Author: Emil Lazarian

Armenia posts Q2 foreign reserves
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
Aug. 18, 2006
RBC, 18.08.2006, Yerevan 18:34:58.Armenia’s gross foreign assets
rose by 5.7 percent ($43.4m) in Q2 2006 to $803.726m, the press
office of the Armenian Central Bank reports. International reserves
(foreign currency reserves) grew from $760.288m to $803.726m. The
country’s SDR in the IMF decreased by $6.1m (4.4m SDR) to $12.4m
(8.4m SDR). Its net foreign assets rose by 18.9 percent ($90.2m)
to $568.1m in the reporting period.
Armenian gross foreign assets amounted to $755.160m as of January 1,
2006, including $755.037 of international reserves.
Armenia’s SDR in the IMF was $10.177m (7.121m SDR). Its net foreign
assets amounted to $472.424m, including $472.339m of currency reserves.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Arif Aliyev: Armenia and Georgia do not want to join international
conventions to clean the Kyur River
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 18, 2006
[ 18 Aug. 2006 19:59 ]
“70 percent of Azerbaijan’s water balance is formed outside the
republic. We are obliged to use Kyur’s water, because, it is the
biggest water source in the country.
Despite Azerbaijan’s efforts, neither Armenia, nor Georgia wants
to join international conventions to clean the Kyur,” Arif Aliyev,
“Azersu” OJSC chairman told journalists, APA reports.
He said Baku is supplied with drinking water that meets all standards.
“99 percent of harmful substances are cleaned. Then the water is
disinfected with chlorine,” Aliyev said. /APA/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Aug. 18, 2006
DEPUTY JUSTICE MINISTER MEETS WITH UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
[August 18, 2006, 16:32:54]
Togrul Musayev, Deputy Minister of Justice met with the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Antonio Gutteres.
Mr. Musayev thanked the guest for his efforts towards solution of the
problems of over one million Azerbaijanis who became refugees and
IDPs as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
Speaking on the good human rights record of Azerbaijan, in
particular, concerning refugees and IDPs, Deputy Minister dwelt on
the work being done in Azerbaijan to strengthen the legal system and
raise the efficiency of the justice in accordance with the decree of
the President of Azerbaijan Republic of January 19, 2006. He touched
upon the activity of the justice and reforms being implemented in
this area, as well as long-term cooperation with the office of UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Azerbaijan.
Mr. Gutteres, in his turn, highly appreciated the work that
Azerbaijan government does to improve the state of refugees and IDPs.
UN High Commissioner stressed, in particular, the significance of the
work done to modernize and improve judicial system in Azerbaijan.
The sides shared views on other issues of mutual interest.
The discussions also involved Pirkko Kourula, Director of UNHCR’s
Bureau of Europe, Elchin Amirbayov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to
Switzerland and Vilayat Zahirov, Deputy Minister of Justice
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Figaro, France
18 août 2006
Aznavour : la biographie de reference
par Bertrand Dicale
LONGTEMPS, Charles Aznavour disait n’avoir guère envie d’etre
biographie, a moins que ce ne soit par lui-meme. Il a donc publie en
2004 Le Temps des avants (Flammarion, 353 p., 20 EUR), livre de
souvenirs traversant une vie et une carrière exceptionnelles, mais
qui ne contentait peut-etre pas les fans desireux d’un livre de
reference. Le voici maintenant, Charles Aznavour ou le destin
apprivoise, biographie detaillee et precise, nourrie par une belle
enquete dans les archives et un grand nombre d’entretiens avec
temoins et proches du chanteur. Alors qu’un Musee Aznavour doit
bientôt ouvrir en Armenie, le chanteur voit sa vie, sa carrière et
son oeuvre decortiquees en plus de 600 pages menees avec souffle et
generosite. Le chantier a ete commence par Marc Robine, helas
brutalement disparu en août 2003, et repris par Daniel Pantchenko,
egalement journaliste du trimestriel Chorus-Les Cahiers de la
chanson, appartenance qui a mis en confiance le chanteur – “Avec eux,
je n’avais aucune raison de me mefier !
“. Tout est la, en effet, a commencer par une plongee dans les
racines familiales de Charles, Varinag Aznavourian, ne le 22 mai 1924
a Paris VI e : le peuple armenien eparpille sur les routes du monde
après des dizaines d’annees de persecutions et le genocide declenche
par les autorites turques en avril 1915, la France hospitalière, la
vie de debrouille, d’ambition et de ferveur des exiles qui veulent se
faire une vie nouvelle. L’enquete historique est etonnante, notamment
lorsque la destinee des Aznavourian croise Manoukian – oui, le
Manoukian de l'”Affiche rouge”, qui apprendra le jeu d’echecs a
Charles. Recit des annees dures “On me dit qu’il y a dans son livre
ce qu’il n’y a pas dans le mien. Moi, j’etais beaucoup plus pudique”,
nous a dit Charles Aznavour a propos de cette biographie. En effet,
le recit de Pantchenko detaille les interminables debuts d’un
chanteur entre dès l’enfance dans le monde du spectacle, mais qui
mettra des annees a conquerir sa place, renommee et bonne fortune.
Recit des annees dures, des rebuffades d’Edith Piaf aux jugements
abrupts de la critique, des doutes de professionnels aux decrets
arbitraires du public. Aujourd’hui, Aznavour relativise la durete de
ce temps-la : “Cela fait soixante-treize ans que je fais ce metier.
Meme si j’avais passe la moitie a galerer, ce n’est pas la mer a
boire. Si j’ai une ecriture profonde, grave, fouillee, cela vient de
la. Rien n’a ete futile dans ma carrière.” Car Aznavour n’est pas un
chanteur leger. Certes, il fait lui-meme la distinction entre ses
“deux metiers : la chansonnette, comme avec Au creux de mon epaule et
des chansons plus fortes comme Tu t’laisses aller ou la decision, le
premier dans la chanson francaise, d’aborder l’homosexualite dans
Comme ils disent. ” Il revendique la distinction, non d’ “auteur de
chansons” mais d’ “ecrivain de chansons”. Enorme pourvoyeur du
patrimoine en grandes chansons classiques portees par lui-meme ( La
Bohème, Mes emmerdes, Non je n’ai rien oublie, Emmenez-moi, Les
Plaisirs demodes, For Me formidable, Mourir d’aimer… ) ou donnees a
d’autres interprètes ( Retiens la nuit pour Johnny Hallyday, La Plus
Belle pour aller danser pour Sylvie Vartan…), il va enregistrer une
oeuvre colossale en francais et dans une demi-douzaine de langues.
Modestie jamais, humilite toujours Travailleur opiniâtre, il mène
plusieurs carrières de front, dans la chanson et dans le cinema, en
France et a l’etranger, comme interprète et comme auteur-compositeur
pour d’autres… Comme le dit Patachou a Daniel Pantchenko :
“Modestie jamais, humilite toujours.” Et, si brillante que soit son
oeuvre, Aznavour professe toujours la discipline du travail et du
doute : “Avoir des facilites est le plus dangereux dans ce metier. Il
faut toujours revenir, revenir, revenir sur ses chansons jusqu’a
l’enregistrement.” Et ensuite ? La vie ne s’arrete pas a la fin de sa
biographie. À la rentree, outre un nouveau voyage dans sa chère
Armenie dont il est devenu de fait l’ambassadeur universel, il part a
Cuba enregistrer un nouvel album avec Chucho Valdes, orientation
latine qui l’a conduit a reecrire les musiques de plusieurs chansons
en chantier. “J’ai dû faire le double de travail.” Et il aimerait
bien qu’un autre auteur vienne a son tour fouiller non sa vie mais
ses chansons, pour une etude critique. Quant a lui, il pense a faire
partager son experience unique de la scène, du studio et de la
creation : “J’ai commence a prendre des notes pour ecrire un livre
sur la facon de faire ce metier, mais sans donner de conseils.” Des
conseils ? Sa reussite prouve qu’il ne les a pas tous ecoutes… n
Charles Aznavour ou le destin apprivoise, par Daniel Pantchenko avec
Marc Robine, Fayard-Chorus, 616 p., 22 EUR .
–Boundary_(ID_4O16fuvaO4iUCP1Anhactw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #157, 19/08/2006
Armenian Genocide
ZORYAN INSTITUTE LAUNCHES NEW INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON GENOCIDE
As part of its continuing effort to integrate the Armenian Genocide
into world genocide studies, the International Institute for Genocide
and Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) (IIGHRS),
chaired by Dr. Roger W. Smith, announces the co-founding and joint
publication of a new journal, Genocide Studies and Prevention, in
partnership with the International Association of Genocide Scholars
(IAGS), headed by Dr. Israel W. Charny. The journal’s first issue,
Summer 2006, published through a partnership with the University of
Toronto Press, is available now.
“Genocide Studies and Prevention, as a peer-reviewed journal, was
established to fulfill several goals at the same time,” remarked
Dr. Smith, a founder of the IAGS. “First, as the official journal of
the IAGS, its mission is to understand the phenomenon of genocide,
create an awareness of it as an ongoing scourge, and promote the
necessity of preventing it. Second, as an initiative of the IIGHRS,
it is intended to help stimulate, educate and develop new generations
of scholars to engage in research and provide an academic forum
on genocide. Third, it is hoped that it will educate government
policy-makers, as well as the general public, on why and how genocide
occurs so that they may be persuaded to use all of their influence
to prevent genocide, or at least intervene if it is already taking
place,” he concluded.
The first issue of this inter-disciplinary journal is devoted to
the genocide in Darfur. It features articles written by such noted
experts as award-winning author Rene Lemarchand; Samuel Totten, who
served as an investigator on the US government’s Darfur Atrocities
Documentation Team; legal experts Kelly Dawn Asking and Jerry Fowler;
Political Science Professor Scott Straus; and Major Brent Beardsley,
who served as General Romeo Dallaire’s personal staff officer in the
UN peace-keeping mission in Rwanda in 1994 and was an eye-witness to
the genocide there.
The second issue, which is already in press, will be devoted to the
Armenian Genocide and will have many distinguished contributors,
including Taner Akcam, Vahakn Dadrian and Roger W. Smith. Subsequent
issues will be devoted to such themes as the Genocide in Rwanda,
Genocide and International Law, and Genocide and Ethnocide of
Indigenous Peoples.
Israel W. Charny, President of IAGS stated that, “Today, one can look
with some satisfaction on the increasing emergence of scholarship and
the scientific study of genocide, and therefore one may also dare to
begin to think of the possibilities for preventing genocide. It is for
these reasons that we are especially pleased to see the synergies of
our relationship with the IIGHRS, with whom we share a deep commitment
to the study and genocide of all peoples, in the establishment of
this new journal.”
Genocide Studies and Prevention is published three times a
year. Subscriptions are $50.00 per year, but a discount is available
for the first year. For more information, contact the IIGHRS (Zoryan
Institute), [email protected], Tel: 416-250-9807.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #157, 19/08/2006
People
KAREKIN II CHEVALIER OF RUSSIA’S PRIDE MEDAL
On occasion of upcoming 54th anniversary of Karekin II, Catholicos
of All Armenians, on August 21, a charity fund of Russia “Pride of
Fatherland” has decided to decorate His Holiness with Russia’s Pride
gold medal. According to Yerkramas newspaper of Russian-Armenians,
the Catholicos will receive this medal for his contribution to
spiritual unity of world’s nations, for fostering good-neighborly
Russian-Armenian relations and for his tireless struggle against
interethnic hostilities in the world and the Caucasus.
By Susanna Margarian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #157, 19/08/2006
Region
GEORGIA AND AZERBAIJAN COME TO TERMS OVER KARS-AKHALKALAK RAILWAY
Commenting on the results of a sitting of the Georgian-Azerbaijani
intergovernmental committee that kicked off two days ago, Azerbaijani
prime minister Artur Rasizade stated that Baku and Tbilisi have agreed
on constructing Kars-Tbilisi-Akhalkalak-Baku railway. His Georgian
counterpart, Zurab Noghaideli, urged the Azerbaijani investors to
invest in Georgia saying that Georgia is “ready to create privileged
environment for Azerbaijani investors.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES TO PAY TWO-DAY WORKING VISIT
TO ARMENIA
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Antonio Guterres, the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees will pay two-day working visit to Armenia
on August 20-22. It is written in the information submitted to
Noyan Tapan by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information
Department. During the visit A.Guterres will meet with RA President
Robert Kocharian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, Karekin II
Catholicos of All Armenians. Visits are envisaged to the marz of Lori
as well as to the UN Office in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia sells major rubber plant to British company
Arminfo
18 Aug 06
Yerevan, 18 August: The Armenian government today decided to sell 90
per cent of the shares of the state-owned closed-typed stock company
the Nairit factory – the only producer of polychloroprene rubber in
the Commonwealth of Independent States – to the British-Irish company
Rhinoville Property Limited for 40m dollars, the government said in
a press release.
The press release said the British-Irish company had applied to buy
the plant and said it could invest in the plant to upgrade it.
The government instructed the energy minister to allow the Armgazprom
joint-stock company to sell 90 per cent of the shares of the Nairit
factory to the foreign investor for 40m dollars.
[Passage omitted: details]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Aztag Armenian Daily, Lebanon
Aug 16 2006
C O M M U N I Q U E
by the Spiritual Leadership of the Armenian Community in Lebanon
Based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, while
deploying in Southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Army will be assisted by
multinational forces, who will arrive to reinforce UNIFIL units who
are already there to monitor the situation.
Consultations on the formation of this multinational forces and many
countries are considered as candidates to contribute troops, and
Turkey also is expressing readiness to participate in the
peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
The participation of a Turkish military unit in peacekeeping
operations must be considered as unacceptable considering that Turkey
is a state facing many instances of violations of human rights and
international law. To say the least, it is strange for Turkey to
present itself with the mask of enforcer of justice and peace. The
continuing occupation of Northern Cyprus, the obstinate denial of the
Armenian Genocide and the the trampling upon the rights the rights of
the Kurds are only but few of the issues revealing the true face of
the Turkish state. Lebanon too was not left untouched by the Turkish
atrocities. And today, the Israeli-Turkish military pact does not
allow Turkey to represent itself as an impartial peacekeeper.
Based on these facts, the Armenian spiritual leaders of Lebanon, call
upon the Lebanese government in the name of the Armenian community,
not to accept Turkey’s offer to participate in the peacekeeping
force.
August 16, 2006
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress