Author: Hakobian Adrine

FIFTY DOLLARS FOR ANTI-ARF ARTICLES
Editorial

Yerkir.am
April 01, 2006

We are often asked why we don’t respond to many anti-ARF reports or
statements. If readers follow more attentively, they would find that we
respond to those, which contain certain arguments and logical criticism
or contain disagreements with the ARF’s positions. With responding
to them we aim at not convincing our opponents that our positions
are right but are truing to explain and rationalize our positions.

But when we see articles that are not just critical but are built on
blatant deception, made-up ‘arguments,’ and gossip, we see no reason
to respond.

Why and what to react to articles whose authors know well that what
they had written is a lie, their ‘arguments’ are fake and the facts
distorted? What sense does it make to explain the truth to a person
who knows he is lying but is doing so because he is paid?

There is a market for articles and authors who write anti-ARF articles.

There are order-givers and order-takers. And where there is a ‘demand,’
there is a ‘supply,’ but since the ‘supply’ is not in much demand,
the prices for such articles are low in the ‘market.’

An anti-ARF article can be ordered to andexpert’ or an ‘analyst’
by only 50 dollars. This ‘expert’ then writes an article against
the ARF and then feels free to go and participate in a roundtable
discussion or seminar devoted to democracy, principles or human
rights. But what strikes the most is that some of those ‘experts’
are really shameless. A few days ago, one such ‘analyst’ said, “I
have written articles against the ARF for $50; if the ARF pays me
$100 I’ll stop writing against the ARF and will write against those
ordering me anti-ARF articles.”

But when he was told it was disgusting, he was really surprised.

Such people are really disgusting, but more disgusting are those
who during discussions make use of the articles they have paid to
be written.

GYUMRI, APARAN AND VARDENIS COMBAT POVERTY

A1+
01:10 pm 30 March, 2006

The 5th International Treaty Conference of the cities combating
poverty began its work in the Italian city Valencia, in which the
member cities of the Treaty, their partner cities and associations, the
members of Parliaments, Governments, businessmen and other officials
participated. The Mayor of Vardenis Vardan Barseghian and the Vice –
Mayor of Aparan Gevorg Eremian were among the Armenian representatives.

The conference is aimed at working out the activity strategy of the
City Halls on poverty combat relying on the experience of the City
halls acquired within 1997 – 2007, the decade of poverty combat
international level.

The NA Chairman Arthur Bagdasarian made a speech during the opening
ceremony of the Conference, “The poverty combat can not be limited
with only material and financial support. The violation of human
rights and bad management stimulate the increase of poverty.”

By the way, four Armenian cities are already the members of the
“International Treaty of the cities combating poverty.” This is a
possibility of making ties with other cities, of cooperation and
information interchange with them. It also gives a chance to expand
the cooperation and to provide availability of assistance by different
actors in various spheres of development.

The highlight of the day for Armenia is the membership of Gyumri,
Aparan and Vardenis alongside with the cities of foreign countries in
the International Treaty Conference of the cities combating poverty
which will give an opportunity of realizing development programs in
those cities.

THE US IS PUTTING ON LINE THREE NEW MILITARY OBJECTS IN AZERBAIJAN
by Movsun Gadzhiyev (Baku)

Source: Moscow News, No 10, March 24 – 31, 2006, p. 14

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 29, 2006 Wednesday

The role of azerbaijan in the american plans of a military operation
Against Iran; Analysis of the role reserved for Afghanistan in American
military plans.

A group of US AF officers walked Baku all week long. The Yankees had
come to the capital of Azerbaijan to attend a seminar with quite an
interesting name, “Airspace Control”. Who, how, and by what means is
going to control Azerbaijani airspace? Answer to the question was
given by the local authorities when they announced the opening of
two new radar installations on the territory of the country – one in
Astara in the south, the other near Khachmaz on the Russian-Azerbaijani
border. Both radars were built by the US Army and, according to Baku,
turned over to Azerbaijan within the framework of the bilateral
treaty “On mutual assistance in the war on the terrorist threat”
signed in 2001. In any case, both radars are being put on line at
this moment precisely, when the American-Iranian relations are at
their all-time low.

The Americans and Azerbaijanis are also rebuilding the old Soviet
radar station near the town of Akstafa from which specialists say
the USSR eavesdropped on all satellite-linked communications from
Turkey to India. Experts believe that the radars will be geared to
keep an electronic eye on the Caucasus, Armenia, and Iran. Technically
speaking, it is not a problem at all.

As a matter of fact, there is more to the military-technical
cooperation between Washington and Baku than the radars alone.

Several military airfields were modernized in Azerbaijan in the
space of the last several years – in Nasosnoye, Kyurdamir, Yevlakh,
Lenkoran, and Saljan. The runways were reconstructed first and
foremost, and the airfields can receive heavy American bombers and
transports now. Territories for construction of missile bases have
been allocated on the southern borders of Azerbaijan – in the environs
of the towns of Astara and Lerik. Granted the status of classified
objects, they are faithfully guarded by the Internal Troops now.

The Azerbaijani authorities have not yet bothered with any coherent
response to media reports on the American military presence in the
country. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry keeps calling the radars
and bases “just military aid” under the 2001 treaty. It never misses
a chance to point out that the American and Azerbaijani military work
there “side by side.” What for? Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister
Araz Azimov does not rule out the possibility that the republic may
become involved “in various programs within the framework of the
counter-terrorism coalition…”

Materials by Scott Ritter, former UN inspector in Iran, posted on the
web site of Al-Jazeera only added fuel to the fire of speculations and
innuendo. Ritter wrote in his article “America’s War With Iran Is On”
that “… the US Army is building an operational bridgehead on the
northern borders of Iran, in nearby Azerbaijan, to make the task of
overrunning Tehran easier.” According to Ritter, the West may fail to
see what US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld finds in Azerbaijan,
but Russia and the Caucasus know what Rumsfeld’s interest is. The
matter concerns the role Azerbaijan will be playing in the upcoming
war on Iran. The USSR once used the ties between the Northerners
and the Southerners, the Iranians and the Azerbaijanis, to gather
sensitive information and so on in the Cold War period. It is the
CIA that is deploying this tactic now. Its instructors and advisors
discuss with the Azerbaijani military establishment of joint fast
response forces and special reconnaissance teams for operations in
Iran. Ritter maintains that teams are supposed, among other things,
foment a confrontation between the Iranian intelligentsia and religious
leadership.

Ritter claims as well that the US intends to use airfields in
Azerbaijan for air raids against Tehran and other Iranian cities.

Neither shall we forget the advantages offered by the shortest possible
road to Tehran – a highway along the Caspian Sea coast.

It is clear that American military strategists are already designing
scenarios of a military operation against Iran with Azerbaijan’s
involvement that may include deployment of multipurpose forces on
the territory of the republic.

VERBATIM

Eldar Orudzhev, the head of the oppositionist Movement Against Tyranny:

In fact, establishment of US military bases is already under way. De
facto, that is. Three radar installations cannot be called humanitarian
or commercial enterprises by any stretch of the imagination. The only
question is to what extent Washington intends to use Azerbaijan. The
United States has a secret pact with President Ilham Aliyev on the
use of the territory of Azerbaijan in a war against Iran. It was this
pact with the Americans that permitted Aliyev to win the parliamentary
election and neutralize the opposition when he thwarted the Georgian
and Ukrainian scenarios in Azerbaijan.

ANELIK BANK ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN FOREIGN PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEM OF INTERNATIONAL VISA CARD PAYMENTS

Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. At the March 28 meeting, the Central
Bank of Armenia (CBA) made a decision to grant the Anelik Bank CJSC a
permission to participate in the foreign payment and settlement system
of the international Visa card payments. According to the CBA press
service, a decision was also made to register and license the Nor
Horizon universal credit organization (44 Komitas St, Yerevan), the
FINCA universal credit organization (2a Agatangeghos St, Yerevan),
and the Aregak universal credit organization (42/1 Arami St,
Yerevan). The Armenian Express CJSC was granted a licence to make
money transfers. The Complex Service Firma LLC’s licence BA 0001 to
produce forms of secuirities was recognized as invalid.

AIR FRANCE CARRIES OUT FIRST PARIS-YEREVAN-PARIS FLIGHT ON MARCH 28

Noyan Tapan
Mar 28 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The Air France French company carried
out its first Paris-Yerevan-Paris flight on March 28. As Noyan Tapan
correspondent was informed from company’s Yerevan office, French
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Henri Cuny
also left for Paris by this flight. To recap, Air France will carry
out three Paris-Yerevan-Paris flights a week.

Armenia Fund, Inc.
111 North Jackson St. Ste. 205
Glendale, CA 91206

T | 818-243-6222
F | 818-243-7222
E | [email protected]

Contact : Sarkis Kotanjian
For Immediate Release
March 29, 2006

Los Angeles Based Architect Designs Karabakh Hospital
Plan Calls for Major, Large-Scale Reconstruction

Los Angeles, CA – On March 6, 2006 Armenia Fund Western U.S. Region
led a hospital reconstruction team to the war-torn Martakert region
of Nagorno-Karabakh. The purpose of the site visit was to formulate
architectural and engineering plans for the new regional healthcare
facility. The project will be funded through donations collected at the
2005 Telethon as part of the Martakert Regional Development plan. In
addition, a number of long time benefactors in the western U.S. region
adopted specific departments of the hospital for reconstruction.

Arturo Fribourg, a Los Angeles based architect, specializing in
public works and health care facilities was a part of the team
visiting the hospital. Fribourg will provide the conceptual design
of the hospital. His plan, among others, will address several
programmatic issues facing the hospital. Upon completion of the
design phase, Karabakh-based architect Mamikon Farsian, will adapt
the program to local construction and medical codes and will prepare
the reconstruction program drawings, in accordance with Fribourg’s
plan for the hospital.

Prior to his departure to Armenia, Fribourg worked with Dr. Alina
Dorian, senior program manager at the UCLA Center for Public Health
and Disasters, to map out the problems and initial plans. Dorian,
who is currently in Karabakh, is part of the team as the public
healthcare advisor. She will prepare the region’s healthcare program
and will oversee the development of a modern healthcare administration.

Built during the early 1970’s, the Soviet-era regional hospital
has deteriorated due to a lack of proper maintenance. Recently, the
hospital was severely damaged from the war, suffering among others,
aerial missile attacks and looting. The renovated hospital will
incorporate the vital aspects of a western standard hospital to meet
the healthcare needs of the region.

During the visit to Karabakh, Fribourg met with H.E. Arkady Ghoukasian,
President and H.E. Anoushavan Danielian, Prime Minister of the
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. President Ghoukasian thanked Fribourg
for embarking on this challenging project and pledged full support
for the proper and timely completion of the project. Led by Armenia
Fund Inc.’s Executive Director, Sarkis Kotanjian, the team also met
with Health Minister Dr. Zoya Lazaryan and Chief Administrator of the
Hospital Dr. Sergei Ohanian to learn about immediate and long term
healthcare needs of the Martakert Region as well as daily problems
facing the hospital.

According to the schedule, at the end of April, all architectural
renderings and design schematics will be completed, paving the way
for a full-scale reconstruction during the late spring months of
2006. The project is expected to be completed within the next 12 –
18 months, factoring in the pause of construction during the harsh
winter months. Upon completion of construction, Armenia Fund will place
modern medical furniture and state of the art equipment designed to
meet regional healthcare demands. Currently, Armenia Fund is working on
obtaining special grants and in-kind donations from major healthcare
providers throughout the United States. For more information on this
project, please visit

Armenia Fund, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation
established in 1994 to facilitate large-scale humanitarian and
infrastructure development assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Armenia Fund, Inc. is the U.S. Western Region affiliate of “Hayastan”
All-Armenian Fund. Tax ID# 95-4485698

KOSOVO WISHES IN CAUCASUS
By Simon Saradzhyan for ISN Security Watch

ISN, Switzerland
International Relations & Security Network
March 28 2006

While Washington and its allies in the South Caucasus say Kosovo’s
bid for independence from Serbia is a unique situation, separatist
republics across the former Soviet Union and their sympathizers
among Russia’s ruling elite are publicly debating how far the Kosovo
precedent could propel them to independence of their own.

In late January, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the debate
by pointing out at a press conference that independence for Kosovo
would bolster similar bids of de facto independent republics in the
former Soviet Union.

“If someone thinks that Kosovo can be granted full independence as a
state, then why should the Abkhaz or the South Ossetian peoples not
also have the right to statehood?” he said, referring to Georgia’s
separatist republics.

“I am not talking here about how Russia would act. But we know, for
example, that Turkey recognized the Republic of Northern Cyprus,”
Putin told the 31 January press conference. “I am not saying that
Russia would immediately recognize Abkhazia or South Ossetia as
independent states, but international life knows such precedents. I
am not saying whether these precedents are a good or a bad thing,
but in order to act fairly, in the interests of all people living
on this or that territory, we need generally accepted, universal
principles for resolving these problems.”

The following weeks saw officials from the separatist governments
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh,
an Armenian-majority enclave that fought a war to win de facto
independence from Azerbaijan, hold up the Kosovo situation as a future
precedent. At the same time, senior officials from Georgia, Moldova,
and Azerbaijan challenged the argument.

Giorgi Khaindrava, Georgia’s minister for conflict resolution, said
Putin’s statement was not at all surprising, given Moscow’s “unilateral
support” for Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “Kosovo model is not an
universal one,” said Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, echoed those
sentiments, agreeing that Kosovo was a unique situation and should
not set any precedents for the future.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Rosemary DiCarlo also weighed
in on the debate, telling the Russian daily newspaper Kommersant
that a unique situation had arisen in Kosovo because of the violent
break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

According to independent experts, claims that independence for Kosovo
would not have a ripple effect through the former Soviet Union were
wishful thinking, at best.

And while the case of Transdniestria looks weak, given the lack of a
dominant ethnic group, South Ossetians, Abkhazians, and Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh are nurturing hopes that a vote for independence in
Kosovo could be replicated in their de facto independent republics,
leading to subsequent recognition of their states by the international
community.

Monica Duffy Toft, professor of public policy at the Kennedy School
of Government and an expert on ethnic conflicts in the former
Soviet Union, said it would be difficult for proponents of Kosovo’s
uniqueness to come up with sufficient parameters to make their case
that is disparate from conflicts in former Soviet Union.

“How many parameters can one list to make their case unique. Is Kosovo
all that unique – I don’t think so,” she told ISN Security Watch.

“In spite of the [fact that the] American argument that Kosovo is a
disparate when compared to conflicts in former Soviet Union is not
convincing, the Kosovo referendum will open the floodgates, it will be
a wake-up call that the principle of territorial integrity is no longer
absolute in the trade-off with the right to self-determination,” Alexei
Malashenko of the Carnegie Moscow Center told ISN Security Watch.

Both Toft and Malashenko agreed that independence for Kosovo would
set a precedent that the separatist regimes of South Ossetia,
Abkhazian, and Nagorno-Karabakh would rely on to strengthen their
own independence bids.

And the Russian leadership reportedly is already trying out the
precedent with Georgia’s separatist South Ossetia.

Gennady Bukaev, assistant to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov,
told a joint session of government of South Ossetia and Russia’s North
Ossetia last week that the federal government had made a principle
decision to incorporate the former into the Russian Federation. The
two republics will then be united into one subject of the Russian
Federation “the name of which is already known to the world – Alania”,
two Russian dailies quoted Bukaev as saying.

The attending officials from North and South Ossetia received Bukaev’s
report enthusiastically, interjecting several times throughout with
applause, Madina Dzhanaeva, a reporter with Russia’s state-owned
Itar-Tass news agency who was present at the Wednesday sitting in
the North Ossetian capital of Vladikavkaz, told Vedomosti newspaper.

Hours after Bukaev’s statement was reported in the Russian press,
Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement asserting that Moscow
had no plans to incorporate South Ossetia even if the separatist
province held another referendum to breakaway from Georgia.

Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said the following day that Russia’s
position was that South Ossetia’s status should be determined within
the existing Joint Control Commission framework, which includes the
separatist province, Russia, and Georgia.

According to Kamynin, Bukaev said nothing about any pending
incorporation of South Ossetia, but was rather referring to the need
to establish and develop common economic space in North Ossetia,
South Ossetia, and Georgia’s Gori district to revive the local
economies and facilitate the return of refugees in line with a 2000
Russian-Georgian agreement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website that
Bukaev’s Wednesday speech had been misinterpreted and he would brief
the Joint Control Commission on what he said at a session this week.

However, the Foreign Ministry’s attempt to contain the news was
unsuccessful, as both government officials and experts picked up the
issue and began debating whether South Ossetia would become a part
of Russia de jure.

According to North Ossetia’s president, Taimuraz Mansurov, the
unification of North and South Ossetias is “inevitable”. “When and
how it will happen is a different issue,” Mansurov told Interfax
last Thursday.

Sergei Mironov, the speaker of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper
house of parliament, was only a bit more diplomatic when asked to
comment on prospects of North Ossetia and South Ossetia. Whether
South Ossetia would become part of Russia would depend on Kosovo’s
final status, he told Interfax.

“We are closely watching what is happening in Kosovo. The situation
there is very similar to South Ossetia and they are heading towards
establishment of an independent state,” Mironov said. “The peoples of
North Ossetia and South Ossetia are one people, even it is divided,
and as history shows such people unify in the final run,” he added.

South Ossetia fought and won a bloody war to achieve de facto
independence from Georgia in 1992. Since then, the separatist republic
has been relying on Russia for economic ties while also periodically
calling on Moscow to incorporate their province in Russia.

South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity made the latest of attempts last
Wednesday by telling the joint session of North and South Ossetian
governments that he would ask the Russian Constitutional Court to
look into whether his province could be “re-integrated” into Russia.

He cited the 1774 treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji between Russia and the
Ottoman Empire that made South Ossetia part of Russia, claiming that
no treaty afterwards was made to transfer the province to Georgia.

Both Georgia and the US blasted Kokoity. Julie Finley, US ambassador
to the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), said the US reconfirmed “our unequivocal support for
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and the peaceful
resolution of both the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts based on
that principle”, according to the Associated Press.

Giorgi Khaindrava, Georgia’s minister for conflict resolution, also
attacked on Thursday Bukaev’s statement, calling it “absolutely
irresponsible” and urging the Russian government to condemn it.

Moscow officially maintains that it honors Georgia’s territorial
integrity and maintains a peacekeeping force in the separatist
republic, but Tbilisi has accused Moscow of supporting South Ossetian
separatists through trade, economic aide, and citizenship.

As of 2003, there were 70,000 people residing in South Ossetia, of
which 67 per cent were ethnic Ossetian and 25 per cent were ethnic
Georgians, according to Izvestia. Ninety-five per cent of residents
of South Ossetia hold Russian passports in what Georgian officials
said reflect Russia’s tacit support for independence. Similarly,
a majority of residents in Abkhazia and a sizeable part of the
population of Transdniestria also hold Russian passports.

Both Malashenko and Mikhail Roshchin, Caucasus expert at the Institute
of Oriental Studies in Moscow, expressed doubts that Russia had
any imminent plans to incorporate South Ossetia, saying Bukaev’s
statement could be a trial balloon. “They might be probing to see
what the reaction is,” Roshchin said.

However, even such a trial balloon should not have been allowed, if
Russia were indeed interested in absorbing South Ossetia, Malashenko
said, adding that Moscow should have left the issue alone until a
decision on Kosovo was made.

Nikolai Silaev of the Center for Caucasus Studies at the Moscow State
University of Foreign Relations also believes it could have been
a trial balloon and questioned the wisdom of incorporating South
Ossetia. He said the economically depressed region would become
another burden for the federal budget and that unification of the
two Ossetias might fuel Ossetian nationalism.

Silaev said Russia would rather benefit if Georgia formed a
confederation state with breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, which would be anchored to Russia.

Toft also questioned the viability of Russia setting its sights on
South Ossetia, by noting that it would be preceded by a referendum of
independence and then subsequent recognition of the international
community in what could bode ill for Russia itself, given that
republics in the North Caucasus, dominated by one or two ethnic groups,
could follow the lead.

Simon Saradzhyan is a veteran security and defense reporter based in
Moscow, Russia. He is a co-founder of the Eurasian Security Studies
Center in Moscow.

m?id=15265

MEDIA ALERT

DATE: March 27, 2006
TO: Media Colleagues
RE: The Washington Post publishes NKR Representative’s Letter

Today, The Washington Post published NKR Representative Vardan
Barseghian’s letter to the Editor in response to a March 11, 2006
op-ed column entitled “Russia’s Shadow Empire” by Ana Palacio and
Daniel Twining. Representative Barseghian’s letter is included
below:

The Washington Post
Letters to the Editor
A Conflict Frozen

Monday, March 27, 2006; A14

The March 11 op-ed column “Russia’s Shadow Empire” touched upon the
“frozen conflicts” on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains “frozen” because of Azerbaijan’s
unwillingness to accept the democratically expressed will of the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh has never belonged to an independent Azerbaijan. It
has the legal, factual and moral prerequisites to pursue its
independence.

The authors of the op-ed piece advocated rewarding Azerbaijan for
its willingness to cooperate in ending this conflict. Do President
Ilham Aliyev’s regular threats to launch a new war against
Nagorno-Karabakh count as goodwill?

The European Union and the United States should support the
aspirations of Nagorno-Karabakh to remain free and discourage
Azerbaijan from unleashing a new war. This would signal Azerbaijan
that it should embark on more constructive negotiations to bring
stability and economic cooperation to Europe’s new neighborhood.

VARDAN BARSEGHIAN
Representative
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Washington

* * *

This material is distributed by the Office of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic in the USA (NKR Office) on behalf of the Government of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The NKR Office is registered with the
U.S. Government under the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Additional
information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington,
D.C.

The Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the United States is
based in Washington, DC and works with the U.S. government, academia
and the public representing the official policies and interests of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Artsakh.

SEARCH ON FOR MISS ASIA USA: MARIANA HOVHANISYAN IS MISS ARMENIA
By Fred Ortega, News-Press and Leader
Tammy Abbott / News-Press

Glendale News Press, CA
March 27 2006

Fashion show on Sunday kicks off annual pageant, which again will be
at the Alex Theatre.

Photo: The Miss Asia USA Fashion Show was held Sunday at the Ambassador
Auditorium in Pasadena. Mariana Hovhannisyan, 18, a Glendale resident,
is Miss Armenia.

Marina Hovhannisyan is proud of her Armenian heritage, and she hopes
to further understand the Armenian culture through her participation
in the Miss Asia USA pageant.

“I love my country and my people, and I am very proud of being
Armenian,” said Hovhannisyan, 18, of Glendale, one of 30 contestants
in this year’s pageant, which will be held April 29 at the Alex
Theatre. “I want the American people to get to know my culture, the
people and the history of Armenia, and I hope to help accomplish that
through my involvement in Miss Asia USA.”

Hovhannisyan, who came to Glendale from Armenia five years ago,
participated in a fashion show and press junket Sunday along with
the rest of the Miss Asia USA participants at Maranatha High School
on the Ambassador Auditorium campus in Pasadena.

“It is my first pageant and I am very nervous, but I am also getting to
meet people from different nationalities, getting to know the girls,”
said Hovhannisyan, this year’s Miss Armenia. “I also like the part
of dressing up, and walking in front of all these people. It makes
you feel special.”

The contest is open to single women ages 18 to 28 whose ancestry
is at least 25% descended from one of the 58 countries of Asia and
Asia Minor. In addition to coming from the traditionally recognized
East Asian countries like China, Japan, and Korea, contestants
also represent nations as diverse as Yemen, Israel, Russia, Ukraine
and India.

This will be the third year the event is held at the Alex Theatre.

The contest, which will be hosted by KABC-TV Channel 7 sports anchor
Rob Fukuzaki and Showbiz India TV anchorwoman Reshma Dordi, will also
be broadcast in late summer or early fall on Charter video on-demand
and on the ImagineAsian TV network, potentially reaching more than
six million viewers.

It is natural that the pageant be held in Glendale, said Councilman
Dave Weaver, who is in charge of the event’s logistics.

“At least half of the population of Glendale is of Asian or Asia
Minor stock,” Weaver said. “There are more than 10,000 Filipinos,
12,000 Koreans and 70,000 Armenians in the city.”

Despite these numbers and the prevalence of Asian culture in American
society, many Americans are still in the dark about the diversity
and true nature of Asians, said last year’s Miss Asia USA Jenn Chu.

“People in the United States don’t pay attention to Asian culture,”
said Chu, who lives in Calabasas and participated in 2005 as Miss
Korea. “People mix up Korean and Chinese, Indian and Indonesian. So it
is important to showcase these differences through events such as Miss
Asia USA. Also, people who are only a quarter Asian can participate,
so they get to experience even that little bit of Asian culture
they have.”

The pageant also welcomes multiple entrants representing the same
country. For instance, Krystle Lacap of Beaumont is one of three Miss
Philippines in this year’s event.

“It is a great opportunity, full of new experiences,” said Lacap, 21.

“Getting to know the different girls and their backgrounds has been
great. It is great to become involved and showcase some of the many
cultures in the U.S.”

For more information on the Miss Asia USA pageant, visit

http://www.glendalenew spress.com/front/story/41645p-62323c.html

SITTING OF ARMENIAN-GREEK INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN IN APRIL

Noyan Tapan
Mar 27 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues related to the trade and
economic cooperation between Armenia and Greece in agriculture,
agricultural processing and other spheres will be discussed at a
sitting of the Armenian-Greek intergovernmental commission on economic
cooperation to be held in April. Mushegh Sargsian, Deputy Director
of Export and Enterprise Development at the Armenian Development
Agency (ADA), told NT correspondent about it. According to him,
the Greek government pledged to provide some assisitance for the
development of Armenia’s agricultural complex. He noted that the
agency has established contacts with a number of Greek distributor
companies which take interest in exporting a number of Armenian
goods to Greece. In the words of M. Sargsian, ecologically clean
products are in great demand on the Greek market, while Armenia is
considered in Greece as a possible supplier of ecologically clean
foodstuffs. He said that in order to use this opportunity, a fbody
to certify the ecological purity of foodstuffs need to be set up in
Armenia. M. Sargsian underlined that Armenia will continue to implement
Armenian businessmen’s training programs jointly with Greece. He noted
that some Armenian wine makers have already undergone training in
Greece last year. It is envisaged that under a program prepared by the
ADA, the managers and marketing experts of 18-20 Armenian enterprises
in leather, footwear, leather clothing and article production will
undergo training in Greece this year.