Author: Emil Lazarian

Baku, Yerevan Differ On Resolution Ahead Of Talks
RFE/RL Armenia Report
Wednesday, 08 June 2005
Prague, 8 June 2005 (RFE/RL) — Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov told journalists in Baku on 7 June that “a great deal will
depend” on the outcome of his meeting with his Armenian counterpart
Vartan Oskanian in Paris on 17 June, echo-az.com and day.az reported on
8 June.
Mammadyarov again said that the two sides are discussing between seven
and nine issues related to a peace settlement, and that those issues
have to be addressed in a specific order, with each made secure before
the following one is added, “like pearls knotted on a silk thread.”
Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan insists on the liberation of the seven
districts currently occupied by Armenian forces, and that the two sides
are discussing which countries or organizations could provide
peacekeeping forces to be deployed on those territories after their
liberation, according to day.az.
He also said that “after the frontiers are opened we must revive trade
links and transport.” Echo-az.com quoted Mammadyarov as saying that the
two sides are discussing both the “phased” and the “package” approaches
to resolving the conflict.
But a senior Armenian Foreign Ministry official told “RFE/RL Newsline”
on condition of anonymity that the final agreement will be a package
one, although its various provisions may be implemented one after the
other, rather than simultaneously.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
12:09:50 | 08-06-2005 | Social |
U.S. EMBASSY BRINGS BLUEGRASS MOUNTAIN MUSIC TO ARMENIA
`Bob Perilla’s Big Hillbilly Bluegrass Band’ will perform several concerts
in Gyumri, Dilijan, Lake Sevan, Vayots Dzor, and Yerevan, at the invitation
of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia. Bluegrass, a uniquely American form of
music, is vibrant, fast and fun. Known for the distinctive sound of the
banjo, four-part harmonies, and raucous fiddle playing, the bluegrass sound
originated among 18th century settlers in the Blueridge Mountains (which run
along the America’s east coast, from Georgia to Virginia.)
“Bob Perilla’s Big Hillbilly Bluegrass Band” is a five-member bluegrass band
based in Washington, DC, which performs bluegrass, country, folk and
original material and boasts over 100 years of combined musical experience.
The band’s instrumentation includes: guitar, fiddle, upright bass, banjo and
mandolin. The group has appeared several times at the Kennedy Center, is
performer-in-residence at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and performs
regularly in Washington, DC area music clubs.
The band will complete its tour of the Caucuses in Armenia, after performing
in both Georgia and Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

(Kyodo) – Taiwan to go ahead with military drills
Kyodo News Service
Jun 08, 2005

TAIPEI – Taiwan’s military said Wednesday it will push ahead with
military drills planned for later this month as it sees no change in
the cross-strait situation following reconciliatory trips to China by
two opposition leaders.
“Chinese military’s training activities around the Taiwan Strait have
so far remained normal and unstopped,” Political Warfare Bureau chief
Gen. Hu Cheng-pu told a news briefing.
Mohamad to visit Japan again in July
SHIZUOKA, Japan – An Iraq boy, whose left eye was injured in fighting
between armed Iraqi groups and U.S. troops in Fallujah, will visit
Japan on July 7 for a medical checkup, the wife of a slain Japanese
journalist who supported the boy said Wednesday.
During his third visit, Mohamad Haytham Saleh, 11, will see doctors
for vision correction at a hospital in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture,
but he will not require further surgery, Yukiko Hashida, 51, said
during a speech in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Japan, Armenia agree to cooperate on U.N. reforms
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan agreed Wednesday to cooperate in reforms
of the United Nations, Japanese officials said.
Margaryan was quoted as telling Koizumi that his country supports
Japan’s bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
Marxists pile up pressure on Sri Lanka president
COLOMBO – The Marxist constituent of Sri Lankan President Chandrika
Kumaratunga’s ruling coalition piled up the pressure against a
proposed tsunami aid-sharing deal with ethnic Tamil rebels Wednesday,
saying it will quit the government if she persists with her intention
to sign an agreement with the rebels.
Wimal Weerawansa, the parliamentary group leader of the JVP or
People’s Liberation Front, the third-largest parliamentary party with
39 seats in the 225-member legislature, made the statement in
parliament.
Japan, France, Germany to file debt relief plan for 5 states
TOKYO – Japan, France and Germany will jointly propose at the upcoming
Group of Eight finance ministers meeting in London that donors
significantly reduce the debt burdens of five heavily indebted poor
countries, Japanese Finance Ministry sources said Wednesday.
The proposal calls for freeing the five countries from annual
principal and interest payments on their debts to international
financial organizations until their macroeconomic situations improve
sufficiently to control debt financing, the sources said.
Machimura to co-chair aid session of Iraq donor conference
TOKYO – Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura will co-chair one
of three sessions of a ministerial donor conference on the
reconstruction of Iraq scheduled later this month in Brussels, a
Foreign Ministry source said Wednesday.
Machimura and a representative from the European Union will jointly
chair the session to discuss economic issues and the reconstruction of
Iraq, the source said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
| 17:23:00 | 08-06-2005 | Economy |
DOLLAR WANTED STILL MORE
«The exchange rate of USD and ARMD is conditioned by the supply and demand.
When the demand rises, dollar becomes more expensive», this is the
explanation of Tigran Sargsyan about the raise of the exchange rate of the
US dollar for the last few days. According to him, the factors affecting the
dram-dollar exchange rate are numerous and it is impossible to say which one
of them is more important.
The President of the Central Bank offers to follow the economics growth in
different fields and thus to determine the demand of currency in these
fields. Besides, `it is also important to determine the sum entering the
country – directly, indirectly or by means of private transfers’. Tigran
Sargsyan says it is impossible to evaluate as there is a huge stream of cash
ARMD into Armenia.
`The best way to avoid risks is to keep the money in ARMD and to follow the
costs’, says the CB President adding that the Armenian authorities are
responsible only for it, and `the effect of currency market is beyond our
control’.
Let us also remind you that according to some economists, the high exchange
rate of the ARMD last year harmed mostly the local businessman.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
June 8 2005
Azerbaijani Minister: South Caucasus Needs Demilitarization
08/06/2005 08:25
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti quotes Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov as saying that the transfer of Russian
military bases from Georgia to Armenia is not illegal.

`Bases will be transferred not to Armenia, but to the Russian
military base deployed in Armenia and in terms of legality, there is
no problem in this. However, we consider the issue this way – our
region [South Caucasus] needs demilitarization rather than
militarization. Hence, there is no need to keep troops and tanks
here,’ RIA Novosti quotes Mamedyarov as saying.
He said that as soon as Moscow and Tbilisi finalize the agreement on
the pullout of Russian military bases from Georgia, `we will analyze
this issue and take relevant steps.’
Recently, official Baku sent a protest note to Moscow regarding the
transfer of Russian military bases to Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ACCORDING TO GERMAN AMBASSADOR TO RA, PROCESSES CONNECTED WITH
EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION WON’T HAVE IMPACT ON NEW NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAM
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, NOYAN TAPAN. More than tens of local NGOs took part
in the conference on the subject “Civil Society of Armenia and
European Neighborhood European Union Program” held on June 7 by the
Club of Economic Journalists NGO. Mentioning the importance of holding
the conference, Heike Renate Peitsch, German Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to Armenia, said that the conference shows how
much the Armenian public and NGOs are interested in the discussion of
the European Neighborhood program, which, in essence, is a program of
development of a civil society. The ambassador mentioned that the
declining of the European Constitution in France and Holland can’t
have any impact on the development or the future of the
above-mentioned program. According to her, the future of Europe from
point of view of the Constitution will be decided during the European
Commission’s meeting that will take place next week in Luxemburg.
Tigran Jrbashian, Director of the Center for European Policy and Legal
Consultations, mentioned that the main goal of the European
Neighborhood program is to work out a concrete agenda in relations
with the EU for the term of 3-5 years. It will help to create a zone
of well-being and neighborly relations within the framework of new EU
borders and out of them. According to T.Jrbashian, the main clauses of
the EU program on the part of Armenia chiefly concern increase in
efforts aimed at poverty reduction, protection of environment,
stopping of the work of the ANPP.

A1plus
| 13:29:51 | 07-06-2005 | Official |
PROCESS RESTARTS
Robert Kocharyan signed the decree on formation of a interdepartmental
commission to watch the process of construction of dwelling houses for
people, who remained without roof after the earthquake in 1988. The
commission will take as a basis the outcomes of the check-up carried out by
Control Service under the RA President.
The commission is charged with the task to check the legality of allocation
of flats in the Lori and Shirak regions as well as the process of selection
of the building companies.
The commission is composed of representatives of Ministries of Town
Planning, Justice, Territorial Administration, Finance and Economy as well
as the Office of the Prosecutor General. Chief of the Control Service Vahram
Bardeghyan was appointed head of the commission.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Journal of Turkish Weekly
June 7 2005
Armenian Press: ‘Bush May Become Mediator Between Armenia and Turkey”
The Pan Armenian news agency reports that the US President George W.
Bush may become mediator between Armenia and Turkey. ParArmenian
reported that Erdogan will discuss the Armenian issue with the
American President.
Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories and more
than 1 million Azerbaijanis are still refugees and cannot return
their homes in Karabakh and other occupied territories.
Yerevan does not recognise Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s national
borders. Armenia’s relations with Georgia is also problematic.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AN INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMISSION TO CONTROL THE PROCESS OF
HOUSE-BUILDING IN THE ZONE OF DISASTER IS FORMED IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, June 7. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan signed a decree
on formation of an interdepartmental commission to control the process
of house-building in the zone of disaster. According to RA President’s
Press Service, the decision was taken on the base of the results of
studies of the process of house-building for families, who remained
without shelter as a result of the earthquake in 1988, conducted by
the Control Service adjunct to RA President. The commission will also
study the legitimacy of the lists on the base of which apartments in
rural areas of Lori and Shirak regions will be distributed, as well as
the process of selection of building companies. The commission
includes representatives of the Ministry of Urban Planning, Justice,
Regional Administration, Finances and Economy as well as Prosecutor’s
Office. The Coordinator of the Commission is appointed the Head of the
Control Service adjunct to the RA President Vahram
Barseghyan. A.H. –0–

AZG Armenian Daily #103, 07/06/2005
Diaspora
‘MEMORIES AND LANGUAGE TRANSFERRED BY GENOCIDE’ CONFERENCE IN ONTARIO
On May 28, “The Canadian Federation of Humanitarian and Social Sciences”
held annual conference dedicated to the holocaust and genocide issues. The
conference was organized with the assistance of the Canadian Social Science
and Archeology Association, the Center for Social Researches and the
Canadian Women’s Research Center. The conference was held at the University
of the South Ontario in London city of Canada. It was entitled “The Memories
and Languages Transferred by Genocide.” Verzhine Svazlian, member of RA
National Academy of Sciences, scientist at the Armenian Genocide Museum,
also participated in the conference, representing our republic. Mrs.
Svazlian touched upon the registered memories, as well as the facts of
ignoring and denying the genocide and its dangerous consequences. Mrs.
Svazlian represented all the written, recorded and shot testimonies and
memories of the genocide survivors. She has been accumulating these
testimonies for 50 years In Armenia, Greece, France, the U.S. and Turkey.
Gabriel Elisa Popov, from Columbia University, (The Sounds of Silence in
“Elsa Morant’s Murder”), Karin Doer, from Concordis University (The Words of
Death and the Death of the Words), Judith Lermer Crowlie, from Montreal
Collage (“About Auswentsin. New Photos”), Arlen Avagian, from University of
Massachusetts, (“Strong Silence. To become A Survivor”) and many other
scholars participated at the conference.
By Hakob Tsulikian