Author: Emil Lazarian

ARDSHININVESTBANK ANNOUNCED 2006 YEAR OF CAPITALIZATION
Yerevan, April 18. ArmInfo. One of the Armenian leaders in bank
sphere, Ardshininvestbank, has announced the year 2006 a Year
of Capitalization. Aril 18 assembly of CJSC “Ardshininvestbank”
shareholders made a decision to invest $10 million in the bank’s
authorized capital from the last year’s profit of the shareholders.
Aram Andreasyan, Chairman of Ardshininvestbank Board, said at
a press-conference Tuesday that due to its 4,898.2 million AMD
undistributed profit, the bank was in the lead among the 21 commercial
banks in Armenia in 2005. The bank occupied the second position due to
the following indicators: total assets (53,130.1 million AMD), total
capital (9.408.7 million AMD), liabilities (43,721.4 million AMD),
financial investment (7,901.1 million AMD), provision of crediting
(22,813.0 million AMD).
Ardshininvestbank press-service announced that under the analysis of
the banking system drawn by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information
(ARMINFO) Ardshininvestbank alongside with HSBC Bank Armenia occupied
the second position as to the key figures specifying the bank’s
activity in the so-called nomination “universal bank.”
Ardhininvestbank rose by one position since last year. It is
noteworthy that the first position is still vacant. During the last
year, the bank’s assets rose by 42%, with average growth in the bank
system being 22%. The bank’s total capital grew by 63,3%, the average
growth rate in the bank system being 47.4%. Liabilities grew by 38.5%,
the average growth in the bank system being 16.6%. Net profit growth
rate made up 26.9%, whereas in average in bank system this indicator
fell by 28.1%. Of 13 distinguishing factors brought by ARMINFO,
Ardhsininvestbank is in the lead on 5 ones: share in past-due loans
in the advances portfolio; the quality of the advances portfolio;
stability of financial resources; financial stability level; income
possibility.
The bank was founded at the beginning of 2003 due to the RA CB
license No.83. The bank is represented by 49 branches throughout
Armenia and NKR, as well as by a branch in Paris. Over 1,000 people
are engaged in the system of Ardshininvestbank. The bank participates
in the World Bank international programs on agricultural reform and
enterprise development, in the programs of the International Migration
Organization, in the governmental program on credit guarantees of
SMEs. The bank intends to participate in international program on
development of rural areas and construction of small hydro-power
plants.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DM MEETS US EX-AMBASSADOR
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 17 2006
Defense Minister, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev on April 17 met Reno
Harnish, the U.S. Ambassador who has finished his diplomatic mission
in Azerbaijan. He mentioned there was a substantial progress in
development of Azerbaijan-US bilateral cooperation, including the
military one, during the diplomat’s tenure.
Touching on the process of settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev
pointed out that the United States increase its efforts towards its
resolution on the base of the international legal norms and principle
of territorial integrity. “I believe the visit to the region by US
co-Chair Steven Mann will have its positive impact on the issue,”
he said.
Mr. Harnish said, for his part, that the US-Azerbaijan cooperation is
on a level of strategic partnership, and the upcoming official visit
by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Washington will foster the
existing relationship between the two countries.
The Defense Minister and ex-Ambassador also exchanged views on a n
umber of other issues of mutual interest.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIA DOMINATES PIG OLYMPICS
By Natasha Rotstein
Special to The Moscow Times
Vladimir Filonov
The Moscow Times, Russia
April 18 2006
It wasn’t exactly the Turin Games, but there was plenty of
international rivalry at the third annual Pig Olympics.
Out of a field of 12 pigs in the roughly 4-meter sprint, the Russians
dominated, capturing first and second place, with the French taking
third. The Ukrainians, Chinese, Canadians and Latvians went home
without medals.
With 300 people in attendance, the Sunday spectacle was one of the
main draws at ZooRussia 2006 at Crocus Expo, which featured numerous
merchants hawking organic dog food, kitty litter and poodle vests.
Kostik Rystish Shvain, 2 1/2 years old, won the race.
“He’s the smartest, fastest, slyest and bravest of all,” Kostik’s
manager, Konstantin Petrunin, explained.
Petrunin is a deputy director for Euroweg Zerno, one of the companies
that sponsored pigs at the race. Euroweg Zerno, like the other
sponsors, specializes in agriculture-related products.
The 4-meter race was one of three events at the Olympics. The other
two were a race in which the pigs pushed a football across a field,
and a swimming event.
Kostik’s trainer, Vladimir Nishylov, said Kostik, a dark-haired pig
of Armenian extraction, had endured a rigorous daily regime of running
and “football practice.”
In the football-race event, Yelena Prikrastynaya, who lacks Kostik’s
speed but has great technical ability, led the Russians to a 16-3
victory.
Meanwhile, Deniska, also a Russian, captured first place in the
swimming competition, held in a small wading pool. Nelson, from South
Africa, and Yelena Prikrastnaya came in second and third, respectively.
Tatyana Kolchanova, one of the organizers of the Olympics, noted that
all the pigs in the competition, in fact, were Russian born and bred
and had been trained at Lyhavitza, outside of Moscow. But they have
sponsors from different countries.
Kostik’s owners said they had no plans to slaughter him. But Kolchanova
said on a more ominous note that the pigs would simply be sent to
their sponsors’ home countries.

TRIPLE STANDARDS
by Boris Tumanov
Translated by Pavel Pushkin
Source: Novoe Vremya, No. 15, 2006, p. 22
Agency WPS
April 17, 2006 Monday
What the Papers Say Part A (Russia)
Russia’s current foreign policy is confined to one formula; Russia’s
contemporary foreign policy is confined to a single formula: “Why can’t
we do what they do?” For example, the West is going to recognize the
independence of Kosovo – so why can’t Russia recognize the independence
of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the Trans-Dniester Republic?
Leaving aside Gazprom’s projects aimed at “energy security” on a
global scale, Russia’s contemporary foreign policy is confined to a
single formula: “Why can’t we do what they do?” Lately, we have started
speaking in the same terms about the problem of unrecognized states:
“They’re going to recognize the independence of Kosovo, so why can’t
we recognize the independence of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the
Trans-Dniester Republic?”
Meanwhile, the solving of the Kosovo problem that has already
practically become a precedent is primarily resolving of the
fundamental contradiction embodied in the international law that has
declared territorial integrity of countries and the right of nations
for self-determination equally sacred. In other words, if Serbia
did not announce through its Foreign Minister Draskovic about its
agreement with separation of Kosovo, proceeding from international
practice it would be impossible to legitimize the striving of ethnic
Albanian people populating Kosovo for independence. Russia defended
its territorial integrity in Chechnya even in a more cruel way
that Milosevic in Kosovo but the international community condemned
it only for “excessive cruelty” without questioning of the right
of Moscow to retain Chechnya within Russian borders. That is why
belligerent joy of Russian politicians hoping to use the precedents
of Kosovo for official annexing of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and for
transformation of the Trans-Dniester Republic into a Russian military
base is untimely or is even ungrounded. All this may happen without
undesirable consequences for Russia only if Chisinau and Tbilisi give
up these territories voluntarily.
Of course, knowing the psychological condition of the Russian
establishment it is definitely difficult to believe that Moscow
will take this condition into account. In the worst case Russian
diplomacy will simply wave it off referring to the fact that the West
“has twisted hands” of the Serbian authorities. This circumstance
allegedly enables us not to take into account the soft-body stance
of Belgrade caused by terrible tortures because territorial integrity
of any state is sacred.
However, very soon we will definitely learn that not only Georgian
and Moldovan wines but also cheeses are polluted with pesticides or,
say, radioactive and hence their import to the Russian Federation
is prohibited. We will also definitely witness more hysterically
humanitarian raids of the Emergency Situations Ministry to the
Trans-Dniester Republic being as pointless as the notorious transfer
of airborne troops to Pristina.
In any case, let us temporarily get abstracted from the selfless
defending of independence of Abkhazia or Trans-Dniester Republic by
Russia under the flag of the right of nations for self-determination.
Let us forget about the Cossack volunteers and battalion of the
Confederation of Peoples of Caucasus commanded by Shamil Basaev,
about the Abkhaz attack aviation that has appeared suddenly and has
disappeared equally suddenly, as well as about Russian generals who
have crushed Georgian and Moldovan invaders. Let us forget about
Russian citizenship of Abkhaz and South Ossetian people. Let us
formulate the question in the following way: in a hypothetical case if
Tbilisi and, by the way, Baku generously agrees to give up Abkhazia,
South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh, would the obvious choice of Abkhaz,
Ossetian and Armenian people contradict the letter of international law
then? Definitely it would not. In this case the matter is right about
nations or ethnic groups that have the right for self-determination.
For God’s sake, explain to me what kind of nation lives in the
Trans-Dniester Republic whose population consists of three ethnic
groups of Moldavan, Russian and Ukrainian people being approximately
equal? What has this incidentally appeared mixture to do with the right
of nations for self-determination? What kind of ethnic notion it is,
Trans-Dniester people?
At any rate, it is true that Russian politicians who feel nostalgia
about the Soviet Union still are not abashed by this nonsense because
they know perfectly well that political expedience can create a nation
or abolish it. Can you recall such ethnic groups as Karabakh and
Nakhichevan people? Behind these exotic names were ordinary Armenians
and equally ordinary Azerbaijanis. However, Moscow decided that it
would not be expedient to call Nagorno-Karabakh in accordance with
ethnic belonging of its population (like it was common in all the
rest of the territory of the Soviet Union) the Armenian Autonomous
Region and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
the Azerbaijani Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the first
case Moscow was afraid to wake up (but finally woke up) a natural
striving of Armenians of Karabakh for reunion with Armenia and in
the second case Moscow did not wish to explain why an autonomous
region in the territory of Armenia was subordinated not to Yerevan
but to Baku according to demand of Turkey specially included into
the Russian-Turkish agreement on “friendship” singed in 1921.
Now Moscow got it into its head that separatism of the Trans-Dniester
Republic deliberately provoked by Anatoly Lukyanov back in the times
of the agony of the Soviet Union could be used by it as a tool to
pressurize Moldova and Ukraine and as a military bridgehead against
NATO. That is why Russia will keep making believe that Trans-Dniester
people are a normal nation and their wish of “self-determination”
is protected by the same international law that Moscow interprets
in the aforementioned manner, “Why is this allowed to them and not
allowed to us?”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LENKERAN ALIYEV: “OUR ARMED FORCES ARE THE STRONGEST IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS”
Today, Azerbaijan
April 16 2006
“Our officers-leading force of the Azerbaijani Army is ready to
fight war. However, we are training more professional officers for
the Azerbaijani Armed Forces,” Chief of Defense Ministry Training
and Education Center (TEC), Major-General Lenkeran Aliyev stated.
Mr. Aliyev said that Azerbaijani Armed Forces were the most trained
and the strongest in the whole South Caucasus. He stressed that
hostile Armenian Army was many times weaker from moral-psychological
and professionalism aspects.
“Armenians depend on the Russian military bases in the country.
Therefore, their national Army is many times weaker than ours,”
the Ministry official underscored.
Aliyev also said youths have begun to show more interest in military
sphere recently. According to him, the young men conscripted into
the army are trained beforehand.
“We have normal base which provides an opportunity to meet NATO
standards in military training. Our military training is many times
professional than that of Armenians. Belarusian officers also confirm
it. But I think the military training is still not in satisfactory
level. Much needs to be done and more professional officers should
be trained,” Aliyev added.
Touching on housing of servicemen, the General said they have
raised this question at the Defense Ministry and the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief.
“Our proposals have been positively responded. The Supreme
Commander-in- Chief is interested in living conditions of out
military men. I made it urgent to provide military trainers in the
center with houses. Most of military trainers have no house to live,”
he underlined.
Lenkeran Aliyev considers it important to publicise truths on the
Army to remove negative stereotypes in the public regarding the Army.
Admitting that there are some shortfalls in the Army, Aliyev said
measures are being implemented to remove these deficiencies.
“You witness the processes in other structures. If to compare, the
Army looks stronger,” the General concluded.
URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FM GUL, POLISH COUNTERPART REVIEW ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE
IPR Strategic Business Information Database
April 17, 2006
According to Turkiye, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul met with his Polish
counterpart Stefan Meller in Ankara. During their talks, the two
top diplomats discussed bilateral relations. At a press conference,
afterwards, citing the Polish Parliament’s decision last year on the
so-called Armenian genocide, Gul conveyed Turkey’s concern over the
matter. Stressing that the issue should be taken up by historians,
not politicians, Gul said the move could encourage Armenians. Turkey
has offered to Armenia to investigate the matter, but has so far gotten
no reply, added Gul. For his part, Meller stated that his government’s
support for Turkey’s European Union membership bid would continue.

DISPUTES SWIRL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Hal Boedeker
Orlando Sentinel — Newsday
tyle/sfl-genocideapr17,0,7523268.story?coll=sfla-f eatures-headlines
April 17, 2006
Some PBS stations won’t air The Armenian Genocide when it premieres
tonight. In South Florida, both WPBT-Ch. 2 and WXEL-Ch. 42 are
scheduled to show it at 10 p.m.
The documentary explores what former President Teddy Roosevelt called
the greatest crime of World War I.
The program describes how the Ottoman Turks, under nationalist
leaders, massacred and deported Armenians. Estimates put the death
toll as high as 1.5 million. Yet the modern Turkish state denies that
genocide happened, and that country’s schools teach that reports of
the atrocity are groundless.
Not surprisingly, The Armenian Genocide has generated controversy.
Los Angeles station KCET refused to show the program and instead will
offer a French documentary on the subject.
The Armenian Genocide will be available in more than 92 percent of
the country, PBS says.
PBS added a half-hour discussion, Armenian Genocide: Exploring the
Issues, with several speakers who dispute the genocide.
Armenian-Americans have protested that program. It will be seen in
65 percent of the country, PBS says.
WPBT has not scheduled the discussion. But WXEL will offer it at 5
a.m. Tuesday.
The documentary recounts the Armenians’ plight through photographs,
witnesses’ accounts and experts’ explanations. Julianna Margulies
narrates the documentary. Reading historical narration are Ed Harris,
Natalie Portman, Laura Linney and Orlando Bloom.
Secret panel
A new incarnation of the vintage tube hit I’ve Got a Secret (weeknights
at 11:30 p.m., GSN) features a cool panel that includes stand-ups
Suzanne Westenhoefer and Jermaine Taylor, and baseball’s openly gay
Billy Bean. Comic Bil Dwyer hosts their attempts to guess what, who,
why and how about mysterious guests.
GLAAD awards
Eric McCormack joins such “out” celebs as Melissa Etheridge for the
17th annual GLAAD Media Awards (9 p.m. Wednesday, VH1), taped recently
in Hollywood. Winners for their gay/lesbian/bisexual/ transgender
portrayals include Will & Grace, The L Word and My Name Is Earl. (Earl
made amends in the pilot with a gay guy he once persecuted.) Expect
appearances from desperate housewives, plus Charlize Theron, Jessica
Alba and at least three Arquettes.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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nes&t z=420&s=12201&c_TID=37sgt441247550&c_T ID=37sgt441247550&c_rcid=null]
–Boundary_(ID _gjxhzSpQnOzP0bUwj6CfcQ)–

IRANIAN MP PRESENTED CONDOLENCES TO ARMENIAN PEOPLE IN VIEW OF GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.04.2006 23:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iranian parliamentarian Seid Mojtaba Moadabpur
reminded the MPs about the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
and presented his condolences to the Armenian counterparts and
the whole Armenian nation. April 18 Iranian parliamentarians will
attend the event initiated by the Hay Dat Tehran Office. It should
also be noted that Iranian deputy Emad Afrugi will give a report,
Aliq newspaper writes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARTO TUNJBOYAJIAN AND SERJ TANKIAN GOING TO RELEASE SERAT 2 JOINT CD
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.04.2006 23:59 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Arto Tunjboyajian and Serj Tankian are likely to
release a joint CD titled Serat 2. As Armenian Navy Band manager
John Grigorian told PanARMENIAN.Net, the matter concerns the joint
project of two musicians but not of System of a Down and Armenian
Navy Band. To note, Armenian Navy Band received the Planet Award at
the annual BBC World Music Award.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BAKU POLICE DISPERSED MEETING IN SUPPORT OF RAMIL SAFAROV
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 00:59 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Azeri students held an action in support of
Ramil Safarov sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the
Armenian officer.
Several hundreds of demonstrators mostly the students of the Baku
University were dispersed by the police.
The marching students shouted out slogans like “Release Ramil
Safarov”, “We must defend our officer”, “Losing Safarov we lose
Karabakh”. As result 50 students were put in a bus and brought to
a police station. Chairman of the Karabakh Liberation Organization
Akig Naghi was also detained, reported IA Regnum.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress