Author: Emil Lazarian

Armenian police confirm US citizen murdered in capital
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
18 May 04
The Armenian police have confirmed that the corpse of a US citizen
was discovered with stab wounds in central Yerevan on 17 May, Mediamax
news agency reported on the 18th.
The Yerevan prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into
the case.
The body was found in a courtyard at 24, Sayat-Nova Avenue.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OVERCOMING POVERTY
A1 Plus | 15:58:56 | 18-05-2004 | Social |
“No policy is worked out for rural manpower in “Poverty Reduction in
Armenia” strategic program”, Hranush Kharatyan, head of Governmental
Department on National Minorities and Religion, announces.
Mrs. Kharatyan was instructed to make an analysis on occupation and
unemployment of villagers in particular, the reasons and volumes
in Armenia.
Hranush Kharatyan has today introduced her study during the seminar on
“Implementation of Projects Supporting Job Increase and Revenue Rise
for Poverty Reduction and in Armenia”.
The analyst stated there are about 200.000 unemployed in the Armenian
villages. She says occupation issue is rather passively represented in
“National Program on Poverty Reduction in Armenia”.
“Unemployment will hardly decrease soon, on the contrary, it may grow”,
Kharatyan forecasts.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Asylum-Seekers Begin Hunger-Strike In Baku
Baku Today
May 17 2004
The two Armenians, who arrived in Baku early April, began hunger-strike
on Monday in protest against international organizations’ reluctance
to help them find asylum in Europe.
Roman Terian, 38, and Artur Apresian, 48, said they will hold the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) responsible for
any negative results the hunger protest may bring about. The Armenians
appeared in Azerbaijan’s private ANS television on April 8, relating
their departure from Armenia with hardships they claimed they faced
in their home country.
Speaking to local and foreign reporters in a press conference staged
by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of National Security on May 14, the Armenians
said they left Armenia because of “Kocharian’s dictatorship,” with
one of them likening the Armenian president to Osama ben Laden.
The asylum seekers were born in Baku.They left for Armenia after the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, but have not received
Armenian citizenship. Terian and Apresian married to Armenian
citizens. Both have two daughters.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Gevor and Tatevosyan to battle it out live on the internet
EastsideBoxing.com
May 17 2004
17.05.04 – Exciting action is coming up live on the internet. On
Tuesday Armenian Koren Gevor, 17-2 (10), will face Russian Sergey
Tatevosyan, 21-4 (13), at Hansehalle of Lübeck, Germany, in an 8-round
non-title fight. The battle of the two strong European middleweight top
contenders will be broadcast live on the internet on …
Gevor is coming off a six fight winning streak since suffering his two
losses due to unlucky injuries. Tatevosyan who knocked out former world
champion Armand Krajnc in 2002 is coming fresh of a European title
fight against Howard Eastman where he dropped a twelve round decision.
“I’ve seen videos on Tatevosyan. I know he is beatable”, the small
but powerful Gevor said. “He is running a lot to the left and to the
right. My biggest concern is that I can’t land my punches because he
moves so awkward.”
It’s Gevor’s third fight on a Spotlight Boxing event in a row. His last
contest where he stopped Dmitro Gotovskiy on March 30 at Saaltheater
in Aachen, Germany, by disqualification was also broadcast live on
“His knockout win over Armand Krajnc doesn’t impress me”, Gevor said.
“Armand was an easy target that night and at the end he landed his
punches almost by accident.”
Gevor moved to Germany in May 2000 and is now living in Hamburg
(Gevor: “I like this city a lot!”) with his young wife. His coach
is Magomed Shaburow. He was born in Edshmiadsin, a city close to
Armenia’s capitcal Erivan.
Gevor is a stable mate of WBO middleweight champion Felix Sturm who
is fighting against Oscar de la Hoya on June 5.
“I’ll put money on Felix”, Gevor said. “De la Hoya will underestimate
him and I believe Felix will win a decision. This is his chance of
a lifetime and he will use it.”
In three other fights live on , Guzmil Perdomo will
fight Gringo Mandache at super middleweight, Egon Roth will fight
Pavel Vanacek and Valeri Tschetschenev celebrates his professional
debut against Roman Kaloczai (both heavyweight).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NO SALE OF HAYRUSGAZARD SHARES DISCUSSED IN MOSCOW
ArmenPress
May 17 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS: HayRusGazArd company, a joint
Russian-Armenian company and the sole natural gas supplier to Armenia,
denied today media allegations that president Kocharian discussed
during his weekend visit to Moscow with the chief manager of Russian
Gazprom the question of handing over 45 percent of HayRusGazArd shares
to the Russian company.
A spokeswoman for HayRusGazArd, Shushan Sardarian, said 45 percent
of the company’s shares belong to the government of Armenia, another
45 percent to Gazprom and 10 percent to Itera.
She said Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Robert Kocharian discussed the
current situation with Russia’s gas supplies to Armenia and issues
connected with the condition of the gas network in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Schwimmer says Belarus far from CE standards
By Kseniya Kaminskaya and Konstantin Kizhel
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 15, 2004 Saturday
MOSCOW, May 15 — Belarus is far from the Council of Europe’s standards
and its admission to this organisation will not be considered in the
near future, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Walter
Schwimmer, said.
He told journalists on Saturday that there were so signs indicating
that Belarus was moving along the road of democracy and human rights.
Schwimmer said one of his tasks as the Secretary-General of the
Council of Europe had been to bring Belarus as close to CE membership
as possible but failed.
He hopes that this question may be resolved in the next five years.
In his words, in order to achieve this goal it is necessary to
strengthen the role of parliament in the country, ensure the freedom
of speech and complete the investigation of abductions.
Speaking about Nagorno-Karabakh, Schwimmer said Azerbaijan and Armenia
had been admitted to the Council of Europe at the same time so that
they could reach agreement on this enclave.
He expressed the hope that the presidents of the two countries will
resolve the conflict through dialogue.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agency WPS
The Russian Oil and Gas Report (Russia)
May 17, 2004, Monday
IRAN AND ARMENIA SIGNED AN AGREEMENT ON CONSTRUCTION OF A GAS
PIPELINE
The agreement on construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline was
signed on May 13. The Armenian Energy Ministry reported that Energy
Minister of Armenia Armen Movsesyan and Oil Minister of Iran Namdar
Zanganeh signed the agreement.
Under the agreement Iran will supply 1.1 billion cubic meters of
natural gas to Armenia a year and Armenia will pay for the gas with
electric energy. The countries also plan to increase gas supplies to
2 billion cubic meters a year in the future. The companies to build
the pipeline will be chosen at a tender. Previously the Armenian
party spoke about intention of Gazprom and Ukrainian companies to
take part in the project. Construction of the pipeline will cost
about $90 million for Armenia and $120 million for Iran.
Source: gazeta.ru, May 14, 2004
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Protestors urge release of Armenian political prisoners
A1+ web site
17 May 04
17 May: An initiative group of the “For and against civic will”
public organizations today staged another picket outside the
Prosecutor-General’s Office.
The aim of the action has not changed, i.e. the release of political
prisoners. Shayane Yesayan, a member of the Nor Hayastan [New Armenia]
public organization, says that the protest action will continue until
there are no political prisoners in Armenia.
She believes that one should not take seriously a statement by Deputy
Speaker of the National Assembly Tigran Torosyan that we have no
political prisoners in the country at all, whereas, there are 14 men
in Armenia. A list of them was submitted to journalists by members
of the Nor Hayastan.
The protest action was attended by Dzhemma Galstyan, the mother of
Suren Surenyants, a member of the Anrapetutyun Party and a political
prisoner.
She said that Suren Surenyants was in a poor health at present:
“We have repeatedly appealed to various instances, asking for the
transfer of Surenyants from the investigatory isolation ward of the
National Security Ministry to another place, however, our requests
remained unanswered.”
Surenyants’ mother considers that his issue can only be resolved
through the mediation of international organizations: “I am not
permitted to see my son because of a special instruction from the
prosecutor-general.”
At the end of the protest action, members of the initiative group
handed over a statement to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, which was
signed by 1,700 citizens, urging it to release the political prisoners.

Le Figaro
17 Mai 2004
Un effet boule de neige
L. M.
Depuis que le président de la Convention européenne Valéry Giscard
d’Estaing a lancé un pavé dans la mare, en affirmant que la Turquie
«n’avait pas vocation à entrer dans l’Union européenne», la
géographie, l’islam, la porosité des frontières turques aux trafics
en tout genre, la peur de migrations massives ou l’absence de
reconnaissance du génocide arménien sont tour à tour brandis comme
autant de raisons de dire non aux Turcs.
Longtemps confisqué par le petit cercle des dirigeants européens, le
débat sur la Turquie fait boule de neige et revient aujourd’hui en
boomerang à la tête de l’Europe, malgré l’appui notable apporté à la
candidature turque par la Grèce. En France et en Autriche, les
partisans du «non» semblent majoritaires. La droite allemande est,
elle aussi, turco-sceptique, de même qu’une partie des politiciens
hollandais. Beaucoup s’alarment de la présence au pouvoir d’un parti
islamiste, l’AKP, certes modéré et réformé. D’autres s’interrogent
sur la capacité de la Turquie à se débarrasser d’un système
bureaucratico-mafieux et clientéliste, dominé par le lobby militaire.
Le visage européen de la Turquie, incarné par ses élites modernes et
polyglottes, séduit. Mais l’autre visage, celui d’un Sud-Est
anatolien arriéré, effraie.

Parliamentary Chairperson Visits Strasbourg
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi
May 15 2004
Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze left for Strasbourg on
May 15 to participate in the European Conference of Presidents of
Parliament to be held at the Council of Europe on May 17-19.
“A number of bilateral meetings with my counterparts will be held,”
Nino Burjanadze said before departure.
Trilateral talks between Armenian, Azeri and Georgian Parliamentary
Chairpersons are also scheduled.
The conference will bring together more than sixty Presidents and
Speakers of the Parliaments of 45 member states.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress