Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

A1+
| 13:35:56 | 20-09-2005 | Politics |
FOR PUBLICITY
In order to make public the implementation process of the Millennium
Challenge Account program website was launched by the
Board of Trustees.
The website contains information about the MCA-Armenia project; special
attention is paid to the enlightening of the consultative process.
Conditions essential for feedback by means of survey-forum have been as well
created.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ENDORSES BILL ON CHANGES IN CONSTITUTION
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 1 2005
YEREVAN, September 1 (Itar-Tass) – Armenian parliament has endorsed
a bill on changes in the Constitution that will be put up for voting
on a national referendum.
The constitutional amendments have been necessitated by the obligations
that Yerevan took while joining the Council of Europe and their
objective is to balance off the powers delegated to various branches
of state power.
The bill on constitutional changes received the approval of a number
of European institutions, including the Council of Europe’s Venice
Commission.
Tigran Torossian, the deputy-speaker of Armenian parliament said
the draft envisions radical changes in the procedure of parliament’s
dissolution and forming of the cabinet of ministers.
It also lifts the ban on dual citizenship, something that members of
Armenian communities in many countries of the world have long been
waiting for.
“We ourselves need these constitutional changes in the first place,”
President Robert Kocharian said in a televised interview Wednesday.
In May 2003, the authorities put up a bill on constitutional changes
on a referendum held along with parliamentary election, but voters
did not support it then.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENTEL TO BE FINED
By Ara Martirosian
AZG Armenian Daily #155, 01/09/2005
Telecommunication
The Committee for Economic Rivalry Protection informs that the
administrative action of ArmenTel to review the fining terms was
partially satisfied.
A representative of the company accepted the fact of providing
unqualified telecommunication to the subscribers thus violating RA laws
“On Communication”, “On Consumers’ Rights” and “On Economic Rivalry”.
In view of these violations the Committee did not call off the fine
levied on ArmenTel that amounts to 1 percent of last year’s profit of
the company. ArmenTel has to pay the fine within one day of receiving
the decision of the Committee. In case of refraining from payment,
the state has the right of confiscation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE NKR PRESIDENT HOLDS AN ANNUAL MEETING WITH THE OFFICERS OF NKR DEFENSE ARMY
ARKA News Agency
Aug 30 2005
STEPANAKERT, August 30. /ARKA/. The NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan
held an annual meeting with the officers of NKR Defense Army, who
studies in the highest education schools beyond the republic.
According to the Press -Service of the NKR President, Arkadi
Ghukasyan congratulated the graduates with successful completion of
their studies and with returning to their country to continue their
military service. He expressed hope that the knowledge they gained
will contribute to perfection of military skills of the army, ensuring
security of the country, its further accomplishment and development.
The president emphasized that the government had done and would
do everything for the improvement of the conditions of life of the
families of officers. A.H.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey’s enthusiasm for EU membership declining
By Seth Rosen
The Washington Times
Aug 14 2005
ANKARA, Turkey — Turks are becoming increasingly disillusioned with
the European Union’s stringent stipulations for membership and are
rethinking entering a club they have yearned to join for 40 years.
After the initial jubilation in December 2004 of securing an October
date to begin accession talks, the need to make concessions on
politically sensitive issues has engendered a tide of uncertainty in
this expanding nation of 70 million.
In a poll conducted in May, 63 percent of the Turks who responded
said that they would like to see their country attain membership —
down from 75 percent in December.
“The general enthusiasm about membership is eroding, and as the EU
demands become clearer, the public will shy away more and more,”
said Hasan Unal, a professor of international relations at Bilkent
University in Ankara.
French and Greek officials called last week for Turkey to recognize the
Greek Cypriot government in Cyprus or risk derailing its EU bid. This
is part of a mounting list of demands from EU members that challenge
Turkish identity and fundamental values, politicians and analysts
here said.
[Visit a blog post related to this article:
blog.wpherald.com/wphblog/?p=58]
“Europeans don’t fully understand the limits to patience on this
side,” said Suat Kiniklioglu, director of the Ankara office of the
German Marshall Fund of the United States. “We’re not yet counting
on Plan B, but the euphoria is gone.”
Expectations were raised after the December decision, as Turks
anticipated an immediate flood of foreign investment and a decrease
in unemployment. A disappointment has permeated the nation as no real
benefits have accrued to date, said Emine Sirin, an independent member
of Parliament.
Since December, many Turks have seen a significant change in the
attitude of Europeans. As public opinion in most EU countries has
crystallized against Turkish accession, European politicians have
started taking a firmer stance as well.
One of the central reasons cited for the rejection of the European
constitution in France and the Netherlands in May was disgruntlement
with past and future enlargement of the bloc, especially for
predominantly Muslim Turkey.
More worrying for Turkey is the German election scheduled for
September, in which the Christian Democrats are favored to win. Their
leader, Angela Merkel, is an adamant opponent of Turkish membership and
instead advocates a “privileged partnership.” French President Jacques
Chirac has vowed to hold a separate referendum on Turkey’s membership.
This is part of an increasingly unjust treatment of Turkey’s
application, said Onur Oymen, the vice chairman of the Turkey-European
Union Joint Parliamentary Committee, who points out that French
citizens did not vote when Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania applied.
Some European politicians, emphatically led by the French, have called
on Turkey to recognize the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915 as “genocide,” a red line for all Turkish politicians.
“People are disappointed with the double standards we are facing,”
said Hasan Ali Karasar, a researcher at Ankara’s Center for Eurasian
Strategic Studies. “What they ask for is against our tradition,
culture, history and strategic location.”
Others are more cynical and think that the European Union is meddling
in Turkey’s internal affairs to dissuade it from continuing with
negotiations.
“What the EU is trying to do is frustrate us with unacceptable
demands so that Turkey will say ‘We give up and don’t want to be a
member,’?” said Mr. Unal, the professor at Bilkent University. “This
way, they don’t have to turn us down.”
A growing chorus of pundits in Turkey, frustrated with perceived EU
interference in internal matters, is beginning to see a “privileged
partnership” as an attractive measure. A special status would pull
the country closer economically to the European Union but allow it
to retain its sovereignty.
It would also restore a sense of balance to Turks, who currently
possess little leverage in their discussion with the European Union,
Mr. Unal said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)
July 14 2005
SPECIAL REPORT: ARMENIAN-AZERI TRADE SURVIVES

Wholesale market in Georgia provides an outlet for commerce between
divided Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
By Farman Nabiev and Gegham Vardanian in Bagratshen, the Red Bridge
and Sadakhlo
At eight in the morning, the border guards open the gates and a crowd
of over 1,000 people, some bent over under the weight of heavy sacks,
surge across the frontier between the Armenian village of Bagratshen
and the Georgian village of Sadakhlo. Some try to push their way
through, but Georgian border guards force them back. “You’re behaving
like sheep, wait a little and everyone will get through,” one shouts.
Once through the gates, the traders find themselves at the immense
international market in Sadakhlo, which is otherwise a typical
village, tucked into the wedge of territory where Georgia, Azerbaijan
and Armenia meet.
Despite all the major events that have shaken the South Caucasus over
the last decade – continuing hostility between Armenia and Azerbaijan
over the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh that has shut down
all official contact between the two countries, the Rose Revolution
in Georgia and the anti-smuggling crackdown that followed it – the
Sadakhlo market continues to function as a trading entrepot for
Azerbaijanis and Armenians.
Persistent predictions that the market would close have never been
borne out.
According to the Armenian State Customs Committee, 5,500 people visit
Sadakhlo market every week. The official data suggest that the market
was the source of 1.8 million US dollars’ worth of goods imported to
Armenia last year, but the real figure is thought to be much higher.
The market is run by Georgians run the market, while 95 per cent of
the buyers are Armenians. The sellers, by contrast, are Azerbaijanis.
Many are locals, part of an ethnic Azerbaijani community that forms
the majority in this part of southern Georgia.
Others are traders from Azerbaijan itself, like 38-year old Veli, a
refugee from Azerbaijan’s Kelbajar district, which has been occupied
by Armenian forces since 1993.
Veli and his fellow traders travel eight to ten hours every week from
the town of Mingachevir in central Azerbaijan, bringing jackets which
they have bought on credit.
“Previously, I used to bring cotton fabric and it sold well too. Now
I’m transporting leather jackets,’ said Veli. `I buy them in
Mingachevir at 38 dollars a time, and sell them at 43 dollars here.
That earns me barely 120-130 dollars per month. Of course, if there
were work at home, I wouldn’t travel to Sadakhlo every week.”
All business at Sadakhlo is done in one swift weekly session,
beginning after sunset on Mondays, so that by noon on Tuesdays,
everyone has left.
Lilia, who runs a small shop in the Armenian capital Yerevan, has
come here every Tuesday for the last two years to buy children’s,
men’s, and women’s clothes and underwear.
“I buy things very quickly, as I know who’s selling what goods,” said
Lilia, 43. `The Azerbaijani sellers know me too. They immediately
offer me everything that is new. In addition, we agree on prices
quite quickly too.’
Like Lilia, most of the Armenians come to the Sadakhlo market without
any goods to sell. The exception at this time of year is apricots,
which you can buy in Yerevan at 20-25 cents per kilo – and then
resell in Sadakhlo at 50-60 cents.
Sadakhlo market is vast and untidy. Goods are heaped on broken
counters. The air is full of dust as there is no asphalt, and when it
rains, the streets turn to mud. The stalls are jammed together,
barely allowing space for one person to squeeze through.
The people of Sadakhlo live largely off business generated by the
market. Traders are packed like sardines into tiny rooms rented out
by locals, with hardly enough room for two beds and a bedside table.
The traders rent the rooms for between 30 and 50 dollars a week, a
sizeable sum since they only stay there for one or two days.
Locals in Sadakhlo say trade has fallen recently, partly because of
Georgia’s crackdown on crooked customs officials, and also because
the Azerbaijani authorities are doing all they can to stop goods
being exported to Armenia via Georgia.
Bairam, a 45-year-old resident of Sadakhlo, says turnover at the
market has dropped drastically and prices have risen. “However,
purchasing capacity has not declined at all. The Armenians feel a
great need for food and clothes,” he said.
Varuzh lives in the Armenian town of Alaverdi, and has been driving
buyers to the border for ten years. He too notes a slump, “trading
was busier before, and there were more people. You’d have found it
difficult to move around the market. The number of our passengers has
fallen, too.’
Veli, the Azerbaijani jacket merchant, says that business is still
good, but that it’s been more of a challenge since Georgia’s change
of regime in 2003, because the government now enforces the customs
laws.
He says that before the Rose Revolution you could smuggle as many
goods as you wanted into Georgia, “We just paid a small bribe on the
border without even filling in a declaration.” Nowadays, in order to
get five or six jackets across the border checkpoint between
Azerbaijan and Georgia, Veli hands them out to passengers in the bus,
asking them to put them on even if the weather is hot.
The once-shabby border checkpoint at the Red Bridge now looks quite
presentable and is kitted out with modern equipment. There are even
enough refrigerators to hold several thousand tons of food, fruits,
vegetables, and other perishable goods.
But most of the traders are unhappy with the heavy customs tariffs.
“I don’t earn enough to pay 34 per cent customs duty,” complained
Veli.
Despite the Georgian government’s efforts, smuggling continues here.
Near the Red Bridge, IWPR contributors watched as a border guard and
women dragged canisters of diesel fuel across the border. A local
Georgian explained that 20 litres of diesel costs three times as much
on this side of the border as on the Azerbaijani side.
If customs is increasingly an issue, language is not. Zhanna, an
Armenian refugee from Azerbaijan’s Shaumian district who now lives in
Armenia, comes here every week. She can speak Azerbaijani, while
Armenian and Russian are also heard at the market.
Almost every time she comes here, Zhanna buys the popular AzerCay tea
produced in Azerbaijan and much in demand in Yerevan. “When you buy
things, you don’t even think about who’s selling you shirts,
underwear or tea. It is not so important whether they are made in
Azerbaijan or Turkey. The main thing is to buy things quickly and at
good prices,” she told IWPR.
Buying goods in Sadakhlo and reselling them back in Armenia earns
Zhanna no more than 200 dollars per month, despite the eight-hour
trips from Yerevan to the border and back and the sleepless nights.
It seems the market will continue working as long as people can earn
an income from it. By 1130 am on Tuesday, Zhanna has bought all the
goods she wants and plans to sleep on the bus on her way back home.
“We’ll be in Yerevan before 1630,’ she said. `I’ll even have some
time to go to the bazaar and trade for a couple of hours.’
Farman Nabiev is editor of the Mingachevir Ishiglari newspaper in
Azerbaijan. Gegham Vardanian is a journalist with Internews in
Yerevan, Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Euractiv, Belgium
July 5 2005
MEPs support “rigorous” negotiating framework with Turkey
In Short:
The EU will stick to its commitments and will not change the
conditions for opening accession talks with Turkey, Commissioner Rehn
has told MEPs. “Let us give Turkey the opportunity to prove itself,”
he added.
MEPs on the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee were generally
supportive of the Commission’s negotiating framework with Turkey when
on 4 July they met with Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. Several
MEPs stressed the need for Turkey to achieve real and visible
progress in the fields of human rights, women’s rights, religious
freedom and Cyprus. They agreed with Rehn that Turkey has to
translate all its words into deeds.
According to Rehn, Turkey is set to extend its customs union to the
EU-10 states, including Cyprus, this summer. At the same time, Turkey
and Cyprus would have to continue working on opening bilateral trade
and economic relations, he said. Furthermore, Ankara will have to
normalise its ties and open its borders with Armenia. However,
recognition of the events of 1915-1916 is not a precondition for
opening accession talks with Turkey, said Rehn.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
| 17:54:40 | 04-07-2005 | Official |
PRIME MINISTER CONGRATULATES
Today the RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan delivered a congratulating
message in connection with the 10th anniversary of the RA Constitution.
«The past ten years showed that being adopted in a hard period for our
country the first Constitution of the Republic of Armenia fulfilled its
mission contributing to the realization of the statehood of our country,
securing the internal and external stability of our country and the process
in gradual integration into the civilized world.
The course of development of our country and society, the new demands of
life showed the necessity of reforming the main law. The political powers of
the country, together with the society carried out work for our main law to
correspond to the international criteria. These works are in the finals
stage and will soon be represented to the people.
I congratulate you on the 10th anniversary of our Constitution and I hope
the reformed Constitution will deserve your confidence in the fall
referendum as the previous one did 10 years ago».

MAJOR TASK AT GIVEN STAGE OF SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH
CONFLICT IS STRENGTHENING OF CEASE-FIRE: V.KAZIMIROV
YEREVAN, JUNE 29. ARMINFO. The major task at the given stage of
settlement of Karabakh conflict is strengthening of cease-fire and
guarantee that military actions will not be resumed, the former
co-chair of OSCE MG Vladimir Kazimirov tells APA.
He says the opening of communications is, indeed, important, but it
is not of the most important ones. The circumstance that despite the
confidentiality of negotiations, initiatives were made public
testifies to the focus on the external effect and not fundamental
developmental work with Armenians, Kazimirov thinks. ‘For over 17
years Azerbaijan had strictly blocked Nagorny Karabakh and Armenia
and inclined Turkey and other states to it despite the calls of
international structures. Is it easy to believe in a readiness for a
sharp change at present?’ Kazimirov asked. Giving a positive
assessment of the proposal on contacts with Nagorny Karabakh,
Kazimirov says that aspiration to bring everything to a dialogue at a
level of communities once more confirms the unwillingness to resume a
direct contact Baku-Stepanakert. Karabakh is a conflicting party and
it can be seen in international documents and a number of agreements
of 1993-94 on restriction and stoppage of military actions, Kazimirov
says. In his words, neither the road nor the oil pipeline can
guarantee that military actions will not be resumed, but they can
contribute to it indirectly.
As regards the expected involvement of experts into the negotiation
process, Kazimirov called it inevitable when ideas agreed on must be
put on paper, adding that “it will open a new line of difficulties in
the process of formulation and details. Sometimes, there is a
temptation to escape with general mutually- acceptable formulas, but
it will save from disagreements only for some period of time.
Shrotly, experts will have must uneasy work to do,” Kazimirov thinks.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
June 20 2005
School hate crimes spike
LAUSD police report that incidents have quadrupled in past decade
By Naush Boghossian and Lisa M. Sodders, Staff Writers
Hate crimes in Los Angeles’ public schools have surged more than 300
percent over the past decade — the highest growth rate of all campus
crimes, fueling concerns about racial tensions in the nation’s
second-largest school district.
Nearly all of the 52 hate crimes reported in the 2003-04 school year
were racially motivated, up from 12 in 1995-96, according to the
latest figures available from Los Angeles Unified School District
police.
In recent months, officials have continued to grapple with
race-related issues, including a spate of high-profile campus brawls
at Jefferson and Taft high schools and an e-mailed threat of
race-related gang violence that kept hundreds of kids out of dozens
of schools.
While some civic leaders fear that the tensions could spread into the
broader community, school officials say it is simply a reflection of
stresses that already exist in the community.
“It’s always been there, but schools are getting more diverse and
ethnic tensions are growing and we have to deal with it. But there’s
so much ethnic conflict in the city. If we don’t get together and
talk about this in a responsible way, we’re going to be the lesser
for it,” said Sheila Roth, student cabinet adviser at Taft High
School, where fights in May prompted a massive police response and a
campus lockdown.
“And, what do you expect when you throw 3,700 kids in a school
designed for 2,400?”
Officials note that it’s not just race-related incidents that are
increasing. According to LAUSD crime statistics, weapons possessions
rose 18 percent in the last three years, to 646 in 2003-04;
robbery/extortion arrests rose 35 percent, to 345 last year;
loitering/trespassing arrests increased by nearly 26 percent to 545.
District officials attribute the increases partly to better
reporting. But they also have moved to make school safety a priority.
“I think there are some ethnic and cultural tensions, and those
emanate in the community, oftentimes in the homes. It’s a school’s
job to do the best they can to defuse that kind of attitude and
that’s what we have to work on and we have to work on it with other
agencies,” said LAUSD’s Chief Operating Officer Dan Isaacs.
“Our schools are much safer than the communities in which they rest,
but we want to address the issues that occur in society and
oftentimes spill over into our schools.”
Superintendent Roy Romer has authorized $3.7 million over three years
to increase school police staff by 30, and $4.3 million to add more
than 130 safety aides to assist with supervision programs at
secondary schools.
The district is working on a systemwide discipline policy and has
established “safe zones” around some schools to combat gang violence.
Efforts also are set for elementary and middle schools, where the
district wants to teach students about cultural and ethnic
sensitivities and how to resolve disputes better.
LAUSD reflects a national trend of rising campus violence, said
Delbert Elliott, director of the Center for the Study and Prevention
of Violence at the University of Colorado.
There were 48 reported school deaths — including suicide and
homicide — in 2003-04 — the highest number ever recorded, Elliott
said. That compared with 17 in 2001-02 and 16 in 2002-03.
The number of students involved and injured in fights also is up, as
well as students being threatened or injured by a weapon.
“It looks like we’re seeing a reversal of trends. We saw a bottoming
out in 2001, but there’s not only more homicides, more fights, more
injury, and carrying a weapon is going back up again,” Elliott said.
“The evidence is pretty clear that we’re seeing escalating levels of
violence at elementary and secondary schools. So something’s going on
that’s creating very, very high rates of very serious violence.”
Overcrowding and increasingly diverse campuses are seen as key
factors for the rising tensions, according to parents, teachers and
students.
The national average of students per teacher and counselor is 16 but
in many LAUSD schools it’s more than 25 students per teacher, said
John Rogers, associate director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy,
Education and Access.
LAUSD is in the middle of a $14 billion construction program designed
to ease overcrowding, but some schools still are bursting at the
seams. California recommends 45 students per acre in secondary
schools — but many LAUSD high schools have many more, including
Jefferson High with 206 students per acre.
“The high rates of overcrowding in many schools in LAUSD and a number
of other opportunities create a climate where there are no strong
relationships between young people and adults like teachers and
counselors,” Rogers said. “And you’re packing in so many students in
one space, you’re demanding young people to negotiate their personal
space with others on an ongoing basis.”
Rogers believes a key to preventing such race-related tensions is to
make the multiracial character of the student body part of what is
studied at school and to get the community involved in leading by
example.
As officials wrestle with safety issues, some students say the fights
have simply been random, with racial tensions not playing a
significant role.
Catalina Araneda, 18, of Grant High School said that after four years
at the school, though, she may have just adjusted to the environment.
She remembers when as a freshman she thought the tension was
palpable, with Armenians and Latinos in their designated turfs on
campus.
“I don’t know if I’ve grown accustomed to it, but I think if people
actually take the time to get to know people, then there wouldn’t be
any tension,” Araneda said. “I’m Hispanic and I have Armenian
friends.”
But Grant freshman Sheldon Flores said he feels racial tensions are
definitely growing.
“More people of different races are coming to this school, and
they’re starting fights and stuff,” said Flores, 15, who’s black.
School board President Jose Huizar believes the district has a
responsibility to be better prepared to prevent large-scale fights.
Ethnic tensions have always existed, but not at this intensity and
frequency, Huizar said — a problem that could spill into the
community if left unchecked.
“The bigger question is: Is this a prelude to what the city of Los
Angeles will be facing in the next five to 10 years — these same
types of issues on the city streets?” Huizar said. “We need to help
them deal with the issues at schools or the city has to prepare
itself.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress