Author: Emil Lazarian

ARMENIA KICKS OFF WITH FIRST REHEARSAL
esctoday.com, Netherlands
May 11 2006
At 9:30 local time, the arena opened its doors to the press as the
first participant, Andre from Armenia, rehearsed on stage.
Esctoday.com collected some opinions about Without your love, the
stage and the venue itself as well!
‘Armenian Sertab’
The “Armenian Sertab”, as some journalists referred to him during
Andre’s first rehearsal, brought four female dancers to Athens, as
well as a backing singer. While Andre is standing on a big box, his
four dancers are dancing around doing a “Houdini-alike chain act”,
as Peter Walsh from the Irish Sunday World referred to the performance.
It took Andre a few times to get his ear monitoring right and to get
used to the stage. At his second try, things went much better and he
got awarded a nice applause from the present fans and journalists.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GARABAGH MEDIATOR EXPECTS NO BREAKTHROUGH AT MINISTERS’ MEETING
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 11 2006
Baku, May 10, AssA-Irada
The OSCE mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict will discuss new proposals with the
foreign ministers of the two countries in Strasbourg on May 18-19,
the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuri Merzlyakov, said.
“We will learn the reaction of the two sides,” he told ANS TV
channel. Merzlyakov said the French mediator Bernard Fassier had
informed him of the outcomes of his recent visit to Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Fassier said the conflicting sides took the new proposals
seriously and expressed interest in them.
“Some of the proposals are new, while others were built up based on
the previous ones. I hope the parties will finally agree maximally
on the conflict resolution principles.
“However, I am not expecting much from the upcoming discussions, as
this will be a regular working meeting. But what I can say is that
official Baku and Yerevan are studying our proposals.”
Merzlyakov noted that if the proposals are not fully accepted by
either party, the intermediaries will wait for further suggestions
from the sides.
The Russian co-chair said a private meeting of the Azeri and Armenian
foreign ministers will be held in Strasbourg as well. “I think the
sides should discuss our new proposals on their own,” he added.
The parties failed to agree upon the issues of principle during the
latest talks held by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian in
Rambouillet, France in February, which was followed by mutual threats.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LA TURQUIE APPELLE LA FRANCE A BLOQUER LA LOI SUR LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
Agence France Presse
10 mai 2006 mercredi
Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a appele mercredi la
France a bloquer la proposition de loi qui vise a poursuivre toute
personne niant l’existence du genocide armenien (1915-1917) et mis
en garde contre ses consequences sur les relations bilaterales.
“Les liens entre la Turquie et la France ne sont pas des relations
banales. Ils remontent au 19ème siècle et les entreprises francaise
sont actuellement au premier rang parmi les investisseurs en Turquie”,
a dit M. Erdogan a la presse.
“Je pense que le Parlement francais ne va probablement pas injecter
le soi-disant genocide armenien comme un virus entre nos deux pays,
unis par des liens aussi importants. Je pense que le bon sens va
l’emporter”, a-t-il ajoute.
M. Erdogan s’exprimait avant son depart pour Vienne où il doit assister
au sommet UE-Amerique latine jeudi au cours duquel il est prevu qu’il
rencontre des dirigeants francais pour discuter du problème.
La Turquie, qui nie categoriquement que les Armeniens aient ete
victimes d’un genocide, s’inquiète des debats de l’assemblee nationale
francaise et a rappele lundi son ambassadeur pour des consultations.
Le texte, s’il est approuve, prevoit un an d’emprisonnement et
une amende de 45.000 euros (57.000 dollars) pour les auteurs de
declarations niant que les massacres d’Armeniens soient un genocide.
Il prend la suite d’une precedente loi, votee en 2001, qui a
officiellement reconnu que les massacres constituaient un genocide.
Il a ete propose par des membres de l’opposition socialiste (PS)
et arrive en première lecture a l’assemblee le 18 mai.
Les Armeniens estiment avoir perdu jusqu’a 1,5 million des leurs lors
de massacres orchestres entre 1915 et 1917, au moment de la chute de
l’empire ottoman.
La Turquie affirme au contraire que 300.000 Armeniens et au moins
autant de Turcs sont morts dans des combats entre civils lorsque
les Armeniens ont pris les armes pour reclamer l’independance dans
l’est de l’Anatolie et apporte leur soutien aux troupes russes lors
de l’invasion de l’empire ottoman.
–Boundary_(ID_WOjbc9+a2DVmxsM1+WzgGQ)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BEST CONDITIONS FOR MATERNITY IN SOUTH CAUCASUS ARE IN ARMENIA
By Nana Petrosian
AZG Armenian Daily
12/05/2006
The mothers feel safe most of all in the Scandinavian states. In this
issue, Sweden is in the first place, then come Denmark and Finland,
Norway, Austria and Germany. Armenia is in the 37 position in the list
of the countries that render good conditions for maternity. Moreover,
according to the principle of the most beneficial conditions for
maternity, Armenia is in the first place among the South Caucasus
countries.
This data is revealed as a result of the research carried out
in 125 countries by “Save the Children” British benevolence
organization. Thus, Belarus is the first among the former Soviet
republics; it occupies the 16th place in the list. Ukraine is in the
21st place, Moldova in the 24th, Russia and Uzbekistan are sharing the
27th place. Tajikistan is in the 69th place, while Turkey occupies
the 74th place. According to the research, the worst conditions for
maternity are in Nigeria.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HOPE OF DISCOVERING CAUSE OF A320 CRASH
Lragir.am
12 May 06
The location of the black boxes of Armenian A320, which plunged
into the sea near Sochi, is detected more and more precisely. The
headquarters of technical support of the headquarters of search for
the victims and plane reported to ITAR TASS on May 11 that the FDR and
CVR of A320, which crashed on May 3, are at the bottom of the sea. On
May 12 additional telemetric investigation is planned. By preliminary
data, the black boxes are at a depth of 500 m, at a distance of 5 m
from each other.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COALITION’S DEAD, LONG LIVE COALITION!
Lragir.am
12 May 06
The secession of the Orinats Yerkir from the coalition marks the
end of the history of the ruling coalition. Oppositionist Member
of Parliament Hrant Khachatryan thus defined the situation in the
parliament on May 12 at the Pastark Club. However, he adds that the
history of coalition is not over for Armenia. In other words, we will
see other coalitions. As a result of scheduled or early elections.
Hrant Khachatryan does not exclude that the end of the coalition will
lead to an early election. The member of parliament even thinks that
the government may find an early election expedient because an early
election is held at a rather fast pace and allows solving a number of
problems by bringing together forces in a short period. Under these
circumstances, Hrant Khachatryan thinks that the opposition should
support the positive arguments of these developments and render the
negative arguments harmless.
“In other words, to keep the society alert, for it to be ready to
express its opinion during both scheduled and early elections. To
strengthen the political parties. You know that in the previous
elections both the government and opposition parties underwent
losses, both in terms of finance and human resources,” says Hrant
Khachatryan. According to him, under these circumstances the opposition
also needs to interpret these developments correctly.
Hrant Khachatryan says it is necessary to make profound analyses and
not to go in for surface observations, directing the slings and arrows
at one man. The leader of the Constitutional Right Union announces
that when Ter-Petrosyan was still in office, he criticized battling
a separate person, it is necessary to convey to the society that the
system is to blame.

“JOINT EFFORT – 2006” MILITARY EXERCISES TO START TODAY IN GERMANY AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
ArmRadio.am
12.05.2006 11:42
Under NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program “Joint Effort – 2006”
military exercises will start today in Germany and Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Earlier the Armenian side participated in the planning
conference in Tbilisi.
“If Armenian Officers participate in the planning activities, they
will take part also in the military exercises. The issue is that
Armenia should be invited by the organizing party,” Press Secretary
of the Defense Minister Seyran Shahsuvaryan said.

TRAFFIC CONTROLLER TOLD CRASHED AIRLINER TO CLIMB – INVESTIGATOR
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 11 2006
MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti) – Air traffic controllers ordered an
Armenian passenger plane to gain altitude before it crashed over the
Black Sea last week killing 113 people, an investigation committee
official said Thursday.
“It has been established that, due to poor weather, during landing
an air traffic controller told the crew to stop descending and
to make a right turn while simultaneously gaining altitude,” said
Aleksei Morozov, the head of the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK)
department on investigation of plane crashes.
“The plane started to turn right and gain altitude, but then it began
to descend and crashed into the water,” Morozov said.
The Airbus A-320 operated by Armenia’s Armavia was flying from the
Armenian capital, Yerevan, to Adler airport, which services the
popular Russian resort of Sochi, when it crashed 6 kilometers off
the Russian coast early Wednesday morning last week.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS INVITED TO NATO SESSION
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
May 11 2006
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Pierre Lelouche has invited
Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders to a plenary session of the Assembly
due in Paris late in May.
President Ilham Aliyev has accepted the invitation and will visit the
French capital for the purpose, Radio Liberty reported. Lelouche said
NATO backs peace in the South Caucasus. The alliance therefore deems
it essential to hold meetings on the level of presidents to discuss
settlement of the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
“In Paris, we will look for ways of resolving the conflict, which
is very destructive. We need stability in the Caucasus. I have been
in trenches in Garabagh and know firsthand how hard it is for both
peoples. I am aware of the problems faced by refugees in Azerbaijan
and deplore their plight.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA DEPLOYS NEW BATCH OF PEACEKEEPERS TO KOSOVO
AP Worldstream
May 11, 2006
Armenia deployed 34 peacekeepers to join the U.N. mission in Kosovo
Thursday as part of a regular rotation, officials said.
It was the fifth rotation of Armenian peacekeepers to Kosovo, where
they have served since 2004 alongside a Greek battalion, Defense
Ministry spokesman Col. Seiran Shakhsuvarian said.
Some 17,000 NATO-led peacekeepers are deployed to Kosovo, which has
been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999 when a U.S.-led
air war put an end to attacks by Serb forces against the province’s
ethnic Albanian majority.
Armenia has also deployed nearly 50 troops to Iraq to serve as part
of the U.S.-led coalition.