Author: Emil Lazarian

Associated Press Worldstream
June 30, 2004 Wednesday
Small plane crashes in Armenia, killing pilot
YEREVAN, Armenia
A small agricultural plane crashed Wednesday in northeastern Armenia,
killing the pilot, emergency officials said.
The X-32 agricultural plane, rented from a company in neighboring
Georgia, crashed while surveying forests outside the Agveran village
in the Kotaisky region, said Nikolai Grigorian, chief spokesman for
the Armenian Emergency Situations Ministry.
The pilot, David Kakhianidze, was killed, he said. The cause of the
crash was not immediately known and an investigation was opened.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

La Croix
1 juillet 2004
Marque-page. Histoire. ET L’ARMENIE DEVINT CHRETIENNE de Jean
Guréghian. Ed. de Paris (1), 90 p., 15 Euro.
LESEGRETAIN Claire
Histoire
ET L’ARMENIE DEVINT CHRETIENNE de Jean Guréghian. Ed. de Paris (1),
90 p., 15 Euro.
Les Arméniens furent le premier peuple entièrement converti au
christianisme, en l’an 301. Alors même que l’Eglise arménienne a fêté
voici peu le 1700e anniversaire de l’événement, on sait moins les
circonstances de cette conversion. Le petit livre de Jean Guréghian,
préfacé par Jean-Pierre Mahé et illustré par Gaguik Soghomonyan,
précise comment le roi arménien Tiridate embrassa la foi au Christ.
Après avoir persécuté des adeptes de cette nouvelle religion et tenté
de violer l’une d’elles (la belle Hripsimé), Tiridate tomba malade.
Saint Grégoire dit l’Illuminateur, qu’il avait fait enfermer et
supplicier, guérit alors le roi et le conduit au christianisme. Le
récit de cette conversion est ici inspiré, sans digressions
superflues, de l’oeuvre de l’historien antique Agathange.
P.-Y. L.P.
(1) 13, rue Saint-Honoré, 78000 Versailles.

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
June 29, 2004
Contact at HFH Armenia:
Zara Tonapetyan
Aygestan 8-th str, h 5,
Yerevan-070, Armenia
Tel: (374 1) 556-114
e-mail: [email protected]
The UK Ambassador to Armenia Ms. Thorda Abott-Watt and other Armenian
and Armenian resident female officials joined Habitat for Humanity Armenia
Yerevan, Armenia – June29, 2004 – UK Ambassador to Armenia, Ms. Thorda
Abbott-Watt, the president of the Diplomatic Spouse Association Mrs. Nani
Oskanian, The Armenian Assembly of America’s Acting Executive Director Arpi
Vartanian, the deputy minister of Culture and Youth affairs Lilit Asatryan.
Armenia Legislative Strengthening Program Director Eleanor Valentine,
representative of ministry of Urban Development Sona Matevosyan and other
Armenian and Armenian resident women-officials have joined Habitat for
Humanity Armenia local and International volunteers to build a home in
partnership with a disadvantaged family in the village of Voskehat,
Aragatsotn region on June 29, 2004 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This time Habitat for Humanity Armenia was hosting a Global Village team,
consisting only of women. These teams are called Women Build teams. The
mission of the Women Build department of Habitat for Humanity International
is to work through affiliates to nurture, recruit and train women to build
simple, decent, healthy and affordable houses. Women Build brings together
women from all walks of life to actively address the problem of children in
poverty by building Habitat for Humanity houses. Safe, decent housing is
critical to a child’s health and development, yet children are the single
largest age group living in poverty. The Women Build program is expanding
internationally with women crews building houses all over the world.
The Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Armenia, Ms. Thorda Abbott-Watt and
other female high ranking officials joined the Women Build team to help
build for the family of Tonoyan’s. With this volunteer effort they hope to
demonstrate their good will and commitment to the development of Armenia,
and serve as an example to others in the community encouraging them to join
HFH Armenia in its work eliminating sub-standard housing in Armenia and
throughout the world.

The event is aimed to encourage the involvement of woman in the construction
of Habitat homes. The need for the adequate shelter is great in Armenia,
but it can be met. Women can be a part of the solution – one house, one
family at a time. Women Build challenges and empowers women to build safe,
healthy housing where children can flourish and grow to be all that they can
be.
Habitat for Humanity Armenia is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity
International and supports community development in the Republic of Armenia
by assisting in the construction and renovation of simple, decent and
affordable homes. The purpose of the organization is to help families in
need improve their living conditions, to raise funds to support the vital
work, and to give hope to thousands of people across the country. The
organization was formed in March of 2000 and, to date, has dedicated 82
homes and given shelter to 473 people.
Sub-standard housing is all too common in Armenia. Many families live in
deteriorated housing, in cramped quarters with inadequate water and heat.
HFH Armenia’s selected target group is families living in substandard,
over-crowded and unacceptable living quarters. This group comprises more
than 50-60% of the country’s current population. These families are unable
to purchase their own homes, as they do not have sufficient income to save
to pay for the entire house cost up front, nor can they risk, or would they
be eligible for, a high-interest loan from a commercial lender.
Habitat for Humanity Armenia has found a way to solve the problem. Families,
with two or three wage earners, pay back a no-interest loan for a simple,
decent, affordable, and healthy home, and are still able to feed their
families. Habitat for Humanity Armenia is using a combination of two
approaches to help Habitat families solve their housing problems:
1) Completing half-built homes, which are numerous
in Armenia. This approach enables families to fulfill their dream of
completing their own home. Utilizing existing core structure reduces costs
and prevents the disruption of relocating.
2) Purchasing apartments to make use of Armenia’s
existing under-utilized housing stock. Purchased homes are resold at
no-profit, interest-free, to Habitat families who renovate their apartments
and help in the construction of other families’ homes.
For more information please email Zara Tonapetyan, Communication Coordinator
for Habitat for Humanity Armenia [email protected]. See also
.
Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity International is a non-denominational
Christian, non-governmental, non-profit housing organization that has helped
more than 700,000 people of all races, religions and backgrounds to have a
simple, decent and affordable place to live. Habitat for Humanity has built
or renovated more than 150,000 homes throughout the world, becoming a global
leader in addressing poverty housing. Habitat for Humanity is active in 100
countries worldwide, including 19 in Europe and Central Asia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Montreal Gazette, Quebec
June 30 2004
Ex-broker barred for life
Fined $305,000 for multiple infractions. Harry Migirdic’s penalties
among stiffest ever assessed by the IDA in Quebec

PAUL DELEAN
The Gazette
CREDIT: ALLEN MCINNIS, THE GAZETTE
Evidence entered at the IDA hearing showed Harry Migirdic was the
subject of several warnings and disciplinary measures. He was found
guilty of 24 transgressions during his time as a CIBC representative.

In a ruling that brought little solace to some of his victims, a
former broker with CIBC World Markets in Montreal has been barred for
life from the securities industry for a long list of infractions,
among them using the accounts of certain investors to guarantee the
trading losses of others they didn’t know.
Harry Migirdic, a prominent member of the local Armenian community
(from which he drew many clients), has also been assessed $305,000 in
fines and $55,000 in investigation costs by the Quebec district
council of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada, though the
association admits it lacks the enforcement powers to collect that
money from people no longer employed in the industry.
“(Migirdic) getting the lifetime ban does not do justice to what
happened,” said Richard Papazian, 43, whose late mother, Kiganouchi
(Ketty) Papazian, had $299,275 withdrawn from her account by the CIBC
to make up for shortfalls in the trading account of two other
Migirdic clients.
“Harry did the paperwork, but who exercised the fraudulent guarantee?
CIBC went ahead and helped itself to the money (by exercising the
guarantee) after they found out what he was doing.
“He put it in the bag for them, but they decided to walk out of the
store with it.”
Another former client, Haroutioun Markarian, also can’t understand
how the CIBC can wash its hands of the actions of someone it employed
as a vice-president.
“While Mr. Migirdic was churning profits for them, CIBC was more than
willing to accept them. However, after being exposed for his
wrongdoings and even having been fired by CIBC for these actions,
they incredibly still shun any liability and responsibility. How
convenient.
“Simply put, CIBC is saying to the public that you are more than
welcome to bring your savings to them, but if someone within their
organization takes away your money, then that is too bad.”
Migirdic is the second former CIBC World Markets broker this week to
receive a lifetime ban from the IDA. Alex Gurion, who used to work
for the brokerage’s North York branch, also got a lifetime suspension
for cheating a 90-year-old customer out of $350,000 in 2001, the same
year Gurion moved to Moscow. The CIBC made full restitution to the
customer in 2002.
It also has settled with some of the more than 20 clients who
complained about Migirdic, but not all.
That’s a source of great frustration for Papazian, whose 78-year-old
mother died of cancer last year, and for Markarian, a retired
machine-shop owner who is 71.
Markarian and his wife had about $1 million extracted from their
investment accounts to guarantee the trading losses of Migirdic’s
73-year-old uncle in Turkey.
“CIBC’s strategy is a simple and ruthless one,” Markarian said. “Drag
out the lawsuits long enough to outlive the victims. In Ketty
Papazian’s case, this strategy worked to perfection.”
The CIBC declined to comment. “The cases are what they are,”
spokesperson Rob McLeod said from Toronto yesterday. “We aren’t
commenting on these cases.”
Its position in the Papazian case, outlined in documents filed in a
Quebec Superior Court suit, is that she was fully aware of the
guarantee and she and her son were “complicit in their own
misfortunes.” It also claims no legal responsibility for the actions
of the broker and any losses suffered by his former clients.
Lawsuits seeking about $5 million for losses and $55 million in
punitive damages from Migirdic and the CIBC are now making their way
through the Quebec legal system. The first is due to come to trial in
January.
Migirdic, also known as Harutyun Migirdicoglu, was a registered
investment representative in Quebec for more than two decades at
Merrill Lynch, Wood Gundy and CIBC World Markets before his
termination in 2001. Evidence entered at the IDA hearing showed he
was the subject of several warnings and disciplinary measures.
This year, he was found guilty by the IDA of 24 transgressions during
his time as a CIBC representative. They included multiple counts of
trading without the knowledge or authorization of a client, obtaining
account guarantees under false pretences, altering investment
objectives and risk tolerance on Know-Your-Client forms without
consent, knowingly accepting a forged power-of-attorney and offering
a client a $400,000 promissory note to compensate for trading losses
without the knowledge of the CIBC. Migirdic admitted to all the
infractions but did not plead guilty.
In its decision on an appropriate penalty, the IDA’s three-
member disciplinary committee said there’s no denying the extent of
the financial prejudice suffered by Migirdic’s clients and the firm
that employed him or the harm he did to the credibility of financial
markets.
“Some of the violations are clearly of a fraudulent nature,” the
committee said. “It’s the case with the guarantees that he (Migirdic)
had clients sign, on the pretext it was a formality for their file.
The reprehensibility (of this type of fault) is undoubted.”
Another aggravating factor was the vulnerability of many of his
clients, who trusted him blindly, the panel said.
A lifetime ban, severe as it may be, is the obvious response in a
case like this, since the person can no longer be trusted to act
honestly with the public, clients and the profession as a whole, it
said. “They weren’t isolated incidents.”
Migirdic’s lifetime ban and $360,000 in fines and costs are among the
stiffest penalties ever assessed by the IDA in Quebec. Last year,
Warren McCaffrey, a former investment representative at the Hudson
branch of Leduc et Associes Securities Canada Ltd., was fined
$585,000 and barred for life for a series of regulatory violations
and fund misappropriations that included falsifying a letter on which
he forged a client’s signature, depositing in his own bank account
cheques destined for or sent by clients, and depositing in his
spouse’s account a bank draft received from a client for the purchase
of securities.

Tehran Times, Iran
June 30 2004
Islam, Christianity Have Common View on Martyrdom: Archbishop
Tehran Times Social Desk
TEHRAN (MNA) — Sebu Sarkissian, Armenian prelacy archbishop in
Tehran said on Friday that according to Christianity, martyrs and
martyrdom are to be defined based on the Bible; they are here to be
witnesses for God.
Speaking at the first commemorative ceremony of Armenian ground
forces martyrs, Sebu Sarkissian stated that the martyr is also a
witness for his country and is devoted for the sake of it, adding
such a person will reach eternity.
The archbishop offered as evidence the Apostles and the Fathers of
churches who preached their faith.
Islam and Christianity have the same view on martyrdom, believing
faith and homeland are the most sacred objects, Sarkissian told the
Mehr News Agency, stressing that martyrdom is working and dedicating
oneself to these high objectives.
He went on to say that in Iran, religious minorities are free to
observe their religious ceremonies and live without any conflict with
Iranian clerics, adding this is always the first question asked by
foreign reporters who come to Iran.
`Iranians and Armenians live together, having the same objectives and
problems. We try hard to solve the problems of the country’,
Sarkissian said in conclusion.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
June 30 2004
NATO SUMMIT IN SPOTLIGHT OF TURKISH PRESS
[June 30, 2004, 22:24:46]
The NATO Summit held in Istanbul June 28-29 was widely covered in the
Turkish press. Turkish journalists were mainly focused on the
statements by Presidents George Bush of USA, Jacques Chirac of
France, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia,
as well as Federal Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder and Prime
Minster of the Great Britain Toni Blair.
Besides, the trilateral meeting of Foreign Minister of Turkey
Abdullah Gul, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and
Armenian Minister Vardan Oskanian also in the aroused great interest
of local and foreign media. In the course of the meeting, Abdullah
Gul stated to his Armenian counterpart that Azerbaijan and Turkey
expect positive steps from Armenia, reputable Turkish newspapers
Sabah, Radical and Milliyet said. Newspapers say that Armenia keeps
Azerbaijani lands under occupation and has claims as to `genocide’
and that is why, it should not expect any compromise from Turkey and
Azerbaijan. Opening of borders is impossible.
Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled the same
position. During the meeting between President of Turkey Ahmat Necdet
Sezer and President of France Jacques Chirac, the Turkish President
showed discontent of Turkish society on French parliament’s decision
related to the `genocide’ and lambasted radical position of Armenia
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RIA Novosti, Russia
June 30, 2004
FEDERATION COUNCIL TO DISCUSS CFE TREATY RATIFICATION ON JULY 7
MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian parliament’s upper
chamber will discuss the issue of the CFE (Conventional Forces In
Europe) Treaty ratification at a plenary session on July 7, said
Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the International Committee of the
Federation Council.
“Our committee will consider the document on July 5, and we will
recommend the chamber to ratify it”, he said.
The senator reminded that the Treaty provided for introduction of a
strict national and territorial restraints system specifying the
ceiling for ground armaments and equipment deployment and outlining
exact time and quantitative frames of the ceiling alteration not to
undermine the regional stability.
“It removes the threat of accumulating the potentials for large-scale
offensive operations and, in fact, neutralizes the possibility of
heavy materiel’s dangerous concentrations along Russia’s borders”,
said Mr. Margelov.
At the same time, he stressed that the Treaty ratification enables
Russia to retain its military presence in Armenia and the Ukraine.
“For Russia, the CFE Treaty ratification is very important, because
the new states’ accession to NATO changes the European military and
strategic configuration”, believes the chairman of the profile
committee. According to him, the CFE Treaty is a fundamental document
determining Russia-NATO relations.
Mr. Margelov reminded that after Russia ratify the Treaty the same
should be done by parliaments of the parties to the Treaty. “Their
decision as to the ratification will show how much they want stable
security architecture”, he emphasized.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia, Canada sign accord on eliminating double taxation
Arminfo
30 Jun 04
YEREVAN
The governments of Armenia and Canada have signed an agreement on
eliminating double taxation on income and property.
The agreement was signed in Yerevan on 29 June, the Armenian Ministry
of Finance and Economy told Arminfo news agency today. The aim of the
agreement is to create a favourable taxation regime between the
countries and boost investment. Armenia has similar agreements with 25
countries, and 17 of them are effective.
We have to say that the trade turnover between Armenia and Canada is
so small that the Armenian National Statistics Service has not
included it in its annual report for 2003.

The Moscow Times
Armrosgazprom to bid for laying Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
RosBusinessConsulting. Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2004, 7:32 PM Moscow Time
The company Armrosgazprom is planning to take part in a tender on
constructing and maintaining an Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, the press service
of the company reported. The customer of the gas pipeline is the Armenian
government. A basic agreement on laying the pipeline was signed in Yerevan
(Armenia) on May 13, 2004. According to the document, the gas pipeline will
be put into operation by January 1, 2007. Armenia will get some 1.1bn cubic
meters of gas annually through this pipeline. Each country is to finance the
laying of a pipeline on its territory. Armenia is expected to spend about
$90m to $100m and Iran some $120m on constructing the pipeline.
Armrosgazprom was created in 1997 in compliance with a Russian-Armenian
government agreement and it is the exclusive wholesale buyer and supplier of
gas in Armenia. The Armenian government and Gazprom have a 45-percent stake
each in the company; Itera has a 10-percent block of shares. Armrosgazprom
owns the whole gas distributing network in the republic.

Armenia expresses interest in post-conflict Iraqi operations role
Mediamax news agency
29 Jun 04

YEREVAN
Armenia is ready to play an active role in the post-conflict
humanitarian operations in Iraq, Deputy Foreign Minister Ruben
Shugaryan announced in Yerevan today.
Mediamax news agency quoted the diplomat as explaining Yerevan’s
position both by the presence of 30,000 Armenians in Iraq and
Armenia’s state interests.
Talks on the dispatch of Armenian military doctors, drivers and
sappers to Iraq by and large have now been completed and at present
they are discussing the logistics, the Armenian deputy foreign
minister said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress