Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Armenia dismisses reports on return of Azeri regions
Baku, May 18, AssA-Irada
Armenia has dismissed reports that it reached an agreement with
Azerbaijan on its withdrawal from the occupied Azerbaijani regions.
“This statement contradicts reality”, Armenian foreign ministry
spokesman said on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said following the three-hour
meeting of Azeri and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian in Warsaw on Monday that the two discussed a timetable for
Armenia’s withdrawal from the occupied Azeri territories.*

JOHN EVANS: PRESIDENT BUSH’S APRIL 24 ADDRESS EXPRESSES US GOVERNMENT’S LATEST AND OFFICIAL POLICY REGARDING THIS ISSUE
YEREVAN, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. “President George Bush’s April 24 address
expresses the latest and official policy of US government regarding
this issue,” US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to RA
John Evans declared in his interview to the Yerkir web site, answering
the question, when the US will recognize the Armenian Genocide. The
ambassador quotted the following part of Bush’s address: “On Armenian
Remembrance Day, we remember the forced exile and mass killings of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman
Empire. This terrible event is what many Armenian people have come
to call the “Great Calamity. I join my fellow Americans and Armenian
people around the world in expressing my deepest condolences for this
horrible loss of life.”

NUMBER OF 2D ‘GOLDEN APRICOT’ FILM FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS TO DOUBLE
By Ruzan Poghosian
AZG Armenian Daily #088, 17/05/2005
Culture
Director of “Golden Apricot” film festival, Harutyun Khachatrian,
informed that the festival this year will be held July 12-17. Film
workers of 45 countries have so far applied applications.
Grand Prix winner of “Golden Apricot” 2004, Atom Egoyan, will chair the
jury which includes Clod Miller, Klaus Eder, Jus Stelling, Simon Field,
Peter Wintonick and other renowned culture workers. Krzysztof Zanussi,
Abbas Kiarostami and Nikita Mikhalkov are among the honored guests.
“Cinematography as a Way of Dialogue” seminar will be held during the
festival days. Besides, the professionals will give lessons and film
directors will take part in film discussions.
The founders of the festival are the “Golden Apricot” Film Development
Fund, RA Culture and Foreign Ministries, “Hayfilm” cinema studio,
Association of Cinema Workers and Cinema Journalists, the Union of
Cinematographers and Home-Museum of Sergey Parajanov.
The “Golden Apricot” last year hosted more than 70 foreign film
workers and 150 movies from 20 countries were shown.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
| 12:23:34 | 14-05-2005 | Politics |
ANTICONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS
In the civilized world the parties are formed freely without any
imitations and often withour registration.
There in no law on parties in the US. They are viewed as inions
for the formation of which no limitations are provided. Almost in
all the states of Western Europe no limitations are put for party
formation. The freedom of formation and activities of the parties are
regulated by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In
the Eastern European States some limitations referring to the number
of party members are fixed.
The definition of the party members in the RA law “On Parties”
conflicts with the Constitution”, constitutional right specialist
Vardan Poghosyan considers. Article 7 of the acting Constitution
establishes guarantees of formation and free activity of the parties;
Article 25 allows every citizen to form parties with other citizens and
provides for the right of membership. Article 44 put some limitations
to party activities if it is essential for the state and public
security, state order, health, public welfare and other rights and
freedoms, honor and good name. Vardan Poghosyan reminded that the
Venice Commission adopted a regulation referring to the prohibition
and dismission of political parties.
They refer to the propaganda of violence and activities targeted at
forced overthrow of the constitutional regime and have nothing to do
with the number of party members. According to the changes inserted
December 8, 2004 to the law “On Parties”, according to which a party
with less than 2000 members totally and less than 200 members in each
region is subject to dismissal in the Court of Common Competence.
As a matter of fact this clause of the law “On Parties” has no
jurudical power as it was adopted after the law “On Constitutional
Court” came into force in 1997. The law says that the Constitutional
Court can decree on suspension or bar the party activities in case
they conflict with the Constitution demands” Vardan Poghosyan noted.
Victoria Abrahamyan
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FROM THE BANK “CREDIT -SERVICE” TO THE CHAIR OF ACCUSED
A1plus
| 19:30:07 | 16-05-2005 | Social |
“The Bank has been robbed of more money than the sum named today”, said
Artashes Davtyan, ex-executive director of the bank “Credit-Service”
who was the accused to day in the Notq-Marash communities Court of
the first instance.
Today the Court heard the case of the workers of the Bank – Artashes
Davtyan, Boris Araqelyan, Vahagn Martirosyan, Svetlana Qaramyan and
others who are accused of stealing money from the bank. Particularly,
Artashes Davtyan is accused of stealing 121 million drams
The trial started on February 16, 2004, and Artashes Davtyan and
Vahan Martirosyan have been imprisoned since April 1, 2003.
During the trial Davtyan accused Stanislav Hovakimyan, founder of the
bank. The lawyer of the latter, Hovik Galyan interrupted him all the
time, and finally got angry and left the court room.
It was decided that at he next court session Artashes Davtyan will
give evidence. The session will take place on May 24, at 2:00 p.m.

RETIREMENT INSURANCE
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
13 May 05
Nikolay Baghdassarian: `Mr. Avetissian, what are the main functionsof
the fund?’ Vasily Avetissian: `The main functions of the NKR State
Fund for Social Insurance are: record of obligatory payments to the
retirement, payment of retirement pensions, as well as funding of
state programmes of state social insurance and employment. Besides, on
the expense of the payments provided from the state budget the fund
provides means for social security payments, pensions of army officers
and private soldiers, premiums, recovery and other costs.’ N.B.:
`Since January 1, 2005 the functions of calculation, payment and
control of the income of the NKR State Fund for Social Insurance have
been fulfilled by the NKR State Tax Service. In your opinion, is the
transfer of functions an advisable step?’ V.A.: `, First of all, I
consider it rightto transfer the mentioned functions to the tax agency
because tax agencies have greater authority which will result in
increase in collection of payments to the retirement fund. Besides,
the insurers will report to one authorized agency, and the number of
agencies authorized to check the operation of businesses and the
frequency of checking will be reduced.’ N.B.: `Not long ago serious
problems connected with unpaid pensions arose. What is the situation
like today?’ V.A.: `Let us look back. In 1999 unpaid pensions totalled
700 million dollars, that is to say, pensions had not been paid for
three-four months. We managed to settlethe debt and pay the pensions
in time. If in 1999 budget income totalled 63.4 per cent, in 2000 it
improved to 94.8 per cent, in 2001 101.2 per cent, in 2002 106.1 per
cent, in 2003 108.4 per cent. In 2004 collection of payments to the
retirement fund improved by 480 thousand against 2003. Of course, the
present size of the pension is far from being satisfactory; therefore
constant steps are taken to improve the collection of financial means,
as well as the legislation. The medium-term and long-term programmes
worked out by the government provide for annual increase of the sums
directed at social programmes, as well as the size of pensions. In our
country the number of pensioners is almost equal to that of working
people, that is to say, the sum paid by a worker to the retirement
fund is paid to a pensioner, whereas the budget of social insurance
comes from obligatory payments to the retirement fund by workers. The
pension and salary are interrelated indicators. Economic development,
new jobs and rise in salary result in increase in pensions. Our aim is
high pensions and secure old age. The following indicators prove that
the government has adopted such a policy.’ N.B.: `It is not a secret
that the retirement fundneeds serious changes. What steps have been
taken in this direction?’ V.A.: â=80=9CI consider the new law on state
pensions adopted in November 2003 to be a fundamental and important
step in improvement of the retirement fund. The principle of
solidarity of generations underlies the operating system, that is to
say, todayâ=80=99s workers pay for today’s pensioners, and the size of
the pension depends on the years of service of the retired person. I
have to confess that before the adoption of the law the difference in
the size of the pension of people having many years of service and
those who had not worked at all was insignificant. The principle of
social justice was violated. The new law introduced the notionof
individual coefficient of the pensioner, which resulted in
considerable increase in the difference in the size of
pensions. Further increase in pensions will make the difference
grow. The new law also maintains the system of individual record,
which is an important precondition for passing to the system of
accumulation. An individual record means that the payments of each
worker to the retirement fund will be reflected in his personal
account and the size of his pension will be decided according to his
payments. Before that both the principle of solidarity of generations
and the system of accumulation will operate simultaneously. It is
planned to create a three-grade system including the following
elements: a) state retirement security, b) obligatory accumulation
retirement insurance, c) voluntary retirement insurance. State
retirement security is provided through state governance and is funded
from the means of payments to the retirement fund. This element, as
social aid, must provide minimum retirement pension for everybody,
including those who do not have sufficient means in the system of
accumulation. In obligatory accumulation retirement insurance each
person who members this system has their personal account and draws a
pension the size of which is determined by the amount of obligatory
payments to the retirement fund and the average life expectancy. It
should be decided when and which groups of people will pass to
obligatory accumulation retirement insurance, and in this case how the
problem of today’s pensioners can be solved. The voluntary retirement
insurance is funded from voluntary insurance payments.It is introduced
as additional insurance in addition to the state system. The main
mission of the government is to create a legislative environment for
the normal operation of the system, regulate the activity of the
institutions in this sphere and exercise state control.’
NIKOLAY BAGHDASSARIAN.
13-05-2005

Turkish Speaker says trade relations with Australia improved
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
13 May 05
Sydney, 13 May: Turkish parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, who is
currently in Australia on an official visit, met members of Turkish
community in Sydney today (13 May).
Arinc flew from Canberra to Sydney, the third leg of his visit to
Australia.
Parliament Speaker Arinc noted that nearly 150,000 Turkish people were
living in Australia, stating that commercial relations between Turkey
and Australia improved recently. He indicated that Australia supported
Turkey in foreign policy as well.
Replying to a question concerning a monument (on the so-called
Armenian genocide) that was inaugurated in Ryde municipality, Arinc
stressed that there was no genocide in the history of Turkish
nation. “We never accepted genocide and we don’t,” he indicated.
The parliamentary delegation led by Arinc will leave Australia for
Turkey on Saturday [14 May].

Mehr News Agency
May 13 2005
Visitors to National Museum of Iran to get a glimpse of world
civilizations
TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA) — The National Museum of Iran plans to hold a
series of exhibitions on the art and culture of various nations, the
curator of the museum announced on Friday.
Mohammadreza Kargar said that the first exhibition will highlight the
art and culture of Armenia.
`Following the recent display of Iranian artifacts in foreign
countries, which helped to boost Iran’s connections with world
museums, we are determined to showcase the art and civilizations of
other countries, with priority being given to neighboring countries,’
he added.
The next exhibitions will be on the art and civilization of Mexico
and the coins of Austria.
The `7000 Years of Persian Art’ exposition is currently being held in
Lisbon, which is its last stop. It displays a total of 178 rare
historical masterpieces collected from various museums across the
country and will return to Iran within a month.
The expo opened in Austria on November 22, 2000 and then traveled to
Germany and Belgium. Later, it was held in Switzerland, Spain, and
Croatia.

National Post (Canada)
May 12, 2005 Thursday
Toronto Edition
Is Egoyan to win this time?: Canada’s artsy auteur tempts fate with a
Cannes premiere on Friday the 13th
by Shinan Govani, National Post
Are Armenians very superstitious? We couldn’t help but ask when it
came to our attention that Toronto’s bespectacled auteur Atom Egoyan
is premiering his newest movie under the auspiciously azure skies of
the Cannes Film Festival tomorrow. Tomorrow, which just happens to be
a Friday. Tomorrow, which happens to come with a date numbered 13.
While we couldn’t reach Egoyan for a precise comment, a spy in Cannes
who knows him well told me yesterday, “I don’t even think he realizes
it’s Friday the 13th.”
And while we’re certainly not wishing any bad omens on the nebbishly
adorable director, my suspicious mind does wonder if some Cannes
festival scheduler isn’t playing tricks with our beloved Canadian. We
smell a rat. An ara-rat.
Egoyan’s latest film, Where the Truth Lies (ThinkFilm), is widely
thought to be his film-noir reach for a more commercial audience.
Based on Rupert Holme’s novel about the breakup of a ’50s comedy team
and the grisly murder that follows, it stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth
and Alison Lohan. A cast that’s nothing to sneeze at, and about as
lucky to get as a four-leaf clover.
And now this Friday the 13th business. Whatever will Egoyan and his
starry cast be thinking when they march up the steps of the famed
Palais cinema tomorrow evening amid all the glamour and endless
hoopla?
Well, maybe it’s not so bad. As it came to my attention yesterday,
Egoyan, amazingly, actually directed an episode of Friday the 13th,
the TV series, back in the ’80s.
And Bacon? Well, in true six-degrees form, it turns out he indeed
appeared in the original 1980 feature flick Friday the 13th! Back in
his pre-Footloose days!
So, yeah, maybe it’s not bad as it looks. Some of these guys have
experience.
I SEE, I HEAR…
– That Alie Christensen — that’s Hayden’s marvellous mom! — dropped
into a press screening last Thursday at the Varsity for a little film
called Star Wars: Episode III. Perhaps to see for herself what
trouble her son’s been up to lately! Darth Vader’s real-life mother,
we hear, will also be off to the London premiere of the movie soon
…
– That all those London luvvies from Coldplay, who’ve been doing the
town all week, took in Sunday dinner at Yorkville’s Flow restaurant
— the same night actress Vivica A. Fox was there munching away at
another table …
– That Maxim’s Number One Hottie has landed in town! Eva Longoria,
who’s been on a desperate ride to fame and currently graces the cover
of the mag’s annual Hot 100 issue, has arrived in T.O. to work on a
movie. On Tuesday night, she hit Sotto Sotto with a group that
included such co-stars as Kiefer Sutherland and Michael Douglas …
– That David Davidar has gone from India to Yonge and Eligible. The
book bigwig, who moved to Toronto last year from the subcontinent to
run Penguin Books Canada, just moved the publishing company’s digs
from its old haunt near Summerhill to the Yonge/Eglinton corridor.
Question is, will Davidar’s next move be New York? The buzz continues
in local publishing circles that he’s actually just passing through
Toronto en route to the big cheese job at Penguin USA …
– That hometown fashion supercouple Joe Mimran and Kim Newport-Mimran
enjoyed dinner at The Spoke last Friday …
– That we saw powerful Paul Godfrey on his cellphone at a table by
himself while a formal tango dance was ongoing in a Royal York
ballroom, where all kinds of important people had gathered last
Saturday for the fandango-themed ball for Bridgepoint Health …
– That the folks behind Air Canada’s enRoute magazine, which has
undergone a major redesign (including regular, monthly scribblings
from yours truly!), were thoughtful enough to throw a big,
overflowin’ party at Brassaii last week. 660 people showed up,
including such beautiful font appreciators as Dan Menchions from
local interior-design faves II by IV, trend-tracking hound Karen von
Hahn, David Clemmer from hair-make-up-stylists agency Judy Inc. and
George Stromboulopoulos from TV-land.
AND FINALLY, FOR THE RECORD…
– Michael Cohl, the genius Toronto-based tour manager for the Rolling
Stones, took exception to comments I ran in this space on Tuesday.
Contrary to scuttlebutt I’ve been hearing, he says he’s not advising
the Stones to make their recently-announced world tour their last.
Instead, Cohl sent along this emphatic e-mail message to me the other
day: “I see no reason why the Rolling Stones should ever retire.”
GRAPHIC:
Colour Photo: Donald Weber, Getty Images; Atom Egoyan and wife
Arsinee Khanjian may not feel out of place in the ghoulish atmosphere
of a Friday the 13th premiere.;
Colour Photo: Lee Celano, Reuters; Longoria: Maxim-um hotness.

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Probleme durch Vielfalt: die Bevölkerung des Irak
Deutsche Welle – 11. Mai 09:36
Ein ethnisch-religiöses Völkergemisch erschwert den Weg des Irak zur
Demokratie. Nach dem Sturz Saddams bestimmen Konflikte zwischen den
Glaubensgemeinschaften und Ethnien das Geschehen. Wer sind die einzelnen Gruppen?
174 mal Wettbewerb
Jungle World – 11.05.05 05:11 Uhr
Am Anfang stand die Arroganz der Macht. Wenn die Franzosen über den
Verfassungsvertrag der Europäischen Union abstimmen, könnten sie nichtsanderes tun als
zuzustimmen. Davon war Präsident Jacques Chirac lange Zeit überzeugt. Denn
die EU, so dachte und denkt … … falls die Türkei demokratische
Mindeststandards erfülle und den Genozid an den Armeniern endlich anerkenne. Bei dem
Aufmarsch von 3 000 …
Der Held von Tiflis
Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten – 10.05.05 19:56 Uhr
Es war eine der größten Menschenmengen, die George W. Bush je zugejubelt hat.
Wie ein Held wurde der US-Präsident gefeiert, rund 150000 Georgier wollten
ihn am Dienstag auf dem Platz der Freiheit in der Hauptstadt Tiflis hören. Bush
revanchierte sich: Einen … … Die mehrheitlich von ethnischen Armeniern
bewohnte Region Dschawacheti, zu der die Basis bei Achalkalaki gehört,
kontrolliert Tiflis nur bedingt …
Der Held von Tiflis Tagesspiegel – 10.05.05 19:49 Uhr
Brotgelehrte und philosophische Köpfe
pickings.de – vor 3 Stunden gefunden
… In der Türkei galt dieser Teil der Geschichte jahrelang als Tabuthema.
Der Genozid, dem etwa eine Million Armenier zum Opfer fielen, wurde geleugnet.
…
Interview mit Aren Emirze von HARMFUL – 06.05. Klangstation, Bonn
triggerfish.de – vor 5 Stunden gefunden
… widerspiegeln. Du selbst bist Armenier… Emirze: Ja, ich bin Armenier.
… kommen. Sie waren als Armenier in Istambul einer Unterdrückung ausgesetzt.
…
Bush: “Georgien ist Leuchtturm der Freiheit”
Die Presse – 10.05.05 19:03 Uhr
Der US-Präsident hatte seinem Gastgeber Michail Saakaschwili wenig Konkretes
zu bieten. … Die mehrheitlich von Armeniern bewohnte Region Dschawacheti
dagegen, zu der die Basis bei Akchalkalaki gehört, wird von Tiflis nur bedingt
…
Begeisterung für Bush in Tiflis
St. Galler Tagblatt – 11.05.05 05:19 Uhr
Triumphaler Auftritt des US-Präsidenten in Georgien – Bush lobt friedliche
Revolution Mit einem erfolgreichen Auftritt in Tiflis hat US-Präsident Bush
gestern seine Europareise beendet. Er würdigte den demokratischen Umbruchin
Georgien als weltweites Vorbild. … die Russland in der Republik Abchasienund in
Achalkalaki an der Grenze zu Armenien hat. 1999 hatte die OSZE Moskau
aufgefordert, die …
Simply verprasst
Frankfurter Rundschau – 10.05.05 22:22 Uhr
Die dänische Mega-Party für Märchendichter Andersen war ein Fiasko – nur
Rock-Oma Tina Turner sahnte richtig ab … … es Übertragungen in ein Dutzend
kleiner Fernsehländer wie Armenien oder Estland, die die Show zum Billigtarif von
insgesamt 200 000 Euro …
150.000 Bush-Fans klatschen in Georgien
TAZ – 10.05.05 21:20 Uhr
Halb Georgien schien gestern auf den Beinen zu sein, um US-Präsident George
W. Bush willkommen zu heißen. Der Kaukasusstaat war die letzte Station auf
Bushs Vier-Länder-Tour anlässlich der Feierlichkeiten zum Ende des Zweiten
Weltkrieges. 150.000 Menschen säumten in Tiflis die Straßen, als Bush auf dem Platz
der Freiheit eine von Freiheitspathos erfüllte Rede hielt. … die Russland in
der Republik Abchasien und in Achalkalaki an der Grenze zu Armenien unterhält.
1999 hatte die OSZE Moskau aufgefordert, die …
Der Held von Tiflis
Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten – 10.05.05 19:56 Uhr
Es war eine der größten Menschenmengen, die George W. Bush je zugejubelt hat.
Wie ein Held wurde der US-Präsident gefeiert, rund 150000 Georgier wollten
ihn am Dienstag auf dem Platz der Freiheit in der Hauptstadt Tiflis hören. Bush
revanchierte sich: Einen … … auch als Signal an die Nachbarn Aserbaidschan
und vor allem Armenien für Washingtons Willen gewertet, demokratische
Veränderungen und einen …
Der Held von Tiflis Tagesspiegel – 10.05.05 19:49 Uhr
Türkei an Völkermord 1915 erinnern
oberpfalznetz – 10.05.05 04:38 Uhr
Der Kreisverband der Union der Vertriebenen (UdV), eine Arbeitsgemeinschaft
der CSU, bleibt unter der bewährten Führung von Norbert Uschald. Bei der
Kreishauptversammlung mit Neuwahlen im “Ratskeller” bestätigten die Mitglieder die
Vorstandschaft. … Später erinnerte Uschald an den Völkermord an den Armeniern
im Osmanischen Reich im Jahre 1915 und würdigte den Einsatz der CDU/CSU ..