership, which has
sufficient institutional and legal basis, are the major elements of
regional security and stability in the South Caucasus.
ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
 
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]
Congressmen Radanovich and Schiff, Joined by Armenia Caucus Co-Chairs Knollenberg and Pallone, Introduce Armenian Genocide Resolution
Washington, DC – Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today introduced an Armenian Genocide resolution that would reaffirm the U.S. record on this crime against humanity. Fifty additional Members of Congress have signed on as original co-sponsors to this bipartisan effort to have the United States reaffirm the Armenian Genocide.
The legislation calls upon the President to “ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding” of the “Armenian Genocide” and to “accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide” in the President’s annual message.
“I am proud to once again introduce legislation, that will recall for the benefit of future generations, the first genocide of the 20th century and the extraordinary American response to the attempted destruction of the Armenian people,” said Radanovich, the bill’s lead sponsor. “In this action by the Ottoman Empire and the ultimately ineffective reaction of third parties lie the lessons that could have prevented the genocides that have followed against Jews, Cambodians, Rwandans and so many other peoples.”
Passage of this legislation would reaffirm the U.S. historical record which includes thousands of pages documenting the premeditated extermination of the Armenian people. President George W. Bush himself has carefully set forth the textbook definition of the crime of genocide as it applies to the Armenians in his successive April 24 statements. Nevertheless, the Turkish government is expected to vigorously oppose the resolution by calling upon its hired lobbyists, the Administration and Members of Congress to deny that genocide occurred and to assert irreparable damage to the U.S.-Turkey relationship should Congress adopt the bill.
“On the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it is high time to recognize the deliberate murder of a million and a half Armenians during the first genocide of the 20th century. Passing a resolution commemorating the genocide will be an important first step in the long process of healing that needs to take place,” said Schiff.
This legislation is similar to the version that nearly passed the House of Representatives in 2000. The previous resolution, which had the support of 143 co-sponsors, and was scheduled for a vote on the House floor was withdrawn at the last minute due to an intervention by President Clinton to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) which prevented a final, affirmative vote.
“Clearly there have been and continue to be sufficient votes in the House to pass this resolution,” said Knollenberg. “I will work with the original co-sponsors, with members of the Armenia Caucus and with the leadership of both parties to secure a concluding vote on this legislative measure. This unique chapter of American and Armenian history must not be forgotten.”
There is a growing trend internationally to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Just since 2000, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden have passed legislation affirming the massacres and expulsion of the Armenian people as genocide.
Additionally, the European Parliament resolved that Turkey must come to terms with its genocidal legacy as part of its European Union accession process. Turkey has responded with bombast internationally and repression at home.
“The government of Turkey does its country and people great damage by threatening nations that acknowledge the truth,” said Pallone. The European Union will not embrace a nation that criminalizes free speech and prosecutes its citizens for challenging official Turkey’s unconscionable denial of the Armenian Genocide. At a minimum, enacting this resolution will effectively end the ongoing campaign of denial.”
As was the case in 2000 when a similar resolution in the House of Representatives was literally minutes from final passage, pan Armenian-American support will be crucial to prevailing during this Congress.
“The Assembly commends the leadership of Congressmen Radanovich and Schiff, and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Knollenberg and Pallone, for spearheading this bi-partisan campaign to once and for all time set the U.S. record straight on the fact of the Armenian Genocide and to uphold America’s credibility and leadership around the world to end the scourge of genocide,” said Assembly Board of Directors Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. “We anticipate the opposition to be vigorous, and know that the Armenian-American community will rise in a united effort during this the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.”
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership organization.
###
NR#2005-065
Editor’s Note: Attached is the complete list of original sponsors to the
Armenian Genocide resolution introduced today in the House of
Representatives.
1. George Radanovich (R-CA)
2. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
3. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
4. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ)
5. Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
6. Charles Bass (R-NH)
7. Howard Berman (D-CA)
8. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL)
9. Jeb Bradley (R-NH)
10. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
11. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
12. Jim Costa (D-CA)
13. Jerry Costello (D-IL)
14. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
15. David Dreier (R-CA)
16. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
17. Bob Filner (D-CA)
18. Mark Foley (R-FL)
19. Barney Frank (D-MA)
20. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
21. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
22. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
23. Steve Israel (D-NY)
24. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
25. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
26. Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL)
27. James Langevin (D-RI)
28. Sander Levin (D-MI)
29. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
30. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI)
31. Jim McDermott (D-WA)
32. James McGovern (D-MA)
33. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA)
34. Michael McNulty (D-NY)
35. Marty Meehan (D-MA)
36. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
37. Candice Miller (R-MI)
38. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
39. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
40. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
41. Steve Rothman (D-NJ)
42. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
43. Edward Royce (R-CA)
44. Jim Saxton (R-NJ)
45. Joe Schwarz (R-MI)
46. E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL)
47. Brad Sherman (D-CA)
48. John Shimkus (R-IL)
49. Christopher Smith (R-NJ)
50. Mark Souder (R-IN)
51. John Sweeney (R-NY)
52. Peter Visclosky (D-IN)
53. Diane Watson (D-CA)
54. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
–Boundary_(ID_UpdlZlxSr8HUs5R9b17hgg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
06/09/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Trial of Armenian Citizen Charged with Spying for Azerbaijan Underway 2) Association Withdraws Award to US Envoy 3) Ex-Minsk Group Official Takes Verbal Beating in Baku 1) Trial of Armenian Citizen Charged with Spying for Azerbaijan Underway YEREVAN (Arminfo)--The trial of an Armenian citizen charged with spying for Azerbaijan has begun in Yerevan. Andrey Maziyev is charged with high treason through espionage, plotting a terrorist act, and plotting the murder of a state political figure. Maziyev worked as en engineer at Zvartnots airport at the time of his arrest. He is Russian by nationality. In October 1999, Maziyev was enlisted by Azeri special services while in that country. On the whole, he met with representatives of Azerbaijan's special services 17 times and received approximately $2.5 thousand for his services. He allegedly collected and disseminated information about domestic political and economic developments in Armenia, information on Armenia's military, defense, and armed forces, as well as Mountainous Karabagh Republic. In the autumn of 2000, Maziyev was instructed to photograph President Kocharian's plane landing at the airport, helicopters protecting the territory of the airport, and the president and bodyguards passing by the building where Maziyev lives. He also took photos of the president in the hangar and building of the airport. He handed over the photos to the special services and recommended locations for snipers. The special services were also interested in whether Maziyev had contacts with relatives of Nairi Hunanyan who spearheaded the 1999 shooting in the Armenian Parliament, killing the prime minister, parliamentary speaker, and six other officials. Maziyev pleaded guilty to the charges at Thursday's trial that included the interrogation of seven witnesses. The trial is chaired by the judge Tigran Petrosyan. The prosecution is represented by Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan and Prosecutor Aram Amirzadyan. The trial will continue on June 13. He has two previous convictions for hooliganism (1994 and 1999). 2) Association Withdraws Award to US Envoy Ambassador Was to Be Honored for Dissent By Glenn Kessler (Washington Post)--The American Foreign Service Association recently announced that John M. Evans, the US ambassador to Armenia, was to receive a prestigious award for "constructive dissent" for characterizing as genocide the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. His comments stirred such a diplomatic tempest that Evans not only had to retract his remarks, but also had to later clarify his retraction. Earlier this week, however, the selection committee met again and decided to withdraw the honor, known as the Christian A. Herter Award. They decided not to offer any award in the category, reserved for a senior foreign service officer. Other awards are issued for officers at lower levels. The timing of the association's decision appeared curious, given it came just before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Washington for a meeting with President Bush to bolster strained US-Turkish relations. John W. Limbert, president of the association, said that no one at the organization can remember an award being withdrawn after it had been announced. "It is not something we do easily," he said. The award is intended to foster creative thinking and intellectual courage within the State Department bureaucracy, and the secretary of state usually attends the award ceremony. One of last year's awards, for instance, went to a mid-level foreign service officer who sent a cable challenging the administration's policy in Iraq. "Dissent is supposed to be controversial," Limbert said. Speaking to an Armenian group in California, Evans referred to the "Armenian genocide" and said that the US government owes "you, our fellow citizens, a more frank and honest way of discussing the problem." He added that "there is no doubt in my mind what happened" and it was "unbecoming of us, as Americans, to play word games here." Armenian groups hailed his comment, noting Evans was the first US official since President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to refer to the Armenian deaths as genocide. But the comments infuriated Turkey. Evans issued a statement saying US policy, in which the United States "acknowledges the tragedy" and encourages "scholarly, civil society and diplomatic discussion" of the event, had not changed. Evans said he used the term "genocide" in "my personal capacity" during "informal meetings" and "this was inappropriate." After more complaints from Turkey, Evans corrected the statement a day later and removed a reference to genocide, instead calling it "the Armenian tragedy." Limbert said the committee, made up of current and former State Department officials, concluded that the award to Evans did not meet the selection criteria. He declined to comment further, saying State Department officials would have to explain their concerns. L. Bruce Laingen, who chaired the selection committee, said "very serious people from the State Department in particular" expressed concern about the award to Evans. But he said they did not raise political issues. Instead, he said, they focused on the fact that the award criteria specifically says the actions must be taken while "working in the system"; Evans made his comments in speeches. "Dissent has to be within the system," Laingen said. He said the committee did not focus on that fact until it was reminded by the State Department. But when the committee decided to withdraw the award, it was faced with a dilemma. The committee had received only two nominations, and it had already concluded the other nominee did not meet the criteria. So no award could be offered. Laingen said the committee generally receives few examples of dissent at senior levels of the agency. "That is regrettable," he said. "It does not reflect well on the foreign service broadly at that level for dissent within the system." 3) Ex-Minsk Group Official Takes Verbal Beating in Baku BAKU (PanARMENIAN.Net)--The former Russian Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov, was verbally accosted by the chairman and members of the Azeri Karabagh Liberation Organization (KLO), who told Kazimirov to either recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan or get out of the country. Kazimirov was attending a seminar on the "Strategic Importance of Azerbaijan." The event, organized the British LINKS Organization and the Yesterday Civilization NGO, was being held at the International Press Center in Baku. In his address on the Mountainous Karabagh settlement, Kazimirov recommended strengthening the cease fire agreement in the region and promoted reconciliation as opposed to the "self-deception," practiced by both the Armenians and Azeris. Though organizers tried to quell the KLO members, they shouted that he leave Azerbaijan instead of supporting Armenians. Azeri President Aliyev's Chief of Staff Novruz Mamedov's words to Kazimirov were equally harsh. "All those who were Co-chairs, [of the OSCE Minsk Group] along with you, have forgotten the issue and have personal interests. You, again have departed from the issue--either due to too much love for Armenia or some other reason. Every time, I just get the feeling you are very close to Armenians morally and politically because of personal interests." All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

AZG Armenian Daily #104, 08/06/2005
Constitution
‘REFERENDUM WILL BE EQUAL TO REVOLUTION’, ARSHAK SADOYAN PREDICTS
Venice Committee Still Disappointed
Giovanni Buccicio, chairman of the Venice Committee, and Tigran Torosian,
chairman of the Committee for Integration to Europe, completed the works on
the bill on making constitutional amendments and gave a press conference
recently. Buccicio confirmed the disappointment of the Venice Committee with
the three points in the bill. The issue of electing the mayor of Yerevan is
definitely accepted by the Committee, while there is still much to do in the
human rights issue, as well as in balancing the power between the ruling
branches. Buccicio stated that the new variant will be elaborated till June
20 and the Venice Committee will accept it. He added that, after being
discussed in Strasburg, it will be submitted to RA National Assembly for the
second reading.
They recently adopted a memorandum of mutually agreed conclusions that
speaks of the decision of RA Government to keep in line with the criteria of
the Venice Committee when elaborating the new bill. Tigran Torosian said
that the elaborated bill on making constitutional amendments will be
submitted to the Venice Committee earlier than June 20 and it will be
possible to discuss it in Strasburg already on June 23. Buccicio informed
that they expect that the constitutional referendum will be held not later
than in October.
Earlier Arshak Sadoyan expressed the idea that the abovementioned referendum
can turn into a revolution. At the same time, he said that RA authorities
have submitted the bill he elaborated without translating that till the end
to the Venice Committee. He said he is going to provide the full translation
of the bill to the committee at his own initiative. Arshak Sadoyan is going
to represent 30-40 suggestions.
By Nana Petrosian

Germany allocates 7.5m euros for developing renewable energy sources
in Armenia
Arminfo
7 Jun 05
YEREVAN
The Armenian-German interstate agreement on financial cooperation
within the framework of the Caucasus initiative is in line with the
Armenian Constitution, the Armenian Constitutional Court ruled today.
The Armenian deputy minister of finance and economy, David Avetisyan,
who represented the interests of the Armenian president at the
hearings, said that the agreement was signed in Yerevan on 7 April
2005 by Armenian Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatryan
and German ambassador to Armenia Heike-Renate Peitsch.
Under the agreement, Germany is to allocate 7.5m euros for developing
renewable energy sources in Armenia. Of these, 6m euros will be
allocated as a soft loan for the technical modernization of the
operating small hydroelectric power stations. The loan will be
allocated for 40 years with a 0.75-per-cent annual interest and a
grace period of 10 years.
The programme will be implemented within two years after being
ratified by the country’s parliament. An Armenian-German reinvestment
fund for renewable power will be set up for managing the funds.
In turn, the fund will allocate loans to small hydroelectric power
stations through commercial banks of Armenia, which will be selected
through a tender. The remaining 1.5m euros will be allocated as a
grant within the framework of this agreement for providing expert
advice to the heads of banks and hydroelectric power stations.
Germany has allocated 127m euros to Armenia since 1995, of which about
100m euros were in loans and the rest in grants.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkmen capital hosts regional nuclear conference
Interfax news agency, Moscow
6 Jun 05
ASGABAT
A regional conference of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
Organization [CNTBTO] was opened in Asgabat [Turkmen capital] on
Monday [6 June].
“The treaty, which meets the interests of the whole world community,
is an efficient factor in preventing attempts to develop nuclear
weapons and in promoting nuclear non-proliferation, which in many
respects serve to reduce global and regional tensions,” a CNTBTO
representative, Moshen Ashtiani [Dr Moshen Chafuri-Ashtiani the
Iranian President of the International Institute of Earthquake
Engineering and Seismology, he is involved with the CNTBTO Preparatory
Commission], stressed during the opening of the conference.
The three-day forum is being held with the support of the Turkmen
government.
The theme of the conference is “The Significance, Advantages and the
Current State of Work on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in
Central Asia and Caucasus”. Specialists from Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
are participating in the conference.
The Turkmen side is represented by specialists from the National
Research Institute of Seismology at the Supreme Council on Science and
Technology under the Turkmen president, and specialists from the
Defence Ministry and the Turkmengeologiya [Turkmen geology] state
corporation.
Turkmenistan jointed the CNTBTO in September 1996, and this document
was ratified by the country’s parliament in February 1998.

Interfax.ru, Russia
June 6 2005
Russia to move some armaments from Georgia to Armenia – minister
ST. PETERSBURG. June 6 (Interfax-) – Some Russian armaments will be
moved from bases in Georgia to the Russian base in Armenia, Defense
Minister Sergei Ivanov told a Monday press conference in St.
Petersburg.
“The armaments will not be transferred to Armenia. They will be
simply moved to another Russian military base,” he said.
He said Russia would stick to limits on armaments under the Treaty on
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
Russia will start withdrawing two military bases from Georgia in 2005
and complete the withdrawal in 2008, he said.
It was not Russia but the former Soviet Union that opened the bases
in Georgia, he said. “These bases are not important from the military
point of view,” he said.

With compliments of the Adventist Press Service APD
Contact: Christian B. Schaeffler
Journalist SFJ
Telefon +41-61 261 61 15
Telefax +41-61 261 61 18
E-Mail: [email protected]
Armenian Church Leader Pays Visit to California
Karekin II will appear at a ceremony at Our Lady of the Angels
Cathedral in a sign of warming relations with Roman Catholics
By Claudia Zequeira, Times Staff Writer
Welcomed by faithful supporters, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos
of All Armenians, the highest ranking official in the Armenian
Apostolic Church, has begun a tour of California that will include
visits to schools and hospitals and a special service June 5 (Sunday)
at the Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.
Karekin’s trip began June 2 (Thursday) with a procession at St. Mary
Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa, where he was received by
dozens of clergymen and enthusiastic parishioners. Several women
received blessings from Karekin as he entered the church. “This is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Talar Zorayan, 34. It’s a good
way for us to stay Armenian.”
On June 4 (Saturday), Karekin is expected to bless the foundation
stones of a “Mother Cathedral,” a church in Burbank that eventually
will serve as the seat of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church
of North America. The consecration of the $5-million project is
largely symbolic, with construction expected to begin a year from now,
church officials said.
Karekin, who was elected in 1999 and is based in the Armenian holy
city of Etchmiadzin, is making his second trip to California, home to
an Armenian and Armenian American population estimated at 500,000 to
700,000. A second Armenian Catholicos, His Holiness Aram I, is based
in Beirut and also commands loyalties in the Armenian diaspora, but
more U.S. Armenians are believed to be affiliated with Karekin’s
branch.
Karekin is planning to stop at Glendale High School on June 6 (Monday
evening) after regular class hours.
He also will visit Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Glendale
Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ara Tavitian said the visits are a token of
appreciation to California doctors and other healthcare providers who
have helped Armenians in California and in Armenia over the years.
[The pontiff will make this special visit to the Armenian community at
Glendale Adventist Medical Center to greet patients and consecrate the
hospital’s new patient care tower. He will present the hospital with
a Khachkar, which will permanently stay at the hospital. A Khachkar is
a stone slab with a cross carved into it. “The Catholicos wants to
visit Armenian patients to give them the word of God,” said Mayis
Shahbazyan, deacon of the Armenian Western Diocese].
On June 5 (Sunday), Karekin will appear at the Cathedral of Our Lady
of the Angels, the seat of the three-county Roman Catholic Archdiocese
of Los Angeles. Cardinal Roger Mahony is expected to attend the 3 p.m.
ceremony. “This is the first non-Catholic Eucharistic service in our
cathedral,” said Father Alexei Smith, an inter-religious officer with
the archdiocese. Smith said the Armenians’ use of the Catholic
cathedral made sense to accommodate a large crowd. But he added that
the gesture went beyond the practical. “I believe it’s not only the
size of our cathedral,” Smith said. “Most especially, it’s our level
of acceptance of each other.”
After leaving Los Angeles on June 10, Karekin is scheduled to travel
to Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco and Detroit.

TURKISH SCHOLARS PROTEST POSTPONEMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE
YEREVAN, JUNE 2. ARMINFO. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
will meet with President Bush on June 8 in Washington to again brand
his country as a mature and democratic nation ready for EU membership,
reports the Armenian Assembly of America.
In the last week, however, Turkey has again shown that its actions
run contrary to the rosy image it tries to portray. The forced
postponement of an unprecedented Armenian Genocide conference at
Bosphrous University had led hundreds of Turkish academics to protest
the government’s latest assault on free speech.
Below are the latest news release by the International Association of
Genocide Scholars and a letter from a representative of the Middle
East Studies Association to Prime Minister Erdogan condemning the
Turkish government’s interference with academic freedom.
The Association particularly says: We who serve as the Executive
Committee of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
protest and condemn the cancellation of the historians conference on
the Armenian question in Turkey by the Turkish government as a major
violation of basic standards of academic freedom in the free world.
At long last, Turkish academics and intellectuals, sponsored by
three honorable universities, were scheduled to conduct a conference
in which the historical reality of the Armenian genocide was to be
examined by many of the participating lecturers.
The government of Turkey is understandably struggling to win its
possible acceptance as a member of the European Union, and it is in
this climate that many Turkish intellectuals have moved courageously
to address the Armenian genocide, a truth which is still punishable
by Turkish law.
For the Turkish government to cancel the conference is a shameful
step and a setback to Turkey joining the free world in its growing
standards of historical truth and responsibility.
The Executive Committee of the International Association of Genocide
Scholars calls on the Republic of Turkey to allow full and free debate
and academic scholarship on the fate of the Armenian people in Ottoman
Turkey in 1915-1923.

NEXT MEETING OF CIS MEMBER STATES’ GOVERNMENTS HEADS TO BE HELD IN MOSCOW
YEREVAN, JUNE 4, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian
participated in the meeting of the Council of the Government Heads
of the CIS Member States in Tbilisi on June 3. According to the
RA Government press service, over 10 issues on trade, economic,
financial and humanitarian cooperation of CIS member states, as
well as issues of organizational character were discussed at the
meeting. Particularly, following a discussion, decisions were made on
such issues as the extention of the 2005 deadline of the interstate
program on the creation of the information and marketing centers
network to provide goods and services to the CIS countries’ national
markets, the system of remuneration of the work done by the CIS bodies
from the united budget of CIS bodies, the methodoly of developing a
scale of membership fees to the united budget of CIS bodies. RF Prime
Minister Mikhail Fradkov was elected Chairman of the Council at the
meeting. It was decided to hold the next meeting of the heads of the
CIS states’ governments in Moscow after a meeting of the Council of
the Government Heads of the CIS Member States in Kazan. The heads of
the governments signed the draft decisions on the interstate council
of the highest heads of financial supervision in the CIS countries
and on the council of justice ministers, as well as the decision on
the creation of the interstate coordinating council of the heads of
the insurance supervisory bodies. Following the meeting, the heads of
the governments attended an official dinner given in their honor by
the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, at which the Georgian
President Mikheil Sahakashvili was also present. The governmental
delegation headed by Prime Minister Andranik Margarian returned to
Yerevan on the same day.