Author: Emil Lazarian

THE GAVAR THEATRE WAS REMEMBERED WITH DELAY
A1+
[07:48 pm] 30 March, 2006
The Regional Governor of Gegharqunik Stepan Barseghyan congratulated
the actors of the Gavar State Dramatic Theatre after Levon Kalantaryan
on the International Theatre Day with two days’ delay.
He had a meeting with the personnel of the theatre.
The Regional Governor awarded the 8 actors of the theatre with diplomas
for their share in the art development, and 7 actors got letters of
thanks. The actors are pleased that they are remembered at least once
a year. But the theatre shouldn’t be neglected.
The only hope is the restoration of the theatre with the means of
the state budget which won’t be realized this year. The three – month
draft work of the Ministry of Urban Development was not implemented
whereas the theatre needs immediate repairing. There is about half
meter water pool under the stage and the walls are all cracked. The
poor appearance of the theatre will not change in 2006.
“Kjavar” TV channel of Gavar
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI MP URGES WITHDRAWAL OF NATIONAL TROOPS FROM IRAQ
Regnum, Moscow
30 Mar 06
30 March: The chairman of the pro-government United People’s Front of
Azerbaijan Party, MP Qudrat Hasanquliyev, said in Baku on 29 March
that “Azerbaijan should leave the anti-terror coalition created by
the Americans and withdraw its troops from Iraq”.
Regnum news agency quoted him as saying that it was pointless to
stay in the coalition, the founders of which had failed to resolve
problems in Azerbaijan.
Hasanquliyev said that the coalition member states have been providing
Armenia and the separatist Nagornyy Karabakh with material assistance.
“This is another reason for Azerbaijan to get out of the coalition,”
he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CSTO COORDINATION BOARD ON FIGHT AGAINST DRUG TRAFFICKING COMPLETES ITS WORK IN YEREVAN
Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The coordination board of heads of
the bodies that deal with drug trafficking issues in the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) countries completed its work in
Yerevan on March 29. Victor Cherkesov, the board chairman, Director
of the RF Federal Service for Control over Drug Trafficking, told
reporters that the results of the operative-preventive measures
against international drug trafficking in 2005 were summarized at
the sitting. He noted with satisfaction that in addition to the
6 CSTO member states – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Russia, representatives of Iran, Pakistan, Azerbaijan,
Uzbekistan and Ukraine took part in the sitting. He said that besides
the 12 countries that participated in the operations, the US and
Mongolia applied to the coordination board with a proposal to be
involved in the solution of the problem with the Afghan channel
of drug trafficking. According to V. Cherkesov, his department has
no information about drug trafficking from or via the NKR. The RA
Police Chief Hayk Harutyunian underlined that the issue is being
irrelevantly politicized, it does not correspond to the reality: the
whole territory of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic is being controlled by
the law-enforcement bodies of the NKR, whose members, in his opinion,
are professionals today.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

3 ARMENIAN TENNIS-PLAYERS TO TAKE PART IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian men’s table tennis
national team will take part in the world championship to be held
from April 23 to May 2 in the German city of Bremen. For the purpose
of determining the team staff the “TOP-12” tournament traditionally
held at the end of the year was held earlier this time. 3 strongest
tennis-players were selected from 12 ones in the selective tournament
held on the sports ground of Hayastan company. As it was expected,
David Sargsian took first place. The next places were taken by Murad
Asatrian and Mesrop Ghukasian. These 3 tennis-players won the right to
take part in the world championship. As Noyan Tapan correspondent was
informed by Felix Sargsian, senior trainer of the Armenian national
team, the team is included in the 5th group. Here it will compete
with national teams of Ireland, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates,
the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.
In order not to be left out of the competition they should take 1st
or 2nd place in the group.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA HAS PROSPECT OF BECOMING TRANSIT COUNTRY FOR IRANIAN GAS
Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The “Noravank” scientific-educational
fund organized a round table on the theme “Iranian Gas between East
and West: Prospects for Armenia” on March 28. RA NA Deputies Vazgen
Manukian, Tatul Manaserian, Armen Ashotian, specialists of the RA
Foreign Ministry and National Academy of Sciences as well as experts
and analysts representing different organizations participated in the
discussion. As Sevak Saroukhanian, the Deputy Executive Director of the
“Noravank” scientific-educational fund, the main spekaer mentioned
in his speech, Armenia has some perspectives to become a transit
country on the way of exporting Iranian gas to countries of the
European Union. According to him, the EU, member countries of which
has a great dependence today from the Russian gas, is interested in
import of Iranian gas. It was also mentioned that volumes of export
of Iranian gas occupying the second place in the world after Russia
by its reserves of natural gas are very small at present. According
to the speaker, possible export of gas to Pakistan and India is
less profitable for Iran, and this program is more used by Iran
as a political trump. Considering export of gas to Europe through
the territory of Turkey indesirable, Iran, in Sevak Saroukhanian’s
opinion, may prefer Armenia with which it has good relations. In the
case of construction of a gas pipe of 50 bln cubic metre capability
annually, Armenia may expect profit of 160 mln dollars annually. But
some participants of the round table considered such a perspective for
Armenia less probable. According to expert Igor Muradian, the issue of
gas export is more political than economic, and it’ll be difficult for
Iran to combine its economic and political interests. In the opinion
of Spartak Seyranian, the editor-in-chief of the “Yerkir” weekly, Iran
will prefer to export gas to East, to increase its influence in that
region. According to Vigen Hakobian, a representative of the “Regnum”
agency, Russia will never agree that Armenia becomes a transit country.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TOMORROW’S WARRIORS IN ARMENIA
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily
30/03/2006
The British Council in Armenia in collaboration with British jazz
musicians Gary Crosby and Abram Wilson has organized a four day
workshop with talented young Armenian jazz musicians as part of the
“Tomorrow’s Warriors” education programme from 27 to 30 March.
The Armenian and the British musicians will perform at “Avant-Garde”
Folk Jazz Club. The workshop will focus on honing technique, developing
improvisation skills and broadening repertoire. The leaders of the
programme will work with the local music leaders to share knowledge
and pass on skills so that the development process may continue after
the tutors have returned to London.
“Tomorrow’s Warriors” is a non-profit organization established in
1992 by original Jazz Warriors double bassist, Gary Crosby to develop
young talented jazz musicians. The organization helped to incubate such
names as Courtney Pine, Gary Crosby, Steve Williamson and many others.
Mr. Crosby highly estimates the professional skills of the young
Armenian musicians. Today, Mr. Crosby and Mr. Wilson will perform
with Anush Apoyan, Artyom Manukian, Artur Grigorian, Artur Nazarian,
David Tatevosian, Gevorg Khechoyan, Manuk Ghazarian and Hamlet
Sharoyan. “They are brilliant musicians, they just need to develop,”
Crosby stated in the interview to Azg.
The musicians are going to perform about 10 pieces each evening. There
are pieces that will be performed exclusively by the Armenian
musicians.
As for development of jazz in the world, Mr. Crosby said that jazz
remains a club music everywhere. “Jazz is a spirit. One needs to love
it, to love the music and play it. When you play jazz your soul gets
richer,” Crosby said.
Mr. Crosby pins big hopes on “Tomorrow’s Warriors.”
“There should be individuals that want to develop and promote jazz
everywhere, ” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ISSUES AN ADDRESS
ArmRadio.am
30.03.2006 12:35
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an address regarding the
failure to hold OSCE planned monitoring of the contact line of Armed
Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The address says, “During the March 29 OSCE monitoring to the South
from Seysulan settlement in NKR Martakert region the divisions of
Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the cease-fire regime, opening fire
in the direction of positions of the NKR Armed Forces. As a result
of this, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Anjey
Kasprchik took the decision to impede the monitoring for the purpose
of assuring the security of the participants.
Calling the attention of the international community to the numerous
facts of violation of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh contact line by
Azeri armed formations, which take a periodic character recently,
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers it necessary to declare
that such activity is the result of the militant rhetoric of the
Azerbaijani leadership, which is not properly evaluated by interested
countries and organizations. The attempts of the mediators to lay
equal responsibility for the breach of the cease-fire regime on
all parties to the conflict create non-punishment prerequisites
in Azerbaijan, which is completely impermissible. In this regard,
the Foreign Ministry considers that any silent assistance to the
conflicting sides can lead to the shatter of the established balance
and create imbalance in whole South Caucasus.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VENUE OF ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN FOOTBALL MATCH MAY BE DECIDED IN MAY
PanARMENIAN.Net
30.03.2006 20:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the words of Secretary General of the Football
Federation of Azerbaijan Fuad Asadov, the UEFA is going to form a
commission for studying the issue of holding elimination matches of
Euro-2008 between national teams of Armenia and Azerbaijan. UEFA
Vice-President Per Ravn Omdal, UEFA Deputy Secretary General Mark
Schtruder and UEFA Executive Committee representative Mathieu Sprengers
will be included in the commission. They will pay visits to Yerevan
and Baku in May, based on which the final decision on the venue will
be made. According to the UEFA regulations, national teams have to
play home matches in the territory of their country. However, the
UEFA may take into account the tense relations between Armenia and
Azerbaijan and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and may allow the teams
to play in a neutral field as an exception.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘TREASURES OF HOLLY ETCHMIADZIN’ EXHIBITION TO OPEN AT PUSHKIN ART GALLERY
By Susana Margarian
AZG Armenian Daily
30/03/2006
‘Treasures of Holly Etchmiadzin” exhibition will be held at the Pushkin
Art Gallery in Moscow within the framework of Armenia’s Year in Russia
on April 1-20.
RA Embassy in Russia and the Mother See of Holly Etchmiadzin initiates
the exhibition. The official opening ceremony of the exhibition will
take place on March 31 in the Greek Yard of the gallery.
Mediabrend company informed that this is not the first exhibition of
the Armenian works of art and historical relics at the Pushkin Art
Gallery. In the 50s of 20th century the museum and the Armenian
archeologists carried out an expedition to the ancient Urartu
capital Erebuni. The excavation in the territory of the ancient city
lasted over 20 years. The archeologists revealed precious samples,
as well as well preserved constructions, including palace and temple
complexes with fresco galleries. Some of the samples revealed during
the excavations are exhibited in the Pushkin Art Gallery’s hall of
ancient civilizations.

ARMENIAN-GREEK SESSION
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12:57 pm 29 March, 2006
The session of the Armenian-Greek inter governmental Committee which
convened today in Yerevan is the forth. The Armenian co-chair of
the Armenian-Greek inter governmental Committee is the Minister of
Agriculture David Loqyan. The Greek co-chair of the Committee is the
deputy Foreign Minister of the country Evripidis Stilianidis.
According to the latter, the political cooperation of the two countries
is on a high level whereas the economic cooperation is still lacking
behind. He promised on behalf of his country to make investments in
Armenia and to show the way to Armenia to great Greek companies. He
said that if the government supports the company, the cooperation
with the Greek businessmen can be excellent.
The executive director of the Armenian-Greek company “ArmenTel” Vasilis
Fetsis also participated in the session. The stockholders of “ArmenTel”
are the RA Government and the Greek company “OTE”. Mr. Fetsis’s name
was not mentioned in the list of the delegation members. Neither was
in mentioned in the list of the guests, and there was no badge for
him on the table.
The unique example of the cooperation between a Greek company and
the RA Government for our citizens is “ArmenTel”.
About 10 years ago the company took up the business of updating the
telecommunication field of our country.
But up to now there are a number of problems between “ArmenTel” and
the RA Government, including court cases and administrative fines of
the company by the RA Economic Competition Defense State Committee.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress