Author: Emil Lazarian

MAMMADOV: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS’ AS WELL AS CO-CHAIRS’ FORECASTS ON NK CONFLICT SETTLEMENT DID NOT COME TRUE
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 7 2006
“The negotiating process between Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents
is very slow and tough.
However, the process is promising to reach the goal by solving small
issues through stages. Though tough, this step should be taken and
the talks should be continued,” President’s Office international
relations department head Novruz Mammadov said to APA.
Stating that the forecasts on the solution of the Nagorno Garabagh
conflict made by several international organizations as well as OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs did not come true, Mr.Mammadov recalled Steven
Mann’s forecast “2006 will be promising year in the settlement of
the Nagorno Garabagh conflict.”
“The conflict has a strategic content. The interests of several sates
and regions collide here,” he said.
Responding to the question “Then there will be no turning point
in the solution of the conflict this year too,” Mammadov said,
“Decisive steps can be taken to solve the conflict this year.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE: ARMENIA LARGE SOURCE OF TRAFFICKING
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 6 2006
Yerevan, June 6. /ARKA/. Armenia is a large source of trafficking aimed
at sexual exploitation of women, says a report of the US Department
of State.
According to the document, Armenia women are mostly taken to United
Arab Emirates and Turkey.
Armenia is in part both a transit country and a final destination,
the report says.
The persons involved in human trafficking in Armenia, mostly women,
transport the victims to Dubai either directly or through Moscow.
Women are transported to Turkey by buses via Georgia. According to
the report, profit from trafficking of Armenian women has recently
considerably increased.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9904-8446
Email: [email protected]
7 June 2006
ARMENIAN ALPHABET INSPIRES AN ARTIST’S EXHIBITION
Melbourne, Australia – Artist, Elefteria Vlavianos launched her exhibition
entitled “Metaphor for Longing” at the Town Hall Gallery in Boroonda, dubbed
the City of Harmony on Thursday, 1st June. At the personal invitation of
the artist, His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese
of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand attended opening night.
“Metaphor for Longing” exhibits paintings inspired from the Armenian
Alphabet and 11th century manuscript paintings. Elefteria, or Ria for short,
probes into the heritage of her Armenian mother using Armenian script as
subject matter in conceptualising her birthright and identity. Born to a
Greek father and Armenian mother, Ria grew up in South Africa. The idea for
this exhibition was conceived from early childhood memories of her maternal
grandmother creating beautiful, delicate lace pieces using a unique
needlecraft skill. Acting as the catalyst in the search for her Armenian
roots, Ria approached Archbishop Baliozian for assistance and inspiration as
she embarked on her journey, also receiving support from staff of the
Armenian Community Welfare Centre which she acknowledged in her welcome
speech on opening night.
Ria’s artistic style and creativity in this exhibition is reflected in a
unique genre of painting that is an interplay of marks and stroke patterns
through layers of washes and glazes. To describe the essence of the
exhibit, “the series of works explores the connections and association
between culturally displaced individuals and their communities as they
access, inherit and pass on objects and imagery from the past.”
“Metaphor for Longing” will be on display at the Town Hall Gallery until
24th June, 2006. For details contact the Gallery on (03) 9278-4626.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
June 7, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
SENATORS KERRY AND KENNEDY DEMAND ANSWERS ABOUT EVANS FIRING
— Two Leading Legislators Formally Ask Secretary Rice
for Clarification of Ambassador’s Premature Dismissal
WASHINGTON, DC – Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Edward Kennedy (D-
MA), this week, joined the growing list of legislators demanding
answers from the Administration regarding the recall of U.S.
Ambassador to Armenian John Evans over his honest and accurate
public statements about the Armenian Genocide, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In a June 5th letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the
two Massachusetts Senators conveyed their concerns regarding
reports that the Ambassador was dismissed “due to the use of the
word ‘genocide’ when describing the atrocities that were committed
against the Armenian people in 1915.” They added that, “Reports
from diplomats at the time make clear that genocide accurately
described these events. Henry Morgenthau, then our Ambassador to
the Ottoman Empire, described these actions as a campaign of racial
extermination.” They closed their letter by noting that,
“Allegedly the Government of Turkey was dismayed by Amb. Evans’
remarks and expressed this to the U.S. Government. We would like
clarification as soon as possible about Amb. Evans’ premature
dismissal after 35 years of exemplary service to the United States
Government.”
The letter was sent in the wake of the May 23rd White House
announcement nominating Richard Hoagland to serve as the new
Ambassador to Armenia. Amb. Evans will be replaced in Yerevan after
Ambassador Hoagland’s Senate confirmation process is completed.
The State Department, with the blessing of the White House, fired
Amb. Evans in response to his February 2005 statements at Armenian
American community functions, during which he properly
characterized the Armenian Genocide as “genocide.” Following his
statements, Amb. Evans was forced to issue a statement clarifying
that his references to the Armenian Genocide were his personal
views and did not represent a change in U.S. policy. He
subsequently issued a correction to this statement, replacing a
reference to the genocide with the word “tragedy.” The American
Foreign Service Association, which had decided to honor Amb. Evans
with the “Christian A. Herter Award,” recognizing creative thinking
and intellectual courage within the Foreign Service, reportedly
rescinded the award following pressure from the State Department in
the days leading up to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s visit to Washington, DC to meet with President Bush.
“We join with Armenians throughout Massachusetts and around the
nation in thanking Senators Kennedy and Kerry for demanding an
explanation of the circumstances of Ambassador Evans’ firing –
particularly as they relate to the role of the Turkish government,”
said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Despite repeated
Congressional inquiries dating back more than three months, the
Administration has yet to respond to a single question, to provide
any meaningful explanation of its actions, or to release even one
of the diplomatic cables from the Turkish government on this
matter.”
Upon sending the letter, Sen. Kennedy noted, “What happened in
Armenia was genocide. No one should lose their job for stating the
plain truth.”
Senator Kerry elaborated, stating: “If history has taught us
anything, it’s that when we see it we must call genocide by its
name. There is no doubt about the genocide of 1.5 million Armenian
men, women and children, and the United States government should be
straight about this piece of world history. It’s an outrage that a
respected lifelong diplomat would be fired simply for speaking the
truth. In 1990 I fought alongside Senator Dole to designate April
24 as a national day of remembrance so we could learn from this
dark period and honor the memories of those Armenians who
suffered.” Sen. Kerry continued, noting that, “The Ambassador and
his career should not be made a scapegoat for this administration’s
refusal to face the facts and strengthen the ties between our
countries.”
As early as March 8th, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian expressed grave
disappointment over reports that Ambassador Evans would be
penalized for speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide. In a
letter to Secretary Rice, Hachikian wrote that, “the prospect that
a U.S. envoy’s posting – and possibly his career – has been cut
short due to his honest and accurate description of a genocide is
profoundly offensive to American values and U.S. standing abroad –
particularly in light of President Bush’s call for moral clarity in
the conduct of our international affairs.”
On May 23rd, sixty U.S. House members cosigned a letter to
Secretary Rice, spearheaded by Rep. Markey, calling for an
explanation of the Ambassador’s recall. Earlier, Representatives
Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Grace Napolitano (D-CA) submitted questions
at House International Relations Committee hearings with Secretary
Rice. On May 25th, Rep. Pallone condemned Amb. Evans’ firing,
expressing concerns about Turkish government intervention in the
decision.
The full text of Senators Kerry and Kennedy’s letter follows.
#####
June 5, 2006
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary
United States Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Rice,
We are writing to convey our disappointment over the apparent
dismissal of the United States Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans.
It is our understanding that Ambassador Evans will be leaving his
post early, reportedly as a result of comments he made early last
year.
In an exchange with Armenian American groups in February 2005
Ambassador Evans used the word “genocide” to describe the horrific
atrocities that were committed against the Armenian people in 1915.
We believe, and the reports from our diplomats at that time, make
clear that genocide accurately described these events. Henry
Morgenthau, then our Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, described
these actions as a “campaign of race extermination.” Several U.S.
officials, including President Reagan, have used the term
“genocide” to describe what happened to the Armenian people.
Allegedly the Government of Turkey was dismayed by Ambassador
Evans’ remarks and expressed this to the U.S. government. We would
like clarification as soon as possible about Ambassador Evans’
premature dismissal after 35 years of exemplary service to the
United States Government. We look forward to hearing from you on
this important matter.
Sincerely,
Edward M. Kennedy
John F. Kerry
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan’s oil revenues to reach $3 bln in 2006
07/ 06/ 2006
BAKU, June 7 (RIA Novosti) – Azerbaijan could make $3 billion in oil
revenues in 2006 and may see the figure double in 2007, a major Western
investor in the nation’s oil industry said Wednesday.
David Woodward, President of BP-Azerbaijan, said part of the money would be
brought in by exports of crude from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG)
oilfield.
BP-Azerbaijan is the developer and operator of the ACG offshore deposit,
which holds an estimated 5.4 billion barrels in oil reserves. Woodward said
the project would receive some $20 billion in capital investment at the
development stage.
The BP official, attending an international Caspian Oil and Gas conference
in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, said that if world oil prices remained
above $60 in the coming years, the country would see its oil earnings double
every year, outstripping GDP by a factor of three by 2009.
According to National Oil Company CEO Rovnag Abdullayev, Azerbaijan will
produce more than 476 million barrels of oil a year by the end of the
decade.

The Washington Post
Brown campaigns to become top Calif. lawman
By Michael Fitzgerald
Reuters
Wednesday, June 7, 2006; 9:16 PM
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – Having spent two terms as
California governor, run for president three times and dated at least
one rock star, Jerry Brown has long served as an eclectic voice in
American politics.
After his Democratic primary win on Tuesday, Brown, who is ending his
second term as mayor of Oakland, campaigned on Wednesday across
California to conquer yet another political office, this time the job
of state attorney general.
In the day after a landslide win in the primary election, Brown, 68,
made campaign stops in Los Angeles, Fresno, San Diego, Sacramento and
Bakersfield.
Brown emphasized he had no aspirations to run for governor again, or
other elective office besides state attorney general. “At my age, I
prefer to focus on the task ahead, which is four years of hands-on
work as attorney general,” he told reporters in Sacramento.
Brown was again following in his father’s footsteps in seeking the job
of top state law enforcer, this time in reverse order. Pat Brown
served eight years as attorney general before his 1958 election to
governor.
The son, by contrast, served as governor of the nation’s most populous
state from 1975 to 1983 and only sought the attorney general job a
quarter of a century later.
“I will have to say, this job, I am truly prepared for,” he said. “You
could question some of the others.”
Brown’s low-key style as governor in the 1970s included living in a
modest apartment near the state Capitol building when he could have
lived in the governor’s mansion. He also made headlines by dating rock
singer Linda Ronstadt.
Brown was single until last year when he married Ann Gust, former
chief counsel for clothing chain operator Gap Inc. She is now serving
as his campaign manager.
“I am younger than he is but I feel older most days,” she said. “He
has a lot of energy and he wears me out.”
Brown is facing state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, a Republican from the
Central Valley city of Fresno. Polls suggest Brown has a big edge in
popularity and name recognition as few voters know Poochigian.
“That choice will be between my strongly held concern for the victims
of crime and the mayor’s emphasis on his political pedigree,”
Poochigian said on Tuesday.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Times
Steve Lopez:
Points West
It’s Open Season on Donkeys, Elephants
June 7, 2006
Whatever the results of Tuesday’s hold-your-nose primary for governor,
this much is true:
Democrats Steve Westly and Phil Angelides were both gutted and fileted
by this newspaper over the past several weeks. I mean that in a good
way.
Readers learned, primarily from reporters Dan Morain and Evan Halper,
that Westly and Angelides were anything but the upstanding,
straight-talking crusaders they claimed to be. It was this newspaper,
let’s remember, that pointed out the absurdity of an Angelides TV ad
blasting Westly for donations from “a corrupt Chicago businessman.” As
Morain and Halper discovered, Angelides himself had tried to tap the
same guy.
I almost hesitate to mention any of this, because there’s nothing
surprising or unusual about the way Westly and Angelides were knocked
around by The Times. That’s a newspaper’s job: Hold candidates up to
public inspection, study the viability of their promises and slap them
around as needed.
I’m just wondering why the paper hasn’t gotten huzzahs from the
professional gas bags who worked themselves into a frenzy three years
ago over our equally tough reporting on a candidate named Arnold
Schwarzenegger. As that doddering shill Hugh Hewitt put it back then,
The Times was “an organ of the Democratic Party” with no interest
other than “agenda journalism.”
Have John and Ken of radio fame weighed in on The Times’ coverage? If
you don’t know them, they’re the carnival barkers who jumped all over
the newspaper for its apparent bias and then showed up at
Schwarzenegger rallies to sing his praises, yapping like lap dogs.
“Wondering if anyone can tell me how much time the show has devoted to
The Times’ coverage of Westly and Angelides,” I wrote to them in an
e-mail that was not answered by my deadline.
Maybe they’ve talked of nothing else on-air. To be honest, I wouldn’t
know. I’d rather stick my head in a kettle drum and beat it with a
soup spoon than listen to these guys. But I sure hope they’ve given us
our props for reporting on the Westly-Angelides factor sleaze
especially given their cheerleading for Schwarzenegger.
I called Ken Khachigian, my favorite GOP consultant, even though he
worked with Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, to ask if he’d heard any
Republicans complimenting The Times’ tough coverage of Westly and
Angelides.
Khachigian gave The Times a pat on the back but said there’s a reason
conservatives aren’t ready to hand out any medals just yet. “Their
expectations are that once the primary’s over, the target turns to
Arnold,” he said. “They think that once the choice is a liberal, or
left-winger, and a Republican, then the gun sights go to the
Republican side.”
You can’t win with these guys.
Khachigian is predicting the paper will now empty both barrels on
Chuck Poochigian, the GOP candidate for attorney general against Jerry
Brown.
Wait a minute. If there’s a standing liberal agenda, why has The Times
broken the kneecaps of Westly and Angelides before one of them busts
out of the gates against Schwarzenegger?
That’s not to say the paper won’t tee off on Schwarzenegger between
now and November. Both he and his opponent will be vetted anew, and
based on what we already know about them, there’ll be plenty of
material to work with. Readers sometimes confuse this kind of
relentless snooping as the work of a political agenda rather than an
attempt to hold candidates accountable and keep readers informed, and
I’d like to try and set the record straight.
As a breed, good reporters are a mutant species, often completely
lacking in social graces, fashion sense and normal interests. They
don’t have many friends other than themselves, and even those
relationships involve unhealthy levels of suspicion.
Show a good reporter a bright, sunny day and he’ll wonder if the ozone
is burned to hell. This is not a matter of training, but of molecular
chemistry. They’re like hunting dogs, in love with the chase and
deliriously happy to go sniffing after any old bird, regardless of
hue.
A couple of weeks ago, to give you an example, Cruz Bustamante was in
town. True-blue Democrat, right?
By that measure, a left-leaning Democratic apologist like yours truly
should have given him a pass. As a columnist, I’ve got a license,
after all, to be biased. But I never let that get in the way of a good
public flogging. Bustamante was rolling in insurance industry dough
while running for state insurance commissioner, and he was hanging his
campaign on a plea to drop 50 pounds as an example for healthy living.
What choice did I have but to conceal a bathroom scale in my backpack
and pull it out after lunch at a Mexican cantina?
If holding people accountable means occasionally making them
uncomfortable, then I’m an equal opportunity agitator.
Speaking of which, one of Schwarzenegger’s aides recently suggested it
might be time for me and the governor to break bread. Finally. I’ve
been waiting three years for him to accept my invitation to get to
know my sweet side.
It’ll be painless, Arnold. Just a light workout.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SOLDIER WOUNDED IN ARMENIAN TRUCE VIOLATION – AZERI REPORT
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
6 Jun 06
The Armenian armed forces have violated the cease-fire again. Azeri
Press news agency has reported that Azerbaijani positions came under
fire from the Armenian army positions in the occupied village of
Saricali in Agdam District last night. As a result, Azerbaijani soldier
Elmar Miriyev, who was drafted into the army from Davaci District
in April 2005, was wounded. The condition of the soldier, who was
immediately hospitalized, is serious at the moment. The Azerbaijani
Defence Ministry press service has also confirmed the report.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STEPHEN MANN LEAVES POSITION OF OSCE MG CO-CHAIRMAN FOR KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
Yerevan, May 6. ArmInfo. Stephen Mann, the OSCE MG co-chairman for
the Karabakh conflict settlement form the USA, passes on to another
position in the USA State Department, Azerbaijan Mass Media informs.
According to Mann, it is a usual rotation. “Another co-chairman will
represent the USA in the OSCE MG”, Man said. At th same time, S. Mann
expressed his attitude concerning the June 5 meeting of the Presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bucharest with participation of the OSCE
MG co-chairmen. He noted that the Presidents had held very interesting
discussions. “Within the next few days, the co-chairmen will discuss
the results of negotiations, will schedule the next steps and will
inform about it at the regular session of OSCE Constant Council”,
Mann said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN LEADER CALLS FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION DESPITE CONFLICTS
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
7 Jun 06
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has called for promoting
regional cooperation without waiting for the settlement of the
existing conflicts in an address to the 27th plenary session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC)
which opened in Yerevan on 7 June.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are in the state of war and therefore economic
cooperation between the two countries is impossible, the head of
the Azerbaijani delegation to the PABSEC, Asaf Haciyev, said at a
press conference which followed the session. The Azerbaijani MP also
stressed that constant mutual insults and accusations will not lead
to the settlement of the conflict and called on the Armenian side to
do its best to resolve the problem.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress