Author: Frangulian Shushan

A1plus
| 20:21:08 | 10-06-2005 | Politics |
A STEP FOR THE FUTURE
Today RA NA President Arthur Baghdasaryan received the delegation of Turhan
Chomez, deputy of the Turkish Parliament. The delegation comprised of
journalists and social bodies.
During the meeting issues about the present state of the Armenian-Turkish
relations and the perspectives of development were discussed. The sides
confirmed their readiness to contribute to the development of relations by
means of open discussions. The RA NA President mentioned that Armenia wants
to have normal relations with all its neighbors and thinks that the problems
in the Armenian-Turkish relations must be solved by means of joint
discussions, `We must solve the present problems, not fight against them’,
said the NA President.
The President of the Parliament called everybody to build the relations
looking forward – having the courage to admit the fact of the Genocide and
to go forward taking as basis the way of joint Euro integration. He
mentioned that Armenia expects the establishment of diplomatic relations as
basis to solve further problems.
It was also mentioned that Armenia does not mind having a neighbor member of
the EU, if the dual standards are excluded. The fact of the Genocide is not
under question for us, and we think that we must go forward without
forgetting the past. The NA President also mentioned that in the Armenian
Constitution there is no demand of land from Turkey.
Deputy of the Turkish Parliament Turhan Chomez qualified his visit to the RA
NA as the first of the steps to be taken in future. Mr. Chomez mentioned
that what is done cannot be undone or denied and we must go forward looking
into the eyes of the reality.
Nevertheless, he considered the issue of the recognition of the Genocide the
problem of the historians. `We are two countries living in the same
geographic area and we must come to an agreement’, said Mr. Chomez. He
passed the greetings and the best regards of the Turkish Parliament
president Bulent Arinch to the NA president and expressed his readiness to
spread the ideas discussed during the meeting in the Turkish society and the
authorities.
At the end of the meeting the sides also discussed the possibility of
organizing a meeting of the Armenian and Turkish young people in Yerevan and
Ankara in order to discuss the present problems in the Armenian-Turkish
relations.

PARTY ARMENIAN-ARYAN ORDER ANNOUNCES ITS WITHDRAWAL FROM INTER-PARTY
CONSULTATIVE BODY
YEREVAN, JUNE 10. ARMINFO. Party Armenian-Aryan Order announces its
withdrawal from the Inter-party Consultative Body.
According to the statement of the party received by ARMINFO today, it
attaches a great importance to development of inter-party relations in
the political field. However no such approach has been observed within
the framework of the Inter- party Consultative Body so far. In this
connection, AAO party withdraws from the ICB maintaining only its
status of an observer to keep in contact with the political forces
included in the ICB. If the circumstances change, AAO party may
restore its membership.
Some two dozens of political organizations of the country are included
in the Inter-party Consultative Body, including the Democratic
Motherland head by Petros Makeyan and the Union Self-Determination
party lead by Paruyr Hairikyan.-

Armenpress
ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER VISITS JAPANESE LEADING COMPANIES
TOKYO, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS: The visiting Armenian prime minister Andranik
Margarian met today with the president of the Japan’s International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) Atsushi Hatakenaki, and visited also Japan’s
leading Sumitomo and Panasonic companies and before that he was interviewed
by Japan Broadcasting Corporation.
The government press office said Margarian shared his views on a wide
scope of political and economic developments. It said the reporter
interviewing Margarian was eager to learn Armenia’s stand on a wave of
revolutions in some post-Soviet countries, US-Russia relations, Armenian
foreign policy priorities, its relations with neighboring countries,
Armenian Diaspora and its potential.
The press office said Margarian provided detailed answers to all these
questions and also on Armenian-Turkish relations, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
international recognition of the Armenian genocide. The government press
office said Margarian thanked the government of Japan and Japanese agencies
for their continued assistance to Armenia

Belarus to introduce visas for citizens of Georgia
Belapan news agency
9 Jun 05
Minsk, 9 June: Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has adopted
a decision to introduce a visa regime for Georgia.
The Belarusian leader’s press service reported that the decision by
the head of state “was prompted by the necessity to continue efforts
aimed at stepping up the fight against organized and transnational
crime and the defence of interests of third countries – Belarus’s
neighbours in this area – in accordance with existing agreements”.
In particular, the press service notes that attempts by Georgian
criminals to use the territory of Belarus for entering Russia without
appropriate visas are increasing. The press service said that Russian
law-enforcement bodies has drawn up a list of foreigners who committed
crimes in Russia and who are banned from entering the Russian
territory. Georgian nationals account for almost 25 per cent of the
names on the list.
The chairman of the Belarusian State Border Troops Committee, Lt-Gen
Alyaksandr Pawlowski, said at a news conference on 26 May that
citizens of Georgia and Armenia who cannot enter Russia legally have
been trying to do so via Belarus by flying to Minsk from Tbilisi and
Yerevan recently. He said he referred to individuals banned from
entering the Russian Federation for various reasons. Belarusian
border guards also have such lists. Therefore, Pawlowski said, border
guards have to send six to eight Georgians and Armenians back to
Tbilisi and Yerevan every week.
[Passage omitted: Turkmenistan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
withdrew from the CIS agreement on visa-free travel of CIS citizens.]

Interfax
June 7 2005
Analyst comments on Russian arms’ transfer to Armenia
YEREVAN. June 7 (Interfax) – The partial transfer to Armenia of
weapons from Russian military bases in Georgia that Moscow has
pledged to withdraw will “somewhat stabilize the balance of power
between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” a senior Armenian political
scientist said on Tuesday.
“Undoubtedly, the existence of Russian military bases on Georgian
territory is politically more in the interest of Georgia than in that
of Russia as this enables Tbilisi, which often misunderstands
pro-Western orientation as anti-Russian, to play on this factor,”
Alexander Iskandarian, director of the Caucasus Institute of Mass
Media, told Interfax.
The withdrawal of the bases should contribute to “certain
improvement” in Georgian-Russian relations, though “there’s still
enough reasons for disputes between Russia and Georgia,” he said.

Armenpress
ARMENIAN ARCHITECT TO HELP TURKISH FIRM RECONSTRUCT AKHTAMAR CHURCH
YEREVAN, JUNE 6, ARMENPRESS: An Armenian architect is making the final
arrangements for leaving for Turkey to join there a team of Turkish
architects who have been selected by Turkish ministry of culture to
reconstruct the Armenian Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross located on the
Island of Akhtamar in Lake Van. The Church was built by architect Manuel
between 915 and 921 AD. Deputy Armenian culture minister Gagik Gyurjian told
Armenpress the reconstruction will be carried out by a Turkish firm selected
through a tender, but he declined to reveal the name of the Armenian
architecture for the time being, saying his work would of great importance
in terms of taking the chill off of the strained Turkish-Armenian relations.
Gyurjian said the architect’s task would be to help Turkish architects
reconstruct the church in line with traditions of medieval Armenian
architecture and also to work to have it protected by UNESCO, since each
country decides which are the monuments to be protected by UNESCO.
The restoration project was developed in 2003 in cooperation with the
Conflict Resolution and Peace Establishment Foundation of the
Washington-based American University and was approved by Armenian and
Turkish governments. Late last year a Turkish daily Milliyet reported from
Van that the marvelous carvings of the Church were regularly used as targets
for shooting practice by visitors. The newspaper published also a photo
where one could see the state of carvings after such visits. The
correspondent reported that the church was protected by a guard in the
summer time only during the working hours. During the rest of the day the
visitors entertained themselves by shooting on the carvings of the Akhtamar
Church, and some of them even tried to find some treasure.
Pr. Veli Seckin, professor at the archaeology department of the
University of Van was quoted as saying that there are rumors among the
population that there is treasure cached in the island of Akhatamar. Even
the guard of the Church was arrested while he was “hunting for treasure”. In
May 2004 another Turkish daily Zaman alerted that the famous church of the
Holy Cross of the Akhtamar was almost in ruins. The church, which is visited
by many foreign tourists, is badly neglected and close to ruins. Both its
foundation and the ceiling have cracks and holes.

Car pool The oilfields of Azerbaijan
The Guardian – United Kingdom
Jun 04, 2005
A dilapidated car lies abandoned in an oilfield near Baku. Thanks to
the new 1,094-mile Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which opened last week
and can transport a million barrels of oil a day, the impoverished
country is set to boost its income to almost pounds 4bn a year by
2007 Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

AZG Armenian Daily #101, 03/06/2005
Society
ATTEMPTS TO INTEGRATE INTO SOCIETY
Disabled Children Exhibit Their Works at Yerevan State University
In connection with the Children’s Day a number of arrangements were
organized in Yerevan on June 1. The History Department at the Yerevan
State University organized an arrangement with the assistance of YSU
Students’ Central Scientific Company. The arrangement was dedicated
to the works of disabled children.
The exhibition represented over 50 pieces of 21 disabled children from
Yerevan and other regions of Armenia. The pieces were mainly very
interesting watercolors and drawings, as well as gobelins, ceramic
and wooden pieces. These disabled children have many problems but
they are still string enough to create beauty.
Hamo Sukiasian, Secretary of Scientific Board at the History
Department, said that their aim was to represent these talented
children to the students and to contribute to their integration to
the society. “We want to show that the students didn’t forget about
them and they are ready to render them both material and moral aid,”
Mr. Sukiasian said.
“Bridge of Hope,” “Delivery” NGOs, as well as the special school for
disabled children assisted in the organization of the exhibition.
By Melania Badalian

ANDRANIK MARGARYAN AND ZURAB NOGAIDELI TO HOLD WORKING MEETING IN SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI
Pan Armenian News
02.06.2005 05:23
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian governmental delegation headed by Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan has arrived in the Georgian capital of
Tbilisi to take part in the CIS Summit of Government Heads. Upon
the arrival the Armenian PM met with his Georgian counterpart Zurab
Nogaideli. The parties concerned problems of the Armenian community
of Georgia, specifically the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. The Georgian
PM confirmed the intention of the Georgian authorities to implement a
social and economic program in the region. The PMs decided to hold a
working meeting in Samtskhe-Javakheti in July-August. Mr. Margaryan
said he was sure the Georgian authorities would make efforts to
preserve Armenian historical monuments in Georgian territory. It should
be noted that the Armenian Premier will hold a meeting with Georgian
Speaker Nino Burjanadze, after which the program will continue within
the CIS Summit of Government Heads.

Belgium: Armenian Bill Postponed
Journal of Turkish Weekly
June 2 2005
The Belgium Senate Justice Commission has once again postponed the
voting of an amendment that envisions monetary fines and jail terms
for those who deny the Armenian allegations.
During Commission’s May 31 session, heat debates took place for the
motion. Emir Kir of Turkish origin Belgium politician was targeted as
“denier”.
A proposal to invite experts to the Commission to discuss the
Armenian claims was also rejected. The conclusion for the discussions
at the Commission is expected on Tuesday, June 7. Observers
indicating supporters of the Armenian thesis have lost ground during
the May 31 discussions, claim that the likelihood of the draft’s
approval according to the demands of theArmenian lobby has
diminished.
A Senate member of Turkish origin Belgian , Fatma Pehlivan also took
the floor on May 31 and highlighted the drawbacks of the amendment
motion.
The May 31 session became the stage for a battle of words between
Belgian Minister of Justice Laurette Onkelix and Senator Alain
Destexhe. When Destexhe asked: “Kir denies. Why don’t you condemn
him?” by targeting Kir as an example, Onkelinx accused Destexhe of
running after petty calculations.
Dr. Nilgun Gulcan argued that the Armenians try to prevent any
different approach.
2 June 2005