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06/19/2006
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1) Matthew Bryza to Visit Karabagh Conflict Region
2) Czech Senate to Discuss Armenian Genocide Recognition in Fall
3) Armenian Plane ~QDid Not Malfunction before Crash~R
4) Statue of Archbishop Ashjian Unveiled in Armenia
5) IMF Praises Armenia~Rs Economic Growth
1) Matthew Bryza to Visit Karabagh Conflict Region
YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Newly appointed American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
will pay a visit to the Karabagh conflict region, said Azeri Foreign Minister
Elmar Mamedyarov.
According to Mamedyarov, the three co-chairs in charge of mediating the
regulation process will meet with the OSCE Permanent Council on June 22 in
Vienna to discuss the current stage of the settlement.
~SThe co-chairs have already proposed to hold a new meeting at the level of
Foreign Ministers and received my consent. In Vienna, Matthew Bryza will
officially assume his duties. After this he will alone visit Baku and
Yerevan,~T
he said.
~SThe US Government has not lost hope for progress. Matthew Bryza is aware of
the region,~T said Mamedyarov. ~SBeing well-informed about the Karabagh
conflict,
he won~Rt need time to get familiarized with the problem.~T
2) Czech Senate to Discuss Armenian Genocide Recognition in Fall
YEREVAN (Armenpress/PanArmenian)Members of the Czech Senate committee on
foreign and defense issues said during an official visit to Armenia Monday
that
they hope the Senate will adopt a resolution recognizing the Armenian
genocide.
At a meeting with members of an Armenian Parliament committee on foreign
affairs, Jaromir Stetina, who organized a conference on the Genocide in the
Czech Senate two months ago, said he hoped the Senate would pass a resolution
recognizing Armenian genocide this Fall.
During the meeting, Parliament Members also discussed strengthening relations
between the two countries, legal and cultural cooperation, and Turkey~Rs bid to
join the European Union.
Armen Rustamian, chairman of the Armenian Parliament committee, said the
European Union is not only a geopolitical space but also a system of
values. He
said that in order to join the European family, Turkey should share European
values including recognition of the Armenian genocide.
~SUntil Turkey recognizes the Armenian genocide there will be no guarantee the
crime will not be repeated,~T Rustamian remarked.
The Czech Parliamentarians agreed with him, noting that the EU-Turkey talks
could last between 10 and 15 years during which Turkey~Rs domestic and foreign
policy should be brought up to European standards.
3) Armenian Plane ~QDid Not Malfunction before Crash~R
(AP)–The Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea last month killing
all 113 people aboard was intact, had its engines operating normally, and had
enough fuel to land, a Russian commission said Monday.
The Armavia Airbus A-320 was under manual control of its pilots up to the
moment of the May 3 pre-dawn catastrophe near the Russian port of Sochi, the
Transport Ministry commission investigating the disaster said in a statement.
The commission, which based its conclusions after analyzing the plane’s "black
box" flight recorders, did not attribute blame for the crash.
Prosecutors have dismissed the possibility that terrorists brought the plane
down, and officials point to rough weather or pilot error as the likely cause.
Armavia officials have suggested that air traffic controllers were at least
partly to blame, giving the pilots improper instructions.
The commission said it planned further analysis of the recorders and computer
modeling to determine a cause. The flight was en route to Sochi from Yerevan.
4) Statue of Archbishop Ashjian Unveiled in Armenia
A life-size statue of Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian was unveiled Sunday in the
Armenian village of Moughni, in honor of the man known for his charitable work
and devotion to the church.
The statue, designed by Ara Shiraz, is located in the yard of the school
named
after Archbishop Ashjian, who faithfully served the Armenian Church for half a
century, including twenty years as the Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic
Church
of the Eastern United States and Canada.
Prior to his death in 2003, Ashjian lived in Armenia where he undertook
extraordinary charitable work including the care of orphans, the elderly, the
re-transmission of the faith to the people after 70 years of communist rule,
bringing back to life centuries-old monasteries and churches, and the
publication of hundreds of historical and literary books.
In Moughni, Archbishop Ashjian revitalized the village through the renovation
of the St. Gevorg church and the building of a community center.
The statue will remind residents of his contribution to the village and to
Armenian society at large.
5) IMF Praises Armenia~Rs Economic Growth
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The managing director of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), Rodrigo de Rato, praised Armenia for continuing ~Simpressive~T growth of
its economy, which looks set to remain in double digits for a sixth
consecutive
year.
De Rato reiterated over the weekend the IMF~Rs highly positive assessment of
the country~Rs macroeconomic indicators after what he described as ~Svery
productive~T talks in Yerevan with President Robert Kocharian and other senior
Armenian officials.
~SArmenia~Rs economic performance has been impressive in recent years:
double-digit growth since 2001 in an environment of low inflation; a
strengthening external position; a reduction in poverty; and, more recently, a
notable improvement in tax performance,~T he told a news conference.
~SThe authorities have done a commendable job in maintaining sound
macroeconomic policies,~T de Rato said. They will therefore be rewarded with
$34
million in additional IMF loans to be disbursed in the next two years, he
added.
De Rato was in Yerevan to participate in a high-level conference of the
so-called Dutch group of 12 countries, including Armenia, affiliated with the
IMF and the World Bank. Armenian growth was a big feature during the two-day
gathering that was attended by finance ministers, central bank chiefs, and
other top officials from those nations.
Official statistics put the Armenian economy, still reeling from the
post-Soviet slump of the early 1990s, on track to expand by more than 10
percent this year.
~SEven China is not achieving that sort of growth,~T said Jeroen Kremers, a
member of the IMF~Rs governing board representing the Dutch group. ~SThat~Rs
pretty good, I think.~T
According to the National Statistics Service, the proportion of Armenians
living below the official poverty line fell from 56 percent to 34.6 percent
between 1999 and 2005. The Armenian Government says this shows that the growth
has benefited not only the small class of wealthy citizens but the population
at large.
De Rato also spoke about key economic challenges facing Armenia, such as tax
evasion. He said he urged Armenian leaders to improve tax and customs
administrations in a ~Stransparent and non-discretionary manner.~T Kocharian was
quoted by his office as telling de Rato that his Government is doing its best
to tackle the problem.
The IMF chief further praised the Kocharian administration~Rs monetary
policies, defending the appreciation of the Armenian currency, the dram.
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