Author: Hakobian Adrine

PPA PLANS ITS ACTIONS IRRESPECTIVE OF PROCESSES INSIDE PRO-GOVERNMENTAL CAMP: PPA LEADER

Yerevan, August 22. ArmInfo. The People’s Party of Armenia plans
its further actions irrespective of the processes inside the
pro-governmental camp, the leader of PPA and Justice bloc Stepan
Demirchyan says in an interview to Iravunk daily.

He says that his programs do not depend, say, on the possibility of
a conflict between Robert Kocharyan (President) and Serzh Sargsyan
(Defense Minister). Both are responsible for the present situation
in the country and transfer of power from Kocharyan to Sargsyan is
not real.

Demirchyan refutes the reports that he has had a secret meeting with
Serzh Sargsyan. This is a lie, he says.

ARMENIA’S POSITIONS WEAKEN IN PROCESS OF SOLUTION OF KARABAKH PROBLEM,
ARAM G. SARGSIAN BELIEVES

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Azeris from time to time make attempt
to move the Nagorno Karabakh problem to the UN, as here they will
get some serious assistance by the Muslim world. Aram G.Sargsian,
the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA) expressed such
an opinion at the August 18 press conference. According to him, the
alarming one is that today Azeris clearly insist that "they will take,
without giving anything as a compromise."

According to the speaker it becomes clear today that Armenia is for
proposals being presented by Matthew Bryza, the OSCE Minsk Group
American Co-Chairman. "And if Azeris get up a day and say that they
agree as well? What will our profound and cunning authorities do in
that case? How will they come out of it?"

A.Sargsian said. In DPA Chairman’s opinion, it would be more purposeful
if Nagorno Karabakh became a negotiation side. A.Sargsian is sure
that, as of today, the Co-Chairmen will not present new proposals
concerning the Karabakh problem solution for a clear reason that "the
Armenian side half-heartedly agreed with those proposals." According
to the speaker’s words, "they must make an attempt to prevail on the
Azerbaijani side." And if there are new proposals, in A.Sargsian’s
opinion, they will be "pleasant for Azeris," as they are the ones who
do not agree. According to A.Sargsian’s estimation, the positions of
Armenia weaken in the issue of the Karabakh problem solution as the
Armenian side was not the demanding and initiating one. "It is proved
by the circumstances that if in 1998-1999 Azeris were fully adjust to
the idea that Lachin is not their’s, and we’ll not give Kelbajar, they
unequivocally say now that they will take both Lachin and Kelbajar,"
A.Sargsian said.

August 18, 2006

Press Release
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]

Website:

25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN-AMERICAN

COUNCIL ON AGING, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PRELATE

On Thursday, August 17, the Armenian-American Council on Aging
celebrated its 25th anniversary with the first of two events it has
planned for this occasion.

The cultural program took place under the auspices of H.E.

Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, at the Verdugo Hills
Country Club. Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian, Co-Director of the
Prelacy Christian Education Department, represented the Prelate and
conveyed his best wishes. He also presented the message and the
blessings of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of
Cilicia.

During the event, at which Mr. Hagop Ovayan was the keynote
speaker, certificates of appreciation were handed out. There were
also performances by the "Yeram" dance group, headed by Arpi Ovayan,
and a youth choir headed by Arig Kevorkian.

The Council’s second event is a dinner banquet to take
place on Sunday, August 27, at 5:00 p.m., also at Verdugo Hills
Country Club. There will be a candle-lighting ceremony and mortgage
burning.

PRESENTATION OF DR. ALFRED DANIELIAN’S

MEDICAL DICTIONARY, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PRELATE

On Sunday, August 20, the Armenian Society of Los Angeles has
organized a presentation of the second volume of Dr. Alfred
Danielian’s English-Armenian medical dictionary. The event, held
under the auspices of the Prelate, will take place at the hall of the
Armenian Society of Los Angeles in Glendale.

BLESSING OF GRAPES AT THE CORONA PARISH

On Sunday, August 27, the Armenian Apostolic Church of Corona,
Riverside County, will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the
Holy Virgin with special ceremonies and the blessing of grapes.

Under the auspices of the Prelate, Rev. Fr. Mesrob Tashjian
will conduct the traditional ceremony of Antasdan, deliver the
sermon, and officiate at the blessing of the grapes.

Services will begin at 2:00 p.m. at St. Anthony and St.

Abanoub Coptic Orthodox Church located at 2345 Fifth St. in Norco.

AZERI OFFICIAL ACCUSES INTERNATIONAL MEDIATORS OF BIAS

Azerbaijani news agency APA, Baku
16 Aug 06

Novruz Mammadov, head of the international relations department of
the Azerbaijani presidential administration, has accused the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen and the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, of being partial.

"Unfortunately, the co-chairmen have put themselves outside a neutral
position and international law. This can neither have a strong
impact on the talks, nor can it increase the trust of major powers
in international organizations," APA news agency quoted Mammadov
as saying.

He was also critical of Andrzej Kasprzyk. Mammadov said that despite
knowing that the Armenians started fires in the occupied territories,
Kasprzyk did not take a fair position. "The position Kasprzyk took
with regard to the fires started by the Armenians on Azerbaijani
territory is wrong," Mammadov said, according to the news agency.

WORLD COMMITEE OF ARMENIAN SUPPORTERS OF LEBANESE RESISTANCE CALL ON TO RAISE VOICE OF PROTEST AGAINST WAR IN LEBANON

Noyan Tapan
Aug 15 2006

YEREVAN, AUGUST 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The members of the World Committee
of Armenian Supporters of Lebanese Resistance are appealing to all
the Armenians not to consider the ongoing actions in Lebanon as one
religious community’s struggle for existence and to raise their voices
against the war in Lebanon.

According to a press release issued by this organization, the
war was instigated by Israel and the US with the aim of "stifling
Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran and create a new Middle East under
their control." Vahagn Vardanian, representative of the committee,
expressed an opinion during a press conference on August 15 that if
the Lebanese resistance (in the person of Hezbollah) is broken, the
war will take the character of a regional war, with other states,
particularly Iran, being involved in this conflict. In his words,
this circumstance poses a threat to Armenia, "in particular, to the
liberated regions of Artsakh where an attempt is already being made
to deploy foreign troops in order to use them against Iran in the
future." He compared the Armenian-Azerbaijani and the Lebanese-Israeli
conflicts, noting that if Israel were replaced with Azerbaijan, Lebanon
– with Armenia, South Lebanon – with Karabakh and Hezbollah – with
fidayi, we would have the initial stage of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict." Political scientist Igor Muradian (he is not a member of
the committee) said during the press conference that this war is going
on by the silent consent of the Arab world. "Israel’s aim is to disarm
Hezbullah, which is qualified as a terrorist organization by Israel and
its allies. Yet, this organization was established in order to liberate
the Lebanese territories captured by the Israeli army," he said. It
was mentioned that 80% of bridges and roads linking Lebanon’s five
provinces have been destroyed, the country’s ports are not functioning,
and more than 80 Lebanese Armenians have fled to Armenia.

PUTIN SUGGESTED TO KOCHARYAN DISCUSS DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE AND ECONOMIC RELATION

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug. 15, 2006

SOCHI, August 15 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Vladimir Putin
suggested to Armenian President Robert Kocharyan to discuss the
development of bilateral trade and economic relations and to dwell
on topical problems of the region.

"As regards economic relations, the trade turnover between our
countries is rising, and, I am sure, we have good prospects for
growth," Putin said on Tuesday, opening the meeting with Kocharyan.

"The business community wishes to develop this cooperation."

"We will have themes to discuss today and tomorrow," the Russian
president said. "I expect we will have a general debate with the
colleagues in the EurAsEC."

"As to the known complicated problems in the region, I believe we
will have time to discuss them, too," Putin added.

Kocharyan, on his part, suggested giving more attention to investment
cooperation. "I believe the growth of trade turnover is hard to expect
without the solution of communication and transportation problems,
so it is necessary to concentrate on the aspect of investment,"
he said. "There exist quite a number of promising projects."

The presidents of the two countries also noted that the Year of
Armenia is now held successfully in Russia.

Turkey revives controversial dam project

ArmRadio.am
11.08.2006 16:41

Turkey has revived plans for a dam that will force more than 50,000
people from their homes and destroy the priceless remains of
Hasankeyf, one of the oldest towns in the world.

The Ilisu project was abandoned four years ago when the British
construction company Balfour Beatty pulled out after a campaign
against the dam backed by environmentalists and archaeologists.

But, in a decision that will be greeted as a disaster by the
inhabitants of Hasankeyf and the villages around them, the Turkish
Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said the Ilisu project is
back on, after a consortium headed by an Austrian company agreed to
build it.

Most of the 50,000 people who will lose their homes are members of
Turkey’s Kurdish minority, who have endured decades of repression at
the hands of Turkish governments. At one time, even speaking the
Kurdish language was illegal.

Hasankeyf is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited
settlements. It survived 15 years trapped in the middle of the bloody
civil war between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists,
only to face annihilation now by the dam.

The Ilisu dam is part of the South-East Anatolia Project (GAP), a
series of 22 dams on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to provide
irrigation and hydroelectric power. Mr Erdogan said the government
will safeguard the historical treasures of Hasankeyf from the dam.
But since most of Hasankeyf is carved from rock, archaeologists agree
it is impossible to protect it from the flooding.

At most, 20 per cent of what is "culturally valuable" could be saved,
said Professor Olus Arik, the former head of excavations at Hasankeyf.

Turkey has also promised to resettle those who are displaced and pay
them adequate compensation. But when the Ataturk dam was finished in
1990, 50,000 people were displaced, none of . whom received any money
from the government. When the Birecik dam was being finished in 1999,
the government pledged to do better. But payments were delayed and
many of the displaced woke up to find water pouring into their homes
because they did not have the money to buy a new house in time.

The government also failed to allow for the devaluation of the Turkish
lira, leaving the displaced with next to nothing. The area along the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers is considered the cradle of
civilisation. With many of the remains along the rivers in Iraq feared
damaged in the fighting, GAP is threatening those on the Turkish side
of the border.

As the Birecik dam was being completed, archaeologists excavating the
ancient city of Zeugma, which was to be flooded, found mosaics
considered to rival the finest in the world. They begged the Turkish
authorities to delay filling the dam so they could save the
mosaics. The authorities delayed by only one week, and many mosaics
were lost.

A consortium of international companies headed by Austria’s VA Tech
Hydro is seeking export credit guarantees from the Austrian, Swiss and
German governments to build Ilisu.

History submerged

* 10,000-8000BC First settlement built at Hasankeyf

* 1978 Hasankeyf declared area of historical importance by the Turkish
government

* 1982 Turkey decides to build Ilisu dam at a site that will submerge
Hasankeyf

* 1990 Atuturk dam, the biggest in the South-East Anatolia Project, is
completed; 50,000 are displaced, with nocompensation

* March 1999 UK Government considers £200m export credit guarantees
for Balfour Beatty

* Summer 1999 Ancient mosaics at Zeugma, an ancient city are lost to
the Birecik dam

* December 1999 British Government says it is "minded" to grant
Balfour Beatty the export credit guarantees after Tony Blair overrules
cabinet opposition

* November 2001 Balfour Beatty pulls out because the dam fails to meet
ethical, environmental or commercial criteria

* August 2006 Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says a new
consortium has been found to build Ilisu dam.

AZERBAIJANI WOUNDED IN ARMENIAN CEASEFIRE VIOLATION IN AGDAM

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 8, 2006

Armenian armed forces fired on Efetli village of the Azerbaijani
region of Agdam in different directions from occupied Azerbaijani
territories. At present shootings are heard in the contact line.

APA’s Garabagh bureau reports that Armenians continued to fire on
the village until early morning. As the result of Armenian cease-fire
violation, Efetli resident Hasanova Sevinj was wounded on the leg.

Agdam region central hospital doctor Kamil Hasanov said to the APA
bureau the bullet remained in the born of the patient. The wounded
was taken doctor’s control.

CALIFORNIA LIKELY TO CELEBRATE ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.08.2006 17:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As the Republic of Armenia prepares to celebrate
15 years of independence next month, the Assembly today welcomed a
decision by California State Senators Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno)
and Joseph Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to introduce a resolution in the
State Senate designating September 21, 2006 as "Armenian Independence
Day." A similar resolution will also be introduced in the State
Assembly by Majority Leader Dario Frommer (D-Glendale) and Assembly
Member Greg Aghazarian (R-Stockton), making California the first
state to mark the anniversary of Armenia’s independence, reported
the Armenian Assembly of America.

Both resolutions recognize September 21, as "A Day of Celebration
of the California-Armenia Relationship," and encourage the people
of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and
contributions that Californians of Armenian heritage make. The
resolutions also note that California is home to the largest population
of Armenians in the U.S., and state, "those citizens have enriched
California through leadership in the fields of academia, medicine,
business, agriculture, government, and the arts, and are proud
patriotic practitioners of the American citizenship."

PLANT POWER BERRIES AND BEANS AS MEDICINE SEND EMERITUS PROFESSOR ON A WHOLE NEW MISSION

Ann Arbor News, MI
Aug 6, 2006

Sunday, August 06, 2006
BY ANNE RUETER
News Staff Reporter

At 78, Peter Kaufman has work to do. Work that excites his scientist’s
brain, tied to the boom globally in interest in the health benefits
of plants. In the last year, he has been lucky enough to see the
lessons of the laboratory intersect with real life – his own.

Kaufman has just seen exhilarating proof under his own roof that
antioxidants and other plant compounds can heal. In the last six
months his wife, Hazel, has made a remarkable comeback from advancing
Parkinson’s disease that was so severe it had sent her into hospice
care. So why wouldn’t Kaufman set out eagerly for a University
of Michigan lab each day, to probe the disease-fighting powers of
soybeans, chokeberries and even that despised Southern vine, kudzu?

The work he does now is a second career for Kaufman. He retired from
his job as a U-M biology and biomedical engineering professor in 1998,
after spending more than four decades teaching and publishing studies
of plant biology.

He was not in the mood to kick back in leisurely retirement. Instead,
he crossed from Central Campus to the vast medical center to get
on board a new venture called the Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Research Center. He got involved in a study
of hawthorn’s potential benefits for heart patients, funded by the
National Institutes of Health.

Now Kaufman keeps exploring the healing powers of plants in U-M cardiac
surgeon Steven Bolling’s Cardioprotection Research Laboratory. It is
part of the U-M Integrative Medicine Program, which runs a holistic
medicine clinic and conducts research on alternative medicine
techniques.

The lab’s supervisor is Mitch Seymour, 33, a nutritional biochemist.
He likes to see Kaufman, a beaming, fast-talking emeritus professor
prone to making puns, walk in the door.

"He’s a breath of fresh air. He’s very energetic, he’s always
enthusiastic about new ideas," says Seymour. "He’s just always going
for it, in every way."

In the lab, Kaufman works closely with Ara Kirakosyan, a plant
scientist a bit more than half his age. Kirakosyan brings from
his native Armenia a similarly intense interest in plants as little
factories of beneficial chemicals. Kirakosyan calls their collaboration
"good synergy between two eras."

The two men have published about 15 scientific papers in the last
four years. With other scientists, they co-authored a new book,
"Natural Products from Plants," a technical source for chemists,
plant biologists and other scientists, people in alternative medicine
and people in the pharmaceutical industry.

To identify compounds that may prove useful against heart disease,
neurological diseases, depression, diabetes and osteoporosis, Kaufman
and Kirakosyan have studied or are about to study peanuts, mung beans,
soybeans, fava beans and a winged bean from New Guinea. And then
there are the fruits.

Whipping up a turnaround

"Blueberries," Kaufman says, respect in his voice. He’s excited about
the natural chemicals in their dark skins, rather than the tart taste
that adds zing to pancakes. Last fall, his wife fell increasingly
prey to weight loss, jerky movements, hallucinations, sleepless nights
and other severe symptoms of worsening Parkinson’s disease.

In response, Kaufman threw half a cup of blueberries into a blender
with milk, whey, ice cream and yogurt. With the daily shake, served in
a crystal glass with a straw, he tempted her to eat again – her weight
had dropped to 89 pounds. He also gave her pills with concentrated
doses of the beneficial antioxidants found in blueberries.