The Expert Suggests Spurring Oligarchs

THE EXPERT SUGGESTS SPURRING OLIGARCHS

Lragir/am
18/03/06

The resource of the Armenian nuclear plant expires in 2016, and in
the upcoming 15-20 years Armenia cannot afford to build a nuclear
plant on its own, said the minister of energy of Armenia Armen
Movsisyan. According to the minister, 400 million dollars is required
to close down the nuclear plant, and one billion is needed to build
a modern nuclear plant, which equals to the state budget of Armenia
in 2006. According to the minister, the resource expires, but it does
not mean that the nuclear plant will be closed down in 2016. He said
that the nuclear plant will operate until the new plant is built.
Armen Movsisyan assures that there is not a precedent of re-operation
of a closed down nuclear plant, which happened with the nuclear plant
of Metsamor, but there were cases when the expiry date of the reactor
was prolonged.

The EU is going to allocate 100 million euros to Armenia; the
stipulation is to close down the nuclear plant of Metsamor. Armenia
still disagrees: “100 million will not solve the problem.”

Experts consider the construction of a new nuclear plant an important
component of independence and security in energy. Edward Aghadjanov,
the director of the Center of Independent Experts, suggests building
a new nuclear plant on the resources of Armenia. “By different
evaluations the capital of the oligarchs of Armenia exceeds the
state budget of Armenia several times. The oligarchs should build a
nuclear plant instead of a sauna or a casino,” says Edward Aghadjanov.
The expert thinks that the construction of a new nuclear plant should
be a national program based on the cooperation of the private sector
and the government. The capacity of the nuclear plant should not be
less than 1000 megawatts and it should have a regional importance.
The important thing to do is to persuade the Armenian oligarchs.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

After Fried’s Visit Aliyev Falls Back into His Old Days

AFTER FRIED’S VISIT ALIYEV FALLS BACK INTO HIS OLD DAYS
By Aghavni Harutyunian

AZG Armenian Daily #049, 18/03/2006

Karabakh issue

“Year by year Azerbaijan increases its military might, and this year
the country’s military budget will amount to $600 million. I have set
a task to raise Azerbaijan’s military budget to the entire budget of
Armenia,” Azeri President Ilham Aliyev stated at the second assembly
of Azerbaijan’s of the world in Baku.

According to Trend news agency, Aliyev drew fabulous oil prospects,
saying that by winning European markets Azerbaijan would enhance its
position “in the region, on the continent and the whole world.” The
Azeri leader is sure that Azerbaijan plays the most active role in the
region thanks to its developing economy, and without its participation
no political and economic projects will be implemented.

Despite the arms race in the neighboring country, Aliyev stated
that he stands for peaceful settlement but “when we face Armenia’s
destructive stance, we lose our patience.” Aliyev pointed out once
again that territorial integrity of Azerbaijan cannot be discussed. He
added that Armenia will answer for ethnic cleansings too.

Against the background of the recent visits of high-ranking
officials to the region and high expectation for 2006, it’s merely
incomprehensible what US state department representatives Daniel
Fried, Matthew Bryza and Minsk group co-chairs discuss with Aliyev
if the latter keeps on declaiming his favorite sentences?

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KCET to Premiere ‘Le Genocide Armenien’ (The Armenian Genocide) at 9

AZG Armenian Daily #049, 18/03/2006

Armenian Genocide

KCET TO PREMIERE ‘LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN’ (‘THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE’) AT 9 PM

ON MONDAY, APRIL 17 – ‘MY SON SHALL BE ARMENIAN’ TO
AIR MONDAY, APRIL 24 AT 9 PM

KCET has scheduled its premiere of “Le Genocide Armenien” (“The
Armenian Genocide”) the 2005 documentary by French filmmaker Laurence
Jourdan, for 9 pm on Monday, April 17. (The film had originally
been slated to air at 10 pm). The English-narrated documentary will
be premiering for the first time on American television. Also in
April, KCET has scheduled an encore of “My Son Shall Be Armenian” by
Armenian-Canadian filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian to air Monday, April
24 (9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.) “We have received very positive feedback
regarding our airing of ‘Le Genocide Armenien’ and we are choosing
to air it earlier in the evening to create the opportunity for a
larger audience to view this important production,” said Mary Mazur,
KCET executive vice president or programming and production. “We feel
the comprehensive storytelling of the documentary and its educational
content will be appreciated by a broad range of KCET viewers.”

“My Son Shall Be Armenian” follows the journey of filmmaker Hagop
Goudsouzian, who, accompanied by five Montreal men and women of
Armenian origin, returned to the land of his ancestors in search
of survivors of the genocide of 1915. Through the moving testimony
of those centenarians and the funny and touching accounts of his
fellow travelers from the New World, Hagop Goudsouzian has crafted a
dignified and poignant film on the need to make peace with the past
in order to turn toward the future. Additional information about the
films and filmmakers is available on KCET.org.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA FM: Continuation of Talks Main Task of Karabakh Issue

RA FM: Continuation of Talks Main Task of Karabakh Issue

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2006 20:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Presently the continuation of the talks is the main
task of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian stated in an interview with H2, the second
Armenian Public TV Channel. In his words, Baku made a backward step in
Rambouillet and now the task is to bring the process to the position
gained before the Rambouillet meeting. The RA FM reminded that the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs will meet in Istanbul soon. According to
U.S. mediator Steven Mann the decision on further steps will be taken
during the meeting.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Millennium Challenge Account to Promote Political Reform in Armenia

Millennium Challenge Account to Promote Political Reform in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.03.2006 00:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is pleased with the participation in
the Millennium Challenge Account, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian stated in an interview with H2, the second Armenian Public TV
Channel. He informed that he together with the Finance and Economy
Minister will attend the ceremony of signing an agreement with
Millennium Challenges Corp in Washington on March 27. “This is a
very serious program that will promote political reform. At that the
Armenia-U.S. relations will reach a new level,” Oskanian noted. When
touching upon the energy problems the RA FM noted that diversification
of energy sources is very important for Armenia. “In this view we are
interested in the U.S.’s approaches in this field. Our energy security
is conditioned by the capability to use the nuclear energy resources,”
Vartan Oskanian underscored.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Model Experience in the Field of Inclusive Education

MODEL EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Panorama.am
15:45 17/03/06

“The experience of inclusive education is very much developed in our
country. No CIS country has such an experience, announced manager of
“Huysi Kamurj” public organization Susanna Tadevosyan at the conference
today. To note, this type of education has been used in our country
since 2003 in 5 schools in different communities. According to the
information provided by the representative of Ministry of Education
and Science Anahit Muradyan 157 children with special needs study
in 5 schools providing general education in the scopes of the
program. Principal of school N 27 Anahit Bakhshyan mentioned that
36 children with special needs study at their school for what they
received money from the State last year. As she said this year the
financial assistance has not yet been received.

Today the most difficult problem for invalid children is the fact that
schools providing general education are unavailable for them. Unlike
our schools the schools in Russia are more available to these children
as a result of which a greater number of children manage to receive
general education. “We think every child has to study in a school
providing general education irrespective of his/her nationality
and other circumstances as it is only there that they can receive
high-quality and full education,” mentioned the representative of
“Perspoektiva” public organization Tamara Lobovskaya, who has arrived
in Armenia together with her colleagues to get acquainted with our
experience in the field of inclusive education and later contribute
it in School N 1961 in Moscow.

“We can contribute this system of education in all the schools
beginning from 2006 but it will not be productive. Firs we have to
carry out preliminary works at schools,” said A. Muradyan. She also
mentioned that soon this system will be put in 8 more schools with
159 children with special needs studying there. /Panorama.am/

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

We Have and Will Have Relations With Armenia: Iranian Ambassador ToA

WE HAVE AND WILL HAVE RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA: IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 18. ARMINFO. Each state has its own foreign policy and
decides on its own who to have relations with, Iranian Ambassador to
Azerbaijan Afshar Suleymani said when asked why Iran does not sever
its relations with Armenia like Turkey did.

It is our internal affair. Like Azerbaijan Iran decides itself who
to have relations with. We have and will have relations with Armenia
as they are our neighbors, says Suleymani.

At the same time he notes that Iran’s relations with Azerbaijan are
on higher level – 3-4 times bigger commodity turnover than with
Armenia. Last year Iran built camps for refugees in Azerbaijan,
with no such projects in Armenia.

As to Turkey, that country has $120 mln unofficial commodity
turnover, air flights and various contacts with Armenia. They just
lack diplomatic relations because Armenia has territorial claims
against Turkey and there is also the problem of the Armenian genocide,
sys Suleymani.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANKARA: Turkey says offer still open to set up historians’ committee

Turkey says offer still open to set up historians’ committee with Armenia

Anatolia news agency
18 Mar 06

Ankara, 18 March: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) personnel who
were killed in armed attacks while serving abroad were commemorated
in a ceremony held in their special graveyard on Thursday [16 March].

Speaking in the commemoration, MFA Undersecretary Ali Tuygan said
that MFA personnel were killed by Armenian terrorism, 17 November
militants and other terrorist organizations since 1973. Tuygan noted
that totally 39 ministry personnel, including five security guards
who were killed in Mosul on 17 December 2004, were buried in the
graveyard assigned to “MFA martyrs”.

Tuygan said that the belief of Turkish people in peace and Turkey’s
initiatives in that context were sincere, stressing that the historic
proposal made to Armenia last year was still valid.

Turkey had proposed to Armenia to set up a joint commission composed
of historians from Turkey and Armenia to open without any restriction
their national archives, and to disclose the findings of their
research (which will also cover the archives of related countries)
to international public.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Huge crowds march in France against youth jobs law

Huge crowds march in France against youth jobs law
By Matthew Bigg and Kerstin Gehmlich

Reuters, UK
March 18 2006

PARIS (Reuters) – Huge crowds of students, trade unionists and
left-wing politicians took to the streets across France on Saturday
to press the conservative government to scrap a new law they fear
will erode job security for young workers.

Hundreds of thousands turned out in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse,
Rennes and over 150 other cities and towns in a growing protest
movement that has created a serious crisis for Prime Minister Dominique
de Villepin.

The marches were mostly peaceful, but a few dozen youths overturned
and set fire to a car at the end of the main protest in Paris and
pelted police with missiles. Scattered violence was also reported in
Marseille and Rennes.

Organisers estimated the turnout nationwide at 1.3 to 1.4 million,
with up to 400,000 of them in Paris. The Interior Ministry counted
503,000 nationwide, with 80,000 in Paris.

The protesters demanded that Villepin withdraw a new youth job
contract, known as the CPE, which lets firms fire workers under 26
without explanation in their first two years on the job. He launched
it to spur reluctant employers to take on new staff.

In the western city of Rennes, students wore plastic garbage bags
with signs declaring: “I am disposable.”

“I risk working for two years for nothing, just to be fired at any
moment,” said Paris student Coralie Huvet, 20, who had “No to the CPE”
written on her forehead. Pointing to painted-on tears, she added:
“That’s depressing, that’s why I’m crying.”

Organisers, who decry the CPE as a “Kleenex contract” that lets young
workers be “thrown away like a paper tissue,” said they hoped to have
up to 1.5 million people out marching in the third national protest
in six weeks.

The Paris march began with students in front and workers behind,
but turned into a multi-generational mix including many parents who
accompanied their teenage children. Banners declared “No to throw-away
youths” and “Tired Of Being Squeezed Lemons.”

Opposition Socialist and Communist politicians also joined the protest,
only the third time in almost four decades — after 1968 and 1994 —
that students and workers marched together.

UNION LEADERS LOOK AHEAD

Union leaders, due to meet after the march to discuss future strategy,
threatened to keep up the pressure on the government with further
action next week.

“If they don’t listen to us we are going to have to think about moving
to a general strike across the whole country,” said Bernard Thibault,
head of the pro-Communist CGT union.

“We can’t hold back because the student movement will continue
and there could be some risks,” said teachers’ union head Gerard
Aschieri. “There should be a strike next week.”

Villepin, whose gamble on this unpopular contract could cost him his
chance to run for president next year, has pledged not to give in to
street pressure. At the same time, he hinted on Friday evening that
he could make some adjustments to the law.

Unemployment is the top political issue in France, where the national
average is 9.6 percent and youth joblessness is double that. The rate
rises to 40-50 percent in some of the poor suburbs hit by several
weeks of youth rioting last autumn.

In a bid to defuse the crisis, President Jacques Chirac said on Friday
the government was “ready for dialogue” on the law that critics say
must be withdrawn before any talks can start.

But the government has little room for manoeuvre without making major
concessions. An opinion poll published on Friday showed 68 percent of
French people oppose the law, a rise of 13 percentage points in a week.

The crisis has isolated Villepin politically at a time when his patron
Chirac is himself badly weakened. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy,
Villepin’s main rival on the right, has stood back discreetly as the
prime minister’s troubles mount.

His only consolation is that the opposition Socialists are so split
that they hardly seem able to profit from the crisis.

In an opinion poll to be published on Sunday, Villepin dropped six
points to 37 percent popularity.

Violence broke out in Lyon when a march of about 2,500 Turks protesting
against a memorial to Armenian victims of a 1915 massacre in the then
Ottoman Empire crossed paths with the anti-CPE demonstrations.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Protesters Against New Employment Law Clash with Turkish Demonstrato

Protesters Against New Employment Law Clash with Turkish Demonstrators

Focus News, Bulgaria
March 18 2006

Lyons. People protesting against changes in French labor law
unexpectedly clashed with demonstration participants in Lyons
protesting against constructing a memorial of Armenian victims of
1915 genocide, Reuters informs.

The incident happened when the routes of the two demonstrations met.
About 2,500 ethnic Turks holding slogans “There was no genocide
against Armenians” and Turkish flags attacked the French protesters
who on their part shouted at them “Go home” and called them fascists.

According to the police there were Armenians among the protesters
against First Job Contract.