Author: Emil Lazarian

TURKISH SPEAKER VIEWS REFORMS, ARMENIAN ISSUE AT TURKEY-EU MEETING
Anatolia news agency
3 May 06
Ankara, 3 May: “Turkey is ready to cooperate to reveal the 1915
incidents. We want historians to objectively research this tragedy
which Anatolian people lived together (during World War I) without
prejudice,” said Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc.
Inaugurating the 56th meeting of Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary
Commission (JPC) at Turkish parliament on Wednesday [3 May], Arinc
said: “A new period has started with 3 October 2005, the date Turkey-EU
accession talks started. With its decision (to open talks), the EU
gave a positive message to the whole world that Europe is based on
common values and norms. Turkey-EU JPC had great contributions to
current level on Turkey-EU relations.”
“Turkey has been in an impressive transformation process in recent
years. We have extended the individual rights and freedoms of
our citizens. Reforms in economy area have brought stability and
prosperity. Turkey is now among the most attractive countries for
foreign investors,” he noted.
Arinc said: “Turkish parliament is determined to pursue this reform
process. We will exert efforts to complete new legal arrangements
within the scope of 9th Adjustment Package before summer.”
Regarding globalization, Arinc said: “Globalization has brought various
tests to the EU. Terrorism, human trafficking and organized crimes are
threatening us all. Such global problems can only be solved through
cooperation and solidarity.”
“We should reconstruct our economies in order to deal with
international competition on one hand, and make fundamental rights
and freedoms prevalent on the other. This is the deal target of the
EU’s enlargement process. The EU has strengthened its influence in
the surrounding geography, and protected its peace, security and
prosperity as a result of the enlargement process,” he said.
Stressing that the EU would have to make a comprehensive definition of
itself, Arinc said: “This definition will include a transformation from
a social and economic organization into a global force. We consider
the EU membership a strategic target. It will be a part of a great
reform movement bringing forth universal standards and practice in
every aspect of daily life in Turkey.”
Referring to the so-called Armenian genocide, Arinc said: “Turkey
has been accused of committing genocide against Armenians during the
World War I for a long time. Historians could not come to a conclusion
yet. While Armenian circles describe these saddening events of 1915 as
‘genocide’, a number of distinguished Turkish and foreign historian
say that the Ottoman Empire decided in 1915 to relocate Armenian
people due to security reasons, and that it could not be described as
‘genocide’. Countless documents in our archives also proved it. Turkey
is ready to cooperate with the relevant sides to enlighten the 1915
events which Anatolian people had to suffer altogether during the
World War I. We want historians to carry out an unbiased research
without any prejudice on this tragedy. Last year, we proposed that
Turkish and Armenian historians should come together to carry out
a detailed, unbiased research both in Turkish and Armenian archives
and share all their findings with the world public opinion.”
“However, some friendly countries, especially France, which says
disputed events in its own past should be left to historians for
evaluation, but cannot endure even the debates on 1915 events,
contradict themselves. Their efforts to make legal arrangements which
accept even questioning the baseless Armenian claims as a crime are
nothing, but serious mistakes that will seriously disappoint Turkey.”
“We expect all our friendly countries to support our historical
proposal instead of making parliamentary decisions for domestic
reasons on these claims as if they are indisputable historical facts,”
Arinc added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA CONDOLED ON A-320 CRASH
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.05.2006 21:46 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “I join condolences presented by Ukrainian President
Victor Yuschenko to the Armenian people over the tragedy over the
Black Sea,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Armenia Alexander Bozhko said. In
his words, a20-year-old Ukrainian citizen was on board the liner.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A SECTION OF THE RAILWAY WAS DAMAGED
A1+
[12:30 pm] 04 May, 2006
A section of the Arjut – Spitak railway was damaged alongside with the
adjacent sowing areas because of the overflow of the river Pambak. It
resulted in the violation of the Yerevan – Tbilisi passenger service
traffic. According to the head of the Gyumri station Vahan Gasparyan
the results of the accident have been already eliminated and the
railway works normally according to its schedule.
By the way, the corresponding specialists claim that the technical
state of the RA railways satisfactory.
Most of the railways were reconstructed within the years 2004 –
2005. And accidents are mainly determined by overflowing. As for the
technical state of carriages, according to the Gyumri station they
require great sums to buy new carriages, that is why it is preferable
for them to realize systematic constructions.
The cargo transportation has multiplied in comparison with the data
they had at the beginning of the year.
Most transportation is done from Ukraine, RF and other
countries. Mainly fuel, construction material and food are imported
to Armenia.
TV Company “Tsayg” of Gyumri

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP UNDER 20 HELD IN YEREVAN
A1+
[02:11 pm] 04 May, 2006
Chess World Championship of girls and boys under 20 will be held in
the chess house after Tigran Petrosyan on October 2 – 17, 2006. The
Championship will comprise of 13 rounds and will be held according
Swiss contest rules and criteria.
The prize winners of 20-year-old previous championship, continental
champions, first 6 winners of the FIDE fixture table and the world
champions under 18 and 16 will participate in this championship.
But if any country doesn’t meet the championship criteria, a girl
and a boy chess players may present the country in question. The
head of the championship committee will be RA Defense Minister and
the Armenian Chess Federation Chairman Serge Sargsyan.
Let us mention that it will be the greatest championship held in
Armenia in the recent years and carries great authority.
As a rule, the winners of Chess World Championships under 20 later
had great success in other tournaments.
Only Vladimir Hakobyan and the 2005 world cup-holder Levon Aronyan
have become champions among Armenian young chess players so far.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN CHURCHES WORLDWIDE TO OFFICIATE REQUIEMS ON AIR CRASH VICTIMS
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.05.2006 02:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ May 5 Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) temples
worldwide will officiate requiems on victims of the air crash near
Sochi. We condole with relatives and friends of the victims. However,
we, the Christians, believe, that human soul does not die and we
will pray for the souls of the victims find their bliss in the Divine
Kingdom,” said head of the New Nakhichevan and Russian Dioceses of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, bishop Yezras Nersisyan, reports Interfax.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’
ASSOCIATION (HEHOM)
IS HELD IN JBEIL
The Armenian Church University Students’ Association (HEHOM) organized
its annual conference in the Bird’s Nest school in Jbeil on April
29-30. About 25 young students, who contribute to the mission of
the Armenian Church through the Catholicosate of Cilicia, gathered
to enrich their information on the church and religion so they can
continue their work with further understanding and realization.
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicosate of
Cilicia, delivered a special lecture during the conference, talking
about the main families of Christian Churches. The Bishop explained
the history of these churches and of their differences with the
Armenian Church.
In the second part of his lecture Bishop Alemezian spoke about the
ecumenical movement and the role of the Catholicosate of Cilicia. He
explained the reasons behind the church having various families
currently, the main theological differences between various church
groupings, the history of the ecumenical movement and its principal
aim, the theoretical unity of churches. The Bishop also spoke about
the religious, humanitarian, social and other multi-faceted functions
of this international movement.
The interest showed by the attendants in these subjects rendered the
lecture a two way discussion.
The spiritual advisor of the association, Rev. Fr. Housig Mardirossian,
spoke about the seven sacraments of the Armenian Church, their history
and their role in Christian life. He also explained details related
to each of them.
Enriching moments of Bible reading were also held during the
conference.
##
View photo here: tm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
youth activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the
web page of the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IN VLADIMIR PRYAKHIN’S OPINION, LEGISLATION IN SPHERE OF ARMENIAN MEDIA IS NOT PERFECT YET
Noyan Tapan
May 03 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. “Free press is an integral part of
democratic society: without free press it is impossible to completely
ensure human rights, to effectively fight corruption, etc”. Consuelo
Vidal, Head of UN Yerevan Office, declared this at the May 3 event
dedicated to the International Press Freedom Day. She said that
often the journalists’ work is connected with risk and is not
safe. C.Vidal reminded that cases of violence towards journalists
are frequent in the modern world. She congratulated the Armenian
journalists with the International Press Freedom Day and wished them
to more minutely cover such an important world problem as poverty
reduction. Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, Head of OSCE Yerevan Office,
informed that the office is actively working with the state structures
and NGOs of Armenia for the purpose of assisting the development
of free press. The Ambassador regretted to say that the Armenian
legislation in this sphere is not perfect yet. According to Hranush
Hakobian, Chairwoman of NA Standing Committee on Issues of Science,
Education, Culture and Youth, great progress has been registered in
the sphere of development of media during the years of Armenia’s
independence. Meanwhile the MP wished the Armenian mass media to
strive for perfecting the quality of their work. To recap, the event
was organized by the Yerevan Offices of UN and OSCE, as well as by
the initiative “Cooperation for the Sake of Free Society”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UNIBANK INTENDS TO INCREASE SHARPLY ITS MORTGAGE PORTFOLIO
Noyan Tapan
May 03 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Unibank will create a specialized
mortgage center at its branch to be opened in Yerevan. Chairman of
the Unibank Council Gagik Zakarian stated this at the May 3 press
conference. According to him, the center will provide mortgage loans
to Yerevan residents under a speedy procedure. Unibank’s mortgage
portfolio currently exceeds 5 mln USD. It is envisaged that this year
it will exceed 20 mln USD. The bank implements mortgage crediting
through 11 branches in Armenian marzes. Another 10 branches will
be opened in 2006. Acording to Unibank Chairman Vardan Atayan, the
bank provides up to 10-year mortgage credits at the annual interest
rate of 16%, with a prepayment in the amount of 30% of real estate
purchased. Unibank plans to improve mortgage crediting terms: to reduce
the interest rates and prepayment and extend credit maturity period.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SEARCH OPERATION CONTINUES AT A-320 CRASH SITE
Regnum, Russia
May 4 2006
Near Sochi, where A-320 airbus crashed on May 3 making 113 people
dead, search operation has been carried out through the whole night
and has continued now. 12 vessels as well as several special boats
of the Russian Emergency Ministry are planned to operate in the area.
Vessels with deep-water equipment are just about to arrive to the
crash site, headquarters of the search operation inform.
As REGNUM earlier reported, 47 bodies were found, 17 of them
identified. The work is to continue today, on May 4. The airbus’s
flight recorders that could clarify details of the accident have not
been found yet. The Russian emergency ministry calls bad weather
conditions as main reason for the crash. The Russian Transport
Ministry and Armavia Company, to which the airbus belonged, think
the same. However, there is an assumption that was made public by
Governor of Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachyov saying that human
factor is to blame.
There are two commissions at once that investigate the accident. The
Russian one is headed by Transport Minister Igor Levitin. “Together
with us our colleagues from Armenia are working. Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisyan has held together with us a joint session with operative
groups. We cannot speak on provisional results yet. Expert group has
started working. Communication of the Air Traffic controller with the
crew is to be decoded yet,” the Russian minister is quoted as saying
by RTR.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GASOLINE PRICE GROWS 1.9% IN ARMENIA IN APRIL
Noyan Tapan
May 03 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The price of gasoline grew by 1.9%,
while the price of diesel fuel declined by 0.5% in Armenia in April
on March 2006. According to the RA National Statistical Service, the
prices of gasoline and diesel fule grew by 6.2% and 1.6% respectively
in April 2006 on the same month of 2005.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress