Author: Emil Lazarian

Armenia among most active in CSTO
ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 14, 2005 Tuesday
MOSCOW, June 14 — Nikolai Bordyuzha, the secretary-general of
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), who arrived in
Yerevan on Tuesday, will inform the Armenian leaders about the state
of affairs in the Organization, Tass learned from the CSTO secretariat.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian will receive Nikolai Bordyuzha.
The CSTO secretary-general will hold talks with Serzh Sarkisian,
the Armenian defence minister and secretary of the Security Council
at the Armenian president,
The sides will discuss questions being referred to the session of
the Collective Security Council, the supreme body of the CSTO, to be
held in the second half of June, and to the meetings of the Foreign
Ministers Council, the Defence Ministers Council and the Security
Councils Secretaries Committee.
Bordyuzha said the other day that “Armenia is one of the most active
participants in the OSCE”, and that the Transcaucasian (Russo-Armenian)
coalition group of forces is “a sizable part of the Organization’s
forces.” Bordyuzha will be on the visit in Armenia for three days.
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan are
participants in the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
June 14, 2005, Tuesday
09:23:53 Central European Time
Hungarian parliament alters minority law after abuses
Budapest
The Hungarian parliament voted Monday evening by an overwhelming
majority to change the existing law governing minorities to make
abuses more difficult, Hungarian radio reported Tuesday.
According to the new law, only those entitled to vote and who had
previously registered in their local community as a member of a
particular minority could vote, in elections for self-administered
ethnic districts.
Hungary has 13 autonomous ethic groups, the largest of which is the
Roma, with an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 members.
Previously any Hungarian citizen could vote in minority district
elections which led to abuses such as anti-Roma Hungarians voting in
Roma districts to prevent true representation of the Roma.
Other abuses have included failed politicians posing as members of
“exotic” minorities such as the Armenians to gain election.

BEFORE TAKING UP THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PRESIDENT
A1plus
| 18:20:31 | 13-06-2005 | Official |
Sir Brian Fall (United Kingdom Representative to the South Caucasus)
and Simon Smith (Head of Eastern Department in the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office in London) will visit Yerevan from 12-14 June. The
visit is the first part of a preparatory tour of countries in the
South Caucasus before the United Kingdom assumes the Presidency of
the European Union on 1 July. It will include calls on President
Robert Kocharian, Defence Minister Serge Sarkissyan, Trade Minister
Karen Chshmaritian and Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan,
as well as members of the opposition and NGOs working in the fields
of democracy and governance.
The objective is to have an exchange of views on issues which will
be discussed between Armenia and the European Union during the course
of the British Presidency. These are likely to include in particular
efforts to reach a lasting solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
and developments following the extension of the European Neighbourhood
Policy to Armenia.
Sir Brian Fall was previously the United Kingdom Special Representative
to Georgia. His remit was extended in 2002 to cover the South
Caucasus. His appointment underlines the commitment of the British
Government to play an active part in the efforts of the international
community to prevent or resolve conflict, and to establish a stable
basis for peace and prosperity in each of the three countries and in
the region as a whole.
Simon Smith was appointed Head of Eastern Department in the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office in 2004.

GROWTH ON THE BACKGROUND OF JOB REDUCTIONS
A1plus
| 20:33:47 | 13-06-2005 | Regions |
During the first three months of the year 2005 in the Shirak region a
growth of the volumes of the industrial goods has been recorded. By the
acting 67 companies goods of about 3 billion drams have been exported,
and those of 2 billion 962 million drams have been sold. The growth of
production and selling volumes has been recorded in the electric power,
water, and gas fields. Despite the fact that almost no contraction
work has been done this year, the mining indices have not been reduced.
In contrast to industry, reduction has been recorded in the light
industry field. The textile plant which had been working lately ceased
to work because of the absence of the raw material. The jobs have
been reduced for 7%. According to the TV Company «Tsayg», Hovsep
Simonyan, head of the financial and social administration of the
Shirak regional government, explains the reduction by the unfavorable
weather conditions in winter months.
–Boundary_(ID_bcfgqhVmkKKfXpIW0iuB4w)–

OSKANIAN CALLS ON USA TO PUT PRESSURE ON TURKEY
AZG Armenian Daily #108, 14/06/2005
Armenia-Turkey
Foreign minister of Armenia called on the United States to get more
actively involved in establishing natural relations between Armenia
and Turkey and especially to exert pressure on Turkey to open its
border with Armenia, Associated Press quoted Vartan Oskanian after
his meeting with Condoleezza Rice last week.
Foreign minister Oskanian said that the US should urge Turkey “to
become a bridge not only between the East and the West but also
between different parts of Europe”. “Armenia and Turkey are not in
state of war. We have no problem with that country. We have historic
differences. Germany and France also have historic differences about
which they talk but they do not close borders”, Oskanian stated
in Washington.
Oskanian emphasized that the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide still tops Armenia’s foreign agenda. “Argentine, Canada,
France, Poland and Russia are among the states recognizing the Genocide
but the Bush administration keeps on treating it suspiciously”,
Oskanian said.

AZG Armenian Daily #108, 14/06/2005
Region
ARMENIA HAS NO RESOURCE OTHER THAN DEMOCRACY
USA Demands Just Elections From Baku
Inner political situation in Azerbaijan is still in the limelight
of the US. The State Department expressed satisfaction that the
opposition’s rally on June 4 passed peacefully.
The American political analysts claim that the Azerbaijani
parliamentary election in fall may turn into a trial for President
Ilham Aliyev once they do not match with international standards. The
Bush administration overlooked rigged presidential elections of 2003
with accompanying violence and arrests. But the US has changed recently
stating now that they are enchanted by democratic revolutions in the
CIS and the Middle East.
Today, Washington demands fair elections from Baku, as it is Azerbaijan
among the non-democratic states that will hold elections. As soon
as Armenia faces elections, America will come down on Yerevan for
fairness.
The possible overthrow of Ilham Aliyev will be a blow on Kocharian
first of all, as the Armenian President will remain the only president
elected through rigged elections. Therefore, the possible regime
change in Azerbaijan should not be desirable for Yerevan. The Armenian
authorities and the Republican Party should stay away from rigging
elections at self-governing bodies, otherwise the revolutionary wave
will wash them away.
The republicans have won in elections of prefectures early this
month. In effect, the parliamentary and presidential elections
of 2007 and 2008 are being rigged today through the lections of
self-governing authorities. Today’s elected prefectures, mayors and
village administrators, overwhelmingly republicans, will “pay back”
to the authorities in parliamentary and presidential elections.
If in neighboring Azerbaijan it is the Caspian oil that fills in
the gap of democracy, then Armenia has no resource and has to be
democratic. Certainly the West will have patience to connive at
Armenian authorities that have been rigging elections since 1995. But
one needs to pay for that too. And as Armenia has nothing to offer,
it will have to make serious concessions in Nagorno Karabakh issue,
especially if someone like Saakashvili takes the reins in Azerbaijan.
The West, by the highest standards, is not interested that Saakashvili
is less democratic than Shevardnadze. If most of televisions during
Shevardnadze’s tenure were oppositional, then today all of them serve
Saakashvili. The key thing is that Saakashvili is devoted to attend
to the West’s interests. They can find such a devotee in Azerbaijan
as well. In that case Armenia will appear in an unenviable position —
firstly in Karabakh issue.
George Bush, Condoleezza Rice and other high-ranking US officials
constantly praise “peaceful revolutions” in CIS and Middle East. Though
they do not openly consider Armenia as “candidate” for a revolution,
the Armenian opposition is obviously excited. Our opposition, that
used to regard Kremlin as a politburo only a few years ago and panted
for Russia-Byelorussia alliance, is interested not in instilling
democracy in Armenia but in seize the power.
The West also is not that interested in democratic Armenia as once
it comes true it will lose its levers of pressure. We, the Armenian
citizens, are the ones who should be interested to see our country
truly democratic, as it is our rights that are violated.
By Tatoul Hakobian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Erdogan warns the New York Times
Hurriyetim
13.06.2005
During his US visit, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held
a meeting with the executive editors on the board of the New York
Times (NYT) over the rejection of reports prepared on the so-called
Armenian genocide. Erdogan met with the executive editors to ask them
why they had rejected the publication of a declaration prepared by 36
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) against the Armenian genocide
allegations and at the same time criticized the paper for its
“paradoxical and erroneous” justifications.
Apparently the editors couldn’t answer the Turkish PM’s questions
and responded by saying that they would reply at a later date.
While at the NYT Erdogan also commented on Syria emphasizing that
Turkey does not support repressive regimes and said, “If Damascus
continues to shelter terrorists, it will remain isolated in the world.”

Lebanese minister announces results of Mount Lebanon, Al-Biqa elections
Tele-Liban TV, Beirut
13 Jun 05
The Lebanese Interior Minister, Hasan al-Sab, announced the official
results of the third round of the Lebanese parliamentary elections
at news conference on 13 June. The Beirut-based Tele-Liban channel
carried the news conference live.
The minister began the news conference by saying that the number
of contested seats in this round had totalled 58. He said that the
third round had been different from the two previous ones in that
there were numerous lists for currents, parties and active figures
in political life. There had been an atmosphere of “enthusiasm and
strong competition between candidates, leading to a significant rise
in the voter turnout, compared to previous rounds,” he said.
The election proceeded “as planned” and in a “normal and democratic
atmosphere”, and although “some limited problems occurred, they were
immediately tackled by the security forces, which put an end to them
and apprehended the culprits. But, these problems did not affect
the election process or hamper its progress,” Minister Al-Sab said,
adding “The Complaints Committee in the Interior Ministry received
several complaints from civilians about some persons bribing voters in
different areas. The Interior Ministry ordered the competent security
forces to investigate these cases immediately and take legal action
against the perpetrators”.
“As for the administrative complaints,” the minister said, “they were
generally of an ordinary nature and were tackled immediately. Despite
the strong competition and the massive turnout, we noticed that the
charges made by some parties and candidates against the Interior
Ministry before the voting had vanished completely.”
The minister then read out the “final official results” of the
elections held in Mount Lebanon and Al-Biqa Governorates, as follows:
“First Mount Lebanon constituency, which includes Jubayl and
Kasrawan: Total number of seats eight. Jubayl: One Shi’i and two
Maronites. Kasrawan: Five Maronites. Number of candidates in the
constituency 59, number of [eligible] voters 157,100, number of
[actual] voters 98,665, invalid ballots 405 and valid votes 98,260.
“Jubayl: Shi’i, one seat
“Winner: Abbas Husayn Hashim 62,294 votes”.
The minister said: “We will not mention all the losers but the main
ones, as there were many names and unofficial withdrawals”.
The minister then continued:
“Jubayl: Maronite, two seats
“Winners: Walid Najib al-Khuri 56,840 votes and Shamil Yusuf Muzaya
51,678 votes”.
“Kasrawan: Maronite, five seats
“Winners: Michel Na’im Awn 67,432 votes, Joseph Hanna Khalil 61,840
votes, Ni’matallah Faris Abi-Nasir 59,738 votes, Farid Ilyas al-Khazin
56,719 votes and Gilbert Maurice Zuwayn 52,376 votes”.
“Second Mount Lebanon constituency, Al-Matn. Total number of seats
eight: Four Maronites, one Greek Catholic, two Greek Orthodox and
one Armenian Orthodox. Number of candidates in the constituency 31,
number of [eligible] voters 163,069, number of [actual] voters 83,502,
invalid ballots 500 and valid votes 83,002.
“Al-Matn: Maronite, four seats.
“Winners: Ibrahim Yusuf Kan’an 56,840 votes, Salim Emile Salhab 54,776
votes, Nabil Sab Nicola 42,872 votes and Pierre Amin al-Jumayyil
29,421 votes”.
According to the minister, the losers in this group included opposition
leader Nasib Salim Lahhud 27,565 votes.
The minister went on:
“Al-Matn: Greek Catholic, one seat
“Winner: Edgar Fu’ad Ma’luf 55,017 votes”.
“Al-Matn: Greek Orthodox, two seats
“Winners: Ghassan Emile Mukhaybar 56,906 votes and Michel Ilyas
Al-Murr 48,662 votes”.
“Al-Matn: Armenian Orthodox, one seat
“Winner: Hagop Ohannes Hagop Bakoradonian 53,272 votes”.
“Third Mount Lebanon constituency, including Ba’abdah and Alayh:
Total number of seats 11. Ba’abdah: Two Shi’is, one Druze and three
Maronites. Alayh: Two Druze, two Maronites and one Greek Orthodox.
Number of candidates in the constituency 38, number of [eligible]
voters 251,764, number of [actual] voters 137,915, invalid ballots
883 and valid ballots 137,032.
“Ba’abdah: Shi’i, two seats
“Winners: Ali Fadl Ammar 74,892 votes and Basim Ahmad al-Sab 71,531
votes”.
“Ba’abdah: Druze, one seat
“Winner: Ayman Shawkat Shuqayr 68,968 votes”.
“Ba’abdah: Maronite, three seats
“Winners: Edmond Wadi Na’im 71,453 votes, Antoine Tawfiq Ghanim 70,946
votes and Abdallah Victor Farhat 69,440 votes”.
“Alayh: Druze, two seats
“Winners: Akram Husayn Shuhayyib 70,085 votes and Faysal Afif al-Sayigh
69,103 votes”.
According to the minister, the main losers include Talal Majid Arsalan
65,392 votes.
“Alayh: Maronite, two seats
“Winners: Henry Pierre al-Hilu 69,637 votes and Fu’ad Raji al-Sa’d
69,567 votes”.
“Alayh: Greek Orthodox, one seat
“Winner: Antoine Maurice Andraus 69,748 votes”.
“Fourth Mount Lebanon constituency, including Al-Shuf: Total number
of seats eight: Two Sunnis, two Druze, three Maronites and one Greek
Catholic. Number of candidates in the constituency 16, number of
[eligible] voters 165, 803, number of [actual] voters 82,164, invalid
ballots 1,899 and valid votes 80,265”.
“Al-Shuf: Sunni, two seats
“Winners: Muhammad Qasim Rashid al-Hajjar 57,104 votes and Ala-al-Din
Khudur Turru 54,861 votes”.
“Al-Shuf: Druze, two seats
“Winners: Walid Kamal Bey Junblatt, unopposed and Marwan Muhammad
Hamadah, unopposed”.
“Al-Shuf: Maronite, three seats
“Winners: Nabil Majid al-Bustani 53,543 votes, Elie Michel Awn 52,075
votes and George Jamil Adwan 51,701 votes”.
“Al-Shuf: Greek Catholic, one seat
“Winner: Ni’mah Yusuf Tu’mah 57,358 votes”.
“First Al-Biqa constituency, including Ba’labakk and Al-Hirmil,
total number of seats 10: Two Sunnis, Six Shi’is, one Maronite and
one Greek Catholic. Number of candidates in constituency 38, number of
[eligible] votes 233,919, number of [actual] voters 122,843, invalid
ballots 556 and valid votes 122,287
“Ba’labakk-Al-Hirmil: Sunni, two seats
“Winners: Isma’il Muhammad Sukkariyah 87,612 votes and Kamil Muhammad
al-Rifa’i with 86,016 votes”
“Ba’labakk-Al-Hirmil: Shi’i, six seats
“Winners: Ali Muhammad Salman Bashir al-Miqdad 86,815 votes, Husayn
Ali al-Hajj Hassan 86,262 votes, Jamal Ali al-Taqish 84,727 votes,
Ghazi Muhammad Zu’aytir 81,733 votes, Nawwar Muhammad al-Sahili 81,502
votes and Husayn Ali al-Husayni 78,945 votes”.
“Ba’labakk-Al-Hirmil: Maronites, one seat
“Winner: Nadir Najib Sukkar 82,574 votes”.
“Ba’albakk-Al-Hirmil: Greek Catholic: one Seat
“Winner: Marwan Faris Faris 80,538 votes”.
“Second Al-Biqa constituency, Zahlah. “Total number of seats seven: One
Sunni, one Shi’i, one Maronite, two Greek Catholic, one Greek Orthodox
and one Armenian Orthodox. Number of candidates in the constituency 52,
number of [eligible] votes 141,226, number of [actual] voters 69,488,
invalid ballots 489 and valid votes 68,999”.
“Zahlah: Sunni, one seat
“Winner: Asim Fayiz Araji 31,418 votes”.
“Zahlah: Shi’i, one seat
“Winner: Hasan Muhammad Ya’qub 31,920 votes”.
“Zahlah: Maronites, one seat
“Winner: Salim George Awn 36,408 votes”.
“Zahlah: Greek Catholic, two seats
“Winners: Elias Joseph Skaf 38,035 votes and Nicola Michel Fattush
31,111 votes”.
“Zahlah: Greek Orthodox, one seat
“Winner: Camile Khalil al-Ma’luf 31,108 votes”.
“Zahlah: Armenian Orthodox, one seat
“Winner: George Abdin Kasarji 35,065 votes”.
“Third Al-Biqa constituency, including western Al-Biqa and Rashayya.
Total number of seats six: Two Sunnis, one Shi’i, one Druze, one
Maronite and one Greek Orthodox.
Total number of candidates 29, number of [eligible] voters 112,334,
number of [actual] voters 50,043, invalid ballots 406 and valid
votes 49,637.
“Western Al-Biqa and Rashayya: Two Sunnis
“Winners: Ahmad Muhammad Fattuh 25,767 votes and Jamal Salim Jarrah
25,682 votes”.
“Western al-Biqa and Sharayya: Shi’i, one seat
“Winner: Nasir Muslim Nasrallah 26,120 votes”.
“Western Al-Biqa and Rashayya: Druze, one seat
“Winner: Wa’il Wahbi Abu-Fa’ur 27,651 votes”
“Western Al-Biqa and Rashayya: Maronite, one seat
“Winner: Robert Iskandar Ghanim 29,923 votes”.
“Western Al-Biqa and Rashayya: Greek Orthodox, one seat
“Winner: Antoine Nicola Sa’d 25,984 votes”.
According to the minister, the main losers include former deputy
parliamentary Speaker Elie Najib Firzli 17,595 votes.
Replying to a question by a reporter, Minister Al-Sab said that
the former deputy, Khalil al-Harawi, had lodged a complaint with
the ministry about “bribes” in Al-Biqa and it was referred to the
Complaints Committee. The committee asked him for names, but he could
not produce any, the minister said.
Bribes were reported in the Ba’abdah-Alayh constituency, but the
Complaints Committee did not receive any official complaint, Minister
Al-Sab added.
Responing to a question, Minister Al-Sab said that the Ministry would
give the full statistics to any candidate after 20 June.
Replying to anaother question, Minister Al-Sab said that none of the
European committee of the election observers had contacted him on
any issue so far. he added that “we had signed a code of conduct”
with the Europeans on their rights and duties.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WEAK AUTHORITIES DO NOT NEED STRONG PRESS
A1plus
| 01:32:52 | 11-06-2005 | Politics |
The times when intractable journalists were threatned with violence
and pressure. Today they are influenced upon in a “lawful way”.
In the words of National Unity faction secretary Alexan Karapetyan
the draft constitutional amendments adopted in the first reading does
not secure freedom of mass media. “For foreigners Robert Kocharyan
is a democrat but within his country he is a tyrant”, he says.
Though the freedom of speech in Armenia is guaranteed by the
Constitution in reality it is not secured. For example the order
of formation of the National Committee on TV and Radio has not been
changed so far and this function has not been conveyed to the National
Assembly. Alexan Karapetyan is convinced that the new Constitution
provides for too much authority for the President. How should the
independence of TV companies secured? “Amalyan should be replaced and
at least 70% of the NCTR should be appointed by the NA. The chairman
can be appointed while the other members should be elected by the
National Assembly. However Robert Kocharyan does not empower the NA
with any authority”, he says.
National Unity in convinced that the example of NCTR shows that
pseudo-democracy is reigning in Armenia. “How can a person say: I
appoint members of the commission but I have nothing to do with the
activities of the commission? The NCTR is a corrupted organization,
which functions for one person. How can this structure secure
democracy?” he continues.
However not only TV companies are implied in the notion of mass
media. Much importance is attached to newspapers. Alexan Karapetyan
does not blame some newspapers for being financed by businessmen and
oligarchs. The opposition deputy understands that under the present
conditions newspapers should have means to pay for the services of
the printing offices while the population is not able to pay 300-400
drams for a newspaper to secure self-financing. The deputy suggests
the following, “We should create conditions allowing newspapers to
solve their financial problems. For example, a fund financing the
newspaper on a voluntary basis can be formed in the NA. The newspapers
worthy of such financing can be selected via international contests
with the independent commissions securing fairness of the selection”
According to the deputy, weak power wants weak press. However he
considers that there should exists some limitations on the issues
referring to the national security. In other cases the fourth power
should take up the role of “conscience” of the political field and
express the will of the nation.
Lena Badeyan
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RETURN OF ARMENIAN PILOTS OUR COMMON VICTORY: ARA ABRAMYAN
YEREVAN, June 11. /ARKA/. The return of Armenian pilots to homeland
is our common victory, Chairman of the Union of Armenians of Russia
(UAR) Ara Abramyan told a press conference. According to him, the RA
Government has done much to get the Armenian pilots released. In
particular, numerous visit to Malabo were paid. “I cannot say
whether it has been a difficult business or not, but we encountered
difficulties and am I grateful to Armenia’s authorities for turning
to me for involving international connections to get the Armenian
citizens’ released,” Abramyan said. According to him, tremendous work
has been done during last three months due to which the pilots are in
their homeland now. “It is a good occasion for Armenians to be proud
of their country, and it demonstrates that Armenia and the diaspora
can only achieve success by displaying unity,” Abramyan said.He also
stressed that representatives of the Armenian disapora now realize
that “there is a state that is not indifferent to its own citizens.”
Abramyan asked not to be personally credited with the release of
the Armenian pilots, pointing out a great role of international
mediators, namely, the Pope, UNESCO President, RF Foreign Minister,
who addressed letters to the President of Equatorial Guinea. Speaking
of his assistance in the release of the Armenian pilots, Abramyan
reported that representatives of Armenia and of Equatorial Guinea
signed an agreement in Paris, France, on June 1. Under the agreement,
the UAR President assumed financial commitments to improve the
socio-economic situation in Equatorial Guinea. It was not until the
agreement was singed that the President of Equatorial Guinea agreed
to sign a decree pardoning the Armenian pilots Abramyan did not cite
the sum, stressing that his major task was that the “pilots come home
safe and sound, which I have successfully done.” “I will execute all
my commitments. The most important that no claims are being made to
the Armenian pilots any more,” Abramyan said. P.T. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress