Author: Jidarian Alex

COUNCIL WANTS MAILER INVESTIGATED
By Eugene Tong, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
June 29 2006

GLENDALE – City officials are asking state Attorney General Bill
Lockyer to investigate a negative campaign mailer in the 43rd Assembly
District race that offended members of the local Armenian community.

The City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night
requesting a state investigation but stopped short of holding its
own inquiry.

"Unless something dramatically changes, we would be going on a fishing
expedition," Councilman Ara Najarian said.

Councilman Frank Quintero, who lost to Burbank school board member Paul
Krekorian in the June 6 Democratic primary, has denied any connection
to the mailer, which was financed by an independent committee, the
Oakland-based California Latino Leadership Fund. A report in Capitol
Weekly, a political publication, traced the group’s financing to the
state Latino Caucus in Sacramento.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Quintero pressed for an inquiry that
could clear his name.

"I will either make the motion or second that motion," he said. "I’ve
condemned the mailer when it first came out, and I’ve followed up
with a letter to the attorney general and the secretary of state. …

We absolutely had no idea that was taking place."

The mailer attempted to link Quintero’s Armenian-American opponent
to terrorism by way of the Armenian National Committee of America,
which endorsed Krekorian. A former ANC leader no longer tied to the
advocacy group was convicted in 2001 of possessing stolen explosives
and assault weapons.

"It’s easy to deplore these acts," said Zanku Armenian, an
ANC Western Region representative. "But it’s important to have
accountability. … We the citizens of Glendale are waiting for real
answers, but we can’t wait forever."

The flap damaged Quintero’s standing with the Armenian-American
community, in which he had cultivated political ties for decades.

Councilman Bob Yousefian, a member of the council’s Armenian-American
majority and a Krekorian supporter, still faults Quintero for the
mailer.

"It came out on a Friday night," he said. "On Friday night and
Saturday, not once did Mr. Quintero come out and say he had nothing
to do with it. If it was me, I would’ve been on TV Friday. … Maybe
the attorney general can get to the bottom of this."

Some speakers at the meeting, including several Armenian-Americans,
flocked to Quintero’s defense.

"I do not believe whatsoever the mailer would’ve come from his office,"
Glendale resident Aram Kazazian said. "This is a mailer that came
without his knowledge."

Resident Larry Cole said Quintero has no reason to apologize. "Since
when does somebody who has no culpability take responsibility
anyway?" he said.

Laurie Collins, president of the Glendale Democratic Club, asked the
community to withhold judgment and not to pit the Armenian community
against local Latinos.

"Two wrongs don’t make a right," she said. "This issue is very
important, and it’s a cloud on our election process."

CEREMONY OF GIVING PRIZES OF PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC TAKES PLACE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 29 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The ceremony of giving
prizes of the President of the republic, awarded on April 15 by RA
President Robert Kocharian to a group of art and science figures,
took place on June 28.

The Republic President’s prize was awarded for 2005:

to Hambartsum Khachatrian and Sergey Hayrapetian in the sphere of
development of natural sciences, to Stepan Meschian in the sphere of
technical science and information technologies, to Feliks Yeghiazarian
and Varazdat Haroutiunian in the sphere of art, to Mesrop Shatakhian
in the sphere of medicine, to Feliks Aharonian, Vardan Sahakian,
Ashot Akhperjanian in the sphere of development of physics, to
Alexander Topchian in the sphere of literature, to Sergey Sarinian
in the sphere of development of the humanities.

The President’s 2005 Youth prizes were also awarded: to Hripsime
Davtian, Artur Hovhannisian and Syuzanna Avetisian in the sphere
of art and cinema, to Hasmik Simonian in the sphere of literature,
the President’s Youth Prize in the nomination of the high art of
instrumental performance in the sphere of classic music is awarded
to Martin Yavrian.

RA President Robert Kocharian also singed on April 15 a decree on
awarding prizes in 2005 to people having a considerable contribution
in the affair of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Verjine Svazlian and Edgar Hilzenrat (Germany) were also awarded
prizes.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA President’s Press Office, the
prize was today given to Verjine Svazlian as well, and the President
handed the prize to Edgar Hilzenrat at the May 5 conference of the
"Hayastan" (Armenia) all-Armenian fund.

US SENATE HEARS CANDIDACY FOR US AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.06.2006 17:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ While Members of Congress and the Armenian community
demand a full explanation for the premature replacement of Ambassador
to Armenia John M.

Evans, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the
Administration’s nominee, Richard E. Hoagland, reports the Armenian
Assembly of America (AAA). Senator George Allen (R-VA), who chaired
the proceedings, noted that there have been serious concerns that Evans
was forced to prematurely end his service as a result of those public
declarations. "I don’t know this to be true," Allen said, referring
to the circumstances surrounding Evans’ departure. "[I] will say that
many of my colleagues and I refer to the tragic events of 1915 as
genocide and have strongly encouraged the President to do so as well."

Allen asked Hoagland a series of questions on the issue of the
Armenian Genocide beginning with the Administration’s policy towards
referring to the events of 1915. Hoagland responded that no one in
the Administration has ever denied the tragic events that befell
the Armenians. He said his visit to the Genocide Museum and Memorial
in Yerevan was a very sobering and disturbing experience, but added
that the Administration’s position is clear and that, if confirmed, he
would uphold U.S. policy. Allen next asked him if he received specific
instructions on how to address the Armenian Genocide. Hoagland answered
that he hadn’t, reiterating that "whatever we say must be consistent
with the Administration and its policy."

Following Allen, Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) began his line of
questioning. The Senator said he understood the nominee was in
a difficult position, recognizing that Hoagland "can’t utter the
word genocide." He expressed hope that the U.S. would reaffirm the
genocide, saying that "you can’t look to the future if you deny
the past." Switching topics, Coleman questioned Hoagland over the
Turkish blockade against Armenia, asking him how he plans to address
this issue. Hoagland responded that he would support talks between
the countries, noting that a peaceful resolution to the NK conflict
was paramount.

In his statement, Hoagland stressed the importance of strengthening
U.S.-Armenia ties and said that if confirmed, he would work to advance
democratic and social reforms.

RUSSIA’S DEATH PENALTY
by Nargiz Asadova

Kommersant, Russia
June 29 2006

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg considered
the Resolution "Position of the Parliamentary Assembly as Regards
the Council of Europe Member and Observer States which Have Not
Abolished the Death Penalty." Russia is the only member state that
has not legislatively abolished the death penalty and criticism of
that fact begins at the top of the document. "The death penalty has
been abolished in all Council of Europe member states, with just one
exception…" the document reads. "More than ten years after accession,
the Russian Federation retains the death penalty in its legislation,
although it does respect the moratorium on the executions it decided
in 1996… The Assembly… made repeated appeals to the Russian
authorities on the matter of the abolition of the death penalty,
urging them to ratify immediately Protocol No. 6 to the European
Convention on Human Rights. It points out that the deadline initially
set for honouring this commitment passed in 1999." PACE passed similar
resolutions in 1999, 2002 and 2005. The difference is that now Russia
is the chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, which is responsible
for the implementation of the assembly’s demands.

In addition to being the only member state not to ratify Protocol No.
6, on abolition of the death penalty in peacetime, Russia is one of
only three countries, along with Armenia and Azerbaijan, that have
not signed Protocol No. 13, abolishing the death penalty altogether,
although seven nations have yet to ratify it.

In spite of the importance of the topic, only 20 of the 315
representatives to the assembly were present at the session. That may
be due to the fact that the session was held at the end of the day on
which summer sales begin in France. Russian representative Konstantin
Kosachev took part in the session. He told assembly members that
"I do not intend to make excuses for Russia. I myself am a supporter
of the ratification of Protocol No. 6. But I want to remind you that
abolition of the death penalty is not so much Russia’s obligation to
the Council of Europe as our own choice. It is a norm of the Russian
Constitution that was passed in 1993."

All of the Russian representatives in the assembly have expressed
their support for the abolition of the death penalty at some time,
as has Federation Council speaker Sergey Mironov, who was present at
the PACE session. Standing with PACE President Rene van der Linden at
a press conference after the session, Mironov said that "at present,
a majority could be reached in the State Duma and Federation Council
in a discussion of that issue. But that does not mean that the sixth
protocol will be ratified soon. The majority of the population of
Russia is in favor of preserving the death penalty for merciless
terrorist crimes, particularly those in Beslan."

Russia is not the only country criticized in the resolution. It also
resolves to "include on its agenda by the end of 2006 the question
of the suspension of Japan’s and the United States’ observer status
if no progress on this question has been made by then" and recalls
that 1016 executions have taken place in the United States since
death penalty was restored in 1977 and eight executions in Japan
since 2001. Other countries are mentioned as well.

The resolution passed by a vote of 17 to 2.

TAKE YOUR PLACE, QUICKLY, GO!
Melik Avanyan

Lragir.am
28 June 06

The most recent statement of the new co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
Mathew Bryza set the societies of the conflict parties on alert.

First, the Armenian government had a nervous breakdown, then Azerbaijan
went for its hobby – militaristic statements. Safar Abiyev, the
Azerbaijani minister of defense, directly addressed his Armenian
counterpart Serge Sargsyan, proposing him not to "show off". He even
called on the co-chairs not to go that far.

However, the most worrying thing is that everything that is going on
does not seem to concern certain Armenian high-ranking officials,
who are responsible for the security of the country. Let alone the
commissioned officers, who are busy reaping their wheat fields. They
are simply the product of the general atmosphere, and one cannot
demand anything from them. It is not surprising either that Arkady
Ghukasyan cannot make himself stay at his office.

However, when the minister of defense acts as if enhancing the
effectiveness of the army is not his duty, it cannot be explained in
any way. Well, they played chess, before that they had attended to the
university. However, it appears that even this threat is unable to make
him give up political games. Or maybe he thinks that defense is not
his job. His friends may keep saying that own future is more important
than the security of the country. Everything is clear about them. He
is going to answer for every consequence of these games, however,
and at that time he is sure not to find these friends beside him.

The fear for one’s own future and temptation not to miss the chance
of improving their lives is typical of many people. However, there
is a measure to everything, and nobody wants to suffer because of
the criminal indifference of officials. It is unclear why the former
ministers of defense Vazgen Manukyan and Vagharshak Harutiunyan, who
announced several months ago that Serge Sargsyan’s activities weaken
the morale of the army, and it is necessary to depose him, suddenly
became silent. Is it possible that they cannot see the threat that
emanates from the behavior of this irresponsible person?

The election of 2007 made the political beau monde of Armenia blind.

The fear of losing their offices and wealth made most people forget
about the country and people. Everything that happens around is viewed
in the light of their own future. This is their problem however,
and destiny will give their answer. But should the others necessarily
lose something to think about punishing these officials?

In the meantime, the losses may be strategic, it is possible to lose
everything that people achieved over the past years. If those who are
supposed to realize their responsibility fail to realize, others should
realize it and explain it to the former, for it is possible that over
the years of total irresponsibility they could have lost efficiency.

KOCHARYAN OFFERS CONDOLENCES ON MURDER OF RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 28 2006

YEREVAN, June 28 (Itar-Tass) – Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
expressed deep condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin in
connection with the assassination of Russian embassy staff members
in Iraq, the press service of the Armenian president told Itar-Tass
on Wednesday.

"Armenia with grief and indignation took the news about the massacre
of the Russian diplomats in Iraq, who became the innocent victims of
terrorists," the letter runs.

"The incident once again confirmed the inhuman nature of terrorism
and showed the urgent necessity to fight all of its manifestations,"
the Armenian president believes.

Kocharyan expressed "sincere sympathy and condolences to the families
and friends of those who were killed and to all the people of the
Russian Federation."

US EMBASSY IN ARMENIA PUBLICIZED THE STATEMENT OF THE OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS

ArmRadio.am
29.06.2006 11:52

Yesterday US Embassy in Armenia publicized the text of the statement
of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs made June 22nd at the OSCE Permanent
Council. The Co-Chairs underline they see no sense in initiating
additional meetings between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
unless they demonstrate adequate political will to overcome the rest of
the misunderstandings. The statement includes the principles presented
to the consideration of the Presidents of the two countries.

Armenian military units should be withdrawn from Azerbaijani
territories around Nagorno-Karabakh; special attention should be paid
to Kelbajar and Lachin regions.

For determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh it is
envisaged to hold a referendum or a general voting, the terms of which
have not been set so far. The referendum or the voting should come
in the result of a compromise agreement between the two sides. The
parties are obliged to continue the talks to decide upon the terms
and format of the referendum. International peacekeeping forces will
be deployed in the conflict zone.

"Now it is time for the two Presidents to try to achieve progress
in the settlement process. This is the only way to reinforce the
positive results achieved during the last two years of negotiations,"
the statement says.

ALIYEV AND KOCHARYAN HAVE A PAUSE BEFORE A SERIOUS STEP

Lragir.am
26 June 06

Armenia and Turkey are ready to establish bilateral relations. The
news agency ARKA reports that the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Mathew Bryza told this in an interview with the Radio Liberty. He
said they are making efforts to improve the relation between Armenia
and Turkey. According to him, both Armenia and Turkey are ready for
it. Bryza also said that the normalization of Turkish and Armenian
relations is facilitated by the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

With regard to the settlement, Mathew Bryza, who is also the new
American Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said that the co-chairs
decided to take a pause throughout the summer. "The co-chairs talked
today about taking a bit of a pause throughout the summer to find out
whether or not the presidents do in fact have that sort of political
will," said Bryza.

GLOBAL GOLD MINING DEPRIVED OF LICENCE FOR MARJAN MINE EXPLORATION

Noyan Tapan
Jun 26 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN. 6 weeks ago the RA Ministry of Nature
Protection deprived the Global Gold Mining (GGM) company of its licence
for exploration of the Marjan gold mine (Sisian). Hamlet Avetisian,
head of the Earth’s depth protection department of the ministry,
stated this during a media tour to the Marjan mine organized by the
Club of Economic Reporters on June 26.

According to him, no work was done at the mine during three years
of GGM’s operation, which means nonfulfilment of its agreement
obligations.

H. Avetisian said that a British company and a Russian one are
interested in exploration of this mine. Right now the ministry is
examining the bid submitted by an Armenian company.

In the opinion of GGM director Ashot Poghosian, the ministry’s
decision is illegal, it may not deprive a company of its licence
without a court ruling.

According to him, if the ministry deprives them of the licence and
transfers it to another organization, this will be "the most precise
definition of confiscation".

It was noted that according to preliminary information, the gold
reserves of the Marjan mine amount to 17.8 tons. The value of a ton
of gold on international market curently makes 20 mln USD.

PRESS RELEASE
"Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Building 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Anush Babayan
Tel: 3741 52 09 40
Fax: 3741 52 37 95
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
.27.06.06

`Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund Furnishes Schools in Armenia

During the 2005 – 2006 academic years, "Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund
furnished several schools in Armenia through the generous sponsorship of
its French affiliate – Fonds Armenien de France.

The affiliate continues to have a vital input in the humanitarian
initiatives of the Fund. One of its forefronts has been the
revitalization of educational facilities, through large-scale
construction as well as refurnishing the schools’ classrooms. The
earthquake of 1988 not only brought the infrastructure to rubbles, but
it also caused enormous damage to schools and universities. Currently,
thousands of children learn in dilapidated rooms and facilities.

Fonds Armenien de France launched an initiative dubbed `Let’s Give
Them Classrooms’ – a program designed to bring modern supplies and
furniture to classrooms in Armenia. As part of this initiative, schools
in Armenia will receive necessary supplies thanks to the sponsorship of
Diaspora Armenians of France. In addition to individual donors,
municipal governments from France will donate equipment and furniture.
Recently, the #14 Yerevan School for individuals with impaired vision,
the #1 Gyumri School, and #10 Abovyan School have all been recipients of
such supplies from French municipalities.

In addition to its several projects in healthcare and drinking water
systems, the French affiliate adopted schools in the Dasht Village,
Armavir Province and Arjout Village, Lori Province. In June the Dasht
village school was completely furnished. Children in the Shahan Shahnur
School in Arjout, constructed through the sponsorship of the French
affiliate in 1999, will also have classes in newly furnished classrooms.
230 Students in the Aygek Village School will soon enjoy refurnished
classrooms.

During the 2005 – 2006 academic years, "Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund
furnished several schools in Armenia through the generous sponsorship of
its French affiliate – Fonds Armenien de France.

The affiliate continues to have a vital input in the humanitarian
initiatives of the Fund. One of its forefronts has been the
revitalization of educational facilities, through large-scale
construction as well as refurnishing the schools’ classrooms. The
earthquake of 1988 not only brought the infrastructure to rubbles, but
it also caused enormous damage to schools and universities. Currently,
thousands of children learn in dilapidated rooms and facilities.

Fonds Armenien de France launched an initiative dubbed `Let’s Give
Them Classrooms’ – a program designed to bring modern supplies and
furniture to classrooms in Armenia. As part of this initiative, schools
in Armenia will receive necessary supplies thanks to the sponsorship of
Diaspora Armenians of France. In addition to individual donors,
municipal governments from France will donate equipment and furniture.
Recently, the #14 Yerevan School for individuals with impaired vision,
the #1 Gyumri School, and #10 Abovyan School have all been recipients of
such supplies from French municipalities.

In addition to its several projects in healthcare and drinking water
systems, the French affiliate adopted schools in the Dasht Village,
Armavir Province and Arjout Village, Lori Province. In June the Dasht
village school was completely furnished. Children in the Shahan Shahnur
School in Arjout, constructed through the sponsorship of the French