Author: Chatinian Lara

IRANIAN BUSINESS CENTER WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN YEREVAN AND ARMENIAN ONE IN TABRIZ
YEREVAN, JUNE 3. ARMINFO. As a result of an Armenian – Iranian Forum
of Businessmen recently held in Tabriz, an agreement has been reach
on establishment of an Iranian business center in Yerevan and an
Armenian one in Tabriz. Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Ali Reza
Khakikyan informed journalists today.
“The Iranian and Armenian parties have agreed on construction of
a high-voltage power transmission line. The sides are currently
discussing the technical issues,” the Ambassador said. He added that
the construction of the power transmission line and its putting into
exploitation will require some 2 years. Besides, technical and economic
parameters of the project of construction of a water power plant worth
$150 mln are studied. As regards the project of joint construction
of Kajaran tunnel, it was withdrawn from the agenda, as the Armenian
party decided to built an alternative road proceeding from economic
calculations. It should be noted that in 2004 the commodity turnover
between Armenia and Iran grew 8.8% totaling $100 mln.

TWO US PROFESSORS TO OBSERVE ELECTION IN NKR
Pan Armenian News
04.06.2005 05:11
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Parliamentary election will be held in the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic June 19. Representatives of a number of countries
of the world are invited observe them. Two professors of US Worcester
State College will be present at the election in the NKR as observers,
the Yerkir newspaper reported.

FRADKOV: RUSSIAN TROOPS TRANSFER FROM GEORGIA TO ARMENIA POSES NO THREAT TO AZERBAIJAN
YEREVAN, June 3. /ARKA/. Russian troops transfer from Georgia to
Armenia poses no threat to Azerbaijan, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail
Fradkov said. “We would not withdraw troops if there was no such a
fuss”, Fradkov said in Tbilisi. RUA Novosti reports quoting Fradkov
sa saying “we are moving troops away in accordance with schedule,
specifying details”. “I would like to say intimidation is irrelevant
in this matter”, the Russian PM said. M.V. -0–

DEMAND FOR POPULAR REVOLT
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS: A top official of the former ruling
Armenian National Movement (ANM) moved unexpectedly today to
underestimate Armenia’s main opposition parties’ claims that the
situation for a popular revolt against the incumbent regime was nearing
a margin that would imminently spark a wide-scale anti-government
movement.
Babken Ararktsian, a former parliament chairman in ex-president Levon
Ter-Petrosian’s administration argued there were no prerequisites
for a revolution in Armenia. “Chances of the opposition parties to
pattern a ‘colored’ revolution here are very few. They neither enjoy
an outside support to carry it out, since there is no social demand
for revolution in Armenia,” Ararktsian said, but could not explain
why there was no such a demand.
Ararktsian, who is head of Armat think-tank, went on to argue that
Armenia is not attractive for influential outside forces, due to its
geographic location and geopolitical significance, unlike two other
former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine.
Ararktsian also argued against press reports in the opposition media
that the ruling coalition is divided. Speaking about the opposition’s
performance he said its sole opportunity to ‘showcase itself” is to
boycott the parliament’s work. He also spoke about Turkish-Armenian
relations emphasizing the opening of borders, saying it would benefit
Armenia economically

Chalk this up to youthful enthusiasm
MX (Melbourne, Australia)
June 2, 2005 Thursday
Hundreds of children display their artistic talents by drawing with
chalk on the asphalt during a contest held in Yerevan, the capital
of Armenia, as part of International Children’s Day.

TURKEY’S DESIRE TO JOIN EU – REASON FOR REMEMBERING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Pan Armenian News
01.06.2005 04:51
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There are 3 reasons for remembering the Armenian
Genocide of 1915, these being Germany’s complicity, Turkey’s desire
to join the EU and the situation in the South Caucasus, Secretary
General of the International Confederation of the Journalist Unions
Ashot Jazoian stated, Russland-Aktuell internet-portal reports. In his
words, in 1915 Germany was one of Turkey’s closest allies. When the
Turkish attack against Russia failed a decision was taken to annihilate
the Christian Armenians, who were considered to be “Moscow’s fifth
column”. As Ashot Jazaian noted, to date the Armenian Genocide is the
topic of discussion for Brussels, Berlin and Moscow and the events
taken place 90 years ago demand legal revision.

AZG Armenian Daily #098, 31/05/2005
Mass media
A1+TV BANISHED FROM ITS OFFICE
RA Appeal Court made no amendments to the April 11 decision of RA
Economic Court that satisfied the suit of RA National Academy of
Sciences. They demanded that A1+ TV should leave the building of
the Academy that is situated on 15 Grigor Lusavorich St. The sitting
was carried out without the representative of A1+TV, as the head of
TV channel received the subpoena only an hour before the beginning
of the court sitting. A1+ TV has been occupying an office in the
edifice of the Academy for 15 years already and carried out all of
its commitments.

Nagorno-Karabakh status connected with return of occupied lands
By Tigran LIloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 30, 2005 Monday 2:54 PM Eastern Time
YEREVAN, May 30 — There is connection between questions of the status
of Nagorno-Karabakh and restoration of the occupied territories around
it, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan said here on Monday.
The minister stressed that public discussion of separate components
of the peace process in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict may
lead to misunderstanding and set back the positive changes at the
talks. Such changes began to manifest themselves after the recent
meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Warsaw.
Oskanyan said new opportunities opened in the Karabakh settlement
after that meeting.
The minister said his next meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamedyarov is not yet scheduled. Prior to the talks with his
Azerbaijani counterpart, Oskanyan intends to meet with the co-chairmen
of the Minsk group of the OSCE for Nagorno-Karabakh. According to his
forecasts, the meeting with the mediators will be held in June and,
possibly, outside of Armenia.

Low turnout mars Hariri election win in Beirut
By Alistair Lyon
BEIRUT, May 30 (Reuters) – Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud blamed
Lebanon’s electoral law on Monday for the low turnout in parliamentary
polls in Beirut, but stayed silent on the sweeping win scored by his
slain political rival’s son Saad al-Hariri.
The meagre 28 percent turnout marred Hariri’s landslide victory in
the first general election in three decades with no Syrian troops in
Lebanon and no direct Syrian interference.
Lahoud, whose political survival may be at stake after the May 29-June
19 elections, said the turnout in Beirut, the first region to vote,
“proves our theory that the present electoral law does not meet
aspirations of the Lebanese people.”
In an official statement, he urged the next parliament to draft a
new law that would secure fair representation for all.
Official results showed Hariri’s slate grabbing all the capital’s 19
seats in the 128-member assembly in Sunday’s vote.
Many people stayed away because Hariri’s win seemed assured, with
nine seats going to his bloc uncontested before the vote.
Though he is a political newcomer, the victory makes Hariri, 35, a
strong contender to lead the next government and pursue the political
and economic policies of his billionaire businessman father, who was
assassinated in Beirut on Feb. 14.
Hariri has avoided saying publicly if he wants the post.
Despite his ties to Damascus, Lahoud has often criticised the
election law adopted in 2000 under Syrian tutelage and opposed by
the president’s fellow-Maronite Christians.
They say it effectively allows Muslims to choose many of the Christian
deputies in the assembly that is divided equally between Christians
and Muslims in a power-sharing agreement.
Hariri and his allies in the anti-Syrian opposition have also
criticised the law, but decided it was more important to hold elections
on time than try to draft a new one in haste.
The vote follows two political earthquakes in Lebanon — Hariri’s
killing in a bombing many Lebanese blamed on Damascus and the end of
Syria’s 29-year troop presence last month.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
Among major challenges facing Lebanon are redefining ties with Syria,
United Nations demands to disarm Shi’ite Muslim Hizbollah guerrillas
and tackling a debt of $34 billion.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised the conduct of the Beirut
poll and said the elections gave the Lebanese an opportunity to
“shape their own future, strengthen their political institutions and
restore their full sovereignty.”
With little competition and a boycott by the main Armenian Tashnag
Party and supporters of fiercely anti-Syrian Christian leader Michel
Aoun, turnout was thinnest in Christian districts.
Beirut had a 34 percent turnout in 2000, when Hariri’s father, then
cooperating with Syria, also swept the board.
For the first time, foreign observers monitored the polls, with a
team of more than 150 led by the European Union. Their chief, Jose
Ignacio Salafranca, said the Beirut vote went off in a “calm and
orderly manner, with no major incidents.”
He told a news conference the EU mission would provide a detailed
analysis of the 2000 electoral law after the polls.
“Today was a victory for national unity,” Hariri told a jubilant
crowd on Sunday night. “This is a victory for Rafik al-Hariri. Today,
Beirut showed its loyalty to Rafik al-Hariri.”
Horn-honking supporters drove noisily through the streets as fireworks
lit the night sky over the city centre, rebuilt by the late Hariri
from the ruins of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Hariri will also field candidates in northern and eastern Lebanon,
seeking 80 to 90 parliamentary seats for his bloc and its allies,
a majority that would allow him to push through political, economic
and judicial reforms sought by his father.
The late Hariri resigned in October, a month after Lahoud’s
presidential term was extended at Syria’s behest.
Hariri’s assassination is now under investigation by a U.N.-appointed
prosecutor. Damascus has denied any hand in it.
05/30/05 09:34 ET

Agence France Presse — German
Samstag, 28. Mai 2005
Armenier feiern Tag der Staatsgründung mit Tanz um höchsten Berg
Eriwan, 28. Mai
Mit einer 163 Meter langen tanzenden Menschenkette rund um den
höchsten Berg Armeniens haben am Samstag rund 200.000 Menschen den
87.
Jahrestag der armenischen Staatsgründung gefeiert. Die Teilnehmer mit
orangefarbenen Mützen und bunter Kleidung fassten sich an den Händen
und tanzten in einer ununterbrochenen Menschenkette rund um den 4090
Meter hohen Berg Aragats. Unter den Teilnehmern war neben anderen
Auslands-Armeniern auch der armenischstämmige französische
Chansonnier Charles Aznavour. Staatsprädident Robert Kotscharian
würdigte den 28. Mai 1918 als “Wiedergeburt” des armenischen Volkes,
das zuvor “an die Grenzen der Vernichtung” gebracht wurde – eine
klare Anspielung auf die Massaker in den Jahren 1915 bis 1917 im
damaligen osmanischen Reich.