ICE DANCERS ANASTASIA GREBYONKINA AND VAZGEN AZROYAN TRAINING IN TSAKHKADZOR
ArmRadio.am
22.06.2006 16:18
Starting June 18 Anastasia Grebyonkina – Vazgen Azroyan ice dance pair
of Armenia has been training in the Olympic village of Tsakhkadzor.
The major aim of the trainings is to raise the physical preparedness
of the ice dancers. On July the 1st Grebyonkina and Azroyan will
leave for Moscow, where they will continue the trainings.
OSCE CRITERIA TO ASSESS THE FREEDOM OF PRESS IN SOUTH CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES VARY
ArmRadio.am
21.06.2006 18:00
"The OSCE’s approaches to the South Caucasian countries differ and we
try not to compare the level of freedom of press in Armenia, Georgia
and Azerbaijan," OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklos
Haraszti said in Yerevan. In his words, the criteria of assessment
vary. "In one state the matters stand well with electronic media,
in another – with print media," he remarked.
OSCE APPROACH TO SOUTH CAUCASIAN STATES DIFFERS
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.06.2006 17:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The OSCE’s approach to the South Caucasian states
differs and we try not to compare the level of freedom of press in
Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan," OSCE Representative on Freedom
of the Media Miklos Haraszti said in response to a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter’s question. In his words, the criteria of assessment vary. "In
one state the matters stand well with electronic media, in another –
with printing media,’ he remarked.
TRANSEURO SIGNS LOI FOR EXPLORATION DRILLING RIG
Canadian Corporate Newswire
June 19, 2006 Monday 9:30 AM EST
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(CCNMatthews – June 19, 2006) – Transeuro
Energy Corp. ("Transeuro" or the "Company")(TSX VENTURE:TSU) is
pleased to announce that it has signed a Letter of Intent ("LOI")
with High Arctic Energy Services ("HAES") (TSX:HWO.UN)(OSE:HWO.UN)
for the provision of a drilling rig plus associated equipment to
drill three exploration wells in Armenia.
Transeuro has completed the initial study phase of the exploration
operations in Armenia and has collated and interpreted all the
historical data. The company has contracted AESP, the local seismic
acquisition company to provide an additional 131 km of 2D seismic
in the Oktemberian region in the west of the country, where 2 gas
prospects have been identified. The survey is expected to start later
this month. The old seismic data in the area has been reprocessed
and will be integrated with the new data to update the structural
interpretation over the prospects and to finalise the drilling
locations for the first 2 wells in the programme.
Under the provisions of the LOI, HAES has committed to providing the
drilling rig in country, ready to commence drilling on the first
location by 1st February 2007. The first well is located on the
Kamir prospect and is planned to drill down to around 2,500m to test
the Lower Sand Clay (LSC) and Lower Multi-coloured Suite (LMS) where
previous wells have produced gas to surface and have shown hydrocarbon
saturations on wireline logs. Underbalance drilling techniques will
be used to minimize drilling damage and to maximize production rates.
The second well will test the Southwest Oktemberian prospect located
updip of the known gas in the Karmir structure. The structure is
delineated by 7 shallow wells drilled over an area of 8 square
kilometers during the 60’s and 70’s. An independent petrophysical
review of the well logs suggests numerous possible gas reservoirs
in the LSC from 320 – 860m with over 40m of net pay that were never
tested, and additional untested reservoirs in the LMS. The well will
be drilled down to 2,500m to test these and deeper sands that are
identified as potentially hydrocarbon bearing in offset wells.
Following success in the initial seismic programme with AESP, Transeuro
intends to survey the Shorakhpur area where previous wells are reported
to have recovered oil and indicated hydrocarbon saturations on wireline
logs. A third well is planned, either on the oil prospect or in the
Oktemberian region.
Program expenditures will be finalized under the formal drilling
contract to be entered into between the parties.
Transeuro Energy Corp. is involved in the acquisition of petroleum and
natural gas rights, the exploration for, and development and production
of crude oil, condensate and natural gas. The Company’s properties
are located in Canada, Armenia, Papua New Guinea and Ukraine.
Harold Hemmerich, President and CEO
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation
of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The
securities have not been and will not be registered under the United
States Securities Act 1933, as amended (the "U.S.
Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered
or sold within the United States or to a U.S. Person unless registered
under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws
or an exemption from such registration is available.
The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts
are forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
targeted results. The Company relies upon litigation protection for
forward-looking statements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Transeuro Energy Corp.
Ryan King (604) 681 3939 The TSX Venture
Exchange has not reviewed, and does not accept responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.
56 TURKISH MAYORS MAY FACE 10-YEAR IMPRISONMENT FOR SUPPORT OF KURD TV
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.06.2006 17:24 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Office of Prosecutor General has sent
prosecution materials for mayors of 56 towns in the south-east of the
country, which support a Kurdish TV channel. Heads of those towns,
where Kurdish population forms a majority, have sent a letter to Danish
PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen asking not to closeRoj TV, broadcasting for
Kurds. They asked not to give in to Turkish Government’s pressure.
Turkish authorities consider that town mayors, who signed the letter
to Rasmussen, thus assisted Kurd rebels, specifically the Kurdish
Working Party, banned in the country. In the opinion of Turkish
officials, Roj TV is engaged in propagating that Party. In case the
court announces mayors of Turkish towns are guilty, they may face
10 years of imprisonment. At a meeting with representatives of EU
member states Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen noted that prosecution
of mayors for that letter runs counter to values of the united Europe,
Times Online reports.
PUNISHMENT FOR A NUMBER OF ECONOMIC CRIMES REVISED IN RA CRIMINAL CODE
Noyan Tapan
Jun 16 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN. At the June 15 special session,
the RA National Assembly passed in second reading the draft law on
amendments and additions to the RA Criminal Code. The draft revises
punshment for a number of economic crimes. Particularly, punishment
is envisaged for deliberate tax or state duty evasion or evasion of
other compulsory payments in large and especially large amounts.
Unlike the draft passed in first reading on the same day, the final
version increased the size of large and especially large amounts. In
the preliminary version, a sum not exceeding 1,000-10,000 minimal
salaries (1 mln – 10 mln drams) at the time of a crime was considered
a large amount, while the final vesrion set it at 2,000 – 15,000
minimal salaries (2-15 mln dram). The preliminary version considered
a sum exceeding 10,000 minimal salaries as especially large amount,
the final version stipulates a sum exceeding 15,000 minimal salaries
(15 mln drams).
IRAN, ARMENIA TO INK NEW POWER EXCHANGE CONTRACT
Tehran Times, Iran
June 13 2006
TEHRAN – Iran and Armenia will soon sign an agreement on construction
of the third 312 km power transmission line to increase electricity
exchange between the two countries, the Persian service of ISNA
reported yesterday.
In a ceremony on Monday, Armenian deputy energy minister Simonian
and executive director of Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI)
endorsed financial agreement on paying part of the project valued at
$90m to Armenia.
"Insurance coverage and exporting technical and engineering services
are also part of the package offered by EDBI which pays 85% of total
cost to the contractor," the director, Noruz Kohzadi, stipulated.
"The repayment terms are set at five years for this 800-MW business,"
he said, adding that the bank commonly finances the projects which
are 60% domestically made and are performed by private sector.
The third power line will transfer electricity through the
double-circuits with the carrying voltage of 400 KV.
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE
by Khatchig Mouradian
June 12, 2006
ZNet, MA
June 13 2006
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a
revolutionary act.
George Orwell
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the
final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated,
is stronger than evil triumphant. Martin Luther King, JR.
If you want proof that telling what one is convinced is the truth
can cost one his/her job in the US State Department, then a public
reference to events that happened 91 years ago is as good as any. The
latter, it appears, has sealed the fate of John Evans, the (soon-to-be
former) U.S. ambassador to Armenia. A career diplomat, Evans had taken
up that post, his first ambassadorial appointment, in August 2004. A
few months later, during a tour which took him to some of the most
vibrant Armenian-American communities throughout the United States,
he uttered the following words at a public gathering hosted by the
Armenian Studies Program at University of California, Berkeley:
“I will today call it the Armenian genocide.” He was describing the
deportation and mass annihilation of the Armenians of the Ottoman
Empire. An estimated one million and a half Armenians fell victim to
this state-sponsored decimation, which is now recognized as genocide
by most Holocaust and genocide scholars,[1] many parliaments around
the world, and even 39 of the 50 states in America.
Sanctioning Denial
People at the highest level of the U.S. government were unhappy with
the term used by Evans because the Turkish government, a staunch
Washington ally, denies to this day that genocide was committed
against the Armenians. Ankara’s official stand maintains that the
Armenians were not subjected to a state sponsored annihilation
process. The Armenians were, the Turkish official viewpoint argues,
only relocated to areas away from the war zone; any Armenian deaths
that occurred during this ‘relocation’ fell victims to ethnic strife,
war conditions or starvation, similar to the fate many Muslims living
in the Ottoman Empire suffered during WWI. Moreover, according to
the official historiography in Turkey, the number of the Armenians
that died due to these “unfortunate events” is exaggerated. The
number preferred by the Turkish government and Turkish historians
following Ankara’s line is 300 thousand, but some go as far as giving
a ludicrously low figure of around only 40 to 50 thousand deaths.
Successive U.S. administrations are on record of having consistently
tried to appease Ankara, from the early 1970s at least, by refusing
to use the g-word, despite growing pressure from an increasing number
of members of the U.S. Congress and international organizations,
which demand proper acknowledgement of the suffering of the Armenians
during World War I. Instead, it has become a tradition since 1994 that
every year, around April 24, on the eve of the commemoration of this
genocide by Armenians around the world, a U.S. presidential statement
is released commemorating “the forced exile and mass killings of as
many as 1.5 million Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman
Empire” [2] but falling short of calling it “genocide,” [3] although,
as it is often pointed out, these statements sometimes constitute a
textbook definition of genocide.
The issue of the US recognition of the Armenian genocide has been
debated more than once in both houses of the Congress. During one
such debate in late 2000, Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House
of Representatives, withdrew a resolution recognizing the Armenian
genocide on the very eve of the vote, after a personal request
by President Bill Clinton. Hastert’s press release noted that,
“because the President has raised grave national security concerns,
he has requested that the House not consider H.Res.596, Affirmation
of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. I
have acceded to this request.” Acknowledging that the bipartisan
resolution “would have enjoyed support among the majority of the
House,” Hastert noted that, according to the President, “the passage
of this resolution may adversely impact the situation in the Middle
East and risk the lives of Americans.” These were the first few weeks
of the second Palestinian Intifada.
A few years later, in 2005, FBI translator turned whistleblower Sibel
Edmonds accused the FBI of covering up improper financial dealings
between Hastert’s office and certain Turkish circles. She accused
Hastert of accepting Turkish bribes to withdraw the above mentioned
resolution. Investigative reporter David Rose told Democracy Now!,
a daily radio and TV news program broadcast over 400 U.S. stations,
that “Dennis Hastert was not known, as one of the authors of Clinton’s
impeachment, for deferring to his judgment on many occasions, but on
this occasion, he apparently did… It is said that in the wiretaps
that were translated by Sibel Edmonds, reference was made to this
very controversial question of the House vote. One of the Turkish
targets of these wiretaps claimed that the price for getting Dennis
Hastert to withdraw the resolution would be $500,000.”
[4]
Punishing Dissent
U.S. diplomatic representatives across the world have dutifully
followed the lead of the White House and the State Department. By
calling what happened to the Armenians in 1915 with its proper name,
Ambassador Evans parted ways with official U.S. policy. Turkish
officials immediately filed complaints to the State Department and, as
a result, Evans was soon forced to issue the following “clarification”:
“Although I told my audiences that the United States policy on
the Armenian genocide has not changed, I used the term ‘genocide’
speaking in what I characterized as my personal capacity.
This was inappropriate.” This “clarification” did not satisfy the
Turkish government, which noted that the phrase “Armenian genocide”
continued to appear in Evans’ statement. The ambassador now released a
“Clarification of Clarification”, where the phrase “Armenian genocide”
was replaced by the wording “Armenian tragedy.” This obviously set the
record straight as far as the Turkish government was concerned. After
all, while genocide connotes the intent to destroy an ethnic group
and is a rare occurrence in world history, the death of only one
person is often enough to make an event a tragedy.
The issuing of the two clarifications changed little from the fact
that Ambassador Evans had dared to tell the truth rather than stick
to the State Department’s courting policy vis-a-vis the Turkish
governments. The statements were not enough to save him, and in the
next few months, he paid a heavy price for his audacity. First, the
American Foreign Service Association was pressurized in June 2005
to rescind the “Constructive Dissent” award that it had decided to
grant Evans for speaking up on the issue of the Armenian genocide.
Thereafter, news began circulating in early March this year that
Ambassador Evans will be recalled. Although these rumors were neither
confirmed nor denied by top State Department officials and by Evans
himself, the latest developments show that they were true.
On May 23, 2006, the White House formally announced that President
Bush will ask Congress to endorse his nomination of Richard Hoagland
as the new ambassador to Armenia. There was no longer doubt that,
once again, denial and lies had become victorious, at least in the
short term. Ankara will obviously be pleased. And as the modern
Turkish state, built partly on the bones of a million and a half
Armenians, will celebrate a rare victory along its persistent policy
of denial, the U.S. State Department is sending at the same time
a strong and clear message to those in its ranks who dare dissent:
the truth will set you free, but only from your responsibilities in
the State Department.
Khatchig Mouradian is a Lebanese-Armenian writer, translator, and
journalist. He is an editor of the daily newspaper Aztag, published
in Beirut. He can be contacted at [email protected]
[1] A statement by 126 Holocaust Scholars, Holders of Academic Chairs,
and Directors of Holocaust Research and Studies Centers affirming
the “incontestable fact of the Armenian genocide” is available at:
1/current_category.3/affirmation_detail.html
The statement of the International Association of Genocide
Scholars, as well as those by a number of other international
organizations, affirming the Armenian genocide are also available at:
ory.5/affirmation_list.html
[2] Quote from President Bush’s statement on April
24, 2005. For a complete list of presidential
statements on Armenian Remembrance day, see:
gory.4/affirmation_list.html
[3] The only U.S. president to have acknowledged the Armenian
genocide is Ronald Reagan. In a proclamation on April 22, 1981,
Reagan stated, “Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and
the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it – and like too
many other such persecutions of too many other peoples – the lessons
of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.” It should be noted that
Reagan was previously governor of California, which many Armenian
immigrants have made their home in the past few decades. This was
his first year as President. However, in later years, he also avoided
the use of the term “genocide.”
[4] 0/1346254
.cfm?SectionID=74&ItemID=10422
IT IS USEFUL TO ACCUMULATE GOLD WHEN THE COUNTRY HAS NO DEBT
A1+
[07:15 pm] 13 June, 2006
The deputies of the Opposition frequently recall the fact that Central
Bank embezzled the supplies of gold.
Today seizing the opportunity when the president of CB was presenting
the review of 2005 in the Parliament, secretary of “Justice” bloc
faction Viktor Dallakyan announced that developed countries accumulate
gold in their reserve funds whereas Armenian CB has sold the gold
supplies. “Who is to answer for this act?”
The question was immediately answered by president of CB Tigran
Sargsyan who informed that CB got great profit from the sale; about 3
milliard AMD. “The bargain was concluded in 2003, this is an attempt to
lead the public into delusion that Armenian has suffered great losses.”
CB sold the gold as we were to provide 30 milliard AMD income as we
were to enter the budget certain sum of money planned in advance,”
Tigran Sargsyan briefed the journalists.
“Gold supplies in the gross actives are of little significance,
today we have gross actives of 770 million USD whereas gold was
only 15 million USD and now they try to instigate discord on that
15 million USD which was insignificant for our population,” noted
CB president and added the gold price changes rather frequently and
countries having more outer debt than gross actives don’t keep gold
as a means of currency while controlling their actives. Gold has the
function of accumulating wealth in richer countries.
“It is useful to keep gold when the gross actives of the country are
more than the debts. The situation is quite different in our country;
our outer debt surpasses the gross actives and it is too early to
dream of accumulating gold. RA will not counter such problem in
close future.”
HISTORIC TRIP TO ARMENIA FOCUSES ON MEDIATION
Swissinfo, Switzerland
June 12 2006
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has signed an agreement on double
taxation during a visit to Armenia – the first visit ever by a Swiss
cabinet minister.
Switzerland also offered to act as a mediator in the long-running
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region
of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Calmy-Rey also laid a wreath at a memorial for the victims of the
massacre by troops of the former Ottoman Empire 90 years ago.
Calmy-Rey held talks with her Armenian counterpart, Vardan Oskanyan,
in the capital Yerevan on Monday. The discussions focused on bilateral
relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to the Swiss
foreign ministry.
Switzerland offered to act as a mediator in a bid to broker a peace
agreement. Earlier this year Calmy-Rey also visited neighbouring
Azerbaijan.
However, Calmy-Rey said neither of the two countries in the southern
Caucasus region had requested further steps by Switzerland.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh between 1988 and 1994, killing tens of thousands of
people and forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes.
Massacre
Calmy-Rey said she also discussed the killing of up to 1.5 million
ethnic Armenians by troops of the former Ottoman Empire between 1915
and 1919.
She laid a wreath at the monument for the victims of massacre.
“I wanted to express my sympathy with the people,” she said. She played
down a possible worsening of relations with Turkey over the issue.
The Swiss government does not recognise the killings and deportations
as genocide, but one chamber of the Swiss parliament voted in 2003
to follow the United Nations and the European parliament in doing so.
Calmy-Rey also signed an agreement on double taxation in Yerevan in
an effort to spur closer economic relations between Switzerland and
Armenia. Switzerland has been providing development to Yerevan since
a powerful earthquake hit northern Armenia in 1988.
Israel
Calmy-Rey had arrived in Armenia after a brief visit to Israel at
the weekend to discuss a planned conference of the Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies in Geneva later this month.
The conference is expected to approve the introduction of a third
humanitarian emblem – a red crystal – to accommodate Israel’s Red
Star of David organisation.
The humanitarian agencies of Israel and the Palestinian Authorities
agreed on the symbol at a conference in Geneva last November.
Switzerland is the depositary state of the Geneva Conventions, a set
of regulations to protect civilians in times of conflict.
The Swiss foreign minister said she also criticised the Israeli army
for firing artillery at targets in densely populated areas in the
Gaza Strip. At least seven were killed in the attack on Friday.
Calmy-Rey added that the Israeli foreign minister, Zipi Livni, had
apologised for the incident and promised to launch an investigation.