Author: Hakobian Adrine

Azerbaijan’s Military Expenditures to Total $700 in 2006

ArmRadio.am
02.08.2006 13:22

In 2006 Azerbaijan’s military budget will total $700 million,
President Ilham Aliyev said at a session of the Cabinet of Ministers,
Baku Today reported.

Aliyev said this is $100 million more than was previously allocated in
the state budget. The president said that the government is committed
to peacefully resolving the Karabakh conflict, but at the same time
stressed the need to strengthen the country’s defense potential.

FOREIGN MINISTER OF ARMENIA AND THE AMERICAN CO-CHAIR OF THE MINSK
GROUP DISCUSSED THE PERSPECTIVES OF KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Yerevan, July 29. ArmInfo. Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian
today received the American Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group
Matthew Bryza.

According to the report by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the
officials considered the present state of peace process on
Nagorno-Karabakh and certain details concerning the main principles of
the conflict’s settlement. After the meeting Matthew Bryza left for
Nagorno-Karabakh in order to meet with president Arcady Gukasian.

RA AUTHORITIES APPLY TO GEORGIA WITH REQUEST TO PERMIT MOVING OF
ARMENIANS THROUGH NON-OPERATING BORDER POINT OF ERGNETI

YEREVAN, JULY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. By the instruction of RA Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian, for solving the problem of moving of RA citizens
having accumulated at the non-operating border point in the Georgian
locality of Ergneti for entering RA through Georgia due to the closure
of the Verin Lars check-point on the Russian-Georgian border, in the
evening of July 25, a meeting with Ambassador of Georgia to Armenia
Revaz Gachechiladze took place at RA Foreign Ministry, during which an
official memorandum was passed to the Georgian authorities for them
to show a good will and to permit movement of about 100 Armenians to
Armenia through Georgia when possible.

According to RA government Press Service, for avoiding such situations
in the future, the Embassy and Consulate General of RA in Russia were
charged to inform RA citizens through media and other possible means
that this point in Ergneti does not operate and they can travel by
the Novorossiysk-Poti ferry-boat.

On July 26, they informed from the Georgian Foreign Ministry that the
letter with a proposal on the positive solution of the issue has been
passed to the Georgian government.

Iran bans Da Vinci Code after Christians complain

Reuters India, India
June 26 2006

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has banned the best-selling novel "The Da
Vinci Code" after protests from the country’s Christian clergy, the
culture ministry said on Wednesday, but the Persian translation is
already in its eighth edition.

Iranian publishing thresholds have relaxed considerably in recent
years and Tehran booksellers have noted an increased appetite for
new age and spiritual titles.

"Based on the request of three Christian clerics, yesterday we decided
to ban its republication," said an official at the Ministry of Culture
and Islamic Guidance who declined to be named.

Most of Iran’s Christians belong to the Armenian church and number
some 100,000. Although a small minority in a country of 69 million
Muslims, the Armenians have two seats reserved for them in the
290-seat parliament.

The tiny Assyrian Christian community also has its own parliamentarian.

Many Christians have condemned Dan Brown’s page-turner, saying the
plot is offensive for arguing Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene
and that their descendants are alive today.

The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and
has been turned into a Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks. Although
the film has not had a box office release in Iran, the pirated DVD
is widely available.

Copies of the book were still on sale in Iran and will not be
taken off bookshelves, but a ninth edition will not be printed,
the official said.

NOT ONLY ARMENIANS COME TO ARMENIA FROM LEBANON

Lragir.am
26 July 06

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Agency of
Migration of the Ministry of Territorial Management, over 550
Armenians have already arrived in Yerevan. 54 Armenians arrived
from Israel. On July 27 another 120 people will be evacuated. They
are mostly citizens of Armenia, however, according to the agency
of migration, foreigners move to Armenia as well, 51 have already
applied for temporary refuge. 49 percent are from Lebanon, 2 are from
Israel. The head of the agency of migration, they will be granted a
status and certificates.

AFA-Supported High School Training Held in Stepanakert
Students Learn about International Affairs, Gain Conflict Management Skills

PRESS RELEASE
July 26, 2006
AMERICANS FOR ARTSAKH
Contact: Hrant Jamgochian
[email protected]

Washington, DC – Seepan Parseghian of the Stanford University has just
successfully completed a peace education course for Nagorno Karabakh
(Artsakh) high school students. Based on an Armenian-language
curriculum Parseghian himself designed, the training course held in
Stepanakert built on a pilot project conducted in 2005 and supported
by the Americans for Artsakh (AFA) organization.

The summer 2005 pilot program, created in collaboration with the
Stanford University’s Haas Center of Public Service, School of
Education, Institute of International Studies, and Center on
International Conflict Negotiation, and organized through the
Association of International Diplomacy in Artsakh (AIDA) established
by Parseghian, involved thirty students from Stepanakert’s Eighth High
School. The students learned international relations theory and gained
conflict management and resolution skills. The program concluded with
a simulation conference of the Karabakh peace talks.

On the basis of the successfully completed pilot program, Parseghian
won the Donald A. Strauss Foundation Scholarship in Political Science,
expanding the summer 2006 program with the objective of promoting
leadership and understanding of international affairs among Armenian
youth living both in the homeland and Diaspora.

`I wanted to express my appreciation for AFA’s encouragement and
support for the AIDA project,’ said Parseghian. `The program has
already benefited dozens of bright young people in Artsakh, inspired
their interest in international relations, and I hope will encourage
them to pursue careers in public service and contribute to
strengthening Artsakh’s civil society.’

This summer twenty students were selected on a competitive basis from
all of Stepanakert’s high schools to participate in the program. From
June 19 through July 17, the students practiced team cooperation and
exercised individual initiative on case studies such as Rwanda,
Bosnia, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland. They also had an opportunity to
meet and communicate with senior government members, academics and
civic activists. Parseghian is working with Artsakh educators to
establish permanent student clubs focusing on international affairs
that would organize discussions, simulation conferences and other
similar activities.

`I had learned so much and Seepan presented the material in such an
enjoyable way that made it easy for me to participate alongside my
classmates,’ said one of the program participants Tigran Grigoryan. `I
am very happy that I chose to participate in the AIDA program with
Seepan, and I will definitely be continuing these activities with my
friends in the future.’

`With Seepan and the success of his AIDA program, Karabakh’s civil
society has taken another promising step forward towards becoming more
conscious of diplomacy and its power in defending the interests of our
people through peaceful means,’ commented the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic (NKR)’s Deputy Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian.

The project is set to continue this year and into 2007, with a series
of information sessions at university campuses throughout the United
States and concluding with the AIDA Youth Conference to take place
next spring.

`We are very excited about the AIDA project’s potential to contribute
to Artsakh’s education system and, over long-term, to NKR’s civil
society and diplomacy,’ said the AFA President Zaven Khanjian. `We
congratulate Seepan on his achievements and hope he continues his
efforts while encouraging many more Armenian Americans to contribute
to Artsakh’s development and continued success.’

Americans For Artsakh is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
organization established to preserve freedom, strengthen democracy,
foster economic development, protect the cultural identity and promote
the heritage of the people of Artsakh. The founding Board of Directors
include: Zaven Khanjian, President; Dr. Hratch Abrahamian, Vice
President; Savey Tufenkian, Treasurer; Rita Balian, Secretary; and
Edward Chobanian.

To contact Seepan Parseghian about the AIDA project, e-mail him at
[email protected].

EU STANDS FOR USING ANY OPPORTUNITY OF PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF THE
KARABAKH CONFLICT

Yerevan, July 24. ArmInfo. The European Union calls upon the sides of
the Karabakh conflict to use any opportunity of peaceful settlement.,
said on a joint press conference with Foreign Minister of Armenia
Vardan Oskanian, Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative in South
Caucasus. He said that the EU is very interested in the region,
and the launch of the ‘New Neighborhood’ program is a result of that.

Commenting on the growing military power of Azerbaijan, Mr. Semneby
said that any statement about the possibility of military resolution
of the conflict causes much concern to the European Union. He said
that the EU is trying to convince the sides to avoid military actions.

4TH ALL-ARMENIAN YOUTH CONGRESS OPENS IN ARMENIA

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 24, 2006

YEREVAN, July 24. /ARKA/. The 4th all-Armenian youth congress was
opened in Yerevan on July 23. The press service of the "Pan-Armenian
International Youth Center" Fund reports that representatives of
youth organizations from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and
Armenian Diaspora were invited to the congress. The goal of the
congress is contributing to the consolidation of ties between Armenia,
Nagorno-Karabakh and the Diaspora, as well as to youth organizations’
activities and implementation of all-Armenian youth projects.
The congress agenda includes meetings, discussions with statesmen,
political and public figures, as well as formation of task groups and
organization of plenary sessions. The congress has been organized
by the "Pan-Armenian International Youth Center" Fund in association
with the RA Ministry of Education and Science. P.T. -0–

"GOLDEN APRICOT 2006" FILM FESTIVAL TO COOPERATE WITH ROTTERDAM AND
POUSAINT FILM FESTIVALS

Yerevan, July 21. ArmInfo. By the suggestion of Sandra den Hamer and
Kim Dongh-Khoh, heads of the Rotterdam and Pousaint Film Festivals,
"Golden Apricot" Film Festival will become a branch festival for the
Rotterdam and Pousaint Film Festivals.

Haroutiun Khachatrian, director of "Golden Apricot" Film Festival,
stated that according to the agreement with Sandra den Hamer and
Kim Dongh-Khoh, the organizers of "Golden Apricot" will have the
opportunity to get retrained within the framework of the Rotterdam and
Pousaint Film Festivals. Khachatrian said at today’s press conference
that in the next Yerevan Festival they will show films shown at the
above mentioned European festivals. Besides, our festival will have
the right to be co-financed together with the Rotterdam and Pousaint
Film Festivals.

In his turn, Hrant Hakobian, director of the winner film("The
Dwellers of Forgotten Islands") stated that yesterday he was invited
to participate in the Amsterdam International Documentary Film
Festival. He emphasized that "Golden Apricot" opened new opportunities
for the Armenian directors at the international film festivals.

MosNews, Russia
July 21, 2006

3 of 12 CIS Leaders Will Not Attend Informal Summit in Moscow
Created: 21.07.2006 14:42 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:35 MSK, 15 hours 48 minutes ago

MosNews

Armenian, Georgian and Ukrainian Presidents will not attend the
informal CIS summit, which starts today in Moscow.

According to RIA Novosti news agency, Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan has come down with a severe cold and will be unable to attend
the informal meeting with his CIS counterparts in Moscow this weekend,
his press office said Friday.

Kocharyan is the third leader to pull out of the July 21-22 informal
summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose union of
11 post-Soviet nations.

Earlier today, Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili said he would not come. He
was expected to use the event for talks with President Vladimir
Putin on Georgian-Russian relations, strained by a controversy over
the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A source in Saakashvili’s inner circle
said a possible reason for the president’s withdrawal was that the
mooted meeting with Putin might not have taken place.

According to the ProUA news agency Ukrainian leader Victor Yushchenko
has also decided to ignore the informal meeting. "Taking into account
the current political situation in the country, President Yushchenko
has decided that he has to stay in Ukraine," the press secretary of
the Ukrainian president Irina Gerashchenko told ITAR-TASS news agency
on Friday.

The upcoming summit will be the seventh informal "shirt-sleeves"
meeting of CIS leaders since the organization was formed in December
1991.

It has no fixed agenda, but is expected to deal with reforms of the
grouping’s executive bodies as well as international developments of
mutual concern. The Russian president will tell his CIS counterparts
about the Group of Eight summit he hosted last weekend in a
St. Petersburg suburb.

The CIS includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and
Georgia. Turkmenistan gave up full membership of the club in 2005
and is now an associate member.