Author: Ekmekjian Janet

YOUNG PEOPLE UNDER 25 CONSTITUTE 20% OF ARMENIA’S POPULATION
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 11 2006
YEREVAN, July 11. /ARKA/. Young people under 25 constitute over 20% of
Armenia’s population, UN Resident Representative to Armenia Consuello
Vidal stated on the occasion of International Day of Population.
She reported that 30% of young people in Armenia are unemployed, which
arouses concern. In this context, Vidal pointed out the importance
of supporting Armenian young people.
According to her, this is a present-day requirement.
On April 1, 2006, Armenia had a resident population of 3,218.9ths
people.
At the end of May 2006, a total of 114.7ths job-seekers were registered
by the State Employment Service, 104,200 of them (90.85%) being
unemployed. The unemployment status was granted to 90.4ths people –
78.81% of the unemployed population. P.T. -0–

Relations between our countries are warm and friendly, Foreign Ministers of
Armenia and Lebanon state
ArmRadio.am
11.07.2006 18:04
Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Fawzi Salloukh
is paying an official visit to Armenia. During the three-day visit
he will have meetings with RA President Robert Kocharyan, NA Speaker
Tigran Torosyan and Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. The Minister
will be received also by the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin
II. After the meeting on July 11 the Foreign Ministers of Armenia
and Lebanon Vardan Oskanyan and Fawzi Salloukh gave a joint press
conference. The journalists’ questions referred to Armenian-Lebanese
bilateral relations, as well as to regional issues, including the
Karabakh conflict.
“Armenia and Lebanon have exceptionally good relations today. After Mr.
Harriry’s death the pace of economic processes and dialogue somewhat
slowed down due to various reasons.
This is Minister Salloukh’s first visit to Armenia, and we hope
this visit will help arrange the meeting of the Intergovernmental
Commission as soon as possible. The Armenian-Lebanese agenda is rather
deep and all-embracing.
Friendly relations exist between the two countries, and the existence
of the Armenian community is an important factor in interstate
relations, in the development of Yerevan-Beirut ties. There is an
extensive field for the further development of relations between the
two countries,” Minister Oskanyan remarked in his opening speech.
RA Foreign Minister noted that he had an interesting conversation
with Mr.
Salloukh on a number of questions.
“The Minister informed me about the processes under way in Lebanon. We
spoke also the events in Iraq. The Minister presented the [position of
Lebanon. I presented in detail the Karabakh issue, the content of the
talks, the latest developments, as well as other regional questions,
particularly focusing on Armenia’s relations with neighbouring
countries, considering also Armenian President’s last visit to Iran. It
was a rather productive dialogue, I’m content with the meeting an I’m
sure this visit will become a new impetus for the further development
of Armenian-Lebanese relations,” Minister Oskanyan underlined.
The Foreign Minister of Lebanon noted that he has a very constructive
talk with his Armenian counterpart.
“Our countries have very warm and close relations. During today’s
meeting we discussed the ways of deepening and reinforcing these
relations. These ties have an emotional side also. Lebanon is home
to a large Armenian community.
We are proud of them and appreciate their efforts and contribution
to the prosperity of Lebanon. We are proud of the Armenian community
also because during the disastrous war of 1975-1990 they did much
for the reconstruction of Lebanon. We are very proud of the role the
Armenian community played during the war,” Fawzi Salloukh said.
“We discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest:
Iraq, nuclear programs of Iran, Nagorno-Karabakh – Azerbaijan conflict
and many others. Armenia and Lebanon are active members of the
international community, and our views are similar in regard to the
establishment of peace and security in the region and the world. We
have a future of warm and friendly relations with Armenia. I invite
Minister Oskanyan to Lebanon to participate in the sitting of the
joint Armenian-Lebanese Commission,” the Lebanese Minister of Foreign
affairs and Emigrants added.
Turning to the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh issue, Fawzi
Salloukh noted, “We do not see the Karabakh conflict as a religious
one. This is a conflict for land, and we are ready to apply efforts
and assist those who are trying to resolve the issue peacefully. We
are confident that wars proceed from the interests of the conflicting
sides, diplomacy and peace talks are proper way. We hope for a peaceful
end, which will satisfy both sides.”

AZG Armenian Daily #128, 11/07/2006
Cooperation
ARMENIAN AND GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTERS DISCUSS ISSUES OF BILATERAL
COOPERATION
Armenian and Georgian Prime Ministers discussed various issues of
economic cooperation. RA PM Andranik Margarian told the journalists
after the meeting with Zourab Nogaideli, recently.
The press service of RA Government informed that Mr.
Margarian said they discussed the construction of the third high
voltage electricity line and signed the relevant agreement. Besides,
they discussed the communication issues, particularly the opening
of the Abkhaz railroad. RA PM added that the issue will have final
solution only after the consent of the Russian side. He added that they
also agreed about shaping a joint working group that would evaluate
the profits of restoring Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railway communication.
As for the decision of the Georgian authorities to restore the
infrastructures of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Margarian said that that would
be good to involve the local residents in the implementation of the
above-mentioned works. He added that the Armenian authorities are
ready to assist the restoration of the Javakheti infrastructures. He
informed that in the given stage Armenia will help restore a number
of educational institutions in Javakheti, while the further assistance
will be discussed later.
RA PM informed that they discussed the necessity to open the
Armenian-Georgian University in Tbilisi. He added that RA Education
Minister will visit Tbilisi in end July in connection with this
issue. The sides also touched upon the issue of tourism, stating that
the number of Armenian tourists visiting Georgia grows year after year.

DELEGATION LED BY YEREVAN MAYOR TO VISIT NAGORNO-KARABAKH ON JULY 7
Arka News Agency, Armenia
July 7 2006
STEPANAKERT, July 7. /ARKA/. Armenian delegation led by the Yerevan
Mayor Yervand Zakharyan is going to visit Nagorno-Karabakh on July 7.
The delegation consists of representatives of “Shushi” fund and a
group of entrepreneurs, the NKR Government press service reports.
During a meeting with the NKR officials members of the delegation
intend to discuss issues connected with reconstruction of Shushi city.
The plan to meet with the NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan. S.P. -0–

93 SCHOOLCHILDREN AWARDED WITH GOLDEN MEDALS
Panorama.am
18:15 05/07/06
93 medal winners at the secondary schools of republic were honorably
handed over their medals at the National Academy of Sciences today. The
medal winners were awarded by the NAS academicians on the day of
Constitution.
“The presence of NAS chairmanship and this presentation under the
walls of NAS is a means to reward the schoolchildren for their work,”
Levon Lazarian, minister of education and science said.
NAS Chairman Radik MARTIROSYAN was amazed. He had never seen NAS hall
so full of people who can link their future to science.
30 among 93 medal winners are from Yerevan, including 10 from private
schools.
The founder of Ohanyan school Suren Ohanyan said that the level of
education at private schools is high. “A schoolchild pays tuition
fee and receives quality education. There are no bribes here,” he said.
Republican Party member Sukias Avetisyan’s daughter, Ruzanna Avetisyan,
was also among the medal winners.
There are also children of school heads and teachers among the winners.
However, there are no privileges granted to such children during the
examinations at higher educational establishments. This procedure is
effective for the second year now.

ARMENIAN LEADER TO VISIT IRAN
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted July 5 2006
Baku, July 4, AssA-Irada
Armenian President Robert Kocharian will start his two-day visit
to Iran on Wednesday. He is due to meet with his counterpart Mahmud
Ahmadinejad, followed by a broad meeting between the two countries’
delegations. Armenia and Iran are expected to sign bilateral documents
in conclusion of the talks, Armenian media reported.
Kocharian will be accompanied during the visit by the ministers of
foreign affairs and energy.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
June 30, 2006
___________________
BISHOP AYKAZIAN ATTENDS PEACE PARLEY
Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical officer of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern), was in historic Florence, Italy, from
May 13 to 16, 2006, to attend an international conference devoted to talk of
peace.
International religious leaders, including His All Holiness Bartholomew I,
Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, attended the event,
organized by the Galileo 2000 Foundation.
“People from different religions and from different continents gathered in
Italy guided by the spirit of peace to pray and to dialogue,” Bishop
Aykazian said.
One panel included representatives of various Christian churches, Jewish
leaders, and Muslims. Included on that panel was Bishop Aykazian, who spoke
on how it is possible to bring peace to the world while reading a paper
titled “The contribution of religion to peace and understanding.”
“It is from the New Testament that our Lord Christ says ‘Blessed are the
peace makers.’ So we are the peace makers of this world, we have to stop
violence. Religions have the power to stop atrocities and crimes committed
in the name of religion,” he said.
“The role of religion is to bring justice, peace, and to stop war, violence,
war, genocides, massacres, etc.”
As president-elect of the National Council of Churches, Bishop Aykazian
spoke about the activities and the achievements of the organization in
social, moral, medical, spiritual, environmental, and other areas. Bishop
Aykazian spoke about injustices being committed against innocent people
around the world, which the National Council of Churches is trying to end.
Thousands of religious and civic leaders attended the conference, including
the Queen of Denmark, the Princess of Florence, and a high-level
representative of the Vatican. The conference was highly publicized in the
European media.
“It is important that among all these religions the Armenians were given
prominence and invited to the gathering,” said Bishop Aykazian. “This
conference definitely brings a contribution to peace in the world.”
— 6/30/06
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News and
Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical officer
for the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), left, joins His
All Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical
Patriarch, and the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Florence, Italy, during a
panel discussion at the peace conference organized by the Galileo 2000
Foundation.

FANS SOAKED IT UP: SYSTEM OF A DOWN’S REXALL PLACE SHOW WON’T BE FORGOTTEN
By Yuri Wuensch
Edmonton Sun, Canada
June 29 2006
System of a Down is a lot like the untouchable hot girl you knew in
high school who surrounded herself with ugly chicks so she’d appear
that much hotter.
Opening band, Bad Acid Trip, like wake-up-in-the-desert-naked bad,
is one of those tagalongs. It makes you realize and appreciate that
System’s brand of heavy metal can indeed rise above, high above,
mere furious play and unintelligible screaming.
System of a Down played a stellar, ear-splitting and sold-out show
at Rexall Place last night.
I know Hatebreed, second on the bill, was a better act than BAT,
because a Thunderdome-like circle of metallists started beating down
on each other on the concert floor. Let’s face it; you don’t try
hurting people for just any old band.
And make no mistake, System of a Down is no ordinary metal band. Why
they’re so special might not become readily apparent after seeing
last night’s show at Rexall, however.
The band’s lyrics touch on everything from over-population in the
U.S. prison system to SOAD’s roots and the genocide of Armenians
during the First World War. System has instilled thought-provoking
ideas and politics into its music and, in turn, fan base.
That the band delivers its message with the brute force of a thousand
hammers is a plus, with power chords, merciless drumming and lead
singer Serj Tankian’s punctuating vocals.
The instrumentals on many tracks also showed real nuance, like on
B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs). Last night, “bring your own bong”
would have been appropriate, too; the smell of weed was thick most
everywhere in Rexall. Sorry, security.
Not that the band discouraged the puff, puff, give.
At one point, a red shirt was thrown on stage, right into the arms
of guitarist Daron Malakian.
“Ew, sticky,” he said. “Come on. If you’re going to throw anything,
at least throw a joint.”
A barrage of items hit the stage, including to the band’s confusion, an
eraser. But a bevy of blunts eventually found their way up there, too.
“Ha. I’m such a fiend, I’m grabbing them all,” laughed Malakian, who
passed a lit one around to his band mates. “Now that we’re stoned,
we’re probably going to screw this next one up.”
There were few missteps, though. As the evening wore on, the band’s
musicianship shone through, with some tunes sounding like Eastern
European drinking songs.
Others took on a Middle Eastern vibe, complemented by Malakian’s chants
and the Persian rugs on the stage floor. Some of the polyrhythmic
instrumentals were just plain dizzying, fit for gypsies and whirling
dervishes.
The band apologized for its play of Old School Hollywood Baseball, the
first time it’s been performed live, they said. But it was cool, the
vocorder effect adding yet another spellbinding dimension to their act.
Needles, from System’s 2001 breakthrough album, Toxicity, like
most everything the band performed, was well met by the crowd. The
mop-topped teen beside me, eyes closed and thrusting his fist in the
air, wasn’t at a rock concert – he was at church.
If your banger buddy doesn’t acknowledge your water-cooler greeting
this morning, don’t think him rude.
He’s probably just temporarily deaf – and loving it – thanks to
System of a Down. Soak it in; the band’s on an extended hiatus after
this tour.
—
SOUND CHECK
Main Event: System of a Down In the Seats: 13,500 in Rexall Place
Note Perfect: System of a Down’s Instrumentals Sour Note: Metallic
Taste in Your Mouth From Bad Acid Trip Rating: 4.5 Suns out of 5.

ARMENIAN JUSTICE WALK BEGINS: MARCHERS LEAVE L.A. FOR WASHINGTON, D.C.
By Connie Llanos, Special To The Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
June 28 2006
Nearly a century after the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians, the
descendants of those victims are finding new ways to heal old wounds.
Water coolers in hand and painful memories in their hearts, members
of the United Armenian Students kicked off their 3,000-mile Journey
for Humanity on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday. The
group, made up of Armenian college students, is marching 20 miles a
day until it reaches the nation’s capital in the hopes of educating
people about the Armenian genocide, as well as other atrocities
occurring throughout the world today.
“We have carried this pain for 91 years,” said Vahe Abovian, project
director for Journey for Humanity.
“We kept hearing `never again, never again,’ but it keeps happening,”
he said.
Abovian, 29, has taken a leave of absence from his job as deacon of
the Western Dioceses of the Armenian Church and has sent his wife and
two daughters to Armenia to reduce his expenses so he can afford his
five-month trip.
He feels compelled to make this sacrifice not only as an Armenian,
but as an ethical human being, he said.
“It is personal to me as an Armenian, but the issue of genocide is too
big to be trademarked as an Armenian or a Jewish issue,” Abovian said.
With the death toll in the Darfur region of the Sudan nearing 400,000,
Abovian stressed that recognition of genocides can lead to their
prevention in the future.
“The reasons for doing this are twofold,” Abovian said.
“We are trying to keep the memories of all genocide victims alive
and educating our society and we are demanding that no more crimes
against humanity happen,” he continued.
Richard Hovannisian, chairman of modern Armenian history at the
University of California, Los Angeles, said for many Armenians it is
the unresolved aspect of the genocide that causes the hurt to remain.
“It is 90 years after the fact, and the Turkish government will not
go on the record,” Hovannisian said.
Hovannisian also said that much of the drive behind the genocide
awareness movement stems from a belief that had the world paid
attention to the Armenian genocide, many other genocides could have
been prevented, including the Jewish Holocaust.
He added that youth involvement in the issue is important. “Their
idealistic streak should be encouraged,” Hovannisian said.
By Tuesday afternoon Glendale Community College student Albrik
Zohrabayan had marched 11 miles in 90-degree heat.
“I’m tired,” Zohrabayan said in a weakened voice. But he isn’t nervous
about his trip, despite the unknown territory and summer heat; he
only hopes people are open to the message he carries.
“We just hope they are going to support us. That’s all we care about.”

PACE POLITICAL COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS “STABILITY PACT IN SOUTH CAUCASUS”
Author: J.Shahverdiyev
TREND, Azerbaijan
June 27 2007
The meeting of the Political Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) held on June 27 will discuss “Stability
Pact in South Caucasus”, Gultakin Hajiyeva, the deputy chief of Azeri
delegation in PACE, told Trend.
Besides, she stressed that the documents deals with the absence of the
development prospects in South Caucasus because Armenia has occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh and other territories of Azerbaijan.
“Occupation of territory of one PACE member-country by another member
country jeopardizes the establishment of peace and cooperation in
the region,” Hajiyeva stressed.
According to Hajiyeva, the document was prepared and submitted by
Romanian parliamentarians.
Besides, Hajiyeva ruled out that Azerbaijani delegation tries to do
all the best so that the document be more objective and truer. Samad
Seyidov, head of Azeri delegation in PACE, and Aydin Mirzazade will
deliver a report on this topic.