Author: Emil Lazarian

ARMENIA, RUSSIA AND GEORGIA JOIN EFFORTS TO FIND OUT THE CAUSE OF ARMENIAN JET CRASH
By Tamar Minasian

AZG Armenian Daily
05/05/2006

The investigation into the cause of the crash of A-320 Armenian
plane on May 3 is under way, Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia
says. Another investigation was launched in Russia. According to Ria
Novosti, prosecutor of Sochi, Aleksei Perfilev, stated that “a great
number of all kinds of examinations need to be carried out.” In his
words, the main task for now is retrieving the bodies authentication by
the relatives. He assured that they have enough means for a full-scale
investigation. Mr. Perfilev also informed that currently they examine
technical papers at the flight control point.

The Chief prosecutor’s Office says that Armenian specialists on
their part will check whether the plane took off from Yerevan after
a careful servicing or not.

In the evening of May 3 Armenia’s chief prosecutor, Aghvan Hovsepian,
and his Georgian counterpart agreed on handing over the onboard
records 90 percent of which has the Georgian Navigation. The chief
prosecutor of Georgia expressed readiness to help in the process of
investigation, and our investigators are already working in Tbilisi.

The prosecutor’s Office continues active cooperation with the Russian
side, too. The investigation is expected to extend.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KEAN BACKS STEM-CELL RESEARCH ON AN ‘INTIMATE’ TRIP TO ISRAEL
by Gil Hoffman
NJJN Israel Correspondent

New Jersey Jewish News, NJ
May 4 2006

JERUSALEM – State Sen. Tom Kean Jr., who is running for the Republican
nomination for the United States Senate, expressed support for
controversial embryonic stem-cell research on a visit to Hadassah
Hospital in Jerusalem last week.

Kean, visiting Hadassah at the culmination of a weeklong trip to
Israel, told hospital officials that he supports such research and
reported about problems obtaining approval for state initiatives in
New Jersey. He also spoke to Hadassah director-general Professor
Shlomo Mor-Yosef about the hospital’s collaboration with Robert
Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick in preparing for
mega-terrorist attacks.

Mor-Yosef said the hospital’s stem-cell research had cured mice
with Parkinson’s disease and that testing on monkeys and then humans
would soon follow. He said Hadassah was an international pioneer in
stem-cell research and had even secured funding for the research from
the U.S. government.

Kean was visiting Israel for the first time on what he termed an
educational visit. He was following in the footsteps of his father,
former NJ Gov. Thomas H. Kean, who visited Israel three times. The
younger Kean viewed a plaque at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum
honoring his grandfather, Robert Winthrop Kean, one of the earliest
members of Congress to warn the United States about the impending
Holocaust.

The visit’s first day coincided with Holocaust Memorial Day,
during which a two-minute siren sounded nationwide to memorialize
the victims. As Kean approached the luggage carousel at Ben-Gurion
International Airport, the siren went off, and Kean joined Israelis
standing in painful reflection.

“The most moving experience on the trip for me was seeing everyone
stop and pray during the siren,” Kean told NJJN in an interview at
his Jerusalem hotel. “It was extraordinarily memorable for me to
experience Holocaust Day so intimately, to be part of such a special
moment in time and then go to Yad Vashem that afternoon.”

Kean came with a delegation of NJ Republican pro-Israel activists,
including Short Hills publisher Steven Klinghoffer; Livingston
resident and Corporation for Public Broadcasting chair Cheyl Halpern;
Lakewood attorney Sean Gertner and his wife, Marla; and Johnson &
Johnson company group chair Gerald Ostrov of East Brunswick.

Also along were Teaneck attorney Martin Fineberg; Mark Levenson,
president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Clifton-Passaic, and his
daughter, Hadassah; and Justin Richards, an assistant to the senator.

Kean, hoping to unseat Sen. Robert Menendez in November, said he came
to Israel to get a feel for its terrain and geography.

“Starting next year in the U.S. Senate, I will be very involved with
issues that relate to Israel and the Mideast in a direct fashion,”
Kean said. “I have been a strong supporter of Israel throughout my
career. I am glad I got to meet with many Israelis, from members
of parliament to ordinary citizens. Coming with people who have had
strong and varied experiences with Israel was also an important part
of the trip.”

When Menendez came to Israel last year, as a member of the House
International Relations Committee, he led the last congressional
mission that met with former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon before his
career-ending stroke.

When Kean visited the Knesset, the highest-ranking official he met was
Meir Sheetrit of the Kadima Party, who was Education and Transportation
minister at the time and was named Construction and Housing minister
on Monday. He also met former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom of Likud
and Labor Member of Knesset Colette Avital.

Kean met with victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks and with
Jews who had been evacuated from Gaza Strip settlements. He toured a
military base outside the Gaza Strip with IDF commanders and viewed
land where Israeli settlements stood until recently and that is now
being used by Palestinians to fire rockets at the southern Israeli
city of Ashkelon.

As Kean looked out over Gaza, he saw black smoke emanating from Deir
El-Balah, south of Gaza City. He later found out it was the result
of what the Israeli army said was an Israeli aircraft attack on two
cars packed with rockets. Israel said the attack killed one Islamic
Jihad militant and critically wounded another.

“Seeing this made it very real and enabled me to understand with a
real perspective the threats Israeli citizens live with each and every
day of their lives,” Kean said. “I felt it was imperative for me to
come to Israel so that as a U.S. senator I will have that real-life
experience.”

Kean said he had always supported foreign aid allocations and he is
sure he would continue in the Senate.

In Jerusalem’s Old City, Kean toured the Western Wall tunnels, visited
Christian holy sites, and met the Armenian Christian patriarch of
Jerusalem. He also visited several communities that have partnered
with United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, including the Sha’ar
Hanegev Regional Council and Kibbutz Erez outside the Gaza Strip,
the Gush Etzion bloc of West Bank settlements, and the low-income
Ramat Eliyahu neighborhood of Rishon Letzion. Klinghoffer is a former
president of UJC MetroWest, although organizers emphasized the trip
was privately sponsored and not an official mission of any federation.

In Rishon, Kean met with people involved with Project Atzmaut, UJC
MetroWest’s pioneering program to help improve the lives of Ethiopian
immigrants. Perhaps the saddest part of the trip was a meeting with
American immigrants Seth and Sherri Mandell, whose young son Koby was
murdered by terrorists near their home in the West Bank community of
Tekoa in 2001.

The Israel activists who accompanied Kean on the trip said that during
the visit with the Mandells, they watched his facial expressions and
saw that he was deeply moved. They said they were glad that he proved
himself able to relate to people on a human level and not merely as
a politician.

“He is a real mensch,” Klinghoffer said. “This guy is the real deal.

He came with the right background, and having this personal experience
reinforces the senses and the feelings that he already had. I’ve
dealt with many candidates and elected officials. Tom stands out in
the way he relates to Israel.”

Ostrov said he was glad to expose the senator to Hadassah Hospital,
where he and his wife are major donors.

“I have been impressed with him the whole trip,” Ostrov said. “He’s
gotten a knowledge base that he can use to govern. He has asked good
questions that show that he understands.”

Kean faces Bergen County financial data analyst John Ginty in the June
Republican primary. A Quinnipiac University poll last week predicted
that Kean would win the primary by a landslide but it found that he
trailed Menendez by six points.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BODIES, FLIGHT RECORDERS SOUGHT IN BLACK SEA
By Mike Eckel / The Associated Press
Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

The Moscow Times, Russia
May 4 2006

Relatives grieving at an identification procedure at a Sochi morgue
Thursday.

SOCHI — Searchers combed the waters off the resort city of Sochi on
Thursday, looking for bodies and a flight recorder from an Armenian
passenger jet that slammed into the Black Sea in bad weather and
ripped apart, killing all 113 people on board.

Anguished relatives and friends gathered at a central hotel and at a
city morgue, where many stared ashen-faced at grotesquely disfigured
faces and bodies appearing in coroners’ photographs.

Transportation Minister Igor Levitin said just 28 bodies had been
identified so far, out of a total of 53 recovered.

Levitin told reporters that searchers had located a large part of
the plane’s fuselage that was emitting a radio signal believed to be
from a flight recorder. But he said the piece of debris lay in some
680 meters of water and that authorities did not have the equipment
to raise the wreckage.

“We will turn to other countries that have experience in raising
objects from the depths,” he said.

The Airbus A320 plunged into the sea in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday
in heavy rain and poor visibility as it was approaching the airport
in Adler, about 20 kilometers south of Sochi. Searchers found wreckage
spread over a wide area about 6 kilometers offshore.

“We are not considering any working theory until we get a better
understanding of the events that took place, and that will require
deciphering the black boxes,” Levitin said earlier.

Prosecutors dismissed the possibility of terrorism, and other officials
pointed to the rough weather or pilot error as the likely cause.

The head of the Georgian air control agency, which covered 90 percent
of the Armavia jet’s final flight, said the crew had begun to return
to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, because of weather conditions around
Sochi but that when it was over the Georgian city of Kutaisi, Russian
air controllers announced the weather at Adler airport had improved.

“And since they had enough fuel, the pilot decided to fly back to
Adler,” agency chief Georgy Karbelashvili said.

Interfax, citing a source in the Russian commission investigating
the disaster, said there was information indicating the crew was
informed just 5 to 6 kilometers from the runway, when the plane was
at an altitude of 300 meters, that landing was “not recommended.” The
source said the plane was turning back when it hit the water.

In televised comments, President Vladimir Putin told Prosecutor General
Vladimir Ustinov to work fast to determine the cause of the crash,
but acknowledged that it would be difficult without flight recorders.

At a Sochi morgue, grim-faced relatives — mostly men — peered at
a nearly 2-meter-high wooden board in the courtyard holding coroner
photographs, some showing barely recognizable corpses and faces.

Forensic authorities emerged from the building periodically, asking
if anyone had recognized a person in the photographs.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN MP LEAVE WORLD CONGRESS OF PATRIOTIC PARTIES
Author: J. Shakhverdiyev

TREND Info, Azerbaijan
May 4 2006

Armenian MPs and heads of parties left the third world congress of
patriotic parties in Moscow they were participating in, Trend reports
quoting Fuad Aliyev, head of Liberal-democratic party of Azerbaijan,
who was partaking in this congress.

He said the reason for Armenian’s leave was the speech on genocide
they committed on Azerbaijanis. Aliyev said also upon leaving the
first part of the congress, heads of Armenian parties and Armenian
MP then took part in the second part of the event.

Aliyev said Armenian MP Armen Ashotyan in his speech called Nizmai
Ganjevi non-Azeri poet, whose name was misappropriated by Azerbaijan.

In turn, Aliyev performed with a speech revealing Ashotyan’s
insinuations.

The congress gathers representatives of parties of liberal-democratic
orientation.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Special account opened

04.05.2006 17:19

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – A special account (Acc. Number 900013017026) has been
opened at the Armenian Finance and Economy Ministry for transfers from
non-governemntal sources to aid the families of the victims killed in the
crash of the Armenian plane flying from Yerevan to Sochi on May 3.

Those willing to aid the families can transfer money to the mentioned
account.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

04-05-2006

Minister Oskanian Participated at International Conference in Vilnius

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian is concluding a two-day visit to Vilnius,
Lithuania, where he participated in the international conference entitled
“Common Vision for a Common Neighborhood.” The presidents of Lithuania and
Poland opened the conference. High level officials from two dozen European
countries were in attendance.

President Adamkus, on behalf of all participants, expressed condolences on
the tragic crash of the Armavia plane yesterday, over Sochi, and the
resulting loss of life.

In his statement, Minister Oskanian first expressed Armenia’s appreciation
for the generous expressions of sympathy, and proceeded to speak about
political processes in the post-soviet space.

Minister said, “Democracy is not a one-shot deal, it does not happen
overnight. We know that, and we believe that as long as you know that you
are on the right track and are confident that you are moving forward and not
backtracking, then the evolutionary and incremental approach to democracy is
more effective and enduring.”

He also reflected on the Nagorno Karabakh resolution process.

“With their oil resources and with high oil prices, Azerbaijan has
unfortunately come to believe, or at least they publicly proclaim, that
there is a military option available to them. With that kind of thinking, it
will not be easy to compromise. But they need to be told very clearly by the
EU and others, that there is no military option, so that they make the
necessary compromises, as Armenia has already done, to reach a peaceful
resolution,” Minister Oskanian said.

In the margins of the conference, Minister Oskanian met with Javier Solana,
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy,
Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union. They discussed the
European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan which is near completion. They also
spoke about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Minister updated the High
Representative on the status of the process.

Minister Oskanian also met with Karel de Gucht, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Belgium, and the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE. They explored
Armenia-OSCE relations, as well as the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The two
ministers discussed Armenia-Belgium bilateral issues, as well.

Finally, Minister Oskanian met with the Foreign Minister of Romania, Razvan
Ungureanu with whom he discussed bilateral issues and matters dealing with
the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership to be held in Bucharest in
early June.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE ODYSSEY OF GOLDBERG’S ‘THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’

AZG Armenian Daily
04/05/2006

“Public television’s attempt to illuminate a dark period of European
history is demonstrating that in the world of documentaries, few
topics are black and white. ‘The Armenian Genocide’ began airing this
week on dozens of PBS stations, including nine in the nation’s top
TV markets. Josh Belzman, cover producer on the MSNBC.com, writes on
April 23.

“We chose to air ‘The Armenian Genocide’ based on its merits and
because we felt it was balanced and presented both sides of the story,”
said Lucy Sholley, director of media relations of the WGBH station
in Boston. “We felt the documentary stood on its own.”

KCTS in Seattle aired the film and the panel discussion. Program
manager Eric Maki said in a statement that the station wanted to give
viewers as much information as possible to “make an informed decision”
and “better understand the world around them.”

On April 24 Goldberg screened his documentary at Hollywood’s Egyptian
Theatre before an audience estimated at 1,000. “I didn’t want
this story to not have a chance to be shown to the Armenians in Los
Angeles,” he said. “It’s a story that many of them had taken part in,
through their involvement or just being connected with it.”

Through tattered photos, letters and celebrity voiceovers, the
documentary created by New York-based filmmaker Andrew Goldberg
depicts a Turkish campaign of expulsion, rape, and murder that led
to the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians between
1915 and 1920.

As they come of age, a growing number of Armenian Americans are
demanding the government recognize their ancestors’ deaths as genocide,
Josh Belzman writes.

Filmmakers and Grammy-nominated bands with Armenian roots, such
as System of a Down, have staged benefits calling attention to the
issue. The band and other activists are scheduled to meet with members
of Congress next week to again press their case.

“Is change near? Another look at history casts doubt: Nearly every
year federal legislation is introduced.

All of the measures have either died in the House or languished in
the Senate,” he concludes.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SITUATION IS STILL TENSE IN AIRPORT “ZVARTNOTS”

A1+
[09:03 pm] 03 May, 2006

20 doctors have been working in the “Zvartnots” airport since 06:00
AM. They give medical assistance to about 100 relatives of the victims
of the air crash. Some of them were prohibited to fly to Sochi because
of health problems. “They realized they cannot get on the plane and
refused to fly themselves,” doctor Svetlana Hayrapetyan said.

The doctors are on duty in the whole territory of the airport. During
each Yerevan-Sochi flight today at least three doctors accompany
the passengers.

MORE RELATIVES ARE LEAVING FOR SOCHI

The story of every victims of the A-320 plane crash is a separate
tragedy. 28 of the 113 victims were foreign citizens. Anahit
Khachatryan had come to Ararat from Adler to participate in the funeral
of her mother. His husband accompanied her. After living with their
relatives for four months they decided to go back home where they
had left their sons.

They were to return to Adler on May 1, but the flight was
postponed. Anahit Khachatryan’s cousin who is going to Sochi to
recognize their bodies saw them off exactly 24 hours ago in the same
airport promising to visit them in the closest future.

A THIRD FLIGHT TO BE ORGANIZED

The wife of one of the aircrash victims, Albert Avetisyan, arrived
at the airport immediately after learning that she can leave
for Sochi. Her nephew was on board the plane together with her
husband. Of all the relatives only Albert Avetisyan’s wife failed
to get a ticket. “They tell me they have no more tickets and no more
places on board”, she said, with tears welled in her eyes.

By the way, having a ticket was not a guarantee to leave for
Sochi. “Armavia” did everything not to refuse the relatives of the
victims but it was clear that the places were not enough. “Armavia”
will have to organize a third flight which will probably take place
late in the evening.

LITHUANIA’S ADAMKUS: ‘DEMOCRATICC CONSOLIDATION’ IN EAST EUROPE ‘GREATEST ISSUE’

Vilnius ELTA WWW-Text
03 May 2006

[“Adamkus: Europe Far From Being Finished Business” – ELTA headline]

Vilnius, May 3 (ELTA) – When opening the Forum of Non-Governmental
Organizations at the “Vilnius Conference ’06: Common Vision for the
Common Neighbourhood” on Wednesday [ 3 May], President Valdas Adamkus
highlighted the development of freedom and democracy in eastern Europe
and talked about how to apply the knowledge of successful transitions
in the past to make the processes inspired by the Rose and Orange
revolutions irreversible.

“Let me begin by saying that Europe is far from being ‘finished
business’. In fact, the fate of democratic consolidation in the
eastern part of Europe today is, in my opinion, the greatest issue
in Euro-Atlantic politics,” Adamkus said during his address.

The situation today, noted the president, differs from what we had
to deal with before, because we are faced with a combination of
factors: strong remnants of the post-communist past, national and
regional identity problems, and, at its worst, “frozen conflicts”
that in some cases have instilled fear and economic stagnation for
more than a decade.

“It is also challenging, because the speed and depth of democratic
transitions that we witness is astonishing. It is also demanding
because democratic consolidation in the eastern part of Europe is
related to a number of significant external factors. By this I mean
the rapidly evolving neighbourhood policy of the European Union. By
this I also have in mind the actions of other important stakeholders
such as neighbouring Russia and the trans-Atlantic community, first of
all the United States. And when sometimes these external influences
go in the opposite directions, we suddenly end up playing the game
of competition, and not that of cooperation,” the head of Lithuania
said at the forum.

In the judgment of the president, before crafting a common approach it
is also wise to ask whether all current Euro-Atlantic structures are
fit enough to develop a strategic vision of Europe, whole and free,
in the century of globalization.

“I personally believe that a common vision for the common neighbourhood
cannot be solved in isolation by a single actor, whether that would
be the EU, the USA., NATO, or Russia. A vision that will commit us
to a Europe bound by common values and linked by economic integration
will require common action from all responsible stakeholders.”

The NGO Forum “Europe’s New Democracies and the Euro-Atlantic Agenda”
is being attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations
from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Georgia,
the USA., Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands,
Norway, France, Russia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine, Hungary,
and Germany.

The Forum of Non-governmental Organizations is considering how
to respond to the most critical challenge of today’s Europe: what
measures should be taken to irrevocably consolidate the democratic
transformations in Eastern Europe and the southern Caucasus region.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“ARMENTEL” WILL SERVE FREE OF CHARGE

A1+
[05:10 pm] 03 May, 2006

“ArmenTel” condoles with the relatives of the victims of the air crash
of the plane flying from Yerevan to Sochi and informs that on May 3
and 4 the calls from Armenia to Sochi by the fixed hot lines will be
free of charge. The telephone numbers of the hot lines in Sochi are:

00-7-86-22-44-00-88

00-7-86-22-44-12-32

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress