Author: Hovhannisian John

CONFUSION SURROUNDS INVESTIGATION OF ARMENIAN YOUTH’S MURDER IN MOSCOW
Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, DC
May 4 2006
The prime suspect in the murder of an Armenian youth in Moscow last
month has been released after signing a written pledge not to leave the
city until the investigation is completed, according to an April 28,
2006 report by the Newsru.com news web site. Prosecutors were not able
to muster enough evidence to charge 16 year old Denis Kulagin and had
to release him after 72 hours of detention. Mr. Kulagin originally
confessed to the murder of Vigen Abramyants, but later retracted
his confession.
Meanwhile, public mistrust of police-who are regularly accused of
torturing suspects into making false confessions and covering up
anti-minority violence-appears to be damaging the case. In an April
28, 2006 interview with the national daily Moskovsky Komsomolets,
the victim’s father claimed that 11 witnesses saw his son killed by
skinheads, a version of events that investigators have characterized
as a red herring designed to distract attention from Mr. Kulagin,
who they believed killed Mr. Abramyants after a quarrel over a girl.
Rafael Abramyants alleged that police pressured Mr. Kulagin into
confessing, telling him that as a youth, he would get a suspended
sentence. Another witness, identified only by her first name Elmira,
was quoted in the newspaper report saying that Vigen Abramyants was
killed by skinheads; his father then added that a metro security
camera was missing four hours of film which should have recorded the
murder. Police earlier refuted this charge, asserting that the camera
did record the murder, but that the victim was obscured from view by
a large group of passengers.

LIST OF IDENTIFIED PASSENGERS AND CREW MEMBERS OF A-320 AIRPLANE MADE PUBLIC
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.05.2006 19:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The list of identified passengers and crew members of
A-320 airplane, which was wrecked new Sochi town, is made public. The
list is provided by the Operative Headquarters of Sochi. 13 Armenian
and 5 Russian citizens are identified.
Armenian citizens:
1. Harutyunyan Gyulnara
2. Nalbandyan Silva
3. Kostanyan Atom
4. Badalyan Lusine
5. Khachatryan Anahit
6. Hamayakyan Styopa
7. Khalatyan Amest
8. Antonyan Hayrapet
9. Avetisyan Meline
10. Zargaryan Zhora
11. Abelyan Anahit – stewardess
12. Hasratyan marine – stewardess
13. Gevorgyan Lusine – stewardess
Russian citizens:
14. Karapetyan Varsenik
15. Karapetyan Albert
16. Gevorgyan Ruben
17. Hakobyan Zara
18. Sevanyan Zemfira

EXPERIENCED CREW PILOTED CRASHED PLANE – AIR COMPANY OFFICIAL
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 3 2006
YEREVAN, May 3 (Itar-Tass) – The passenger plane of the Armenian air
company Armavia that crashed into the Black Sea was in an excellent
technical condition, cleared for flights and piloted by an experienced
crew, the company’s deputy commercial director Andrei Agadzhanov said.
The plane had aboard 105 passengers and eight crew members as it was en
route from the Armenian capital Yerevan to Russia’s sea resort Sochi.
Agadzhanov told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday that the crew initially decided
to return to Yerevan because of bad weather conditions, but an air
traffic controller of the Sochi-Adler airport told it that the weather
improved over Adler.
It repeatedly deteriorated when the plane was close to the airport,
forcing the crew to fly the second circle, after which the plane
disappeared from radar screens.
A special flight will bring from Yerevan to Sochi relatives of
the crash victims, who include the former director-general of the
Armavia company, Vyacheslav Yaralov, who was flying to the funeral
of his mother-in-law.
The air accident has not affected the operation of the Armenia airport.
Armavia is continuing most of its flight services, the company’s
official told ITAR-TASS.
However, a flight to Amsterdam was cancelled.
The situation at the airport is calm.

77 ARMENIAN AND 28 RUSSIAN CITIZENS WERE ONBOARD THE CRASHED ARMAVIA PLANE
Yerevan, May 3. ArmInfo. 77 Armenian citizens and 28 Russian citizens,
mostly of Armenian origin, were onboard Armavia’s A-320 plane which
crashed 5 km of Sochi this night, says the head of the chief department
of civil aviation of Armenia Artem Movsissyan.
A total of 113 people were onboard, with the bodies of only 18 ones
found to date.
Movsissyan says that the plane took off from Yerevan 01:47 AM.
Because of bad weather over Georgia the captain decided to go back
to Yerevan, but the controller said that the weather was improving
and the plane could land in Sochi. 03:15 AM the plane disappeared.
According to the preliminary information, the plane crashed because
of bad weather, but the final answer will be given only after the
investigation. Movsissyan says that before the flight the plane was
in normal technical condition and its 10 tons of fuel were enough
for coming back to Yerevan – from Yerevan to Sochi a plane consumes
only 3.5 tons of fuel. Movsissyan says that A-320 was produced in
1995 and was insured.
Today the Armenian President called a meeting and gave instructions to
relevant services. One more Armavia plane with relatives and experts
onboard flew to Sochi today morning.

KARS-AKHALKALAKI-TBILISI-BAKU RAILWAY COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHMENT TO BE DISCUSSED IN SOFIA MAY 2
PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2006 23:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The fifth sitting of the intergovernmental committee
of the TRACECA member states will start in Sofia tomorrow. The
sitting participants are expected to adopt a development strategy to
be applied up to the end of 2015. The budget issues and the status
of observer in the organization will be also addressed. Azerbaijan
will assume the presidency within the sitting framework.
The establishment of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway
communication will be considered as well.

D.C. RALLY CONDEMNS DARFUR GENOCIDE
By Lynn Sweet Sun-Times Columnist
Chicago Sun-Times, IL
May 1 2006
Yesterday, today and tomorrow, there are, have been and will be
genocidal murders occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan. On Sunday,
thousands gathered on the National Mall to try to do something about
the horrors.
“We are here because we refuse to be silent,” said Elie Wiesel,
the author and Nobel Peace Prize winner whose work is rooted in his
Holocaust experience.
“Remember, silence helps the killers, never the victims.”
Thousands came together chanting “never again,” the pledge born out
of the Holocaust as the genocide, which started in 2003, continues.
Clergy; lawmakers including Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and
celebrities, such as actor George Clooney, ’60s-era comic and longtime
activist Dick Gregory, and Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek, took the
stage to keep the pressure on the United States and the international
community.
WHAT SHOULD U.S. DO?
What should the United States do about the killings in Sudan’s Darfur
region? E-mail [email protected]. Some edited replies will
be printed.
Unlike some causes, where rallies are held for or against something,
when it comes to the killings, rapes, starvations and forced migrations
in Darfur, everyone in the United States is on the same side —
the right side.
165 groups band together
President Bush has done more than any other Western leader, though
he said when he took office that slaughters such as those that took
place in Rwanda and Burundi in the 1990s would not happen during his
tenure. He penned the words “not on my watch” on a memo, and those
words were transferred Sunday onto signs and T-shirts.
Bush was supportive of the Sunday rally and more to be held across
the country, including one in Chicago at 4:30 p.m. today on Federal
Plaza. Bush met with Darfur advocates in the White House on Friday
and said the rallies are a “march for justice” that represents “the
best of our country.”
But three years after the conflict began, people are still dying
as the violence between Muslims — ethnic Africans under siege by
Arab Janjaweed militias backed by the Sudanese government — is
responsible for the deaths of between 200,000 and 400,000 people,
with another 2.5 million displaced.
Sunday’s rally was organized by a coalition of 165 religious, human
rights and humanitarian organizations, with the American Jewish
community a driving force behind the “Save Darfur” effort. “When we
needed people to help us,” Wiesel said, “nobody came.”
Armenia. The Holocaust. Cambodia. Rwanda. Bosnia. Darfur. Many students
have been drawn to the Darfur cause because it is not history. It is
a current event.
A contingent of 110 students came to Washington from the University
of Illinois.
Abby Kritzler, 22, from Wilmette, a senior at American University
in northwest Washington, was on the Mall. She is writing a thesis on
genocide for her “faith, peace and justice” minor.
“It is just unacceptable for me to do nothing about it,” Kritzler
said. “I just could not tolerate sitting and watching everything and
feeling bad about it and not doing anything.”
‘We want more; we want more’
Rabbi Amy L. Memis-Foler, from Temple Sholom at 3480 N. Lake Shore,
flew from Chicago to Washington on Sunday morning to bear witness.
She was carrying a poster board made by Temple Sholom sixth-graders
that said “History repeats itself. Stop the Genocide.”
“Our presence helps spread the word to the nation, to the world,”
Memis-Foler said.
Cheryl Gutmann, a Temple Sholom member on the Mall with Memis-Foler,
said, “People are coming together to make a statement.”
The House and Senate have passed the “Darfur Peace and Accountability
Act,” but the two chambers have yet to agree on final language.
Obama, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been
championing the measure. He will visit Sudan during an August trip
to Africa.
Speaking before his largest crowd since becoming a senator, Obama said,
“Silence, acquiescence, paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong.”
Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer had the most
difficult assignment — speaking for the Bush administration to a
crowd that wanted Bush to do more.
Bush has been working to bolster African Union forces and to get
the United Nations to send in troops. “The strategy is working,”
said Frazer.
“We want more; we want more,” the crowd chanted.
“So do I. So do I. So does your government,” Frazer said. “The ghosts
of Rwanda hang over our heads.”

ARMENIAN GRAND MASTER LEVON ARONYAN CALLED THIRD CHESS PLAYER OF WORLD
UPON 2005 RESULTS
Moscow, April 28. ArmInfo. The Russian journal “64- Chess Review”
summed up the traditional competition “Oscar” for the eleventh
time. This prize is presented to the best chess player of the last
year. Until now it was presented to the Russians Garri Kasparov (5
times) and Vladimir Kramnik and to the Indian Vishvanatan Anand (4
times). The world champion, a Bulgarian Veselin Topalov became the
holder of “Oscar-2005”. 361 lists from 68 countries of the world was
taken into account during calculation. There were journalists, eminent
chess specialists and grand masters among the voters.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Georgian Ambassador: Christian Peoples Surrounded by Islamic World –
Medieval Anachronism
28.04.2006 23:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The relations between the churches should be
determined at the meetings the church hierarchs. The Embassy
represents the temporal power and does not interfere in religious
matters, Georgian Ambassador to Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze stated in
an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. As for the cliché `Christian
peoples/states surrounded by the Islamic world’, this is an anarchism
of the medieval age. As far as I know Christian Armenia enjoys very
best relations the Islamic Republic of Iran,’ the Ambassador
remarked. To note, the Armenian Apostolic Church demands six Armenian
churches taken away in the soviet period be returned under its
jurisdiction.

FIRST ISSUE OF “HANUN GUGARATS ASHKHARHI” WEEKLY PUBLISHED IN VANADZOR
Noyan Tapan
Apr 27 2006
VANADZOR, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN. “Hanun Gugarats Ashkharhi” weekly
(In the Name of Gugarats World), which is the 10th in number in
the center of the Lori marz, started to be published. The founder
of the newspaper is the “Hanun Gugarats Ashkharhi” charity public
organization the Chairman of which RA NA Deputy Vahram Baghdasarian
is. According to editor-in-chief of the newspaper Samvel Durinian,
the new periodical will cover problems of people of the Gugark
world, will present various and interesting materials to reader,
also expecting the latter’s assistance in that affair.

“ARMENIA RESPECTS THE TERRITORIAL WHOLENESS OF AZERBAIJAN”
A1+
[05:16 pm] 27 April, 2006
The NKR NA deputies cannot be involved in the PACE Armenian
delegation. RA NA deputy Speaker Tigran Torosyan announced about it in
the capital of the NKR after the Armenia – Karabakh intergovernmental
committee session hold in Stepanakert.
He mentioned that the Karabakh issue has been actively discussed within
the past 1 – 2 years in European establishments. The PACE adopted
1416 resolutions in 2005 connected with the conflict settlement. A
resolution was adopted on the refugee issue, and a document is formed
on missing people. At present an ad-hoc committee works in the PACE
under Lord Rasel Jonestone’s leadership. According to Tigran Torosyan
the committee members will visit the region in autumn.
While speaking of the Armenian engagement in European institutions
he underlined that our delegation has so far worked in our
favour, especially in the issue of the recognition of Karabakh
sovereignity. “Even the co-chairs of Minsk group agree with this. If
we ask the opinions of America and Azerbaijan they are also sure of
the results of the new referendum in Karabakh,” stated Tigran Torosyan.
As for the PACE resolution, in which the two sides are called
on ceasing their militant announcements, according to Tigran
Torosyan there are no mechanisms to control the commitment of the
resolution. Perhaps the control of the resolution commitment is put
into the committee’s competence.
Asked the question how he will comment on Aliev’s announcement to
solve the conflict within the framework of the territorial wholeness
of Azerbaijan, Tigran Torosyan answered that they respect Azerbaijan’s
wholeness but it has nothing to do with the NKR right to soveregnity.
Another key issue of the intergovernmental committee session agenda
was the amendment of the NKR Constitution. According to the NKR NA
deputy chairman Rudik Husnuntsi the Constitution will be passed by
the end of the year. At present they work out the first 8 chapters,
and Karabakh expects Armenia’s assistance on this score. Husnuntsi
claims that the NKR Constitution will greatly differ from the Armenian
one with its characteristics.
“I hope that there won’t be any blows from the American side and they
won’t have their negative impact on the conflict settlement,” noted
Tigran Torosyan while speaking about the Iranian-American relations
and their possible influence on the Karabakh issue.