Author: Emil Lazarian

Hezbollah Leader Declared “Full-Scale War” to Israel
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.07.2006 13:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah
Lebanese radical grouping, has promised a “full-scale war” to
Israel. He said, “You wanted open war, you will get it.” He also
emphasized, “neither rules, nor agreements are in effect any more,”
reports EuroNews. This statement followed after Arab TV channels
broadcasting the Israeli aircraft bombing of Hezbollah headquarters
in Beirut past Friday.
After the air attack Hezbollah supporters erected their flag on
handrails of a bridge situated near the headquarters and also destroyed
by Israelis. Some 70 persons on the Lebanese side and over 10 on the
Israeli one fell victim of the conflict, which broke out 3 days ago.
Israel had launched a military operation after fighters of Hezbollah,
which controls south Lebanon, kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Israeli
PM Ehud Olmert viewed this act as declaration of war. Israeli aircraft,
battleships and artillery have bombed Beirut international airport
and two military airdromes, bridges and roads in the south of Lebanon,
military objects of Hezbollah. Lebanon is practically fully isolated.

EU Envoy for South Caucasus to Arrive in Armenia July 24
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.07.2006 15:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus
Peter Semneby told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter he will be visiting
Armenia July 24-25. The main purpose of the visit is to discuss the
EU-Armenia cooperation within the European Neighborhood Policy.
To note, July 21 Mr Semneby will pay a call to Azerbaijan on the
same purpose.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YEREVAN IS FOR FAST ARMISTICE AND RESUMPTION OF TALKS
Lragir.am
14 July 06
Official Yerevan is worried about Israel’s offensive on Lebanon.
Vardan Oskanyan told news reporters July 14 that this question was
discussed with the foreign minister of Lebanon visiting Armenia on
July 13. The foreign minister of Lebanon was in Armenia when the
Israeli tanks crossed the border of his country. The minister was
to fly home late at night by a direct Yerevan-Beirut flight but the
Israeli forces bombed the airport of Beirut, and the minister had to
stay in Yerevan. He left Armenia only early in the morning of July
14 but not for home.
“Early in the morning he left for Vienna, then he must leave for Cairo,
where the meeting of the foreign ministers of the countries of the Arab
League will take place. Yesterday we discussed this question with the
minister rather long. It is highly concerning, and we condemn every
act of violence, be it taking hostages, use of force, especially that
this use of force is not adequate for the existing situation. Moreover,
when this force is used to destroy infrastructure, which takes a lot
of victims,” says the foreign minister of Armenia.
Vardan Oskanyan assures that Armenia wants restraints in this region,
“because this is a fragile region.” According to the foreign minister
of Armenia, official Yerevan is for a fast armistice and resumption
of talks as soon as possible.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Georgian leader hails regional cooperation in oil pipeline inauguration speech
Channel 1, Tbilisi
13 Jul 06
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has said that the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is opening new prospects for regional
cooperation. He was speaking at the pipeline inauguration ceremony
in the Turkish port of Ceyhan on 13 July. Saakashvili said that the
pipeline project had led to “a completely new political situation”
in the region in which there was no longer any place for “a policy of
diktat”. He also said that regional economic projects were transforming
their participants into “some of the most dynamically developing
countries in the whole world”. The following is an excerpt from
Saakashvili’s speech, which was broadcast live by Georgian Public
Television Channel 1:
[Saakashvili] Your excellencies, esteemed President Sezer, President
Aliyev and Prime Minister Erdogan, ladies and gentlemen.
For us, today’s ceremony and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline
mean far more than an economic, political or energy project. This is
a historic prerequisite for our countries’ freedom and independence
and a solid foundation for our future success. This project is very
important because – together with the [Sah Daniz] gas pipeline project
which is also very important for Georgia – it marks the end of an era
of one type of relations and the beginning of a completely new era in
relations and a completely new political situation in our region. From
now on, the possibility of confrontational methods and a policy of
diktat being used is ending and a completely new era is starting
in the Caucasus and the wider region which includes Central Asia,
post-Soviet space and Turkey. A new political reality is emerging,
which is based on cooperation and respect for mutual interests.
During the discussion of this project, my country Georgia has often
been referred to as a corridor. [Smiles] I would like to state
categorically that Georgia is not a corridor. Generally, I do not
accept the concept of a corridor. A corridor is surrounded by walls and
is an enclosed space, no matter now big the building is. In reality,
what is happening today means that we have created one large space
rather than corridors and terminals. This is a space for cooperation,
mutual understanding and friendship between our countries.
A completely new reality has formed within Georgia as well. We have
been cooperating very well with BP and other companies working here.
A completely new economic reality is emerging. I can tell you frankly
that for several years, before the Rose Revolution in 2003, the oil
pipeline project was the only source of Georgia’s economic growth.
The project has effectively been completed, yet this year the Georgian
economy will grow much faster thanks to other local economic factors.
A synergy has emerged. We have managed to create a completely new
reality. Not only have we changed our strategic energy [supply] lines,
but we have also completely changed the domestic energy distribution
system in Georgia and created a new investment climate.
The fact that there is no longer corruption in Georgia – I declare this
with a full sense of responsibility – has allowed us to achieve this:
whereas a year ago we were unsuccessfully pleading with several large
foreign companies to buy our power grid for one dollar and operate it,
several weeks ago, that is a year later, we sold just a part of the
same grid for several hundred million dollars. That is the result of
more effective administration and a more transparent environment free
of corruption.
We are moving into a new era. In the Soviet period we were told who
we were supposed to like and who we were not supposed to. Not only
were we forbidden to have warm relations with Turkey, but the Soviet
regime’s ideology was that Turkey was the Georgians’ enemy. Today
and yesterday I have been telling our Turkish brothers that in the
space of just a few years Turkey’s consistent, generous, friendly
and fraternal attitude has completely negated many decades of work
by Soviet ideologists.
For Georgia today, Turkey is a most important partner and a great
friend. We have entered a phase of great cooperation with Turkey.
Turkey is fast becoming Georgia’s leading trading partner. Turkey
is fast becoming, and will probably become, the leading investor
in Georgia.
I remember well that when two years ago Prime Minister Erdogan arrived
for the first time in a destroyed and devastated Batumi, we together
went to the border crossing where there were long queues of suffering
citizens who needed to get Turkish or Georgian visas. We promised
each other that there would be no visas needed for travel between
Georgia and Turkey.
Now Georgia and Turkey have one of the most transparent and free
borders. This used to be a border between NATO and the Soviet bloc,
a border with the largest number of restrictions and bans, but now it
is one of the most transparent, easily negotiable and friendly borders
in the region between two fraternal states. That is the result of a
decision by politicians who care about their people.
The prime minister and I also decided that Batumi airport would
be in joint use. This decision was taken, and Batumi airport will
open in November, as will a new Tbilisi airport terminal, which is
being built by Turkish companies. It means that Batumi and Tbilisi –
especially Batumi from November, which is a new development – will be
linked to the whole world via Istanbul with daily services or perhaps
several services a day.
I talked earlier about our experience with Turkish business and
the arrival of many business people in Georgia. Many construction
companies have arrived. In these companies, side by side with Turkish
engineers, Georgian specialists are working and learning to use modern
working methods. This happened during the oil pipeline project and is
happening now in the wider construction industry. [Passage omitted:
more on Turkish business involvement in Georgia]
That is real cooperation, a real synergy. We no longer have corruption,
we have reduced taxes, and we have opened borders. The governments
have done everything possible to facilitate access to markets. For
the first time, under a low taxation regime, 1m bottles of Georgian
wine will enter Turkey this year. That will be the first time in
history. Georgian agricultural produce is also entering Turkey at a
time when it faces certain problems on other markets.
I think that this kind of cooperation as well as the development we
are witnessing in Azerbaijan – [changes tack] We are very pleased about
that because, again, no other state is closer to us. Such development
and mutual assistance will allow us to create completely new prospects
for our people.
We have arrived here after going through a very difficult period. We
were in a very difficult situation. But the situation is changing
radically. We are happy about it, our people are happy about it,
although there may also be forces that do not particularly like that.
Likewise, the Kars-Akhalkalaki railway project we are currently working
on is a new transport link. The Kars-Akhalkalaki railway means the
creation of hundreds or thousands of jobs in the Javakheti region
of Georgia [area in southern Georgia populated mainly by ethnic
Armenians], a completely new transport infrastructure, and a new
strategic significance for the region.
The oil and gas pipelines, new airports, new railways – it was hard to
imagine all that not so long ago. Not so long ago our countries were
described as weak, flawed and unstable countries whose prospects were
poor. Now these are some of the most dynamically developing countries
in the whole world, which have become examples of development,
consolidation and vision of the future for many other nations and
countries.
[Passage omitted: switches to English and the broadcast continues with
a Georgian translation superimposed; Saakashvili thanks BP for its
courage and long-term vision, welcomes the creation of alternative
energy routes, looks forward to new projects]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS SIGNS CREDIT AGREEMENT OF 30 MLN USD WITH EBRD AND DEG
YEREVAN, JULY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. A credit agreement of 30 mln drams was
signed on July 13 among RA Civil Aviation Chief Department attached
to RA government, Armenia International Airports CJSC, European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and German Investments
and Development Company (DEG). 20 mln USD of the above mentioned
sum will be provided by EBRD, 10 mln USD by DEG, which is part of
KfW German bank. As Head of EBRD Yerevan Office Michael Weinstein
informed journalists, the program will play an important role for
development of Armenian transport contacts and systems, as Armenia
has no exit to the sea and greatly depends on air transportations.
Michael Weinstein said that the sum will be provided for financing the
last stage of construction of a new passenger compelx of Zvartnots,
including buying modern equipments for the purpose of improving the
quality of services.
The bank representative refused to provide information about the credit
interest rates only mentioning that this is a commercial credit and
is provided for 7 years’ term.
Zvartnots Director Juan Pablo Gechijian said that in total, 63 mln
USD will be spent on the construction of the new passenger complex, 25
mln USD out of which has been already realized. It was also mentioned
that the complex will be completely put into exploitation in 2007
May and passengers arrival hall will operate from September this year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VARTAN OSKANIAN: DURING BRYZA’S VISIT ARMENIAN SIDE WILL AGAIN CONFIRM
ITS POSITION TOWARDS FRAME AGREEMENT
YEREVAN, JULY 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “There is some
uncertainty in the negotiations process and we hope some clarifications
will be made during Matthew Bryza’s visit to the region to take place
soon,” RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian declared at the July 14
press conference.
According to him, at the moment it is difficult to foresee the next
steps connected with the Nagorno Karabakh settlement. He said that for
the present, there is no issue of a new meeting between Armenian and
Azerbaijani Presidents. The Minister declared that he does not know,
with what proposals American Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew
Bryza is arriving in the region. He expressed a supposition that the
visit will rather have a cognitive character.
V.Oskanian said that during Bryza’s meeting the Armenian side will
again confirm its position, namely, acceptability of the frame
agreement proposed by the Co-chairmen.
He emphasized that these principles are difficult to fulfil for the
Armenian side and it will be also difficult to convince the people
and the political forces of these principles’ being acceptable. “No
matter how much non-ideal these principles are for us, we are ready
to assume this political responsibility and on the basis of these
principles we are ready to continue the negotiations and to achieve
peaceful settlement,” Vartan Oskanian declared.
According to him, “the document on the negotiations table is not
an Armenian variant,” but a document that was created as a result
of two-year negotiations. “I.e. this is a synthesis of Armenian and
Azerbaijani positions the Co-chairs present as a medium settlement of
the problem that takes into consideration the anxiety of both sides
and at the same time requires concessions from them.”
He declared that the publication of the text of proposed agreement by
the Co-chairmen was a full unexpectedness for the Armenian side. At
the same time, the Minister added that he does not see any problem
here. “I think all this is good for us to prepare a sound discussion
on these issues in our society.”
Oskanian agreed that there will be some forces in the society that
will occupy a sharp negative position in this issue. At the same time,
he declared that we should not undertake any efforts on convincing the
Armenian public until Azerbaijan gives its consent to the proposed
document. “If the document were ideal for us in all parameters,
irrespective of Azerbaijan’s position, I would convince people that the
document is good. But this is not ideal, but a compromise document,
in which the formula of right concessions has been found, and for
us this document could be a basis for conducting negotiations. And
if the Azerbaijani side has not given consent, why shall we start to
convince our people that the document is good?”.
According to him, the time to convince will come when an agreement
is reached between the sides.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

July 13, 2006
PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
ARCH. MOUSHEGH MARDIROSSIAN, PRELATE, OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO THE
CONSUL GENERAL OF LEBANON
On the occasion of the passing of Elias Hrawi, the former
president of the Republic of Lebanon, His Eminence Arch. Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelate, sent the following letter to His Excellency
Charbel Wehbe, Consul General of Lebanon in Los Angeles:
July 11,
2006
Honorable Charbel Wehbe,
Consul General of Lebanon
Los Angeles
Honorable Mr. Wehbe,
On behalf of the Western Prelacy Religious and Executive Councils, I
would like to express my deepest sympathies for the loss of H.E.
Elias Hrawi, former president of the Republic of Lebanon. We share
your grief and that of the Lebanese government and people.
The late President Hrawi was a great patriot and statesman who led
Lebanon during turbulent times and had a pivotal role in delivering
the country to the shores of peace. He will be remembered as a
courageous leader, a humble person, and a loyal and committed friend
to the Armenian people.
Please accept our condolences for your loss.
I pray to Almighty God to grant his soul eternal rest and keep
Lebanon in peace and harmony.
Prayerfully,
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
On Wednesday, July 12, the Prelate visited the Lebanese Consulate
accompanied by Mr. Boghos Sassounian, secretary of the Prelacy
Executive Council, to personally express his condolences to Mr.
Charbel Wehbe. His Eminence asked Mr. Wehbe to convey his sympathies
to the leaders of Lebanon.
PRELACY DIVAN
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Mad Crowd Extremist Gang Leader Arrested in Saint Petersburg
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.07.2006 14:10 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Leader of Mad Crowd extremist grouping Ruslan Melnik,
who was wanted by the federal police since 2004, was arrested in
Saint Petersburg.
The press service of the city’s prosecution office informed that in
2005 five gag members were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment
for “stirring up national, racial and religious hatred” and assaults
on foreigners while their former leader Dmitry Borovikov was shot
during detention in May 2006.
The department of the Federal Security Service on Saint Petersburg and
the Leningrad oblast clarified that Melnik is accused of organization
of extremist community and stirring up of national, racial and
religious hatred. To note, one more criminal suspected in committing
crimes through national hatred was detained in Petersburg yesterday.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turks charge UA professor over her novel
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.13.2006
An assistant professor in the University of Arizona’s department
of Near Eastern studies is facing criminal charges in Turkey for
“insulting Turkishness” in a novel she wrote.
The charges against Elif Shafak, filed under the Turkish Criminal
Code, stem from her recently released book “The Bastard of Istanbul,”
in which a character refers to the killing of Armenians in World War
I as genocide, according to The New Anatolian, an English-language
newspaper in Turkey.
Shafak, a well-known and celebrated author in Turkey, wrote “The
Bastard of Istanbul” while she was in Tucson. She’s taught at UA for
two years but is living in Turkey on a one-year leave.
“For any author to suffer through this is just terrible and she is
pregnant right now, so I am very concerned about her well-being,” said
Anne H. Betteridge, director of the UA’s Center for Middle Eastern
Studies. “It seems there is just a serious program of intimidation
under way by right-wing forces in Turkey.”
Shafak’s UA colleagues are looking at how they can support her defense,
Betteridge said.
The New Anatolian says the challenged sentences in Shafak’s book are:
“I am the grandchild of a family whose children were slaughtered by
the Turkish butchers,” and “I was brought up having to deny my roots
and say that genocide did not exist.”
The issue has been contentious in Turkey. Many people say up to 1.5
million Armenians living in Turkey perished between 1915 and 1923 in
what they call a “forgotten genocide.”
Turkey has denied its former leaders tried to wipe out the Armenians.
Leaders say only that many died of starvation, disease and exposure on
forced marches to Syria in retaliation against the Christian minority
for reportedly collaborating with Russia during World War I.
Shafak, 35, is a Turkish citizen whose mother was a Turkish diplomat.
Shafak grew up in France and Spain and now is a celebrated author
and somewhat of a media star in her country — the press there even
wrote about her marriage.
Now, she faces up to three years in prison. Her colleagues say the
prosecution is nerve-racking and expensive.
Andrew Wedel, an assistant professor of linguistics at the UA who has
been to Turkey, hopes the charges will be dropped, citing the recent
dismissal of charges against Orhan Pamuk, another famous Turkish
novelist. In 2005, lawyers for two Turkish professional associations
brought criminal charges against Pamuk after he made a statement
about Armenian genocide and the massacre of Kurds in Anatolia.
Wedel noted that Shafak’s prosecution also could be a blow to the
country’s bid for inclusion in the European Union, though he said
that’s precisely what nationalist forces in the country would like
to see.
“Of course it is ridiculous. Half of Turkey is deeply embarrassed,”
Wedel said. “Elif is trying very hard to open up Turkey to be more
modern in its ability to think about itself and move forward culturally
and historically. It’s sort of a cultural watershed moment in Turkey
right now.”
Wedel helped copy-edit “The Bastard of Istanbul,” which he says is
about a young Armenian girl living in the United States who discovers
that her real father is Turkish and half her family lives in Istanbul.
The girl then runs away to visit them.
According to the Writers in Prison Committee at International PEN,
a worldwide writers group, Shafak’s publisher, Semi Sökmen, of the
Metis Publishing House, and translator, Asli Bican, also face charges.
A news release from PEN says the public prosecutor in Istanbul
dismissed initial proceedings against Shafak after hearing her
and Sökmen’s argument that the book was a work of literature and
therefore not appropriate for prosecution. They added that the book
aimed to promote the culture of peace.
But in early July, Istanbul’s Seventh High Criminal Court overruled
the decision not to proceed, following a complaint filed by a member
of a group of right-wing lawyers known as the “Unity of Jurists,”
who have been active in the prosecutions of numerous writers and
journalists in recent months. The trial date has not been set.
Shafak holds a master’s degree in gender and women studies and earned
a doctorate from the department of political science at Middle East
Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.
She first came to the United States in 2002 as a fellow of the Five
Colleges Women’s Studies Research Center. Before joining the faculty
at the UA, she was a scholar at the University of Michigan, where
the courses she taught included “Women Writing on Women: East-West
Encounters” and “The Queer in the Middle East.”
–Boundary_(ID_0iO+xmCf2Qoml/2KNtLDHQ )–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CLOSING VERIN LARS, RUSSIA WAS CONVINCED THAT SECOND CHECK-POINT WORKS,
RF TRANSPORT MINISTER SAYS
YEREVAN, JULY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. Closing the Verin Lars check-point
on the Russian-Georgian border, Russia was convinced that the Nerkin
Amaragh check-point works. RF Transport Minister Igor Levitin declared
this at the July 12 press conference. “To say that Russia has closed
the border is at least non-correct,” Igor Levitin declared. According
to him, the Armenian side was not informed about the closure of the
Verin Lars in advance, as the Russian side in its turn was not aware
that Georgia has stopped cargo admission through Nerkin Amaragh.
I.Levitin informed that repairs are being done in the Verin Lars
check-point at present, which are to finish by September-October,
as later the road can be closed due to weather conditions.
According to I.Levitin, Russia will do its best for relaunching Nerkin
Amaragh. “We are ready to accept cargos through this check-point
and this issue should be coordinated with the Georgian authorities,”
RF Transport Minister said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress