Author: Hovhannisian John

Panorama.am
19:31 03/06/06

CHARITABLE ACTION
The Charitable action on collection of the financial means for
rendering help to refugee children is organized by UN High
Commissioner for Refugee Branch Office in Armenia (UNHCR) with
information support of the Armenian PR Association (APRA). The Action
is being organized in celebration of June 20 – a World Refugee Day
-which is observed all over the world every year on initiative of UN
Secretary – General.
There are a number of other events and actions aimed at attracting
attention of Armenian public to the problems of the socially
vulnerable layers of society.
Postery, photographies and information messages, calling public to
take part in fund raising campaign are placed in the Internet (
through the and
forums). Number of commercial and international organizations have
already expressed their readiness to participate in the campaign All
the resources, gathered due to the action, will be directed to
financing of children’s vacation in Summer Camp
Tsitsernak./Panorama.am/

Turkish Press
June 2 2006
Press Review
TURKIYE
NETHERLANDS PARLIAMENT FACES BILL CRIMINALIZING REJECTION OF ARMENIAN
`GENOCIDE’
Following France and Belgium, the Netherlands’ Parliament is also set
to consider a bill which would criminalize rejection of the so-called
Armenian genocide. The proposal was prepared by the Christian Unity
Party represented by three deputies in the 150-seat Parliament.
Meanwhile, a bill regarding pro-Armenia Belgium’s genocide in Congo
has been presented to Britain’s Parliament. The bill, initiated by
the efforts of a joint British-Turkish platform, calls on the Belgian
government to face its massacre in Congo in 1885-1908 and apologize
to the Congolese people./Turkiye/

EU COULD ASSUME CAUCASUS PEACEKEEPING ROLE
By Thomas de Waal in London for IWPR
ISN, Switzerland
May 31 2006
The European Union’s new special representative for the South Caucasus
sees an enhanced role for the EU in conflict resolution.
The new European Union special representative for the Caucasus, Peter
Semneby, has suggested that the EU could in future lead a peacekeeping
mission if a solution to the Nagorny Karabakh dispute is found.
Semneby, a Swedish diplomat who has just taken up the post, said in
an interview with IWPR in London last week that he wants to use his
mandate to work on the region’s unresolved conflicts.
“It’s no surprise that the main priority of my work is to engage as
far as possible with conflict resolution,” he said.
Semneby emphasized that the European Union has no formal role in the
detailed negotiations over Abkhazia – where the United Nations plays
a mediating role – and in South Ossetia and Nagorny Karabakh, where
that role is played by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE).
However, the idea of an international peacekeeping force is known to
be under discussion in the current Karabakh talks, and should there
be a breakthrough, an international body will be asked to lead it.
This is where the EU could step in.
“We will be expected to make a major contribution when a solution
is found, and we are looking into the possibilities we have, both in
terms of post-conflict rehabilitation and also – if the parties should
so desire – in terms of contributing peacekeepers. And possibly even
leading a peacekeeping operation,” said Semneby. “I should mention
that this is very hypothetical at this stage. This is only one of
several options, but it’s one that is being considered.”
A recent report by the International Crisis Group entitled “Conflict
Resolution in the South Caucasus: The EU’s Role” was scathing about
the low profile the European Union has adopted on conflict resolution
in the Caucasus until now.
“[The EU] does not participate directly in negotiations on Nagorny
Karabakh, Abkhazia or South Ossetia,” said the report, published in
March. “In and around Nagorny Karabakh, it has done little for conflict
resolution. It has rarely raised the South Caucasus conflicts in its
high-level discussions with partners and has employed few sanctions
or incentives to advance peace.”
A subtle change in language in the mandate assigned to Semneby,
compared with that of his predecessor Heikki Talvitie, means the EU
special representative is no longer asked to “assist the resolution
of conflicts” but to “contribute to the resolution of conflicts”.
Semneby said this linguistic change was small but important, calling it
“a political signal that the conflicts are very high on the agenda”.
The post of special representative was established in 2003 and has
a broad mandate -but a small budget. Acknowledging that it would
be impossible to “engage across the board”, Semneby identified his
major priorities as contributing to peace processes and supporting
state-building in the region, through initiatives such as judicial
reform.
Semneby, 46, has spent most of his career in Eastern Europe. As a
Swedish diplomat he visited the Armenian earthquake zone in 1988,
and he was a member of the first OSCE mission in Georgia in 1992. He
also served as the last OSCE ambassador to Latvia and more recently was
the organization’s ambassador in Croatia – another post he says gives
him the right experience to engage with the conflict-riven Caucasus.
He confessed to a feeling of “deja vu” in returning to the region
after a long gap, “This is the most disappointing aspect of coming
back to the Caucasus after so many years. Of course there have been
changes for the better as well. But the conflicts are such an obstacle
to the normal development of societies in the Caucasus.”
Semneby will be called upon to tackle the image problem the EU has
in the region, with lower visibility than the United States.
The special representative has to talk on behalf of 25 countries,
many of which have their own individual interests in the region. He
acknowledged that the failure to adopt an EU constitution, which
would have led to the development of a more coherent foreign policy,
had made his job harder.
However, with Bulgaria and Romania set to join the EU next year and
Turkey beginning membership talks, the South Caucasus will inevitably
begin to figure larger in Brussels.
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are all members of the EU’s European
Neighbourhood Policy, a development that Semneby said was deepening
their relationship with Brussels and would also entitle them to
increased aid. “We’re talking about hundreds of millions of euros
for each country. The EU will also step up its representation in the
countries, which will mean there will be a larger degree of visibility
in the South Caucasus.”
“I will also spend some time trying to explain to the public in the
South Caucasus what the EU is about. There is not a whole lot of
knowledge to begin with. To the extent that the EU is known, there
are still a lot of misunderstandings about what [it] is about.”
“I think there is also lack of knowledge in the EU about the south
Caucasus and its particular problems and about the importance of this
region for the EU, and if possible this is something I would like to
engage on.”
Asked about the hopes of many people in the region who dream of
joining the EU one day, the special representative was careful to
reiterate that the European Neighbourhood Policy “does not contain
a membership perspective”.
“It does mean that the countries can achieve a lot of the benefits
of EU membership by working on the implementation of the European
Neighbourhood Policy,” he went on.
“There is a problem – and I am the first to admit that – that since the
membership perspective is not there as a big carrot at the end, this
deprives us of one of the most powerful levers we had in encouraging
the countries of Central Europe to carry out painful reforms.”
This article originally appeared in Caucasus Reporting Service,
produced by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).
Caucasus Reporting Service is supported by the UK Foreign Office and
the US State Department.

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
May 29 2006
ADOPTION OF CONSTITUTION IS ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT
Interview with NKR Attorney General Armen Zalinian, the head of the
Task Force on NKR Constitution.
AA: “Mr. Zalinian, you have been working on the NKR Constitution bill
for over a year. In what stage are you now?” Armen Zalinian:
“Generally, the process of working out and adopting a constitution
defies hastiness. Every point requires a thorough consideration,
meaningful and tried approaches and tools. We are guided by these
principles, and considerable work has been done so far. The concept
of the NKR Constitution has been published, and currently the
constitutional committee is discussing the first two chapters, namely
the provisions on constitutional order and the basic human and civil
rights, freedoms and duties. It means that soon we are going to have
the main law of our country.” AA: “What are the basic tenets of the
NKR Constitution?” Armen Zalinian: “Those are reflected in the
concept. As a constitution of a sovereign, democratic, legal, social
state, in the NKR Constitution the right for self-determination
fulfilled by the people of Artsakh, promotion of democracy, rule of
law, human rights and freedoms, promotion of local governance,
establishment of a civil society will be set down. These are the main
components, upholding law and lawfulness between the society and the
state. The key idea of the Constitution is the following scheme: rule
of right through the law.” AA: “In the long run, how will Nagorno
Karabakh benefit from the adoption of the Constitution? After all,
the country has existed without a constitution for 15 years.” Armen
Zalinian: “A country’s constitution is the determinant and the result
of a people’s historical evolution. A constitution imbibes the spirit
of a people, its legal thought and heritage, established in the
course of centuries, the system of values, which guide the
aspirations of these people. The fact that Karabakh lived without a
constitution for years on is ordinary from the standpoint that a
newly established country is unable to adopt a constitution in a
short period of time. It is necessary to have experience in state
building and a choice of guidelines. Besides, the people of NKR were
forced into a war and then had to overcome the hardships of this war
in the legal, social and economic, spiritual and cultural and, why
not, home political spheres. Over the past 15 years a tangible
experience in state building has been accumulated, which is a
sufficient ground for having our own constitution.” AA: “Is the NKR
Constitution going to be a copy of the Constitution of the Republic
of Armenian in terms of contents and form?” Armen Zalinian: “The NKR
Constitution will be a constitution of a sovereign, democratic,
legal, social state with semi-presidential governance. It will be
consistent with the tendencies and demands of development of
constitutionalism in the world. And the reality determined by the
necessity of strengthening our independent statehood will certainly
be taken into consideration. The necessary tools have been worked
out. In this context, the constitutional experience of the Republic
of Armenia, the logic and philosophy of the constitutional reform are
very important. Several provisions introduced in the renewed
Constitution of Armenia will be used in our Constitution. The
constitutional experience of other countries is also taken into
consideration. In other words, we pick up everything that is
positive, everything that proved successful.” AA: “What will be the
procedure of adopting the Constitution?” Armen Zalinian: “Naturally,
a referendum. I believe that our people will vote to the referendum
on the Constitution, because the adoption of the Constitution will be
another important step towards the establishment and strengthening of
our republic.”
SVETLANA KHACHATRIAN.

89 SERVICEMEN DIED
Lragir.am
26 May 06
The Ministry of Defense reports that in 2005 89 servicemen dies in
Armenia. On May 24 Avetik Ishkanyan, the chair of the Helsinki
Committee of Armenia, reported these data during the debate on the
annual report of Human Rights Watch. `47 were sergeants, 24 officers,
5 warrant officers and 13 contractors,’ said Avetik Ishkanyan. He
mentioned that 15 were killed at the Armenian-Azerbaijani front line.
According to Ishkanyan, the suggestion that servicemen in the Armenian
army die because of relations that breech the army regulations is
true.

Bush replacing envoy to Armenia amid controversy

AP Worldstream; May 25, 2006
President George W. Bush is replacing the U.S. ambassador to Armenia,
who apparently misrepresented U.S. policy by classifying as “genocide”
deaths of large numbers of Armenians at Turkish hands in 1915.
The White House nominated Richard Hoagland, a career diplomat who
currently is ambassador to Tajikistan, to replace Ambassador John
Evans in Yerevan. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack did not
acknowledge that Evans’ comment about genocide was a contributing
factor to his replacement. McCormack, speaking to reporters, praised
Evans for what he said was a long and distinguished career in the
Foreign Service.
Earlier this week, 60 members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice expressing concern that Evans was being
withdrawn as a result of his February 2005 comment declaring that “the
Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century.”
Rep. Ed Markey expressed hope that the “sudden action” by the
administration in withdrawing Evans was unrelated to the envoy’s
comments.
Evans received a “constructive dissent award” from the union of career
diplomats last year for the independent stand he took on the genocide
issue while speaking to an Armenian group in California.
The group later withdrew the award, the Washington Post said, on
grounds that Evans did not meet the selection criteria.
Following complaints from Turkey, Evans amended his remarks to say the
events of 1915 represented an “Armenian tragedy” but not a genocide,
the newspaper said.
It reported that Evans said he had used the term “genocide” in his
“personal capacity” during “informal meetings,” and “this was
inappropriate.”
Turkey vehemently denies that it committed genocide against Armenians,
saying many were killed as the Ottoman Empire fell but it was not part
of an organized genocidal campaign.
Armenians say Turks knowingly massacred 1.5 million of their ancestors.

ARBITRATORS’ DELEGATION MET WITH ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
Author: À.Mamedov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 25 2006
Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Grigory Karasin, Assistant to US
Secretary of State Daniel Freed and cochairs of OSCE Minsk Group met
with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today in Yerevan.
Mediamax reports, the delegation is meeting with Armenia’s President
Robert Kocharyan at 400Pm local time.
US Embassy officials said upon the completion of this meeting the
arbitrators are performing with a statement in Mariott hotel.
–Boundary_(ID_zVlIv4duBVBT7BkVkADQqA)–

ARMENIAN PM HEADS TO DUSHANBE FOR CIS PMS’ MINISTERIAL MEETING
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
May 25 2006
YEREVAN, May 25. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister flew Wednesday
to Dushanbe to attend CIS prime ministerial meeting scheduled for
Thursday, Armenian Government press service reports.
The delegation is made up of the head of cabinet ministers staff
Manuk Topuzyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan, Armenian
Representative in CIS Economic Commission Artak Vardanyan, Armenian
National Assembly members and other officials.
CIS countries cooperation in various areas will be discussed at the
meeting. A number of documents will be signed as part of the meeting.

$1,097,115,610,000: 19,954,934: THE SIZE OF THE WORLD’S ACTIVE MILITARY FORCES
The Guardian – United Kingdom
May 25, 2006
And The Terror Groups They Are Fighting: World’s Active Soldiers:
World’s Defence Budget: 46% The Increase In US Combat Power By 2008
North America
60 Canada 62,100 108,850 10.9
2 US 1,546,372 2,502,574 561
Caribbean and Latin America
162 Antigua and Barbuda 170 245 0
53 Argentina 71,400 102,640 1.9
158 Bahamas 860 860 0
160 Barbados 610 1,040 0
156 Belize 1,050 1,750 0
78 Bolivia 33,000 70,100 0.1
17 Brazil 287,159 2,012,759 16.1
48 Chile 78,098 166,098 1.9
23 Colombia 207,000 396,700 4
165 Costa Rica 0 8,400 0.1
69 Cuba 49,000 114,500 1.4
90 Dominican Rep 24,500 39,500 0.2
71 Ecuador 46,500 164,770 0.7
102 El Salvador 15,500 25,400 0.1
81 Guatemala 29,200 85,900 0.1
155 Guyana 1,100 3,270 0
166 Haiti 0 0 0 *UN multinational stabilisation mission currently
in place
112 Honduras 12,000 80,000 0.1
146 Jamaica 2,830 3,783 0.1
27 Mexico 192,770 517,770 3.4
105 Nicaragua 14,000 14,000 0
167 Panama 0 11,800 0.2
120 Paraguay 10,300 189,600 0.1
46 Peru 80,000 352,000 1.1
151 Surinam 1,840 1,840 0
147 Trinidad and Tobago 2,700 2,700 0
92 Uruguay 24,000 24,920 0.2
45 Venezuela 82,300 90,300 2.1
76 Belgium 36,950 55,600 3.2
65 Bulgaria 51,000 388,000 0.7
94 Czech Rep 22,272 27,872 2.3
96 Denmark 21,180 150,880 3.2
140 Estonia 4,934 28,934 0.2
20 France 254,895 420,820 41.6
18 Germany 284,500 639,150 28.8
32 Greece 163,850 492,850 4.5
79 Hungary 32,300 88,300 1.3
163 Iceland 0 130 0.4
28 Italy 191,152 501,952 14.6
139 Latvia 5,238 16,442 0.3
107 Lithuania 13,510 34,810 0.3
157 Luxembourg 900 1,512 0.3
63 Netherlands 53,130 85,330 9.4
89 Norway 25,800 236,200 4.6
34 Poland 141,500 396,900 5.6
73 Portugal 44,900 303,530 2.3
44 Romania 97,200 281,100 2.1
98 Slovakia 20,195 20,195 0.9
136 Slovenia 6,550 36,050 0.5
33 Spain 147,255 539,6150 8.5
9 Turkey 514,850 1,045,750 8.9
22 United Kingdom 216,890 458,410 50.2
95 Albania 21,500 22,000 0.1
70 Armenia 48,160 49,160 0.2
75 Austria 39,900 39,900 2.2
55 Azerbaijan 66,740 381,740 0.6
50 Belarus 72,940 472,440 0.3
113 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11,865 11,865 0.2
97 Croatia 20,800 139,000 0.6
121 Cyprus 10,000 70,750 0.3
84 Finland 28,300 287,300 2.7
114 Georgia 11,320 23,020 0.1
119 Ireland 10,460 25,335 1
117 Macedonia 10,890 39,490 0.1
149 Malta 2,237 2,237 0
135 Moldova 6,750 76,029 0
58 Serbia and Montenegro 65,300 360,400 0.7
85 Sweden 27,600 325,200 5.2
143 Switzerland 4,300 319,300 3.8
29 Ukraine 187,600 1,272,500 2.9
5 Russia 1,027,000 21,442,000 23.7
35 Algeria 137,500 468,700 2.9
115 Bahrain 11,200 21,360 0.5
10 Egypt 468,500 1,277,500 2.5
8 Iran 545,000 935,000 6.2
21 Iraq 227,000 227,000 0
31 Israel 168,300 584,350 7.2
43 Jordan 100,500 145,500 1
101 Kuwait 15,500 45,800 4.3
52 Lebanon 72,100 85,100 0.5
49 Libya 76,000 116,000 0.6
100 Mauritania 15,870 20,870 0
25 Morocco 200,800 400,800 2.1
74 Oman 41,700 46,100 3
164 Palestinian Autonomous Areas 0 56,000 0
111 Qatar 12,400 12,400 2.2
26 Saudi Arabia 199,500 215,000 25.4
13 Syria 307,600 769,600 1.5
77 Tunisia 35,300 47,300 0.4
67 UAE 50,500 50,500 2.7
56 Yemen 66,700 137,900 0.9
40 Angola 108,400 118,400 1.2
142 Benin 4,550 7,050 0.1
127 Botswana 9,000 10,500 0.4
118 Burkino Faso 10,800 11,050 0.1
68 Burundi 50,500 81,500 0
93 Cameroon 23,100 23,100 0.2
154 Cape Verde 1,200 1,200 0
148 Central African Republic 2,550 2,550 0
80 Chad 30,350 34,850 0.1
122 Congo 10,000 12,000 0.1
59 Dem Rep of Congo 64,800 64,800 0.2
123 Djibouti 9,850 12,350 0
152 Equatorial Guinea 1,320 1,320 0
24 Eritrea 201,750 321,750 0.1
30 Ethiopia 182,500 182,500 0.3
141 Gabon 4,700 6,700 0
159 Gambia 800 800 0
134 Ghana 7,000 7,000 0
124 Guinea 9,700 19,300 0.1
125 Guinea Bissau 9,250 9,250 0
99 Ivory Coast 17,050 28,550 0.2
91 Kenya 24,120 29,120 0.3
150 Lesotho 2,000 2,000 0
104 Liberia 15,000 15,000 0
108 Madagascar 13,500 21,600 0.3
137 Malawi 5,300 6,800 0
132 Mali 7,350 15,150 0.1
168 Mauritius 0 2,000 0
116 Mozambique 11,200 11,200 0.1
126 Namibia 9,200 15,200 0.2
138 Niger 5,300 10,700 0
47 Nigeria 78,500 160,500 0.8
66 Rwanda 51,000 53,000 0.1
106 Senegal 13,620 18,620 0.1
161 Seychelles 200 450 0
109 Sierra Leone 13,000 13,000 0
169 Somalia 0 0 0 *Transitional national government has formed with
an estimated 5000 troops but only has control of northern Somalia
61 South Africa 55,750 115,750 3.8
42 Sudan 104,800 207,300 0.5
87 Tanzania 27,000 108,400 0.4
130 Togo 8,550 9,300 0
72 Uganda 45,000 46,800 0.2
103 Zambia 15,100 19,500 0
83 Zimbabwe 29,000 50,800 0.3
86 Afghanistan 27,000 27,000 0
36 Bangladesh 125,500 251,700 0.8
3 India 1,325,000 5,494,815 23.5
57 Kazakhstan 65,800 100,300 0.6
110 Kyrgyzstan 12,500 17,500 0.1
54 Nepal 69,000 131,000 0.2
7 Pakistan 619,000 921,000 3.7
38 Sri Lanka 111,000 235,500 0.7
131 Tajikistan 7,600 12,900 0.1
88 Turkmenistan 26,000 26,000 0.2
62 Uzbekistan 55,000 91,000 0.1
64 Australia 52,872 73,672 13.2
133 Brunei 7,000 11,450 0.4
12 Burma 375,500 482,750 6.2
37 Cambodia 124,300 191,300 0.1
1 China 2,255,000 7,024,000 34.9
153 East Timor 1,250 1,250 n/a
144 Fiji 3,500 9,500 0
15 Indonesia 302,000 982,000 2.6
19 Japan 260,250 316,895 40.7
4 North Korea 1,106,000 9,495,000 1.9
6 South Korea 687,700 8,692,200 23.5
82 Laos 29,100 129,100 0
39 Malaysia 110,000 430,900 3.1
129 Mongolia 8,600 152,800 0
128 New Zealand 8,660 19,460 1.4
145 Papua New Guinea 3,100 3,100 0
41 Philippines 106,000 317,500 0.9
51 Singapore 72,500 522,800 6.2
16 Taiwan 290,000 1,995,650 7.9
14 Thailand 306,600 665,300 2
11 Vietnam 455,000 5,495,000 3.2

IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE PROGRAM ON RESETTLEMENT OF MESKHETIAN TURKS IN GEORGIA TO START SOON
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 24 2006
AKHALKALAK, MAY 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. In late May, 6
Meskhetian families will be resettled from Azerbaijan in the region
of Gori within the framework of the state program on resettlement of
Meskhetian Turks in Georgia.
According to Georgi Khaindrava, Georgian State Minister on Issues of
Conflicts Settlement, the parliament will soon adopt the respective law
on resettlement of Meskhetian Turks in Georgia. After the adoption
of the law the government will work out the respective actions
plan. Khaindrava hopes that in the respect of program’s financing
the Council of Europe and the international community will render the
respective assistance as the Georgian government cannot allocate the
respective resources.
It is not concretely calculated today how many Meskhetian Turks will
want to return to Georgia but their number can reach 500 thousand.
The A-Info agency also mentions that the government is going to
resettle the Meskhetians mainly in Samtskhe-Javakhk populated with
Armenians.