Author: Emil Lazarian

ZORI BALAYAN INFORMS ARKADI GHUKASIAN ABOUT RE-START OF REGULAR STAGE OF “CILICIA” SAILING VESSEL’S NAVIGATION

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 10 2006

STEPANAKERT, MAY 10, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. NKR President
Arkadi Ghukasian received on May 9 writer and publicist Zori Balayan
who informed about re-start of the regular stage of the “Cilicia”
sailing vessel’s navigation and programs to be implemented during
it. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the NKR President’s acting Press
Secretary, Arkadi Ghukasian asked in his turn to pass his wishes
of happy journey and new and new successes to Armenian navigators
and expressed a hope that the “Cilicia” staff will this time as
well implement its high mission of re-start of Armenian navigation
traditions.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BLACK SEA AIR CRASH SEARCH TO FOCUS ON BLACK BOXES THURSDAY

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 10 2006

SOCHI, May 10 (RIA Novosti) – Recovery teams are expected Thursday
to focus on the search for the flight data recorders of an Armenian
airliner that crashed off Russia’s Black Sea coast last week, emergency
services said Wednesday.

The search effort will be restarted when the hydroacoustic equipment
brought by French Airbus experts have been prepared, said Vladimir
Yerygin, who oversees technological support for the operation to
recover the black boxes. They are seen as the key to explaining why
the Airbus crashed killing all 113 people on board.

“The French experts brought the equipment yesterday, which will help
locate the A-320 flight recorders,” Yerygin said, adding that the
four beacons were at the Sochi seaport at the moment and it might
take six hours to deliver them onto boats and tune them.

In all, 51 bodies have been recovered so far.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN CENTER GETS AGENCY NOD
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News
May 10 2006

GLENDALE – The Redevelopment Agency gave preliminary approval Thursday
to designs for an Armenian cultural center, which members of a nearby
church worry may be used to serve alcohol.

The agency’s 4-1 vote to OK the drawings is just one step the Armenian
Society of Los Angeles needs to build its cultural center at 117
S. Louise St.

The agency a year ago rejected the society’s drawings of a bigger
project. Agency members Thursday said they were happy the nonprofit
came back with a scaled-down version.

“It’s half the size of what it was before,” said City Councilman Bob
Yousefian, who sits on the Redevelopment Agency along with his fellow
council members. “It was horrible before. I mean there were saunas
and exercise rooms and just way too many activities.”

But members of Glendale Presbyterian Church, located at 125 S. Louise
St., criticized designs for the 27,000-square-foot project because
it is still too big.

Officials stressed that rules for alcohol consumption at the cultural
center would be addressed at a later meeting, but church members said
they are concerned about it.

Councilman Dave Weaver voted against the project and mentioned that
it would have storage space for wine. That concerned the Rev. Craig
Hall of the church, whose members were already concerned about
alcohol consumption.

“We have the potential of a banquet-hall type atmosphere,” Hall
said outside City Hall. “When they talk about … a very sizeable
wine cooler, what that tells you is there’s an intention to serve
significant quantities of alcohol.”

The Armenian society has been at 221 S. Brand Blvd. since 1979, but is
being forced to move to make room for the Americana at Brand outdoor
mall project. The city owns property at 117 S. Louise St. and picked
the site for the project for the Armenian society.

ASLA President John Lalaian said any alcohol consumption at the
cultural center would be for special events like weddings. There
would not be a banquet facility with drinking every night, he said.

The society hopes to open the three-story building, which would include
a library, classrooms and a stage, in early 2008. But it will still
have to come back to the Redevelopment Agency later for final approval.

“The organization, I think, is going to be an excellent neighbor,”
said City Councilman Frank Quintero. “They are not going to be running
a banquet-hall business.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA MINISTER OF HEALTH TO TAKE PART IN WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S 59th SESSION TO BE HELD ON MAY 22-28 IN GENEVA

Noyan Tapan
May 10 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Minister of Health Norayr Davidian
will take part in the 59th session of the World Health Organization to
be beld on May 22-28 in Geneva. Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed
about it by Hayk Grigorian, Head of the Ministry’s International
Relations Department. He mentioned that delegations of more than 150
countries will take part in the session.

H.Grigorian also informed that immediately after the session the
Minister will leave for New York for the purpose of taking part in
the conference dedicated to problems of HIV-AIDS to be organized by
UN and to be held from May 29 to June 2.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKADY GHOUKASYAN WISHED THE “KILIKIA” SAILBOAT HAPPY VOYAGE

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
May 10 2006

May 9 the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) President Arkady Ghoukasyan
received a publicist Zory Balayan.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the NKR President’s
Press Service, Zory Balayan informed Arkady Ghoukasyan of the beginning
of a current phase of the voyage of the “Kilikia” sailboat and the
programs to be implemented in the course of the trip.

In his turn the NKR President wished the navigators happy voyage and
expressed hope that the crew of the “Kilikia” sailboat would fulfill
its mission on restoring traditions of the Armenian navigation.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DAY OF EUROPE TO BE MARKED IN ARMENIA ON MAY 11-18

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
May 10 2006

Yerevan, May 10. /ARKA/. Arrangements on the occasion of Day of
Europe are to be held in Armenia on May 11-18. The European Movement
of Armenia reports that the ceremonial opening will be held at the
Museum of Folk Art, where children’s works “Europe as I see it”,
“Armenia in Europe” and “Unity and Peace” will be displayed.

The ceremony will be attended by representatives of RA Government
officials, parliamentarians, representatives of NGOs, diplomatic
missions, educational institutions.

A number of information arrangements and arrangements for young people
will be held, booklets will be distributed.

May 9 is marked in Europe as “birthday” united and peaceful Europe.

Day of Europe will be marked in Armenia on the initiative of the
European Movement.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NORWAY READY TO FACILITATE GARABAGH SETTLEMENT, ITS OFFICIAL SAYS

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 10 2006

Baku, May 8, AssA-Irada
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Kjetil Skogrand has said his country
stands by to facilitate settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.

“Just like other countries, we believe the talks on the conflict
resolution will be prolific and peace will be restored in the region.

Official Oslo is ready to provide the needed assistance to speed up
the negotiations,” said Skogrand visiting Baku as part of his visit
to the South Caucasus region.

He noted that Norway supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group
mediating the peace process.

Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the Norwegian
official on Monday. In a news briefing after the meeting, Skogrand
reiterated that his government is ready to do its best to achieve a
solution to the long-standing conflict.

Skogrand is also expected to meet with President Ilham Aliyev and a
number of other officials.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ART OF LIVING TOGETHER
By Neal Keeling

Manchester Evening News, UK
May 10, 2006 Wednesday

ASYLUM seekers are being shown in a different light in an art
exhibition.

Works on show at Salford Museum and Art Gallery focus on the
experiences of foreigners trying to make new homes in the city.

They include striking portraits of men from Kosovo photographed by
Johnny Mobasher.

Johnny said: “They showed up all dressed up. Having your picture
taken is a bigger deal in their country than here.

“I thought they would be in the day-to-day clothes that they go to
language or cooking classes in.

“People have an existing image of asylum seekers and refugees. But
these are intelligent, family men, who find themselves in a different
country. Not all refugees look like they have crawled under barbed
wire across a border.”

As well as having their pictures taken, the men contributed to the
exhibition by taking 50 photographs themselves with a disposable
camera to capture snapshots of their lives in Salford.

There are currently 1,214 asylum seekers and refugees living in
Salford. They include Congolese, Kosovan Albanians, Iraqis, others
from the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Iran and Afghanistan.

There have been several high profile attacks on them. Last year a
Kurdish man was left with a broken leg by a gang of racist thugs.

And a Latvian man was lucky to survive when a screwdriver was plunged
into his head after 20 youths surrounded him.

Yet the city has historically been a destination for immigrants,
starting with Flemish weavers in the 14th century, Armenian merchants,
as well as Greek, Christians, and Jewish people.

One exhibit features 52 birds made by Salford artist Isobel Pickup and
Iranian artist Maryam Patala, from luggage and bags. They represent
the 52 languages spoken in the city.

Emma Summers has created 21 ceramics, referring to the fact that
every 21 seconds there is a new refugee around the world.

Coronation Street and Shameless actor Chris Bisson was at opening
launch of the exhibition yesterday. He said: “What strikes me about the
exhibition is that people from Salford – of all ages and different
cultural backgrounds have been involved in creating sculptures,
paintings, films, and photos.

“It has brought the entire community together – sharing their
experiences including sad and happy stories and exploring issues such
as uncertainty, fear, hope and trauma.”

The exhibition, called What Would You Do If, is open to the public
until November 19.

[email protected]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TABLEAU
Translated by Pavel Pushkin

Field reports from Den Security Service agents
Source: Zavtra, No. 18, May 3, 2006, p. 1
Agency WPS
May 10, 2006 Wednesday

Iran can produce fuel for nuclear power stations independently; The
International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran, sent to the UN
Security Council by IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei, does not contain
proof that Tehran’s nuclear program is aimed at building a nuclear
bomb. But it does confirm that Iran’s current technological level
enables it to produce fuel for nuclear power stations independently.

The International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran, sent to the UN
Security Council by IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei, does not contain
proof that Tehran’s nuclear program is aimed at building a nuclear
bomb. But it does confirm that Iran’s current technological level
enables it to produce fuel for nuclear power stations independently,
according to our sources in New York.

The meeting of new German Chancellor Angela Merkel with President
Putin in Tomsk confirmed that despite the defeat of Gerhard Schroeder
interests of the large German business regarding conquering of the
Russian space did not change. Inside sources state that until the end
of 2007 large stakes (possibly blocking ones) of Gazprom and Russian
Railways will be in the hands of the leading corporations of Germany.

Beginning of construction of the oil pipeline to Daqing that
practically coincided with this visit also was a long-awaited curtsey
of the Kremlin to Beijing.

The visit of President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiev to Moscow
and mass unrest of Kyrgyz opposition including the pro-American one
demonstrate the slow but decisive ousting of the US from the Central
Asian region by the authorities of Beijing. The key issue is the
functioning of the American air base in Gansi that ensures not only
the necessary connection in the systems of control over the airspace
of the region but also uninterrupted drug traffic from Afghanistan,
report sources in Tashkent.

Signing of an agreement of Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia on establishment
of the Bolivarian Initiative of Americas in Havana was organized
under unofficial aegis of China and became an “asymmetric response”
to the “pressure on the verge of foul” on the part of the US to
which Hu Jintao was exposed during his visit, reported sources in
Philadelphia. It was also possible that this loud action that deals a
serious blow on the prestige of Bush was coordinated with Saudi Arabia
and other leading countries of the Islamic world and Peru would become
the next candidate for joining to the Bolivarian Initiative. Candidate
from the leftist forces Olianta Umala has serious chances for victory
in Peru.

New technological difficulties in functioning of the oil pipeline
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (due to increased density the oil mixture is
pumped badly in mountainous conditions), report sources in Yerevan,
may become a pretext for large-scale provocations against Armenia on
which Baku and Ankara are prepared to lay responsibility for possible
explosions at the pipeline and a new aggravation of the situation
in Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to our sources in Kiev, rumors about the upcoming
establishment of an “orange-blue” governmental coalition in Ukraine
are evidently exaggerated. A kind of turmoil is currently underway
in the “triangle of parties” that have won the elections and it will
most likely last until the beginning of June. Information weapons
are the main weapons in this “duel of nerves.” Now these weapons
are eagerly used both against the Kremlin system of Gazprom-Rosneft
(British scandals) and against the “team of Yushchenko” (disclosure
of Ukrainian beneficiaries of RosUkrEnergo). Thus, is Washington
pointing unambiguously once again at the need to form a “greater
orange coalition,” even with Yulia Timoshenko as prime minister,
because it considers the “queen of Independence Square” to be quite
manageable due to the compromising materials received from imprisoned
former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavel Lazarenko.

Celebration of the “centennial anniversary of Russian parliamentarism”
in St. Petersburg looked a more than doubtful action both from the
historic and from the political points of view, especially given that
the overwhelming majority of Russian citizens disapprove of the Duma’s
performance. According to various polling agencies, about one-third
of respondents consider the Duma necessary and just over a quarter
of respondents trust it. Along with this, our experts note that
“the zero countdown point” was indicated clearly: 1906, which sets
constitutional monarchy as a political model desirable for the Kremlin.

The first “foreign visit” of Alexander Lukashenko after inauguration
to St. Petersburg was dedicated primarily by resolving of the
“gas problem” because a threefold increase of prices of Russian gas
actually “meant a soft economic blockade of Belarus on the side of
Russia.” The negotiations resulted in a promise of Putin “to consider
the forms of compensation” in exchange for a number of economic and
political preferences on the part of Minsk, reported sources in the
near-governmental circles.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GOVERNOR RULES OUT SOCHI AIRPORT’S GUILT IN AIRBUS-320 CRASH
by Natalia Slavina

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 10, 2006 Wednesday 11:46 AM EST

Russia’s southern Krasnodar Territory Governor Alexander Tkachev
ruled out the guilt of airport personnel in the crash of the Armenian
Airbus-320 passenger plane off Sochi on May 3.

“The runways are long enough for a safe landing,” he said on Wednesday.

At the same time, he said an additional runway is under construction
and the others will be lengthened shortly.

Of 113 people who were abroad the plane, 51 bodies have been found
so far.

The Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia plunged into the
Black Sea as it was making a landing manoeuvre in the early hours of
May 3. The accident claimed the lives of 113 people.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress